AUTHOR'S NOTES: And thus we get to see the relationship Zaheer forms with Korra. It's clear right away that he's a man with a plan, and more importantly, with a goal. How that translates for Korra remains to be seen. Also, rather than play "Eye of the Tiger" and go into a big explanation of training montages and what have you, I've decided to take a different approach. Recording her life might not seem very Korra-like, but she likes to stay busy, and when she's getting the tear beaten out of her and has no energy to do much else, sometimes it's nice to get those thoughts onto paper. Also... lots of past lives this time.
Happy Reading!
BOOK ONE: POWER
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: FOCUS AND DREAMS
Korra did not meet anyone else the next morning other than Zaheer, Unalaq, and the sisters. If there was anyone else in the small compound, they were incredibly scarce and elusive, which almost daunted Korra in one way or another. However, that intimidation was swiftly drowned out by anticipation as she headed outside to find Zaheer. Her Avatar story began here. To her slight surprise however, she found him at a recently constructed makeshift archery range, which gave Korra more questions than before.
"Archery?" Korra asked once she was within hearing range, "what's this about?"
"It's about focus." Zaheer rose to his feet as if he had been waiting for Korra to ask. "Your approach in our spar the previous evening was an insightful peek not only at your abilities, but also at your behaviours. Overwhelming force can often be effective, but not so much when it is as haphazard as you. Against a novice and perhaps even intermediate-level benders, you could leave your mark, but you stand no chance against a master."
"Alright then." Korra sighed, stepping towards Zaheer. "Let's focus."
Of course, this proved to be more difficult than she expected, with over 80% of her shots not even hitting the designated targets at all. She was fast, but it seemed that Korra's preferred attacking technique was more or less along the lines of 'throw everything in at once and hope that at least one of the attacks connects'.
Whether it was a facade or if Zaheer was truly patient with her, however, remained a mystery. In a way she felt like he treated her as an object: with neither love nor disdain; but rather as something that was to do its job. It was unforgiving, but Korra could not deny that Zaheer's lessons were effective. Despite Korra's attitude, he remained vigilant, and after three gruelling weeks this training left Korra's arms sore, her palms nearly calloused, and if nothing else, a sense of accuracy. A notable drawback of being all the way out here away from everyone was that once again, Korra was bereft of anyone her age to talk to (which in turn also made her feel particularly sensitive about her age), and so apart from occasionally rambling about her problems to Naga, she took to recording her training progress in a small blue book that became her journal. Writing was not Korra's forte, but Unalaq had suggested it to her after a day too many of hearing her complaints about being bored but too tired to continue training.
In typical Korra fashion, the little Avatar decorated it with personal effects, little doodles, random notes and thoughts, and other such things. Korra was no professional, but she had decent artistic skills. Unalaq might have been the one to recommend journal-keeping to her, but most importantly, it kept her busy when she was too worn out to continue her gruelling training. Both Zaheer and Unalaq also coerced her into meditating, although Korra's impatience in this regard had her struggling most of the time.
True to Korra's suspicions, the facility had been rather nice on the inside—borderline lavish in some places. It made sense considering Unalaq's station, but she also didn't complain. In a way, it felt like a cozy little home away from home, and was spacy enough that she sometimes didn't even see Kwan or Nakkoa the whole day. She liked being alone as she recorded her thoughts, however, and while some entries were longer than others, Korra found that recording her life adventures from day one of arriving at the mountain compound would be for the better. If nothing else, writing was a nice pastime when she was too tired or sore to do anything else.
Day 4: I still don't get what the whole point of shooting arrows is, especially when earth and fire are a million times more effective. I also don't really get the point of this journal, although if it gets Unalaq off my back and sates my boredom, then I'll do it. It's not like I'm about to show him the stuff I write, but maybe I can show these insights to mom and dad someday… or maybe Asami. It'll be fun to see what Asami thinks of me by the time I get back. And Hiroshi too; I really felt like we left on a bad note, and so I hope he doesn't hate me.
Day 28: Zaheer is persistent, if nothing else. Unalaq needs to learn the concept of personal space, and I swear if I feel him breathing down my neck again, metaphorically or otherwise, I'm going to water-slap him in the mouth. Still, I guess the early lessons are always the boring ones. I also saw a woman that was like twice my size with a cool third-eye tattoo on her forehead. Word from Kwan says that she can blow things up with her mind because of that. If they're gonna teach me how to do that, I am *so* down for this training thing. I wonder if you could like, tattoo that on your belly button or something. Probably not a good idea to ask though...
Day 44: I'm still not really getting the hang of this meditation nonsense, especially when sleeping or napping seems more effective at getting me better. On the other hand though, I've been at this archery thing for almost a month now, and at this point I seldom miss. My arms are killing me, but hot damn I haven't had biceps this rockin' since ever. I should see if Kwan can get her hands on a camera or something, cuz that's definitely one for the record books. UPDATE: Got my picture taken. I look great!
Korra had taped the photo of her posing with her arms flexed into this journal of hers, and while no one told her and she would never have guessed, she was not very photogenic.
The following afternoon, Zaheer surprised Korra by informing her that he had something different in mind for her today.
"You didn't miss a single target yesterday," he pointed out, "while you still have a great deal of training to go before you will be at my level, I feel you are ready to try again—and this time possibly land a hit or two on me."
"Are you mocking me?" Korra knew that Zaheer was her superior in this form of combat, but the teen couldn't help but feel like her pride was at stake.
"There is nothing to gain from mocking you, Avatar Korra." Zaheer replied as he calmly pulled out his staff. "Now… focus your attacks. Show me what you've learned and what you can do. Remember: the goal here is to free you from any limits or constraints you may think you have. Bogging yourself down with fears and concerns is nothing but a sign of weakness that you must let go. You are the Avatar—and the Avatar knows no fear because she has no limits!"
"I'm ready to try again," Korra cracked her knuckles before putting her left fist into her right palm. "Let's dance, Zaheer."
Korra lasted much longer this time, ducking, dodging, and bending dexterously away from Zaheer's attacks, throwing a few focused attacks in of her own. Zaheer parried most of them, but a couple of her attacks staggered him for a moment. Korra clenched her fist with glee, but that was the only opening Zaheer needed to strike Korra across the jaw, disorient her and have her lying face-down in the light snow all within 3 seconds.
"Do not get cocky until your opponent is down," Zaheer warned, prodding Korra, knowing the teen still had some fight left in her. "Again."
Korra wiped a trail of slightly reddened saliva from her mouth with her arm, before shifting into a fighting stance, watching Zaheer closely. Her focused expression did cause her lower lip to stick out in a way that was almost comical, but Zaheer cared little for her expressions. If she was taking his words and teachings to heart, then his goal was slowly but surely being realized.
Day 75: I did it! I finally friggin' did it! It may have taken 37 attempts, but I FINALLY knocked Zaheer off his feet! I'm way too tired to write more right now so I'm keeping this short and going to bed. The bruises and cuts aren't even worth worrying about. I'm sleeping well tonight.
Korra took the next two days off, and it was after this that she was confronted by Unalaq again. Korra found this odd, since he had kind of backed off after the first week or so.
"You seem to be enjoying your training, despite the hardships." He commented, staring off into the evening sky.
"It's rough," Korra admitted, "and I've got this killer bruise on my thigh that has been there way too long. What I'd give for Ichiro to be here right about now…"
"Ichiro?" Unalaq looked curiously at Korra.
"Just a healer I met down in Gaoling," Korra shrugged, staring up at the brilliant and dazzling array of stars overhead, "unless of course you were planning on teaching me healing soon?"
"Like all things," Unalaq commented, not noticing Korra's smirk, "Healing requires focus and concentration. This is part of why I emphasize the importance of meditation, Korra. Your focus and accuracy training under Zaheer has augmented your combat skills, and even in your studies you seem much more alert and focused. For an art such as healing, the need for concentration will increase sevenfold. This sort of spiritual focus may also help you unlock airbending… since I am quite certain you are eager to do that as well."
"I've known three elements for a decade!" Korra raised her fists to shoulder level, "I feel like I'm so close, and yet so far away…"
"Sadly, the only worthy Airbending Master is far away in Republic City tending to other business." Unalaq hummed, "One would think that the reincarnation of Tenzin's father would be an important enough issue to offer attention to, but that is neither here nor there. Zaheer has shared tales of at least one Avatar learning airbending from sheer focus. Of course, said Avatar was an Interregnum, and so you won't hear much about him from most conventional history books."
There it was again—the Interregnum Avatars. Why did they keep coming up in her life? For all the stories Katara fondly recounted of Avatar Aang, she never once mentioned any connection with these incarnations. On the other hand, she had been warned by Yangchen and Roku about Imalek and Himoto respectively, and so perhaps there was more two it: 19 missing pieces to this puzzle that she had yet to obtain.
"Then… I guess I'll learn meditation." Korra conceded.
Day 88: Meditation is still boring as shit, but I think I'm starting to understand why Unalaq wants me to continue it. I've had two more Avatar dreams in the last four days: one about a man named Lahka, and the other about a woman named Kallian. The incarnations who warned me of these two didn't give me their names, or maybe I just forgot them. Note to self: ask them next time I make contact. Kallian is #8, Lahka is #19, so that means Himoto was the reincarnation of Kallian. Who did she reincarnate into though? And who dealt with the aftermath of Imalek?"
A great deal of the remainder of the page was filled with scribblings and notes of these various Avatar Incarnations as Korra tried to piece it together. She even tried meditating on these concepts, calming herself by focusing on aspects of these entities that she already knew or had recently learned. Kallian had been a freewheeling Earthbender who rode off the success of her predecessor, while Lahka had been a Waterbender who had had to deal with the "fallout" of an Avatar that the others only referred to as "The Culmination". Korra could only imagine what this individual had done if no one even dared utter his or her name.
On the other hand, these dreams of the Avatars kept Korra focused, to the point where she progressed in her meditations with remarkable swiftness. Unalaq's teachings also helped in this regard—the man had not been lying when he claimed to be a master of most things spiritual. When it came to healing though, Korra had herself to use as practice quite a bit. Kwan had long since ended her grudge against Korra, and the two of them sparred whenever Zaheer wanted a break. Korra took plenty of beatings, but now that she could test her healing abilities on herself rather than have to ask Unalaq for assistance in repairing some of the more serious injuries she sustained, her progress continued at a rapid pace.
Of course, there was a significant difference between learning the art, becoming proficient at it, and mastering it. Korra might have become proficient at focus (and remained a wicked shot with a bow), and might have since picked up a thing or two about healing to keep her bruises from swelling or becoming too sensitive, but she had a long way to go before she mastered any of that. It was still a fairly momentous occasion though, learning healing.
Day 102: Healing always sounded like such an underwhelming ability, especially when compared to things like lightning, metal, lava, or even bloodbending. For all the times I've gotten my ass kicked though, it would have been nice to be able to heal my own injuries. Zaheer and Unalaq are ruthless in their training, but it does a body good. I haven't had too many new Avatar dreams lately, although I did get to meet Avatar Yangchen again as well as Avatar Kuruk. The final Avatar in the Interregnum Cycle was named Shigeru, and it was only after him that things went back to 'normal', for what it's worth. There's an Earth Kingdom Avatar between the two of them though, and apparently she nearly broke the cycle entirely. Paint me curious on that one.
More of Korra's chicken scratch handwriting plagued the page as she tried to draw diagrams that pieced her scarce but growing knowledge of these interregnum past lives together. She didn't understand why they would be stricken from history (particularly not Shigeru, who had apparently been able to help reverse the damage that over a dozen of his past lives had done), but she felt a connection to them. She was them, and they were her: Korra found her past lives to be intriguing and wanted to learn more about them.
Avatar Kuruk showed up again, and the two of them had an interesting discussion about the Interregnum Avatars, which he seemed much more open to talking about than most of the others—or the recent ones at least.
"A few of the Interregnum Avatars were painted with the black mark more because they did what I did," Kuruk explained, "Yangchen did such a damn good job at cleaning up the messes of the world that she left me with nothing to do. So, I did what any self-respecting Water Tribe warrior would do, and travelled the world. I made the ladies swoon, I jumped in the ring and earned a bit of cash, I sought out stronger opponents, and more. It was the good life."
"That sounds like it," Korra smirked, her mind briefly drifting to Asami when Kuruk mentioned wooing the ladies. She wasn't sure if she wanted that kind of relationship yet, but the idea of having so many friends and adoring fans definitely sounded appealing.
"So the 'crimes' of some of those Interregnums, such as Delun or Kallian," Kuruk explained, "was more that they didn't challenge the status quo at all, and thus it remained the same, with people idolizing the Avatar as a sort of living deity. In a way they were right, but it was eventually taken too far, as you surely know."
"There's still a lot of pieces missing from that puzzle though," Korra shook her head, "And who was Delun?"
"He was the 2nd Avatar in the Interregnum Cycle," Kuruk explained, before showing Korra a vision of a happy go-lucky Air Nomad. His mannerisms and behaviour were similar to Aang's during his childhood, although this fellow had long black hair and much more pointed features that gave him a sort or suave, roguish look. Perhaps Delun was what Aang could have been if there had been no war.
"He reminds me of Aang," Korra addressed this to Kuruk, who nodded.
"Perhaps Aang knows of him as well,' the older Avatar gestured, "and perhaps soon enough he will appear to you as well."
"I hope so," Korra put her hands together, I've got so many things I want to ask him…"
Kuruk was not a prophet, but it was not a day later that Korra got her wish: that night as she put herself into her meditative sleep to remain open to more contact from her past lives, she found exactly the person she wanted to talk to: Avatar Aang.
PAST LIVES DISCOVERED:
Delun (Air Nomad, Male): The 2nd Avatar of the Interregnum Cycle. A wild and easy-going Air Nomad remembered for his flirtatious charm and long, flowing hair, he helped maintain peace through honeyed words and amiable appeal. His popularity helped elevate the social position of the Avatar further, which, while harmless on its own, set the foundations for dangerous precedents in the future.
Kallian (Earth Kingdom, Female): The 8th Avatar of the Interregnum Cycle. A lazy and indifferent Earth Kingdom woman who thrived off the talents of her predecessor. She did end up performing feats that "saved the world" in turn, but despite these accomplishments, her attitude remained lax and indifferent as if she was just a professional doing her job, and this indifference was what allowed the social position of the Avatar to steadily continue to rise.
Lakha (Water Tribe, Male): The 19th Avatar of the Interregnum Cycle. A humble Water Tribe man who, like several adjacent incarnations, had to deal with the fallout of a particularly notorious incarnation some time before him. While there were rocky patches during his reign, most of it was fairly peaceful barring the resurgence of a radical group whose motives were blatant, considering they were affectionately known as "The Order of the Avatar Slayer".
Shigeru (Fire Nation, Male): The End of the Interregnum Cycle. Seomtimes considered the 21st member of the cycle, many only associate him with the Interregnum Cycle at all because of his efforts to restore balance to the Avatar's name and reputation, and being the one who "finished undoing" the damage caused by these men and women. As such, his position in the cycle is debated, especially as of recently, where there are whispers of a new #21...
Kuruk (Water Tribe, Male): An easy-going and freewheeling Avatar from the Northern Water Tribe who rode on the coattails of his predecessor, enjoying life and seeking thrills. His reign of crazy hijinks and high-flying shenanigans was fairly short-lived, but on the positive side, there are very few ill records of him as well.
TOTAL PAST LIVES MET: 9