Hey guys, I'm back with a new chapter. We got some action, and some more back story in this chapter. I don't have much else to say so let's get on with it:
Do you all like stories? I'm guessing you do, considering the fact that you're here. Well I think I can come up with one for you. Should I tell you about the time I first met the Earth Monarch? The time I made Roku sob over a game of Pai Sho? Oh, I know, I'll tell you about the time Korra and I outran a well known and highly feared pirate ship.
"INCOMING!"
Well, outran might be a bit of stretch.
The fireball roared over our heads before splashing down just a little ways off the port side of the bow. A geyser of water erupted into the sky before splashing back down onto the deck. Any crew members standing on the deck ducked out of instinct. I just stood as if nothing had happened, looking back toward the ship that was coming after us.
The Captain of the Silverbird had pointed the bow of the fishing vessel to the northwest and gave her full steam. Problem is, a boat like this only has a top speed of about twelve knots, or fourteen miles per hour for those of you who don't know boats all that well. Our persuier, the Yubari, had a speed of twenty knots. Our boat was meant to fish, the one chasing us was designed to hunt and run down prey. Which was what she was doing right now.
"It's just a warning shot. She means to capture us, not sink us," I told the Captain. The man had a fiery look of defiance in his eyes.
"If it's a chase they want, it's a chase they'll get!" I sighed at his response, but otherwise kept my mouth shut. Did I like pirates? No, of course not. Theft isn't something I usually tolerate. But I'm also not foolish enough to think I could take on something like this and expect a good outcome. I'd heard the stories, and I'd seen the outcomes, none of it was pretty.
Let me give you a bit of a rundown, so you're not completely lost. As I would find out later, the Yubari could have once been classified as a sloop. Three hundred and forty feet long with three separate fire bending powered cannons mounted on turrets. She had originally been designed by the Fire Navy as a possible counter to the big battleships that were being developed. Small, lightly armored, but fast and agile.
At least that had been the plan, until a few years ago when pirates seized control of her and converted her to commerce raiding. It was perfect really. A warship designed to outpace the slow battleships that made up the world's navies these days? Neither the authorities nor the crews of the cargo ships stood a chance.
Which, unfortunately, meant neither did we.
Another shot sprang up from the Yubari, which had drawn much closer now to the point that I could easily see her. As before, the fireball sailed overhead and splashed down just beyond the bow. Water rained down on the deck, but otherwise the boat remained unharmed as it continued on it's course.
"What's going on?" Korra asked as she appeared by my side. She was wearing an olive drab parka, something she must have grabbed on her way up to the deck.
"Look for yourself," I said, motioning back toward the chasing ship. A fire filled Korra's eyes as she regarded the other vessel.
"I'll take care of this," she said, confidence and arrogance in her voice. My hand on her shoulder stopped her.
"How, exactly? Puffing them with wind and hoping they'll go away?" I asked.
"I can use airbending to churn up the sea against them," she replied.
"If you show off your ability to airbend now, everyone will know who you are. And that means when they take this boat they'll take you and hold you for ransom," I said. She gritted her teeth as she looked between myself and the oncoming pirate craft.
"I hate doing nothing," she growled.
"I didn't say do nothing," I said with a smile, "just no airbending." She gave me a look I can't quite describe.
"What are you planning?" she asked. My smile widened into a mischievous grin.
"Something that has long odds and probably a very bad outcome," I answered, "Captain, we need in the hold."
"Out of all the things I've seen in my life, lad, this is by far the most hair brained," the Captain said. We had taken several fish from the hold, gutted them, attached them to lines, and were now dragging them behind the boat. The entire crew and Korra had given me strange looks, but had followed my instructions none the less. It had taken a lot more convincing on my part to reduce the boat's speed to half.
"Your trust in me has gotten you this far, Captain," I replied. The man gave off a grunt, but otherwise remained silent. What were we doing, exactly? The simple answer is fishing. I had done this once, a long long time ago. If things went now like they did then, it was about to get a whole lot more exciting.
The Yubari had settled into a kind of stalking pace. Close enough to where she could easily sink us, yet far enough away that we really couldn't do anything back to them. The reason for this was twofold. First was to create a sense of dread amongst the crew. The longer this chase went, the more frayed their nerves would be, and the less likely they would be to fight back.
Second was a sense of curiosity. They'd seen us hooking up all the fish, and were curious to see what we were up to. For that, I was secretly grateful. The longer they drew this out, the more likely my plan was to work. It was all a race against time now. Sooner or later, the pirates would get tired of toying with us, and there would be nothing stopping them then.
A low moan came from over the sea, and all of the crew's faces went pale. The Captain himself looked like he had never seen the sun a day in his life. Even Korra had a look of fear on her face.
"Please tell me you didn't..." she started, but was interrupted by another moan. I looked out over the stern, trying to pinpoint the origin of the noise. A massive dark shape passed by under the waves.
"Well, I could. But then I would be lying," I replied. The water exploded, and a massive serpent like head rose from the waves. I watched as the thing rose higher and higher into the air, water cascading down it's form. As I drew my sword hilt, the beast looked down upon the boat and regarded us with eyes as red as the rising sun.
A Leviathan had come.
I wasted no time, extending the blade and slicing through the lines holding the bait. Before the rope had even hit the water, the Captain was already screaming orders at his crew. Fire and smoke belched from the smoke stack, and the Silverbird launched forward as the crew pushed her engines to the extreme in order to outrun the sea monster.
We weren't the only ones to react to the sudden appearance of the creature. The Yubari had been forced to suddenly turn sharply to starboard in order to avoid slamming into the Leviathan. Her gun crews, which had been so eager to take us down, wasted no time in opening fire on the serpent. The Leviathan roared to the sky before whipping around and focusing it's attention on the other ship.
Before the creature could do anything, the ship fired a volley and the forces of the blows was enough to roll the beast back into the sea. It didn't last long as the Leviathan reared up again, now much angrier then it had been before. Another volley of fire belched from the guns, the sound of which were like claps of thunder across the open water.
The roar of the Leviathan was defining as it recovered from being hit again. It lowered it's head and unleashed a wave a fire from its maw. However the flames rolled out across the waves, rather then striking the ship itself. The firebenders on board were protecting her from the fire breath. Both of the forward turrets roared to life again, striking the creature in the side of the head and cutting off it's stream of flames.
Twisting and turning like the serpent that it was, the Leviathan rolled it's body and thrashed about in the water. A part of the creature came up from under the ship, smacking the vessel to the side. It did no serious damage to it, but the Yubari was still thrashed about like a child's toy in a bath tub. The Leviathan saw it's chance and unleashed another torrent of flame from it's jaws.
Fire consumed the pirate ship from bow to stern. Someone on board must have been defiant, and vindictive, because the forward turret fired one last time. Rather then strike the Leviathan like it had all the times before, this shot went wide, missing the beast entirely. However it found it's target, in the form of the Silverbird.
The fireball struck the fishing vessel mid ship, causing an explosion and having the whole craft shake rather violently. We were all thrown to the deck from the force of the impact. But in an instant, the Captain was back on his feet, screaming orders at his crew and racing to get the fire contained before it spread out of control.
Behind us, both the Leviathan and the Yubari were shrinking into the distance. After all the hype this ship had gotten, it seemed to be kind of a disappointment that it would be done in by a sea monster. No, there were firebenders on board. They could very easily get those flames under control, and it was clear they had more then enough firepower to either slay or severely wound the creature. We would see the Yubari again, of that I had no doubt.
"Cap, the engines took a bad hit. We can't keep red lining her without running the risk of losing them," a crew member reported to the Captain.
"Put in to the nearest safe harbor for repairs," he ordered. The crew member hurried off to obey the man's orders, leaving him alone with us once more.
"I'm sorry, you two. But it seems we won't be able to deliver you to your destination," he said.
"We'll make due. Keeping your boat afloat is more important at the moment," I answered, waving him off. It's not like it was the first time we'd been forced to jump ship early due to unforeseen complications.
"Nothing is ever simple with you, is it?" Korra asked. I just gave her a smile.
"I would have thought you would have figured that out by now."
The port we put into was called Iola. It was a smaller one in the extreme south of the Fire Nation, large enough for fishing and repairs and that was about it. There was a small garrison of the Fire Navy here as well, so the port was relatively safe from pirates and other unsavory things.
Korra and I gathered our things, said goodbye to the crew, and set off on our own. We had a lot to do, such as finding passage to our destination. But our first priority was finding a place to stay for the night. It was actually fairly easy to find a tavern or an inn to stay at. Given it's location, Iola was the closest thing to a grimy border town the Fire Nation could get. That being said, the amount of bars and dins of vice that were present was unsurprising.
"You'd think there would be at least one place around here that didn't have puke or blood somewhere on the floor," Korra said in frustration after we turned down the fourth place we had tried. The first two were way too nosiy and filled with drunken sailors. I'd had to drag Korra out of one of them after a guy had patted her butt, and she'd tried to take his hand as compensation. The third place had a rather creepy vibe to it, like a place you'd take a prostitute if you planned on strangling her to death and then stuffing her body in a mattress.
"This one wasn't too bad," I said. Korra glared daggers my way, and I grinned to show that I was joking. It had actually been the best one we'd tried out so far. But we'd quickly found out that there was a prostitute assigned to every room. The realization that this tavern doubled as a brothel had been enough for a red faced Korra to storm out and put the place behind her.
Now me? I've slept in the gutter before, more then once actually. All of these places would have been fine for me to lay my head. It was Korra's preferences I was following on this. Keeping her happy was a small price to pay in order to avoid a cold shoulder and broken bones during our next sparring session.
By now we were on the far side of the town, on a ridge overlooking the port in its entirety. It was here that we found a small wooden hut built along the hillside. Several bottles and other trinkets hung from the ceiling of the lean to roof. The sign nailed to the front door identified the place as 'Madame Wan's'. One of the inn keepers and a few people we'd asked directions from had warned us about this place.
'Madame Wan' was the local fortune teller, although some of the people claimed she was a witch. Apparently she dabbled in herb remedies along with giving out people's fortunes. Was she actually worth someone's time? No one had given an answer to that, honestly. If the fact that most of the people were calling her a witch was anything to go by, she was capable of something, although what I couldn't tell you.
"Are you two gonna stand there all day or are you gonna browse around?" came a voice from around the corner. Rather then some only lady with a cane and a crystal ball, a rather young woman wearing Fire Sage robes emerged from the side of the place. Her long black hair hung down to the small of her back. A large gold medallion with a single red ruby in the center hung around her neck.
"Depends, what have you got for sale?" I asked.
"Mmm, remedies, herbs, potions, fortunes, all for a small price traveler," she answered.
"I wouldn't mind having my fortune told, it'll pass the time," Korra said. I fought to roll my eyes, but tossed the young woman a pair of Yuans in order to pay for the fortune. She took the money with a gleam in her eye.
"Please, follow me," she said before turning and leading the way inside the hut. Like the porch, all manner of trinkets and odd bits of junk hung from the ceiling, were on display on shelves, or were nailed to the walls. In the heart of the room was a stone brazier with embers burning in the center of it. Lit sticks of incense surrounded the embers.
"I am called Madame Wan, young travelers. What may I call you?" she asked when she reached the brazer.
"Korra, and Mr. Doom and Gloom here is Ryou," Korra answered.
"Hm, foreigners. Its not often we recieve people from beyond the Fire Nation here in Iola," Wan said.
"The people in town said you were a witch," I stated rather bluntly. Korra gave me a look, but Wan didn't seem to mind.
"Oh fooy. Those simple minded fools wouldn't know a witch if she came up and gave them all boils. I am many things young man, but witch is not one of them," she said.
"So then what are you, exactly?" Korra asked as she looked around at all the trinkets.
"Alchemist, sage, healer, fortune teller. I am whatever the moment requires me to be," Wan answered, being a little too vague for my liking.
"Right, so how do we do this? You read my palm or a throw a bone into the fire or something?" Korra asked.
"Oh no. That's all old fashioned and outdated, particularly for someone such as myself," the woman answered as she raised her hands with her palms facing the ceiling. Instantly the embers grew into a full on flame. She added a few ingredients from unmarked vials containing different colored powders or liquids to the fire before extending her hand toward Korra.
"Your hand, please," she said. Korra hesitantly extended her hand toward the fortune teller. Before she could react, Wan pricked her with a needle, drawing a single drop of blood. Korra yelped, more so in pain then surprise and quickly withdrew her hand. The firebender paid her no mind as she dropped the needle into the fire and began to manipulate it with her hands. After a moment, she dipped her hands into the flames and withdrew a ball of pure fire suspended between them.
"Hm. Interesting. You will be a great deciding factor of the ages. The fate of nations, no whole worlds will hinge upon the choices you make. So great will your deeds be, that by the time you pass on from this world, your story will have become Legend," Wan said. Korra seemed amazed by this, while I was remaining skeptical.
Korra was the Avatar. It was in her job description to decide the fate of nations, so this fortune wasn't much of a shocker. Then again, neither one of us had actually stated that Korra was the Avatar. Even if Wan had guessed that on her name alone, those were still rather long odds. It's not like Korra was the only one to have the name Korra, after all.
"You got all that from a drop of blood?" Korra asked.
"A true master never reveals her secrets," Wan answered with a smirk. I simply folded my arms. It wasn't hard to figure out that she had used a spiritual form of firebending to tap into the life force she had collected from the sample. How she got visions of the future from that, I couldn't tell you. Now even I can claim to know everything.
"You doubt me?" Wan asked, noting my posture as she let the fireball between her hands go out.
"I didn't say that."
"You didn't have to. It's in your body language. Your movements can say more then you ever could with a thousand words," Wan said. I sighed though my nose. The woman was clever, I had to give her that.
"Why don't you let her read your fortune next?" Korra asked. It wasn't that I didn't want my fortune read, it was just that I didn't really care anymore. I'd stumbled almost blindly through life for so long it was all I knew anymore.
"Fine," I said, extending my left hand toward her. Wan reached out with another needle and pricked the tip of my finger. The pain barely even registered as I withdrew my hand to my side. Wan repeated the process, tossing the needle into the fire and then stirring it up with her bending. Before she could withdraw a fireball, however, the flames exploded upward toward the ceiling. Wan fell back in surprise, as did Korra and myself.
As the flames died down to embers, a man was left standing, or rather, floating over them. His arms were folded as he looked down at the fallen form of Wan with a passive look. My eyes almost bugged out of my head in surprise, and I quickly drew my sword. Korra followed my lead, drawing her own weapon in preparation to take on this newcomer.
"You meddle with things you can barely comprehend as usual, Priestess of Laozi," the Observer said. The Spirit was wearing his monk attire again, and other then the fact that he was floating, he didn't really give off the vibe that he was threatening. Powerful, yes, but not threatening. Still, this didn't stop the fortune teller from looking upon him with fear. She had probably never had an actual Spirit appear before her like this.
The Observer turned away from Wan and focused upon Korra and myself. He seemed almost amused as he studied Korra up and down.
"Hello, Raava," he said. Despite her discipline, Korra took a shuttering breath at the name as if someone had just dumped a bucket of ice water on her. Clearly, some part of herself from her past lives knew that name, and knew it well.
"I see you have settled on a form that is more suited to you. Grown tired of being male, have we?" he asked.
"You're confusing her, and wasting time. Why are you here? This is a fortune telling, not a Spirit summoning," I said.
"Oh, but you more then most would know, Wanderer, that I do not answer to the petty calls of man. I go where I choose, and at this moment, I chose to come here," he said.
"Then why are you here?"
"To answer your request for prophecy," he said.
"Laozi is the Spirit of wisdom and prophecy," Wan said as she got back to her feet. She sounded shaken up, but she wasn't about to back down and cower.
"That old fool? He's a washed out philosopher who managed to transcend into the Spirit World. I see things in ways no one else can, and thus my predictions can be far more accurate," he told her before returning his focus to me. His voice grew deeper, and gained an echo as he spoke.
"Heed my words well, Wanderer: the gray of imperial steel will cover the land. You shall be called home, your circle now complete. Until the dawn you shall hold on, but only forty will be left at the end. None will be alive, none will survive Shiroyama." With that, the Observer vanished into a puff of smoke, and the flames of the fire returned to their normal size. The room remained so silent you could hear a pin drop. Finally both Korra and myself sheathed our blades.
"Well, that was getting our money's worth," Korra said, breaking the silence. I couldn't help but snort at that. Madame Wan, however, was looking at us with wide eyes.
"I don't know who you two are, but I have never had a fortune telling like that before," she said.
"Glad to have livened up your day," I said. She ignored my quip and undid the necklace hanging around her neck and handed it to Korra.
"I don't know where you are going. But I wish you luck in your travels. There are followers of Laozi all over the world. Should you find yourself in need, show them this, and they will aid you in anyway they can," she instructed.
"Oh, um, thanks," Korra said as she took the medallion in her hand.
"No, no thank you. That was truly a different experience," Wan said. We said our farewells and stepped back outside. The sun was starting to set, which meant we had to find a place for the night and soon. As we walked, Korra held up the medallion and looked it over.
"Who's Laozi?" she asked after several minutes of walking.
"A philosopher and monk that supposedly ascended to godhood a few thousand years ago," I answered.
"Oh. And the Spirit that showed up back there? Who was that? It seemed like you two knew each other."
"I've encountered him before. That was the Observer. He's one of the oldest Spirits in existence, overseeing the boundary between the Spirit and Mortal realms," I explained.
"So why is he so interested in you?" she asked.
"He finds me interesting."
"What does that mean?" I simply shrugged.
"Five hundred years, and I still don't understand the workings of Spirits," I said. We continued to walk, and I got the sense that Korra's questions weren't done.
"What about Raava? What did he mean when he called me that?" she asked.
"Now that is a name I have not heard before," I said, "what did you feel when he called you that?"
"I felt...recognition. Like something deep down inside me knew it," she said, "What do you think it means?"
"Honestly I don't know. But we'll find out," I answered.
And cut. The vote came back in favor of lemons appearing in this story. Considering how long this has been in the M section that's not much of a surprise. I'll be sure to give a warning at the beginning of the chapter when one gets featured. Now then, as usual, feel free to read, review, let me know what you liked or didn't like, or ask a question or ten, and I'll see you all next time.