Chapter: 5

"What part of in shock did you not get Sokka?" Katala asked irately. "I'm sorry, how was I supposed to know they would be overwhelmed by my awesomeness."

"It doesn't matter." Azulon said stepping between the two. "We need to leave before something worse than Bright Eyes shows up." "Azulon is right." Ty Lin said as she turned to the orange air bender. "Aang you should call Lala." "I'm already on it." Aang replied as he pulled out a bison shaped whistle. "And how many times do I have to tell you, his name is Lahima, not Lala".

A loud groan cut of anything Ty Lin was about to say, as said sky bison arrived. As Azulon, and Sokka grabbed Korra, and Asami; everyone else climbed aboard. With Aang at the reigns the bison took off into the sky, heading west.


"Oh man did you guys see the look on Bright Eyes face when I tackled him?' green asked as she sat back in the saddle. "Yeah it was priceless, and the stone gauntlets were a nice touch Toph." Purple replied as he sat next to her. "Well Bright eyes didn't seem to like it much. Toph said with an obvious grin on her masked face. Good call with thing three by the way snoozles."

"You know Sokka for a mad genius your rather unimaginative when it comes to naming your plans." Ty Lin said from across the saddle.

"Hey if something works don't fix it, and besides naming things is more dads thing." Sokka replied crossing his arms."You know you were pretty good out there too Ty Lin, two birds with one stone." Toph complimented the pink clad metal bender. "Thanks, but it was all Aangs idea." "Really, way to go twinkle toes".

"Really it was nothing guys." Aang said from the helm. "It wasn't nothing Aang. It was a great plan, with a cool name, and a flawless execution if I do say so myself." Ty Lin remarked. From her tone alone, anyone could tell the girl was wearing her signature big smile beneath her mask. Aang just nodded at the praise; glad that his mask hid the blush on his face.

While those four were going over the highlights of yet another successful mission; Azulon was watching Katala tend to the unconscious civilians at the back of the saddle.

"So what's the diagnosis doc?" Azulon asked. She chuckled lightly at the fire benders attempt at humor. "Well the dark haired one has a pretty good bump on her head. Aside from a headache she should be fine, but she will be out for quite a while. They've both had an exhausting, and traumatic day. Nothing some rest, and a safe haven wouldn't cure." Katala answered as she sat back next to Azulon.

"Are you okay Katala?" Azulon asked a little more quietly. Lahima was big even by sky bison standards. Due to this there was enough space between the front, and back of the saddle to afford them some semblance of privacy.

"What of course I'm fine. Why would you think otherwise?"

"Well for one thing you actually laughed at my joke." "So"? "So whenever I make a joke you smile. Now we both know according to Sokka I don't have a single funny bone in my body; so if your laughing then that means something is bothering you. Now what's got you on edge?"

"Ok it's the water tribe girl." Katala said as she looked over to Korra. "So you see it too?" Azulon asked. "How can I not, if it wasn't for the hair shed look just like her. I know the chances are slim to none, and there have been dozens of imposters, but this one feels different."

"Well whether it's her, or not; I want to know where they came from, and why they were in the ruins. Flameo they were practically right next to the portal." "You're right, to get that close to a spirit portal one would have to be dumb, suicidal, or us to get anywhere near one."

"What really strange is those spirits were trying to take them alive." Azulon said seriously. "They were what?" Katala asked as she turned to focus on Azulon. "Six lion dogs had her surrounded, and Bright Eyes had the other by the throat. Now you, and I have both done this long enough to know these two should be dead right now." Azulon explained grimly. "What do you think it means?" "I don't know, but hopefully we'll get some answers once we get back to cauldera." He finished.

"Hey what are you guys talking about back there?" Toph asked. "Yeah you two care to share with the rest of the class?" Sokka added. Seeing that the civilians were fine, and what little privacy they had was gone; they moved forward to join the team.

"It's nothing, we were just wondering where theses two came from, and what they were doing all the way out here." Katala answered.

"My guess is they are from Ba Sing Se. Nobody has left the fire nation recently except the air bender envoys, and even the have been grounded recently." Ty Lin said. "As for why they were out there, id say they are either stupid, or suicidal." Toph added crossing her arms.

"Oh by the way Azulon who gave us this one?" Sokka asked. "This one came from the grand lotus." He answered. "The red, or the white?" Ty Lin asked. "Both".

That got every ones attention. "Both, what do you mean both?" Aang asked as he looked back at the group. "I mean the grand lotus came to me, gave me the mission, and location. They told me to get you guys, and leave as soon as possible. Time was of the essence they said." Azulon explained. Normally they received missions from one grand lotus, or the other, never both.

"Man no wonder you had us rushing. I didn't even have time to tell my parents." Sokka said as he leaned back, and used his crossed arms as a pillow. "Yeah me neither. I'm glad Ty Lin let mom, and dad know where we were going." Azulon sighed.

That little bit of information got Ty Lin's attention. "What do you mean I told them, I thought you told them." Azulon's head quickly turned to look at his little sister. "Well that's not good. Any chance you guys told your parents?" Azulon asked hopefully. Katala, Toph, and Aang shook their heads no. "I didn't even have time to grab my fans." Toph said.

"Oh man this is bad." Ty Lin said ringing her gloved hands in nervousness. "Come on guys what's the big deal?" Sokka asked. "Dude our mom is going to gut your dad like an elephant koi." Ty Lin answered getting edgier by the second.

"Ha ha ha, good one you guys." Sokka laughed. He looked around at the masked faces of his friends. Everyone was silent, even Lahima seemed to know they weren't joking. "Oh Raava you guys are serious! I always thought that was a joke!" "How often do you seem my mom make a joke?" Azulon asked Sokka as the young man began to panic.

"Aang get this hairball moving!" Sokka yelled as he scrambled up next to said air bender. "Don't worry Sokka we just passed Azulon's Gates, we'll be there in an hour." Ty Lin said as she followed; trying to calm him down.

"Do you think we'll make it home in time?" Toph asked as she watched her friends argue about the top speed of a sky bison. "For the funeral, of course we will." Azulon dead panned. "What He means Toph is that the sooner we get home the better." Katala said as she elbowed Azulon, who only chuckled as he rubbed his ribs.


A short while later Korra finale regained consciousness. "Damn when did I drink cactus juice?" she asked as she sat up rubbing her head. Too her left she could see Asami still asleep. As she looked up, she realized two things. They were currently flying on a sky bison, judging by the large leather saddle. The other thing was that they were sharing the saddle with six oddly colored equalists. "Damn, and I was hoping it was all, because of cactus juice." Korra muttered under her breath.

The equalists were seated around the front of the saddle. From left to right it was blue, red, pink, purple, green, and orange was at the helm. The pink one was the first to notice that she was awake. "Hey sleepy head welcome back." She said brightly.

Already weary of her rescuers Korra watched carefully as the blue one slid closer to her. "Take it easy you're safe now. You two were attacked by dark spirits, and you may be in shock." She explained gently. Korra relaxed a little, but not by much.

"Who are you, whats going on, and what the flameo happened to republic city?" Korra asked. Most of the equalists started talking quietly among themselves, while the blue one continued to try to calm her down. The red one was just watched her warily.

Over the years Korra has really grown, and matured. Becoming much more patient than she had been when she first came too republic city. That being said today had been one of the worst days of her life. Vaatu ripped his way out of her, trapped her in the tree of time, and corrupted the spirit world. Then she comes home to find Republic city destroyed, her friends, and family who knows where, she and Asami were attacked by dark spirits, and now she was being ignored by color coated equalists. The considerable patience she had is now gone, and she wanted answers.

"Hey I asked you guys a question, now answer me damn it!" she yelled.

At Korra's outburst the others went silent. "Okay first off when someone saves your life the appropriate response is thank you." The green one said.

"Secondly if anyone is going to be asking questions it will be us." The red one spoke with authority, and a strength that took Korra aback.

"And thirdly' started blue you two have been attacked by spirits, you may be experiencing shock. Now please sit back, calm down, and relax." She ordered with an icy tone that brokered no argument even from the avatar. Even green, purple, orange, pink, and even the bison itself seemed to flinch at the tone.

Korra sat back, and took a deep breath. "Ok I'm sorry we've had a very long day. Thank you for saving us." "Now that's more like it." said green. "Can you at least tell me who you people are, and where we're going?" Korra asked; her patience now restored.

Seeming to relax a little; red spoke. "We can answer that, but anything else will have to wait. Any questions you have will be better answered by the council. My father will have questions for you two as well." Korra nodded in agreement.

"We will be arriving in Cauldera soon. Blue said gently. "As for who we are." Purple began to speak before green covered his masked mouth. "No way Sokka you had your chance." She said. "We are the Power Benders" pink answered happily.

"Hey guys barrier one is coming up." Orange called back. "Thanks for the heads up Aang." Red said. "Barrier? What barrier?" Korra asked as she stood up to look ahead of them. Up ahead Korra could see the large island that housed the fire nation capitol. She could also see a large, transparent, light purple energy dome covering most of the island. "You may want to sit down, and hold on." Green said dryly.

Following her advice Korra sat down, held on, and braced for impact. Too her surprise the impact never came. She opened her eyes, and turned around to now see the light barrier behind them. "What the flameo was that?" Korra asked."The explanation is long, complex, intricate, and a lot more entertaining when Sokka's dad explains it." Pink said.

"Attention ladies, and gentle men. We will now be making our final descent into Cauldera. Please sit back, and keep all arms, and legs inside the saddle at all times. We thank you for flying air Lahima." Orange called out.

Between energy barriers, and Power Benders there is no way this day can get any weirder. Korra thought to herself.


Ok either the universe loved proving her wrong, or she just made it to easy. Korra was starting to think it was the former. As soon as they came in sight of the town along the coast of the island people began to gather in the streets to cheer as they flew by. There were men, and women of all ages, but the majority of the cheering seemed to be coming from children. They were calling out go go Power Benders, and cheering their tiny hearts out in general.

The crowd being there wasn't what was strange though. What was strange was that the crowd wasn't purely fire nation. Since avatar Aang, and fire lord Zuko created the united republic of nations, all four nations had begun mixing more, and more. Even so when one comes to the fire nation capitol, you'd expect most of the citizenry to be of fire nation heritage. The crowd passing beneath was a mix of fire nation, and water tribe. She could even see some flashes of green, and orange in the crowds. When did the fire nation become this integrated. Korra wondered.

Soon they made their way into the volcanic crater that housed the capitol, and came upon the royal palace. As they landed in a large courtyard in front of the palace, Korra could see a group of people gathered there waiting for them.

As the bison landed the group began making their way over. As they dismounted Azulon picked up Asami bridal style. "Where are you taking her?" Korra asked. "I don't see my mother, and father with them; Ty Lin, and I will take her to the infirmary, and then we are going to find our parents. Sokka you should go find your dad." "I'm on it." He replied taking off into the palace. "Katala, Toph, and Aang will stay with you, and report to the grand lotus." "We're on it your highness." The green one Toph answered.

With orders given Red, and pink made their way to the palace as well. As they left the group of people finally reached them strangely they all seemed familiar to Korra. In front of them was two men wearing traditional air bender masters robes, but of different colors. The one on the left wore the traditional red cloak, but the secondary coloring was grey. He seemed to be an older man based on the long white beard, but Korra couldn't see the rest of his face due to the hood he had on.

The other man wore blue, and white, rather than red, and yellow. He also had a white beard, and sported the tattoos of a master Air bender. He seemed so familiar, but Korra couldn't quite place him. "I take it your mission was successful?" he asked Katala. "Of course master Tenzin." She answered with a respectful bow; soon followed by Toph, and Aang.

"Tenzin?" Korra whispered in shock as she stepped past the teens to stand before him. She could only look up in shock at her air bending master. "It's been a long time, it's good to see you again Korra." He said with a gentle smile. "Welcome back."