A/N: Hey everyone I'm back. Sorry it took so long to update. It's tourist season where I live so work has become more hectic than usual. Aside from finding time to write though I was sent through a loop as a writer recently. As I've said before I do everything I can to align my story with cannon. it doesn't contradict the series, and some of my head cannons could be possible. A few weeks ago I heard they were coming out with an official legend of korra comic, and this bothered me because any one of those comics could, and more than likely will render my entire story AU.
With all the work I put into the cannon connectivity, and the fact that it could be undone so easily depressed me a little, and I wondered if it was even worth it to finish the story. Then I went back, and read all your reviews, and I realized that I've had way to much fun with this, and you guys have backed me every chapter of the way. I've come so far, and there is still a long way to go before this story is done, and damn it I'm going to finish it. I owe it to you awesome readers, and myself so to hell with the comics, and if they render everything AU then i'll make it the best damn AU story I can. of course i'll stick with the show cannon, but whether it aligns with the comics will be unlikely.
Anyway enough excuses. here is chapter twenty four. I own nothing but the general plot, and the OC's. everything else belongs to other people. now enjoy.
24: Hero
"Are we there yet?" Ikki asked with a groan of boredom.
"No we are not." Kuvira replied with a tired sigh.
"Ayeon how much farther is the library?" Mako asked the aye-aye spirit who had stopped, and was looking around as though unsure of where to go.
Ayeon hesitated for a moment before looking back to the group. "To be honest lord Mako I'm not entirely sure."
"What do you mean by not sure?" Vaatu asked seizing control from the fire bender. "You told me you knew where Wan Shi Tong's library is."
"I do lord Vaatu," Ayeon said quickly flinching under the grand spirits crimson gaze. "to a degree anyway. I know the spirit library is in this particular forest; just not where in the forest."
"How could you not know where it is?" Kuvira asked from beside Ikki.
"Why would I even have needed to know where the library is anyway dirt tosser? The most I've ever invested into human literature was a keep out humans' sign that obviously doesn't work." Ayeon replied condescendingly.
"Enough!" Vaatu snapped suddenly causing Ikki and Ayeon to flinch. Kuvira glared back at the Dark Avatar, but remained silent.
"My apologies lord Vaatu." Ayeon said with a submissive bow.
"Forgiven," Vaatu said with a nod as he walked past the minor spirit, and began to look at the gargantuan trees around them. Every tree was hundreds of feet tall, with the ancient trunks ranging from thirty to fifty feet across. There were several younger trees however that were only ten feet across. It was one of these younger ones that the chaos spirit spotted what he was looking for.
"Um what are we going to do now?" Ikki asked tugging on Vaatu's sleeve.
Vaatu froze at the innocent contact, and with a small frown slowly looked down to find curious grey eyes looking up into his crimson.
"Master Vaatu." She added quickly while removing her hands from his coat.
"We shall rest here for now child." Vaatu said with a small smirk. "The captain will remain here with us while you and Ayeon look for something to eat."
"Lord Vaatu it really isn't necessary for her to," The aye-aye spirit began to protest, but stopped when crimson eyes narrowed at him. "As you wish my lord."
"Come on Icky." Ayeon sighed as he walked off into the forest.
"My name is Ikki!" The air nomad exclaimed as she practically bounced after the spirit.
Kuvira watched quietly as the two disappeared around a large tree before turning to the Dark Avatar with a frown. "What are we going to do, and stop calling me Captain."
"Why; would you prefer to be called wench?" Vaatu asked with an arrogant grin that annoyed the metal bender to no end.
"No but I told Mako about my past not you. That was a private moment." Kuvira said with a growl.
Vaatu laughed. "You were having a private moment; that's rich. I hate to break it to you 'Captain', but Mako and I are one in the same. When he is in control Mako's sights and experiences are his alone, but what he hears and the emotions he feels are all shared with me. So try to remember the next time you two decide to have a romantic fire side chat that I am in Mako's soul trying not to throw up."
Kuvira blushed madly, and sputtered for a retort while the Dark Avatar's eyes shifted from crimson to amber as his human side seized control. "You two can argue later right now we need to figure out what we are going to do now."
("I was intending to try the wench's previous idea. We ask a local spirit for directions. A spirit who has established a territory in these woods would know where the library is.") Vaatu answered factually.
"Really you actually want to ask for directions again? Last time you got our ass kicked, and by a 'lowly' minor spirit." Mako replied aloud while giving Kuvira a playful wink.
The metal bender covered her mouth to stop herself from laughing at his jab to the chaos spirits considerable pride.
Vaatu felt the fire benders amusement, and responded with a surge of anger. ("We won that fight, and with considerable odds stacked against us I might add.") The dark spirit snapped indignantly.
"Who would we even ask anyway? We've barely seen any other spirits since we met Ayeon." Kuvira asked.
("The wench has her way of finding spirits, but there are others. Our spiritual senses are one way, but why waste the energy when some spirits make their presence far too obvious. Look at the tree on your right about twenty feet up.")
Following the chaos spirit's instructions Mako looked up at the tree, and froze. "Vaatu what the hell are those?"
Up above them massive claw marks were gouged deeply into the ancient bark. The marks came in sets off four forming a criss cross pattern in the bark. The claw marks were about an inch wide, and while it was hard to tell from down below the spirit that left them had to be very big and strong to leave marks so high up and that deep.
"Those look like territorial marks." Kuvira said warily. "Carnivores use them to ward off rivals from entering their territory."
("Clever girl,") Vaatu said slightly impressed.
Not being able to hear the dark spirit Kuvira continued. "We need to get moving now, before that spirit finds us. If a spirit is that territorial then there is no doubt it'll be hostile to us."
"Why would you allow us to stop here in the first place Vaatu?" Mako demanded to the open air.
("I stopped us, because we need someone to guide us, and now that you have regained your full strength it is time for you to prove that I can trust our survival with you and the wench.") Vaatu answered.
("I'm not about to go looking for a fight just so you can have a little reassurance about our capabilities.") Mako thought coldly.
("I know that Mako; after all you're a hero, and heroes don't fight to prove themselves. They fight to protect the ones they love.")
"Oh spirits!" Kuvira suddenly exclaimed drawing Mako's attention. "Ayeon doesn't know, and even a deaf spirit could hear Ikki a mile away."
Amber eyes locked with emerald, and they bolted off into the woods running in the direction the aye-aye spirit and talkative air nomad had gone.
"Come on Ikki where are you going?" Jinora muttered as she walked along the edge of a sheer cliff.
The flower Root gave her had led her out of the Cheshire forest, and onto a seemingly endless plain. After traveling for nearly a day she had reached the drop off overlooking a gargantuan forest. Looking out at the giant trees she felt a vague sense of familiarity, but couldn't remember why. Walking along the edge she caught site of what appeared to be a make shift camp.
"What the hell is this?" She muttered to herself as she surveyed three stone tents and a scorched patch of earth.
"I thought you were looking for an air bender."
With a startled cry Jinora whirled around only to find no one there.
"I'm over here human." The voice said again sounding amused.
Turning around again the air nomad found the grinning cat spirit strolling casually through the campsite and glancing in the tents.
"What are you doing here?" Jinora asked trying to sound unfazed by the malicious spirit's presence, but she couldn't quite keep the tremble out of her voice. Every muscle in her body was tensed to bolt at any moment.
"I am following you obviously. Thanks to that meddling, overgrown weed; we never got to finish our game." The cat spirit answered smoothly as he drew his razor sharp claws through the burned patch of dirt. "Before we resume our game however I am curious. You had said that you were looking for your sibling; whom I'm guessing is also an air bender if your tattoos are any indication. There are no coals, and barely any ash which means this fire was born of a fire bender, and these tents are obviously the work of an earth bender."
The feline's predatory eyes locked with hers, and began stalking slowly towards her. "Are you really looking for a lost sister, or did you lie to me? I hope not, because lying is so very rude."
"I didn't lie to you." Jinora stated quickly while taking small steps backwards trying to keep as much space between her and the spirit. "As far as I know there are only two humans who are here physically; my sister and a fire bender that believe me you really don't want to mess with him. I don't know how an earth bender could be here."
"Hmm curiouser and curiouser." The cat spirit said with a wide, razor sharp grin. "This fire bender sounds fun. After I'm done with you, and I find this sister of yours; I'll just ask him about this mysterious earth bender."
The spirit suddenly picked up his pace, and Jinora realized that she only had two options. She could 'play' with the sadistic spirit, or she could jump off the cliff behind her. As the spirits jaws opened to reveal several rows of shark like teeth the choice was several seconds from becoming more painful than obvious.
In a flurry of motion the spirit lunged for Jinora just as she spun and dove off the cliff. A roar of fury echoed in the girl's ears as the spirits long curving claws narrowly missed her by an inch.
The air bender's vision was completely obscured as she plummeted through the fog so she had no idea what awaited her at the bottom. Since this was the spirit world the bottom could be water, sharp rocks, or even a giant dancing turtle duck. The first was the most ideal, but she'd prefer the last option over sharp rocks. As she fell she quickly released the glider wings along her flight suit. Without her bending she was unable to fly, but fortunately gliding only needed gravity.
Her descent was slowed, but hardly arrested so she braced herself for the inevitable impact. With a sudden and unexpected thump she struck spongy marsh land. Standing up quickly she looked around to find nothing but fog surrounded her. It wasn't water, but she wasn't one to look a gift ostrich-horse in the mouth. It was a soft survivable landing she could run away from as quickly as she could.
She was just about to do so when the cat spirit high above her called down into the mist. "I know you are still alive down there human. I can smell your fear, and your rapid heartbeat is music to my ears. Run while you can girl, because our game is far from over."
The air nomad shuddered at his words, and began moving through the ankle deep mud desperate to get away from the cliff and the spirit. Each long step in and out of the muck made a wet squelching sound, and it was difficult to maintain balance. To busy focusing on putting on foot in front of the other she wasn't prepared when the ground became more solid causing her to trip.
She stumbled to her hands and knees nearly face planting into the ground. Eyes wide from the surprise of the fall she caught sight of some foot prints near her right hand. Looking closer a small smile spread over her lips. She knew theses foot prints they were from an air nomad flight suits boots like hers only smaller. Quickly standing back up she began following them, and as she did so she found others. There were two other sets of human, and to her surprise paw prints that appeared to be made by an animal walking on two legs.
These foot prints proved that Ikki was alive and more than likely traveling with Mako. The idea filled her with hope as well as a degree of dread. It gave her hope because Mako was protecting her, and hadn't been consumed by Vaatu's darkness. The sense of dread came from the thought that her innocent little sister was in the presence of the lord of all dark spirits. That thought alone made her pray to Raava that Mako could hold strong, and keep Vaatu in check.
Holding up her spirit flower she found it pointing in the same direction as the tracks. Without any further delay she started following the tracks. After nearly a half mile the ground became more solid, the fog became thinner, and she could see massive trees. As the ground hardened the foot prints became fainter and fainter until she was once again following her flower. At least until she found other foot prints.
She caught sight of them out of the corner of her eye, and immediately slowed until she stopped, and quickly started looking them over. These new prints weren't made by humans, or even by the spirit Ikki was apparently traveling with. These were made by something that walked on four legs, and was at least as big as Naga to have made tracks in ground like this.
Wondering how she could have missed them she looked back to find that these new tracks had been moving parallel with the others. What's more there were two other sets of similar prints.
With a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach Jinora realized that someone or something other than her and the grinning cat spirit was hunting Mako and by extension Ikki.
"Icky how much do you know about human courtship rituals?" Ayeon asked as he walked alongside a tree root half as tall as he was.
"Between my big sisters mushy romance books and what I've seen in movers I have become well versed in the intricate art of true love." Ikki boasted with a bright smile as she walked along the tree root like it was a tight rope. "And my name is Ikki."
"That's what I said Icky, but I have a few questions about Kuvira and lord Mako's courtship." The aye-aye spirit said as he sniffed the air, and started walking away from the massive root.
"Ask away my fuzzy friend." Ikki chimed happily as she back flipped off the root, and sidled up to the spirit.
Ayeon felt a flash of annoyance at being referred to as fuzzy, but couldn't hold back a small smile. The little human girl actually thought of him as a friend, and for some reason that actually made him feel happy.
"What exactly does human courting entail?" A quick glance revealed a look of incomprehension on the air benders face; so he rephrased his question. "What do humans do when they are as you say dating?"
"Oh well there are lots of things couples do." Ikki began excitedly as romance had become one of her favorite topics. Especially after attending Varrick and Zhu Li's wedding. "There are romantic dinners by candle light, visiting fun or exotic places together, and just getting to know each other on a deeper more intimate level. Finding things they have in common is an important part of building a stable relationship."
"You've really put a lot of thought into this haven't you?" Ayeon asked with a raised eyebrow. "Do Mako and Kuvira have anything in common?"
"Are you kidding they have tons in common." Ikki said incredulously.
"Such as?" The aye-aye spirit asked.
"Well lots of things like umm," The girls brow furrowed as she tried to think of a connection between her current guardians. "Well they both have very sharp eyebrows."
"Eyebrows," Ayeon said stopping and turning to look at the air nomad in bewilderment. "You are basing their compatibility on their eyebrows?"
"No of course not," Ikki said embarrassedly. "Look between pining after Korra, and being a workaholic I've never really thought of Mako falling for anyone else least of all Kuvira, but somehow it just feels right. Besides finding things in common is their job; mine is to plan their wedding."
"I've said it before and I'll say it again; you are a very strange human Icky." Ayeon sighed with a shake of his head as he continued following the scent of food coming from close by.
After walking in silence for several minutes Ayeon felt something was off, and glanced down at the girl walking beside him. Her shoulders were lowered slightly, there wasn't quite as much pep in her step, and strangest of all she wasn't talking. Evidently the child fancied herself a match maker, and he had inadvertently let some air out of her heart shaped fantasy. While he would have traded his fur for five minutes of silence yesterday he now felt a little guilty. While he was reluctant to admit it he was getting attached to the child. She was still a hyperactive, oblivious, talkative human, but he was becoming accustomed to her particular quirks.
"You know while you were asleep last night those two stayed up a while longer." Ayeon said casually.
"Really? What did they do?" Ikki asked perking up a little.
With grey eyes watching him curiously the spirit continued. "Well first they shared a quick meal by fire light, and after that they played a game of quid pro quo. Is that a normal human courtship activity?"
"I guess it is since they are getting to know each other," Ikki said with a nod. "Although couples usually do other fun things like dancing, going to carnivals, seeing a mover, or if they're married wrestling. My mommy and daddy really like that one for some reason."
"Anyway," Ayeon interjected. "Apparently they both like mysteries and watching a fire ferret play a game called pro bending; whatever that is."
"Kuvira is a fire ferret fan?" Ikki asked in surprise but with a bright smile once again on her face.
Ayeon nodded. "Yes she was also impressed by lord Mako's past as something called a cop and a detective."
Ikki beamed at that. "Mako was an amazing cop. He protected people, caught bad guy, and even gave Meelo and me rides on his motorcycle."
Ayeon fell silent with a small smile as he tuned out the child's renewed chatter. The silence was gone, but Icky was happy, and he felt better because of it. Besides peace and quiet were overrated anyway.
"Are we close to finding food yet?" Ikki asked after walking for a little while.
The spirit was about to scold her for asking that question again for the tenth time when a loud gurgling emanated from the girls stomach.
"It appears that your stomach is as talkative as you are today Icky." Ayeon quipped with a chuckle.
Ikki blushed with embarrassment as she wrapped her arms around her empty belly in an attempt to keep it quiet. "Sorry I'm just getting really hungry."
"Don't worry we are very close. In fact there should be something to eat just around the corner." The aye-aye reassured as they walked around one of the gigantic trees.
As the other side came into view the spirit and girl stopped, and grey eyes widened in wonder.
"Wow." Ikki said in awe.
Before them proudly stood one of the biggest trees they'd seen in the forest, and that was saying something. All the trees were extremely tall, but the trunk size tended to vary. The smaller ones were around ten feet thick with the average being about twenty five. The tree they beheld now was easily forty feet thick with wide branches, and ancient looking bark.
While the tree itself was amazing to behold; the air benders attention was quickly drawn to the base of the tree. Two massive roots curved outward from the trunk in a U formation big enough to hold three full grown sky bison comfortably, and growing in between the roots were various species of berry bushes.
"There are so many of them." Ikki said with wonder and excitement in her voice as she took in the shapes, sizes, patterns, and bright colors of all the different berries growing together. "I've never seen any berries like these back in the human world. Are they safe to eat?"
Ayeon nodded as the air nomad's stomach growled again. "They should be fine, but don't try to eat the yellow ones with red dots. They will bite back."
Ikki nodded before bolting towards the berry bushes while the aye-aye spirit followed after her. He had brought Kuvira's bag with them so he could collect more for later.
For the next few minutes they ate and picked in relative silence. The energetic air bender really was hungry, because she was focused more on eating what qualified as both breakfast and lunch. Before long her lips and hands were stained blue, red, and purple from berry juice, but soon enough though she was full, and started talking again.
"Hey Ayeon why haven't there been very many spirits around lately; I've seen more spirits back in Republic City than I have in the Spirit world." Ikki asked with her mouth half full of berries.
"I believe it has something to do with lord Vaatu. Even while drained of most of his energy he is still a grand spirit, and as such gives off a powerful aura. While most minor spirits like me can remain in his presence without being affected by his ambient dark energy; the smaller weaker ones like those who tend to dwell in the human world can be turned dark if they come to near. Even then other minor spirits with a similar energy level as me will try to keep their distance. While we aren't turned; being in the presence of such a strong dark aura is very unsettling. Like a herd animal that senses a predator nearby." Ayeon explained while popping a berry in his mouth.
"So I'm not going to meet other spirits?" Ikki asked in disappointment.
"Probably not; the only spirits likely to cross lord Vaatu would be a great spirit, and they are wide spread enough that we're unlikely to cross paths with one." Ayeon said with a shrug. "The only other spirits we are likely to meet would be a stronger minor spirit like Brutus defending its territory. They tend to be more brawn than brain, and probably wouldn't recognize lord Vaatu as he is now."
"Who is Brutus?" Ikki asked curiously.
Ayeon frowned for a moment, but then he just sighed. "He was a really big minor spirit who was trying to steal my territory, and my hot spring. That's actually how I first met everyone. Kuvira saved me from becoming a chew toy, and lords Vaatu and Mako put Brutus in his place. I'm not very fond of humans on principle, but they helped me when I really needed it, and I owe lord Vaatu my life. It is among the highest of honors to serve one of the grand spirits such as the lord of chaos."
As Ayeon continued eating a sense of unease seemed to fall over the area. It was unnaturally quiet, and the air nomad at his side suddenly stood stock still.
"Um Ayeon are there any great spirits around here, or are we in a spirits territory?" Ikki asked nervously.
Ayeon tensed at the child's question, and the slight tremble in the girl's voice. He would have sensed a great spirit if one were in the area.
"Why do you ask that?" the spirit questioned. Now that he thought about it with a food source this abundant there was little to no chance that they weren't in a spirit's territory right now. When Ikki didn't immediately respond be began to turn to her when he suddenly caught sight of some criss-cross claw marks in the tree cradling the berry bushes. They were clawed into the tree just above the highest bush, and were partially hidden by a few leaves.
"Because he looks very, very angry right now," Ikki half whispered fearfully.
Ayeon whirled around, and his yellow eyes widened in shock. He and Ikki were being watched by a spirit in the form of a massive rhino bear.
Huge was the only word other than furious that could describe the spirit barely ten yards away from them. It was easily as big as a fully grown bull sky bison with grey fur, and glowing blue eyes. Its paws were tipped with five inch curved claws while a huge pointed horn curved upward from its snout. While the claws and horn were fearsome; what held their attention were the jagged fangs poking out of jaws big enough to devour either of them in one bite.
"What are you doing here?" The spirit asked in a deep rumbling voice.
Ayeon quickly pulled the frightened girl behind them, and tried to appear braver than he felt. "Oh hello; my name is Ayeon, and we are just passing through. Who may I ask are you?"
The spirits eyes narrowed dangerously. "I am Arctos, and you are trespassing in my territory. You are stealing my berries, and you keep the company of a human." The Rhino bear growled.
Ayeon cringed as the larger spirit berated him, but he stood tall, and hoped that he could talk their way out of this. "I am terribly sorry we had no idea these berries belonged to you, or that we were trespassing. Now that we know we will just be on our way."
"No you won't." The spirit now known as Arctos said with a snarl. "No one especially a human steals from me, and walks away unscathed."
"Oh well then in that case Icky run!" Ayeon yelled as the rhino bear charged with a savage roar.
The aye-aye spirit quickly shoved the girl to the side and lunged out of the way. Ikki screamed as Arctos barreled passed them into the berry bushes, and slamming into the tree.
"I said run!" Ayeon yelled again as he yanked the air bender to her feet while snatching up Kuvira's bag, and they took off in the direction they came from.
Ikki used her bending to wind sprint around trees, and over giant roots with Ayeon running full speed right behind her. "Is he following us?" She asked fearfully.
A deafening roar echoed through the air, and heavy foot falls began to shake the ground. "Yes he is following us." Ayeon yelled back over the roaring.
They ran as fast as they could, but no matter how they maneuvered the enraged spirit was gaining on them. Just when they thought things couldn't have gotten any worse the universe as it so often does decided to prove them wrong.
As they rounded yet another giant tree Ikki slid on a loose patch of dirt throwing off her momentum, and causing her ankle to twist painfully. With a cry of pain she hit the ground hard scraping her hands in the process.
"Icky!" Ayeon exclaimed as he ran back to help her. "Come on, come on hurry up he's coming!"
"I can't my ankle," Ikki cried as she looked back with tears in her eyes to see the rhino bear spirit round a tree, and began to close in on them. "Ayeon run!"
"Not without you," he said scooping the air bender up in his arms.
"Ikki! Ayeon!"
Hearing their names yelled over the approaching spirits roaring they turned to see Mako and Kuvira sprinting towards them from the opposite direction.
"Mako!" Ikki yelled as the two benders reached them.
"Come on we need to get you two somewhere safe." Mako ordered when he stopped next to them while Kuvira continued running past them towards the charging Arctos.
"What about Kuvira?" Ikki Asked worriedly as the fire bender lead them over to the nearest tree.
"She's going to distract your new friend for a minute; Ayeon can you climb?" Mako replied.
The spirit looked from the Dark Avatar to the nearest branch forty feet up from the ground, and nodded. "I could climb this blindfolded with one arm tied. Get Icky on my back."
Helping the girl get her arms around Ayeon's neck Mako stepped back as the spirit sank his claws into the bark, and quickly ascended the tree. With them out of harm's way he took off towards the battle.
While Mako had been getting the others to safety Kuvira had charged the Rhino bear spirit head on. As they rapidly closed the distance between them she lashed out with her metal cables wrapping them around his horn. Kuvira then sank herself into the earth while hardening the ground into stone tethering the cables in place.
Arctos's eyes widened in surprise, but he had built up to much momentum to stop. As he rushed over the patch of stone the cables were drawn taught, and the force slammed his head into the ground spraying dust and dirt everywhere as he was flipped over onto his back with a thud.
("Alright even I'll admit that was pretty impressive.") Vaatu said from within as Kuvira emerged from the ground at Mako's side.
"Are they all right?" Kuvira asked as they watched the rhino bear slowly return to his feet with a growl.
When the cable was pulled taught again Arctos reached up with a single claw, and with a quick slice severed the metal cables as though they were mere thread.
"They are fine." Mako reassured as they assumed bending stances. "We on the other hand have our work cut out for us. Vaatu is going to be sitting this one out."
"Are you kidding me?" Kuvira asked incredulously. "Of all the times to shut that arrogant talking kite up you choose to do it when he could actually be useful."
Before Mako could reply his amber eyes shifted to crimson as Vaatu assumed control. "While Mako and I have been merged we have yet to fully mix, and because of that our Avatar state is still in its infant stages. My powers are returning slower than they should be, and because of that when we enter the Avatar state I burn through what energy I've built up leaving us vulnerable to other threats. Believe me I would like nothing more than to fight every battle that comes our way, but I need to start conserving my energy for when we really need it; so for now on dealing with minor spirits like him is up to you, and Mako."
Kuvira glared at the chaos spirit, but remained silent. There was little point in arguing with the prideful spirit; especially when he had a point, and they had more important things to deal with at the moment.
"So we are on our own here?" the metal bender asked with a sigh as Arctos began to approach them with a savage growl.
"Looks like it." Mako said as he wrested back control of his body. "Are you up for this, because there's enough room up that tree for you too."
Kuvira grinned at the fire bender before facing towards their opponent. "And let you have all the fun? I don't think so."
Then with a bellowing roar Arctos charged towards them, and with a blast of fire the battle began.
High above the battlefield Ikki and Ayeon watched intently as the two powerful benders engaged the massive spirit. Yellow eyes watched as the humans bobbed and weaved to avoid attacks while countering with boulders and burst of flames hurled from a safe distance.
From what he could see they were apparently trying to wear Arctos down, but it was hardly working. Kuvira was obviously a powerful earth tosser. The chunks of stone she launched at the rhino bear spirit where sizeable, and sturdy, but they were only able to stun him for a moment as they shattered from the force of the impacts.
What he couldn't understand however was why Vaatu was holding back. When the chaos had fought against Brutus he had been exhausted and wounded yet his fire attacks had been ten times more powerful then what he was using now.
"No, no, no what is he doing?" Ayeon muttered while gripping the edge of the branch he and Ikki were setting on.
They were watching the fight from a large branch that extended over the battlefield forty feet up from the ground. The tree was one of the younger ones so it was roughly ten feet thick. Hearing the aye-aye's worried tone Ikki glanced from the fight to her companion.
"What, what's wrong?" she asked with a white knuckle grip on the branch. Her heart was beating rapidly as her honorary older brother and his guardian fought the vicious spirit.
"It's lord Vaatu why is he holding back like that?" Ayeon replied.
"What do you mean holding back?" Ikki asked in confusion. "Mako always fights like that; it's his 'cool under fire' fighting style."
"No, no, that won't work. Why would lord Vaatu allow lord Mako to fight like this?" Ayeon continued.
"What do you mean it won't work? They are holding their own down there." Ikki said worriedly.
Kuvira had taken to erecting large chunks of stone all around the clearing to provide cover for her and Mako as they continued their barrage of fire and stone. They landed blow after blow, but Arctos took the blows and just kept coming, and smashed the stone barriers with ease.
Ayeon sighed. "For now they are holding their own, but trying to wear Arctos down won't work. Most minor spirits like me only have enough energy to maintain a physical form, but some minor spirits have extra energy that they can manifest in any number of ways. For some spirits the energy is used to perform special abilities like multiplying. Other spirits like Brutus or Arctos down their; the extra energy is channeled into their physical form. He has the appearance of a rhino bear, but he is far larger, and much stronger than any natural rhino bear in your world. He is strong enough to take some serious damage without even slowing a step. Lord Mako and Kuvira will tire long before he even breaks a sweat."
Ikki's grey eyes widened in realization, "So minor spirits are like benders, non benders, or really strong giants."
Ayeon nodded solemnly as he gazed down at the battle. "Lord Mako cannot win this with strategy. In this world power must be answered with power, and I fear only lord Vaatu is strong enough to win this."
Ikki fell silent as she looked fearfully down at Mako as he unleashed a stream of fire that while powerful to her barely fazed the spirit. "Mako,"
"Face me you cowards!" Arctos bellowed as he shattered another stone barrier with an enraged roar.
The spirit continued to roar as he shattered barrier after barrier while he searched for his adversaries.
Mako and Kuvira meanwhile had regrouped behind a slab of rock located farthest from the rampaging spirit. They were crouched down and breathing heavily as they tried to come up with a plan.
"What are we going to do?" Kuvira asked as she looked at the fire bender.
Sweat was pouring down his fore head as he glared intently down at the ground. He had thrown all of his fire power at the rhino bear, and he'd barely even scorched him. The only one having any sort of effect was Kuvira, and all she could do was stun him. What started as a fight had slowly regressed into a game of cat-deer and mouse-bunny.
"I don't know." Mako sighed. "He shrugs off everything we throw at him. The only thing I have left is lightning, but I doubt he give me enough time to build a charge strong enough to hurt him."
"Then what are we going to do?" Kuvira prompted again. "Brute force isn't working, and three years of military strategy works better in the human world. We need to finish this quickly, or he will kill us."
"I know that!" Mako snapped with a glare, before closing his amber eyes.
Ever since he had become the Dark Avatar his entire life had been shattered and ground down to nothing more than survival again. It was live, or die again, and just like growing up on the streets the latter wasn't an option. If he failed, if he wasn't strong enough Bolin would have died, and now it was Ikki who needed. Even after everything, after what he had become she still trusted and believed in him. The air nomads had become like family, and he owed it to them to bring their daughter back safely.
"We need to get Ikki and Ayeon out of here." Mako said when he opened his eyes. "Retreating may be our only option."
"You want to run away?" Kuvira asked in surprise as she sensed Arctos shatter several more barriers. From everything she'd seen she knew Mako wasn't one to back down from a fight, and Vaatu would rather die than back down.
"I don't want to run, but Ikki won't be able to make it home if we're dead." The fire bender said as he stood, and looked the metal bender in the eyes. "I'll distract him while you get them out of here."
Kuvira looked as though she wanted to argue, but the look in Mako's eyes silenced her objections. "Alright, but what does Vaatu say about your plan?"
"He's testing us to see if we are strong enough. He's not interfering, and for some reason he's even quiet." Mako answered as he looked around the stone at Arctos who was quickly running out of barriers to crush. "On three I'll distract him while you make a break for the tree. One. Two. Three!"
It was cold. It was always so cold, and for the life of him Vaatu couldn't understand why. He was wandering through the empty snow covered streets of Republic City. It was silent for the most part. There was always the icy wind howling through the streets, and the occasional roll of thunder from the perpetual storm that raged overhead, but the only voice to be heard was his own; the only sentient voice anyway. Every so often he would hear an echo of a past memory, but by this point he had seen them all.
"Pathetic," Vaatu muttered as he walked along the now familiar streets his attention was divided.
Part of his consciousness was focused on what was happening in the spirit world with Mako and his fight, while the rest of his consciousness was focused on searching through the fire bender's soul. Most humans would feel strained when they tried to focus on two simple tasks, but to a spirit such as him it was practically child's play.
He could feel Mako's anger and frustration mounting with each failed attack. Kuvira had made it past Arctos, and was quickly scaling the tree that his servant and the child were in. This left Mako alone with the minor spirit.
The chaos spirit flinched and clutched his shoulder where Mako had just been scratched, and his anger increased. This was ridiculous. He knew Mako had the power to defeat Arctos with ease, and yet he was only using a fraction of it. What was worse was that he was unable to understand how.
There were so many things that didn't make any sense about the former detective. He was a skilled fire bender to be sure, but he somehow lacked the raw power which was all but impossible. All benders had spiritual energy flowing through them, and the more energy one had the more powerful the bender was. That was actually why all Avatars were powerful benders even when not in the Avatar state; being merged with a spirit let alone a grand spirit provided a near limitless source of spirit energy.
This was one of the things that baffled Vaatu. Even before becoming the Dark Avatar Mako had a staggering level of spiritual energy, and after being exposed to the spirit vine power cores his spirit energy levels went off the charts. Yet despite the power coursing through him it wasn't reflected in his fire bending.
That led him to his next unanswered question; Mako was a fire bender, and yet his spirit world was a frozen wasteland. Originally he had assumed it had something to do with Korra, but now he wasn't so sure. What's more Vaatu had searched every corner of the human's soul ten times over, and yet he hasn't seen any sigh of Mako's inner fire.
The inner fire was the drive that allowed every fire bender to harness their energy to create and bend fire. It was a key part of all fire benders weak, or powerful, and should have a manifestation within their soul.
He had searched for days, and found no sign of it which was impossible, because even now Mako was fire bending for his life, and the lives of those he cared about.
Now that he thought about it he may have jumped the spirit cannon when he maneuvered them into their current predicament. He had needed to be sure that Kuvira was strong enough to protect them, and that Mako was strong enough to serve as his Avatar. The fact that he had survived their merging without harmonic convergence proved him to be a worthy vessel, but Mako needed to be strong enough to win fights with and without his help. Besides they needed directions.
Vaatu stopped walking when he felt a sudden surge of dark energy and a wave of pain pass over his body. Well technically it was Mako's eighteen year old form, but it hurt none the less.
Quickly diverting his full attention to what was happening out side he realized the situation had gone from bad to worse. Mako's ineffective yet persistent fire blasts coupled with several large rocks to the head had finally pissed Arctos off enough for him to shift into a dark spirit. The spirit had grown larger, his colors turned to black with red eyes, and he had overall become far more feral.
In the ensuing chaos Mako had been back handed with considerable force across the clearing. Vaatu could even hear the lingering scream of Mako from up the massive tree above them. He then felt a surge of panic as the rhino bear spirit turned his attention to the tree the others were hiding in.
He needed to find Mako's inner fire fast; otherwise he'll wind up being reincarnated. He would probably wind up in the fire nation, but given Mako's mixed heritage he could just as easily wind up in the earth kingdom.
A massive bolt of lightning suddenly cracked across the dark sky above followed by a boom of thunder.
"Wow mom did you see that?" A child's voice echoed across the city causing Vaatu to freeze.
The chaos spirit quickly turned to look at an old, but tall building; one of the first and oldest sky scrapers in Republic City if he remembered correctly. Looking up at the building he felt a sense of warmth and familiarity.
With a flash of red light Vaatu shifted into his spirit form, and flew swiftly to the top of the building. With another red flash he reassumed Mako's form landing on the roof.
Looking around he found the roof to be barren except for a doorway that led into the building below. There was nothing there, and yet he could feel something in this place. Curious he wandered over to the edge, and looked up at the raging storm. As he watched the storm clouds swirl bolts of lightning began to erupt from the clouds. At first it was one then more and more rained down faster and faster. Then suddenly Vaatu was blinded by a bright flash of light.
"Wow mom did you see that." A young boy exclaimed as Vaatu slowly opened his crimson eyes.
"Yes I did Mako. I think that was the biggest one yet."
Vaatu tensed at the warm gentle voice, and slowly turned around. The world around him had changed almost completely. The City all around was much smaller. Newer buildings and roads were gone, and old buildings were new again. What really took the dark spirit aback however was the two humans now standing on the roof with him.
The young boy has spiky hair, and warm amber eyes. With the happy smile on his face and the joy in his eyes Vaatu almost didn't recognize him, but it was Mako. He couldn't have been any older than six, and standing with him was a tall lean woman with jet black hair, and wiser, but no less warm amber eyes that matched her eldest son's.
This was a very old memory the grand spirit quickly realized, and this was Mako and Bolin's mother Naoki. He now recognized it as one of Mako's fondest memories; when his father San had stayed home with Bolin while his mother brought him here to watch the approaching lightning storm. A love of storm watching was something that had bonded the mother very closely with her son.
"Someday I am going to make a lightning bolt that big." The young Mako boasted childishly.
Naoki smiled warmly down at her son. "Maybe someday Mako when you become a fire bending Master.
"No mom I can do it sooner, and I don't need fire." Mako said quickly as he stepped back, and turned to face Naoki. "Watch this."
Then to the shock of both Vaatu and his mother Mako began to wave a small through the air, and a small amount of electrical energy gather around the child's fingertips.
"Mako!" Naoki exclaimed as she rushed forward, and snatched his hand dissipating the gathered energy in the process. "Lightning is not a toy!"
"But," Mako started to say Naoki placed her hands firmly on either side of his face, and pulled him close to her face.
Her expression was stern, and the warmth in her amber eyes was replaced with an icy ferocity that Vaatu had only ever seen in Mako's eyes. "Of all the elements lightning is the most dangerous Mako! It is not a little flame that can be manipulated, and it should never be taken lightly. People can die if you aren't careful."
"I'm sorry mom." Mako said with a quivering voice, and tears in his eyes.
Warmth quickly returned to Naoki's eyes, and she pulled Mako into a tight hug. "It's alright sweetie you just scared me. Lightning is so dangerous, and the thought of you accidentally hurting someone, or worse hurting yourself terrifies me."
Mako returned her embrace with a sniffle, and a nod of his head. "I'll be careful mom, and I'll be a master someday."
"I'm sure you will Mako," Naoki said with a gentle smile as she turned him around, but still held him close in a hug. "Now let's enjoy the rest of this beautiful storm shall we?"
Mako smiled brightly, and nodded. His tears gone he looked back up at the darkened sky. "You know a lot about lightning don't you mom."
"Yeah I guess I do." Naoki said with a trace of sadness in her voice that went unnoticed by the child, but not by Vaatu. "Lightning is very powerful and very dangerous Mako, and yet it flows strongly through our bloodline. Always has, and always will."
"Does that mean Bolin will bend lightning like us?" the child asked innocently.
Naoki chuckled as a bolt of lightning cracked across the sky. "No Mako; it looks like your baby brother will be an earth bender, but never the less the family fire burns in him too."
As the mother and son continued to watch the storm the memory world around Vaatu began to slowly fade back to Mako's soul. With nothing more to see Vaatu turned to leave, but before he could shift into his spirit form Naoki's voice drifted on the breeze. "Mako did you know that some people refer to lightning as 'the cold blooded fire."
Lightning suddenly flared across the shy illuminating the entire cityscape for a moment, before being followed by a reverberating boom of thunder.
The thunder was loud, but it was those softly spoken words that rocked Vaatu to his very core.
"Cold blooded fire," Vaatu whispered as a wolf-batish grin spread over his face as he looked up at the raging lighting storm that filled the skies above; now seeing it for what it truly was, the manifestation of Mako's inner fire. "Well what do you know?"
Arctos bellowed in rage as he charged hard enough to shake the whole tree violently. Leaves, twigs, and even a few pine cones rained down from the force of the impact. Up above Kuvira had sunk her wrist blades into the bark to maintain her grip. Ayeon had done the same with his claws on the branch, but Ikki wasn't so fortunate. After two more strikes the branch shook violently enough that she lost her grip, and fell down towards the waiting dark spirit.
"Ikki!" Kuvira screamed as she sprinted along the tree branch and after securing a cable to the branch dove after the injured air bender.
Plummeting through the air the metal bender lashed out with her other cable securing a line around Ikki's uninjured ankle. The girl had fallen quiet a distance, but Kuvira had arrested her fall just out of the spirits reach, or so she thought.
Then to everyone's horror Arctos crouched low, and with a massive heave launched upwards, and his jaws completely closed around Ikki with a scream. Now on Kuvira's line like a fish when the massive spirit fell back to the ground he pulled the metal bender with him.
With a startled yell Kuvira's cable was ripped loose from the branch, and she fell down until she landed unexpectedly on the spirit's back. With the air knocked painfully from her lungs she rolled to the side falling off of Arctos, and hit the ground.
With a painful gasp for air she quickly stood up, and assumed a traditional bending stance. Acting quickly she bent a massive slab of stone out of the ground, and into the dark rhino bear spirit's throat. The sudden and unexpected blow forced the spirit to open its jaws, and to everyone's relief Ikki fell out onto the ground. She was covered in drool, but miraculously unharmed.
Moving swiftly Kuvira snatched up the terrified girl, and made to run, but Arctos recovered faster than expected.
"Look out!" Mako yelled as he ran to rejoin the fight, but he was too far away to intervene.
With only enough time to act on instinct Kuvira spun Ikki away from the approaching paw swipe, and raised a stone barrier.
The stone shattered on impact, and the mighty blow sent the girls hurling through the air. With a clang of metal, and a sickening pop Kuvira struck a tree with a scream of pain. She lost her hold on Ikki as they fell down to the ground; her left arm hanging limp at her side.
"Get the hell away from them!" Mako roared in fury as he launched a jet of flame at the spirit's face.
Arctos roared in outrage as he rounded on the fire bender, and swiped his razor sharp claws at him. Mako dodged the first swipe, but the second one hooked into the corner of his long coat. With another roar Arctos once again hurled Mako across the clearing where he slammed hard into the ground.
"Mako!" Ikki screamed as tears fell down her face. Kuvira watched helplessly by her side; while Ayeon was climbing back down the giant tree as swiftly as he could.
("It looks like everything has come down to you Mako.") Vaatu said calmly as the fire bender stood slowly to his feet. ("It is up to you whether or not they live or die now.")
"Shut up!" Mako snapped out loud as he faced the approaching rhino bear with flames in hand. "Unless you are going to help me save them I don't want to hear it."
("If you want to save them you will hear what I have to say boy.") Vaatu snapped back. He could feel Mako's anger blazing, and it was affecting his own temper.
Mako took a deep calming breath. "Alright what do you have to say?"
("Ever since we merged Mako you have been quite the puzzle for me. You have drive, you have rage, you have so much raw power flowing through your veins, and yet your fire bending is weak. You are skilled and cunning to be sure, but your flames are merely average at best. I thought you were holding back.")
"You think I would purposely hold myself back when everything that matters to me is on the line?" Mako asked irately.
("No Mako not purposely, but you are holding yourself back. You always have unless everything is on the line. I have recently taken a stroll down memory lane Mako and in doing so I have realized what you truly are. You are not a fire bender; you are a lightning bender.")
"What the hell are you talking about?" Mako demanded as he began to circle with Arctos to buy more time.
("Kuvira and Bolin are master earth benders, but earth is not their true nature; lava and metal is their true power. The same is true for you. You are a skilled master fire bender, but lightning is your true nature. You have always fought with fire, but when Amon tried to take your bending you reverted to your true nature and used lightning to overcome him. The same thing happened when you fought Ming Hua to the death, or when you chose to give your life to destroy the heart of the colossus. Cold blooded fire flows in your veins Mako.")
As Vaatu spoke; the memories of fighting Amon and Ming Hua flashed before his eyes. Vaatu was right. In times of desperation, where there is no time to think only act it wasn't fire he called forth. It was lightning.
("Lightning flows strongly through your family Mako, and while I would love to go into finer details we are running out of time. You have the power to easily put this minor spirit in his place. I want you to stop moving, and close your eyes.")
With no other choices Mako decided to trust Vaatu, and did as he commanded. He came to a stop with Arctos doing the same. He then closed his eyes.
("Good now allow all your energy to flow freely through you as if you were about to redirect a lightning bolt.") Once again Mako did as directed.
("Now open your senses, and feel the energy all around you.")
Mako focused his other senses on the world around him. He could hear Ikki crying, and his heart beat slowing to a steady rhythm. He could feel the ground tremble as Arctos began to approach him once more, but more than that he could feel the power and warmth flowing all around him. For a brief second he was in awe at the sheer amount of it all.
Acting on instinct now he reached out with his own energy, and began to divide it into light and dark. Soon he could hear the static crackling, and feel the lightning flow all around him. It felt so much easier now than back in the human world, and instinctively he began to gather, and rip apart more energies, building the charge further.
("Like a dragon to the skies.") Vaatu said with a grin clear in his voice. ("You and I have much to discuss Mako, but for now go ahead, and play the hero; just quit wasting our time, and end this.")
Mako just smirked in response. With energy flowing through him and arcs of lightning dancing around him he opened his eyes now glowing orange with spiritual power.
Upon locking eyes with the dark spirit Arctos charged with a savage roar. The rhino bear barreled towards the Dark Avatar at full speed, and right as he was about to gore the human; Mako spun to the side as if he were nothing more than a stone disk in a pro bending match. As the spirit passed by Mako reached out as though to touch the rhino bear, but before making contact he allowed a massive charge to arc out, and drag along the dark spirits large jet black form.
Unlike when a fire attack connected Arctos roared in agony rather than anger as particle of yellow energy drifted up from where the lightning hit. Quickly spinning around Arctos charged again with fury in his red eyes. Watching his opponent with the same cold eyes as he did when facing Brutus Mako easily evaded the second charge, and dragged another lightning bolt along the length of the dark spirit's body. With another bellow of Pain Arctos staggered, and just barely avoided crashing into the ground.
Mako watched as the spirit turned to face him yet again, only now he was breathing heavily, and particles of yellow energy were emitting from both his wounded sides.
"You are beaten." Mako called out as he began going through the motions of lightning generation. After mere moments he had a massive bolt arcing around his battered body. "Yield." He commanded.
With hatred in his eyes, and a final defiant roar Arctos charged. With the distance between them closing rapidly Mako aimed his lightning bolt carefully towards the beast's open jaws.
("We still need directions just so you know.") Vaatu reminded impatiently.
With a tired sigh Mako rolled his eyes, and adjusted his aim. Finally with barely three yards between them the Dark Avatar released his bolt of cold blooded fire which struck the spirit's horn.
The smell of smoke and ozone filled the air as the dark spirit was consumed in a flash of blinding white light. After a moment the light faded to reveal Arctos collapsed unconscious on the ground. Slowly he shifted to his normal form, but his transformation didn't end there. Thousands of particles of yellow spirit energy drifted up from the spirit as he began to shrink until finally he was the size of a normal rhino bear.
("Purified, alive, and put firmly in his place. Very impressive Dark Avatar Mako.") Vaatu said with a hint of pride as Mako released his hold on the ambient energies, and his eyes returned to their amber color.
"Mako!" Ikki called out happily before the lightning bender could respond.
Turning around he saw Kuvira, Ikki, and Ayeon gathered together at the base of a tree. The aye-aye spirit had a look of awe on his face, while Kuvira nodded approvingly with a small smile. Ikki was waving him over excitedly.
("Arctos may be out for a while, and you and I can have our talk later.") Vaatu conceded as he faded back into Mako's soul.
"Sounds like a plan." Mako muttered with a tired smile as he achingly walked over to join the others.
"Tell me human why do you keep returning here?" Wan Shi Tong asked coldly as he landed upon a branch just outside of his library.
"Wan Shi Tong," Zaheer said with a respectful bow. "I am merely awaiting the arrival of some associates nothing more."
"And whom may I ask would the red lotus seek to meet here? You and other members of your order have always met elsewhere." Wan Shi Tong asked skeptically.
"If I were meeting a fellow red lotus I would be in Xai Bau's grove now, but the person I'm expecting is a potential recruit who needs refuge from the human world. What better sanctuary than your library?" Zaheer said.
"You know full well humans are forbidden from entering my library Zaheer. Your allies will find no sanctuary here." The giant owl spirit declared.
"Once he arrives I am sure you'll be willing to make an exception." Zaheer said with a smirk as he disappeared in a flash of light returning to his body.
"Unlikely." Wan Shi Tong said with a flap of his great black wings as he took to the air, and returned to his fabled library suspended upside down miles above the ground.
Man this one was a hell of a chapter to write. I had to rework parts of it over, and over again before I felt satisfied with it. Any way it's my new longest chapter to date. The chapter, and title were inspired by the song (Hero) by Skillet. If you want to give it a listen. As for my updates I will do it as often as I can , but some chapters will longer like this one did whether from circumstances, or writers block. As always please leave a comment, or review. what you readers have to say means a lot to my and actually help motivate me as a writer. Anyway until next time. stay tuned for next time.