I looked at the bright sun. The morning shone brightly on me, and I enjoyed the hot cold breeze.
Currently, I was above the clouds, flying with Katara and Toph.
"Did we really have to leave my brother behind?" said Katara, biting her nail.
It had been a few days already since we left the North Pole, yet Katara was still quite worried about her brother.
Sokka may pride himself as the stronger older brother who protects his little sister.
But in fact, Katara considered herself the one protecting him, since she had the power to bend water.
She had never told him, though, because she was afraid of hurting his feelings.
"I know what Ryuk will say." Toph waved her hand energetically, trying to impersonate me. "For the twentieth time, Katara. He's the happiest one to be left behind."
"I know. That's why I'm afraid. Maybe Yue and he weren't serious, and we forced them on each other. I should have stuck around to see how things would've gone," Katara replied.
Toph continued trying to impersonate me. "Are your sister-in-law instincts activated already? Let them have their honeymoon first."
"Ryuk, I can't believe you'd say something like that to me after all we've been through," Katara shouted at me.
"Don't be oversensitive, Katara," replied Toph in my stead.
I looked at them with my jaw slightly dropped.
Katara was staring deep into my eyes.
"To be fair, Toph was the one to talk, not me," I said. "She only got one reply right."
"But she was too good," Katara replied. "Is that what you'd say?"
I stood up on the cloud. "If this continues, I'm going to throw myself off."
Toph, who was lying on her back, said, "We all know you can fly, so no harm will come to you."
I clicked my tongue.
Did she have to be so smart?
Katara chuckled.
See, in the last few days, flying on a cloud south over a large ocean came with a cost called boredom. So occasionally Katara would make drama, Toph would tease me, and I would either tease them back or react like that.
Luckily, it was about to be over as I spotted a large city in the middle of a mountain range.
I paused the cloud for a second.
"Oh my god," Katara exclaimed. She looked down from the cloud, clearly confused.
"What's going on?" Toph looked down as well.
She had good eyesight now but hadn't yet linked all the concepts to her vision.
"You see there?" Katara pointed. "There's a huge crowd and many tents around the mountain range. Omashu is so crowded that people have to stay outside."
"There's a good reason for that," I commented, thinking it over.
What's the reason for all these people gathering?
Maybe the rebellion against the Fire Nation is gathering in one place.
The people my dustbenders and metalbenders freed, perhaps?
Or maybe they were summoned by Bumi before the eclipse day to discuss a plan.
Or maybe something else happened, and they gathered for that.
I needed to get in as fast as possible to find out.
—x-X-x—
I arrived at the palace as quickly as I could. The guards, as if expecting me, let me in without many questions. I guess I'd left a very good impression on them to be remembered… well, it's not like it was easy to forget "Nutcracker" anyway.
I arrived at the main hall.
Many men dressed in White Lotus Order robes were sitting around a table.
Men in high Earth Kingdom military status outfits were present as well.
Sitting at the highest seat was Bumi, the mad king.
He smiled widely at me.
"You have taken your time," Bumi said. "Congratulations."
"Congratulations on what?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.
"On your victory against the Fire Nation fleet," Bumi said.
"Hold on a second." I raised my hand as everyone looked at me. "I get that the Fire Nation has their ways of making news travel fast. But how did you find out?"
I mean, not even the fleeing Fire Nation fleet had arrived in the Earth Kingdom before me. After all, they couldn't fly like I could. Sure, they had engines and all, and they were fast, but there's no way they could be faster than a flying man.
"Well, it's not that difficult, especially if you can take their birds down," said Bumi, smiling widely. "Besides, their bases get the news, and we have our spies. At first, I thought I was going crazy when I heard the news of you drowning a fleet all on your own."
I pointed at Bumi. "You think you're crazy? I'd say this is the first sign you're getting better."
"Hahaha…" Bumi deadpanned as he tickled his armpit. "You're so funny."
"Sure." I shrugged. "So, you guys have been preparing for a meeting?"
"We were about to wait for you for a few weeks before starting, but you have your own way of traveling fast. So I guess we can start now if you don't need a break." Bumi gestured. "But before that, why don't you greet your seniors?"
"I see. Greeting seniors."
"Greeting junior."
"Greetings."
The people from the White Lotus Order greeted me one after another.
Should I mention that I was the youngest one here?
I took a seat, which happened to be in a rather isolated spot.
"So, you were about to wait for me for a few weeks?" I said. "The eclipse would be over by then, and the whole plan would be overthrown."
"That's the thing," Bumi raised his hand. "That was the original plan. But we've been pushing back so hard, reclaiming many cities, and raising many dustbenders and metalbenders. The odds have turned in our favor. And recently, after your display of power, the Fire Nation suggested a peace treaty, asking for a few months to pack and leave. They say the mothers are missing their soldiers and that this war is draining both sides."
I put my hand on my temple.
It was a logical decision.
An overpowered entity appearing on the other side.
New types of metalbenders and dustbenders rising and fighting back.
But I would never believe the hundred years war would end so simply.
"And what did you guys say?" I asked, getting a good hint of why I was here.
"Some of us objected, saying it's a scheme from the Fire Nation. Others said we should advocate for peace," Bumi said.
The poor people advocating for peace probably didn't know about the Comet Season or that it was only a few months after the eclipse.
If you give the Fire Nation time to recover, that day will be doomsday for the whole world.
"Interesting," I said. "So you're waiting for me to give my decision—whether I should attack or not? I must say, I'm quite flattered you hold a young man's opinion so highly."
A man in a general's outfit stood up and said, "You're the one who made the biggest contribution in this war. Leading a small unit and draining 4,000 units from the enemy side. You created two types of bending that helped us. Not to mention, your explosive powder is so strong it's our deadliest weapon."
"Oh, I see," I replied, thinking deeply.
Apparently, the small action I started by protecting a village had a very large ripple effect. It's not that I hadn't expected it, but I didn't expect it to happen so fast. After all, the first generation of dust and metalbenders had my help to learn faster, which wasn't a luxury.
"So, Ryuk, what do you think?" asked Bumi.