Zoya was walking through a grove of purple trees and blue grass with orange flowers with blue thorns.
"Hi! I'm Jinyu!" a friendly voice called. Zoya turned around and saw a boy in fire nation clothes. He was about her age, maybe a little older.
"Hi?" she replied cautiously, not taking the hand he offered to shake.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. Have you been here before?" the boy, Jinyu asked recoiling his hand.
Zoya shook her head. "Is it a dream?"
"No, it is spirit world. I like coming here. There are no battles. No pains. No people getting in the way of what's important..."
"What do you mean?" Zoya asked curiously.
"No training, no obligation, no responsibility. You can't bend in the spirit world. You're free. Take my hand and I'll show you." Jinyu explained.
Zoya was hesitant but thought why not. The scenery around them turned into a blur only for an instant before they found themselves in a marshy landscape with large stones littering a body of murky brown, shallow water.
"Just imagine where you want to go and you're there! See? It's so easy!" Jinyu said with a giggle.
"It's beautiful here! I could stay forever!" Zoya exclaimed skipping across a few stones in the water.
"Then stay. Spare yourself the troubled life of the mortal world. You don't need it," Jinyu said with a charismatic smile.
"Maybe," Zoya considered it. Huh, the spirit world.
They walked for what felt like hours talking about absolutely nothing.
"You're pretty," Jinyu said finally.
"Really?" Zoya looked up at him.
"Yeah," he took her hands in his. "Close your eyes,"
Then she felt herself flying, no not flying, falling. Zoya looked up and saw Jinyu in the distance standing on the edge of some curly cliff looking rather victorious and below her a heavy fog hid how far she were to fall. The fog of Lost souls.
"No!" Zoya screamed, and she vanished from the spirit world before she could make contact with the fog.
She woke up sweating, cradled in her mothers arms, and shaking all over. Tenzin, Lin, Suyin, and Jinora stood around the bed.
"You weren't alone in there," Jinora recognized immediately.
Zoya shook her head.
"Who was it?"
Tenzin asked.
"A Fire Nation boy. Jinyu. I-I think he know who I was. He tried to convince me to 'Spare yourself the troubled life of the mortal world'. Then he tried to throw me in the Fog of Lost Souls! I amost touched it! I was almost lost forever!" Zoya cried.
When the Fire Lord woke the next morning, Suyin told her, "Find a boy called Jinyu. We think he's the next one."
The Fire Lord exchanged a sideways glance with her daughter, Ursa at the sound of the name.
"We will find him." Izumi promised.
Royal attendants helped Izumi, Iroh and Ursa into their armor.
"Who will stay back In case we're all lost?" Iroh asked.
"Trust me, we won't be," Izumi said. They traveled in a tank, just the three of them to the northern coastal region of the fire nation.
"Why are we looking here?" Ursa asked curiously.
"We're not looking for the boy here. We're getting help." Izumi said. They knocked on a crooked wooden door casually tossed over the mouth of a cave.
"Who is it?" a raspy old voice of a woman called from somewhere in the cave.
"Zumi-," Izumi replied.
"What do you want?" the raspy voice demanded, not coming any closer to the door.
"We need help tracking a boy." Izumi explained patiently.
"What's on it for me?" the voice asked growing bored with the conversation.
"What do you want?" Izumi asked.
"Mmmmmm good question. I have food I have water. I can't think of anything else I need." the voice replied contemplatively.
"How about this? You help us find this boy, and I let you keep that food and water and not burn it to ash once we're through speaking." Izumi suggested.
"Fine!" The door flew open and a wrinkled old non-bender trudged out of her cave wearily.
"Thank you Aunt June," Izumi said stepping aside to let the white-haired leathery old bat pass.
"I told you to never call me that," June grumbled.
"But it's a pronoun of respect!" Izumi replied.
"Yes, but it makes me feel old!" the wrinkly lady replied. "Come on, Nala is back here. Do you have a smell sample?"
"No. But we have another way to tell your animal." Izumi assured the non-bender.
Ursa walked up to the giant shirshu and smelled her hand. But she was right here. It seemed confused. Ursa touched its snout outright and energy bent a memory, a subconscious memory, into the shirshu. It was when the boy snuck into her room. A waterbender blood bent her to stay still while a fire bender and an earth bender supervised the twelve year old boy. "Do it, Jinyu!"
"But she's a princess-" the boy said hesitantly.
"Once she is a master, the Fire sages predicted she will be the greatest firebender in history: a master of blue flames, white white lightening, and combustion bending! Hurry!" as he stole Ursa's bending. His smell. That boy, Ursa told the animal.
The shirshu sniffed the air and got antsy.
"He's not far. Maybe two days away, let's go!" June said clambering onto the beast.
The place was underground, naturally. They needed an earthbender!"
"Flaming shrimp-hawks!" Izumi cursed.
"Surround the area and get reinforcements." They can't stay under there forever. They need food and water like everybody." They can tunnel under any barricade with their earthbender," Izumi replied.
"Well I'm sure you'll figure it out. You have their location."
Back in the tank, they radioed Air Temple Mountain.
"We need a team. We can't get to the hideout without an earthbender or preferably a metalbender."
"I can go," Korra offered,
"No, Korra, we'll send Huan and Kya over in case you need water too." Suyin decided.
"Huan's not even a fighter!" Korra exclaimed in frustration.
"He doesn't need to be. He'll just open the doors or turn over the mountain. That doesn't require skill. Only strength and creativity." Suyin explained.
"He was great Suyin! So efficient! So creative!" Izumi exclaimed as she disembarked, a small airship designed for small, stealth operations.
"I know!" Suyin cried hugging her grumpy son who couldn't look more miserable wearing crimson Fire Nation robes.
"Mom, Stop! You're crushing my individuality more than they already have!" Huan droned as his mother reluctantly removed her arms from around his body.
"We have him!" Iroh announced dragging a small figure in platinum chains off the air ship.
Suyin stepped forward and pulled the bag off of the boy's head.
He must have been about ten or twelve years old, relatively light skinned, with short, tussled, windswept hair that reminded everyone of Mako before he joined the Police Force. The boy scanned the gathered crowd, searching for someone.
"You're a traitor!" the boy yelled directly at Zoya who stood with her back against Kuvira, who's arms were wrapped protectively around her
"No! YOU'RE a traitor! You tried to turn me against my family! My blood!" Zoya snapped back.
"THEY are nothing but selfish hypocrites who claim to not believe in monarchies while continuing to rule Republic City AND the Earth Kingdom simply because they're BEIFONGS!"
"You've been brainwashed by the triads!"
"No! I've been enlightened by logic and reason! You should try it sometimes, thinking, that is. Oh wait! Your brain is probably made of stone since your mother fucked a rock!" He yelled. Zoya leapt on him, punching him in the face.
"Zoya!" Kuvira snapped two metal strips around her daughter and yanked her off the boy and back into her grasp with metalbending.
"You're weak and a waste of an Earth Kingdom Avatar! What you've failed to do in four years, I managed in six months!" He rolled back and airbent a disk of wind at all of them then broke out of the platinum handcuffs and bent it into a shiny ball hovering between his hands.
"Even you can't bend platinum, Chief Beifong!" Jinyu said bending it into a hundred tiny needles aimed directly at her.
"Well lets just say a lot has changed since the Earth Bending Elders tested MY bending! I'm not completely me anymore," Lin replied stopping the needles mid flight, turning them around, sending them back towards Jinyu who tuned and aimed them at Tenzin. Kuvira pushed Tenzin out of the way, blocking the platinum needles with several metal strips of steel from her arm guard. She dove and rolled over the master airbender an onto her feet again and took a defensive stance.
Everyone quickly moved to surround Jinyu. Suyin, Lin, Zoya, Kuvira, Korra, Tenzin, Jinora, Ikki Meelo, Wing, Wei, Opal, Bolin, Mako, Iroh, Ursa, Izumi, with Huan, Asami, and Baatar standing on the outside of the ring.
"You're surrounded and outnumbered, Jinyu! Give up on this fight!" Korra ordered.
The twelve year old cackled with confidence. "You really are the worst avatar ever, Korra! A real avatar never gives up without a fight!" Jinyu laughed with his hands up. They all fired their various elements at him but he protected himself with a powerful air sphere, deflecting and returning everyone's own power back at them. They all covered their faces and broke their grip on the strike, but when the dust cleared, Jinyu was gone.
"Zoya, you have to master air and water, SOON!" Suyin yelled turning towards the eight year old girl making her flinch back in fear.
Kuvira swooped down between them and shielded Zoya from Suyin. "She's only eight years old! I couldn't even metalbend at eight!" Kuvira said holding Zoya back protectively.
"We just all need to calm down! We at least have an idea of what Jinyu is. We know he has mastered all four elements. We don't know if he's mastered the subsets. We can work on training Korra to be better and more... level-headed, and then Zoya," Izumi turned to her. Zoya gulped.
"What do you want to do?" Izumi asked kindly kneeling before the girl.
"I want to help! I do, but I don't know how. I am afraid I will not be strong enough."
"Any and all help is appreciated. You don't have to be the strongest fighter in the world. You don't have to bend all the elements. And you don't have to help if you don't want to. Before Aang, the avatar would not even be revealed to himself until the age of sixteen. You're not supposed to have all this thrust upon you now. Breathe, Zoya. We will do everything we can to help you. Izumi said to the girl.
Zoya sniffled. "Thank you, Firelord Izumi," Zoya said softly.
Kuvira brushed the scraggly hair from Zoya's face.
First thing Monday morning, Lin had to prepare a report to present to the council in a closed session that afternoon.
They wanted the names of the other avatars.
"The earth Kingdom Avatar has mastered earth and fire already but struggles with the remaining two elements. Her name is Zoya and she is already in my custody—"
"If she is in your custody, then why haven't you killed her already?!" Ranok, the new Southern Water Tribe Councilman demanded.
"Because there are City Procedures, Councilman Ranok, and they don't includ killing people we find just because they might be a threat and we are afraid. Anyways, Then the Fire Nation Avatar has mastered all four elements. He was in the custody of Fire Lord Izumi just long enough to get to us and show us that he has mastered all four elements. His name is Jinyu and he managed to escape,"
"How could you let this happen, Chief Beifong?!"
"I have no authority over Fire Nation Citizens, Ranok?!" Lin growled. "He was not mine to keep or lose!"
"Now, now, lets all just calm down, shall we?" Tenzin asked.
"I have a question for Chief Beifong. Why haven't you at least imprisoned the avatar in your custody for stealing other peoples bending?"
"Because she didn't steal it. The Agni Kai Triad, Terra Triad and Red Monsoons have been doing all of the kidnappings and transfers of energy. Zoya is an eight year old child who is frightened by her own bending. With proper training, she could work alongside us and Korra to fight the massive Energy Bending Super Triad, but now she's not ready." Lin said.
"We don't have time for her to 'get ready'! We need to act now!" the Earth Kingdom Councilman, Tozu yelled slamming his fist on the table.
"It sounds to me as if you're working with the triads to harbor this new avatar," Ranok suggested.
"If you have ever seen my track record, it will be pretty obvious that you'd sooner find me throwing myself into an active volcano than work with any of the triads and I am certain they would never want to work with me. I assure you, Zoya is no threat. It is Jinyu that is our highest concern at the moment. His loyalty is solely to the Energy Bending Super Triad. We still don't know how many other Avatars the Super Triad has created or is creating. The joint investigation in the earth Kingdom and Fire Nation with Interim Premier Suyin and Firelord Izumi is ongoing."
"Hmph." Ranok mumbled.
"Sorry I am late, everyone! What did I miss?" President Raiko asked throwing both doors open, rushing up to the table looking rather out of breath and disheveled, followed by a swarm of reporters.
"Everything," Lin replied bluntly. Following the president was a bunch of reporters.
"Did you forget, Mr. president that this was a closed session or did you simply fail to read the agenda sent to your office yesterday?" Lin asked.
"No, I read it, but since this issue is so big, I thought the people ought to know what developments have been made," Raiko replies.
Lin took a stance and stomped her foot and pushed the ground beneath the reporters back out the door and slammed the door with her earthbending and turned back to Raiko.
"We don't know exactly who in this city is with or against us, if any and everyone knows what we have and don't have, it leaves us vulnerable. If you have an ounce of care about the safety of the city you're charged to lead, you'll understand why this needs to be a closed session." Lin explained taking a deep breath. Raiko's eyes narrowed and Lin sought out his heartbeat. He was angry. He and Ranok both, but she figured for different reasons. She continued her report by explaining to them the time conundrum she learned about from her mother in the swamp as a possible explanation for how there could be multiple avatars. Finally, they could all leave.
"Lin, I just- wanted to warn you about Raiko. He very much likes going to the press and..." Tenzin began to say, jogging lightly to keep up with Lin's rather brusque walk.
"I think I'm going to have to investigate his background a little further." Lin replied ignoring him slightly.
"I don't want to see you get hurt. His and Ranok's influence has been growing and..."
"And what? If they want to fire me, and let this city go to shit, fine. We have bigger problems in the world right now." Lin replied. "Hell, not having to report to them would be so liberating!"
Tenzin sighed and grabbed Lin's shoulders, pulling her into an embrace, effectively silencing and calming her body instantly. Lin took a deep breath and sighed. "Thank you," she said as Tenzin relinquished his embrace.
While Tenzin got to go home, Lin still had a lot of work at the station.
"Chief! Tenzin!" Bolin yelled nearly sprinting off the gondola towards the main house on Air Temple Mountain.
"A letter! From the Northern Water Tribe!" He yelled handing it to Tenzin.
Bolin,
I am coming.
Your Angry Should-Be-Wife
Chieftain Eska of the Northern Water Tribe
"What? Why would my cousin come here?" Korra asked curiously.
Just then Eska appeared behind Bolin as he shrieked in fear like a lady.
"Hello my feeble turtleduck." Eska said eliciting a nervous gulp from Bolin.
"Hey! Watch it sister! He's my boyfriend!" Opal growled standing up defensively.
"He was going to be my husband until Korra stole him from the altar!" Eska said pulling air out of nowhere, attacking Opal.
"Stop it you two!" Suyin scolded erecting a protective wall in front of her daughter. "Chief Eska, just tell us why you are here!"
Eska's own face remained unchanged as she turned to the master metalbender and Interim Earth Premier "Desna's missing and I need to help me find him."
"Can you tell us any other circumstances surrounding his disappearance." Lin asked from her seat beside Tenzin.
"One minute, he was asleep in the tub and the next minute he was gone. I have personally scoured the entire Northern Water Tribe, the tundra, the pole, and the spirit world with my guards. I figured he may must been taken to one of your kingdoms for this... new avatar shit," Eska explained.
"The energy bending triad is getting bolder, abducting a world leader, like that." Lin commented.
"Then we are all in far greater danger than we could ever imagine," Tenzin realized.
Okay, this chapter was fun to write! I hope at least somebody is enjoying this as much as I am writing it.