Kim Bae-Sook stared out to where the craggy ledge of their campsite fell away into a sea of clouds. The mountains towered all around him, swooping out of the sky like vast ocean waves, up and up until their white tops faded away and earth and sky was one.

He heaved a sigh.

The boy sat there alone for a long time, watching the first rays of sunlight pierce the cloudy covering beneath him. So absorbed was he in his own thoughts that he did not notice the man who was presently standing behind him. The man stood silently at the edge of the cliff, following the boy's gaze across the open sky. He watched in silence, the boy wrapped in such a solemn demeanour that he was prevented from interrupting. But the slowly rising sun hastened him on his business and he sat down next to the boy.

He handed him a ragged ball of rice, wrapped neatly within a large green leaf.

"Here, eat." he said. The man took a small bite of his own as an example and the tiny bundle was gone within two bites.

Bae-Sook took the ball and unwrapped the covering leaf slowly, looking out at the gradually lightening sky.

"Thank you Jiang."

The man, Jiang, sat up straight and looked at the rising sun.

"It's almost dawn." he told the boy, "We'll be going soon."

"I know." Bae-Sook replied, eating his small rice ball one grain at a time to make it last longer.

They waited as the sun began to peek out from behind the mountain tops, its golden light bathing everything in a warm yellow glow. Bae-Sook could feel its warmth seeping into the surrounding countryside and slowly returning the sleeping mountain to life. Animals were beginning to peek out and crawl around the ragged pathway the men were sitting on. Not far away was a large metal machine, looking at odds with the natural environment. Its vicious looking spiked wheels glinted in the slowly growing sunlight. Every once in a while a braver sort of creature would come up to it and sniff it. But, as if they could smell the scent of blood and death on its carriage, they would scurry off quickly in fear. Even the animals knew it was dangerous.

It was dangerous, but still a man was sleeping peacefully next to its large spiked belt wheels. Another man tinkered quietly with its engines, fearlessly reaching into its inner parts as if operating on it. These humans, at least, did not fear the machine.

And for now, there was nothing to fear. The great army of the Fire Nation, that terrible foe so feared by the others, was scattered across the pathway in small campsites which had still barely awakened. Everything was hushed, as if the whole world was holding its breath in expectation for a new, exciting day. The hush covered everything.

Then Bae-Sook spoke again, his voice a reverent whisper.

"You know... This place. It kinda reminds me of home. All the mountains."

Jiang turned to look at him.

"I guess it would. You're from the Jozun region aren't you?"

"Yeah."

Jiang looked at the rising mountaintops that soared above the clouds with a kind of awe. The darkness of night had fallen away to reveal a vibrant, living rock covered in plants and colours. It was so large and unbearably empty of human habitation, so utterly different from the busy city of Jiang's childhood. Here, they were so alone. And it was beautiful.

"If this is what you're home looks like," Jiang finally replied, "then you're lucky. I can't imagine living in a more beautiful place."

But Bae-Sook only shrugged. "I guess."

Jiang raised an eyebrow at the boy's uncertainty.

Bae-Sook sighed. "I mean yes. I mean, I don't know. I always thought they were boring. Home was boring. I wanted to see the world."

He turned away from the empty blue sky and rested his head on his knees. "But now... I don't know what I'd give to see them again."

Jiang looked at him silently. He thought of his own home, of his four younger siblings he had abandoned. The war had taken so many things from them both.

But then he smiled, throwing his hand around Bae-Sook's shoulders and pulling him close.

"Aw, come on Bae-Sook! You'll get back to your hicky little peasant village again eventually!"

The boy tried to smile. He didn't like being called a peasant, but he knew that the man was trying to cheer him up.

"But until then, adventure awaits!" Jiang continued, waving his hand to indicate the vast expanse, "Just think, today we're going to the Northern Air Temple! It's an amazing place, I know, I've been there."

Bae-Sook laughed and pulled himself away from the older boys grip. "Maybe you can tell me one of your stories about it sometime then."

But before Jiang could launch himself into a long lengthy tale, they were interrupted by the sudden appearance of a third member. The small skinny boy who had been operating on the tank had grown bored of playing doctor, and seeing the two laughing smiling on the ledge had come to investigate.

He sat down next to them, bravely pulling himself to the tip of the ledge until his legs were dangling over the empty air. He kicked them back and forth so much that the others feared for his safety.

The boy leaned back into a comfortable sprawl. "So. What's up?" he asked.

Jiang shrugged. "Just admiring the scenery," he said, and the boy, Jun, nodded enthusiastically.

"It's amazing!" he agreed, "I've never seen anything like it. It's so peaceful."

He frowned.

"And boring." he added in an undertone.

They had been slowly travelling across the mountains for days, their small convey stretched into a long flimsy string due to the narrow passageways. So far it had been completely uneventful.

"Well, I'm glad." said Jiang. "This is a peaceful mission, after all. We're just going to the temple, picking up some weapons, then leaving."

Jiang, who had seen action before, was happy enough to leave it at that. But the two boys, eager and untested, desperately, although secretly, desired for something to add excitement to their dreary march. Deep in their hearts they hoped for an enemy ambush, or some kind of secret raid in which they could test their courage and earn their manhood. Anything would be more exciting than this.

"If it's a peaceful mission then why do they need so many tank units anyway? I'm sick and tired of moving around for nothing." Jun whined.

Jiang shrugged. He was the leader of the crew, but his rank was not high enough that they would share such information with him. There was nothing to say. They all stared at the rising sun in a peaceful silence. The signal to leave would be coming soon enough, but for now they had the time to themselves.

It seemed like Bae-Sook and Jiang were perfectly content to waste the rest of this time in silent meditation, and so Jun courageously tried to join them.

He tried to sit still for a few moments.

Then he twitched. He tapped his foot impatiently. Jun couldn't stand doing nothing.

"I'm bored." he announced. He got up and paced anxiously back and forth. Back and forth. How long were they going to be staying here?

Suddenly a flare went off and slowly a wave of activity animated the sleepy soldiers on the cliffside. Jun whooped and started gathering everything together and shoving them away into packs.

Jiang pulled himself up from the mountaintop.

"Right." He commanded, "Let's get moving. Somebody wake up Takashi."

The fire-bender was snoring peacefully underneath the shadow of their tank, his long hair loose from his usual pony tail and half-covering his face.

Jun threw the blankets he had been carrying to the side and ran up to the man.

"Takashi! Wake up! We gotta go now!" he yelled.

But with an angry growl, the sleeping man turned over pointedly and dragged his blanket over his head. Jun stared at him in disappointment for a second, then tried again.

"Come ooooon Takashi!" complained Jun, shaking Takashi vigorously, "You're gunna make us late again!"

"arrrrrgghhppph shush." came a muffled shout from beneath the blanket. The blanket twitched, then stopped moving, for all intents and purposes dead to the world.

But Jun was not fooled by the possum act and applied himself energetically to shaking it until finally a sleepy looking man tumbled out.

"Argh! Why do who always do that!" the man groaned, "Can't you just let me sleep for once?" There were few things that Takashi truly cared about, and sleep was one of them.

But Jiang, who had risen from the cliff's ledge to watch the battle with amusement, only laughed. "Takashi, if we just let you sleep you would never wake up! And who's going to shoot fire at the enemies if you are not awake?"

Takashi ignored him and wiped the sleep from his eyes. His clothes were rumpled and dirty and he slumped dejectedly.

"When are we going?" he said, giving in to the inevitable.

Bae-Sook shaded his eyes and looked toward the sky. The sun was no longer a shimmering crescent but a fearsome glowing orb in the sky.

"Soon. Maybe about ten minutes." he guessed.

"Then you don't have to wake me up until ten more minutes." Takashi mumbled, his face disappearing beneath the blanket once more.

Sleep was rare enough to find on voyages, and Takashi was determined to use every precious minute that he could. A soldier's life had scarce other pleasures, he had learned the hard way.

But before he could close his eyes, Jun swiped the man's blanket and threw it away.

"Nuh-uh. Up and at em buddy! I thought fire-benders rose with the sun!" He tossed a red suit of armour at Takashi which hit him hard in the shoulder

"Come on. Come on! Get dressed and let's go." He hurried off to prepare the tank for their departure. Jun couldn't bear waiting any longer.

Grumbling, Takashi pulled on his armour and got up, rubbing his shoulder ruefully where the armour had hit him.

Jun was already wiggling his way into the small opening of their tank. Lying on his belly, he gripped the control levers and gave it a pull. The tank lurched forward a few inches.

"Everything seems to be working properly!" he announced, grinding the machine to a halt again. "We are ready and rip-roaring for action!"

"Good." said Jiang as he clambered into the turret with Bae-Sook. "Everyone get inside and wait for the signal."

The sun was high now. They should be leaving any minute. The others complied, but Takashi, who was still not entirely awake, did not budge from his comfortable position on the ground.

"Now? The signal to leave could take forever." he pointed out, still sitting sleepily by a large rock, "Why should we have to be crammed into this stuffy machine to wait?"

The others shrugged and so he remained outside. He looked up the narrow path that wound around the mountain ahead of them. Other tank units were spread out on the road ahead, and from Takashi's limited viewpoint he could see thousands of tiny figures sprawled across the pathway preparing to leave. Everyone was bustling with activity.

Suddenly a blaze of fire shot of in the distance.

The first signal. They were leaving in 10 minutes. Jiang yelled at Takashi to get in the tank and the man scrambled to get into the already crowded turret. His body was halfway inside when the second flare went off. Jun gave the lever an enthusiastic heave. The tank lurched forward.

Takashi tumbled straight into Bae-Sook. The bodies in the turret were a crumpled heap, but at least everyone was in.

"And we're off!" Jun cried happily, navigating the tank expertly across the treacherous rocky ledge.

"Onwards to death and glory!" he whooped, grinning widely. He sped up until he was a few lengths away from the unit ahead where he was forced to slow down. Above, a string of tanks that stretched out along the pathway as far as the eyes could see.

Inching ahead slowly, like a line of ants, the fire nation army advanced, their tanks crawling single file up the thin winding passage way.

A steady, slowly advancing chain of destruction.

I actually posted this story a long time ago, and it was one of the first fanfics I ever finished. But at the time I was really insecure and after having it up for a few days I thought, "No I can't do it anymore, my fic is garbage and I am garbage and it's not fit for human consumption." But as I said, that was many years ago and I've grown a little bit more confident in my abilities since then, haha. Rereading the story many years later it's not nearly as terrible as I remember, so I thought I might as well post it again. That being said, it's not perfect, because to be quite honest I have no idea how tanks work, or armies for that matter. But in any case, it's just a story, so I decided not to sweat it too much. If you like it, please review!