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"Waterbenders, get into formation!! Those that cant fight, grab the wounded and retreat!! Move your ass' now!!"

At the same time that Jak had finished dealing with Captain Zhang and the first ship and began to work on the second one, Hagoda had finally managed to reach the battlefield with his team of warriors. It had been a long trek back and the village chief, who was slightly out of breath by this point, immediately began shouting commands in an attempt to restore order and develop a proper line of defense to push back the fire soldiers. There was no time to waste as Hagoda lead his men into battle, ready to lay waste to those that had dared to threaten his homeland.

This wasn't the first time Hagoda had had to deal with the Fire Nation, though the attacks had definitely been a recent development. It wasnt too long ago when the first Fire Navy fleet had made port and demanded them to surrender under the name of Fire Lord Azulon, to which Hagoda had firmly declined, refusing to bow before another. Following that, the Fire Nation would periodically send ships to various villages throughout the Southern Water Tribes, killing its residents in search for those that could move water to their will, also known as waterbenders. Little by little, they would whittle their defenses whilst taking out the waterbenders one by one, each attack dealing a small blow that began to pile up inch by inch, similar to the snow which collected upon the icy ground.

Hagoda had predicted another attack, but not one so soon and definitely not one of this magnitude; it had been one of the many reasons that they had slacked off on patrols, the majority of the warriors heading off to hunt and gather food as well as supplies. It also didnt help that during said hunting, they had found the boy named Jak Yanda, a mysterious youth with an intimidating, almost frightening air surrounding him.

The moment they had found the young man sprawled out on the snow, one of the men had alerted Hagoda and brought him out, away from the Village. While it had been a good thing, seeing as the warriors would've either been killed off or had the blood of a child on their hands, it was also a bad thing as it left the village without a proper leader to spearhead a counterattack.

Of course, now that he had returned, the chief planned to take every course of action available to make sure casualties were kept to a bare minimum.

The fire Soldiers were broken up into squads of five and then further divided and spread out amongst the village. From what Hagoda could tell, it would take some brute force to fight off such a large scale force, especially since the soldiers already had the upper hand, as small as it may have been. The only advantage Hagoda could see was that they had the home field adavntage, but it was more then enough for him to launch the retaliation.

"Everyone get into a team of three, one waterbender in each group," Hagoda yelled outwards as everyone rushed to heed his words. "Aim to defend. Give the nonfighters time to flee. If you can kill the soldiers or drive them back then feel free to do so."

Hagoda had a hunch and it was one he was willing to place his bets on.

Earlier, when he and the team were scurrying back to the Water Tribe, the dangerous young man from before had ran up and conversed with him ever so briefly before changing direction to head towards the Fire Nation ships. It had been a short conversation, but it was something that had sent a shiver down his spine, scaring him far more then even the fear of death could bring forth.

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"Do you want me to get rid of them for you?"

"Wait, what?" Hagoda asked in shock.

"I'll keep it brief. I'll attempt to get them to leave and if that fails then I'll simply kill them off. If they have any captives then I'll also free them as well. I'm not sure of the situation but it doesnt change the fact that you need my help, no? Therefore, I'll aid you in your endeavor provided you do the same for me when this is over. All you have to do is hold off the ones on the ground until I finish the ones on the ship. I'm more then capable of doing so."

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(("I must be out of my mind for doing this.")) Hagoda muttered internally as he charged headfirst into the fray, ready to spill the blood of his enemies. "Everyone!! Dont let them past you no matter what!!! STAND YOUR GROUND!!!"

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"Those who can fight come towards me. Those who cant, head towards the back. Let's get this done quickly."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Jak finally managed to let everyone out of their cells, after spending quite a few painstaking minutes locating the proper key for each door, and wasted no time on getting everything situated. Knowing there wasn't any time to dawdle, he hurriedly divided the people into two separate groups, separating them into the warriors and the civilians or, to be more precise, the useful and the useless. As harsh as it may have seemed from anothers perspective, Jak had no interest in those that couldn't offer him any assistance in the current situation, them being only slightly better then the floor upon which they walked.

Surprisingly though, the group of warriors contained far more then the amount of civilians, comprising 34 of the 51 captives. This was definitely a good thing, but it did raise a few questions within the youths head.

Were the soldiers primarily capturing the warriors? If so, why? Did they need them for a specific purpose? If they were just looking to get them out of the Tribe so as to drastically hinder the Water Tribe's ability to resist then simply killing them would be much simpler in Jak's opinion. Capturing them wouldn't make any sense unless they wanted to either send a message, or utilize them for some unknown purpose.

Another thing that brought up questions for Jak was the time frame.

When did they have time to capture so many people? Only around half an hour had passed since they initially made landfall and it shouldn't have been enough of a time lapse for them to grab so many people without Jak seeing at least a few of them being herded into the ship. The only thing that would make sense to Jak is if the current village was merely a part of an overall collection that made up the place called the Southern Water Tribe. Hagoda had never mentioned it when he had greeted him, but Jak also reasoned that the chief hadn't a need to bring it up when they first exchanged greetings. If there were other villages then the ships could have made landfall somewhere else and attacked them, capturing multiple others before coming to the present one.

Of course, all of it was mere guesswork. Without any real information pertaining to such matters, all Jak could really do was make assumptions based on what was given and what made sense.

With that being said, Jak decided to delve into the matter at hand. Scrutinizing every detail would leave him there for quite a while which was time he could be using to annihilate the remaining fire soldiers.

"Names Jak Yanda, an ally of the Southern Water Tribe," the youth began, stating his position in hopes of gaining enough of their trust for them to listen. "On behalf of Hagoda, current chief, I need your assistance in taking out those that have lay siege to out homeland. I have already eliminated the insides of these ships personally, but I cant handle everything outside by myself. With the soldiers being too widespread and possibly being twice in number, we need to work together to end it all as efficiently as possible."

The warriors all looked at each other, differing emotions plastered on all of their faces. Some looked grateful while others appeared intrigued and still others looked ready for blood. Not a single one looked as if they doubted Jak, instead revealing wholehearted trust and readiness for combat, eager to get revenge for their fallen brethren.

"You managed to wipe out the entire ship by yourself?" One of the men asked, voice filled with incredulity as he stepped forward. "You must be one powerful bender. Some of the Fire Nations elite were on that vessel."

"The elite most likely took to the battlefield. Additionally, fighting within closed quarters is much different then fighting out in the open, especially for a swordsmen. I'm not a bender, whatever that is-"

"A bender is someone that can control the fours elements to their will," a voice responded, interrupting Jak in the middle of his talk with the Water Tribesmen. "Many are born with the ability to wield a specific element. Earth, air, water, fire. Then theres the Avatar, the only one capable of mastering the four elements."

The familiar deadpan tone and the feminine voice triggered Jaks instincts as he mindlessly grabbed the hilt of his katana, twirled around and slashed towards the talking female with inhuman speed. His crimson blade struck naught but air however as the female soldier ducked underneath, somehow matching Jak's speed as she simultaneously released a blast of purple flames directly into the youths face, forcing him to hastily retreat as flames licked at his nose. Surprise colored his face as he struggled to regain his composure.

He was too late as the female soldier from before grabbed his throat and, using his already shaken balance, slammed him onto the ground. Pain shot through him as his head slammed into the metal floor, bright lights flashing into his vision ever so briefly before the world returned to normal.

It was the first time since waking up that Jak had actually faced someone just as good as he was and it had caught him off guard. Having dealt with easy prey up until that point, Jak had neglected to stay on alert.

"You're formidable," the female muttered as a line suddenly appeared on her mask. "Any closer and I would've died. You have my respect."

The mask fell apart, split in half by Jaks lightning fast cut, revealing flowing red hair as bright as the young man's blade. A cute, youthful appearance came into view as the mask fell onto the floor, an emotionless face present behind the veil. Violet eyes tinged with a cold logic stared into Jaks black ones as the two faced off, neither one moving from their positions. The Water Tribesmen didnt dare to make a move as they backed off, clearly unwilling to get in between the two of them.

"You gave me your name earlier. I asked because I was debating on a few matters myself. Now that I met you, my decision has been confirmed." The female removed her hand from Jaks throat and stood up, her eyes never leaving the red haired boy. "My name is Kushina Uzumaki and I'd like to join you. Please consider this option carefully."