spirit | lok

vii | "sinking sun"

Harahni sat perched on the edge of her bed, her legs crossed and her stoic, grey gaze fixed on the open window of her room that let in cool, autumn air through the maroon curtains. The soft light of dawn filtered through the shutters, casting long, slim shadows across the wooden floor. She had been sitting there for what felt like an eternity, her mind consumed with an array of thoughts that ranged from her frustration with school, to the whereabouts of the Avatar.

Her cat lay sleeping by her knee in a pile of blankets coated in white, shedded fur, her sleek tail curled up neatly to her button nose. Every so often, her whiskers would twitch. Undoubtedly she was chasing rabbit-squirrels in her dreams. Harahni bit her cheek between her teeth as she waited in the morning glow, listening, searching for any sound that Korra had returned.

Korra and Mako had set out to find Bolin, who had gone missing after his street-side performance at Central Station. Harahni was certain that the boy she saw yesterday was him, despite having never seen him up close. All she knew of him was what she witnessed at the pro-bending match.

The outline of his broad shoulders, the dark hair beneath his helmet. Her stomach knotted with the weight of uncertainty, her thoughts plagued by the worry that her inadvertent coincidence about seeing Bolin with Pabu yesterday had led both Korra and Mako straight into danger. It's not hard to miss the uprisings that were ensuing throughout Republic City. Gang activity was increasing, shops were being looted. There seemed to be a new problem everyday.

Why hadn't Korra returned? Would she have sent some kind of message by now? Should Harahni even be this caught up in a situation that has nothing to do with her?

As the minutes stretched into hours and the sun rose more prominently into the sky, Harahni's anxiety only grew. She had barely slept, her mind consumed with visions of Korra and Mako caught in some dangerous, outrageous confrontation with the Triple Threat Triad, or worse. She couldn't shake the feeling of responsibility weighing heavily on her shoulders, but she didn't let these thoughts show.

Something had seemed out of sorts when the sato-mobile had skirted away from beneath the statue of Fire-Lord Zuko, leaving a vacant mat with circus props left without an owner. The gut feeling that screamed that very fact at her then.

When breakfast time rolled around, she sat quietly at the table by her sister who was nose-deep in a new novel. Jinora ate elegantly, keeping her eyes on the pages with chopsticks between her fingers as Harahni sat cross-legged on the pillow. Ikki, and her parents did most of the chatting about their upcoming agenda for the day. Meelo had his head on the table, still half-asleep and snoring. Korra was blatantly absent.

After finishing the meal, Harahni cleaned her bowl and utensils in the sink, her mom standing next to her in the kitchen. She stacked shiny cups into the cupboard, her deep red robe billowing with her movement "what are your plans for today, honey?"

"Nothing" Harahni scrubbed a spoon with the wash cloth, soap suds foaming between her slender fingers. "Normally I'd be at school, but-" she shrugged, not finishing the sentence.

"We're coordinating with the academy to have them send an independent-study curriculum for you, you should have it by-"

"Sounds good" she dropped the clean spoon into the drying rack and walked out from the kitchen through the curtain divider separating them from the dining space, leaving Pema to stand somewhere between dumbfounded and hurt with a rhythmic drip of water falling from the sink.