Chapter 2: Chapter 2
Cleaner 1 was on the deck sweeping the floor with his broom, his arms in continuous motion, not daring to take the slightest brake as his eyes ever so often darted toward Prince Zuko practicing his fire bending.
He had been sweeping for the last quarter of an hour, and in this frail body, the boy could tell he wouldn't be able to carry on much longer. He still dared not to stop.
The soldier's earlier words had affected Cleaner 1 more than he thought and he didn't want to test his luck. Cleaner 1 understood that Prince Zuko later underwent redemption and changed for the better, but that was in the future. Not now.
He didn't want anything to happen to him after he had received such an opportunity. To Cleaner 1 the act of being taken here in itself was a gift. Even if he was just a cleaner and that was his entire identity now. He didn't care.
With what he knew, he understood that even if the situation was unfavourable, he could make it work. So what if he was a cleaner? He assumed that since he was on a fire nation ship, there wouldn't be any doubts about his ability to fire bend.
Only, he couldn't test his bending out now. This was because Prince Zuko was currently ejecting blazing streams of orange fire from his palms, sparring heatedly with some soldiers under the guidance of Iroh.
Cleaner 1 couldn't help but be amazed at what he was seeing. Knowing about it and seeing it on a screen was one thing. But to physically see such vivid flames come from the body of a person was another. Cleaner 1 was seduced by such a sight. So much so that he couldn't help but want to reproduce what he was seeing himself.
In his amazement he stopped walking, arms still sweeping with his broom as though this was their purpose. Cleaner 1 wanted to be like this, the faint heat he could feel from his position only enticed him further.
He wondered what it could be like to do such a thing himself. He could hardly stop himself from running back to the sorry excuse for a chamber he had and attempting it himself.
However, the fighting stopped. Cleaner 1 could hear Prince Zuko's and Iroh's quieted voices, due to his distance from them, and he resumed walking in hopes of not being accused of eavesdropping.
Cleaner 1 had not even been here for a day yet, he didn't know if he would be punished for things and what things were punishable, and he certainly didn't want to find out. As Cleaner 1 moved his broom with him, he slowly became more accustomed to the broom during his short time using it, like it was natural to him.
He suspected this was due to the previous Cleaner 1 and his experience, and he was grateful. He felt as though the previous inhabitant of this body did well to make his job much more bearable.
Though deep down Cleaner 1 did feel some regret and discontent with his body snatching. He didn't understand why it happened but he was still grateful. These feelings however were currently being overshadowed by the bending Cleaner 1 was witnessing for the first time causing them to be pushed further down.
The next thing Cleaner 1 saw, was the silhouette of a fire nation soldier closing in on him, enshrouded by flame.
Cleaner one held up his broom in hopes of lessening the impact, he was well aware of the fact he couldn't dodge in time. His only hope was to take less damage. And with a snap, Cleaner 1's broom was snapped in two, slowing down the soldier ever so slightly. But it wasn't enough and Cleaner 1 was prepared for this so he did the only thing he could think of.
To hope for the best!
The soldier scalding hot body slammed into Cleaner 1, sending them both barrelling across the deck towards the edge of the ship. Cleaner 1 had closed his eyes just before the soldier connected and he held the two pieces of his broom tight.
Cleaner 1 was experiencing immense pain. The force from the flying soldier alone made him feel as though a boulder had dropped onto him. The heat of the flames started to burn Cleaner 1's exposed skin. He didn't have armour to protect against the fire like the soldier. He could only bear the pain and get through this perilous situation
As the momentum came to a slow, Cleaner 1 suddenly felt pressure on one of the broom pieces. Confused as to what it was, and also fearful that he could've somehow impaled the soldier. He ever so slightly opened his eyes, in hopes they wouldn't burn, and saw that his broom, now splintered at the end, had impaled an albatross sitting on the edge of the ship which they were about to collide with.
Expectedly, Cleaner 1 and the soldier carried on. A split second later the broom went through the entire length of the albatross, impaling it. And Cleaner 1's back slammed against the edge of the ship sending jolts of pain throughout his spine, causing his whole body to tense up and his mind to freeze.
Cleaner 1 had never experienced such pain before, it was entirely new to him. However, this pain didn't last long.
Somehow, as though his body possession wasn't bizarre enough, at the moment of the albatross' death a small translucent window appeared in the corner of Cleaner 1's vision stating:
[First kill confirmed]
[Recognizing murder instrument: Broom]
[Granting skill related to murder instrument]
[Passive skill Broom mastery (1) granted]
[Granting activation reward ]
[Body returned to peak state]
And at the final message, Cleaner 1 would have felt as though this whole situation never happened, if it wasn't for the soldier laying on top of him. If anything he felt better than ever and even decided to forgive Prince Zuko for almost making him paralyzed seeing as though if it wasn't for him he would never have received this golden finger.
Cleaner 1 knew he didn't have it in him to kill anything, so even though it left an unsavoury taste in his mouth he couldn't help but appreciate what had happened as without it, he would've had to struggle much more to enjoy what this world had to offer.
But to Cleaner 1's greater surprise, even greater than receiving a golden finger, was the fact the soldier just got up and walked back. As if Cleaner 1 wasn't just underneath him suffering. He decided to hold this moment in his heart, and also the general build of the soldier so he could scout for his room later and make sure it didn't get cleaned.
Cleaner 1 snorted to himself, as though he was the one who won in the end, which he was, and left back towards his chamber in hopes that this newfound golden finger of his could make him more powerful.
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Authors Note:
I woke up from my nap and saw around 200 views on this. which to be honest is expected on web novel but to see a collection also decided to make me want to write another chapter, so I did. I hope that this chapter was enjoyable. Any criticism is welcome as it would help me to improve.
Thank you for reading.
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