The Officer and the Princess: The Flames Of War

Chapter 53

Seven ships, and a little over three thousand Domestic Forces personnel a small handful of Marines, and even smaller mixture of Royal Procession and Kyoshi Warriors. Not exactly a Force to be reckoned with, but it was all that could be pulled together on such short notice. Sung stood on the top deck as he usually did on these voyages. He was dressed in a fresh black shirt and he wore a brand new set of black armor with red trim. On his belt was a brand new Jian.

He hated the weapon, the sword he wore now was held in a redwood scabbard, the handle made of the same material, the cross guard was a simple square piece of iron, the same for the Small diamond shaped pommel cap. This was the standard issued sword for the Army, a mass produced piece of junk, unlike his Jian that had been forged by hand. No doubt his ancestors were none too happy with him right now. The first Yang in history to have lost a weapon that had served his House for generations. Though ironically he didn't see losing the weapon as a dishonor as much as he should have.

Yes the sword was full of history, and served as the Houses Badge of Lordship for generations, but at the end of the day it was just a sharp piece of steel with a fancy hilt. He had been taught since he was a boy that only a fool trusted his life to a single weapon. It took more to be lord of Sun Dao than to wield that sword. A lord needed to care about Sun Dao more than they cared about themself, Kurn did not have that trait. The only reason Sung even carried a sword at this moment was he felt naked without it. He was so used to feeling the weight of a sword on his belt that he feared if he didn't wear one now he'd be walking off balanced, that was just classic Sung superstition, but having the sword made him feel better.

Beside him Zuko stood, dressed in Royal armor, a black helmet under his arm with a spike on the brow, on his back he wore the dual broadsword's he favored. He had an uncomfortable look on his face. "Did you have to make the knot so tight under my arms, I can feel it chafing."

"I tied yours the exact way I have tied mine for years." Sung said with a laugh. "Not once has my armor fallen off in battle. That palace living has made you soft."

"Soft in the body perhaps, but not the mind." Zuko replied with a smile. "Juggling tax reports, and whining nobles strengthens one's resolve."

"Makes me happy the only whining noble on Sun Dao is me." Sung joked. "I hate those tax forms you make me fill out though, I don't know who you have writing those out but you should have told them to make it easier to read."

Zuko looked at him. "Ah you ARE a whining noble." He said with a laugh.

"I'm not whining in this instance, just giving constructive criticism." Sung said with a grin. "Way back when Lords like me were the advisors to Fire Lords like you. Tadashi Yang certainly made a name for himself in Zoyru's court. As far as I know he is the only man or woman in the history of our country to not only threaten to kill the Fire Lord, but call him an idiot to his face and live to tell the tale."

"I suppose it helped to have a dragon in his corner." Zuko said.

Sung was caught off guard by that. Yes it was common knowledge that Tadashi had fought off Chins army but what wasn't talked about as much was how exactly he had done it. When dragon hunting became popular during Sozins reign stories about heroic dragons were put on the back burner in favor of stories about blood thirsty dragons. Made killing them more honorable. "You've been brushing up on your history lessons." He said.

"When all this started." Zuko began. "And I went to Sun Dao looking for you, Naomi told me Tadashi's story." Zuko had realization flash across his face for a moment and he laughed. "And Tadashi is not the only person to threaten a Fire Lord and live to tell about it."

Sungs eyes went wide. "Naomi didn't..."

Zuko nodded. "Naomi did. I always liked her." Sung frowned now and Zuko held up a hand. "Not like that, I just enjoyed her company. She is a nice woman. I remember when we were boys she was like our shadow, always following us around to make sure we stayed out of trouble."