Chapter 33: Into the Wild

"Korra and Jinora have entered the Spirit World. With Tenzin's daughter as her spiritual guide, the Avatar has one mission-to close the spirit portal before Harmonic Convergence. Meanwhile, Azula has been working to free her new master Yanwu, who was imprisoned by Avatar Wan ten thousand years ago. Will Korra be able to close the portal and stop Azula from enacting her deadly plan?"

"I can't believe my little girl had to guide Korra into the Spirit World instead of me…" Tenzin shook his head as he continued to pace around nervously as Jinora and Korra remained in their comatose meditation. "...if anything happens to her I won't be able to forgive myself…"

"She's very smart." Kya said encouragingly. "And she obviously has a strong connection to the spirits. She'll be fine."

A still recovering Bumi nodded in agreement. "Yeah, and besides, Dad went all the time, even when he was Jinora's age. And he was always fine!"

"They won't have their bending in there except for Korra's water and earthbending. They'll be almost defenseless…"

"Well you know, I've never had any bending, and I don't think I'd call myself defenseless!"

"I'm also fairly certain you've never been in the Spirit World before either." Tenzin countered. "Nor have you ever dealt with Dark Spirits and other hostile things that might lurk in the Spirit World."

"…okay you got me there. But hey, I still have my…oh, what's the word?"

"Positive attitude?" Kya suggested as she continued to heal Bumi's injuries with her waterbending.

"I would've said 'acute intellect' and 'cat-like reflexes', but whatever."

"It's getting late." Tenzin observed before turning to his siblings. "Why don't you two get some sleep? I'll take the first watch."

"Wake us up if you need some company." Kya said.

"Or if any interesting spirit stuff happens, like their bodies start floating around and you need someone to grab them before they float away."

"Bumi!" Kya snapped.

"I'm just saying we're here if you need us." Bumi said with a grin.

"I know you are…thank you."

Bumi and Kya both smiled in response before going to sleep. As they did, Tenzin turned to his daughter's body and put a hand on her shoulder. "Please come back soon."

-X-

"Isn't it beautiful?" Jinora breathed as she stared out at the lush vibrant setting in front of her.

"Sure is..." Korra agreed with a nod. "...but stay close to me, okay? This place may seem nice but take it from someone who knows you never know when you'll run into some kind of trouble. Either Dark Spirits or…something else."

"Wait a minute…you've been here before?"

Korra nodded. "Yeah, once. Got lucky and I was able to meet Aang's spirit. He taught me how to better connect with my spiritual side."

"Wow, that's incredible! Why didn't you tell us?"

"Because I also ran into some nasty stuff while I was in here. Left me really shaken. And honestly now that I'm back I'm starting to feel stressed out again…"

"Don't worry." Jinora said reassuringly. "It'll be alright so long as we stick together…" as Jinora said this, a vibrant pink buttlerfly fluttered past Jinora's face, which caused her to smile before chasing after it. "Korra, look! It's made of jewels! The spirits are so much more beautiful in their own world than they are at home."

"Jinora, be careful!" Korra called out before running off after her. As she did though, her foot struck something hard and nearly caused her to fall face-first into the ground. "Ow! What the heck was that?"

"Hey!" an obnoxious high-pitched voice called out. "Watch where you're going, you giant clod!"

Looking down, Korra saw that the thing she'd run into was a light tan-furred spirit that reminded Korra just a bit of Bolin and Mako's Fire Ferret Pabu, though with a much more human face that was currently contorted into a scowl.

"Sorry..." Korra said. "...I was just trying to catch up with my friend and I didn't see you."

"Well I'm not sure if you noticed, but this is a residential area. Who do you think you are stomping through here like that?"

"I'm the Avatar." Korra said with just a bit of pride.

"The Avatar? Not impressed."

Choosing to ignore the Spirit's obnoxious response, Korra continued: "Look, I hate to intrude, but I'm trying to find the Spirit portals…"

It was then that another one of the same spirits burst out of the ground. "I heard waterbenders did that!"

"Well I am a waterbender. And it was me, so…"

Another one of the spirits burst out of the ground and laid into her: "Well if you opened it how come you don't know where it is, huh!?"

"Because I opened one and am trying to find the other one!" Korra snapped, rapidly running out of patience with the spirits in the face of their barbed questions and heckling.

"I don't trust her!" one of the Spirits declared. "Get out of our world!" shrieked another. Next thing Korra knew dozens more of the spirits had burst forth out of the ground and all began to converge on her.

"Stay back!" Korra shouted. "I don't want to hurt you!"

"We don't need you!" one of the spirits shouted back. "You don't belong here! Get out! Get out!"

"Get away from me!" Korra shouted, trying to use her firebending to force them back, only for nothing to happen.

"That's not good…"

"Did you guys see that? She tried to bend at us in our own holes! Get her!"

"Uh Jinora, a little help please?"

"Korra, stay calm! Your energy is upsetting them! You're only making it worse!"

"They look pretty upset already..." Korra said before leaping into the air and taking off with Jinora. Undeterred, the spirits, which Korra noted began to grow larger and become more hairy, leaped out of their holes and surged after the two, seeming to get larger and larger with every step, their hair turning into a very dark brown and also starting to look dirty and worn.

Finally, as the two girls continued to run from their pursuers, they realized too late that they'd been chased right off a cliff. Plummeting, both girls tried to use airbending to ease their descent only to remember too late that airbending did them no good in a world that didn't need air. So it was that they both fell screaming into the spirit waters below. Swimming towards each-other, Korra and Jinora noticed too late a large reptilian spirit swim towards them and open it's cave sized mouth…

-X-

As the minutes ticked by with no sign of change from Korra or Jinora, Tenzin did his best to retain his state of patience and mindfulness and took to meditating to pass the time, breathing in and out slowly as he savored every breath and did his best to temporarily cleanse himself of all the stresses that were hanging over his head at the moment. He soon found it to be no easy feat even for an Air Nomad of his experience.

Still, Tenzin did his best to calm himself and regain control of his normal state of serenity and self-discipline. Hard as it was he was able to temporarily let go of his concern for his daughter and Korra, and just breathed in and out deeply, allowing himself to enter a calmer state.

And then, that serenity was shattered in the worst way possible.

Several torrents of fire the color of amethyst came smashing down into the courtyard, sending purple embers flying everywhere and causing the three siblings to all but jump out of their skins as they reeled from the surprise attack. Tenzin and Kya barely had time to react before the flames' source came leaping down to face them.

"Who are these guys?" Bumi wondered aloud as Kya threw him behind her and created a water-shield to block her opponent's fire attack.

"They're after Korra and Jinora!" Tenzin said as he used his airbending to weave out of the way of several firebending attacks directed against him. "Don't let them get close to them!"

Nodding, Kya struck out with several water-whips and other long-reaching attacks to force her opponent back, only for him to counter and deflect each strike of water with a spin of his fiery staff. And where normally water put out fires here the amethyst flames of Yanwu's elite hungrily devoured even Kya's waterbending, being so hot that the water simply evaporated.

"It's not safe for Korra and Jinora here anymore." Tenzin remarked as he similarly struggled against his opponent, creating a small cyclone to keep Yanwu's elite from reaching Korra and Jinora's comatose bodies. "We need to move them to a different location!"

"But they're still in the Spirit World!" Kya protested.

"So long as their physical bodies remain unharmed, moving them will change nothing." Tenzin countered. "Here they risk death or serious injury with Yanwu's men attacking like this. We need to move them now!"

-X-

Korra's eyes opened as the world slowly came back into focus. As her head throbbed and she tried to force herself back up in full, Korra tried to remember what had happened, thinking back to how a large underwater spirit had swallowed her and Jinora, and in doing so somehow sent them careening helplessly down a spiral-shaped water current.

Looking around at where she was now, Korra saw tall black and gray trees all around her, with roots that stretched outwards like giant skeletal fingers. The sky above was green, and if there was any kind of light here, the trees blocked it completely. It was dark, cold, quiet, and the whole area was covered with fog.

Standing up in full, Korra looked around for Jinora and panicked upon realizing that she couldn't see her anywhere. "Jinora!" she called out. "Jinora! Jinora! Jinora, where are you?"

As she called out in vain for the young Air Nomad, Korra realized that her voice no longer sounded like itself. In fact, Korra also found that everything seemed so much taller. So much bigger…

Looking down, Korra saw to her horror that her body had shrunk. Her hands had shrunk. Fear rising up from the pit of her stomach, Korra realized that something terrible had happened to her:

She'd been turned back into a child.

-X-

"Korra, where are you?" Jinora called out. Nothing. Running around desperately and looking around in all directions, Jinora couldn't find Korra anywhere. She was alone on the dirt path she had woken up on. "Hello?" Jinora called out. "I'm lost! Can anyone help me?"

As Jinora called out, she continued to look around for any sign of Korra, only instead to see a familiar spirit flying towards her.

"Furry-Foot? Is that you?" As the dragonfly-bunny spirit got closer, Jinora saw that it was indeed her old spirit companion. Jumping for joy, Korra ran up to the light green furred spirit and hugged it tightly.

"It's so good to see you again!" Then, adding in a less happy tone: "I don't suppose you know where Korra is, do you? We were supposed to go find the spirit portals, but I don't know how to find anything down here…"

Landing on the ground, Furry-Foot surprised Jinora by growing to a massive size, big enough for Jinora to get on top of. Scrambling on, Jinora clung tightly to Furry-Foot's back and sides as it took off into the air on it's head-wings, taking Jinora through several more grass-filled meadows and past an orange sky, before at last arriving a massive building that clung upside-down and was supported by vines. It was also surrounded by trees bigger than the largest buildings in Republic City.

"It's like an awesome treehouse! Wait…I've read about this place. My grandparents and their friends came here once. It's Wan Shi Tong's library!"

-X-

No sooner had Bumi grabbed Jinora and Kya Korra, did they both take off down the mountain as Tenzin continued to cover them as best he could. Needless to say, three against one were not the fairest of odds, especially when the three in question were highly advanced firebenders that also possessed a seemingly inexhaustible amount of physical energy, constantly leaping around and deftly avoiding all of Tenzin's airbending attacks before retaliating with punishing blasts of amethyst fire. And as each blast of fire forced him back more and more and singed his clothes, Tenzin also felt himself becoming dangerously short of breath.

Looking over his shoulder, Tenzin could see that his siblings were nearly out of eyesight, which in turn told Tenzin that it was time for him to leave as well. Performing a rapid series of movements as his father had personally taught him, Tenzin conjured up a large air-scooter and zoomed off after his family, pausing only to unleash one last gust of air at his pursuers that they effortlessly leaped over. Rocketing forward on his air scooter, Tenzin soon caught up with his siblings.

"We need to get off this island!" Tenzin shouted. "But we can't lead them back to Pema, Ikki, and Kuzon! We need to find another route!"

"Any ideas?" Kya asked as she continued to run with Korra's body slung over her back, itself a strenuous physical task for the middle-aged woman.

"Someplace far away and isolated…Whale Tail Island, maybe?"

"Aw man, Whale Tail Island? I hear that place is so boring…"

"And it's precisely because it's so boring that we're leading Yanwu's men there!" Tenzin said. "Now come on! We need to get to Oogi!"

But as the three siblings continued to move forward, they found a wall of amethyst fire blocking their path. Bursting out of the flames were several more of Yanwu's elite, who twirled their staves around before unleashing more blasts of amethyst fire. The surprise attack caught the siblings off-guard and sent them tumbling over the edge of the mountain. As they plummeted, Tenzin shouted to his siblings: "Everyone grab onto me, now!"

Doing as they were told, Bumi and Kya each grabbed onto their brother with a free hand while their other arm was wrapped around Korra and Jinora. Focusing himself, Tenzin unleashed the most powerful whirlwind he could around himself and his family to ease their descent.

"Everyone be warned: this will be a rough landing."

-X-

As Korra realized she'd become a child again, she became so paralyzed with terror she could not move a muscle. Huddled up against the base of a dead tree, Korra silently despaired over how she was now completely helpless, and also separated from Jinora with no way of finding her. Between all of that and the Dark Spirits she could see watching her in other parts of the forest, she felt about ready to burst out into tears.

Then her attention was temporarily diverted by the sight of a small winged creature swooping down towards her. Panicking, Korra swatted it away and it tumbled to the ground. Looking out at it, she saw that it was a serpentine like creature with feathered wings on it's sides, and a tiny beak. The whole creature was a rich purple color with the tips of it's feathers and tail being a dark pink. Seeing it cry out in pain and flap it's now injured wing made Korra feel a surge of guilt and, briefly forgetting her all-consuming fear, she walked over to the little creature.

"I'm sorry I swatted you, you just scared me..." Reaching out her hands, Korra was relieved when it didn't fight back and she icooped it up in her arms. Sighing deeply, she sunk back into the base of her tree.

"You two look lost..." A warm elderly voice observed. "...maybe I can help you."

Turning to the source of the voice, Korra saw a plump elderly man dressed in white and green robes with a lantern in hand. He had a warm smile on his wrinkled face and grayish-white hair coming out of the sides and back of his head, while the very top of his head had not a hair on it.

"I know you…"

"Yes, I was good friends with Avatar Aang." The old man said with a smile.

"Iroh…your name is Iroh!"

"Hello, Korra."

"Iroh, it's so good to see you!" Korra said happily.

"It is good to see you too. I'm glad you came to visit us in the Spirit World, Korra. You came just in time. We're having a little tea party to celebrate a wedding."

"A wedding?"

"Yes. Would you like to go to it?"

"It's better than being here..." Korra noted. "...alright. Let's go."

"Just follow me." Iroh said. "I will lead you to my home where the wedding is taking place."

-X-

"Is everyone alright?" Tenzin asked as his two siblings staggered to their feet.

"We almost fell to our deaths. How do you think we feel?" Kya grumbled sarcastically.

"If it weren't for my airbending and quick thinking, we would be dead." Tenzin looked up at the mountain that they were now at the very bottom of. "There's no way we can get to Oogi now. We'll need to find some other way of getting off the island. Any ideas?"

"We build a boat." Bumi said. "There are plenty of trees to cut down, it'll be easy."

"Bumi, any raft we could make would never stand a chance on the high seas."

"Hey, do you have any better ideas?" Bumi asked his brother. "Because I'd love to hear them."

Realizing that he did not in fact have a better idea to put forth, Tenzin nodded in consent to his brother's suggestion, and alongside his sister started using his bending to cut away at some trees. Once they'd cut some trees down, Bumi took to tying the logs together and using his knife to trim off extra branches and the like. As the three siblings worked, Korra and Jinora remained comatose, and to the sibling's surprise Yanwu's elite did not appear to accost them again, leaving them to assume that Yanwu's elite believed they'd died when they'd fallen off the edge of the mountain.

Finally, after several hours of work, the raft was ready and the three siblings got onboard along with Korra and Jinora, and set out on the waters.

"So any idea where we're going? I mean I get that we were going to go to Whale Tail Island and all that, but do we even know how to get to it from here? And in a raft, no less?"

"We can reach it, Kya. I'm sure of it." Tenzin said, even though privately he wasn't so sure.

-X-

"So how can you two marry each other?" Korra asked awkwardly as she looked at the giant two-headed frog sitting at the front of the table. "I mean aren't you…"

"...complete opposites?" the female head finished. "I know, who would have thought?"

"I tried to fight it..." the male head noted, "…but eventually, she just grew on me."

"I see…"

Iroh chuckled. "The Spirit World is very mysterious, but then so is love. Would you like some tea and cakes, Korra? They're spirit-cakes, so you won't gain any weight. Of course, you won't lose any either!" Iroh chuckled as he patted his rotund belly in acknowledgment of his girth.

Korra nodded. "I like this part of the Spirit World a lot better than the forest…"

"The forest?" the male frog head repeated. "Ah yes, that place. Lost cause, that is. Been corrupted by Yanwu's energy for as long as any of us can remember…"

"Honey, don't mention that name in front of her! You'll scare her!"

"Oh all right..." the male head said in response to his new wife's scolding. "...but if you ask me a little fear is good for you!"

-X-

No sooner did Furry-Foot and Jinora enter Wan Shi Tong's library, did Jinora dismount her spirit friend and race towards the nearest shelf of books. Eyes greedily taking in every title and cover she saw, Jinora let out a wistful sigh.

"Wow…I could just stay in here forever reading and reading..."

"Yes..." another voice said. "...and the last human who said that is still here. But he's not reading anymore."

Heart racing, Jinora turned to the source of the voice and saw a massive black owl with a white face swoop down and land gracefully in front of her, towering over Jinora like a massive black mountain. Jinora knew immediately that it was Wan Shi Tong, the Great Knowledge Spirit. Turning to one side, she also saw the skeleton of the man Wan Shi Tong was referring to. Jinora knew from her grandfather's journal that it was Professor Zei.

"So that's what happened to the professor…"

"Yes. Read to the end of his days. I see that you have some knowledge of the past, so you should know also that humans are no longer allowed in my library. Get out."

As Wan Shi Tong made his demand, Furry-Foot whimpered in fear before flying behind a nearby pillar. Knowing she needed to think fast, Jinora put her other knowledge of her grandparent's trip to the Spirit Library to good use:

"But I thought anyone could come in if they brought you some new knowledge?"

"Again, you show knowledge of the past. But those are the old rules. Things have changed considerably since the last humans to come in here played me for a fool. And besides, what does a little girl know that He Who Knows Ten Thousand Things does not know?"

"Well, since you've been down in the Spirit World, humans have made some incredible things…like the radio."

"Yes, well, I'm well aware of the radio."

"But do you know how it works?"

"Of course I do." Wan Shi Tong replied, managing to sound even more stuffy than usual. "There is a box, and inside the box there is a tiny man who sings and plays musical instruments."

"…actually, when we speak our voices produce sound waves. Radio takes those sound waves and converts them into electromagnetic energy that is transmitted through the spectrum…"

Wan Shi Tong cut her off. "Alright, enough. You've made your point. This is something I do not in fact know. Apparently, I have been fed some misinformation about the existence of tiny men in boxes." as Wan Shi Tong said this he turned to one of his fox-librarians, who whimpered and nervously backed away. Wan Shi Tong turned back around to face Jinora. "But even though you may have shown that you know something I do not, I am not interested in that human drivel. So go away."

"Please, my grandfather was Avatar Aang, and I came into the Spirit World with his successor to find the spirit portals. We kind of need to find them for a really important reason. I would think that you'd want to help us."

"And what 'important reason' would that be?"

"The 'if we don't find it both of our worlds and everything in them dies' kind of important reason."

"…I see. And you said you came with the Avatar? Well, why didn't you say so? Fine, you may look around. But don't break or steal anything. I'll know if you do."

"Got it." Jinora was about to run off before Wan Shi Tong called out to her again: "And be careful with the books, some of them are fragile!"

"Okay." Jinora said. But then, Wan Shi Tong called out one more time: "...and make sure all books are kept in alphabetical order!"

"I know, I know" Jinora said, running off. "Come on Furry-Foot! Here's hoping we can find what we need in time…"

-X-

"They say the game of Pai Sho was invented by the spirits." Iroh remarked as he continued to play with a massive spirit resembling a pink lotus. "...but if that's true clearly not all of them invented it together. Some of them don't seem to grasp it very well."

"Just hold on, I'm thinking." the Lotus spirit grumbled.

Iroh smiled and turned to Korra, who was watching the game. "As you can see, it is a game that requires great patience. I suspect that is why my niece and nephew never took it up. Neither one ever had much patience, though my nephew at least was still a good man all the same."

"So how long have you been here?" Korra asked.

"Oh, I've been here for many years. I always enjoyed the company of the spirits, so when my work was done in the natural world, rather than pass immediately into the ether, I chose to bring my spirit here and live among the Spirits for a while instead. It can be a wondrous place. I've made so many friends here. Of course, one day my spirit will have to move on, but for now I enjoy the time I get to spend in this world. I am very lucky. Most humans do not get to spend any time in the Spirit World, let alone a whole second life."

As Iroh mentioned making new friends, Korra's face fell. Taking notice of it, Iroh asked her what was wrong.

"I came here with my friend, but I lost her, and now I'm all alone…"

"You're not alone, Korra. It's okay."

"But it's not okay! Jinora's gone and I need to find her! She's lost and we need to go home! And the Dark Spirits are still out there, and so is Yanwu and he'll destroy everything if he's not stopped…"

As Korra continued to vent out all of her pent-up anxiety, the spirits began to convulse violently before transforming into darker, larger, and more sinister looking forms. The now Dark Spirits began to snarl violently, and some of them looked about ready to attack each-other and everything else they saw. Even the small spirit Korra had taken in was beginning to transform, growing a more spiked and barbed tail and hissing angrily.

"Korra, please stop!" Iroh said urgently. "Look at what you're doing to everyone!"

"...I did this?"

"Yes. In the Spirit World, your emotions become your reality, and this is especially true of the Avatar, because you are the bridge between the two worlds. You must try to stay positive."

Looking around again at the snarling demonic creatures the once friendly-looking spirits had turned into, Korra nodded and took in a deep breath to calm herself. "I'm sorry. I just got really upset. I've had a lot on my mind for so long and I just lost control of myself…"

As Korra said this the Dark Spirits convulsed again before slowly but surely turning back into their original selves. As they did, the sky, which had grown dark as Korra lost control of her emotions, cleared and sunlight shined through again.

"There, you see?"

"So…I can make the sun shine?"

Iroh nodded. "Even in the material world, you will find that if you look for the light, you can often find it. Similarly, if you look for the dark, that will be all you ever see. Of course, dark is not always evil. Just as light is not always good. You must learn to know when something is as it seems, and when it is not."

"Well what I'm looking for now is my friend, and I really need to find her right away. How come she didn't come out like the sun?"

"I'm afraid finding her won't be as easy."

"So then what am I supposed to do?"

"Sometimes, the best way to solve your own problems is to help someone else. For instance, this little fellow needs to go home as well. Maybe if you help him find his friends, you will be able to find yours."

"I'll take him home." Korra said resolutely. "Just tell me where to go."

"The Dragon Bird nest is located there..." Iroh said, pointing to the left of where they were. "…at the top of Hai-Riyo Peak."

Turning her head to see where Iroh was pointing, Korra saw a massive black mountain off in the distance surrounded by fog. As she looked out at it Korra realized that she had seen this mountain before. After a while of searching through her memories Korra realized that this was the same mountain with the glowing light in it's center from the post-apocalyptic Spirit World Korra had been in when she'd been sent to the future.

So this is what it used to look like…

-X-

After an hour or two of sailing across the sea aimlessly, Bumi could no longer resist the urge to rub his brother's lack of direction in his face.

"You really have no idea how to get to Whale Tail Island, do you?" Bumi asked with a teasing grin.

"I don't need your editorializing or mocking commentary." Tenzin replied stuffily. "I'll get us there. You just need to have some patience."

"…or we could ask them for help."

Bumi pointed to a nearby boat as Kya took to hailing it with her waterbending. She was successful, and in mere moments the boat was right in front of the group's raft and helping them onboard.

"Say…" one of the sailors said as he looked at Tenzin's Air Nomad clothes and tattoos. "…are you Tenzin of the United Republic?"

"As a matter of fact, I am. My family and I were…waylaid by some less than friendly individuals. We were hoping to lose them and it seems we have, but not before becoming lost at sea. Can you take us to the Southern Air Temple?"

"I think we can manage that. Let's get you some rooms."

Grinning, Bumi turned to his brother. "You see, Tenzin? This was way easier."

-X-

"Ugh, it's not here either!" Jinora grumbled as she tossed another book aside. "I have to find the portals. Korra is probably waiting for me there right now!"

As Jinora said this, she heard the sound of one of Wan Shi Tong's librarians moving through the rows and shelving some books. Turning to it, Jinora walked over to the fox-spirit and bowed respectfully.

"I need to find a map that shows where the spirit portals are. Could you help me please?"

Nodding, the Fox spirit led Jinora through several other hallways in the library until at last they arrived at a fairly darkened hallway with shelves that had clearly been neglected, caked with dust and having many books that had long ago been abandoned by both human and spirit alike. And it was one of these books that the fox-spirit gave to Jinora. Flipping through it's pages, Jinora very quickly found what she had been looking for.

"Thank you, this is it! The Tree of Time! That's where Avatar Wan imprisoned Yanwu! The elders believe that as long as the portals are closed during the Harmonic Convergence Yanwu will remain imprisoned and the battle between good and evil will never be fought again. But if both portals are open, spirit energy is amplified greatly. During the Harmonic Convergence, this energy will be great enough to allow Yanwu to break free from his bonds. And when he breaks free, the material and Spirit worlds will again risk being consumed by darkness." Finishing, Jinora turned to Furry-Foot. "We have to warn Korra!"

But as Jinora prepared to rush out of the library, a coldly smug female voice stopped her. "Leaving so soon?"

Heart racing, Jinora turned around and froze in terror upon seeing who it was.

"When I was told the library had a visitor I had to see it with my own eyes." Azula's crimson lips took on a mocking smile. "I'm surprised your father sent you here instead of coming himself. Rather pathetic parent, isn't he?"

"Better than your father." Jinora snarled. "How did you get in here?"

"I have my ways." Azula said. "Not even this library and it's inhabitants are safe from Zhan-Zeng's influence. Wan Shi Tong was already bitter towards the Avatar for a past betrayal, you see. It was a very simple matter for us to…sway him to our side. Especially when we lied that we'd spare him and his librarians come my master's return to power."

"Why would you wanna help Yanwu escape? He'll destroy everything!"

"Everything worth destroying." Azula said with a smirk. "You stupid little girl. You don't get it? In exchange for helping Yanwu I get to rule over whatever humans my master sees fit to spare. Which granted won't be much but a little's better than none, right?" Azula chuckled at her own depraved joke before advancing threateningly on Jinora. "Why don't you come with me now and I'll show you to some very special parts of the Spirit World?"

"No!" Jinora shouted and turned to run…only to see a small but bright light glowing in the darkness. Then the light's source came out of the shadows, revealing it to be connected to a long tube attached to the head of a truly terrifying monster with massive bulbous black-gray eyes, a mouth of incredibly long, sharp fangs, and a dark-gray furred body with large leather wings tucked at it's sides. And in it's sword-like jaws Jinora saw the body of a Dragon-Fly Bunny spirit.

"Furry-Foot…?"

-X-

"This looks kind of scary..." Korra said as she stared out at the large black mountain surrounded by mist. "Will you come with me?"

Iroh shook his head. "This is something that you must do on your own. The people who have been coming to the Spirit World lately have brought darkness, hatred, cruelty, and anger. I should know, as I recognize this particular kind anywhere. It is from a member of my own family. And it is her cruel nature that you see now. But you have light and peace inside of you. If you let it out, you can change the world around you. Take this little fellow for example..." Iroh pointed to the baby Dragon-Bird Korra continued to hold in her arms. "This mountain is his home. When you first met him, you were frightened. But does he seem scary to you now?"

Korra shook her head. "No."

"Look at the mountain the same way. Many things that seem threatening in the dark become welcoming when we shine a light on them, and see them for what they truly are." Iroh bowed respectfully to Korra. "It was good to meet you, Avatar Korra. Come visit me again some time. In this life or the next."

Korra nodded and waved good-bye to Iroh as he disappeared before her eyes. Smiling, she looked down at the baby Dragon-Bird she continued to hold in her arms. "Okay, time for you to go home. I just need to remember: light and peace. Light and peace…"

Korra nervously walked forward a few steps, her tiny feet slowly taking her up the massive mountain via it's dust-caked pathway. As she continued to walk up though, the sky darkened again and several massive creatures made their presence known. Two of them were large dark furred creatures with massive teeth that kept them from closing their mouths all the way. The third creature had a shell akin to a turtle-duck's only with spikes jutting out of it in every direction. A serpentine head came out of the shell, and when it opened it's toothless mouth two worm-like tongues shot out. As the three creatures advanced threateningly on Korra they outstretched large leather wings and snarled.

"I'm not afraid of you." Korra said as the monsters advanced on her. "You're not scary! You just look that way." When all she got were roars and hisses in response, Korra stood her ground and said: "I have light inside! And I can bring it out in you too!"

As Korra said this the creatures continued to snarl and growl threateningly at her, but also began to thrash about violently and convulse as they struggled with their better nature.

"It's okay..." Korra said reassuringly. "...you can be my friends. My name is Korra, and I'm taking this Dragon Bird home." As Korra said this, the dark clouds above her dispersed and light shined down on the three monsters in front of her. They all shrieked loudly and convulsed and thrashed about violently. One of them dissolved completely into a dark purple liquid, but the other two began to change, one's teeth shrinking until soon they were far less intimidating and the creature's mouths could close all the way. The other's shell spikes receded until soon they were gone altogether, as were the writhing worm-like tongues. It's eyes also became bigger and more friendly-looking, and even the two creature's leather wings looked less threatening.

"Iroh said you could be nice." Korra said proudly to the transformed creatures. "Do you wanna help me?"

Taking off into the air, the two creatures flew up towards the mountain past a grassy meadow, and Korra followed them with the baby Dragon-Bird still in her arms. Eventually, they came to the very top of the mountain, where a small nest containing three other baby Dragon-Birds lay. Walking up to it, Korra put the one she carried in her arms into the nest. All four babies then became consumed in a bright crimson light that shot upwards before dispersing and revealing the form of a massive, golden Dragon-Bird. As it flew by her, Korra suddenly felt a surge of power and life being shot into her, and the next thing she knew she was her actual age once again.

"Yes! Ah, it's good to be back."

After flying around the mountain again, the golden Dragon-Bird landed and allowed Korra to get on top of it.

"Alright, now let's close that portal and go find Jinora!"

-X-

"They've been in the Spirit World a long time..." Kya remarked as she and Tenzin watched Korra and Jinora lie comatose on some cots.

"Probably a much shorter time for them." Tenzin said. "Time can pass much more quickly in the Spirit World, at least from the perspective of any humans who go there."

"Well either way, I hope they wake up soon…"

The two sibling's attention was diverted to the sound of something slamming up against the ship, which in turn tilted it to such a degree that Kya and Tenzin were nearly thrown backwards into the wall they had their backs to.

"What was that?"

"I'll go check." Kya said, running up to the top of the ship. As she came out, something slammed into the boat again, and Kya had to cling to the rails to keep from being tossed around like a rag-doll.

Then, bursting out of the water was a massive fish with a large fin on it's blue-gray back and several rows of dagger-like teeth in it's mouth. It had large bulbous black eyes on the sides of it's head, and over it's head a massive crest. Finally, spilling out of each side of it's body and fish-tail were five long muscular, whip-like tentacles.

"What is that?" Kya asked horrified.

"The Shark-Squid! My old nemesis has come back for another battle!"

"What?"

"The Shark-Squid. You remember me telling you about him don't you?"

"But…"

"Oh, you thought I was just making it up, did you?" Bumi burst out laughing, which in the face of the giant aquatic beast's continuing to attack them was particularly unsettling. "Oh no! My old enemy's all too-real! And now he's after all of us!"

As Bumi said this he cracked up again, just as the Shark-Squid slammed several of it's tentacles into the hull of the ship, which managed to cause the entire vessel to shake violently, and threatened to send Kya and Bumi overboard before both grabbed onto the side of the boat. Bumi though, seemed to revel in the chaos.

"Come on you, big ugly beastie! Show me what you've got! Hit as hard as you did the first two times!"

"You've fought this thing twice?" Kya asked incredulous.

"Twice? HA! I've run into this old sea monster half-a-dozen times at least! Why do you think it's my greatest enemy?"

The Shark-Squid struck the boat a second time, this time hitting it with such force the light bulbs onboard burst in a shower of sparks and tiny shards of glass.

"Bumi, how do we stop this thing?" Kya demanded.

"Now if I knew that it it wouldn't still be alive, now would it?" Bumi burst out laughing again, and his irreverent attitude only served to worsen his sibling's already stressed disposition.

"Turn this ship around!" the captain roared over the howling winds and the Shark-Squid's continued attacks on the ship. "Get us as far away from that thing as possible!"

"Don't be ridiculous! You can't run from the Shark-Squid! Oh no! He'll hunt you to the edge of the earth and beyond! You gotta stand and fight!"

"Are you mad? We're a fishing ship, not a hunting vessel! We don't have the means to kill something like that!"

"Don't need to kill it, just scare it off. Do you have a harpoon?"

"Well, yes but…"

"Then load it up, man!" Bumi hollered, taking charge as though this were another one of his military vessels and he'd never retired. "There's no time for doubt or hesitation! This is a battle! Now get me that harpoon and I'll show ya how it's done!"

The ship's captain was briefly taken aback by Bumi's hollering orders in his face, but nevertheless complied and ordered his men to get the harpoon ready. As they did, the Shark-Squid came in again, and this time wrapped it's long tentacles around the ship before starting to apply pressure. Next thing the ship's occupants knew, the sound of rending and crunching metal could be heard.

"That doesn't bode well…" Tenzin muttered.

"Get it off!" the captain roared. "Get it off!"

Heeding their captain's orders, the ship's crew started attacking the Shark-Squid's tentacles with anything they could get their hands on. One of the tentacles, which was already injured from previous battles, was cut off with relative ease, sending a mess of the beast's blood all over the side of the ship and into the water below. The Shark-Squid howled in pain and released it's grip on the boat. Diving back beneath the waves the Shark-Squid swam underneath the boat and struck the bottom with the full force of it's back, bumping the ship up and nearly sending it's occupants flying into the air.

By this point though, Bumi and the ship's crew had the harpoon launcher ready, and Bumi's mouth formed into a massive grin as his eyes lit up like small explosions of highly unstable glee as he prepared for his nemesis to show itself once more.

"Come on out, ya old beast! I know you're here!"

Heeding the challenge, the Shark-Squid burst forth once more, it's nine remaining tentacles whipping around in a confusing frenzy before striking out with several, each one breaking off or denting the piece of the ship that it struck. Bumi though, was unconcerned, and yelled out at the Shark-Squid as it opened up it's massive maw: "Come on, ugly! For hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee!"

-X-

Korra felt a chill run up her spine as she stared out at the barren, chaotic landscape in front of her. Ten thousand years may have passed since the climactic battle between Wan and Raava against Vaatu, but the scars still remained. The sky remained dark and dreary, and the ground was littered with cracks and crevices caused from the battle. Some wounds never healed.

"This is where Yanwu is…"

Swooping down on the sight, the golden Dragon-Bird landed gracefully and allowed Korra to get off. Walking forward, Korra could see Yanwu still in his tree prison, the shield keeping him contained having not faltered at all in ten millennia.

"So you've returned, Raava. Still chained to a human mutt. No matter. The Haromic Convergence is coming soon, and when it does I will escape and wipe you out for good."

"I think you've said that before, Yanwu." Korra shot back. "And yet even when you turned into Vaatu you couldn't win. And once I close the portal, you're not going to get a chance to get out and have a rematch."

"Is that so?" Came an unpleasantly familiar female voice. Azula stepped out from behind the tree. "I think you might want to reconsider, Avatar…that is, if you want to save your friend here."

As Azula said this, one of the same creatures Korra had met on the mountain appeared from behind the tree, holding Jinora captive in it's clawed feet. Several more of the same creature landed around Korra, massive teeth bared threateningly.

"No!" Korra turned to Azula. "If you hurt he, I swear…"

"You'll do what exactly? Kill me?" Azula smiled. "I doubt that very much. If you want your friend here to make it out of the Spirit World alive you'll open the closed portal now."

"Don't do it, Korra!" Jinora shouted.

"I'm not a fool. You'll just kill her anyway." Korra said darkly. "I know I can't trust you to keep your word."

Azula's smile became even bigger. "Oh, it's so true. You really can't trust me. But since freeing my master from his imprisonment is something of a priority of mine, I'm willing to be sincere just this once. So which will it be? Open the portal, or lose your friend's soul forever? You do know what happens if she dies here in the Spirit World, don't you? No? Actually, neither do I. But I'm so eager to find out."

Azula outstretched a hand at Jinora, which then became consumed in indigo fire.

"Stop!" Korra shouted before Azula could unleash her fire at Jinora. "I'll do it."

"Excellent. I knew you'd cooperate once I gave you…'motivation'."

Korra snarled but nevertheless went to the Spirit Portal that remained closed. Placing her hand up against the bubble that looked like a piece of the sky at sun-set, Korra focused all of her energy into it, and next thing she knew, the bubble had burst in a vibrant explosion as a fire-orange column of light shot upwards. The Northern Spirit Portal had been opened.

"There, I opened it. Now let Jinora go."

What came next didn't surprise Korra at all. "I never said I'd let her go. I just said I wouldn't hurt her." Azula smiled. "I also never said my friends here wouldn't hurt her. They'll be sure to…'take care of her' on my behalf."

The demonic creature holding Jinora in it's talons let out a shriek before flying off on it's leather wings. Wasting no time, Korra directed a flurry of elemental attacks at the beast as it took off into the sky, but it was surprisingly adept at dodging Korra's attacks. One blast of water though managed to hit it in one of it's wings, injuring the wing and causing the monster to spiral out of control as it plummeted.

Unfortunately as this happened, Azula shot out a powerful torrent of indigo fire at Korra that sent her flying backwards. Tumbling, Korra willed herself to halt before shooting out several chunks of earth at Azula, all of which were deftly avoided.

"Yet another perk to serving my master..." Azula said smugly. "...I retain my firebending even in the Spirit World."

Ignoring Azula, Korra raced towards where the monster carrying Jinora had crashed, all the while dodging more of Azula's fire blasts. Unfortunately as she continued to run, one of the other beasts tackled Korra to the ground before moving in and trying to claw at her with it's talons. Fighting back by shooting a chunk of rubble at it, Korra managed to force it back, only for the others to fly at her claws and teeth bared. As Korra was forced back by them, she could hear Yanwu's voice: "I must confess, Raava I am surprised that you were able to turn some of my own creations against me. But no matter. I still have more than enough of my Fennu and Dark Spirits left to overwhelm you. And once I am free again, I will create more. Your sickening light will not be able to bring out any kind of better nature in them. They are mine and mine alone. And I will ensure that there is no light inside them for you to bring out."

As Korra continued to try and fight the Fennu off, Azula ran at her again with more punishing blasts of indigo fire. Between her and the Fennu, Korra found herself surrounded on all sides, and with only her earth and waterbending, she was hard-pressed to keep all of her enemies at bay.

Then Korra saw things become even worse when another of the Fennu grabbed Jinora and flew off with her.

"NO!" Korra shouted, the brief distraction leaving her open to an attack from Azula, who knocked her down with a powerful blast of indigo fire.

"You may be reincarnated once I kill you, but at least you'll be out of the way long enough for my master to do his work…"

But as Azula said this, the golden Dragon Bird swooped in and struck out with it's long tail. The impact sent Azula flying backwards and into the air before landing hard on the rocky ground. Snarling in rage as she dislocated her shoulder, Azula staggered to her feet in time to see the golden Dragon Bird fly off with an injured Korra in tow.

"I'll see you soon, Raava." Yanwu shouted at Korra. "You and your human shackles. Once the Harmonic Convergence comes, I'll be free from this prison, and then I will have my revenge on you and the human race!"

-X-

Tenzin's eyes opened slowly as consciousness returned to him at long last. Finding himself face-down in a pile of sand and moss, Tenzin forced himself up as his disgust woke him up in full. He looked to his side and could see his brother and sister similarly sprawled out on the moss-covered beach, with Kya's arms still wrapped tightly around Jinora's comatose body. The ship's broken fragments lay desecrated and ruined on the coast-line, all of it damaged beyond any hope of recovery. But at least he and his family were still alive. Checking Korra, who lay comatose next to himself, Tenzin was relieved to see that she too still lived.

"Bumi, Kya, wake up!"

Tenzin shook his siblings to wake up, and Kya was the first to open her eyes. "Ah…what happened?"

"Well, I remember Bumi shouting at the Shark-Squid before shooting at it with the harpoon…then the beast got even angrier and smashed into the ship and everything went black. It looks like our ship crashed here."

"So…we killed the Shark Squid, then?

"Killed the Shark-Squid?" Bumi repeated as he woke up. "Please. He'll be back. I'm sure of it. Maybe not today, but he'll be back. Maybe tomorrow, maybe a year from now, maybe ten years from now. But one day he'll be back."

"Bumi!" Kya snapped. "Not the time." Then, as she looked around at her surroundings. "Where are we?"

"I'm not sure..." Tenzin confessed. "It doesn't look like any land I've ever seen before…"

"Me neither." Bumi said. "Of course to be fair, a lot of places look the same to me…"

The trio's conversation was interrupted by several arrows tearing through the air aimed at the siblings. Tenzin saw them coming in time to deflect them with his airbending. Kya handed Bumi Jinora, and used her waterbending to help Tenzin fend off the assault directed against them.

"Trespassers!" one voice shouted.

"More heathens!" shouted another. "Kill them all!"

"No, please!" Tenzin called out. "We don't want to fight you, we come in peace!"

"Liars! Deceivers! We will give you to Mother Earth to consume!"

Then, at last the sibling's attackers revealed themselves. They were several muscular men who wore baggy pants of earthy colors and bare-chests decorated with odd markings that formed what looked to Tenzin's eyes like some kind of tree. Many of them also wore large sun-hats over their heads and scarves over their mouths.

The warriors continued to attack with arrows as well as some slings launching stones the size of eggs. But then others ran forward without weapons and performed several elaborate moves. As they did, several thick, dark brown roots burst out of the soil and wrapped themselves around the three siblings' legs, rooting them in place.

"What is this?" Bumi cried out as a long snake-like root wrapped itself around one of his legs.

"Those men…they're controlling these roots!"

"That's impossible…" Tenzin said. "No bender can control roots…"

"Silence!" one of the men snapped as they finished restraining the siblings with the manipulated roots. "You are trespassing on the lands of the Wood People. And we will not tolerate such an offense. Take them back to the clan leaders!"

"Kya, run!" Tenzin shouted. "You're the only one who can save us!"

Nodding, Kya used her waterbending to sever the roots binding her before she could be fully ensnared, and then created a water-shield to protect herself from the volley of arrows directed against her. Lashing out with the most powerful waterbending attacks she could muster, Kya was able to force the Wood People warriors back, and give herself some time to run off into the nearby woodlands, Tenzin breathing a sigh of relief as she disappeared behind the tall trees.

"Let her go." the head Woodbender ordered. "She will not last long by herself, even with her strange and unnatural powers. As for these other heathens, they will be delivered to the clan leaders for judgment."

Author's Note: And so with this chapter we introduce the second of my new nations, the Wood People! Pretty neat, huh? Not much else to say here. Just that this is another chapter that turned out longer than I expected, but oh well. Also, when I saw this episode I felt that Iroh's appearance was kind of ruined by his voice actor being, to put it bluntly, terrible. Rest in Peace, Mako. You are seriously missed.