638Welcome back for an update for Son of the Dragon. Hope you are enjoying. Big shout out for Dragonkw213. for being on the investor tier. We are only the start of this miniarc with this chapter but we will progress through it quickly. I hope you enjoy.
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On to the story.
Screaming filled his ears. The familiar din of battle surrounded him. It was something Naruto had long ago become accustomed to. However his mind was struggling to remember how he had gotten to exactly where he was. His eyes took a moment to refocus and the gory scene finally settled into place before him.
His troops were assaulting a ridgeline. Earthbenders from the Earth Kingdom rained boulders and other smaller projectiles down on them. Wounded troops cried out for help while others fought on around them trying to silence the enemy taking cover behind their fortifications.
"Major…" Naruto managed to get out. He felt something wet run down his face and across his lips causing him to reach up with his hand.
It came away painted red with blood.
"Colonel? Are you alright? We thought we lost you." Mulan said with a relieved breath as she made her way to him.
Their own Earthbenders had erected a crude fortification of their own here where Naruto's main force attempted to shelter against the barrage of incoming stones and boulders.
"I think you did for a moment…what happened? I don't remember the beginning of the attack." Naruto admitted.
Mulan's relieved face creased in worry once again. She gently gripped his head and turned it to have better light from the many fires around them. It was only then that he realized that hours must have passed since his last motion that Mulan moved his head in was slow and careful but it still caused his eyes to clench shut as his head swam from the simple action.
The woman scowled before turning her head to where a squad of Waterbenders were trying to save the lives of wounded soldiers.
"Kida! Get over here the Colonel is injured." Mulan barked.
A familiar head of white hair sprung up at the sound before its owner gave hurried commands to the other healers around them. An instant later and she bounded across the small stretch of ground to where Mulan and Naruto were huddled up.
"What happened?" Kida asked as she began carefully probing Naruto's head and bending some water up to clean away some of the blood.
"He got clipped by a stone in that last barrage. His helmet had to be the only thing that saved his life. Tozin caught the same size of rock in the back of the head and it caved his skull in." Mulan explained trying to impress the seriousness into the woman.
Kida rolled her eyes. She knew far better than most how devastating something like that could be.
"His brain is probably slightly swollen. Give me some time to see what I can do." Kida said as a thin ring of water circled around her commander's head and began faintly glowing as it rotated.
Naruto put it out of his mind for the moment. Injury aside he had an army to command.
"What's our status, Major?" Naruto asked.
"We're cut off from the rest of the army, General Raiko and his advanced units are somewhere on the other side of this ridge but that's the extent of our knowledge about his location. Our support units are bogged down in the dry riverbed behind us and we can't organize a true assault of the ridgeline as long as they are keeping our troops here split up and bogged down by the bombardment from their benders." Mulan snapped off rapidly.
"Hold still." Kida commanded as Naruto began to turn his head to scan the ridge.
"Sorry." He mumbled as be let Kida do her work.
"We were planning to try and rally the force to assault the ridge, then you got hit sir." Mulan explained.
"As soon as Kida is done with me we'll be doing exactly that. Begin sending word, I will give a signal and all forces will advance under cover of our fire and earth benders." Naruto instructed.
"Even after I heal you, you really should get some rest, Colonel." Kida said worriedly.
"Unfortunately we don't have that luxury. Both of you do what needs to be done and get ready for the assault." Naruto commanded.
Mulan saluted and rushed off to do as she was told while Kida scowled slightly but continued to do her best to get the Colonel back into the fight. She could do little with such little time but she could at least stop the bleeding and help him to have a more clear head.
Slowly, much slower than Naruto or Mulan would have liked, but faster than Kida would have preferred, the Mixed forces under Naruto's command began to reorganize. He managed to recall a few additional units without leadership had been assigned to him by Raiko prior to the advance.
The troops under his command had swelled to become essentially a brigade in size despite being led by a Colonel. Still Raiko had given him a balanced mix of troops as he could. What veteran units they had at their disposal were spread thinly across the whole army, but when combined with Naruto's previous forces he had by far the largest contingent of experienced men at his command.
Which was why Raiko had made Naruto's troops the hammer to Raiko's own anvil for their advance across the miles and miles of rough ridgelines and steep hills that were between their starting point and Omashu.
So far the operation was going better than expected. Losses were less than anticipated, even if they were still horrendous for both sides. At the moment however they had been brought up short. By the enemy entrenched on what had been nicknamed 'Bastard Ridge'. Raiko calling it that Bastard Ridgeline once in a briefing had trickled out tk the whole army.
This was the second time the army had attempted to take it. The previous ridges and hills had fallen so easily because the enemy was purposefully only resisting long enough to buy time. Time they had spent digging in on Bastard Ridge for quite a while now.
Despite that Naruto and his men had gotten around the southern flank of the enemy defenses just as planned and circled around cutting off not only the primary path for enemy reinforcements but also any good path for retreat.
The Earth Kingdom troops had wisely built up their defenses in all directions though and now the fight was grinding into a slug fest and miniature siege. One that the Fire Nation forces could not afford to allow to become extended any longer than it had.
"Colonel, I rounded up what I could of the officers and sergeants. We have a few still pinned down in the creek bed or ahead of us." Mulan said as she returned to his side.
"It will have to do. The squads we can't pass orders to will either stay where they are or join the assault when they see what is happening. As long as we have the main body of our men we can pull this off." Naruto said confidently and loudly enough for the leaders Mulan had gathered to hear him.
The changes in expressions were obvious as his men swelled with determination and belief. He just hoped he was right and they weren't about to rush into early graves. If that was the case he intended to be right at the front of the push so that he would pay the price right alongside them.
He needed to get them ready to tear the enemy apart if he wanted to break through. He needed aggression and power.
"You all know we have a job to do. The General and most of our forces are trapped in the ravine on the other side of this damn ridgeline. They are getting hammered by the enemy a dozen times worse than what we have been. Our brothers and sisters are bleeding over there waiting for us to come through for them. I don't intend to fail them. I won't accept failing them!" He roared to the men.
They let out a cheer of support as they nodded and gave him their rapt attention. Even those that had been recent additions to his forces seemed to revere him with complete respect at the moment. A few years ago it would have been daunting but now Naruto lived and breathed for this moment. The moment he declared his intentions and set his army to work achieving it. The shift from battered and bloodied soldiers to an unstoppable force headed for one inevitable conclusion.
"We will take that ridge. The Major will take the mixed company forces up the center, Earth Benders and Fire Benders will deploy walls of stone as needed and blasts of flame and smoke to cover the advance. Tanaka, Gozan, Sakan, you three will be joining me on taking the northern path. The rest of you recently transferred under my command will be supporting the Major however she needs you to push the center." Naruto explained the rough plan to his troops.
The three he named were the most experienced of those newly placed under his command. Their squads were also among the most numerous still having taken among the fewest losses of all the forces under his command. He could only chalk that up to their experience as they had just as often been assigned to dangerous roles as everyone else.
"Return to your units and get ready. I will start the assault with a blast of fire followed immediately by our Earth Benders and Fire Benders beginning their own attacks." Naruto said as he dismissed the men.
Mulan and Kida stayed a moment longer with him before they separated once again. Kida only squeezed her commander's hand lightly before checking his head once more. A soft white bandage had been wrapped around his head, already it had turned slightly pink. With a sigh she headed off to join with her unit.
The Major waited a bit longer. Staring into her senior officer eyes she made it clear she was worried about him.
"Race you to the top." He joked weakly.
"Be careful Colonel. Some people might not realize it but the nation needs you. A lot of people need you." She said while staring into his eyes, before turning and beginning to issue commands to ready their main force for the assault.
Naruto watched her go for a moment thoughtfully. Eventually he had to tear his eyes away from the young woman and turned to follow along the hastily erected fortifications his Earth Benders had made and headed for the flank where his cobbled together fast attack unit was being assembled.
The men assembled before him were all considerably older than him. With the way things had recently been going more and more of those he found himself in charge of were closer and closer to his age with some even being younger than him. An odd feeling for Naruto, who had been commanding men since before he could shave.
These troopers didn't eye him with the looks he had once gotten for his youth though. By now, none in Raiko's army questioned the capabilities of his young protege. Especially those like these soldiers who had served with him. They were hardened by the Great War and ready to continue the fight for the nation at his command.
Having the rapt attention and respect of veterans such as these filled him with a sense of pride but he pushed it aside to focus on the task at hand. He had no doubt they already knew they would be facing a challenging task but then again, serving as long as they had, each and every one of them was used to it.
"How are we all feeling?" He asked casually, getting some pointed looks at the bandage wrapping around his head.
"We're in good spirits Colonel. What's the job?" Sakan, the eldest and most veteran of the three sergeants, responded.
"We're going to bust into the enemy lines and take that damned ridge. Simple as that." Naruto said with a shrug and a grin.
The sergeants all snorted in unison while the rest of the squads exchanged looks. They had been told what was to come. Naruto would start off the attack with bending some fire then the assault would begin. While the majority of the line took the center and hopefully the lion's share of the defender's attention, they would race up the flank and try to get in among the enemy and break them open so the rest of the force could join them.
Lots of ground to cover between where they were meeting and where the Earth Kingdom lines were though.
"Let's not waste anymore time then. I need to remind them every now and then how I got that nickname." Naruto said, getting some chuckles from the men as he climbed up the steep path ahead of them and up onto a prominent rock.
The men became nervous with their commander in such an exposed location. He was practically open and free game for an earthbender or an archer. Thankfully he had no intention of staying exposed for too long.
He took a deep breath causing the nearby embers and fires created by the ongoing battle to flicker nearby. They sparked and seemed to grow, not greatly but as if they were reaching out toward him like a great pressure was building up and drawing them in.
The troops practically felt it as their commander took in a final deep breath through his mouth while violently slamming his hands downwards as if pushing back the air from his chest. Just as quickly as he had made that motion his hands snapped back to his waist line and he tightened them almost like tiger claws before leaning forward as he forced his hands up from his waist up to his chest and outward once more like he was clawing at some invisible opponent.
The sudden sharp change in temperature caused a crack in the air like distant thunder. It was followed not by a roar of flame but more of a whistle, like a kettle on the stove. The fire that spread from Naruto's lips was nearly white with the heat it burned out before reaching nearly fifteen feet from him and darkening to a brilliant orange and red as it expanded and widened out into a veritable wall of flame nearly twenty feet wide.
Then the roar of the flame came. Nearly deafening as the fire heated the air so suddenly. For a moment all eyes turned toward the bloom of flame leaping up the length of the gap between Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom troops.
It all took a mere few seconds. Naruto turned his head from side to side spreading the fire in an arc before him and his men. It engulfed everything and in seconds screams of alarm and pain responded to the roar of flame.
Before the defenders could properly target Naruto though they were beset by hundreds of attacks across the rest of the length of the battle line. Boulders, balls of fire, arrows, and even spears pounded the ridgeline forcing the defenders to seek cover against the concentrated barrage even as a battlecry spread among the ranks of the Fire Nation troops and infantry sprinted up the steep incline as quickly as they could.
As the main force began their assault Naruto cut the chi to his attack and hopped back off of the exposed rock, narrowly avoiding a set of three or more fist sized rocks that smashed into it hard enough to embed themselves in the position he had been standing in a moment before.
"They didn't like that much." Naruto joked, ignoring the cries of pain that now echoed from both sides as the battle twisted up into a bloodier crescendo.
His men laughed as they marveled at the smoldering path ahead of them. Their commander had torched the entire route and no doubt cooked any hidden defenders that might have been position along the route. From the sound of it he had hit plenty of enemy troops at the top of the ridge too.
"Let's get into the war!" Sergeant Gozan cried as he took off at a sprint and began ascending the path toward the enemy.
The men joined in his battle cry and threw themselves up the road to the fight, Naruto among them.
The ridge was difficult to navigate, especially while under constant attack. Thankfully, just as he had expected, the majority of attention remained on the main body of his forces as they tried to make their push up the center of the battlefield. That did not mean he and the others in his smaller unit were not facing opposition.
Above and ahead of them, Earthbenders and other soldiers of the Earth Kingdom would step out from their cover and launch attacks at them. Some were as simple as throwing rocks down at them. Not bending them, throwing, as in heaving them up and over their shoulders down the slope toward Naruto and his men.
Compared to the speedy and dangerous attacks made by the benders, such moves weren't hard to avoid. However they did create obstacles in the way as the stones rolled freely down their path toward them, causing them to have to watch their footing just as much as the enemy lines. It slowed their progress, but not enough to hamper them terribly.
As they grew closer, the enemy became more bold. No doubt beginning to grow frustrated with the progress they were making. Sergeant Tanaka took an arrow for one of his soldiers by pushing him out of the way. It barely slowed the man down as he let out a bestial howl and began bending retaliatory blasts of flame into the position he had been shot from.
Screams of pain and death could be heard toward the center of the battlefield, but due to their position, Naruto and the men could no longer see the disposition of the rest of the army. They chose to focus on the screams ahead of them which grew in number whenever they launched a successful blast up against the ridgeline with flames pouring over the tops of the defenses there.
"We're almost there!" Naruto called to his men getting cheers from them in response.
The cheers turned to angry shouts for revenge as Sergeant Gozan and most of his squad were torn apart by a concentrated attack from several Earthbenders. A storm of tiny jagged stones tore through them, digging into their armor and ripping apart any uncovered portions of their bodies.
"Gozan!" Sakan shouted as he made to help his comrade.
"No! Stay with the Colonel. Take the damn ridge!" Gozan choked out through bloodied lips.
Naruto grimaced as he passed by. The sergeant was blinded by the attack. His face mangled nearly beyond recognition. It was a wonder he could even speak.
"You filthy bastards!" One of Gozan's surviving men screamed before letting loose a rapid series of blasts of fire that danced across the length of stone walls the enemy had built.
They were close now. Close enough that Naruto could hear the enemy barking orders just beyond their defenses. He could even smell the putrid stench of the wounded.
"With me!" He roared before bounding up along the wall and using his momentum to clear the jump to the top of the stone fortification.
It wasn't especially tall, but to clear it so quickly had spurred his men onward once more and they tried their best to scale the defenses like their commander. As Naruto himself clambered over the top of the rough parapet he was already actively using his bending to circulate the chi within his body. Another showing of the Son of the Dragon was due.
A good thought on his part. As he cleared the top, he came face to face with two benders about to hurl a large boulder between them over the side onto his men. Naruto opened his mouth and the pair were engulfed in fire.
As they screamed and tumbled to the ground trying to put out the fire before it claimed their lives, Naruto turned his head to spray the rest of the wall and area behind it with fire. It was nothing compared to his earlier attack. This blast was tiny, he simply hadn't had the air and chi required to properly let loose while climbing up the wall.
It did what it needed to though. The enemy ducked back away from him or into whatever cover that they could get, long enough for him to stand up and for the first of his men to begin joining him.
Naruto didn't speak as the men began to appear beside him on the wall. Instead he rapidly worked up the next set of attacks. Around him the benders began to do the same while the swordsmen quickly began organizing into pairs to better clear the wall and cover one another's backs from surprises.
Letting loose hsi attack and letting the men get to work, Naruto spared a glance out toward Mulan and the rest of his troops. As expected they were currently bogged down by the defenders on the steep slope of the ridge. However, now that attention was turning back toward him and his men where gouts of flame were spreading within the defenses, troops were beginning to pull away to try and combat him and his men.
He couldn't see Mulan or Kida. Not from here with so much debris and so many rocky outcroppings in the way. He hoped both were fine. All he could do now was continue the mission and continue to hope that was the case.
"Keep up the pressure, break them!" He bellowed before twisting and letting loose a ribbon of fire that shot into a small earthbender made structure. Flame and smoke billowed back out of the door and window on it's wall, and Naruto moved on without further thought.
"Benders, clear the structures. Swordsmen take out any enemy trying to get around us!" He ordered.
The men fell into position. The swordsmen had helped to secure the area but now were positioning themselves so that a flank through the surprisingly extensive fortifications of the enemy couldn't catch the firebenders off guard while they pushed the assault deeper into the compound.
With Fire Nation troops within their ranks and now driving deeper into their fort the enemy seemed to begin to panic. Most continued to fight, but more and more were abandoning their positions. The main body of the enemy forces remained focused against Raiko's army on the far side of the fort but Naruto couldn't worry about that at the moment. He needed to secure the path for the core of his own forces to get onto the ridge top otherwise there wasn't anything he could do for Raiko and his men anyway.
As they pushed into the heart of the camp, Naruto felt a flicker of sympathy as he watched Sergeant Sakan and his men let a torrent of flame into what he guessed was a field hospital. His mind was taken off of the killing briefly as a familiar figure mounted the wall along the near side of the defenses.
Mulan was bloodied, her left arm in a makeshift sling, but she had been the first in her portion of the army to scale the walls anyway. She had dirt and blood, hopefully not hers, streaked across her face and yet Naruto could only see the beauty she possessed as she shouted out to her men that were beginning to join her in taking the walls.
The end of the fight would come soon.
"The Major broke through the enemy lines. Let's make our way to link up with the others!" Naruto commanded.
The men barked back a yes and followed him as they pushed into the combat once more.
The fighting for Bastard Ridge lasted over an hour after the forces under Naruto and Mulan's command entered the fortifications erected at its summit. WHile many of the Earth Kingdom troops panicked and attempted to flee, their commanders rallied the core of their troops and attempted to drive Naruto and his men out of the camp.
They nearly succeeded on three occasions.
In the end though, Naruto and his troops refused to retreat and with Raiko's forces still fighting on the main front, the enemy had no choice but to withdraw. Naruto had hoped to force a complete rout but instead the Earth Kingdom forces were able to hit his own troops hard enough that he couldn't muster the numbers for another assault on the enemy positions as they withdrew.
It meant that the enemy would simply rally further back and be able to hold out in another position. Just like this. More men would die. The war would continue to drag on.
Times like this made it feel like the war truly was never ending.
Thankfully spirits soared as the three bloody leading officers of the army met up on the ruined walls of the Ridge Fort. Before all of their men Naruto, Mulan, and Raiko reunited and declared victory for their forces.
Furthermore the bloodied officers were all met with promotions and the stores of supplies left behind the retreating Earth Kingdom troops were split out among the victorious army for a short but much needed celebration.
As the men celebrated Kida looked after her three commanding officers in the privacy of General Raiko's new command tent, established at the center of the Ridge Fort.
"Careful now." Kida warned Mulan as she helped her out of the dirty sling made from the remains of a torn unit flag.
"I think I know to be careful with my own arm. It's not even broken, just a bit roughed up." Mulan said before hissing in pain as Kida popped the dislocated limb into place with a smirk.
"You were right, not broken." Kida said before turning her attention to where the Major's armor had been essentially peeled away from an attack by an Earthbender. Slightly slower reflexes and Mulan would have at least lost her arm if not her life to the attack. As it was, her left arm was going to be permanently scarred from the shoulder down to her fingertips.
"This will take a while to heal up. It could get infected if you aren't careful too." Kida said as she began getting to work.
"I trust you to handle it." Mulan said while trying not to wince too much as the water bender went to work cleaning up and trying to treat her injury.
Raiko and Naruto watched the pair with soft smiles. They were both exhausted but neither felt that they could sleep either. In fact in Naruto's case, Kida wanted him to stay awake so she could take another look at his head after she had finished up with Mulan.
"We made good gains today." Raiko said.
"Yes, but honestly it doesn't feel like it's amounting to much anymore sir." Naruto admitted as his smile faltered and he turned to look at his commander.
Raiko sighed and nodded. The fighting had been hard and while they were closing in on Omashu casualties were still growing. At the rate they were going, they wouldn't have the man power to lay siege to the city let alone hold it if they managed to take it.
They could carve the path to it though. Show that they had done all that they could with their orders and even more than could be properly expected of them. Truth be told, Raiko felt like they had already achieved that. Still his honor and the honor of the military demanded they continue.
Push until they couldn't any more.
"What were our casualties today?" Raiko asked Naruto.
The younger man turned his eyes back toward the women as Mulan told Kida of something she had seen when they had first breached the defenses. The waterbender had some input about how best to handle certain injuries caused in the battle.
"Worse than we can keep up. Somehow well below what was projected to take the ridge though." Naruto replied to his General.
"We're much closer, but still so far away from the objective and the end…it's out of sight." Raiko said causing Naruto to swallow thickly as he thought of the losses he had seen before and during this campaign. The idea of more of it surrounding him until the day he wound up as one of them…it didn't sit right.
A hand on his shoulder brought him out of his thoughts and forced him to turn back to Raiko as the man smiled at him with a warm grin. One Naruto had seen before. A few times, always directed at Zuko from Naruto's own father.
"It may be out of sight right now, son, but you will see it. I promise that. These days are the last ones of this war and you will see it to the end." Raiko said as he turned back to where Kida was beginning to bandage up Mulan's arm.
Raiko stepped forward motioning for Naruto to join him beside the two women. He waited for Kida to finish wrapping up with Mulan but made it clear he had something to say.
Once she had finished he motioned for the three of them to line up in front of him. They did so and stood at attention as he eyed them each one by one.
"Sir?" Naruto asked as Raiko simply stared at them for a moment.
"I remember each of you when I first encountered you in the army. All of you were so young, some more than others." Raiko said with a chuckle as he glanced at Naruto.
"I haven't known you as long as these two Kida but in the time since you came under naruto's command I have watched as you flourished. Not only in your personal abilities but also in your role as a leader. You took command of our support units during and immediately after the battle saving, who knows how many lives today. It isn't the first time you have done it. You've proven yourself in combat and outside of it. I am happy to be able to elevate you to a rank you deserve. Let me be the first to congratulate the first Water bender to achieve the rank of Captain in our great nation's military." Raiko bowed his head slightly causing Kida to gasp before folding over nearly horizontal with the ground.
"Thank you General, sir!" She cried clutching at the sides of her skirt to keep her hands from roving about in the sudden swell of nervous energy she felt.
"At ease, Captain." Raiko chuckled, causing the girl to stand up straight. Though she most definitely wasn't exactly at ease. Then again she had just made history as well as skipped a few ranks. More than a few.
"Now, Mulan. The reports from your commanding officer have impressed upon me that you remain integral to his success in every engagement he has encountered. He has been able to trust you with duties no one else under his command could complete and given you roles that required complete autonomy. Not only that but you have become a commander that is both well respected and adored by her men. It would be an incredible waste of talent and ability if you were not to also be rewarded, not only for your successes today but also for your successes over your career in the army. Congratulations on your promotion, Colonel."
Again Raiko bowed his head and Mulan bowed much lower thanking him for her promotion. She shot a look toward Kida trying to calm her down with a look alone. The younger girl grinned at her friend and commanding officer, getting Mulan to quirk a smile of her own as Riako moved on to Naruto.
"Naruto, you have proven time and again what I knew from the moment I met you after that ambush. You have the eyes of the nation watching you, even when you feel alone. I could not be more proud of the officer that you have developed into, and I could not ask for a better right hand to help me achieve the impossible. I will be making the announcement tomorrow for all three of you, but I wanted to personally elevate you tonight after the battle while everything was still so fresh in our minds. Brigadier General Naruto, I thank you for your part in the battles we have fought on behalf of the nation, and for your part that you are bound to play in the battles to come." Raiko said as he bowed his head.
Naruto lowered himself completely at the waist much like Kida had done, though he did so more slowly and in far more control. He had expected this might come, though he hadn't expected it now of all times.
He was only three ranks below Raiko himself now, all considered General by lower officers and enlisted me, he was a General of the Fire Nation now. The youngest if he wasn't mistaken. He wanted to be happy about it, he was happy about it.
It also filled him with dread. The responsibility he felt weighed heavily and now he dreaded what more was to come.
Ozai drifted out of the room leaving his daughter and her two chaperones behind. Much had changed for Azula in the last year alone. She was now sixteen, a young woman by society's standards. Old enough to wed and lead in most cases. Yet she still was escorted by the old crones her father had assigned ever since her friends had been steadily split off away from her.
Ty Lee worked hard to try and stay in touch and even visit. It was quickly becoming clear that no less than Azula's father was trying to keep them apart though. She couldn't fathom his end game. Why was he so interested in keeping her isolated?
It worked to an extent though. Despite her knowing he was doing it. Chel was still with her every day, but Azula had become bitter. Resentful, not toward the woman but toward life in general. It had spilled over into what few interactions she still had that she enjoyed and she knew she was driving Chel away slowly but surely but she didn't know how to stop her damned mouth from running when she got worked up into a mood.
Whatever patience she had once possessed seemed to have gradually been carved away. The calmer way to use her bending she had been taught was barely a thought in her mind. Rage fueled her attacks which actually made her perform worse in her training with Chel even if it was a cold collected rage that she bottled up deeply in her chest.
That had made things worse. Chel grew angry as she seemed to ignore her teachings and Azula honestly despised the fact that she couldn't see any improvement with her.
At least she could see improvement when training with the old crones her father insisted remained at her side. Lo and Li were mostly annoying for the princess but they at least helped her to direct her training outside of Chel who seemed caught up in retracing the ground that Azula had already tread as far as fire bending was concerned.
"Princess," Lo, or perhaps Li started. She could never keep them straight in her mind and their method of speaking partial sentences and letting the other finish made it even harder to do so.
"A missive regarding your cousin. His campaign under command of General Raiko is progressing." The two old women told her.
"So?" Azula said almost dismissively, though she didn't dare look at them. They were not able to teach her much in a fight but she had long since learned how hard it was to hide her thoughts and feelings from the two women. Everything they perceived made its way back to the Firelord so it was best nothing was there to be reported to him.
"We thought that you would be happy to learn that he has been elevated to the position of Brigadier General. He is the second in command of the Omashu sector now and we have also heard the casualties of his forces have been well below the projected numbers." The women explained.
Azula kept her eyes locked on the handle of the door across from her as her mind swirled with the news of Naruto's promotion. A deserved promotion no doubt. The lower casualties numbers didn't surprise her. Naruto and his right hand Mulan always had lower casualty rates than any other officers did in the same scenario.
Not that it mattered. She had paid as close attention to the whereabouts of her beloved cousin whenever she could. Ty Lee had even sent her whatever rumors she had heard to try and fill in the blanks of what Azula could get. Her father liked to play games with making the reports she could get her hands on never fully complete or somehow edited.
At this point the only one she felt she could get truly honest news from was Ty Lee but the girl couldn't get her hands on higher level military documents. So Azula had to mix the authentic rumors Ty Lee picked up with the mixed and matched reports she had.
Those things had all painted a very dark and terrible picture for Naruto and his forces.
She tried to harden her heart to it, but everyday Azula felt like the news was drawing closer. Eventually she felt like word of the 'Heroic End of Brigadier General Naruto' would reach her. There wasn't anything she could do now. Even if she could get out of the palace, her father had made it clear she would be dragged back in chains if she made for the front.
Even if she did get out, what would she achieve? The orders Naruto and his commander Raiko followed came from her father alone. She might be able to commandeer a few other units and force them into Raiko's army but her authority wasn't so complete that she could interfere with the grand strategy of the Fire Lord himself. Authority which that upjumped prick Admiral Zhao could act under completely.
Then again…perhaps Zhao himself could be spoken with. His focus on hunting the Avatar and devastating the Northern Water tribe were not exactly things Azula was all that concerned with. In her mind if they could knock the Earth Kingdom out of the war finally then there was nothing that the Avatar could hope to do. Especially with only those Water tribe peasants at his back.
Maybe with a talk with Chel they could go and visit the Admiral. After all, her father would be far less intent on having her dragged home if she wasn't heading in the direction of Omashu and Naruto.
Perhaps Ty Lee could even join them. They would only be missing Mai at that point.
That is that. I hope you enjoyed it. So things with the push toward Omashu are progressing. Far better than they would if under the leadership of anyone besides our heroes. That all being said we are not through with the campaign yet. For those interested, by this point Aang is now in the North Pole, Zhao is zeroing in on him, and lots more is happening in the background.
We can see Azula is practically a prisoner in all but name now. Just as her father wished being essentially separated from those that balanced her out, Azula's mentality is withering and she is actively pushing away the few who remain by her side. However she hasn't completely lost her resolve. She can't do whatever she wishes but she can do something and she fully intends to.
Anyway
Till Next Time