We left that evening. We had no idea what to expect. We left with only one objective with the minimal amount of information possible. Leave at dusk. Drive north of the city. Stay out of sight. Get to the Eastern mountains. Go south and get to Iroh's camp. It wasn't much to go off of, but we knew what we had to do and that we didn't have much time.
It was pitch black outside, not a sound in the world save out tank. We kept the lights off inside to avoid attracting wandering eyes and kept noise as low as possible, despite the noise of the engine. I saw Gi Gu sleeping in his seat, understandably so given the time in the night. Me, I couldn't sleep. I could back at camp, but not here. Not in the middle of the job. I remembered all too well what happened the last time that I hadn't paying attention. I wasn't going to make the same mistake this time around. I looked outside the viewport ahead of me and couldn't see any sign of where we were. It was when I opened the hatch above me and poked my head outside that I was finally able to see the black wall of Ba Sing Se, towering to the south to our left. There was no moonlight to illuminate it. Merely the difference between black and blacker. The sea, although a distance, was to our right. In the tank, you would think you were being heard for miles judging by the noise it generated, but, by some miracle, we hadn't been found. Yet.
I closed my hatch and turned to face where Gan was sitting at the controls of the tank, safely buckled into his seat, probably as tired and sleep deprived as me. We had slept back at camp, waking up only 10 minutes before it was time to leave. Still, It hadn't been enough.
"Want me to take over?" I offered.
"No. Thanks though. I'm good."
"You probably going to want me to take over later on?"
"Probably not. No fault of yours, but I'm not very keen on letting anybody drive this thing aside from me anymore."
My eyes instinctively wandered to the dreaming Gi Gu, safely buckled into his seat. I would say he didn't have a care in the world, but he was different this morning. Or yesterday morning depending on the time. He seemed less…cheery, I guess. Not that he'd ever been cheery, but he just seemed, more serious. I didn't know what to call it.
"Yeah. Understood. Still. Some sleep might do you good."
"It's going to be a while before I sleep out here. I get the feeling it's going to be the same for you."
"Probably so. Knowing how our enemy just loves to hide and pop out when we least fucking expect it, it's a good idea to have as many eyes as possible on the road at all times."
"Couldn't agree more, though I recommend sleeping. We have a long drive ahead. We should get past the wall by around dawn. From then, it's into the mountains, out of sight of the sea and the wall, and we go south along the river until we get to the Serpent's lake, and we head East to Iroh's camp. We'll be there by around this time tomorrow at this pace."
This time tomorrow. That was a long time without sleeping.
"Think we have the supplies to last that long?"
"Well, we stocked up on water, 3 meals for each of us, and we got a crossbow, 50 bolts, 3 personal short swords, and a firebender. So assuming we don't get attacked by a group of Earth Kingdom soldiers older or larger than us, we should be fine."
"Assuming we do end up fighting, if we're lucky, we won't be immobilized. We'll be faster, stronger, and heavily armored. We could at least take some down with us."
"If it comes to that, then I imagine we will, but frankly, I'm hoping it doesn't and we actually do manage to make it to the Dragon's camp."
"Why's he even called that?" It was a question I've had for a long time. I've always heard of him being referred to as 'the Dragon' but had never gotten any justification as to why. I knew it wasn't important, but I was going to be stuck in this tank for another day, so I may as well get something out of it.
"He killed the last Dragon. In the Fire Nation, they would reward you with the title of "Dragon" for killing one. It was a symbol of prestige and might. Well, turns out, in the Fire Nation, they love that kind of shit. So, Lou and behold, the Dragons started getting killed. The esteemed heir to the throne took it upon himself to earn the title of Dragon before it was too late, and he killed the last dragon on Earth. Some even claim he killed the last two."
"How do you know this?"
"Parents would tell me all about it. Said that I wouldn't just be a soldier, but I would be a hero, like him, when, eventually, I was old enough to be a soldier." He gave out a small cynical chuckle and said, "That day sure came sooner than they expected."
"What'd they say about you being deployed?"
"Probably a lot. I wouldn't know. They wouldn't let us see them after word of our deployment got out. Shame too. They missed my birthday."
"Really? When was it?"
"4 days ago. Same day as our little foray."
"Happy birthday."
"Thanks. Sucks to nearly get killed on your birthday though."
"If anything, it's pretty good. You avoided near death on your birthday."
"Well, when you look at it like that, I can't deny my luck."
"What did you wish for?"
"Why would I tell you? If I do, it won't come true."
"Oh please. That's dumb."
"Oh, Shut up. I'm fighting a kingdom of people that desperately want to kill me. Let me keep a little childish enthusiasm with me."
"Ugh. Fine. Suit yourself. At least tell me if you made your wish before or after the battle."
"Heh. Before."
I fell back into my seat, wishing I had heard the opposite of what I did. "Ah Shit."
"What?"
"You wished for a chance to prove yourself on the field, didn't you? Son of a bitch."
"Fuck. It's that obvious?"
"Hell yeah it is. We were unexperienced kids who had been waiting around for weeks in a battlefield without seeing so much as an enemy soldier. Of course you would wish for something like that."
"Oh. And you wouldn't have?"
"Of course I would have! We were all waiting for the same exact damn thing. Well, congratulations, you got your wish!"
"Hey, yell louder while you're at it. Last thing I need is Gi Gu waking up and asking if we're there yet before we get our heads taken off by a flying rock."
I sank back down into my seat, sighing. "What's up with him, anyway?"
"Who? Gi Gu?"
"Yeah. He seemed, different. This morning."
"Gi Gu seemed different, huh? Stop the fucking presses."
"Just. More serious. Did you say something?"
"What do you mean, did I say something?"
"I'm just asking if you talked to him about that day. Maybe told him how to better prepare for something like that."
There was a pause as he seemed looked ahead of himself, into the empty night, until he replied with, "Yeah. I guess I did say something like that. Don't worry. He won't be a problem anymore."
"I hope so. I'm not particularly fond of the idea of getting into another situation like that last time."
"Yeah." Gan replied. "Neither am I."