Chapter 23 Southern Lights
Korra laughed as Hitomi was crying not wanting her to go.
"Oh honey." Korra said holding her while Sean laughed as he held Junior who was in the same position. "This is a lot harder than I thought it was gonna be." Korra said.
"I can just tell." Sean said taking Hitomi as she cried. "It's ok sweetie I got you." Sean said.
"Mommy will be back in a couple days." Korra said kissing them.
"Remember what I said. Keep an eye on him. Even if Unalaq does know something that doesn't mean he's trustworthy." Sean said.
"I know. I'll be careful I promise." Korra said kissing him. "Mommy will be back soon I promise." Korra said kissing the Twins before she left.
"Don't worry you two. Mommy will be back before you know it." Sean said as Hitomi whimpered. "Shh. Daddy's got ya." Sean said as she suddenly fell asleep making him smile.
Korra soon arrived at the stables seeing her uncle before he approached her.
"Your early." Unalaq said pleased.
"Would have been more early but I had something of a tearful separation with my kids. Not that you actually care." Korra said.
"Korra, I have always had your best interests at heart." Unalaq said.
"Funny. A man who says that after he lied about a law that never even existed to take me away from my family and cruelly said I would never see them again." Korra said.
"Look I..." Unalaq tried to say.
"Just shut up. Your only making it worse. Now what do we need to do?" Korra asked.
"By neglecting the spirits the Southern water tribe have brought darkness upon themselves, and now it threatens to destroy our tribe. We must set things right." Unalaq said.
"So how do we do that?" Korra asked.
"We'll be making a trip to the South Pole. There we will begin to set things right." Unalaq said.
"Hmph." Reznov said setting up his camel.
"Let me guess? You don't approve of this do you?" Korra asked.
"Nope. After the stunt he pulled 14 years ago and when he tried to have Kruger executed when we went looking for David. I'm generally surprised you are willing to work with him." Reznov said.
"Believe me I really don't want to. But if he is right about the South being out of balance with the spirits things will only get worse. And I don't want the Twins caught in the middle." Korra said.
"I can't fault you for that. Still lets keep a close eye on him. We've dealt with people like him in the past. Actions like his always have a secondary objective we aren't aware of." Reznov said.
"I know. I have a feeling he'll go after my kids. Thats why Sean stayed behind incase he tries anything.
Meanwhile
Tenzin and the others on Oogi arrived at the Southern Air temple.
"There it is, The southern Air temple." Tenzin said.
"Haven't been here in a long time. Not since the Hundred year war began. I still feel like Sozin got off easy even in hell." Turok said before they landed before they got off.
"Master Tenzin, Welcome." An acolyte said.
"Good to see you again, Abbot Shung." Tenzin said.
Turok however just walked off before arriving in the room of past Avatars before looking at Aang's statue.
"Hmm. If only Gyatso could have seen all of his accomplishments. Those idiots on the other hand though I feel deserved worse for trying to force Aang to be the Avatar too damn soon." Turok said.
"You can't blame them though." Jinora said making him face her. "After all War tends to make us do things we normally wouldn't do." Jinora said.
"True. But my brothers along with myself and the others minus Sarah for obvious reasons made those rules for a reason. One group that formed shortly after the First Avatar my brother trained found the next Avatar early and tried to force early training which had negative consequences. So the rules were set up that the Avatar would not be revealed until the age of 16. The people had to obey this law...Or suffer a punishment." Turok said.
"So you guys were trying to make sure he or she had a normal life before taking their responsibilities." Jinora said.
"Partially. We believed they deserved that. But also to prepare for their training as well. Korra from what my brother told me was more eager and willing to learn. Now she's without question the strongest to ever be trained since Kyoshi. And she lived for 230 years. And Korra with immortality to be eternal like us will master all her powers." Turok said.
Meanwhile
Korra sighed as she was getting her stuff ready for her trip.
"I still can't believe you agreed to work for this prick." David said.
"I know, I know. Believe me it makes me sick to my stomach working with him. But if he does know whats going on. I don't have a choice." Korra said.
"Theres always a choice but I get where you're coming from. Although to be honest he feels...Shady." David said.
"I know what you mean." Korra said.
"I don't think you do." David said confusing her. "In our time people like him were extremely rare. I don't mean cruel either. I mean...Deceiving and manipulative. He's the kind of person who would reveal someone's mistakes to others if it benefited him." David said.
"How many people like that showed up?" Korra asked.
"Every 500 years or so. Humanity will never be perfect. But the Titans made us good. Theres a reason we can't lead others perfectly like they can. They have nothing to gain by being like Unalaq or Mark and Hiroshi. So they lead us the right way because they do it for the right reasons. Humanity is always gonna have its flaws no matter how advanced our world is. But with the right guidance...All the problems the world faces vanish." David said making her smile.
"Yeah." Korra said before she heard a snowmobile making her look seeing her father approaching them.
Unalaq noticed this and frowned before approaching him.
"Tonraq, what do you want?" Unalaq questioned.
"I heard your taking Korra to the South Pole. I'm coming." Tonraq said.
"Absolutely not! You're a distraction to Korra and a hindrance to what needs to be done." Unalaq said.
"If you think I'm gonna let you take her anywhere after that stunt you pulled your dead wrong! Especially when you sent those four." Tonraq said.
"For the last time I had nothing to do with that! What do I have to do to convince you otherwise?" Unalaq asked.
"Go in a hole and die." Tonraq said shocking him.
"Ouch. So thats where Korra gets her mean bone from." Reznov said to Julia who chuckled.
"Dad take it easy. I'm not a little girl anymore. He couldn't do anything to me even if he tried." Korra said glaring at Unalaq.
"Even after all these years you're still misguided." Unalaq said.
"Thats funny coming from you. You tried to take me from my family by lying about a law that never once existed. Cruelly said I would never see them again." Korra said.
"It's people like your father that have put the spirits out of balance. He's ignored my warnings in the past and hasn't learned since." Unalaq said.
"Neither have you. You intentionally ignored the rules Sean and the others set up for the Avatars that I wasn't to start training until I was 16. Your part of the reason I didn't get the chance to travel the world to learn like the others. Whatever he did in the past..." Korra tried to say.
"It doesn't matter. What matters is the Everstorm." Tonraq said.
"The what?" David asked.
"A massive blizzard that has battered the south pole for decades. I'm coming, unless you think you can stop me." Tonraq challenged his brother who frowned.
"HEY! GUYS! WAIT FOR ME!" Bolin yelled driving to them on a high tech snowmobile.
"What in the hell is that?" David asked.
"Check it out. I'm traveling in style." Bolin said before turning the throttle on before stopping. "Sorry, still getting used to that throttle." Bolin said.
"Where'd you even get that from?" Dawn asked.
"From Varrick. You know the guy Asami went to for future business. He also gave me this fancy snowsuit. It's inflatable with an internal heater, emergency beacon, and foot ration pouch. I mean, if I get lost, I can survive in this thing for like a month." Bolin said.
"I'm pretty sure Sean would call that a waste of resources since we're not going that far." Korra said.
Eska however approached Bolin. Does this Sidecar have capacity for two passengers?" Eska asked.
"Sure does." Bolin said placing a hand on the side passenger seat. "But, uh, who's gonna drive?" Bolin asked.
Later
Bolin had an annoyed look on his face as he drove both Desna and Eska. (HAHAHAHA! What the fuck did he see in her!)
"Well, isn't this amusing. Looks like..." Ichi tried to say.
"Go away, Ghidorah." Bolin said making him burst out laughing.
"And I thought calling San Kevin was amusing." Ni said.
"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" San yelled making them laugh.
Up ahead were Korra and Unalaq.
"So once we get to the South Pole, then what happens?" Korra asked
"You will open an ancient spirit portal." Unalaq said.
"I'm sorry. What now?" Korra asked confused.
"At the South Pole, there is a portal that connects our world to the spirit world. But it has long been closed. And the Titans have not yet opened it" Unalaq said.
"And thats why evil spirits are attacking?" Korra asked.
"There are no evil spirits. There is light and dark in all of them. But when their unbalanced, the darkness takes over. From what history says during the Golden years there never were Dark Spirits when the Titans ruled. If you can open the portal in time, balance will be restored.
"What do you mean in time?" Korra asked.
"Theres a reason the glacier spirits festival ends on the winter solstice. Thats when the spirit world and the physical world are close together. Only the Avatar can open the portal." Unalaq said.
"But thats tomorrow." Korra said.
"Exactly. And we can't afford to wait another year." Unalaq said.
Thats when Naga started growling
"Easy, Naga." Korra said calming her down before looking out seeing what was making her act up.
"What are those?" Bolin asked terrified.
"Dark spirits." Korra said before they vanished.
"Lets keep moving. We have to find a safe place to set up camp." Tonraq said.
Soon enough they set up camp and were around a fire.
"Uncle, why do you think dark spirits are following us?" Korra asked.
"The Spirits are angry because he's here." Unalaq said pointing at his brother making her glare. "Haven't you ever wondered how your father ended up in the South Pole? Why he's never taken you to visit his homeland in the North?" Unalaq questioned.
"Unalaq, this is not the time." Tonraq said.
"You're right. You should have told her a long time ago." Unalaq said.
"Told me what? Dad whats going on? Why did you leave?" Korra asked making him sigh.
"I left the North Pole because I was banished." Tonraq said shocking her and the others.
"You were banished from the North? Why? Because of him" Korra asked looking at her uncle.
"I had nothing to do with his banishment. That was all his doing." Unalaq said.
"Because I almost destroyed the entire tribe. 20 years ago, I was a general in the northern water tribe, Sworn to protect my people. Then one day a group of barbarians attacked the tribe. We fought back and forced them out. We tracked them down to a sacred forest thinking we would never dare to attack on sacred ground. They thought wrong." Tonraq said.
"To me it sounds like you were just doing your duty as a soldier." David said.
"I was. We took them down and captured them but in the process we destroyed the forest. The next night angry spirits came at the tribe. Unalaq was able to calm them down and returned them to the forest. But the damage had been done and my father banished me from the Northern water tribe and I made my way here...Where shortly after I met Korra's mother than we had her." Tonraq said.
"Now do you see? It's people like him..." Unalaq said.
"I can't believe this." Korra said angered.
"Korra, you have to understand I..." Tonraq tried to say.
"Dad, I'm not mad at you. I'm pissed at him." Korra said glaring at Unalaq who looked shocked.
"Me?" Unalaq asked.
"Every time I think you can't get any worse you prove me wrong. You judge him for doing his job? What would you want him to do? Let those murderers go free even though they killed your own people?" Korra asked.
"Thats not what I'm saying. If he had just..." Unalaq tried to say.
"Just what? Been more like you? Find a more enlightened path? There is only so much that can do. And why didn't you go with him?" Korra asked making him frown.
"What are you implying? That I had something to do with it?" Unalaq asked.
" I didn't say that you did. But It wouldn't surprise me. You've proven a dozen times you only care about yourself and your views. You conveniently know how to stop the spirits when they attacked? I don't think so. And one shows up here when you do and it only attacked Sean and Godzilla before coming after me because of my daughter. I think you did that." Korra said.
"That is ridiculous." Unalaq said standing up. "All I have ever wanted was for you to realize your destiny. Nothing more. Your the Avatar and your job..." Unalaq tried to say.
"My job is gonna be over in a decade or less. And I'm fine with that." Korra said shocking him. "The Titans are coming back and Titan City is thriving again. The old ways will soon be put back in place." Korra said.
"They wouldn't be asleep if it wasn't for that so called Husband of yours." Unalaq said making her glare.
"That was an accident. You think he intentionally wanted the Kaiju to come here. To lose Hitomi and hundreds of his friends? No. He learned from his mistake and made amends." Korra said.
"If he wanted to make amends he should have allowed himself to be executed. It would have prevented those spawns of his from being conceived." Unalaq said shocking her.
"ARGH!" Korra roared before creating two water serpents who roared at him making him widen his eyes before they dashed at him making him yell as he was caught by one before getting slammed down hard making him groan in pain.
Korra was about to do more but Desna and Eska got in the way.
"Lets not..." Eska tried to say.
"Move or I'm gonna burn your face off like his." Korra said shocking them.
"Enough." David said stopping them.
"This bickering is pointless with them. He'll never change his views. He's a Kaiju in human flesh. Cruel and vile just like them." Ichi said.
"How can you stand there and tell me you don't believe Kruger should have been killed for his crimes?" Unalaq asked glaring at them.
"Because we never once believed people should be executed for a simple and truthful mistake. He presented himself to us for judgment. We spared him because we knew it was an accident. There have been hundreds of those in the hundred thousand years we led humanity. And a majority of them took responsibility for their actions. You on the other hand will never do such a thing because you think yourself as a perfect being because of your spiritual connection." Ni said.
"Spiritual enlightenment was fine and all but it doesn't make you better than everyone else. Just makes you different." San said making him glare.
"When this is over I never wanna see you again. I don't want you to ever come back to the South or anywhere near my kids." Korra said making him frown.
Later
Everyone was heading to the portal.
"Korra, Are you ok?" Tonraq asked concerned.
"Yeah I'm ok. Just pissed. I knew working with him would be a major league pain. And I knew he would try to turn me against you and Sean. He just makes me so mad." Korra said.
"I know. He's always been that way. Always trying to force people do be like him thinking his way was perfect. It annoyed me and everyone back then. But you can't change your family. No matter how much you want to. But if I'm being honest...I'm glad I left the North. Otherwise I'd never met your mother and had you and you wouldn't have helped Sean and had the Twins." Tonraq said making her smile thinking of her babies.
"Yeah." Korra said before they arrived seeing the spirit portal. "Trees frozen in ice." Korra said.
"It's just like the sacred forest Tonraq destroyed in the north." Unalaq said.
"Just shut up!" Korra said glaring at him. "How do I open this portal?" Korra asked wanting to get this done and go home to her family
"You must find your way to the center where the dormant portal lies. From here, you're on your own." Unalaq said before she glared at him.
"I'll remind you again. When this is over I never want to see you again." Korra said before she rushed inside.
Once inside she went looking for the center.
"Ok. Sean told me in the Avatar State I can do almost anything. So the best way to open this thing is by doing that." Korra said before she found it. "But why was it sealed in the first place? I feel like Unalaq isn't telling me something." Korra said before her eyes glowed as she slammed her palm down.
Thats when the portal opened up before spirits began dancing in the skies.
The Spirits dancing in the skies." Korra said smiling.
"She did it." Tonraq said proud of her.
Meanwhile
Deep underground stood a temple.
Behind the Temple a large blue figure stood before his eyes opened up glowing red before he growled.
"So...Someone wants him free."
Later
Korra and the others finally arrived back at the Southern Water Tribe.
Only to Korra's shock she saw dozens of Norther Water Tribe ships arriving.
"What part of I want you to leave did you not get?" Korra asked annoyed by this.
"Opening the Spirit portal was only the first step in getting the southern water tribe back on its righteous path." Unalaq said making her frown.
"No we're done. And thats final. Get your men and get out." Korra said glaring at him.
"Not yet. There are a few things left before I leave. When that is finished I will...And you'll never see me again." Unalaq said making her growl.
Authors Note: And with that the spirit portal is opened up and things are getting intense. Who was that being that had just awakened I wonder? Find out soon. Anyway Next Chapter is the Civil War. Read, Review, Fav and Follow. REVIEW MY LOYAL FANS! SEE YA!