Quick warning: there are implicit scenes that you may find disturbing if you are not familiar with gore (I guess that's the proper term?) and psychologic terror, so scroll past this fic if you are not comfortable with it.
There's also another ship kindaaa implied here, in case it bothers you.
“Why won’t you go to sleep? You have to go to school tomorrow so no excuses!”
“What? Do you want me to tell you a story little one?”
“Ok ok! Go to your bed and I will get the book.”
“Let me search something quickly, there should be something short here.”
“Oh, I think you’ll like this one.”
---------------
“There used to be a time, when people used to be in harmony with nature and It was full of wonders. It wasn’t always pretty, happy, enchanting or safe, but there was an ethereal beauty if you squinted your eyes.”
“However, the real fantastic thing began in the people. It is said that they were gifted with magnificent skills. Some held the power to command the earth, others controlled the water, some manipulated the air or produced fire. And there was the Avatar, the most powerful human of all, who was able to control the four elements at the same time and whose duty was to protect those in need and be the mediator for spirits and humans.”
“When an Avatar died, another was born, and this process repeated for a long time. Lots of Avatars lived fantastic adventures, even though not everyone could get a peaceful, long, life. The Avatar presence, even with success and failure, was undeniably important to keep the balance in the four nations”
“The natural order of this incredible world persevered for hundreds of years… until the wonders began to fade. No one knows certainly when this begun. Rumours say the process began when the persons traded nature and their spiritual side for technology, abandoning the forces that gave them the gift in the first place.”
“But there’s a terrifying theory about a man. A man who broke the equilibrium. A man whose hatred for this power was so enormous that he spread it all over the earth.”
“He inspired terror in the hearts of children and adults alike. The amount of atrocities he committed cannot be described. What he did has no name, no honour, no excuse, not the smallest bit of humanity in it. This man was feared, to the point his name became taboo. His name has been forgotten but not his legacy.”
“So don’t forget that there used to be wonder. And most important, don’t forget that a heart filled with hate, and is not stopped in time, can destroy all we know and care for.”
-------------------
“Wow, that was a creepy tale, wasn’t it?”
“Don’t worry that man can’t hurt anyone, he is not even real dummy!”
“Don’t you think it sounds a little bit ridiculous? People controlling the elements? That’s impossible little one.”
“I am not sure if you would control fire but I am sure you have classes tomorrow, so go to sleep and we can talk about what you would control after school, ok?”
“Good night.”
---------------
She is running. Fast like the wind, she is basically stomping the floor with each step she gives, careless of how much sound she makes, they probably heard her already. Going from room to room, she searches for people. Either familiar faces or unknown ones, Korra knows all help she can gather is useful.
It’s been months since the everything got out of control. Amon was supposed to be defeated, she and her friends were supposed to take him down together and save the city. She was supposed to be the hero and bring people’s bending back, but things never went how they should have.
When he took her bending and she sent him flying from that window she had expected people would realize the liar the equalists had for a leader, to come to their senses. Of course things didn’t take the route she would have preferred, as the equalists, (while remaining sceptic and wary of Amon), had picked a side a long time ago so he lured them with his silver tongue to follow his command once more.
Since then, they had taken territory and prisoners non-stop, growing like a hungry beast whose stomach is never satisfied. Help had been asked from the external governments, but all had preferred to remain neutral, leaving the few who had not been caught by their own.
With each passing day, everyone grew more uneasy, irritable and tired, they weren’t progressing as fast as they needed and each mission became riskier than the previous one. At the loss of safe territory, food and basic hygiene resources, lots of people had run off to the other nations. The few who remained, stayed because they had people who had been taken by the equalists, or had no way to escape.
It’s been months since she saw her friends. Running like a prey being chased by a predator, she feels her eyes hot, on the verge of tears, rapid breaths, bringing her arms back and forwards, just by remembering them. She wished she could see any of their faces again, Asami, Mako, Bolin, Tenzin, Pema, the air babies, Lin, heck even the guards of the White Lotus!
Especially him… there’s no time to think about that, find anyone, get out, as simple as that.
Suddenly, a tall figure crosses her sight, forcing her to stop abruptly and turn in direction to that mysterious form. It’s too dark, the only source of light in the room is the moonlight coming from the window high in the wall. She is ready to strike, but as soon as she raises her arms in an air bending stance, the mysterious figure speaks in a particular voice, (not used for a long time it seems), that drains the adrenaline out her completely.
“Ko..rra”
She can’t believe what she heard.
The man takes a very unstable step forward, allowing her to see the white Lotus uniform she was used to see every day. At that moment she wants to collapse there, cry and rush to his arms and feel him. To know he is there and check if he is fine. Yet she knows time is precious, and there’s no way they both will be safe if they stay here.
Korra rushes to take his arm, guiding him to the exit and preparing to attack whoever gets near.
“Follow me Howl! We don’t have much time and I know you must be tired but please keep the pace, I will heal you when we reach the shelter.”
They passed a few rooms until he stumbled and he clashed against the hard ground. She came to grab his wrist to lift him up but Howl wouldn’t cooperate.
“Howl please get up, the equalists must be near, we must go! Now!”
The only sound coming from him was her name, in a broke syllables and barely audible, like he struggled to speak them. Howl was in a worse state than she had believed first, there wasn’t another option but to carry him, so she began to push him up but she noticed a particular streak in his shoulder… it was blood.
She grabbed his face in both hands to make sure he was still with her, only to see the glow in his eyes was gone. His mouth was still, no sign of breath, only a few drops of blood rolling to his chin. She shook him a few times and checked on his pulse. Nothing.
“Howl!”
“Howl!”
“Howl!”
“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, please, stay with me!”
No answer. Korra felt her breaths ragged, her lungs constricted as if an invisible hand squeezed her. Her heart beating stronger and faster than a furious drummer when the tempo of the song reaches its peak, her tears running faster with each second. The only thing she can do is keep his lifeless limbs in movement in hopes for any sign to show he had an opportunity. That she hadn’t lost and failed another person who needed her.
Minutes passed by, and he wasn’t cooperating. Each second felt like a reality slap in the face.
Each minute she kept mumbling to herself the same words: “please don’t go”, “please stay with me”, “I can’t lose someone else”. No success.
She should have run for her life, given him dead, there wasn’t much to do clearly. And yet she was nailed to the ground beside him. She had lost so many due to her incompetence and arrogance. How could she lose the friend she had now since she was a child? The friend who stayed behind to protect her in Air Temple Island?
She released his arm and his face, put him carefully in the floor, and sat a few centimetres away from him. She curled around herself, hid her face in her arms and knees and broke.
Uncontrollable sobs, (barely muffled by her own body), echoed in the room. She was going to get caught but at this point nothing mattered to her anymore. Every time she came back to the shelter, she could see the disappointment in her community eyes. Most didn’t voice it, but she knew they resented her presence. She costed a lot of precious food and water, she should have saved them so much trouble had she been competent in her job. Now she will never get to hug him again, see him smile, nor tell her all the things she wanted to.
In the middle of the storm her head was going through, a voice spoke not so far from her sitting form. The coldest voice she had ever hear in her life.
“Such a shame, he was a brave warrior.”
That voice she had come to despise so much was enough to stop her train of thoughts and draw her entire attention to it. She slowly glanced in the direction she heard it from and glared the darkest scowl she had ever shown to anyone. She saw a figure standing in the dark end of the room. So casual and calm, like a host expecting visitors.
“What did you do to him?”.
Silence answered her question.
Amon stepped slowly towards her, not because he feared her but out of arrogance. Two metres or less, his frame easily towered over her.
“He fought until the very end. When we captured the White Lotus guard in Air Temple Island he was the last to fall. He never cooperated with information or help in the bases. He would rather pass hunger and thirst rather than finish his tormenting by simply help us. Even if found it annoying sometimes, I won’t deny such persistence deserves admiration”.
He tilted his head to the right, like a curious fire ferret watching a smaller animal to determine if it’s a toy or food. She could only further her frown and glare to demonstrate through the gleam in her eyes (created by unstoppable waterfalls of pain), how much hate she reserved for him.
“But as you know, my patient isn’t endless, so I had to use new methods for this man specifically. He wanted it the hard way.”
He started walking around her. Slowly but confident. Like an Angler Snake preparing to attack a small fish. Yet, her sight went to where the cold body of Howl laid motionless.
“I started… experimenting.”
Her heart began to beat faster. What could this monster have done to her friend?
“You see, avatar. I am a virtuous bender, you know that, but I like to keep learning, I like to test the extent of my skills”
Suddenly, the corpse of her old friend twitched, and a hand rose, launching itself forwards. At this she left a small, pitch cry and propelled herself backwards as far as she could from Howl’s body and Amon.
Amon stopped walking, the only thing moving in the room was Howl’s left hand, to help him rise so he could stand and walk. It was eerie to see how natural it looked. Had it not been for the fact she checked he lacked pulse, breathing and saw his lifeless eyes, she would have thought he was alive.
He walked towards her, and all she could do was to crawl backwards until she touched a wall with her back. Once she settled in terror in her spot, her vision never drifting from Howl, he stopped a few centimetres away from her, his eyes rolled in a strange an unnatural way to where she was, to show she was the main focus.
He crouched down, making the same creepy adjustment of the eyes towards her form while she could only inhale and exhale fast, intense breaths. He didn’t do anything but stare.
“And he was really strong and determined, an excellent object of study to practice, refine and improve my skills”.
She was frozen, fear or shock (whatever it was, she couldn’t tell), took over her mind. The only thing she could do was stare at her childhood best friend.
“Was he… was he alive when I found him?” Why did she ask that? Did she really want that answer or was that a pathetic attempt to soothe herself so she wouldn’t fall to insanity?
Amon remained still, unfazed, soulless as ever. Somehow Korra felt like he was lecturing her for such an unwise question.
“Unfortunately, your dear friend here wasn’t as resilient as I thought.”
“But if I can assure you something, is that people don’t bring that strength out of nowhere. People fight to survive for a certain amount of time but he fought to protect something he believed precious.”
Howl’s cold hand rose softly towards her face and cupped her cheek, making her gasp in surprise and twitch out of instinct.
“Or in this case, someone.”
It couldn’t be. Had he endured all of this for her? Had he rebelled against the equalists demands over and over simply for her? Had he paid the highest price for her fault? This could not be real, It must be a nightmare, she needed to wake up. Tears kept running while her thoughts suffocated her sanity and she tried to control the knot in her throat and the traitorous sobs. Her vision getting blurry, hot like the sand of the dessert in the morning. Her mouth curled downwards fighting to hold herself together, because if she broke there everything was over.
“Howl, I am so sorry”
“It’s fine Ko-rra.”
Not believing what she heard, she looked for Amon’s frame for an explanation.
“My apologies, I still need to practice in my speaking skills. I also apologize for the previous incident, I intended to make him last longer but I committed a small mistake and his foot slipped too quickly.”
She focused in Howl again, not wanting to hear his poisonous mockery anymore.
“He wanted to live, avatar.”
“He wasn’t afraid of death as much as he was afraid of not see you again”.
“He loved you”
Her lips began to tremble. Her tears reached her mouth, feeling the salty liquid in her dry mouth. Korra just stared at the face of her friend. The person who was for here until his last breath, the person she should have saved, the little boy she saw grow in the camp just as she did. He was gone. And she could never thank him nor tell him all the things she wanted to.
“Did you care for him, avatar?”
Korra’s pupils widened at this question, the shine in her glassy eyes intensified. She reduced the distance from her ex guard and whispered a barely audible answer. Only for her hears and his, in hopes there was still a part of him hearing this.
“Yes.”
Then, Howl’s body went absolutely still and the invisible grip keeping him up vanished, making his body collapse with a loud thud against the rough, unforgiving ground.
“Such a shame it took his death for you to say that.”
Then, Amon walked towards her.
“There are bigger problems for you, though. As much as you want to grieve your loss, I must inform you the world is changing, and you will be a part of it whether you want or not. Your relevance as the avatar is no more, I will get rid of this curse we have called a “gift” for all our existence and bring equality to everyone.”
“You are not special anymore. You won’t have the privileges nor the life you were used to, but I have come to make you a proposition: I want you to join the revolution.”
It seems every time she thought things couldn’t get worse, the spirits summoned a worse scenario to greet her.
“I want you to be a part of this revolution. I want you to be the face of change, improvement, growth. I want you to be an example for the rest of the nations, your help would accelerate the process and make negotiations flow successfully and pacifically. In exchange you will receive help to accommodate to this new world.”
“The only condition is for you to give me your last element.”
Stupefaction plastered in her face. This man either was truly insane or arrogant but she didn’t care. She knew she would never willingly follow this man, who had taken everything from her.
“Amon… You can take your gross, rotten revolution, in your filthy hands, turn it into a ball, swallow it, let it kill you from inside out, dig a hole in the darkest place on earth, far from everything, perish there and let the poor animals who will consume your poisonous meat get rid of you, along with any proof of your miserable existence and make us all a favour, because as long as I can fight I don’t want to do anything with you.”
He sighed, his head inclined itself forwards after a few moments, showing his disappointment.
“I gave you an opportunity, avatar. You were given the illusion of a choice”
Time slowed down after he finished his phrase. He launched himself forwards, Korra used an intense gust of wind to send him flying to the next room but he saw it coming and escaped the impact by bowing low enough. When he jumped again and was in a dangerous near radar she created a small tornado to propel herself high enough, only to fall down again and kick his face in the process, making him clash against the hard ground with Korra above him. Of course he took the opportunity to roll and trap her before her fist could even touch him.
He had her trapped under his heavy body, trashing her legs and preparing for another blow but he caught both of her hands in the process. Their wrestling match was cut by Korra’s will, beating Amon’s head with hers, leaving a horrible cut in the process due to the pointy nose of the wood mask, yet winning a precious moment of distraction to claw his hand with her nails, losing his grip on her. The perfect opportunity to send a furious fist from below, aiming for his chin and successfully getting a loud “crack” of teeth by forcefully shutting his jaw.
A harsh sound of pain greeted her and she pushed him back, only for him to grab her arm, twist her so her face met the flat, cold floor and launch his paralyzing fists against her spine. Her body no longer listened to her commands, no matter how much she forced herself to rise up and return the attack.
Amon grabbed her neck with brute, deadly force bringing her up, adjusted his free hand above her head and pressed the thumb that had destroyed thousands of lives against her forehead.
“Amon, wait! Don’t! Please don’t- “
Then she felt something painful in her head, like a natural flow being twisted in the wrong direction so many times and being severely damaged. Strong pulsations, each hurt a deadly amount more than the previous and then, everything became numb.
Korra released a dissonant scream as terrifying as a wild creature would cry of pain for being eaten alive by a hungry beast.
Only when she lost her voice by exhausting her lungs and throat, did she realize she was relying on Amon. He held her firmly against him, probably because he foresaw she wouldn’t try anything funny, while surrounding his arms around her. A safety chain.
Her uneven breaths regulated its tempo and intensity, calming herself eventually. She didn’t know how long it took, but she felt they spent an eternity like that, until Amon broke the silence.
“It’s over, Avatar.”
“Your past is no more, your future has been sealed, and now you will be an example for the rest of the nations.”
She wanted to cry, but she couldn’t find the strength to do it. She felt empty, robbed, disgraced… she felt like a failure.
“Your life from now on, will be a change for the better. It will be hard, it will be cruel and it won’t be quick, it’s necessary for a greater good.”
He shoved his mask, mouth and the tip of his nose exposed, cut the distance between his mouth and her ear and spoke in the same tone a doctor would use to break the bad news to a terminally ill patient: softly, patient, careful, but direct to the point.
“But you will adapt. You will get used to it, and if you cooperate, things will be easier for everyone.”
He shifted her in his lap so he could face her. Then pressed his bloody lips, (caused by Korra’s fist), against her forehead and the scar his mask left in her brow.
“Will you follow my commands from now on avatar? Will you work with us for a better world? Are you by my side? The side of the revolution?”
He looked collocated his mask in place again, and searched for answers in her eyes.
Her eyes were hollow, tired, sorrowful, there was no flame in them anymore. Even the limp corpse of her friend ha more life in his eyes than hers.
Her only answer was silence.
------------
Perfect.
Notes
OOF, I didn't intend to make this so long, I only wanted to write down this small idea I had for a while in my circus monkey brain and it took far more time than expected XD
You'll find lots of typos probably and I apologize for that, this was kinda rushed and I there are lots of things I should work in the future, like Amon and Korra's personality, along with fight scenes idk.
Hope you enjoyed this dramatic one shot and give lots of love to the Amorra ship!
You can't imagine how excited I am of sharing this with you all. The idea popped up in my mind for the first time in 2021, so you can imagine how long has passed since that moment... I hope you like it!
