hey! inudigifan201 here! and welcome to my first ever Avatar story!(even thou i've been a fan for like... ever) it's a little idea that i've had since i first wacthed LOK. if you ask me... there's no way Korra could be an only child! anyway... hope you like!
about this chap.- the blue spirit returns... as well as Zuko! :)
sorry for the long wait and the really long chapter... i decided to make it a two parter... to save you from exesive reading... oh well...
ps. i loosely based Kassidy off of Harly Quinn from Batman... long story. and Azula... can't get any crazier than these two.
and Konna loosely off of Flutter-Shy from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. and yes, i watch MLP:FIM. And you gotta deal with it! and a little off of Rose/Huntsgirl from American Dragon: Jake Long. and Zuko...
Ch, 13. Keep clam and bend on. Part 1.
Tarrlok woke with a pounding headache. He looked around. He was laying on a cot in the corner of an empty room. It had a chair on the other end, but that was it. A small window above the cot let in the brilliant light of the morning. His everything was sore.
The door slowly slid open. Noahtok, unmasked, walked in.
"I've been meaning to ask you something." Tarrlok glance at him.
"Alright, what is it?" His older brother spoke in a clam voice and sat down in the chair.
"Why?" Tarrlok closed his eyes.
"Why what?" Noahtok lifted an eyebrow.
"Why the mask, lies, everything?"
"Let me tell you what happened to me first and there are a lot of causes for my madness, most would say all the cactus juice I've drank over the years. But, the main thing is; the frozen wasteland we called home changes I man when he has no warmth or a home. I wandered aimlessly for days, barely staying alive, until I got to the capitol. From there I met some non-benders from Ba-Sing-Sa and I ended up talking to them for hours. Then, I traveled to a couple of EarthKingdom towns and cities, everywhere I went… there was discontent. I kept up my Blood-bending and by studying the Chi-Blockers I figured out how to block one's chi to where they couldn't bend anymore. I then went back to the North Pole, and that's where I met Konna. I taught her everything about Blood-Bending I know. She's a better bender than me, but she refuses to Blood-bend."
"I don't blame her."
"And, to answer your question, the mask. The mask and Amon was mainly to hide from dad, also, I didn't want anyone to know who I really am. I was confused, hurt, and mostly drunk on Cactus Juice. Lies, same thing. And everything; that I just explained, I think."
"Thanks." Tarrlok opened his eyes and sat up. "But, what are you doing now?"
"Trying again. But, with a different mask this time. I'm also going to openly blood-bend."
"Didn't you learn anything from the last time?"
"I did. But, this time I need Konna. She is the key."
"And Kassidy?"
"Not as important."
"I see."
Tarrlok rolled over and tried to fall asleep. But, he laid there wide awake and in pain.
Noahtok got up and walked out.
Korra strolled around the island trying to pass time. Tenzin had some Acolyte stuff to tend to; Mako and Bolin had to see their old land lord about something; Pema had put the kids down for a nap (except Janora, whom was nose deep in a book about a pair of star crossed lovers); and Asami had business she had to take care of. Konna, however, was missing in action. Korra didn't worry too much about her. She figured she found a secluded place where she could be alone with her thoughts. And she was right. Korra found her in the meditation area.
Konna, half asleep, was meditating. She had really taken to air nomad life. And one would confuse her for an acolyte. She seemed at peace.
Korra almost felt bad that she stumbled on to her baby sister. Almost.
Konna opened one eye and up at Korra. "Yes?" she spoke softly.
"Oh, sorry, did I break your concentration?" Korra asked sheepishly.
"Oh, no, it's alright, I was done anyway." Konna stood up. "Were you looking for me?"
"Nope, just wondering around."
"Ok." Konna smiled sweetly.
Korra smiled back. She started to walk away. But, she stopped. "I just remembered." She turned around and smiled. "Asami wanted to know if you would model her first ever clothing line. She designed them for you."
"um, I'll see" Konna shrugged.
"Alright." Korra waved and walked away.
Konna fell back onto the wood and closed her eyes. She tried to erase the latest memory that haunted her.
(Quick note from the author. Warning: the fallowing content contains gore and adult material. If you can not handle either, skip this italicized part. Thank you.)
Blood, oozing down Kassidy's face, came from what used to be a man.
Konna knelt down in utter horror as the corpse twitched. She was about 15, maybe 14 years old. She crawled to the bloodless man and examined him.
There was no doubt about it, he was dead.
All the blood from his body was gone. All over the place. Dripping down Kassidy's face. His innards were ripped open. There was no way he could still be alive. And if he was, he would have been in tremendous pain.
An evil smile found itself on Kassidy's face. "Just think what we could do with this discovery!"
Konna, gripped with fear, gasped. "Leave it alone and never try it again!?" she hoped.
"We could strike fear into everyone, let this man be an example." Kassidy ignored Konna.
"How about we not?" she begged.
"Why, this is cool!" Kassidy smiled wide.
"It's terrible! This man did not deserve to die like that." Konna pleaded.
Kassidy looked at her for a moment. Then back at the body. "You're just saying that because you're weak. You couldn't even give birth."
"1. I didn't even want either of those babies; you did. And 2. I was, and am, malnourished. I'm nothing but skin and bone here. I didn't ask to be raped and get pregnant." Konna explained.
"I see."
"But, I would have never gotten raped if you weren't barren." Konna thought for a moment. "Although, even if you weren't, I probably still would have gotten raped."
"You think too much." Kassidy started to walk away.
'I'm right.' Konna stood there and looked back at the body.
"Konna, come on. Or the Chi-blockers will come looking for you." Kassidy called out.
Konna slowly walked the same direction as Kassidy. She wasn't in a hurry, no, she wanted to take all the time in the world.
She wasn't afraid of the Chi-blockers, she was never afraid. In fact, she welcomed them. She didn't mind not being able to bend for a few hours. Actually she loved not being able to bend. And, the sweet freedom that came with it too. For a few hours, she would be useless. She could be normal.
Of course, all she ever wanted was to be normal.
She sat up and smiled. But the smile faded as soon as she remembered Kassidy was still loose. And what she said. "Amon is back from the dead." The vision of his mask came to mind. She cringed.
Her eyes narrowed and she pulled a blue ribbon out of her pocket. "but I won't let him ruin my life anymore." She tied the ribbon into a bow in her hair.
Night fell…
A few white lotus guards patrolled the island. A black shadowy figure snuck past all of them. The figure made it's way down to the dock and dived into the water. It came up for air every now and again, but plunged right back down. It resurfaced on the shore of Republic City. The lights made it easier to see the figure. It wore the mask of the Blue Spirit and a black full body outfit. One could also tell the gender. Female. She looked to be 16 maybe 17 years old.
She dashed in and out of the shadows as she made her way to the hidden bunker. Chi-Blockers guarded the entrance. She quickly knocked them out with a couple of jabs in the right places. And she quietly walked in.
Tarrlok, having trouble sleeping, was wondering the halls. He caught a glimpse of the Blue Spirit as she dashed past him.
"who the heck was that?" he asked himself out loud.
Konna, at 12 years old, had been wondering around the desert for a few days. She was used to not having any food or water. But, she was still near death. She knew the cacti had water in them; she just had to extract the other substance first. Food, on the other hand, was a bit more scarce. She decided to travel at night when the sun wouldn't boil down on her.
After all, she was on the run. She had some how managed to get away from Noahtok and the now crazy Kassidy. But the only way to go… was the almost endless desert coming from Ba-Sing-Sa and heading toward Republic City.
However, she collapsed from exhaustion. When she woke, she found herself in a cave. An old man nursed a fire. She sat up and tried to tip toe away.
"aren't you going to stay for dinner young lady?" the old man asked in a kind voice.
She stopped and walked over to the fire. And sat down.
"tea?" the old man asked.
She nodded her head.
"you seem a bit young to be out on your own; running away from something?" he asked as he handed her a cup with tea in it. "although, I was a little older than you when I was banished from home." He smiled.
She looked up at him after taking a few sips. He had a scar on the left side of his face. he was lean, tall, and looked kinda good for his age.
He continued. "I was 13 when my father gave me this scar." He pointed at his face. "although, back then I was obsessed with restoring my honor and returning home. Who knew that I had my honor all along? My uncle did. He tried to teach me about the simple joys in life, but, for the most part, I didn't listen." He took a sip of his tea. "I found you out in a sand storm, thought you were dead. But, I couldn't leave you out there. When I brought you here, I realized you were alive." He smiled.
"I wish I was dead." She mumbled.
"that's no way to be." He gasped.
"but, it's the truth." She squeaked, still to tired to say or do anything.
"I wanted to end my life too, but I kept going. Because, I knew I had to." He held up the tea pot. "more tea?"
She nodded.
"my uncle would always say 'sharing tea with an interesting stranger is one of life's many delights'." He smiled again.
She gave him a small smile back.
"that's the good thing about strangers: they don't care about where you've been as long as you know where you are going." He smiled.
"huh?" she looked confused. "oh, I'm going to Republic City. And from there I'm going anywhere I want." She curled up in a ball.
"what do you hope to find in Republic City?"
"home."
He glanced at the fire and opened the lid to the small pot of food. "dinner's ready." He took a ladle and poured some soup into a small bowl. He then handed the bowl to her. "be careful, it's really hot and I don't want you to burn yourself."
"thanks." She blew on it a little. "sir?" she looked up.
"yes?"
"why are you out in the middle of nowhere by yourself?"
He leaned back onto the cave's wall, smiled, closed his eyes, and thought for a moment.
She continued to blow on her soup.
He opened his eyes and gave her a soft smile. "*sigh* to fix my past I guess. I feel like I have a debt to society. I've done some bad things in my life. And I want to make up for it. Plus, I like to meet interesting strangers."
She smile back and giggled a little. She almost forgot why she was running in the first place. Almost. She drank her soup and handed him the empty bowl. "thank you sir, for everything. But, I really need to be going." She started to stand up, but fell back down. He caught her. He set her up on the wall of the cave.
"I understand, but the sun will be rising in a few hours. And I'd rather you not travel during the day. Besides, I was in a village this afternoon getting ingredients for this soup when I overheard some people looking for you. I take it you're running away from them?" he explained. "besides, you're too weak to go anywhere, I'm surprised you made it this far."
"Ya, I'm running from their boss. And I'm surprised too." She closed her eyes.
"Get some rest young one. I'll have breakfast ready when you wake." He smiled sweetly.
She drifted back to sleep as the man nursed to fire. When she woke, the smell of sweets entered her nose. She rubbed her eyes and stretched to life. The man smiled and handed her a plate and a pair of chop-sticks.
"thanks." She smiled and ate. She knew she was tiny, never aloud to eat and everything. Forced to train long and hard. She was happy her body didn't reject the food the nice man was giving her. For some odd reason, she felt she could trust him. Maybe she saw some of herself in him and he saw some of himself in her.
The Blue Spirit snuck around. She was looking for something.
The sun climbed high as Konna and the old man made their way into town. She was wearing a cloak to hide her face. it was kinda nice out. Not to hot, not to cold. The desert wind, however, made it a bit warmer.
It had been 3 days since she woke up in the cave. She needed some fresh air and she had all of her strength back.
The old man stopped at a vender in the street. He bought some food and a map.
"there is a forest on the other side of those mountains." He pointed to the large land marks that went up in the air. "would you mind if I came with you to Republic City?" he asked her. "it's always better to travel with someone." They started to walk again.
"why not." She smiled at him and he smiled back.
"I haven't been there in years, ever since Avatar Aang died."
"how did he die?"
"he was over 100 and 12 years old, you tell me how he died." He chuckled.
She giggled a little until she saw the old man's smile fade. "you were friends?"
"yes." The old man nodded.
"I'm sorry." She looked down at the dirt.
"nothing you could do, young one. He was vary old, but still…" he trailed off.
"wasn't he trapped in ice for 100 years?"
"yes, he didn't even know there was a war going on." He smiled again and laughed some more.
She thought for a moment. "you were the banished prince, weren't you?" he nodded. "but you took back the fire nation from your sister." He nodded again. "but, why? Oh, never mind."
"what?"
"you've already answered that question, Your majesty." She looked up and smiled at him.
"just call me uncle."
"but, we're not related."
"that's ok. Call me uncle anyway." He smiled back.
"ok." She shrugged. "by the way, my name is Konna."
"that's a beautiful name."
"thanks."
They reached the mountains in no time. Uncle was right, it is better to travel with someone.
When they got to the base of the mountain; uncle put his stuff down.
"it's going to be dark soon, we should make camp." He looked up at the sky. He gathered some sticks and built a small fire. "this would be the part where my uncle would make tea." He smiled wide and chuckled. "want some?" he looked at Konna.
"sure." She sat down on the ground. The earth was a little dry, but it still felt good to sit down. And at that point, she didn't care.
The blue spirit had kicked down just about every door. But, she couldn't find what she was looking for.
Tarrlok watched as she kicked down the last down. "if you're looking for my brother, you're too late." She looked at him. He continued on. "he left this morning."
She walked up to him and held her swords up to his throat.
"he went somewhere past the mountains." He shirked. She put down her blades. "we won't be back till the end of summer." He grabbed his throat and exhaled.
She started to walk away, but stopped and looked back at him.
He sighed. "he left me here to… to hold down the fort. Plus, that Kassidy injured me. I'm no good to him in this state." He explained.
Masking her voice she spoke. "you're lucky you are not my target." She then dashed back into the shadows.
Konna and Uncle sat by the fire. Konna looked over at Uncle's stuff. His Dual Dao swords were sticking out.
"Uncle?"
"Yes?"
"What do you use that sword for, you're a firebender?"
"Oh, I use those to not firebend."
She looked confused.
"I'm pretty handy with um."
She kind-of understood a little.
"Would you like to learn how to use them?"
She nodded and smiled.