This is my first time being able to do something for Korra week so I'm very excited! I really wanted to finish this but I've been so busy with class lately. I am still working on my other Legend of Korra fanfic and I should be able to update it very soon. None of entries for this story have anything to do with my fanfic "Iridescent Monochrome,"The prompts for this story are found on the Korra week tumblr.
Korra Week Day 1: Alone
The sun was high in the sky without a cloud in sight. The weather was just perfect today. Warm but not too hot with a small breeze every now and again. It was a bit past noon and many of the island's residents were already hard at work. Korra was outside practicing her bending. She had begun with simple breathing exercises but was eager to get to the more exciting elements of her training. For the first time in a while things were finally going her way.
The Red Lotus members were all but a memory now. The only one that had survived had been Zaheer and he was long gone. The White Lotus had made sure to place him in cell that fit his new found abilities. President Raiko had apologized for exiling her from the city. More than anything she had wanted to give the man a piece of her mind. But instead she had told him thank you and respected her elder. She had finally come up with a way to rid the city of the spirit vines so naturally the leader had to let her come back. Whether or not he was the one to who had originally suggested the matter didn't concern her. Normally she hated it when things were this calm and peaceful. But after everything that had happened having a little down time was nice.
Things between her and Mako had smoothed out a bit more. He came by to visit occasionally usually with Bolin or Asami in tow. The teen quickly began working on her firebending. She worked through a series of punches and high kicks. Soon she began to alternate between elements. First she punched, fire exploded from her hand. Next she went to and scissor kicked her imaginary opponent. A blade of air departed from her leg quickly before disappearing. With each perfectly executed attack she could feel her pride begin to grow. It wasn't long before sweat began to accumulate onto her forehead. She could feel her sleeveless baby blue muscle shirt sticking to the sides of her body.
Korra leapt up into the air doing a series of kicks before landing with her back to the temple walls. She closed her eyes taking in a deep breath preparing herself for her next move. In an instant her concentration was broken by a scream. She turned around to face the air temple. Her eyes grew wide at what she saw. Tenzin was running towards her. His face was swollen with long cuts on both sides of his face. His usual pristine flowing robes were tattered with spots of dirty on the ends.
"Korra, you have to,-" her airbending teacher's words were cut short just as he reached the steps of the pavilion.
Seeing him start to fall she ran forward and dove to the floor catching him just before he hit the stone floor. His body felt cold compared to hers. What was going on? She placed two fingers on his neck to feel his pulse. He was still there but just barely. What had he been trying to tell her? Was the island under attack? If so she wasn't going anywhere. She heard the soft shuffling of feet and looked up. She almost wished she hadn't.
"Hello, Avatar Korra," Zaheer said.
The color drained from her face as a cold sweat washed over her. What was he doing here? The White Lotus had locked him away… They had made sure he would never be able to break out. Then again they had thought the same thing the first time he had gotten out. Surely this time around they would have kept in mind that he was an airbender now…Right? But there he was standing before her a free man once again. In his hands were two sets of metal handcuffs. There was no doubt in her mind that they were made of platinum like the others.
"Zaheer," she said narrowing her eyes at the man. "Shouldn't you be rotting somewhere in prison?"
"Freedom is not something that can be taken away so easily," he replied coolly.
Korra slowly set Tenzin down onto the concrete. She didn't want to leave him here but there was no way Zaheer was going to her let go. She squared her feet up and raised her fists. Her main goal was to get Tenzin to someplace safe where he could rest. If she could get Zaheer off guard for just a second she might be able to sneak away for a second. She would have to be smart about this. She had been out training for hours now. Her body was tired and so was she.
"I didn't come here to fight you Korra. We can resolve this in a non-violent way. Hand yourself over to me and no one has to get hurt," He said his voice never leaving its calm state.
Korra didn't even reply she just scoffed at him. Zaheer's eyes narrowed at her reply as he clipped the handcuffs to his belt. Things would be different from their previous battle. She had gotten stronger since then. He had revealed his plan to kill her in the Avatar state the last time. If it failed before what made him think it would work again? He was down the extra man power this time as well. The other members of the Red Lotus were dead now. Did really think he had a shot at beating her? She wasn't weakened like she had been the other time. The young Avatar was a bit tired from her training but she could still take him.
And with that Korra stomped her foot against the ground summoning a massive piece of the ground. In seconds a boulder was hurdling towards the villain. He easily dodged it but as soon as his feet were on the ground she was already firing more his way. Zaheer avoided the boulders along with other smaller rocks with ease. After the barrage of earthbending attacks she found herself feeling sluggish. She breathing came out in short pants. Why was she so tired all of a sudden? She had been out training for a while but she had never felt this exhaust before in her life. The two continued their battles.
Zaheer could see she was slipping. The girl had been out all day in the sun warming her muscles. She was tired, worn out; it wouldn't take long now for her sub come to her aching body. Even the Avatar had their limits. He took advantage of her slow moments and switched to the offensive. He hit her with an onslaught on airbending, each one striking her at a different angle. The first attack hit her stomach, then the next her left side then her right. She found herself too slow to land a single blow on the new airbender. Every time she tried to fight back she was struck again by another powerful attack. Zaheer continued to batter the Avatar. Each hit knocking her back a step, then two feet followed by many more. Their fight had moved now. They were close by the shore of the island now. The criminal continued his merciless onslaught on the teen. With each attack she could feel her strength being zapped away. His assault had left more than a few bruises on her tan skin by now.
Their eyes met before a large gust of wind hit Korra straight in the chest knocking the air out of her lungs. She flew back and landed with a thud onto the sand of the beach. She grunted as her back hit the ground. Her eyes grew wide as she began to panic. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't breathe. She looked up and saw Zaheer making his way over to where she was laying in the sand. He walked at a painstakingly slow pace. Her terror increasing with each step he took. Air began to find its way into her lung now. She took in greedy gulps as she watched the man approach her. He stopped short of her body by a few feet. He lifted his hands and began to airbend. She knew this stance. It was the same one he had used on her in their last fight. He didn't care if she was in the Avatar state or not.
Her mind kept screaming at her body to move, to do anything really. Anything was better than just laying here as he was about to end her. She body didn't seem to want to respond. She could feel him begin to pull the air from her lungs. Korra could hear everything around her. The air was filled with stillness. The only sound that could be heard was the crashing of small waves that hit the rocky shore of the island. The small stream of air started to flow out of her mouth. The sand beneath her was warm and still a bit wet. Her lungs were starting to burn now. It was low tide now. In a last ditch effort she summoned all of the remaining strength she had and sent it to her right arm. Her arm shot up as she drew water from the ocean. She moved her arm in the shape of an arch aiming for him. As the water descended upon Zaheer, she tightened her finger as if they were claws. The stream of water turned into ice sickles.
Her blue topaz eyes closed when she heard the ice make contact with something. Air poured back into her lungs now. She lay in the sand as she continued to catch her breath. Her hands dug into the grains as she attempted to sit up. Korra pulled her legs in close to her body. With one hand still n the sand she pushed off from it and onto her feet. Once she was up she could feel pain shooting through her entire body. It was the worst in her legs. She wobbled for a bit before steadying herself. She hobbled over to where the mastermind was in the sand.
"…It's...Over…Zaheer," She said between shallow breaths.
The ice had pinned him to the ground. Several pieces had cut through his clothes and deeply penetrated the wet sand. She could see a bit of blood seep into the sand from his skin. It was only a few drops here and there. She hadn't severely injured him just stopped him. Korra was impressed that she had managed not to hit a single vital area on the man. She loomed over the man glaring down at him. For now she had won, it was over. Her cerulean orbs looked into the distance between the beach and the training ground. Tenzin was still lying where she had left him. She let out a sigh of relief, he was safe.
"Is it, Avatar," Zaheer asked still looking as calm as ever.
How could he still say something like that? It didn't make any sense. She had beaten him. The fight was over and he was going back to his prison. Her eyes narrow as she looked at the bald man. No, it was never that simple with him. There had to be something else, he always had a trick up his sleeve. He pretended to be this moral bound scholar but no, he was just as bad as the others she had faced. A thousand questions began to form inside of her head. She heard a chorus of thuds behind her. She whipped around and found the answer to her questions.
She found herself staring at the other members of The Red Lotus. Twisted yet satisfied smirks were plastered across their faces. How had they survived? She had been informed by her friends after the events that they were all dead. Each one of them had met a bitter end. Yet here they were standing before her larger than life. What shocked Korra the most was what they had brought with them. The criminals stood in a semi-circle around her and Zaheer with P'li in the middle.
In front of her was a very battered and bloody Mako. His knees were digging into the sand. From what she could see his hands were being held behind his back by something. His nose was crooked now and certainly broken. Blood trailed down his face from his forehead in small trickles. The corner of his lip was bleeding badly as well. People of the Fire nation were known for often having pale ivory skin. But now, Mako looked sickly pale. His hair was disheveled and the tips were singed. In his eyes she saw how defeated he felt along with how much pain he was in. His clothes were tattered and littered with scorch marks.
On P'li's left was Ghazan. Asami was lying on the sand in front of his feet. She looked almost as bad as Mako. Her usually flawless ebony locks were messy with clumps of soil and sand resting in them. She had a bloody nose along with two swollen eyes. Her lip was busted on both sides causing blood to dribble down her skin and into the sand. Small rips and tears could be seen along her usual dark trench coat. Her jade green eyes were usually so happy and optimistic. But now they were empty and lucid. At any moment the Avatar expected them to close and never open.
Ming-Hua was on P'li's right hand side. Her one of her water arms was wrapped around Bolin's middle. Like Mako he too was kneeling in the sand. The left side of his face had swollen up to the size of a moon peach. Dried blood droplets decorated his hairline. Several cuts could be seen along the earthbender. One cut went from the corner of his nose and into the center of his right cheek. Other cuts lined his exposed forearms and clothes. His normally vibrant green eyes were dark and surrounded by dark purple bruises.
Korra glared at the towering giant and squared her feet up. She raised her calloused hands and balled them into fists. She wasn't going down without a fight. She had seen the group fight before. She would have to think fast and make every move count if she was going to save them. If she couldn't defeat them then who could? Her mind began to race again. She would have to take out P'li first. The combustion bender was the most dangerous out of them. But they were also right by the shore. It gave her a big advantage as a waterbender. But she wasn't the only waterbender here. Ming-Hua's waterbending was top notch. And with her in such short range she doubted the firebender would miss. Not to mention the lavabender in their company too. Any hope she had gained from pinning down Zaheer was dwindling.
"Surrender and come with us and they get to live," P'li said her voice laced with venom.
Korra looked at her friends. Their eyes pleaded with her to not give into their demands. But what was she supposed to do? If she didn't give herself up they would just kill her friends along with every single person on this island. Her mind drifted to Tenzin. He had already lost his batter attempting to hold Zaheer off. As much as she hated to admit it they had beaten her. If she did choose to fight her friends would be killed. Her team was bloody and bruised. They were in no condition for round two against their foes. No that was wrong. The Red Lotus weren't their enemies. They were just hers. They had all been pulled into the mess by associating with her. The fight from day one had been between her and the Red Lotus not Tenzin or the others. It had been her job as the Avatar to stop them.
"If I come with you, you have to let my friends go and leave the Island," she said dropping her guard allowing her hands to rest at her side.
"We will, just release Zaheer and surrender," The combustion bender replied calmly.
She glanced out of the corner of her eye back where Tenzin was. She was wasting time. He needed medical attention as soon as possible. In this moment she was terrified. What if he didn't make it? Korra could never-no she would never forgive herself if he died here like this. She looked back at her friends. They looked utterly crushed. Their eyes were boring into her skin. They were each begging her not to turn herself over. They eyes screamed at her 'don't worry about us, we'll be fine.' It was a terrible and obvious lie. She didn't know what awaited her in the Red Lotus's clutches but she knew it was the right thing to do. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. With that she raised her arms like she had that day. The ice holding Zaheer down melted away into the sand freeing him.
"I surrender," she said her eyes never leaving the ground.
Zaheer stood up and walked over to the Avatar. He squatted down and then placed the metal cuffs around her ankles. The chain between them jingled a bit as he locked them. He then stood up so that he was in front of her face. She glared at him as he cuffed both of her arms. He bent air around her spinning her around so that she was no facing the temple again. His large hand pressed against her back before pushing her forward. The two began to walk up the beach to where she suspected their airship was. She was only a few feet away from her friends when Zaheer stopped pushing her and shouted off to his gang of rebels.
"Eliminate them."
The order was clear and void of any emotion. Before she could say anything or even so much as move it was too late. By time Korra turned around her friends were face down in the sand. Bolin's body was slumped over and she could see blood seeping from his neck on the sides. Asami was still is the same place. Her shimmering jade eyes were closed now. Blood was rushing from her head. A stray rock was only feet away from her spot in the sand. But Mako...He was the worse... P'li had blasted him with fire. Not enough to cause an explosion, no. His coat was merely shreds of cloth now. His skin was now the same shade as his the scarf he used to don. She could smell his burning flesh. Tears began to pour from her eyes uncontrollably. She was going to end Zaheer. As she turned to attack him he was gone. When she looked back at the other Red Lotus members they had deserted their post.
Blood, it was everywhere. She was shaking now, it was all her fault. She should have protected them. They should have run away instead of choosing to fight the criminals. The sand began to grow dark as their blood was absorbed by it. Everywhere she looked she saw red. The deep scarlet liquid began to spread. Soon it was at her feet. It just kept rising and rising until it was up to her neck. And before she knew it she was completely submerged in it. Then she saw nothing. There was nothing but darkness.
She stood in the middle of oblivion. For miles she could nothing but empty space. Her hands were unbound now. That did nothing to sooth her mind. Her friends were gone now and it was her fault. She hadn't been strong enough to protect them. The tears were pouring down her face now. The teen hated crying and tried her best to usually suppress it. But now they flowed freely down her face. Each droplet gained speed as it rolled down her face joining with a brother and sister. Her face was hot and sticky with dried tear streaks everywhere. Her friends were gone now; Tenzin wouldn't last much longer in his current state. For all she knew Zaheer and his gang could have gotten rid of the other residents of Air Temple Island before they found her. Her legs gave way under the weight of it all. Her hands covered her face as she sobbed.
"The Avatar has failed humanity," Amon's voice boomed.
"The time of the Avatar is over," Unalaq said with a sneer.
"You will be the last Avatar," Zaheer said.
The voices began to echo through her emptiness. They grew louder and louder until her nemesis stood before her. She removed her hands from her face and saw Amon's porcelain mask staring her down. She fumbled attempting to get to her feet. Before she could black and dark blood red tendrils rose from the underneath her feet and pulled her back down. She began to struggle attempting to break free of the unknown enemy's grasp. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't bend. A dark figure began to rise from the floor. Just one look at the detailed pattern on him and she knew who it was, Vaatu. He tightened his grip on him limps. His tendrils dug into her skin cutting of her circulation.
Her eyes shot open and she sat up in bed. A loud scream was released from her dry cracked lips. Korra was covered in sweat and shaking from head to toe. Despite the warm temperature of her room she would feel a chill seeping into her bones. Pain rocked through her body. Her mind raced trying to make sense of what had just happened. She was in her room at the Air Temple. Her heart was beating like a drum threatening to pop out of her chest. The blue eyed teen's breathing was erratic. The awake she became the more her paranoia grew. She needed to leave. She could feel the walls off her room closing in on her. This place isn't safe anymore. They were going to find her, she just knew it! She had to leave, now! It was best for everyone; she couldn't let them hurt her friends and family. They only wanted her.
With that she threw the blankets off of her and leapt out of bed. One toe barely landed on the ground before she fell. Her body landed with a thud on the cold floor. The fall shot a wave of pain through her entire body. She stayed still until she felt the worse was over. Korra used her arms to prop up her upper body. The leg of her pajama pants had ridden up a bit now. Beyond the soft blue material her legs were wrapped in bandages. She remembered waking up that first time and the healers telling her she wouldn't be able to walk for a while. She looked to the other side of her room and saw the metal of her wheelchair gleam in the moon light.
Her breathing began to smooth out as she glanced back down at her legs. It had all been a dream. Zaheer was locked away in a prison, Amon and Unalaq were gone. But it had all felt so real. She lay in the floor until she felt calm enough to try and pull herself back in bed. She needed to prepare herself for it. Her entire body was so sore, she didn't know if she could even make it back in her bed. But she wasn't about to give up with a fight. She could have yelled and someone would have come and helped her. Her parents were still at the Air Temple and were only a few rooms down. Not to mention Mako and Bolin. No she wouldn't ask for help, she had far too much pride to do so. She was going to do this herself. Her tears ran dry and she had stopped shaking. For now she had won. She had chased away her demons leaving her alone in the darkness.
Am I getting kicked out of the fandom for this? In one short little thing I've killed off so many characters. Please tell me what you think about it and review. I rushed a bit to try and finish it so please point out any mistakes I may have made.