a/n:
Prompts: (word) momentous (1 point), (genre) Adventure (2 points), (character) Ty Lee (3 points). Round element: Spirit
word count: 2734
Told from Desna's perspective.
Also, I totally think Eska and Desna and perhaps even their father were mildly autistic. Throughout the show, they all seemed to have difficulty in social relations despite being intelligent and extremely gifted benders. So the thoughts in here will be a bit abnormal. Also, some things may or may not be inspired by The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time and A Catcher in the Rye.
The Satomobile swerved haphazardly off the road as if it were possessed, with thick white steam pouring out of the front. Desna dug his foot into the brakes, but their car only plowed through the lumpy snowdrifts more violently while the engine began to emit an unsettling vibrations, jostling the seats unpleasantly. Desna glanced at his sister and nodded to her with slight urgency.
Get out of the car.
Right as the two of them dove out of the doors on either side, the hood of the Satomobile flew off as a blossom of fire and gas roared out of the engine. A dark purple spirit tumbled out of the flames, and wove around in the heat for a moment before disappearing into the ground when the fire licked dangerously high. They were leaping towards Eska now! With a swish of his arms, the surrounding snow launched his sister in the air, away from the conflagration. He felt Eska using the water to protect him as well.
The two of them drifted to the ground a few yards away, and Desna wrinkled his nose at the unpalatable scent of burning oil and smoke. Waves of heat still billowed off the smouldering skeleton of their satomobile, melting the surrounding snow into sooty puddles, which froze back into noxious black ice in the frosty air.
His sister took one dispassionate glance towards the blazing mess before exuding a small sigh. She trudged back towards the road. Desna was almost reluctant to leave the warmth of their burning car, but followed suite anyways. He thought about the momentous implications of having their only mode of transportation blown to bits, many miles away from the capital with no communication and daylight fading from the sky. Then, he decided he'd rather let his mind fall into a state of comfortable blankness as he trailed after his sister back to the road.
Desna stood perfectly still, head bowed slightly downwards, and allowed the frigid arctic air to permeate his fleecy robes. He felt a detached listlessness which stemmed from his unwillingness to contemplate the fact that they were stranded in the middle of the dangerous tundra with night approaching fast. To his right, Eska stood with identical posture, and if possible, looked even more apathetic than he did. But Desna could tell she was thinking.
In the distance, brilliant energy lit up the sky from the spirit portal, shrouded by an ancient, gnarled thicket.
Desna disdained it.
He'd been wary of the spirits ever since Father had brought them into the spirit world during Harmonic Convergence and severely injured him. Spirits were fickle creatures and represented inconsistency, something which Desna and his sister disliked immensely. Hadn't a spirit also ruined a snowmobile's engine when he and his sister accompanied cousin Korra to open the Southern Spirit Portal? They'd been with Eska's former fiancee, (Bolin, the most boorish rube he'd ever met.) who Desna'd felt obligated to help rescue at the time. His sister was absolutely infatuated with the boy, and Desna had to follow along to make sure she didn't do anything exorbitantly rash. Right now, he despised the other boy immensely for causing his sister anguish.
Desna glanced over, watching with mild annoyance at how the Northern Lights painted sparkling colors on the glazed snow, which was turning blue in the approaching dusk. He lost track of time, watching those irritating, pretty lights. Suddenly, a low hum sounded in the distance. Desna and his sister squinted at it hostilely, wary of another spirit attack. But as the shape grew closer, Desna could see that it was actually a car. It slowed down next to where he and Eska were standing, and the two surreptitiously tensed up, ready to defend themselves at a moment's notice.
The window of the blue Satomobile rolled down, and revealed the face of...
Their cousin?
"What are you doing out here?" asked Korra from within the unlit depths of the driver's seat.
"We were attacked by a spirit." said Eska blandly.
"That was hours ago." said Desna, flicking his eye towards Eska before turning back to his cousin, "You are the first people we've seen driving by since."
Cousin Korra was staring at the two of them expectantly, and Desna frowned. She must've been waiting for him to ask for help. He disliked requesting favors from anyone other than Eska, but he had to be pragmatic. They would most likely freeze if they didn't get back to the City, or into the Spirit world.
"Cousin, do you think we could hitch a ride with you?" he queried.
"Umm…" Korra looked at two other girls in the car. They seemed dubious.
"I can't just leave them out here." said cousin, with what seemed like guilt.
Desna felt his twin narrow her eyes imperceptibly at his side. She disliked it when people referred to them in third person. Or perhaps she simply resented the current company for no reason.
"Okay." said one of the two other girls in the car. Desna studied her closely. He could've sworn he saw her picture somewhere...
"We have room for two more!" said the third girl from the backseat. This person Desna recognized: the illustrious Asami Sato, CEO of Future industries. He and Eska had met the older girl at one of the many tedious meetings that they were required to attend as Chiefs of the Tribe.
Desna opened the car door for his sister and climbed in after her. He felt mildly claustrophobic with the unfamiliar surroundings, but not so much so that he forgot to follow socially acceptable behavior.
"Thank you for your kindness, Avatar Korra." he said politely, despite not feeling particularly thankful.
"Yes, thank you." Eska added with imperceptible insincerity.
But her cousin and everyone else seemed to buy it, if their more-than-lukewarm expressions were anything to go by.
"Thank Asami, it's her satomobile." said his cousin flippantly as they took off.
Desna and his sister attempted to make no small talk, which, to his amusement, made the other girls fidgety. Eska sat uncomfortably at his side, trying not to engage in any physical contact with the Sato girl.
Up ahead, a pillar of yellow light shot through the sky from the Northern Spirit portal. Desna watched the bleak landscape streak past as his cousin slammed her foot on the gas. He was mildly uncomfortable with the speed, so he started to play with the cuffs of his sleeves, an odd habit he developed whenever he was in an undesirable environment. The creases in the cuffs bothered him more when he felt tense, and it was oddly soothing to straighten them. He let his mind drift, barely noticing their destination.
An hour later he became aware that the Satomobile had stopped.
Desna stepped out and noticed that they were parked in the woods surrounding the spirit portal.
"What are we doing here?" Eska asked, almost plaintively, as she grudgingly stepped into the snow.
Desna sighed. He didn't want to be here either, but he supposed the spirit world was better than the cold.
Hmm. His sister seemed to be in a rather sour mood presently. Perhaps he should say something diplomatic so the other girls wouldn't assume Eska was a fractious snob.
"Sister, we must not question cousin Korra. She is the Avatar. She knows what she's doing." he said in one long breath. Eska nodded at him with a slightly peeved expression. Desna quirked the corner of his mouth up a hair before turning back to his cousin and asking, "What official Avatar business brings us to the Spirit Portal?" in his characteristically flat tone.
"Actually...It's official road trip business!" replied his cousin with a sickeningly high level of enthusiasm. She wrapped her arms around the other two girls and said, "Us girls needed a weekend away from the guys so here we are!"
Desna sniffed. His idea of a relaxing weekend involved a rigorous sparring match with his sister in the coldest, iciest part of the North Pole. Not a road trip to visit an intangible world full of the most temperamental creatures in existence.
"Opal and I have never been here before and really wanted to see what it's like!" said the Sato girl, squirming out from under Korra's arm. Desna couldn't blame her. He could never understand how anyone could possibly be comfortable engaging in physical contact with other people. He only felt comfortable in contact with his mother and sister.
They took a few steps towards the portal.
"This is already so amazing!" The nonbender squealed dramatically, gazing at the portal with an enraptured expression nauseatingly similar to Father. In the months preceding Harmonic Convergence, Father looked at spirits with disturbing intensity, with more interest than he'd ever looked at Desna, his sister, or their mother. It was unnerving to see the same lauding expression replicated on another person's face.
Eska scowled at the Sato girl.
"Pathetic commoner." she muttered with faux gruffness. Desna gently poked her in the ribs with an elbow. She seemed to be affected by the memories of father more than him even. Desna frowned. Anything relevant to spirits at all seemed to remind them of father. It was quite irritating, and he still felt residual anger at how father chose the spirits over his family.
Desna turned his head. His cousin looked distinctly uncomfortable.
"Ooookay…" Korra clapped her hands together in a blatant attempt to change the subject, "Who's ready to see the other side of this portal?"
"It seems intriguing." said Desna, mostly to humor her.
He and his sister followed behind as they entered the beam of raw, golden energy. His sight was temporarily obscured by blinding light, then the familiar, hated image of the Tree of Time melted into his sight. Desna crossed his arms. This place brought back dozens of unwelcome recollections. He didn't want to stay here. He looked at the surrounding spirit forests longingly. It would be so nice to lose himself in them...
"This is so cool!" gasped the Sato girl.
"You guys can look around, but don't go too far and remember that you can't bend here." said his bossy cousin.
Desna rolled his eyes. She was wrong, of course. They could bend, but he didn't bother to correct her. His primary concern was to get away from the spirit portals and the rocky, swirling land surrounding it. This was where father lost his soul. Desna cringed inside thinking about it. As he hurried off, he heard his cousin mention something about meeting back at the portals in two hours, which he tucked into the back of his head.
He concentrated on keeping his mind and emotions perfectly flat as he looked at the fantastic, vivid, organisms all around. Everything felt alive here, even the earth and air. He wandered further and further away, guided on by the push and pull of the spirit world.
It wasn't until two hours later that he realized something was wrong. Something was terribly, terribly wrong.
Where's Eska!?
He never went anywhere without her! Where is she? She was supposed to be with him. She was supposed to stay with him all the time. He felt the oncoming tinges of panic clouding his brain.
Oh, and he was lost too. But that was inconsequential compared to the fact that his twin was not around.
"Eska?" he called out in an uncharacteristic show of emotion.
She probably couldn't hear him, and he needed someone to help find her...
"Korra?" he shouted, wishing that his cousin's powers included supersonic hearing, "Where are you guys?
"Korra? As in Avatar Korra?" asked a startlingly bright voice, like the pealing of tiny silver bells.
Desna's head snapped up and he tripped over the hem of his robe in consternation as a rosy blur flipped off a nearby tree branch. It turned out to be a girl, clad in luridly bright pink. A small hand was extended to help him to his feet. He glared at it hostilely.
"Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!"
"Who are you?" he snapped, ignoring the helping hand as he heaved himself up.
"I'm Ty Lee." the pink spirit-girl answered, picking a blade of grass off of his shoulder. Desna shied away uncomfortably.
Why is the girl engaging in physical contact with my shoulder?
"I didn't mean to scare you..." said the girl again, "I'm sorry."
"You didn't scare me." Desna scowled. He wasn't scared of anything. He wasn't scared of the spirit world. He wasn't scared that his sister wasn't around.
Or maybe he was a little.
"Do you know where Korra is?" he asked gruffly.
The girl laughed an unpleasantly tinkling silver laugh again. "Don't you? I mean she is your cousin isn't she?
Desna glared at her, feeling distinctly unsettled. He disliked when strangers knew things about him. He wanted to leave the presence of this charming, pink spirit-girl. But he needed help.
"Do you know or not?" He demanded.
The girl nodded, an annoyingly ingenuous, cute smile playing on her lips as she executed a perfect front flip to lead the way.
"Follow me." she said without looking back. Then, she sauntered off with an irritating sway in her step.
Desna frowned slightly. This pink girl was the complete antithesis of Eska. Was she a creation of the spirit world to unsettle him? She acted exactly like the tiresome daughters of nobles who tried to buy his affection with painted smiles and fluttering eyelashes. But Eska was usually around to drive them off. Sadly, not this time. He stared at the girl's long braid, which swished back and forth like a pendulum.
"Excuse me," he said, "But you seem awfully young and judging by the way you're dressed, you haven't seen the outside of the Spirit World for a while. How did you get here?
"That's between me and the person that put me here." answered the pink girl playfully. Desna wrinkled his nose. Somebody else put her here from the physical world? So she was a fellow human being?
At least she was a human. For that, Desna was grateful. He didn't think his pride would survive if he started groveling for the spirits' help like father did.
He followed behind the spirit-girl with his head down, intently watching how his boots poked in and out from under his robes as he walked. He attempted to maintain absolute silence, listening intently for any sign of his sister.
Then, he heard a faint echoing shout of "Desna!" echoing all around.
"Eska?" he called back, filled with relief. Good. His sister was around. All was right again. He looked over and saw her and the others standing on a hilltop some distance away. He began to take a step, but the spirit world seemed to sense his desired destination and automatically transported him. The landscape streaked past as he zoomed forwards.
"There you are!" Eska yelled, stomping over, "Where did you go?" She demanded, snatching the front of his robes. Residual panic was still present in her colorless irises.
"You know, I really don't know." he replied, almost apologetically, turning around to point at the pink spirit-girl, "I got lost but then she helped me find my way."
But his fingertip met only empty air. Desna huffed petulantly. It was quite ill-mannered for that spirit girl to just up and leave so unceremoniously.
"I don't see anyone." said Sato, raising a slightly suspicious eyebrow at him
"There was a girl." he insisted, "Her name was Ty Lee...she helped me find you."
He only received dubious looks. Even Eska seemed disbelieving, although that might've been caused by her anger. She was often very petty and illogical when she was angered.
"He could be telling the truth. The Spirit World is a strange place." said his cousin, "I think it's time to go now anyway. We need to leave now in order to drop Eska and Desna off and make it home in time for my training session Monday morning."
And the group turned away, leaving him and his sister to trail behind.
Before exiting, the twins turned in tandem to look at the rocky plain one last time. Then, they turned and exchanged a tacit agreement with each other...and left. Desna and his sister felt so done with spirits. Even though the journey into the spirit world this time wasn't particularly traumatic, he still didn't want to associate with them ever again.
Together, they stepped back into the physical plane and braced themselves for a very awkward car ride home.
a/n: Have I ever mentioned how much I love awkward things? Also, I think Eska and Desna are very attached to each other. (NOT romantically. Blech.)
btw, that part about the creasy sleeves came from Korra s3e3, during P'li's breakout, when Eska and Desna discover that there was a secret prison at the North Pole. Desna said "I'd like to put my tailor in here. He never gets my cuffs right. They're so...creasy. "