[4.9]
Super Spirit Weapon
The parts of the city that had been taken over by the vines were dark. The spirits weren't lurking anymore and the air was heavy and tense. The light barely shone through the Spirit Wilds, the vines shielding their ecosystem from any sunshine.
Rae was walking carefully around the vines, her hands caressing them as she paced. Her long hair was flowing freely around her body, her bands shielding her dull eyes from her surroundings.
The night before, the woman barely got any sleep. She tossed and turned, a killing migraine torturing every minute of her night. When the sun finally began to rise, she rose with it. After quickly getting dressed in some spare comfortable clothes she found (a dark red turtleneck and sleeveless top, a pair of comfortable black sweatpants and her leather gloves that only covered her fingers and two thirds of her palm), she grabbed her belongings, which consisted of her metal fans, her kanzashi in case she needed to put her hair up, and her metal and platinum plated that wrapped themselves around her arms like bracelets.
She took the first ferry towards the Air Temple island and woke up Jinora, barely leaving her enough time to wake up and get dressed before Rae dragged her in the most natural part of Republic City.
Now, she was alone amongst the vines again, waiting for Jinora to show up with Korra. Her headache didn't go away, but it wasn't as strong as the night before, and for that she was grateful. Her hands rested upon one of the vines, and she felt a familiar low glow emitting where her skin came in contact with it. But she was only transported with sounds, no images, and the weird wiring of machines wasn't enough for her to deduce what was happening.
"Are you sure you felt a disturbance?" asked the familiar voice of Opal when Rae was brought back to the Spirit Wilds, "Maybe you just had some bad food for breakfast.
The woman stepped away from the vines and turned to her cousin, who accompanied Jinora and Korra. "We're sure," she said Before Jinora could reply, making both Korra and Opal jump in surprise at her voice as she stepped away from the darkness of the Spirit Wilds, "there's something going on, and it's bad."
Jinora nodded at the older woman's words, "maybe something happened to Ryu's tour group. We should've run into them by now."
"There isn't anyone here," said Rae, bringing a hand to her face to massage her aching temples.
"Yeah, but it's Ryu," said Korra, a little skeptical towards Jinora's worries, "They might be at the mall for all we know."
"Korra," started Jinora, her worry evident in the tone of her voice, "Can't you feel how strange the energy is?"
"You should try to get a reading," quickly said Rae before Korra could reply, "I tried but... the only thing I heard was some weird machine sounds."
The Avatar sighed but nodded, nevertheless. She turned towards the closest vine and placed her hand upon it, closing her eyes. The same low glow shone underneath the woman's hand, but Korra quickly gasped and pulled her hand away as if something burned her.
"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."
"Varrick," said Rae in a low tone, making the man roll his eyes but push Bolin forwards.
"Kuvira is making this giant thing that goes," Bolin started waving his hands around, weird shouts escaping his throat as he tried to recreate the sounds of explosions, "I don't know how it works, but it has this—"
"It's a super weapon!" interrupted Varrick before anyone could tell Bolin to shut up, "like a regular weapon, only super!"
"And let me guess," started Rae with narrowed eyes as she started at Varrick, "it needs spirit vines to be powered."
"Yes," exclaimed Varrick, turning his head to look at Rae, "How did you know?"
The woman only turned to Korra and nodded at her. "I saw a vision of her taking spirit vines from the swamp," said the Avatar, turning to look at the world leaders.
"If she figures out how to harness their power," started Varrick again, "We are all doomed."
The president frowned and turned to his fellow companions, "She might use the weapon to attack Republic City. The only way to protect ourselves is with a preemptive strike."
To be completely honest, Rae had to admit she knew exactly what was going to be said. While everyone was sure Tenzin wouldn't agree, it seemed that only the Guardian was aware of Izumi's thoughts.
"My airbenders won't be part of an unprovoked attack!"
"Neither will the Fire Nation."
"But, Fire Lord Izumi," started President Raiko, taken by surprise by the woman's words, "Kuvira is a threat to the world. She had to be stopped!"
"The Fire Nation has spent too much of its history fighting nonsense wars, and I refuse to drag my nation into another one unless there's no other choice. If you attack Kuvira, you'll do it without my army."
Rae knew President Raiko would back down. If the Fire Nation wasn't risking its army for an attack on Kuvira, this meant that the soldiers and officers that first had Fire Nation military training before joining the United Forces would step down. And as much as Raiko wanted to take down Kuvira, he couldn't lose the head of his military. If the Fire Nation was completely against the idea, it was almost sure that its crowned Prince wouldn't agree either.
"Fine," he said without any thought, "I'll hold off any plants of attack. We'll go on the defensive and fortify security on the borders."
"In that," stated Izumi satisfied, "you'll have my help."
The meeting didn't last any longer, the president afraid that Fire Lord Izumi would back down completely if argued with. Opal walked out of the conference room, Bolin running after her. The world leaders got to their feet and both Tenzin and Wu approached the president, but the Fire Lord took a few steps to the side, as if she was waiting for something. Shielded from the others, Izumi tapped her foot on the solid ground a few times, making Rae straighten her back. She walked away from Mako and Korra, leaving both of them confused when she approached the Fire Lord.
"Fire Lord Izumi," said the Guardian politely, bowing her head to the older woman.
"I told you to just call me Izumi," said the woman with the smallest and most discreet smiles she could offer, "We're family, after all."
Rase gave a small nod before Izumi brought her hands to the woman's shoulder.
"Listen, Rae," she started, making the woman frown, "I just want you to be aware that my decision as Fire Lord and your status amongst our Nation shouldn't keep you away from keeping your family safe."
"What do you mean?" asked Rae in a whisper.
"I mean that if you feel necessary to take actions against your family's imprisonment by Kuvira, you shouldn't back down because of me." Izumi gave another small smile to the woman, "Su and her family are your family even more than we are... for now. And you have the right to save your family."
The woman was frozen in her spot, but she mustered a small smile and bowed to the Fire Lord, whispering a small "thank you". Izumi bowed her head in return and walked away from the Guardian, who was still pondering upon the word she just heard. Her mind traveled to what her mother told her the day before, when Opal came to her looking for help.
When Lin saw that Izumi was no longer talking to her daughter, and started walking away towards Rae, the words she heard from eavesdropping heavy on her mind.
"Did the Fire Lord just give you the green light to attack Kuvira and take back Su?" asked the Chief, still in disbelief. Her voice was low and she was close to her daughter's body, not wanting anyone to hear their conversation.
"I think she did," replied Rae with a small nod, "we should probably tell Opal we'll have to do it on our own."
The older woman hummed in agreement. Her eyes fell on her daughter's hands, which were fidgeting nervously. Rae was trying hard to keep her heartbeat in check, feeling both her mother's and Tenzin's stare on her. She remembered her words with Tenzin the other day and being so close to her mother and the airbender, she couldn't help the way her hand moved to her gloved left ring finger.
"If you wanted to keep it a secret," started Lin, making Rae's eyes widen and her body freeze, "Iroh should have probably chosen a ring that isn't an alloy of gold and other metals. I can feel the metal on your finger."
~