Book Four

Chapter 1: The Drifting Spring

The ship bobbed idly in the waves as they travelled. They were on the open seas now, far from the coastline. They wanted to act the part of travelers from the United Republic, so they had to approach the port from a very wide angle. It would cost them some travel time, but they needed to have a steady alibi.

Sen was idly toying with his new airbending talents, blowing around playing cards and small bits of scrap that were lying around the ships hold. A sense of finality was starting to sink in. He was close to mastering airbending, and that made three of the four elements were behind him. It wouldn't be long now before he was a fully realized Avatar. That would change things.

He sighed and continued toying with the playing cards. That was still a ways away. It would be better to focus on learning waterbending than to worry about the future. Sen still wasn't sure where he would go to find a master.

Ada had suggested seeking out the Shorewatchers first. They were master waterbenders and enemies of the Energybender, so it would be fairly easy to find a teacher for Sen among them. After being told about their violent methods, Sen had been very reluctant to follow through on that. If possible, he would prefer a teacher more in line with his own ideals. There would be no shortage of waterbenders in the North, after all. They had plenty of options.

Gun huffed slightly as Sen's airbending disturbed his rest. Gun had been on boats before, but he never really got used to it. He spent most of his time napping or grumbling about not being able to tunnel. Sen gave him a quick scratch behind the ears and moved away, back up to the ship's deck.

The top deck of the ship was not much livelier. Whistler was leaning on the railings near the prow of the vessel, watching the horizon roll in. Ada was almost always occupied captaining the ship, and Suda was left to sit around and toy with spare metal bits on the ship. He had disassembled and reassembled a small section of railing a few hundred times now. Sen sat down next to Suda and tried to spark up a conversation.

"So, what do you think you're going to do while I'm training?"

"Find a very large, fluffy coat, and stay warm," Suda said. The cold chill of the north had finally sunk in, and he was not happy about it. Suda and Ada were both getting the worst of the cold temperatures. Whistler and Sen both knew how to regulate their body temperatures, but the others were not so lucky.

"I'm starting to wonder if we shouldn't have headed for the Foggy Swamp," Sen declared.

"It's not too late to change course," Suda suggested.

"Yes it is," Whistler snapped. "There's land right there."

Suda was the first to join her at the prow of the ship. Sen followed behind, slightly more slowly. There did seem to be something on the horizon. It was too small to be the North Pole, but too large to be any conventional ship. Sen walked into the cabin with Ada.

Their temporary captain was looking at a nautical chart with some confusion. Unless she had committed a massive error while charting their progress, they were still a few hundred miles from any landmass. Sen took a brief look at the nautical map, and then glared at the horizon.

"So, we have an island where there shouldn't be an island," Sen said aloud.

"I think the more plausible explanation is that I steered us wrong," Ada said.

"Ada, think about who I am for a minute."

There was a brief pause.

"Okay, yes, it's very likely that there's a mystery island out there," Ada admitted. Anything was possible when the Avatar was around.

"Should we investigate?"

"I don't know," Ada said. "Given how our luck runs, it's quite likely that something on that island will try to hurt us."

"Very good point, Captain Ada," Sen quipped. "I say we get close enough to examine it with the binoculars and make our appraisal."

Ada nodded. Sen grabbed the binoculars and proceeded to the front of the ship. The strange landmass was getting closer now, but it had not taken shape just yet. Sen raised the binoculars to his eyes and scanned the horizon.

It took quite some time for the mystery island to come into focus, but as it did so, it became apparent that it was no island at all. Though there was soil and even growing plants, it was all held above the water level by wooden struts and an elaborate system of floating platforms. Sen examined it further. Four wooden towers rose in the center of the structure. It was clearly manmade, but Sen saw no one aboard. At least not from this angle.

"Keep an eye on it," Sen ordered, handing the binoculars over to Suda. The Avatar walked back to the cabin to talk to Ada.

"Definitely a manmade structure," He explained. "No sign of anyone aboard, but we're at a bad angle."

"I can't imagine they're hiding from us," Ada said. "If it's obviously manmade they'd be foolish to try and use it for ambushes."

"I don't think it's meant for any kind of combat or pursuit," Sen said. "I didn't see any sails or engines. Even a waterbender would have a hard time getting that thing moving."

Their line of thought was interrupted as Suda called for attention.

"Hey Sen! There are people on that thing!"

Sen peered out the window. The floating island was still far in the distance, but a group of people had clearly gathered around its edge. Suda examined them more closely with his binoculars.

"Uh, they're signaling with some flags or something," He said.

"Do they have black triangles on them," Ada asked. Suda took another look.

"Yep."

"Nautical code flags," Ada said. "I don't know the exact codes myself, but they're definitely trying to communicate something."

Sen Sat down on a chair and rested his chin in his hands. Eventually he gave a resigned sigh.

"I won't be surprised if I regret this," Sen said. "But I think we should check it out."

Ada began to steer the ship closer and closer to the strange man-made island. Sen journeyed out to the railing of the ship to keep a close eye on the situation. The persons waiting on the edge of the floating island made no sudden moves as they approached. Sen liked to assume it was because they were peaceful, but he remained on guard.

Soon enough the Avatar's ship and the floating island were side by side. The man looking up at them was dressed like a monk, right down to the shaved head. All of his companions were dressed similarly. A few of the monks had bandaged limbs and faces. There was a moment of silence as the two groups appraised one another. Sen decided to take the initiative.

"I'm sorry, we couldn't read your flag signals. I hope we aren't imposing."

"Not at all," The lead monk said. "We were actually asking for assistance, if it's not too much trouble."

Sen nodded. That was good. Unless it was bait, in which case it was bad. He decided to keep up the conversation.

"We're not very well equipped," Sen said. "I'm afraid we might not be much help."

"We don't need much," The monk replied. "There was a bad storm recently, and some of our own were injured. We need bandages and medicine, mostly. We are willing to trade, of course."

Sen looked around at his allies. Whistler and Suda both nodded. They had a decent amount of medical supplies to spare, and there was little chance of them being injured until they reached the North Pole. Suda waved at Ada to stop the ship and come to the deck. She was their resident medical expert, at any rate. Ada retrieved their supplies, left her swords behind, and came out.

As Sen agreed to help, the monks waved their hands gently, raising up a ramp of ocean water and freezing it into a solid staircase of ice. Ada proceeded cautiously down the newly formed stairway, followed closely after by Whistler. Sen stayed behind to give one last order to Suda.

"Don't leave the ship unattended. We can handle ourselves if things go wrong."

"Got it. I'll keep an eye on things."

With that said, Sen proceeded down the icy staircase. The monk who had greeted them before directed them towards the heart of the vessel, closer to the 4 wooden towers at the center of the floating island.

"We greatly appreciate your assistance," He said. "We try to be self-sufficient, but in desperate times it's comforting to know we can count on human kindness."

"It's just good we happened to cross paths," Sen said. "That said…"

"You're wondering about the floating island," The monk said with a laugh. "Yes, it is a matter of some curiosity."

"If you don't mind explaining," Sen said.

"We should tend to our own first," The monk began. "But I will answer all your questions as soon as I can."

"Can I at least get your name?"

"Of course. My name is Hua Kai."

Hua Kai led them across a wooden walkway that connected two of the floating platforms that made up the islands superstructure. The further they went into the structure, the less Whistler liked it. Even for a floating island, this place seemed empty. There were too few people. With so much space, there should have been at least twice as many people wandering the island. They had lost people recently.

The group soon found its way to the center of medical care on the floating island. A large number of cots had been set up to house patients. It had been many years since some of these people had seen outsiders, but nobody shied away as Ada unpacked bandages and went to work mending their injuries. No sooner had she done so than Hua Kai turned to his new guests.

"With that aside, allow me to give you a proper welcome to the Drifting Spring."

He ushered them a few steps away from the wounded monks and gestured towards the full breadth of their vessel. There was a wide variety of different platforms; some had houses, others had open field for growing crops. Though the ship was intact, there were scars on the platforms and several of the structures that told Sen that something disastrous had occurred recently.

"Ours is a community meant to be separate from the world," Hua Kai continued. "Of course, you being here proves that completely separating is both impossible and foolhardy."

Sen felt like Hua Kai was making a joke, but it didn't make him laugh.

"We have come very close, though. Our self-sustaining system of crops and materials mean we must only make landfall to replenish our supplies once every three years."

"That's pretty efficient," Sen admitted. He had no idea how the mathematics of that worked and nothing to compare it to, of course. He was just saying it to be polite. "But I have to ask why? Is it for spiritual purposes?"

"Our community has a unique viewpoint," Hua Kai explained. "We don't believe that men were meant to lord over other men. We wanted a life where all were equal, and worked for mutual good. This dream was proven…unfeasible on the mainland, so we moved it to the ocean."

The ship swayed slightly. Sen adjusted his glasses and looked around. Everyone was very similar in dress and build here. Nobody was ostentatious or over-fed. If it was an experiment in equality, it had succeeded.

Ada looked up from her chosen patient. She beckoned to Whistler quickly.

"Whistler, could you give me a hand here for a moment?"

Whistler shrugged. She was trying to be a little more helpful nowadays. It wouldn't hurt her to hold a bandage in place just one time. A little teamwork went a long way sometimes. She walked over to Ada and listened to what she had to say.

"Just hold this right here and…Oh, I left that over there."

Whistler stood in place as Ada leaned in close, trying to grab something on a nearby table. She got closer, until she was practically resting her chin on Whistler's shoulder, and whispered into her ear.

"These cuts are from weapons. Tell Sen."

Then, acting like nothing had ever happened, Ada grabbed her medical supplies and went back to work, cordially thanking Whistler for her help. Whistler glanced down at the dozens of injured monks. They'd claimed they'd been injured in a storm, but Ada knew that cuts like those could only come from bladed weapons. Whistler wandered back to Sen. Hua Kai was elaborating on how they sustained the Drifting Spring's floating farmland.

Whistler tapped her elbow into Sen's side and held up her hand, shaking it slightly. To most people that would mean nothing, but Whistler's shaking hands were practically synonymous with danger at this point. There was no way Sen wouldn't get the message.

"Can I help you," Hua Kai asked, in response to Whistler's strange gesturing.

"She's just wondering about our own supplies," Sen said without skipping a beat. "There are more of you than we expected, we're wondering if we have enough to go around."

Whistler nodded. She was an old pro at lying, but she was surprised that Sen was taking to it so naturally. She'd been rubbing off on him, apparently.

"If you're that concerned," Sen said. "Why don't you go back to the ship, take a good look around, and then get back to me with what you find."

Sen did everything but wink. Whistler got the picture. Scout out the Drifting Spring, find what (if anything) was suspicious, and report back. Just because the monks were lying about the source of their injuries didn't mean they were a threat. Sen wanted more information.

Whistler casually strolled away from the makeshift hospital. Most of the monks were caught up in caring for their injured, so the rest of the Drifting Spring was sparsely populated. Whistler didn't have a hard time sneaking around, even on the cramped confines of the ship. Years spent as a pickpocket in the Copper Slums had honed her ability to sneak through small, crowded spaces.

She already had a solid hunch on where to start looking. The four wooden watchtowers at the center of the Drifting Spring stood out like a sore thumb. Everything else was very small and fairly new, but the four towers looked like they had been weathered by age. Whistler cautiously snuck that direction.

Her suspicions were confirmed when she reached the center of the floating island and found out that the structure with the four towers had been walled off. There were a few monks at the only entrance, trying to act casual, but the way they watched the surroundings made it clear they were guarding the entrance. Whistler strolled past. Walls and guards always meant something interesting.

Whistler walked to the opposite side of the walled structure and vaulted over the walls, assisting her leaps with careful bursts of air. She paused briefly at the top of the wall to examine the structure from above.

Getting her hands on the wood only made it more obvious that it was an old structure. The wood was partially rotted and encrusted in thick layers of dried salt and other things besides. This structure had been on the ocean for a very long time. Whistler crept to the edge of the wall and observed the area below.

The courtyard below seemed to be empty of any monk, so Whistler relaxed slightly. There was a second structure in the center of the towers and walls; a few makeshift walls and cloth coverings. A handful candles and offerings around the tent marked it as a place of worship or spiritual importance. Whistler wondered for a moment if she wasn't just infiltrating an ordinary shrine, but she had to be certain. She jumped down onto the floor.

Her landing was slightly off put by a strange breach in the wood. She stumbled slightly as her foot slipped on a cracked and broken section of wood. She stepped back quickly as the wood creaked. Luckily the sounds of the ocean beneath disguised her misstep, and no guards came looking. Whistler examined the broken section she had landed on. The splinters had long since been worn out of the crack. This damage was old, but had gone unrepaired for some reason. Whistler clenched her jaw and moved forward.

The tent structure at the center demanded her attention. Whistler carefully tip-toed around the cloth walls and towards the entrance. She pushed aside the curtain flap and quickly replaced it. There was very little light inside the tent, and it took Whistler's eyes a moment to acclimate to the darkness. She felt her way around for a moment as she did so.

The first thing to reach her fingertips was a beam of rotten wood, just as old and worn as the rest of the structure. Whistler focused, and shifted her hands to the left slightly. The wooden beam came to a sudden halt at a sharp angle. Cut, perhaps, a long time ago.

Her eyes adjusted to the darkness, and Whistler took a closer look at the wooden beam. It was one of several; a thick wooden grate meant to cover something. It had been cut to pieces, though. A large chunk of the wooden wall was missing. The cut portion was odd and interesting: it had been separated at a sharp angle, by some kind of blade, but it had also been burned. The wood was blackened by fire and heat. Whistler wondered if it had been burned, and then cut, or if somehow both had happened at the same time.

Whistler stepped into the core of the strange structure, past the cut and burned walls. There did seem to be a shrine here at the center of everything, but Whistler could not see what it was built around. She felt around the shrine and found a few matches to light the candles. She lit one and took a look at the banner hanging on the back wall. She stared at it for a moment before ripping the banner off the wall.

Sen was still caught in conversation with Hua Kai when the sounds of violence reached his ear. He and Hua Kai both marched out to look for the source of the sudden conflict. Hua Kai seemed particularly worried for some reason. The wounded monks shared his concern. They knew in the back of their minds that they might have been found out.

One monk toppled around the corner, pushed out by a surging blast of air. Whistler followed close after him, wielding her staff in one hand and carrying a black banner in the other.

"What have you-"

Hua Kai was about to shout in outrage, but then his eyes fell upon the black banner Whistler carried. Sen felt the monks blood run cold. Ada stood up to watch the airbender's sudden arrival. Whistler held up her hand, and the banner unfurled, displaying its emblem to all. A red sun at the center, surrounded by three intricately patterned circles of flower petals.

"They're Red Lotus," Whistler declared. "This whole place is built around Ghazan's old prison!"

Ada spun and swung her fist before Hua Kai had a chance to do anything. She hit him with a punch to the gut, doubling him over in pain. A few of the other Red Lotus monks sprang into action, but Whistler was already prepared. She swept them all aside with a single wave of her staff. They were already wounded, and they put up little fight. Most of the monks actively retreated from conflict. Sen and his friends, despite being ready for a fight, found none. Hua Kai and his fellow monks surrendered almost immediately.

"Please," Hua Kai gasped. "Please, no more. We've lost too much already."

Hua Kai stayed on his knees, partially out of pain, and partially to beg. Sen felt an unnatural anger rising in him. The Red Lotus had been responsible for some of the most devastating events of Korra's life. Her anger bled over into him across the ages, and he found himself feeling inclined to ignore Hua Kai's pleas. He restrained himself, however. There were questions that needed to be answered.

"How are you here," Sen asked. "Korra wiped out the Red Lotus decades ago."

"She did," Hua Kai said. "We are not connected in to Zaheer or the others."

Sen relaxed slightly. Ada did not. Even if they weren't directly connected to the old Red Lotus, they were still inspired by them. That made them a threat.

"You cannot kill an ideal," Hua Kai explained. "We believed in a world without leaders, so we made our own. We carried on the ideals of the old Red Lotus, and we took up their banner."

"For your sake," Sen said. "I hope that's the only way you've followed in their footsteps."

Hua Kai hesitated. Sen was about to question the Red Lotus acolyte further, but he was interrupted by a sudden swelling of the water, and a violently rising tide.

"The Blade Ship!"

The water split in a violent crash as a massive sword-shaped vessel emerged from beneath the tides. As the breaching vessel came to rest on the surface, it surged forward suddenly, stabbing at the heart of the Drifting Spring. The massive ship's sharp prow crashed into the wooden hull of the Red Lotus haven, shattering the support struts and sending splinters flying through the air.

The submarine finished its impact, and several hatches on the top and sides opened up. Speedboats were deployed from the sides of the vessel to patrol the waters and make sure none escaped the island, while soldiers began to pour outwards from the open pits on the top, brandishing spears against the wounded monks of the Red Lotus. The new arrivals were quick and violent in their work, wielding spears and icy blades against their chosen targets with brutal efficiency.

Hua Kai fled, and one of the spear-wielding warriors chased after him. One of the soldiers took a long look at Sen, and then passed him by. Sen decided that now would be a good time to sit down. He kept his head down and let the soldiers march around him. His friends followed suit.

"Shorewatchers," Ada said. "Probably the source of their injuries in the first place."

Sen grit his teeth. He knew very little of the Shorewatchers, other than that he did not approve of their violent ways. What he was seeing now was not changing his mind in the slightest.

The Shorewatchers went about their work as they usually did. Sen and his friends were, for the most part, ignored, though the Shorewatchers were naturally suspicious. After a short time, Suda was led to join the rest of them at the point of a spear. Sen overheard one of the Shorewatchers mumble something about a badgermole to one of the others. Sen was getting a lot of strange looks after that.

Eventually, the hunt came to an end. The Huntswoman in charge of this operation meticulously cleaned her spear and turned her attention to their guests.

"You have found yourself in unfortunate company," She declared.

"It's a coincidence, I assure you."

"I did not give you permission to speak yet," The Huntswoman declared. "I will take your explanations now."

"Please excuse us, we're not from around here," Ada said. The Huntswoman frowned.

"Well, pardon me," She said apologetically. "I see you're unaware with how we operate. This does not, however, explain your presence here."

"We're travelers," Sen said. "The ones who live- lived here, flagged us down, and asked for aid. We didn't know they were Red Lotus. Until just recently, that is."

"I totally trashed a few of their guys, just so you know," Whistler said. She was a former criminal herself, so she was eager to endear herself to the violent crimefighters pointing spears at her.

"If you need documentation, we have it available on our vessel," Ada suggested. The passports and IDs were all technically fake, but they were such good forgeries that even a Shorewatcher wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

"I will be having a look at that before we leave," The Huntswoman said. "All the same, you'll be accompanying us back to port."

"That's not necessary, I'm sure everything will check out-"

"Your documentation is irrelevant," The Huntswoman declared. "Your vessel, along with everything and everyone on it are presumed to be connected to the Red Lotus until we declare it otherwise. You will accompany us to our headquarters and await our judgment."

Ada sighed. The Shorewatchers were certainly thorough in their work. A few of the Shorewatchers gestured with their spears, and Sen and his friends got to their feet and proceeded back towards their ship.

"A word of warning," The Huntswoman said. "The Blade Ship is the fastest vessel in existence. You try to go off course, and we will chase you down."

"That will not be a problem, ma'am," Sen assured her. The mighty steel hull of the Blade Ship cut an imposing figure; Sen did not doubt that it could hunt them down with ease.

The Huntswoman turned to what was left of the Drifting Spring. Her Hunters were rooting out the last of the Red Lotus rebels. She looked at the sun in the sky, and decided that the hunt was taking too long.

"We need to be back in time for the full moon. Sink the vessel," she declared. "Let the waves have them."

The Shorewatchers complied, shattering the tethers that held the Drifting Spring together, sinking the successors of the Red Lotus beneath the waves. As their vessel was towed to the North by the mighty Blade Ship, Sen watched the floating island sink, condemning the Red Lotus to the darkest depths. Sen had to wonder; if the Red Lotus could come back, even briefly, what else might return?

Sen ignored the foreboding thoughts of the past and turned his eyes to the Blade Ship that cut through the waves. He was in the company of Shorewatchers now. That would be interesting.