Chapter 31: The Opened Tin Can

“Captain, we’ve received word.”

The fleet cruising the waves clung to the coastline of the vast, sprawling continent. Soldiers, marching under strict drill, polished their combat gear and repaired catapults, while lookouts behind spyglasses scanned the shore and peered into the sea. There was no trace of the former disappointment or lost morale. After the defeat off the coast of Shen Guan, when three ships were forced to retreat and regroup, Captain Masaru had taken full responsibility for getting the men back on their feet.

He hadn't lashed out at his subordinates or ground their spirits further into the steel decks of the metal ships. They had been exhausted since the early raids, so after reporting the mission's failure and docking at the nearest colony, he offered his men a "carrot," allowing them to rest at the hot springs and enjoy the company of local girls. Then came the "stick": he forced them back into absolute subordination, putting them through grueling firebending drills. Now, a new order had arrived –take to the sea and find the Sandbender. Masaru understood clearly that the failure of the last mission had severely hindered High Command’s plans; moreover, this unknown individual was pushing them back from every position and had even liberated the territories around Omashu. The source of the trouble had to be eliminated.

But this time, he had sent a request to headquarters that was meant to turn the tide.

“Are they sending reinforcements?” Captain Masaru squinted, reading the letter delivered by hawk. “A Fire Nation Army special operations group... they’ve already pinpointed the target’s location. These guys are professionals… heh.”

“The bender will travel along the southern coast; he’s likely heading for Gaoling. We’ll only have one chance to intercept him as he bypasses the mountains. Beyond that lies the Earth Kingdom Army, and they won't let a single one of our ships near.”

“Excellent…” A smile began to spread across the man’s face, eager to settle the score with a problem of this magnitude. “I hope we get lucky and it starts raining again.”

******

“Damn weather, I hate you so much!” Trudging on foot out of necessity, I rounded a massive mountain range that separated me from my next destination, Gaoling. My obvious plan had been to use my sand sailer to cover the enormous distance that would take any person without transport weeks to traverse. I had become so attuned to it that I could use it even during light rain by drying the damp grains of sand. But when a downpour started, one so heavy that the sand couldn't dry in time, clumping together and refusing to pick up speed, I realized just how much Mother Nature disliked me.

My only remaining method of travel was "earth waves," rising from the ground and allowing me to "surf" toward my goal, though not particularly fast. It required significantly more effort and strained my legs, but it was at least some substitute for my usual technique.

“Af!” barked a disgruntled Afka, wrapping herself around my neck. Since it was so cold outside, I had to use her to keep warm. Her warm, soft fur tickled my neck, making me feel as cozy as possible. Pressing against her warm tail provided a sense of moral satisfaction.

“Stop whining. I’m the one protecting you from the rain,” I said. As a show of mutual cooperation, I used a crystal dome, letting it levitate over my head. Although it was incredibly difficult, as I had to move the object at the same speed I was traveling, it allowed me to diversify my earthbending methods. An entire organization had demonstrated just how useful this skill was, manipulating stone gloves at a distance. I was, of course, talking about the Dai Li from the canon. I had often recalled their skills, acknowledged their mastery, and strived for the same level. Besides, you could call this long-distance defense.

“AF!” my little fox suddenly barked the moment a fast-moving object appeared in my peripheral vision. Without looking, I instinctively defended myself, thrusting my "umbrella" into its path. A moment later, I realized it was a massive boulder from a catapult. More accurately, a cascade of stones raining down on my position.

Bam-thud-crash-boom!

They slammed into the crystal shield, practically launching it toward me; landing around me and scattering piles of small pebbles; causing tremors that made me lose my footing. The projectiles nearly swept me away and sent me to the next world. My own shield, caught by the "meteorite," could have turned my body into mush. Only my trained levitation saved the day.

The stones that nearly impaled me and pierced my body froze in mid-air; my arms extended toward the crystal shield, and my feet dug firmly back into the reinforced earth. I took the impact of the crystal shield onto my own body. The giant sphere pressing from the other side forced me back several meters; bones creaked and muscles strained, causing bruising. But by putting all my strength into slowing down, I finally managed to stop. That was sudden… and painful.

Swish! Swish!

But it was even more unexpected to hear the sound of a bow firing. The rain heavily muffled all sound and greatly interfered with my weak seismic sense, but the habit of acting faster than thought had remained since the cave. In an instant, I shifted the crystal shield, allowing a swift arrow that almost pierced my head to shatter against the hard material. It took me less than a second to realize an attack was underway. Another second to look toward the assailant and glimpse a masked archer through the heavy downpour, mounted on a large komodo-rhino.

At that same moment, an entire squad appeared from behind a ridge. Five people in total, including the archer, on fast-moving beasts. Four of them held weapons: the bow, a glaive, a chain with a weight, and sticks of dynamite. The last one, smirking arrogantly, merely exhaled hot steam from his nose, causing the moisture to partially evaporate.

“So, you’re the Sandbender who drove an entire army from the territories of Omashu? You don't look like much.” The squad members smirked and began to surround me. Their sharp eyes searched for a weak point; their cautious behavior made their experience fighting earthbenders evident. “You won’t be using your favorite element. No running away like you love to do.”

“Ugh…” Meanwhile, I was in intense pain; it was difficult even to lift my arms. Brisk movements were out of the question; my legs were burning too. There it wa, the consequence of not training the power aspect of earthbending enough, failing to properly block a single stone thrown by a catapult. Never mind that it could easily shatter stone walls.

The captain’s talk was only meant to keep my focus on the squad leader, a firebender. The others quickly surrounded me and immediately utilized a polished combination: the man holding the dynamite simply threw a whole bundle toward me without even lighting it. The soldier with the chain swung and struck at my legs, while the captain thrust his hand through the air, unleashing a stream of fire that engulfed the bundle of dynamite.

Yes, if I had withstood the previous blow, I would have created a massive earthquake by now and scattered everyone with stone columns. Currently, I was severely slowed. I could only rely on control, so I would have to survive without moving a single muscle. Controlling the still-intact levitating shield, I blocked the instant explosion of the dynamite bundle – the stream of fire simply bypassed me, while the crystal shield finally cracked. In the path of the chain that nearly wrapped around my legs, a gourd of sand stood. I simply dropped it as dead weight. And all those stone fragments that had nearly hit me and were still suspended in the air suddenly accelerated and were pulled toward me.

Thud-thud-thud-thud!

A rapid barrage of shrapnel struck the soldiers from behind, knocking two men, the archer and the grenadier, off their rhinos, leaving massive bruises on their bodies. The beasts themselves were driven off, frightened by the heavy impact, and scattered. As the remaining group members looked at the crystal shield in shock, it split into many smaller crystals. The fact that I had developed my control since childhood, literally commanding a thousand particles, allowed me to use levitation without hand gestures, even if I was only pushing and pulling.

“Your fire is also weak in this weather, bender.” Accelerating the crystals, I threw them directly at the remaining men before they could even show what they were capable of. The captain tried to fight back with bursts of flame, but he couldn't destroy anything, he was knocked down and then began to be encased in jennomite, just like the rest of his team.

“W-what?!” the shocked firebender shouted as I slowly stepped closer and stopped the crystal’s spread.

“Be glad. If I let it grow further, it would first reach your mouth and nose, begin growing inward, coating the walls of your organs and crystallizing your muscles. The slightest damage would cause a wound that the crystal could also grow into, seizing every internal part of your body. And then, one strong blow, and you would shatter into a multitude of bloody shards.”

I whispered into the ear of the encased man, who couldn't even flinch. I made him tremble with fear until the last urge to fight me vanished due to the threat to his survival. It was almost sad how many people were subjected to this feeling, but I could use it to avoid killing anyone. Nevertheless, not all problems were solved yet. Turning toward the sea, I saw three partially familiar ships. Not that they were all that different, but only one person used catapults to pelt me with stones.

“…Momentum is a surprisingly dangerous force. Earthbenders use something similar.” I finally deigned to raise my hands, my face twisting slightly in pain. During this motion, sand poured from my gourd, immediately hardening into very large circular abrasive saw, about a meter and a half in diameter and one centimeter thick. Such a hard material was not easily affected by rain, and when spinning, it ignored it entirely.

Furthermore, a rapidly spinning object had the amazing property of flying further. Aiming two super-accelerated circular saws toward the horizon, I turned to Afka.

“Aim them. Please don't let me miss.” Directing my hands according to the spirit’s guidance, I made a swift snap of my palms and sent them straight at my opponent’s ship.

CRASH! CRASH!

After traveling a hundred meters, my projectiles slammed into the ship’s stern, cutting deep into the metal hull. Material designed to saw through metal could have sliced the vessel in half, but only if I were close. At a distance, I could only form new discs and send them flying under Afka’s precise guidance.

As soon as I had intimidated all three ships, casting doubt on their further ability to stay afloat, the vessels began to retreat quickly. No, I didn't sink them, which was a shame, but I attacked more for intimidation. After all, if at a distance of a couple hundred meters my abrasive discs buried themselves more than halfway in, I wouldn't just instantly become the strongest bender capable of destroying anything; there would also be a high risk of killing someone. However…

“Wanna bet I sliced half the crew to pieces?” I turned to the encased opponents, scaring them even more. “Oops… Afka, did they lose consciousness?”

“Af.”

“I think I overdid it… Ow, ow, don't nudge me, my whole body already hurts. Good thing I made all types of first-aid medicine in advance for this situation. And you looked at me like I was crazy, so who’s right now, huh? I can predict everything that will happen to me; I’m a prediction elemental!”

******

The fleet entering the port drew the gazes of all the Fire Nation soldiers. The damage, the likes of which they had never seen before, brought grim thoughts to mind; the puffing, worn-out engines running at half-power made it clear they had used every ounce of strength to flee from something as fast as possible.

People crowded around those disembarking on the pier, mouths agape at the large, thin discs sticking out by the dozens from the sterns of the steel cruisers. Everyone noticed the similarity of these discs to the projectiles often prepared by earthbenders. Those resembled thick coins, and when spun well, they could cause critical damage to a tank or even break a person’s entire body. But these were different in their… compactness. Yet, evidently, the power within them was not a bit less, maybe even more.

“Captain Masaru?” The man who stepped forward, followed by several women with strict military bearing, cast a somber look at the returning captain. “What happened? You had orders, capture the Sandbender. Did you attack the garrison near Gaoling?”

His tone was one of disappointment, with notes of anger in his voice. But Masaru’s hollow gaze, saturated with fear, pressed the base commander to the ground.

“The garrison? No… it wasn't them.” Soldiers descended from the ship’s deck, not a single spark of morale left in their eyes. The despair emanating from them soaked into all the observers. “A single Sandbender bombarded a fleet four hundred meters from shore in a matter of seconds.”

“Wh—Nonsense! Even catapults fire three hundred meters at most without a strategic height advantage; earthbenders need far more strength to hurl a projectile. No one has even come close to the advantage of a catapult.”

“No… they spun so fast they caught the air itself,” Masaru spoke in a hollow tone, looking into the very soul of his companion. “The Sandbender… can shoot further than any earthbender we know.”