Chapter 25 Southern Lights
Korra sighed as she headed to the stables after she had failed to find her husband.
She hated herself for agreeing to work with Unalaq to fix the problems in the South but was doing it for the right reasons.
She knew Sean would be angry about it but she never imagined he would just up and leave like that. But she couldn't blame him either since Unalaq was responsible for all his problems and for violating Deimos's grave shortly after he was buried by sending him into the air like he was garbage.
Arriving she saw her uncle getting the gear ready before he looked pleased to see her.
"Your early." Unalaq said making her glare.
"Don't act so damn happy. I'm only doing this for my tribe. not your useless spiritual enlightenment." Korra said.
"I see you blame me for what happened." Unalaq said.
"The hell was your first clue. You cause nothing but problems for everyone in my family." Korra said.
"Your troubles in your family started when your parents found him. They have nothing to do with me." Unalaq said before she grabbed him by the neck making him gasp in shock.
"Don't...Test me." Korra said letting go. "Now what is it you need me to do?" Korra asked.
"In order to calm the spirits I will train you in a long dormant spirit site. The South Pole." Unalaq said.
"How is going there going to help?" Korra asked.
"By neglecting the spirits the Southern water tribe have brought darkness upon themselves, and now it threatens to destroy our tribe. We must set things right." Unalaq said.
"Bullshit." Reznov said getting his equipment ready before Korra walked to him.
"So...Have you found him?" Korra asked making him frown.
"He's in Sparta. Where do you think he went to calm down?" Reznov asked strapping his gear to his camel.
"Look I don't like this anymore than you do. But I'm doing this for the right reasons. Isn't that what matters?" Korra asked.
"Only if it actually does matter. I find it funny that a dark spirit attacks and he knows how to calm the damn thing down." Reznov said making her frown.
"Look I just want to get this done and make things right with Sean. I know I messed things up but I just want to stop this before it gets worse." Korra said.
"And whats the price for working with him? Your marriage? It may have cost you more than you think." Reznov said walking away making her look down.
"Just ignore him." Luke said walking to her. "He's just taking Sean's side for the obvious reason." Luke said.
"I know. I hate myself for agreeing to work with him but after that attack I knew I had to do something. If there was anyone else I could ask for help in this subject I would take it.
"I know. Your doing the right thing. It's just who your working with that has everyone pissed off." Luke said.
Meanwhile
Tenzin and the others on Oogi arrived at the Southern Air temple.
"There it is, The southern Air temple." Tenzin said.
"Impressive. This is the kind of temple I'm sure my brother's mother would admire when she was alive." Turok said before they landed before they got off.
"Master Tenzin, Welcome." An acolyte said.
"Good to see you again, Abbot Shung." Tenzin said.
Turok however decided to look around before arriving in the room of past Avatars before looking at Aang's statue.
"Hmph. Now that Korra is immortal she won't get a statue since these are meant for past Avatars." Turok said chuckling before sensing something in the room as his eyes slitted for a second. "What was that?" Turok asked.
"Hi." Jinora said appearing making him grin.
"So these are all the past Avatars. Theres a lot more than I originally thought. Though I feel like there should be more." Turok said.
"Some of them lived a lot longer than the natural human lifespan due to certain secrets passed down to them. Kyoshi lived for over 230 years before she died." Jinora said.
"You seriously just know everything don't you?" Turok asked making her grin.
Meanwhile
Korra and the others were getting everything ready before Korra approached Reznov.
"Reznov? Are...We gonna be ok?" Korra asked making him sigh.
"Yeah we'll be fine. Sorry about before. But I just can't believe you are gonna work with him after everything he's done. He's the reason he left for 2 years and tried to drown him when he left. Brought Ares here and would have destroyed the tribe just for a laugh. Violated Deimos's grave shortly after he was buried and tried to stop your wedding." Reznov said making her sigh.
"I know. And when this is over I will make this up to him." Korra said.
Thats when Tonraq arrived on a snowmobile.
Unalaq noticed this and frowned before approaching him.
"Tonraq, what do you want?" Unalaq questioned.
"I heard your taking Korra to the South Pole. I'm coming." Tonraq said.
"Absolutely not! You're a distraction to Korra and a hindrance to what needs to be done." Unalaq said.
"If you think I'm gonna let you take her anywhere after complicating her marriage you are dead wrong!" Tonraq said glaring at him.
"If my actions result in them getting divorced I consider it doing her a favor." Unalaq said making him slug him which shocked him.
"Dad easy. I'm just gonna get this done and make things right with him." Korra said.
"Even after all these years your still misguided. Its people like your father that have put the Spirit world out of balance. He's ignored my warnings in the past and hasn't learned since." Unalaq said.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Korra asked glaring at her uncle.
"It doesn't matter. What matters is the Everstorm." Tonraq said.
"The What?" Luke asked.
"A massive blizzard that has battered the south pole for decades. I'm coming, unless you think you can stop me." Tonraq challenged his brother who frowned.
"HEY! GUYS! WAIT FOR ME!" Bolin yelled driving to them on a high tech snowmobile.
"What in the fuck?" Reznov asked amused.
"Check it out. I'm traveling in style." Bolin said before turning the throttle on before stopping. "Sorry, still getting used to that throttle." Bolin said sheepish
"Where in the hell you'd get that?" Korra asked smiling.
"From Varrick. You know the guy Asami went to ask for help saving her company. He also gave me this fancy snowsuit. It's inflatable with an internal heater, emergency beacon, and foot ration pouch. I mean, if I get lost, I can survive in this thing for like a month." Bolin said.
"I'm sure Sean would just say thats completely unnecessary for something like this." Korra said amused before looking depressed still thinking about her husband. "Lets just get this over with so I can find him later." Korra said wanting to get this done and make things right.
Eska however approached Bolin. Does this Sidecar have capacity for two passengers?" Eska asked.
"Sure does." Bolin said placing a hand on the side passenger seat. "But, uh, who's gonna drive?" Bolin asked.
Later
Bolin had an annoyed look on his face as he drove both Desna and Eska. (Here we go again)
"By the lake of the nine. Looks like..." Reznov tried to say.
"Go away, Reznov." Bolin said making him burst out laughing.
Up ahead were Korra and Unalaq.
"So once we get to the South Pole, then what happens?" Korra asked wanting to get this done fast
"You will open an ancient spirit portal." Unalaq said.
"The hell are you talking about now?" Korra asked glaring at him.
"At the South Pole, there is a portal that connects our world to the spirit world. But it has long been closed." Unalaq said.
"And thats why evil spirits are attacking?" Korra asked.
"There are no evil spirits. There is light and dark in all of them. But when they're unbalanced, the darkness takes over. If you can open the portal in time, balance will be restored.
"What do you mean in time?" Korra asked.
"Theres a reason the glacier spirits festival ends on the winter solstice. Thats when the spirit world and the physical world are close together. Only the Avatar can open the portal." Unalaq said.
"But thats Tomorrow." Korra said.
"Exactly. And we can't afford to wait another year." Unalaq said.
"Why didn't you say so sooner! I could have gotten some of Sean's pearls to get us there sooner!" Korra said pissed off.
"Pearls?" Unalaq asked confused.
"Teleportation pearls. Like the Travel Stone but they can only be used once. Would have saved us time." Luke said.
"Ah I see." Unalaq said.
"Idiot." Korra said pissed off.
Suddenly however Naga started growling.
"Easy, Naga." Korra said calming her down before looking out seeing what was making her act up.
"What are those?" Bolin asked terrified.
"Dark spirits." Korra said narrowing her eyes before they vanished.
"Lets keep moving. We have to find a safe place to set up camp." Tonraq said.
Soon enough they set up camp and were around a fire.
"Why are the Dark Spirits even following us?" Korra asked.
"The Spirits are angry because he's here." Unalaq said pointing at his brother shocking her. "It's men like your father that have put the Spirit world out of balance. Haven't you ever wondered how your father ended up in the South Pole? Why he's never taken you to visit his homeland in the North?" Unalaq questioned.
"Unalaq, this is not the time." Tonraq said.
"You're right. You should have told her a long time ago." Unalaq said.
"Told me what?" Korra asked making him sigh.
"I left the North Pole because I was banished." Tonraq said shocking her and the others.
"You were banished from the North? Why?" Korra asked.
"Because I almost destroyed the entire tribe. 20 years ago, I was a general in the northern water tribe, Sworn to protect my people. Then one day a group of barbarians attacked the tribe. We fought back and forced them out. We tracked them down to a sacred forest thinking we would never dare to attack on sacred ground. They thought wrong." Tonraq said.
"You were just doing your job it comes with it all the time." Luke said.
"I was. We took them down and captured them but in the process we destroyed the forest. The next night angry spirits came at the tribe. Unalaq was able to calm them down and returned them to the forest. But the damage had been done and my father banished me from the Northern water tribe and I made my way here...Where shortly after I met Korra's mother than we had her and later found Sean in the temple." Tonraq said making Korra look down.
"Now you see? People like him cause nothing but trouble because they are misguided?" Unalaq said.
"You wanna talk about misguided? Why don't you tell her how your issues between you and Sean started 14 years ago?" Tonraq said glaring at his brother.
"What does that mean? What did you do?" Korra asked glaring at him.
"I have nothing to be ashamed of. I tried to remove him like I told your father he should be. He is a threat to the natural order." Unalaq said.
"He tried to drown Sean using his waterbending shortly after he found out who he was." Tonraq said shocking her before she glared at him.
"You...Tried to drown a five year old?" Korra asked in barely retrained anger.
"I did. I told your father before he was a threat that needed to be..." Unalaq tried to say before Korra roared as she earth bended him in the chest hard making him groan in pain.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" Korra roared before her cousins got in the way.
"Lets try to remain..." Desna tried to say before she fire bended him in the face making him yell in pain before airbending them out of her way before dashing at Unalaq who was recovering before she did the same thing to him that he tried to do to Sean 14 years ago.
"Lets see how you like getting drowned!" Korra yelled as he gasped for air unable to move.
"KORRA STOP!" Tonraq yelled pulling her away as she thrashed around before Unalaq gasped for air. "Calm down." Tonraq said making her growl as she got free.
"We're done. I'm not gonna help you." Korra said as she went to her things.
"You can't just leave." Unalaq said.
"No? Give me one good reason why I should work with you anymore after learning that. And don't you dare say it's for my tribe." Korra said glaring at him.
"If you leave now you risked your marriage for nothing." Unalaq said making her glare. "I don't think you wanna risk going back and learning it's over and have nothing to show for it." Unalaq said making her growl before walking away.
"You are a real piece of garbage you know that?" Reznov said drinking his wine making him frown.
Tonraq went to follow his daughter when he heard her crying.
Walking around a corner he saw her laying down with her back against the wall holding her knees.
"Korra?" Tonraq said concerned as she rubbed her eyes.
"I knew this was a mistake from the beginning! Now I might as well have given up my marriage because of him." Korra said still crying before he sat down and held her.
"Do you want to turn back?" Tonraq asked making her shake her head.
"If I don't finish this now I risked my marriage for nothing." Korra said.
"Korra you didn't risk anything. Sean just needs his space. Give him time." Tonraq said as she laid into his chest crying. "It's gonna be ok." Tonraq said.
later
Soon enough the group arrived at the Spirit portal seeing it covered in ice including trees.
"We've arrived." Unalaq said.
"Trees frozen in ice." Korra said.
"It's just like the sacred forest Tonraq destroyed in the north." Unalaq said.
"Shut the hell up!" Korra yelled glaring at him. "How do I open this stupid portal?" Korra asked wanting to get this done and find her husband.
"You must find your way to the center where the dormant portal lies. From here, you're on your own." Unalaq said before she glared at him.
"Just to be clear once we're done your leaving and never coming back to the South. If you ever come back I'll let him finish what he should have started 4 years ago when he came back." Korra said before she rushed inside.
"That freak has completely twisted her mind. She's supposed to kill those like him." Unalaq said.
"Quiet! Thats only your view cause your the one misguided." Tonraq said.
Korra walked inside where the spirit portal was before she tried to use bending on it but nothing worked.
"AAAH! Why isn't this..." Korra tried to say before more Dark Spirits came at her from every corner making her widen her eyes as they neared her only for her necklace to glow a green light forcing them back before she held it and smiled.
"I promise I am gonna make this right when I get back." Korra said holding her former engagement necklace before she went into the Avatar State and touched the portal before the ice broke apart before a bright light flew to the skies. "The Spirits dancing in the skies." Korra said smiling.
"She did it." Tonraq said proud of her.
As Korra was walking away she heard herself screaming in total horror.
"Huh?" Korra said before looking at the portal and widened her eyes.
She saw Sean heavily bleeding and heavily wounded with Unalaq above him with a sadistic grin on his face.
"NOW YOU DIE!" Unalaq roared.
Korra widened her eyes before she felt her legs get weak and fainted in the snow.
Minutes later
"Korra!" Tonraq yelled as she woke up in her father's arms.
"Dad? What happened?" Korra asked.
"When you didn't come out we rushed in to find you and found you passed out. What happened?" Tonraq asked
"Yes we were rather concerned." Unalaq said making her glare before earth bending him into a wall making him grunt.
"We're done." Korra said standing up. "We opened the portal. You're leaving and never coming back!" Korra said before walking out.
"Where are you going?" Unalaq asked holding his chest.
"To find my husband and fix the mess you made on my marriage." Korra said.
Later
After arriving back home Korra and the others saw the Northern forces arriving.
"What the hell are your troops doing here? I said we were done! You are leaving now!" Korra said glaring at Unalaq.
"Opening the Spirit portal was only the first step in getting the southern water tribe back on its righteous path. Theres just a few more things left to do." Unalaq said.
"I said we're done. Your leaving now!" Korra said.
"I will...Once the South returns to its righteous path." Unalaq said making her growl.
Authors Note: Oh boy things are getting tense. Korra trusts Unalaq even less now after learning what happened 14 years ago. And receives a possible vision of what is to come. Whats gonna happen I wonder? Find Out later. Also I might be delayed from updating for a while since this second shot is kicking my ass! My whole body is sore and tired. I'll try to update tomorrow but no promises. Read, Review, Fav and Follow. REVIEW MY LOYAL FANS! SEE YA!