A Legend of Korra Fanfic
By Sakura Martinez (aka SMTsukishiro)
Summary:
A promising engineering student. A mysterious woman capable of controlling the four elements. When their paths cross, the resulting collision not only changes their lives and themselves, but the fate of the entire world as well. [Korrasami AU]
Author's Notes:
Yep, late update. Again. Though, this time, it's not entirely my Beta's fault as I have been putting a lot more energy on my YouTube channel these past few weeks (months?) and my Beta was pretty busy to meet the deadline we set for ourselves. Hence, the delay.
If you guys can, please support my YouTube Channel, as well as my page. I am aiming to get, at least, 500 subscribers before the months ends. Check my profile for the links.
Now, the chapter.
Enjoy~
Legend of Korra
The Schism
Chapter 67: The Longest Night, Part 1
"How do you know our names?" Korra's protective instincts kicked up instantaneously and she did it without any subtlety. She moved in front of Asami, feet already at a stance that would enable her to easily make the necessary movements for her bending.
Asami, for her part, had also inserted her hand into her Shock Glove in just as quick and as fluid a movement as the shorter girl, though she didn't turn it on just yet. There was something familiar with the speaker's voice; something that told her she had heard that voice before.
The small, hunched figure hidden by the dim light of the makeshift cabin shuffled forward, making their way to the table of their improvised dining area, disregarding the fact that their guests felt threatened by them as well as ignoring the question asked.
As if not sensing the tension in the room—palpable as it was—the Light Spirit cheerily made its way towards the cabin's owner, bouncing in its steps.
"Spirit, what are you doing?" Korra hissed, eyes darting towards the little spirit and back at the 'threat' before her.
The Light Spirit stopped in its tracks and turned to look at the Avatar. Its eyes were confused and questioning, as though it couldn't see anything wrong with what it was doing.
It cocked its head to the side and asked, "Aren't we going to accept her invitation?"
Korra didn't bother to give a response—Or perhaps, Asami thought, Korra can't think of one with how oblivious the Light Spirit was acting—and only continued to stare incredulously at the spirit accompanying them. The Light Spirit then shrugged and, without waiting another second, began waddling once more towards the dining area where the figure stood hunched and waiting.
Asami looked over at Korra, wondering what they were supposed to do.
The Avatar met her gaze and whispered, "Keep your guard up, Asami," as she resigned herself to follow the Light Spirit's example.
Carefully, they made their way to the table in the dining area where the Light Spirit had perched itself on, humming and bobbing its head to an upbeat tune without care. As they got closer and as the meager light source bathed the room in its weak light, they got a clearer and clearer view of their host who, at that point, had begun pouring the contents of the earthen teapot they were holding onto the teacups they had prepared.
"You…" Korra was just as surprised as she was, as the Avatar blurted out the words and they both realized at the same time why their host sounded familiar. "You are that strange old woman from before!"
Similar as their reactions were, Asami was certain she wouldn't just exclaim something like that right at the old woman's face. She felt embarrassed in her companion's stead and wished she could talk to the Avatar about her impulsiveness in speaking out without any filters.
The old woman, however, didn't look offended. She smirked, placing the teapot down on the table, and said, "And you two are the noisy couple arguing near the Cave of Two Lovers."
"Oh, W-we're not—" Asami wanted to correct the old woman, her face heating up against her will.
But, Korra didn't give her the chance to set things straight with the old woman, once again demanding answers instead of clarifications.
"How do you know who we are?" Korra commanded her questions be answered. "Who are you?"
"Tea, first. Talk, later." The old woman responded, taking a seat herself.
But Korra being Korra crossed her arms and once again spoke without care of the consequence her words would bring.
"And how will we know your 'tea' would not end up poisoning us upon ingestion?"
"Korra!" Asami hissed. 'Appalled' wouldn't even begin to describe how she felt.
"What?" It was made worst by the fact that the Avatar couldn't comprehend what she had done—or said—wrong, something that was made apparent by the mixed-up look Korra gave her upon being called out.
"You—You can't just blurt out something like that!" I mortification, Asami momentarily forgot where they were and the fact that they had an audience. The need to inform and chastise Korra far outweighed anything else in her mind in that instant.
"I do not see what the problem is," Korra admitted, crossing her arms. "Would you rather we drank first and asked questions later when we are already writhing in agony from having been poisoned?"
"Stop saying that!" Asami groaned, stopping herself from running a hand down her face in exasperation.
The Avatar huffed, "You are being extremely difficult." And looked away.
"Me!? I am the one being difficult?" From mortification to annoyance, the Prodigy's mood quickly shifted. "You're the one who needs to learn tact."
Korra was about to say something when they were finally reminded of where they were and who they were with by the laughter that echoed in the hollowed tree. The overly-amused laughter snapped both young, women from their argument—or the beginnings of it, at least—as both Korra and Asami quickly turned their attention back to the suspicious, old (and strange) woman.
"I rest my case," the old woman said, chuckling. She pointed at the both of them and added, "Like I've said, noisy couple." She then pointed towards the two vacant chairs and, in as much of a commanding voice as an old, bent-over woman could be capable of giving, directed them both to, "Sit."
There was something with how the old woman spoke that ultimately left no room for excuses nor debate and both the Avatar and her Chosen quickly found themselves sitting around the table, their cups being accurately poured with tea by a blind, old woman.
Once the tea was poured, the old woman sat down on the remaining, unoccupied chair. An awkward silence filled the air after that. Neither Korra nor Asami knew what to do nor say at the moment as they still tried to figure out what was going on and who the strange, old woman was.
Thankfully, they didn't have to stew on it much longer. For as soon as she had sipped her cup, the old woman began talking.
"I suppose neither of you are going to drink the tea," the old woman asked with raised eyebrows. She smirked and added just before Korra could blurt it out once more, "—out of fear of being poisoned."
Part of her brain wanted to apologize for Korra's tactless way of speaking, but another part held her tongue and kept her from doing so. After all, they knew nothing of the person before them. Old as the woman was, Asami had learned her lesson at trusting to easily, especially with what happened with Mako. Granted, he was a mercenary, but still…
"There is no need to fuss about that, it would be detrimental to everything if I were to harm either of you. And also quite stupid." The old woman barked out a laughter, "I would certainly hear no end of it." Her laughter ebbed and a smirk remained as she added, "Besides, poison is a coward's way. If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't rely on something like that."
The Prodigy knew that was the wrong thing to say to Korra, even when it was—sort of—an assurance that their drinks were not laced with poison. She could almost imagine the Avatar's thought process, and how those words the old woman—who had yet to actually introduce herself—uttered could be taken as a challenge and an admission that she—as frail-looking as she looked—could take both of them out.
True enough, Korra didn't so much as relaxed. Her jaw was set, as though she was trying not to give any kind of rebuttal, though it didn't matter much as Korra ended up whispering under her breath, "I'd like to see you try, human."
The ever-present smirk of the old woman confirmed an inkling Asami had, however: that she knew what her words would do and that she found it amusing to word them as such.
Gods…Spirits…help me. These two are going to give me a headache.
"You don't have to worry about Master Toph," the Spirit suddenly spoke up, after dunking its head on Korra's cup and drinking a bit of its contents. Surprisingly, when its head emerged, it wasn't as wet Asami thought it would be. Amused as Asami was, Korra looked like she was just about close to grabbing the Light Spirit and throwing it away. "She is the Master of the Swamp."
"And," At this, the old woman—Toph—grinned before she added, "The Guardian of the Elemental Core of the Earth."
The expressions on their faces were identical, and it was to be expected. They had come to the Earth Kingdom looking for the Guardian of that Nation's Elemental Core and the Core itself. They had expected it would take them quite a while and would require them to search for the Guardian high and low using whatever resources Opal and her family could provide.
To find the Guardian of the Elemental Core in such a way—while investigating (or trying to, at least) the swamp and learning it was the same strange, old woman they had met before…it was truly an unforeseen, yet welcome development.
"What's wrong?" the old woman—Toph—asked, laughter threatening to spill from her lips. "Cat got your tongues?"
And then she cackled like a madwoman.
It was impossible not to question the validity of her person.
"You're…the Guardian of the Elemental Core of the Earth?" Korra was, obviously, incredulous. And Asami could see why. Strange as the old Fire Lord, Zuko, had been, he at least seemed of stable mind. Toph, however…seemed like she was missing a few screws. "That's—"
Before Korra could continue with what she was going to say—which Asami knew was going to be something tactless, again—she intervened and finished her sentence for her, "—unexpected." She gave Korra a look that had the Avatar huffing and crossing her arms again. "We thought we would have to comb the entire Earth Kingdom looking for you."
"I suppose you would have if you both hadn't come here," Toph acquiesced. "To be honest, I actually thought you'd have me waiting longer. I didn't think you'd come visit the swamp so soon." She paused, linked her fingers together and leaned her elbow on the table before continuing on, "Now, if you didn't come here with the knowledge that this is where you will find me—not that you will find that knowledge anywhere—what reason do you have for coming here?"
"Korra felt the Spirit Realm bleeding into the Human Realm," the Light Spirit was the one to answer. Why it would think it helpful to provide the answer itself when it couldn't be heard by anyone else apart from Korra and Asami, the Prodigy didn't know.
Not until Toph surprised both her and the Avatar when she showed signs of having heard the little spirit speak.
"Hmm…Interesting," the Guardian of the Elemental Core of the Earth hummed. "I didn't think it had become noticeable enough to warrant the interest of the Avatar. Perhaps I have simply lived here for quite a long time to notice. Who knows?"
The old woman shrugged as though it was not a big deal.
Asami didn't know what was a bigger deal at that point, though: the so-called 'Bleeding Effect' or the fact that Toph had heard the Light Spirit speak…without the need of having the spirit perform whatever ritual she had been a part of earlier that night.
Curious still was the way Toph had pronounced Korra's title. It was uttered in such a way that made Asami feel as though there was something hidden underneath, veiled by the word that Korra was supposed to represent. When she looked over at the Avatar, however, Korra didn't seem to catch onto it.
"Would you care to explain why this phenomenon is happening or has happened?" The invitation was, again, more of a demand coming from Korra, who still had her arms crossed. "Or how it is that you can hear the spirit talk?"
"That's easy," Toph didn't miss a beat. "Both are related to one another, after all."
Silence enveloped them as both Korra and Asami waited for Toph to continue with her explanation, when the old woman did not follow through with one and instead went back to humming as she sipped on her tea, Korra was once again prompted to speak.
"And…?"
Toph raised an eyebrow at the question before she responded with and elongated "And," followed by, "Aren't you the Avatar who had come to investigate the goings-on in this swamp? You don't expect me to just hand over all of the answers to you, now, do you?"
"But…didn't you just say you are a Guardian of an Elemental Core?" Asami didn't know why this old woman was being difficult in a much different way than Zuko was. At least with Zuko, he had been forthright with them, even though he had demanded quite a bit.
"My job is to guard the Elemental Core," Toph pointed out. "I was never told I had to hand-hold the Avatar and spoon-feed her information." The Guardian of the Elemental Core of the Earth laughed then, "If you want to learn what has happened here, I suggest you use your head."
"We do not have time for this," Korra growled, slamming her fist on the table's wooden surface.
"Then you best use your noggin' quickly," Toph didn't seem to care just how much she is pushing the Avatar's patience, and Asami found that to be dangerous.
It was a tale of two unmovable forces: one remained calm, the other seethed with indignation. Asami admired the old woman, though, for standing her ground even amidst the expletives—at least, that's what Asami believed the foreign words were—that escaped the Avatar's mouth.
Placing a hand over Korra's bicep, Asami hoped to calm down the extremely frustrated deity-turned-human. It could only do so much, however.
"Very well," Asami chose to, once again, be the voice of reason. "At least tell us where to begin."
"The Swamp," was the immediate answer.
"Not helpful." Korra threw back.
"The Swamp has all the answers," Toph assured them both, and then mystifyingly added, "Even for to the questions you didn't even know you have."
Kai frowned.
Alone, in the room he was to share with the Mover Star and the Fire Nation Prince, the Avatar's Steward was left to his thoughts and the strange, uneasy feeling he didn't know the reason for.
He relished the peace and quiet his lonesome brought, but at the same time was curious as to where the obnoxious prince had gone. Bolin, he knew, was looking around for Opal. Iroh? Who knew…
And, frankly, who cares? He thought to himself as he lay down in his bed, arms acting as a pillow behind his head, staring at the plain, mahogany ceiling.
He was lying to himself, of course. He was curious what the prince was doing. He let his imaginings of the Heir to the Fire Nation Throne snooping around and getting into trouble enter his mind, and can't help but smirk at the thought of him fumbling around for an explanation. Why his brain would conjure such a scenario as Iroh snooping when there was no reason for the prince to actually do so, Kai didn't really know.
Then, again, Iroh had been acting strange, as was Korra.
Again, the creases on his forehead deepened. Had I missed something?
Pushing himself up, he looked around the empty room. He cocked his head to the side. Something felt amiss, it truly did, and it nagged at him and propelled him to stand.
"If that stupid Iroh can go snooping around," he told himself, "then I sure as heck can, too."
With that, the Avatar's Steward trudged out of the room, but not before taking the sword Master Sokka gifted him with him.
They left the hollowed-out tree in a far different mood than when they arrived and with even less of an understanding as to what was going on. Korra was even more disgruntled, especially after Toph had stopped answering any of their questions and had, instead, put all her effort on speaking with the Light Spirit who was far too happy to oblige in a conversation with the old woman. So happy, in fact, that it had chosen to stay behind rather than go with them in their sudden, mandatory investigation. Naga had also opted to stay behind, for reasons Korra couldn't fathom. The Polar Bear Dog simply didn't want to budge when called and just went off to sleep.
"I should wring her neck for her insubordination," Korra growled as she stomped through the swamp, each step splashing mud around much to Asami's annoyance. "How dare a human mock me like that."
"She's an old woman, Korra." Asami had to walk a little bit farther from the Avatar, not wanting to cover herself up with even more swamp muck. She had a lot of that already. "And she does have a point."
"And what point is that exactly?" Korra turned on her. "We came here looking for an explanation to what is happening to this place, true. And she knows what that is. I do not see the reason why she could not just share that information to us."
Asami hummed in response. As she walked past Korra upon seeing dry land and hurrying off towards its direction, the Prodigy added,"Have you considered maybe Toph is testing us? Testing you?"
The Avatar jogged to catch up with her.
"Testing me?" she asked, as though the concept was alien to her. "Why?"
Asami shrugged. There were plenty of reasons to give and she was certain Korra could figure some of those out on her own. Instead, the Avatar's Chosen decided to point out as she tried to clean the mud off of her, instead, "Besides, Toph does have a point. You came here hoping to get to the bottom of this strange occurrence. If you think about it, we are still following through with that earlier plan. Finding the Guardian of an Elemental Core is just an added bonus."
"Besides," Asami added with a smirk, pausing from trying to clean herself up, "I do recall you being all confident about fixing whatever is going on here. Finding out what is wrong shouldn't be a problem for you."
"I really do hate you sometimes," the Avatar retorted as she bended the mud off her clothes and Asami's as well.
Asami merely hummed once more, an "Uh-huh", knowing Korra meant nothing by it. She then added with a smile, "Thank you," motioning at her newly-cleaned state. She knew it was an exercise of futility, they were still going to investigate around the swamp and would, undoubtedly, end up muddied again, but it was still nice to feel clean even if for just a short amount of time.
Korra shrugged, the turned her attention away from Asami and towards the landscape and the daunting task before them, her expression thoughtful. Asami wondered what the Avatar could be thinking about as relegated herself to merely observing her at the moment. She seldom saw Korra with such an intense look of contemplation on her face.
Whatever it was that was going on around the swamp, Korra truly wanted to get to the bottom of it. Though Asami suspected it wasn't no longer just because of her duty as the Avatar.
The contemplative look on the Avatar's face soon dissolved into one of resignation that was soon followed by a sigh. It had the Prodigy wondering what the reason behind it was.
"I suppose I do not have a choice," Korra uttered it more to herself than Asami. "I really would rather not do this at the moment."
Before Asami could ask what it was Korra was referring to, the shorter girl stretched out her hand and closed her eyes for the briefest of moment, mouth moving slightly—almost imperceptivity—before she opened her eyes again.
There was a heartbeat of silence and waiting, before balls of light with varying shades of color appeared around the Avatar, floating around her as it did when the Avatar and her Chosen first met. Unlike that time, however, the colors of the globules of light were slightly muted—a bit paler in contrast to how she remembered them.
Still, it mesmerized Asami.
And confused her even more.
Why was Korra hesitant with using this? It proved useful before and we did end up finding what we were looking for.
The deity-turned-human in question exhaled deeply, before turning to face her companion once more and asking, "Ready?"
Caught off guard by the question, Asami could only nod.
They stood by the window of the make-shift abode, watching as the Avatar and the Avatar's Chosen made their way deeper into the swamp, the Spirits who heeded Korra's call floating around them like sentries—though weakened ones at that.
"You could have just told them what they wanted to know, Master Toph." The Light Spirit said as soon as Korra and Asami were out of their sight, enshrouded by the thick foliage and the darkness of the swamp. Its stubby arms were crossed and it was pouting. "You know we are running out of time. And fast."
"Bah!" Toph turned around, waving the Light Spirit's concerns away. "I meant what I said. We are not here to spoon feed Korra. We are here to prepare her for what's to come."
"You could have chosen something easier."
The old woman laughed at that, "I never do easy. You can ask Aang or my children and they would agree." She unceremoniously sat on a chair, the wood groaned under her sudden weight. Her laughter ebbed and when she spoke next, it was in a much softer, somber tone. "Besides, if Korra couldn't even uncover the secret of this swamp on her own, I'd say we better just give up on this whole charade and let the enemy win."
The Light Spirit sighed. It didn't know whether the Master of the Swamp—no, the Guardian of the Elemental Core of the Earth—even understood where its reservations were coming from. It wasn't that it didn't believe Korra would uncover those secrets. No, it wasn't that at all. The Light Spirit was confident Korra would find the truth behind the mystery. It was what Korra would do with the information, how she would process it—or even if she could understand the gravity of it all—that worried the Light Spirit and made its light shine a little bit duller.
After all, this was the place where it all began.
"You seem a lot more quieter and a lot less jittery than before," Korra couldn't help but notice, even when she was focused at the task at hand: particularly in maintaining her connection with the spirits whom she had asked for help. Not that she had begun to find it difficult to notice the porcelain-skinned, young woman. She had resigned herself to the fact that the exact opposite was far more impossible for her to do. After all, if someone who was blind as Toph was could notice Asami as though she could see her clearly, what hope does she have of doing otherwise?
She shook her head and added, "Is there something the matter?"
"Ah, no." Asami shook her head, her hair—tucked as it already was in a ponytail, swayed with her movements. "I was just captivated by these lights. I remember you making use of them before, when we first met."
Neither of them knew where they were going, only that they were getting farther and farther away from the heart of the swamp and deeper and deeper into who-knew-where. The little balls of light were acting as their guides, their destination unknown as well as the lights that illuminated their path as the fog grew denser and denser, the trees grew older-looking and gnarly, and the entire swamp got even quieter. It was, in all aspects, a much scarier backdrop than before.
"If I knew these would calm you down, I would have summoned them sooner." The Avatar chuckled, which earned her a confused look from the aspiring, young inventor. "We are further in the swamp, and this part of it looks much eerier than before, and yet you are not even panicking about it as much as you were before—Oof!"
Asami smacked her right at the stomach with force that bordered on no longer being playful.
"W-What was that for?" Korra asked as she rubbed the sore spot.
"I was trying not to notice that!" the Prodigy glared. And even though Korra felt like she should be apologetic and emphatic, the darker-skinned, young woman couldn't help the laughter that bubbled up from within her at the look she was being given.
Which, of course, earned her a good shove.
"Sorry! Sorry! I am sorry!" Korra repeatedly asked for forgiveness, even as she kept on chuckling, her hand raised up in surrender. "I was actually just surprised and curious. I thought it was just because the Light Spirit was no longer with us that you felt calm again."
"Well you don't have to laugh about it," Asami crossed her arms, but not before giving Korra another good smack at the arm.
That, of course, only made Korra laugh some more. How Korra could laugh at such a moment was beyond Asami and she just chucked it up to the Avatar simply being the weird and strange person that she was.
"Right, of course," Korra replied with a grin as soon as her laughter died down. "Here," she flicked her fingers and a couple of the little balls of light danced towards Asami, it gave a little show as the lights throbbed in various degrees of luminosity—one touching her cheek and burning brightly—before settling into the color they began with right by her shoulders.
"What are you—?"
Korra didn't let her finish what she was about to ask, and instead barreled right through with an annoyed huff and the words, "I do not really understand how you can still feel that way when I am here with you." Another sigh and a shrugged followed, "But if you say these little critters make you feel better, then you can have those. They don't mind."
"You know that's not what I was saying," Asami argued but accepted the strange balls of light nonetheless. She looked at the floating orbs of light and asked, "What are these things anyway?"
"The Amka. Friendly Spirits." Korra replied as they resumed walking, though this time, Asami noted the Avatar had slowed her pace to match hers and was walking much closer than before. "It is what the people of Nia Bayou know them as. They are not true spirits, though. Not in the sense that the Light Spirit you've been acquainted to are. They are more like..." the Avatar paused for a moment, head tilting slightly in thought as she tried to find the right word. She grasped it a second later, saying, "...like fragments. Remnants. A part of the Spirit Realm brought to life and had found their own consciousness."
"That...that doesn't make sense. How can they suddenly have consciousness if they were just a fragment of the Spirit Realm? I can't find the logic in that." Asami admitted.
Again, Korra chuckled. "Trying to find logic in the Spirit Realm is like attempting to find a Gomesa Crispa seed in a wheat field." When the Avatar noticed the stunned look on her friend's face, she ducked her head and admitted, "Opal may have mentioned things about that flower to me a while back when we came across some in the palace gardens. Though I am not entirely certain why she thought she needed to pass information regarding that to me."
It was Asami's turn, then, to laugh softly. "You're really full of surprises today, aren't you?"
"Well, you have to admit, Miss Sato, I do have my moments."
"That, you do, Avatar Korra. That, you do."
They kept walking, without certainty on how far they had gone or how long their walk has been, though both of them could feel that they were rising in altitude, the ground turning into a steep incline. It took them an effort to keep walking, with Korra ensuring that Asami wouldn't be in danger of slipping, keeping a hand on her back the entire walk through.
Korra's hand was warm, comfortably so. And even though it never once wandered, Asami felt no longer concerned for the cold weather the night (Or is it early morning already? The Prodigy wondered) brought. She stole a glance at the Avatar, wondering—not for the first time that night—if Korra was doing a little bit of her bending to give her warmth. Whether Korra noticed or not, she didn't show. She just kept on walking by Asami's side even though she could have gone ahead and just waited for the young heiress to reach the summit.
"I'm really slowing you down, aren't I?" She ended up saying after she managed to pull herself up a particularly difficult step. Her breathing was beginning to get ragged, and she didn't know how far up they still needed to go as they followed the lights of the Amka.
"Not particularly, no." Korra answered as she looked around. It was a useless gesture, however, as everything was still painted white by the dense fog. Even the tress were becoming harder to see. "I would not be able to move faster even if I wanted to, not while I desire the Amka's help. If you wish, we can take a breather here."
"That won't be necessary," the Avatar's Chosen forced herself to stand straighter. "We don't have much time left before sunrise, I wager."
"Don't be so quick to bet on that," Korra moved a few steps forward, still looking around as though she could actually find something in the fog. "I can feel the Spirit Realm in a much stronger force here than back at that old woman's house. We're getting close to where the bleeding effect is coming from."
"What does that have to do with time?" Asami couldn't figure it out.
The Avatar walked back to where Asami was standing, took her hand in hers, and disregarding the question being thrown her way anew ("Korra, what are you—? Where are we going?"), dragged the human into the opposite direction of where she had been before, before answering the Prodigy's earlier query.
"Time does run normally in the Spirit Realm," Korra explained, though Asami, at that point, was more curious why Korra had dragged her there. She was perfectly alright where she had been standing before. "An hour there may be nothing more than a second at the Human Realm. Or vice-versa. It all depends on where you are at the Spirit Realm. Since that realm is bleeding into this one, time is displaced here as well. The closer we get to the origin point, the more disjointed the flow of time will be." The Avatar scrunched up her nose then and added, "I suppose that is the reason why that old woman decided to do this, even when she knew we were pressed for time."
There was more, it seemed, Korra wanted to say, yet she didn't. Shaking her head, as though to clear whatever that may be away, she cut her explanation short with, "In any case, dawn should still be hours away."
And though Asami tried—she really did—hard not to be a suspicious person, what Korra did was so blatantly obvious that she couldn't help but call her out on it.
"You're hiding something. Again." She squinted at the Avatar.
"W-What?" That, certainly, caught Korra off-guard. "I-I am not—"
"Don't lie to me, Korra." the way Asami said those words made the Avatar pause and look intently at her. "You've been saying these strange things, and clamming up when asked. You can't tell me you're not."
It was difficult to look at Asami with that sad expression on her face, a look of hurt in her eyes—one that she seemed to be trying so hard to hide—and not give in. Korra remembered their promise, after all.
Korra sighed, looked at the Amka floating around them, and said, "It is not that I want to hide things from you, Asami. It is just, I am trying to process them myself. I do not want to give you any unnecessary burdens by saying things that may not mean anything in the end." She gestured at the Amka and added, "For instance, I did not wish to ask for their help because of what the Light Spirit mentioned before...about the strangeness of this place. If it was feeling the effects of the rift negatively, then so too must the other spirits, even the Amka. Summoning them could be dangerous, not just for their well-being, but our own."
"That wasn't what you were thinking about just now, though." And again Korra wondered why Asami was making it so hard on her.
She pushed that thought away, however, as she gestured at her left leg, the one that was injured a while ago due to the Dark Spirits latching onto her. "I was just wondering why my leg had yet to hurt, ever since we arrived in the Earth Kingdom. I was pondering if the reason behind that is this rift as well. If the bleeding effect is resonating with my body as the bridge between the Human and Spirit Realms."
"Is that all?" Asami asked after a while.
Korra's fingers twitched. The impulse to touch her shoulder where the Mark of Fire was, was strong, but she bit it down knowing it would only make Asami even more suspicious and would endanger the secret she was keeping; the secret she was not yet prepared to share to her—not knowing the words to say.
In the end, the Avatar decided on a compromise. For herself, and for Asami.
"No, there is one other thing, but..." She let the words hang for a moment, before giving Asami a sad and apologetic look. "This is not the place to discuss it, nor the time...though it may seem like we have all the time in the world right now. I am sorry, Asami, there are just some things I cannot share with you. Not just yet."
She hoped Asami would understand as she looked into her eyes and saw a myriad of emotions dancing in them. A moment later, it was the young Sato heiress' turn to sigh.
"Alright, I understand. I'll wait. I'll be patient." Asami said. And in a surprising move—to Korra, at least—the other girl, once again, suddenly hugged her, burying her face on the crook of the Avatar's neck. Muffled as her voice was when she spoke the next words, Korra understood what she was saying. "I'm sorry. I know I'm being pushy...I just...please don't keep hiding things from me. We're supposed to be in this together, right? How can we if you keep shouldering all the burden by yourself? If you keep things to yourself? Don't you believe that I could be of help?"
"You know that is not the case, I—" Again, Korra halted in her speech, but this time, it wasn't because of the realization that she was about to say something she shouldn't. Rather, it was due to something entirely different.
"Korra, are you okay?" were the only words Asami managed to utter before she found Korra shushing her. She glared at the Avatar, of course, but Korra paid her no mind.
"I saw someone," was all Korra could say as she drew Asami and herself closer to the tree near them, hiding from where she had seen the silhouette of a person.
Alarmed, Asami peeked towards the direction Korra was looking at. She couldn't see anything, apart from the fog and the glowing orbs that were the Amka. "I don't see anyone."
But Korra wasn't listening any longer. She was confident of what she saw and it didn't look like the old woman, Toph. And whomever it was was heading towards the direction where the Amka were leading them.
The Avatar wished she still had Vayu's Gift of Eyesight, she could then see farther than she could now—despite her eyesight being much better than ordinary humans, it still wasn't enough. She wanted to know if it would be safe to follow, or if they were truly heading in the right direction despite her senses telling her that was the case.
Korra looked at Asami, who was looking intensely at the direction she had been as well. She wanted to tell the other girl to just stay put while she checked it out, but could already imagine how Asami was going to react to that.
With a groan that was close to sounding like the word "Distraction", Korra tugged at Asami's sleeve to get her attention.
"Get your Shock Glove ready," she instructed the human. "Just in case."
The Avatar's Chosen did as she was told. As soon as she had it safely strapped and ready, the pair moved as quietly as they could, following the trail of Amka. It was difficult to do as the fog seemed to have grown thicker still.
After a while, when whomever it was Korra had seen didn't show themselves once more, the duo stopped trying to sneakily make their way and Asami stopped the flow of electricity from her Shock Gloves.
"Did we lose them?" Asami asked, dejected but at the same time relieved knowing that fighting at such a place would be extremely difficult to do.
"Impossible," Korra was positive, even though she didn't have the evidence to back up her claim. "We did not give whomever it was much of a head start." She walked further in the direction they were going, the Amka dispersing as she disturbed the place where they were floating around in. The Avatar looked around, forcing her eyesight to see better but not getting the result she desired. "They could not have gotten away. I know they are just around here somewhe—"
The young inventor blinked. Not only did Korra abruptly ended her sentence (again) but, even more importantly, the Avatar had suddenly disappeared and with her were the Amka, leaving only a handful of them—those she had given off to Asami—behind with the Chosen, herself.
Post-Chapter Notes:
Alright, so...massive cliff-hanger that I am not entirely sorry for but I guess you guys might feel incredibly annoyed by...so, I'm sorry? Also, fun fact: the word Amka is actually an Inuit name that means "One with a Friendly Spirit", and they will play an incredibly important role (or roles) in the future chapters of this story.
Another fun fact is the Gomesa Crispa flower/orchid I mentioned in this chapter. For those who don't know, that orchid has the smallest seed known to man-kind. Which, I figured, worked perfectly with what I was trying to say. XD
Again, thank you all for reading and I do look forward to knowing what you guys think about this new chapter.
Next chapter (hopefully, if my Beta can send it to me soon) will be up on Friday, at the soonest.
Until the next chapter, dream on; fly on!