Chapter 79: Short Tales - The Devil's Bargain
The pirate captain's corpse lay sprawled in the mud, his throat a ruin of charred flesh. Hinaro crouched beside him, her fingers slick with blood as she rifled through his coat.
Lee watched from a distance, his flames still licking at his fingertips.
"Find anything?" he called, tone clipped.
Hinaro didn't answer at first. Then, her breath hitched.
A folded parchment, sealed with wax stamped with the Earth Kingdom's lotus insignia. She cracked it open, her eyes scanning the script.
"Raze Kyoshi Island. Leave no survivors. Make it look like Fire Nation work."
Lee stepped closer, reading over her shoulder. His voice was dangerously calm.
"That's not just any Earth Kingdom seal."
Hinaro's fingers trembled. "Whose is it?"
Lee's jaw tightened. "General Fong's."
The name hung like a executioner's axe. Fong, the Earth Kingdom's most ruthless commander, a man who'd glass entire villages to deny the Fire Nation a foothold.
Hinaro's voice was a whisper. "They were going to slaughter us. Their own allies."
Lee plucked the parchment from her grip. "You were never their allies. You were a loose end."
Jee stood atop the village's central well, his soldiers forming a crimson wall at his back. Before him, Mayor Hanoo and Akari stood flanked by the surviving Kyoshi Warriors. The air was thick with smoke and the metallic tang of blood.
Kujan wiped his dao clean on a dead pirate's shirt. "Well. This got messy."
Jee ignored him, his gaze locked on Hanoo.
"You saw what happened here," Jee said, voice low. "Pirates. Slaughtering your people. And not just any pirates, Earth Kingdom puppets."
Akari's eyes narrowed. "You expect us to believe that?"
Lee stepped forward, tossing the bloodstained orders at her feet. "Read it yourself."
Silence.
Hanoo paled as he scanned the words. Akari's grip on her fan turned white-knuckled.
Jee pressed on. "The Earth Kingdom was willing to burn you alive to frame us. And we…" he gestured to the still-smoldering pirate corpses, "…just saved you."
Suki crossed her arms. "What do you want?"
Jee's smile was razor-thin. "The same thing we came for. Your oath to the Fire Nation."
Hinaro snarled. "After centuries of your nation's atrocities, you think one act of mercy changes anything?"
"No," Jee said simply. "But this does."
He snapped his fingers.
From the ranks of Fire Nation soldiers, two men dragged forward a bound figure, a pirate, still breathing, his face a mask of bruises.
Jee gripped the man's hair, forcing him to his knees. "Tell them."
The pirate coughed blood. "Fong… promised us gold. Said the Fire Nation would take the blame. That no one would care about some backwater island…"
Jee slit his throat before he could finish.
"The Earth Kingdom betrayed you," Jee said, wiping his blade. "We didn't."
The villagers murmured, fear and fury warring in their eyes.
Hanoo turned to Akari, his voice shaking. "What do we do?"
Akari didn't answer immediately. Her gaze flicked to Suki, then to the smoldering ruins of Kyoshi's shrine.
Jee stepped down from the well, his boots crunching on broken blades. "Decide now." He gestured to his men, their flames flickering to life. "Swear fealty, and we protect you. Refuse…"
He left the threat hanging.
Suki met his gaze, her voice barely audible.
"And if we choose to fight you next?"
Jee's smile didn't reach his eyes. "Then you'll wish the pirates had killed you."
The wind howled.
The Kyoshi Warriors tightened their grips on their fans.
And in the shadows, Lee watched, knowing the next words spoken would change everything.
The village square was silent but for the crackle of dying fires and the low, wounded moans of the injured. The air stank of blood and burning wood, the ground slick with it. Mayor Hanoo stood before his people, his hands shaking, not from fear, but from the weight of what he was about to do.
"We accept," he said, the words like gravel in his throat.
The reaction was immediate.
Hinaro slammed her fan into the dirt, the metal teeth biting deep. "No! We already voted! We were going to fight!"
A chorus of shouts rose from the younger warriors, their faces streaked with soot and fury.
"They're no better than the pirates!" one cried.
"The Fire Nation burns villages for sport!" another spat.
Hanoo's face darkened. He stepped forward, his voice cutting through the dissent like a blade.
"Look around you!" He thrust a hand toward the bodies being laid in rows, children curled in their mothers' arms, elders with their throats slit, promising warriors cut down before their time. "We fought a band of pirates, pirates, and this was the cost. What do you think the Fire Nation would do if we defied them now?"
Akari, her jaw clenched, stepped forward. The Head Warrior's eyes were hollow, but her voice was steady. "Hinaro. Stand down."
Hinaro whirled on her. "You can't be serious! After everything…"
"I am," Akari interrupted. "Because I have counted the dead. And I will not bury another child today."
The fire in Hinaro's eyes didn't dim, but her fists unclenched.
The village elders, those who had survived, nodded in grim agreement.
"This is not surrender," one said, her voice brittle. "This is survival."
Another, an old man with a scarred face, added, "The Fire Nation has the shrine. They have the port. And now... they have our word."
Hanoo turned back to Jee. "You have your surrender."
As one, the Kyoshi Warriors and villagers bent their knees, their heads bowing, some in resignation, others in silent rage.
Jee's voice cut through the moment like a whip.
"Stand up."
Confusion rippled through the crowd.
"The Prince is the one who receives your oath," Jee said, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Not me. Not today. For now, we prepare the terms."
Jee motioned to Kujan, Lee, Barun, and Ren, who stepped forward.
"The five of us," Jee declared, "will be the ones married into Kyoshi. Choose your candidates carefully." His gaze swept over the warriors. "The Prince, as you saw that day, is... fond of Kyoshi. You do not want to make him lose that fondness."
A threat wrapped in silk.
Kujan grinned, cracking his knuckles. "I call the one who tried to stab me."
Hinaro's eyes flashed. "Over my dead body."
Jee ignored her. "Lee."
The young ensign adjusted his collar. "I will evaluate based on compatibility of discipline and tactical acumen."
Barun snorted. "I just want one who can cook."
Ren elbowed him. "You're lucky if she doesn't poison you."
As the Fire Nation soldiers began to disperse, Hinaro lingered, her fingers brushing the hilt of a fallen pirate's dagger.
Akari's hand closed around her wrist. "Don't."
Hinaro didn't look at her. "This isn't over."
Akari's grip tightened. "No. It's just beginning."
And in the shadows, Suki watched, her face unreadable, her fan still stained with blood.
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