A/N: So sorry for the delay. Only one more chapter after this, and then I shall never toy with your posting expectations again! Or, at least until I'm done with grad school in two months. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed my story. I don't ask for reviews, so I really appreciate those readers who have taken the time to share their thoughts. Love you forever 3
Character death in this chapter. A major one. Remember all the good feelings you had for me/this story before this chapter! *runs away and hides from the fangirl wrath*
Chapter 11 – "This Killer"
Korra leaned against a snow-covered tree for support. Her limbs ached from traipsing through the rocky terrain, she couldn't catch her breath at this altitude, and now, her vision was starting to spin. She had to give it to Tarrlok and Amon: this was an excellent location for a hideout. The snowfall covered their tracks and it was miles of rough hiking from Republic City.
If Naga hadn't found me…
She shook her head, refusing to take the thought further. The sound of boots crunching on snow sounded to her right.
"Hey," Bolin huffed as he placed a comforting hand on Korra's shoulder. "Are you ok? Should we call it a night and come back tomorrow?"
They had been searching for hours and it was getting dark. She doubted their searching would be useful after nightfall, but she was determined to push herself onward.
Korra turned her eyes to her companion. "Yeah, I just need to catch my breath. How much ground have we covered?"
Bolin removed his arm from Korra's shoulder and pulled out a map from his pocket. "Well, we've searched through these two areas, here," he explained while indicating spaces on the parchment with his finger. "Tenzin and Mako are over here and should be back soon. Which leaves almost everything to the east."
They had barely covered a tenth of the map, and this particular map only showed a section of the mountain range that spanned north of the city. Refusing to look as hopeless as she felt in that moment, Korra straightened her shoulders and pushed herself off the tree. "Ok, let's at least work our way over to this clearing. Then we can call it a night."
She and Bolin weaved through the trees, which were getting more and more dense the farther they walked. Neither said anything, both choosing to conserve their lungpower. After a few minutes, Korra pushed a patch of branches aside and saw the clearing. The trees were sparse and she realized that the clearing dropped into a steep cliff edge. She and Bolin carefully approached the edge and looked down. It was a solid drop. A huge, solid drop down. She doubted anyone could survive the fall. Korra gulped and while looking down, she allowed her head to lightly swim from the dizzying height. Then she remembered…
She looked over her shoulder and remembered where Amon stood as he tried to coax her away from this very same cliff edge. It was almost like she was watching the scene take place in front of her. The hooded figure seemed perfectly at peace; his body was squared, his breathing was even. He was domination incarnate. But it was all so hazy… Was she making this up? Did she just want this place to be familiar to her?
Noticing the concerned look on Korra's face, Bolin asked if she was ok as he slowly guided her away from the edge of the cliff. "Is something wrong?"
"I'm…I'm not sure. I think I've been here before when I was trying to escape Amon…"
Bolin's eyes lit up. "That means we're close!"
"Put her down, Tarrlok. Now."
Without releasing his hold on Asami, Tarrlok turned toward his brother's voice. He couldn't see where Noatak was, but Tarrlok knew he was there, hiding in the shadows.
"Why should I? She's one of mine, and I'm taking her with me." Looking at Asami, he asked her, "Don't you want to come with me, sweet girl?" He raised a hand and forced her to nod, like some perverted puppet master. His crazed laugh filled the hallway.
"Do you really think you'll get very far?" interrupted Noatak's smooth voice form down the hall. "The girl's dead weight and I hate to break this to you, brother, but the Avatar is searching the mountainside as we speak."
This genuinely surprised Tarrlok. How had the Avatar gotten this close? "And you think that's my fault?" Tarrlok snarled. "I wasn't the one who decided to kidnap the Avatar! I wasn't the one who let her escape!"
Though Tarrlok knew how to push his brothers buttons, Noatak didn't take the bait. He needed Tarrlok to see reason. They needed each other if they were going to make it out of here alive.
"Not only did you bloodbend the Avatar, but also the fucking Chief of Police in the open street, Tarrlok! What did you think was going to happen afterwards?"
Tarrlok growled in pained frustration, completely ignorant of Asami's dull whimpers. "I was showing them my power! They needed to know that I was more powerful than some pathetic excuse for an Avatar!"
Now Noatak understood. And it pissed him off. His brother blew their cover for some egotistical demonstration?! At least when he needed worship, Noatak turned into Amon or came to the cabin for indulgence. But he was always covering his tracks, going through the painstaking process of hiding behind layers of masks and personas. He though Tarrlok understood, but his actions in the street clearly showed that he only cared for himself. Noatak felt years of suppressed emotions bubbling up and out of himself. Tarrlok wasn't the only one who could push buttons…
"Do you understand how little your petty act of defiance even registers, Tarrlok? And to what end? To make your mundane, inconsequential life mean something? You want to feel, is that it? Feel needed, worth it? Tired of you older brother finally taking hold of Republic City, always dominating over things you could only dream of controlling? You want to fucking matter? Well, you don't! You don't fucking matter. And forever, no matter how hard you work, how many futile sacrifices you make, how deeply you commit, you know it will always be another hand that feeds you. My hand. Just as it always has been. And now you have designs on what? Shifting your dependency?" Noatak scoffed. "How numbingly predictable."
Tarrlok's blood had been boiling during his brother's tirade. Unable to control his temper, he released Asami from his hold and her body limply slapped against the wet stone floor. The sound caught Tarrlok's attention. Glaring down the hall where his brother was hiding, Tarrlok bent the water from the floor and walls. He shot the surprisingly large wave of water towards Noatak, who easily split the attack in half, allowing his body to pass through unharmed. Unfortunately, the water crashed onto wall behind Noatak with terrifying force.
The floor began to rattle. The bare light bulbs swung from the rafters as small pieces of the ceiling and walls crumbled. Asami thought her mind was just reeling from her most recent drop, but suddenly the ground gave a violent shake. She saw Tarrlok fall to the ground beside her, and she only had one thought before losing consciousness:
What is happening?!
Korra's ears picked up a rumbling in the distance. "Bolin, listen. What's that sound? Do you hear that?"
Bolin closed his eyes and tried to focus his hearing. "That grumbling sound? Yeah, I hear it… Is it an avalanche?"
"I don't know." Korra looked down the cliff to see if they had caused the snow to shift below them, but nothing looked disturbed.
"Look! Over there! It is an avalanche!"
Korra turned to where Bolin was pointing. Not far away on the next hill, she watched the gathering snow pick up speed and hurl down the mountainside. Looking upward, she noticed something… a small brown shape, just above where the avalanche started. It was a cabin!
"Bolin! Do you see that cabin over there?"
Bolin looked over. Upon noticing the cabin, he grunted. Had it really taken an avalanche for the pair to find the cabin? "Yeah, I do now! Do you think that's the hideout?"
Korra knew the cabin wasn't too far away from the clearing. She couldn't remember her escape, but she didn't think it would have been an impossible distance to cover on foot, even in her weakened state. If she had enough adrenaline during her breakout, she could have stumbled her way from the cabin to this cliff.
This could be it…
Before she could answer, Mako, Tenzin, and Oogi came into the clearing. The ever-concerned airbending master asked, "Are you two ok? We heard an avalanche coming from this direction and figured we should check it out."
"We're fine. But look over there," Korra instructed as she pointed towards the cabin. "I think we found the hideout."
Surprising, without any further deliberation, Tenzin commanded, "Quick! Let's move!"
The group climbed onto Oogi's back and they were in front of the cabin in no time. Korra was glad for the short flight. She was worried that if she thought about re-entering the cabin for too long, she would be too terrified to continue.
The cabin itself was in another small clearing, with thick forest trees on three sides. The fourth side faced a cliff. It the building had been set farther back from the edge and surrounded by trees, Korra doubted they would have ever found it. The group remained hidden by the dense trees, but even from this distance, Korra could see through the cabin's wooden planks. It was hardly built for comfortable living. But then again, she thought, it wasn't being used for living. It was a prison. And they needed to break into it.
Tenzin's commanding voice interrupted her thoughts. "Ok, Korra said she was surrounded by stones, so I'm guessing they are keeping the girls in some kind of basement below the cabin. Our primary goal should be to free the women and avoid a fight with Amon and Tarrlok if we can. These are two powerful bloodbenders and if they're both here, they could easily take us down."
Korra slowly nodded in agreement. The thought of losing control of her body again sent a chill down her spine. She didn't want to admit it, but she was petrified of going back into the cabin. Her memories were still fuzzy, but she knew enough… Those silver eyes that seemed to watch Korra from the back of her mind always reminded her of her terror. Forcing those silver eyes as far away as possible, she thought of Asami. Korra had to get her friend out of there, no matter how scared she was.
Squaring her shoulders, Korra started approaching the cabin. "Alright, let's go."
Tenzin moved in front of Korra, determined to be the first to enter the cabin, while Mako and Bolin followed behind Korra on either side. All four cautiously walked across the porch, quietly moving their feet over the decayed wood. Tenzin grabbed hold of the doorknob, took a deep breath, and silently pushed the door open.
Korra followed Tenzin, stepping over the threshold and looking around the room at the same time. It was completely empty. No furniture, no wall decorations, nothing. Just dusty floorboards. After taking a few steps, Korra noticed the dust had been disturbed in some areas. There were faint footprints leading into the next room. She pointed them out to Tenzin, who nodded and followed the trail of footprints. While Korra followed close behind Tenzin, Bolin took a wider path as he observed his surroundings. Not observant enough, Bolin didn't notice a slightly upturned floorboard. As his foot caught on it, a section of the floor slid back and a hole suddenly appeared. It was a trap!
Unable to steady himself, Bolin fell right through the chasm with a yell. Though the drop wasn't more than twenty feet, he landed on his ankle and the audible crack of his bone breaking echoed off the stone walls.
"Bolin!" Mako screamed after his brother, uncaring of the level of his voice. "Bolin! Can you hear me?!"
Groaning, Bolin rose to a sitting position. He tenderly grazed his fingers over his injured ankle and was rewarded with a bolt of pain shooting through his leg. "Yeah, I'm fine. I think I broke my ankle, though."
Korra shared a panicked look with Tenzin. Their position was given away. If Amon and Tarrlok were in the cabin, they surely knew that Team Avatar was with them as well.
Tarrlok's head ached from its recent smack onto the floor, but at least the seismic tremor seemed to have finally ceased. Shaking his head to dislodge his double vision, Tarrlok started to rise to his feet only to notice Noatak standing above him. He glanced at the girl, but she appeared to be unconscious.
Glaring at his older brother, Tarrlok spat, "You want to take me out? Then here's your chance! Do it!"
Noatak was angry, fiercely so, but he didn't want to kill his brother. Though he'd behaved foolishly, Tarrlok was his blood, his partner. Noatak knew that without him, the loneliness would be unbearable. They fit together, forming a twisted brotherhood of unlimited desire, and no one else could understand that. They needed each other. As Noatak helped his brother back onto his feet, they heard a bang! somewhere above them, followed by screams.
"Bolin! Bolin! Can you hear me?!"
Noatak saw a childlike fear flash across Tarrlok's eyes. "The Avatar! They're here!"
Taking command of the situation, Noatak barked, "Go! Go out the back! I'll be right behind you." He watched Tarrlok run down the hallway and turned back just in time to see Tenzin reach the bottom steps at the opposite end.
The airbender saw a figure standing over Asami's body. Preparing to strike, he ordered, "Step back! Get away from the girl!" But he was too slow. Before Tenzin could send forth one blast of air, his body froze. Tenzin painfully struggled against the viselike hold, but was unable to break through the powerful grasp.
"He said to get away from her!" screamed a voice from behind Tenzin's billowing cape. Stepping in front of her airbending master, Korra slammed her foot onto the ground, sending a wave of stone towards the hooded bloodbender. Noatak was utterly surprised and her bending sent him flying to the end of the hallway, where his body slammed against the wall.
Korra ran forward and slid to her knees at the girl's side. Reaching forward to push the dark strands of hair from the girl's face, Korra recognized her friend. "Tenzin! It's Asami!"
Released from the bloodbender's hold, Tenzin ran towards Asami and Korra. He swiftly inspected the girl. "She's alive, Korra."
Almost as soon as a wave of immense relief washed over her, Korra felt something more powerful take hold: vengeance. Springing into action, Korra bounded down the hallway, determined to finish off whoever she hit moments earlier. She didn't know if it was Tarrlok or Amon, but she would catch him. But when she got to the end, she realized it was in fact a dead end and there was nobody there, only a pile of stones, rubble no doubt caused by her own attack.
He had to have escaped somehow! I cannot let them just get away!
She ran back to Tenzin, who was slowly carrying Asami towards the stairs. "Tenzin, I've got to stop him! Get Asami and the others to Oogi! I'm going after him!" She blocked out Tenzin's yells of protest as she sprinted up the staircase. When she got to the top, she realized the house was empty. Where was Mako?
She crossed the room and knelt by the hole in the floor. "Bolin, are you still ok?"
"Um, I guess. Did you find Asami? Also, can you get me out please? It's cold down here."
Ignoring his complaint, she demanded, "Yes, Tenzin's with her. Where's Mako? He didn't follow us downstairs."
"I don't know. He was right where you are just a second ago, but then he ran off."
Mako must have seen whoever I hit fleeing. Spirits, he wasn't trying to fight the monster on his own, was he?
Korra got up and bolted for the front door. Once outside, she saw Mako in a bending stance in front of the cabin. Sprinting to take her place beside him, Korra asked, "Did you see him? He tried to bloodbend Tenzin, and before I could take him down, he somehow got away."
Mako didn't make eye contact with Korra. Instead, his eyes bolted around the trees surrounding the cabin. "I felt someone bloodbend me for a few minutes, maybe a few seconds, I don't know. But then it just stopped. I know he's still out there, though…"
Korra pressed her back against Mako's and they slowly turned in a circle. She had only seen one man in the basement below the cabin, but could Tarrlok and Amon both be in the woods? Could they both be watching her and Mako? Pushing those thoughts away, Korra focused on the logistics of the situation…
Tarrlok and Amon could either run for the mountains on the backside of the cabin or they could head for the trees on the front side. Korra was willing to bet the two would choose the forest over the mountains (Republic City was on the other side of the forest, after all). If her assessment was correct, then she and Mako were sure to spot them. Just as Korra was looking towards the side of the cabin that faced the cliff, she saw them: two figures silhouetted by the setting sun, running towards the trees. "There!" she shouted.
Mako turned and shot a cascade of fire towards the cliff. The flames went between the two figures, causing the one behind to run directly into the flames. He stumbled backwards with a yell, Mako's fire obviously hitting its target, just as Korra turned the snow beneath the figure's feet into ice. She intended to freeze his legs to the ground (and then his arms after he fell to prevent him from bloodbending), but she miscalculated her attack. Instead of freezing to the ground, the figure's feet stepped onto the newly formed ice. His momentum before the attack caused him to lose his balance, and he slid toward the cliff edge at an alarming speed.
As Mako and Korra ran towards him, Tenzin and Bolin stepped onto the porch and rapidly joined the action. Despite his broken ankle, Bolin limped after Korra and Mako while Tenzin charged after the other man who was now running into the forest.
As Korra neared the cliff, she saw the figure slide over the edge. "No!" she shouted. Careful not to fly over the edge herself, Korra slowed her pace and leaned over the cliff with Mako holding onto the back of her shirt for support. To her surprise, Tarrlok was holding onto the cliff with one charred hand.
He can't die like this! He knows who Amon is! And he deserves to be punished for what he's done...
Korra made sure that Mako had a good grip on her, and then she leaned over and offered her hand to Tarrlok. "Just… here… Take my hand." Her smooth fingers could almost reach Tarrlok's charred ones, but not quite. He would have to reach for her.
Tarrlok realized this and smirked. "No," he laughed and then let go of the cliff.
Korra shot her hand out and caught the sleeve of his shirt. Behind her, she felt Mako struggle to accommodate her sudden movement and Tarrlok's additional body weight. They would have to pull Tarrlok up quickly, or they'd all slide off the edge. She looked into Tarrlok's eyes. "Tell me who he is!" she begged. "Please! Who is Amon?"
She could barely make out Tarrlok's almost gentle voice against the mountain's raging winds. "You'll never catch him," Tarrlok whispered. "He's too good."
And then Tarrlok jerked his arm from Korra's grasp. For a split second, Korra watched in horror as Tarrlok seemed to slowly fall to the ground with a well-practiced smirk still on his smug face. But she had turned her body into Mako's arms before Tarrlok finally smashed onto the rocks below.
AN: IT HURTS ME MORE THAN IT HURTS YOU!
Title is from "This Killer" by Blackfield.
Also, Noatak's verbal smackdown is from "Boss," which you should watch if only for Kelsey Grammer. I love it and have always wanted to say it. Since that's unlikely to happen in real life, I put it in my fic because why not crossover all the things?! Seriously. YouTube that shit. It'll help you get over the whole Tarrlok dying thing.
