Author's Notes: Just a little idea that I had, let's see how it goes
Legend of Korra: Warlord
Book 1: Soul
Chapter 1: The Warlord
The pain is immense, though not unfamiliar as I remember back to when Tarrlok used this pain to subdue and knock me out but this…this is on a whole other level, it feels as if my body is going to tear itself apart from the inside out.
"NO!" I instinctively shouted as I felt a malevolent hand grab the back of my neck harshly, I recalled Mako shouting something but it faded into the background as I felt a pressure on my forehead and then nothing.
I awoke with the right side of my head throbbing in pain, it seems that in my sleep I slid into the side of the truck that I was in the back of. I attempted to rub it out of instinct, but found it impossible with my hands bound behind my back, I instinctively tried to bend but found the effort pointless as the memories of what happened flowed back into my mind.
I couldn't bend anymore…no matter how hard I tried, no matter what I did I couldn't even muster up a measly ember or drop of water…not a damn thing. That's when I remembered this feeling, or rather lack of feeling, it was hard to explain in words but it felt as if something inside of me was just…ripped out, gone, like a part of me just up and vanished. It wasn't only my connection to the elements but everything that made me the Avatar, it was all gone…It was hard to even explain to myself but I just knew it.
My power, my connection, all of it gone…thanks to him.
At that moment the truck doors opened to reveal two men in equalist uniforms, no doubt here to take me to whatever prison I was supposed to rot in.
"Rise and shine Avatar!" The shorter of the two teased mockingly as he forcefully grabbed me and dragged me out, not even bothering to do anything as I fell out and slammed unceremoniously onto the cold dirt.
"Just sad to look at isn't it Choi, the great Avatar can't even stand on her own without her precious bending" The short one mocked as the taller and lankier one chuckled dumbly along.
"Sad is right Chow!" Choi joked along Chow took his baton and wacked it upside Choi's head. "OW what was that fer?" Choi groaned out.
"That's for slacking off, you're supposed to be dragging her to her new home" Chow chided as Choi sighed and picked me up.
"Why do I always have ta carry the prisoners? They're always so heavy" if only I had my bending, he'd REALLY pay for that.
"Because that's all your good for, now come on we got a job to do" Chow ordered as I was now being led into the complex. I was still somewhat out of it as I was led in but I caught a glimpse of what looked to be a mountain range…makes sense, I'm probably somewhere far from civilization. After a few minutes of being dragged along we came to a stop.
"Got a special delivery, curtesy of the big man himself" Chow relayed as another voice droned on.
"About time you idiots showed up…take her to C block, she gets the one next to the VIP"
"Understood sir" Chow stated respectfully as we started moving again.
"The VIP huh? Lucky her" Chow whispered with a laugh.
"Uhhh RIP?" Choi stated simply.
"No idiot, V I P, you know THAT guy?" Chow explained as Choi kept a blank expression on his face.
"Seriously your stupidity knows no bounds…the guy who killed thousands, you know the warlord, for the love of…THE BEASTMAN YOU MORON" Chow emphasized.
"OHHHHHHHHHHHH I GOT IT…wait…no I lost it" Choi concluded as Chow sighed profusely.
"I swear man I don't even know how you dress yourself in the morning and NO I don't actually want to know how" Chow added as Choi seemed to want to say something but then kept quiet. Thankfully this painful banter ended as they let me go with a rough shove and I found enough strength to balance myself as I heard the door slam shut behind me.
"Hope you enjoy the accommodations Avatar, because this is where you're gonna be staying for the rest of your pitiful life" Chow hammered in with glee as he gave a hearty laugh and left. Out of sheer frustration I heaved my right foot out at the door, the kick didn't even so much as shake the door but I did accomplish losing my balance and falling on my ass so…that's something I guess.
Looking around I could see that they definitely didn't hold back on the whole dank, dark prison of hopelessness vibe as I laid in a small dirty cell with a dirty bedroll and a toilet that only the purest of fire could clean at this point. Looking around at the other cells around me I noted that all the other cells were as dirty and depressing as mine, though were quite empty with the exception of the cell to my left that held a lone figure with his back to the wall.
He had extremely long and unkempt dark silver hair that looked to reach his lower back and a long beard of the same color that looked have been let loose upon the world with reckless abandon long ago. The man's frame looked thin and looked to be suffering from minor malnutrition, though there still seemed to be a long diminished but still existent strength left on his bones. The most distinguishing feature by far was the man's piercing yellow eyes that upon closer inspection were quite dull, that combined with a perpetual distant look made him seem like a man who had long given up and accepted his lot in life. All in all a rather sad disposition that made me feel rather sorry for him…although something that idiot guard mentioned bothered me.
He referred to him as the warlord, the beastman and the killer of thousands…that last one is more than a bit concerning. Thinking back and silently cursing myself for not bothering to listen some more of Tenzin's history lessons.
Look they were boring ok?
Well from what I do remember the warlord was apparently the name given to the guy who led the beast tribe army about 20 or so years ago when they declared war on all the nations. The war ended shortly after Aang stepped in and defeated the warlord in a one on one fight, no one knew where the warlord went after that…until now apparently. It was hard to believe that this frail looking man was ever a warrior capable of battling Aang and apparently surviving…I couldn't hold back any longer as I decided to talk to this warlord guy as tactfully as I possibly could be.
"So...you're the warlord huh? Thought you'd be…you know taller"
Nailed it.
The figure didn't so much as acknowledge me as he just continued to look distantly at the wall.
"Ok not much of a talker, fine whatever I get it, it's cool" I worded as diplomatically as I could as he continued to ignore me.
"Soooooo…yeah that's uh…that's a really interesting…wall your staring at, really…inspiring" I mumbled awkwardly as he still ignored me, which was starting to annoy me.
"You know it's not like I'm trying to have a conversation here or anything" I jabbed sarcastically as my last hopes of keeping my cool faded away as he ignored me AGAIN.
"Ok you know what? Fine just sit there and rot for all I care! Last time I try to…you know why am I even bothering talking to you?" I questioned bitterly as I diverted my attention away from him and decided to try and spend some time meditating…it was boring but it's not like I'm doing much else right now, plus anything I can do to try and connect with my past lives or hell just any of my bending arts would be worth any amount of meditating.
A few hours passed with no progress, meditating did nothing but make me even angrier that I couldn't even do sitting still and not thinking right…could also have something to do with having my arms restrained behind my back in quite possibly the most uncomfortable angle possible…maybe.
The sounds of footsteps drew me away from my failures as an equalist guard came by with a tray of food consisting of what looked to be a stale piece of bread, a cup of water and a bowl of no doubt watery soup.
"Meal time scum" The guard vocalized with distaste as he slid the tray under the bars roughly and walked by my cell.
"As for you Avatar, Amon wants you weak…well weaker, so no food for you" He informed with a sadistic laugh as he walked back down the hall from where he came.
"Yeah ok, not a problem…I don't need your stinkin food!" I shouted defiantly…only for my stomach to make the greatest of all betrayals by growling loudly to which I could only sigh and hang my head. The sound of metal scrapping on stone echoed throughout the hall for a short time before it stopped shortly after, when I looked around I was surprised to find a tray with a stale piece of bread, a cup of water and a bowl of watery soup in my cell. I just sat there unmoving in surprise for a few moments before speaking.
"I…really don't need your pity, I'll be fi-"
"Eat" The bassy and commanding baritone of his voice caught me off guard as I also just realized he was actually looking at me directly for the first time with piercing yellow eyes that only seemed to add to his strangely commanding presence, just looking at him compelled me to do what he says…all things considered perhaps it's not too crazy to believe that this guy might've been a commander or warlord at some point in his life.
"Ok…soup is hard to eat with no hands last time I checked" I pointed out as I attempted to move my arms from behind my back for emphasis. He just raised an eyebrow at me before wordlessly taking the tray back to his side with a hand which I noted looked relatively human with the exception of the nails which took on a more claw like form. He then filled a wooden spoon with soup and carefully angling it through the bars between our cells and held it there.
"…you gotta be kidding me" I deadpanned as he just stared at me.
"You wanna eat or not?" He asked in a low baritone, I was about to retort when once again my stomach was proving to be my own worst enemy.
"...you're a traitor you know that?" I mumbled at my stomach as I sighed and walked my way toward the bars and sat so that I was leaning my left side on said bars and cautiously took the bowl of the spoon into my mouth and swallowed the contents. The soup was by far one of the worst things I ever had the displeasure of eating…but considering that I couldn't even remember the last time I even had a scrap of food I'd live with it.
"Ugh how do you make watery nothingness taste like a sewer anyway?" I bitterly asked no one as the man shrugged.
"File a complaint to the chef, I'm sure he'd love feedback" He suggested as another spoonful of liquid dumpster made its way into my cell.
"Oh you got jokes now? Well isn't that nice" I shot back sarcastically as I accepted the disturbingly satisfying gruel.
"I guess…so the Avatar huh?" He asked as we continued the process of talking while he fed me in a way that quite frankly I hope no one ever sees EVER.
"…Maybe, maybe not…I'm not even sure anymore" I answered more honestly than I expected to.
"Oh? I'd assume that sort of thing would be pretty apparent" He pointed out as I got slightly annoyed.
"Well I am, except I can't bend any elements, connect with my past lives, do anything remotely spiritual or you know anything that makes the Avatar the Avatar…but you know other than that yeah I'm the Avatar" I vented momentarily as I tried to keep myself composed.
"Ah well that's a bit…inconvenient" He noted as I glared at him.
"No forgetting your coat when you go out and having it rain suddenly is 'inconvenient'…me having my bending abilities ripped away from me by a madman looking to take over the world all the while I'm just confined helplessly in this rat hole of a cell ON TOP OF NOT KNOWING WHERE ANY OF MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY ARE OR WHETHER THEIR EVEN ALIVE OR NOT IS A NIGHTMARE!" I vented with increasing volume as I utterly failed to keep my composure. In an attempt to stop myself from going any further I quickly ate some more soup only for it to make me gag.
"UGH I…I think there was a bug in that one!" I cried out as I attempted to stop coughing.
"Oh you got a prize then? Lucky you, those are a good source of protein" He joked as I gave him a look that I hoped would set him on fire.
"…I hate you"
"Yeah you and everyone else…but do you hate me enough to not want water?" He asked as he held the cup in his hand.
"I'm getting there" I mumbled a little less seriously as he maneuvered the cup and managed to be able to get it to my side as I took a drink from it, the water definitely wasn't fresh but it tasted sweet nonetheless due to not having a drink in a while.
"Well here comes the best part" He announced as he took the piece of bread and tore off a piece…although last time I check breaking bread shouldn't sound like a brick being snapped in half.
"Uhhh…I think I'm good" I refused as he just shrugged and popped the bread into his mouth and chewed, noting that it sounded as if he was eating rocks.
"How are you even eating that?" I asked genuinely curious as just hearing him chew was making my teeth hurt.
"It's not like theres much else on the menu…plus after twenty years you get used to it" He answered as I absorbed the information. I haven't even been here for a day and I'm already at the end of my rope…but he's been here for so long, I can't even imagine such an existence. He took the tray and put it by the door, makes sense since it probably wouldn't be a good idea for them to know that he fed me.
"Hey so…you mind if I ask you something?" I asked as he laid down and leaned his back on the wall opposite of his door.
"Depends on what you're asking"
"Well…Why haven't you tried to escape yet?" I questioned
"What do you mean?"
"I mean you seem like the kind of person that could escape from a place like this pretty easy…so why are you still here?" I specified as the question seemed to drain the emotion out of his face.
"That…doesn't matter anymore" He dismissed quickly as he turned his back to me.
"…ok well can I at least get your real name?" I asked as I got silence in response.
"Oh and now you go back to ignoring me…great, fine whatever I'll just sit here and ignore you…see how you like it" I spat out rather childishly as I turned away from him. I'm honestly not even sure why it bothers me that much when he ignores me, could be the stress of everything just piling on…who knows I guess it doesn't really matter all that much in end. I resigned myself to trying to get some sleep as I adjust myself into an awkward but serviceable position and drifted off to sleep.
I'm not sure what time I awoke as it's hard to tell what time it is in here, but after a few moments of echoing footsteps from down the hall I sat up and shook my head in an attempt to wake myself up. That didn't work, but what did was a familiar voice that sent chills down my spine every time I heard it.
"Good morning Korra" the ever familiar voice of Amon greeted as I immediately snapped out of my haze and stared straight at that mask.
"You…what do you want?" I asked bitterly as just gave a light casual chuckle that only served to enrage me.
"Do not worry, my visit is going to be quite brief…the coming days will be quite busy after all if we are to achieve our noble goal of peace and equality, but I wouldn't dream of leaving without saying farewell" Amon stated as he reveled in rubbing his victory in my face, I did nothing but glare defiantly at him.
"I also wanted you know the reason why I haven't decided to dispose of you just yet…tell me would you like to know?" He asking in a mocking tone as I continued to glare.
"I want you to stick around to see the fully realized era of peace and prosperity that will transpire once the benders of this world are disposed of…I want you to realize how truly useless and outdated you are, but most of all…I want you to fully understand that no matter how hard you try to resist the inevitable that at the end of the day…your just a weak little girl, propped up by power that was just as easily taken away as everyone else's" I couldn't listen to anymore of his gloating.
"This isn't over…I swear I'll defeat you!" I shouted with as much confidence as I could muster.
"No…no you won't, just accept that your powerless to change anything now…it'll be good for you in the long run, now if you'll excuse me…I have to prepare for my visit to the earth kingdom" He taunted at me with a shake of his head as he started to walk off.
"Oh and one more thing, since the is not much you can do about it anyway…I suppose I'll let you know that your friends Bolin and Asami slipped away after their failure, unfortunate but ultimately inconsequential"
"And Mako?" I asked quickly
"…he'll break soon enough" Amon stated as he left down the hall. I'm not sure how long I spent kicking at the door in frustration but after my legs started to hurt I just resigned myself to just lying on the ground, mind blank to nothing but grief.
As I sat there for the last hour or so and stared at the broken and grief stricken girl that was the Avatar, I couldn't help but empathize with her. Her tragic and defeated demeanor forced me to recall events from long ago that I had attempted to erase from my mind…events that had broken me in much of the same way that it has broken her. No…broken isn't exactly accurate here, I can tell she still has some fight left in her yet.
I pondered more on this as the guard who delivers my food came and did just that before he stopped in front of her cell.
"What's the matter Avatar? Can't take having your precious Avatar powers taken away?" He asked mockingly as she barely acknowledged his existence.
"Well come on now theres no need to feel bad" The guard soothed with fake sympathy as he reached to open the cell. As I pieced together what was about to transpire I felt something bubble its way up from deep within, something that I hadn't felt in almost twenty years.
Determination.
"It's alright Avatar…I'll replace those bad feelings with something real nice" He promised with a twinge of lust in his eyes as he took a step forward only to have a foot launch out at his chest, unfortunately the kick was little more than a wild strike as he easily parried it away.
"St-Stay back!" She shouted angrily as the guard only seemed to be more determined than before.
"Oh so you like it rough huh? Good…I do too" He stated with hunger laced words as he brought the metal electric prod in his hand onto her leg, causing her to wince out in pain as she backed up toward the wall to attempt to defend herself.
As I watched this unfold before me many different memories, thoughts and voices rang through my head in a chaotic whirlwind. Just before it started to become too much it all seemed to dissipate and one clear, familiar voice echoed in my mind.
"It's ok…let go and move forward" The familiar phrase elicited a wave of mixed emotions to wash over my very being, but as chaotic and confusing as it all was…It also made me feel like my purpose was more apparent than it ever had been in my entire life, it filled me with the clearest of determinations to do the one thing that up to this point I had never dreamed of doing for over twenty years.
To move forward
"I see…your right as always" I mumbled to myself as I reached behind my right ear and pulled out the little piece of metal that I had fashioned into a pick long ago and calmly rose to my feet, I walked my way to the cell door as I unlocked the door in one smooth motion. I slid the door open and wordlessly walked over to her cell and stood in the doorway, the guard sensing something behind him turned around.
"Wh-what the? What are you doing out of your cell monster?" He asked fearfully as he attempted to bring the metal electric prod in his right hand down on my head. I easily gripped his wrist midswing with my left hand and with a squeeze snapped the bones in said wrist, causing him to drop the prod, before he could scream out in pain I took my right hand and gripped his throat tightly so only a pathetic squeak came out of his mouth.
"I've grown quite tired of this place and quite tired of you…lets fix that" I threatened with a low rumbling growl as I took my thumb and with the claw like form of my nail pierced his throat and tore it open to summon a torrent of blood that quickly rushed out from the wound to stain the ground below. I felt nothing as I watched the life drain from his eyes as he tried in vain to beg for mercy and after a few moments it was over as I simply released his throat and let him collapse onto the ground like a ragdoll.
I looked to the girl before me who was staring at me in a mixture of confusion and fear as I stepped closer to her. She turned her head away and closed her eyes unmoving, not wanting to waste any time and simply moved behind her and gripped the chains that restrained her arms behind her back and in one swift motion broke them. After a few moments of silence she finally opened her eyes and brought her hands forward and looked at them in a bout of confusion before staring up at me.
"You alright?"
"Y-Yeah" She answered as she worked to gain her composure.
"Jarek"
"…what?" she asked
"Earlier you asked me what my name was…its Jarek"