Disclaimer: I don't own LOK
A/N: And here is the start of my first multichaptered Tahnorra story. This is going to be fairly dark, because of the nature of the story, which is Tahno hitting rock bottom after Amon took away his bending.
I'm not 100% sure where this story will go. It depends on how the finale goes (if Tahno ever shows up ;_;) it might be more or less canon. Everything is canon up until Tahno loses his bending though.
The full moon was low, looming by the horizon, still just beginning its rise into the sky. It was no longer snowing, warming up even, but she could still feel the chill in the air.
She found him waist deep in the water, moving his arms in tune with the waves. For a split second, it was as if he was moving it with his own will, his hand guiding it along. Nothing on his face showed that the freezing water was affecting him, almost completely blank, brows lightly furrowed in his concentration.
Korra has never seen anyone move the same way Tahno did. He was never still, always right on top of everything and pushing forward no matter what. He didn't stay stationary, weaving through whatever was being thrown at him. Even without his bending, he moved the same way, never staying in one place long enough for anyone to catch him.
His chest was bare, showing his strong muscles toned with all the years of training and fighting. He closed his eyes, never once stopping his movements, bringing his entire body into it now. It was slow, steady, twirling around the water, not guiding it, but being guided by it.
His disheveled hair blocked the side of his face, sticking to his skin as it dripped down his body. The water almost flinging off of him as he moved, joining the ripples that spread out around him.
He truly was a pretty boy.
"Well, well, well," Tahno didn't stop moving even as he spoke, spinning himself in the water and running his hands through the surface. "Didn't take you for a peeper, Uh-vatar." He flashed her a grin, stopping to face her, trailing his hands into the water, dipping his it in deeper and bringing it up again. As if to remind himself that it was still there.
Korra pouted at him angrily and padded into the water, not stopping until she was standing face to face with him. "Not really much to peep at," she said, raking her eyes up and down his chest. It was dark, but she could still see the tight outlines of his muscles, flexing whenever he shifted. She was sure that he was doing that on purpose when he saw exactly where her eyes were lingered. A shiver ran through her, and it wasn't from the cold. "Ever heard of the sun?"
Tahno just chuckled, stepping closer to her, the water rippling around them. "Oh?" he asked coyly, droplets of water trailing down from his wet hair and dripping onto her. It trailed down her cheek, the cold water feeling like an intimate caress against her skin. "What bring you out here then?" His eyebrows quipped, his eyes trailing down her body. "Alone, in the dead of night. There are dangerous people roaming the streets, y'know." He leered at her, and she was sure that if there was anyone that she was supposes to hide from, it was probably him.
He trailed a hand down her arm, his lips never straying from his infuriating smirk. It sent shivers down her spine, but she tried to show that it had absolutely no effect on her. So she snatched it away, holding it up and crushing it in her hand. His still face didn't change from his smug smirk. "I can take care of myself." He took a step back and held his hands up in surrender, but the look on his face suggested anything but.
"Still didn't answer my question, Uh-vatar."
"I don't think it's any of your business," she said, crossing her arms with another pout. Tahno shrugged his shoulders, and with his ever present smirk, shook his head, spraying water everywhere.
"You were staring pretty hard there," he said stepping close to her again. "You know, if you still wanted those private lessons," he leaned in closer, his voice dropping down an octave in her ear, "I still have some things I could teach you."
Korra glared at him in disgust, pushing him away. She couldn't help but notice the cold skin underneath her fingertips or the slight shiver that ran through his body. Without thinking, she raised her hand, bending the water off of him, swirling around the air. He stared at it floating in front of him before Korra realized what she was doing and dropped it, droplets of water splashing against their legs as it fell.
"I can feel it, y'know," he said, lifting his hand up and watching as the water trickle through his fingers. "During the full moon. The connection is stronger." He could feel his body crying out for the water, but even as he tried to skim the surface, try to submerge himself into it, it wasn't enough. It just slid right off of his skin and landed right back underneath him. It was almost worse on these nights because he could feel the water reaching out for him, nudging him, prodding him to turn it's way, but not matter how many times he spun around in circles, he still couldn't find it.
Korra reached out, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Tahno, I'm really so—"
"You've already said that," he said, moving past her, stopping right at the edge of the water, not willing to take that last step out.
She followed him, their footsteps sloshing the water. She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it, instead staring at his muscular back as he rolled back his shoulders and jerked to his head to the side, and even Korra could hear it crack from where she stood.
"I told ya there were dangerous people roaming these streets," he said, and she only had enough time to furrow her eyes before his hand shot out, pushing her. Caught by surprise, she fell back into the water, only just feeling the heat released above her. She could see the blurred out blobs of red from the fire before it dissipated.
Korra jumped up, hands grasping the water and throwing it into the direction of where the fire came. A piece of the earth came was hurled through the air, but Tahno leaped over it, using it as a stepping stone before he smashed his knee into the firebender's face.
He used the force as leverage, swinging his other leg around to deliver a kick that sent the bender's body barreling into the water. Korra jumped into action, intercepting him before he could attack Tahno again, redirecting the fire he tried to send his way. They fought, fire with fire, Korra enhancing her kicks and punches with flames as they danced around each other.
Tahno left Korra to face the earthbender, running onto the shore, ducking under more chunks of rocks that were thrown his way. He jumped over one, landing right in front of the bender before he knew what was happened. The ex-bender swung his arm around, catching him in his face, watching with a twisted smirk when he fell back.
The bender wouldn't be deterred, though, arms shooting back behind him, catching himself before he planted into the ground, landing with a resounding force that moved the Earth towards Tahno.
The former Wolfbat wasn't expecting this, desperately trying to stand on shaking ground, but the bender used it to his advantage, throwing chucks of Earth his way. One hit Tahno square in the chest, throwing him back onto the ground. He grunted, rubbing a hand on the bruise that he was sure was going to form.
He was only allowed a few moments of rest, though, before more was throw his way. Tahno was able to barely roll out to the side, not even given enough time to glance at the rocks that smashed into the place he just laid.
He wasn't able to block them all, barreling into his body whenever they had the chance. When they stopped, he tried to prop himself up, but the pain in his chest grew, wheezing out when it became difficult to breath. The Earthbender stepped up to him when he saw that Tahno could barely move.
"Oh look at how the mighty Wolfbat has fallen," he sneered. He grabbed Tahno's hair and watched with sick satisfaction when he grunted in pain. "How does it feel?" he asked, tugging on his hair even harder. "To be completely helpless as someone beats you down?"
Tahno smirked, wincing when the grip tightening in his hair. "How does it feel to be a lesser man?" he asked instead, fighting through the pain that ran rampant throughout his body. "Because it definitely felt good to have your girlfriend screaming out my name in a way that you're never going to hear."
The bender growled in anger, sending a harsh punch to Tahno's face, laughing when his head banged against the ground. Blood trickled from his mouth and forehead, but the smirk never left the ex-bender's face. "Even without my bending," he wheezed out with a chuckle, "she still warms up my bed."
"Fuck you," he shouted, grabbing Tahno by the hair and smashing his face into the ground. "What good are you now? Huh?" He rubbed his face into the ground, pulling it back and smirking at the blood left behind. "You have nothing. No bending. No respect. Nothing. You are nothing."
Tahno's infuriating smirk still never left his lips, even as blood flooded his face. He licked his teeth, pursing his lips at the metallic taste of blood. He spat it at his face, laughing when the bender jerked back, snarling angrily as he wiped away the blood on his face.
Because begging never helped. He could plead for his life, and they would still do whatever they wanted. They could beat him within every inch of his life, strip him down to nothing, grab his hair and force him to look at what he's become. They could show him the blood and bruises on his skin, given to him from the people he used to beat down. Show him bags underneath of his eyes from the little sleep he's gotten, plague by nightmares of Amon and losing his bending. Or even worse, the dreams of what the water felt like in his hands.
And they'll show him the shit hole he's now forced to live in, broken in countless times by the long line of people who were waiting for him to be on his knees, waiting for this exact chance to show just how hated he was.
"I don't think you understand your position here," the bender said. He jerked his hand back, letting Tahno fall back onto the ground as he lifted his hand, a piece of the earth floating right above it.
Bubbles of laughter spilled out from Tahno's chest, throwing his head back with a bloody sneer. "What?" he hissed, lifting a shaky hand to run through his hair. His voice came out much steadier than he thought it would. "Am I suppose to be afraid of you? Oh, I'm sh-shaking in my boots."
"You should be," he said, slamming his hand down for the rocks to smash into Tahno, but they stopped just before it reached him. He couldn't help the feeling of relief that completely washed over his body when the former Wolfbat stared at the rocks floating right in front of his face.
Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Korra standing by the edge of the water, squatting down with arms outstretched towards them. "Keep out of this Avatar," the bender said, jerking his head towards her. "This has nothing to do with you."
With a swipe of her hand, the rocks went flying back towards him, but he merely ducked underneath it, ripping out even more of the earth to throw at the Avatar. Korra jumped, running along the trail of rocks that he tried to throw at her. One jumped up, trying to capture her foot, but she crushed it, running head on towards the bender, evading and punching away the rest of the earth that came her way.
With the bender distracted, Tahno grabbed a fist full of debris, throwing it into his face, crawling away without even looking to see if it made contact. A painful shout echoed throughout the area, and Tahno smirked, grabbing hold of one of the up heaved rocks to yank himself up, shakily standing on two feet. Korra used this to attack, throwing a punch that sent fire toward him.
The bender reached out to try to grab another piece of rock, but the flames pushed him back, tossing him onto the ground without a care in the world. Korra ran over to Tahno grabbing hold of his arm to steady him.
"Tahno," she said, "What's going on?" He reached up and wiped the blood off of his face with the back of his hand, spitting the liquid that filled up his mouth onto the ground. He shrugged her off, taking a step forward unsteadily before he collapsed onto the ground.
She knelt down next to him as he looked up at her with half-lidded eyes, a dopey smile that spread across his face. "Seriously, Tahno…" She reached behind her guiding the water to form in her hands and brought it down towards his face.
He let out a moan, leaning his head back as the water began to glow, the warmth tingling against his skin. The blood began to wash away, revealing the dangerously pale—almost blue—skin underneath.
Looking up close, she could finally see the cuts and bruises that littered his body, some she was sure was much older than the fresh wounds that readily bled into her hands. Tahno lulled his hand to the side, leaning against her hand, his eyes drifting closed as he fell unconscious in her arms.
She shook her head, blowing her bangs out of her face, a deep sigh escaping from her chest. Even with her skills, it would take hours to repair the damage dealt to his body. She ran a hand lightly down his chest, feeling each scrape and cut that led to the waistband of his pants, where she was sure even more awaited her.
She brought her fingers to her lips, pinching her fingers together and blew, a sharp whistle cutting through the air. She only had to wait a few moments before she heard Naga bounding through, running straight towards her before coming to a sliding halt. Naga nudged her shoulder with her snout, a please growl escaping her throat when Korra ran a hand through her mane.
"Got another passanger," she said, heaving Tahno up onto her back.
They quietly snuck back into the compound, able to bypass the guards who were only half paying attention to their surrounding this late at night. She laid Tahno across her bed, leaning over his still body. In the light, the damage looked much worse, almost recoloring his pale skin purple.
"What have you gotten yourself into?"
