Chapter Text
As Iroh was fighting the flames and breaking down doors to wake and evacuate passengers, at other parts of the ship, the crew was busy fighting the flames too. Benders and non-benders alike did all they could to hold back the flames that enjoyed the air they had gotten by doors being swung open and steel doors being left unclosed by personnel, who slowly lost sight of how to battle the fire that was taking over the ship.
Waterbenders had opened the porthole to get salt water from the ocean and direct it towards the flames, while non-bending crew members carried bucket after bucket in hopes to control the flames. As they were facing an inferno, though, the water mostly sizzled into the air without cooling the situation down.
Iroh and the Avatar would only learn of that much later, after all that could be done had been done, however. At the time the crew was fighting the fire in the lower decks, Iroh was battling the flames to evacuate passengers.
The flame was growing hotter with every second. One lady quickly stopped near him – she was wearing a lifejacket quickly tied around her body and a towel that was most likely wet – to thank him. Words of gratitude were, though, not what anyone had needed in that moment. Moving his hands in a circle towards the flames, he just nodded it off and told her to get out of here quickly. His tone slid into a rough tone, more caustically than he had wanted to sound but, in this situation, that was a sad given.
He turned his head back towards the flames and––––
Suddenly, an unexpected loud noise interrupted his concentration. He quickly turned his head upwards, almost forgetting about the blaze in front of him. Remembering where he was standing and what he was doing there, he sent his own flames out to defend him from the foreign ones.
Standing in this defensive position, he glimpsed towards the ceiling again. The noise had come from above. It was not only loud but also powerful. Whatever had erupted must have shot fire and debris miles into the air. Windows must have been scattered by the impact as well. Just what on earth…? He had had not a single hunch of what could have caused the Dragon Lion to explode.
Mustn’t have been the engines, he thought. The combustion had been above him. It couldn’t have been them. Luckily – what a morbid thing to think shortly after a heavy explosion during evacuating a burning ship out on the open sea.
But if it hadn’t been the engines, then the ship could have still stayed afloat. That was lucky – if, on top of burning down, the ship would also be sinking, the whole operation would have gotten only worse.
It also was ‘unlucky,’ however. Because the ship exploded– or more accurately; something on this ship exploded. And it wasn’t just any small combustion either. It was loud and it was powerful and worst of all; it fed crucial air to the flames that were probably way ahead of him by now. –if there had ever been the slim chance that he was on par with the flames to begin with.
So, what now? Abandoning whoever might still be trapped in here was an impossible task for him. And the fire was spreading at an alarming pace. That’s why he had to hurry!
Maybe, the battle to rescue the Dragon Lion was lost even before Iroh and the Avatar had spotted the ship in the distance.
That certainly was a possible truth to consider.
But it was certainly the wrong time to do that now. Quickly, Iroh made his way, warding off the flames to reach the upper deck, where he expected to find the Avatar helping with whatever she could. She hadn’t been below deck with him. Maybe she had gone to the bridge, maybe she was near the lifeboats, whatever, he was going to find her and talk.
Up on deck, he caught up with the Avatar.
“There was an explosion just now!” he called, concerned as the Avatar was approaching him with fast steps.
“Yes, I know.” Korra responded, “It was right behind me. Apparently, this ship was equipped with a rescue line cannon, which was ignited by the fire.”
“Ah, shit!” Iroh said unfiltered and upset by the situation.
“This fire is getting out of hand; we can’t wait any longer.” Korra then pushed her original idea forward again. “I know, it’s dangerous with all these people around, but we can’t guarantee nothing else will combust if we don’t stop the flames now.”
Iroh shook his head, “You’re wrong. The fire was already out of control before we got here,” he observed, judging the heat he felt and the sudden explosion and… “Alright. I will assist the crew and oversee that people have their lifejackets, while you do you.”
“Sounds good to me,” she nodded and then jumped headfirst from the railing into the below, disappearing into the darkness of early morning hours.
For a good couple of seconds, it appeared as if the Avatar was gone for good, as if the darkness of the sea had swallowed her and refused to return her to those who were waiting for her. The waves that autumn morning were aggressive, they shook the vessel in its position, led by the winds; the storm that had started earlier at night. Those same winds fed the flames to grow bigger as well.
Then, from within the dark blue of the sea at night, bright light emerged so bright, that the side of the ship reflected the bright blue, almost white like a beacon of hope and signal flare sent for others to see their distress.
Water around the ship began to accumulate, it was swapping in directions opposite of the waves that were driven by the storm and within seconds, a little whirl in that area where the Avatar had jumped into water – where light was shining so brightly - was forming. Finally, a wave of water built itself up on the side of the ship. Many stories tall and on top of it was the Avatar with her hair being blown in the wind.
The water was listening to her command and her command only. With only one wave of the hand, some of the water rushed down towards where the cannon was stored, to reach the inner parts of the ship. Loud sizzling was heard from inside and grey steam escaped from the broken structures.
The water found its way into the corridors and decks of the ships extinguishing even the tiniest cigarettes that might have been ignited within the smallest corners of the ship.
From different sides of the ship, people were swapped into the ocean, where waterbenders and non-benders alike were waiting for them to pick them up and get them to somewhere save. Lifeboats, the nutshell on which Iroh and the Avatar had arrived, drift ice, anything really, that could give those swapped out of the now extinguished ocean liner a little bit of stability after all they had endured within the last couple of minutes since… whenever the fire had been started.
Through destroyed structure, open portholes or on command from the Avatar, water escaped from the ship as soon as its job was done. All water at once, to avoid possible unwanted sinking of the vessel, returned to the ocean and the ocean kindly released the Avatar onto the Dragon Lion.
Not long after the ocean had returned to normal – albeit the stormy weather still controlling the waves – help was at last closing in onto the Dragon Lion.
At long last, the Dragon Lion had found a stop. At the shorelines of Nishinoma, the once luxurious cruiser sat in the sand exhausted and tired from the adventure she and her passengers and crew had endured. The Dragon Lion sat there, with the sun rising behind her majestically, like a sad structure for everyone to see and anyone to wonder how a liner like her could have caught fire like that and why the fire was so hard to tame in the first place.
She had hardly been the first ship to catch fire on sea but to think that benders could not even slightly have gotten her under control sounded… surreal. In the end, it had needed the might of the Avatar to wash the fire out and for her to come to a rest near the exact spot where Iroh and Korra had first spotted her not too long ago.
Sitting on the port, near where Korra had borrowed a little fisher’s boat earlier, the two benders glanced at the vessel they had helped to strand ashore just a while ago. Both stared at it listlessly as scenarios went through their heads how things had turned out differently, if they had made different decisions and how maybe everything had been better in the end – those were, at the very least, Iroh’s thoughts. He could only assume that Korra had similar ones right now.
Neither of them said a word for a couple of minutes.
Whatever happened tonight… neither of them knew. Both could make guesses, but it was not their job to figure that out…
It had not been the first time a ship burned down. Or the first time Iroh had to evacuate a burning vessel. But with civilians involved, things always looked different.
“If we had only been faster,” eventually the Avatar broke the silence. “If I had let water rain down on that Lyle gun, then.” “Then?” “Then… oh, I don’t know, then, more people could have gotten out alive!” she cursed. “Or if one stayed to assist those in the water and rescue them on drift ice, then… things would be different now too! Argh. I can’t believe I let the ship go down like that! And all the people!”
Iroh took a breath. He couldn’t exactly blame Korra for beating herself up over those questions. He did too… of course he did. But he also knew how meaningless that was. What-if-scenarios surely wouldn’t bring anyone back or rewind time to before it happened. He slightly lowered his head and then lifted it again, “Grinding your thoughts over what could be done differently doesn’t ease the heavy heart you’re feeling right now, you know?” He shook his head.
It had already been a miracle that they had seen the burning ship from the distance and had made the right conclusion. Who knew what had happened if they hadn’t spotted it? If no one had spotted it?
No, he wasn’t happy with the outcome of that night either. But he forced himself to consider what his friends and family would tell him if it was him who complained about his performance.
“We weren’t on the ship when it happened, and we aren’t familiar with the design features of the Dragon Lion. You couldn’t have known about the Lyle gun prior to its combustion,” he said in hope to ease her overthinking doubts. But if the two were just alike just for the tiniest bit– nothing he said would change how she saw the situation. Like there could have been something… just a tiny little something that could have been done to avert this whole disaster.
“You being there, flushing the Dragon Lion in the Avatar State did already a whole lot.” He stressed, “I wouldn’t want to imagine if you hadn’t stopped the flames. I wouldn’t want to imagine what had happened to the ship or the people.”
Korra let out a long sigh. “I guess,” she muttered and glanced over at him. “At least you seem calm General Good Advice,” she huffed, “Are you not upset by the disaster?”
Was he not upset? Of course, he was upset!! He felt like punching walls over having had to retreat instead of pushing forward! It just wasn’t the time to show his frustration with the aftermath yet.
“For now,” he said, controlling his inner fire from bursting out in frustration, “We should be grateful for everyone that came here to help.”
Korra huffed once before bending forward, placing her chin on her palm as her arm rested on her knee. “Right,” she grumbled, unsatisfied by the situation.
Another moment of silence fell upon them. The sun was rising further, turning the vessel across from them into a black shadow, which could not reflect any of the morning sun’s lights. The port was busy. People hurried around to help wherever help was needed, onlookers had arrived to stare at the disaster that unfolded as they all were still asleep, and ships patrolled the shores for survivors yet waiting to be brought back to land.
The scene was chaotic yet somewhat seemed organized… at least once the police arrived to help organize the revival and inspection operations. And yet it seemed as if people were unsure as to what to do despite knowing just well enough that something had to be done.
At least the ship didn’t burn down completely. One could have thought.
At least it didn’t sink into the vast ocean with no one there to catch those who leaped their way over the railings. One could have thought.
At least the fire ignited not far from the shores where they were probably headed. One could have argued.
At least… at least… at least…
But in reality, there were not ‘at least’s.
In reality, there was only the uncertainty and tragedy that befell anyone that would witness such a tragedy. Truth was: yes, the outcome was better than what could have been but did that even matter?
For those who lived through this experience, it was traumatic. Anything anyone had done aboard the ship to deescalate the situation… was… Everyone was doing their best, but it sadly had been too late the second the first spark was fed with fresh air to fuel its spread.
Thoughts. Thoughts. Thoughts.
Despite of what he told the Avatar, he himself couldn’t focus on the good aspects of this tragedy. The ship’s cannon might have exploded but as soon as it did, the fire was taken out by the Avatar. Countless of lives were rescued that otherwise would have been trapped within flames they couldn’t fight against. Ships! Ships, other than their little nutshell, had come to lend a hand. Three in a total!
The radio signal had gone out and people had come to their rescue as fast as they could. The ocean might have been cold, but the lifeboats of those other ships helped many that couldn’t find any space within the borrowed nutshell and brought them into safety.
Those. Those were the aspects his mind should have focused on. But it didn’t.
Another moment of silence had fallen upon them. It wasn’t for long though, until the melancholic mood was broken by steps coming at them from behind.
Using the small gap General Iroh and the Avatar had left between them when sitting down, this space was now taken by someone else. Sitting next between the two, who certainly would be either framed for their heroic deeds or their poor decision making by the public and the press in a couple of hours, the person said cautiously upbeat, “I had received a call of distress, but I hadn’t expected to see you two here.”
“Yeah,” the Avatar responded without turning her head, “I was yapping about the meeting, and we got sidetracked a little.”
“That, I noticed.” The person who sat down between Iroh and the Avatar was none other than Asami, whose ship, the Blue Swallowtail was the first ship to arrive at the scene and the first begin supporting the rescue operation.
The Blue Swallowtail had not yet sailed far into the open sea herself. Reportedly, she was constantly fighting with engine problems, but in a crucial moment as this night, her powers were on par with what was necessary at the time. She had arrived shortly after the Avatar had handled the flame – in other words, right on time to care for those, who were accidentally swapped off the ocean liner.
“The ominous glow we spotted was accurately identified as people in distress. Naturally, we headed out to deescalate. Hope you don’t mind me asking, however, how it happened it was you, who caught the distress?”
“You mean, out of every single captain on the open sea, how come it was me instead of one of your colleagues?” She returned the question sarcastically, though while remaining serious given the situation. She, thus, quickly shook off the sarcastic tone and said calmly: “I had a sleepless night. Some of our engineers were still at the docks, so I decided to run a test voyage with the Swallowtail to see if her engines were improving. It was also a great way to see how she would withstand waves at night.”
She began to play with her a little while telling of how her encounter with the distress happened. She wasn’t looking at either: not at Korra, not at Iroh, not at the ship ahead of them. “Must have been sheer luck that only minutes after we departed, we heard the distress coming through.”
She slightly shook her head, “It felt like playing roulette with my possibilities. On one hand, I knew I had to do something the second I heard it. I couldn’t have just let it slide and move on with my own plans. On the other,” Asami let out a sigh, “I hesitated to wonder what if her engines act up again and then we had two ships requiring help?” She shook her head again and then lifted her head, “Guess I just told the ship to get her stuff together and we had to get over there now.”
“Well, it certainly was a good thing you did,” Iroh replied, “You were just on time too.”
“Yeah, right after the ocean took care of the fire.” Korra added, which caused Asami to giggle a little. “I have already heard of that.” She said. “The Avatar came out of the dark of the night to settle things right at the shore of Nishinoma.”
“Yeah… the Avatar did.” Korra muttered.
“Ah, come on, what’s with that long face?” Asami wondered but that quickly took her question back… almost as if she knew what was going to be said. “What you guys did out there was great. You came without being called into action and did all you could. And you saved many people that otherwise would have been lost.” She coughed, “Even if it might not be much to ease your doubts, I think your efforts were great.”
Morning turned into noon. And noon into afternoon. People came, people left. Locals helped to care for the survivors of the incident, others were brought into hospitals. Eventually the sun would set on Nishinoma’s coast but the wreck of USV Dragon Lion would remain for a while longer until the cause for this disaster had been determined to its fullest.
And the fate of the USV Dragon Lion from that moment on? Uncertain. Parts of her had been destroyed by the fire. Other parts of her were destroyed by the explosion that erupted when many had tried to combat the fires and calm the crowds. Parts of here were still somewhat intact because the flames were killed before the blaze could have eaten all through the ship. The Dragon Lion’s longest night had come to an abrupt and tragic end.
“What would remain of her one day?” Iroh briefly thought. It didn’t seem like she could ever return to carrying people, but maybe she could serve other ships alike a great example one day.