氷
The shadowy mass rushed towards her, two burning points of white boring into the avatar with impossible rage and suffering, unable to see past the closed world of hurt and fear that caged it.
She dove out of the way clumsily, the normally easy movement requiring a large amount of effort from the tired girl. She panted, putting her hands on her knees as she stared down at the snow for a few seconds, wondering how long she could keep this up.
Her wondering only lasted for a few seconds as one of the spirits broke out of the snowy maelstrom towards her, it's mouth wide open with shadowy fangs bared. Summoning up her rapidly dwindling reserves of strength, she stood her ground as the large entity kept roaring closer and closer. She held both hands out, splaying her palms and keeping them next to each other as it continued to close the distance.
The girl felt a familiar buzzing sensation in her head as the spirit bore down on her, and she gritted her teeth and pushed it away, focusing on the few basics of airbending she had been taught by both Tenzin and Tai.
Another piercing roar as the spirit sensed victory, but as it opened it's mouth impossibly wide to reveal the shadowy maw within she acted, taking a deep breath and filling up her lungs to bursting. She exhaled and felt a tingling wave of energy flow down both arms, gathering at the center of her palms to be used how she needed it.
Twin streams of twisting wind speared forwards, punching through the long and writhing form of the spirit like it wasn't even there at all. The spirit's scream was of unimaginable intensity as it whipped and flailed about, trying to wriggle it's way free of the twin spears of wind which still spun furiously.
She gritted her teeth with the effort of keeping the spinning masses in one piece, and somewhere in the back of her mind, she appreciated just how difficult manipulating wind was when compared to the other elements. It was like trying to focus on something that wasn't there at all, and then trying to bend it to your needs.
It screamed again, and the twisted shadowy threads that made up it's entire body seemed to quiver as the spirit convulsed, the white burning points turning to a blazing orange, as random patches in it's body started to burn from the inside. Korra felt a pang of guilt for the suffering spirit, but gritted her teeth when images of Mako being tossed around by it came to mind.
She growled and pumped more energy into her wind spears, increasing their spinning to massive speeds and further tearing apart the creature. The howls nearly shattered her eardrums, only making her even more determined to put the thing down.
After a final shudder, and what seemed like an eternal struggle for Korra, the spirit went limp, and didn't move at all. She dissipated the wind spears, letting the now lifeless shadowy mass fall into the snow with a loud thud. She would have been fine with having time to recover from the harrowing fight when the screams of the second creature made her turn around, seeing a waterbender wrapped up in one of the many tendrils trailing from it.
The spirit flung the man away, sending him tumbling through the snow and disappearing into the depths of the blizzard. She frowned when she realized that the rest of them were nowhere to be found. Putting away her doubts she advanced, intent on trying to finish it as quickly as possible. She broke into a run, and immediately found herself slowing down, her legs refusing to go faster than a crawl. Her breath came out in ragged gasps as she trudged through the snow towards the remaining spirit, trying to figure out how to take it down when she was this close to collapsing.
Her planning had to wait when it turned on her with frightening speed, opening it's maw to scream as it rushed through the air towards her. Self-preservation gave her a quick burst of energy, enough to dive out of the way, but not enough to completely dodge the pain-filled being. A tendril trailing from it's side slammed her across the back as it rushed past, forcing a choked cry out of her, along with all of her breath as well.
The world tumbled around her, and she couldn't feel her legs and arms, even though she could see them being knocked around mercilessly. She slid to a halt a few seconds later, face down in the snow as she felt shivers wrack her frame. She curled up, trying to summon up the strength to get up but it wouldn't come. A tickle of the wind on her ear signaled that the spirit was coming back again, and this time she wasn't sure she would be able to get out of the way in time.
But a rebellious thought immediately smashed away those doubts, and issued a single command for her to follow: Survive.
It gave her a brief burst of strength and purpose, and slowly she rose from the snow, ignoring the cold and dampness that completely covered her, constantly trying to sap the new-found energy away from her. She took a step forward, stopping herself from swaying as much as she could as a idea began to form in her mind.
She opened her palm and concentrated, even as the spirit was closing in at a frighteningly fast speed, sensing that it's opponent was exhausted and nearly broken. The air tickling her hand rushed into a single clump above her palm, and immediately her energy began to drop as she concentrated on the shape and density, trying to get the exact mix of air and pressure necessary for the advanced technique to be effective.
A ball of thickly compressed air formed in it's entirety, surrounding a core of rapidly moving wind that was trying to get out any way it could, but she gritted her teeth and kept it contained, holding her palm forwards so that the air sphere was between her and the oncoming shadowy mass. It was hard to concentrate, and her vision started swimming again as two burning discs of white turned to orange, and an unearthly voice screamed at her in a language painful to the ears and mind.
But she stood her ground, and just as it was a few metres away she flung her other palm upwards as fast as possible, pushing the air up to send her underneath the spirit's snake-like frame. It's eyesight seemed to be incredibly poor, as it didn't change direction or stop in it's tracks, still flowing over her as fast as ever. She felt a dull impact on her back as she hit the snow, and was now lying on her back and facing into the shadowy mass of tendrils that made up it's body.
Without any hesitation she slammed the sphere into the spirit, splitting open the thick outer layer to unleash the hurricane force winds within. Nothing but roaring wind and pained screams reached her ears, and her head throbbed terribly as she gritted her teeth, keeping the pressure on as her vision dimmed, and threatened to take her into unconsciousness. But she couldn't give up now, not when the city was still in danger from this thing. If she gave up now, it would rampage through the city, taking many lives before being stopped.
She had to keep going, she was the Avatar. A single cry came from her, containing all of her fury and frustration and exhaustion and her desire to just get this over with. She didn't need every element to do her duty, she could still help those who place their trust in her, she wouldn't fail them. A familiar strength surged into her arms and hands, and she pushed the sphere further in, embedding it deep into the mat of tendrils and leaving it there. She let the world fall away, picturing nothing but the stabilitiy of that sphere as she rolled out from under the spirit as it passed by entirely, leaving her free to collapse the sphere.
The spirit screamed again, but this time there was something final about it as the shadowy mass slammed into the snow, it's entire frame shuddering as the sphere of wind lodged in it's side collapsed with explosive force, letting the maelstrom within tear apart the tendrils making up it's skin. It screamed and it screamed before shuddering a few more times before finally laying still, half buried in the snow.
Korra couldn't believe her eyes. She had done it, finally she had done something on her own, without any help from her friends or others-
The girl heard a rumble and the sound of snow being lifted about behind her. And she felt chills down her spine as she turned around with widened eyes, panic beginning to overtake her as the ragged holes in the first creature's body began to mend themselves, new tendrils twirling around each other and tightening to form new, unmarred skin. White discs began to burn again, and the spirit lifted itself from the snow, rushing over the frozen girl's head to the second spirit's side.
The large hole blasted in it's side began to mend itself as well, and soon enough the second spirit was whole again, floating up into the air to rejoin it's brother.
She fell to her knees, feeling numbness in every part of her as she the two of them looked down on her, and the white discs flared with fury and turned a bright orange as they rushed forward, intent on ending the avatar before she had even gotten out of train-
Something dark and blurry rushed out the blizzard behind them, and the girl barely registered another shadowy entity as it slammed into the backs of the two spirits, bringing them crashing down into the snow immediately. The twin snake spirits bucked and screamed as it restrained them, large and thick tendrils extending from what would be it's arm to cover the two spirits entirely. The muffled screams continued under the shadowy blob as it slowly sank into the ground, disappearing from the numbed girl's sight entirely within a few seconds.
The third shadow creature stood in front of her, head tilted as it looked at her with four burning slits of orange. Slowly, what had happened, and she swayed unsteadily as she walked towards the creature, not sure what to do or even say.
It decided that for her as it rushed forward, slamming a tendril around her neck and pinning her to the city wall. She gasped for air as it leaned towards her, the four slits changing from a burning orange to a cool white as the tendril's pressure on her neck lessened and she could breathe easily again.
She stayed completely still, not tearing her gaze away from it as she tried to choke out a question. "What - are - you?"
"A messenger." A deep and rumbling voice answered her, the very sound chilling her to the core. She suppressed a shudder as some of the tendrils snaked under her collar and wrapped themselves around her arm. She gasped as a burning sensation intensified where they met her skin, and it felt like her head was exploding from the inside as shivers wracked her body. Just as quickly as they brought the agony they were retracted, and the spirit tilted it's as she kept up a brave front, trying not to break down at the sight of the incomprehensible being standing in front of her. Her vision swam and she gritted her teeth as she resisted the urge to scream.
Korra was about to open her mouth again to speak, to ask what it wanted when the shadowy spirit shook a little. It was laughing. "You aren't what we're looking for. You aren't ready yet. Avatar." The last word coming out of it was dripping with derision as it released it's grip from her, and just as fast it appeared, it threw itself back into the blizzard, disappearing entirely and leaving her dumbstruck.
Tai stumbled as the roaring winds picked up in intensity, pushing him off-balance and tipping him towards the hard and cold pavement. He flailed his arms to get a grip on anything nearby, his fingers grabbed onto the corner of a brick in the wall nearby, but immediately they slipped off, and he rushed towards the ground. He flailed again, and this time he managed to hook his fingers around an indent in the garden arch nearby.
He breathed a sigh of relief at the chance of missed face abuse, and pulled himself up and stumbled through the archway into the front garden of the manor house, shivering constantly as the cold sapped energy from him with every step.
Naga rounded the corner of the house and peered at him, lumbering over to lick him, putting the ghost of a smile on the boy as he placed a hand on the sliding door, opening it to see the nice and warm lounge room. Tenzin and his family were in the room, with him peering worryingly at Kirima, whose eyes were screwed shut as she laid on the couch, with Bolin watching over her with his fingertips pressed together.
Asami and Verick sat nearby as well, exchanging worried glances when they saw Tai stumble through the doorway and out of the cold. He was exhausted, and tipped over into the corner chair nearby, burying his face into the warm fabric and it felt oh so good.
Someone's shadow fell over the chair, and their hands shook his shoulders. "Spirits, are you okay?" Asami didn't wait for an answer as she dragged him away from the warm fabric, flipping him over so that he was now laying on the chair normally, with most of his body dangling from it. "I'm glad you fought that guy off."
He gave a thumbs up, keeping up the appearance that he was none the worse for wear after being shoved up against a wall and having a disturbingly familiar sword being pressed to his throat. "Yes. Fought him off. I did do that." he lied very badly, getting looks from Bolin and Tenzin in the process.
"Who was it?" Tenzin asked, folding his arms and coming over with a stern look that could tell steel where to bend.
"I don't know." he murmured. Realizing that wasn't enough of an explanation he sighed. "He was trained in the sword though, and he moved faster than the wind."
Tenzin's eyebrow rose. "An airbender?"
He nodded. "Definitely, has the eyes." Tenzin frowned as he noticed the boy had his gaze for a few seconds. There was something else.
"Tai, what is it?" he asked carefully, knowing how sensitive his student was with this kind of topic.
The boy straightened, standing up from the chair as he looked at the floor, hands clenched. After a few seconds his eyebrows furrowed. "Nothing." he murmured, closing himself off to everyone.
There was a thump at the door, and everyone exchanged glances as the boy walked over and slid the door open. He stepped back in surprise, eyes wide. "Mako?" The firebender was shivering constantly, and would have fallen forwards on the floor if Tai hadn't caught him. He heard a little yap coming from underneath Mako's scarf, and a grey snout poked out of it as Kaze picked his way out from the coat, falling to the floor and whimpering as he looked at both Tai and Mako.
"Korra..." he murmured, as Tai dragged him over to the armchair. Now that he was in the well-lit room, the airbender saw all of the cuts and bruises on his forearms and face, and he wondered just what happened to them. "She needs help."
"Bro!" Bolin stood up and ran over, kneeling by the armchair and keeping a constant eye on his older brother. Pabu wormed his way out of Bolin's collar and hopped onto the firebender's chest, chattering as he licked a few of the scratches clean as his way of helping.
Tenzin glanced at Pema. "Get the medkit."
Verick stood up as well and nodded at the airbender while glancing at Pema. "I'll help." he offered.
She nodded and hurried out of the room, Jinora and Ikki following her.
Naga poked her head through the open door and crooned while Bolin fretted over Mako. "It's gonna be okay, you'll be fine-"
Asami walked over as well, worry in every fiber of her being. "Mako." she knelt next to Bolin, and reached her hand forward towards a stray hair over his face, before catching herself and quickly snatching it away, sighing and holding onto his hand instead. After a few seconds she nodded and stood up, walking purposefully towards the hallway. "I'll get some blankets. Bolin, see to Kirima." she ordered, running over the few basic lessons of looking after patients she picked up from Kya when she was younger.
Immediately Bolin bristled as he stood up, shaking his head as he pointed at Mako. "He's kept me safe for all of my life-"
"I know! But Kirima needs your help now! Look, please stay with her?" Asami stared him down, trying to communicate that his older brother would do fine without him for a little while."
Slowly Bolin nodded, giving her a dark look as he squeezed his brother's arm one last time before turning around. "I'll take her to one of the guest rooms. Warmer." he murmured, pointedly avoiding any of the apologetic looks Asami gave him as he left.
"Mako. Where is Korra?" Tenzin gently asked, very well aware that he could lose consciousness at any moment. Tai stepped towards the door, ready to go as Tenzin waited for the firebender to answer.
"At- at the city gates. Two spirits." Mako's voice was weak as his eyes fluttered dangerously, getting a worried look from Bolin just before he left the room, with Kirima cradled in his arms.
Tai nodded and stepped out into the cold, nudging Kaze back inside as he waited for Tenzin to follow. "Blizzards getting worse."
"Hopefully she's still standing, but against two spirits-"
"She's tough, master." Tai sighed and drew his long coat tighter around himself. "Just hope we get there in time."
The two of them trudged through the deepening snow covering the front garden, heads bowed a little against the worsening wind and snow. Tenzin led the way, ducking through the arch and stepping to the side while waiting for his pupil to follow.
Their way down the street was slow-going at first, until Tenzin began making small and subtle motions with his hands. The wind dropped a little around the two of them, and the snow suddenly began blowing away from them and back up into the sky instead. The effects were similar to Tai and his air tunnel, except much more effective and with less effort required.
"Showoff." the boy muttered under his breath.
"I heard that." Tenzin glanced back at him with a smirk as he kept walking, somehow hearing the boy's near silent words over the deafening keening of wind and rushing of snow.
Tai sighed and nodded as he followed his master around the corner, his navigating completely reliant on the bright orange of his robes, which barely stood out amongst the densely packed snow and faint outlines of buildings on either side.
He was about to speak up about his problem concerning Korra when the barely audible sound of someone's foot crunching in snow carried to him. That itself wouldn't have caused any alarm if it wasn't followed by the sound of a blade being drawn as well.
Ahead Tenzin stiffened and danced back against the corner of a storefront straddling the side-street and the main road. Without a word Tai crouched down, slowly moving forward towards the side of a car parked nearby.
Some of the massive pile of snow sitting on top of it's navy colored roof trickled down the side as he put his back against it. He glanced at Tenzin, who nodded as he quickly peered around the corner, raising his hand carefully and performing twisting movements directed at the white expanse in the middle of the main road. Slowly the section of snow and wind being thrown about between them and the mystery sound cleared up, providing a direct line of sight to whoever was out there in the middle of the street.
It took time for the snow and wind to clear up enough for them to be able to see anything and none of them dared move while they waited, not wanting to chance that whoever was up ahead would spot them. Visibility would be nonexistent for them, and the risk of being attacked by a wild and primal show of bending prevailed in both of the airbender's thoughts.
Tenzin squinted as he spotted dark man-shaped blur standing in the center of the road, standing like they were frozen to the spot. His eyes widened for an instant when the snow cleared a bit further, revealing another human-shaped blur standing farther along the road, stopped in their tracks by the dark blur, which held the unmistakable profile of a slightly curved sword to the side.
The second blur stood strangely, and it looked like whoever it was had been injured severely, and could barely support themselves. Tenzin glanced at his student, getting his attention by bending a small stream of wind to irritate his ear. The boy looked over at him and Tenzin pointed to himself then to a unknown vantage point farther up the pavement. He prayed that Tai would understand his intent, and also the unspoken message that he stay put for now.
Luckily Tai seemed to have listened to both parts, and Tenzin took a deep breath and crept forwards, keeping as far back from the curb as possible while he moved towards the branch-off to another sidestreet just up ahead. The deep snow packed along the roadway in front of him would definitely make a loud enough noise to carry to the two mystery figures, stealth was key here, even if they were the friendliest people on the planet they could still react badly.
But he didn't have the luxury of time, Korra was still out here somewhere, and judging from Mako's account she was in serious trouble. He held his hand out and concentrated, curling his fingers inwards slightly as he focused on the corner sitting across from him. He repeated the same action with his other hand, only this time he held it out behind himself. He imagined a great stream of air blowing across from him to the corner, and spun his hands quickly.
The result carried him over the side-street and across to the other side, he released the stream and let it dissipate, dropping to the ground soundlessly. He glanced back and grimaced when he couldn't see his student as the snow had thickened too much. He hoped that he was still crouched behind the car as he crept forward, aiming to get to a vantage point where he could identify the second figure from.
He grunted as the wind picked up in it's intensity, surprising the airbending master as it nearly bowled him over. The ferocious gale blew past him towards the center of the main road, whipping about the constant and heaving snowfall into a frenzy that served to clear the air up even further. He saw the cold grey eyes behind the first figure's mask flit towards him for an instant, recognition being shared between both of them before the hooded man looked towards his target again.
The girl could barely keep her eyes open as she took a step forward, swaying heavily as she gasped, clamping a hand over her left shoulder as she gritted her teeth and nearly twisted over right there and then. Protective instinct welled up in Tenzin, and he nearly broke into a reckless sprint before managing to rein himself in. Caution had to be kept here.
But the same couldn't be said for the thoughts running through Tai's head.
He broke out from behind the snowed in car into a sprint, feet sinking deep into the snow as he held his hands out behind himself in a wide arc. He growled as a sphere of highly pressurized wind swirled into being over each outstretched palm, all thoughts geared towards stopping the hooded man from taking one step further towards Korra.
Concern for himself was thrown to the wind as he yelled and threw both palms forwards, intending the slam the rapidly spinning masses of wind into the swordsman's exposed back and finish the fight there.
His eyes widened as wind and snow replaced the hooded man, and he didn't register the shadow looming over him as a vice like grip wrapped around his neck. Momentum carried the boy for a bit before he was jerked back by the man's grip, stars exploded in his vision as he began to choke, trying and failing to gasp for air as his world spun and spun.
Suddenly the pressure on his throat was gone as he tumbled violently across the deep snow, his skull rattling and his thoughts scattering as his shoulder hit the curb with an almighty crack, and he screamed as pain clouded his thoughts even further. His breaths were deep and ragged as his back slammed into the ice-hard wall, the pain almost putting him out. But he gritted his teeth and fought to stand up, trying to force his legs into a sprint towards the frozen girl standing out in the middle of the road, completely rooted to the spot as the tip of a white curved sword rocketed towards her belly. The fear in her eyes was complete as it was about to pierce her-
A blur put itself between her and the blade, and the sword was wrenched off-course as a stream of wind slammed into the flat of the metal. A second stream was directed straight at the swordsman, who uttered a quiet grunt as he danced to the opposite side of the main road with almost no effort, using the snow to fasten his passage.
Tenzin shielded Korra, putting himself between her and the once again standing-still hooded man, who tilted his head at the touching display as he reaffirmed his grip on the wickedly curved sword. The airbending master windmilled his arms as he advanced, spinning the air above and below into a thin but very strong spinning mass, that encompassed his thin frame, it quickly picked up speed as it spun towards the hooded man, kicking up great piles of snow into the air in it's wake.
But the hooded man was very nimble, and in a flash was already sailing through the air at Tenzin's side, his sword slicing towards him. Tenzin was smart, and instantly dropped to the ground, spinning his hands and guiding the pinwheel down onto the swordsman. It collapsed as a solid body interfered with the fragile mass, sending the swordsman tumbling through the snow and disappearing into the depths of the blizzard in the city gate's direction.
He stopped for a moment, trying to hear any trace of the man moving around in the blizzard. He didn't need to go at it for long when he spotted a trace of a blur rushing across the center of the road, and his blood froze as he realized the swordsman was now targeting his student. He pushed at the air behind himself, and it responded by propelling him in a sailing arc over the top of the still-stunned girl's head. He rolled once to keep his passage smooth as he neared the other side of the street, as he dropped he mitigated his impact on the hard-packed snow by tucking his legs in and angling his shoulder to take the brunt. A grunt was taken from him as he rolled over his shoulder, and quickly popped up into a airbending stance as he slowed his breathing, preparing to relax his limbs to ease the passage of chi flow into his arms and legs.
Nothing rushed out of the blizzard towards him as he stepped onto the footpath, advancing slowly along it as he kept a cautious eye out at the all encompassing white haze. He never strayed too far from where Korra was, making sure that he would protect them both.
He heard the sound of someone tumbling through the snow, and watched as Tai was sent sliding back along the snowed road, managing to keep on his feet as he slowed his passage by digging his fingers into the powder. He came to a halt near the stricken girl, and he pulled her down into the snow with a alarmed grunt as a black shadow darted out of the blizzard towards the two of them. The curve sword passed through the space where she was standing just before, and the boy extended both palms upwards, sending a pair of spearing columns twisting around each other against the hooded man.
The swordsman twisted out of the way, barely avoiding them with inches to spare as he used his momentum to send the blade in a large horizontal slice aimed at the boy kneeling nearby. Tai pushed at the ground nearby, the razor edge slicing through a few tips of his black hair in the process. The boy swept his legs around, hitting nothing but snow as his opponent's hand shot towards his throat, landing with a iron-like grip.
Tai struggled as he was lifted out of the snow, and stared straight into the cold grey eyes of the strange for a moment before being thrown back into the snow. The man didn't move as the boy quickly stood up, a ball of air appearing in his palm as he readied himself for another bout of fighting.
He noticed his master beginning to break into a sprint towards the exposed back of the man, the boy suddenly rushed forward with the air sphere held out in front of him, holding out his other hand to blast a stream of fast flowing wind at the ground behind himself. The stream propelled him towards the hooded man, and the boy gritted his teeth as he closed in, hoping that Tenzin would be fast enough.
With a flick of the wrist, the hooded man's sword was slicing towards the boy's exposed side, easily in place to end his life right there and then as the boy extended his outstretched palm as far as he could, the air sphere now only a few inches away from slamming into the dark leather padding over the man's chest.
Just as he felt the slightest of a rip through the cuff of his sleeve, the boy watched the hooded man move out of the way in a flash, his sword snatched away from it's passage as Tenzin's scowling features appeared between two spiraling columns of wind. Immediately they collapsed before they could touch the boy, and Tai skidded to a halt along the snow, stopping just a few inches from hitting him as well.
They both looked up to see the hooded man dropping towards them like a meteorite, surrounded by a dark swirling nimbus of wind and snow that ended in a sharp cone covering the outstretched blade's tip. As he rocketed down, the two airbenders quickly sent pushes of wind against the other, and they were both thrown back from each other as the hooded man thunderously impacted into the ground. The swirling maelstrom was released in all of it's fury, and the snow covering the road was ripped up in great swathes and sent careening through the air.
One of these droves of snow slammed into Tai head on, sending him sliding back a few metres on his knees. Tenzin experienced the same as well, and managed to flip over a snowed in car sitting in the street, holding onto it's roof as the winds howled ferociously. The hooded man was absent from the epicenter of the mini storm, and the two airbenders were helpless against the strong winds as they held on. In between them the girl lay face-down in the snow, but was picked by an invisible hand and sent sliding down the street towards the boy's position.
Tai gritted his teeth as he threw a hand out, nearly losing his weak grip on her shoulder as she slid within reaching distance. The wind tore at him, and as it picked up, he lost his hold on her briefly, before he managed to get a much more stable hold on the fur lining of her collar. He held onto her as best as he could, using all of the strength he had to keep them anchored in their spots on the ground, as the wind continued to howl and whip above them.
Everything went quiet for a few seconds, and slowly he lifted his head up from the snow, seeing that the air had cleared up enough to see more than a few feet now, as if there wasn't a hurricane force wind blowing down the main road just now. His mind froze as he realized they were at the hooded man's mercy, but the flash of a sword didn't appear, and he didn't feel his blood chill as a pair of hard grey eyes bored into his soul.
He kept a hand on Korra as he straightened, seeing Tenzin moving towards the two of them.
"Korra?" Tenzin said, failing to hide the worry and fear for her contained in his voice. He knelt down, holding onto her hand as the girl's eyes fluttered open.
"Guys..." she murmured, reaching a hand out to the boy nearby to signal that she was still among the living and conscious.
Immediately Tai wrapped his hand around hers, and carefully pulled her out of the snow, keeping a tight hold on her as he draped her arm around his neck and onto his shoulder. The girl's eyes closed for a few moments as she swayed terribly, prompting him to loop a supporting hand around her waist as well. "Hey. Hold on! We'll-"
The sounds of shouting voices coming from the city gate's direction stopped him from speaking even further, and he glanced at Tenzin, who had already taken a few steps forward, preparing to stalk down the road towards them. He stopped without looking at the two of them. "Get her inside Tai. I'll be back."
He didn't wait for the boy's answer as he disappeared into the blizzard, leaving Tai standing in the cold for a few seconds, his mind trying to formulate a plan and work through what his master just instructed. A tiny murmur from the girl roused him and sped up his thoughts, and he started trudging through the snow along the main road, keeping the faintly visible blur of blue light high above in his sight as he passed one of the side-streets.
A small and barely-there chuckle rose from her, surprising the boy enough to stop near the corner of the storefront leading into the manor house's side street. "We do this...a lot... don't we?" the girl forced out with a voice little more than a strained whisper.
Even though she was in a bad way and he wasn't much better, Tai found a small smile forming. "Yeah. Guess we do."
"Did he hurt you?" the girl managed to force out, immediately bringing a tinge to the boy's cheeks. Even after taking on two spirits and badly hurt she still worried about him.
He wasn't sure what to make of that as the girl fell silent once more. He yelped as his grip slipped and she nearly crashed into the snow, stopped by him flailing wildly and managing to get a purchase on the fur lining on her collar. By accident he pulled a bit too much, and the heavy fabric and fur slipped from her shoulder a little, revealing a absolutely horrendous line of inky black trails marring her light brown skin.
The boy quickly covered her shoulder again, and reaffirmed his grip as he continued onto the footpath across from the front garden arch. His mind raced, trying to figure out what possibly could have done something like that to her. He was interrupted by the girl stirring again, and he found he could not stop himself from looking into her vibrant blue eyes. "Thank you." she murmured, before slipping away again, leaving him to continue towards the manor house in silence, only accompanied by the slowly dropping howls of the wind as it tried it's best to blow the thinning snow around.
As he stepped through the arch, her eyes opened again, and she lifted her head as they neared the sliding door to the interior of the house. Slowly, her steps grew in strength, and she straightened as he placed a hand on the sliding door, opening it and almost stumbling into the warm room inside.
A pair of green eyes rose to meet him, and Asami's hair whipped about as she stood up and hurried towards the two of them, worry and confusion and questions all fighting each other in her. "Help." Tai grunted, as he stopped being able to ignore the rapid deadening of his limbs.
They were all replaced by worry for a friend as she noticed the state Korra was in, and placed a hand on Tai's chest as she slowly pulled her away from his grip. He relented as she took the strain for him and glanced at the middle aged woman kneeling over her patient nearby. "Kya."
She looked up as she finished replacing the blanket on Mako, her eyes immediately filling with concern as Asami guided Korra over to her. "Spirits." she muttered, as Tai picked his way between them and fell face-first onto the couch nearby.
He would have gladly accepted the offer of sleep if the door didn't slide open, with Tenzin stepping through, followed by a grim-faced man with brown skin and weathered features, and his long black hair restrained back from his face, with two dark blue tubes similar to the ones Korra wore containing some of it.
The boy rolled around and sat up as Kya and Asami exchanged looks, Verick walked into the room with several blankets in his arms, and nearly dropped them when he saw the grim-faced man standing behind Tenzin, followed by a boy who looked uncannily similar to the girl currently resting in the little room upstairs.
"Chief Unalaq." he breathed.
"Where is my daughter? Where is my niece?"
氷