Korra was alone. That was all she knew, and all that mattered. She was not returning to Republic City, not after the clear warning she'd received from… who? It was her body, she could tell that much. But it just wasn't her. It was darker, dangerous, more violent. When she'd seen it that night, standing on that rock, like a macabre sentinel waiting to pounce, she'd felt shivers stabbing down her spine. She'd turned her boat around, but not without a pang of disappointment. She'd wanted to see her friends, talk to them. She'd waited three years to be able to show them progress, to laugh with Bolin and have a real heart-to-heart with Asami like she'd been wanting to for so long.
But that would have to wait. Time for some soul-searching, she'd thought as she rode the winds away from Republic City and into the unknown open ocean. She traveled aimlessly, knowing only that she was moving forward and farther away from home with each passing hour.
She encountered no one for what felt like an eternity. With no friends to keep her company and no objective to keep her on edge she fell into a hazy mess of drowsiness and lethargy. To pass the time she would attempt to contact her past lives. A few times she felt like she'd sensed a twitch. But soon enough her visions of Zaheer and the Red Lotus members snatched away her hope. She'd end up curled up, powerless to stop these ghosts from tormenting her.
A few weeks were spent in this way. Korra was feeling worse than when she'd left home. If she was weak and powerless at home, with her parents and Katara supporting her, she was even more so out in the open, alone except for the fleeting water spirit that sometimes swam by her boat. She slept less each night. And each night, her flashbacks got more vivid. They got longer. By the time she'd given up on sleep completely, she lived almost exclusively in her waking nightmares. It was unimaginable torture.
Stuck in that loop of danger after danger, fight after fight, villain after despicable villain, it was only a matter of time before Korra snapped and, one night, she did. As luck would have it, that same night a massive storm caught up with her. It tore her boat to pieces and sent her tumbling through the water like loose algae. Through sheer luck, the young Avatar made it through that night largely unscathed and unaware of the chaos raging around her in the physical world. She was too caught up in her own nightmare.
By the time the Sun rose again, Korra had washed up on some shore on some distant land. She woke up, sore and confused and scared. Rising slowly, trying to control her shivering, she looked around. The beach was completely deserted. Beyond it, she saw nothing but dense jungle. Sighing and steeling her nerves as much as she could, she set off along the shoreline. She made it her sole objective to look straight forward, for fear that she would look into the jeering face of the demon that walked beside her.
Hope you enjoyed. This is a kind of alternate version of Korra Alone from Book 4, just in case it wasnt clear.
I'm thinking of making this into a crossover kind of thing where Korra just meets loads of people that help her in her soul-searching, so stay tuned.