Disclaimer: I own nothing except original characters, of course. This story takes place after Book 3 and will be developed separately from Book 4, but since that's coming in just a few weeks after I post this story, I will probably adapt certain helpful setting details such as who the Fire Lord is (other than "Zuko's daughter"), for instance.
A/N: The concept for this story came to me after I commissioned a picture of a zombified Korra. Ideas began to trickle into me from that concept, and I foolishly allowed them to grow and prosper instead of being lazy about writing. Those ideas matured into something quite different than their initial inception now, and while I may not be able to completely escape putting zombies in my fanfictions, this will, by far, focus on them the least. Read, review, and enjoy!
Sanguine Petals, Chapter 1:
Korra curled herself up tighter underneath the sheets in her bed, pulling them to cover the glimmer of light seeping through the cloth. Some amount of time had passed since Jinora's ceremony in which she was declared a master airbender. It may have been a week, but she really didn't care. Ever since Zaheer had been defeated, she had felt absolutely miserable. All she had done this day is close the curtains and seclude herself in her unlit room. It sickened her that she did not congratulate Jinora at all, but that just further exemplified how worthless she was.
Her good friends had offered her many helping hands since she became crippled a few weeks ago. She accepted their help at the beginning, but her mood gradually deteriorated until she cast all of them away. It didn't feel right to interact with them, to have them see her as the helpless, useless excuse for a human being that she was. Turning them away only made her feel worse. They wanted to help her, and all she could do was shout at them...
Tears welled up in Korra's eyes as she began to sob. She hated her current weakened state. Her spirit was on the brink of despair. It seemed as if she had regained enough strength to walk yesterday, but it was not long before she collapsed, her hopes falling with her. She was nothing, and her friends couldn't ease her pain.
She had heard them talk about getting Kya to help her at some point, but she knew not how long ago that was. There was no reason to keep track of time anymore. The Red Lotus essentially succeeded in their goal. With the airbenders acting on her behalf, there was no use for the Avatar anymore. And with her freedom crippled to be hopelessly dependent on others just to perform basic life functions, there never would be a use for her again.
There was a knock on her door, and it opened up.
"Korra, I brought you some lunch. You need to eat," Mako said.
"GET OUT!" Korra yelled at him, but her voice was hoarse and weak, hardly at the volume of a shout.
"But Korra-" Mako began.
"Just leave me alone!" Korra cried. How could she treat Mako in such a way? She was scum...
Mako sighed and placed the tray he was holding on the end table next to her bed. He said nothing and left the room, quietly closing the door behind him. Korra cried by herself for a bit until the smell of the food crept in under her sheets and hit her nose.
She wiped the tears from her eyes with a shaky hand as she emerged from the covers. Her stomach was growling loudly... it must have been at least a day or two since she last ate, but with her shattered perception of time, she had no method of knowing other than she was really hungry.
She reached for the glass of water to quench her thirst, but her hand was trembling out of her control. Another result of the poison the Red Lotus used on her... she tried to quell the movements of her arm, but was unable to make any leeway. She gritted her teeth as she gave up and grabbed the glass of water. She tried moving it not too quickly or slowly so it wouldn't spill from the sudden movement or her hand tremors, respectively, and managed to get the glass close to her. She lifted it to her mouth and tipped the glass, but her tremors made the water spill down her mouth and onto her bed.
She howled in frustration and anguish as she threw the glass against the wall, breaking it, and flipped the table containing her food. She retreated under the covers of her bed once more and balled herself up as she began to cry. She couldn't take much more of this...
Mako left Korra's room with a downtrodden expression on his face. Asami and Bolin were waiting outside.
"I'm going to guess that it didn't go well because of that shouting?" Bolin asked.
"Of course it didn't go well!" Mako fumed. "I don't understand why she's being so difficult about this!"
"Come on guys, you can't blame her. You heard what the doctor said, right?" Asami asked.
"Actually, I forgot," Bolin sheepishly admitted as he rubbed the back of his neck. "There were an awful lot of terms I didn't understand, so I just kind of tuned out..."
"I can't believe you..." Mako sighed. Bolin was about to interject, but Asami cut him off.
"She had mercury poisoning, Bolin. That damages your nervous system. Her snappy attitude, depression, and physical weakness are directly caused by that."
"Any reason she's still like that? Aren't doctors supposed to make things better?" Bolin asked.
Mako pinched the bridge of his nose and grumbled under his breath at his brother's ignorance. "There's not any good treatments for mercury poisoning, Bolin. We're lucky she's even alive."
"Hey! I was tired! Is it my fault that I wasn't paying attention because of that?" Bolin exclaimed with exasperation. He pouted when Mako and Asami's countenances gave a resounding "yes, it was" response.
The three of them heard Korra roar in anger as something was thrown against the wall. Loud sobbing was heard after that. Mako reached for her door, but Asami grabbed his arm.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"She needs help!" Mako snapped. "Are we just going to leave her in there in the dark as she cries herself to sleep? We're her friends! The doctor even said she needs to be outside and get as much fresh air and sunlight as possible! She's been in that room for two days now!"
"You'll just make things worse! I can tell that she hates being helpless like this!" Asami shouted back.
"I think we should cool things down, guys. She probably wouldn't want to hear us arguing about her," Bolin said quietly. Asami let go of Mako, who closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"So..." Bolin said, breaking the awkward silence, "...is she just supposed to get better or something?"
"We tried doing what the doctor said and seeing if she got better on her own, but that's not the case, seeing as she secluded herself shortly after Tenzin left with the other airbenders to assist the Earth Kingdom with its anarchy and Red Lotus uprisings," Asami explained. "And there were signs of it getting worse before he left, too."
"Tenzin didn't leave without Korra's health in mind. He contacted his mother and sister. They're going to get some spirit water to try and heal Korra. Hopefully they'll arrive sometime soon," Mako said.
"Hopefully the Air Nation is doing okay... that's a pretty big responsibility they've taken on," Bolin said glumly.
"Ugh, enough of this depressing talk," Asami said. "I know Kya and lady Katara will make Korra better, and right now she wants to be left alone... I think we should spend this day organizing a celebration when she gets better."
Mako smiled. "That's a perfect idea, Asami!"
"Yeah! We can get so many balloons! And a giant cake! Maybe someone inside the cake, too..." Bolin mused with enthusiasm.
"Bolin!" Asami chastised him.
"I was only kidding! Unless you'd think she'd like that. Would she?"
A woman sat at a tea house in the Fire Nation, flipping through a newspaper, one leg resting atop another, while occasionally sipping her tea. She was never really one for news, but ever since the Earth Queen's assassination she couldn't help but keep her eyes peeled for any new developments. It was her responsibility as one of the Red Lotus, after all.
Zaheer had been defeated and imprisoned two weeks ago, so she was curious as to what would happen to him. The article her eyes fell upon answered it all: he was slated to be executed in a few days for his terrorist acts. She scoffed at that statement. Like the tyrants would understand their stance of liberating the people.
With some other articles covering the continued chaos in the Earth Kingdom, it appeared that some other Red Lotus cells were acting up. She had been on the fence about uniting her group once more, but the continued chaos settled it. Now was the most opportune time to act.
She took one last sip of her tea and placed a few coins on the table as she left the tea house. She brushed her ponytail off of her shoulder and took a deep breath of the air of the country that was her home. She hated this country so much, but she would not breathe the familiar air of where she was raised for quite some time, as now it was time to board a boat to Republic City. She was eager to see how far Ban had progressed since they last met...
