Avatar: The Legend of Korra
Followers of the Black God
Chapter Two
International travel, in the days before the Hundred Year War, had not exactly been a common practice. For example, the people of the Northern and Southern Water Tribes tended to keep to themselves, and while the people of the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom certainly traded extensively with one another, comparatively few of their citizens ever crossed borders.
The Air Nomads were the sole exception, and due to their worldwide respect and renown as peaceful monks, no one ever had reason to worry about them.
So, in those days, there really hadn't been any border controls. There were border police, to be sure, and those who moved from one nation to another were generally asked for their names and the purpose of their visits, but that was all.
But times had changed.
There were still open borders in that citizens of all nations enjoyed the right to freely travel and work in all other nations. But now, a name and a purpose weren't enough to enter the Earth Kingdom or the Fire Nation, let alone Republic City itself. Now, one had to have papers—identification papers and travel papers and more—just to leave their own countries. Bureaucracy and government bungling meant that if you wanted to travel to see a relative for his birthday, for example, you had better get the ball rolling several months beforehand.
Or else, of course, you could pay a bribe. And everyone paid bribes to lazy Fire Nation or Earth Kingdom border guards.
On the other hand, immigration to and from Republic City was not taken lightly. The people in charge of it took their jobs very seriously, and those seeking to join the elite metalbending legions that guarded safety and rule of law in the multinational city were thoroughly vetted to ensure that they could not be bribed.
One didn't simply walk into Republic City.
And one didn't simply leave it, either.
All entries and exits from Republic City had to be cleared with immigration officials several days before they were to be done, at least. No reason was given to the public for this policy, but in time, people learned to live with it and get along with their lives. It was a pain, at times, but life went on.
Of course, exceptions could be made—if one was wealthy and powerful enough.
And Tenzin, heir to the legacy of the Air Nomads and all of their possessions,! and a member of the United Republic Council, was a very wealthy and very powerful man.
He'd left just before dawn, before the city started to wake up, and before certain things were discovered. Had he delayed for even fifteen minutes, his plans may have changed entirely and he might not have left Republic City at all—but now, it looked like he'd have to receive news of what had happened to a missing police chief by telegram.
After all, he was unreachable when he was traveling—by design.
Tenzin could have traveled in comfort and stopped every night in one of the many Earth Kingdom towns that dotted the countryside between Republic City and the South Pole. He and his family could easily have afforded to stay in the most expensive, exclusive inns, and they could have eaten like kings for every meal.
That might have been enjoyable, Tenzin admitted to himself, but he was an airbender—the last true airbender, in fact. His children were skilled in their arts, certainly, but he was the only person on the planet who could seriously think of himself as an airbending master. It was his destiny to live a relatively humble, spiritual life, and so he relished the chance to escape from the luxury and business of living in his heavily-guarded home on Air Temple Island.
The first few days of the journey passed enjoyably. The children found themselves appreciating the fresh air and the chance to shout as loud as they wanted and run as fast as they could during the several stops that were made every day, and Pema was able to relax properly for a change.
It was actually the first trip they'd made to the South Pole in many years. Come to think of it, the children had never been there at all, not even to meet their grandmother—not once.
Life was busy. Tenzin had the administration of Republic City to worry about and Katara had the training and safety of the Avatar to worry about.
But considering all the recent events in the city, Tenzin knew he had to take the plunge soon before he lost the chance to see his mother again… forever.
And, so, when the opportunity to drop everything and leave came, Tenzin took it without hesitating.
The first few days of the journey had passed enjoyably. But the last few… started to go downhill.
Tenzin could be a stern man, but he was not a cruel disciplinarian, certainly not to his own children. That was why when his youngest son decided to use him as a living jungle gym and a gnawing post, he didn't do… anything at all, really, except for pray that nothing would delay him for the remainder of the journey.
Fortunately, there were no obstacles in the path the only airbending family in the world took to the South Pole.
Tenzin announced his approach with a visible blast of air to his zenith. The Order of the White Lotus, of course, would have picked up his approach as soon as he got anywhere near them, but he didn't want them to worry unduly or to start attacking his family should they happen to be on a hair-trigger for some reason.
It was lucky that he had done that.
Hidden sentry posts had picked him up before he was several miles away and their alerts had been relayed back home at top speed. His air blast had calmed things down a little bit, but no one wanted to take chances where the Avatar was concerned.
By the time he was closing in on the training facility, several dozen White Lotus guards had been assembled. Korra had been ushered towards a secret exit from the base where a high-speed ship awaited to take her away should things really go downhill.
In the end, of course, everyone was able to breathe a collective sigh of relief when Tenzin landed without incident and was identified by his mother.
She greeted him with an embrace and took great pleasure in seeing her grandchildren in person for, in fact, the first time. Tenzin was happy that the journey was over and that his mother was in good health, and yet the presence of more guards than was usual did not escape his notice.
He asked his mother why the Order of the White Lotus was so, well, paranoid.
Katara had looked gravely into his eyes and asked for the children to be taken away.
And then she related the tale to her son.
Jin Li was not a young man anymore, but, at the age of thirty five, he still had most of his life before him. He was a good man, an honest man, with three children and a loving wife, and, like his colleagues, he took his work seriously.
He was, after all, a police officer—a low ranking patrol officer, perhaps, but a police officer nonetheless, and he took that seriously, too.
He kept his uniform pristine and pressed no matter how humid it was outside, for example, and he never did anything to compromise the ethics of his organization. He treated all citizens of Republic City with respect and dignity and protected them all from crime—all of them.
Even, well, them.
Li didn't have any friends in that community, of course, and he'd never really gotten to know any of them on a personal level either, but that was just… just because. It wasn't because he was prejudiced or because he thought that they were all bad people or something—but, well, it was complicated.
Still, he treated them well. When he saw familiar faces, he waved at them and they waved back, and sometimes he ate lunch in their restaurants, even though he hadn't quite acquired a taste for most of their food yet. Apart from that, he responded to their concerns quickly and professionally and he strove with every fiber of his being to improve the relations law enforcement had with them.
It was hard, though—especially since his supervisor was viciously racist against them.
Quan So—Li's chief—never had a nice thing to say about that community or its people. He yelled at them for the slightest infraction, even if it was imagined, arrested them for resisting arrest, and much, much more.
He beat suspected criminals, too—if they were from that community—and on more than one occasion, his victim had turned out to not only be not guilty but factually innocent.
Perhaps it had something to do with his hobbies—alcohol and gambling—and his family life—he didn't have a family. Perhaps that was why Quan So was such a volatile, unprofessional man.
But what could you do?
Li had tried to quietly report So to central authorities several times with no results. He had tried talking to So, but that hadn't worked, so he took it upon himself to try to improve relations with that community, even if it was only in the smallest way—even if they were, well, a bit weird.
Still, Li couldn't lie to himself—he had breathed a sigh of relief with Quan So had announced that he was going on vacation. That meant that, so far, there had been two weeks without a needless arrest, senseless beating, or callous insult directed at some member of the community or the community at large.
And already, results from Li's friendliness were starting to show. People seemed more comfortable around him now. In the past, he could essentially shut a bustling street down just by walking down it, but now, people were somewhat willing to believe that he wasn't about to snap and start arresting, or beating, all of them.
He wondered what So was doing—where he was going. In all the fifteen years Li had worked for the police, he'd never known Quan So to take a break or vacation of any sort, not to see family or friends or even to simply relax, so it was a bit odd for the older man to suddenly submit a last-minute notice that he would not be showing up for work for some time.
Li didn't worry about it too much, though. Because with Quan So's sudden disappearance, it had fallen to him to act as the police chief.
Five other men were his subordinates, now, and while none of them were quite as cruel as Quan So, some of them had needed, well, helpful little pointers to keep them from acting badly towards Republic City's most unfamiliar citizens. With his new power, Li had "persuaded" them to join him for meals in a few of that community's restaurants—and, surprisingly, it had turned out that he was least fond of their food.
The rest of the officers had found themselves instantly in love with the exotic appetizers and curries, so delicately spiced and flavored with aromatics. Their hearty stews and rice dishes were immediate hits as well, and these days, the whole police department in that area ate lunch exclusively in that particular community. Earth Kingdom food, Fire Nation food, and the lesser known Northern Water Tribe food was all well and good, of course, but the food of this community was quite a pleasure to behold.
The officers tipped well. And, in time, while they hadn't exactly made friends with any members of that community, they had… made acquaintances out of some of them.
All in all, Jin Li was proud of what he'd been able to accomplish in two weeks. And all he hoped was that when Quan So returned—whenever he returned—he wouldn't reverse everything within a day or two.
Still, Li planned to make the most of things while he was still in charge. It was true that he had to go to work at dawn and couldn't come home until just before dinner, but that was the responsibility of a leader—and, in fact, since he'd started acting as the police chief, crime had dropped rather suddenly in town, and that was because Li went after all criminals, even those who targeted that community. And when the criminals were from that community, he treated them sternly but fairly and trusted the courts to deal out justice instead of dealing it out himself with a baton or the heel of his boot.
Things were going well. Things were going so well that, in fact, Li found himself hoping that Quan So just… well, that he never returned at all.
These were the thoughts that were going through his mind when he walked to his police station. It was, just then, early in the morning, so early in the morning that no one else was out, and it appeared that some sort of large package had been delivered to the station—and that was odd. Who would have delivered something so large at such an odd hour? And what was it?
Jin Li walked a little closer.
Then he saw what the "package" was.
For a full ten seconds, he had stood perfectly still.
Then he had turned, used a set of keys to open the police station, and then he had telegraphed for backup.
Quan So, it seemed, had returned.
"He did well by calling his superiors," Tenzin said. "What happened next?"
Pema was resting in a room on a lower level in that building. She was nearing the end of her pregnancy, and, as such, she needed as much rest as she could be convinced to take. The children were outside, building snowmen and playing with each other, all under the watchful eyes of the White Lotus, the same dedicated group who guarded them at their home on Air Temple Island.
Tenzin and his mother were in room by themselves, one that looked, somehow, like it had recently been emptied of its previous contents but not yet filled with new contents.
For seemingly no reason at all, Tenzin found himself wondering about Zhao, the legendary firebending instructor who had taken it upon himself to train the Avatar. He had met the man years ago and had exchanged telegrams with him several times in the more recent past—but where was Zhao, he wondered.
Katara was sipping a cup of tea that had been brought of them. Tenzin was about to voice this new question, but she began to answer his previous one just before he could.
"The police realized that this wasn't an ordinary crime," she said. "They took custody of the body, but turned it and the investigation over to the CIB."
Tenzin's eyes narrowed. That was… an extreme action, especially for the police. But perhaps it was the right one.
"And since then…?" he prompted.
Katara shook her head.
"That's all we've heard. The CIB is handling things, and you know how they are."
"We'll see about that," Tenzin said sternly. "I'm a member of the United Republic Council, and, as such, it is my right to demand information from them."
"In person, maybe," Katara said, just before Tenzin could stand up and order for a telegram to be sent to Republic City immediately.
"But you came here because you fear that telegraph lines may be compromised. They'll use the same excuse to keep you out of the loop until you're back in Republic City."
"Wonderful," Tenzin said.
Then, he sighed.
The CIB, the Central Intelligence Bureau, was the secret police organization in Republic City. Among other things, it was their responsibility to monitor serious threats to rule of law and the governing body—in other words, the police went after criminals and the CIB went after those who were more than criminals. The police were an independent body of government in many ways, but the CIB worked directly under the United Republic Council and ensured that that body was truly in charge of Republic City.
They'd borrowed heavily from the tactics and methodology of the Dai Li, the legendary secret service that protected Ba Sing Se's government… and kept its citizens in a constant veil of surveillance and lies.
The CIB also controlled what sort of speech and print was and was not allowed in Republic City. That gave Tenzin pause—perhaps they'd borrowed just a little too heavily from the history books about the Dai Li when they'd thought up the CIB—but on the other hand, there was no person similar to Long Feng in the CIB and there never would be.
The head of the CIB, after all, was the chairman of the United Republic Council. And, for all the misgivings Tenzin had about Tarrlok, there was no doubt that never he let the CIB set a toe out of line.
For that reason, Tenzin accepted the CIB's increasing power and funding, albeit grudgingly. He also accepted that, from time to time, it might seem that the CIB was against him. The CIB was neutral, completely neutral, and followed the chairman of the United Republic Council—and so if the chairman was against him, the CIB was—but by its nature and not by its intent.
He'd have to have a few choice words with CIB higher-ups when he got back to Republic City, though.
"Do they have any suspects yet? Has anyone taken responsibility for the attack?" Tenzin asked, though he felt that he already knew the answer to both questions.
"I believe so," Katara answered. "Quan So's burns—the ones on his face—appeared to be handprints."
"The Mark of the Black God," Tenzin said expectantly. "So, it was the Followers."
Katara nodded.
"No one else we're aware of has a motive to do such a thing to a police chief, and no one else stands to gain anything by framing the Followers of the Black God."
"Have we made any arrests?" Tenzin asked. "Do we have any particular suspects, or… witnesses, or anything?"
Katara shook her head.
Tenzin took another long sip of tea. His mother refilled his cup without looking at him.
"The CIB won't say anything else because they're not convinced that our telegram lines are secure," she said, "but I'm certain that if they'd made any progress in this case, we'd find out about it. As of now… I don't believe we're even sure if the Followers of the Black God are one group, or several groups… or just some sort of rebel movement."
Tenzin found himself staring at his mother. She knew war—she'd lived through it and experienced it, and she'd brought it to the doorstep of her enemy with the man who later became her husband—his father, the Avatar. Moreover, in those days, she had been the rebel, the dynamic, elite guerilla group that had struck at the Fire Nation with a thousand paper cuts from a thousand angles. If there was anyone who could recognize the work of a guerilla force, it was her.
"What do you think it is?" Tenzin asked.
"I'm not sure," Katara admitted. "Years ago, I would have said that it was several groups with limited ties to each other, but that was because they rarely crossed that line. They rarely killed," she said when Tenzin looked at her quizzically, "and when they did, it was always in impassioned, desperate situations. But now, they apparently plan to kill their targets, and they kill people they've captured.
"I want to believe it's one group that's arisen from several disorganized gangs of thugs," Katara said. "And that's because if what you're facing is an expression of a popular opinion in that community… then you've got a real problem on your hands," she said seriously. "You have a serious problem on your hands."
Tenzin contemplated that for a moment.
"Perhaps Tarrlok has a point when he talks about putting some restrictions on that community," Tenzin said.
"Perhaps," Katara allowed, "but suppose what you're facing isn't backed by the community at large. Nothing is sure to radicalize them more than increased restrictions."
Tenzin didn't respond to that.
"Is the Avatar safe?" he asked after a moment, and, happily, Katara nodded.
"The White Lotus is dedicated and professional," she said. "I don't worry about Korra at all, because she's a thousand miles from Republic City."
The glance she gave her son, then, stung him somewhat.
"Mother, you know about my responsibility to the United Republic of Nations," he said. "I have to be at the center of everything. Imagine if I went into hiding—if I lived here, with you, or in the safety of some distant Air Temple with my family. No one would care about who my father was, or that I'm the only Airbending master in the world. They'd laugh me right out of the Council, and then Tarrlok would have free reign to put as many restrictions on people as he wanted to; no one would stand up to him. So, there are… some risks that I can't avoid."
Katara looked at her son for a moment. As was his custom, he looked back at her stoically, seriously, the only way he'd ever looked at her since he'd been a young teenager.
Sometimes she wondered about him. He seemed so cool and collected, and acted like it too—99.9% of the time. But that .1% of the time… that made her wonder if it was all just an act, and if there was a side of Tenzin he hid so effectively that perhaps even he didn't know that he was hiding it.
Then again, he was a family man now, with children and a pregnant wife. He would never, ever put them in danger, not unless there really was no other way.
"The United Nation of Republics was the brainchild of your father and Fire Lord Zuko," Katara said after a moment. "If it fails, then the idea that people from all nations can live together peacefully—among one another, not at a distance—fails. Your responsibilities… are necessary, and require you to stay in Republic City," she said gravely, before sighing.
"But that doesn't mean that you can't send messages to your old mother from time to time."
Tenzin relaxed imperceptibly.
"I'll keep in better touch in the future, Mother. I promise. But for now—where is Korra?"
"I'm not sure," Katara admitted, "but I can guess."
Being the Avatar got Korra access to the greatest trainers in the world. She had been trained not just in three of the four bending arts, but also in unarmed combat, and some forms of combat with the various sorts of blades and blunt weapons she was likely to encounter on the battlefield. She had also been taught some chi blocking and pressure point striking.
One thing she hadn't been taught was what the Avatar had to learn alone. And what the Avatar had to learn alone was how to unify command of all four elements—or, in her case, three—and that was because the Avatar was the only one who was able to bend more than one element.
Korra was able to follow up barrages of icicles with barrages of chipped earth. To a lesser degree, she could follow up such a combo with a wave of fire, but this knockout punch, she believed, was largely superfluous. After all, it was very, very hard to conceive of any foe who could take a hailstorm of ice and rock and stand.
Still, she practiced. It never hurt to be prepared for the extreme, and besides, she had nothing else to do with her days but to practice and practice and practice until the most brutal bending techniques she could think of were part of her bones.
For some reason, though, she couldn't push herself that day—not really. She was normally able to tear apart the mats of grass and straw her targets were made out of to pieces without hesitation, but today, she couldn't.
She had just seen the mark of the Black God for the first time, after all, and now her targets weren't just lifeless silhouettes built to be destroyed. Now, they were stand-ins for real, living, breathing human beings.
Still, she got in a good workout. She practiced devastating her targets with waves of fire and ice alike, and she practiced raising huge blocks of earth up from the ground to defend entire legions of friendly forces, if necessary. She was just thinking about calling it quits when she noticed someone approaching.
Immediately, she was all smiles.
"I thought it was just another drill," she said, walking toward the two other figures in the testing arena. "It's been so long since I saw you, Tenzin."
"It's good to see you, Avatar Korra," the tall man said, almost smiling. "I'm glad to see that you've become much more powerful since the last time I was here.
"Your firebending master must have taught you well. Where is he?" Tenzin asked. "I'd like to speak to him."
"He's… gone," Korra said after just a moment of hesitation. "But, uhm, yeah! He taught me really, really well," she answered. "I passed my firebending test with flying colors, which means that I'm ready to start training in airbending right away."
She always had been a down-to-the-point sort of person, Tenzin reflected, and apart from that, there was nothing but innocence and an almost childlike desire to learn on her face. He personally would enjoy nothing more than teaching the Avatar airbending, but on the other hand…
He shared a glance with his mother.
"It's almost time for dinner, Korra," she said. "Won't you join us and the White Lotus elders to discuss… things?"
"Sure," Korra replied immediately. "Just let me feed Naga and change, and then I'll be right there with you."
It was cold outside that day, and for that reason, Korra had elected to wear a heavy coat outside of her clothes. Her usual shirt was so brief that it just barely covered her torso, and if she had worn just that, then Tenzin surely would have seen her late firebending instructor's last gift to her.
As it was, though, he only caught the briefest glimpses of black when she said goodbye to him and his mother and turned to walk away.
He was just seeing things, he told himself, and his past several weeks had been filled with nothing but constant thought about that community, their ways of life, and how they could possibly start to assimilate into Republic City and the United Republic of Nations at large. He was starting to see things where there was nothing, and that was why Tenzin didn't ask Korra, then and there, why on Earth she was wearing a meerazi vest.
It was rare for Korra to eat with, well, anyone but her parents. Sometimes she would grab a quick meal with the younger White Lotus guards, since they weren't all that much older than she was. More rarely she was invited to eat with the big shots around the South Pole, but apart from that, she only ever ate with her parents, Naga, or all by herself.
For that reason, she spent more than her customary five minutes to prepare for the occasion.
She brushed her hair and wore a rather nice shirt her mother had gotten for her some time ago, when a trade ship from the Fire Nation had had come to call on the nearby (but not too nearby) port her tribe maintained to open them up to the world. After a few moments of contemplation, though, she took the shirt off and wore the strange black vest Zhao had given to her under it and then put it back on.
The shirt she wore over it was rather conservative; it showed very little skin, all things considered, and for that reason her vest was covered completely.
Apart from that, she put two small braids in her hair, in an ancient and rarely-practiced technique that marked her as a daughter of the Southern Water Tribe in every way. A few moments of scrubbing her boots later saw her looking her best, and ready to go.
So, she left her room and made her way toward the nearby building that served as both a center of administration and to house the important members of the whole installation.
As she walked, though, she realized that she hadn't told her parents about her plans for that evening. They'd miss her…
"Hey, Korra—going somewhere special tonight?"
A White Lotus patrol was passing by, and one of its members was someone who Korra had come to think of as a friend. She smiled when she saw him—Jon Li was his name, and he was of Fire Nation stock. He was tall, with dark hair but fair skin, and had the sort of face that was rather pleasant to look on indeed.
Perhaps this was why they had become more than distant acquaintances, which was the professional relationship Korra shared with the rest of the men who lived at the South Pole solely to keep her safe. They talked a few times a week, sometimes ate lunch together, and sometimes they even trained together.
He was a pretty nice guy, and although Korra had never asked, she doubted that he was a day over twenty five years old. So, from time to time, they had sort of bantered with one another, innocently, yet in a manner that made Korra sure that if anyone found out, Jon would find himself banished to… wherever the Order of the White Lotus banished people.
For now, though, Korra needed a favor from him—and she knew he could deliver.
"I'm actually going to have dinner with everyone," she said. "Katara, Tenzin, your boss, everyone."
Jon looked impressed at that.
"Congratulations," he said. "It must be so that you can discuss training you in airbending, right? I mean, you did knock everyone's socks off at your firebending test—I was there, and I'm surprised I still have my eyebrows."
Korra grinned. "Thanks," she said. "Hey—I'm actually running a little late, but I didn't get time to let my parents know I won't be able to make it over for dinner tonight. Could you let them know…?"
"Sure," Jon said, barely giving Korra a chance to practice her puppy eyes. "I just have another half hour before I go off duty. I'll head over and tell them what's up."
"Thanks," Korra said brightly. She then turned to leave, promising to tell Jon all about whatever happened that night later.
After all, they'd have plenty of time to talk in the future. And maybe, in the future, they'd have time to do more than to talk, and they'd have time to be more than somewhat distant friends.
Katara had made dinner, it seemed, along with Pema and the several individuals responsible for feeding the garrison of White Lotus guards stationed at the South Pole and the rest of those who lived there. As such, everything was delicious and authentic, but on the other hand, everyone seemed strangely reluctant to talk.
OF course, Korra had been congratulated by all parties present for her recent performance. She'd also been complimented on her growth as an increasingly powerful Avatar, and a bright, polite young lady, and similar things.
But no one seemed to want to talk about the elephant in the room. So, Korra brought it up as an earthbender would—by tackling the issue head on.
"So," Korra said, "when am I going to start learning airbending?"
There was a collective moment of silence. Everyone present had known Korra for some time, and for that reason they ought to have been prepared for such a blunt question, but it seemed that for some reason they were hesitant to even think about the issue—even then.
"I'm afraid," Tenzin began slowly, "I… won't be able to stay here for very long. I'll have to return to Republic City… within a few days."
"But… you're supposed to move here," Korra said. "You're supposed to teach me—"
But Tenzin just shook his head.
"I'm sorry, Korra. Your airbending training is going to have to wait."
Korra looked away for a minute.
"So… how long before you can start to teach me?" she asked. "Maybe… next month? Or this summer?"
"It could be much longer than that," he replied.
"I don't understand," Korra said. "Why do we have to wait?"
"I have a responsibility to Republic City… I'm one of its leaders," Tenzin said, "and the situation there is very unstable right now."
"But you also have a responsibility to teach me," Korra protested. "I'm the Avatar—and you're the only airbending master in the world! I'd be happy to find another airbending master, but… you're the only one. We're stuck with each other."
Tenzin just kept shaking his head; he was barely listening to what Korra said. And even the most cursory of glances at the rest of the elders in the room told her that they were in agreement with him.
"No, Korra. I wish there was another way, but—"
"Wait," Korra said. "If you can't stay here, then I'll go back to Republic City with you! It's perfect—right?"
"Absolutely not," the White Lotus leader said suddenly. He had known Korra since she had been officially discovered as the Avatar, all those years ago, and in that time he had neither aged a day nor allowed for anyone to come to know his name. "The city is far too dangerous! Avatar Aang told us to keep his next life safe, here in the South Pole, while she mastered the four elements."
"So you've kept me locked up here, like a prisoner, and you'll keep me locked up here so that I can't master all the four elements," Korra said, frustrated. She slumped over in her seat and angrily looked away from everyone present.
"I bet the city isn't even that dangerous."
That comment made another wave of silence roll through the room. But this wasn't a tense, uncomfortable silence—this was an amused silence, and the condescension with which everyone fixed her—even Tenzin—even Katara!—was impossible to bear.
"The city," Tenzin said slowly, "is very dangerous; more so now than ever before. There are gangs," he said. "Gangs who start fires when shopkeepers can't afford to pay exorbitant fees for 'protection'. There are muggers who will beat up women to steal pennies—and there are drug addicts who'll cut your arms off to have a meal.
"There are corrupt police," he said. "Some will demand bribes just to leave you alone or do their jobs; others have ties to gangs and worse. Some won't hesitate to sell a lone child into slavery for life—and then there are the Followers of the Black God. I don't hesitate to say that you'd be better off, Korra, being sold into slavery than captured by those fanatics."
Korra was silent for a moment. Tenzin thought that she was shocked—and understandably so—by his explicit warnings—but he couldn't have expected what she said next.
"Followers… of the Black God?" Korra asked. "Who are they… and what is the Black God?"
Tenzin glanced, briefly, first at his mother and then at the leader of the White Lotus. The former nodded and the latter did as well, albeit much more hesitantly, as if he was saying to himself, "She'll find out sooner or later anyway."
Tenzin paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts, and then he started to explain to Korra the nature of the most dangerous force the world had had to contend with since the end of the Hundred Year War.
"They appeared perhaps twenty years ago," Tenzin said, "but at that time, they were more of a legend than anything else. Since then, we believed that they went from being street gangs, or vigilante groups, to being… a single, organized, unified force."
"A vigilante group?" Korra asked.
Tenzin nodded.
"The community they hail from is… disliked in Republic City," he said. "Before the Followers of the Black God emerged, they would be attacked constantly. There were stabbings, arsons, attacks by benders and more. And the police didn't do anything about it, of course," Tenzin said. "In many cases, the police covered up for the crimes… or participated in them themselves. I begged for the council to do something, but in those days, I was still a young man—barely older than you are now. They didn't take me seriously, and for that reason, the CIB never did anything serious about the whole issue.
"And then, they started to fight back," Tenzin said. "They stopped running and hiding, and they started to fight back. They traveled the streets in groups, and any initiation of force was met with resistance. If one of their homes were burned, they 'd riot—in massive groups—and chant to the glory of the Black God.
"This was when the CIB acted," Katara cut in. "They worked with the Metalbending Police to crush the rebellion. Many people from that community were killed—mostly young people—and as a result, the rioting stopped, and crimes against them were dealt with a bit more seriously."
"Not for long, though," Tenzin said. "Within just a few years, the police started to ignore crimes again. At this time, the economy was bad, so the people from their community were blamed, and soon, buildings were being burned and people were being assaulted and stabbed again.
"This time, they knew not to riot," Tenzin said. "They knew not to rebel openly. But they couldn't tolerate crime like this—it was making life unbearable. And, so, when the next generation started to come of age, they… well, we're not sure, exactly, but we believe they started to form gangs, small groups of friends who were tired of taking things lying down. We think that these groups started to fight back."
Katara nodded at this point, as if Tenzin had hit the nail on the head as far as she was concerned.
"They acted as vigilantes," he said. "They attacked corrupt police, gangs, and triads. They also attacked common citizens who acted against them, as well as their friends, associates, and property. And, so, the Metalbending Police started to crack down on them again.
"They were gone within a few years, for the most part," Tenzin said. "But recently, we've seen things that have led us to believe that the Followers of the Black God are back—and this time, they're here to stay.
"Now, they kill people," Tenzin said gravely. "In the past, they'd beat people and set things on fire, but now, they kill people. They torture people—just after I left Republic City, a missing police chief turned up dead, with handprints burned into his face. The Mark of the Black God," he explained.
"There have been other things… rumors, mostly—but we believe that they're a lot more serious now, and that they're more than a vigilante group. We don't know what they are, but we do know that they're not just angry kids or thugs looking for organization anymore. They move as if with direction, and these days, they don't get caught anymore. They just… appear out of thin air, do their work, and then vanish back into their communities."
"But wait," Korra said. "So, they started out as a vigilante group, or movement, or something—but why did they call themselves 'Followers of the Black God'? What is the Black God?"
"Death," Tenzin said simply. "The Black God is a euphemism for death, and the main deity in their religion. Apart from that, they inspired fear by calling themselves 'Followers of Death', and it gave them a chance to practice their own religion without fear."
Korra looked at Tenzin quizzically when he said that.
"In those years," he began slowly, "the CIB had a few… controversial programs to try to assimilate that community into the rest of Republic City. None of them worked, so a few emergency provisions were passed which… made it effectively illegal to practice or preach their religion."
Korra stared. She opened her mouth to say something, but Tenzin spoke first.
"I'm ashamed that I didn't stand up to the Council more," he said, "but as I said, they didn't take me seriously back then, and besides, I had no experience with those people. The chairman of the Council did, though. He understood them, and that was why he had the Council and the government dancing to his tune until just a few years ago."
"How did he understand them?" Korra asked. "And—who exactly are these people?"
"Sarrakans," Tenzin said. "That's what they call themselves. They hail from the North Pole, and so does the chairman of the Council."
"So, they're part of the Northern Water Tribe?" Korra asked. "They're waterbenders?"
Tenzin shook his head. "No," he said, "not at all. None of their people are benders of any kind, and they're certainly not associated with the Northern Water Tribe. They're nomads—that's their lifestyle—and for centuries they've wandered around the North Pole, and parts of the northern Earth Kingdom. They lived near the Northern Air Temple too, and years ago, they also lived near the Western Air Temple."
"But not anymore?" Korra asked. "Why?"
"At the beginning of the Hundred Year War, Sozin had them wiped out," Tenzin answered. "… With Flame Dawn."
Korra gasped when she heard that. Flame Dawn soldiers made up the elite, fanatic groups that guarded the Fire Lord's life. They were also responsible for the worst massacres of the war, from the extermination of the Airbenders to several smaller atrocities committed in the Earth Kingdom over the years. If they were responsible for destroying the "Sarrakans" who lived near the Western Air Temple… then it was very likely that not even a shred of their culture remained.
"So… why don't people in Republic City like Sarrakans?" she asked. "And if the chairman of the council's from the North Pole, just like them, then… why does he hate them so much?"
"Sarrakans have been hated by the Northern Water Tribe as long as they've been around," Tenzin said. "They look different, they have a different culture and religion, and there aren't any benders among them. They're nomadic, so, at times, they probably trespassed onto Northern Water Tribe land, but make no mistake, Korra—there is no sense in the way your northern cousins treat Sarrakans. They barely see them as human beings. For millennia, the Northern Water Tribe has brutalized them—they've waged endless war on them, they've killed them for sport, they've taken them as slaves and worse.
"And they weren't well off in Fire Nation, either," Tenzin said, "but at least there, they had some legal rights and weren't treated all that terribly, not until the start of the Hundred Year War. Some of their culture permeated into Fire Nation culture—at least, to a degree. The Western Air Temple, for example, was built by Sarrakans, and there are many famous buildings in the area that were designed and built by Sarrakans. Even today, those with a drop of Sarrakan blood in their veins find themselves drawn to architecture and other arts—producing clothing, armor, pottery, textiles, furniture, and more.
"Some of them were allowed to marry into the Fire Nation," Tenzin said, "although they had to drop their religion and cultural identity in order to do that. But they taught the Fire Nation many things—their martial art was specifically created to block chi, and was perfected over time thanks to constant battles with the Northern Water Tribe, unfriendly Fire Nation locals, and warring Earth Kingdom hordes. They also taught the Fire Nation archery and the use of blades—the legendary Yuyan Archers, for example, borrow directly from Sarrakan technique, and in many cases are half or more Sarrakan themselves. They're truly an amazing people," Tenzin said, to nods from all present.
"But then why do people in Republic City hate them?" Korra asked. "I mean, the Northern Water Tribe, I can understand, because they've hated them for years—but why do Earth Kingdom people hate them, or Fire Nation people? And what about the people of the United Republic of Nations—people who are Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation? Why do they hate Sarrakans?"
"People of the Fire Nation seem mostly apathetic about Sarrakans," Tenzin shrugged. "The same is true for those who identify as Fire Nation, even if they're of mixed heritage, because they live to the west of Republic City. People of the Earth Kingdom and the Northern Water Tribe tend to live to the east of Republic City. So, over time, it seems that the city just learned to hate Sarrakans from the Northern Water Tribe members who came to live there.
"And why not?" Tenzin asked. "These are non-benders with a different culture and a completely different religion. They look different, they have their own language, and they don't like to assimilate or mix with others. They have different beliefs and since they were poor when they came to the city, some of them probably turned to crime."
For a moment, there was silence. No one was finished eating and over the past several moments, the food had gotten cold, but just then, no one cared. No one was really hungry.
"So you see, Avatar Korra, that Republic City really is too dangerous," the leader of the White Lotus said. "You're not fully trained yet, and you're not prepared to deal with the situation there at all. Tenzin must return to Republic City," he said, "but for your own safety, you have to stay here, where it's safe."
"B-but the Avatar isn't supposed to be safe," Korra protested. "Look, I understand how dangerous Republic City is, but this whole situation is the kind of thing I'm supposed to solve. I'm the Avatar—I'm supposed to bring balance to the world, not hide from it!"
For a moment, Korra tried to make eye contact with each of the room's occupants. She succeeded in Katara's case, but in the rest, she was unsuccessful.
"I'm sorry, Korra," Tenzin said. "Until we have control of the situation again, you'll have to stay here."
"You've had years to try to get control of the situation, and look at what's happened," Korra wanted to say. Tenzin and the United Republic Council had failed, but he didn't seem to accept that—or that, possibly, Korra could help. Now, he wasn't even looking at her.
"I'll spend the night here," Tenzin said, "but we'll have to leave tomorrow morning and make for Republic City at top speed. If I'm lucky, I can get there in two days… before the situation can become even worse."
Korra heard these words—just barely, though. Before Tenzin was halfway through speaking, she was on her feet and walking away, and just after he finished speaking, she was out the door.
Korra went to sleep early that night, and as a result, she got up early the next morning. Generally, she was eager to greet each new day with an hour or so of calisthenics to warm her up, but that day, she found herself grumpy and lethargic.
And she knew why.
Still, she was able to do a few laps around the testing arena, although she wasn't at her best by a long shot. Even a few sets of firebending katas later didn't see her much more motivated, so she just went off to sit with Naga.
It wasn't long before she saw Tenzin and his family rise into the air, leaving the South Pole… without her.
He hadn't come to say goodbye, but it was just as well. She doubted she'd have it in her to receive him.
Korra looked to the side, rather angrily. Her posture was poor—and it was never poor—as she glared holes into the frigid ground all around her.
"Huh," she grunted. "Tenzin… I guess it was impossible for me to go with them, anyway. I'm sure Oogi's strong, but I doubt he could take you all the way to Republic City, girl."
That comment made her feel a bit better, if only for a moment. Because a moment later, she was looking around the small enclosure where Naga was kept. She'd never thought of it before, but now, she saw it for what it was: a cage.
And then she looked around at her own home.
Massive walls, dozens of Order of the White Lotus guards, telegraph lines to numerous locations all over the world, secret exits, enough heavy weapons to hold off a sustained invasion…
Comfort, warmth, food, and state-of-the-art facilities built specifically to train her…
The greatest, wisest men and women alive…
It was all a bad joke, though. It was a cage. Korra was as imprisoned as Naga was; though she was able to visit her parents most evenings and on some weekends, she was a prisoner in her own right. She could never escape the gaze of the White Lotus, and although she was grateful for their willingness to go to war to protect her, it diminished her own freedom as a person.
Now that she realized it, she realized that she hated it.
She had to leave. She had to go somewhere—even if she couldn't get to Republic City immediately, she had to go. She was seventeen years old, and she'd never seen more than the several dozen square kilometers of frigid emptiness that surrounded her home and her parents' tribal grounds. She was the Avatar, and unless she wanted to be the most provincial Avatar to have ever lived, she had to see something different from what she had seen every day of her life until then.
She stood up.
A group of White Lotus sentries passed by—so, they were monitoring her thoughts somehow and were coming to restrain her—
No, that wasn't it. They just passed her by, giving her a wave, before continuing to talk to one another about the news for that day.
A ship had come to port, a trade ship. It brought wares to sell, and once its wares were sold, it bought coats, clothes, jewelry, and other such things from the Southern Water Tribe.
These trinkets, after all, fetched a hefty price… in Republic City.
She spent the rest of the day preparing. She packed her clothes and the few other positions she might need for the journey, and then she snuck into the kitchen area to pinch a few boxes of prepared meals.
After that, she spent a few hours training so that people could see her and tell themselves that she'd gotten over the disappointment of the previous night, and that she wasn't up to anything unusual.
Then, she started to scope the trade ship out.
Security was tight, as always, and that meant that her job would be difficult. There were White Lotus guards all over the docks, and Korra knew from a lifetime of experience that they were quick, sharp, and impossible to just sneak past.
Apart from that, she didn't exactly have a good view from where she was, on a high turret at the external wall of the compound built to train her. The ship was far away and although she had the eyes of a hawk in good conditions, it was starting to snow, so visibility was going down.
Worse yet, she couldn't just stand and stare for very long, or else—
"Something on your mind, Korra?"
"What—I—no—just—oh…"
It was Jon Li. He had climbed up a nearby guard tower and approached Korra silently, getting to within a few yards of her without arousing her suspicion.
And now he was looking at her like the cat that ate the canary.
Korra felt herself flush. She willed her expression to become stern, and crossed her arms.
"What?" she demanded.
"So, you're thinking of stowing away, are you?" Jon Li asked.
Korra tried not to react to that, but she was sure that she had. Her eyes had widened, or something, because now Jon Li was grinning and shaking his head at her as if she was a naughty child.
"No, I wasn't, I—"
"Oh, come on, Korra. I saw how you were looking at that ship," he said. "You were scoping it out. You're going to try to hitch a ride to Republic City."
At this point, there really was no use in denying anything, so Korra just turned away from Jon Li and leaned over, resting on the turret wall. She looked at… nothing, really, or in another sense, she looked at everything—the whole, huge, wild world that she would apparently never see.
"Not to Republic City," Korra said. "Even if that ship was going to the middle of nowhere, I'd take it. I'm… sick of being here, Jon, I… training is fun and everything, and so is learning history and all that, but… I'm the Avatar. I'm supposed to master all four of the elements, and I'm supposed to bring balance to the world. How can I do that, when the only lifestyle I've ever known is the Southern Water Tribe's? How can I deal with Sarrakans, who are completely different from me, if I've never even had to deal with a firebender or an earthbender?"
She turned to face him again.
"You get to go back to the Fire Nation every so often, right? Well… I don't get to go anywhere, ever," she said glumly. "It looks like if the White Lotus has its way, I'll live, grow old and die, right here in this compound."
Jon Li looked down at Korra for a long, long time. She didn't meet his eyes—she just looked into the only home she'd ever known. She was familiar with it; she knew every corridor and passageway, but it looked like she'd get much, much more familiar with it in the future, because she would never, ever leave.
He stepped a little closer to Korra and spoke so quietly that she barely heard him.
"Meet me behind your apartment an hour after dusk tonight," he said. "Bring Naga and your supplies."
He walked away before she had a chance to stop him. She watched him leave for a moment, and then she nodded twice and went back down to ground level before a less friendly member of the Order of the White Lotus could notice her.
"Thanks for helping me move this crate, Masuto. It would've taken me forever to drag it out to the ship."
"No problem, but—oof!—it weighs a ton! Any idea what's in it?"
"Nah, you know how it is. 'Do this, do that, move this, move that, but don't ask any questions!'"
"Too true, man."
Jon Li was a man of the Fire Nation, and a rather skilled firebender, in fact. Such skills were quite useful in the brutal winters that froze the South Pole solid for months at a time, but on the other hand, if he wanted to move something or lift something, he had no advantage over a non-bender.
Masuto, on the other hand, was a colleague and a fellow member of the Order of the White Lotus. He was from Omashu—a distant relative of the legendary King Bumi, in fact—and his earthbending skills were respected throughout the South Pole.
Moving a crate—no matter how heavy it was—was just another day at the office for him. And he certainly had no problems whatsoever with helping his friend, Jon Li, from time to time.
So they made their way out of the compound and toward the nearby Southern Water Tribe village. It took about an hour to walk those few miles, but eventually, they found themselves at the port.
And then they loaded the crate onto the ship, after explaining to the captain that it was addressed to Tenzin and was not to be opened or tampered with until it got there.
After that, Masuto started to go back to the compound. He waited, though, as Jon Li went back into the ship to make sure that the crate was secure, though.
"Psst, Korra—it's me, Jon Li."
She could hear him through the crate wall, if barely, and spoke quietly so that he too could only just hear her.
"Are we onboard?" she murmured. "Ooft—Naga, stop squashing me, girl!"
"Yes," Jon Li hissed. "You're onboard, and the ship will depart in the next couple minutes. Give it a few hours before you get out of the crate… you're in the hold, so no one will come to check until you dock at Republic City."
"Perfect! Thanks, Jon Li," Korra said, perhaps a little too loudly.
"Ssssh," he whispered. "By the way… when you get to Republic City, you snuck onboard by yourself, and I didn't have anything to do with it. If you tell them I helped you… well, we'll probably never see each other again anyway, but if you tell them, I guarantee we'll never see each other again."
He let that sink in for a moment.
"Good luck to you, Avatar Korra. I'll… see you around, alright?"
Korra could do nothing more than nod. She wished she could say goodbye to Jon Li properly, or perhaps give him a friendly hug in farewell, or perhaps even something else.
This was not to be, though. Jon Li left—she heard his footsteps as they trailed away, off the boat—and then, not ten minutes later, she felt the ship get under way.
After some time, Korra drifted to sleep, using Naga for both comfort and warmth. When she woke up, she'd be halfway to Republic City, the rest of her life, the Sarrakans, and, possibly, the Followers of the Black God.
(I have to say that I am surprised by what a lack of reception this story has gotten. There have been very few hits so far and no useful reviews, so my motivation to focus on this has dropped a lot. Let's see if this chapter will turn things around.)
