The sky was darker than usual. The wind whipped around him viciously, stinging his cheeks, uprooting the flowers by the roots. The clouds looked angry and raw, like his rubbed red eyes after he'd been crying. He could see the dancers on the top of the next hill and hurried towards them, his tunic flapping in the wind. They were moving closer together than they had been before, flowing in a dance so lightning-fast and smooth it left him breathless just to watch. He stopped a few meters from them, a little panicked, "What's going on? Where's Mushi?"

Nothing but silence answered him as the dancers moved. He scanned the horizon, but Mushi was no-where to be seen, and he could feel panic rising in his chest like the strengthening gale. He stumbled towards them, his boots catching on upturned clumps of earth. Everything seemed to slow down. And as he fell face-first into the circle, the universe went silent.

The earth was almost warm beneath his cheek. Everything was still, as if the universe was waiting for something. He could feel the hairs on the backs of his arms prickling, the same way it felt to stand too close to an electric current in a mechasuit. Maybe this is how it feels before lightning strikes.

He pushed himself up slowly, brushing the dirt off his tunic. He was in some kind of circle of grass, and lilies, and still evening air. He could see the storm raging on the edge of the ring, but it was silent inside, with clouds of glowing bugs landing gently on his shoulders and arms whenever he held them still for a moment. "Where am I?"

"Don't worry, you're safe." A girl was standing opposite him, dressed in the fur-trimmed blue of the water tribe, her short hair floating around her face despite the lack of breeze. The lightning bugs settled on her shoulders as she gave him a friendly smile and sat down among the flowers, "You must be very confused."

He nodded slowly, sitting down opposite her, "What is this place?"

"The spirit world. Beautiful, isn't it?"

He looked out at the storm as lightning streaked across the sky, "Seems pretty angry to me."

"Beauty and emotions aren't always opposites. Sad and angry things… they can be beautiful too."

"Who are you?"

"My name is Korra." Wait, what?

She smiled, but it looked sad. "I was the Avatar." Oh.

She didn't look like the Avatar from the textbooks he had at school. She looked like something out of Mushi's stories. "So why are you talking to me? Where's Mushi?"

"He told me now was the right time to talk to you." She picked one of the fire lilies gently, holding it between her hands as if it were made of intricate glass, paper-thin. "He said you were ready."

"Ready for what? What's going on?"

She looked at him quietly, and if he didn't know better, he could have sworn she was glowing. "You're the Avatar, Jianyu."

"Oh." A pause. "Okay."

"You're very calm."

He shrugged and looked out at the fields, "Well, it's just a dream, isn't it? I mean, you're completely bonkers. But it's only a dream."

The storm was speeding up outside the circle, and the robes of the dancers flowed like long, streaming ribbons in the hurricane. Korra followed his gaze, blue eyes calm as the lightning lit them both up in stark contrast.

"They'll be okay. The storm doesn't affect them."

"What are they?"

"Who knows?" She shrugged and looked back at her hands. The fire lily blossomed between her palms, the petals flowing and morphing like silver until it was unrecognisable, folding in on itself over and over in a kind of delicate origami. Finally, she held it out to him, small and round between her fingers, "Here, take this. Give it to Qí."

He took it carefully, turning over the Pai Sho tile in his fingers. The lotus flower carved into the surface had worn smooth from decades of use. He looked back up at Korra, "What if this isn't a dream?"

"Does it matter?" Her eyes were definitely glowing, now. "Dreams are what you make of them, Jianyu."

When he woke up, it was to the blurry, concerned snuffles of Guanyin against his face. He reached up, scratching the crook of his neck. "Sorry, buddy. Was I talking in my sleep? It's okay. It was only a dream."

The room still seemed fairly dark around him, the kind of dim grey that preceded the dawn. He reached over Guanyin to where his glasses sat on the table beside the bed, groping for them for a second before he stopped dead in his tracks.

There was something in his hand.

After what seemed like an eternity, he finally found the thick metal frame, spare fingers wrapping around it and pushing it roughly onto his nose. He held his breath, heart thumping as he looked down at the small wooden circle swaddled in his fingers.

The lotus tile.

It was like the ocean had opened up beneath him and swallowed him whole. He was watching himself from afar, waves of realisation crashing over him and pushing him down. Everything was muffled, and the air itself seemed to smother him. But the worst part was, it made sense. He knew she had told the truth. He wished that she had drowned him instead.

Mom is going to kill me.

The thought sent a chill down his spine like ice water, but it was there, seared with perfect clarity onto the insides of his eyelids. I'm the Avatar, and Mom is going to kill me.

He curled into Guanyin, clinging to his fur like a lifeline.

I need to get out of here.

This is not what I expected.

Jiji was standing in front of her in tears, a complete mess. She wasn't even out of her pyjamas. And yet it was real. Solid and smooth in her hand, the small round tile carved with a ghost straight up out of her nightmares.

A male Earth Kingdom Avatar? Has that ever happened before? He was adopted, true, so it was possible. But for thousands of years, it had always been women. The gurus said it was because Guanyin favoured the women- apparently not. Shu is guarding him this time.

You've waited and listened. Time to move.

They'd take the badgermole, tunnel out. They might set of the seismic sensors, but if they were quick enough, if they could push through the shell of the domes- no, stupid, won't work. Platinum. Metal bender or not, she'd never get through the platinum plates. Maybe go Beifong style, use her guard's cables and go over the side. They'd have to go at night, and alone- she couldn't lift Guanyin, not by a long shot. They'd take whatever supplies were left in the complex, slip out between guard patrols, be on the other side of the mountains before anyone knew they were missing-

"She's going to kill me, isn't she?"

His choked voice cut through her thoughts like a boulder crashing through rice paper. Of course. He thinks Kuvira will hate him. I can use this.

But should I? What's crueler? Lying to him, or letting him be turned into a weapon?

She sighed and quickly knelt down to his height, looking him in the eyes and pulling him into a tight hug. "We need to get you out of here."

She could feel his nod against her shoulder, wet and brave at the same time. She felt bad for him, but her head was clear. He's the Avatar, our best hope. I am not letting him slip through my fingers.

She pulled back from the hug, holding his shoulders steadily. "Jianyu. Listen to me. You are a rock. You are the mountains. You will survive this."

He nodded quietly and wiped his eyes on his sleeve (to no avail). "What do you need me to do?"

"Go and get dressed. Bring out a spare set of clothes and your spare glasses. I'll pack everything else we'll need."

"We're taking Guanyin too, aren't we?"

Spirits, I can't say no to that face. Bad luck to leave Guanyin's namesake behind anyway. "I'll see what I can do." She ruffled his hair, "Run along, pipsqueak."

As he stumbled off towards his room, she considered her options. She didn't know where the White Lotus was based nowadays. They might have to travel a long way before they found any sort of help, with Kuvira's troops on their trail. She knew Avatar Aang had avoided the Fire Nation for months on end near the peak of the war, but she was no airbender. She was used to fighting the enemy head-on, not running for her life. If they even made it as far as the Fire Nation - and she sincerely doubted they would - Fire Lord Izumi wasn't about to listen to two of Kuvira's closest associates. They probably wouldn't even make it past the border.

So, they needed to get a long way away from here, and fast. Stick to the peripheries of the Empire. She moved to pull on her old guard's uniform and reached into the back of her wardrobe, pulling out a worn knapsack. The tough fabric was coated in wax so as to be waterproof, but nonetheless was covered in stains. She quickly stuffed another set of clothes and shoes in, along with a spare square of fabric to be ripped into bandages if they needed. This is so rushed, we've got no time-

Shut up. You've survived before, you'll do it again. What else do you need? Food, waterskins, a map, yuans, some flint. She moved into the kitchen, sitting the bag on the bench as she turned out the cupboards for anything that wouldn't go stale after a few hours. She could hear Jiji's approaching footsteps through the floor as she dug out dry biscuits, bags of rice, salt, a jar of honey, some flour- "Jiji. Fill up three waterskins, please, and a fourth with grown-up water." It wasn't pleasant, but she'd readily clean wounds with firewater rather than letting them go bad. It'd make a good fire starter, too.

He stumbled to do what she'd asked, still sniffling -perfect, ocean kumquats- and puffy-eyed. He looked like he was ill. She packed the food she'd found into the bag, along with Jiji's spare clothes. There was still room, but not much. I can make sparks with metal. The flint will have to stay. "Do you know where your Mom keeps her maps?"

"She took them with her," came the muffled reply. "I think there are spares in her desk drawer."

She moved off to the aforementioned office, mind going at a million miles per hour. This is it. I can turn the tide of this war. We may be down, they may have kicked us into the ground like cabbage worms, but it's not over until I've stopped breathing or bled out. She stopped outside the office, looking at the Earth Empire emblem emblazoned on the door. Nothing personal, Kuvira. Maybe things could have been different. Maybe one day, they can be.

She tried the door. Locked. Well, it wasn't like she was avoiding property damage. A hard kick to the handle buckled the mechanism, and a second one pushed the metal barricade over. Then she was in, and pulling the desk apart until she found what she was looking for, discarded papers floating gently to the ground like startled birds returning to roost. The maps folded neatly under her arm, she stopped by her room and grabbed her purse, stuffing it with as many yuans as she could before moving back to the kitchen, packing both items into the top of the bag and doing it up. The waterskins could hang off the bag straps. "Okay, I think that's everything."

Jiji held up the lotus tile she'd dropped, his hands shaking a little, "What about this?"

Oh. Can't forget that. "Good spotting, pipsqueak. Keep it in your pocket."

He tucked it inside his tunic carefully, "How're we gonna get out, Qí?"

Damn. She'd forgotten about that. Jiji looked up at her expectantly, face splotchy like he'd had some kind of allergic reaction.

That's it!

She grinned despite herself, "Go and get Guayin. Don't wipe your face. We'll take you to the doctor."

"But I'm not sick-"

"We won't get there. That's our cover." It could get them all the way to the other side of the city, if necessary. "We're gonna get out of here. I promise."

A/N:

WARNING! Next chapter, and from there on, the fic is going to get violent. We'll update the tags before we upload, but it's going to be graphic.

Pat: We're gonna change the warnings in the next couple chapters so keep an eye out for that - from teens to mature because it gets pretty violent (shots 2 lou).

Fun fact: the title for this chapter was our first go at naming this fic.

Also I need to get better at being consistent with my formatting on this site lol.

Lou: Korra's first appearance! She'll be around a bit more from now on :)

Qi's history is going to take quite a bit of exploring, which we'll get to in a few chapters. She may be Jiji's mentor, but that doesn't leave her without her own motivations, and boy does she have them.

Hope you're all enjoying the fic so far! Thank you so much for the comments, reviews, faves and kudos! It means so much to us :)