Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: Legend of Korra. This story is purely for entertainment purposes only.

Prologue

It was twelve years ago to this day that he forsook the parental chains that bound him to his old life. Escaping from the living hell that was his "Father", he took off on his own and never looked back. Wandering the world, experiencing its beauty and learning from all that it had to offer, he felt liberated from his former shell of a life. Finally, the goals he had planned all those years ago were starting to come together. Through blood, sweat, and many other people's tears, he could finally start on the path of his true destiny.

He contemplated these ideas as he continued on his training trip on the territorial edges of the Southern Water Tribe. He was hiking through the extremely cold climates in order to improve his water bending. Wearing a light, hooded black cloak, made from Dragonwhale scales and Polarsheep wool, along with pants made from the skins of Artic Camels and boots crafted from the finest Sharktopus leather, he trudged along snow dune after snow dune. The thin transparent panes of ice he created and levitated around him, serving as a barrier to block the freezing winds, was a constant drain on his energy. He had already shattered his previous record of five hours – going well into his seventh with no end in sight.

"Not a bad run," he thought. "Another hour or two and I'll be back in the city."

He wiped off a few beads of sweat that had gathered on his brow. His olive toned skin was a stark contrast against the pure white snow billowing all around him. Brushing some strands of his raven-black hair away from his face and behind his ear, he noticed a strange looking snowstorm rapidly moving towards him.

That's weird. Why's it coming from the city when all the wind around me is moving towards it? He thought, this could be trouble.

He concealed his presence underneath the snow while still keeping line of sight on the oncoming storm. He quickly noticed that it wasn't a natural storm at all. Though hazy, he could make out five figures in the eye of the storm and that one was carrying some kind of large package. One of the figures was waving his arms around and he figured that was probably the one responsible for this freak snowstorm. Figuring this could serve as another test of his skills, he popped out the snow dune he created and, with practiced precision, he entered a water bending form and reversed the motions of all the flurrying snow, nullifying the storm itself.

"What's going on here, Unalaq?! We're wide open here!" Demanded a long black haired man dressed in a Earth Kingdom green.

"I don't know! Someone must be interfering with my water bending," Unalaq yelled back, "We're not alone out here!"

"They can't have caught up to us already," snarled a woman dressed in a tattered blue combat uniform. "We killed the parents and did a lot of damage to Zuko and Sokka in that attack."

"Everyone, form a circle around the Avatar! We've come too far to risk losing out now," screamed a tall woman with a big eye tattoo on her forehead.

"Whoever you are, show yourself now and we might let you live," said a stout but bulky man who had the stature of a general. "If you don't, we'll burn this entire area right here and now with you in it."

Did that eye girl just say they had the Avatar? His mind raced. I can't believe they shoved an 80 year old man into a sack like that. That's not how you treat the elderly.

Walking out with his hands raised, he approached the (Hmm, splendidly multiethnic) band of criminals who were all now ready to wipe him off the face of the planet.

"Whoa there, friends!" He greeted them, "What a fine day for a stroll across the arctic. I was just on a walk myself, you see."

"Is this guy for real?" barked the green haired man.

"It doesn't matter! Kill him now!" Screamed Unalaq.

The woman with the eye tattoos took a deep breath and tilted her head back. She was just about to lurch forward and do something when she suddenly stopped cold.

"P-Li! What are you waiting for? Zap this guy's head off already!" Urged the woman in blue.

"I… I can't!" P-li managed to squeak out, "I can't move my body!"

"Ghazan!" yelled the stout man.

"I'm on it!" replied Ghazan. He took out some rocks, started earth bending them in circles until they looked like they could saw through anything. He then somehow made them glow red hot and they suddenly got a hundred times more deadly. He was just about to throw his lava blades at the man he was aiming at, but the man waved his left hand over to the right and suddenly Ghazan threw those blades without even realizing it. "WHA-"

He didn't even get time to finish his exclamation as a scream erupted from the woman in blue so loud and piercing that her friends could only stand in ghastly shock as her arms dropped lifelessly away from her shoulders thanks to the instant dismemberment and cauterization from Ghazan's heated rock saws. The scream didn't last long as she passed out from the shock soon after.

"NO, MING-HUA!" cried Ghazan.

"WHAT DID YOU DO!?" bellowed the stout man.

"Zaheer, I… I didn't… I can't have.." whimpered Ghazan as he went to Ming-Hua and cradled her unconscious body.

Zaheer narrowed his eyes and turned his head back to the lone man standing across from him.
"You… You did this. How?!" He yelled.

All the man did was smirk. With his hands still raised in the air, he said, "That's my secret, but all I did was equalize the playing field." With that said, he concentrated all his chi into his hands and clenched them into fists.

Zaheer, P-Li, Unalaq and Ghazan all seized up at the same time. Struggling for control of their own bodies, they tried to fight against the invisible monster that was quickly seizing the life out of them. Unalaq was the first to drop and was quickly followed by P-Li. To his credit, Zaheer lasted the longest, but even he was no match for whatever sorcery this random man was dealing. Zaheer passed out and was unceremoniously tossed to the ground.

"Well," said the man looking out at the carnage in front of him, "That escalated quickly."

He left the unconscious group in the snow and made his way over to the sack that had the Avatar trapped inside. The closer he got, the more he realized the sack was getting smaller and smaller. "Well, I knew you shrunk a bit when you get older but this is almost comical." As he approached the sack, the sack started moving. Suddenly, it started bulging out all over the place! He took a step back as the bag started to smoke. Small fireballs shot out holes from the sack and soon after small hands and feet were punching and kicking out of them too. Childlike hands and feet.

Uh-oh.

A small head poked itself out of the biggest hole in the sack. Covered in thick brown hair, the disheveled child looked visibly upset and confused. On the verge of crying, but still holding back the tears, she looked at the only person left standing and begged with her eyes for the man to tell her what was going on because she didn't have the strength left to ask.

"Hello there, little girl?" asked the man. "Looks like you were being kidnapped, but I put an end to that. What's… what's your name?"

"…." She looked at the man for a few seconds before answering. She stared at him with her bright blue eyes with an intensity that he had never known before, "… Korra. My name is Korra, I just lost my parents and I'm the Avatar."

"I'm so sorry to hear that," he said as he placed his hand on her tiny shoulder in sympathy. "The Avatar… Korra. Now it all makes sense," said the man as he got down to one knee. "It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Noatak and, if it's okay with you, you can come with me. I promise I'll take good care of you."

End Prologue

Author's Note: And so, we finally learn how Ming-Hua loses those arms.

What did you think? Please let me know with a comment!

I did some Avatar math which led to Noatak being 28 years old when he finds 5 year old Korra. I'm not doing Equalist!Korra at all, but Amon being Korra's adopted father will play an integral role in this story.

This is my first story in 7 years! After watching the LoK finale (and then the entire series again, twice) I just knew it was going to lead into fanfiction.