Earthly Reigns: A Prince's Retribution Against the Four Nations Ch.3

— Two Years Later: Ryushi —

“I know you’re not holding back against me now, Ryu!” Bumi grinned, bending a massive rock at me. I side-stepped it before rushing toward him. The old king grinned as I closed the distance between us, attempting to throw a punch but being backhanded away. “A smart move. You can’t beat me in a battle of earth bending, so you engage in close range. Try again.”

Angered by his words, I got up from the ground and bent the earth to blast me toward Bumi. He dodged the attack, once again attempting to backhand me-

I weaved around his hands, punching him hard in the gut. Bumi’s eye widened minutely, and he barely got pushed back before smacking me with a powerful backhand.

My body skidded across the earth before I stopped, laid out on the ground, tired and beaten.

“That’s enough, Ryu.” Bumi walked forward, his powerful body rippling with muscles that no man his age should have on display. “You’ve improved a great deal; I think you may even give me a good fight with that particle bending of yours.”

I frowned and nodded at that as I stood up.

It had been two years since I’d learned of my new bending ability. During that time, I learned a few things about it that expanded my knowledge and skill when using it.

First of all, it was a great deal like the particle release from the Naruto anime/manga; in fact, I’d argue that it was precisely the same. It allowed me to alter/destroy the atomic structure of things.

Which in this world…was op.

Bumi had me keep it a secret this entire time, and when I told him that I wanted to join the army, he told me that in time, he would give his answer.

Whenever we sparred, he didn’t allow me to use my ability, particle bending. He didn’t want me to use it against him for many reasons, the most obvious being how dangerous it was.

So that’s how the two years were spent: training my normal earth bending abilities against Bumi when we sparred and training my particle bending later in the day. My control over both had grown significantly and I no longer needed to strain myself when I used particle bending.

“Why don’t we eat? Come on, Flopsie, it’s chow time, kek!” Bumi snorted, laughing his way over to the massive gorilla goat who craved his attention. “Come along, Ryu.”

“Right.” I smiled, dusting myself off and following them. We made our way through the castle, all the while I wanted to speak up to Bumi. To ask him again if I could join the army, to start my journey in ending this shitty war. It had been going on for long enough, and I knew it would only get more bloody when Ozai came into power.

We made it to the dining hall where there was a relatively large table made of Earth. When I had asked Bumi why he chose an a table basically made of stone, his answer was the obvious one.

“Well, you don’t expect to sit by and let the firebenders invade my city, do you? Kek.”

“Sit, Ryushi.” Bumi gestured to the seat beside him, and I followed his command.

The old king tapped his fingers on the table and hummed while we waited for the chefs to bring our meal. It was wild how calm he acted when the Earth Kingdom was getting our asses handed to us. The majority of our fields in the western side of the Kingdom burned to shit by the firebenders looking to bleed our time and force our surrender.

Eventually, a group of chefs walked in with two normal-sized plates for Bumi and I, and one massive plate for Flopsie. We gave quiet nods to them before they walked out, leaving the three of us alone.

Bumi started digging in, wasting no time and consuming his meal like it was incredibly delicious, and upon tasting it, I realized that it was.

These chefs…they never failed to amaze me.

“You’ve grown strong, Ryu.”

The old king’s words caught me off guard. I looked up from my plate to see him looking at his, still eating, although there was a clear mood shift in the room.

“Day after day, I’ve tested you, and day after day, you’ve improved. Of all the earthbenders I’ve seen in my life, I must say, it is you who has the most latent potential.”

I blinked at how deep and rumbly his voice was. In all my life, the only times I had ever heard him talk like this were when tragedy struck or Omashu was in a really bad place. Both were incredibly rare events.

“Great-grandfather, is something worrying you?”

He didn’t answer for a moment which did little to calm my nerves. If he was this serious, something bad was around the corner.

“This world is without an Avatar, and the Fire Nation grows stronger by the day, while the Earth Kingdom, and Water Tribes grow weaker. With time, I fear Omashu may fall.” Bumi said solemnly, pushing away his unfinished plate.

“Then please,” I held my hand to my chest. “Let me join the-”

“Timeout, Ryu.” He held his hand up, stopping me. The King of Omashu leaned back in his seat, putting on a tired smile that I rarely ever saw. A smile that showed every ounce of his age, and told me that his life was dwindling. “I planned on letting you join already.”

I blinked at his words, believing I didn’t hear him right for a moment. “Can you repeat that?”

“Kek!” Bumi snorted, leaning forward and resting his chin on his hands. “I said I planned on letting you join the army.”

“S-Seriously?!” I asked with an unrestrained mixture of shock and joy. “But you said-”

“I told you that I needed time to decide.” He nodded. “That…was a lie! Kek!” He broke out into a fit of laughter, occasionally snorting and having the time of his life at my expense.

I leaned back in my seat and rubbed my forehead. This…it was good! I could join the army, I could make a change! Aang wasn’t due to show up for another four years if the events and timing of his return remained the same as canon, which means-

I had four years to clear a way for a swifter defeat of the Fire Lord.

Or at least, a less bloody one.

“Listen, Ryu.” Bumi started, smiling at me. “Not only have you grown at incredible rate, you’ve shown a great desire to help people. I see a lot of my young self in you, but I’ll admit, even at your age, I was no where near your level of power, especially with that little gift of yours.”

Bumi blinked for a moment before continuing. “Speaking of that gift, the whole point of our sparring without you using that…particle bending was in order for you to build a strong foundation with your earthbending.”

“A foundation?” I asked, stroking my chin. “What does that even mean?”

“Well, earth bending isn’t very complex, not when the likes of water and air come into play.” Bumi grinned, holding up a finger. “But it’s because our bending isn’t very complex that the masters of it truly stand out. There isn’t much you can do when your bending is limited to the earth around you, but to ascend in your bending, you must learn how to use what you have, instead of pondering on what you need.”

“So…you didn’t want me using particle bending in the spars because you believed it would get in the way of me learning how to…improvise?”

“Exactly, kek!”

That caught me off guard. This entire time I thought it was because it was too dangerous to be throwing around, but I guess when you have someone like Bumi who can throw massive rocks around like paper weights, such a thing wouldn’t be too difficult to handle.

“Well, there’s also the fact that I didn’t want to die! Kek!” Ah, there it is.

Bumi continued to laugh for a few seconds before calming down. As his laughter teetered out, he once again grew more serious.

“You are young, Ryu, but you are strong, and more important than that, you are smart. I have no doubt you will succeed in growing even stronger and making a change in this world, and though it pains me to let you go, I will not hold you back from your destiny.” The old king finished with a smile. “Bring pride to me, Omashu, and most importantly, yourself.”

I couldn’t help but get a little teary-eyed at his words. I quickly rubbed them away, not wanting him to see them, or myself to shed anymore tears. It was time to grow the the fuck up and make a change after all.

“Right, Great-Grandfather!”

We continued to eat, but towards the end I wasn’t hungry, so I let Flopsie finish my plate. Once I was finished, Bumi told me to pack my things and be ready to leave tommorrow. Apparently he had gotten a cart prepared for me and I’d be heading out first thing in the morning. It surprised me that I’d be leaving on such short notice, but I guess there wasn’t really much left for me to do here anyway.

I made my way to my bed, the one I had spent the entirety of my second life sleeping in. This would be the last night I would be sleeping here for a while, and if things went bad, it’d be the last time ever.

That thought washed over me like cold water over my skin. War. I was going to be fighting in a war. A war where my enemies breathed and shot fire out of their hands and feet. A war where they wore impressive armor to defend themselves against basic attacks.

I shook my head as I climbed my bed and laid down. There was no benefit to be had getting cold feet now of all times. What I needed to do, more than anything, was focus on the present, one step at a time.

I closed my eyes, letting the nerves go, letting the expectations go, letting my dreams go.

It was time to rest, I could think about everything else in the morning.

— Chapter End —