Occurrence Report:

Day Twelve since Republic City lost. Travelers advised to remain outside Republic City. Benders in danger. Equalist Movement has complete control of city. Now under martial law by Equalist enforcement. All benders being brought to Movement's leader, man by name of Aman, whom has ability to extinguish bending abilities permanently; concentration camps reported throughout city; hold ex-benders captive. Regardless of whether reports are true: Republic City to be considered zone: critical. Avatar not reported captured yet. Last seen fleeing Equalist rally at bending stadium. Hope for best; expect worst.

–Lt. Dao Tseng, External Affairs Agency, Earth Kingdom.

Drip—drip—drip—dripg

The rusted steel gutters thirty feet overhead seemed to produce an endless source of water. Four days of ceaseless rain had finally come to an end for the time being; only, now the city was covered in fog. It had been what seemed like an hour since they had crawled, garbed in Equalist uniforms, out of the manhole which still sat only five feet away. Out of the manhole, from their underground sanctuary, out of the dark, into the light of street lamps but—oh!—directly to press their bodies as hard as they could against the dark gray, concrete walls. Mako ever the alert observer.

"Hey, Mako!" Korra whispered.

"Shhh!" was the reply, finger on lips, eyes narrow and menacing: a gesture of urgency.

"Mako, the street is pretty damn clear to me!" she hissed back.

"Korra, shut the hell up! I'm not sure yet."

Damn it! Mako was always bitter with her nowadays. Whenever they went scouting Mako would use harsh words and icy undercurrents of tone. Korra didn't know if what made him like this was the pressure placed on them in taking such risks, or the tense situation which had settled acridly onto the three of them: her, Asami and Mako.

Perhaps it was a combination of the two. Or maybe it was that here, in the quiet danger of Equalist-controlled streets—away from Asami—Mako felt free to let his stress show in front of Korra. However, she didn't know if this meant that he felt particularly comfortable around her, or particularly angry with her, which wouldn't make sense; because, after all, it was Mako who started the whole damn mess when he forgot about his relationship with Asami. Whatever the reason for his being like this, Korra didn't like it.

Everyone was tense to the point of insanity by now. Not even Bolin felt inclined to lighten the air with a joke. They had managed to sneak Tenzin and his family out of Republic City before the group settled into its clandestine lifestyle. Just as well, because now they were running out of food, which was why the two of them were out here in the first place.

Mako scanned the two ends of the street, for the fiftieth time, scrutinizing every possible shadow with his keen eyes. "Okay," he whispered hesitantly, "I think we're good—for now."

"Duh," was the annoyed reply. "Honestly, Mako. We've wasted precious time."

"Just shut up, and let's get a move on," he said, dismissing her cold stare.

The two dove into a running crouch, ducking in and out of shadows, evading the orange street lights as often as possible. The streets were almost completely deserted. The Equalists, though promising a better future for non-benders, had established a pretty militaristic leadership, centered on the menacing figure of Aman and his mysterious ability to extinguish bending.

Korra had figured, after hearing Tarrlok's story, that Aman was in fact a bloodbender, and that this was how he destroyed bending in a person. But he had taken off his mask in front of everybody in the bending stadium, hadn't he? If he was truly a waterbender by the name of Noatak, how did he receive the huge burn scar on his face? Was Aman's supposed back story really true, as opposed to Tarrlok's? Was he in fact a non-bender, whose family had been killed by benders, who had been given powers by the spirits? Korra almost reproached herself for considering it, but after the disaster at the bending stadium, she was not sure about what the truth behind Aman really was.

Mako slowed to a low trot, finally halting before a narrow, dark alleyway and said, "I think their new place is just in here."

Korra, smelling something putrid and pinching her nose shut, said, "Are you sure? Why would they be here? This is like the filthiest part of the city."

"The Triple Threat Triads, and any other still-benders have probably had to take whatever comes to them, no matter how miserable. Just like us…"

"Mako," Korra said with a sigh, "I don't trust these guys. Why do you keep getting me involved with them?"

"Korra," he said, looking at her with a firm stare, "We have no alternatives. These guys— along with ourselves— are probably the last benders in fifty miles. Anyone else cannot be trusted." He put out his hand, his expression lightening a little, "Take my hand, and we can take this risk together. We won't be separated."

Eyeing his outstretched hand, Korra sighed, and, resolving to follow Mako into any peril, said, "Alright. I do trust you, and if you're there, I'm fine with it."

They clasped hands together and strode into the putrid darkness. Mako led Korra tightly with his right hand, groping the metal wall with his left, shifting his feet uneasily in front of him in anticipation for unseen obstacles prone to tripping people.

He whispered as they went, an uneven hiss to pace their walking. "Should be just… up ahead, I think… Just about… I think… wait for it korraaaa… ah!"

Korra rolled her eyes in the darkness, unable to take him seriously at the moment. Why'd I follow this idiot?

"I think it's here, Korra."

"Have you been here before?" she asked, "How do you know where these guys are hiding?"

"I spotted two of the Triads sneaking into this alleyway last time we were out. I don't know if you saw them…"

She hissed in annoyance, "Mako, how can you be sure this is their place? For all we know this alleyway could have ten doors! We might be about to plead entry into an Equalist apartment!"

In the dark, Korra saw his dumbfounded expression. "I, ah… I didn't think this far ahead…"

"Idiot…"

He returned to his former resolve. "Well, Korra, this is our only possible source for getting food." He crouched there by the door, looking pensively into her eyes. When she was beginning to wonder where his thoughts were going he spoke, "I'll bend some fire—just for a moment—to see how many doors are here."

Korra's mouth almost dropped at the stupidity she had just heard. She hissed, "We are not going to do that!"

"I'm going to do it…" he said, as if he were warning her.

She hissed again, "Mako!"

Too late. In one fluid movement he slid his right foot away from his left, leather boot scraping wet cement, and took the length of his arm in a wide arch directly overhead, a line of orange flames following in its wake, before it went out. For just a second the alleyway was alit, metal walls gleaming ferociously in the light of the fire. Mako glimpsed—for just a second—four doors in the narrow space, two on each wall, and a dead end about ten feet away.

Korra, momentarily horrified, spun around and stared intensely at the exterior street expecting the worst: Chi blockers, Aman, his electric rod-wielding lieutenant. But no one was there, just the orange-lit dampness of Republic City; solitude. She turned slowly around to meet Mako's gaze. For a moment she could have sworn that he look startled before he quickly shot his eyes to the floor.

"There are four doors here," he whispered.

"How do we know which one belongs to the Triple Threats?" she asked in a hushed tone.

"Mako?" It was a voice spoken at normal volume which obviously came from the Republic City slums, a city accent; only this one sounded quite surprised. "Mako, I know that's you in the dark there." The figure stood in the nearest doorway, outlined by a dim orange light from within.

Mako and Korra remained deathly still, not knowing what to do.

"Mako, come on… I know it's you because only you would be dumb enough to fire bend in the streets right now!"

Mako looked up with familiarity. "Two Toed Ping?"

"Yeah, y'idiot!" Two Toed Ping responded. "What the hell'ya doing over here?"

"Can you let us in?" he whispered, sounding as helpless as possible. "It's so cold out here…"

"Yeah, yeah," Ping said in a dismissive voice, "Hold your hog monkeys. I gotta check with the guys first." Ping took his face from them and turned into the dim orange light flickering behind him. "Hey, guess who we got here, fellas. Mako and his friend want a little shelter."

"Let'em in," said a gruff voice from the interior.

Korra felt uneasy as she followed Mako, almost pressing against his back. Ping closed the metal door behind them with a loud clang!

The apartment was quite cramped. There was almost no open floor space, it was so small. Three dirty cots were pressed against the wall, covered in thin sheets, which appeared to have originally been white but were now a pale brown. In the corner opposite the cots was a drainage hole and a wooden bucket. Behind the wood bucket was another door, most likely leading to the building's interior hallway. In the center of the small room was a fire pit, alight, with a metal bowl of what appeared to be stew roasting over it. But, besides the uncomfortable appearance of the place, what struck Korra the hardest was the stench. It seemed to be wafting in large waves from the bucket in the corner, settling over the whole room. She couldn't take it; her eyes were watering and she was forced to bring a hand quickly up to cover her nostrils and mouth.

Noticing this, a tuff-looking man wearing a gray brim hat and a gold chain around his neck, the one who had given them entry, chuckled in his ruff voice, "Yeah, not a pleasant suite, is it? We've had to make do, my friends."

"Viper," Mako greeted the man. He looked at the other person seated on his cot, a handsome looking man wearing a blue dress jacket. "Shady Shin. How have you been? Is it only the three of you left?"

Viper looked regretfully at the floor saying, "Yeah. Any of the triple threats who hadn't already booked outta Republic City got caught by the damned Equalists. But we three stayed. I don't want to leave my hometown." He sighed, still looking to the floor. "They reduced the Triads to three guys. Well, two, seeing as they'd already gotten poor Shady Shin's bending a while back."

The man in the blue jacket nodded in resigned agreement.

Korra studied the man, feeling recognition. "You… you were at an Equalist rally, one of the firsts, weren't you?" she inquired in a muffled voice through her hand.

Mako said, "Yeah. He was the one who had gotten Bolin to join their turf war a few months ago."

Shady Shin looked up at them, his expression one of exhaustion. "Shit, if I had known what was gonna go down that night, I would'a never taken your brother, Mako. I wouldn't even'a gone myself."

"It's alright, Shady Shin," Mako replied. "That doesn't matter anymore."

Viper, inquiring into their purpose for coming, asked, "So what do you guys need from us?"

Getting straight to the point, Korra spoke out, "We're out of food. We're out of options, so we came to the only other benders in the city."

Viper chuckled some more, still staring towards the floor. "Girl, if we had any way of getting anything better than trash food, we would obviously share it with you. Obviously. But I will be honest. We don't have any way to get anything better than trash food. So get lost." He abruptly waved his arms up in a dispelling motion and rolled over onto his bed so that he was facing the dirty metal wall.

Korra was about to retort in her usual manner when Mako interjected. "Viper, please. You got your stew cooking. What's in that?"

"Turtle rat." Was the abrupt answer.

Two Toed Ping spoke up. "Hey Mako, you don't looked to under-nourished to me… what you got at your place?"

Korra looked around the room nervously. Something about Ping's tone made her feel on edge…

Shady Shin perked up. "Yeah, Mako. You look pretty well off yourself. So why you begging us? We should be the ones begging you." Both Shady Shin and Two Toed Ping stared the two up and down with keen eyes.

Mako, seeing where this was heading, decided to end the discussion where it was. "Sorry guys. We came to you for help because we need food, now I see you're just as bad off as we are. Sorry to have disturbed you." He took Korra by the hand again and said, "Come on Korra."

"You must have a pretty nice place," said Viper, still staring at the wall behind his cot. "Why don't we join you guys? I'm sure it doesn't smell like shit wherever you're staying…" He rolled over to face them, cheek resting on pillow.

Mako backed away slowly. "We can't. I'm sorry."

Ping's hands lit up in flames, set in a ready stance. "Why don't you take us there, Mako?"

Mako ignited short jets of flame from his fists, forming fiery daggers. "Ping, cut it out."

Korra ran between the two benders and nearly shouted, "Okay, before anyone gets killed, just calm the hell down. Mako, let's just take them. What do we have to lose?"

"Our food!" Mako replied urgently.

"We can share, Mako." She looked at him disgustedly. "What the hell has happened to you?"

"What?" he asked, dumbfounded. "What do you mean?"

"Mako…" She hesitated. "Mako… you've changed."

"Shit," interjected Shady Shin, "Haven't we all?"

After a moment of staring Mako in the eyes, Korra said softly, "We can take you guys in."

Viper coughed, slowly got up from his bed, and faced them. For a long time he regarded the two adolescents, dressed in stolen Equalist uniforms, soaking wet and in disagreement. He said slowly, "Damn, you guys. Not even twenty and you already want to save the freaking world! Move my heart." He went to the fowl corner of the room, where the bucket sat; pushing it aside he opened the metal door to reveal a storage closet with a plentiful amount of canned supplies.

Mako's eyes widened.

Viper turned and said, "If you take us in, we'll bring our food with you. We have a nice non-bender owned warehouse which is a plentiful storehouse for all our needs. We can show you guys, if you want…"

Korra turned towards Mako and looked at him with her delighted facial expression, hand on hip.

"What?" he asked her, anticipating what came next.

"Told you so," she chimed.