The next morning, everyone emerged from their tents bleary-eyed and yawning. Bolin sat hunched over the fire pit, nudging the growing flames with a stick every now and then and gnawing on a strip of jerky. A pot of water rested over the fire. Mugs waited nearby to be filled. Korra pulled herself over to the campfire and sat down. "Morning," she mumbled.
"Good morning," said Bolin. He sat back on his hands and glanced around Korra. "Where's Asami and Jinora?"
"They're coming." She did not offer any more information. She knew Bolin would only dig for details that were not present. All three of them shared a restless night. Between their new travel circumstances, and the quiet tension that expanded between Korra and Asami, no one had gotten much sleep. Korra went over to one of the packs that contained food and pulled an apple from it. She focused on eating, and not Bolin's stare.
He opened his mouth to speak, but thankfully, Jinora and Asami chose that moment to crawl from the tent and join them by the fire. "Good morning," said Jinora. She sighed and leaned against her staff. "Knight-Commander, did you wish to discuss our path of travel, today?"
"We'll need to go to the closest village, first," said Korra. "Their group was small, and there was no sign of an army or larger company waiting for them as they fled. I'd assume the assassins needed to stop for supplies. From there…" She shrugged. "We will have to ask around, a bit."
Jinora smiled and grabbed a cloth to hold the cauldron of water as she tipped its contents into a mug. "I might be able to help with the asking, once we get to the village."
"Are you going to do magic?" Bolin asked. His eyes lit up as he held out his own mug and Jinora poured water for him.
Jinora smiled. "Perhaps a small amount," she said.
"I've never seen someone work magic," Bolin said. He stared wistfully into the fire.
"It's not much to look at," said Kai. Korra looked up to see Kai and Mako had emerged from their tent as well.
"So she's not going to summon a fireball or...oh! Turn me into something!" Bolin stared expectantly at Jinora. Mako rolled his eyes at his brother.
Jinora shook her head. "It doesn't work like that." She paused a moment before continuing. "Most people have heard stories of grand battles of mages, but in reality only a few of us possess that kind of power. It is found more often in the smaller things around us." She lifted her mug and sipped the tea. "Like a well-brewed tea from a tin mug."
"Sounds boring," said Mako, reaching for his own mug. When he sipped from it, Korra watched the stress lines lessen from his face. She took some of the tea for herself.
"We don't have much farther to the village," she said. She avoided meeting Asami's gaze. "We can worry about tracking Zaheer once we get there."
"Do we have a plan for when we find him?" Asami asked.
Korra clenched her fists. She didn't want to think about that part of the mission. "Yes." Asami didn't press any further and Korra was grateful that she had dropped the subject.
After breakfast, they disassembled camp and rode out once more. She watched the rolling green hills pass them as they traveled. They didn't encounter many people on the road, though no one would be travelling much with news of the assassination. Still, Korra kept a watchful eye for any bandits or Red Lotus that might be lying in wait.
A little past noon, they arrived at the village of Half-moon Hill, a small outpost of Tonraq's kingdom rather than an established community. Korra remembered arriving at Half-moon Hill in the midst of the trade season and not being able to see the other end of the market. People could swell the streets, depending on the time of year. Currently, the muddy roads were desolate, abandoned. The overcast day did not help in lending a gloomy air to the village.
"Well, if someone saw him, it won't take long to find out," said Mako.
Korra nodded. "There aren't many people that come through this way during the tourney. If they had fled before or after, we might not have been as fortunate." She led them to the stables, where they paid to have their horses and wagon kept while they explored the village. Once she dismounted, she moved to help everyone out of the wagon. Jinora stepped down, and she offered a hand to Asami. "My lady," she said.
A slight flush crawled up Asami's cheeks. She took Korra's hand and stepped down. "Thank you," she said.
Korra nodded, releasing her hand. "Of course."
"I suggest starting at the inn," said Mako, causing Asami to step away. Korra sighed and turned to the other knight.
"Sounds good," she said.
"I'm going to head to the market with Jinora, there are a few things I'd like to buy for the journey," Asami said.
Korra bit her lip. "Be careful. It's not likely they're around here anymore, but…"
"I know." Asami gave her a reassuring smile.
The inn was not any more crowded than the streets. Korra frowned at the sight of the nearly empty room. The innkeeper stood behind a counter, reading a book rather than tending to his duties. Only one other person occupied the room, an older woman hunched over a table in the corner of the room. "Can I help you?" the innkeeper asked. He did not take his eyes off his book.
"We're looking for someone," said Korra. "A small group, actually. They would have been easy to notice: a bald man, a woman with a tattoo on her forehead…" She paused, waiting to see if those descriptions sunk in.
The innkeeper frowned and shut his book. His eyes widened as recognition spread across his face. "Knight-Commander!" She wasn't certain if the man was in awe of her, or terrified.
"Please, just answer the question," Mako said from beside her.
"They did not stay at the inn, if they came through here," he said. He nodded to the woman in the corner. "Lin would know if they came to town, though. She's the local law enforcement."
Lin. Korra was more than familiar with the guard captain. She had not seen her in town lately. So this is where you lost yourself. "We'll just ask her, then." Korra still fished out a coin to give the innkeeper, despite his lack of information. Slowly, Korra turned to the woman in the corner.
She sat hunched over a mug, her dark coat pulled tightly around her with the collar turned up, barely covering the twin scars carved into her right cheek. Any passerby might mistake her for a lonely drunk, but Korra knew better. She glanced over at them, flicking her steel-grey hair from her eyes and nodding for Korra to approach. She took a step closer. "Knight-Commander," Lin said. She gestured at her table. "There is room for you and your company, if you plan to stay a while."
Korra took that as her cue to approach the table and sit down. "It's good to see you, Captain." She scooted aside for the others to pull up chairs. "You remember Mako and Bolin." She nodded at the knights.
"Hello!" Bolin greeted loudly.
"How could I forget?" Lin asked dryly. She looked at Kai. "I see you've assembled quite the diverse team. Smart choice, using a small group to chase down Zaheer."
"Did you see him come through here?" Korra asked. She motioned for the innkeeper to bring them over more drinks.
Lin shook her head. "His team did not come very close to the village, but it would not help you any even if they did. There aren't enough eyes or ears around here to get a sense of where they might be." The innkeeper brought over the mugs sloshing with drinks. Lin shooed him away with a wave of her hand. "You need more troops, but an army will slow you down."
"Do you have a suggestion, Captain?" Mako asked.
"You need people, Knight-Commander. You need an army's worth of people trained in the art of watching and listening." Lin took a sip from her drink. "As much as I hate to admit it, you need the spymaster."
"The who?" Bolin asked.
Lin frowned, her brows pulling together in a tightly knit scowl. "My sister, Suyin. She'll know exactly where to find Zaheer, or where to start looking, at least. She'll get you closer than any investigation you plan to make yourself, Knight-Commander." After a pause, she added, "No offense."
Korra shrugged. "I know my own faults." When she heard an exaggerated sigh from Mako, she shot him a glare. "I said I know them, not that I fixed them." She turned back to Lin. "We'll need to know how to reach her. Is it a quick journey?"
"It hasn't exactly been a long journey, yet, but I've already noticed some essentials
missing from the supplies," Asami remarked as they stopped at a fruit stand. She picked up an apple and turned it over. "It makes me wonder how well Korra ever packs for her journeys."
Jinora laughed. "I wouldn't know. This is the first one I've been allowed to go on as well."
"Well, it wouldn't hurt to pick up a few more things." Asami paid for the apple and slipped it into her bag. "I'll want to look at their selection of fabrics, too."
With a nod, Jinora followed her as they continued browsing the stalls. Finally, she asked, "So, did you and Korra have a good conversation last night?"
Asami's smile faltered. She knew Jinora would bring it up eventually. She had hoped to last a little longer. "We talked," she said, knowing it was not a satisfactory answer. She looked at the ground, instead, watching her boots scuff the dirt road. "Korra doesn't know what she wants." She remembered their conversation with full clarity. She remembered how frightened Korra sounded. "She doesn't want to rush into anything, not while we're on a mission. She's asked...that she be allowed some time." She felt a warm hand on her shoulder and smiled at Jinora.
"She's scared, that's all," Jinora said. "This whole week has been so traumatic. Give her some time to adjust." With a shrug, Jinora added, "She cares for you, that much is plainly evident. I would not be surprised if Korra back to her old self within the week."
Asami nodded, but stopped at one of the market stands. She reached out for a spool of fabric and rubbed the cloth between her fingers. "How much for this?" she asked the shopkeeper.
The woman quoted her a price and Asami haggled down to a more reasonable sum. She handed over the coin and picked up the bolt of fabric. "You need all of it?" Jinora asked.
Asami nodded. "I'm still working on something to help people glide down from heights. I...haven't managed to make it work quite the way I want."
"Something to keep you busy?" Jinora asked.
Asami sighed. "Well, until they break something, or the horse throws a shoe, I'm fairly useless. It does give me time to work on this, and some other ideas that I've been tossing around." There were a few new armor designs she had been wanting to work on, but with the tournament and the impending war, she had been too busy helping her father to work on anything of her own.
Jinora made a face. "Just as long as you don't recruit me to test them out."
Asami laughed. "You don't need to worry about that. That's what Korra is for."
A/N and another chapter done. We also managed a Conflict Resolution update today as well, so make sure to check that out! As usual I will be streaming on Friday at 5pm Pacific time on the twitch channel Luraline. Please come by and say hello and hang out with all the lovely people. ~Sy