~Celestial Bodies~

4.9

"Korra, what is it?" asked Opal, "Are you okay?"

"It was Kuvira," exclaimed the Avatar, making Rae's body tense, "I saw her taking vines from the swamp. The machines you heard were her mecha-tanks, Rae. It must be affecting our Spirit Wilds. I bet that's what you were sensing, Jinora."

Rae shook her head, a worried look on her face. "It isn't just affecting our Spirit Wilds," she choked out, "It's affecting all spirits. That swamp has vines running everywhere, delivering almost every part of this continent with spiritual energy."

"Why is she taking vines?" asked Jinora sadly.

"Whatever the reason," started Korra with narrowed eyes, "I'm sure it's not good."

"We have to tell Raiko!" exclaimed Opal, "This might help him convince the other leaders to finally take her down."

Rae nodded eagerly, and even Jinora agreed. "I'll keep looking for Ryu and the others," said the young master as her gaze shifted from Korra to Rae. Korra nodded and dragged Rae behind her, running towards the City hall where Raiko was supposed to be.

It was a tiring run, but the three of them finally arrived at the City Hall. They ignored the presidential guards that stood around the building and Rae frowned when she felt the familiar military trained steps of a few Fire Nation Guards. But the moment Korra pushed open the doors of the conference room, they were greeted by the presence of the World Leaders, Lin Beifong, Mako and two guards. Rae frowned when she heard Wu's voice echo in the room.

"President Raiko, I'm sorry to interrupt but—" Korra's voice was cut off when she saw the multitude of people, "What's going on here?"

"Oh, hey, avatar Korra," started Wu, "Just kickin' it world leader style, trying to figure out what to do about Kuvira. For the record, I told Raiko he should've invited you and your scary friend."

The woman frowned when she felt Wu point to her and Korra's gaze switched to hers for a moment before she looked at the president.

"You invited him, but not us?" asked the Avatar as she pointed at Rae who stood a few feet to her right, besides Opal.

"Please, Korra," started Tenzin, "it's not personal. We just thought perhaps we called you back into action a little too soon."

"Again," stated Korra, her tone filled with confusion mixed with anger, "him? Not us?"

"Korra, we're in the middle of a meeting," started Raiko, making Rae's eyes roll, "and we can't have people just barge in whenever they want!"

As if the spirits had heard the president's words and decided to ignore him, two bodies ran into the conference room. Rae recognized Bolin's heavy and wobbling steps and Varrick's calculated one immediately, and a deep frown overtook her features.

"Oh perfect, you're all here," he exclaimed with a few heavy breaths, making Rae cringe at the small crack in his voice.

"Bolin?" asked Mako, Korra and Opal at the same time.

"Well, it looks like Bolin to me," whispered Rae as she pointed her hand to him.

"What are you doing here?" asked Raiko angered, "guards, remove these traitors!"

As the two men started approaching Bolin and Varrick, they started moving around and shouting about how they escaped Kuvira's army. But still, the guards didn't back down until Bolin shouted from the top of his lungs, "We have top secret information for you!"

A few seconds passed when nothing happened. Everyone looked at Bolin with wide eyes and Raiko nodded, making the guards drop the two men. Varrick stomped his foot on the ground grumpily and said, "I guess we should have opened with that line."