AUTHOR'S NOTES: Life happened, and that's more or less the short of it. The story's update schedule will remain irregular, but for now I've got a few more chapters that may come sooner than 2 years apart. With that out of the way, there's a lot more going on, what with the Red Lotus conspirators, the Blood Whisperer, Unalaq's hostile takeover of the South, the impending Harmonic Convergence, and more. Korra has a lot on her plate.
Happy Reading!
BOOK THREE: WATER
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEEN: A MORAL DILEMMA
Korra stood frozen in tense contemplation as she weighed her options. The idea of deliberately learning bloodbending made her own blood curdle just thinking about, but at the same time, she knew she couldn't just Avatar State her way out of every problem. It might be able to free herself from a bloodbender's grip, but what would she do if someone attacked her parents; or Mako and Bolin—or worse, Asami? Not to say Asami was helpless by any means, but unarmed or outside of a vehicle, a nonbender was at a significant disadvantage against a bender in direct or single combat.
On top of that, Korra's thoughts suddenly found themselves rudely disrupted by an invasive but vivid memory of being bloodbent by Amon or Tarrlok; the agony of feeling her body move against her will; feeling the tingling of erratic circulation and the pain of her muscles stretching as she and her attacker battled with them for control.
"I… I just can't, Risha." Korra lowered her head as she snapped out of her trance, breathing heavily. "It terrifies me, and I refuse to become the very thing that I fear and hate."
"I figured you would say something like that," Risha sighed. "I won't try to change your mind, but The Blood Whisperer is not likely to change her mind or show mercy just because you decided you'd rather not learn it—and I doubt anyone who has taken the time to learn it has any interest in listening to reason. Still and all, I hope you and your friends stay safe with that lunatic on the loose. Sometimes all it takes is a brief hold to throw someone for a loop. They might hardly notice, or just think they had a muscle spasm."
"Muscle spasm!?" Korra gawked, "Risha, someone attacked Asami then, and she didn't even notice it. If I somehow trace this back to you, so help me…"
"Why would I do such a thing?" Risha shook her head, "you should know I value my life and my freedom the same way you do. I've heard of and seen what you do to your enemies, and you still have the blood on your hands to prove it."
"That's a mighty convenient way to dodge the accusation, Risha."
"You're missing the point, Avatar. What could I possibly have to gain by attacking your girlfriend unless my goal was to make you angry enough to want to kill me? I'm too busy watching my own hide to make sure I don't get manipulated by The Blood Whisperer. While I am quite familiar with the story of Shenzi and the way she attacked you with little regard to her own life, I can assure you I am not the same way, and have absolutely no interest in throwing my life away the way she did. Even if I were a bloodbender, I am smart enough to know that if you and I tangoed you would utterly destroy me. You're a killer at heart and you know it."
"Who are you to judge me?" Korra's arms tensed, "you don't know what I've seen, what I've been through; what I've been forced to do for the simple sake of my own self-preservation. Yes I've murdered people, and I'll accept responsibility for it. I was defending myself, and even if I didn't, it seems that my Avatar State is hell-bent on saving me and keeping me here whether I want it to or not. I don't want to become your enemy, Risha."
"I don't wish to become your enemy either, Korra." Risha replied calmly, twirling a coin between her fingers—or it looked like a coin at least. "I too am familiar with the Red Lotus though, to the point where my mother knew yours. The difference is that my mother did not waver from the Red Lotus ideals, and for it she got the lockup. Unlike your bending teachers, however, apparently ol' Zaheer didn't think my dear sweet mother Kashni was worth plucking from the prison block, and so she stayed there."
"I'm sorry to hear that, but that's not going to change my mind." Korra asserted.
"I don't expect it to," Risha warned, "I say this only because I keep a correspondence with my dear mother. She was very interested in hearing about the Red Lotus' weaponized Avatar they spent a decade trying to build."
"And if that's what she thinks of me," Korra cut her off, causing the slender woman's eyes to widen just slightly, "then I don't give a damn what she thinks or what she wants. I've had enough people try to strip me of my fucking humanity at this point that I'm ready to start cracking skulls!"
"Korra, please," Risha took a deep breath, "I am not my mother. I'll admit that I'm being a bit roundabout in saying all of this, but the point I'm trying to make is this: When I said my mother was in prison, I meant it—as in to say, that she *was* in prison. She's out, and at large again, and that's why I came here to warn you. She may not be at the skill level of Tarrlok and Noatak, but she knows those arts, and she will find you. I do not know her motives, and I've tried my best to make her see reason, but she's after you. "Like Hama to Master Katara, history will repeat itself", she warned me. Make of that what you will."
Korra took a step back, clearly taken aback by this warning.
"Of course, I'm just a mob boss' lackey, so honesty isn't my strong suit." Risha continued with a shrug before Korra could muster up the words to reply or react, "but it's up to you to decide what's real and what's not. What motive could I possibly have for wanting to get on your bad side? On the other hand, surely you can see why a woman like me could have a motive for wanting to tip the Avatar off about another crazy lunatic that wants to see you dead or dying—to say nothing about your business deal with my boss."
"You're not telling me something and I can see it," Korra moved towards the door.
"Of course; I don't need your full story just as you don't need mine." Risha made no effort to stop her, "While I do think it would behoove you to learn the arts of bloodbending to protect yourself against others who might seek to use it to harm you once more, I certainly cannot and will not force your hand. Do be safe though, and send Ms. Sato my regards."
This gave Korra genuine pause, and her eyes lit up threateningly as she stomped right back over to Risha and seized the woman's shoulders, slamming her hard against the wall.
"You can mess with me all you want," Korra warned, "but SO HELP ME if you as much as lay a harmful finger on Asami, I will end you and I will make it hurt. Don't drag her into this."
"I'll do no such thing," Risha looked Korra squarely in the eyes, either unfazed about her current position or just incredibly talented at hiding her fear, "I cannot guarantee the same for my mother, being the Blood Whisperer and being off her rocker and all, but I'm not my mother, the same way Asami is not Mr. Sato, or the same way you're not your uncle. Don't push her away either though, even if you think it's to keep her safe. You clearly need her, and I imagine she needs you too."
"Risha…" Korra sighed, relenting as her eyes returned to normal, but she trailed off.
"Remember, Avatar Korra, that I am not interested in going back to jail, I am certainly not interested in losing my life, and I am not interested in following down my mother's path. However, just because you do not take an interest in her, does not mean that she will not take interest in you—especially not with the moon as full as it is."
One peek out the window was enough to spot the bright moon in the clear sky, and if it wasn't full, it was very close to being so. Korra turned back around, and Risha had vanished. Korra found it particularly odd since this was her own suite, but she wasn't about to hunt Risha down—she had other objectives in mind.
"For fuck's sake, kid, you were just at my place a few hours ago!" Kwan shook her head as she let Korra back in for the second time this evening.
"Yeah, but this is important." Korra was not about to take no for an answer, "There's a bloodbender on the loose, and I think it might be the same one that you said was locked away."
"Well, I certainly wasn't trying to feed you false information if that's what you were implying," Kwan grunted, "but let's hear it."
Korra spared no detail of Risha's account, and speculated that she may have been one of the Red Lotus bloodbenders Kwan had mentioned earlier.
"And you said her name was Risha," Kwan pulled a few loose curls and tangled her fingers up in them, "aye, that's her. She and her mother were locked up, and she got out a lot sooner and supposedly turned her life around. Her mother obviously was a little less upstanding, which, given Risha's lifestyle under that mob boss Zolt, doesn't say much. Anyroad, if she's busted out, then Risha's warnings are legitimate."
"She wants to make me a bloodbender," Korra reminded her, "and I'm sure I don't even need to mention Tarrlok to make it clear how against that I am."
"The problem with bloodbending," Tarrlok spoke up, having been quiet until now, "is that as you've demonstrated yourself, Avatar Korra, one does not simply break out of a bloodbender's grasp without either being a strong-willed Avatar, as you did against me and my brother; or being a bloodbender more powerful than the assailant. That was what Master Katara was forced to resort to in order to keep Hama from manipulating her friends."
"That's what Risha told me too," Korra tugged her own sidelocks in frustration, "and I hate the fact that she's basically right. I can protect myself from it, but how else do I protect my friends from it without resorting to more violence—or bloodbending itself?"
"I never wanted to say it and still don't, honestly," Tarrlok wrung his hands, "but you definitely have the power to learn it, if you chose to, Korra. But at the same time, I suspect Risha is somehow in on this operation. You said Asami had a muscle spasm and then Risha mentions that exact thing. I think it's a setup."
"But to what end?" Korra shook her head, "Why do they want me to become a bloodbender? I can't imagine they think I'd rejoin the Red Lotus at this point, or that I wouldn't wring their necks if they touch Asami again."
"I almost wish Zaheer were here just so we could ask his motives for teaching you," Kwan admitted, "I don't think he regrets anything that happened, even his return to prison. If Risha and her mother Kashni are anything like him—and I'm pretty damn sure they are—then they might just see this as a means to an end. Frankly, that's part of why the Red Lotus is so damn terrifying. You play by their rules because they have nothing to lose that they care about, and even if you manage to fight off their objectives, they find ways to turn it around for their own gain. That's how they lured my sister and I in, and that's how Shenzi… well, you know the rest."
"So you clearly know how their minds work better than anyone, Kwan—no offense," Korra remarked, "what do you think I should do?"
"I'd find Risha before she disappears for the night, and force it out of her." Kwan suggested, "and have a drink on me. The sooner I can have this damn baby the better. I digress though—Risha is a slippery bastard from what I know about her, and so if you're not fast enough you might miss her chance."
"Then I gotta go," Korra jumped to her feet and bolted for the door. "Thanks Kwan!"
"Any time, kid," Kwan gave a shrug and a sigh as she leaned back, glancing up at Tarrlok as the door swung shut behind Korra. "I'd tell her to stay safe, but you and I both know she couldn't do that if her life depended on it."
"All too well," Tarrlok admitted. "I can understand her hesitation given my involvement in traumatizing her with that very art, but at the same time, I can see the benefits of her learning it, if nothing else, simply to counteract any other renegades like Risha and Kashni. Korra's only weakness is the love she has for others—which causes her enemies to go for her friends and loved ones, because they're cowards and they know that they can't go for her."
"Unlike my dear husband, who went right for her and got his ass kicked." Kwan snickered darkly. "Sorry, that might have been in bad taste."
"You certainly don't need to try and reassure me that my vile acts were anything less," Tarrlok ran his hands through her thick mop of hair, "but if even my concerted efforts failed to break her, she will really be unstoppable"
To Korra's slight surprise, when she kicked open the door to Suite 576 of the Winter Waters Hotel, Risha was there preening in the mirror, still in the same dress and heels as before. She jumped slightly at the ruckus from the door, although calmed down an instant later when she realized who it was.
"Korra, darling, what brings you back here?" she cooed, reaching behind her. Korra kept her guard up and did not answer at first. "I'd love to stay and chat, but I was just getting ready to… turn in for the night…" As if on cue, Risha relieved herself of her dress, leaving herself in a set of undergarments that made Korra fight off mental images of Asami wearing it.
"Well, call it a late night," she ordered, "You're going to take me to your mother."
"You want to see the Blood Whisperer now?" Risha actually gave pause, "in the dead of night when she is at her most powerful?"
"Yes, because if she's as power-mad as you say, that's when she's most likely to strike—and I want to hit her before she hits me, or worse, someone important to me."
"Not that I necessarily have any control over my mom, but as you can see I was in the middle of getting ready to retire for the night. Turns out I don't keep this dress on all the time after all."
"You've got shoes on and weren't ever fazed by the cold before," Korra seized Risha's wrist, "I'm calling that bluff. Either get dressed or you can give the Water Tribe a show." It was clearly not going to work on Korra. Risha paused for a moment as if weighing her options on the fly.
"I can see why you're angry, Korra, and why you might have me labeled as a suspect, but remember: I've got stock in Future Industries, I work for the same mob boss that you willingly returned bending to, and I warned you that Kashni was at large. If I was truly your enemy, why would I throw all of that away, and why would I alert you to my mother's movement?"
Korra's grip tightened on Risha's wrist, but the scantily-clad waterbender had collected herself by this point and so was once again unfazed. "If you'd be so kind as to stop cutting off my circulation so my right hand doesn't fall off, I'll get dressed and help you find my mommy dearest. I am unsure what this will lead to, but I assume you have a plan,and I do want to see my boss' benefactor stay safe and strong."
"Of course I have a plan," Korra pouted, although she knew these words were fairly flimsy at best. She was making it up as she went and she knew it. "Just trust me."
"I very much do, Avatar Korra," Risha put her dress back on as soon as Korra released her hand, "here, do me a favour and give me a zip?"
Without giving it much thought, Korra zipped up the back of Risha's dress and then turned her around herself, hands on Risha's shoulders. "Let's go."
"As you say," Risha nodded, locking the door behind her. Surprisingly, being on the business end of Korra's boot hadn't broken it, although it did feel somewhat looser than before.
"It's a ways to the south of here," she gestured towards Korra, walking with a confident stride. "I'm sure you'll be fine though; I take it you know how to ride a snowmobile?"
"Of course," Korra looked a little insulted, "just lead the way."
"Rest assured, Korra," Risha smiled, letting it turn into a devious smirk out of Korra's view, "I would never dream of doing anything less."