Earth
Fire
Air
Water
Only the Avatar can master all four elements and bring balance to the world
THIS JUST IN:
After years of silence, Harmonic Convergence has been called again, and Unalaq is on the warpath for the Avatar spirit Vaatu. Kya, Bumi, and Tenzin have ventured into the Spirit World to rescue Jinora. Asami has taken Tonraq to the safety of the rebel encampment. The last line of defense rests with Korra, Lemaya, Mako, and Bolin as they try to stop Unalaq from destroying the world as we know it.
Tenzin, Kya, and Bumi circled around each other, looking in every direction as they wandered further into the Spirit World. "This isn't working. We can't just walk aimlessly around and expect to find Jinora."
"That is why we just need to locate her footprints and then track her from there." Bumi crouched to the ground and rubbed his hand over the dirt on the ground. He inspected the residue on his fingers and carefully turned about leaves in his hands as Tenzin and Kya shook their heads.
"Do you even know what spirit footprints look like? Did Jinora even leave footprints? Bumi, we can't possibly track her in the Spirit World like that. Let me try something." Kya sighed and slowly set herself on the ground. She crossed her legs and started to hum, searching nearby for Jinora levels of spiritual energy. "I feel a lot of spiritual energy coming from that direction. We should head that way."
Tenzin's eye's followed Kya's hand south and surmised the direction and its deceptively clear path forward. Then, as Bumi scoffed, he let his eyes gaze around for another solution. "There's spiritual energy in every direction, Kya, we're literally in the spirit world!"
"Enough! Let's just get a spirit guide to help us," Tenzin said, raising a hand to usher his siblings along as he approached the trunk of a large tree. Something scurried inside its shadows and Tenzin cleared his throat. "Hello, spirit, I am sorry to bother you, but we are in need of your assistance."
The spirit chittered and climbed out of the tree, pushing Tenzin, Kya, and Bumi back in terror as a large shadow fell over them. Its many limbs spread out in all its spidery glory and the siblings gulped. "Humans in the Spirit World belong in one place only. The imprisonment of my stomach." The siblings yelped, not hesitating to break out into a sprint.
They dashed left, running and jumping through the spirit world's vegetation until they slipped off a steep edge. Rolling roughly down the mountainside, Tenzin placed his hands before them and broke their fall with a rushing gust. He dropped them with a grunt and relaxed his head on the ground beneath all of their bodies. "That was a waste of time. And now we're-"
"Completely lost," Kya and Bumi finished, their backs falling defeatedly to the ground next to Tenzin. But they couldn't let themselves give up. Not when Jinora's life was on the line. So, they stood tall and chose a direction, and stuck to it.
Suck, though, that right isn't always right. "We're walking in circles, I've seen this same mushroom five times," Tenzin huffed while gesturing to a bright red mushroom in the middle of the path before them.
"That's not the same mushroom," Bumi scoffed, waving it away as he tried to walk around it.
Kya sighed and grabbed her brother's elbow. "We've had to step aside for it each time we passed it, it's definitely the same one."
"She's right, I am the same one," the mushroom giggled, its eyes watching their struggle happily.
"Thank you, kind spirit," Tenzin grinned as he moved to help Kya keep Bumi in place so he didn't lead them in another circle.
Bumi rolled his eyes and snapped his elbows away from his siblings. "Sure, trust the spirit over your amazing tracker of a brother."
"I find that spirits often seem to know more than humans do. In certain circumstances, of course." The siblings instinctively cowered behind each other, fearing that the spider spirit had followed them on their terrifying tumble off the cliff, but they let their shoulders slump lazily as a warm smile greeted them.
"Iroh!" Bumi laughed, his eyes brimming with happiness as he ran to engulf the man in a large hug.
"It's been so long," Kya smiled, joining her brother.
"Almost forty years. It's nice to see you again." Iroh melted into the hug once Tenzin came over to, even the mushroom sharing its joy at the reunion.
"How did you know we were here?" Tenzin asked as he pulled away. Iroh shook his head and gestured back to the trees he stepped out from, a streak of red slipping onto his fingers from the shadows.
"A friend told me you were lost, so I came to help."
"Iroh, we're looking for my daughter. Is there any way you can help with that?" Tenzin's face had raised into hopefulness at the introduction of a spirit guide, but with the somber look in Iroh's eyes, it fell again.
"I am sorry, Tenzin, but I came to help you find your way home. You all shouldn't be here, especially with what is coming."
"We're not leaving until we find Jinora," Kya said, stepping firmly to Tenzin's side.
Iroh nodded. "I understand, but you should be careful. If you travel too deep in the Spirit World, you may very well end up in a place where only the lost will be able to find you."
"Well, that's ominous. Do you think we could get some happier advice?" Bumi turned toward his siblings. "'You think he can do that for us. I mean-" But when they turned back to Iroh, he was gone, leaving them only with their confusion.
"A place where only the lost will be able to find you? Where-" Tenzin gasped- "I know where to find Jinora!"
"Are you sure about this?" Tenzin shook his hands before himself, hyping himself up.
"Bumi, I hate this as much as you do. Just trust me." Kya and Bumi shared a glance, but there was no turning back as Tenzin flung a gust of air into the tree where the antagonistic spider spirit lived. "Hey!"
"You again?" The spirit sneered. It lunged for them, Tenzin grabbing his siblings' hands to prevent them from doing anything to stop the spider. Then, its tall shadow once again fell over them as they were swallowed whole into the spirit's darkness.
It was quiet for a few moments, then, they all felt their eyes suddenly able to adjust to the pitch darkness. And when they did, they unfuzzed into a grey mist that went on for miles.
"I thought we were going to be imprisoned in their stomach? This doesn't look very stomach-like to me," Kya murmured as she whispered her hands through the dewy fog.
"I hope it's not a stomach," Bumi grumbled, checking the bottom of his shoes for any bile or stomach acid.
"It's the Fog of Lost Souls. A prison of sorts. The spirit world always isn't what it seems, and that goes for how you can get from place to place," Tenzin explained, leading his siblings forward through the fog.
"But did we have to get eaten to do that?" Kya asked, her body shuddering at the horrible experience.
"I'm not sure, but it was the only thing that came to mind at that moment."
"I think you deep down really hate us, Tenzin, because I would have never suggested letting us be eaten alive and I love you guys a lot." Tenzin spun around and glared at his brother, wagging his finger in his face.
"I am not hearing this Bumi! We are finding my daughter no matter what, so get over it!" Kya and Bumi gulped, nodding rapidly as Tenzin turned back around. "Now, let's get moving."
"So much for a prison. We can literally walk right out of it," Bumi said, veering left. Tenzin grabbed a hold of him and pulled him back.
"It's a prison for humans. Dad told me about it and how he and our aunts and uncles went searching through it for Zuko's sister," Tenzin murmured as he held his siblings close, "The fog is actually a spirit that infects the mind and drives you mad. Then it imprisons you in your darkest memories."
"Well, that's fun. I bet she had a load of dark memories to get lost in," Bumi whispered with a light laugh.
Kya reached over Tenzin to slap Bumi. "Obviously she wasn't in here, idiot, or else we would have heard non-stop from Uncle Sokka about Uncle Sokka supposedly valiantly saving the wayward Fire Princess from the Spirit World."
Bumi rubbed his shoulder. "How did they get out? Or not get lost?"
"They stayed together, so as long as we do that we'll find Jinora and make it out of this fog." Tenzin grazed his foot along the ground, feeling for some discarded vegetation. Feeling something, he picked up a thick vine and nodded in satisfaction. He wrapped it around all three of their waists and secured each knot tightly and firmly. "There. Under no circumstance should you untie this rope. Understand?"
"Understand," Bumi and Kya agreed.
They did, in fact, not understand.
"Jinora!" Tenzin called out, cupping his hands around his mouth. He let his hands fall, but they jumped right back up as Bumi gasped and jumped onto his back. "Bumi, did you see her?"
"Yes, they're all around us. The cannibals. They're everywhere." Bumi's lips quivered in fear as he eyed the misty fog. Tenzin's breath quickened as he pried Bumi off of his shoulders.
"Bumi, you must focus your mind. There are no cannibals!"
Then Kya screamed. "Who are you two?" Her hands reached to unite herself but Tenzin stopped her hands in time.
"We're your brothers, Kya. You have to remember that before the fog gets you." Tenzin tried to reason with her and stop her hands from unknotting the vines, but she smacked his hand away before he could.
"I have no family. You're not the ones who will tie me down!" She dropped the rope and scurried off into the mist as Tenzin called out wildly for her.
"Oop, they're closing in, I gotta go!" Bumi slipped nimbly out of his side of the rope and disappeared too, leaving Tenzin to hopelessly blow the fog around him away with gusts of wind.
"Kya! Bumi! Come back!"
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Small quakes shuddered the ground, resonating from the portal. Desna and Eska stood still on top of the waves, noting the probable disruptions that were causing them. Hopefully, they didn't signify the end to their cousin. Desna massaged his arms coolly as he admired the stark light of the portal. Eska stretched her neck, her knuckles cracking beneath her coat. "We should be going in there to pay her back for overpowering us, Eska."
"We really should, Desna."
"So why aren't we?" Desna dropped his hands to his side and sighed, a small frown grasping at his lips. "Is it because of what Bolin said?"
Eska chuckled darkly. "We both have speculated that our father hasn't been himself for a long time. I'm sure the second we step through this portal, we will know that for certain." The twins firmly nodded and fell into stride, heading for the portal. But, before they could cross its threshold, the snap of a twig nestled them back in the human realm.
"Your father isn't going to keep his promise to me, is he?"
The twins didn't have to turn around to know who was behind them. "Your answer lies in the ashes of where your friends once stood. I think you can figure that one out for yourself."
Zaheer fell to the ground, his hands fumbling around for a necklace at his chest. "I will never get what I want, will I?" Zaheer whispered.
"You and our father have that in common," Eska mumbled. The twins paid Zaheer no more mind as they stepped into the Spirit World and left him alone on the ground. Zaheer sobbed and punched aimlessly at the ground.
"I have failed you three yet again. I thought I had to follow to make up for my failure as a leader, yet here I am, letting you down again." Zaheer knelt his face to the ground, memories flashing behind his eyes until a spark flared his head up. His cries ceased and he gazed upon the portal with a new determination, one that he should have felt from the beginning. "I know who I need to go after to make up for the balance we fought for. Make up for everything"
Zaheer pushed himself off of the ground, aiming to dive headfirst into the portal, but his feet gave out beneath him as a ball and chain swiftly fastened his ankles together. Zaheer dropped to the floor, his breath quickening as he rolled over and tried to reach for the ties at his feet.
"Enough is enough, Zaheer. We will follow you no longer." Zaheer's hands were shoved to the ground by thick boots, Zaheer's eyes lifting to see a few of his old friends glaring down at him. They were ashen and charred and burned, their eyes littered with intense hatred.
"You don't understand. I need to go after the Avatar. I need to finish my mission. The fate of us all rests on it!" Zaheer tried to plead with them, but they were hearing none of it.
"No, our fate rested on you, and you let us down. We are hurt and injured, and dead because we followed your lies as you followed another. And for that, you will suffer." A fist winded up before Zaheer's eyes and he had no time to react before it collided with his nose.
Streams of blood pooled from his face as cuts and gashes formed under the slicing hands of his followers. After a while, they let him be, dragging him quietly back to the camp of the rebels where they knew his fate would be appropriately sealed.
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At the beginning of it all, just after Tenzin, Kya, and Bumi had separated from them, just Unalaq had absorbed some of the tree's might, Korra and the others waited to face whatever storm he had for them. "I am not going to let you take Vaatu from me!" Korra stamped her foot firmly into the ground then pushed forward, charging toward Unalaq.
Lemaya followed suit and fell into step with Korra. They drew a huge stream of water from water pouches at their sides and snaked them around Unalaq as Bolin and Mako knocked him back with punches of fire and earth. As he flew back, Korra spun around, curling her hands above her head and catching Unalaq before he hit the ground.
She pushed him up with a gust of wind then chucked him through the Spirit Portal. She turned, fully ready to instruct her friends to keep Unalaq busy on the other side, but a loud thud stopped them all in their tracks. Unalaq flew back through the portal, landing right back in the hollowness of the Tree of Time, a gloating laugh echoing out of the tree.
"How silly of you, Avatar," Unalaq smirked, the tree glowing a bright shade of purple that only seemed to grow by the minute, "the Universe has brung me this far, and yet you really thought it'd let me go that easily?"
The tree rocked and from the gaping hole lodge at its head came a massive shadow, a massive projection of Unalaq coating the sky. Inside the tree of time, his body fell still as his soul lunged for Korra.
She jumped out of the way and slammed her eyes closed. She threw them open, their sparkling blue now a brilliant white as she burned bright flames across her knuckles. Running at Unalaq, Korra jammed her fists into Unalaq's projected from, the orange from her flames singing the purple mass before her.
Throwing tendrils at her every chance he got, Unalaq slowly drifted past each of Korra's attacks, but as he continued to slow, he realized she wasn't aiming for him at all. Korra's hits landed on the tree, her Avatar spirits guiding her to damage the source of his power and the place where Unalaq's real body rested. Unalaq huffed and raised his fists, slamming it down on Korra in a moment where her back was turned to him.
Korra reacted quick enough, though, and she dropped herself far enough to brace her arms to hold the impact of his large first. Then, with a burst of power, he let flames fly out of her feet as she pushed Unalaq's fist upward and straight into his face.
Unalaq stumbled back and cried out, his screams dashing through the Spirit Forests around them. Then, as if he sent out a rallying cry, spirits appeared, heading toward the perimeter around the open portal far from the tree. With one short glance at Korra, Lemaya, Mako, and Bolin all knew what their new tasks were. They shouted at the spirits, drawing their attention and their fire as they put distance between them and Korra and raced to stop them from advancing anymore.
Korra raised herself back to Unalaq's height, running at him with mounds of earth behind her, latched around her fists as she punched Unalaq while he was down. But, he didn't let that go on for long
As Korra paused to measure the damage she inflicted behind the enormous dust clouds they kicked up, Unalaq let out one large swing of his arm from behind the sight-blocking haze. He snarled as Korra flew back, unprepared for his fist and mind too frazzled to process and block another attack. He thrust out his hands and several tendrils swooped out of his soul, wrapping tightly around Korra and forcing her down to the ground.
From the distance they were at, it was hard to make out anything that was going on. Mako and Bolin had gotten the spirits down and exhausted as Lemaya cleansed them, an efficient enough process for the few spirits that came out of the woodwork at Unalaq's behest. But as a chilling scream pierced the Spirit World, more spirits flocked toward them in a frenzy. And Lemaya froze.
She slammed her head backward, knowing that voice anywhere, her body falling to a halt as Korra desperately clenched her hands over her chest. She sweated, trying to keep something within her as Unalaq pressed two fingers deep into her soul.
As if feeling Lemaya's eyes on hers, Korra looked off to the side for a moment. She gave a single nod, giving Lemaya permission to focus on the stampede of spirits hurtling towards them instead of her. It wasn't like Lemaya could see it, but she could feel it, and Lemaya gently set down the hand she had raised.
She let out a shaky breath, her body not wanting to even turn away from Korra. But it did, and she closed her eyes, trying to wrack her scattering mind for an idea to stop the approaching horde.
"What if we- we could. Uh-" Lemaya stuttered and shoved her hands into her head. A sharp warning escaped Bolin's lips momentarily, but not before Lemaya was thrashed to the side. Lemaya pried her eyes open, searching frantically for what hit her. Seeing only a disgruntled spirit, one who would have run into Lemaya if she wasn't shoved out of the way, she relaxed. Then, right as she was about to lift her hands to calm the spirits, someone else beat her to it.
Lemaya turned her head to see Eska nimbly purify the spirit from the entrance of the portal, her eyes deceptively calm in spite of the beads of sweat maneuvering down her face. "What are you doing here?" Bolin gasped, rushing to help Lemaya to her feet. "I thought you guys would never turn on your father?"
"You're a hard boy to forget about Bolin. Don't take it personally, though," Desna said from behind. Bolin grinned and nearly dropped Lemaya to hug them both, but second-guessed himself as Lemaya dipped toward the ground.
"Uh, that's sweet and all, but what about those guys? One already charged at us, I doubt all of them will wait until they're close enough," Mako shouted, backing up towards the group as the spirits closed in on them.
"What if we make a machine?" Lemaya suggested. They all paused.
And Mako said what they were all thinking. "Seriously?"
Well, all but Bolin. "No, no, like a big box to draw the spirits in, purify them in batches, then send them back out. It could work!"
"You think you could make something like that?" Lemaya asked, turning to the twins. They just shrugged their version of a yes before sliding into action as they sculpted massive amounts of snow over each other. They froze their creation, one side huge for the enormous influx of spirits and the other small for the release of their calmed selves.
Three different chambers ran along the length of the trap and the twins rounded a bream of snow into a resting place for themselves to stand. "We figured we could help." Lemaya grinned.
"You two, draw them around here to the front and away from the forests. Then we'll funnel them out back towards the forests. Sound good?" Mako and Bolin nodded. "Perfect."
Mako and Bolin ran separate ways, running to different ends of the perimeter around the tree. Unleashing various taunts and hits at the spirits, they ran very quickly back to Lemaya, Eska, and Desna with the spirits hot on their tails.
They successfully managed to prevent the approaching spirits from swarming around the back of the machine and kept waves of them at bay as the waterbenders worked tirelessly to get mass amounts of them cleansed. "We're lucky father taught us this, sister."
"Lucky indeed," Lemaya chuckled.
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I am late late but I really needed time to do a book project for AP lit and decompress from it because wow do I have procrastination issues. Anyways, I'm onto better things with my break being in a couple days so thank you for being patient with me. I'm excited about planning the next book and pushing through the final countdown we have going on till the last update of book 2 :) I hope you guys are staying safe and taking care of yourselves. Have a great rest of your day and stay amazing! I'll see you in just a moment as I'm literally updating the next part right now.
- JinxingGinny