Paragon of Korra

by Deus Swiftblade

When the new Avatar stepped off the boat in Republic City and as she deals with life as the Avatar, she soon discovers that not everything is what it seems. Especially when the other side of the world, a place the Bending Countries had been in vague contact with for the past 70 years, shows itself again.

37. Loss and depth

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the Last Airbender, or the Legend of Korra.

Paragon of Korra

Chapter 37: Loss and depth

"Talking"

"Thinking"

"Bijū/spirit talking"

"Bijū/spirit thinking"

(Location: Spirit World)

With all that had happened in the past minute or so, Asami felt justified by thinking that if her sensei was here, the first words out of his mouth would've been "Well, shit." She stared at the looming Spirit of Darkness and felt like a little elephant-rat, scurrying across the floor while giants stomped around above her. Her hand started reaching for the whistle hanging from her neck. But she stopped herself before her fingers could touch the metal. "Have faith in Korra," she told herself as her friend got back up to her feet. "She can beat this spirit. You know she can."

As Vaatu continued to loom in the air above, he gave Unalaq a partial glance before settling his sight upon Korra. But he didn't see the human standing there. She was just a vessel for his opposite. He could look past the human flesh and see her there, glaring up at him. She never changes. "Raava, nothing could stop this moment," he told her. "Harmonic Convergence is upon us again."

It wasn't Raava who spoke back to him, but rather the vessel. "I'm not going to let you fuse with Unalaq," she proclaimed in hopeless defiance. "You're going right back in that prison."

It was the vessel speaking but he could hear Raava echoing through her words. It would've been amusing, if he cared for such a thought. But he didn't. He had been freed after ten thousand years of imprisonment. He was not going back there. It was his time now. Raava's era was over and it was time to make that a reality. So without bothering to retort, he arced up into the air and flew downward towards his willing host, already standing with arms out to welcome him.

But Korra wasn't just going to wait for the fight to start. She was going to start it herself. She went into the Avatar State and bent a gigantic blast of fire at Vaatu, sending him reeling back away from Unalaq. Then she bent the air around her uncle to trap him in a twisting cyclone of a prison. It wouldn't hold for long but she didn't need it to. She bent him off the ground, into the air, and threw him into the portal, sending him away from the Spirit World. She came out of the Avatar State and looked at her friends. "Don't let Unalaq back in the Spirit World," she told the three of them.

"We're on it," Bolin assured her. He, Mako, and Asami turned and ran into the portal, leaving her alone.

She faced Vaatu, who had recovered from his reeling and was flying right towards her. She went into the Avatar State, ready to fight. "Let's dance," she said in silent challenge, bending fire in her hands to propel her forward.

---

Tenzin had only led his group in a run for ten minutes before they had slowed down. By then the landscape had changed completely. Instead of being in a rocky wasteland with two portals and a dead-looking tree, they were now in a forest that had trees with blue leaves. "Jinora," Bumi called out as they walked down a rough path. "Jinora's spirit do you hear me? It's your Uncle Bumi."

Tenzin watched his brother go on like that. He had been doing it for the last three minutes but it wasn't doing anything. "Ah, this isn't working," the Airbender declared as he came to a stop. "We can't just randomly wander the Spirit World, call out for Jinora, and expect to find her."

In hindsight, Bumi could see where his little brother was coming from. But he wasn't going to say that out loud. "We just need to employ the simply rules of tracking," he retorted before kneeling down to the ground. "First we locate her footprints…then we follow them."

Kya looked down at her brother like he had suggested something that was obviously stupid. "Do you even know what spirit footprints look like? Do spirits even leave footprints?" she asked him. "Face it, your tracking skills won't work in the Spirit World." She sat down as he stood back up, folding her legs into a meditative position and closing her eyes. "Let me try something." She let her breathing fall into a loud and repetitive pattern as she reached out with her inner energy to find her niece. "Jinora is over there," she said, pointing off to her left while her eyes were still closed. "I feel a lot of spiritual energy coming from that direction."

This time it was Bumi who ruined the progress. "We're in the Spirit World. There's spiritual energy in every direction."

"He's got a point," Yue agreed.

"Hush, you," Kya told her with a frown.

"Enough!" Tenzin snapped at them all. "We can't do this by ourselves. We need a spirit guide."

That made sense to the Paragon in the group. "Do you have a particular spirit in mind?"

"No," he admitted.

"Then what are you going to do?"

He looked around the forest and saw a hole in a nearby tree, red vines either going in or out of it in multiple strands all over. Inside the cave, he could see a little star dancing in the air. "There," he said, walking to the hole with the others behind him. They stopped at the base and he looked at the star. "Spirit, hello," he began. "I'm sorry to disturb you, but I am in need of your assistance."

Red eyes began to pop open, sleepy yet angry too. "You dare wake me, human? Humans in the Spirit World belong in one place only."

"Ah, where would that be, exactly?" Yue asked, suddenly getting a very bad feeling about where the conversation was going.

The spirit emerged from out of its hole. It was an enormous spider with a scorpion's tail, where the star was hanging from. As soon as it appeared in their sight, it charged right at them, which prompted them to start running for their lives. They didn't know where they going but that didn't matter as much as making sure they got out alive did.

The spirit made some kind of spitting sound behind them. Nothing struck them so they kept running. "What was that?" Bumi asked.

"I don't know!" Kya shouted back. "Anybody else catch it?"

"No! And I'm not stopping to find out what it was!" Yue replied.

The forest broke clear and Yue thought they were safe. But she ran into Bumi's back full on. She wondered why they had stopped. She got the answer when she looked over his shoulder and saw that they were standing on a cliff. "Not good, not good!" she thought to herself. Then she heard the spirit coming behind them. "Really not good!" she added.

The others jumped off as the spirit appeared behind them, ready to spit whatever it was that it was spitting, and she followed them off the cliff. Her screams left her mouth and went up the side of the cliff as she fell. They turned into grunts of pains as she crashed through tree branches and landed on the ground again, right on top of Bumi, who on top of his siblings.

As she lay there, dazed and a little disoriented from the fall, she could only think of one thing to ask. "Was it stupid of me to ask that question?"

All she got for an answer was a groan from Kya and a slurred "That is the last time I spar with Sifu while she's drunk and in a mood," from Bumi. She didn't know what the groan from Kya meant and she knew enough about June to not ask Bumi for an explanation.

Tenzin, who was at the bottom of the pile, got everyone back onto their feet and to their senses with a quick blast of Airbender. They stood there for a second to wipe off the excess foliage. "Well, that didn't work," Bumi declared. "Now where are we?"

"We're completely lost," his brother told him. He didn't recognize anything he saw around them. Finding Jinora now seemed more impossible than ever.

(Location: Land of Spring)

Tsukiko stood exactly where she had stood the last time she looked at that door in the side of the mountain, with her back against a tree. It hadn't changed since the last time she had seen it, standing at a height she could only reach if there were five of standing on shoulders. The doors were spread wide open but it didn't seem inviting to her. It actually felt arrogant, like the people were so untouchable, they couldn't care less if the entrance to their secret lair was left open or not.

"What a bunch of assholes," she muttered.

Hiro was in the bushes beside her. He looked up at her, his eyes showing his confusion. "What was that?" he asked her.

"I said what a bunch of assholes," she repeated. "They're leaving their door wide open like they don't care who comes in."

He looked back at the door. "I wouldn't say that," he replied. "There are guards standing outside." He could see clearly and he knew that she could see them too.

"There are only two of them and they don't look like they want to be there."

"Does it really matter if the people in charge are assholes because the door is open and there are guards outside?" Arashi asked, kneeling down beside Hiro. "We didn't come here for that."

"You're right," Rin said from above them, hiding in the foliage of the tree itself. "And it doesn't matter. So hush up."

"Sorry."

Hiro glanced over at where the Suna group hiding. It was only the group of Jōnin and Kankurō who were there. They didn't say or do anything. They just maintained their hiding positions and kept quiet. "I don't know if I should be impressed or intimidated by that." While he didn't really get to know the Jōnin themselves, he did know Kankurō. The old man got along on well enough with them and although he kept warning them that he had a short temper, he said with a smile that made them always think he was kidding.

He didn't have that smile on now. He looked grim and serious, even more so with the war paint across his eyes and mouth. There might've been a moment before this that they could've joked with Karura about he wore make up but it seemed to make him even more terrifying before. The bandaged package was still on his back and it looked ready to come off his shoulder at a moment's notice. He didn't know this Kankurō. It was like he was looking at a completely different person and it scared him a little bit.

"They're coming up," Arashi whispered, getting his attention.

All eyes focused on the path leading to the entrance. Gin-sensei led the Genin and Karura, all bound in chains and looking miserable. Their clothes were torn and ragged now, dirt coating them just enough to make people think they had been walking without stopping. The other Konoha Jōnin walked alongside them, holding a thick club and making sure the Genin saw them. The Kazekage brought up the rear, not as part as the guard but rather as a prisoner.

They watched as the group walked to the entrance, the Genin unconsciously holding their breaths. The plan was for the group to get into the base and then let the rest of them in. But they didn't know if it would work or not. And as much as they wanted to be a part of the group, it was decided that it couldn't be risked since they might've been spotted the last time they were here. As the group got closer and closer to the entrance, they started praying, hoping that it would work.

The guards stopped them when they got close. They were too far away to hear what the words were. Things seemed to be going fine, the Jōnin were explaining that they were bringing in a new patch of prisoners. If previous observations were to go by, the guards would just let them without having them demonstrate that the prisoners could Bend. The guards looked bored as they looked over the Genin. But then they saw the Kazekage and their eyes narrowed.

"Uh-oh," Tsukiko and her teammates thought as the guards started talking to Gin-sensei aggressively. He tried talking back but they didn't look even as he spoke. Finally they stepped back and lowered their weapons at them.

"Shit!" Rin-sensei snapped. "They've been found out!" She looked ready to jump down from her branch.

"Wait," Kankurō told her before she could jump down, looking up at her. "Gaara's got this." She must've thought the same thing because she stayed up in the tree.

One of the guards reached for an object at his waist. But before his fingers could even touch it, both he and his partner went stiff momentarily then fell to the ground dead. Gin-sensei turned to where they were hiding and signaled them to come out. "Come on," Rin told her students, dropping down from the tree and coming out of cover.

Everyone followed her out and they quickly went to the group at the entrance. "What happened?" Hiro asked.

"They saw through it," Hiruzen-sensei explained. "Lord Kazekage was the one who tipped them off, no offense sir," he said to Gaara.

"There is no need to apologize," the Kazekage told him, using his sand to break open his cuffs, freeing his hands. The cuff would've fallen to the ground and caused a racket, if a small spread of sand hadn't formed underneath them and caught them. "It was my own insistence that I join the group."

"Well, it won't work now," his brother said.

"Yes. I will have to stay behind with the first squad." The cuffs landed gently on the ground and the sand holding them dissipated away, flowing back to him, vanishing into his coat with barely a flutter.

"Hopefully, we'll be able to get further in without any more hassle," Gin-sensei said, looking at the door, still open.

"We'll be right behind you if things go bad," Rin assured him. She too stared at the door, only she was glaring at it with the full force of her hate.

Tsukiko walked over to the dead guards to look at them better. They were face down on the ground and if she hadn't seen it happen, she might've thought that they were asleep. "What did you do to them?" she asked the Kazekage, turning back to look at him.

He looked at her and then at the bodies. "I shot a single grain of superheated sand through their throats. They were dead before the grain was finished going through."

She looked down at the bodies again. She couldn't see any holes or blood anywhere. "You really did that?" she asked him.

"Yes."

Karura smirked. "You don't get to be Kazekage by collecting kunai," she proclaimed.

(Location: Spirit World)

As Korra fought against Vaatu, she hopped from spot to spot, bending the earth beneath her feet at the Spirit of Darkness. He dodged it with an ease that could've been seen as contemptable. "Oh, is that how you want to play?" she asked challengingly, "Fine!" She bent water, then fire, and then air at him. He dodged all of them and flew towards her.

She went into the Avatar State for a brief moment, using the air to throw her at him. She flew beneath him, bending water and fire as she went. They were glancing blows and they didn't even look like they hurt him. Gravity took hold of her and she fell to the ground. She bent flames beneath her feet, acting like jet propulsions that kept her steady and floating. "Come on, I'm right here!"

Vaatu turned and swung a tentacle at her. A brief fire shield blocked and deflected it. She lunged at him with twin lances of flame at her fingertips. She threw them at him, twisting them together to form a greater, stronger, lance. It struck him so hard that it carved out a piece of his body, leaving a hole big enough her to fly through with her Airbending.

She switched back to fire as she neared the ground, banking around to fight him again. But he had turned with her. One of his tentacles slapped the ground, shattering the rocks and sending them upwards. It created a brief shield between them. Korra could've used the rocks against him, throwing them in a barrage.

But he was faster. His hole disappeared instantly as he glowed purple. "Shit!" Korra thought, knowing full well what would come next. But before she could do anything to protect herself, Vaatu fired the purple beam of energy right at her.

She tried to stop it, to bend it against itself, but it was too hard and too fast to do anything. It slammed into her, knocking her right out of the Avatar State, and sent her flying against a nearby tall rock. Her back came alive with pain and when she fell to the ground, she couldn't move for a second. But a moment was all Vaatu needed as he slammed his tentacles down into the ground, almost burrowing through.

Suddenly, vines burst out the crowd and enclosed Korra, pulling tight so she wouldn't be able to move. She was lifted up off the ground, keeping her away from the earth and a source for her Bending. "No!" she shouted in protest, trying to wriggle free. But the vines were too tight against her skin. What was worse was that they began to tighten up on her. "Guys, please don't let Unalaq get in here!" she prayed.

(Location: South Pole)

As soon as they had stepped outside the portal, Bolin, Asami, and Mako couldn't see Unalaq. Either Korra had thrown him harder than she had thought and sent him flying into the woods or he had retreated there and laid in wait. He was probably daring them to come into the woods after him.

But the brothers had seen enough street fights and Pro-bending matches to know that would've been a dumb move that could get them killed. The name of the game was now keep away. That was all they had to do to win. Mako and Bolin instinctively put space between each other, keeping their guards up as they watched the woods in front of them. Asami stood as the floater between them, able to aid one or the other in a moment's notice.

"Where are you?" Mako thought as he watched the trees, trying to see where Unalaq would come from. It was too quiet for his taste and it was beginning to put him on edge. But he couldn't it take control or he would make a mistake.

He heard the sound of ice rising and shattering behind him. But he turned too late. All he saw were large spikes of ice flying right him. "Get down!" Asami shouted, grabbing him by the shoulder and forcing him down. Bolin moved up beside him and bent a small wall out in front of them.

The wall caught the spikes and didn't break. Mako got back up and threw a couple of punches, bending fire with each strike, at the woods. Bolin followed up by breaking the wall into two large boulders and throwing them at the woods too. They didn't get as far as the fire and only really succeeded in knocking down a tree.

The three of them stood there, waiting and listening for the next move to be made. They heard spikes flying through the air again, this time from behind them. By the time they turned to see, the spikes were already upon them. "Evade!" Asami shouted, jumping out of the way of them.

The brothers followed her example but came up swinging. Mako again threw fire and Bolin hurled earth. But it seemed like they were hitting nothing. "Are they moving around or something?" the Earthbender asked himself as he watched the woods. He saw something in the corner of his eye. It was another hail of spikes flying right at him. He leapt away from them, creating a wall in the process. But he only had one foot connected to the earth and it was a weak balance too. The end result that the wall could not hold the hail and shattered upon impact, knocking him down to the ground with a groan.

Asami looked over at him briefly. "Bolin, you good?" she asked.

"Yeah," he answered as he got back up. "But I don't know if we can win this fight."

"We don't need to win," Mako told his brother. "We just need to stop Unalaq from getting back in the Spirit World."

"Stay frosty, guys," Asami said to them. No one made a quip about how they were in the South Pole. They kept their gaze searching for the next surprise attack, each having a feeling that there would be more to come.

(Location: Spirit World)

The forest had turned dark on them as they walked through it but it had only felt like fifteen minutes. Tenzin could only hope that they would find their way. But as they kept walking, that hope was slowly being diminished. When they passed a mushroom that glowed orange with heat, he came to a stop. "We're walking in circles," he declared. "I've seen that same spirit mushroom five times."

"That's not the same mushroom," Bumi protested.

"Yes I am," the mushroom replied. No one looked surprised at the fact that the mushroom had spoken out. They were in the Spirit World, after all. It probably would've been weird if the mushroom hadn't talked.

"See?" said Tenzin, walking over to his brother's side. "Even it knows we're lost." He palmed his face with his hand. How could they get into this kind of a situation?

"Oh sure, listen to a fungus over your own brother," the Air Paragon retorted. They were in the same boat. They had to stick together, not to argue about what was going.

A soft wailing sound floated past them, making Kya reach for her brothers' shoulders to get their attention. "What's that?" she asked them both, looking around to see if there was anything there.

But she didn't see anything and neither did her brothers or Yue. "Mushroom?" asked Bumi. "Is that you?"

"No, wasn't me," the mushroom replied.

"Well, that's helpful," Yue remarked, eyes searching every possible spot for a threat.

"Thank you, I try."

"You—" She stopped herself before she started. "I'm not going there."

"Going where?" She ignored it and kept looking around. "Was it something I said?" The spirit mushroom actually sounded hurt and embarrassed as it asked that question.

She was almost tempted to apologize to the spirit but stopped herself. It would just draw out the conversation and she didn't want to talk to a mushroom. "Just focus, Yue," she told herself.

She wasn't the only one who saw someone stepping out of shadows in front of them. Everyone else did too. But even though someone was able to sneak up on them, they only reacted with a gasp of surprise. "Iroh?!" said Bumi as he stared at the Dragon of the West. The old man simply smiled welcomingly at them as he stood next to a spirit fox with glowing blue eyes.

"How…? Where…?" Tenzin tried to ask, only to stop. It would've been pointless to ask the questions since he already knew the answers. There was only one actual reason why he tried asking was because he was glad to see the man. "It's been so long."

"Almost forty years," he acknowledged. They had only been children when he had passed away. Now, they were fully grown. "It's nice to see you again."

"How did you know we were here?"

He reached out and stroked the head of the spirit. "My friendly spirit fox told me you were lost, I came to show you the way out."

"That'd be nice," Yue thought in relief. She would've taken it if they didn't have to do something important to do here.

She wasn't the only one who thought that. "Iroh, we are grateful," said Tenzin, "but we're not looking for the way out. We're looking for my daughter."

Iroh's kindly visage was replaced by a frown. It was the kind of frown that told them that things were bad even before he spoke. "I'm sorry to hear that. But you shouldn't be here, Vaatu has escaped and darkness threatens to take over."

Tenzin worried about Korra and what she could do against the Spirit of Darkness. But he couldn't let it distract him from what he came to do. "I'm not leaving until I find Jinora."

"I understand. But I beg you to be careful, if you travel too deep into the Spirit World, you could end up in a place where only the lost will ever find you."

The four of them looked at each other, clearly confused by his words. But when Tenzin looked back at where Iroh stood, both man and fox were gone. Yue looked at the same spot. "That would probably be more annoying than Naruto's letters, if it happened more often," she declared.

The Airbender wasn't listening to her. He was too busy going over what he heard. "A place where only the lost can find you…?" he repeated aloud. Then realization struck him like a thunderbolt. "That's it! I know where to find Jinora!"

---

The vines kept growing tighter and tighter. She struggled against them but she could only wiggle. "Why do you fight, Raava?" Vaatu asked her. "You know that what is to come is inevitable."

"No, it's not!" she shouted at him. "I will stop you."

"Be silent when you do not know what you speak of, vessel," he ordered. "You know nothing of how the universe turns. You could only glimpse a small fraction of a fraction of it and your mind would burn at the sight of it. What has happened must be turn around in equal measure."

She didn't understand what he was saying. It just sounded like complete and utter babble. But even as she thought that, it was suddenly explained to her. He believed that because Raava had been one with the Avatar for over ten thousand years, it was his time to take charge. He shared that belief with Unalaq. But she wasn't going to let that happen. "I will stop you just like Wan did!" she proclaimed in defiance.

If Vaatu had eyes and a nose, she would be certain that he'd be looking down it at her. "Foolish simple creatures should not speak."

"Then you should've covered my mouth!" She went instantly into the Avatar State and breathed fire at him, catching him by surprise. His grip on the plants grew slack and she used that to breathe more fire onto them, burning them away into absolute nothingness.

She landed on the ground and launched a barrage of the four elements at the Spirit of Darkness. He fell back against and tried to recover. But she wouldn't let him. She threw element after element at him before finally sending him reeling back with twin rock columns aimed right at the midsection (if he had something that could be called a midsection).

But she wasn't there. As she rose up into the air on a column of that same air, she bent the air to her command. She caged Vaatu within a sphere of air and sealed it tighter with rings of water, fire, and earth. "I'm locking you away for another ten thousand years, Vaatu," she declared, her voice legion as she bent the orb back to the tree.

(Location: South Pole)

They had been warding off attacks for the past ten minutes but things had suddenly gone silent. All three of them were hiding behind a set of rock walls, waiting for the next attack to come. But all they got was silence. It was beginning to be a little unsettling. "Unalaq?" called out Bolin as he peeked over the top of the wall, trying to find the guy. "Are you out there?" He didn't see anyone and brought his head back down. He looked over at the other two. "He must've gone home?"

Asami rolled her eyes at him despite the situation. She was on the farthest wall away from him and his brother. "He's from the North Pole, Bolin. Going through the portal would be far easier getting back to his home than taking a ship."

"Oh yeah, good point."

"Just keep an eye out of him," Mako said, peering around the corner of the wall, trying to see without being seen.

That looked like a good thing to do, so his brother copied his motion and peered around the wall. The first thing he saw was Eska's face looking right back at him. "Hello, my feeble turtle duck," she said in her usual manner.

He did the first thing that came to mind: screamed in absolute horror and fear to the extent that his hair stood on edge. That lasted for about two seconds before she bent a globe of water at his head, knocking him away. Both Mako and Asami heard his scream and went on the alert. Mako turned to see the danger but missed the danger appearing at his back. "Mako, look out!" Asami shouted in warning.

He turned back around but Desna blasted him back away with a surge of water. He stumbled backwards into his brother and then both of them were knocked unconscious with a strong blast of water. Another strong blast was sent Asami's direction but she saw it coming and rolled out of the way. As she came out of the roll, she saw that Desna was coming towards her with water already beginning to coat his fingers.

"Oh no, you don't!" she silently declared. She kept her body low to the ground and leapt for his legs. Desna didn't expect the move and had his legs knocked out from under him, sending him backwards to the ground. He landed on the snow with a surprise woof of breath that turned painful when she slammed an elbow into his chest.

She heard feet moving in front of her and knew that it would be Eska coming for her. She rolled away from Desna and kept rolling as she heard water hitting snow. Her eyes found the Tribe girl and never left her as she kept rolling and rolling. She might've started feeling dizzy if her sensei hadn't made her do all those exercises that left her dizzy.

"Would you stop that now?" Eska asked her, a faint hint of annoyance entering her voice. "It is getting rather annoying."

"That's what I'm going for," she thought to herself, continuing to roll out of the way of the water. She kept on rolling, right up until she found her back against one of the walls. Eska came towards her, water coating her hands.

Asami tucked her feet underneath her and sprang at Eska, going for her legs like she had with Desna. She backed off, letting her fall short. She brought her legs underneath her again and sprang again, this time upwards at the girl's face. Her head connected with Eska's chin and the girl flew up into the air.

She flipped through the air and landed on her feet as her brother caught back up. Together they started to circle her. She kept her guard up and tried to watch them both. "Of all the times to have left my glove back in Republic City!" she bemoaned. She could've turned their Waterbending against them with that!

She saw Desna move and she moved against him. She felt a heavy, wet, weight slam right into her. She fell to the ground and laid there, too much in pain to move. She wondered what had hit her. When she heard the sound of moving water, she managed to turn her gaze to see Unalaq being carried by water to the clearing. He didn't move an inch while the water spread out like a carpet.

As it fell to the ground and lost its form, Unalaq stepped off and headed for the portal. "Don't let them escape this time," he ordered his children as he walked past them. "To have been taken down by a mere Non-bender is disgraceful." They didn't say anything back. He stopped to look down at Asami with disgust and loathing in his eyes. All she could do was stare back up at him.

She didn't know why he did it, especially when it seemed childish to her eyes, but without warning he kicked her hard in the chest, once, twice, three times. She felt some of her ribs crack and pain started to radiate even more than before. Yet despite that, she could only think of one thing that could answer why he hated the Paragons to such an extent. "How badly did he screw it up with Yue?"

(Location: Spirit World)

The four of them managed to make their way back up to the forest above the cliff and now stood before that hole in the tree. "I would like to say that I don't like this idea," Yue whispered to them all as they watched that deceptively cheerful star dancing around in air.

"You've said that already," Kya told her.

"Well, it bore repeating."

Bumi could agree with what his fellow Paragon was. What Tenzin had sounded pretty insane, which was something coming from him. "Are you this is the best way to find Jinora?" he asked his brother.

"Trust me," Tenzin replied. He ignored the doubtful look from Bumi and kept his attention on the tree. He bent the air into a blast and sent it into the hole while shouting, "Hey you! Spirit! Wake up!"

"Oh great, he's trying to antagonize the damn thing," Yue thought to herself as she watched those red eyes open up again.

"You again?!" said the dark spirit. That was all it said before it lunged out of the hole and spat out silk.

Yue's first reaction came from years of training, the same as Bumi's. They tried to put some distance between them and the silk but Tenzin had grabbed them both by the arms. He held them there, his hands feeling like clamps, as they were completely engulfed in the stuff.

They fell down and the silk quickly wrapped itself around them, binding them in tight. "Well this is just great," Bumi declared. "We were about to be food for a spirit."

"Do you think that I would lower myself to eat humans?" the spirit asked him, coming out of the tree fully and giving him a look of such disgust.

"You're a spider and we're trapped in your webbing," he retorted. "I'd say that's a good telling of what's going to happen."

The spider actually managed to snort at that (which sounded quite human) and look even more disgusted. "I couldn't eat you if I tried. You taste all wrong and I would have a hard time trying to even swallow you."

Kya was relieved that she wasn't going to be eaten but she was still worried about what the spirit could do to them. "If you're not going to eat us, what are you going to do?" she asked.

"What I do with all humans that intrude on me. I send them to prison."

"Prison?" she repeated, confused by the notion. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Tenzin looked relieved. Whatever he thought was supposed to happen did. If that was true, then it would not be a good idea to try and fight their way free. So she did nothing as the spirit walked away from them and dragged the silk webbing behind it.

The only thing anyone said as they were dragged across the ground was Yue telling Tenzin "I'm going to hold this against you the next time you tell me to trust you." He didn't say anything in return.

They weren't sure just how long they were being dragged along. But when the spider spirit finally stopped, it swung the webbing around in front so they were able to see where they were. They looked down at a valley that was completely covered in fog so thick they wouldn't have been able to see the bottom if they tried. They didn't know how far down it was to the actual ground.

In spite of this, what they were looking didn't appear to be all that bad. That, of course, made Kya all the more nervous. "I thought we were gonna be taken to a prison?" she asked, still looking down at the fog.

"This is a prison," Tenzin said grimly. This was where they needed to go. But it was going to be dangerous, very dangerous.

"Welcome to the Fog of Lost Souls," the dark spirit proclaimed. "You will never escape." It swung its tail in a snapping motion, sending them over the fog. The silk broke open and they fell screaming into the fog, vanishing from sight. As soon as they were gone, the spirit turned and left.

(Location: South Portal)

Eska and Desna dragged the Bending brothers away from the portal. In their minds, even though Asami had handled them, she was down for the count and the brothers still needed to be taken care of. Their suspicions would've been proven correct, if they had taken the time to actually look at the people they were dragging and not be so focused on the dragging itself.

Bolin and Mako came to at roughly the same time. Years of living on the street kicked in and they stayed completely still. Bolin looked over at his brother. In situations like these, it was Mako who took the lead and got them out of the jams. He was certain that this time around would be no exception.

His faith was rewarded when his brother looked at him and gave him a nod. The Firebender swung his legs up, bending fire right at Desna's face. The Waterbender was caught off guard and he released him. Mako jumped to his feet and threw a fireball at Eska, making her let go of Bolin. His brother came to his feet, stomping earth columns out at the twins, stopping them from coming at them. They turned to the portal but stopped when they saw Asami lying there.

She saw them and knew what they were thinking. There wasn't time for them to pick her up. The twins would catch them if they did. "Go!" she told them. "Go now!" They nodded and ran into the portal.

What they saw on the other side was nothing good. Vaatu was rising up from the tree and Unalaq standing nearby with a victorious look on his face. What was worse was that Korra was lying on the ground. She didn't seem to be moving. "No!" Mako cried out in his mind at the sight of her on the ground like that. It only took one look from his brother to know that they were thinking the same thing. They piled on the speed and raced towards her.

The portal whispered behind them and they both heard Eska shout out, "Stop!" But they kept going, more intent on saving their friend than fighting. They probably should've fought instead of run because the next they knew, they were literally covered in ice from the neck down. They were unable to move and could only watch.

While they watched, Korra tried to get back on her feet. She had been so close, so close! Vaatu had been all but sealed inside the tree again when she had gotten a hard water blast in the back. It was a surprise move and completely knocked her focus off, sending her to the ground. When she looked up, the bright light that told her Vaatu was being sealed shattered and the Spirit of Darkness flew free once more. She tried getting back up but her uncle threw another blast of water at her. This one was so heavy that she lay on the ground stunned for a few seconds on the ground.

But a few seconds was all that was needed. As she got back up to her feet, Vaatu neared Unalaq. Fear of what would happen next spurred her into action, throwing a wild fireball at her uncle. He swept it aside with his Waterbending. Then he stood still and let Vaatu take him. The spirit dove down and into him in a flash of purple light, appearing and vanishing within the same second. Unalaq slumped forward with a groan and sagging shoulders.

But then he stood back up and his eyes burned red. The symbol of Vaatu glowed on his chest for a brief second before disappearing. Korra knew what had happened to him. She had seen it before with Wan. Both human and spirit were sharing a body but it wouldn't last. The human body would have to eject the spirit before it was killed. That is, unless the human part was able to touch one of the portals during Harmonic Convergence.

She watched as her uncle turned to the northern portal. One second he was standing only a few yards away from her and the next, he was standing at the portal with his arm already reaching out to touch it. As soon as he did, thunder boomed and lightning cracked from the connected portals, almost causing a storm in the Spirit World. The energy rushed up from both portals and met at the peak, causing the storm.

It went on and on as he continued to touch the portal. Purple energy leaked out from it and latched onto his arm like a parasite trying to find a host. And like a parasite, it quickly spread its way up his body. This wasn't like what had happened with Wan. It wasn't a merging of the two. It was more like a hostile takeover of one over the other. As soon as the energy completely covered him, it turned dark red and he yelled in pain, red light pouring from his mouth into the air.

Korra could only in horror as the process happened. To her, it looked like the energy was trying to morph his body into something else, something more sinister, while his body fought against it. She didn't know what that meant exactly but she did know what was coming next. "No!" she said to herself, hopeless as the energy built up inside Unalaq until it was released in a big explosive wave, spreading across the Spirit World in a blinding light.

She withstood the pressure from the wave and covered her eyes from the light but that was all she could do. As the light faded along with the pressure, she opened her eyes again and looked at Unalaq. Purple smoke leeched off of him as he stood upright and when he opened his eyes, they were still red. But this time, they were steady. "We are now one!" he declared in a voice that echoed with another. "Now a new era for spirits and humans will begin! And I will lead them all as the new Avatar!"

Korra found her strength and courage at those words. She stood up fully and marched towards himm. "Well, I'm the old Avatar and my era's not over yet!" she declared in defiance. They both bent water around their feet and leapt at each other, clashing hard and ready to fight.

(Location: Land of Spring)

The tunnel in the mountain was a short one but the Genin didn't know if that was a good thing or not. The light from the moon outside faded away from their backs until they could only see by the torches imbedded in the walls. The Jōnin blocked their view of what laid ahead of them. They had been told to look like they were miserable, scared, and nervous about what was going to happen next. Those emotions were perfect on their faces because it was exactly how they were feeling.

Inoji felt sweat on the back of his neck that was going down his backside in an achingly slow fashion. He also felt sweat on his brow. He could've waved it off as it just being from the heat of the torches but he wouldn't have fooled anyone. He was nervous, just like everyone else stuck in the chain line. The only one who didn't seem to be actually concerned was Karura. She led the chain and she seemed confident about what was happening.

The narrow tunnel began to widen and he got nervous. He had a feeling that they were getting closer to the actual base itself. His feeling was proven right when he heard someone shout out, "Halt!"

Gin-sensei came to a stop and the group stopped in behind him. Inoji took that moment to peek around the line to see what was ahead. He saw two guards standing in front of another door. They looked serious and eyed Gin-sensei with suspicion. "Hey," he said to them.

"Who are you?" they demanded.

"What does it look like I am?" He gestured back with his thumb. "I'm bringing in a new batch."

The guard on the left kept eyeing him with utter suspicion. "I don't know you, or your partner." He turned his gaze onto Hiruzen-sensei and looked at him hard.

He just scoffed. "You know every guy who brings in the batches? I don't think so." He held himself in a stance that declared he was bored with the questions and wanted to keep moving.

Both guards shared a look and then looked back at them. "What are you bringing in?"

"A couple of Firebenders, Earthbenders, and even a Waterbender," Gin-sensei answered him.

"No Airbenders?" he asked with a condescending smirk.

Inoji's felt like they were caught, his heart started skipping beats. But Gin-sensei returned the smirk to say, "You're funny. If we had any Airbenders, there'd be an army coming after us."

"And there's no army," Hiruzen-sensei added, still looking bored.

"Eh, fine." The guard looked over the Genin in chains and Inoji would swear that the look in his eyes turned lecherous when he looked at them. "You got a pretty nice batch here. I wouldn't mind paying some of them a little visit once they're settled in."

Bile started to form in Inoji's stomach at the implication of those words. "You sick fuck!" Tsume shouted, straining against the chains.

He just laughed. "Oh look, she's desperate already. I won't have to do anything to get her really wet then."

"I'm going to kill you!"

Gin-sensei walked over to her and slapped her hard against the face. She fell to the ground with a look of absolute shock. "Shut the fuck up," he ordered. She opened her mouth to say something and he slapped her again. "You didn't hear me the first time? I said to shut the fuck up?" Tears were beginning to pour out of her eyes but she opened her mouth again. He raised his hand and she slammed it shut. "Smart girl," he told her. She just kept looking at him with shocked eyes.

Inoji was shocked too. He didn't think that their sensei would ever do something like that. It added to the bile and he felt like he was going to sick. "Hey, hey," the guard on the right said. "Don't damage the merchandise. We let the customers do that kind of shit."

"Oh relax," he said back, turning away from Tsume. "It was just a couple of slaps. She's not going to do die from them."

"Even so, don't damage the merchandise. It brings down the price and the boss hates it when that happens."

"Fine," he said with a shrug of his shoulders. "Can we go in already? I want to get in some sleep before the night's over."

"Sure, just make sure these runts go where they need to go." He reached out and slammed his fist against the door three times. It was a hollow sound that echoed throughout the tunnel, fading away into a whisper. The door opened with an old groan and all he could see beyond was semi-darkness.

What was beyond the door was a spiral staircase that went upwards and it didn't look like it ended where they could see it. The door closed behind them and there were only torches light their way again. "Alright, let's get a move on," Gin-sensei declared. He yanked the chain and made them follow him up the stairs.

It didn't take long for Inoji's legs to start feeling worn out. Behind him he could hear Tsume trying to stifle tears with some success. "He didn't have to hit me so hard," she whispered in a choked voice. "It really hurt."

"This is a real mission," he thought to himself. It was a real mission with real implications. That meant they were going to be treated like slaves. And he and the rest of the Genin from Konoha had wanted so bad to get out of the village. He was beginning to think that it was a bad idea to want that. He cast a quick glance behind him and saw that the others were thinking the same thing that he was. The only one who wasn't was Karura.

When the staircase finally ended at a door, Gin-sensei pushed it opened and urged them forward. They went through and saw a large cavern below them. If he had tried to throw a kunai to the other side, he was fairly certain the length was long enough that it would fall to gravity before it hit the intended target. The path they were on rounded itself downwards against the wall. There were doors along the path but that wasn't what they were focused on.

They were focused on what was going on at the bottom and near the bottom. Children were being led around in chains, thrown into small cells, or fighting each with such an intensity that Inoji was surprised some of them weren't dead yet. Then he looked and saw some people were dragging away corpses and he felt sick. The kids all did this with a slack expression on their faces, like they weren't aware of where they were.

But the thing that got his attention the most was how they were using elements in their fighting. He knew that elemental jutsu required handseals in order to work but these kids were throwing punches and kicks and the elements responded to their motions. He saw fire, earth, and water but no lightning or water. He found that a little strange but didn't know what to say about it. He just settled for a realization that they were there to save all of those kids and it probably wasn't going to be easy.

"Alright, come on," Gin-sensei said, pulling on the chain and leading them downwards.

(Location: Spirit World)

Despite how the fog had looked outside, they had landed rather safely in it. But even if they had landed safely, they were still in a valley that was covered in fog. They looked around and saw but fog. Bumi walked ahead a little bit and didn't see anything that even resembled an actual prison. "What kind of prison doesn't have any bars or walls?" he asked the others behind him. "We can walk right out of here."

Yue looked around. Like him, all she saw was fog. But there was something else out there too. She would swear that she could see vague shapes moving around in the fog. "I don't think it's going to be that easy, Bumi," she said to him, still watching the fog. There was a particular shape out there. It almost looked like…no that was impossible. She wasn't here. She was back in the human world. But even as she tried to deny it and know the truth, that old anger and rage began to bubble up inside her. She clenched her hands into fists, trying desperately not to go charging off after what could be a phantom.

"Kya's right," Tenzin said in agreement. "The Fog of Lost Souls is a spirit prison for humans. I read about that in ancient text. The fog is actually a spirit that infects your mind and slowly drives you mad, imprisoning you in your own darkest memories."

His sister gasped slightly in surprise at his words. This was not a place that she wanted to be in. None of them should be in a place like this. There were some bad moments in her life, yet they paled in comparison to what Bumi and Yue had both been through. "How long can we be trapped in here?" she asked her brother.

As if to answer her question, they heard footsteps behind them. They turned to see a man in an old Fire Nation uniform that was dirty and a little messy. There was a crazed look in his eyes while his hair was stringy and unkempt. But what got their attention the most was the broken jian blade in the back of his head. He walked past them, unaware of them or the sword that should've been piercing his brain. He just kept on ranting, "I am Zhao, the Conqueror. I am the Moon Slayer. I will capture the Avatar. I am Zhao the Conqueror. I am the Moon Slayer. I will capture the Avatar."

"Hopefully we're not trapped in here as long as that guy," she remarked. She looked to the side and saw Yue looking at the man with a wide look of surprise that turned into rage. "Yue, what's wrong?"

"It's him," she snarled as she glared death at the man.

"Him who?" she asked.

"Him!" the Paragon repeated. "The Fire Nation admiral that attacked the North Pole killed Tui, the first Moon Spirit. He's the one who caused my namesake to surrender her life to take that position!"

Zhao must've heard her because he turned to them. His eyes were initially confused but when they latched onto Tenzin, they widened in recognition. "You, you're him. The last Airbender!" he shouted, reaching out and grabbing hold of the Airbender.

"Ah, no!" cried out Tenzin as he tried to break the grip off. "Get off me!" He was a little afraid of the man, having heard all the stories about when he was a child. But there was a difference between hearing the story and meeting the man himself.

Zhao pulled him in closer so they were almost face to face. "You've grown. But I will still defeat you." He didn't expect Bumi to drag him away or for Kya to knock him down. When he stood back up, they were already vanishing into the fog. "Come back Avatar," he called out. "Face me! I am Zhao the Conqueror. I will capture you! Victory will be mine!"

"Just disappear already, you son of a bitch!" Yue shouted at him, pulling out a small knife and throwing it in his general direction. She didn't know if it struck him or not but she didn't waste time on it.

They kept running for a good five minutes before finally stopping. "I think it's safe to say that was unpleasant," Bumi declared.

"I think it's safe to say that's an understatement," Yue retorted.

Kya looked back at where they had come from but all she saw was fog. It was just as thick as everywhere else. "We could get lost in here too easily."

Tenzin nodded in agreement with his sister. He took the traditional Air Nomad belt wrapped around his waist and undid until it was long enough to give them some room. "If we stay together, we'll find Jinora and make it out of this fog," he explained to them all as he tied the rope ends to their belts. Once they were secured, the four of them ventured further into the fog.

(Location: South Pole)

Asami was able to work her way up onto her knees and crawl over to a tree. As her back rested against the trunk, she breathed deeply and focused on lessening the pain in her chest. It was hard. Every breath taken in made her chest feel like it was on fire. Even when she wanted the pain to stop, she knew if it did she'd be dead. She had to keep breathing.

Gradually the pain began to lessen and she stood up on shaky legs. She held her hand on the tree for support and once she took it off, she turned to face the portal. She had to get in there and help. She took a step towards it and she saw Korra come flying out of it atop an air column. Unalaq was right behind her atop a water column and they were both baring down in her direction.

"Crap!" she thought in a near panic. She leapt to the side as they barreled past, covering her ears as the wind howled against the roar of water. What came next to her mind would confuse and amuse her in the weeks afterwards. "If they were in Satomobiles, shouting at them would be so much easy!"

Korra wasn't exactly sure when they had started moving around on columns or when they had gone through the portal, only that they had gone through it. She tried to keep her focus on the fight. It seemed that her uncle's Waterbender abilities grew more powerful as he had merged with Vaatu. She was bending all four of the elements at him but she would've been lucky if one managed to even graze him.

Unalaq bent a strong stream of water at her. She blocked it with a large shield of ice, losing her column in the process. She had thought that the water would just pound against the shield before losing its consistency but she had been wrong. Instead of pounding against the shield, her uncle's water wrapped itself around the thing and grabbed her too. She was thrown to the ice and bounced against the snow before sliding to a stop.

"Ow, that hurt," she told herself as she lifting her head back up. She saw Unalaq land on the ice and it cracked beneath his feet, spreading into a fissure that was going straight for her. It reached her before she could do anything and she fell right in.

For a second, she thought that she was going to fall to the core of the world. It certainly felt like it as the ice around darkened into utter blackness. But then it closed in around her, becoming so tight that she stopped falling. She was safe but the ice pinched her like she was between the jaws of an angry polar bear dog.

"I've got to get up there." She reached out a hand onto the ice to start climbing back up, keeping her eyes focused on the sky above.

Unalaq appeared above her and spread his arms wide. He brought them slowly together, like he was trying to crush thick between them. She felt the ice start squeezing her, trying to force her to be still. The pain she had felt from the landing was beginning to grow, almost to a point where it was blinding her. She tried pushing the ice back with her own Bending but she was being overridden.

"Give in," she heard her uncle order her, still standing above her. "Your time is over!"

She tried to fight but the ice was all around her, pressing in everywhere. She felt cold. She felt weak. Her eyes were going dark. This was it. She had lost the fight. There was nothing she could do.

As her sight went black and she started to fade into unconsciousness, she heard a voice speak in her ear. "Korra, this fight is not over."

She had only heard that voice in memories not her own. But even so, she knew who it was. And she was glad. "Raava," she whispered with her last conscious breath.

"Vaatu cannot win. Do not give in to ten thousand years of darkness."

Her voice was comforting yet also firm. But Korra did not know what to do. "How am I supposed to beat him?" she asked, unable to say the words aloud. It seemed impossible.

What she said next was gentle but also unyielding. It was a truth that had been strong for the past ten thousand years. "You are the Avatar."

But it was easier than done. She was alone in the dark and the ice. She could barely even see in front of her. It took all of her strength just to stretch out her hand to the open space. "Please, someone," she asked. "I can't do this alone. I need help. Please…"

She felt a hand take hers and warmth spread through her body at the touch of it. She couldn't see who it was. But she didn't have to see them. She knew who they were.

Aang.

Roku.

Kyoshi.

Kuruk.

Yangchen.

Fong.

Xu.

Long.

Tonar.

Koz.

Jian.

Leke.

Sokka.

O'lina.

Atl.

Teiluc.

Baichu.

Koa.

Atiya.

Lee.

Yuriko.

Del.

Shiya.

Nubia.

Wan.

Those were just some of the names that crossed her mind as she held onto that hand. They were all holding onto her. The good, the bad, and those who did what they could. They were all there, holding her hand and keeping her from falling into the darkness that hung all around her. "We are here," they told her as they pulled on her hand. "We are yours."

She understood what they were trying to say. Unalaq might be more powerful than her. He might even have Vaatu inside of him. But he stood alone while she stood with her lives at her back with their complete support. She let them flow through her hand and into her, taking them all in. Her eyes burned bright with the Avatar State as her sight came back to her. Their warmth surrounded her in a golden aura.

She called upon every Fire Nationer she had ever been and bent their fire up towards the crack. It exploded against the ice and the pressure against her sides vanished, letting her breathe with ease once more. She called upon the Air Nomads to help her ascend from the crack. They responded by giving her a column of air to rise upon. As she came out of the crack, she tasted the cold air of the South Pole and found it soothing.

She looked down and saw Unalaq on the ground, mostly forced there by the fire she had called. He looked at her with worry and a slight fear. That was good. He should know what it was exactly that he was trying to fight. "You cannot win," she told him with the voices of past Avatars coating over hers.

She bent streams of air at him, intending to slice him down where he laid. But he leapt off the ground and formed his own column, this one made of water. Very well, if he wanted to keep fighting, she would gladly give him a fight. So when he flew away, she went after him.

(Location: Spirit World)

The fog was all around them as they walked through the valley. It was all they could see, nothing else. No matter how much they walked, they were the only people that they saw. Tenzin was beginning to think that they would never find his daughter. No, he couldn't think like that. If he started to do that, the legacy that he carried would come crashing down around him. His daughter had to be here. "Jinora! Jinora!" he called out for her as he kept walking.

Bumi was looking around too. But his eyes were wide, too wide, and there was sweat beginning to glisten on his forehead. "Wait a second," he said suddenly, stopping his brother with a hand on his shoulder.

"What, do you hear something?"

The eyes started flickering around rapidly, naked fear shining through them. "Yes. They're all around us. The cannibals, they're everywhere."

Tenzin instantly became concern for his brother. Despite his brother being a tall-teller with most of his stories being exaggerated to no end, there were some stories that they knew and he did not talk about. One of those stories happened when he was still a petty officer in the navy. He and his crew had ended up being captured by a tribe of cannibals in the north-western end of the Earth Kingdom. He was the only one who managed to survive until the rescue mounted by the navy, their father, and the Paragons, but not before watching the cannibals play hunting games with his crew and then eating them.

That month had been a recurring nightmare for Tenzin's brother. It was still was. And now the fog was beginning to play on that fear. "Bumi, you must focus your mind. Right now!" he told his brother while he kept swinging his head around, trying to see the cannibals. "There are no cannibals."

"Yes, there are!" he shouted at his brother. "Can't you hear them? The bows? The horn? They're here! They're gonna eat every last one of us!"

Suddenly Kya screamed in frighten, surprising Tenzin. "Who are you three?" she demanded, pointing at all three of them. She tried untying the rope around her waist, wanting to get free.

He stopped her before she was able to get the knot undone. "Kya, we're your brothers. Yue's our friend," he reminded her. "You must remember, before the fog infects you."

"No, you're just a vision. I have no family. You can't tie me down."

"Oh spirits help me," he thought in realization, knowing full well she was thinking of. There had been a time back during their teenaged years that she got seduced into joining a cult by a charismatic woman, being tricked into thinking that she had no family and even leaving them behind because of it. She had been rescued by their uncle when he came and dealt with the cult. She had felt guilty about abandoning her family like that but it also made her question herself. It was probably why she had gone wandering around the Bending Countries as soon as she could.

"No! Not her!" Yue suddenly growled with a look of such intense anger. "She can't be here! How is she here!?"

Tenzin whipped around to look at her. There was only one person he knew of that Yue could ever associate that much anger with. "Yue, it's not her. Your sister isn't here!"

"Yes she is! I can see her right there!" She pointed out to the fog. She took a couple of steps in that direction, stopping only because he grabbed her shoulders. She struggled against his grip. "What are you doing here, you bitch!? You can't be here!"

"Yue, she's not here!" he told her again. "It's the fog. It's playing with your senses. You have to focus your mind and remember why we're here!"

"I can see her!"

"She's not here!"

"Yes she is! I can see her taunting me!" She struggled against his grip, trying to get free. "Let me go! She needs to die!"

When he heard that declaration, Tenzin looked at her with surprise. "You can't mean that." He knew that she had a bad history with her sister but never did he think that would be enough to incite homicide. But he kept those thought to himself. If he spoke them aloud, it was just fuel her delusions. "It's not her, Yue!"

But while his attention was on her, Bumi was able to untie himself. "They're closing in! They're sounding the horn!" he shouted in a near panic. "I gotta get out of here!" He ran into the fog, vanishing within a half-second.

As Tenzin tried to grab his brother, Kya got herself loose and ran screaming into the fog too. Then Yue did the same, charging straight into the fog screaming, "Come back here, you bitch!"

"No! Bumi! Kya! Yue! Come back!" Tenzin called for all three of them. He tried going after Kya, but she faded too quickly into the fog. He was left alone. He couldn't see them. He tried to clear his sight by blasting the fog away. But it only recoiled and then came back, settling in more thicker than before.

---

Mako could feel his body going numb inside the ice and he knew that his brother was in the same boat. If they didn't get free, the odds were that they were going to die because of the ice. He could try and bend his fire to free them but with the twins watching he was sure that they would quash any attempt on his part by heaping on more ice. So there was only one thing he could do. "Please, let us out," he begged the twins as they walked past him.

"His groveling is pathetic," Desna remarked.

Eska replied, "But I do enjoy the sweet scent of desperation." She said with no actual look of enjoyment on her face, so it was in question.

"Come on," he said to them both, "your dad has become an evil monster. He's gonna bring on eternal darkness. Why would you protect someone who doesn't care about you at all?"

Desna looked at his sister. "Father was going to let me expire when trying to open the northern portal. Perhaps we should rethink our position."

"Yes!" That was what he was looking for!

"No," Eska said curtly. "Don't listen to him. His words are poisoning your mind."

"Agni take it!" he cursed. This was going to be harder than he thought. If he tried to get to one twin, the other would reinforce him/her. They'd never get out this way.

When Bolin started crying quite audibly, everyone was surprised by (even if the twins showed no emotion). "What's with this outburst of emotion?" Eska asked.

Even as he wept, he was able to say, "I'm sorry, I can't help it. It's just so sad that I'll never be with you again."

"What?" She took a few steps closer to him. "Explain yourself further."

"Eska, I've always loved you. And I always wanted to be with you. But now that the world is ending, I'm never gonna get that chance."

She got angry and marched up to him so she could look him in the eyes. "We could have been together. But you left me at the altar," she reminded him pointedly. She had felt like a complete and utter fool that day, which was way she had chased after them when she learned that Varrick had gotten away with them.

"No, I was scared," he protested, still weeping. "I was scared of my true feelings for you. Gah, I should have never left you. I'm sorry. And I'm sorry that we'll never have the chance to rekindle the dying ember that was our love into a big fire of love flames."

While he kept weeping, Mako and Desna exchanged uncertain looks. Of course, Mako was singing a different tune inwardly. "I don't know what the hell you're doing exactly, bro, but keep at it!"

Eska kept looking at Bolin in complete and utter confusion. Something must've changed with her, for in the next moment she swooped down upon Bolin and kissed him hard on the lips. He didn't even struggle against the kiss, but returned it wholeheartedly. Then the ice around both of them melted, letting them free. "You'll never defeat my father," she declared. "But, should you survive, perhaps—"

Whatever she was going to say next, the brothers wouldn't know. For that was a moment when a shadow flew overhead and Asami landed right on top of her. They fell to the ground and she wrapped her arms around Eska's neck, holding it there until she ran out of oxygen. Desna whipped his arms out, ready to attack, but Mako got to him first, putting him in a hold the police taught him during training. It was designed specifically for Benders so they wouldn't be able to fight and lose consciousness soon after. He saw that Asami was applying the same kind of hold and wondered for a brief moment if the Paragons had taught the cops the move or vice-versa.

When the twins stopped struggling and went still, they both released their grip. "Finally," Asami said as she stood back up, wincing as she did. "I was beginning to think that I would have to knock them out and chip you guys out of the ice.

Mako looked at her with complete gratitude. She must've snuck up behind them, keeping quiet so she wouldn't alert the twins, and let Bolin know that she was there. He must've done that whole thing to get them out of the ice. He looked over at his brother, completely impressed. "Wow! That was the best acting I've ever seen. You completely fooled her," he told him.

"Yeah right, huh. That was acting," Bolin agreed, not able to look him straight in the eye.

"You okay, bro?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Even though he said those words with an assured grin, he looked down at Eska with some sadness in his eyes.

"Guys, we need get back through the portal," Asami said to them both. "Korra needs our help." The brothers nodded and together, they ran back through the portal. On the other side, they could see both Unalaq and Korra easily, since they towered over the tree line in columns of water and air respectively. They didn't stop running, going right through the forest to reach the battle.

Meanwhile, Korra was certain that she was leading the fight now. She could feel the past Avatars guiding her actions. With every move she made, she could feel their hands moving her through them. She didn't mind it. In fact, she welcomed the action. She wasn't alone. She had them to relay on while Unalaq had no one. That was her advantage.

When he bent another hard stream of water at her, she bent fire into a shield, twisting it so it would be more ferocious in its defense, just like the Fire Nation Avatars told her. As she blocked the water, the Air Nomads whispered to her to drop the column and fall to the ground, making it a battle of angles. The Earth Kingdoms Avatars agreed with the idea and showed her to make the move flow.

As she fell back down to the ground, she swung her leg up into an arcing kick, bending the earth to shoot out a trio of boulders at him. When they struck, Unalaq was engulfed in dust and he escaped from it by ascending higher in his column. From there, he bent more water at her. She landed on an outcropping of rocks and flipped away from the water, doing again twice more.

As she landed on her feet, she bent the earth beneath her to jut up into a column, sending her flying again into the air. Once airborne, she bent a trio of fireballs at him. Unfortunately, they all missed. "Damn it," she thought to herself as she fell back down to the ground. But she did not fall so easily.

Unalaq bent a stream of water at her, catching her in the arm. She tried to fight it free of it but the Water Tribe Avatars cautioned her not to do that. They whispered to bring him down to her level, keep the fight there. She understood it and froze the ice. Then she pulled the man that was her opposite down off his column.

He fell with a shout and his landing caused huge snowdrifts to leap up into the air. But she could still see him standing across from her, ready to keep fighting. She wasn't going to let him have that. His hands were the key to his Bending. If she took care of them, she would win. She bent another stream at his free hand, caught it, and froze it.

For a moment, she thought she had it. Then his eyes glowed red and he shattered the ice. With his hands free again he bent the water to pull her towards him. She struggled against it but was pulled all the same. The two of them met in the middle, able to stare into each other's eyes. "If that's the way you want to play it, fine," she declared, confident. She wasn't alone. He was.

As they struggled against each other through the water, the pressure cracked the ground. But she wasn't worried. She knew that she had the edge. Then Unalaq smiled an ugly smile. His head jerked from side to side, almost spasm-like, and his mouth opened. Something purple, red, black, and all but radiating malevolence emerged from his mouth. It coiled up into the air like something trying to get free.

It directed its attention to her and she knew that nothing good would come from. She tried to ward it off, breathing fire at it. It didn't do any good. It didn't do anything. It shot down at her, smothering her flame before it had a chance to really live, and latched onto her face. It forced itself down her throat.

She could feel its cold and slimly self slithering down her throat. But it wasn't going into her body. She would've felt it. Instead, it was slithering down into her being. She tried to withdraw into herself to fight it, but Unalaq forced her to remain out in the real world, keeping her attention away from it.

The thing kept slithering down and down into her being. She begged the previous Avatars to stop it. They did try, she knew that much. She could feel their attempt to halt it. But it kept getting past or around them and continued to go deeper and deeper. She felt it reach the core of her being and it latched onto the light that was Raava. When that happened, her body went cold and she went weak in the knees. She could do nothing as the thing pulled Raava out of her, knocking her out of the Avatar State.

"No! No!" she screamed inwardly as she tried to hold Raava inside. But it was too little, too late. Raava was pulled out of her. She fell to the snow and could only watch as Unalaq engulfed her in a sphere of water.

(Location: Land of Spring)

As soon as she stepped into the hollowed-out base, the first thing that Rin saw was the symbol of Tōitsu etched into the wall. It was carved in such a way that the person could not help but see it. And it was everywhere the eyes turned. No matter how many times you looked away, it was there for them to see. For her, it meant nothing but bad memories.

Screams, mostly her own.

The heat and pain of the branding iron when they pressed it against her back, laughing in delight at her pain.

Cold bars all around her.

Days without food or water until she begged out of hunger and getting only scraps.

The pain of the man forcing himself into her every time he was aroused.

Wanting to go home.

Wanting to see her friends again.

Wanting to be with her family once more.

"Sensei, sensei, sensei!" whispered Hiro by her side. He was concerned about how she wasn't answering and how she was clenching the railing.

She blinked rapidly, coming back to the now. "Yes?" she said to her student.

"You still with us?" he asked.

"Of course I am, Hiro." She gave him a look that said that while she did appreciate his questioning, it was not needed and he should not push it any further.

Having lived with his grandmother, he was able to pick up on the silent order and clamped down on the next question. Gaara, despite having read the same order, had no qualms about asking it. "Are you sure you are here, Rin?" he asked her. "This is where you are needed."

"I'm here, Lord Gaara," she said. She wasn't going to be stopped by her memories. She was here to put an end to them.

"Good. Now the others are already down and are most likely making their way through the people. We need to catch up and make sure things go as planned."

No one asked the question of if things ever did go to plan. The plan they were going on was shaky at best and had more chances than anyone would like of going sideways. They started down the ramp, the Genin boxed in by the Jōnin as best they could. Hiro didn't complain about the setup, neither did Tsukiko or Arashi. They tried to make sure that they weren't seen at first glance and followed their sensei down to the bottom.

As they got closer, Arashi could hear the sounds coming from the bottom. They were so familiar that he felt like he was back in Republic City, looking at the kidnappers taking away children. "Hopefully, this place doesn't collapse on me," he thought to himself.

They came down the ramp and some of the Suna Jōnin detached from the group and leapt to the walls. They were the insurance and surprise if things went south on them all. Hiro couldn't help but keep looking up at them as they went down, making sure that they were still up there. "Relax," Kankurō told him.

"I don't think now is a good time to relax," he replied.

The old man nodded in approval. "Smart."

They could see Gin-sensei and the rest of the Genin down below. They were wading their way through the multiple groups of downtrodden and chained slaves, either being led away or practicing against each other. At least it looked like they were practicing. They were certainly hitting each other hard enough. It was only when one kid fell to the ground and blood splattered against the ground that he realized they weren't practicing. The kid wasn't moving either.

He felt sick in his stomach and he heard Tsukiko making a gagging sound. Arashi didn't make a sound but Hiro knew he wasn't affected by that. "There's going to be a mess if they start fighting us," Gaara noted quietly.

Arashi disagreed. "With the way those kids are fighting, we'll be fine."

Kankurō gave him a stern look. "Now's not the time for bragging, gaki."

"I'm not bragging. Those kids down there," he pointed at them with a finger that was either indignant or angry, "They're Bending in ways that would make a novice feel embarrassed and ashamed. So long as we can prevent them from getting their element going, we'll be fine."

A door behind them opened, making them almost pause in mid-step. "Do not stop," Gaara ordered them. "Keep moving."

"Hey, you!" a man's voice shouted at their backs.

"Keep moving."

"You, stop, now!"

"Should we signal?" Kankurō asked his brother in a whisper.

"No, not yet," he replied.

"Then how do you want to do this?"

"Humor him and see if we can't get some information from him in the process."

"You!" the man shouted again, "The old guy in the front!"

"I think he's calling for you," the Kazekage's brother remarked.

The Kazekage didn't say anything back to his brother. He turned to face the man, making them all do the same. "Yes?"

"Who the hell are you?"

"I'm a recruiter. These men," he gestured aimlessly at the others, "are the new initiates. I was told to bring them here so they can get in touch with their duties."

The man looked at them all, his black eyes taking in each one of them. His arms were folded across his chest, making them look even more big and bulging. His lips curled back into a sneer and he said, "Bullshit."

Rin watched him intently her fingers keeping close to her pockets without making it look obvious. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean what I say. I said bullshit."

"If that's what you'd like to think," Gaara replied with a dismissive sniff. "Now, if you'll excuse us."

"I did not say you could go."

"Young man, I have been brought in in the middle of the night because the boss wanted to get the new initiates in ASAP. I am tired and I am hungry. I would like to get the people through so I can get a hot meal and some sleep," he declared with an edge to his voice that was very warning. "Now please, if you would be so kind to do so, go away."

The man's lips curled even more into a sneer. "I don't think, Lord Kazekage," he said. They all went still at that declaration. The Jōnin took on looks of neutrality but the Genin looked at each other in surprise. "We know who you are. It would foolish of us if we didn't keep track of the hidden villages." His gaze turned to Rin and he licked his lips. "And I remember you, little cunt. I couldn't have you last time but I'm sure the lord wouldn't mind if I ask to have you for myself. Soon, you'll be begging for my cock inside you." She glared death at him, clenching her fists so hard she could've broken the skin. He took notice and just laughed. "What are you going to do, hm? Are you going to kill me?"

"I'm seriously considering it," she growled.

"Touch me, I press a button and the entire base will be ringing with alarms. You won't be able to make it out of here alive."

"I think you're underestimating us," Kankurō told him, his hand moving slowly to the strap on his shoulder.

The man saw the motion and snapped his head towards him. "I see that puppet even twitch off your shoulder, old man, and the alarm goes off. You'll be caught before you can make a move. I'd have to say, if we throw the two of you to the brats, I wonder how long it'll take before they managed to clobber you to the ground."

Arashi scoffed loudly at that. "Judging by the way they're fighting, I'd say a few good months."

"Arashi!" hissed Rin.

The man's eyes brighten at that name. "Arashi?" he repeated, questioning. Then he grinned and the look was insidious. "Arashi, that's a name I haven't heard for some time now." He peered around the adults until he could see the Genin, more specifically the dyed redhead. "Ah, you've changed your hair color, but I remember those eyes. The lord was almost tempted to tear them out when he first took notice of you."

Arashi stiffened slightly. That voice was beginning to sound familiar but he had never seen the man before. That could only mean one thing. But he had to be sure. "Who are you?"

"You don't recognize me? How disappointing. And after we took care to kill your family."

There! He remembered that voice now. "You," he said in a strangled voice. "You were in that alley. You're the one who took Natsumi away from me." The Suna shinobi gave him curious looks but he didn't pay them any attention.

"Ah! You do remember me. I'm glad."

He became angry, angry at the memory and of the man. "Where is she? Where is my sister?" he demanded.

The man waved away like it was nothing. "It's nothing you need to concern yourself with. I'm sure that by the end of the night, the two of you shall be reunited again."

"Where is she?"

"That will be all, Arashi. Now come here."

The dyed redhead went completely still, like a puppet resting on a stand. His face became slack and dulled as he walked through the group, brushing past the Kazekage and his sensei, and went straight to the man. "Arashi, what the hell are you doing?" Tsukiko asked him with a worried note in her voice.

But it was the man who answered. "He can't hear you, little girl. Not unless I want him to." He reached and placed a hand on Arashi's shoulder. "Now, here's what's—" That was as far as he got before Arashi suddenly stepped in close and shoved his knee hard into the man's crotch. His eyes bulged out of their sockets and a groan tried to come out of his mouth. It would've, if Gaara smothered said mouth in sand along with binding his hands together the second he saw the eyes bug.

The man fell to his knees. Arashi gave him a quick hug. "Thank you for telling me where she is," he whispered into his ear before stepping away. "He's all yours, Rin-sensei."

She walked past her student and to him, pulling out a kunai. "This is all you'll get form me," she declared before slitting his throat, letting the blood run rivulets down his body. He tried to struggle free of his bonds but it only made him fall to the ground and die faster.

Arashi didn't pay him a second glance. "We need to keep moving," he told everyone, walking back into their midst. "This mission just got even more important."

"Why's that?" Hiro asked him.

"That man just told me my sister's here."

Both he and Tsukiko shared surprised looks. "Your sister?" he repeated.

"Yes, my sister!" Arashi replied, almost snapping it at his teammate. "She's here in this base and if we don't move quickly enough, they're going to get her out of here before I can find her. I am not going to lose her again, got it?" He didn't get a verbal answer from anyone, but he did get nods of acknowledgement and approval.

(Location: Spirit World)

All Tenzin could see was fog, nothing but fog. He kept walking but all he could see was fog. He had lost track of the others what seemed hours ago. Was it hours? Could it have been only minutes? He didn't know. He wasn't sure anymore. He figured that the fog was beginning to get to him. He couldn't let it do that. "You must stay focused," he told himself aloud. "Remember who you are, Tenzin. You are the son of Avatar Aang. You are the hope for future generations of Airbenders. The fate of the world rests on your shoulders."

"But what if I fail?"

The question came so fast that he stopped and looked around to see if there was anyone else there. There wasn't and he realized that he had been the one who spoke. "Then your father's hope of the future dies with you. I can't fail," he declared.

"You will."

He knew that it was his voice speaking but it wasn't him who was speaking. He couldn't be filled with doubt. But he was. "Ah, stop it!" he cried, sagging down to the ground whilst holding his head. "I am the son of Avatar Aang. I am the hope for future generations of Airbenders. I am the son of Avatar Aang." He repeated those words again and again like they were a mantra of guidance. But even as he said them, they felt false and bitter in his mouth.

But even so, he kept repeating the words, hoping that they would become true. As he said it over and over again, he felt the fog whisper with wind and a voice he hadn't heard in a long time say "Hello, my son."

He brought his head up and his eyes widened in surprise as he looked upon his father. Avatar Aang looked the same way the days leading up to his death. His skin was wrinkled with age and his slightly shaggy beard showed hints of grey. But there was kindness in his eyes and welcoming smile on his face. Tenzin was glad to see him but was also sadden by what he couldn't do to honor him. "Dad, I've failed you," he lamented, letting his head fall down again. "I am no spiritual leader, and I've let the world down. I'll never be the man you were."

He had hoped that the image of his father would give him words of encouragement. He did not expect him to say, "You are right." He looked up at him in shock but he kept talking. "You are trying to hold on to a false perception of yourself. You are not me and you should not be me. You are Tenzin."

The fog puffed up over him and when it vanished, Tenzin was looking at a mirror image of himself. To some, that might have sounded confusing. But to Tenzin, they were as clear as day. He stood back up on his feet. "I am not a reflection of my father," he declared, "I am Tenzin." With his image, he said it once more, so clearly that the fog could hear him. "I am Tenzin!"

Like his words were magical, the fog peeled away from and dissipated into thin air. He could see all the people that were trapped in the valley but his eyes were focused on a little girl that was kneeling. "Jinora!" he shouted as he ran over to his daughter, collapsing into a hug atop of her. He was glad, so glad that she was found. He picked her up and held her in his arm like he used to when she was a toddler. He found his siblings and Yue, all standing around like they had lost all hope. He linked them together into a chain, each one holding another's hand, and led them out of the valley.

As soon as they were out of the valley proper, the fog rolled right back in and engulfed everything in sight. And the others started to come to. "Huh? What happened?" Bumi asked, looking around in a small daze. The last thing that he remembered was that he was about to have his worst nightmare again.

Kya felt the same but then she looked at the hand holding hers and the person leading them to safety. "I think our brother saved us," she declared.

Yue didn't say anything. She followed them but her eyes were downcast, looking at her stomach. She reached out with her free hand to touch it but even when she did, she knew what wasn't there. "She wasn't there," she told herself. "She wasn't real." But the pain still felt real.

Jinora came to and the first person she saw was her father. "Dad," she said quietly, hugging him around the neck.

He returned the hug without hesitating, like a father should/ "You'll be okay sweetie. I'm here."

"What happened?" She cracked her eyes open to see a small spirit butterfly landing on her arm. "The last thing I remembered was dark spirits taking me away."

"You were trapped in the Fog of Lost Souls. And I wasn't going to let you stay there."

Yue smiled a little at the sight. "You've got one heck of a father there, kid," she told Jinora. In that moment, she had wished that her family had been like that.

The little Airbender nodded in agreement before snuggling deeper into the hug. "I'm so happy to see you, Dad." He returned the hug just as tightly. Bumi and Kya circled around and joined the hug as well. Yue didn't. She stood aside a little, letting the family have that moment.

(Location: South Pole)

Ever since she had been sent back into Wan's memories, Korra had always had this small desire to meet Raava herself. But she didn't want to be like this, where she could barely sit up, much less stand, in the snow while Raava was encased in an orb of dark water. Unalaq bent a tendril of water onto his arm, morphing it into a whip. For a half second, she wondered what he was planning on doing. Then she realized it and her heart was filled with horror.

As Unalaq was about to rise the killing blow, Mako, Bolin, and Asami came running into view. "Korra!" shouted Mako at the sight of her on the ground.

"Oh no!" thought Asami in horror.

But Bolin took notice of something else that was just as important. "He's got the Light Spirit!" he shouted at the other two. He and his brother put on some speed and started throwing their elements at Unalaq.

The attacks distracted Unalaq, making him drop Raava so he could defend himself. As soon as she saw the spirit fall, Asami ran even faster than the brothers. "If I can reach it and Korra, take them back to the portal, they'll be fine," she thought to herself. The tricky part was going to be getting away from Unalaq.

But the Dark Avatar had recovered from the surprise attack even faster than she had hoped for. With a smug grin of victory on his lips, he bent the snow before him into a large blasting wave, going right for the three of them. It hit them before they could even try to get out of the way. The last conscious that Bolin had was "Oh, that's big."

Korra heard the blast die away but she could only see Raava in front of her. "Have to reach her," she told herself, trying to reach out and touch her. But dark water reached down and picked the spirit up before she could. Unalaq lifted Raava up into the air and threw her against a nearby rock. Then he blasted her with that same tendril. It struck her and she fluttered weakly against it.

But Korra had a different reaction. As she struggled to get back up, her heart clenched and she thought that she was going to die. But she didn't, something worse happened. It felt like a part of her soul disappeared. In her mind's eye, she saw Aang vanish.

Aang was gone.

He was gone!

She couldn't remember any of his memories, any of his experiences! It was like she had never been him!

Fear gripped her and she tried to get back to her feet. But Unalaq struck Raava again and her heart clenched once more as Roku and his life disappeared. He struck a third time and Kyoshi faded too quickly to be seen, along with her experience. "No! No!" Korra screamed inside her head as she tried to get up and stop what was happening. But with each strike Unalaq delivered, she lost another life.

Kuruk.

Yangchen.

Fong.

Xu.

Long.

Tonar.

Koz.

Jian.

Leke.

Sokka.

O'lina.

Atl.

Teiluc.

Baichu.

Koa.

Atiya.

Lee.

Yuriko.

Del.

Shiya.

Nubia.

She could feel them vanishing with each blast of water, tearing her soul open and leaving large gaps in it. She felt like she was going to die every time he struck Raava but the outcome was much worse to her. Soon, all that was left to her was Wan. As Unalaq bent water up into a final lance, she panicked. "Don't leave me," she begged Wan, "please!"

She could see him smiling reassuringly. "Don't worry. I am here. I am—" Unalaq slammed his water onto Raava one last time and she was cloven into two. And Wan vanished from Korra's soul, leaving her completely alone. It scared her to no end but she couldn't do anything, except fade away into unconsciousness. She missed Unalaq standing victorious over Raava's fading light, Vaatu's symbol glowing bright on his chest. His body quickly turned purple and his eyes burned brighter.

(Location: Spirit World)

As Jinora followed her family through the Spirit World, through the butterflies on her shoulders she could an innate wrongness in the air. Something had changed and it wasn't good. "The world is in trouble," she declared, looking back at where they had come from.

Tenzin looked back at her. "What are you talking about?" he asked. "How do you know?"

"I can feel it."

"What happened?" her uncle asked her.

"It's Korra." As soon as she said that name, she knew what had happened. It horrified her but it also allowed her to know what she had to do. She turned to the adults and offered them one of the butterflies. "This light spirit will guide you out of the Spirit World." She was engulfed in a blue aura that hummed with energy. "I have to go help."

She faded away in front of them, vanishing like they had lost her again. "Jinora, wait!" Tenzin cried out to his daughter, trying to stop her. But she was already gone.

(Location: South Pole)

Mako, Asami, and Bolin came to just as Korra fell for the last time. They ran over to her and the brothers picked her up. But even when they did, their eyes could not be taken off Unalaq as he continued to grow larger. There was an inhuman scream as pieces of him were blown off, leaving him to become elongated and harsher. When Desna and Eska stepped out of the portal and saw what was happening to their father, the purple glow transforming into a harsh and menacing red, they couldn't look away either.

Once the transformation had stopped, Unalaq towered over them all. But it wasn't Unalaq anymore. It was some sort fusion between him and Vaatu, like the spirit had taken his body and molded it to its own use. The symbol of Vaatu blazed brightly against his chest and the tentacles hanging from his shoulder swung freely. When he spoke, it was a mixture of both their voices, but with Vaatu's being the more dominant. "Now, ten thousand years of darkness begins!"

He stretched out his hand to the auroras in the air and the sky suddenly thundered with a storm. A hole a couple of inches above his hand opened and engulfed him in a sickly green light. He didn't fight against the light, letting it envelope him completely. His form turned hazy and dissimilar. He shot up through the hole and then flew across the horizon, vanishing from sight. But his exit left behind an immense shockwave that spread out where he stood. Anyone who was caught in the blast wave was knocked off their feet and flew backwards by a good distance.

Korra barely felt the blast strike her or felt the air rushing past her body as she flew. When she did land in the snow, she welcomed the cold numbness of it. She couldn't fight it anymore. She had lost. She was alone.

End

Author's note: Thank you for all the reviews you've sent me.

Not a lot on Arashi's end, I know. This is more build up now. At this point, it's more focused on Korra's side of the planet.

I'm assuming that there's a reason Bumi and Kya had those specific kinds of freaking out. Bumi can be easily explained since it could be a part of his past. Kya was a little trickier since she wasn't in the military but she could have a run in with a bad crowd. Also, the leader of the group was a woman because the creators have confirmed that Kya is LGBTQIA+.

Again, I would like to thank the Devaintart Avield for his names, lists, and pictures of previous Avatars. If I had just gone with the Avatars we already know and the few I've come up with, it wouldn't have worked as much as I had hoped.

I'll see you all next time!