200 word drabble: Which No One Can Break Down

[attackfish]

Written for avatar_500 prompt #49, Lake.

Summary: In the history of the world, there have been many conquerors, none of them great.


Which No One Can Break Down

The shorelines were rimmed with ice.  Icebergs floated south from the northern fortress, and the rivers that bisected the Earth Kingdom continent were lined with frost and Water Tribe warriors.  Nianchu knew his town could either be enslaved to them, building temples and palaces of earthbent stone the way the waterbenders did out of ice, or flee.

It wasn't really a choice.

As their wagon wheels creaked over the open ground, further an further from water, their ranks swelled, and the creaking turned into a thunder, and the thousands following looked at him like he would know what to do.  All he knew how to do was go on.

So they went on.  And the land dried up under their feet.  They pushed on, and he could hear people crying in the wagons, babies, children, crying out for water.  And they could turn back.  They could live without their freedom, but they couldn't live without water.

When the lake shimmered on the horizon, he didn't believe it until he could touch it.

"And what are we going to do when the Water Tribe comes here?" one man demanded.

Nianchu gazed out over Lake Laogai.  "We build a wall around it."

Comments

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I kind of went on an ancient origins kick for a few drabbles, and I have another drabble set in the same period coming up soon.