AN:

This chapter is where I bring in the violence of this fanfic and start rolling into the plot. You have been warned. While yes this is a romance story, it is also horror. Song for chapter title is Eat the Children by Otep.


"That's not a good idea!" Mako stands from his spot and swivels to the two locked in conversation. It wasn't his pal to reveal himself but this idea of theirs was preposterous. He wasn't going to let Korra embark on a practical suicide mission - with Tarlokk no less! And if that meant stepping out of line to convince her otherwise, so be it. "Korra, you can't possibly be considering this?"

"I should have expected as much." Tarlokk glares up at Mako with a vague expression of expectation. When the fire bender approaches him, Tarlokk can't help but wonder if they boy came here out of concern for Korra or if they both planned him to eavesdrop. Probably the latter. Nevertheless, it didn't change that the teenager was meddling into affairs that didn't concern him. "How nice of you to interrupt us." He says through grit teeth, choosing to not hide his irritation. He should have expected as much.

"The fact that you're agreeing to this proposition of hers makes you just as insolent! Aren't you suppose to be the adult here?" The words escaped Mako before he could stop them. It just sort of all spilled out in one heaping insult.

Tarlokk furrowed his brows in irritation. This was not what he prepared himself for today. Maybe an interrogation, maybe a fight from Korra, but not an insult competition from one of her cheeky little friends who act like a lap dog.

"If you were listening, like I assume you have been, then you should understand that this corruption that Amon has started cannot be continued. It must end completely."

Mako was quick to protest.

"That doesn't mean you two can just go running off and facing him. Korra is still in the middle of training, she can't just abandon her responsibilities. And who knows if he's been training too, getting stronger. I don't think there'd be much of a chance at success in bringing him down. You can't just exploit him like last time. He's a strategist, he won't fall for the same trick twice. Besides, you two don't even have a plan!"

As flattered as she was at her friends concern over her well being, Korra sometimes really disliked this aspect of her friend. Mako treated her like a child who was incapable of taking care of herself. If he could just trust her to take care of matters in her own way, this wouldn't have had to start up an unnecessary quarrel.

"Look," she protests, "Tarlokk and I will go over a plan. This is going to get solved no matter what, got it?" Now she was using her affirmative voice. No way was she backing down. If she could take on Unulaq and Vatuu fused, she sure as hell could take down a single bloodbender. Being underestimated was a one way ticket to proving the accuser wrong.

Korra pouted her bottom lip. "I'm not a kid, Mako, so don't try babysit me." It unintentionally came out as a type of warning snarl.

"Tch." Mako was getting fed up with this. They were fighting again just like when they were dating. Was even a normal friendship difficult for them too?"

Giving up, he sighed and threw his hands up in defeat. "Fine, I give up. Do what you want. Just…Be careful."

"You don't have to tell me twice." She snickered with a cheeky grin then glanced back over to Tarlokk.

"Let's devise."

The tactic was fairly simple. Get there and try to compromise with Noatak if he really is trying to end the era of bending again. They discussed fighting tactics in case there was any form of violence broken out. Tarlokk would try to talk him down with guilt if need be, and Korra would be the back up in terms of strength. While Tarlokk was capable of hand to hand combat, he didn't necessarily prefer it nearly as much as waterbending, which he now lacked. He didn't bother bringing up the topic about his bending with the Avatar. With her knowing that he was a bloodbender there's no way she'd ever be willing to give it back to him, even if he would never use it again. Just his waterbending. Besides that, if he brought it up she would just retaliate by pointing out his failed attempt to stop Amon in the cabin that one time, thus resulting in said predicament.

A week later is when they decided to set out. It gave them enough time to deal with what they needed, such as funding for the trip, packing, and in Korra's case, convincing Beifong and Tenzin that she was leaving to the North. Well, she didn't particularly say North really. Her excuse was to go to the South to visit her parents. While Tenzin argued that they had more than recently just been there, she pleaded against him saying she was still homesick and wanted to check up on the opened portals. He didn't like the idea of her going alone but with enough pleading she managed to get the O.K.

The boat fee had already been paid prior so when they both met at the pier on a Wednesday morning, all they had to do was show their identification and received their stamped tickets. Tarlokk had gone with an alias named Suwako. In public she decided to call him Wako for short just because it annoyed him. Nevertheless he tried his best to ignore it, reminding himself over and over she was doing this just to get under his skin because she had nothing better to do in terms of entertainment besides annoying him. Perhaps he deserved it for how he treated her in the past. Even if all he wanted to do was gag her each time that word came out of her mouth in a pet name like coo. He was not some mutt to be called from a distance.

"Waaaaaaakooooooo~"

"Stop that!" He spat bitterly from across the deck as she exited from her separate cabin. The fresh breeze while on the water was calming to him rather than that stuffy weather in the Earth Kingdom. Too warm. Too much sand. Too much ground. He needed to be surrounded by his element, even if he couldn't summon it anymore. The presence kept him at ease.

Korra strolled across the wooden platform over to the edge where he looked out into the open water below. She knew he must have had a lot on his mind, but regret wasn't one of them. He made up his mind to go through with this plan. Curious, she asked.

"So what's on your mind?"

"How much I wish you would stop calling me that as if I'm some kind of dog." He wouldn't look at her. If he did surely she'd say it again just in spite of him. 'Of all companions to go on a trip with and I get stuck with her. Maybe I'd have rather taken that firebender instead.'

Korra pouted and crossed her arms smugly. "You act like such an old guy. Don't you ever have any fun? Do you even laugh? No seriously, do you?"

Tarlokk glanced down at her, his lip quirking to the side. This insolent girl was really trying to get under his skin, wasn't she? He would have none of that. Not if he had a say in it. "Perhaps you're just not that funny. Has that thought ever crossed your mind or are you too ignorant?" Oh hell no he didn't.

"Hey! I can be funny."

"I'd like to see that. Enlighten me," he tested.

"Fine"! Throwing her arms in the air, Korra backed up and furrowed her brows to think up something. This was not her forte. Where was Bolin when she needed him to hand out pointers?

"I'm waiting."

Here goes nothing.

"There once was a girl named Sarah."

"Uh huh."

"She had no arms."

"Right."

"Knock knock."

"Are you kidding me. You didn't even finish the first-"

Korra grit her teeth, poking him in the chest. "I said, knock knock!"

"…Who's there…"

"NOT SARAH! HA!" Korra slapped him on the shoulder, holding her gut as she threw herself over the railing to laugh to herself. When she wiped her tears, she looked back to see Tarlokk wasn't even smiling.

"You have no sense of humor."

"You just made fun of an armless child and you want me to laugh?"

"Well, I-" She started to fumble on her words, "It was funny okay!"

The faintest, smallest, almost quirk of a smile showed on his lips, if it could even be that. Maybe he was just grinning and mocking her.

"Your embarrassment amuses me. That reaction was enough for me. Congratulations Avatar, you have amused me."

"…I am going to hit you."

He truly broke into laughter, stunning her. Not sure how to react, she got embarrassed over the fact he was making fun of her. He was laughing over her herself, not over her joke.

"Alright, alright, I'll stop." Simmering down, Tarlokk chuckled and noticed her angry expression. "Oh come on. I have fun in my own way. So what if I don't laugh at the same things you do, that doesn't mean I'm not any more human than you."

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up old man." Korra fumed and walked back to her cabin, slamming the door behind her, leaving Tarlokk to snicker outside like a hyena.

Dim street light lamps, pitch black sky. Deserted roads. All was calm on this particular night. Children asleep in their beds along with their parents. Benders and non benders vacated homes, few measly homeless individuals scattering here and there to rummage through garbage to obtain scraps. The time was around two in the morning perhaps. It was uncertain how late. The mounds glow reflected off the pavement, giving it a soft glow. Everything was so calm. So silent. The wind whistling in the crisp night air. It was perfect.

A cloaked figure roamed the non occupied streets, eyes downcast to their feet, feet that dragged them forward with each step. Rain drizzled lightly, capable of seeing ones breath in cloudy form. Whistling, yes. That was calming.

The figure stopped down midway down an aisle of homes, peering up to take a view of the sight of each. They all looked average. Commoners, likely. It had not mattered. None of it really mattered. It never would. It was all the same.

Stepping right, the footsteps grew louder and louder. Breaking into a run. Yes, the feel of the rain on hot skin was exhilarating. 'More. Not enough.'

Finding a latter, the figure climbed with haste until reaching the top. A window made into a wall. Open, none the less. This would do just fine.

Slipping inside, the room was dead silent aside from the soft breathing of a sleeping child. A small boy, about the age of twelve. Scruffy black hair scattered over his eyes, rolled onto his stomach, arm and leg dangled over the edge of the bed. The room itself did not as much as expected. Posters of pro-bending teams, a desk with homework scattered all over it. Toys sloppily thrown into a box instead of neatly. 'Not now. Not yet.'

The hallway was narrow and dull. No pictures lined up. No designs whatsoever. Just plan and simple.

The next room was as predicted. The parents of the child slept soundly, sprawled out almost just as messily as him if not worse. They showed no form of affection towards each other, facing the opposite direction.

Outstretching a palm, the figure ran a hand over the scruffy cheek of the father. His son looked just like him, no doubt. What a pity it must have been for the mother to show not as much resemblance. It need not matter, though.

Sizzling flesh, the hand slid down to grasp his chin and tugged lightly, heat seeping into the tips of the fingers. The heat grew hotter and hotter until it began to scorch, shooting the man awake with a sharp yell. He leaped forward but the figure was quick to yank, a grip so fierce that they pulled the father straight out of the bed and hurling into the wall in front of him. The loud thud woke the mother, blinking and rubbing her eyes to adjust to the sudden predicament. When she took notice to the cloaked figure in the house, she shrieked.

"Grimlir!" She shouted once taking notice to her husband sliding down the wall, a scar of finger prints on his chin and cheek. The parts where the figure fiercely dug their nails into the sides of his face and threw him reveled in blood and indents, surely piercing through the flesh. Quick to retaliate, he made to his feet and shot a flaming fist forward, only to be rewarded with a sidekick directly to his elbow, shooting it inwards and dislocating his arm. The woman was terrified, torn between helping her husband or running to her child's room to protect him.

"What do you want?!" Tears streamed from her eyes, fear for her family's life. "If it's money, we don't have much. But if it's something in our house of value, please, take it! Just get out!"

The figure cocked their sideways to the woman. A wicked smile of sharp teeth was all that she saw, eyes hidden by the hood. A monster, she repeated. It can't be human.

"What's wrong…" It voiced, edging closer as it grabbed the husband by the collar, hoisting him up and slamming him into the wall just beside her. "Have you never let your demons take control before?" The insanity was plastered all over. Etching back another wide open palmed hand, engulfed in an intense color of white, the cloaked figure shot forward, enveloping the mans face in the burning sensation that began to fester and singe his flesh. The woman let out a blood gurgling scream, now trying to use force to help release her husband before he was burned to death.

"Please, stop!" The mans struggling was futile, even as he flailed his limbs and tried tearing away at the vice like grip on his face and shirt. Even as a fire bender himself, this was pure agony. Pure pain.

Seconds later, the man was released, sliding to the floor with the rest of his body festering with fire that began to spread, scorching his clothes. Choking sobs were to be expected. 'I feel nothing.'

Before the woman could try to put out her burning husband the figure was on her in seconds, knocking her to the ground and holding her down, fists slamming into her cheekbone, breaking bone. "More. More."

"Please," She choked through bloodied teeth. "S-Stop…"

The blood pooled on knuckles, neck choked by slender fingers. The blood pumped more and more, it kept coming out.

Covered in blood, the figure stood, looking down at their work. The woman was not yet dead but badly beaten. She still breathed, she still fidgeted. Heaving heavily, tears mixing in with the vermillion shade that stained her skin and now soul.

"I will spare you…"

The woman had not expected this. Not in the least. Her core shivered with fear, what was to come now? Please, anything but her child. She could not have him be taken. Not like her husband.

The figure left for a minute, if that even. The woman was too weak to hardly move or reach the phone to dial anything. She lay on the floor, using what little strength she had to crawl over to her burnt husband of ashen skin and hold him. Upon return, she could she the displeasure written in that firebenders frown. "Wha…" Before she could even protest, a knife slid out from the right sleeve. "No…Please no!" She sobbed harder, nearly choking on her own saliva.

"Move aside. You're not my prize."

Kicking her in the gut she spat out blood, rolling onto her back, seeing stars. This has to be hell. It just has to be. She lay there for moments, wondering of her final outcome. What would become of her now. Would she die here pitifully?

Rip.

"W-What are you doing! STOP!" She shrieked, but it was useless.

One last attempt for redemption, and she was yet again kicked - in the face this time.

Her vision grew black. The only thing she remembered from then on was the look of a feral, sinister grin plastered to the face of a human tearing open her husbands skin and eating his roasted organs.