The Earth Kingdom. It had always been private in nature, but so much of it had changed throughout the years, especially following it's brief dictatorship as the Earth Empire. It's wide valleys welcoming both progress and strangers from afar. Its rolling green mountains became a common sight as the blimp slowly but steadily made its way towards the shimmering city of Zaofu. Aboard, resting in the small, privatised compartment, Korra rested in her typical meditative position.

Breathe in.

Legs crossed, fists pressed together, eyes closed. One deep breath, two. Meditation used to be something that she never could get the hang of, but now it was something that she found solace in. It helped her ground herself, collect her thoughts.

Breathe out.

Korra's heart slowed, it's beating and her breathing soon became the only thing she could hear. The thrum of the craft fell away. The hushed tones of those with her in the next room fading as well. Her heartbeat became a dull noise in the back of her mind. It was usually a private affair, something she found great comfort in. Now...not so much.

As she opened her eyes, so to speak, she once again found herself in the realm collective minds and fog, sitting cross-legged between the two wide, intricately designed mirrors that were acting as gateways of sorts. With every breath taken, what was once a simple reflection morphed into something more. A cycle of images drawn from memory, of faces she had seen and places she had visited. Home. Her parents. Mako. Asami. Even Azula. The images played for a bit, before finally fading, and were subsequently replaced by those that now shared her head space. Adora speaking out first.

"Your tech is absolutely wild! It's so different from anything in Etheria."

"It's more like a smorgasbord of outlandish contradictions. The blimp not withstanding" Raven added.

"Hey!" Korra snapped back. "Airships like this are best for long distance travel, otherwise I would have snagged a sky bison or crossed country with Naga."

"You do know that none of that made any sense right?" Raven questioned, raising a brow yet again.

"What's a sky bison? And a Naga? I just have Swiftie." Adora said.

"What I don't understand," Raven continued. "Is how you, the guardian of all the elements, need something like this. Can't you just fly over? You have the very wind at your fingertips."

Before Korra could reply, the mirrors answered for her. Memoires surging, leaking out.

A tall man. Shaved head. Scars lingering along his scalp. Scars dominating the very fabric of his soul. From his fists emerged buts of air that sent her flying. His words stripped of emotion, cut down to the very core. Looking upon her with empty eyes. So hollow they were practically zen.

"Let go your earthly tether. Enter the void. Empty, and become wind."

Chains bound her body. The liquid death filling her veins. Agony erupting from within

"Korra?" Adora's voice echoed out. "Are you okay?!" she yelled, leaning heavily on her own mirror, from behind the unnatural glass, a look of great concern on her features as she looks upon her newfound friend. Raven too, was concerned, though for a far different reason. The images of the floating figure, as well as the Avatar bound and tortured. It appeared there were many skeletons in her closet. Ones that spoke of unimaginable pain.

Shaken and distressed, Korra still forced a smile. "I'm okay, flying just . . . really isn't my thing," she said, rubbing her arms as if to scrub off the memories that, deep down, she knew would always lurk.

Raven's eyes darkened.

"This is bad," she said. "Iroh, the interdimensional bleeding is getting worse. The fact that memories like these are already being shared through the hivemind," she bit her lip in frustration, "If this continues, it won't be long before the lines between our consciousnesses entirely fade."

"And I take it that's...bad?" Adora added.

"Our sense of self will become so warped and misshapen that while our minds wrestle to regain control, our bodies will turn to husk. It's a death of the mind on an unprecedented level. So yes, it's very bad," Raven said, her voice try and her gaze intense.

An almost deadly silence fell between the trio, with no reply from their elderly host.

"Iroh?" Korra called out.

There were several more heartbeats of quiet before the sagely Firebender appeared. Flickering. His form closer to a dying ember than that of a raging inferno. Still, his smile remained.

"You are not wrong, young Raven," his voice waning with every syllable. "Time never was on our side."

"Iroh?! What's happening to you?!" Korra asked, rushing over to the mirror's edge. Worry consuming her.

"The web that connects each of you has been stretched to its absolute limit. Due to this, it is...unwise for an old spirit such as myself to attempt to cling to your cords any longer, put simply, there just isn't any room for this form to inhabit. Perhaps I shouldn't have indulged in so much of those tea cakes during the final years of my lakes," he laughed, somewhat weakly.

Korra paled.

"Are you going to be okay?"

"You needn't worry yourself, Korra. This is only a minor inconvenience. It would simply be best if I recuse myself in the deep Spirit World for the time being. I can better aid in holding back the unravelling." He flickered in and out again, this time more harshly than before. "Allow me to leave you three with this bit of parting advice. You have all the tools that you need, but remember, balance comes in many forms, and though the pitfalls of life often seem bottomless, all that is needed is trust to build the necessary bridges."

And just like that, he vanished, and all was quiet.

Raven looked upon Korra's dishevelled features, parted her lips, and was about to speak...before the sound of an opening door drew away their attention.

And just like that, the Avatar awoke to her own reality, just in time to see Lin walk in.

"Are you okay?" she asked, raising a brow.

Korra pushed herself into a standing position, running a hand over her face, as if to physically wipe her worries away.

"I'm fine," she replied, offering one of her signature smiles.

"You're a terrible liar." Lin says as she rolls her eyes.

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Now you're just starting to sound like your mother." Korra shot back

"Maybe if you didn't act like a child all the time, then I wouldn't have to" Lin retortoed

"Maybe you're just being over-paranoid again"

"Maybe I'm just trying to make sure you're not hiding anything!"

"There you go sounding like Toph again!"

Their bickering continued even as they walked onto the bridge together, at least until they burnt themselves out. The two eventually leaning against the railing, looking out into the distance as the blimp passed over another hurdle of cliff and country. Eventually the view shifted to that of a splendid silver. Before their eyes was none other than the glory of the Earth Kingdom's shining jewel - the steel city of Zaofu. Home to artisans and eccentrics alike.

"So what made you change your mind?" Lin asked. "I've been meaning to ask. Practically begging to be let on seconds before take off? Not usually your style. So spill."

Another moment of silence, Korra's fingers absentmindedly playing with her bangles.

"A lot has happened recently. Almost...too much. But int he midst of it all, I've been able to widen the scope of my Avatar abilities." Korra started, "And so I've been able to see and sense further than I ever before. It's hard to explain but I think - I know - that what I'm searching for is somewhere in Zaofu. It's just worrying because what I'm looking for is dangerous, and after everything that happened with Kuvira, I think Zaofu deserves some peace."

Lin lets the words hang between them for a moment, before she clapped Korra on the back. So hard in fact that the Avatar was nearly folded onto the floor.

"Cheer up, will ya? If what you're looking for here can sort out our little international incident, then its worth it. Besides, if anyone can help, it's my sister."

"You sound confident." Korra mused, sore in voice as well as her face from the Beifong's not-so gentle touch.

"You know Su. She'll have everyone and their grandmother combing over every inch of this place until they find what you need," Lin said.

Korra visibly relaxed, giving a little smile.

And then, a sound of thunder. Lashing against their collective ears, all looked to the horizon. From the bridge, it was easy to spy the not-so-distant city. It's size. It's shape. Even the many spires dotted along it's branching frame. One of which had now started to shake and splinter. It was easy to see one of the spires start to splinter. Once again, the thunderous noise shook the sky, with the great metal frame meeting the earth below it.

Abject horror filled the faces of all those on board. Except for Lin.

"Maximum acceleration! Get us over there right now!"

"The craft can't go any faster, ma'am!" the pilot called back, an absolutely terrified note in his voice.

Venom and fear in here eyes, Lin didn't hesitate as she rushed over to the nearby airlock, practically tearing it open, before leaping out into the open sky.

Korra was left to stare before finally snapping herself back, pointing to the pilot.

"Get somewhere safe to land and radio in for help!" Korra she ordered, right before rushing towards the same airlock, taking a breath, and hurtling herself out. The world now rapidly approaching below her feet.

"I thought you said that you couldn't fly!" Raven's voice rang out.

"Still can't!" Korra cried out.

As she descended at a terrifying pace, she spied Lin in the distance. A metal cable launched from the wrist of her armor, attaching itself to one of the many rail lines that wove between Zaofu's various platforms. The force was immense, but she showed zero signs of slowing down. Launching herself up onto the railway, Lin bolted forward. Her arms swinging themselves backwards in a butterfly stroke, and soon enough, her feet began to glide along the steel railings as if she were skating on ice. Sparks tore behind her as she metalbended her way across towards the nearest platform at the heart of Zaofu.

"Whoa." Adora gaped, an unmistakable note of awe in her voice. "Please tell me you can do that too!"

"Nope...but I can do this!"

Reaching out with her full might, Korra bent the the water from the nearby river snaking it's way through the city's undergrowth. From there, the torrent morphed into a spiralling vortex, one that soon surged up to crash against Korra's feet. Dampening her feet and slowing her descent. Steadying herself, she leapt from the water's edge like it were nothing more than a snowbank. Arching through the air, she jerked her feet backwards. In place of water, fire was unleashed. Hers soles now breathing out bursts of flame, launching her forward in the most ungraceful of manners. Stumbling and shaking, the twin flames eventually landed her along the same rail line.

"Nice," Adora said.

"Tad excessive," Raven added.

Pulling herself up, Korra did her best to take off running, Lin now nothing more than a blip in the distance.

"Lin! Wait up!"

Lin ignored her, instead shooting up her cable to scale the city wall. Now that they're both close enough, they can see that the main entrance to it has been brought down, making it nearly impossible for its typical mode of transport to either enter or escape. By the time that Korra reachee the wall proper, Lin was far beyond her sight

"I have a really bad feeling about this." Adora mentioned.

"So do I, but I'm not about to let that stop me." Korra responds, exhaling softly. From her position at the base of the wall, she spreads her legs into a ready position, slamming her palms down towards the ground in order to unleash a powerful blast of air that launches her to about the halfway mark of the metal wall. Not about to let that deter her, Korra;s fingers pressed to it's shimmering surface; creating crude half-ledges in the process. One by one, she pulled herself up until she too had finally entered the domain of Zaofu's citizenry.

The sight that greets her was not a pleasant one.

All throughout the city, spires lay broken and scattered. What was once towers and streets had been torn apart. Spikes of stone now protruding from the steel ground. Large, curved, laced with both fragments of Zaofu's arcitecture...as well as its denizens. Countless, they appeared to have pierced along each part of the city, along each biome and from every angle. Like bone piercing out of a wound. Some of the citizens that could still move were running as fast as their legs could carry them. Holding onto their injured, and in some worse cases, the departed.

Choosing to ignore the dread bubbling up inside her, Korra made a beeline westward.

"Where are you going?" Raven questioned, the inquiry heavy.

"Lin's family is close by, I have to make sure that they're okay!"

There was a heavy pause from Raven before spoke again.

"I know that there's no point in telling you to calm down, but it's imperative that you're aware of what you're running into. Surely you sense it too."

"I know. I can feel it." A low growl escaped Korra. "The shard, it's nearby."

Sprinting through the city, using her bending where she could to break through structures and help out those buried under the debris, the Avatar had never missed Naga more than this moment. Zaofu was many things, simple to navigate was not one of them. After what seemed like a small age, Korra finally makes it to Zoafu's furthest platform, on which rested the Beifong Estate. At least, what was left of it. Where once was symmetry and beauty, cracks and chasms now pervaded. As if the whole area had been uprooted. Clouds had started to roll in over the city, darkening the ruined capital, coloring the entire area in a dismal gray. As Korra desperately looked around, she could see a silhouette holding another tightly.

"Su!"

The elegant leader of Zaofu, she who was famed for her implacable persona and constant smile, was barely able to hold back her sobbing as she held one her children in her arms. Haun, only a couple years Korra's junior, the artist of the family. His leg was horribly manged, his body littered with shrapnel. Su herself hadn't faired that much better, with droplets of blood splash down on Haun's cheek from a severe cut just above her eyebrow. She slowly turned to see the Avatar, the light drained from her eyes.

"Korra...I..." her voice hoarse.

"Hang on, I've got you!" Korra said, quick to summon water from one of the nearby broken fountains, utilizing it's healing properties as she laced the pair of them with it. The bruised and bloodied flesh slowly stitching itself back together, but the damage was extensive. "What happened here?" she questioned, glancing up to meet Su's tearful gaze.

Haun groaned beneath them, no longer at the edge of the abyss, but sill unconscious. Su looked understandably distraught, her hands shaking as she held her child, her eyes dull with a far-away expression. Her own wound fading into what would become the palest of scars.

"I didn't know what it was," her voice trembled just as badly as her hands. "That was why I called Lin. We kept it under lock and key, only certain personnel were allowed in, along with our best scientists. Every precaution was being taken! But that didn't stop that...that thing from coming out of it."

Korra paused. "Thing? What thing? What did you find, Su?"

"We were just trying to study it...I didn't mean for this to happen. I didn't mean...!" her voice croaked as she buried her face in Haun's chest, unable to stifle her cries.

It was a new and bitter sight to take in. Korra's hand slowly reaching along Su's shoulder and gently held it. Never before seeing her brought so low.

"Su, have you seen Lin? Did she come this way?"

A crash of metal. The tearing of flesh. A deep howl right from the depths. Both women turned their heads up kust in time to see a bloodied and beaten body come flying towards them, down the stairs from Su's home, crumbling to the ground just off to their right.

"Lin!" Korra cried out, scrambling to her feet and rushing over to her side. Lin's armor was shattered, her arm twisted in a way that bordered unnaturally, and the amount of blood she was covered in was enough to look as though she had just gone toe to toe with a small army. Sprinkled within the blood, bouncing around like boats on the ocean, were shards of gravel.

Lin raised her working arm up.

"Stay back!" she snapped, gargling her words, pushing herself into a half-sitting position.

Before any of them could make another move, a flash of yellow met their eyes, mere seconds before the ground erupted beneath them; spikes hurtling towards the small party, cleaving through everything in its path.

Dust and metal shavings rose up. As their vision returned, the Beifong sisters beheld Korra before them, clearly out of breath. She had dropped to one knee, arms thrown out as wide as possible, having used her palms to form makeshift shields around them, swallowing the sharpened pillars of stone before they could strike. For the most part, Lin Su and Huan were left unscathed. Korra, on the other hand, was not so lucky. The spikes had grazed her in numerous places, one in particular having gotten dangerously close to her eye. She ignored the warm sticky trails that traced along her face. Knowing that they were alive had to be enough for Korra, because there wasn't any time to ask if they were okay.

A few yards away, in the shadows, another bone-chilling scream cried out from the desolated manor, before it finally took shape and emerged into the greying light of day. It was human, but not. A sickening blend of skin and rock, split in two like a half-finished painting, divided by the thinnest of lines. Its mouth hung open, it's expression that of perpetual anguish. Its resemblance was that of a young woman. Blonde hair coated with dirt. It's attire strange and otherworldly. All of which was held together with a rusted emblem etched into it's breastplate. It was impossible to scavenge any further detail...save for the shard that had taken root in her sternum.

Korra rose to a standing position. Fists raised. Knuckles white. Her gaze met by the creature's own sickly yet radiant yellow eyes.

"What is that?!" Adora said.

Raven's breath shuddered. "That's impossible."

Korra wiped blood from her face. There was a ringing in her ears, though it was hard to tell whether or not it's from the screaming that emanated from the creature, or from the overwhelming vibrations of the shard. "This is your only warning." she she growled. "On your knees...or I will bury you."

The creature merely tilted its head to the side, a sickening crackling noise ringing out through the otherwise silent battlefield. A melody composed of the snapping of bone and the crumbling of stone.

Korra gritted her teeth. "Have it your way!"

She lashed out, slamming her palms into the broken earth below. There was a rippling along the steel floor, like rain against the surface of a pond, until they converged on the creature, erupting in what can only be described as petals, each one folding and engulfing its target until it's tucked tightly away in a giant metallic rose. A smirk is on Korra's lips, her hands now tightly clasped together, holding the budded creation in place, the edges of its leaves as sharp as blades, each pressed against the creature's neck

Her smiled faded the moment the color of the creature's eyes darkened from putrid yellow to a soulless black. The gaze was wide, unblinking. Inhuman. A single sentence fell from the creature's lips, her voice sounding like the tumbling of boulders down a mountain.

"Kill...you..."

The metal bindings shattered; Korra's arms being flung outward as a result of her bending being blown apart. The creature threw up its own hands, each coated in a faint glow. In a twisted echo of bending, the shattered metal rose reformed itself into a singular spike. One that was launched directly at Korra at a dizzying speed, spiralling around, twisted the air around it. Certain death if met unchallenged.

Daring to take a second to look behind her, Korra saw the Beifongs, still wounded, were very much in the line of fire.

No choice.

With a wordless battle cry, Korra unleashed the Avatar State, eyes glowing a brilliant white. Throwing her fist out, Korra meets the tip of the spear, metalbending to such a ferocious degree that the projectile began to liquidise; seeping and spluttering before her. Though that didn't stop the rotational force from squashing down on her like a waterfall, the earth around her feet breaking apart like leaves in wind. The pressure mounting, Korra continued to press her fist deeper and deeper, until she had torn through it from snout to rear. It's remains scattering in heated puddles all around them.

She was left gasping, glancing down at her bloodied hand. Her whole arm rattling from the prolonged impact. Grasping it tightly to still herself, Korra met the unblinking gaze of her foe. Unmoved. Undaunted.

"What...are you?"

"That's not possible. It can't be her."

For once, Raven's voice was timid, fraught with disbelief .

"Wait, you know this thing!?" Korra practically shouted.

There was another pause from Raven, though it was clear that this was one of grief.

"She...was one of us. A Teen Titan. One of our most trusted allies, and one of our greatest enemies." Raven explained. "I watched her die."

The creature began to descend the stairs. Steel and stone shaking in her very presence.

"Terra."