A Legend of Korra Fanfiction by Ethan Hamilton
Prologue
It had been a full year since the Avatar had been announced. The new Avatar was a southern water tribe girl, a mere child named Korra. She had a large reputation to uphold, after Avatar Aang's successes, and she would have an even more difficult time trying to make herself a worthy Avatar, but fortunately, there was a way she could.
Five teenagers sat around a circular table emblazoned with the image of a red flower, and in front of it stood an aging man, an honorable warrior and thinker named Xai Bau. He looked down at the table, spread in front of him were maps and outlines of a plan to be carried out. He sighed and peered over his nose with tired eyes. He focused on each teenager for a brief moment, then began to speak.
"You young men and women have stood with me for some time now, you now have to prove your worth fully. Despite the fact that you are already fully-fledged members of our society, there is a task you must complete, to earn its respect. Of course, you know what I'm talking about. You've made the plans. You've done the research. I have made this project wholly yours and stood out of your way, but now it is time that your efforts come to fruition. Rise, P'li. Rise, Ming Hua. Rise, Ghazan. Rise, Zaheer. Rise, Unalaq. This is your time. This is the time that you will change the world, for better or for worse, and the time that you become fully incarnated beings of the Red Lotus. You all know that I am one for speeches, but true honesty comes with being succinct, and in full, all I say is, you will succeed."
The teenagers around the table looked at each other, then bowed to the old man. When the others sat, Zaheer remained standing. "Thank you, Xai Bau. Failure in this situation is no option. The Avatar will be ours, and come time to pass, you will find that this world stands perfectly balanced."
He sat back down, and rested his elbows on the table, folding his hands together and resting them upon his lips. No one spoke. It was zen in the room, until they were interrupted by a messenger.
"Your time to leave is now. The boat is ready, and the crew is prepared."
Zaheer responded, "Good. Tell the crew that they won't be coming with us. They are to leave the ship and leave everything upon it except themselves."
The messenger turned and left, and the teenagers left without a word.
It was a week until the group arrived at the Southern Water Tribe. The way had been icy and they had landed three miles away from the Capital. They trekked easily, not many cared to leave the relative safety and comfort of the Capital. Eventually, they arrived and decided to stay in an inn. Once they ditched most of their equipment, the convened with Unalaq, who had spread plans and maps upon the small table in his room.
"The Southern Water Tribe, how inferior. Look, how small that 'palace' my brother lives in is. Anyway, we all know that Tonraq's daughter is the Avatar. She's obviously well protected, by both Southern Water Tribe troops and the White Lotus. Neither will be able to contend with us. Tomorrow at noon, we will carry out the raid."
The rest of the group nodded and returned to their respective rooms. They had grown close enough as members of this secret society that they hadn't much need for speaking anymore, though Unalaq noticed P'li went towards Zaheer's room instead of her own.
Everybody slept easily, the trek had been difficult through the winter snows, and come morning, they would need a rested mind and body.
Once the sun dawned, each member awoke and headed different ways to find breakfast. Travelling closely would be extremely suspicious, especially in the bit of a social disconnect that was the Southern Water Tribe. 11:30 came and the members found each other outside of the Southern Palace. Unalaq nodded, and walked into the palace to find his brother. It would be important to keep Tonraq distracted, he was their biggest threat. Everyone else waited a solid half an hour, and when the sun stood above them in the sky, the began. Unalaq had shared all of the maps about where Korra would be, it was up to everyone else to use them.
The first step was Ming Hua's. She scaled the side of the palace, an icy wonder. She peered lightly in the windows made of ice and eventually found Korra's room. She confirmed that the little Avatar was inside, sleeping no less, and signalled the rest. She bent small hand and footholds into the walls and allowed her allies to scale the building. Zaheer arrived first just as planned. Ming Hua melted the window to Korra's room and allowed Zaheer to enter, light as a feather. The nonbender crept over to where Korra still slept and delicately gagged, blindfolded, and bound her. He threw her over his shoulder and she woke and tried to resist, but no five-year old could struggle against the man. Ming Hua formed an ice slide in the palace wall and Zaheer deposited Korra into it, with Ghazan at the bottom to take her.
Ghazan, P'li, and Zaheer left while Ming Hua returned the palace wall to its previous state, then caught up with the rest. With the Avatar in hand, the group returned to the inn quietly to await Unalaq's return. Half an hour later, they were greeted by the Northern Chief.
"I see you have the Avatar," said Unalaq, "I take it everything went well for you."
"Yea, the girl's here. We should return to the compound, as soon as possible," replied Ghazan. "Anyway, what did you say to Tonraq?"
"I asked him to allow me to be Korra's spiritual advisor. I knew he would disallow it, and sure enough, he did. My brother was never one to truly respect the spirits. We will return. This is only the first step, now we must realize the Avatar."
"Yes," said Zaheer, "The Avatar will mold to our goals. We are the only ones truly fit to teach her, and we are the only ones who truly understand the balance. There will be a new world order, but first we must be patient." Zaheer turned to Korra, lying against the wall, eyes wide with fear. "You have much to learn, but you'll find that with your teachings you will become the most powerful, revered Avatar to ever live."
Chapter One: Earth
It had been seven years since Korra's abduction. The world leaders had been outraged of the development, although there was no evidence that Korra was abducted in the first place. Initially, Tonraq and his subordinates had thought that Korra had gotten lost, left the palace and ventured into the wild, and for two years they searched the entirety of the south pole, but they found no lost girls. Eventually, her disappearance had been chalked up to an abduction, and for three years they attempted to find any possible evidence, although their devotion to the cause narrowed each month without a trace of her. They concluded she was probably dead and began a search for a new Avatar, a search that lasted for a year and a half before they knew no new Avatar had been born. Again, Tonraq claimed Korra had been abducted, though her disappearance had slipped off the world stage and Tonraq found it increasingly difficult to find anyone devoted to his cause, even among the ranks of the White Lotus. In this world of increasing change, people had almost completely forgotten of the Avatar's existence.
Nevertheless, Korra lived. Unalaq took her to live with him at the Northern Water Tribe Palace, although at first she was completely uncooperative. The first few years were difficult. Early on Korra absolutely refused Unalaq, and so he had to resort to more drastic measures. A fantastic hypnotist was found and used to manipulate Korra's mind. The young Avatar spent months in a hypnotic trance, where her entire understanding of her past was altered. Eventually, she had no recollection of anything she had known before and was led to believe she had been born to Unalaq. After the hypnosis, Unalaq began training Korra seriously in waterbending, as well as providing her with a standard education. Xui Bau provided lessons in philosophy and wisdom to prepare her for her life as a new Avatar, though Korra had no recollection of being the Avatar.
The shape of the water was round, a bubble of liquid that floated perfectly in midair. Its suspension was elegant, and waves rippled across the flawlessness of its surface. Under the regal blob knelt Korra, her eyes closed and her arms raised, suspending the water above her head. She had learned how to use the water to meditate, finding so much she could learn from it. Its serenity in peace, its lethality in combat. Slowly, her eyes opened, and she found Unalaq walking toward her. They were outside the Northern Water Palace, on a terrace near the top. Korra let the water fall perfectly around her and freeze into ice, then rising to stand in the center of it.
"Hello, master Unalaq. You're interrupting my study, is there something important?"
"Yes," he replied, "your presence is required. Important events are transpiring, and your life is changing. Xui Bau requests your presence in addition to myself."
"But, what? Can you not tell me here, why I'm being interrupted, in the middle of something so important?" Korra sighed through her nose and narrowed her eyes. She could definitely feel herself growing frustrated. Remember the meditation. Serene in peace. It could be difficult at times, for Korra to control her frustration.
"We can't talk here. It's not safe." Unalaq turned on a point and began walking back into the palace. He knew Korra would follow, he had piqued her interest. Sure enough, Korra sighed and met Unalaq's pace.
In the meeting room, Xai Bau stood in the front as she expected. It was an unexpected surprise to see Zaheer seated at the table. He had grown to something like an uncle to her, an excellent mentor but one who would give advice only sparingly. In addition, three adults that Korra vaguely recognized sat at the table as well. A bearded earthbender, an armless waterbender, and a firebender with a third eye tattooed upon her forehead. Xai Bau spoke, he was one for speeches.
"Welcome Korra, you'll find here that our full formidable company is assembled. It is rare that a group of benders and nonbenders both this powerful would find themselves joined in one similar cause, as is natural of our order."
"What order?" Korra replied, "You mean to tell me, there is more than what I see? These people are not just friends to us?"
"No, certainly not just friends, though we have grown close in our years of service. You could consider us colleagues perhaps. The fact of the matter is, our lives all are about to change drastically. You won't remember us the way that we are, we removed that memory from you long ago. I am aging, my death is soon to come. In addition, men from the southern water tribe come our way, seeking something they lost long ago. Something so valuable that they will stop at nothing to get it back."
"What could be that valuable, so valuable the flimsy south would challenge their northern superiors to obtain?" Asked Korra.
"You, dear. You, Korra, also known as Noma, you are not an average waterbending girl, though surely you guessed that. Not only are you a gifted waterbender, one with education and ways with spirits, no, you are the Avatar."
"The Avatar? Then, you must be the White Lotus, the society to protect, to train me."
"No, quite the opposite. The old way has been to tell the Avatar his or her title at the age of sixteen. Fortunately, the White Lotus happens to be an excellent example of how old ways can change so greatly. The White Lotus used to be a secret society, before they came out openly in their service of the Avatar and the Globe. No, we are not the White Lotus, we are the Red Lotus. A spawn of a society which wronged the traditional ways and laid waste to the goals which it had been created to achieve. We are those that find and create true balance, equality, peace, a natural order. The time has come for a new natural order, and you, Avatar Korra, are integral in that way, in order to fulfill your duty as Avatar and create true balance."
Korra's jaw had dropped a minute ago, but Xui Bau had not seemed to notice. Slowly, Korra slid into a seat behind the table and continued to listen to the old man speak.
"You know the Avatar Cycle, that an Avatar will learn fire, air, water, and earth. In that order. The time has come for you to truly begin your training. You are a master waterbender, a twelve year old master waterbender, but you are also the Avatar and you do not know earthbending. You do not know firebending, nor airbending." Xui Bau suddenly took a seat. "Ghazan, speak."
The bearded earthbender named Ghazan stood. He was tall with such long hair, and physically intimidating. He looked at Korra, eyes like lasers, eyes that could penetrate and murder your mind, without saying a word.
"Yea, it's time for you to learn earthbending. I've had some time, ever since I was designated to be your teacher, to think about how I was going to teach you. It's a tricky task, since earthbending is so… noticeable. We're going to the Quarry. It's in a mountain range to the southeast of the Earth Kingdom. Interestingly enough, Avatar Aang learned to earthbend there. Hopefully, you'll pick up a little bit with the memory from your past lives. Unfortunately, Avatar Aang wasn't exactly in strong agreement with us on many things, hopefully you won't tune in to that. We're leaving tomorrow morning."
Ghazan sat back down, having said all he believed necessary. Xui Bau nodded, and began to close out the meeting. "I grow old. I will stay here, but you all know or will know what we are destined for. You'll find many Red Lotus collaborators on your travels, and hopefully you will be quick picking up the elements. Your power is limitless."
Unalaq interjected with the pause in Xui Bau's speech. "I will not be going either. As we mentioned, members of the Southern Water Tribe are on their way here. I will have to deal with them to defuse any… suspicions between us. They believe the Avatar is here, and for now they are correct, but their goal to obtain her is truly ridiculous. I will put them in their place."
Strange, that the Southern Water Tribe would be so interested in having me. I know none of them and can not truly help them either, thought Korra.
"Good good, we can't have Korra slipping into their grasp. This meeting is over. As per usual, there will be no discussion of the events which have transpired here within the hearing and distinction of anyone not in this room at this time. Good luck to you all, and good luck Avatar Korra."
The members of the Red Lotus exited quickly, leaving Korra, Unalaq, and Xui Bau. "You have questions," stated Xui Bau.
"How could I not? I… I'm the Avatar! Why exactly is the Southern Water Tribe after me? The Red Lotus? Am I in it? How am I supposed to handle this kind of responsibility? Am I really Korra?" Korra was almost rising from her seat. It was unbelievable, to think she hadn't had a clue before.
"Your questions will be answered in time, some of them now. The Southern Water Tribe is not after you necessarily, but they are on their way due to suspicions of illegal acts against them, committed by the North. All allegations are almost definitely wrong. As for the Red Lotus, for now you can be considered an ally. Admission to our circle is rigorous, and without full admission you will never truly have access to the resources our society has to offer. You gain only what we elect to give you. The rest of your questions will have to wait. Enough for now, you must leave. Tomorrow morning you travel, I would recommend you prepare. I may not see you again, although you will hear from me. Farewell, Korra." Xui Bau motioned for Korra to leave and turned to face the wall behind him.
The next morning's departure was early. The sun had barely cracked the horizon, and the temperature was frigid. Korra stood in the harbor of the Northern Water Tribe with Zaheer and the other members of the Red Lotus. A single boat was moored, it was not large but it was said to be swift.
"Today you are taking the first step of your life's great journey," said Zaheer, "and today, I take the first step to my destiny." Zaheer walked up the gangway and to the bow of the ship, and the others followed suit. Korra was the last onboard, and when the boat left the harbor, she retreated to the wheelhouse. There was no shortage of water in this place, she would always be at home on a boat.
The voyage sailed smoothly for a few days. The members of the Red Lotus, except for Zaheer, kept themselves separate from Korra. They would not be friends to her, but teachers. Zaheer was also a teacher, but had been intended by Xui Bau to also be her mentor. The majority of their interactions were philosophical. Zaheer imparted the ideals of the Red Lotus upon her, there was little encouragement for her to form her own interpretation. What Zaheer taught was almost religious. He often cited airbending masters in his lessons, and spoke of honor and mercy, as well as vengeance and strength. He spoke of government and anarchy, chaos and order. Korra listened dutifully, but often felt a tugging in her chest, like something was trying to speak from inside of her.
The sea was flat. Endlessly the same, until a boat was spotted on the horizon. Ming-Hua attempted to steer the ship clear, though the other vessel had spotted them already. A flare of fire arched in the sky, towards their boat, obviously whoever was following them had no peaceful or logical intentions.
"Korra, this is your chance to see what you are capable of," announced Zaheer. The other members of the Red Lotus stepped aside, and although Korra's heart was pounding, she clutched the moment and extinguished the fireball, creating a spout of water to meet it in the air. No more came from the other vessel, it appeared to be reconsidering its actions. Eventually, it turned and resumed its previous path.
"Follow it!" hissed P'li, "we need to take action, vengeance, upon those who have wronged us!"
All the sudden, Korra felt her stomach clench. It wasn't nausea, it wasn't pain, but to Korra it felt like a message, a symbol. "No." Korra stated. "We don't need to, they reached out to us and I let them know we were here, ready to resist. We came to a mutual understanding, besides, you don't know who's on that boat."
P'li opened her mouth to respond, her face contorting in anger, but it was Zaheer who responded. "Korra's right. No need for any more hostilities."
P'li turned to face Zaheer this time, her eyes like daggers. "I suppose you are right," she said, in a slow, biting tone. Slowly, she turned and went below deck.
The confrontation left an unpleasant feeling in the pit of Korra's stomach, one that lasted for several days. In the span of those several days, Korra and the members of the Red Lotus arrived at the Quarry. They had left the boat at a port on the east coast of the Earth Kingdom and trekked to the campsite. When they arrived, there was no one for miles. It was an earthbending paradise, just as Korra had been told. They had four tents pitched and enough food for a week. The plan was for Ghazan to get Korra on her feet for earthbending, so that in ten days time they could take her to train in other disciplines as well.
Ghazan's earthbending training began on the first day.
"This isn't waterbending, nothing like it," began Ghazan, "you will not focus on grace with this power, but instead, power. Earthbending is all about being rooted to that which you use. You must establish a deep, physical connection for anything to happen at all."
Ghazan was not much for repetition of basic technique or forms. He was a powerful, adaptable earthbender, and so he was a difficult teacher. For some time Korra had trouble even lifting a rock with the power, but Ghazan demanded she throw one. When she finally did, and she tried to float the rock, Ghazan demanded she float three. Korra eventually became reliant on particular skills and forms to express her earthbending, but Ghazan quickly deconstructed them.
"You are a fast learner, but I am a fast fighter." Ghazan hurled a rock at Korra, and Korra skillfully deflected it, hurling it away. Ghazan threw two more her way, and she dealt with them, but by that time Ghazan had moved to the other side of her and thrown rocks from two different angles. Korra desperately tried to reposition herself and deal with each rock, but she was unable to do so gracefully and nearly lost her footing. Ghazan did not hesitate, he tried opening the Earth beneath her feet, then closing it. Korra could not stay upright for long, and eventually fell into one of Ghazan's pits.
"You fight like a scroll. Not only can I attempt to defeat you, but I can predict you. You must do away with the forms and the techniques. You have learned them and now you do not need them. In order to earthbend like a true master, like an Avatar, you have to realize how the Earth is only natural. Earthbending is as natural as our bodies and our surroundings, and nature is unpredictable. Forms and techniques are a construction of the intelligent mind, an alteration of nature. Nature as a rule, being unpredictable, makes the unnatural predictable. Order out of chaos, something you will learn more about in the not so distant future."
Ghazan helped Korra out of the pit and returned the Quarry to its natural state.
"As earthbenders it is also our responsibility to protect and respect our environment."
He walked off to the campsite, Korra dusting herself off and following. Her lessons with Ghazan continued throughout the ten day period of which they inhabited the Quarry, but eventually their time there came to an end. On the tenth day Zaheer called the others to meeting and announced their next destination.
"We will travel now to an Earth Kingdom prison. The prison is not important, it houses only their political rivals. This prison is a fantastic example of the horror brought on by the tyrannical regime of the Wu Dynasty. It will be our duty to eliminate this prison and liberate those held within it."
Zaheer pointed to a spot on the map, south of Gaoling in the Eastern Earth Empire. The prison's name was the Da-Zho Penal Complex and it truly held only political prisoners. Somehow, it had found itself on Zaheer's agenda and they were tasked with destroying it. Surely, Zaheer had his reasons, but Korra again felt a tugging deep in her stomach. It must be since I've stayed here for so long. Just sickness.. but there was an air of uncertainty in the young Avatar's mind.
Korra and the Red Lotus made their journey to the Da-Zho prison, stopping at towns along the way for food and rest. Throughout the journey, Korra still practiced earthbending relentlessly with Ghazan, who grew fiercer with the less time she had with him. Korra's earthbending skill also continued to grow.
"Keep it up, and you'll be able to fight a nonbender with a shovel," Ghazan would quip.
Eventually, the group arrived at the prison. They spent an hour eating lunch on a precipice that overlooked the complex. Zaheer sat cross-legged at the tip, facing the prison and silently eating. Eventually, he turned around and laid the details of the breakout.
"This liberation will be a mix of stealth and sending our message. None of the guards overseeing the prison will die at our hands, and neither will any of the prisons. The guards will instead be eliminated by tranquilizer, and unaware of where their prisoners have gone or who let them out, until they find the note we've left them. A letter I have already written, addressed to the Earth Queen, detailing to her the offenses she's committed, particularly with the existence of this prison."
Zaheer got up and lifted a knapsack over his shoulder. "Now we will go. Leave the equipment here, no one will come to find it." Zaheer hopped down the cliff, jumping onto various footholds and outcroppings, forcing the others to follow him in their own, unique ways. P'li slid down somewhat like a barrel, Ghazan simply made a staircase, and Ming Hua followed. Unfortunately Ghazan also took away each stair he and the waterbender had already used, forcing Korra to find her own way down. She decided to earthbend a thick rock out of the side, then levitate it to the ground and laying it down gently. She hopped off and threw it back into the cliff, causing large clods of dirt and debris to come cascading down. She followed P'li, as Ghazan and Ming Hua still made their way down.
Eventually, everyone reached the prison and Zaheer directed everyone to specific roles in the operation. Zaheer went in first, eliminating any guards he saw and depositing the letter in the warden's office. Ghazan followed him and took any of the guards Zaheer left behind and deposited them in the middle of the courtyard in a pile. They would have a fun awakening. P'li stood vigil over the entire operation, her combustion-bending was an amazing gift to have as a lookout. Ming Hua and Korra went together to find the prisoners. The prisoners were contained all in metal cells, locked and without keys nearby. Korra nearly yelled in frustration, but Ming Hua silenced her and took water from the waterskins she was carrying.
"Do exactly this." Ming Hua directed, and submerged the cell door. She froze the water, crushing the iron bar door and leaving it twisted and mangled. When Ming Hua took the water away, the door fell to the ground loudly, and the prisoners looked out at her with unsure eyes.
"We're here to free you," said Korra, "let's go." Korra and Ming Hua destroyed the rest of the doors and the prisoners all took the opportunity and ran. There were three doors left when three earthbending prison guards came running down the hallway.
"I thought Zaheer would have taken care of them all!" Snarled Ming Hua, but Korra leapt straight into action. The guards tried to throw some rocks at Korra, but Korra grasped them and turned them around, allowing the full force of the sediment to fly at the guards. Korra then took the water and whipped all three guards with it, knocking them to the ground. At that point, they stopped fighting and gave Korra a look of comprehension. Wordlessly, they fled with the rest of the prisoners.
"That was too easy," Korra stated. Ming Hua looked a little frustrated, her opportunity to fight squandered, but she didn't complain, and she and Korra released the rest of the prisoners. One prisoner did not go with the rest, but rather sauntered straight up to Korra and Ming Hua.
"Hello again Ming Hua! It's been so long, I nearly forgot that I was ever associated with the Red Lotus, or maybe it was the fact that our attempt at political influence had me thrown in jail." The prisoner ended the statement with a tone of displeasure, but Ming Hua would not let him give the cutting gaze he surely wanted to.
"Hello again Fan-Lei." So, the prisoner's name was Fan-Lei. He was young, Korra thought. Sixteen probably, though that still means at least three years older than me. Despite his youthful appearance, he could also probably pass for a twenty-five year old. He was fit and tall, and looked to be a firebender, with his golden eyes and perfectly pale skin. "I didn't know you were here, but I bet Zaheer did. Are you going to come back with us? You have nowhere else to be, truly."
Fan-Lei made a show of thinking, reaching his hand to grab his long black hair and twisting his lips, raising his eyebrows and squinting his eyes.
"Maybe," he eventually concluded. "It has truly been a while, two years even. Remind me, how I got locked up for political crimes when I was thirteen." So only two years older than me. Korra looked at him intently, he had a charismatic way of body language, even though he took so long to decide to speak.
"Either way, we have to get out of here first." Fan-Lei began walking out of the prison finally, although the rest of the prisoners were long gone. The rest of the Red Lotus convened with Korra, Ming Hua, and Fan-Lei, and Zaheer looked especially unsurprised to see Fan-Lei. He must have known the boy was here, and immediately shook his hand and greeted him again.
"It is amazing to see you again. I'm sorry the Earth Queen decided it was you she had to take."
"I remind you it was for the best. If she had gotten you, who would have come to your rescue?" The two laughed at the joke, and the rest of the ensemble listened on quietly.
"Oh Zaheer, the Earth Queen was hilarious, such a weak person with such a powerful following. Her end is soon, I suppose."
"Yes, soon, but not as soon as you seem to hope. You may have noticed, the Avatar is with us, and she must be taught to bend, she must learn our ways and traditions, our ideals and agendas. I think the Earth Kingdom will have to wait for us."
Fan-Lei's eyebrows raised in genuine surprise this time. "The Avatar, wow, I would never have known, had you not told me." Fan-Lei turned to Korra and offered his hand. She shook it. "I suppose that answers my question, I was wondering who you were."
"My name is Korra," she responded. "I'm from the Northern Water Tribe, it is good to meet you Fan-Lei. You don't seem much older than myself."
"No, I suppose I am not. I forget that sometimes, when I'm talking to these geriatrics as though they are my brothers and sisters. I suppose they are more that than not though, and you will learn of these things soon enough."
Fan-Lei faced back to Zaheer. "I want to join this crew again. It's been a long time that I've been in that prison but I'm itching to see the world again, and it sounds like that is exactly what you are doing. I'll need some things though, like nice clothes and a bostaff."
Zaheer smiled and walked up to Fan-Lei, then continued with his arm around the teenager's shoulder, the two in step and walking away from the prison. "That all can be arranged easily, it would be an honor for you to travel with us again.
To be continued in Chapter Two: Fire