Rating: T

"You will travel North; there, the fortune you seek to restore the land lies," the Moon Spirit told her. "As my champion, I will grant you three favours."

"What kind of favours?" Korra asked, head bowed.

"You may not ask for my direct involvement, though I can provide you with aid in the form of transport, companions or even knowledge. But be warned, young spirit-walker, I can only grant you these favours at once."

"Yes... Thank you." She bowed her head more deeply, thinking of what to ask; and was this a test as well? Information, she decided, would be the most useful. "What trials await me?"

The Moon Spirit smiled. "You will have to overcome the illusions of the Great Marsh, and take care not to let them fool you off the road; the temple in the heart of the marshland is guarded by mischievious spirits; and your treasure itself will be a trial, as you must keep it hidden until you come back to me."

Now she knew where to go and what to guard against. Wise questions deserved wise answers, she figured. "For my second favour, I'd like to ask for weapons and tools?"

"I'm afraid you'll have to be more precise."

"A-A spirit weapon? To fend off the mischevious spirits," she finished in a rush. This was a big favour, even for the Moon Spirit; their kind rarely made weapons that weren't tools in disguise, and even then... Only a few knew how to mold things other than tricks and illusions.

The Moon Spirit considered this. "This is a lot to ask for, you know?"

"I am aware... But as it is a favour, I imagine you can refuse? But even if it is big, it is still a favour..."

"Fair enough; I will lend you my fishing spear. The rope it is tied to is magical; as long as it tethered to you, the spear will always come back to you, otherwise it will come back to me. Here," she handed Korra a long silvery spear that emanated the same blueish-white glow of the Moon Spirit.

She took the spear with grace, fully bowing. "I will make great use of it, thank you..." She tied the end of the rope to her waist.

"And now, for your final favour, what will you ask?"

"An animal hide to keep this treasure hidden?" she asked; animal hides were common packaging for goods that could be roughed up or weren't exquisite. A farmer or fisherman might pull a cart covered with hides; a merchant would use silk or leather.

The Moon Spirit called for her wolf, the Hunter, and harvested his fur and hide. Using moonlight she sowed it into a shroud, which she handed to Korra. "This hide will hide whatever it holds from sight; not even the swiftest hunter will be able to find its secret; wise favours, my champion. Now, may the wind carry you far and may your nights be bright with my moonlight!"

"Thank you, I will bring back this treasure, or die trying!" And with that, Korra left on her journey.

On the verge of the marsh was a farmer. This year's harvest had not yielded much, and he might not be able to feed his family and cattle and have enough surplus to last winter.

"You there, young lady," he called, wobbling up to her. "You spear, it looks mighty fine!"

"It is," she replied happily. Days of walking by herself had made her starved for human contact, even if just a short conversation. "Thank you for noticing!"

"You come from the city, do you not? What might a citizen need a fishing for, I do not know; but I will bargain with you for it! You seem to be travelling to the Great Marsh; nothing there is edible much. I offer you provisions and a ways to forage whatever there is that's edible!"

The offer was enticing; she hadn't brought much food, a backpack at most and she had already dug into them. But this wasn't just any fishing spear either. And she couldn't lose this spear, she needed it for the spirits that guarded her goal.

"You seem to know an awful lot about the marsh," she started. "Have you been through it?"

He chuckled. "In my younger days, when I was your age! It usually took me two weeks to cross it."

Seven days then, she surmised, is what it would take for her to reach her destination. Then seven more to come back, maybe more if she had to carry whatever she was sent to collect. What if she could lend her spear though...

"Sir, I have a counter-offer for you," she told him. He raised a brow, but motioned for her to continue. "This spear, is magical; it was gifted to me by the Moon Spirit-" he scoffed, but a gleam was in his eye. "And it's

Impossible for it to be seperated from me-"

"If you didn't want me to trade for it-"

"But I can lend it to you. On some conditions."

"... I'm listening..."

"First; you can only keep it up to eight days, and you need to tie this rope around you. Otherwise it'll find me and that's the end of the deal. Second, I'll need at least one loaf of bread in the provisions. Does that sound fair?"

"Eight days?! Young lady, that's not long enough for me to stockpile reserves for my family!"

"Ah! But, like I said, this spear is from the Moon Spirit! You'll only need eight days of fishing to feed your family," she cleverly told him. To prove her point, she walked to the river and started to fish. As she approached the water, many fish collected near her and as she stabbed at them she found she couldn't miss and that the river was plentiful. "The only catch is that you need to sacrifice a portion to the Moon Spirit as thanks."

That night she ate and slept with the farmer and his family, talking amicably. They learnt she was on a quest to make the land fertile again. The farmer hesitated to take her spear, but she insisted; reminding him to tie the rope around hia waist to keep it tethered to him for the eight days.

She left early next morning, her bag filled with vegetables and bread and fish, as well as a written guide for edible plants.

Now inside the marsh, she was happy to have brought the loaf - loaves, actually - of bread. The marsh kept making sounds; sounds she found difficult to resist. Like the Moon Spirit calling her, "I have a shortcut!"

She broke off a couple of pieces of bread and stuffed them in her ears to stop the sounds. It worked and she was able to follow the path without incidents.

There was a bushel of black, bulbuous berries she nearly ate; remembering her guide, she learnt they were sweeter than the best berry-mead and would make her fall asleep for anundetermined amount of time. She collected some and wrapped them in leaves for later.

The temple was bigger than even the tallest towers in the Grand Republic City. It was made entirely of cut stones and merged with the central tree of the Marsh. This tree, so tall was it, it overlooked the area, stood above the tall trees surrounding it. A spirit tree serving as a beacon in the centre of the world.

The clearing around it was still shadowed by the foliage above, though it was much more lit than the path. There the earth was firm and covered in vines from the trees. The temple itself resembled a step pyramid with an inordinately long staircase.

She was almost there! But the path to the temple was guarded by the mischievious spirit she had been warned about. It had been seven days yet, and so she didn't have the spear yet. Her provisions were running low and she still had to come back... Her hide!

Korra unrolled her magical hide, with which she would cleverly hide from the spirits. So she covered herself; but she didn't turn invisible like the Moon Spirit had told her... Or maybe she was and she could still see herself?

She advanced towards them cautiously. They turned towards her, although didn't not attack her yet. One stepped closer.

"Who are you? And what do you want traveller?" It asked, flapping its black bat wings.

Traveller? she thought, they should've known she was a spirit-walker by looking at- oh. She was hidden from them! "I'm a weary traveller from the South, I am heading North to help my father's brother's daughter find a suitor. I was cutting through the Marsh and got lost; may I spend the night here?"

The spirit considered her. She must've followed the old path by accident if she came from the South. "What about payment?" it asked sneakily.

"P-Payment?" she stuttered. "What about the laws of hospitality?"

It barked an ugly laugh. "Those only apply to humans that receive guests! And if you don't offer us anything good, we'll make sure you never find your way!"

She didn't have anything to pay them with; no money, not much food, and just the clothes on her back. Of the food she had, nothing would please the spirits; bread, smoked meat and fish and thos eberries she had found. The berries!

"I-I have the special berries," she offered.

"Special? How?"

"They're the sweetest thing you will ever eat! Better than any berry-mead you'll ever taste, and more filling than a buffet! But they're very valuable..."

"All! We want them all, or no shelter for you!"

She handed them the leaves and watched them eat the lot voraciously. Korra egged them on whenever they stopped, saying "only a few more and you'll be sated!" By the time she was running out of things to say, they had all fallen asleep. Perfect!

She ran up the stairs and into the temple.

Inside the temple's inner sanctum, the sanctuary, was an elevated throne of cut stones. Nor mortar held the stones together, she noticed, they were cut so well they fit together tightly. Tall stairs led to the enormous throne - it had literally been constructed to fit an ancient spirit, she guessed - on which she could fit at least three or four times over.

The back rest was engraved with fine carvings of the origin of the four Nations. Though the accurate retelling of the world's history didn't interest her at the moment; her quest had led her in this temple in the heart of the great marsh in the very middle of the land for a very specific purpose. That which sat on the throne.

A young warrior sat there rigidly and lifelessly. His skin was of metal; knowing the spirits who had the skills of craft, his skin would rather be white gold rather than steel. Vines of pure yellow gold ran down his arms and neck, reflecting the light that came through the holes in the broken ceiling. She could actually see the tendons and ligaments in his body! Fine shards of obsidian stood in lieu of hair and perfect emeralds replaced his eyes.

"Spirits," she breathed, walking up some steps, drawn to the metal boy by some unknown force. As she reached the last step, one hand extended towards the statue, it moved!

Slowly it stood; noislessly, as the craftmanship must've been exquisite. Its appearance as regal as the statues of kings and spirits. But who was he? A long forgotten king who ambition and greed was his downfall? A folk hero outsmarted by a spirit in a quest to save his beloved? A farmer, whose wish of riches was refuted?

"Now," she said to herself. "How do I get you to move? There's got to be a button or some other..." He voice trailed off as she walked around the golden boy; knowing the spirits whatever way of activating this automaton would be in an unsavoury place. She squeezed his ass - firstly surprised at how flesh like it was despite the metal's hardness, and secondly surprised by-

"Gah!" It yelped, jumping forward. It turned around and looked at Korra wide-eyed. Its emerald eyes glinting with light alin to curiosity and wonder. "Who are you?!"

"I'm-" she stopped herself, throwing off the hide. "I'm a spirit walker, sent by the Moon Spirit to come rescue you! I think..."

"You think?"

"I managed to trick the spirits outside and now they're asleep; come quick!" she said, tugging on his arm.

"T-The spirits?" he asked, his voice quaking. "N-No, no! I am not going outside without protection!"

What? Was this the treasure that was supposed to help the land? A terrified teenage automaton? The spirits would make them lost, but wouldn't hurt them.

"You don't understand, if I try to leave they'll disassemble me!"

"Then you'll hide! With this shroud," she said, shoving it into his hands. He looked at her skeptically, and after she motioned at him he put it on.

Immediately he changed. From the pale metal he went to warm tanned skin of a forest ranger, a hunter. The hide suited him perfectly, like a leather vest.

"Wow..." he said aloud. "I look... Real." He turned to her. "Do you have protection?"

He explained that without something to fend off the spirits, she would be attacked because of her spirit-walker status. His spirit-like aura would be hidden, but she would need something to protect herself with.

So they waited until the eighth day, where, under his amazed sight, her magical spear reappeared. She twirled it around, stabbing the air a few times. His eyes were glued to it, and her as she wielded it. With that, she thought, no minor spirits would bother her.

The spirits shrank away from her as she walked with her spear and travelling companion, out of the temple. She stuffed both her and his ears as they walked through the Great Marsh. He didn't require food so her provisions lasted longer than she'd hoped, and he proved to be a boon for foraging and hunting, bringing her much food.

The farmer was happy to see her with someone else; maybe a spirit-walker, he surmised as he offered them a grand meal of fish and herbs. They rested in the guest room and the fall air was surprisingly warm - almost hot - with the golden boy around.

She brought him to the Moon Spirit, where she returned her spear and hide. He faded back into his metal form - she found she missed his human appearance - and awaited orders.

"But before that," the Moon Spirit said. "You deserve a reward. I will grant you one wish; think carefully."

He looked at her, curious as she stared back. She bit her lip in thought and took his hand; feeling odd at how warm the metal was.

"I wish he was human," she wished.