Movement. It's the first thing that Korra can sense. The second is a slight numbness in her arms and legs. Her eyelids peel apart slowly, and she sees a pair of green eyes staring back at her, frowning.
"Good morning, Youkai."
She recognises the voice, though it's no longer muffled. The masked man, the one from her childhood memories. She feels bile rise to the back of her throat.
"Where… where am I?" her mouth is so dry that it's painful to speak. Her arms are chained up above her head, and her ankles are bound to the floor. She's definitely inside a wagon of some sort, and from the thin slivers of daylight creeping in through the cracks, she can tell that they're headed north.
"Where you are is not important. Where you will be, is."
"Tenzin's family… Did… did you leave them alone, as I asked?"
Surprisingly, the man's gaze softens at the question.
"I did… we were under orders to find you, at any cost. We found you, you came peacefully. We're not monsters…" his frown returns, "unlike you."
A tear falls down her cheek. She's relieved, Tenzin's okay, they're all okay. She can tell that this man's being honest, she's always had a knack for reading people.
"The monster can cry? Interesting…"
"This is going to be a long trip if you keep calling me that. I'm Korra." She croaks. She's so thirsty, and there's a flask at the man's belt, which she's fixated on.
"Oh, you want this?" he holds out the flask.
Here it comes. Time to pick on the so-called monster, or whatever the hell these loons think I am. She sighs, wondering just how long this journey will take, and whether she'll die of thirst along the way.
She's snapped out of her depressive thoughts when the man uncorks the top from his flask, and holds the mouth to her lips. She drinks hungrily, and when she's sated, he returns to his seat.
"I told you, we're not monsters."
"Thank you…"
The rest of the ride is eerily quiet, and she drifts into and out of consciousness, fairly sure that they're headed north each time she wakes.
She's abruptly woken up, and a sack is thrown over her head again. Her bindings are removed from their hooks, and she hisses as she feels blood welling back into her arms from their half-numb state.
"Come with us, nice and easy. Remember, we know where Tenzin is now."
The man leads her, and she knows exactly where they are, so the sack's actually pointless. She can smell it a mile away, the salt in the air, and if she couldn't smell it she'd certainly hear it – the docks. People scurrying around, loading and unloading cargo. Seagulls. The ocean waves.
"Careful now."
She's led up a slippery ramp, then guided onto a firmer surface. She can sense that the floor's gently rocking, and she's surprised to realise that she's never actually been on a boat before. Despite her predicament, she almost feels excited at the notion, and has to hold back a chuckle at the absurdity.
Eventually, she's pushed under a doorway and into what she presumes to be a cell. She hears a few metallic clicks as her cuffs are bound to a chain, then the sack is pulled off. It's the same man as earlier, he's never left her side. Must be my personal bodyguard, lucky me, she thinks.
"You do realise I know exactly where we are?" she knows she shouldn't stir the pot, but she's getting increasingly agitated at being carted around like cattle.
He looks confused, rather than angry, and stands in the doorway folding his arms.
"The sack? On my head?" she elaborates.
He smiles, for the first time, and his eyes seem almost kind, which surprises her again.
"The sack isn't to hide anything from you. It's to hide you, from prying eyes." He sighs, looks deep in thought as he twists his goatee between a finger and thumb, "You really have no idea what you are, do you?"
"I'm Korra, a regular human being, last I checked."
He chuckles.
"You've got a lot to find out, that's for sure. Or do you think other humans can move water about, as though it were a part of them?"
Well, he has a point. She sighs… nobody really ever did explain any of that to her, her parents seemed as dumbfounded as anyone else. There were never any answers… why she can do it in the first place, let alone why it feels so natural to her.
"The Empress has a special interest in you." For some reason, he almost looks concerned at the words. She wonders what the Empress is like.
"So I'm to be… her slave?"
"We would never dare ask her intentions. We were ordered to retrieve you, and whilst it's taken ten years, we have you at last."
She gasps, "Wait, you've been after me for ten years?"
"Yes, ten long years." He emphasises the point with a drawn-out sigh, like it's somehow her fault that she chose not to be captured any sooner.
"Turns out that the temple you were staying at can't even be seen, unless you know of it, and how to break the illusion."
"The illusion?"
"It seems there's a lot you don't know about this world, Korra." He removes his glasses, pulls out a cloth and wipes over the lenses. It's the first time he's used her name, and she smiles at him despite herself.
"Baatar. Is the prisoner secure?" A formal-sounding woman's voice, but she can't see who it is as the voice came from behind the doorway.
"Yes. Let's make a move." Baatar turns to leave, but gives her one last glance before shutting the door, "I'll get some food and drink sent down, I suggest you eat… it's going to be a long journey."
::
"He wasn't lying. I almost lost track of time… we were on the boat at least a week, and then on foot for another four days after."
She grabs another rice ball. All of this talking is making her really, really hungry.
"And the guards were actually kind to you?" Asami seems surprised, she can't blame her, because she was surprised too.
"Most of them were decent, if anything, they were just suspicious of me. They never took the shackles off, but they kept me fed, allowed me to wash. Baatar and Kuvira were almost treating me like a human being by the time we got there, I think they actually felt bad turning me over in the end…"
"Who's Kuvira?"
"Oh, the woman that I heard. She and Baatar took turns guarding me. I'm pretty sure they had a thing going on, though they hid it well." She smiles at the memory, remembering how their hands would brush against each other for the briefest of moments as they swapped places.
"And then, they took you to the Empress?"
"I couldn't blame them for handing me over, not after what they'd told me about her." She grimaces as the haunting memories float back into her mind, "She… she was not so kind." Understatement.
Asami seems to sense her pain, and her hand is suddenly captured in soft, ivory fingers. She smiles at the gesture, takes a sip of sake, and continues.
::
"Kneel before the Empress!"
She's been warned beforehand. Baatar had the decency to tell her exactly how to act, and what'd happen if she failed to comply, more pertinently that The Empress was known to execute non-compliant people on the spot. It's one of the many insightful things she's been told during her trip.
She kneels, keeps her head down to the floor.
"Ten years." She hears fingers drumming against wood, "ten years, and you bring me something that resembles a street rat?" the words are spat.
She hears a chair creak, and then footsteps walking around her, heels clicking against the tiled floor.
"Are you even sure that this is the one?" there's a hand in her hair, and her face is dragged upward, where she sees a pair of ruthless, dark green eyes boring into her. It sends a shiver down her spine.
"I am sure, your Majesty." She can hear a tremble in Baatar's voice, though he's hiding it well.
"Take it to the pit. I need to see for myself."
"But, your majesty!" it's Kuvira.
"You DARE to question me?"
"You've waited ten years, and you'd kill her?" Baatar's talking back with Kuvira, despite the warnings they've given her. She's momentarily taken aback by their actions, that they'd defend her like this at all.
"If she is the Youkai, she will not die." There's a deep menace in the Empress's voice, "You two, on the other hand, may not fare so well. Such insolence! Send them to the isolation cells!"
There's a flurry of activity, feet stomping all around, and she can hear Kuvira and Baatar grunting as they fight against capture. Then, the sickening sound of blunt force against bone, followed by silence, and the sound of feet being dragged across the floor.
She's looking at the ground again, and all she can see is the Empress's foot, tapping.
"Now, you two! Take her to the pit! Am I clear?"
"Yes, your Majesty!" a young, nervous voice babbles. She's guided upward by two sets of arms, and doesn't recognise either guard. She can't see a way out of this, there's no water nearby, no chance of escape.
She's dragged down three flights set of stairs, and the temperature's dropping the deeper they go. Eventually, a thick, steel door is forced open, and she's pushed inside. The door immediately slams behind her, and there's the sound of a latch being slid closed on the other side.
It's black. She can't see anything. There's a musky, almost rusty smell, and it's cold enough for her to start to shiver. She tries to feel her way around, but each grasp of her arm is met with open air, or the sand at her feet. Suddenly, several latches in the wall slide open, and beams of light are thrust into the darkness. She squints. There's little boxes of people, looks like guards and well-dressed nobles. Right at the end, in a window bigger, higher than the rest, there's the Empress, sat in an ornate chair, sneering down at her. And all around her, on the ground, human remains. Skeletons, corpses, and some still glistening with blood. She wretches at the sight.
"Now then, my little pet." The Empress shouts down, her voice amplified by a natural echo, "Let us find out just what the Youkai is capable of!"
An iron gate at the far side of the huge room creaks open, and she can hear strange, guttural sounds coming from within. Then, two massive lions sprint outside of their enclosure, their fangs bare, and spittle dripping down their mouths. Except, they're not lions… they have massive, bulging stingers elevated on a long tail behind their head. Scorpion-lions? She's heard that hybrid animals existed in the world, but this is her first time seeing one. Still, there's no time to be struck by wonder, because they're heading straight for her, no doubt ravenous from their captivity.
She leaps to the side, avoiding the first bite, then rolls beneath and past the belly of the second scorpion-lion as it tries to impale her on its stinger. She glances around manically, looking for a weapon, water, anything. She's got nothing apart from her filthy blue kimono, and her own hands.
It takes the lions but a moment to realise that she's now behind them. They turn, growling, and she's thinking she'll surely die soon, but then she spots something, it's a long shot. She focuses on the froth hanging from their hungry mouths, pulls a fist back and bends the gooey fluid straight out of them, then thrusts the massive globules of spit forward, into their eyes. They're stunned, and she knows it'll be for four seconds at most. She leaps atop the first lion, grabs its large tail and thrusts the stringer down into the nape of its neck, where it penetrates deeply. The lion grunts in confusion, then quickly collapses beneath her. She's panting now, and the second scorpion-lion is shaking out the last bit of spittle from its eyes.
She's trying to formulate a plan, when she suddenly feels warm blood oozing beneath her hand, where she's just impaled the beast. Again, an idea comes to mind, and again it's a longshot. She hasn't tried to manipulate blood before, but she's faced with very few alternatives right now. She senses water within the red liquid, and tugs at it, forcing tendrils of blood to rise from the wound. She thrusts it at the other lions gaping jaw, and it hits.
The lion seems confused, starts to lap at the blood, and then she can see the hunger he's been suffering from for so long has taken full hold. He pounces, and she jumps off the carcass, ducking away as he bites into it, starts to devour it with insatiable need.
There's a sickening sound of pops and crunches, and she sneaks around the back, waiting until she's sure she can pull this off a second time. An opening presents itself, the lion is lost in its meal. She dives on its back and again, forces the stinger down into the flesh at its back. It collapses, face first into the bloody mess of its brother.
She's panting, sweating, trembling. Then she hears a slow clapping. It's the empress, of course. The other spectators look enthralled, some pale in the face, others clenching their fists in what appears to be a sick form of excitement. She wishes they'd all drop dead.
"You ARE the Youkai, that much is clear. Now let's see what you can really do." The Empress says, chuckling.
There's a sudden roaring sound stemming from several round holes near the top of the pit. It grows louder, and louder. She recognises what it is before she sees it – water gushes forth, filling the pit. It's at her feet and she's soon padding in it, and she thinks the Empress must be insane, because this is surely a means for her to easily fight her way out, escape. Perhaps the woman is blinded by ignorance, and doesn't realise just how potent her abilities are.
That's what she hopes, as she wills every drop of water to bend to her desires, swirling it around and around, until she's able to move within it, and jet herself around freely on the currents. The first thing she does, naturally, is hurl herself straight toward the Empress, ready to encase that mean little face in a glob of water, and watch it slowly drown.
As she throws a torrent of water forward, the empress looks amused rather than afraid. The water hits some kind of barrier, invisible to the eye, and falls to the floor, no longer under her control.
"Do you really think I'd fill your cage full of water and be unprepared for this kind of outcome?" The empress is laughing, "Without your chi, water is water. And I've had chi-blocking technology at my disposal for over five years now."
She clenches her teeth. Looks like all of their little boxes are protected, and the pit's getting deeper and deeper in water. She can swim, she can bend chi, but both are restricted by her stamina. If she tires, she'll surely drown. An ironic fate, she thinks, and can't help but chuckle at the thought. Still, why fight it? She understands water better than anyone. She lies back, floats, it's the most natural thing in the world. It's actually quite relaxing, and all the more satisfying when she hears the Empress shriek indignantly.
"If you thought I'd panic from a little water, you're quite mistaken." She says it quietly, yet somehow, she's still heard by the demon-queen.
"SUCH INSOLENCE! Release the dog-sharks!"
That what-now? Korra's face is the picture of incredulousness as she hears vicious barking echoing forth, and then sees several wide-faced hounds spew out of the same openings that the water's pouring from. Sure enough, they have the face of a dog, sharp canines, and fluffy ears. Yet gills, a dorsal fin, and a tail. She's not sure whether she should be terrified or amused.
When she sees the full force of a canine jaw inches away, threating a deadly bite on her neck, it's soon obvious that she should be terrified. Instinct takes over, and she closes her eyes, thrusts her hands out, screams out…
"STOP!"
There's a strange, loud crunching noise, followed by several yelps. When she opens her eyes, she gasps. Water has been formed into ice, apart from the very small isolated pool she's treading water in. The dog-sharks are trapped, and slowly suffocating.
As they breathe their last, she feels a stab of remorse… after all, she likes dogs.
"Take that… thing to my special cell!" The queen orders, sounding somewhat enraged.
Then there's several soldiers, slipping clumsily down the ice towards her. She uses the tiny bit of water she has left to whip at their faces, push them away, and she even tries to manipulate the huge block of ice she's surrounded by. Surprisingly, she feels a response, but it's too big, too heavy. They're upon her, and there's a dull blow to the back of her head.
She's getting really sick of being knocked out.
::
"Lion-scorpions? Dog-sharks?" Asami looks positively intrigued, and a little bit sceptical.
"Yeah, wouldn't have believed it either. But since then, I've seen other hybrids, so they're definitely real."
"And you can turn water into ice? That's amazing!"
Korra struggles to not kiss Asami at the compliment. It's such a refreshing change to see curiosity in the place of fear, and the fact it's coming from Asami makes it all the sweeter.
"So what happened next?"
Asami's engrossed in the story, and she's pulled in by her excitement. She pours them each another drink, feeling quite at ease by the slight numbness of the sake, as she continues.
"Honestly, this is where things get dark. Are you sure you want to hear this?"
Asami squeezes her hand as she speaks, and there's nothing but concern in her eyes.
::
Her cell door creaks open, and she's blinded by light, light that she sees maybe once a day, if she's lucky. She's thinking it'll be another guard, here to leave water for her to drink before scurrying away. She rattles the chains that she's dangling from, they're as strong as ever, and she's gradually getting weaker.
"Hello, my pet."
The Empress. She wasn't expecting this… she's suddenly filled with dread, doesn't help that she's half naked in the few rags that remain of her kimono.
A finger rakes across her skeletal ribs, the nail sharp enough to draw blood.
"I've finally thought of a use for you… You're going to test my latest invention."
The empress bites into her ear, hard, she yelps, and then there's a hand slipping beneath her belt. She looks up to see wicked, lustful intent. She's terrified, vulnerable.
"Stop it…" she croaks.
"Stop it, what?" the Empress pauses her hand's advance, raises an eyebrow.
"Empress. Please… don't." she's been here weeks, slowly starving to death. She's weak… she has nothing, nothing save her dignity, and now even that's being stripped away.
The hand is, thankfully, removed. She releases the breath that she hadn't realised she was holding, and looks up into smug, malicious eyes.
"I shall feed you, allow you to recover, and even grant you some semblance of freedom. In return, you shall do exactly as I say, and if I sense even a sniff of rebellion, you'll be back down here in an instant." Nails scape across her chin, and she shudders, "Is that clear, Korra?"
It's the first time the Empress has spoken her name, and for whatever reason, it actually makes her happy.
"Yes, Empress."
::
"She soon owned me, body and soul. I lost myself, became her puppet for the next three years."
She's hugging her knees against her chest now, and Asami's enveloped her with warm arms. She appreciates the comfort.
"Korra…" Asami's expression is of nothing except sympathy, "Did she…"
"No! No… She… didn't take me against my will, not after that first threat. I guess there's some good inside of that evil husk, somewhere."
"I'd hardly call it good." Asami sounds angry, "What was the experiment?"
She sighs.
"A new drug which manipulates you, makes it easier for someone to command you. I found out later that they'd been putting into my water the whole time that I was down there."
"So that's what made you…"
"No. I mean, it definitely worked against me, but I'd be lying if I said that's all there was to it. I was manipulated psychologically, sent to the isolation cell if I ever stood out of line. I nearly died down there on more than one occasion… I think I eventually just gave in."
"I'm so sorry…" Asami says, stroking her hair, and it feels comforting against the pain of her memories, which are causing tears to cascade down her cheeks.
"In those three years, I became everything they'd accused me of being. A monster. The Youkai..."
"Korra, are you certain you want to go on?" Asami's being so patient, understanding. It makes her heart throb.
She nods, and sighs deeply.
"The truth is… I'm nothing more than a murderer. I've killed so many in the Empress's name, bad people, good people, and innocent people. I can still see every single one of their faces."
"Korra…" she feels the arms around her tense up, she knows that this is probably going to push Asami away, for good, but she can't stop now.
::
They're making good time, headed toward a small holding far to the west of the Empire. Baatar and Kuvira are riding either side of her, with their elite guard of thirty men following close behind. Their orders are simple, stop the suspected rebellion. Those who dare to confront the Empire shall be ground to dust.
As they approach their destination, she fiddles with her mask, doesn't want it to slip off, doesn't want anyone to see her.
They head straight to the Daimyo's house. She leaps from her steed and strides purposefully straight inside. The old man within visibly trembles at the sight of them.
"Oh come now, old man. You thought to trade with the Empress's enemies and avoid repercussion?"
As she speaks, she's vaguely aware that the voice stopped sounding like her own a long time ago. She's been doing this kind of thing for almost three years now, it's routine, mechanical. She doesn't feel emotion, there's an objective, and it has to be fulfilled, and that's about all there is to it.
"Come with us quietly, else see your holding burnt to the ground." Baatar speaks, straight to the point, as usual.
The old man smirks, and she senses a flurry of activity.
"Empire dogs… did you really think your visit wasn't expected?"
Partitions slide open all around them, and they're surrounded by bandits and mercenaries. Her hands shift to her Daisho at once, unsheathing both blades, whilst Kuvira and Baatar push their backs against hers, giving them a solid position from all angles.
They're immediately rushed from all sides. Her blades flash before her, moving as though they're a separate entity. It's such a simple thing, though. If there's metal headed your way, block it. If there's open flesh before you, slice into it, stab it. She can do all of this almost without conscious thought.
On the very rare occasion, she'd force the water in people's eyes to freeze, popping their eyeballs and blinding them permanently. She took no pleasure in it… like anything else, it was purely a defensive manoeuvre. She didn't need to do that today. She impales the last of them. He has an innocent face, so whether subconsciously or not, she makes sure to avoid his vitals.
They clear out the room in very little time, and she's lost her patience. She pulls water from a couple of buckets in the corners of the room, raises it and forms it into spears, then freezes it solid, until there's javelins of ice pointing straight toward the old man. She sees a stain form at his groin… he's pissing himself. She takes no joy in the fact.
"Will you come with us now?" she growls.
"Y… Yes. I'm so... so sorry." He stammers, bends on all fours.
He's soon bound in chains, and Kuvira leads him back outside with Baatar. No need for them to involve the elite soldiers this time, no need for a massacre of civilians. The small part of her that's still Korra feels immensely relieved at that fact.
Just as she's following the others outside, she senses movement behind. But she's too late, she was daydreaming, like an amateur, and she cries out in pain as a blade sinks deep into her shoulder, slicing downward into a fatal gash. It's probably from the guy she spared just now. Serves me right for being soft, she thinks.
She crumples to the floor as Baatar runs toward her. Her vision's blurring, she feels sick, her heart's pounding, and there's a searing bright pain in her entire upper right body.
"Korra!" he calls her by name, instead of Youkai. Been a while since she's heard it from him. She's acutely aware of her assailant being sliced almost in half by Kuvira's blade, and she's about to give in to the darkness engulfing her vision, threatening to blacken her sight completely.
Then her heart thumps, and it's like a canon going off in her chest. There's a surge of energy, not like anything she's felt before, she stares up at the others, and they look suddenly terrified. She can see herself reflected in their eyes, bright spheres where her own eyes should be. But the pain, it's getting worse, it's like she's on fire and she's angrier than she's ever been. Her whole body feels like it's caught in a permanent, vicious stretch, her jaw aches, and there's a constant noise in her ears, which she eventually realises is her own voice, growling, screaming in rage.
The pain won't stop, she's dying, bleeding out, and her body is fighting against it. She needs to feed, now. She needs to heal. She doesn't know where these instincts are coming from, but it's the only way, that much she does know.
There's a small sliver of consciousness left, and it's enough for her to say one word to Baatar and Kuvira, who're frozen in place, apparently transfixed.
"RUN."
::
"I… I honestly don't remember much after that. Just… fractured visions. I can't… I think I ate… No, I can't. I'm sorry." she can't fully describe the horrors that are left in her mind, yes, they're fractured, but detailed enough to know that she fed off human flesh that day, and that's why she yet lives.
Asami's still here, holding her, but she's sure that'll soon change.
"Korra…"
Here it comes. Can't blame her, I'm a murderer and a monster. Not really date-worthy material.
"What happened after that?"
"Wait, what?" she's surprised. Surely Asami should be terrified right about now? But then Asami's pouring them both a sake, and her beautiful eyes aren't showing any sign of fear.
"Well, by my calculations you were about nineteen when this happened, and you're twenty-three now, so I know there's more to your story." Asami smiles at her, and her heart feels a surge of warmth.
"Asami… How can you still be talking to me… why are you still here?"
Asami sighs, kisses her on the forehead. A tear creeps down her cheek.
"You're not a monster, Korra. You're a person that's been driven to the absolute edge. That's how I see it. And besides, I need to know the rest! Come on!"
She laughs, though it's a messy, tear soaked laugh.
"Well, like I said, I don't remember much. But I do remember waking up in this awful, shitty swamp, and that's… that's where I met her."