The Officer And The Princess

Chapter 26

Sung had slept sixteen hours straight. The fight back to the fort had taken more out of him then he had thought to sleep as long as he had. Back in the Rangers he had gone days without sleep at a time and still been able to put in four hour guard shifts, it would seem his time in the Royal Procession had made him soft even if it had only been a few months since his transfer. Upon waking he had combed over literal hundreds of recent scout reports stretching over the whole of the Earth kingdom looking for any mention of the Avatar, for days he found nothing of note that was worth looking into until he stumbled on a report from scouts about spotting the Avatars Bison in a forest outside of Ba Sing Se. Azula wanted to make haste for the location as soon as possible . Even with the Tank Train it took two days to reach the forest. Upon reaching the location Azula had ordered Sung to shut down the engine, as to not give away their location. She didn't want a repeat of what had happened a week ago. The Princess, Mai, and Ty Lee exited the Tank on the Backs of Mongoose Lizards leaving Sung alone...well not completely alone.

Siren sat idle on a lever in the Tanks Cabin busying herself by nipping at the feathers on her right wing at least she had something to do. Sung on the other hand was bored out of his mind as he sat in the drivers seat his feet propped up on the dashboard. He let out a puff of air as he tapped a tune on his stomach while he looked out the slit of the Tank to see branches on the nearby trees blowing in the wind. Azula wanted him to hold position until further notice while she and the girls scouted ahead truthfully Sung couldn't help but think she didn't want him getting in the way. "I should be out there." Sung spoke out loud causing Siren to stop her grooming process and turn to look at him with her head tilted in confusion. "I'm a Solider not a damn chauffeur, yet here I am Sitting on my ass." Siren let out a light caw in response to Sung's complaint. Weather it was in agreement or not was unknown to him.

"Should have brought something to read..." He mumbled, almost immediately as he said it he realized Mai had said the exact same thing on The Drill, oh sweet Goddess was her doom and gloom rubbing off on him?!  He stretched his arms over his head letting out a yawn soon after. He didn't do well when he didn't have something to occupy him, when left to his own devices Sung's mind would wander to thoughts that he would rather not remember. That was his burden as a Solider he supposed, to always have the shadow of death by his side as an unwanted companion. As he became loss in his thoughts Siren, seemingly sensing something was wrong walked over and pecked at his leg lightly just enough to sting. "Ow hey stop it" Sung spoke bending forward and softly tapping the Hawk on the top of her head. This only caused her to peck at him again, this time harder than before. "You keep that up little lady and you wont be getting any treats tonight." Siren gave a shocked look as if she was saying "You wouldn't dare!" He had to admit it was kind of cute. He just couldn't stay mad at that little face.

Suddenly something in the distance caught his attention, sitting up in his chair Sung could see grey smoke rising in the distance a few miles away at least that could only mean one thing. "Azula!" He spoke out loud. Orders be damned if he could help he would, one things was certain he'd be doing more good over there than he was right here. Jumping into action Sung open a small bar covered door off to his left where a large pile of coals was located. Holding out his palm he sent a short controlled stream of Red fire onto the pile igniting it almost instantly the black rocks burning a bright red ember as the flames danced upon them. He could hear the gears of the steam engine begin to creek and groan the Tank itself beginning to lightly vibrate. As he was letting the Tank warm up he saw another plum of Grey smoke appear close to the first. "Come on you piece of shit hurry up!" The Major shouted as he hit his fist on the side of the Tank. The engine let out a loud boom at the action that caused Siren to jump back as a smile stretched across Sung's face. Letting off of the Parking break Sung pressed down on the acceleration peddled swiftly the Tank quickly gaining traction as he sped through the forest along a well traveled road. His heart began to race as the trees passed by him. He could feel the adrenaline begin to coarse through his bloodstream. It was like a rushing high that just couldn't be recreated when the body was not in danger. Sung wouldn't say he enjoyed such a rush due to the by product of an Adrenaline high being drowsiness and fatigue but it had kept him alive.