The best thing about travelling with the Avatar like this was that they were, in ways, the same. Mistborn were naturally independent and forceful due to their powers, and so it seemed was the Avatar. She was ignorant of things, true, but Ashur was willing to agree that he was ignorant of things as well. It was a shame that he couldn't really discuss it with her.
Korra was probably the only person who might have understood how it felt to be simply better than other people. Ashur didn't think this arrogantly, it was simply true for the most part. He was stronger and faster than anyone who couldn't burn pewter, had a quicker reaction time than them, and so on. The only thing that he could be challenged on would be intelligence, and Ashur had been coached by the best tutors his father could buy.
The Avatar, of course, had not been tutored in the same way as him, nor was she as fast or strong as he was. But she certainly was stronger than any mere Bender that you could care to mention, thanks to her versatility and the ability to cross techniques into other elements. Sadly, for all that, she was still an enemy, and a bit too brash and impulsive for Ashur to get on with all the time.
Which was why Ashur was currently very tempted to shock her into silence, even if it meant he'd have to carry her until she woke up again. It was understandable, really. Korra was his prisoner, after all, and she was determined to make life harder for him wherever she could. She had also tried to trap him in an icy prison once, but that fell apart when Ashur pointed out that she had no idea where Republic City was, nor did she have anyone else to help her if she relapsed into heavy illness again.
The first day that Ashur had found her, Korra had spent the night in a fever-dream caused by the cold that had seeped into her body from her damp clothes, and more likely than not some of the fruits that Ashur had found being unsuitable for human consumption. He'd been forced to flare his pewter for that occasion, but he had been sparse with it afterwards.
Thankfully it was nearing the end of winter, and there was less snow. It hadn't started thawing out quite yet, and some of the snow had melted to create a treacherous, slippery slush, but his visibility was improving and it was getting warmer. After the first day, Korra had started to get some energy back. Ashur made sure to give her less food than he got though, so she wouldn't get back all her strength. So far, it seemed to be working.
That led to the other problem they were experiencing. Due to both Korra's ever-present illness, the malnourishment she was currently suffering and the still moderately deep snow, they were walking at a snail's pace through the forests and plains outside Republic City. It didn't help that the terrain was very rough, and so they spent as much time going upwards as they did forwards.
It had taken them a few hours to get to Amon's little country house by vehicle, and that was at a good speed. All Ashur knew was that if they kept going in the same direction that they were going at first, eventually Republic City would loom on the horizon.
The stream where Ashur had had his first failure at trying to spear fish with sharpened twigs was a blessing with regards to that. By keeping it on their left, Korra assured him that it would eventually reach the sea, and they could just follow the coast to Republic City. It was a good idea, and Ashur had to admit that she knew more about survival in the wild than he did. In addition to that, it meant they had water whenever they wanted it (aside from the snow), and could catch fish. That was something else that Korra was better at him that, though he was half-inclined to believe that encasing the fish in an orb of water was cheating.
"Why're you doing this?" Korra asked him suddenly, on the third night after starting a fire and raising a house of ice around them. "The Equalists just want to get rid of me, so why are you helping me get back to the city?"
Ashur looked up from where he was coaxing some of the snow into a shape that vaguely resembled a pillow, before sitting down and sighing. "Frankly, I thought I was alright with you dying. It's the safest thing for the Equalists, really. Keeping you around is a liability. You'll just escape again, or something. You seem to be good at getting out of sticky situations."
"So why didn't you just let me die then?" Korra pressed.
"Did you want to die?" Ashur asked, his common mocking tone entering his voice again.
"Just answer the question," Korra replied, rolling her eyes. She had quickly learnt not to rise to the bait where Ashur was concerned, even if it was her usual reply. Confrontation was something neither of them wanted, even if she had the energy. It was a small shelter, after all.
"The Equalists want you alive so we can use you as a symbol. By removing your Bending, it shows that no-one is safe from our reach. In a way, removing your powers is the first real strike against Benders, rather than anything we've done before." He could tell her that much, it was pretty much obvious. He was watching Korra as he spoke, and saw that her shivering increased. "That scares you, doesn't it?"
"Of course not," Korra muttered, looking at the ground to hide the truth. One of her hands started to play with the snow, shaping it into something by a combination of her physical movements and Waterbending. "It's just that... I'm the Avatar. I'm meant to help people. I can't do that if I have my Bending removed."
"Having your powers removed doesn't stop you from helping people," Ashur pointed out. "That is, after all, what the Equalists are trying to do, even if their doctrine is pushed a little too far at times. You're just scared of having your powers removed, aren't you? Of becoming a nobody after being a somebody."
"That's not true!" Korra said, her hand clenching as she looked up defiantly. She took a few deep breaths and looked down. "It's not true," she repeated, quieter this time. She opened her fist, letting the crushed snow fall to the ground.
Ashur couldn't help but sigh. She was cracking just from the idea of having her powers removed. True, he might have felt the same in her position. He couldn't really imagine his life without the abilities Allomancy gave him, how it would be to be normal, the same as everyone else. He was projecting his own fears onto her, really, thinking about what would affect him if he were in her position.
"If you're that scared, you could just run away," Ashur pointed out. "The people here never wanted you anyway. Why bother going to their rescue when they have declared you to be useless to them? Don't tell me that it's your job, or that you feel you owe it to them. Just because you're the Avatar doesn't mean that you can't live your own life, instead of letting yourself be controlled by the fact that you can burn all four elements."
"Burn?" Korra asked, blinking.
"Sorry, Bend," Ashur continued quickly. "I was looking into the fire too deeply," he lied. Maybe he shouldn't put himself in her place quite that much. "But in any case, you feel a duty towards people you've never met, or even interacted with. Why?"
Korra was silent for some time before she answered, watching the dancing flames flickering around as if they would give her an answer. "I never wanted to be the Avatar," she said eventually. "When I first realised what my powers meant, I thought it was pretty cool, you know? To be the strongest Bender, to be world-famous just by existing. And then I was locked up in the White Lotus Compound for most of my life, training all the time."
She took a deep breath before continuing. "When my chance came to escape, I took it, even if it meant coming to a strange place that I'd never been to before. I had no idea that the world could be so cool. It was just... Awesome."
"That doesn't answer the question," Ashur pointed out over the crackling of the fire. "I get that you don't like the fact that your life was mapped out, but it doesn't explain quite why you are letting it be mapped out still."
"I guess..." Korra stopped and thought about it before continuing. "I guess I just want to make a difference to people."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Most people go through life being nobodies," Korra explained. "They're born, they grow up, they work all day for their lives and then they retire and die. And most people don't realise that they haven't achieved anything, other than probably a family and that work."
"So you like your powers because, otherwise, you think you might as well have not existed?"
"No," Korra replied, probably thinking about how the implication sounded, but she relented under Ashur's gaze. "I guess so. I just don't want to be a part of the crowd. Never have, never will."
Ashur nodded, then reached forward to turn over the fish they were having for dinner so that the other side would cook. He'd never thought he'd get sick of fish before, particularly since they were so much nicer than the fish that he'd had back home. "Having no powers doesn't mean that you aren't somebody though. Just look at Hiroshi Sato."
Korra winced, no doubt having worse memories of someone who, from her point of view, betrayed her, her friends, and most importantly, his own daughter.
"Regardless of what you think of the man now," Ashur continued, and he had his own thoughts on the technological genius. Most of them could be summed up with 'psychopath', considering how his reaction to his wife's death was so disproportionate. "You have to admit that he certainly made a name for himself, using his own talents. He didn't have any supernatural ability to wield the elements."
"I know," Korra agreed. "But it's just a part of me now, you know? I can't imagine having them taken away from me, from being unable to use them even if I didn't need to. It'd be like losing a limb."
"I understand what you mean," Ashur replied. "Perhaps not quite how you experience it," since he was talking about Allomancy and she was talking about Bending, " but I do understand."
The next morning was the first time that they saw Republic City on the horizon. Ashur saw it first, since he usually flared tin atop any hill they came across, and after he saw it, he let Korra go first. As such, he wasn't sure quite when Korra saw Republic City, but he was certainly ready for her inevitable attempt to flee.
Korra raised a barrier of ice between herself and Ashur before running off, leaving very shallow footprints in the snow. Most likely a benefit of being a Waterbender, and it meant that she didn't sink in and lose momentum with each step.
Ashur was only a split-second behind her reaction, and the time distance, coupled with the fact that he had to go around the large barrier as well, meant Korra had a good lead on him. It was still quite a way towards the city itself, perhaps a ten minute jog, but this was what Ashur had saved up his pewter for.
It was said that one could sprint from one side of The Final Empire to the other on pewter, and though many, many different estimates were given for the time of such a thing, the one thing that was agreed upon was that it was certainly possible. True, the pewterarm would probably collapse from exhaustion and probably die at the other end if he didn't have buckets of pewter dust to burn afterwards from the effects of delaying the weariness, but it was possible.
As such, Ashur managed to catch up with her before she was halfway there by sprinting, even if such an inefficient method of travel meant he sank into the snow deeply with each step. He drew an electrified bolas from his belt and threw it at her, catching just one of her legs as she ran, but the ropes tied themselves around that leg and shocked her.
The Avatar hit the ground with a soft thud, groaning in pain as the electricity coursed through her system. It wouldn't deal any lasting harm, but Ashur had experienced all those weeks ago when trialling the gauntlets, it definitely hurt.
He sighed and picker her up. She was heavier than he had expected, but then Ashur was used to girls being stronger than they looked due to Allomancy, rather than actually having muscles. As such, it was a bit of a pain to drag her to Republic City's edge. Actually, considering their relative sizes, she probably was heavier than he was.
The first surprise that Ashur received was that there were Equalists openly on the borders of the city, and one of them waved him in with a smile. They were tense, wary of an attack, but at the same time seemed cheerful.
Ashur placed Korra carefully in the snow and retied the bolas around her so she couldn't escape her bonds before looking to the one who had waved. "What's going on?" He asked curiously. "Is there something planned for today?"
The Equalist laughed and slapped him on the back, sending him reeling a little. "We've taken over! Amon thought that, since once of the Councilmen was ours, and the Avatar was missing, now would be the best time. And I see you've captured the Avatar as well! Amon will be pleased."
Ashur nodded in agreement. "I didn't expect this to happen so soon." Particularly since he doubted a full-scale takeover could have been completed in such a short time. That meant Amon was still hiding things from him.
"None of us did, but, you know Amon," the talkative one said.
"Your orders, sir?" The less cheerful one asked, though he still seemed to be happy. He was just more on edge, probably because Korra was bound nearby. Waterbenders and snow were a bad combination for their enemies, after all.
"Help me take the Avatar to a cell," Ashur said to his subordinates. It seemed things were drawing to a close. All he had to do now was find a way to contact home and deliver this strange land to The Lord Ruler.
And here, of course, is where the story really changes from the end of the Korra anime. The main difference that caused all this was that no-one confirmed that the Equalists didn't attack city hall. Therefore, Korra's friends didn't really know where to look for her, so the Equalists got to her and then lost her and Ashur found her. The reason it took so long for Ashur and Korra to return to Republic City, incidentally, is twofold: Firstly, Korra's illness. Secondly, because it's almost impossible to walk in a straight line without some kind of marker. Studies have tested this sort of thing, and you usually end up going round in circles.
Also, it was fun to point out the similarities between Ashur and Korra, just one more set in a world of similarities between the two worlds. Ashur mixing burning and Bending though was my mistake originally, but I decided it was amusing enough to leave.