Sort of 1800s Pacific Northwest/Alaska meets the Avatar world. Not strictly 100% historically grounded in reality. Though the rush has been happening for a decade at least, companies like the Sato Mining Industries have recently settled in to introduce "proper" civilization to the region, and to get rich off the wealth of the land. The miners are purging natural resources, displacing the tribes, and when the locals and aboriginal peoples find themselves in mortal peril by the ruthless tactics of the unruly miners/colonizers, Korra takes matters into her own hands to drive them out.


Gunshots ring out, filling the woods with their echo. "Keep your head down, Ikki." Korra drapes her massive fur coat around the exhausted, frightened girl. Hugs it close to her. The wind bites at Korra's bare arms, but adrenaline rushes through her. She secures Ikki in the cargo bed, and circles the sled in a rush. "Home, Naga," she orders, patting her dog's haunches firmly. Instinctively, the great white dog lopes forward, leaving Korra in the snow-filled clearing. She watches them disappear into the treeline.

More gunfire cracks and she feels a pain suddenly flare up in her. Her knees buckle and she hits the ground.

Men are charging on horseback.

Her boot smears red onto the snow as she crawls. She stumbles around to face the roughriders head on. Righteous anger blossoms up in her, and she sweeps her hands across the ground beneath her. She gathers snow into her palm, letting it melt. The water narrows, builds, refreezes into a pristine clear spike of ice. Sharpened to a point. She drags pinched fingers along the sides of it, honing each edge into blades.

She cannot let them get to Ikki again.

On her knees, Korra hurls the spike at the closest horseman, still several seconds away from her. It strikes true, hitting the rider in the chest. He plummets from his horse and hits the ground hard.

Pistols and rifles are trained at her. Korra leaps into the brush as they begin to fire again.

Korra collects more ice, fashioning it into a blade as long as her forearm. She can't run the other way; she needs to survive, but she also needs to remain between the men and Naga's sled. Distract the riders, give the sled the time to escape.

After another barrage of gunfire, one of the men cries out. A wordless shout of pain. Korra peaks out from the underbrush to find heads and horses spinning as the men search the distance.

Another shot hits a tree near one of the horseman. More commotion. Curses. The rider who was shot is lying prone in the snow. Bleeding out from his neck.

There's a quiet rustle from the trees behind her. Korra brandishes her ice blade, ready to take on another intruder.

First, she sees the tip of a lever-action rifle aimed at her head. Then, a pair of sharp green eyes.


There's no time for introductions. Asami hauls Korra towards a nearby cabin. They barely make it inside without being riddled with holes.

Bullets rain down on them from the windows. Glass and splinters fill the cabin as they huddle near the door.

The roughriders are circling the cabin, hooting at them like a pack of animals.

"What did you do?" Asami shouts at her, counting the remaining ammunition in her gun.

Korra slides down the wall, her leg a bloody mess. Pain claws its way through her.

"They took Ikki," Korra gasps out, squeezing her leg to stem the bleeding. "I took her back."

Her mouth a thin line, Asami cocks the lever back on her rifle. She marches to the window and thrusts the butt of the gun into the pane, shattering glass. Using the pane as a rest, she trains her sight on one of the horseman. Leads him slowly. Exhales. Fires. She drops him in a single shot.

"Is Buck Tahno out there?" Asami demands, recocking the rifle.

Korra sucks in air and nods vaguely. Her leg is throbbing.

Asami gingerly points the rifle out from behind the curtains. Cool wind fills the cabin. Her grip on the gun tightens as she finds her target. Asami trains her eye on one of the thugs on horseback, leading him with the barrel of the rifle. Slowly. Suredly.

She fires. The rider goes down, falling from his horse head first. He doesn't get back up.

Sweating, aching, Korra reaches into a pouch at her belt and pulls out a small tightly packed satchel. "Here."

Asami studies the satchel and the long thin thread tucked into it. A smile grows along her mouth. "You're a Fire Ferret."

"One of them." Korra says. She cradles the small explosive, tucking it closer to her chest. She glances up. "You need to get rid of it right away, understand?"

Asami nods.

With a flick of Korra's fingers, a tiny flame bursts forth and lights the fuse. She reaches out to hand the satchel to Asami. Its fuse hisses and glows.

The girl stares at Korra for a long moment. In shock. A touch of uncertainty.

"Throw it!" Korra commands, shaking the explosive at her.

Asami snaps back to attention and takes it. Rushing to the window. She aims ahead of the path of one of the roughriders, and hurls it. A small explosion knocks the horse back on its haunches, sends dirt and shrapnel flying in a ten foot radius. The roughrider shields his eyes, losing his grip.


"How did you do that?" Asami manages out, "With the fire."

"Are they still out there?"

Asami brushes the curtains aside, studying the broken window. "They ran off. What was left of them."

"Which way?" Korra asks in a panic.

"East. Back to town."

Korra breathes. "Good. She's safe."

The sounds of horses and shouting fades in the distance, leaving the two women staring at each other in the silence of the woods.

"You're bleeding badly," Asami says, "I can try to track something down in here to wrap it."

"No." Korra grips the rotted chair beside her, struggling to stand. Her hands stain the wood with blood. "Take me outside."

"You won't make it out there. You'll die of exposure before you get back to your village."

Korra shakes her head. It makes her dizzy. "I just need snow."

"You still have to deal with the bleeding."

"Please," Korra begs. "Just help me."

Hesitantly, Asami takes her hand and together they limp for the door. Korra collapses onto the stoop. She peels her boot straps off, biting back the pain as she reveals the gunshot to the winter. Her shaking hands collect another ball of snow. She presses it in her hand, lets it melt. The water in her hands begins to glow.

Till now, Asami eyes have been scanning the horizon, rifle at the ready. She now stares dumfounded from the doorway. "My God," she breathes. "What are you?"

Silence. Korra exhales slowly, focusing on her ministrations. The water has washed the dried blood away. Cupping her hand against the gashed wound in her thigh, she slowly coaxes a crushed bullet to the surface. She barely needed to touch it.

Unsure of what else to do, Asami anxiously checks her rifle. "I keep hearing stories about some tribal devil the locals conjured to scare off the company governors. Breathes fire. Drinks the water from your blood. Is that you?"

Korra chuffs a laugh through her nose.

Asami watches the glow dissipate through Korra's fingers. The wound is healing. "A demon, an anarchist, and a bilingual. Color me impressed. I heard no one from the tribes had bothered to learn our language."

"And somehow we manage to cook and dress ourselves, too," Korra drones.

Asami smirks at that.

"What are you doing out here?" Korra asks.

"I was told you'd be out here making a ruckus and might need a hand."

Korra's eyes shoot up. They narrow at her. "Who?"

Asami crouches down. Peeling a leather glove off and revealing delicate, pale, tapered fingers. She presses a couple digits into the muddy snow beneath their feet and begins to draw.

Korra watches her slowly sketch the outline of an arrowhead. Distinct. Familiar.

The tattoos on Tenzin's hands.

"We have a mutual friend." Asami says.

Korra's eyes are transfixed on the symbol. Years of questions, ignored or obfuscated by her teacher. And now there is someone else beholden to that mark.

"I owed a favor," Asami sighs. "And, conveniently enough, it was on my way to dealing with Tahno." She casts a casual eye out at the half dozen bodies accumulated in the snow around them. "Who...I should really check up on."

Buck Tahno groans in the imprint of his fallen horse in the snow.

"I'll be back in a moment." Asami slings the rifle over her shoulder, and begins the slow march out to his resting place.


Thank you for reading! You can find a bunch of background, character designs, and images for this Korra x Assassins Creed AU by searching for "tumblr darling gypsum 130824916777"

Reviews are appreciated!