The Legend of Korra: Skarloey Kail

Chapter 4

The next morning the group disembarks and is immediately met by the chief of the police.

"Welcome home Avatar, thanks for starting a war."

"I didn't start a war!.. Okay I did, but it's a lot more complicated then you are making it seem."

The two women go back and forth, Mako chiming in occasionally before Lin turns to Skarloey. "I hear that the north already has a price on your head kid, you for the price of a Northern Attack Cruiser, try not to cause any more trouble while you are here Mr. Kail," she barks out before turning to leave.

Skarloey spends the rest of the day with Asami, standing by as she and Varrick got their deal done to send tanks to the south. Once the two of them had finished up, Skarloey gave Asami a ride back to her factory on Izera's back.

"This place is huge," he sighs out, looking through the rows and rows of mecha-tanks. "How can two people live in this massive place?"

"It's just one now, actually…"

"What, did you move out?"

"…You really don't have any idea what happened a few months ago do you?"

"I am extremely fuzzy on the subject yes."

"There was a small civil war in Republic City, Equalists were fighting against the police and the united nations, trying to claim that we were oppressing them for their "Disability". My father turned out to be one of them and is now spending life in prison…"

"…You okay?"

"Ya, I'm over it, it's for the best…"

"Losing family is never for the best."

"…I know," She says as tears gather in her eyes and he pulls her into a hug. Izera even pads up behind Asami and rubs her head into Asami's back. "Thanks, guys…It's great to have you back Skar."

Skarloey agrees to stay with Asami while they are in town but insists on staying in a different bedroom. The next day Skarloey hears about the attack on the cultural center and immediately seeks out Korra, however, he can't find her anywhere. He searches the entire day before giving up and heading back out the next morning.

"God I hate this city, way too big…haven't been in an area this populated since I was a little kid and I can't remember how to get around," he sighs out and sulks, still walking down the street. However, moments later he looks up and finds she is right outside the Police HQ, but she climbs right onto Naga's back and storms off.

"Korra!," He yells out, trying to get Izera to catch up to Naga.

"Go away Skarloey!" She yells back, turning back to face him, face littered with tears. She then heads for Varrick's filming studio and Skarloey follows behind her trying to stay discrete.

He watches as she drops off Naga with Bolin and once she walks back out he does the same with Izera and follows her on foot to the docks. He finds her loading a speed boat with basic supplies and then she starts the outboard motor. As the boat begins to pull away Skarloey springs into a sprint and jumps from the end of the dock onto the back of her boat, and Korra turns to face him when she hears his boots hit the deck. He sees her face is still wet and she looks miserable.

"I told you to leave me alone!" She yells hysterically.

"Well I'm not going to so deal with it, where are you going…what happened."

"Why do you care?! I bet Mako told you to keep an eye on me didn't he?! You're on his side!"

Korra then feels her cheek begin to sting and she hears a crack as Skarloey's palm connects with her face and she freezes in shock. "When are you going to get it through your thick skull Korra! We are all on your side!" He yells at her and then calms down, pulling her into a hug, and he feels his coat begin to get slightly dampened by her tears. "In the past few days, Asami has told me about all the times you have lashed out at the group and acted as though everyone you care about is out to get you. You are such an idiot…Mako loved you and you ruined it didn't you? Probably because you are too stubborn to just shut up and admit when you are wrong. Mako didn't tell me anything, I haven't seen him for two days."

"Then how did you know what happened?"

"It's not too hard to guess based on what everyone's told me about you, Korra, we are all on your side, but you shouldn't be doing things behind the world's back. You are the Avatar, start acting like it instead of acting like a child."

"I'm sorry, I will, but I need to see this one thing though, I have to do this, for my father."

"Agreed, I'm coming with you."

"What?" She moves away from him, surprised.

"I told you I won't leave you alone, you showed me kindness and now I will do the same for you."

"Hmm," she hums out and a smile creeps across her lips. "I guess I see what my Mother and Asami see in you after all. You're a really great friend Skar, let's do this."

"Right," he smiles and takes a seat, letting her drive.

On the way, the two of them fall silent, unsure of what to talk about, until Korra finally decides to speak up.

"Hey, Skar."

"Mmm?"

"What is it about Asami that you like?"

"What do you mean?"

"What about her specifically attracts you?"

"Well…Her eyes, she is strong, independent, she listens."

"Mako says I don't listen."

"News flash, you don't."

"I know that I can't help it. I get too angry when things don't go exactly my way. I even kind of bullied Mako into our relationship in the first place. I even sort of pushed Asami and him apart."

"So that's what she meant."

"Ya."

"I guess I shouldn't talk, it was my fault for not being there for her all this time, it is only natural for her to seek someone who would make her happy. And I wouldn't be so hung up on breaking up other couples, we are teenagers, these kinds of things happen."

"So…what would a guy see in me? Say I wasn't the Avatar, just a normal southern water tribe girl?"

"Well…" he pauses looking her over more closely.

"…That bad huh?"

"No, gimme a second. You…Korra…areee…different."

"Wow…what a wonderful compliment…"

"Avatar or not, you are unique, one of a kind. Strong, tall, Naturally beautiful, dependable, I don't really know you that well yet, I can't say I'm into you that way."

"…You really mean that?"

"Yes Korra, you have a charm that no one else does."

"Thank you…" She feels her cheeks begin to heat up.

The two then hear the sound of motors and turn around to find Eska and Desna following them on jet skis. Before either of them can do anything about it their boat is destroyed and they are tossed into the water. Korra, however, begins water bending herself in a cyclone and continues on ahead fighting the twins, leaving Skarloey in the dust. He begins to swim after them and after about a minute he sees the twins retreating back from the direction they had come, without any sign of Korra. He comes to a section of the water covered in sea foam and rippling outward and looks down into the water and sees Korra sinking lower and lower into the ocean. "Korra!" He yells in surprise before taking a deep breath and diving into the water after her. He opens his eyes briefly to see exactly where she is before the cold salty water forces him to shut his eyes again and swim blindly down to her. Once he feels her he takes hold of her and swims her back up to the surface clumsily. He was never a great swimmer but out in the ocean, carrying another person, he was even worse. Once above the surface again he spotted an island off in the distance and began to swim as best he could towards it. Due to the extra weight and cold water, it took him hours to reach the beach, and by the time he did, night had fallen over them. Skarloey felt like he was ready to lie down and die. He was exhausted but he needed to get Korra to safety, he wasn't about to let the Avatar die in his arms. He carried her up the beach, out of range of the tide and set her down in the sand. He checked her pulse and found she was still alive but just barely and sighed in relief, falling back into the sand beside her.

"Oooohkay…food…shelter…I don't think I can handle that right now…"

His eyes begin to creep closed and no matter how hard he tries to fight it off he can't escape the exhaustion. He looks over to Korra, seeing her face leaned over and facing him and he watches her sleep for a minute. She looked so soft, her hair was strewn about, her ponytail had fallen out and he rather liked the way her long hair looked. She really was quite a natural beauty underneath all the yelling and anger. "Skkahhh…" He heard her breath out quietly, her head beginning to turn side to side as if trying to escape a nightmare.

"Korra? You awake?"

"Skar…stop."

"Stop what?"

"Skarloeyyy…stop, please."

Skarloey watched as her facial expression change to that of worry as if she was going to cry. "Don't leave, don't go…not like him."

Skarloey moved over next to her and took hold of her hand, "I'm here Korra…" He noticed as she calmed down and seemed to fall back to deeper sleep. "Why are you dreaming about me?" Skarloey took off his coat and lied it over her, figuring she would need to stay warm more than he would, and soon fell asleep himself beside her in the sand.

The next morning Skarloey felt himself being flung away by a blast of air, and he lands face down in the sand. He shook his head and wiped his eyes out, then looked up and was blinded by the sun. "Hm? Korra? That you?" He asks as his eyes adjust and sees three sages surrounding Korra, on her knees and clearly out of energy. Korra looks to him questioningly when he speaks to her.

One of the sages turns to him and speaks up, "Who are you? What happened to you both? Why can't she remember anything?"

"What? Korra, you can't remember anything?" he asks standing up and starting to walk back to her. Just as he asks this Korra collapses into the sand, "Korra!" He yells as he runs up to her and takes her into his arms. "You're sages, right? Where is your temple? We have to help her."

"This way," one of the sages says and leads the way as Skarloey lifts her up bridal style and follows him. One of the sages noticed his coat in a pile on the beach and grabbed it for him, following them to the temple. Once they had arrived, the head sage instructs Skarloey to leave Korra on their stone table and he does just that, stepping back to let her work. The sage carrying his coat gives it back to him and he shakes it out quickly, "Thanks," he says to her as he slips it back on. "My name is Skarloey, we were headed to meet the Fire Lord when she was attacked by a dark spirit, Korra took a real beating and I swam her to shore, I'm pretty useless in the water."

The head sage confirmed that Korra had been infected by the Dark Spirit, and they all set about getting her into a sort of hammock and lowering her into a pool of healing water. The sages began explaining everything that Korra would be going through down in the pool and began to explain to him the entire legend of the first Avatar, Wan.

"Wait," he starts after they finish telling him the legends. "So what you are telling me is, there is a spirit, living in the Avatar, bonded with their soul, through every reincarnation…Raava? The spirit of light. And the only reason Wan could master all four elements was that she would hold the three elements he wasn't using at any given time? And they would switch elements when he required a different one to use?"

"Put simply, yes."

"He still needed to seek out all the different Lion Turtles to get the elements beforehand though."

"Until Raava and Wan combined their souls, at which time he entered the Avatar state. He could control all four elements in this state but could only sustain it for a minute or so. At the Harmonic Convergence, he and Raava combined again, but this time Wan touched his hand to the southern end of the portal to the spirit world, causing a reaction between himself and Raava, combining their souls forever. After this event, Wan could control all four elements outside the Avatar state, and entering the Avatar state simply made his bending exponentially stronger than normal."

"So…Could any spirit do this for a human?"

"No, only a truly strong spirit and a highly unique individual could bond, and even then it would be nothing close to the Avatar."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Raava and Vaatu were two of a kind, no spirit could hope to match their power. Some people speculate that it would be possible for a spirit and person to merge perfectly but they would, at most, only be able to handle two elements."

"How would someone judge their own power?"

"That is something they'd need to judge for themselves."

"Right…thank you, when she wakes up can you tell her to come to find me?" he asks without waiting for an answer, walking out of the building, needing to gather his thoughts and be alone for a while to think.

"You don't think he would really try it do you?"

"Several have tried in the past ten thousand years, all have failed. I doubt he would be foolish enough to try."

Hours later Korra finally wakes up and the sages pull her back up. "How did I get here?"

"Your friend swam you to shore after the spirit knocked you out."

"Friend?" She thought out loud, only remembering coming alone. However in a few seconds all her memories of the night before flooded back to her, all the things she had said in her sleep on the beach. "Skarloey," she gasped out, "where is he?"

"Don't worry, he is safe, he left the building a while ago, he asked us to tell you to go and find him once you were awake."

Korra looked all over the island before finding Skarloey sitting on the edge of a low cliff over the water, legs hanging over the side.

"Mind if I join you?" Korra asks quietly.

"Nah," he sighs out patting the ground beside him.

They sit in silence, Skarloey waiting for Korra to say something, but since she doesn't he decides to start.

"Korra, I think I know what I want to do with my life now."

"Really? What is it?"

"The sages made me realize that everything is really about you. Everything revolves around the Avatar…and after almost losing you last night I thought…maybe there should be someone devoted to helping the Avatar, someone to share the giant burden. It's a big world Korra…It can't be easy being everyone's bridge."

"And…how would you do that?"

"Learn a second element."

"But that's not-" she starts but is soon cut off by him.

"It can be done, it's a long shot but…it's possible, and I need your help to do it."

"But how?"

"I need you to go to the spirit world and find me a dragon spirit."

"What? Why?"

"If I merge with a powerful spirit, it would be possible for me to contain two elements in my body. However, I would also need to track down a Lion Turtle capable of giving me the element of fire. The sages told me that Aang met a Lion Turtle on Ember Island which taught him Energy Bending."

"Skarloey…I'm glad you have thought this all out but…I've never even been to the Spirit World, nor do I know how to go there."

"I didn't say we need to do it right now when you are ready we can give it a try…I can wait."

"Okay…and thank you, for saving me last night, I'm sorry if I said anything that bothered you."

"No worries, as I said, I think I found my focus, and it's to help you," he says before smiling softly to her. "You need anything and I'll be there."

Korra's cheeks redden and she looks out to the ocean, "Thanks, Skar."

End Chapter 4