Hey guys, thanks so much for all of the awesome feedback! Sorry for the wait! Darn writer's block was being superbly cruel to me. D':
As always, reviews are appreciated!
"This shouldn't be a problem, since it's two bloodbenders and the Avatar against a pack of saber-toothed moosewolves." Korra cracked her knuckles and watched the beasts approach. Their size grew larger as they closed the distance between them and what they thought to be their next meal.
"I don't think you're understanding how large and powerful they are. I can only control one, maybe two, while Noatak could overpower around four of them. That's if we can devote full concentration on what we're doing. You… I don't know how well you fight, but since you can't bloodbend, it'd be risky to fight even two at a time. We're definitely outnumbered." Tarrlok responded nervously as he tensed in preparation for the imminent attack.
"We can take them on. All we need to do is separate the pack. Once they are all in smaller groups, we can easily overpower them, as long as we work as a team." Noatak spoke with an unexpected authority in his tone. Taken aback by this sudden change, Korra looked over to see his eyes fierce with determination, scrutinizing every detail that lay ahead of him. Then realization of what Noatak intended finally hit Korra. By overpower, he meant slaughter.
"Isn't it a little extreme to kill them?"
"Not if they're trying to split us in half with their claws."
"I agree with Korra. We should just injure them at most, just so they'll leave us alone."
Noatak frowned at his brother, but gradually raised his brows and reluctantly agreed. "Fine, but if any of them get too close for comfort, I won't hesitate. And neither should you."
They waited in silence, the anxiety growing to be unbearable as seconds passed, then minutes. As they neared, Korra began to realize how large and fearsome the beasts were. Her head would barely reach the top of the smallest one's shoulder. Any one of them could easily scoop up the three up with its enormous antlers. Their parted maws revealed dozens of jagged teeth, but the ferocity of those paled in comparison to yellow fangs that curved out of the animal's mouth. One of them howled, but it quickly ended with a snarl.
"On my mark, follow my lead. Three… Two… ONE!" Noatak sent a tall, thick curved wall of ice in front of all but five of the beasts. Following his actions, Tarrlok and Korra assisted by curving the wall and adding on to the barriers by sending them even further backwards. They continued until a large oval-shaped barricade was formed, trapping the other saber-toothed moosewolves inside. By the time they had finished, the remaining beasts were less than twenty five yards away. One of them leaped at Tarrlok, closing the remaining distance with unbelievable speed. Tarrlok flinched, but quickly regained his courage as he quickly bent water out of the snow around him.
Before he could slash at the outstretched limbs, Noatak strode in front of him and raised his arms, then had his hands swiftly turn to the right. The animal to swiftly changed course and impacted on the frozen ground hundreds of feet away, creating a large crater from the force of its burly body. Korra's attention snapped back as she realized one of the remaining few was quickly bearing down on her. She discouraged its assault by sending a mighty burst of flame directly at its face. He slowed, but refused to stop. Before she could continue attacking him, Noatak copied the move he had done to save Tarrlok. The saber-toothed moosewolf was far in the distance within seconds.
"Hey! That one wad mine!" Korra shouted accusingly, her mind realizing what spewed out of her mouth moments later.
"You're welcome." Noatak rolled his eyes, but continued to take on the remaining three. Korra struck one of them with a shard of ice, causing it to divert its attention to her. Each of its blows hit nothing but air as she put her knowledge of airbending tactics to use as she quickly dodged every claw that flew at her, occasionally attacking it in return. After a few more exchanges, she delivered the final blow. The silence that took over afterwards told her that each of the fights were over.
Noatak cracked his knuckles. "So, how many should we release this time? Another five?" He grinned, his mood surprisingly lighter. The expression on his face quickly vanished when one of the saber-toothed moosewolves jumped onto the snowy barrier, then slid down the other side. Then another… And another… Soon they were all outside of their ex-cage, quickly heading straight for them.
"Or all ten of them!" Tarrlok squeaked.
"They're too close to separate. We need a new plan… fast."
Noatak seemed to ignore them as he abruptly began to run towards the beasts.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? YOU'RE GOING TO GET YOURSELF KILLED!" Korra sprinted after him. By the time she had caught up, the saber-toothed moosewolves circled around them, waiting for their prey to give the first strike. Their jaws were opened partly, giving off the impression that they were grinning. Hot saliva dripped of of the matted fur on their chins, melting the snow below.
"Why did you follow me? I know what I'm doing and I don't need your help!"
"That's a lie and you know it." Korra snapped. The saber-toothed moosewolf directly to Korra's right couldn't stand waiting any longer. He leaped at both of them with outstretched paws. The two mirrored each other as they ducked, the saber-toothed moosewolf passing only inches over their bodies. While making a graceful circular curve with her torso as she avoided being shredded, she gave the ground a single blow with her fist. As the attacker landed, a great pillar of earth erupted from the ice, angled slightly as it hit the beast square in the chest, causing it to hurtle far into the distance.
The remaining nine quickly converged on them. Even with constant slashes of ice, water, and fire from Korra and bloodbending attacks from Noatak, the two could tell that they were losing the fight. Since there was no time to fight one-on-one with any of the attackers, they were soon forced to use only defensive maneuvers. Even though they managed to take down three with their bending, the two were soon forced to only dodge each attack and hope the didn't get hit. Even with that strategy, one managed to surprise Noatak by hiding in his poor peripheral vision on his left side, due to the swollen eye, and finally attack while he was busy dodging another blow. Not being able to outmaneuver the outstretched paw in time, a stray claw raked his left leg, leaving behind a deep gash. Blood immediately began to trickle out.
Despite trying hard to stop his reflexes, a howl tore its way through his mouth and escaped his lips as his hand clutched his wound. An inferno of pain erupted as it felt like his own skin around the gash was going to burst into flame. One of the demons took advantage of the distraction and howled with victory, then scooped Noatak up in his jaws.
Korra stopped her current attempt to freeze three of the saber-toothed moosewolves and stared in shock as the one who was carrying Noatak bolted. "NO!" The cry rung in her ears as she bent a water whip. She tried to lasso its leg, but before the water even reached it, it halted abruptly. Its neck twisted to a sickening angle. A loud crack quickly followed, and the beast collapsed. Noatak slowly slithered out of its jaw, still clutching his wound.
"LOOK OUT!" Tarrlok shouted. Another one of the stomach-churning cracks sounded directly behind her. Quickly turning back around, she jumped at how the ebony colored snout of a saber-toothed moosewolf was only inches away. His glazed eyes were now glaring far into the distance, and no breath escaped his open jaw.
The familiar braids of the younger brother flew through the air as he tried to defend himself from the remaining four. After he dodged one that tried to trample him to death, he stopped it with his bloodbending and jumped onto its back cowboy style.
WHAT IS HE DOING? She ran towards him to help. Two leaped at the one Tarrlok was riding, but with a simple bloodbending move, his saber-toothed moosewolf jerked back a moment before the other two collided, one impaling the other with his fangs. Furiously, it pulled out its teeth, now dripping with blood, and lunged at Tarrlok once again. The one he was controlling reared up and sloppily batted at the other with its claws, raking him across the face. Korra joined in and blasted the other saber-toothed moosewolf in the face with water, then froze it. He stumbled backwards, the only part of his head not engulfed by the ice was his antlers. After bending a chunk of earth off of the nearby pillar, she struck the dazed creature in the head, shattering the ice and knocking him unconscious.
Just as she finished, Tarrlok slid off of an unconscious saber-toothed moosewolf. The other one was next to it, slumped over in a similar position. Korra was about to thank him for his help when a distant groan caught her ear. How could I forget about Noatak?
"NOATAK!" Tarrlok sprinted towards where his brother was lying face down on the ground, nearly motionless. The snow next to his injured leg was stained red with blood. Korra followed after him, bending water out of the snow as she went. As soon as they arrived at where he was, she immediately flipped the position of Noatak's body. Now… What was it Sifu Katara told me with deep wounds like these? Ah, right. Memories of what needed to be done flooded her mind.
"Lift his leg so less blood will pump to it and be lost." She instructed. Tarrlok obeyed without hesitation. She bent the water so it encased the injured section of Noatak's leg, then promptly began to perform several intricate bending moves. The water glowed and hummed lightly as tissues were loosely knit together. After several anxiety-filled minutes passed, she pulled the water out and allowed it to splash on the ground nearby. "That's all I can do right now. We need some cloth to wrap around the wound and to slow blood flow to the leg."
"There's some stuff that we can use in the sleds." Tarrlok replied. After Korra bent the snow beneath Noatak into a thick sheet of ice, the two walked behind as they pushed him to the two abandoned sleds. Noatak 's eyelids parted slowly, as if he were awaking from a deep sleep. A mumble escaped his parted lips as he muttered something inaudible while staring at Korra. They had arrived at their destination, so Korra leaned down next to him to be able to hear what he was saying.
"What did you say?"
Noatak sighed with impatience, cleared his throat, then repeated himself, this time louder. "I said that I was right."
Korra rolled her eyes. "Would you like me to make an award for you?" She replied sarcastically.
"That'd be nice. Make sure that the medal I get is gold, though." He joked.
"I found some cloth!" Tarrlok pulled a few strips of thick blue cloth out of the sled triumphantly. He handed them to Korra, who promptly began to start working on fixing up Noatak's leg.
"So... how do we get there now?"
"We walk. Just like we have done before." Noatak answered.
"Would you stop being such an arrogant fool? The worst thing you could do for yourself right now is go on a long trek on that leg. I have an idea for something better." She finished tying the last bandage and Noatak slowly crawled back up to his feet, ignoring all offers for assistance.
"If it has anything to do with me lying in one of the sleds like a helpless infant while you two pull them at a snailsloth pace, you can forget about it."
Korra bent the snow below into a large version of an ice board, causing the two brothers to jump in surprise. "No, I was thinking we'd go faster than we would if we walked. Tarrlok and I would be in front, propelling that section of the ice board, while you would sit in back and propel the tail. Plus you could steer us, since you know which direction we have to head in."
Noatak smirked. "Finally starting to rely on your brain instead of just your brawn, eh?" He really wants to consistently burst my bubble, doesn't he?
"Ignoring that. We should start going now, since we're so behind schedule as it is." She and Tarrlok walked up to the front of the board and rooted their feet in the ice, while Noatak strapped down the sleds, then plopped down and attached himself to the board as well. When he gave a nod to signal that he was ready, they took off. Wind roared in Korra's ears as the air bit at her eyes, soon forcing tears to spring up in her eyes that were carried away by the brisk wind blowing in her face.
Tarrlok laughed as he grinned ear to ear, clearly delighted by the fast pace they were going at. Korra smiled in return, then looked over her shoulder to see how Noatak was doing. He was smiling as well, but as soon as he noticed Korra, he shook his head and resumed his usual serious expression.
"Whoa… For a second there, I almost thought that you were enjoying yourself." Korra and Tarrlok laughed, resulting in Noatak furrowing his brows crossly.
They continued a steady speed throughout the day, stopping only once for a bathroom and food break. As soon as the sun was about to meet the horizon, they agreed to stop for the night. Noatak, who had planned out how they should set up camp (of course), assigned chores to everyone, including himself.
Naturally, since Korra was a firebender, she was on campfire duty. Since the few scraggly trees out in the Northern Water Tribe wilderness were usually soaked and terrible for burning, there was a large rawhide bag filled with wood in one of the sleds. It contained about twenty medium sized logs, enough fuel to last for hours. After she drilled a hole through the few feet of ice, she pulled some earth out of the ground and formed a dome, then placed it upside-down in the ground. After the fire was started, Tarrlok pulled out some meat and began to roast it. Noatak had finished pulling out all of the bedding and was about to bend an ice dome over them when Korra stopped him.
"Wait. Since there'll be a fire, the ice might thin. Since I'm here, I can just bend one out of earth." She pulled earth out of the ice and built a large dome over the sleeping, campfire, and sled area. A hole small enough to let smoke escape was left at the top. "There, now we don't have to worry about being attacked in the middle of the night."
Noatak glared at her, thoroughly frustrated. "We need a doorway, since not everyone here is an earthbender."
Within seconds, the earth to his right crumbled, leaving behind a space large enough to fit through comfortably.
"Great, now any predator can fit right in here and dine on us while we're sleeping."
Korra sighed, then filled the entrance with a thick sheet of ice. "Now any of us could exit if we needed to, but no creature can come in. Happy now?"
"Ecstatic." Noatak replied sarcastically.
Korra walked over to the fire and plopped down, now in a bad mood. She stared into the fire until the heat from the flames began to burn her eyes, forcing her to look away. As soon as Noatak limped over to join the two at the fire, Korra spoke up. "Look, I don't know what I did to anger you so badly. I really am sorry that I came along and messed up your week for you, but in case you haven't heard me say this the last few times, I'll say it again. I didn't choose to suddenly wind up in the Northern Water Tribe almost thirty years back. All I was trying to do is get some advice from Aang on how to stop Amon and his equalists. I'm very thankful that you helped me out so much instead of having me be at your father's mercy. If it's not too much, all that I ask for now is that we stop trying to provoke each other while on this journey to the Spirit Oasis."
Noatak continued to stare into the fire, not saying anything as shadows danced across his face. After a few minutes he spoke up. "I agree that it's about time we stopped getting on each other's nerves, but you need to try just as much as I will, though."
"Of course." The tension in the room suddenly eased, and Tarrlok finished staring at the two with wide eyes. Since he was completely unaware of the unspoken agitation that was going on, this conversation was a total surprise to him. After blinking back to reality, he pulled the meat out from their sizzling area on the earth next to the fire.
"Food's done." He announced. After pulling some vegetables and water skins out from the sleds, along with wooden plates, he passed around the meals. They ate in silence, then climbed into the warm, fuzzy sleeping bags. Exhausted from the busy day, Korra fell asleep before she even finished adjusting herself into a comfortable position.
Amon was chasing after Bolin, Mako, and Asami. Even though Asami was driving her Satomobile as fast as she could, Amon was no less than a few feet away from them. Republic City seemed to be… different. The streets were abandoned, and several buildings lay in ruin.
"FASTER!" Bolin shouted, failing at every attempt to stop Amon with his earthbending.
"Don't you think I'm going as fast as we possible can? Mako, stop him!" Mako was gone. Amon had stretched out his arms and grabbed him, placed his thumb over his forehead, then cast the unconscious boy aside. Even after that, Amon continued to be right on the two's tail.
"NO!" Asami shrieked. Bolin said nothing as tears steadily streamed down his face. He continued to attack Amon, but the masked man ran through every obstacle as if he were a ghost.
"We should have listened to Tenzin. We should have fled while we had the chance!" She sobbed, not noticing the stray pile of rubble until it was too late to dodge. The car somersaulted through the air, eventually landing on its side. Amon walked casually over to the scene. Both Asami and Bolin were covered in cuts and bruises from the crash. Ignoring their pain, Amon pulled them out of their seats by their necks, then held both up in the air.
"It was about time I stopped you nuisances." He growled, then dropped them both onto the ground. They choked and gasped for air, but didn't make any escape attempt.
"AMON! STOP!" Korra managed to find her voice. She was now on the ground, only a few feet away.
"Or what? Has the Avatar already forgotten that she is now a non-bender, just like everyone else? Go ahead, try to hit me with a little bit of fire." Korra punched the air, aiming for his head. Instead of the enormous burst of flame that she was expecting, nothing happened. Amon chuckled in reply. He grabbed Bolin's collar and raised him to his knees. After placing his hand along the edge of his neck, Amon stabbed Bolin's forehead with his thumb, then released, allowing him to collapse onto the ground. Asami screamed with fury. She jumped to her feet and engaged Amon in combat. Before the fight began, it was over.
Asami was forced onto her knees, facing Korra. "Now, be a good little equalist like you promised to be and finish her off." Amon directed the command at Korra, whose hands were suddenly weighed down by Kali sticks. But when she looked down, they weren't Kali sticks. They were bones. The ends were sharpened, so it was possible to kill someone by stabbing them. Without consent, her body began to move towards Asami, whose eyes first widened with shock, then were clouded with disbelief and betrayal.
Even after several attempts to stop walking or to even just talk, Korra gave up. Her body stopped in front of Asami, and her right arm began to raise the spike above her head.
"Bolin and Mako were right. You are a monster!" She spat. Korra felt her arm come down and she averted her eyes, refusing to witness what was to come next. Her arms stopped in mid-swing, and the revolting spikes were dropped, turning to ash as soon as they hit the ground.
"Stop it, Amon!" Korra looked over to where the voice was coming from, and there stood young Noatak and Tarrlok, piles of equalists at their feet.
Amon's head swiftly turned to face the boys. "Why should I?" He cast Asami aside, then pulled out a concealed dagger. Before she realized what had occurred, she was forced onto her knees while Amon stood behind her. Cold steel stole the previous warmth that was on her neck. The two brothers kept on trying to take control of him with bloodbending, but every attempt failed. Amon cackled with delight, then pressed the knife into one side of her neck. A steady flow of blood resulted.
"Goodbye, Avatar."
With a jolt, Korra sat up in her sleeping bag, panting heavily. Sweat dripped down her face and off of her chin. Knowing that resuming her slumber would just bring more nightmares, she wriggled out of her sleeping bag, used the light from the dying embers to find the ice door, then bent it out of her way. Outside, the ice was illuminated by the full moon high in the sky, giving the landscape a haunting, yet strangely beautiful appearance. A voice next to the doorway startled her, causing the half-awake girl to give a quick cry of alarm.
"Nightmare of Amon?"
