Author's Note: Thank-you to all the reviews I've been getting for this story, I really appreciate everyone who reads this. Enjoy! (Disclaimer: I do not own The Legend of Korra or any of its characters.)
Korra swirled the mystery goo in her bowl absentmindedly, still trying to pick through her dream in her mind. She suspected Aang had once again been trying to warn her of something, perhaps Amon was hiding with them underground in the tunnels. However the insects were strange, an odd detail to draw her attention to. Mako and Bolin are worried enough, if I ask them it'll only give them something else to have to think about. A small part of her was still wary over sharing things with anyone after the incident on the island.
The group was sitting against one of the walls surrounding the sewer chamber, eating breakfast Mako had bartered for with a spare coin found in his pocket. If you could call it breakfast. She raised her spoon and watched the yellow liquid fall in chunks back into the bowl. Next to her Bolin was slurping down the stuff like it was his last meal, and all it took was her own serving under his nose for him to polish hers off too.
"Alright, we need a plan. We can't just run around the city like we used to since we can't afford to get caught." Mako plopped down in front of them and gazed at Korra expectantly.
She took a deep breath and tucked away her dream into the far corners of her mind. "What we really need are answers on Amon, and the only person who has them is the guy."
"What about the Lieutenant?" Bolin piped up. "You said he was trying to find you before, if anyone knew anything about Amon it would be him."
"Yeah," Korra nodded along, "maybe he'll still be willing to talk to me."
"The only problem is we don't know where he is either." Mako frowned, drumming his fingers across his knee in thought.
"Well… I bet someone down here does. This place is probably crawling with people who keep tabs on those sorts of guys." Korra scanned the constant parade of passerby.
"I could find some old… friends I guess," Mako agreed, "you can't be searching around here though, it'll look suspicious if a newcomer shows up asking questions. Plus I'm pretty sure you'd be recognized"
Korra frowned and stuck-out her chin, checking to make sure Mako's scarf was still wound around her hair.
"You could check-out some places topside, as long as you were careful. Maybe there's a clue to where Amon is in some of his old hangouts." Mako offered.
"Good idea, but I don't think this disguise is going to work well on the surface. And I don't know how serious people are going to take you with only an undershirt on." Korra tugged on Mako's gray jacket that was draped around her shoulders. She still wore her watertribe clothes underneath, it wouldn't fool anyone.
Mako eyed her and let out a frustrated huff. "We do need money to buy clothes you know, and my pockets are empty."
"All I have is a fire-ferret." Bolin patted the large bulge in the front of his shirt, which proceeded to squeak and claw its way to an opening in his jacket.
"Then let's just steal the stuff and pay them back later."
"Not a good idea, everyone here is a thief, they know all the tricks. We'd get caught," Mako muttered.
"Then I've got nothing," Korra admitted grudgingly, as soon as the words left her mouth an idea sparked to life in her head. "But we do know someone who has plenty to spare."
There was a pause of silence, and then Mako proceeded to groan like a hippocow.
"Ok, the coast is clear lets go," Korra whispered, racing from her position behind a street lamp to the twisted iron gate in front of her. She placed her hands around the metal bars, so cold they burned, and gazed at the sprawling compound in front of her. There were only a few lights on in the Sato's series of mansions tonight, like tiny stars in the distance.
Mako pulled up beside her, closely followed by Bolin. Both were shaking slightly in the cold, but while for Mako it was a slight twitch in his arm, Bolin was busting at the seams.
"Can we hurry and get inside already? I can feel icicles in my hair," Bolin whimpered.
Korra bent the earth at their feet into a platform and lifted it to the level of the fence. They jumped down onto the ground and she quickly lowered it back down, in case of guards. They kneeled by a low garden wall next to the beginning of the stairs leading through the various buildings .
"Why are we bothering to hide anyway? It's the police we're running from not Asami," Bolin muttered.
"I wouldn't be surprised if there were some here, Tenzin and BeiFong probably figured we'd eventually go to Asami. That's why we left at night, remember?" Korra explained, scanning the area around them. "No one's here."
They sprinted up the stairs to the next level, checked around, and continued. The process continued until they were at the main house, the large wooden doors looming in front of them..
"We can't go in this way… which window goes to Asami's?" Korra asked, her breath curling in front of her face like smoke.
"Around this way, she has a whole balcony we can sneak onto." Mako led them quietly around the side of the house, darting between bushes and ducking under windows. Korra attempted stealth-mode behind him, occasionally snapping branches which were then crushed by Bolin.
They arrived under a carved stone outlook that faced the mountains around the city, which threatened to tear the slightly smoggy sky glowing dully with constellations. The swollen moon glowed bright above them like a lighthouse, bathing the snow covered landscape in brilliant white. Korra was transfixed by the sight until the ground started moving underneath her, Bolin grunting with the effort of lifting them up to the balcony.
She jumped on top of the railing and kneeled there cautiously, taking a quick look for anybody guarding the windows. They were alone. Korra motioned for the boys to follow and strode to the gigantic windows dominating the wall, a small set of glass doors indicating the entrance. She jiggled the handle, scowling when it refused to allow them entrance.
"Bolin, now would be a great time for you to learn metalbending." Korra gestured to the lock.
"Why break in? Let's just knock." Bolin pressed his face against the glass and slapped his palm against the door. "ASAM-"
Mako nearly jumped on Bolin's back in his hurry to shut him up, hand squeezing his brother's lips together. The incomplete name echoed off the estate walls and into the night, causing a flurry of crowrats to take flight.
Korra held her breath, entire body tense as she waited for an alarm to sound, a person to shout, or an army of police to come charging for them. Instead there was a faint squeak as the door opened and a head of long, ebony hair poked out.
"It's you!" Asami threw open the door and ran out to greet her friends, bouncing on her bare feet and clutching her nightgown. Her emerald eyes shone in the moonlight the color of mint leaves. "The police came earlier today asking after you, they didn't tell me why. What's going on?"
"Let's get inside first, they may still be observing your house," Korra urged, glancing over her shoulder.
Asami nodded quickly and led them through the doors, shutting a velvety curtain behind them. The room was submerged in darkness, only the faint outlines of furniture visible. Korra waited while Asami flicked on the lights, the sudden exposure causing her eyes to burn.
"So, what exactly is going on?" Asami turned back toward the group and crossed her arms expectantly.
"I… over the past few days… there's been some weird stuff going on," Korra started, her gut clenching at the thought of telling another person about her suspicions on Amon. She fisted her hands until the nails left crescent-shaped dents in her palm and began again. "I think Amon has returned to Republic City."
Asami narrowed her eyes to slits and furrowed her brows, "I thought he died out at sea with Tarrlok?"
"So did I, but I heard him on the radio and I saw the Lieutenant…," Korra thought to her dreams, "and I just have a gut feeling." Those visions I've had aren't solid enough proof for them yet.
Asami stumbled back to the edge of her massive bed, hitting the comforter with a soft thud. "Impossible… he's supposed to be dead," she whispered, and then her face shifted. "I remember hearing a housekeeper yesterday telling someone about the news… a story about Korra." She gazed around the room for an explanation.
Before Korra answered Mako spoke-up, "it was nothing, just the usual gossip." His expression was carefully masked, revealing nothing about the truth.
Asami gave him a quizzical look, but seemed to accept his answer."Weird that they'd put something like that in a newspaper. Anyway, I know I helped during the Revolution, but right now this seems like the last place you'd need to be."
"Honestly, we could use some different clothes. If we went out in these anybody would know who we were." Korra tugged on her thick, navy pants and gestured to her blue tank-top which failed to cover the still healing cut on her arm. Mako had taken back his old jacket when they left the underground city, unlike herself the two boys couldn't run around in the snow with a sleeveless shirt.
"Why does it matter if anyone recognizes you? Does it have to do with why the police were here?" Asami questioned.
"Oh yeah, we're sorta kinda on the run from Tenzin, the police, and the White Lotus." Bolin shrugged and continued to pet Pabu. "They want to take Korra away to the South Pole."
Asami laughed, shaking her head back and forth, and eyed their appearances once more. "I think I can get you all something."
Korra tugged on the long-sleeves of her new shirt, which was too tight around the torso and green. She slipped on the brown jacket that Asmai had given her to wear for the cold, a long coat which went to her hips and had a thin layer of fur around the cuffs and hood. She was given long pants which tucked into brown boots that matched the jacket, something Asmai probably made an effort to put together. She did a quick run through of basic bending forms, relieved to find the material practical enough to fight in.
Korra exited the small room Asami had given her to change in and made her way back toward the room. Mako and Bolin were already waiting for her with Asami, both dressed in neutral tones of gray, black, and brown.
"Nothing too colorful or that shows your element."Asami gave both Mako and Bolin a hat to cover their faces. "And Mako, your pocket should be big enough for the scarf."
Mako blinked and carefully unwound his crimson scarf from his neck, folding it neatly into his coat pocket. "Thank-you."
"So, what's the plan now?" Bolin asked, running his hands along the soft material of his shirt.
"I was thinking…you and Mako should go back to the sewer. If it's alright with Asami, I'd like to explore around Hiroshi's old underground liar." Korra flicked her eyes over to Asami to gouge her reaction. Her face immediately grew strained, mouth set in a thin line and eyes turning sharp enough to cut stone. Pain was mixed in there somewhere between, fresh and untamed.
"I can't go with you down there, not yet, but I'll be happy to show you the way. It'd probably be best if I can somehow throw the police off your trail if they come back here too," She said, each word clipped.
"Should you go there alone? What if Amon is waiting there for you? Or a group of ex-Equalists?" Mako shook his head slowly, distaste clear.
"I am the Avatar, I can handle this." You've done it before. "Trust me."
Korra watched her boys disappear through the maze of buildings and lawn until they were small dots leaping over the fence. Asami laid a hand on her shoulder and continued toward her father's old shop, back rigid. She took a deep breath when they reached the twisted, broken metal door that remained after the raid so many weeks ago.
"I'll be okay from here Asami." Korra gave her a small smile, knowing that her friend was currently lost in a sea of memories. Asami's glazed over eyes blinked in response, and she gave a tiny nod. Asami waited until she crossed through the threshold and disappeared into the remains of the shop before retreating back through the crunchy snow. Korra thought she heard a faint "good luck" come from her, as faint as the wind.
Korra brought a ball of fire to life in her hand, casting a dim light over the gaping hole ripped into the floor. She felt her heart begin to pound in response to the seemingly bottomless pit before her, the fear of running into her enemy alone entering her mind. She almost smiled at the complete contradiction to her earlier behavior and crumpled the fear threatening to immobilize her. I am Avatar Korra, I can defeat whatever stands in my way. She clung to the thought like a buoy as she descended into the ground.
The air was heavy and damp, almost as thick as the steel walls around her. The lights once lining the way down had long since gone out and gathered dust. She thought back to the ghost stories her father used to tell her around the fire pit in their igloo.
"There was a woman once, hundreds and hundreds of years ago, who wandered out into the arctic," He father started, voice dropping to an eerie drawl. "No one knew what caused her to stray so far from the tribe, but one night she was there and the next she had vanished. Her husband, a powerful man, searched and searched for her, but she was never found."
"Then he can't be powerful like me, I'm the Avatar I could have found her!" Young Korra interrupted her father to brag, flicking an ember of fire into the air for emphasis.
"Yes, I'm sure you could have Korra. Maybe it's not too late, they say her spirit still wanders the ice looking for a way back home."
Korra cautiously stalked out of the tunnel and into the open chamber where Hiroshi and she had once fought. Defeated mecha tanks still loomed where they were taken down, like sleeping giants. She cast the fire around the broken glass and snapped metal, catching the light like diamonds. No sign of activity.
She searched the exterior of the room, opening several small doors which only lead to small closets or stocks of electrified gloves. Only one contained any information, a small meeting room full of diagram after diagram of weapon designs. They were pinned to the wall and scattered across the table haphazardly, as if Mr. Sato had just finished one design before starting to sketch another. She scanned through quickly before burning them all to ash, deciding some never needed to see the light of day.
At the end of her tour there was a large switch connecting to a series of cables that led up into the cloaked ceiling. She gripped the handle and thrust her weight upward, the handle groaning as it went into the on position. Lights from above snapped on in layers and layers of bulbs, pounding away any darkness in the chamber. Korra put out the fire in her hand and blocked the brightness with the other, grimacing in annoyance.
The hair along the back of her neck prickled, rising in thousands of tiny goose-bumps. She lowered both hands to her side, the pain in her eyes ignored. There was a presence behind her, a set of eyes boring into her back. Korra turned over her shoulder, and the air left her lungs in a rush of air at the sight that awaited her.
A/N: Excuse any serious editing errors, I tried to get this out as soon as i finished it. Please leave a review!