The wandering knight

Smoke

It all happened so fast.

One moment, Korra was there, holding her hand, smiling at her like she's the only thing in the world, looking absolutely stunning as always.

Then, with a blink of an eye and a toot of a horn, that happy expression was completely wiped out, replaced with complete and utter fear and concern.

A moment later, Korra was gone, walking in a fast pace out of the woods, one that Asami was barely able to keep us with.

Then, she stood still, frozen, staring from the edge of the hill and onto the tribe. That lasted only a moment, a few seconds at best, before she started sprinting towards it in full speed.

And Asami was running after her, though she didn't understand why at first. She just let her legs carry her, allowed them to follow her lover.

Then, she saw the smoke.

Then, she saw the flames.

Then, she heard the screams.

She was no longer following Korra, she lost her at some point. The girl was undoubtedly fast, so it was hard for Asami to keep up. But she still ran, she had to get there, she had to see what's going on.

The sight of the tribe was almost overwhelming. When she's been out late last night, the streets were completely empty, peaceful, quiet. But now, people were flooding the streets, running away, screaming, clutching onto their children.

The lucky ones that is. She wasn't able to look at the few bodies that laid limp on the ground, it was too much for her.

Brushing past the people running away, she moved in the opposite direction to them. She saw fires spreading in the wooden built houses, but it seemed unlikely to be an accident considering that they were in a snowy atmosphere. Not to mention, every wooden house was burning, and most if not all of them were separated. This wasn't an accident, this was intentional.

But who was attacking? Why?

She suddenly became very aware of the fact that she didn't even have a sword on. Not knowing where the armoury is, she decided her best bet was to sneak into Varrick's house and search for a sword there. So, she raised the hood of her coat, trying not to stick out and blend in with the crowd. She didn't really see soldiers yet, but she knew it was coming.

And just when she reached Varrick's house, she started seeing them.

"Zhu li! Do the thing!" She suddenly heard Varrick yell and turned to the direction where his voice was coming from. He ducked, then Zhu li literally jumped on his back and used it as a launcher. Then, with the leverage from the jump, she swang a sword and easily took out a soldier.

She got that from 'do the thing'?

Asami ran towards them with the intention of getting help for herself, but the moment she laid eyes on the knight Zhu li took out, she stopped dead in her tracks.

She'd recognize that armour anywhere.

"Fuck," she cursed under her breath, feeling tears start burning in her eyes. "Fuck!" She shouted loudly this time, kicking the limp body on the ground in anger and frustration.

Why did you have to find me? She asked, mentally, screamed mentally, fighting away those nasty tears in her eyes. This was supposed to be my happy ending!

This is my fault...

This is all my fault...

"Asami!" Varrick called from behind her. "Zhu li and I are taking out soldiers! You're joining?"