Disclaimer: I own none of these characters save for Nakoda. Wish I did though...

Anyways, happy reading!


She stared out at the white expanse and sighed.

If there's anything that riding on the back of an air bison for days on end taught her, it was this:

Never, ever take the earth for granted.

"Sweetheart, it's not much farther," her boyfriend soothed.

She harrumphed in reply. Easy for him to say.

He was not Lin Beifong, daughter of Toph Beifong, world's greatest earth and metalbender, nor was he the new chief of Republic City's metalbending taskforce.

He most definitely could not hear the earth's whispers and shouts or feel its joys and sorrows.

She could.

That's why despite possessing a pair of perfectly functioning eyes she was blind atop his pet air bison.

"Are you sure you're there yet, Tenzin? After all, we have been getting lost these last few days…" she said.

"For spirit's sake, it was the map's fault, not mine!"

"If you had bothered to ask for directions we wouldn't be in this position!"

"We wouldn't be in this position either if we hadn't had to stop every few hours for you to practice your bending!"

Lin crossed her arms and scowled.

"Sorry, Lin dear," he mumbled. "I grabbed a bag of rocks from the last stop in case you wanted to practice."

Grudgingly she reached toward the bag and emptied its contents. After finding a rock that she was satisfied with, she bended it so that it made a boomerang-like trajectory towards the back of Tenzin's head.

"Ouch! What was that for?" he asked while rubbing the back of his head.

"Just sweet retribution," she giggled.

After practicing with the rocks a few more times, she put them away and sighed. There was nothing to do. She would have taken a nap had she not seen something that caught her eye.

"Hey, Tenzin?"

"Yes, Lin?"

"Do you see that dark spot over there?"

He was confused for a moment. There was nothing but shockingly white snow until...oh.

"Yes, I do. Why do you ask?"

"Isn't that the location of your mother and the new Avatar's village?"

She saw him sit up ramrod straight. She didn't need to see his face to know the pain and fear that was crossing his features.

"Oogi, yip yip," he said, his voice strained.

With a start the animal sped towards the village, making the black dot look more and more like a rash against the pure snow.

"With all of that smoke in the air we're going to have to stop further out," he called to Lin.

"What? Why?"

"If we're getting soot on our clothes from all the way over here how do you think the village is like?"

"Ugh, fine! You know, there's a perfectly clean place right by the village, but is never wrong…"

Tenzin rolled his eyes and steered Oogi towards the spot. His girlfriend had always been difficult, but her strong personality had been exacerbated by the trip and at this moment by the fact that she knew she was right.

After getting off the bison and helping Lin off, they took one look and gasped.

The walls surrounding the village compound were destroyed, and most every building was in shambles. The wind brought the acrid smell and taste of smoke, which also enveloped the entire area.

"Oh no," she breathed.

"Lin, is there any way for you to use your bending to find out what happened in there?" he asked, his eyes wide in panic.

She swallowed. After being on the force for over 20 years, you tend to know what lost causes look like.

"I don't know. All this snow and ice on the ground would obscure almost every detail…" she started.

"Please, Lin. You have to try, if only for me."

Sighing, she crouched to the ground and brushed off some grey sleet. Thankfully, it had been obscuring a rather large bed of rock.

Hey, she thought. At least it's something.

Lin took off her gloves and, closing her eyes, felt the ground.

The way these walls crumbled looks as if they all fell simultaneously. That had to have been done by artificial means, and not by using firebending-none of the wall appears to have been melted off. There are also a lot of men here-but nary a heartbeat. Based on the body count I would estimate a force of at least eighteen score but not more than-

"LIN!"

"What is it Tenzin?"

"Have you found out anything?"

"I'd find out more if you let me do my thing!"

"Sorry, sorry…"

Anyway, no more than thirty score men could have attacked the compound. The way the bodies are arranged at only certain points makes me believe that this was a systematic and premeditated invasion with set points of entry. The villagers, however, seem to have been prepared for the invasion based on the fact that there are no women or children around. Wait, those steps-those are most definitely Katara's.

She stood up, put her gloves back on, and dusted herself off.

"What did you see?" asked Tenzin.

"Basically a force of anywhere from 360 to 600 men blew up the defenses and systematically attacked the compound. They were brutally efficient, whoever they were-got in, attacked, and got out, all while leaving behind a rather large body count."

"My mother-" he asked, his voice catching, "is she-"

"No Tenzin, she's not gone," she replied with a smile. "In fact, we should be seeing her just about-"

"TENZIN!"

"Mother!" Tenzin ran towards Katara and found himself on the recieving end of a bearhug. "I was so worried when I saw the smoke. What happened here?"

"I'm actually not sure myself," said the waterbending master while giving Lin a hug. "Tonraq and Nakoda had seen some odd men with electric batons looking for the Avatar a few days back. They were supposed to meet with their cronies tonight, but as you can see that was obviously not the case."

"Speaking of Tonraq, where is he? Or Senna for that matter?" questioned Tenzin.

"During the attack last night they along with Nakoda were electrocuted by the invaders. It seems that they targeted the waterbenders in the attacks last night-too much like old times if you ask me."

"Hmm that is odd…." Tenzin pondered. "And Korra?"

"Korra was in my attic the entire time-"

"Was? Where is she now?" Lin said, an eyebrow arched.

"That's the thing. I went up to my attic this morning to check on her when I saw the window by the bed open. I thought that was odd, but then I realized that she was gone!"

"Well, she can't have gotten too far," Lin spoke. "Tenzin, I want you and Oogi to fly around the perimeter. Katara, you and I will split up the village. You'll take the left and I'll take the right. Now let's move!"

The trio split up, each taking on their respective duty. Lin was in the middle of scouting out an entrance point when tripped and fell.

"Oof!" she gasped. "I am definitely not cut out for snow and ice." She helped hoist herself up when her hand ran over a foreign object.

"Wow," she said to herself. "This is a beautiful-"

She never got to finish her sentence.