Lost Time:

The sailors were all watching Eyuta with wary expressions, jumping every time the animal twitched his tail slightly. Eyuta wasn't finding the ship much fun at all; he was built for long-distance running over land, not being cramped into a small corner of a vessel out on the open ocean. Jahn kept petting his back gently, whispering quietly to keep him calm. The Avatar watched the various crew perform their tasks, occasionally looking over his shoulder at the passing coastline. Cruising along the waves was a much nicer way to travel now that they were no longer pursuing Qi-lóng.

Only a few hours had passed since his rescue of the ship, in which they had refitted the sails and continued on their course, stopping only to collect Eyuta and Jahn's meagre supplies from the beach. Anik had introduced his new boyfriend, who had been very polite, yet the Waterbender could barely contain his excitement. He'd twittered on for a while before Kuan had carefully pulled him away to below-deck. Tilia had mysteriously melted away in the same direction much earlier.

It surprised Jahn a little, then, when she suddenly sat down next to him. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, wishing she'd turn her head. Tilia just kept staring forward though, watching the sea beyond.

"If you weren't interested, you could have just said something instead of exiling yourself to the Spirit World," she said finally. The sheer absurdity of the comment made Jahn laugh aloud, his eyes shut as he chuckled. When he opened them, he spotted a faint grin on Tilia's face.

"Hey, give me some credit; if that had been the reason, I'd have handled it a little better."

"I know," Tilia responded quietly.

Silence fell between them again, yet the ice had been broken now. Jahn continued to smile, feeling elated inside. A year fending for himself had been incredibly tough for many reasons, yet the isolation had been the worst part. His friends meant an incredible amount to the Avatar, so seeing their faces again felt better than he'd ever realised.

"I heard you had a bit of a tough time," the young woman said, still looking out to sea.

Jahn sighed. "It wasn't as enjoyable as a flying lemur show, no. Anik said that you didn't exactly have a great time either."

Tilia shifted slightly, looking down for the first time. "What did he tell you?"

"You camped out at the Southern Spirit Portal for months, just in case I returned?"

The Metalbender sniffed and eventually nodded. Jahn wrinkled his nose, determined to keep his eyes dry. In response, he leant sideways slightly and nudged her lightly with his shoulder.

"Thanks."

Tilia raised a hand to her forehead as if she was getting a headache. Instead, she simply used it to cover her blushing face slightly. "Anytime. Anik agreed, so it wasn't all me," she said modestly.

Jahn shrugged. "If you say so. In any case, you never gave up on me. Even back in Republic City, all that time ago, you still kept me going. If it wasn't for you, we'd have died in that factory."

Tilia seemed to want to look everywhere but at Jahn. "Yeah well, we were desperate, I thought maybe…"

"Maybe…" Jahn said, prompting her. When she didn't respond, he slid his hand into hers, squeezing it quickly. He hoped that the gesture might prompt some reaction. He wasn't wrong.

Tilia immediately grabbed her hand back and stood up. Jahn started quickly, worried he'd been too forward. "Sorry, I just thought, after how we left things, maybe we…erm…" he mumbled, fully aware he was making a mess of things.

The Metalbender simply clutched her hands to her chest. "How we left things? You mean, when you left me without saying goodbye?"

Jahn clambered to his feet as the ship rocked slightly. Eyuta raised his head and flicked his tongue out, clearly displeased by the rocking of the ship. "I did say goodbye! You were just…asleep. I had to go and stop the Spirit Eaters…"

"I get that. I really do. Anik told me what happened. That Kuvu and Saall, they made you leave," she stated as matter-of-fact, earning Jahn's nod. "They didn't make you leave though. You're the Avatar; what could they have done if you'd decided to come and say goodbye to me first?"

"That's what you're mad about? That they drove me away?" Jahn asked incredulously, aware his voice was rising, earning looks from the nearby sailors.

Tilia looked over her shoulder but her eyes were squeezed shut. "I'm not mad. I'm just…it's been a long time, Jahn. A lot has happened and as much as I'd love to give 'us' a go…we need to focus on other things right now I think," she said with a sigh. The Metalbender ran a hand through her red hair and walked away down the deck, Jahn still stood in silence where she'd left him.

"Erm, Avatar?"

Jahn looked behind him, wiping one hand across his face in exhaustion. All the fights over the last few weeks had been nothing compared to that conversation. "Yeah?"

One of the sailors was stood with a charred rope in his hands, looking slightly peeved. "We're going to have to stop at the nearest port to make repairs. I hope the delay doesn't inconvenience you too much."

"We're sailing along, aren't we?" Jahn asked, nodding at the sail.

"For now. If we don't get it patched up completely then we'll be swimming the rest of the way. Might wanna talk to the Captain about how long it'll take," the sailor said, nodding at Jahn.

The Avatar sighed once again and stared up into the sky. This day could be going better.

"Well I'd say today has been a rather fantastic day already."

"Fantastic? Don't get so complacent. Anything could happen between now and sundown. In fact-"

"Lin, come on. I may not be skipping through the fields just yet but you need to actually look for the silver lining sometimes," Asami said.

"That might be the case for you Asami, but the rest of us are still on red alert. Especially now the spirits have that cannon," Beifong replied, leaning forward in her small earthen chair.

President Sato pursed her lips. "Yes, that is concerning. I didn't expect any of you to go down and try to find it, though I'd considered the spirits might. Still, we know of it now. At least they don't intend to use it, from what you've just told me," she said, reclining back in her plush chair.

"They might not but someone else might. All it takes is for the thing to be reassembled or copied for another disaster to happen. We need to try and track it down."

"Wan Shi Tong is supposed to be a collector of knowledge, not a warmonger."

Beifong waved her hand in the air flippantly. "We've both read Korra's reports. The owl spirit sided with Unalaq once before. Who's to say he's not helping the Spirit Eaters?"

"My intelligence suggests the Liberators, as they like to call themselves, have had no contact with any major spirit know to us. If they had, the spirit would be dead."

"How the hell have your moles found that out?" Lin asked incredulously. "Ah, whatever. Look, as long as you consider the cannon a possible threat, that's good enough for me. Did you need me for anything else?"

Asami considered Lin carefully. She took a moment before she replied, her fingers pushed together in a thoughtful pose. "My tower came down when you were in it so I can't imagine you found much, but did you happen to find anything else that caught your eye?"

Beifong frowned. "Can't say I did. Just a load of old junk," she said, aware it would annoy Asami. When she got no reaction, however, she shrugged. "I'm guessing there's something down there you want. Whatever it is, it's buried deep. At least the spirits can't get it now. Oh look, I found that silver lining," she said sarcastically.

Asami rolled her eyes. "Right," she muttered. "Never mind all that. Do you have some volunteers for your team?" she asked, standing up and filing through some papers on her desk.

Lin shrugged. "You mean the team that's already gone out to the portal? That's what I'm here to talk to you about. I've got some subordinates and I don't appreciate being betrayed."

The President frowned. "What!?" she gasped. "The mission is only in its planning stage! What've they done!?"

"Left their commanding officer to stand in a tent and talk politics, that's what," Beifong sulked. "That prissy White Lotus and his brother took a few Firebenders and took off. Mako went with them, the idiot. I was hoping you could talk some sense into the moron," she said, holding out a small handheld radio.

Asami snatched it quickly. Pressing the button down, she held it up to her mouth. "Mako? Come in Mako. It's Asami. Come on, pick the radio up!" she said in a worried voice.

There was static from the radio. Asami stared at it for a moment before slamming it down on her desk. "Goddam it! I expected better from them! Mako especially! Zukoh's a Grand Lotus! And Kazon! He's a Prince! Why are Firebenders so unruly!?" she exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air.

Beifong shrugged once more, climbing to her feet. "It's not Firebenders, it's just men. All idiots."

Asami smirked despite herself. "You might have a point there Lin," she conceded. She wiped one hand across her face in exasperation before grabbing the handheld radio once again. The President of the broken nation pointed at the tent entrance with an angry expression on her face. "Lin, go get those idiots back here and make sure nobody's killed from this colossal blunder. If they resist, you have authority to do whatever you need to get them back."

Beifong cracked her knuckles and rolled one shoulder. "It'll be my pleasure."

The ship was docked poorly, with a small gap between the actual deck and the dock. Jahn had to jump slightly to land awkwardly on the wooden dock, quickly followed by Eyuta who landed gracefully with a light clatter of his hooves. The Luxiyi raised his head high proudly, earning a scowl from Jahn.

"Show-off," he muttered. Eyuta snorted and stuck his tongue out slightly.

His bag landed next to his feet, something inside breaking loudly. Jahn spun round, his glare making Anik point sideways at Kuan, who wasn't even looking in their direction. The Avatar raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.

"You sure we have to walk it from here? The boat would be much quicker…and easier," Anik asked with a rueful expression as he vaulted the side of the boat with ease.

Jahn nodded. "The Captain said the ship would be out of it for at least five days. By that time we can easily get to the front lines. I'm not waiting around for this thing to be fixed."

"Where even are we though?" Anik asked, look around. A small village lay ahead, fairly quiet in the bright setting sun.

"No idea. I've been around everywhere so fast lately that it's a wonder I don't have whiplash…" Jahn joked.

"Whiplash? Do you mean GASP?" Anik asked curiously.

Jahn pulled a face. "What's GASP?"

"Giant Animal Spinal Paralysis. Quite common with idiots who ride massive spirit beasts around," Anik laughed, clearly messing around. Jahn chuckled despite himself, shaking his head.

On the ship behind, Tilia had finally shown herself. She'd hidden all day and didn't look at Jahn as Kuan helped her onto the docks. The Avatar didn't want to rush her, however, so he gestured to Anik. They made down the dock, towards the village, until they were out of earshot.

"Has she spoken to you?" Jahn asked his friend.

Anik looked evasive. "Well, yeah, but I can't really tell you what she said. It's a girl thing," he said with a wink.

The Avatar sighed. "I thought we could just pick up where we left off. It's what kept me going for this last year and a half."

"Give her time, Jahn. It's just a little weird all being back together after all this time," the Waterbender conceded. "I mean, it's fantastic you're back but Team Avatar's been scattered for some time. We don't even know where Kazon is and we've not heard from Jinora in far too long."

Jahn looked sideways sharply at this. "You too? I thought she'd shut just me out…"

Anik sniffed. "Nah, she's basically vanished with all the other Airbenders. They're somewhere in the Eastern Earth Kingdom but we've been out of the loop ourselves."

"Hmm. I'm going to have a word with Jinora when we find her; if we mean that little to her, maybe it's best we only see each other just the once more…"

"No need to be drastic. Let's face it, we're her friends but we both know how important her family is to her. She'll have a reason, I'm sure," Anik said confidently.

"I hope so…" Jahn said quietly. "So, should we stay here tonight? I'm up for heading north now but if you-"

"We're sleeping here," Anik said quickly. "I just want a night on solid ground, without waves or actually travelling anywhere. Salt water isn't good for bathing in either. I smell like a fish stall."

"No, nah you—" Jahn began awkwardly, trying his best to persuade his friend but Anik's face told him everything. "Well we all smell a little…strong…after the few days we've had. Eyuta? Can you find us a tavern or someplace please?" he asked his animal friend. The Luxiyi looked blankly at Jahn for a second before flickering and vanishing from view.

"That's so creepy," Tilia's voice said behind them, causing Jahn to frown. The Luxiyi could run through the town and find what they were looking for, scouting ahead in case any danger lurked nearby.

"Luxiyi can sense negative feelings," Jahn explained as they walked into the village. "If anyone means us harm with serious intent, Eyuta will sense it first. They hunt spirits, so being able to sense dark spirits nearby means they don't ambush something a little too aggressive for them."

"How do they eat spirits? I thought they were energy or something?" Anik asked, perplexed.

Jahn shrugged. "How am I supposed to know? Eyuta can't exactly tell me. If he could speak then he'd be even more snooty than he is now," he said with a grin.

A shape moved to their right, indicating the Luxiyi's return. He flickered back into view, emerging from between two cramped houses. He lowered his head, his gigantic horns pointing to their left slightly. Jahn patted the animal on his snout and fed him a small berry from his pocket.

"You just said they eat spirits, what was that?" Tilia asked from behind.

Jahn was surprised at the question; she was clearly curious enough to forget they weren't speaking. "Omnivorous," he answered back. "Place to stay is ahead. Doesn't look like a palace or anything but I guess it'll do," Jahn said glumly as they walked around. The village was small and a bit run-down, though seemingly untouched by the war.

The group eventually reached a small tavern on the edges of the village. It was set a little to the side, as though the village had been placed down right next to the tavern. A sign creaked in the breeze: The Shirshu's Nest.

"Nice place," Kuan said ironically. "It could do with a lick of paint."

"I'm thinking green," Anik said over his shoulder.

"Olive?"

"Perfect."

"Ladies, please," Jahn said with a slight smile. "Eyuta thinks this place is ok so it's a fine place by me."

The wooden door creaked open, the candlelight inside flickering from the gust of wind. Quiet clinks of glasses echoed as they looked around. The place was pretty shabby, keeping with the general run-down feeling of the village. Some burly men stared at them menacingly as they walked in, Tilia shuffling between the others slightly to avoid their glares. The barkeep was just trying to hammer in a new set of shelves into the wooden wall, cursing as he struck his thumb with the hammer. He spun round, clutching it tightly, suddenly noticing the small group watching awkwardly. "Ah, sorry f'r the language. Drinks?" he asked in a hoarse voice which suited his unkempt appearance.

"Erm we're good thanks," Anik replied, eyeing the grimy bottles on the bar with distaste. "Do you have rooms for the night?"

"Jus' two. You wantin' both or you all with the lady?" the barkeep asked, leering slightly. Jahn almost instinctively stepped in front of Tilia, frowning in anger.

"Two, please," Anik said quickly, putting a hand on Jahn's shoulder. "I'm sorry but do you mind a frosty night of silence if you share with Tilia? Looks like you need the sleep anyway," he whispered into Jahn's ear in an apologetic voice.

Before Jahn could respond, the barkeep had slammed down two keys on the bar, splashing in a small puddle of some ale. "There y'ar. Rooms five and three. Up the stairs, down the hallway," he said, grabbing a raggedy cloth and mopping up the bar, seemingly creating more puddles as he went.

"We'll take three. Hardly a place worthy of the Avatar eh?" Anik said with a slightly disgusted expression.

"Avatar? My old nan knew the Avatar. Said he was an annoying little brat," a woman sat along the bar said, not looking round at them as she spoke. "Still, that was a while ago. I doubt even ol' Burntface is around anymore eh?" she asked, still staring down at her drink.

"Erm…no?" Anik replied, nodding quickly at the stairway at the back of the tavern.

"Ah, shame. She used to tell me stories of her bounties when I was growing up. Nyla did the tracking but my old nan could look after herself," the woman continued.

"Yeah, June was a helluva patron, eh Juni?" the barkeep chuckled as he passed.

"Shut up Iah, I didn't ask your opinion," she snapped back.

The name rang a bell. June and Nyla. "I don't remember that, it was before my time. Something tells me she helped me once though. You have the Avatar's thanks," he said, bowing slightly without even knowing why he was doing so.

The woman shrugged. "Not me that deserves it. Still, she'd be glad family got some recognition," she chuckled as she downed the rest of her drink.

"Oh, don't bother talking to the Avatar about family. He'll just tear it all away from you," a voice snarled from the shadows near the stairs.

Jahn instantly recognised the voice, thrusting his arm out in front of Anik, Kuan and Tilia. After all these months, suddenly he'd shown up in some seedy Earth Kingdom tavern.

"I've been looking for you," Jahn said in a stony voice.

The man chuckled in a monotone voice in the dark. "I'm sure you have. Well, here I am. What do you intend to do? Throw me in prison? Oh wait, that's not a priority right now, is it?" the voice said in a mocking tone.

"Who's this?" Kuan asked, totally oblivious.

Anik sighed. By now, both he and Tilia had clocked on. "You remember the Spirit Eater leader I told you about?"

"Oh…" Kuan gasped slightly.

"Call us whatever you want. It doesn't matter now," the man said in a dejected voice. Slamming a glass down on the table, he stood up and lurched into the light. His hair was dirty, his clothes now in traditional Earth Kingdom style. What Jahn noticed most of all, however, was the look of defeat that Ornatok now wore across his face. His posture was slumped, his eyes gaunt and tired. If Jahn looked even half as bad, he'd need some serious pampering soon.

"What happened to you?" Jahn asked, leaning away slightly as the fumes of drink wafted towards him.

"You happened to me!?" Ornatok said in a raised voice. "If you'd left alone, I'd be with my wife and son right now instead of standing in this shithole."

"Charming…" Anik muttered.

The Spirit Eater ran a hand through his hair, sighing heavily. "I haven't even seen them. The spirits…were more violent than we thought. We'd killed droves of them but as soon as we fought at the portal…" Ornatok said, staring at the floor as he remembered.

"That's what happens when you declare war on an entire species. They tend to defend themselves. This was is on you," Jahn said angrily, clenching his fists. It was taking a lot of self-control not to punch Ornatok right in his stupid face.

"Yeah, we found out the hard way. All that planning, all those perfect moves…where did it get us all? In the ground. Most of my Liberators are dead and those that survived abandoned me," Ornatok said in a hushed voice. "It didn't matter how much power I gave them. They ran to protect the people they cared about. They didn't get it. They didn't see how more power can help protect their families!"

"That's a ridiculous concept and you know it," Tilia said from the back of the group. "You're the leader of your group, the most powerful of all your murderous little gang but has that power helped? Have you seen your wife? Have you held your son? Do you really think they'll take you back after everything you've done, everything you've caused. Jahn's right. All these deaths, they're on you," she said in a fiery tone.

Anik's face seemed just as surprised as everyone else's. Kuan whistled slowly as the entire tavern froze.

Ornatok's face was contorted in rage. Jahn shifted his weight slightly, expecting an attack, yet was surprised when the Spirit Eater deflated. "You're right. I guess…I don't regret the spirits I have destroyed. Their power helped fuel mine and I'm not apologising for that. Spirits are beasts, he was right about that."

"He?" Jahn asked quickly, ignoring the disgraceful comment beforehand.

"Your father," Ornatok said, grinning ever so slightly as he watched the colour drain from Jahn's face. "We only emerged from our base because of what he told us. His larger plan is bigger than any of us. We did what we could to help him but he conveniently forgot to tell us the personal cost. If I'd known all of this would cost me Eska and Iluq…never. Rizem could stick his plan where the snow doesn't fall."

"I've gotta say, I'm much preferring this humble Ornatok to the murderous nutter who tried to do us in…" Anik muttered under his breath with a slight grin.

"Jahn's father? What does he have to do with any of this?" Tilia asked, frowning.

Jahn shook his head. "I'll explain later. Where is he, Ornatok? Where's my father?"

"Already gone. He was here though. Yesterday. I can't tell you where he's going, I'm afraid," the Spirit Eater said with a shrug. "Though I can tell you one thing…"

Anik frowned as he noticed all the bottles on the shelves around began to shake as the liquids inside started to move. "Jahn…" he said slowly, but the Avatar was too focused on the conversation at hand to notice.

"Tell me what? What?" he asked, almost stepping forward with impatience.

Ornatok stared at the Avatar. "I still blame you for everything. Everything at the portal and before…your fault. Damn you, Avatar. Damn you," he said as he spat on the floor. Before Jahn could react, the bottles around all exploded violently, causing the group to shield their faces immediately.

Ornatok nodded to his side as he bent the liquids from the bar and into a giant stream which he sent directly at the group. The man to his side flicked a hand; a spark igniting the alcohol and turned the liquid into a roaring flame.

Jahn immediately bent the flames away but the liquid continued, striking them all and sending them flying backwards. Ornatok swayed slightly and raised his arms quickly. Nearby, a huge torrent of water exploded from the wooden flooring in a different room, surrounding Ornatok in a huge orb of water. From the orb, various tentacles emerged, deflecting any attacks Jahn sent his way. One tentacle shot forth, hitting Jahn hard in the chest. He smashed through the door to the tavern, splintering it as he landed in the dirt outside.

Anik swiped his hands across himself, trying to dispel the water, yet Ornatok's bending was too powerful. He floated in the water, eerily suspended, before the orb rolled forwards, bursting through the tavern wall and emerging outside amidst splintered shards of wood.

Jahn clambered to his feet unsteadily. He could hardly breathe so when the next tentacle wrapped round his leg and smashed him against the floor, he could barely register the pain. The Avatar punched a fireball at the orb but the water simply blocked it easily, steam billowing out.

A metal plate span through the air quickly, hitting the orb in the side. It lost all momentum upon impacting the water, though Ornatok turned his head to see Tilia. He slowly shook his head, his hair fanning out in the water, as he bent the tentacle holding Jahn her way. Jahn flew through the air, landing on Tilia heavily and knocking them both down.

Ornatok rose to the top of the orb quickly to take a huge gulp of air, before sinking into it once again. The orb started to roll once more as Ornatok bent the water with continuous fluid movements. It rolled up the hill, away from the village and into the forest until it vanished from sight.

Jahn inhaled deeply, feeling his lungs expand, yet each breath tore through him. He rolled off Tilia, who clutched her ribs with one arm. Ornatok was gone and they were injured.

"Jahn! He's gone. Come on, we need to get you some help," Anik said by his side.

Jahn waved him away. "No," he said through gritted teeth. "I can't let him get away again. Time to finish this."