The Spirit World looked nothing like Jinora remembered it. The sky was dark, and churned with a whirl of violet, black, and red. Shades of malformed spirits floated high above them, streaking across the clouds like demons, and a harsh wind gusted through the valley. What had once been a field of brilliant purple flowers around the portal was now an empty patch of dirt littered with dead petals. A shiver ran through the young airbender's spine. This wasn't right at all.
P'Li took a step forward and frowned. "Zaheer used to visit the Spirit World all the time, but I've never been myself. Does it normally look like this?"
"No," Jinora replied, with a shake of her head. "This is wrong. Very wrong. Whatever Sen is doing to this place by growing more powerful, it isn't good."
Hari made his way next to them, giving their surroundings a curious stare. "So where do we begin searching for Korra and the others?"
"I'm not sure." Jinora held a hand above her eyes to shield her face from the wind. She gazed out across the dead valley to try and gain some sense of familiarity, but nothing looked the same. "Last I know, they were coming from Wan Shi Tong's library. I knew where that is when the Spirit World was normal, but with things like this…"
P'Li grumbled out a sigh. "Well, can you focus on her spiritual energy, or whatever it is you do?"
"I can try, although I'm not entirely sure it'll work. It should, now that my physical body is here instead of just my spirit, but there's no telling what might happen with things like this."
With a deep breath, Jinora lowered herself to the ground and crossed her legs. Closing her eyes, she pressed her fists together and began to concentrate on finding Korra's spiritual energy. With how much spiritual energy they were already surrounded by, that would be difficult. Still, she had to try. They couldn't afford to fail now. As she sat there and meditated, the sky above began to swirl faster and grow darker, drenching them in shadows. The center of the disturbance formed directly above where Jinora sat, with sparks of violet light flashing within.
"Something is happening," Hari said, lifting his gaze towards the sky. He took a step back and raised his hand, causing a small stream of sand to sift out of the stone jar on his back and hover into the air.
"And nothing good," P'Li added, with her own cautious stare at the sky.
"Hold on, I think it's working." Jinora squinted her eyes tighter together and doubled her focus. "I'm starting to feel something."
Moments later, the violet sparks above began to hiss and charge. P'Li lunged forward and grabbed Jinora by the pit of the arms. With one mighty heave, she threw the airbender out of the way moments before a streak of lightning exploded out from the clouds. P'Li disappeared in a blinding flash, instinctively raising both arms in a desperate attempt to shield herself. Fortunately, a dome of sand had formed above her to take the brunt of the lightning strike. The coarse shield held strong, only small bits and pieces falling out of form. When everything was calm, Hari pulled back his sand, allowing P'Li to step away and straighten herself.
"What on earth was that?" Jinora asked, staring up at the sky.
"That was the Spirit World almost frying you," P'Li muttered. "I don't think this place likes you trying to establish a connection with anything."
Jinora paused, turning a quizzical look to the tall woman. "And you pushed me out of the way?"
P'Li shrugged. "You're the best chance we have for completing this mission, so yeah."
"But you could have been fried."
"Yeah, well I wasn't," P'Li said, thumbing towards Hari. "Thanks to him."
Hari offered a humble shake of his head. "It was nothing."
"Thank you," Jinora said, with a nod to both of them.
P'Li rolled her eyes. "Whatever. We need to get a move on. Did you find anything?"
Turning around, Jinora pointed into the distance. "I thought I felt something coming from that direction, and now that I look closely I think that's the direction of the Spirit Library, so it would be correct."
"Well, it's the only lead we have, so let's go," P'Li said, with a nod. "Lead the way."
Jinora led them across the barren field, focusing on where she had felt the faintest hint of Korra's energy. It hadn't been much, but enough to give her a general idea of where they needed to go. That was the hope, anyway. With all the distortions in the Spirit World right now, she easily could have misconstrued something. She might not have felt Korra at all but rather some other being, perhaps even a dark spirit that wanted to harm them. Whatever she was leading them towards, they needed to be ready for anything.
The atmosphere didn't change as they made their way through a twisted, gnarled forest of dead trees. The sky remained dark, and the air frigid. No spirits appeared to greet them. The only ones they saw where those flying high above their heads. Those spirits looked warped and anguished. Jinora tried not to pay attention. To think that the fate of both humans and spirits alike hinged on their success here was a burden too great to let herself be weighed down. Instead, she shook any thoughts of consequences from her mind as she stepped across a bed of tall grass at the edge of the forest.
The moment her foot met the grass, something tugged on her ankle. She tried to take another step, but her leg remained rooted in place. Again, she pulled her foot. The grip yanked back harder. Looking downward, Jinora noticed strands of grass crawling up her ankle and squeezing tight. "What the heck?"
"Let go, you stupid plant!" P'Li struggled in a similar manner, as the grass grew taller and lashed out like tendrils to grab onto her arms and waist. Hari, too, let out a yelp when the grass attacked him.
Jinora raised her hands to airbend her way out, but the grass latched onto her wrists before she had the chance. She struggled briefly with a panicked shout, only to be silenced when the grass wrapped over her mouth. The grass pulled harder. So strong. The grass was so strong, far more than she. Within moments, she, P'Li, and Hari all fell backwards and disappeared beneath the mossy bed. For a long while, Jinora saw only inky darkness. Suffocating, consuming. An endless void all around her, inescapable and oppressive. She tried to scream, but no sound emerged. Deeper and deeper she fell. Deeper into the grass. Deeper into the bowels of the Spirit World. Soon, she would be lost forever. They would fail.
A flash of orange and a rush of heat surged into the void. Flames whirled around her, burning away the grass. Her bonds snapped, and with a desperate lurch she pulled herself back to the surface, into open air. P'Li stood over her, bending a pinwheel of fire in a circle around them to keep the grass at bay. A cloud of sand followed, forming beneath their feet and lifting them into the sky. The grass made one last desperate reach for them, but Jinora blasted it away with a shot of wind.
Once they were safely out of range of the attacking plant life, she huffed out a deep breath and bowed her head. "Okay, this isn't going to be easy."
P'Li side-eyed her with a frown. "Gee, really? What tipped you off?"
"It's alright, we should be safe up here," Hari said. A clap of thunder boomed above him, prompting him to focus on the darkened sky. "Relatively speaking, anyway."
Jinora followed Hari's gaze. The sky definitely seemed agitated, but wasn't doing anything else to attack them. At least, not yet. With any luck, it would let them pass unabated.
The sound of an explosion snapped Jinora's attention back towards the ground, where she noticed a smoking crater scorched at the center of the field of grass. All around the edges of the crater, the grass twitched and burned, as if alive and in pain. She shifted a look towards P'Li, whose third eye gently smoked with the release of a combustion blast. "What was that for?"
P'Li shrugged. "What? It deserved it."
The comment elicited an abrupt chuckle from Hari. He tried to downplay his amusement, but couldn't hide the smirk in his lips, as he guided the cloud of sand through the air.
Azula slid down a large embankment. The dust that billowed from beneath her feet sparkled like diamonds, only to collect together and liquefy into floating bubbles above her head. She frowned at them and tried to swat them away. When that didn't work, she vaporized them with a shot of fire from her fingertips. Stupid Spirit World. As if she were in any kind of mood to put up with this kind of spirity bisoncrap.
"Do we even know how we're supposed to find them?" she said. "Or the way out of here once we do?"
"The best we can do is retrace our steps, I suppose." Katara slid down beside her and took a look around. They had come to some kind of valley, filled with giant mushrooms that glowed with various different colors. She paused to think, staring straight ahead. "From what I remember, Wan Shi Tong's library is in that direction. We were attacked somewhere between there and here, although Kuvira and Korra ended up underground somewhere. They could be anywhere. As for finding the way out, I'm afraid I have no idea."
"Well that's real encouraging." Azula looked towards the flickering sky above. Still dark and churning, like some kind of evil maelstrom. "I spent eighty years in this place before returning to the physical world. If it were normal, I could navigate my way through it blindfolded. But like this? Forget it."
"I'm sure we'll manage. We just have to keep moving." Katara picked up her pace again, with Azula close behind. After a few moments of silence, she looked over to her and asked, "How are you, anyway? Are you feeling okay?"
Azula raised an eyebrow. "Yes, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"
"Just wondering, since you're, you know…"
Azula paused, glaring quizzically at the waterbender. "What, because I'm pregnant?"
"Well, yeah."
A scoff burst from her throat. "Please, Katara, I'm two months along tops. It's not like I'm waddling around with a beach ball hanging from my stomach. You don't need to coddle me."
Katara eased a gentle sigh and shrugged her shoulders. "Still doesn't hurt to check."
"Well I'm fine. Honestly, you've been pregnant what, three times? You weren't helpless either, now were you?"
"No, but I also wasn't wandering the Spirit World and fighting dark spirits when I was pregnant." Katara folded her arms and took a step forward, leaning closer. Her expression shifted awkwardly, as though she didn't quite want to say her following words. In a hushed voice, she added, "I also know very well what pregnancy can do to you. Bloating, cramps, sickness…"
Azula immediately recoiled and waved her arms off in disgust. "Okay, please stop talking. I do not want to hear about your cramps. Just because we're not trying to kill each other anymore doesn't mean we're best friends."
"Believe me, I know," Katara said, with a shake of her head. "But that doesn't mean we can't be civil with each other, right?"
"Being civil doesn't mean sharing unnecessary information like that, thank you."
Katara sighed and turned away. With a wave of her hand, she continued through the valley of mushrooms with Azula at her side. For a long while, they said nothing else to each other. Even so, Katara continued glancing back at her every so often. Azula made a point to keep her arms folded tight across her chest, guarded and on edge. She also made sure not to glance Katara's way even once. Couldn't give her the satisfaction of knowing the silence was eating at Azula the same as it was her, after all. Besides, she'd rather drown in silence than have another conversation.
If only she were so lucky.
"Just so you know," Katara said, as they ducked under a pair of low hanging mushrooms. "If you ever do want another friend, I am willing to give that a try."
Azula stumbled, nearly smacking her forehead on the underside of the mushroom before coming out the other side. With a furrowed brow, she stared at Katara. "You're not serious."
"Actually, I am." Katara stopped walking, turning so she could face the other woman. She took a deep breath, let it out in a long, steady puff, and lowered her hands to her hips. "Look, Azula, it's been ages since we fought against each other, far too long to still hold grudges. As for the whole Dragon Empire thing, and what you did with the Red Lotus, well… I realize you needed to go through that in order to get to where you are now, so I don't hold it against you. At least, not entirely. You still did terrible things, but I don't need to remind you of that."
Azula frowned, looking less and less amused as Katara went on. "Is there a point to this?"
"What I'm saying is that I'm willing to put the past behind us and bury the boomerang, so to speak. Officially." Katara extended her hand and looked straight in the other woman's eyes. "That is, if you are."
Azula's attention drifted towards Katara's outstretched hand. She stared at it, as though afraid it would jump out and bite her. Once, twice, three times her gaze flicked back up at Katara's face, only to fall again to her hand. Was this woman being serious? The holier-than-thou peasant girl who had torn Azula down so many years ago, now willing to forget the past? To be friends?
It was a trick. Had to be. Or was it? What would the point of trickery be at this stage? That wouldn't make any sense. Then again, neither did Katara offering her friendship. Honestly, did Azula even need another friend? She had Mai and Ty Lee, and Kuvira. Korra as well, to a lesser extent. And… who else? Oh, right. No one else. Aside from Annie and Kanna, but they were more family than friends. Zuzu too, but again he was family.
Ever so slowly, Azula reached outward and tightened a grip around Katara's hand. The shake was slow and awkward, but it was a shake nonetheless. "I'm not promising anything... but I suppose I can try."
Katara flashed a warm smile. "That's all I can ask."
"Hmph." Finally, Azula yanked her hand back and continued marching through the mushroom trees. "Anyway, enough with this emotional crap. We have a job to do."
Megumi couldn't take her eyes off the fallen men, motionless on the ground with their eyes wide open in frozen horror. They wouldn't wake. That much she knew. With their spirits absorbed by Sen, they were nothing more than empty husks now. A strange sickness began to bubble deep in her gut the more she watched. How funny, in a way, that this made her feel so uneasy. When she'd first been brought back by Sen, she hadn't even considered the consequences. She'd only cared about getting Kanna. Now, she could no longer ignore exactly what she was a part of. Not that she could resist the spirit's commands anyway, no matter how hard she struggled. That was the worst part of it. His hold over her was absolute, unyielding. He would force her to help him end all of humanity, and there was nothing she could do about it.
"Ah, Ba Sing Se," boomed a sinister voice.
Megumi tore her eyes away from the spiritless bodies and looked towards Sen. The gejigeji spirit loomed at the edge of the massive wall they stood atop. The outer wall of Ba Sing Se, to be precise. Beyond that wall, one hundred meters below them, stretched the Agrarian Zone, the only piece of land left between them and the tens of millions of citizens living in the largest nation in the world.
"So many millions of essences within these walls, waiting to be consumed," Sen mused. "Once we're done here, I will be unstoppable."
"Correct me if I'm mistaken, but were you not already claiming to be unstoppable?" Unalaq stepped to Sen's other side atop the wall, standing rigid with his hands held behind his back.
Sen scoffed. "Even more so. My power continues to grow with every essence I absorb, but the numbers so far have been paltry. But this… Yes, this will bring me to the pinnacle of my power. Never in history has there been so many people gathered in a single place. Feeble humans. They will fall. You will all fall."
Megumi remained quiet. She had nothing to add, and knew better at this point than to speak out. While she could not refuse Sen's orders, she still had her own mind. Her own opinions, her own growing hate for this dark spirit. Did he take pleasure in the distress it caused her? Was that why he hadn't made her as mindless and subservient as his newest minions?
"He's not gonna wake up, is he?" Kanna wandered towards one of the fallen Ba Sing Se guards atop the wall, and stared into the man's blank eyes. Her expression was distant and sad, yet somehow also indifferent, as though such a sight did not surprise her in spite of its horror.
"Kanna, get back." Megumi moved forward and took her daughter into her arms. With a quick turn, she held the back of Kanna's head close, urging the young girl's attention elsewhere. "Don't look. Please."
With her gaze pulled away from the guards, Kanna's gaze shifted towards Sen looming above her. "The big bug is hurting people. You're hurting people."
"I…" Megumi's response fell trapped in her throat. Kanna was right, of course. She was hurting people, even if she was being forced to.
"The child is perceptive, isn't she?" Sen turned his beady black eyes towards them and grinned. "She might have grown to be quite the intelligent individual, but alas."
Megumi gently ran her fingers through Kanna's hair, and held the girl closer. "I know, sweetie. I know."
"I don't like this," Kanna muttered, as her fingers curled into tiny fists, grabbing hold of Megumi's tunic. "I don't like the big mean bug, and I don't like those other people, and I don't like you. I just want to go home. I want my Daddy. And I want my Mommy."
"But I'm—"
"My real Mommy!"
Megumi's mouth snapped shut at her daughter's biting response. How many times had she tried to convince Kanna that she was the girl's real mother? Each time, Kanna rejected the notion. What a futile endeavor. Kanna would never accept Megumi as her mother. Perhaps this had all been pointless. Trying to reunite with Kanna, taking her from her father and from Azula... When she'd first been brought back to life, Megumi had been so eager to take her daughter back, so eager to spite Anraq for letting Kanna die once before, so eager to tear Azula down as a terrible maternal figure. So eager that she hadn't even considered how Kanna would actually feel about it.
How much of that had been Sen's influence, and how much of it had been Megumi's own selfishness? She didn't know anymore, and perhaps she never would. Whether under Sen's influence or not, she had willingly torn Kanna's life apart under the foolish belief they would be happy together once reunited. What a fool she'd been. Such a thing had never been possible. She'd only succeeded in destroying her daughter's hope and happiness. Did that not make her as bad as Azula had ever been? Or worse?
"Enough waiting," Sen said, as he began to crawl down the side of the wall. "We have much work to do."
With a quaking shudder, the ground ripped apart, splitting open an entrance to a gradually descending tunnel that led far below ground. At the mouth of the tunnel, Kuvira huffed a deep sigh and doubled over, hands on her knees. Beads of sweat dripped from her forehead as she sucked in deep breaths, long exhausted from constant earthbending. When she caught her breath, she straightened herself again and wiped the sweat from her brow.
"Feels good to have some fresh air," she said.
"No kidding," Korra replied, as she took a step next to her wife. She glanced back down the tunnel and frowned. "I don't know how long we were down there, but it was too long."
"So, what direction do we go in now?" Kuvira paused to look around at the barren wasteland they now found themselves in. Her gaze lingered on the blackened sky above. "I don't think I've ever seen this area of the Spirit World before. Or if I have, I don't recognize it."
"That's a good question." Korra scratched her head, glancing in all directions. When she spotted a group of rocky crags, she pointed them out. "I think that way looks familiar."
Kuvira followed close behind, as Korra led the way. "Are you sure?"
"I just said, 'I think.' So no, I'm not sure."
Kuvira mused with a thoughtful hum, as they made their way across the dead land. Shortly after they started, a flicker of movement in the sky above caught her attention. She paused, watching as a dark shadow swooped closer into view. "Is that a giant spirit dragon?"
Korra followed the gaze with a flash of recognition in her eyes. "I think it is. Actually, it looks like the dragon bird that helped me once before, back when I was fighting Unalaq and Vaatu."
"Maybe it can help us get out of here?"
"Worth a shot." Korra ran a few steps forward and waved her arms, trying to grab the dragon bird's attention. "Heeey! Excuse me! Over here!"
At first, the spirit continued onward through the sky without so much as a glance downward. As it grew closer, and as Korra shouted louder, it finally craned its head towards the ground to find the source of the commotion. When its gaze fell upon Korra, it abruptly switched directions in the sky and released a shrieking cry that shattered the quiet air. Its color shifted, morphing from a brilliant gold to a darkened mass of glowing violet, and it tucked its wings inward to dive straight downward.
"Uh, Korra?" Kuvira slid a step backwards. "I don't think it wants to help."
Korra shuffled backwards as well, her eyes wide. "Look out!"
Korra pulled her wife to the side and tugged them both out of the way, seconds before the dragon bird's talons ripped into the earth where they had been standing. The dark beast remained grounded for a moment and took to the air again. It circled back, keeping close as it rained down a breath of spiritual energy. Kuvira shifted her stance and shielded them with an earthen wall. Spiritual energy met solid rock with a spray of stone shards, but the wall held strong.
"We can't fight this thing!" Korra said, coughing through the billowing cloud of dust that erupted from the wall. "I don't have enough water on me to try spiritbending, and you're already exhausted!"
Kuvira watched as the dragon made another pass. When it came within range, she kicked a boulder through the air with every ounce of might she had left in her. For all her effort, the boulder lacked any real speed or power, and the dragon swooped out of the way with a graceful spin. Both she and Korra dove away to avoid a second wave of heated dragon's breath.
"Yeah, my tank is just about empty," Kuvira muttered, with a tired huff. She had been bending for several hours straight now, and wouldn't last very long in a fight against a dark spirit of this magnitude. "We need to get out of here."
Korra looked from the dragon bird to the surrounding area. Almost completely open land for as far as she could see, save for the crags jutting from the ground in the distance. No places to hide. They could only run, and hope they made it. "Let's go!"
They took off in a dead sprint away from the pursuing spirit. Kuvira kicked up a series of rocky walls as she went, attempting to give them some breathing room. Each wall surged high in the wake of her footsteps, forcing the dragon to maintain altitude high enough that it couldn't reach them with another breath attack. An effective tactic, but one she couldn't keep up forever. With each new wall, the more her body screamed with exhaustion. Gradually, the walls began to shrink, and her pace slowed. She fell several steps behind Korra with a stabbing pain lancing through the side of her abdomen, unable to keep pace. Within moments, the dragon caught up.
Kuvira bent a desperate wall over herself as another blast of energy enveloped her, but the shield was weak. Earth exploded into rubble, and she found herself flying airborne. The world spun wild around her. She hit the ground, rolling wildly into a sore, motionless heap in the dirt. Korra skidded to a halt and reversed directions, sprinting back towards her fallen wife. Kuvira rolled over in frantic attempt to get back to her feet, but the dragon bird already loomed above her.
"Leave her alone!" With a whipping motion of her arms, Korra called out the water of her hip flask. The stream lashed through the air and smacked the spirit across the face to little effect, merely drawing the spirit's attention with an angry shriek. Korra swallowed, and called back her water for another attack. Not much she could do against this spirit with such a limited supply of water, but she'd be damned if she let it harm her wife.
The dragon bird lunged. She held her ground, swirling her meager stream of water around her body in defense. The air between them heated and sizzled with a flashing bolt of lightning, striking the spirit square on its side. With a pained screech, the dragon bird stumbled out of its lunge and took to the sky again. Korra blinked in surprise, shifting her attention towards the source of the lightning. Two individuals stood there, one of them with her fingers smoking from the previous lightning, and the other with a much larger supply of water at the ready.
Korra's heart surged with renewed hope. "Azula! Katara!"
Azula ran forward and took her signature stance next to Korra. "You can thank us later, Avatar. Let's put this spirit in its place and get out of here."
Katara hurried to Kuvira's side and assisted the woman back to her feet. With a simple flick of her arm, she offered some of her water to Korra. "It's coming back. Get ready."
The four of them attacked together to drive the spirit back, lighting the sky with a barrage of water, earth, and lightning. Even with their combined might, the creature was relentless. Countering blasts of spiritual energy surged out of its beak, decimating most of their attacks, while it deftly darted away from those it missed. If nothing else, they forced it to remain on the defensive. For the moment.
When the spirit realized it wasn't making any progress, it climbed higher into the sky. Upon reaching the edge of the shadowed clouds, it shrieked again and called down a wave of light. The light engulfed the spirit, empowered it. The creature's entire form shuddered and grew, rapidly morphing into twice its previous size. When the light vanished, the dragon bird soared downward once again and dove towards them. They met it with another onslaught of elements. To no avail. Lightning, earth, water, all exploding against the charging spirit's monstrous form without so much as slowing it down.
"Guys, it's not stopping!" Katara said.
"We can see that!" Azula charged one more bolt of lightning and fired it directly at the dragon's face. The spirit merely opened its mouth and unleashed a massive wave of energy, engulfing the entire bolt.
Kuvira shifted with a sudden defensive stance, calling a thick, stony wall above them. Spiritual energy exploded against the shield with enough force to rupture and shatter it. Earth sprayed in all directions, as all four benders lost themselves in a cloud of debris, each of them thrown from their feet. When the dust cleared, all four struggled to right themselves in time to defend themselves. Not enough time. The dark spirit shrieked once, although this time its call was choppy and broken, almost like a twisted laugh. It flew back around one more time and dove straight at them. The final time, if not for a miracle.
Pop pop... Boom!
A violent explosion erupted against the side of the dragon bird's head, sending into a brief uncontrolled spiral before it managed to right itself and land with a crash against the ground. A pair of giant fists composed entirely out of sand swept into view moments later and delivered a series of quick punches to the dragon bird's beak. When the fists finished their assault, they dissolved into smaller clumps of sand and remained hovering in midair. A whirlwind followed, surrounding both the spirit and the sand clumps. Each of the clumps compressed together, becoming dense and hard as they were swept into the vortex. They became like razors, whirling at high speeds to tear into the dragon bird's form.
"Korra!" called a familiar voice. "Everyone! Together!"
Korra snapped her attention towards the voice, where a familiar individual was rotating her arms in a circular motion to control the whirlwind. "Jinora!" And not just Jinora, but P'Li and Hari too.
"Don't worry, we're here to help," P'Li said, as she punched out a stream of fire to ignite the vortex in a brilliant blaze.
They wasted no time in assisting. Korra and Katara molded their water into icy shards and cast them forward. As soon as the razor projectiles entered the twister, they were swept into the powerful winds and repeatedly circled the dragon bird spirit, cutting through it. Kuvira released every metal plate from her armguards, molded them into sharpened blades, and threw them into the assault. Azula maintained a continuous stream of lightning, electrifying the whirlwind with a scorching hiss. Within seconds, the dragon bird shrieked and recoiled in agonized pain, its form shimmering with massive damage. It tore free of its containment moments later with a few mighty beats from its wings, but it made no further assault. Instead, it took to the skies and disappeared beyond the clouds.
When all was calm, Jinora ran to Korra and the others. "Are you guys alright?"
"Yeah, we're good," Korra replied with a tired huff. When she caught her breath, she turned to the young airbender and smiled. "Thanks for the rescue."
"Don't mention it," Jinora said, returning the smile. "We figured something might have happened, so we decided to come find you."
"Well, you figured right. This place is more dangerous than ever." Korra took a moment to look over the area. The Spirit World seemed even more volatile than before the fight with the dragon bird spirit, if that were possible. "How are things in the physical world? How long have we been gone?"
"Things are bad. You guys have been gone almost two days. Sen has attack numerous cities, harmed countless people…" Jinora's voice trailed off with a grim sigh. "We need you, Korra. Please tell me you guys found something."
"We did, right here." Korra reached into the front of her shirt and pulled out the pair of scrolls from Wan Shi Tong's library. "As soon as we get back, we can prepare for him."
"Alright, now exactly how do we get out of here?" Azula asked, planting her hands firmly on her hips.
"I think I can help with that." With a wave of his hand, Hari turned around and lifted a path of sand from the ground. The tiny hovering grains continued on from where they stood all the way towards the horizon, faint but still noticeable enough to follow. "I left behind a trail when we traveled. This will take us back to the portal."
P'Li scoffed with amusement. "Huh. Good thinking."
"Alright guys, we know what we have to do," Korra said, leading the way along the trail of sand. She wasted no time, breaking out into a run. "Let's move!"
