HI! Welcome!

Just a little background before you begin read. I'll be quick!

FOR READERS WHO CAME FROM MY STORY, AS I WAKE:

Surprise! Welcome to my newest story, Leda. Shocking title name, I know. If you haven't already noticed, this story is a bit different as it is not set in the Naruto world, it is rather set in the Legend of Korra world. (I had to be different. You know me. I'm sorry.) You never seen Legend of Korra? No worries. This story will be written so that people who never seen the show will understand it. And as always...

FOR NEW READERS:

Oh, you're new? Cool! This is a side-story from my story, As I Wake. As I Wake is set in the Naruto world where my main character LEDA is originally from. There are Naruto characters mentioned in this story, but only in this chapter. There will be nothing else Naruto related with this story, only Legend of Korra. However, if you enjoy this chapter and wish to learn more about the main character, Leda, and her background, I would recommend reading As I Wake. I wrote As I Wake so that even people who never seen Naruto would understand and enjoy the story. It's a good read, I promise! BUT YOU CAN READ JUST THIS STORY AND NOT BE CONFUSED. Whichever you choose I wish you a...

Happy reading!

Warning: For those who don't know Leda... let's just say she's not the type of girl you want to take home to your parents. *language*

Chapter one: Welp... I'm dead

"Hero."

That's what I was going to say, if I wasn't dead, floating in an abyss of nothingness.

Never thought I would be saying that anything time soon. Oh, who am I kidding? Saying I got on people's bad side was putting it nicely. A girl charged at me with a spork once because a rumor was going around that I slept with her boyfriend.

I made up that rumor.

I know, I know. Bad Leda, but what can I say? I was bored and she was an easy target.

Between people sending me death threats as Valentine's cards and having a shitting family life, I was bound to get killed at some point. Whether it was by the hands of another or from the carton and half of cigarettes I smoked each day. You could say I had a death wish.

I always thought I would go out with a shebang and the village would have a yearly festival celebrating my death. There would be cotton candy to rot the kid's teeth out of their skulls, depressed jokers who rather choke than have another child kick them in the shins, a torching ceremony of a giant wooden statue of me— the full nine yards. And I would get to haunt each and every motherfucker.

Ah, the life that would be… or afterlife to be accurate.

But I never thought I would go out like this. To jump in the line of fire. An exchange of my life, for hers. My teammate.

Thinking of her lifted the black haze that engulfed me. It brought on this vision of her on the forest floor. A bird's eye view of the forest dubbed the Forest of Death. My team and I were taking our test to become higher ranked ninjas.

There she was, caressing my lifeless body. I didn't know if this was real, whether my soul was now watching over her, but I wanted to believe it.

She rocked my body back and forth, like a mother who lost her child. Our other teammate, Mae, and two friends stood around her, mournful, but I could only focus on her. The blood, so much blood was spilt between her and me. It looked like a mass murder scene.

Her long, wavy chestnut hair draped over my body, a veil full of sorrow. Her irises were no longer red. I never seen that kind of power from her before, but I knew she wouldn't have kept that from me. I didn't understand what, but something happened to her while we were separated. I wish I could tell her that. She stared at me like I was looking at her with fear, but it wasn't that. I was looking at her with awe.

Her eyes, naturally, were the most unique eyes I have ever seen. A celery green that glowed when the sun just about hides behind the mountainside, ready to begin the day elsewhere. They were now bloodshot. Tears flowed in heavy rivers, able to cure even the most severe drought. Sobs rang threw the air, pulling on my heartstrings.

It killed me to see her like this—well not killed, but you get my point. But, I made my choice, it was either her or me.

"How disappointing," called a voice. My teammates and friends whipped to see who it was. He looked tattered with his sleeves mainly burned off and bandages barely covering his face, but he was still alive. Dosu.

"Only one of you died from that. Oh well, at least it was the Loudmouth."

Dosu. The enemy ninja who killed me. Stabbed me with a freakin' kunai knife. Making me look like a damn shish kabob. A hole in my abdomen the size of a golf ball. The wound wasn't going to win me any beauty pageants. The things I would say to him if I was still alive. That wet blanket of a coward.

"You…" she growled, holding my body closer.

"Get lost!" one of our friends, Sakura, threatened. "You're done here. It's over."

"On the contrary, I'm not done until each and every one of you is dead." Dosu rose his metal instrument up. That junkyard contraption with the ability to manipulate sound waves and cause ear splitting pain and mass destruction. He was the last of the three enemy ninjas left standing, but he was the most diabolical. I immediately worried for them, for her.

Dosu fell into fighting stance while my other too-smart-for-her-own-good teammate, Mae, and two friends, Sakura and Sasuke, followed suit. Tension rung high in the air.

Then, to disrupt the face-off, a painful cry rung the air. A horde of three-eyed, winged monkeys charged to the scene. I knew this forest had some whacked, scientific experiments gone wrong, but I never saw these. These monkeys were enraged and stared at her with vengeance. By her expression of fear and recognition, I knew she must have encountered these monstrosities before. They were begging for a round two.

Dosu waved the pests off. "Get lost, you filthy animals."

The primates were angered by Dosu's belittlement and with a high-pitch holler that rung eerily through the air, charged by the hundreds.

Dosu fought them off as they climbed upon him. He used his metal arm to smash each one who tried to sink their white, sharp teeth into him, but it was futile. There were too many and soon they over ran him. A mountain of animals climbed on Dosu and his shocked face was swallowed by black fur. All that was left visible was his metal arm that reached for safety but that too vanished in the sea of creatures.

Killing their first victim didn't slow them down. They were still out for blood as they charged for the rest of them. My teammate and friends held out their weapons, but they knew better.

"We got to get out of here!" Mae yelled.

They were about to fall to the bottom of the food chain when the monkeys screamed, but this time in pain. Towards the back of the group, monkeys were being thrown into the air by a powerful force. The cause of the ruckus made its way to the front of the line. Monkeys chewed on his arm and he knocked them off. It was our other friend, that knucklehead, Naruto, who was out of commission until now.

"Naruto!" Sakura called with worry.

But he wasn't himself as a red aura engulfed him. His nails were replaced with claws and his blue eyes were replaced with red cat eyes. His incisors were sharpen, canine. There was that look again, her celery green eyes shined with horror and recognition. There was so much she had seen when we were apart.

"Go, I'll hold them off," Naruto called. His voice sounded rough, demonic.

"But…" Sakura began.

"Go! I got it!" Naruto punched the monkey that gnawed his arm and sent it flying. "Is that all you got, you three-eyed freaks!? Come at me!" He let out a battle cry and charged into the mosh pit. The others wasted no time and ran for cover.

Despite the others dashing off, she stayed behind for me. She started to drag my body away from the scene, but she didn't have the strength to take it far. After a few feet, the pool of blood made it impossible for her to get a proper grip as my body kept slipping out of her grasps.

"We got to go!" Mae yelled over the screams and mayhem.

"No!" She screamed with hysteria. "I'm not leaving her!" She continued to pull my body from under my arms, inching ever so slowly.

Mae grabbed her shoulder and ripped her from my body. "If you stay here, you're going to get killed. Then she gave up her life for nothing."

My dead heart was racing. She needed to go. She needed to escape there. I knew first-hand what that forest could do to a person. Even before my death, it contaminated my brain, devoured me, and spat me out.

Please, go. Leave me. I thought, begging.

A sob rang threw the air, despite the loud chaos surrounding her. Even though she finally realized the scenario, she bent down to say her last goodbyes—the final goodbye to my body.

I never seen her this broken. The girl I admired, who always wore an armor shell to protect herself both from the good and bad in the world. The girl who would go out of her way to make someone else happy, even if that sacrificed her own happiness. But, now she looked shattered. The usual ferocity in her eyes was filled with pain.

And it was all because of me.

But I couldn't have let her die. I needed to protect her. And I would have done it again in a heartbeat.

She placed a shaky, but tender kiss on my forehead. Well, my body's forehead that I could no longer feel, but I could imagine the velvety of her lips. The way my mother used to kiss me every night before tucking me into bed.

I wish I could feel it one last time.

She places something in my body's hand. The blue shined from up here. That's right, it's the necklace. The blue crystal necklace I gave her moments before my death. It was from someone I cared about to someone I care about.

Suddenly a beam a light grew beneath me and quickly realized it was coming from my hand. My empty hand felt something in it. A small, but solid object slipped into my fingers.

It was the necklace.

Before I could try to fathom what was going on, I saw her lean into my body's ear to whisper something. I knew I wouldn't be able hear it. I was disconnected from this world, the lines were severed.

But that's when I heard it:

"I will not go gentle."

The sound of her voice, broken, but strong, undefeated took my breath from me. But, what did that mean? My pig-headed, high estrogen mind's first impression was that it was referring to something sexual, but I knew her. That wasn't something she would say. Her, and my other teammate especially, Mae, hated it when I talked sexual or used sexual slang.

Then what does she mean?

The light from the pendent shined brighter, irritating my eyes. I could barely see the view below me. Things started to warp and spin slightly.

She was about to leave when one of those three-eyed mad scientist created monkeys broke off from the group and charged at her.

"Watch out!" Mae called.

The warning jolted her. She was greeted by foam pouring from its mouth. The rabid creature was begging for a bite.

I called for her, but it was too late. The light emitting from the necklace was too strong. Everything melted and blurred together in a marble of bleeding color. What was once surround by black was soon surrounded by white.

Wait, no. No, I need to see if she's okay!

It was happening so fast. There was so much I wanted to say to her. So much I wanted to thank her for.

My pleas were sucked away by the void and the space spun faster until I couldn't keep up and everything became nothing.

The feeling of mud clogging the inside of my nostrils woke me. My eyes creaked open to see I was no longer hovering in the nothingness, an evil-spirit watching the living below.

I pushed myself up, staring in disbelief at myself like a foreign object, but it was me. It was all of me, in one piece. The hole in my abdomen where that bastard Dosu stabbed me was gone. My ivory skin was untouched; stomach glowing, exposed by my short, black crop top. The rips, burns and tears on my cargo pants were mended as well.

I'm alive?

That's when the pain hit. The pulsing in my brain came in crushing waves. Like it was being sawed in half by a failed Houdini trick.

"Man, this feels worse than the time I got extremely drunk at Drag Bingo Night and got hit with the biggest hangover the next day," I mumbled, rubbing my pained head.

What can I say? Those drags could sure make a grandma's game like bingo entertaining.

"But I'm definitely alive…" And the pain proves it. But, how?

Rubbing my head stimulated a realization:

I was in a forest.

My first initial instinct was that I was in the Forest of Death, the place where I was killed. But, something was off. The Forest of Death was dark, dank, the perfect lair for pedophiles and vampires. This forest was lighter, brighter.

The smell was off, too. The Forest of Death had a musky smell. The fresh earth would sting my nostrils, reminding me of my morning walks to school. This forest; however, smelled like ass— ripe ass.

Wherever I was, I crash landed in the middle of the swamps.

"Nonetheless, I was still intact," I told myself, then realized something was missing as I padded myself down.

The necklace.

But there it was, instead of it being in my hand were it magically appeared, it was around my neck. Where it always was. The blue gemstone was intact, not at all showing evidence that I've been to, literally, hell and back.

Wish my body could say the same, I thought, rubbing my aching neck.

If I wasn't in the Forest of Death, then where was I? And how was I alive? My sarcastic, son-of-a-bitch, body was in one piece. I took a deep breath of air, familiarizing myself with how good it felt to breathe without fluid filling into your lungs.

I played with the necklace once more. Could it be from the necklace? Could it have special powers?

Normally, I would laugh in the face of anyone who believed in Wiccan or magic or any of that mumble-jumble. But going through what I just went, logic flew out the window.

"Well, standing around here isn't going to solve any questions." My mind was racing towards my teammates, towards her. She was attacked by those freaky monkeys, I need to find her and make sure she was alright.

"I need to get back to the others," I declared to absolutely no one and decided to start my search, which was going to the left, apparently.

I soon found out that this was definitely a swamp. My feet sunk in more mud than a pig's on a hot day. I almost lost a shoe on more than one occasion which I swear the salamanders and toads were laughing at me for. Not to mention my pant legs are officially ruined.

"Fuck this swamp." I groaned, thinking things couldn't get much worse.

The funny thing about life was when you thought it couldn't get any worse, it can and it will. Standing just feet away, was the most bizarre thing I ever saw… and that's saying something. I did go to Drag Bingo Night after all.

A boar stood there, staring innocently. Not an ordinary boar—no. This was some messed up boar, because instead of a pig snout, it had something that resembled a crocodile's jaw. The brown, furry, square jaw jutted a foot in front of the beast's eyes. Two little tusks protruded from its top jaw and curved inwards.

"What are you looking at, ugly?" I snapped. Its beady, yellow eyes were freaking me out.

Maybe I was at the Forest of Death. What are the chances of another forest having the same chimeric animals?

I picked up a stone and chucked it at the beast. It jumped with shock and scurried away crying. "That's what you get!" I yelled back, clearly winning this battle.

A call echoed through the swamps, shaking the grounds below me. The salamanders and toads quickly ran for cover. Emerging from the swamps was a massive boar, serving me some major stink eye. The boar I insulted must have been the baby as it ran behind the mother for cover.

The mother boar snorted at me and kicked the mud beneath its hoofs, ready to charge.

"Oh, shit," I turned to run and the beast cried a battle call, following suit.

Dodging through the vines and swamp was a lot harder than I would expect. My pants and shoes felt like I was dragging cement and the beast was quickly catching up. The crazy bitch mother boar's squeals grew angrier and louder, dying for revenge. No one was messing with her youngling.

"I'm sorry, you psycho Pork chop!"

The beast was so close now, I could see the tusks; much larger and sharper than her offspring's. This fucker is going to get me killed all over again!

Just when the mother boar was going to get her wish, a stream of mud wrapped around my ankles and before I could cry out a curse, was lifted violently into the air.

The boar skidded to a halt, glaring up at her bait. I was like a piñata; hanging there ready to get the shit beaten out by Mrs. Piggy. She began to bark… like a dog.

"Who dares disturb my mud bath?" a voice called. Out of the swamps emerged a very old and very cranky woman.

She was short in statue with some green and gold get-up. Her back bent forward, making her even more ancient looking. The hybrid boar and its offspring scampered to the old woman with released anger. She patted the little one's head. Its tongue hung out with glee. Like they were her pets!

"Let me down, you Old Hag!" I demanded, my arms flaying.

"And why would I do that? You are louder than a sloth bear in a pot of honey, creating havoc in my swamp." The mother boar growled to verify.

"Well excuse me if instead of obeying the noise protocol, I was a little busy running for my life!" I exclaimed, flipping her the bird.

"You think because I can't see, I don't know you're flipping me off?" the old woman snorted.

I didn't understand what the crazy old woman was getting at. She kept her hair in a large grey bun; held back by a green hairband. Her face was— shocker—wrinkles. You could harvest that extra lose skin and make other person with it.

The more I examined at her, I realized her seafoam eyes looked down. They never made eye contact with me when she spoke. Her eyes were glazed over. "You're blind…"

"And you're dumber than you look, Redhead," she insulted.

"How did you—" but with the flick of her hand, I went from hanging in mid-air to being dropped, face first, into the mud.

Now I know the salamanders and toads are laughing at me.

I wiped the mud away from my eyes and spat before I ingested it and turned into someone as ugly as her.

"Oops," she said, maleficently.

"What, oops? You did that on purpose!" I pointed, the fury and force behind that action caused me to slip in the mud.

She ignored my accusation and turned to walk away. The mother boar snorted with finality and trotted alongside her. The little one was more reluctant but once the mother boar called for him, there was no disobeying her.

I know the rules. Don't steal candy from children, always help elderly cross the street even when they were so old they coughed dusk, yadda yadda, but this bitch isn't an elder. She's the spawn of Satan. It was my duty to teach her old, wrinkly ass a lesson.

With a quick set of hand signs, I concentrated my chakra to my hands to form a spiraling gust of wind and tunneled it to her direction.

"Suck on this, you Blind Bat!" I yelled.

Before the wind could reach her, a boulder deep within the swamp mud rose and block its path, dissipating the wind. Not before leaving a few striations in the granite.

How did she predict my attack?!

I opened my mouth to verbal take her down, but the words escaped my lips as mud once again wrapped around my ankles and I was hanging upside down.

"You know, this is getting real old. Older than you!" I insulted, trying to shake myself free with little feat.

The old woman stared at me with scrutinizing eyes. "You are able to manipulate air. Could this be a trick?"

"Of course I can! Now let me down so I can kick your old ass!"

She murmured to herself. Between her low voice and the sound of blood pulsing in my ears, ready to pour out of my skull, I couldn't comprehend what.

"What are you mumbling about? Who are you!?"

Her eyes flickered with recognition. "How am I? I go by many names. The Blind Bandit, the Runaway, the Wicked Witch of the Swamp. I am the original Beifong."

With all those long nicknames, her name was simple.

"Toph."

Leda gets dumped into this new world and already runs into trouble. Will the old lady, Toph, help her reunite with her lost teammates? Or destroy her?

New or old reader, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. Leda is an... expressive character... didn't I warn you? If you would like to read more, favorite and follow for more updates. Comment telling me if you are new to this story or old and from my other story or even your thoughts so far- I would love to hear.

Updates will be irregular for this story for a short while. I work six days a week until November roles by. But there still will be updates!

Until next time!

xo