AN: Hey guys, sorry it took so long AGAIN for another update. I moved over to AO3 and have been working on a GOT fanfic so that's why I sorta...forgot about this one. . But here's a new chapter! I'm going to go ahead and move this story over to my AO3 account since it's used a lot more by people now a days. If some of my readers prefer I post here, I can continue doing so as well. My motivation for this fic admittedly went down but if I have enough motivation from readers I'm sure I'll end up wanting to continue it for an audience. Comments and reviews are always recommended! Thanks again.

Enjoy.

Song is Me And The Devil by Soap&Skin

Noatak came to in a dark corner of a room illuminated by dull flames, orange and red hues dancing off the blackened stone walls. The room was enclosed, that much was for certain. A large metal door stood tall with an opening at the top only accessible by the other side. Looking down at his hands and feet, no chains bind him in place. Meaning he is free to roam. Much of the large room is still dark, standing to take a better look around. The floor is all but dirt with no windows to line either side of the solid walls, only two torches lighting both corners of the room.

Knowing it was likely futile, Noatak went for the door regardless and to his dismay, it opened willingly. Outside the door it was pitch black, no noise or movement to be seen even with strained eyes. Returning to the room to snatch a torch off the wall, he pushes forward, the flames guiding his way. Before him stands a long staircase that leads up, following it until it came to an end, the flat floor stretching into a long hallway. Cracks line the ceiling above, soft ash tumbling in and cascading the floor with soot beneath his feet. He realizes the entire hallway is near covered in the black and gray remains. The breeze of the night winds enter the halls with a cool touch. The air is warm.

'Fire Nation.' He theorizes, walking cautiously towards each door to inspect the inside. Some of the metal doors had been boiled down in heaps on the floor before the entrance. Others had been broken down or didn't exist. Each room was about the same size as the room in the lower level with nothing inside but burned walls. How had he been unconscious long enough to be transported this far? Or was this just a dream?

It felt much too real to be a dream.

The building didn't strike him as a usual prison so much as it did a building for either storage or containment. With the remains of what was left of this monument it was safe to say whatever it was being used for did a terrible job keeping something in - or out.

Eventually a large room comes into the clearing with four large pillars that hold the ceiling up and dark maroon plastered on the wall like art. The room reeks of death and carnage but there are no corpses to be found. Only a trail of dried blood on the floor and the heavy stench that wafted.

Sudden movement arouses his attention coming from the exit of the large chamber. He makes use to blend in with the shadows and secure the upper hand before the captor has a chance to. Noatak expects to see the cannibal or her teammate but was rewarded with neither.

A soft gasp almost gone unnoticed catches his attention the instant the familiar figure emerges from the door, seeing a glimpse of him. How foolish of him to think he could control the situation. To think others wouldn't get hurt or captured.

"This is my fault." The spite rolls off his tongue with a bitter taste once it's out in the air. Often times this side would show itself. Aside that rivaled Yakone's personality of self hate projected onto others. Noatak didn't bother to suppress the crude tone. It didn't matter anymore. He was already livid with internal rage at his screw up. All the years of precise calculations and years of study and practice spent in the Equalists base of operations and still he failed. Even now most knowledge and memories of information learned began to slip between the cracks of the man's interior, spilling out like a statue that's been chipped away over the years piece by piece. Not once had there been a life threatening mission since the end of Amon, one that weighed the lives of others and not just himself. A mission that concluded in failure thanks to a genuine lack of perception and underestimating. Amon had fallen and so too had the Equalists skills with it it would seem.

'This is a game to torment me, surely.' If this is some type of illusion or dream Noatak wasn't certain what step to take next or if by some wrong choice he becomes stuck in this nightmare or trans. The fabric on the man's skin feels real enough. Realer than any dream.

But this was not real. Could not be.

The Avatar walked. Certainly he had not been asleep long enough for Korra to recover. In this maze of corridors and broken rooms the thought crosses his mind that perhaps she is here to guide a way out like some spiritual guide. When Korra steps into the light her frame becomes clear enough to make out in the light of the flames. Her face is crusted with dried tears, sunken bags under her eyes and trembling lips. It was plain to see there was more to it than just assumptions.

The rage within only boiled more plaguing his mind with dark thoughts that led to the worst possibilities.

Korra stepped forward but did not speak. She placed a finger over her lip to silence him and ran a hand along his arm, gripping the hem of his cloak and pulling him to the corner and out of sight. Movement roused from the same door she entered through and two bodies stepped forward into the light. The man, he recognized instantly.

Shoichi, though much younger with less creases in that tight sharp face of his, entered the room dragging along a heavy object behind him that slid feebly along the floor. He cursed and berated, mumbling under his breath over and over about a failure from a project, tugging along the mangled mess behind him.

Korra's breathing hitched and he could feel her trembling fingers through the cloth on his arm, pinching nearly hard enough to draw blood.

There, pulled to her feet, is what looked to be a young Vinioz, limp limbs and caked in blood, barely hanging on by the cusp of death. The color in her eyes have faded and crust over with defeat. To see this is a different contrast in comparison to the cannibal Noatak had seen before. Here, this girl was utterly broken. 'And so young…'

The two of them watch from the shadows until Korra begins to speak, but before she can utter a syllable Noatak is quick to throw his hand over her mouth, only removing it when realizing her voice does not attract the attention of the man and child in passing.

"They can't hear us?" He asks confused.

"Nor can they see us." Korra comments, her eyes filled with a sadness that can't quite be explained. It reminds Noatak of the look he saw many times over from his mother, the look of sympathy. The Avatar turns to face him, her hand still tightly woven into his forearm. "I've been here for hours and nothing I've said or done has mattered. If this is a dream...I haven't been able to wake up."

Noatak scans the room once more, taking in the surroundings. If this was some type of illusion they'd need to find a way out as soon as possible. "What was the last thing you remember?"

Korra shrugs. "You fixing my leg, I guess. But I shouldn't be able to walk...right?"

He nods in agreement. "It may be possible you've already been captured and I failed. We may be under hypnosis as we speak. But why would the woman force us to see her own childhood?"

"Woman? What woman? Do you know the girl Shoichi was dragging?" There is hope in her eyes. She thinks she can by some chance help stop what has already come to pass. But that's just it - this is the past. By no actions would they be able to alter it. Noatak had almost all but forgotten Korra was knocked out unconscious before he came face to face with the duo in the village. The last thing she should remember is Shoichi before he escaped.

"It is not by her doing." A deep rumbling voice echoes off the walls, contorted and deep. Both benders turn around to inspect but to no avail do they find the object of interest. There is no water to bend or blood flow to sense from the girl beside him, rendering him useless. Bending must not work here.

Korra steps forward, ready to fight and eyes every corner of the room with caution. Her legs may suddenly work, but to what extent? "Show yourself!" She shouts, hands balled into fists and a fiery passion in her eyes that was all too familiar during their own showdown, a time that felt like a lifetime ago now. And to think how far they had come since.

The voice echoes the walls again and both are positive it's not just them imagining things. "You are in the spirit world, trapped within the same cage as I. When your physical bodies wake you will leave this place, and I will not. The two of you are connected to both worlds, the physical and spiritual. You are here because you sought out answers for which I am granting you." From the shadows of the room cast in the corner of the walls, shapes begin to bend and mold into beastly forms, taking on the forms of three large grizzly wolves, erect and bulked, standing tall. The first one that steps into the light is larger than its counterparts, its mane bristling with wisps of ash escaping off its fleshy fur. It turns its gaze to Noatak and Korra, eyes as gray as the moon's surface.

"What answers?" Noatak questions aloud, eyes still glued to the beasts. He has reason to believe neither of the creatures before him are the one speaking and controlling what's happening. But if they're seeing memories…

"Do you plan to help us bring her down?"

The dark voice chuckles and the wolves creep closer, attentively moving back and forth before them as though to put up a barricade or patiently waiting on a command to attack. "No." It answers. "I want to seperate us."

"Separate?" Korra bawks in surprise and confusion. She bites back a gasp at the feel of his hand snaking up her arm, ready to throw or shove her away if need be. These wolves looked at them like they were meant to be food with a hunger Noatak was not willing to sate. "What does he mean?"

"Korra, I need you to wake us both up. I don't know how and I don't care how you do it. Do it now." The tremble in his voice was escaping. The odds were against them. They wouldn't survive if they didn't get out now. If his assumptions were right, neither of them would make it out of here with their lives in tact.

"Noa-"

"I know who he is." Noatak grinds his teeth in disbelief. "My mother used to tell Tarlokk and I stories before bed about a spirit who feasted on the flesh of men. An entity that grew in strength bathing in the flames and rising from the ashes...but to think it exists inside someone."

He turns to her and her expression is mirroring his own. Panic and fear. "The cannibal and her partner who burned down the village. I wasn't able to stop them. The woman's strength and raw power was beyond that of a normal bender...She was burning. Her skin was peeling off everywhere and she acted like it was nothing."

"That...That's impossible. It doesn't make any sense." Korra's face pinched, mouth gaped open in disbelief. The Avatar was attempting to rack her mind around the new information, the next best course of action to get them out alive. But to no avail did a solution come. She was too taken back by the spoken words and belief that such a malevolent spirit could reside in a mere human - though Raava and Vaatu had disproven that point, showing its possibilities successful. Spirits could inhabit humans, just not by easy means.

Screams then echo from the corridor leading down to the floor below, the girls wail screeching through the night. Shoichi must have locked her away in one of the rooms Noatak had passed by earlier. "I mean to make a bargain." The voice adds, disregarding the cries and acting disinterested in the sounds. The structure then rumbles from the high pitched screaming, a large tremor coursing through the walls and flooring. Korra almost stumbles but holds tightly to the arm of the man still holding her back. The yelling then goes silent as does the shaking of the building. A silence befalls and the wolves eyes move to the staircase descending downwards, back to where Noatak had first climbed up.

The mention of a bargain brought to fruition skepticism. "What could you have to offer us?" Heat rose lightly to his cheeks at the sudden feel of a warm hand slipping into his own, soft and hard with calluses all in the same. The Avatar's firm grip alleviated to the fact she may have come up with a plan. 'Be ready.'

"Peace." It answers. "My host is formidable. I respect her and our contract both. We are on even ground, helping one another. But should she die, so too will I. Help her defeat Shoichi and no longer will she seek to need my strength. You will no longer need to worry about the tyrant cannibal who burns down cities and nations."

"And if we kill you both?" Korra states, clearly a threat. She could hear fragments of the curling voice in the dark rolling off its tongue in satisfaction and amusement from the question.

"Then you will never know the other side of humanity that has been cloaked in shadow since the dawn of time. There are forces of nature not even you or your predecessors are knowledgeable of, young Avatar. Your text books cannot tell you the decrepit secrets of the what truly binds the spirit world to your own. The monsters that built these worlds stone by stone."

"And we will have these answers if we agree to this bargain?" Noatak asks, the wolves moving to their haunches as though called back to attention, the former Equalist trying hard to hide his trepidation so as not to give away their complete defeat. But it was too late. The monster of the night already had them cornered. It made it out to be there was a choice, but should they reject, he considered all too thoroughly that these animals would eat them where they stood.

The torches lining the walls flicker brightly, embers cast into the night sky of the broken ceiling opening up to the night sky, rays of the moons downcast reflecting off the stone floor in the center of the room. Something moves out from the corner of their eyes, chunks of charred wall wisping into the air and clumping together to take shape. The size is hulking and massive, towering over like a giant with outstretched limbs caked in ash and burned flesh. Cropped black hair with a strip of maroon in the center hangs over it's taught jawed face, teeth as sharp as it's long penetrable claws. But it's eyes.

As black as the night sky and pupils as dark and red as the fresh blood pouring from ones veins.

The creature draws its clawed hand over the surface of the wall, cracks and crevices glowing alight in deep ambers, the torches growing in size. The light follows along each wall until covering the entirety of the room, basking them in fire and a heat near unbearable.

"So...Do we have a deal?"