Chapter 29: Hope


"You did what?!"

Toph pounded the side of the wall for emphasis, raw fury etched in her blind eyes as the ceiling and walls shook. Several metalbending guards gulped nervously, thinking just how dumb the old man was for getting the Blind Bandit furious like this, but against her protests, Iroh remained calm and resolute, quietly sipping tea on the table.

Zuko was not in the room, but Iroh felt his nephew's presence outside the room, listening in, no doubt feeling the same anger and frustration that Toph was feeling right now.

"I let her go." Iroh explained. "We cannot hold the Avatar against her will. That would not be what Avatar Aang would have wanted."

"Maybe not, but Aang's gone." Toph said flatly. "We needed to keep her safe here, I still need to train her."

"At this moment, she's in no condition to be trained by anyone." The old general sighed. "She needs more time to figure things out on her own. What good is a fully trained Avatar if she views us as enemies?"

At that, even Toph grunted, knowing that she didn't have an answer herself. "What makes you think she'll see us in a different light now that she's gone back to the Fire Nation?"

"I have faith in her." He said simply.

"I'm sorry Iroh...I need a little more assurance than that. I think we established already that we're low on time." Toph said curtly.

"I'm afraid you're right." A new voice chimed into the conversation.

Iroh and Toph turned as the door into the room burst open, and Kori Morishita walked into the room. A worried and serious look was etched on her face, while her trusty meteor hammers dangling by her side as though she were going into battle. To the surprise of the guards, Kori was wearing the green and red warrior garb of the Fire Nation colonies, the flame insignia clearly etched on her tunic.

"Word is spreading around the colonies." Kori began, "General Giam is on the move. They say he's marching his army towards the coast toward Yu Dao, wiping out any opposing villages in his wake, Colonial or Fire Nation." she said grimly.

Toph's fists shook tightly as she heard the message. So he finally made his move...but to take back the entire Earth Kingdom against the whole Fire Nation Army out in the open? "Giam, you fool..."

"Toph," Kori began seriously. "I'm sorry, I know you have to look for the Avatar, but I have my own responsibilities. I have to go back home to Yu Dao and assume command of the defense there against Giam. No doubt my father is worried sick and I need to protect my home, even if it is with the Fire Nation."

Toph nodded, without even giving it a second thought. "I understand Kori. Don't worry, I'll handle the Avatar on my own.

Sighing with relief, Kori nodded, then quickly made her way out of the room. When she was gone, Toph turned to the old master.

"Iroh, I know you meant well, but I'm sorry. I can't let you supervise Korra anymore. I'll have to bring her in. Then I'll have to start her training. I know she'll hate it at first, but what other choice do I have?" She muttered.

"There is always a better choice." Iroh said softly, without judgment. He could see the confusion in Toph, but he did not blame her for thinking like that.

"Well," Toph sighed with a soft smirk to her old friend. "Let me know when you find one, in the meantime, I've got an Avatar to catch."


She had lost track of the number of hours she had walked since escaping the cave. All she knew was that she had to put as much distance between her and her captors as fast as possible, even if that meant not even sleeping a wink that night.

Well Korra....she gave a huge tired yawn as the first rays of the sun emerged over the horizon. Had she really been running for that long? You succeeded. She sighed, feeling lost, tired and exhausted. Somehow, success didn't feel great.

Just how big was this Earth Kingdom?!

Still, she satisfied that she had managed to escape for now, and Korra slowed down her pace, walking under the baking sun that seemed to grow by the minute as dawn gave way to morning. She guessed that she had been walking for hours, evidenced by the soreness and blisters on her feet.

At that point, the sound of running water rang in her ears, and she spied a creek at the roadside. The road seemed to be lead to a small village up ahead as well, with several small wooden shacks and houses, she would have to be cautious around there. Korra thought. Figuring that there wasn't much harm in stopping for a quick break, she sat down at the creek's edge, soaking her aching feet in the stream.

The icy waters were soothing, and Korra let out a sigh of relief as she felt some of the tension of the past few days ease out of her. Who knew being caught in a cave in, being kidnapped, being forced to learn earthbending and almost crushed by boulder brought so much stress into a person?

She smirked, taking the moment to unload the bag that she had brought along with her from the Rebel base, laying out all of her meagre possessions on the river bank.

Aside from the dusty red armor and the Fire Nation Jian that was part of her kit, she only managed to get a few hard pieces of bread, nuts, rice as well some cabbage leaves from the pantry. Peasant food, by Fire Nation standards, but it was a heck of a lot cleaner than anything the warden and his goons had cooked up for them in the Prison back home.

Home. That was a strange word altogether, bringing about a mixture of emotion. Home was the warm house that her family had set themselves up at near the internment camp colony. Yet, it was also that dark, damp cell that she had spent most of her childhood growing up in. What exactly was she going back to...

"Help!"

Korra almost shot up as the cry echoed through the air. Standing up, she scanned the general direction of the noise, which came from the houses. It was at the side of the road where she noticed the source of the commotion. There was a girl on the ground, surrounded by three other men, each of them armed with spears and clubs. Obviously something was going down over there, and the poor girl was in the thick of it. Based on her limited experience in the Earth Kingdom, they looked like Earth Kingdom Cavalrymen, evidenced by the three Ostrich Horses that they had tied to a nearby tree.

"Please, I don't have any more to give." The girl pleaded.

"Quiet!" The ringleader gave the poor girl another kick in the ribs, causing her reel down onto the ground. "I know you're hiding food here somewhere. Tell us, and we'll make this easier for you."

The sight of the gang of thugs bullying the girl sent shivers through Korra's spine as she recalled her childhood at the prison, being a victim of Rho's cruel antics herself, and she felt her blood boil just from watching the scene.

"Hey, Jerks!" Korra shouted loudly as she walked towards the scene, her sheathed jian hidden in the bundle of rags she was carrying with her. "You heard the lady, she doesn't have any food to give to you. Beat it!"

The three thugs turned, watching almost in disbelief as a young teenage girl approached to challenge them, single-handedly.

That disbelief of course, quickly turned into a patronizing stare as the three men burst into laughter. "And what do you think you can do against us huh?! Stay out of this if you know what's good for ya!" The man said brashly, waving his spear towards Korra. "Stinking water tribe peasant!"

The sword rattled slightly in Korra's grip as she heard that remark, a flicker of a sly smile creeping onto her face.

Oh...I'm going to enjoy this

"I've changed my mind, you're not going to walk away." Korra said nonchalantly, approaching the thugs slowly. "Because in thirty seconds, none of you are going to be standing."

Taking a deep breath, Korra pulled out the jian that Mako gave her, it's steel rasping on the scabbard for effect as she unsheathed it.

The thugs were at first taken aback by the now-armed girl, and the fact that she was proficient with the blade, but they quickly pressed on, confident in their numbers and brute strength. They charged.

Korra instinctively wanted to channel her firebending through the blade, but she stopped herself at the last second, quickly fighting against the urge. She can't firebend now, not while she was in the middle of hostile territory without knowing which way to go. Even if she had fought whoever it was off, word of a firebending water tribe girl would spread like wild fire, and that was the last thing she wanted. She didn't want people jumping to conclusions.

Quickly focusing back on the fight, she stepped to the side, avoiding a clumsy spear thrust that had hit nothing but empty air. A quick snap of her foot down quickly broke the spear shaft into two, and before the thug could even react, Korra had hit the back of his neck with the hilt of her sword, knocking the guy out.

Another man, a brute carrying a club, didn't seemed to care that she had taken down his comrade with ease. He swung the club towards Korra's head wildly, but the Water Tribe girl was quicker, parrying the swing with her jian, she used the man's forward momentum to rush forward, giving him a swift knee between the thighs that sent the large man whimpering flat onto the ground.

"Watch out!" The girl shouted a warning to Korra, and she quickly dove to the side, narrowly avoiding a spear thrust that caught the pack she was carrying, tearing through the ragged cloth easily and spilling the contents of her food and clothing onto the ground.

"My stuff!" Korra let out of a shout of anger, then swept the man's feet from under him with a kick of her own. As the man landed with an 'oof' on his back, the last thing he saw was the sight of an angry water tribe girl stomping his face in with her foot.

"Chumps." Korra spat, dusting her hands and wiping the dirt from her clothes.

The Earth Kingdom girl seemed to blink her eyes in disbelief as she watched the scene. A random water tribe girl had just beaten down three thugs like it was nothing! Who was she?

"That was amazing! I've never seen anyone fight like that before. Thank you..." The girl said gratefully, getting hersefl back on her feet. "I don't know how I can repay your kindness."

"Don't mention it," Korra smiled, wiping the dirt and grim off her sleeves. "I would have gladly done it for free."

"Well, I'm glad you were there all the same. I guess you're a traveller from the Water Tribes?"

"Uh...you could say that." Korra said rather sheepishly, gathering her meagre possessions together, somewhat embarrassed. She breathed a small breath of relief that the ragged cloth still covered her Fire Nation armor, and she quickly wrapped the pack around the conspicuous items before they were noticed.

"I'm sorry those thugs ruined your pack." The girl said as she noticed Korra's belongings on the ground.

"It's nothing." Korra shrugged it off casually, having been used to worse.

"Where are you headed?" The girl asked.

"Gaoling." Korra replied rather cautiously, knowing that giving too much away would probably not be in her best interest. "Do you know where that is?"

The girl seemed to beam as she heard the name.

"You can come with me, my house is along the way. We can use the Ostrich Horses to get there." The girl gestured towards the tied up Ostrich Horses left by the now-unconscious thugs.

"I dunno," Korra said uneasily, remembering the horrible and brief experience she had with the Komodo Rhinos. "The last animal I rode on didn't really like me."

The girl chuckled, taking the reins of the nearest ostrich horse. "Don't worry, it's quite easy actually, just be gentle with them, and they'll return the favour. Here, I can show you." She offered the reins of the second horse to Korra.

"Thanks, I appreciate it." Korra nodded, sheathing her jian as she climbed on the Ostrich Horse alongside the girl, the animal was unsteady at first, but several assuring tugs by the girl calmed the beast down. "I'm Korra by the way. What's your name?"

"Just call me Hope." The girl smiled genuinely.

Korra's first initial thought was probably not her finest hour, even by her standards.

Hope? What kind of a dumb name was that?!


The briefing itself was short and simple. Toph outlined the plan for the metalbenders and resistance members in their search for the Avatar. They would split into teams to cover more ground, while a separate detachment would be under Kori's command, mainly the colonial soldiers who were forced to defend their homes against General Giam's forces. Toph promised that as soon as they secured the Avatar, her metalbenders would see what they could do to help protect the colonies. It was a tricky situation to be sure, if it meant facing the wrath of both the Phoenix Empire and the Earth Kingdom.

Lost in all this however, were the two Water Tribe brothers and their arctic wolf, who sat quietly as the proceedings concluded.

"Noatak, how could you let the Avatar leave?" Tarrlok whispered at his older brother in disbelief, for as long as he could remember, the Avatar was worshipped by the members of the Northern Tribe as the world's saviour.

"We shouldn't kid ourselves Tarrlok, she wasn't going to join us." Noatak said flatly.

"You can't be sure of that." The younger waterbender protested. It just seemed wrong to him. If that Avatar had returned, shouldn't they do everything they could to help her? Granted this Avatar was the same person who would have willingly handed them over to the Fire Nation without a moment's hesitation just a few days ago, that complicated things a bit in Tarrlok's books, but if anything, Korra was as much of a victim of the Fire Nation as anyone, why couldn't Noatak see it?

"She deserted us the first chance she got. What kind of Avatar does that?" The older brother said stubbornly.

"I don't know," Tarrlok replied, "But don't you think we should give her another chance?"

"So what? you're on her side now Tarrlok?" Noatak snapped rather impatiently, glaring angrily at Tarrlok. "Have you forgotten what she's done to us?! She's had us imprisoned, hunted for weeks across the ocean and this continent, and basically almost destroyed a town trying to capture us."

Usually that would have ended the conversation. Tarrlok would just shrivel up back into his shell and back off in fear of his older brother's temper, but to Noatak's surprise, Tarrlok stood his ground, matching Noatak's cold anger with a simmering temper of his own.

"What I'm saying ..." Tarrlok replied in a low serious voice, "...is that the world needs the Avatar! The Water Tribes have been waiting for the Avatar's return for almost twenty years now, and now we find one at our doorstep on a silver platter and you just let her walk away!? What would our people say? What would the council say? How can you not see this? Or are you just mad that she's gotten the better of you these past few days?"

Noatak's eyes widened in shock as he took in what Tarrlok had said. As much as it annoyed him, Tarrlok had a point. As the best Wolf Tail raider in the Northern Water tribe, it riled him to be bested in combat by this girl. The fact that she was a water tribe girl working for the Fire Nation seemed like a perversion of everything he believed in.

An awkward silence followed the outburst, and even Tarrlok found himself drawing back, surprised at his own audacity.

"Sorry." Tarrlok broke the silence at last, thinking that perhaps he had gone a bit too far with the last comment.

"No, you made your point." the older brother replied. "You really have a way of convincing people to your point of view. Maybe one day I should be calling you councilman." Noatak said jokingly, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

"Spirits spare me from that." Tarrlok shook his head instantly. "I'm terrified of speaking in front of the tribe."

Noatak smirked, giving his brother a pat on the shoulder. In a way, he was proud of the way he had stood up to him.

"So what now?" Tarrlok asked.

"The Avatar's long gone, even if we do want her to come back, there's no way we're doing that stupid stunt again." Noatak replied firmly. "So we try and rescue Niska. If what Toph says is true, then the Fire Nation would be moving towards Yu Dao to protect it from the Earth Kingdom. Where ever their armies are, chances are we'll find Niska. After that, let's head back home."

"And how exactly are we going to get her out of the middle of the Fire Nation army?!" Tarrlok said uneasily.

"I'm thinking little brother, I'm thinking." Noatak said rather cryptically, but the answer seemed obvious to him even as he saw Kori Morishita prepping her armor and weapons for the journey.

"I'm thinking Kori can use a few extra hands to Yu Dao." Noatak said in a conspiratorial tone.

"Sounds like a plan brother." Tarrlok said with a grin.


"Those two make quite the team." Iroh commented dryly as he observed the two water tribe brothers proceed over to Kori's group, asking the governor's daughter if they could join in the expedition to Yu Dao.

Zuko meanwhile, sat in the shadows, watching the proceedings without uttering a word.

"You know why I had to let her go Zuko..." Iroh said in a low, grave voice, so that only the two of them could hear. "She's not a weapon to be used against her own will. It isn't any different than how your Father had treated you."

The mere mention of his father sent rather painful feelings through him, but Zuko relented. Taking a deep breath as he listened to his uncle. Once again, like the story of his life, they had lost the Avatar.

Yet Zuko strangely found himself at peace. In his youth, he would have been furious, but he found surprisingly that the hot, flowing rage he was used to was tempered now. It was probably because now, everything had changed. Back then, he had his honor to redeem, and a home that he craved to return to. Now, there was a strange freedom of detachment in that he had neither of those to look forward to. No honor to redeem, no home or family, just his duty.

It was almost...calming, and at that moment, Zuko appreciated just how his uncle was able to remain so calm when he guided Zuko during those stormy years of his youth.

"I'm not angry Uncle." Zuko said softly.

"You are starting to understand." The old man smiled gently, words filled with solemn pride. "To see the value in patience."

"I'm not angry, but it doesn't change the fact that we are taking a huge risk having her return to the Fire Nation...we could have explained it to her."

"She wasn't ready." Iroh reasoned. "She is still at the beginning of her journey. We just have to give her time."

"And if the Fire Nation decides to not give her any?" Zuko asked. "She entered the Avatar State, and I'm guessing Azula would be warned of her existence by now."

"It is a chance we can take. Aside from being the Avatar, she is a remarkable individual, and she has a talent for surrounding herself with dependable allies and friends. She is safe for the moment." Iroh said rather cryptically, pulling out from his sleeve the old pai sho tile that he always carried around all these years.

"And if she isn't?"

"Then I have the perfect back up plan!" Iroh said with a mischievous grin as he patted Zuko on the shoulder, and the former Prince groaned as he recognized that look in his uncle's face.

"You." He said simply with a smile.


Korra had a ton of things on her tired and much abused mind. For one thing, she had no idea where the heck she was or even how to get back to friendly lines without giving her identity away. Then there was the added pressure of discovering just recently that she was the Avatar. Master of the four elements, the one to bring balance to the world, and also the greatest enemy in the history of Fire Nation-the same nation she was now running away to.

To say her head was threatening to split in half, was an understatement.

But for now, she just forgot all of it. She gleefully forgot it all. The pressures of her everyday existence seemed to dissolve into nothingness as she gazed at the magnificent roast duck that was laid out in front of her.

"This is incredible!" Korra instantly attacked the dish as ferociously as she would have an opponent in an Agni Kai.

"Pretty awesome huh?" Hope said with a polite smile on her face. It didn't take long before the girls traveled off the road to Hope's house, and she was glad she was able to repay Korra for her kindness with the lovely meal."

"Definitely." Korra said. The stuff tasted like it was good enough for a king!

"So why were those thugs after you anyways?" Korra asked out of curiosity. "You don't seem like someone who has a lot to steal from...no offense."

"None taken." Hope grinned, pouring herself some tea as she ate with Korra. "The war's hit this area pretty hard lately. With the Fire Nation acting up again, the warlords have been combing the area for men and supplies. Giam's men have already confiscated our harvests, and now that they're on the move, they're trying to squeeze every last bit of food out of us."

At that, Korra instinctively stopped eating, feeling almost guilty that she was getting to enjoy this meal at her host's expense.

Hope however, chuckled softly when she noticed Korra's gesture. "It's okay, I've been stockpiling my own hidden stores for a while now. Consider this a treat."

"Still..." Korra said rather uneasily, "Doesn't it just seem wrong? That the Earth Kingdom is doing this to their own people?" Then again, Korra thought wryly, she was the Water Tribe girl in the Fire Nation army...but that didn't stop her from seeing that this was just wrong. As far as she knew, the Fire Nation army didn't steal from their own people.

Hope shook her head, "You would think so wouldn't you? But It's the story of this war, and of every war before, greedy men seeing someone weaker with something they want."

"Why don't you fight back?" Korra asked, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"I wish we could," Hope replied. "but it's hard when they've conscripted all the benders into the army, not to mention all the men and women of fighting age."

"I guess you must be lucky then." Korra noted, to which Hope gave a nod.

"Not really, they just don't think I'd be useful to them." Hope replied with a faint smile, "I guess that counts as lucky."

Korra smiled ironically at that statement, remembering her own upbringing. "That's lucky enough in my books."

Knowing better than to continue this depressing topic, Korra thought it best to change subjects.

"So...where did you learn to cook like this?" She asked curiously.

"My mother was a great cook my family immigrated to Ba Sing Se, back when they were refugees." Hope explained, "I'd like to think some of it rubbed off on me."

"Oh yes, you definitely have it, the food is amazing!" Korra complimented genuinely her host as she munched on a slice of roast duck. "I don't think I've ever eaten anything this good in the prison."

Korra then suddenly clasped her hands over her mouth as she realized what she had just said. Stupid! Don't give anything away.

Hope stopped eating as soon as she heard Korra utter the phrase.

"You were in a prison?"

Wow. Way to go Korra...

"Yes..." Korra said softly. "Ah, but it doesn't matter now."

Hope however, didn't seem the least bit discouraged by that answer. "I'd like to think it does."

"You wouldn't want to hear it."

"Try me."

For a moment, Korra hesitated, feeling unsure of what was safe to say or not to say. But she relented. "My family was captured by the Fire Nation in the South Pole before I was born, so I grew up in a prison actually."

"That sounds awful." Hope said.

"Worse than you can imagine." Korra shivered slightly, uncomfortable with the memories. "They made my dad work in the mines, my mom in the factories. I...I was taken to train with the soldiers..." She stopped there. No, better that she doesn't know all the gruesome details.

"I can see...It must have been awful." Hope commented with sympathy, eyeing the bandages wrapped around Korra's back."

Slightly conscious of the fact that her wounds were still there, Korra pulled her shirt in, not entirely comfortable with people gawking at her like some kind of wounded animal.

Almost sensing this, Hope relented. "I'm sorry..." she offered, "If this is uncomfortable-"

"No," Korra cut her off. "It's...it's just weird you know? I never talked about this with anyone before. It's not like I can except a lot of people to understand exactly what it was like, going through all that."

"Well, if it helps...I know what you mean." Hope said calmly, "When the Fire Nation conquered Ba Sing Se, they forced all the citizens to move out into refugee camps to make way for the Fire Nation colonists. My family among them. I was a baby back then, so that life was all I knew."

"But you escaped." Korra offered.

"Yes..." Hope replied softly. "When I was still young, my parents smuggled me out...but it didn't end well..."

Korra was silent for a long time as she listened to her friend. It seemed so unfair, how good people would be punished so. Hope was free from the prison, but all alone now. While Korra herself had her family, but they were imprisoned, like a chain to keep her in line. It was a cruel, sickening irony and it seemed to summarize everything she knew about this twisted world.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Korra offered helplessly.

"It's okay." Hope smiled, gently wiping her eyes. "As weird as it was, I think I needed that. It's always good to know a fellow survivor is out there."

"Some of us just can't seem to catch a break huh..." Korra said rather self deprecatingly.

"Well," Hope said cordially, pouring out another cup of tea for Korra. "I'd like to think that in the end, if we keep at it, things will turn out for the best."

"Careful there," Korra said snarkily as she took the offered tea. "That sounds awfully close to optimism."

"Well, you can blame my parents for that one." Hope chuckled, "They said that I was blessed by the Avatar, and that he was the main reason I am even here today. I always took it as some kind of a good luck charm I guess."

"The Avatar...eh." Korra said uneasily, wondering just how in the heck they had managed to even go onto a topic that was even more uncomfortable.

"People keep saying that he is not coming back. But I have faith." Hope pressed, "I know, somewhere, out there. There's still a chance."

"I guess," Korra said in a surprisingly cheerful voice, hoping to disguise the nervousness she felt just now. "Well until then, let's drink." She lifted her tea cup towards Hope.

"To our crappy lives!" She said jokingly.

Hope chuckled, then toasted her friend in turn. "You're a funny one Korra. I'm glad I was able to meet you."

"Pleasure's all mine." Korra smirked, then drank, even as the swirl of thoughts returned uneasily back into her mind.


The tent was almost pitch black that night, save for the burning of a few candles in the corner where Sentinel Asami was standing guard. She bowed low as Zhenjin entered.

"Has the prisoner said anything yet?" Zhenjin asked rather seriously, eager to get this over yet. He had promised Mako and his friends that he would not leave Korra behind. Nor was he willing to give up on the Blue Spirit just yet. That unfortunately, left only one option. Distasteful, but it must be done.

"Not yet sire." Asami replied smoothly, "But I'll get her talking soon enough."

"Soon is not enough." Zhenjin growled impatiently. "You may go Asami."

"But-" Asami began to protest.

"It's fine Asami," Zhenjin replied casually, "If anything goes wrong, you'll be the first to know."

Knowing better than to contradict the Crown Prince of the Phoenix Empire, Sentinel Asami bowed, and left the tent.

That just left Zhenjin alone with his 'guest'.

One of the few prisoners they had captured from the last battle, aside from a few lowly peasant grunts, was a sight that no one had seen on a battlefield for over a decade.

A Kyoshi Warrior.

She remained tied up, her arms chained upwards between two metal poles that were stabbed into the ground, suspending her on her feet. Her green armored kimono was battle scarred and disheveled, and the brilliant white and red war paint had faded, worn off her face from the trials of the past two days.

"You're strong." Zhenjin offered the compliment honestly. "But I'm afraid your stubborness is going to end now."

Niska, bound but still defiant, glared angrily at the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, hiding her surprise that he was even here, alone in this tent with her.

"Like I'll tell you anything." Niska spat, defiance written all over the Kyoshi's face.

That kind of took Zhenjin off guard. For as long as he could remember from the days of his youth, everyone seemed to shrink away in fear in his presence, mainly due to the fact that everyone knew who his mother was. Only a few people didn't seem intimidated by him, his friends Mako and Asami included. This would be interesting indeed.

"I don't expect you to tell me anything just yet, after all, we've just met, how can I trust you?" Zhenjin casually stood near a wooden table, laying out a tool kit in front of the trussed up warrior.

"Since we're being so upfront, I'll lay it out here now. We're missing someone from our team, not only that, but I'm also hunting a fugitive called the Blue Spirit."

When Niska didn't reply at first, Zhenjin sighed, setting more tools down on the table.

"I have a lot of questions to ask you. Like why did your allies kidnap our comrade? I'm also interested in why the rebels would work with a Fire Nation fugitive like the Blue Spirit. I think you know the answer to both."

"I won't tell you anything." Niska said, a hint of nervousness in her voice.

That slight change in tone wasn't lost on Zhenjin. Despite his misgivings with his mother, she had trained him well in that aspect.

"Like I said, I don't expect you to, not yet anyways. How can I trust anything you tell me now?" The prince said nonchalantly walking up in front of Niska. "I was hoping it wouldn't come to this, but we're out of time, and we need to find our friend and the Blue Spirit. It looks like we've have to get to know each other sooner rather than later."

Without warning, Niska felt a hand stab forward, hitting her just below the ribs. The Kyoshi Warrior gasped, feeling her insides pushing all the air out her throat. She wanted to fall onto the ground, but the chains held her up, a sickening feeling overcoming her instantly that quickly developed into pain. Her throat felt constricted into a tightened grip, while her insides convulsed in spasms of pain, as if she were about to throw up.

"I'm sure you're very familiar with Chi Blocking," Zhenjin commented dryly, "The variation Grand Master Ty Lee taught me isn't as precise, nor does it disable or numb your body. It's purpose is to simply open up your chi paths to experience...greater sensations."

Niska kept coughing violently, almost choking as she still tried to recover from the initial blow, but Zhenjin kept talking, as if ignoring her struggles.

"That's just the start," The Prince said, "If you still persist in not telling me anything, I've also brought along a few tools to speed things along."

Zhenjin went back to the wooden table, pulling out several blades of various sizes and lengths from the tool kit.

"At first I won't be able to trust you, but after I use this," He pulled out a small, wicked curved knife. "I trust you'll be honest about a few things. We'll have developed what they would call... a closer bond. Like a commander and his subordinate."

"And if we are still having issues, then we get to this one," Zhenjin said, unsheathing the blade of his jian with a loud rasp of metal.

"At that point, I'll believe every word that comes out of your mouth. Like we're Family."


Why yes, I am a fan of Pan's Labyrinth XD

I apologize if the pacing is slow, there's just so much i want to set up in terms of character development, plot etc...that i want to make sure i cover all my points before pressing forward. Needless to say, this is a 'slow' chapter in terms of plot progression, but just one of those chappys where I enjoy just writing the characters immersed in this world.

As for Zuko, when you spend two decades under the tutelage of your mentor, some of their values ought to rub off on ya..and unfortunately, same goes with a certain prince and his mom :S, even if he is doing this to save Korra and fulfill his mission.

again, THANK YOU all for your support and your comments and reads :) I very much appreciate it and i hope the rest of this tale is to your liking :D

Next up : All roads lead to Yu Dao! What will Korra/Zhenjin/Southern Earth Kingdom/ Everybody do next?!


To those i can't PM :)

RashestRumble16 : As to the reason why Korra doesn't know Iroh...a vain royal family such as the Fire Nation can approach a bad apple in the family tree in one of two ways. Either use them publicly as an example and warning, or wipe them from the history books to maintain the illusion of unity and perfection in the royal family. In this world, Azula decides to wipe out the accomplishments of Iroh from the history books, and this will play a role later on as well. Hope that helps!

Korra's parents are still out there :) and they will make a return! I just gotta get past the entire Earth Book lol, it's turning out to be longer than i thought!

Uzu-chan : Thanks for the review! Yes, Korra seems like a natural bending prodigy in the show, much like Aang. Hehe, your commentary on the other two elements is exactly why i'm so eager to start writing the next two parts! And yeah, i would say that Zhenjin respects and admires her as a soldier, anything more, we'll see! I took an opportunity to read Children of War based on your recommendation (haven't hit book 3 yet), it's amazing, and I'm flattered any character I made would remind you of that! =O Thanks again. And yes, as you mentioned, when she bothers, Korra is quite the sharp cookie ;)