Chapter 2: #30: Screaming
Korra wakes in the middle of the night to a high pitched scream coming from outside the small Fire Nation village that she is staying in.
"Mako? Mako wake up." Korra tries her best to shake him awake, but all he does is stir, turn his back to her in his sleep, and stay fast asleep.
She gets up out of bed and walks over to Naga. The now twenty-three year old saddles Naga up and takes one last quick look at her sleeping boyfriend. The man she's loved since she was 17 has changed so much. His scared arm is a memory from a day that she will never forget. She puts her head onto Naga's shoulder and bites back a sob. Naga moves her head over to comfort her still young Avatar.
"Let's go Naga. We need to find out what that noise was before anything else happens." Korra leads Naga out into the night and slides her foot into the side of her saddle. She then swings her other leg up and over the saddle and sits on Naga. She flicks the reigns up and Naga begins to move.
She lets her walk at a steady pace for a while until she hears another scream piercing the night.
"Naga, GO!" She yells and flicks the reigns even harder this time. Naga easily listens and speeds into a steady run towards where the scream came from. She bolts into the forest next to the village, but they quickly find nothing.
As Korra begins to intently listen to the forest she hears a twig snap behind her. She dismounts Naga and turns to see what exactly made the noise.
"Korra?" She hears from the bush she is starring at and raises her eyebrow.
"Hello?" She says as it rustles and Mako appears from behind the bush. She takes lets out a sigh of relief.
"What are you doing out here Korra?"
"I heard a noise and I just thought that I should…" she is cut off by another high pitched, terrified, scream. It is much louder now which means they are much closer.
"Shut up!" she hears another voice shout at whoever is screaming.
"We need to find out what that is before someone gets hurt." Mako pushes passed Korra further out into the forest when he hears one last piercing scream. Korra follows behind him as he pushes through the brush to find an older woman dragging a younger one out of the village, but that's not all. The woman she is dragging has lost her left leg and there is blood dragged all across the grass.
Mako is about to unleash his fire bending on the older woman, but before he can, Korra quickly stops him.
"Mako wait!"
"The Avatar," the young woman realizes wide eyed, "please help me!" she yells and the older one yanks on her shirt forcing her injured leg up and she lets out a sob before she goes quiet again.
"I told you to shut up! The Avatar won't help a fire bender like you!" She retorts and it's enough to make the young woman cry.
"What are you talking about?" Korra asks and the older woman looks at her while the other turns away hiding her face from all of them.
"I am doing you a favor Avatar." A creepy smile pulls across the woman's features and that's when Korra sees it. The tattoo of a Combustion bender markers her fore head.
"But you are just as much a fire bender as this young girl is." The older woman maniacally laughs and lets the girl fall to the ground behind her. She sucks water out of a tree with her hands, turns in a complete circle and washes the fake tattoo from her forehead.
"We have to help her Korra," Mako whispers into her ear before Korra gets into a fighting stance.
"You don't have to do this." The woman once again laughs the same way and Korra takes one step back.
"You weren't there when the hundred year war was going on. Fire benders like her," she bites as she points to the young girl bleeding out on the ground, "destroyed my home in the North. They came and nearly ripped us apart!"
"But she didn't! So you have no reason to make her use her power on herself!" Mako shouts and the waterbender smiles at him. Teeth missing from her smile as she bends the blood back into the girl. She screams once again before trying to pass out.
When she moves her head back, Korra sees the newly administered tattoo that she has on her fore head. She is a Combustion bender. That's why her leg is gone. She blew it off with her bending.
"Look, I know there are still people who believe the fire nation is terrible because of the war. But the war is long over there is no need to worry about each other anymore! You shouldn't be trying to help her utilize her powers this way. She is a powerful bender. Why are you going to take her talent from her?"
"Because she doesn't deserve it!" The waterbender shouts, and kills off another tree to use the water for her bending. She turns the large amount of water into an ice dagger and throws it towards the Avatar. Mako runs out in front of Korra and takes the full force of the ice dagger to his previously injured arm. Blood begins to run down his arm as he covers the large wound with his hand.
That's when the woman notices his arm.
"You were hurt by them too. Weren't you? That scar, it has to be inflicted by a fire bender." He holds his head up as Korra helps him up to his feet.
"Actually I didn't get it from that," Mako says as he makes a flame spark in his hand. The woman retreats back a little bit, but doesn't completely back down.
"I got this by saving my friends lives. For taking down a spirit weapon. By protecting her." Mako doesn't falter, but Korra knows he is talking about her. It's been like this ever since that day. Ever since she was told that Mako was screaming her name to try to find her after the battle she's never exactly forgiven herself for not seeing it sooner. He loves her. In a way that she will maybe never understand, but right now he is protecting her. The Avatar.
"You're nothing but a sorry excuse for a fire bender." The woman says with a sly smile on her face. "You know nothing of the power of a true fire bender." The both watch for a second as the woman holds out her hand over the girl and she twists back in an unnatural motion and she lets out a blood curdling scream worse than the rest.
"Have you ever FORCED someone to bend, Avatar Korra?" Korra's blue eyes go wide as the old woman makes forces the girl to draw all of her energy towards her fore head. Her brown hair falls back away from her face, and her golden eyes go wide as the energy produces around the tattoo, quickly flows out and blows up a nearby tree.
"You have no right to force her into…"
"I have no right?!" The water bender says, interrupting Korra. "Her people destroyed my home! As well as your boyfriends people Avatar. If you knew which side you were on, you'd know that you should be with your own kind."
"My own kind?!" Korra screams as she throws an air punch at the woman, but she quickly dodges it. "I am a part of every nation! Not just yours!" She screams again letting another air punch flow and this time it hits the woman square in the chest. She falls to the ground with a loud thud.
Korra walks over to her to find that she is alive, but unconscious. She turns her head just in time to see Mako lifting the young fire bender into his arms.
"We need to get her to a doctor quickly." Korra nods in agreement and Mako puts the young girl onto Naga. She briefly stirs and wakes up for a few seconds.
"Don't worry we are going to take care of you," Korra says and the girl grabs onto her hand.
"N-n-n…" She tries to say, but Korra cannot make out what she is trying to say. She takes in a deep breath, "my name is Nila (N-ee-la.) She barely gets out before she goes unconscious once again.
About ten minutes later Mako and Korra drop her off at a physician's office. The man takes pity on the young girl and takes her in to access her injuries further. Mako and Korra are told they may come back in the morning to see her. They both nod and walk back towards Naga.
Once they are back to their temporary home they both quickly go back to bed.
"Do you think she'll be ok?" Korra asks. Mako lays his hand on her back and rubs small circles into her lower back.
"She'll be ok. She's safe now." He moves closer to Korra and pulls her into his embrace as he slowly falls back to sleep, but all Korra can do is dream of the haunting screams that won't leave her mind.
A/N: This was more of a drabble where Mako and Korra were helping someone.
That's just how this one came to me and I hope you guys like it as much as I do :)