Carved In Rock || ATLA

Break

"Beg pardon?" He scoffed.

"You claim my Dad was the General that commanded the capture of your men and later the murder of the King and Queen but that's not possible."

"Oh really?" Long Feng purred, crossing his arms over his chest. "Do enlighten us then, please, the floor is yours firebender."

"In the Fire Nation military, there are two main factions - the junior and senior corps. The junior corps is used to raise elite troops and officers from a young age, working in tandem with schools like the Royal Fire Academy for Boys, the Royal Fire Academy for Girls, and even public institutions in the larger cities." She began to explain the lifestyle she grew up in. "The Royal Academy includes an officer's school which teaches tactics, survival, and combat training. If you show enough potential to be an officer, you go to school until you're sixteen, then from there you join the senior corps and get sent off to training camp. This training isn't nearly as long, but it's far more brutal and if you survive, you become an active soldier by the time you're seventeen. That's what my Dad did. By fourteen Dad was sent to the Royal Academy where he started officer's school. At seventeen he was shipped to the Earth Kingdom alongside his very first company as a Captain, serving under General Bujing."

"I fail to see where this history lesson of yours holds any importance to the accusations at hand." Long Feng said.

"Hold your tongue, Grand Secretariat." Kuei finally spoke up, gaining courage he normally never had from his brother beside him and the swelling emotion inside his chest. "I would like to hear what the Akira has to say." He turned to the girl despite Long Feng's glower. "Akira Aelita, please, if you have any proof against my advisor's claims, give it now."

"Of course, Your Grace." She said with all of the poise and pleasantry she had been taught. "My Dad did indeed fight at the battle on The Smoking Mountain, less than a year after he left his final training as only a Captain, not a General."

Long Feng hissed, terrified of where this may be going. "The rank makes no difference!"

"It makes all the difference." A new voice spoke, startling the tense group of teens and adults. Behind the Dai Li stood General Sung alongside Murata. He bypassed the Grand Secretariat to kneel before the King and Prince Kyojuro. "As always, it is the greatest honor to have you here at our Wall but I admit, I was surprised when your young guard here came to fetch me." He spoke to the younger of the royals.

"Thank you for coming so quickly, I apologize for the intrusion." Kyojuro motioned for the newcomer to stand before introducing him to an apprehensive Kuei. "General, you explained more to me than our text ever had. Could you please tell my brother what you told me today?"

"I am happy to serve the Hashibira family however they request." He answered politely, making the teens question if this was the same General they had met when they first arrived to Ba Sing Se. He seemed to catch on to the confused stares. "It's nice to see you again Avatar Aang, Akira Aelita." He nodded in greeting at them both. "The Akira points out an important piece of both her history and ours. At Mount Natagumo, Sukomo Kenshin was indeed a Captain, we learned this from a smaller quarrel with him when one of our men got close enough to see the rank pinned on his chest. I was there as well, a young officer in the Earth Kingdom's military under General Gyutaro, though I wasn't nearly as young as the firebender. Under the cover of night, this mere boy snuck past our defenses and lit the mining tunnels inside of the mountain on fire, thus the name comes, The Smoking Mountain. The smoke was so thick, so suffocating and the heat from the tunnel fires were so intense our troops were forced to retreat to avoid unnecessary casualties on our end. It happened so fast I could hardly believe it. The entire region swiftly fell under Fire Nation occupation all because of one Captain's actions."