Farewell, My Soul! Hello, My Spirit!

There's something to be said for not having…

even one regret.


It was cold.

That was a lie. Proven all too quickly to Jugram as his spine became assaulted with a shiver. It was freezing. His chest expanded with each breath like a balloon, feeling the gentle frost break at each inhale. He attempted to lift his right arm, but found it cemented to the cold ground. He could feel his diaphragm begin to spasm with the bubble of hiccups and swallowed air; the sensation felt as if he were swallowing and choking on his tongue. Soon, the organ that spasmed in the middle of his abdomen spilled its air out of his throat.

First, he wheezed and attempted to reign in the spill of air, but failed. Second, he attempted to raise his heavy arm to cover his mouth, even in death his etiquette never failed.

His eyes snapped open, tearing eyelashes off with the thin frost.

Was he not dead? If so, why does he still feel the tingling sensation of life in his breast? In a mixture of a dry cough and grunt he sat himself up, pushing his hips out and rolling into a slouched seated position. His eyes were blurry. The pieces of frost that lined his lashes fell in, obscuring his sight.

Not that there was much to see.

His arms, still useless, laid limp and strained his shoulders. The pressure added to his diaphragm, due to his slouched position, seemed to ease its sporadic movements and allowed him to finally breathe properly. He could feel the sore muscles of his bosom and midsection, expanding with each breath. A clear indication that he was, in fact, very much alive.

Now, how in the world could this have happened?

He was certain his stand against Ishida should have been the end of his life. He had seen it! There is no way he should be alive!

Then, a terrifying thought pried its way into his thoughts; had he failed? Had he failed to block out the certain events on Yhwach's Almighty? Setting his teeth tightly against each other and clenching the muscles of his jaw, he thought: No, There could be no conceivable way that I failed.

He looked around, the frost's irritation tearing down his cheeks, there was darkness around him. Then, he thought. What is this? If I did not fail, where am i? It was a dark void with smoking clouds that hung low to the ground. What he supposed was the ground. There was no sound whatsoever, only deafening silence that made his ears ring. His breath, he realized, was the only thing producing octaves in the chasm. His dry wheezing only seemed to get louder as his ears focused solely on that. He needs to get up, but then what? Walk until he stumbles upon an exit? He doubted there was one, and if there was, could he just waltz right out? No toll or sacrifice? He chalked out his stagnant thoughts and bent one leg under the other.

He would attempt to get to his feet before he worried about anything else.

Moments of struggle later, Jugram managed to get to his knees. His arms had begun to twitch with movement, but with stinging pain. With a sigh, he finally stood up, stretching his back and allowing a moan of discomfort escape his lips. Alright, he thought. Let's try one step. Lifting his right foot he found it shaky, but took the step nonetheless. He found his right hip creaking with protest as he made contact with the ground. However, the first step was taken. Now, another. He lifted his left foot, no pain or shakiness, setting it down he stumbled. Hissing through his long hair he steadied himself. In order to regain his footing he had to move his right leg to catch himself.

Had he use of his arms he could have balanced himself straight.

Balance.

He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. He opened them moments later, when he felt his body cease its swaying. Taking a more indepth look of the area– He hadn't seen such darkness like this before– the blackness creeped a shudder into him. Its empty eeriness made Jugram feel as if he was in the depth of a beast, a low rumbling had since started. The echoing floor, at first, pained his right leg, but now it soothed its raw feeling. What felt like an eternity his arm had regained some composure. He lifted his psalm to his eyes and felt their coldness spread to his orbitals. The coldness, it seemed, activated something in his brain as he began to recall things from his early parts in life. Groaning, he shook them the best he could.

But ultimately failed:

The frigid start of the winter always made him shake with dread. His uncle, the horrible, would send him out as soon as the light crept over the horizon. Ordering him to not return unless he brought food for the day. Oh, and to catch something for himself whilst he was at it.

He was a cruel man. But it was the only place he found shelter, his parents had long passed. He doesn't remember if it was five or six winters ago, let alone their faces. Even their names no longer roll off his tongue.

He placed his coat over his small frame, wincing as his upper back tightened. He stretched his bow slightly and passed it over his head, laying it diagonally across his chest. He didn't dare voice he was leaving, less he wanted another discoloration of his back. Setting out he enjoyed the pass of the trees. The forest was always his favorite, the different types of bark and trees made his young eyes widen with wonder. It was the only time his eyes held that wonderment, any other time and his face didn't change from his saddened look. He looked up at a mid sized tree, hearing the yells and giggles of children, he felt a pang of jealousy. The local kids had all the time in the world to be what they were; children.

He quickly ducked behind a tree and hid until he could no longer hear them.

But, it seemed the glee of the children died with the light.

Jugram scrambled against the dying light to find any small creature. He had, he hoped, a total of twenty minutes before all animals went into their burrows. Passing through a wall of branches he came to a clearing, its lush green grass struck him as odd. Not that there wasn't any in the forest, but this grass was… green. Everything else was either dry or a deep brown color. He sat his bow aside, taking it off when passing through the branches, and kneeled down. He felt the soft prickle of the lush grass and struggled a smile. He placed his palm onto the grass feeling its sponginess. The grass was full and healthy that it felt as if it were pushing back against his palms. He sat there for a moment just enjoying the sight and feeling the grass treated him to, until the sound of a faint cry. He blinked confused, for a moment he believed the sound came from the grass itself, until he heard it once more.

Yawwo!

He quickly looked up and found a small lump emerging from the other side of the clearing. He didn't react, only watching it as it came into his view. Jugram was awestruck, the animal wasn't anything he had ever seen. The small thing looked like a kitten, but had two small antlers like the local deer. His eyes twisted with further confusion as he saw its front legs longer than its back ones. Clearly an evolutionary trait to help it run faster. Then a thought entered his brain; if a kitten was here, calling out, it was only a matter of time before whatever it was calling out to answered. He slowly began reaching for his bow. If he could take a quick enough shot he could take it with him before its mother arrived for it. But the small creature saw him, and locked eyes with him for a moment. Both were locked in a duel of fates. Would Jugram be able to take it out? Or would the mother arrive?

Yawwo!

That marked the start. Jugram quickly reached for his bow and pulled it back, arrow ready to fly to its target.

Yawwph!

He stilled. Swallowed, and slowly looked to his left. There, behind the twisted branches that protected the clearing, loomed a large cat… deer… thing. Much, much bigger than what his arrow was pointed at. With ease the larger animal jumped over the branches and landed with a thud upon the grass. The animal reached to the sky compared to his small stature, and it held his gaze. Jugram had hunted many animals ranging from different sizes, but he had never seen an animal quite like these two, nor had he seen the look the animal held in its eyes. It didn't look at him as if he were a danger, perhaps the animal knew it would kill him before he caused any real damage. How pitiful, even nature that seemed to be in man's mercy, didn't think him a threat.

The smaller animal ran its way behind the larger one, looking at him with what he thought to be a smug look. The animal seemed to speak to him through its eyes.'Go ahead! Just try!' Try he wouldn't. But he wasn't going to let them out of his sight, if they charged him he'd let an arrow fly and scramble through the branches. The large animal dipped its head to look at its youngling over and quickly sniffing it. Only when it dipped its head did he see the large turkey hanging from its jaws, and lady fortune seemed to make his life harder.

His stomach rumbled.

He cursed whatever luck he had and looked back up to the pair. The small cat peeked through the legs of its guardian and looked at him with interest. No doubt due to the sound that emitted from his stomach. The larger one, however, looked at him with eyes he couldn't decipher, not that he was ever good at reading people. His arms had begun to strain at the tension he had his bow pulled back in, and to finish it his hands had begun to sweat and let the arrow go. It flew past the larger one's head and struck the bark of a tree, its head twisted back, curiously, at the embedded ammunition. If Jugram had ever prayed in his life, it would be in this moment. He called out to any and every God he could recall to save his life. His prayers only increased as his back hit the wall of branches and the large animal stepped toward him. In a panic he pulled back his bow with another arrow, shouting; 'Stay back!' which, apparently meant 'Come near me!' in wild animal. His entire body began to tremble in fear, his weapon meant nothing as he closed his eyes ready for death. He could feel the warm breath of the animal as it reached his face. He peeked through his lashes and saw the large animal nudge his hand with its wet nose.

It felt as if it were saying; 'Put it down.'

And, call him a fool, but he did. What followed next confused him to no end, the large turkey that was in its jaws fell and rolled towards him. Looking at the large animal he could finally see its face and he recognized its look. As it turned and trotted away, with the smaller one in tow, he recalled this look. It reminded him of the dog he once had that would do almost all his commands, especially fetch.

The creature had the look of a domesticated animal.


Jugram had fallen to his knees. Somewhere between the memory and his wobbly right leg giving way to his weight. He had no idea why of all his memories that one would replay to him now. Placing his right hand on the ground to stop himself from swaying, only to look down in slight surprise. His right hand plunged into cold liquid, pins and needles assaulting his nerves. He hadn't recalled there being any water in the chasm, but now there was.

And it's quickly rising.

With a grunt he managed to lift himself up only to land on his left side, hard. The wind in his lungs escaped quickly enough that he could not retain any of it. With two quick gasps, Jugram managed to flip himself onto his back, hissing at the sudden cold water upon his back. How was the water rising? Why was the water rising? He suspected this place to be a Limbo of sorts, but that was wishful thinking. Now as the water managed to make him float he believed this to be more of a 'cleansing' of sorts. The water rose to a point where he struggled to keep his head up, Jugram had never panicked in recent years, but all those times made up now. He struggled, and flailed until his body sank and sank into the eternal abyss. Strangely enough, he wasn't drowning. In fact, it felt as if the water was a heavier and thicker air. He could see strands of his blood drifting through the chasm as he continued his descent. The low rumble he heard earlier was still present, louder and closer than once before.

Slowly the rumbling ceased its tune.

Blinking against the heavy water he spins himself in the water. In the far below he sees a figure that makes his eyes widen.

That strange fauna from the clearing was there, staring up at him. Beckoning for him to come closer. He tested the water first, then, like a new baby learning to walk, he kicked his way down. The further he went down, he noticed the water increasingly acting like… well water. No longer was it a thick heavy air, but now a liquid he had to hold his breath against. As he approached the feline stretched its snout out to him, almost like a human stretching its hand out to him. When he managed to touch its nose– black clouding his vision and pressure building in his chest from the lack of air– his vision went white.


Snow.

He was no stranger to it. But the white rime that built on the buttons of his suit was. Typically, his reiatsu, was enough to keep any frost to build on him. But as his chest grew numb from his face down position he grew strangely aware. Aware he was now far from any reiatsu, just as he had been in his childhood years. The falling snow stacked onto his unmoving body and lulled him to sleep. He knew the dangers of falling asleep in the cold. The risk of not waking up again was freighting, but offered him comfort.

But as the shout of a young voice and the stomp of a massive furry paw landed in front of him, he knew death was still far behind him.

"No! Don't eat him, Naga!"

Next Chapter: The First 9 Days.

A fourteen year old Korra finds a mysterious man, injured, and close to death. She brings him back to the compound, where Katara attempts to heal him. For the next week Katara and other healers tend to the injured man, but to no avail. Katara even thinks of pronouncing the man dead, however, on the ninth day of the man's treatment something extraordinary happens.