Fate ◇ Desna x Reader

Chapter Three

Soon enough, you were all on the trail again, heading toward the center of the South Pole. You were grateful that Desna was seated behind you once again, because that gave you the opportunity to lean back against him as you strove to fully wake up. You were also grateful that this time, he far more readily wrapped his arms around your waist, meaning he was getting more comfortable with you. During the remainder of the trip there, you and Desna discussed all the books he had back home that he wished for you to read, and you made mental notes of the ones he seemed the most interested in. You resolved to read those first.

"I think we're here," Mako called out, after a couple hours of travel. All of you stopped to gaze upon the intimidatingly vast Everstorm that Tonraq and Unalaq had been talking about.

It got impossibly colder the closer you got to the heart of the Everstorm, prompting everyone to put their hoods up, although that didn't help much. The foreboding sounds of spirits rang out from somewhere around you, and Bolin hesitantly asked, "Is that what I think it is?"

"We must keep moving," Unalaq responded without hesitation.

You couldn't stop the small gasp that escaped your lips when the noises got even louder, and you felt Desna's arms tighten around your waist in a comforting and protective manner. Bolin expressed some additional concern, and just as Mako tried to console him, dark spirits erupted from the ground below and began wreaking havoc on the luggage aboard everyone's modes of transportation.

Desna turned and used waterbending in an attempt to get one such creature off of your supplies, while you tried steadying the alarmed camel. Your efforts were successful, until a dark spirit popped up in front of the animal, and grabbed hold of its legs. The camel began to buck and rear upwards, easily tossing Desna off, as he'd let go of you to fend off the spirits. Despite your yells of protest, the camel took off running up the side of a mountain after ridding itself of your companion, eventually throwing you into a pile of snow.

You weren't terribly concerned about this – in fact, you were grateful for the soft landing – until a new, larger, more menacing dark spirit came to hover above you, extending two large, dark purple claws to seize you in its clutches. You managed to use both feet to kick it off of you so that you could get back up on your feet and draw your twin broadswords, but the impact only angered it, and it dove toward you with a feral, otherworldly screech. You braced yourself to swing at the creature, but it never had the chance to attack.

A thick wall of ice had blocked the spirit from reaching you, courtesy of Desna, who was speeding through the snow toward you. It attempted to dive around the wall to attack you again, but it was met with a tidal wave of water as Desna reached your side, driving it backwards and away from you. Before it could attack again, its attention was drawn away by Unalaq using his technique to soothe and send off a dark spirit. The spirit before you seemed to take the hint, and quickly disappeared into the sky.

"Are you hurt?" Desna inquired, giving you a once-over to search for any signs of injury.

"No, I'm fine, thanks to you," you said as you let out a breath you didn't realize you'd been holding, finally allowing the tension to leave your shoulders. Being face to face with an angry spirit was definitely more than a little nerve-wracking, especially for a non-bender.

Desna held out an arm to you. You took a few steps forward to stand next to him, and he wrapped his arm around your waist, then created a sheet of ice that the pair of you used to sled down the side of the mountain on. You rejoined the party at the same time Eska came sliding down the side of the opposing mountain, followed by Bolin, careening toward you all in his now-inflated snowsuit. Mako stopped him with his foot, before Eska drove spikes of ice through the suit to deflate it.

Mako surveyed the damage, as Tonraq, Unalaq, and Korra argued about whether they should leave or continue onwards. Korra quickly decided to carry on, and Tonraq left to return to the tribe. The party persevered, with Mako having joined Korra on Naga, so that Eska could take his arctic camel, which towed a begrudged Bolin in what was left of his sled.

Not long later, you arrived at the portal. Well, the ice-covered forest surrounding the portal, that is. After discussing a plan with Unalaq, Korra entered, seeking the portal at the heart of the dense, dead forest. The rest of you remained outside, and you leaned against Desna once again, appreciative when his arms wrapped around your waist in response, giving you some protection from the frigid wind. As seemed to be the general setting of the entire trip, the lot of you remained silent, eagerly anticipating the outcome of Korra opening the portal.

You were beginning to think she'd been unsuccessful, when a sudden, blindingly bright beacon of light shot through the center of the forest, up into the sky. You watched in awe as breath-taking bluish green lights began to fill the sky, and you then recalled what Unalaq said about the spirits dancing in the sky at the North Pole.

"It's beautiful," you whispered, more so to yourself than to anyone else.

"You are far more enjoyable to look at," Desna responded, and you turned to smile at him. He offered one of his classic, miniscule smiles in return. For someone as aloof and withdrawn as Desna, he was quite skilled with the occasional romantic remark.

In lieu of a 'thank you,' you leaned back and placed your hand on the back of his neck, guiding his face down to meet yours in a kiss. It had been torture to refrain from kissing him while surrounded by the others, so it was long overdue, and very much enjoyed. His arms around your waist pulled you closer to him as you both melted into the kiss, the lights dancing across the sky above you.

"Hey, Korra, you're back!" Bolin bellowed, drawing your attention away from the kiss.

After Korra had a brief exchange with Unalaq and Mako, you congratulated her on opening the portal, and she thanked you. The morning glow from the sun fell upon the snow-covered landscape as you began the last leg of your journey. It was definitely a worthwhile sight, made all the more enjoyable by Desna's arms around you, and the quick kiss he placed on your temple as you headed back to the tribe.