Hello all! I have another update for you. ^_^ Ever since the Strikers hit, we have been on the "oh shit, things are getting intense" peak of the roller coaster, and it is pretty much going to continue to be that way until the end of this fic. This chapter that you're about to read is no exception. Hope you enjoy it!
(-)
Chapter 36
Taken
All three of them had fallen asleep. Naga was near the bed instead of her usual spot by the window. Her head rested on the empty portion of the mattress beside Asami's back. Asami was on her side, holding Korra against her in a sleeping embrace. Korra was facing her, her nose buried in a fluff of black hair. Her rest was nowhere near slumber, though. While she wasn't having nightmares, she wasn't dreaming, either. Everything was black. It wasn't even her normal 'walking through darkness to find the voice' type of shadowy dream. It was just…
Black.
Her eyes fluttered open, though her sight was limited. Even with lifting her head from the mess of raven locks, it was still too dark to get a clear visual.
Too dark and… fuzzy.
Korra moved beyond her control, her limbs under the whim of her subconscious once again. She was only half there, if even that much. She slid out of Asami's grip with no grace at all. Her sock-covered feet dropped to the cold floor, toes not registering the mild sting from the temperature difference. Her soles dragged across the boards, her shoulders slouched in her near-sleep walking state. She stopped at the window, her weary pupils drifting up to the moon in the sky. The moon was clear in her complete fullness – unhindered by clouds or her own cycle – marking the beginning of the winter solstice. Her body swayed as she took in the sight.
"Korra?" Asami mumbled, shifting upright after noticing the woman was missing from her arms. She rubbed her eye with one hand while her other peridot looked on with confusion. "Korra," she called again, this time getting the attention of the sleeping polar bear dog.
Naga let out a yawn and twisted her head over to the hovering Korra.
Korra didn't acknowledge them, nor did she even hear their voices or remember that they were there. All she could do was submit to the movement of her limbs; her subconscious wanted something – answers, most likely – and whatever force that was pulling her was too strong to resist. Her fingers found the lock of the window and flipped it open.
"Korra?" Asami made her way out of the bed, Naga standing beside her. She took a step forward, hesitant in her approach.
Korra's palms moved to the center right side of the circular window. She pushed on it, trying to get it to budge. Another shove and the pane swung open. She crawled up to the sill and slipped through the opening, rolling into the snow from her poor landing.
"Korra!" Asami ran to the window – polar bear dog on her tail – and leaned against it.
Korra was already on her feet, trudging through the snow in meandering, absent steps.
"Come on, Naga." Asami pulled the window shut and scurried out of the bedroom. The faint sound of Tonraq snoring from the training room filled her ears. She made a mental note of it as her and Naga tiptoed to the main entrance. She closed it as quiet as she could and sprinted around the side of the house. She stopped and squinted, scanning to find Korra. When her peridots locked onto the loose brown hair blowing in the wind, her feet took off. "Korra," she hollered as she approached the woman. She ran to her front and halted. "Korra, where are you go –" She cut herself off as she looked into Korra's distant, empty eyes. "Korra?" She waved her pale hand in Korra's path.
This did nothing.
Korra kept walking, even stumbling a bit in her subconscious steps.
Naga intercepted her route and blocked it, growling at her human companion.
Still, nothing.
Korra continued on, moving around the animal in her way; she didn't even realize there was someone there, didn't even see her. Her body just moved, her oceans focused on the fuzzy sight of the glacier past the joining of the three rivers.
"Korra," Asami latched onto her wrist with a soft hold, trying to get her to stop when she noticed her destination.
This had no effect as well; she simply pulled her arm out of Asami's gentle grasp.
"What is going on with her?" The pair stared as they watched Korra walk away.
"I didn't really know what I was doing. My body just started moving."
"I think she's sleepwalking, Naga…" Asami took a curious step towards her. "Let's follow her."
She barked and traveled next to Asami, a similar amount of intrigue in her black eyes. They trailed Korra until she paused at the shore of the Aakaga. The pair stopped a few feet away, careful to keep their distance.
Korra's swaying body stared up at the top of the glacier. Her feet moved into the cold water, her body showing no response to the chill in the slightest. Once it was deep enough, her legs kicked and her arms stroked just as she did when she was swimming to the Fire Nation.
"Come on, Naga." Asami motioned to wade into the water when Naga stopped her.
Naga lowered herself to the ground and nodded to her back, ushering Asami to mount.
"Are – are you sure, Naga?"
She yipped.
Asami bobbed and crawled onto the polar bear dog. She adjusted her hold, still unaccustomed to riding on the animal – let alone bareback. "Okay. Let's keep on her trail."
She huffed and plunged into the water, though she managed to stay afloat enough to keep Asami dry. Naga paddled through the river, her eyes dead-set on her human companion.
Korra swam up to the jutting edge of the glacier. She waded around to the shore; the force that pulled her refused to climb up the rocks to the peak. She stumbled out of the water and tumbled into the snow, her legs unsteady. She pushed herself to her feet and continued on, ascending the mountain on the same side that her and Asami had just one night before.
Naga paused once she was on solid ground to shake her fur out. When she was done, Asami slid off of her and scratched her ear.
"Thank-you." She smiled to Naga before turning to Korra's path. She glanced between the peak of the glacier and the meandering Korra, worry in her heart. "Come on," she waved the polar bear on to follow her.
They climbed up the mountain, following the footprints that Korra left behind. It was their only means of tracking her; Korra was out of their sight due to her elevation and angle. When they reached the top of the glacier, Korra was in their eyes.
It forced both of them to freeze.
Korra was just a few feet away from the ledge, her head tilted up at the massive full moon above her. Her subconscious took in Yue's glow, her hazy, glazed-over blue eyes reflecting the natural image of the bright orb in the night sky. She felt something buzz inside of her, a mighty force pulling at her insides. It grew and radiated within her, though her body continued to sway in its stupor.
Then, it spoke.
Korra.
White filled every inch of her. It extended from her core and shot out of her, taking her with it.
Korra shut her eyes and fell to her knees. Within a second, her body completely collapsed into the snow, its insides empty and abandoned.
Asami felt her heart fall with Korra's plummet.
"Korra!" Asami sprinted to her and pulled her away from the ledge. She rolled Korra onto her back and held her in her pale hands. "Korra? Korra?" She repeated, almost shaking the woman's shoulders in her frantic state. She touched Korra's face with her trembling fingers.
She's – she's cold. How can she be so cold?
She lowered her ear to Korra's chest, listening for a heartbeat. She put one hand on the side of Korra's neck and the other under her nostrils.
She's still breathing. She's still alive. I think…
Asami moved to her eyes. She pushed the lids up. Korra's irises were rolled up into the near back of her head, hidden from Asami's sight. Her body showed no other signs of movement.
Naga whined and tried to nudge Korra awake once Asami released her.
That warranted no response.
Another rub, a bark, a lick of the cheek, a whimper, a nip on the wrist…
Nothing.
"Naga, I need you to go get help. Senna, Katara, Kya, anyone who knows Water Bending healing."
Naga barked and sped off as fast as she could, feet pounding into the snow at a rapid pace.
Asami returned to the unconscious Korra, her heart racing in her chest. She tore her jacket off and wrapped Korra's torso with it. Asami was too afraid to move her anymore, having zero experience with this type of physical phenomenon.
Korra… what's going on? What – what happened to you?
A mixture of deep concern and a primal urge to protect Korra coursed in her veins. She huddled next to Korra, looking for any means she could to keep Korra's chilling body warm. Her watery eyes fell upon the full moon, the peridots reflecting Yue's glowing image.
Please be okay.
(-)
Scratching and eventual mewling against her window was the last thing she expected – or wanted – to hear, especially at this time of night. She jumped up from her bed, startled from the noise.
Naga?
She rushed to the pane and pulled the curtain open.
The polar bear dog cried at the sight of her, eager to communicate with her in some way.
Katara unlatched the lock and shoved the glass to the side. "Naga, Naga, calm down."
She shook her head and barked, panic in her eyes.
"Shhh," Katara hushed her, looking over her shoulder to ensure her door was shut; she didn't want to wake her slumbering daughter while she recovered from the chi blocking earlier in the day. When she returned to Naga, she could see and feel the worry radiating from her. "Something's wrong. Did something happen to Korra?"
Naga whimpered and lowered herself against the sill.
"Okay, I'm coming. Let me put my boots and coat on." Katara scurried to her dresser and grabbed a pair of pants to put over her pajamas. She slipped into them, as well as an additional robe and the parka that she always wore. She slid her hands in her coat pocket, ensuring the small pouch was with her – as it was every day. She nodded with determined eyes when she felt it between her fingers. Then, she returned to the task at hand. With a quick slip of her animal skin boots, she was ready to go. She pushed herself up to her window, groaning from the ache in her muscles after her previous fight with the Strikers. A flick of her wrist sent some water up to her pane to close it. She continued the motion and sent her arms towards the ground. When she lifted them, a pillar of water-turned-ice followed, propelling her onto Naga's back. She gripped onto the polar bear dog's neck and adjusted herself. "Take me to her, Naga."
Naga barked and sped off, both eager to get to Korra and careful not to throw Katara off of her.
"Why did you come to me, Naga," she asked as they approached the joining of the three rivers. "Senna and Tonraq are much closer to this spot than I am."
She growled in response, following the snarl up with a bark; Korra's parents were the last people Naga wanted to think about right now. Without a single ounce of hesitation, she lunged into the water. Her legs pumped in an intense paddle, moving much quicker than she had with Asami on her back. Once she hit the ground, she lurched into a sprint up the side of the glacier.
Katara scanned the area, noting a second pair of human footprints moving in the same path as they were. "Is Asami with her, Naga?"
She howled and panted. The duo came to a grinding halt at the top of the mountain.
Her heart dropped in her chest to the sight. She jumped off of Naga and caught herself on a small wave of her own design. It carried her to Asami and Korra, the latter somewhat-pulled into the former's arms. A set of fresh tears were streaming down Asami's face as Katara made the Bent liquid disappear under her feet. She knelt beside Asami and put a hand on her shoulder. "Tell me everything," she instructed, pulling the unconscious Korra from her grip. Katara laid her out onto her back as gentle as she could and Bent some water up to her hands. She closed her eyes and moved her palms over Korra's body, the fluid glowing around her fingers.
Asami rubbed her face dry and took a breath. "Korra and I were sleeping to– in the same room. I was, uh, on the floor and – anyways, that's not important. We were sleeping and Korra woke up. At least, I think she woke up. Actually, she didn't really…"
Asami, breathe. Formulate. You aren't being useful.
She inhaled again to calm herself. "She started sleepwalking."
"Sleepwalking?" Katara stopped her evaluating motions to meet the peridots beside her.
She nodded. "She's done it before, she told me, when she was going to the Fi–", she paused, smacking herself on the inside for almost blowing Korra's secret. "She said she can sometimes remember things when she was in this state, but it's hazy. She said her body just… moved."
Katara furrowed her brow and stared at Korra's still face.
"Naga and I tried getting her attention, but she wouldn't budge at all. So we followed her here. When we got to the top, she was just standing there, staring at the moon. Her body twitched and she fell to her knees. Then, she collapsed." Asami slid her pale hand into Korra's, ignoring her own shaking from the cold. "I put my jacket on her to try and keep her warm. She's cold, Katara. She's never cold, not since –"
She cringed to the memory of Korra after the second attack on the outskirts of the university, when she cared for the slipping woman in Korra's dorm room.
"That's good thinking, Asami." Katara shut her lids and reexamined Korra's body. She lowered the glowing water into her core, trying to feel something in Korra. While Katara could feel her basic bodily functions – like her heart and lungs – something was missing. It was an emptiness she hadn't felt since…
Her eyes popped open and widened. She glanced up at the moon, Yue's fullness and light reflecting back to her. Her blue irises picked up on the now-open moon lilies along some of the shore and cliff lines, waving to her in the wind with their arctic lily descendants.
"Katara? What's wrong? What's going on with Korra?"
"Korra… is no longer with us."
Asami's heart plummeted to the center of the earth. "Wha – what do you mean? She can't be. I felt her pulse and her breathing before you got here. She… is she…" She couldn't even fathom the word dead, let alone get the knot out of her throat to speak another syllable.
"No, no. Korra's not dead. She wouldn't be breathing if she was dead." She rose to her feet and Bent the water back into the ground. "No, Korra is in the Spirit World."
Her jaw dropped. "Spirit World? How – why – but – how could she be in the Spirit World?"
Katara folded her arms behind her back as Naga approached Korra, sniffing at her motionless body with a soft whimper. She looked up at the moon. "The moon is full tonight, and it's the Winter Solstice. At this time, the Mortal World and Spirit World are close together, so close that –"
"–it's possible to reach out and talk to the Spirits." Asami murmured, Korra's words echoing in her mind.
"And vice versa."
She turned to Katara in a state of panic. "So a Spirit came and took Korra away?"
"From what you've told me, it sounds likely." Katara walked around to Korra's head and sat beside her. "I've seen it happen before, though that time, my brother's body was actually taken," she half-chuckled, half-frowned to the thought of Hei Bai taking Sokka from Senlin Village all those years ago. "But this is exactly how Aang's body felt to me when he meditated into the Spirit World."
"But Korra didn't meditate there; she was taken there. What do we do? How do we get her back?"
"We don't."
"We don't?"
She nodded.
"Then what do we do? We can't do nothing."
"That's exactly what we have to do, Asami." She sat in an agura position and glanced down at Korra. "We can't bring Korra back from wherever she is. All we can do is wait for her to return and watch over her body in the meantime. Unless you know of some way to get into the Spirit World on your own…"
Her hands shook; she didn't like doing nothing, didn't like being out of control in a situation like this with no plan A, B, or C to follow if things went wrong. But she had no knowledge about the Spirit World – or, very limited knowledge. The only thing she had to go on was the Water Bender sitting beside the woman she loved. Asami sighed in defeat and plopped at Korra's other side. She fought back her frustrated, concerned tears.
Katara reached over and put a palm on Asami's shoulder. "Don't worry, Asami. Everything is going to be okay." She reached into her parka and pulled out a small brown, animal skin pouch, sealed with a thin drawstring. She placed it beside Korra and folded her hands into her lap.
Asami eyed the bag, glancing between that, Korra, and Katara. She opened her mouth to question it, but the words wouldn't come out once her peridots fell on Korra for a final time. She wrapped her pale fingers around one of Korra's hands, her grip tight enough to feel the woman's heartbeat. She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing, trying to keep herself calm.
Come back to me, Korra. Come back.
(-)