Tea for my Uncle bonus content
A whole bunch of conversations happened, I guess people are trying to get things done before the final game of Book 1.
Starting with a the conversations with the Fire Society Prisoner the Party captured at the last game.
After the Avatar returns, when room is empty except for the prisoner
and himself, Song walks up to him. His expression is serious, and his
knuckles are tight.
"I'm sorry your people don't have enough food, and that people want to
kill you for what you've done. Maybe you'd like to try being
slaughtered, raped, and enslaved for awhile before you try for
sympathy again.. then maybe we can talk about how terrible your life
is."
"In the meantime, I'm going to go crack as many fire Society heads as
I can. Your people have tried to destroy everything good in my world,
and I have no pity for any of you."
With that he walks out, not visibly reacting to anything Tsung says.
He finds a place to watch the room out of sight, and sits down to think.
Tsung doesn't seem bothered by these statments.
"A real soldier does not ask for symapthy, nor pity form his enemies."
Some time later...
Sozu arranges it so that she gets a hold of Tsung's next meal, and brings it in for him. (If this involves frightening an Air-Bending student out of the task, so be it.) She still looks tense and pissed off from the argument about the battle strategy; of course, she's also about to be attacked by a fleet of airships, so being tense is quite understandable.
He is sitting in his comfortable little box.
"The Fire Society will be here soon."
His comment is rather non chalant.
"I noticed." Her tone doesn't quite match his for nonchalance. "It's going to be messy. ... Do you expect that, if they take the day, Zeng will release you and reward you for such staunch loyalty, especially in the face of capture?"
Oddly, Sozu is pretty sure that's exactlty what Zeng will do.
I'm sure I would recieve praise, certainly if others prove to be more effective in their attack, they too will be rewarded.
Though I doubt I would be that interested in a reward. I serve my country, that is my purpose, why should I be rewarded for fullfilling my purpose."
"I didn't say you'd be interested in a reward... Love of country should be enough of one. I'm curious about your commander."
Still not saying "general".
"Do you mean the man I joined the Fire Society for, or General Zeng?"
That catches her unawares. She blinks a moment. "They're not one and the same?"
"The General believes in the Fire Nation... he believes that the world will be better off with a Phoenix King. But he is not the man who holds my loyalty. My commander proved to be a great man, and a great leader, and so I follow him."
"Who is your commander, then?"
Sozu can't help being curious.
"Lt. Chen was my commanding offcier during the war. He looked out for us, he was an honorable man, career military as many of us were. I suppose much of our Country knows of no other way to live. The Lt was smart, and he did things for his men that meant when he told us that surrender wasn't an option, and we'd fight on under Zeng, not one of us went against him."
She nods; the decision she abhors, but the reasoning she respects. Oddly.
"Army?"
He nods.
"I know you maintain close ties to the Navy Princess."
"My immediate family has the distinction of having served in all major branches of the military." And the distinction of having achieved the highest commands in two of them, to boot. But that does somewhat go without saying, if he knows about one of her brothers - the Naval brother. Maybe that's how they should be categorized.
It doesn't seem unusual to Sozu that he's aware of this, either.
"What will you do if you win?"
"Continue my mission." This is natural, matter-of-fact, and quite obvious (to Sozu, at least).
He nods.
"I meant with the Fire Society."
She turns about a quarter-turn away from Tsung, and she tenses up slightly: "I may ask the Fire Lord's permission to hear what he intends to do. If he should deign to ask my opinion, I would encourage that discipline be firm but fair, and not... motivated by vengeance or anger."
‘So you'll put us all in a stone box until you can give us to Fire Nation?"
That earns him an even more irritated frown. "Alternatives would be very quickly dismissed."
He makes a hmmph sound, and those back to silence.
"I see... you seem to have everything figured out. No questions left unanswered."
"You've been the one asking questions. And, no."
"So what out there still troubles you?"
"Acrobats. Air Benders. Air Ships..... things that begin with 'A'." The beginning is in earnest; the second part, glib. ... Nilak is rubbing off on her again.
"The Skydancers.... why exactly did the waterbender kill one of them? And for that matter...."
He shakes his head.
"Let's just stick with why she killed your friend."
"You're apparently already aware of what happened on Kirachu island - so why are you asking?"
"I'd heard about you destroying a Fire Nation military base. I was aware that you got drunk, and your friends fended off a group of attackers."
He quirks an eyebrow.
"Oh my, you were attacked by acrobats? What did you do to anger them?"
"I told you I had unanswered questions - and - I - ugh. Acrobats!" The poor, angry Princess. She spits the last part out with forceful vehemence. Partially because she's upset at Tsung, and partially because she's upset at acrobats.
"Well... "
He cross his fingers.
"...They aren't acrobats."
She turns back to face him fully. "Oh, really?" And despite trying to play it cool, goodness gracious is she interested.
"Nothing so interesting, or question answering... it's just simple. Acrobats don't randomly attack people on a diplomatic mission. The Skydancers who attacked you aren't acrobats, or at least they aren't anymore."
She cracks a smile. "Thanks. I was worried that the circus-performers of the nation had mobilized against me."
"Then the question is why?"
"Why are you interested?"
"My other options are to sit in my box, and even if I my conversation choices weren't limited to preachy children, curious children, and your violent friends, who still don't quite understand the things I say, It is rare that I get to speak to a member of the royal family."
She ponders this briefly. "You have a point. Does it meet your expectations?"
He nods.
"You certainly don't disappoint."
She isn't sure how to react to that at all. A joke? An insult? A compliment?
She looks at him, as if searching out an answer to that question. "You've been following us since Omashu? Or... Hitching a ride, I suppose?""
"Leaving the walls open made it a lot easier to slip in. I honestly thought you all would search the ship before take off but...."
He shrugs.
She grumbles a little; right. Searching the ship is a thing they should do. She looks like she's about to try and justify it, but decides against it: she's royal, he's not, and she's under no obligation to justify her failings to him.
He thinks.
"You call him Zeng."
"He named himself a General, when he was due no such honor - and I will not sully a rank and such a respected title, with the name of a traitor. Nor will I grace treason with that respect."
"You do not use the rank he had earned either, you simple call him Zeng, Princess."
He has a point, and her face contorts into a grimace at the stress on her own address. "We strip people of rank when they commit treason," she spits back.
"You are of the Royal family, and the current Fire Lord likely agrees with you, so your point is valid, unless the diposed Fire Lord Ozai, or Princess Azula were to return to power, in which case, General Zeng will be a hero, who carried on the traditions of our people, even in the face of adversatiy."
Even though he agreed with her, Sozu still feels the need to be angry about it -- "That's what happens when rulers disagree." Her diction, when she speaks, is very sharp.
"You know had the war continued, he would have been a General eventually"
"He would have likely been promoted to General anyway. If he had not abandoned his duty, disobeyed his orders, and begun attacking his own countrymen."
"You are as mistakenly idealistic as your friends then. There is no room for him in the new Fire Nation. We have been worked like steel for a hundred tears to be a weapon. Every citizen, to serve the fFire Lord, to be a soldier, but we no longer need an army large enough to conquer the world do we? And now our men only have the skill for war. We are not farmers, or textile producers, Nor would we have the space or resources to do the even if we had the skills. Those are the men you fight tomorrow, the cast offs of the new Fire Nation. And I am not asking for your sympathy, but a soldier who looks upon his enemy and chooses to see a monster deserving of death, rather then choosing to understand them as men... That soldier is a coward, without honor. Your friends may be willing to live by that but you are a Princess of the Fire Nation. I know you are better then they are."
She grimaces at the first part, and seems about to interject an angry response, but she listens instead. She is tense with anger, but it makes her posture and her carriage even straighter and more regal than usual -- she is tense with pride, too.
When he finishes, she nods tersely. "It has been on my mind." She turns, still stiff-backed and with her head high. But she's not exactly sure if she should say something more -- or leave -- or if she has to say something before she leaves.
"The reason I said Zeng would have been a General... everyone in the Fire Nation is aware that those of the Royal Family are the most powerful firebenders in the world.
General Zeng may not be as powerful as the Dragon of the West, or Fire Lord Ozai but he is more capable of doing things with Fire then anyone else.
That combined with his desire to study his enemies, means that if you face him in battle, he will more then likely know the moves you rely on, and already have come up with ways to counter them."
She stops, although she doesn't turn to fully face her prisoner again, she's got him out of the corner of her eye.
"... more capable of doing things with fire. How interesting. And how vague. Might I ask why you're -- well, it sounds like you're warning me, really."
"Because you are a Princess of the Fire Nation. My loyalty is to my commander and the Fire Nation. If you and Zeng face each other tomorrow, the out come of that battle will shape the future of our Nation. Our fate will be decided with honor."
"Well, tomorrow will tell. I'll -- we will see. Sleep well."
That's it; that's a decisive enough farewell, and she heads to the door.
Starting with a the conversations with the Fire Society Prisoner the Party captured at the last game.
After the Avatar returns, when room is empty except for the prisoner
and himself, Song walks up to him. His expression is serious, and his
knuckles are tight.
"I'm sorry your people don't have enough food, and that people want to
kill you for what you've done. Maybe you'd like to try being
slaughtered, raped, and enslaved for awhile before you try for
sympathy again.. then maybe we can talk about how terrible your life
is."
"In the meantime, I'm going to go crack as many fire Society heads as
I can. Your people have tried to destroy everything good in my world,
and I have no pity for any of you."
With that he walks out, not visibly reacting to anything Tsung says.
He finds a place to watch the room out of sight, and sits down to think.
Tsung doesn't seem bothered by these statments.
"A real soldier does not ask for symapthy, nor pity form his enemies."
Some time later...
Sozu arranges it so that she gets a hold of Tsung's next meal, and brings it in for him. (If this involves frightening an Air-Bending student out of the task, so be it.) She still looks tense and pissed off from the argument about the battle strategy; of course, she's also about to be attacked by a fleet of airships, so being tense is quite understandable.
He is sitting in his comfortable little box.
"The Fire Society will be here soon."
His comment is rather non chalant.
"I noticed." Her tone doesn't quite match his for nonchalance. "It's going to be messy. ... Do you expect that, if they take the day, Zeng will release you and reward you for such staunch loyalty, especially in the face of capture?"
Oddly, Sozu is pretty sure that's exactlty what Zeng will do.
I'm sure I would recieve praise, certainly if others prove to be more effective in their attack, they too will be rewarded.
Though I doubt I would be that interested in a reward. I serve my country, that is my purpose, why should I be rewarded for fullfilling my purpose."
"I didn't say you'd be interested in a reward... Love of country should be enough of one. I'm curious about your commander."
Still not saying "general".
"Do you mean the man I joined the Fire Society for, or General Zeng?"
That catches her unawares. She blinks a moment. "They're not one and the same?"
"The General believes in the Fire Nation... he believes that the world will be better off with a Phoenix King. But he is not the man who holds my loyalty. My commander proved to be a great man, and a great leader, and so I follow him."
"Who is your commander, then?"
Sozu can't help being curious.
"Lt. Chen was my commanding offcier during the war. He looked out for us, he was an honorable man, career military as many of us were. I suppose much of our Country knows of no other way to live. The Lt was smart, and he did things for his men that meant when he told us that surrender wasn't an option, and we'd fight on under Zeng, not one of us went against him."
She nods; the decision she abhors, but the reasoning she respects. Oddly.
"Army?"
He nods.
"I know you maintain close ties to the Navy Princess."
"My immediate family has the distinction of having served in all major branches of the military." And the distinction of having achieved the highest commands in two of them, to boot. But that does somewhat go without saying, if he knows about one of her brothers - the Naval brother. Maybe that's how they should be categorized.
It doesn't seem unusual to Sozu that he's aware of this, either.
"What will you do if you win?"
"Continue my mission." This is natural, matter-of-fact, and quite obvious (to Sozu, at least).
He nods.
"I meant with the Fire Society."
She turns about a quarter-turn away from Tsung, and she tenses up slightly: "I may ask the Fire Lord's permission to hear what he intends to do. If he should deign to ask my opinion, I would encourage that discipline be firm but fair, and not... motivated by vengeance or anger."
‘So you'll put us all in a stone box until you can give us to Fire Nation?"
That earns him an even more irritated frown. "Alternatives would be very quickly dismissed."
He makes a hmmph sound, and those back to silence.
"I see... you seem to have everything figured out. No questions left unanswered."
"You've been the one asking questions. And, no."
"So what out there still troubles you?"
"Acrobats. Air Benders. Air Ships..... things that begin with 'A'." The beginning is in earnest; the second part, glib. ... Nilak is rubbing off on her again.
"The Skydancers.... why exactly did the waterbender kill one of them? And for that matter...."
He shakes his head.
"Let's just stick with why she killed your friend."
"You're apparently already aware of what happened on Kirachu island - so why are you asking?"
"I'd heard about you destroying a Fire Nation military base. I was aware that you got drunk, and your friends fended off a group of attackers."
He quirks an eyebrow.
"Oh my, you were attacked by acrobats? What did you do to anger them?"
"I told you I had unanswered questions - and - I - ugh. Acrobats!" The poor, angry Princess. She spits the last part out with forceful vehemence. Partially because she's upset at Tsung, and partially because she's upset at acrobats.
"Well... "
He cross his fingers.
"...They aren't acrobats."
She turns back to face him fully. "Oh, really?" And despite trying to play it cool, goodness gracious is she interested.
"Nothing so interesting, or question answering... it's just simple. Acrobats don't randomly attack people on a diplomatic mission. The Skydancers who attacked you aren't acrobats, or at least they aren't anymore."
She cracks a smile. "Thanks. I was worried that the circus-performers of the nation had mobilized against me."
"Then the question is why?"
"Why are you interested?"
"My other options are to sit in my box, and even if I my conversation choices weren't limited to preachy children, curious children, and your violent friends, who still don't quite understand the things I say, It is rare that I get to speak to a member of the royal family."
She ponders this briefly. "You have a point. Does it meet your expectations?"
He nods.
"You certainly don't disappoint."
She isn't sure how to react to that at all. A joke? An insult? A compliment?
She looks at him, as if searching out an answer to that question. "You've been following us since Omashu? Or... Hitching a ride, I suppose?""
"Leaving the walls open made it a lot easier to slip in. I honestly thought you all would search the ship before take off but...."
He shrugs.
She grumbles a little; right. Searching the ship is a thing they should do. She looks like she's about to try and justify it, but decides against it: she's royal, he's not, and she's under no obligation to justify her failings to him.
He thinks.
"You call him Zeng."
"He named himself a General, when he was due no such honor - and I will not sully a rank and such a respected title, with the name of a traitor. Nor will I grace treason with that respect."
"You do not use the rank he had earned either, you simple call him Zeng, Princess."
He has a point, and her face contorts into a grimace at the stress on her own address. "We strip people of rank when they commit treason," she spits back.
"You are of the Royal family, and the current Fire Lord likely agrees with you, so your point is valid, unless the diposed Fire Lord Ozai, or Princess Azula were to return to power, in which case, General Zeng will be a hero, who carried on the traditions of our people, even in the face of adversatiy."
Even though he agreed with her, Sozu still feels the need to be angry about it -- "That's what happens when rulers disagree." Her diction, when she speaks, is very sharp.
"You know had the war continued, he would have been a General eventually"
"He would have likely been promoted to General anyway. If he had not abandoned his duty, disobeyed his orders, and begun attacking his own countrymen."
"You are as mistakenly idealistic as your friends then. There is no room for him in the new Fire Nation. We have been worked like steel for a hundred tears to be a weapon. Every citizen, to serve the fFire Lord, to be a soldier, but we no longer need an army large enough to conquer the world do we? And now our men only have the skill for war. We are not farmers, or textile producers, Nor would we have the space or resources to do the even if we had the skills. Those are the men you fight tomorrow, the cast offs of the new Fire Nation. And I am not asking for your sympathy, but a soldier who looks upon his enemy and chooses to see a monster deserving of death, rather then choosing to understand them as men... That soldier is a coward, without honor. Your friends may be willing to live by that but you are a Princess of the Fire Nation. I know you are better then they are."
She grimaces at the first part, and seems about to interject an angry response, but she listens instead. She is tense with anger, but it makes her posture and her carriage even straighter and more regal than usual -- she is tense with pride, too.
When he finishes, she nods tersely. "It has been on my mind." She turns, still stiff-backed and with her head high. But she's not exactly sure if she should say something more -- or leave -- or if she has to say something before she leaves.
"The reason I said Zeng would have been a General... everyone in the Fire Nation is aware that those of the Royal Family are the most powerful firebenders in the world.
General Zeng may not be as powerful as the Dragon of the West, or Fire Lord Ozai but he is more capable of doing things with Fire then anyone else.
That combined with his desire to study his enemies, means that if you face him in battle, he will more then likely know the moves you rely on, and already have come up with ways to counter them."
She stops, although she doesn't turn to fully face her prisoner again, she's got him out of the corner of her eye.
"... more capable of doing things with fire. How interesting. And how vague. Might I ask why you're -- well, it sounds like you're warning me, really."
"Because you are a Princess of the Fire Nation. My loyalty is to my commander and the Fire Nation. If you and Zeng face each other tomorrow, the out come of that battle will shape the future of our Nation. Our fate will be decided with honor."
"Well, tomorrow will tell. I'll -- we will see. Sleep well."
That's it; that's a decisive enough farewell, and she heads to the door.