Chapter 8 December 21st. 99 AG.
"This is by far the dumbest idea you have ever had." Sokka said, as he followed Korra while she packed their stuff away on Appa.
"Look, I'll be fine, this isn't the first time I've snuck past an army." Korra said.
"That's not the point! You're risking getting captured for some spiritual talk with a dead guy." Sokka said.
"Please Korra, think about this for a minute." Katara begged.
"I already have." Korra said, as she tied her sword down with her cloth belt. "I know exactly what I'm doing and why I'm doing it."
"There's something you're not telling us then?" Sokka asked.
Korra looked at Sokka then sighed. "Yeah… We've sorta been on a time crunch, and I haven't told you about it."
"Time crunch?" Katara asked.
Korra sighed. "Ok, so I don't remember your words perfectly, but it went something like this. Next year there's going to be some crazy astronomical event called Sozin's comet, and the Fire Lord is going to use it to try and destroy the world or something like that."
"Destroy the world?" Sokka asked skeptically.
"I said, or something like that, I didn't pay attention to anything other than the stories about the fights." Korra said, crossing her arms.
"Why didn't you tell us about this?" Katara asked.
"I just said, I didn't pay attention, and obviously whatever it is that's supposed to happen didn't in my time, so I wasn't exactly worried about it until maybe a few days ago." Korra shrugged. "I just think that getting in touch with one of my past lives would be a good way to learn more about it, so that way I know what I'm up against."
"Well, in that case, we're coming with you." Sokka said, as he and his sister climbed up Appa's legs and into his saddle.
"Right…" Korra said, as she jumped up onto Appa's head. "Hang on tight, we're gonna' be breaking some speed limits. Yip yip."
"Speed what?" Sokka asked, before Korra whipped Appa's reigns, and the bison jumped into the air, taking off to the west.
High above the sea, as Team Avatar flew as fast as Appa could manage, Katara looked back at the sunset behind them, and spotted something in the water below. "Uh, Korra, we have a problem!" She shouted to her friend over the wind.
"What kind of problem?" Korra asked.
"The ironclad ship, gaining fast, kind of a problem!" Sokka said, as he too saw the fire nation cruiser speeding along in the water below.
A spark of light could be seen on the ship below. "FIREBALL!" Katara shouted, as the light grew in size, the flaming rock arcing into the air towards them.
"On it!" Korra said, pulling Appa to the right, narrowly missing the projectile.
"We need to get out of range! Can Appa go any faster?!" Sokka shouted his question.
"He's flying as fast as he can!" Korra said loudly, as she whipped Appa's reigns.
"Well apparently that's not fast enough!" Sokka said.
"And there's another problem." Korra said, pointing out the row of Fire Navy ships in front of them.
"A blockade!?" Sokka asked, before several smoke trials coming off of burning coal balls could be seen flying towards them.
Instinctively Appa swayed through the air to avoid the volley of flaming balls. As if a lightbulb was lit over Korra's head, she had an idea. "Appa, go up, high as you can boy!" Korra said, as Appa began to climb at a steep angle, as if running up a mountain. "Hang on back there!" Korra shouted over her shoulder, as Katara and Sokka each wrapped their arm around one of the hand holds on Appa's saddle, the bison's accent getting stepper, as he broke through the clouds, the fireballs of the blockade ships not reaching high enough to touch them.
Wiping the water vapor off her face, Korra looked over her shoulder again, as Sokka spoke to her. "Korra, it's getting a little hard to breathe."
"We're out of their range now, we can stop climbing." Katara said, as Korra shifted her seat, so that she was laying down on Appa, like a motorcycle.
"Not yet!" Korra said to herself, as Appa's accent began to slow down. "Come on big guy, come on." Korra whispered to Appa as he broke through another cloud layer. Appa blinked slowly, as he felt himself becoming sluggish. "Almost…" Korra said, as she took two deep breaths trying to move as much air as she could. "Come on Appa!" Korra said, as she tilted the reins at the apex of Appa's climb, causing him to roll over, and begin to dive.
Squinting her eyes, as Appa began to increase his speed with the assistance of gravity, Korra held on for dear life, as both Sokka and Katara screamed behind her, the two still upside down. Rolling upright, Appa broke back through the cloud layers, and it was at this point Korra could see the blockade again. They were just in front of it now, and approaching rapidly as they bombed towards Fire Nation waters. Pulling up on Appa's reins, the bison began to come out of the dive, though kept most of his momentum, allowing the sky bison to zoom past the Fire Navy ships, who's trebuchets could not be aimed fast enough to hit him.
"WOOHOO!" Korra shouted over the wind, as the blockade became a distant speck on the horizon. "That was awesome, Appa!" Korra said, as she sat up, and patted the bison on the head. He grumbled in response.
"We made it." Sokka said as he peeked his head up from the saddle.
"We're in the Fire Nation…" Katara said, as Appa began to slow down, all the extra speed gained in his dive now lost.
Hours passed by, and the Sun began to dip lower towards the horizon. Finally, the three travelers saw a black crescent island in the distance, and coming in low, they landed on the shoreline. "It looks abandoned." Korra said.
"Well the island is leaking lava all over the place. I can't imagine why anyone would stay here." Sokka said with a shrug.
Dismounting Appa, and making the rest of their trip on foot, Momo flying circles around them, the group entered the seemingly empty temple. Once through the entrance, and in the center hall, Sokka came to a halt. "Hold on, something's not right. All the lanterns are lit."
Turning as they heard footsteps, the three were now faced with five men in Fire Sage robes. "We are the guardians of the Avatar's Temple." The eldest and foremost man said.
"Oh, well that's great, because I am the Avatar." Korra said, putting a hand to her chest.
"We know." The elder said, before pulling up his hands.
"Shit." Korra muttered, before the old man could blast her with fire. Reacting only just fast enough, she blew a gust of air into the man, knocking him backwards into his fellow fire sages. "Book it!" Korra said, as she and the others took off down the nearest hallway.
"Do you have any idea where you're going?" Sokka asked.
"Not a clue." Korra said, before she came around a corner, and nearly ran over one of the sages.
"Wait." The old man said, just as Korra drew her sword, the tip nearly touching the man's nose. He gasped in surprise.
"Out of the way old man, I don't want to hurt you." Korra said.
"No, please, you don't understand… I am a friend." The sage said, before he got down on his knees.
"Anyone from the Fire Nation isn't a friend of ours." Sokka said.
Korra just raised an eyebrow, and stowed her blade. "What kind of friend?" Korra asked the sage.
"The kind loyal to The Avatar. My name is Shyu." The sage said, before standing.
"Korra, you can't trust this guy, his buddies just tried chucking fireballs at us a second ago." Sokka said.
"Please, follow me." The old man said, as he turned and waved the three down the hall.
"I mean, he could have tried chucking fireballs at us a second ago too, but he didn't." Korra argued, before walking along behind the sage.
"She makes a good point Sokka." Katara said, following Korra.
"If this is a trap, I swear I'm leaving you two behind." Sokka grumbled, taking off after the others.
The sage took them deeper into the temple, before pulling a lantern away from the wall, and casting fire into a hole behind it, the hidden tunnel revealing itself from behind a secret door. "Oooh, I love secret tunnels." Korra said, as everyone filled into the cave passage made from volcanic rock.
"Avatar Roku called this temple his home for a short time. He formed the passageway here from the surrounding magma." Shyu said.
"You wouldn't happen to be old enough to have known him?" Korra asked.
"No, I'm only 60, but my grandfather knew him. The Sages have guarded the temple for generations. It is one of our duties. Just as it is to replace the statue in the avatar's chamber with each Fire Nation Avatar that is born." Shyu explained. "And about a month ago, something amazing happened, the statue's eyes began to glow."
"Glowing eyes… Korra, your eyes were glowing when we first met you." Katara said.
"Really?" Korra asked.
"You must have been in the Avatar State. The statue's eyes at every temple dedicated to the avatar are rumored to do so when one enters the avatar state. It was then that we knew you had returned to the world." Shyu said.
"If the sages are supposed to be the guards of this temple for the avatar, why'd your friends attack us then?" Katara asked.
"Things have changed. The sages used to be loyal only to the avatar, but after Roku's death they had lost hope that you would return, and when Firelord Sozin began the war, the sages were forced to follow him." Shyu stopped and turned to face the three. "I never wanted to follow the Fire Lord. When I learned you had returned, I knew I would have to betray the other sages."
Korra looked at the flow of lava beside her, before facing Shyu. "You haven't betrayed anyone. The others betrayed their loyalties as Sages." Shyu nodded, before the three followed him up a spiral staircase, to a hidden exit beneath a tile in the floor.
"Oh no…" Shyu said, as he approached the closed door to the sanctuary.
"What?" Sokka asked.
"The door, it has been locked." Shyu said.
"Well, can we unlock it?" Korra asked.
"No. Only a firebender as powerful as The Avatar, or five fire benders can unlock the door, with five simultaneous fire blasts." Shyu said, pointing out the dragon faced locks.
"Fife fire blast huh?" Sokka asked himself in thought, before looking up at the nearest lantern.
"Ok, so you made sure that the fuses are all the same length?" Korra asked Sokka as he tied the last lamp oil filled animal skin together.
"Korra, the fake firebending was my idea, of course I made the fuses the same length." Sokka said, before he tied them all together at the striking end.
"I hope this works." Katara said, as everyone hid behind the nearest pillars of the temple.
"Alright. Fire in the hole." Sokka said, pointing at Shyu, who nodded, before sending a small ball of fire at the five fuses where they were tied together, the cords burning simultaneously. After only a second the bags exploded all at once, and after the smoke cleared everyone poked their heads out to find that the door was still locked.
"It didn't work." Shyu said, as Momo ran over to the now soot covered door.
"Aw come on, that looked like every other fire blast I've seen." Sokka said, as he approached the door.
"Yeah well, it doesn't look like the door opened now, does it?" Korra asked, crossing her arms.
"No, it actually does." Katara said.
"What?" Korra asked.
"The burn marks on the door. It looks like it's been hit with a big powerful avatar fire blast." Katara explained.
"Which means that it looks like the door's been opened." Sokka said.
"Which means… Yeah, I don't know where this is going." Korra said.
"It means, it looks like the avatar has already entered the sanctuary, and the sages would have to once again unlock the door to get him out." Shyu said.
"Opening the door for us." Katara said.
"Huh." Korra said, rather impressed.
Shyu had run to get four other sages, while Korra and the water tribe siblings hid in the secret stairwell, awaiting their return. Once Shyu had led them to the door, and the sages unlocked the metal entryway, Korra jumped up from the staircase, and bolted past the group, knocking over the oldest sage among them. "Thanks for opening the door, suckers!" She said, with a smile and wave, before air blasting the other three onto their backs. Once inside the sanctuary, the doors, as if of their own accord, slammed shut.
Spinning to face the statue of Roku, finding the red light from the gem above the door to be cast on him, Korra looked around. "Ok Roku, I'm here. Lights where it needs to be…" Looking around again, Korra grunted. "I guess… Maybe I need to meditate or something." She suggested to herself, before sitting in a lotus, and closing her eyes. After a few seconds of nothing happening, Korra peeked one eye open, and found that she was sitting on a mountain top, surrounded by clouds, facing Avatar Roku. He smiled at her, before she stood up, in awe that she had managed to actually connect with one of her past lives when intended. (Nevermind, all that happened was the red light had been cast upon the statue's eyes.)
"Hello there, Korra." Ruko said, with a small bow. Korra beamed at Roku, before he continued. "I know you must have many questions, but our time is short, and I have something important to tell you."
Outside the sanctuary, Prince Zuko had arrived, and Katara, Sokka, and Shyu had been changed to the nearby pillars.
"Let me guess, around the end of summer, the world ends or something?" Korra asked.
"Close… One the last day of summer, Sozin's Comet will return once more, as it has every one hundred years, granting firebenders the power of 100 suns. If you can not defeat the Fire Nation before then, the world will forever fall out of balance."
The prince and four sages attempted to blast open the door, only to find it sealed shut.
"Right, so basically what I was expecting anyways." Korra said, before looking around. "So how do you even know who I am if I haven't been born in this time?"
Roku smiled. "You are speaking to a past life, and that life, in this time or your own, belongs only to you."
Commander Zhao with a squad of firebenders in tow, approached the door of the sanctuary, arresting Zuko, and changing him to the pillar with the others.
"If that's true, it means Aang's already done this before… Why isn't he the one telling me what to do?" Korra asked. "And for that matter, why can't you tell me how I actually defeat the Fire Nation?"
Roku smirked. "Now how would that be any fun?"
Korra dawned a deadpan expression. "Ok, so I just have to somehow master the four elements again and kill the Fire Lord, but can't bend anything other than air, the least lethal element. How exactly is that supposed to work?" Korra asked.
"You have mastered the four elements before, and you can do it again. I know that what happened to you was hard, but nothing lasts forever… Not even a blocked chi." Roku said, still smirking.
Zhao and his men formed a line and stood ready to attack once the door opened.
"Are you saying my bending will come back on it's own?" Korra asked.
"In due time… Perhaps if you first free your mind." Roku said, before looking above Korra. "A danger lurks beyond the doors of the sanctuary… And the day nears it's end. I will help you fight, just this once."
Korra turned and closed her eyes. Before the clouds and the mountains around her faded into the empty sanctuary. The door creaked as it began to open, and as Korra opened her eyes they glowed a brilliant blue. "Lets fucking go."
As the door began to open, the soldiers and sages attacked, sending flames into the entrance of the sanctuary, only for the fire to gather, swirling around the target cast in shadows, before she stepped into the light, as the fire around her was expunged.
"Korra!" Katara shouted as she saw The Avatar, her eyes glowing blue, and her mouth clenched shut.
With a sweeping blast of air, Korra knocked over the soldiers and sages, Zhao tumbelling onto his back. With a blast of fire the wall behind the hidden staircase exploded outwards, and a link to the iron chains binding Katara, Sokka, Shyu and Zuko to the pillar of the temple melted away, allowing them to break free. Zuko broke free first, making his break for the stairs, as the other's hunkered down in place.
Korra looked at all of the soldiers as they stood up, before speaking with a voice that echoed with the power of a thousand lifetimes. "The sages have brought shame upon The Avatar's name. This temple can no longer stand." Bringing her foot down on the temple floor, Korra caused the entire island to rumble, before the stone cracked, and then melted away as it cooked. Raising her hands, lava from the volcanic vents below, surged upwards, melting through the floors of the temple.
As the soldiers ran away, Korra lowered her hands, and closed her eyes, the glow fading from them, as she came out of the Avatar State. Staggering for a second, Korra stepped around the hole she'd made.
"What was that?!" Sokka asked, having never seen anything so powerful.
"Uh, not exactly the time to explain, I might have just doomed us all in a fit of rage." Korra said, as she pointed out that lava was overflowing from the hidden passage.
"No you haven't, look!" Katara said, as Appa and Momo flew towards them from the shore. Just as the tower started to list on it's side, Appa came to hover below the hole in the wall Korra had made, and the three friends jumped onto his saddle.
Flying away, Korra looked back at the temple, as it sank into the river of lava, before she sighed, and Sokka looked at her.
"So are you going to tell me what that was now?" Sokka asked.
"That was the Avatar State. A sort of physical, spiritual, and bending power boost I get from all my past lives." Korra explained.
"Korra you've been holding out on us." Sokka said, as he elbowed her.
"Uh, no, I haven't. That was the first time I've ever done that, and really it was Roku in control, not me." Korra said with an eye roll. "I haven't learned how to control the Avatar State yet. And I probably never will." She said resting her head in her hands as she sat down.
"It's ok, Korra, I'm sure that every avatar's gone through something like this." Katara said.
"Yeah, well I bet no other avatar's had to do it in 8 months." She grumbled.
"What happens in 8 months?" Sokka asked.
Korra cringed. "The Fire Lord might win the war."
