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Air Temple Island.
He couldn't help lingering on what he saw back there, even staring at the crashing waves just below wouldn't shake away those images. It wasn't the first time he had seen something like that while on the job, but something about the way those bodies were cut up and the way they fell screamed all kinds of strange to him.
What got him about it was how clean those wounds were. Still, he tried taking his mind away from the cop stuff by renewing his stares at the waves, mentally keeping track of how many times the churning and tumbling water rose up and down even though he knew it was pretty much impossible to keep an accurate count to begin with, but it did get his mind off of that warehouse.
But not for long.
Kya's story about the rogue airbender, and he had seen of Tenzin and Tai's own airbending during the Equalist Victory Rally and their fight against the Mecha Tanks. He saw how easily their wind projectiles could slice through metal, or skin and bone if a person got caught in the way. He knew Tenzin would never use his abilities to hurt anyone, but Tai? He wasn't so sure.
Something like that happening to a Monsoon operation should have gotten a response by now, and with most of the metalbending cops assigned to watch detail over the ceremony tonight, it would be a perfect chance for them to strike back at whoever killed those men and stole whatever was in that case.
Whoever the guy was, he obviously never thought about the consequences the rest of the city would face. Mako recalled reading a newspaper story detailing the last time the Monsoons flooded the city with blood. And he was glad he hadn't been born yet.
Mako slapped his hand down on a mosquito trying its best to annoy him, sighing as he rubbed a palm down his face just thinking of all the difficulty this would make for the force. And the paperwork the higher-ups would weigh him down with because of it.
A annoyed grunt coming from a familiar voice put the beginnings of a smirk on him, and he chuckled to himself before stepping away from the railing and following it over to the outcropping of rocks nearby. He picked out the little path that wound around the side of the rocks and disappeared underneath a line of thick bushes and short trees. He pushed his way through the leaves, and flicked a twig from his shoulder as he emerged from the otherside onto a rocky ledge with someone sitting near its edge trying to mediate as hard as she could.
"Aurrrgh!" He heard another grunt coming from her. Sympathizing with her problem he laughed loudly, the noise enough to get her to whip around and narrow her eyes for a second, arching a unimpressed eyebrow at him to help get the point across. "This isn't as easy as it looks." She blew air out of her nose and turned away from him, rolling her shoulders and taking in deep breaths.
Mako moved forwards and sat down next to her, tilting his head in amusement at how hard Korra was trying to meditate. With him so close by he doubted it could have been easy for her. "You're absolutely right. Giving hundreds of people their bending back is a walk in the park compared to meditating." He frowned as the glare she leveled at him faded away, replaced with a sigh as her shoulders slumped and she looked at the ground in front of her.
"Mako - I don't know if I can do it again." His head went blank as he searched for something to say to that, something that could comfort her at least a little bit, but not before the gap in his thinking allowed her to glance up at him as if he had already confirmed what she thought he'd say. She dropped her gaze again as her voice lowered. "I just... I don't know what to do, and the city- tonight hundreds of people will be counting on me to-"
He placed a hand on her shoulder, enough to stop her from spiraling any further into a panic. "You'll be fine." Relief flowed through him as she calmed down a little, but disappeared just as quickly as he searched for something more concrete to say than those simple words. A image of her eyes blazing with golden energy came to mind, and he knew what to say. "Seeing you restore Commander Beifong's bending was breathtaking, Korra. Understand that. The way you looked, the hope you gave her... you can do it again. Have a little faith in yourself." He gently placed his arm over her shoulder and leaned in close. "I'll be there for you."
She shifted a little, responding with a way that by now should be familiar to him. He closed his eyes for a few moments, letting his worries, his problems, his thoughts, letting it all drain away until nothing was left behind but her. When he felt sure it was time he pulled away from her but not too far in case she wanted anything else from him. "Thanks." she whispered gratefully, her voice now more level than it was before.
"At least my pep-talks work on someone." His not-quite serious tone made put the beginnings of a smirk on her as she rolled her eyes.
Soon her smirk gradually changed to a somewhat relieved expression as she stared out at the waves below, the only sign that they were there being the sea spray they threw up on the rocks at the bottom of the cliff. As she slowly looked away from the sight below and took her gaze upwards at the stars beginning to brilliantly shine down from the sky she sighed with relief. "Everything will be fine."
He frowned a little, thinking that she was saying that more to herself than to him.
"Guys. Ship's pulled in." He twisted around, seeing Tai standing there with hands in his pockets and noticeably looking at the ground and not at them. It was hard not to see the handle with a strip of rough black leather hanging from the pommel of the weapon on the boy's back.
Mako nodded and stood up, waiting as Korra lingered for a few seconds, not moving before nodding to herself and standing as well. She looked at Tai, flashing him a weak smile as she moved past and through the line of bushes to the ramp nearby, disappearing from sight. Without anything to wait for he followed her, not even waiting for Mako as he went into a jog to catch up to them.
Pro-Bending Arena.
The lights shined down from their perches, bathing the surrounding water in a golden light as it lapped against the support struts of the platform. Occasionally the water churned a little and waves made their motions as a black-painted speedboat skimmed across the surface, keeping a constant vigilant eye on their patrols around the lower levels of the platform, searching tirelessly for any traces of unrest or criminal activity occurring underneath the bowels of the golden building that served Republic City not just as a sports venue, but also as a constant symbol of peace and stability.
Police airships above roamed the skies, floodlights spilling down from mounts on their underbellies that roamed the perimeter of the platform, lighting up the dark portions that lay next to the buildings walls and bringing a sense of safety and comfort to the crowd slowly moving through the massive front doors of the building and into the cavernous recesses within.
The general feeling in the large and cavernous space was hope, the playing floor of the arena had been fully raised, whereas the outer portions would be lowered for players to fall into the pool of water below now large metal floor sections occupied the space instead, supporting crowds of people eagerly waiting for the smoke covering the stage to disappear, and for their hope to begin again.
Most of the people out on the floor were those who lost their bending to the Equalists, with the affluent and richest of them being situated at the very front on simple benches.
He felt the same way as the people down there and in the stands above, but it wasn't just hope for a brighter future he had right now, it was pride. Pride in how Korra had stepped up to the daunting challenge of giving hope to the city through her role as the Avatar.
Tenzin should have been focusing on how she would be growing into her role as a figure of awe and hope, but honestly all he could focus on was whether she would be extending herself too far trying to help so many at once.
"She can do it, Tenzin. Stop worrying so much." He turned around and saw Lin coming over, decked out in her metal armor with her arms folded across her chest. Over her shoulder he spotted Pok and Wu, no doubt being the reason she had come over here, she held up a hand as if sensing he was going to ask her something. "And if you're going to ask where Pema and the kids are seated, don't worry. Makei has them and the Sato girl near the front."
"Thank you, Lin." A smile broke through his worried features for a few seconds, before he noticed a aide rushing towards him from the hallway nearby.
He sighed and rubbed a palm down his worried face as the aide placed a checkboard in his waiting hand listing the first of those to receive her gift tonight. He looked down the list, seeing that most of them belonged to industrialists or executives, and a few belonging to rich bending families he had the misfortune of meeting during state parties and balls.
These people weren't exactly deserving to be the first to get their bending back. He knew he shouldn't be thinking like this, but they didn't contribute to the city's wellbeing, and if anything they were the kind of benders that non-benders had a problem with.
"I take it your suggestions about the list weren't heard?" He nodded as he looked at each of the names.
But of course the rest of the council didn't listen to his or Shizu's suggestions for the list, instead picking out the names with the most value attached to them.
"Councilman, they're ready for you to begin." As he was taken out of his thoughts he nodded to the aide standing nearby, who bowed and left without any further words, presumably looking forward to the massive amounts of work involved in making sure this night ran smoothly.
The loudness of the crowd outside penetrated the thick curtains hanging in front of him as he flicked a mote of dust off his shoulder and straightened his collar, mentally going through what he would say to the hopeful people standing in the massive space beyond.
Tenzin took a moment to collect himself before reaching a hand to the break in the curtain, pulling it back and stepping into a cloud of stage smoke. As he strode forward he kept a hand hidden underneath his cloak, using small and precise movements to part the smoke to both sides of the stage, leaving a clear line of space from the curtains to the front of the stage where a microphone stand stood, the lights above glinting off the polished brass reciever waiting to be picked up and spoken through.
He ignored it as the smoke began to clear even further, settling down and beginning to slowly seep through the floorboards as the crowd caught their first glimpse of him and went wild.
It only took a second or so for him to go through the movements necessary to make the air around him carry his voice further, and he swept his gaze over the hopeful faces of the crowd, hearing the sound of crying babies and hushed whispers carry through the now quiet space.
"Only five months ago, our city was in danger. Each and every one of us have been affected by the devastation and ruin Amon and his followers inflicted on this city. We weathered this storm and came out stronger for it. Every building damaged by his weapons and every destroyed home run underfoot by his machines we rebuilt." He fell silent for a moment as the whispers among the crowd grew stronger and more frequent, a signal for him to look up with a determined expression. "Those are materials. Those can and have been rebuilt. But for a few of us gathered here tonight he took more than that. He took a part of us away, something that has been with us from the day we were born. Tonight the Avatar shall restore it."
Backstage.
A bead of sweat rolled down her forehead and into her eye, making her blink a few times to get rid of it as she stared into the mirror, leaning over the small table and keeping herself supported by clamping her hands clamped on both sides of the vanity.
Muffled sounds coming from voices outside the door, interspersed by a few sounds of people being pushed back or grumbling, made her heart skip a few beats as she stared into the mirror, seeing a frazzled and completely scared wreck.
She suppressed a shiver as the thought of standing out there and not living up to their expectations overwhelmed her, and she found herself clenching and unclenching her hands as some way to stop the thought from getting any bigger.
"I can do this." she muttered under her breath, trying not to focus on how squeaky and panicky she sounded by focusing on something else. Even picturing Mako didn't do anything to allay her panic, she took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds, closing her eyes and thinking of her parents.
For as long as she could she kept her focus on them, finally letting the thought go away as she released her breath and stood still for a few seconds, listening to see if her heart was still skipping any beats.
A loud banging noise on the door startled her, making her eyes go wide and staying like that even as whoever banged on the door seemed to be getting dragged away. She could do this, she could help everyone.
One last clear thought strayed as the noises of the crowd heaving on the closed door grew even louder. Could she?
She looked over at the door as she recognised the familiar voice of someone trying push their way through the crowd. Wiping her brow with a spare handkerchief lying on the table she took a deep breath and moved towards the door, reaching a hand towards the doorknob and gripping it. She ignored the way her hand shook as she turned it, wrenching the door open and catching a glimpse of the crowd outside trying to get past a pair of metalbending officers, a green eyed boy at their head and currently ensnared in one of the guard's wires.
His face lit up at seeing her, and she grabbed onto his collar, quickly yanking him through as the wire unwrapped from his wrist, snaking back through the doorway as she slammed the door shut, leaving her and him alone in the room.
She released her grip on his collar and moved away from him a little, wringing her hands and turning away from him to hide the constant shaking. She opened her mouth to say hello when nothing but a squeak came out, although luckily he didn't seem to catch it.
"Hey." She still didn't turn around, still focusing on stopping the damn shaking her hands seemed to love doing.
"I, uh- sorry. I know he's busy and all, but he would have come to see you if he could." Out of the corner of her eye she saw his shoulders lift up and down in a shrug.
She was silent for a few moments as she found herself glancing sidelong at the mirror, the very minute hints of a smile on her. "Thanks, Bolin." she turned and looked at him, not bothering to hide her shaking hands anymore as a crazy thought entered her head. "I, um, I think I could use some cheering up right about now," She quietly laughed a little. "If... you'd like to?"
Korra saw no hesitation coming from him whatsoever as he strode over, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. He hovered for a second as if unsure of what do as she realized why, and gave a nod. She felt his fingers dig in briefly before he took a step forward and wrapped his other arm around her.
She didn't say anything, didn't want to as she rested her cheek on his broad shoulder, closing her eyes and trying to keep a flow of calming thoughts.
A few minutes they stayed like that, until she glanced at her hand and noticed it wasn't shaking anymore. Someone rapped on the door as she gently took a step back from Bolin, seeing the council page poke his head in, a brief look of disapproval surfacing on his scrawny face before changing to a neutral mask. "Avatar Korra, it's time."
She took as many deep breaths as possible, rolling her shoulders and hopping from foot to foot as Bolin stood there, slightly abashed. "I'll be next to Asami. In the front." he whispered quietly, before sticking his thumb up as he moved towards the open door, slipping past the council page and going out into the hallway outside.
"Hmm, that coat makes him look a little daggy, wouldn't you say dear?" Another variation of the same thing he heard coming from yet another pair or group of gaudily dressed people walking past, amongst mutterings of stuff about bank accounts or the state of their garage sized bedrooms.
"I'm more concerned about what that mutt has been rolling in."
Tai rolled his eyes as he resisted the urge to manipulate the air at floor level and maybe make a few of them stumble and fall. But he released a pent up sigh as he bent down to scratch the back of Kaze's ear, getting a lick from the constantly happy lug in exchange. He probably shouldn't use a little bit of deserving justice on them, since Tenzin would inevitably get blamed for the trouble his student caused. He narrowed his eyes and undid the top buttons on his coat, finding it easier to breathe in the stale air of the hallway. The fabric of the dress shirt he wore felt very strange on his skin, and he made sure that he wouldn't be coerced into wearing one again.
Pema may have bested him this time by getting Kaze to pin him down with the promise of treats in store of the large Spirit-Wolf, but he would make sure that wouldn't happen again. Although she did agree to let him wear the longcoat over it, so he guessed she wasn't completely out to get him.
He found himself looking down at the floor, thinking that he could see the faint trace of a scratch put there by a blade. It wasn't too long ago that he was standing there trying to devise a new method to stop his brother's blades from touching him.
That thought he threw away, and switched his gaze over to the open doorway nearby on either side of which stood two armored cops, intently staring ahead or occasionally scanning the hallway, and most focusing on him from time to time to make sure he wasn't going to try something.
Doing something like that was far from his mind, but he guessed it didn't hurt for them to pay attention to the teenager with the sheathed sword on his back.
Tai shifted a little, putting the foot he was resting on the wall down and lifting the other, rolling it about to get rid of the pins and needles feeling he was starting to get.
He needed some air. He pushed away from the wall and straightened, rolling his shoulders as he looked at the two of them. "I'm gonna get some air."
"Commander said we're supposed to keep an eye on you." He sighed as he arched an eyebrow, folding his arms and looking at the young officer.
"Beifong, I suppose? Come on, Hei. I'm just going up to the roof for a few minutes. I'm sure you have better things to do than stare at me the entire night." A wicked gleam surfaced in his eyes as he tilted his head. "Unless that's what you really want-"
"Alright fine go, but five minutes is the limit, man. Commander'll have my head if she finds out." He smirked as he moved away from the wall, rolling his shoulders as he looked down the hallway, for a moment finding himself back in those corridors seeing the Avatar's first desperate display of airbending.
His smirk tightened a little as he squatted down to Kaze's level, in range for a barrage of licks and nuzzles to be inflicted on his cheeks and nose. "I'll be back, boy, watch these two for me." The large wolf barked and pointed his snout towards the two officers by the door, one of which rolled her eyes at the wide brown eyes.
As he moved down the hallway, hooking a finger under the tie around his neck and tugging it a little loose to get more comfortable he heard a sigh come from one of the pair. "Damn eyes." He heard being muttered, a excited yap coming immediately after.
He turned a corner, spotting a open door leading into one of the staircases that ran both up and down the building's floors. It would have only been a few seconds worth of walking if the hallway wasn't absolutely packed with decadently dressed people, a lot of them caked in massive amounts of makeup. He suppressed a groan as he pushed through them, taking off his coat and slinging it over his shoulder as a precaution to anymore stupid remarks.
It didn't matter to him if holes ran through the entire thing and the sleeves were shredded, he would still wear it.
Someone bumped him, immediately uttering a fake-sounding apology without even looking him in the eye. He muttered one to them as courtesy demanded, but didn't care to stick around to check if they heard or not, nauseating smells of strange perfume assaulted his nostrils, giving him a really big urge to clamp a hand over his nose to keep the smell out while using a small but noisy blast of wind to clear the hallway.
Another bump, this time making him stumble forwards a little with the beginnings of a growl on his features. The growl grew as laughter came after, the source being a group of boys standing huddled around one another, whispering in their haughty accents.
He would have been content to continue on his way if one of them didn't brush against the exterior of the sheath on his back. "My, my. You should be arrested for carrying such a thing during a occasion such as this." He stopped moving forward, staying like that as the idea of not wasting his time with the idiot sounded increasingly tempting.
"Oh, aren't you on one of those wanted posters at the station?"
A twitch grew in his eye as he slowly turned, a tight smile only barely being held in place. "I apologize, but we haven't met-"
That annoying laugh cut him off as the idiot, with brown skin and very shiny and perfectly manicured teeth reached a dainty hand forward towards a thread on the shoulder of his coat. "I'm Kerisa, of course you've heard of me. The Kerisa Magnate is a world leader in technology."
The urge to challenge that absurd claim took over Tai for a moment, a smirk beginning to surface as he folded his arms and suppressed the growl. "Last I checked, Asami's company is far better than whatever a 'Kerisa Magnate' is." He held himself back from laughing as the idiot flushed red with anger, pointing a finger at him as he began to start moving again.
"Don't mention that non-bender in here! I'll have you thrown out!"
Tai stopped for a moment and turned, reaching a hand up to the handle poking out above his shoulder. The yelps alone nearly made him lose it right there as he lowered his hand to his side and grinned. "Sorry, I'm afraid the Avatar will kick your ass if that happens." Mentioning Korra made him frown for a moment as he saw the position of the hands on the spare watch Tenzin gave him. Damn, the ceremony was about to start!
Ignoring the droning protests of the rich idiot he started to push his way past a rather portly Earth Kingdom man before stumbling over his large and immovable foot, flying headfirst into the shoulder of someone balancing a tray of weird smelling food and drinks on either hand.
She squeaked as the impact spun her around, and she struggled to keep balance on one foot as she stared fearfully at the trays that were about to fly out of her grasp and onto the livid face of that Kerisa guy. He stopped and winced, before turning and throwing his palm towards the falling silver platter, extending his other arm to catch the girl before she could fall onto the ground. The air vibrated underneath the platter, forming into a cushion that caught the first tray and leveled it out, doing the same to the second as well.
He kept close control on the air cushion as the weight of the girl slamming into his arm made him stumble, nearly backing into a loudly protesting old woman. Still keeping his hand outstretch he slowly helped the girl stand back up, absently noting the lovely shade of blue her eyes had.
Tai wasn't sure why he reddened as she looked at him, her hands held out patiently for the platters of food slowly rotating and hanging in the air nearby. Immediately he guided them over to her, and she grabbed them as he couldn't stop gawking like an idiot.
Without warning she leant in towards his ear, her eyes narrowed. "Are you going to apologize!" she practically hissed.
"Uh, sorry, I was in a hurry..." His lame apology did nothing in getting those eyes to stop accusing him. He mentally slapped himself as he realized how much time he had wasted standing here. "Listen, I'm truly sorry, but if you want an apology come to the island!" She opened her mouth to ready another question as he quickly slipped past her, emerging out the other side of the crowd onto the clear stretch of floor just outside the staircase doorway. He laid a hand on the doorframe to stop his passage, glancing back at the girl he nearly took out. "And again sorry about that! I really am! When you get to the island, just ask for Tai!"
She took a deep breath, hiding the calming movement in front of the hopeful masses.
The cavernous space was completely silent, the air ripe with awe as the only sound that could be remotely heard was the far-off whumps of airship props muffled by the thick walls and glass above their heads.
She made the mistake of glancing up, needing to squint as the light from a powerful floodlight hanging from the ceiling overwhelmed her vision for a moment, leaving her a little dizzy for a few seconds.
Taking a few steps forward which sounded horrendously loud to her ears, she spotted the comforting faces of Asami and Bolin seated in the front row, next to Pema and the kids, all of them wearing encouraging smiles.
Giving a barely perceptible nod to them, she placed her palms against one another and bowed to the crowd, trying to ignore rustling sound the scrunched up paper made in her pocket.
She straightened as a few hushed whispers ran through the crowd, signalling that she should say something soon. She closed her eyes for a few moments, searching within for the words she felt the most attached to. A image of a white mask looming over her as he took her very identity away came to mind, and she knew what to say. "Amon caused pain for a lot of us." Her confident but empathetic words immediately hushed the whispers, giving her the strength to continue with forward with a clear path in mind. "He took families away from each other, broke friends apart, and caused the city horrible suffering. But we came out of that experience stronger for it, despite what was done to us we rebuilt the city, reunited with our families and got on with our lives. Tonight, as your avatar, I give back what was taken from you."
And from me as well.
All was quiet as she reached a hand into her pocket, bringing out the crumpled and creased sheet of paper and holding it at an angle to the lights above, for a few seconds dumbly staring at the long list of unfamiliar names, which she was told belonged to those most affected by Amon's terror.
But Tenzin told her another thing. They were just the names of rich benders with high influence, fewer in number than the thousands of refugees, immigrants and less well-off benders of Republic City. Reflexively her eyes narrowed, mirroring the thought taking root in her mind. They could wait. Ignoring her shaking hand she took a step towards the edge of the stage, scrunching up the paper and dropping it to the floorboards. "I was given a list of names tonight, but as your Avatar it is my duty to help everyone. I want a line of people starting at the edge of the stage, and ending next to me. I'm giving your bending back. Tonight."
The noise was deafening as the crowd erupted in wild cheer, practically running over themselves as they piled into a haphazard line near the stage. She glanced at Tenzin, who gave her a single nod as Lin called out orders to her officers, directing them to keep watch over the milling crowd waiting to get their bending restored. Korra felt a sense of pride at the gob-smacked expression on Councilman Wu's wizened features, not to mention the shade of shock on Pok's face as well, which quickly passed.
She ignored them as the crowd began to thin out into a fairly organized single line ending just in front of her. Korra caught snippets of quiet debate among the front of the line, and after a few seconds many of them parted to let a boy with a dirty beret perched on his head clamber onto the stage. He shuffled towards her nervously, eyes downcast as he stopped.
The Avatar smiled warmly, squatting down to his level and placing a hand on his shoulder, just like her mother or Katara did with her as a child. "Its okay. I won't hurt you. What's your name?"
The child slowly lifted his chin, showing the smudge marks and dirt on his cheeks and chin as he shakily smiled. "L- Lun." He took off his hat, rubbing a hand through his unkempt brown hair in a attempt to neaten it.
"Lun. I'm Korra. Please, turn around." Gently she pushed down on his shoulder so that Lun now knelt, facing away from her. Reaching within her, she found that familiar buzz of energy at her core. Excitement and relief was all that was on her mind at that point. Maybe her bending was still there, still intact.. She tapped into it and a golden glow filled her eyes.
In her mind a chorus of voices, their words distant and echoing but no less powerful, could be heard. One of them grew in strength, filling Korra with a sense of peace and freedom as he spoke. You can do it, Korra.
Korra nodded. Feeling a incredible rush of energy flowing across her entire body she extended her thumb and touched the center of the little boy's forehead.
She took a deep breath, and exhaled.
A few seconds later Lun spoke up. "Am- am I warm again?" She stepped back, letting the boy stand as he opened and closed his hands, looking up at her with awe with a newfound light in his eyes. He snapped his fingers experimentally, and a tiny spark appeared above them. At first his laugh was cautious, but as more and more sparks joined the first it turned into genuine happiness. With a breath of wonder he wrapped his arms around her legs, burying his face into the side of her thigh. "Thank you, Korra!" She responded with a smile as he ran off happily, hopping off of the side of the stage and back onto the main platform, into the arms of a crying woman.
He was the first.
The next in line, this time a worn down looking young man with dark bags under his eyes and wearing a dirt covered leather duster, ran a hand through his hair as he stopped in front of her. Wordlessly he turned away from her and knelt on the floor, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes as she spotted a pai sho tile on the end of a string tied around his shoulder, painted white and blue.
Korra felt her strength flag for a moment, taking a second to breath in a large gasp of air, not realizing how tiring this was fast becoming. As the young man stood up, a section of the metal stage nearby flexing slightly as he flexed his hand, he smiled earnestly. "Thank you, Avatar. I can continue my duty."
And so it went on, a endless line of faces, some weathered and rugged, others desperate and lonely, others still bewildered and fearful. But the long line of citizens, factory workers, street children and old men and women all held a certain quality in their bearing as they left the stage and melded back into the quiet crowd.
Hope.
"Avatar. How's it going?"
She stirred, resisting the urge to stretch as she recognised the sharply defined features under a covering of stubble and sallow skin. "Tahno?" she whispered before regaining her composure before the audience started guessing.
The smirking pretty boy spread his arms out wide before dropping them back to his sides, the haughty edge of him still somehow alive among the dishevelled hair and sunken eyes. "One and only. Gonna fix me?"
Korra wasn't exactly in the mood for his games, almost ready to collapse behind the determined front she had up. "Hold still." She took a deep breath the same way she did with the countless others as she pressed her thumb against his forehead and laid a palm on his shoulder. He seemed to shudder as her eyes took on a golden hue, although this time much less vibrant than it had been at the start of the ceremony.
It didn't take long for her to direct the flow of energy to the dark maw gnawing at Tahno's spirit, guiding and feeding it into him so that her strength and the knowledge of the past avatars would start up the flow of his chi again.
But as she gasped and her eyes flew open, she realized that she couldn't.
It wasn't something so simple as a advanced bloodbending technique that stopped her, it was actually his spirit rejecting her energy.
Maybe... but she wasn't certain and she was tired, so very tired, all she wanted to do now was sleep for a few nights and days, utterly exhausted beyond all belief. With downcast eyes she shook her head as he stood up, flicking a bug from his shoulder. "Well. Am I 'fixed', Avatar?"
"Come by the island tomorrow." She whispered, not having the heart to look the proud former-bender in the eye after being forced to deny him something like that.
As she looked at the floor, she spotted a shadowy flicker in the corner of her eye, moving across the lit up glass dome at a fast speed, almost like it wasn't there at all.
He looked down through the glass, a little awestruck at the line of people stretching from the main platform far below to the figure standing at the front of the stage, the gold glow in her eyes visible even from all the way up here, he didn't realise that so many people had their lives affected by Noatok and even then the ones in that crowd were likely only a fraction of the actual number.
It was...conflicting to say the least whenever the topic of Noatok popped up in his head. The man was a close friend of his dad and had lived with them for three years ever since they found him passed out on the road near their farm, now that he thought about it his dad never really explained just who Noatok was.
But now he knew the truth about Noatok's bloodbending. Now he knew that at some point after the farm burnt down and his family was scattered to the four winds, Noatok definitely made a conscious decision to put that mask on and wage war against benders everywhere. Still, Tai doubted it was because of what happened to his dad that made Noatok turn into Amon.
No. It ran deeper than that.
Korra told him the story Tarrlok had told her and Mako, that both him and Noatok were the sons of Yakone, some bloodbending maniac active way before he was born. It took him a while to accept it, especially when the source was a bloodbender himself that had actively tried to kill him while keeping Korra prisoner in the basement of a lonely shack.
Eventually he was forced to push past his problem and accept the bitter truth that maybe Tarrlok wasn't as monstrous as he appeared to be, or at least had a valid reason for it, even if he still wanted to shove a air sphere up the weasel-snake's nether.
Tai drifted out of those thoughts, not wanting to go any deeper than that in case he remembered the part about him failing as well. He rolled over and looked upwards at the bright twinkling stars studding the night sky, some of them occasionally being blocked by the fat and rounded black outlines of police airships drifting over, some of them occasionally swivelling a floodlight down onto the roof of the arena and running it across the length in search for any suspicious activity.
But there was none of that happening, and even there was he wasn't a part of it.
Looking up at the sky comforted him as it usually did, giving him the chance to let his problems and worries get carried by the wind and disappear for a short while. He supposed his airbender side was partly to blame for that, courtesy of his mom.
A fat droplet of rain splashed onto his cheek, bringing a cold and sudden end to his thoughts. He sighed and sat up, wiping the droplet off with the cuff of his coat as he glanced upwards, noticing that more and more drops kept splashing down with alarming regularity and speed.
He should probably get inside quickly, or explain to Tenzin how he got completely soaked standing there in a hallway.
Yeah, that would go well. Tai stood up and walked across the glass dome towards the open doorway at the corner of the roof, picking up the pace a little as he followed the edging of the roof towards it.
Voices made him stop for a moment, and he kept a ear out as the rain began to bucket down, quickly patting his hair down into a soppy mess that threatened to cover his eyes.
Again he heard them, coming from somewhere on the lower part of the roof tops. He squatted down and gripped the rail edging the roof, swinging himself down and over into the open air, using a cushion of air to soften his landing on the cement below and quieten his impact so the voices wouldn't be alerted.
Instinct prompted him to loosen his sword from the sheath a little as he kept his back to the wall nearby, and crept down its length towards the voices, growing louder and louder in his ears as he neared the corner.
A strange sight met his eyes when he peered around, seeing a trio of three brown-skinned figures, one of them wearing a very thick pale blue greatcoat designed arctic conditions, another wearing a dark leather tunic, and the last a dark greatcoat.
His eyes narrowed at the sight of the waterbenders that tried to kill them at the abandoned village on the mountain. And they narrowed even further when he saw that they had surrounded a grey eyed girl whom he was very familiar with.
Throwing caution to the wind he sprinted around the corner, gathering a ball of air in his palm as he approached the trio from the side, using the shadow of a water tower nearby to stop them from noticing him immediately. Feeling that it was time in his gut, he focused on opening a small 'slit' in the side of the sphere facing the trio, and slowly expanding it as he neared them.
When the one of the psychotic grin on her noticed his approach, he released. The wind inside the sphere rushed out of the enlarged 'slit' as a gale-force stream that slammed into the woman's stomach and sent her tumbling and rolling towards the edge of the roof away from the other two.
His eyes widened at the approach of the incredibly fast ice spike whizzing towards him. He threw himself to the ground just in time for it to shear through where his head was, managing to take a few strands of his hair with it as it shattered on contact with the water tower behind him.
The waterbender wearing the pale blue greatcoat turned towards him, lowering his hand and grinning, showing off white teeth all filed to a sharp point. "Well, long time no see, airbender."
Tai gritted his teeth as he threw a glance at the grey-eyed girl backed up against the wall, a hand reaching for the tanto on her back while the other held onto something wrapped in a rough grey cloth. She gave him a nod and went back to staring at the pair of assassins.
Tonrik held out his palms in a disarming fashion usually meant for showing that someone wasn't a harm. "I see Boto and that cute girl aren't with you. Ditched them have you?"
"I don't need them to take you on." He reached a hand up to the handle poking above his shoulder, the silvery colored blade rasping on the leather as he pulled it out of the sheath, letting the tip dangle towards the ground while keeping a firm grip on the handle.
A condescending laugh answered him as the rain above Tonrik's head formed into a wispy cloud of water vapour, quickly collecting into several spikes of ice with their sharp tips pointed menacingly towards him. "Pity, why don't you run along and let us take the girl without a fuss? Does that not sound more preferable than being skewered to a pulp with blood pouring out?"
Tai didn't say anything as he brought his sword to the front, angling the tip downward as he calculated routes of approach, seeing that in the corner of his eye Yem was doing the same, keeping a close eye on Yureg as she quietly grabbed a silver canister from her belt.
He heard Tonrik sigh despondently as Pendra dragged herself to his side, rage on her features as ice gathered in large spiky clumps on her arms and legs. "I see, so you want the hard way, that's fine by me. Yureg, deal with him quickly, we have a schedule to keep." He narrowed his eyes as the boy with blue eyes nodded, moving towards him with a arm extended and a hand outstretched, a vapor cloud of ice forming into a wickedly curved blade that rested in his palm.
As Yureg flicked his wrist, swiping the blade as Tai danced back, he spotted a silver canister with holes throughout it sailing through the air, end over end as the caps on either end extended with a quiet click.
Tai saw no reaction from Tonrik as it landed in front of him and rolled into the side of his fine leather shoes, a high pitched noise emanating from it and growing in volume as the myriad holes through its surface glowed a bright white and hissed. He shielded his eyes in anticapation of the flash and thickened the air around his ears, his hearing now muffled as the pitch slowly fizzled and died out.
Immediately he returned the air around his ears to its normal density, staring at the flash bomb now encased in a ball of ice and sitting in Tonrik's palm. "Nice try." he grinned, showing those pointed teeth as he dashed forwards and threw his arms out, the swarm of ice missiles above his head flinging themselves towards Yem en masse.
She cursed as she twisted around the first few then threw herself forwards, her tanto in hand as one of the spikes lodged itself in her shoulder, she screamed as she tumbled to the ground, rolling out of the way of the other spikes in desperation.
Tai went to her side when the deadly tip of Yureg's ice sword swung towards him from the side, forcing him to dodge back and retaliate, the flat of his blade being presented towards the length of ice. His blade rang as the sword slammed into the flat, and he gritted his teeth as Yureg pushed him back.
Flicking his wrist and twisting his blade away he managed to use Yureg's momentum against him, forcing his blade to slide down the length of his which made his opponent stumble. Tai spun around and brought his in a horizontal sweep, batting the ice sword out of Yureg's grasp and sending it spinning away and sliding along the wet cement out of his reach.
He had a grin on him for a second before he felt his footing slip, and a leg crashing into his thigh, sweeping him up into the air. As he hung there his eyes widened at the clouds of vapor gathering in Yureg's fists, which formed into handles beginning to grow wickedly curved blades.
Tai pointed a open palm at the ground below, using a push of air to lift himself above the twin knives slashing towards him and over the head of the water triber. He twisted around and splayed a hand down towards the assassin, a stream of air slamming into the boy's chest, sending him tumbling towards the edge of the roof with a grunt.
A sharp cry made him look over to where Yem was, seeing her twisted into a crumpled heap and holding onto the object as tightly as possible. Tonrik stood over her with a shark like smile for a few seconds, before swinging a ice encased fist into her exposed stomach and sending the girl into convulsions as the object tumbled from her grasp onto the cement, all his to take.
Tai ran towards him with sword out and swinging, only for a torrent of water to slam into his side and send him crashing into the wall nearby, his shoulder nearly dislocated from the impact. His vision swam as Tonrik grinned, pointing at him. "Yureg."
His blood crawled as Yureg moved towards him with hands raised and fingers half-clenched, moving in jerking and abrupt movements as a look of apology settled on his features. Tai shivered as his blood stopped moving for a second as he was thrown back into the nearby wall once more. Yureg lowered his hands and moved away from the pair of them, picking up speed as he neared the edge of the roof and jumped off, disappearing along with Pendra and Tonrik into the night air.
Yem stirred, coughing and sputtering as she dragged herself back to the wall, using it as a support to sit upright while gulping in large amounts of air. She glanced at Tai and managed to stand on her two feet, doubling over and keeping a hand clamped on her stomach as she stopped over his groaning frame. Voices carried from the edge of the roof as a spotlight shined down on the two of them, coming from a airship overhead.
Wires punched into the cement around them as she swore softly, biting down on a gasp as she bent down and extended a hand towards them. "You need to get out of here." she hissed as he lifted his head, coughing as he took her hand and stood up, breathing heavily as he spotted figures running towards them, some of them with arms raised and wires ready.
"Before I get dogpiled-" he stopped and leaned forwards, gasping in massive amounts of air before wiping his mouth and glancing up at her. -Will you tell me what that was about?!"
As a large amount of bodies slammed into him, and his head slammed down painfully on the cement bringing stars into his vision, he heard a small laugh and a small voice muffled by shouting men and women. "I'll have to tell you later."
土