Chapter 9: Enter the Void
We all sat down waiting for Korra to come back out from the talk with Zaheer. I sat next to Mako while Asami stood up on the other side of him. Bolin was pacing back and forth in worry.
"Will you sit down? I'm already tense enough as it is!" Mako said.
"I'm just worried about Opal," Bolin said. Aw, there's love~ "and Pabu's not here to comfort me! Ugh, I hope he and Naga are doing safe in Zaofu."
"I'm sure they're both fine, Bolin." I said. "But Tenzin . . . I hope him and the kids are all right. I can't lose any one else in my family. I can't lose anybody else."
"Ssh, hey. It's going to be okay." Mako said as he put his arm around me in comfort. I rested my head on his shoulder as I silently cried. I got tired of everything and just decided to take a nap on Mako's shoulder.
I woke up in the morning to find out that I was heading with Mako, Bolin, and Asami to do whatever the heck we were doing.
"Radio the second you see those air benders," Lin said.
"I will, Chief." Mako said. "Good luck." Lin nodded and walked off. Asami and Korra hugged.
"Be careful, Korra." Asami said.
"You too," Korra said. Then, when I thought she was going to hug me, she ran over towards Mako and hugged him instead. I crossed my arms. Bolin hugged onto Korra sobbing. I looked away, not wanting to get into this. She hugged them over me? What's with that? After all we've been through? After everything I've done for her?
I know what I'm doing straight after we win this battle. . .
We walked off and went straight down to business. Asami flew the airship as we went higher up.
"Oh, man." Bolin whispers as we looked at all the ruins of the temple. It was a complete disaster. It looked as if a tornado came through and wiped out everything.
"Must've been some fight," Mako said.
"Mako, do you see the air benders?" Korra spoke through the radio.
"Not yet. We're just arriving. Don't turn your self over until I get a visual of them." Mako said. Asami landed the airship and we got off, Bolin locking it in place. As we walked, we could see the lava bender coming out.
"Oh no," I breathed.
"This way." He said. "You want the air benders or not?" He walked off and we follows behind. I gasped when I saw Tenzin and all the other air benders. Tenzin was passed out looking all bruised up and in chains.
"Mako, what's going on?" Korra asked.
"They're here, but so is the lava bender." Mako replied.
"Wipe them out!" We all gasped. "Stand down." I sighed in relief. There was silence for a moment. "We have her." Ghazan gestured for us to go and we took that chance, me being the first to run up to Tenzin.
We sat him up and he opened his eyes as he looked straight into mine.
"It's okay, Tenzin. We're about to get you out of here. Don't worry, we got you." I said. Mako walked off to get the rest and I looked behind me to get up and help. But, it was all fake! The water bender had made the whole thing fake!
The girl bended water at us and we all attacked. I tried blinding them but it didn't work well. Dang it! I still can't get it down!
Suddenly, lava was casted throughout the ground and we didn't know what to do.
"We have to get back to the airship!" Asami shouted.
"Not gonna happen! The exit's blocked." Bolin said. He tried to make a cater to keep the lava from burning us. The building was collapsing.
"Ugh! We don't have time for this!" I shouted.
"Bolin, can you get us through that wall?" Tenzin asked.
"On it!" He shouted as he made a tunnel. We made it through another room and Bolin blocked it with earth.
"Though there," Tenzin said and I lifted the latch to the door in the ground. We walked down the stairs quickly. I made a light to see through.
"Is it just me, or is it getting really warm in here?" Mako asked. I turned around to see lava. I gasped.
"Bolin!" I shouted, pointing behind us. He closed it with a boulder.
"Let's move it, people!" Bolin shouted. They were walking a very slow pace. I understood that Tenzin is hurt, but we're all about to get hurt!
"We can't outrun it! This way!" Bolin said as he made another tunnel. We went through quickly where there was nowhere left to go.
"Now what?" Mako asked. Lava made its way coming towards us. Suddenly, Bolin ran in front of us and was actually bending the lava. I stood there with my mouth wide open.
"Incredible," I whispered.
"You're a lava bender," Mako said.
"I know. I just found out." Bolin said.
"Hey! You guys need a lift?" I turned to see Kai on a baby air bison.
"Kai!" I gasped.
"You're alright," Tenzin said.
"More or less, everyone hop on." Kai said. Tenzin was first while Asami was second while I came on next. Mako squeezed between us while Bolin sat behind me while holding onto my shoulders.
The baby flew away and we saw the others. Bolin started making weird bird noises. The bison had trouble landing as Bolin fell off in front of us. At least he stopped with the noises.
"Hey, everybody. There's something I gotta tell you." Kai said.
"How did you guys make it out of that temple alive?" Lin asked.
"It was all Bolin. I thought we were done for. Then out of no where, he lava bends!" Mako said. I turned away from them as I looked at Kai. This must've been important if he had to say something. Then I heard Zaheer could fly.
"What?" I gasped.
"How?" Asami asked.
"Are you sure?" Bolin asked.
"I wouldn't believe it either if I hadn't seen it myself." Lin said.
"I've heard the legend of Guru Lahima's ability to fly, but I never imagined they were true." Tenzin said.
"Uh, I can fly." I said annoyed.
"So what's our next move?" Tonraq asked.
"I have an idea!" Kai said.
"Not right now, kid! We need to figure out where Zaheer took Korra." Lin said.
"And find the air benders," Tenzin added. Kai tried to butt in but he wasn't getting any attention.
"KAI HAS SOMETHING TO SAY!" I interrupted loudly. Everyone looked at me weirdly. I ignored their strange looks and pushed up Kai. "Go on, Kai."
"I know where the air benders are and I bet it's where Korra is too." Kai said.
"Well, why didn't you say something?" Mako asked. Kai groaned.
"Where are they? How did you find them?" Tenzin asked.
"After I got blasted out of the sky, I woke up on the side of the mountain where this little fella found me." He pet the bison. "I tried to sneak back into the temples to see if I could rescue everyone. And that's when I saw the air ship leaving. I followed it to some caves a few miles from here. That giant lady met up with some people who took the air benders into the caves."
"Was it Ghazan and Nimwa?" Lin asked.
"No, there were four more of them. They didn't look familiar." Kai said.
"Must be more Red Lotus members than we thought." Mako said.
"I couldn't fight them all on my own so I came back here hoping you guys would show up." Kai said.
"We need to get there now!" I shouted.
"How? I don't think we can all fit on my bison." Kai said.
"I can fly," I said. Then, I saw a bigger air bison up in the sky. "Well, there's your answer."
"Oogi!" Tenzin shouted. He landed down right in front of us. "I'm glad to see you too, old friend."
We all got on but a girl in armor walked up to us. "I wanna come with you." The girl said.
"No, Kuvira." Su said. "Stay with the injured. I'll back be back for you when we have the Avatar." The girl nodded and walked off. We then took off to finally save Korra and the air benders. Today, this was all going to end.