Chapter Text
During his youth in the Earth Kingdom he decided to join Omashu's militia, it was dangerous for someone like him, a non-bender in a world full of people capable of creating fire out of nothing, redirecting lightning, shaping the earth, bending metal at will, controlling the flow of water, and moving other people at will, Not flying, Aang is yet to thaw and Zaheer won't be born for a few more years, but it was better to have the protection of the army than to die from a random attack in his home village. Likewise he knew that Omashu would not fall for quite some time, it would take an Azula for that. Attacks on the city were not that common, rarely did the Fire Nation actually attempt to conquer the city, many times they would simply lay siege to it for a couple of weeks and then surrender to re-establish their control over the other territories of the Earth Kingdom.
Only a couple of times a year did he have to fight, and obviously the guy didn't expose himself on the front lines, that the earthbenders would do that, they could put up a wall of earth the thickness of 3 men and stop a fireball, he was just a random man who could only wield a sword, which was the same as nothing. Although the training for them was anything but gentle either. They were always in charge of training the garrison arduously in case they were the last defense of the city so it could be said that their combat ability was not negligible either.
And then the days passed.
And the weeks followed, turned into months and over the years, King Bumi's army stopped requiring his services because apparently he was too old to fight.
Really? that old man is about 110 years old and he's still king! Not only that, he fights better than the entire so-called Omashu army. They should retire him, not me. At least the pension isn't that bad. he thought.
So he could spend his time doing... nothing, or whatever he wanted. It was then that the man could finally relax and take some time for himself in a wasteland near the mountain range. And then he saw himself. Dark-skinned, a not uncommon trait among the people of the earth kingdom, with a broad nose and a goatee trimmed like a goat, along with long, bushy, dark gray sideburns that matched his eyes.
The spitting image of an ordinary citizen of the Earth Kingdom. Almost like the comic gag from....
The man returned to the lake to check his reflection.
...The cabbage man. Damn. I don't control any elements. I'm not Sokka, I'm not Piandao, I'm not even Sukki! I'm the cabbage man.
He was an extra, though at least he was someone who had a hand in the original show. It wasn't like he was the well-versed young man who controlled the land that Katara had to save from prison. But he was something, worse than nothing. The man decided to sink into his sadness as he let out a sigh and dove into the lake for a swim. After a while he decided to clear his mind after realizing that, despite his age, his joints and muscles were still preserved thanks to a lifetime of training in the army. He was not King Bumi, obviously, but he was quite regal for his age even so he took his clothes that he had left neatly folded and dressed over his yellowish ochre tunic and adjusted over it his green linen vest, the insignia colors of the still free citizens of the Kingdom and slung his beret over his shoulder while he thought how to tell his old wife and son the news that he had been discharged from the army.
After a long walk up the access road to the imposing Omashu, the cabbage man appeared at the gate.
"Name," said one of the guards.
"Don't you recognize me?" said the cabbage man somewhat disappointed and confused.
"No, sir, you don't look like you're from around here. Name," replied the guard.
"Hold on, your face looks familiar" said the second guard.
I left town a few hours ago and was military, per the Avatar, there's no way you don't know Lance Corporal Tien.
"Yes, he looks exactly like a Fire Nation spy," said the second guard positioning his halberd to block Tien's passage.
"We've had a lot of them around here lately, what are you coming to, old man?" said the other guard.
"I live here, gentlemen, Lance Corporal Tien. Retired. I went out recently to stretch my muscles."
The guards exchanged a glance and raised their weapons yielding to the man.
"If we find out you caused any scandal..." Tien left the voice behind at the point of a firm step.
The city had many architectural secrets behind it. First, its construction on the mountain range made it difficult to invade from the sides as there were only cliffs around it. Its only land access road was steep in a continuous and narrow but more importantly, zigzagging climb which made assaults even more difficult since any Fire Nation vehicle had a small entrance road, which had to be maneuvered slowly and very carefully, or it would fall which would make it an easy target. And finally, its high and imposing walls that covered the entire lower part of the city protected Omashu from attacks from below.
No wonder it took so long to fall. thought the cabbage lord, admiring the city.
The system of canals that hugged, swirled and twisted through the city was at once impressive, King Bumi might be crazy in the eyes of all but to the careful eye it was not unusual to see that each of the gutters through which the parcels and people slid was connected to a canal that encircled the city and another that crossed it completely.
As he moved forward, the cabbage lord studied the network of transport channels admiring how the earthbenders were able to employ sufficient force to ensure the distribution of the various parcels to their final destination, or at least to the necessary connection. Swords, water, maces, maces, shirts, iron, uniforms, jewelry, silk, tunics, sand, cotton, rocks, wood, axes, letters, miscellany, ornaments,... And no food or seeds.
The ex-serviceman stopped dead in his tracks.
The volume and pace of shipments had not changed significantly, it was a little less, yes, but nothing really different from usual. What was odd to him was that of all the packages moving from end to end of the city, only a few contained seeds and far fewer had food in them.
Have I been with the army supplies for so long that I never noticed the food shortage?
The lance corporal, no, the retired lance corporal then noticed that the people around him still retained poise, but only for appearances. The people in the lower part of the city had a deep and lost look, they moved slowly, keeping their grace so as not to appear weak in front of others. There were few children running in the streets even though it was a peaceful season in the city and hospitality had been replaced by extreme rudeness towards anyone who looked at you for longer than they should have. They were wary, hesitant, and hungry.
Tien put a hand to his face covering his mouth trying to hide his smile.
Cabbage man, you're a fucking genius. He took off running towards his home in an area reserved for the militia while arousing the intrigue of all who saw someone wasting their strength running.
By the time he reached his target site he was exhausted and gasping for breath. He placed about 8 pieces of Earth Kingdom bronze on the shelf in front of him.
"Give me... as much as you can... in cabbages for..." Gasping he couldn't finish the sentence, so he pointed to the coins.
The saleswoman scanned the gentleman with her eyes.
"I can only offer you one cabbage for those 8 coins, sir."
"My apologies, it's just that... my wife is the one who did the shopping and she just got sick, when I fell ill she always prepared a special recipe with cabbages to take care of me, now it's my turn to take care of her" Tien was still panting a little but kept his breath and level controlled so it wouldn't be so noticeable.
The saleswoman frowned.
"I won't accept less than 5 pieces for a cabbage, sir." The woman put the vegetable in her basket and folded her arms as she stepped back.
The ex-military man pulled himself together in one motion, he was a little dizzy but kept his composure. He took for himself several coins leaving 3 on the wooden and polished rock shelf of the vegetable vendor.
"There's the payment for the cabbage, keep the tip if you want, really thank you very very very much" Tien said in a submissive tone.
"Sir...okay, here you go." The woman took a different cabbage than the one she had lifted earlier and handed it to her customer.
The man took it with a smile and as he began the walk he faked a fall trying to fall well so as not to hurt himself but make it believable. The saleswoman quickly rushed to tend to the injured man while keeping an eye on her merchandise in case it was an attempted robbery. Eventually the man stood up, thanked her again and left with a limp. The vegetable was left untouched, Tien of course sheltered the cabbage in his slightly larger than normal beret, so as not to squeeze his head.
He mounted one of the canals that ran through the city and in an instant was on the other side once again.
Reaching the suburbs of the main entrance he moved carefully trying not to draw attention to himself again as he had before.
"Boy" Tien called out.
A young man in his early 20's looked his way watching as an older man gestured to him pointing to something hidden inside his cap.
The ex-military man put his beret on the ground revealing the subject across an alleyway a large fresh vegetable.
"Twenty coins for it."
"Not a chance, you old fool."
"The only crazy one is our king, and if someone as creative as him couldn't get food no one will... Oh wait, what's this my eyes see?"
"Big deal, everyone here knows how to steal and resell."
"Then give it a try, brat."
The young man debated a bit, eventually scratched his head and grimaced in resignation.
"I'd better be well fed if I want any chance of getting into the garrison" the young man whispered in a volume almost imperceptible to the scalper's ears.
So that's why he didn't attack me, one criminal incident reported and he's out.
"Tell you what, you look like if your little brother doesn't eat soon, you're going to have to eat him, how much you got in your pocket?"
The young man paused; he didn't check his available funds.
"Five coins for what you have in there."
"Your little brother better be nutritious, have a nice day."
"Shut up, old man. Let's leave it at 8."
"Now you're talking."
Tien took the vegetable out of the beret and tied it over a cloth belt that fitted his vest and tunic. He placed it over a window and motioned for the young man to toss the coins into the beret one by one.
When Tien confirmed that all the coins were genuine, he turned and left.
Late in the evening, Tien opened the door of his house where his wife was waiting for him, hesitant and angry when she realized that he had arrived late at night and without a belt. The man placed a small leather bag on a polished wooden table and closed the door behind him.
The distrustful woman opened the bag and was surprised at the contents, only to punch her husband in the arm repeatedly.
"Ten gold pieces! What were you doing, you old cheater!!!?"
"Sami, please let me explain!"
"Yes, explain to me, explain to me how you are an infidel! Surely you blackmailed some young girl to give you her body and money!"
"Wait, wait, that's not it!"
The beating went on, good thing Sami wasn't an earthbender.
"Food!" yelled Tien "I got it by distributing food!"
Sami stopped when he heard the explanation, Tien quickly turned away from his attacker profiling away from the door to give more confidence.
"I had never thought about it because in the army we didn't go hungry but with the war the Fire Nation has conquered almost all the cities and villages of the Earth Kingdom, the economic crisis is incredible and for Omashu is not the exception either, in fact I think it is worse having such a large amount of inhabitants, Sami, you can no longer get crops and food as easy as it was before, so many years in the comfort of the garrison made me think that life was easy but no."
"And you are taking advantage of the poor?" Sami threw a shoe at him.
"I brought them resources so they wouldn't starve."
Sami shot him a disapproving look followed by a longing glance at the bag of coins.
"That was one day."
"One day of scams, you lecherous, greedy old man."
"I am, unfortunately, the cabbage man" Tien said earnestly.
Sami tossed him the bag of gold.
"We will make a lot of money by connecting the food producing areas with the citizens in need, I know where the hungry citizens are." Tien caught the bag.
"All over the world?" replied Sami.
"Yes, but I know where those most affected by the war will be."
"Oh yeah? Now you happen to be a master of futurebending?"
Tien put the bag on the table, sat down and closed his eyes then brought his hands to the side of his forehead.
"Futurebending masters, please enlighten me and give me the wisdom to make this city and this nation prosper..."
Sami frowned. After a few moments of murmuring, the man stood up.
"The Avatar, the Avatar will return in the southern water tribe!"
"The Avatar will not return in the southern water tribe because I am the Avatar!" scoffed Sami.
Nice try.
"Are you a user of the futurebending too?
"No, I haven't mastered the dumb elements yet."
They both burst out laughing after a brief pause.
"If I managed to make 10 gold pieces in a day how much do you think I can get operating outside of Omashu, Sami?"
"Outside of Omashu?"
"Ah... I think I forgot to tell you, we may have to leave the city at some point, I was discharged from the army today so there's no better spot to start my food distribution empire."