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The huntress ran.
Her steps carried her with urgency away from home and ever further into the wilds. She did not normally hunt this deep between the ancient trees, but today despair carried her steps and every mile she fled away from home it felt as if another stone dropped from her heart.
When she noticed that night had fallen she slowed her steps.
The tales her people told of the strange occurrences within the forest were many, and she dared not rest, the night passed in a blur and the huntress felt the emptiness of true hungry as she came upon a strange sight.
Asami knew of course, about the spirits because they frequently appeared in the fairy tales and folklore of her people. However neither she nor anyone she had ever met, had ever seen one.
There they were. Hundreds of them basking in the sunlight, eating strange fruit and bathing in the natural hot springs of the mountainside.
What surprised Asami the most was not the spirits but the human walking amongst them.
Her skin was sun kissed in way that made Asami appreciate just how misused that word normally was. For this girl was not just tanned or golden tinted, she shone as if something illuminated her from within. It somehow made her seem all the more at home between the ghostlike creatures.
One spirit perched on the girl’s shoulder and she tickled it with delight, laughing at its advances and taking from its hand a berry of strange quality and unusual redness.
Asami finally noticed how dry her throat was when she watched the girl bite into it, the juice staining her lips a delicious red.
Asami had always been a firm believer of her own instincts. She trusted in herself because in her village it seemed like everyone trusted only her father, and one day she was destined to take his place. That was partially the reason she now found herself irrevocably lost inside the wilds, a place only few ventured and never quite so alone.
Being here now though, she felt no ill will from the spirits or from their magical place but she yearned to join them and partake in their carefree existence. Perhaps even dote a little of her affections on this remarkably beautiful girl, who seemed not dainty and petite like a fairy might have, but strong and risible like a force of nature.
Without warning the spirits appeared to change. They grew needier of the girl, more insistent in their advances to claim her favor and attention until a quiet sense of desperation shone on her face.
“Is anyone out there?” She called. “You must show yourself or they will never calm.”
The girl’s voice had a slight tinge of something otherworldly that frightened Asami, the huntress gathered her courage and braved forwards.
“There is only I.” She said, her gloved hand grasping her bow tightly to seek confidence from it.
The girl walked towards her without fear or hesitation, a wave of spirits clinging to her and her face lit by curiosity.
“You are welcome in our home Huntress. Will you unstring your bow and share a meal with us? I fear your emotions are rather upsetting my friends here.” She grinned and winked at the approaching form.
Asami jolted, feeling rather embarrassed that the spirits mirroring her emotions were using them to cling to and obsess over this beautiful girl. She blushed deeply and placed one foot upon the inwards curve of her bow to unstring it as a means of distracting herself from the girls inquisitive stare.
The spirit girl had a rather confident smile on her face that made her seem at once very young and very old. When Asami tried to pinpoint her age she realized that she could not.
The huntress was lead to a small cool creek, there a shadow stretched across the grass and an intricate pattern of roots shaped to create a cozy little nook. The girl sat and gestured to the space next to her. The spirits danced around them, eagerly collecting fruits and nuts for them to enjoy. Asami watched in wonder as a small feast appeared served on fallen leaves. When she felt thirst a monkey like spirit with a long tail would scoop a leaf filled with water and hand it to her with fluid delicate motions.
“This place is wonderful.” Asami said.
The girl grinned indulgently and stretched back on a root, content to watch her guest eat. Asami bit into a berry, it burst in her mouth with a rich sweet flavour. A few drops of its juice fell to her calfskin pants but she ignored them, suckling the purplish liquid from her fingers was pure bliss.
“Are you a spirit as well?” Asami asked once she had attended to the worst of her hunger.
“I am.”
“But you are…” Asami looked at her body and blushed. “You are flesh and blood like me.”
“I am.”
“How can that be. I see spirits here who are, well… spirit, and some who are flesh.”
“A fair observation. It is because some are here while some are still in the spirit world. They merely choose to be here with me when I am not there with them.”
“And when you are in the spirit world?”
“I am me.”
Asami chewed her lip, she wanted to understand but it made no sense to her.
“Then these.” She stroked a Alligator-otter and it nuzzled into her hand, earning a slight giggle from the huntress “How are these flesh, they are not animals of this world.”
At this the girl raised her eyebrows “Are they not? Our worlds were once one. Some spirits, the ones humans call animals, turned flesh over time but they are still spirits to their kin.”
“And you?”
“I am me.”
“What does that mean?”
“Whatever you want it to huntress. I am neither spirit nor human but rather… Both.”
“How is that possible? I have heard stories… that If a spirit possesses a human they, they die.”
The girl dismissed her. “Human nonsense.”
“Then you are possessed?”
The girl looked quizzical at the huntress. As if that was a question she had never really considered. “A human might draw that conclusion, but Raava is Raava, and I am me, together we are one.”
“Then who are you?”
“I am…” The girl knitted her brow. “I was born by humans, but somehow I am more.”
“You don’t remember your name?”
“No. I chose to forget so I could live here without feeling the pull of the human world.”
“I know Raava, she is the spirit of light and peace. There are people who revere her as a god. Is that why these spirits flock to you?”
“Perhaps, I have never asked them.”
The small spirits around their feet began chirping and bouncing, some doing playful acrobatics. The girl with the spirit of Raava smiled at them.
Asami found herself breathing hard when she took in the gentle emotions on the other girls face, but it nagged inside her that this girl did not know who she was apart from Raava.
“Should I call you Raava then?”
“You… ah.” The girl glowed with sudden intensity, her mind concentrating on something beyond what was happening around her. “You may call me Korra.”
“I thought you did not know who you were before Raava?”
“There was never a me before Raava. We are one as surely as you are one with your being Asami Sato. Raava knows me, even if I had forgotten my birth name and my parents, she knows me.”
“You speak to her?”
Korra laughed heartily, “Well of course, she lives inside me doesn’t she?”
It seemed to Asami that hours had passed in the span of a few short minutes. When she asked Korra the girl grinned her mischievous grin and offered her another drink or another of the red berries she had grown so fond off.
By nightfall anxiety crept into her heart, the spirit sanctuary was if possible even more beautiful under the blanket of darkness where light and colour danced in their full splendor.
To her delight the spirits hummed and chimed together in beautiful harmony and she danced with the Avatar of the goddess.
When her feet could no longer carry her, and her lungs no longer summon enough breath to laugh she collapsed in Korra’s arms, brimming with happiness. The glow of Korra’s skin kept her warm all through the night. She awoke cradled by strong arms, smelling the sweet intoxicating scent of them. Earthy like decaying leaves and dusty pelts, sweet like the juice of berries and something else, musky and entirely Korra.
The Avatar of the goddess stirred and pulled her close. Causing her heart to flutter and beat wildly in her chest. Asami knew that for all her intelligence, for all the cool distance she had developed towards the world, she had just fallen in love in a single day.
Asami drifted back to sleep and what felt like seconds later she woke, finding the landscape entirely more subdued and a very guilty looking Korra haunched next to the bubbling creek.
She arose and placed her hand on the girls naked shoulder, for all she wore was a binding across the chest and a loincloth of leather and furs.
“You should not touch me Asami.” She warned and all of Asami’s feeble hopes burst at the warning in her words. “I am no spirit of light.”
Upon her words Asami looked closer and saw that some of Raava’s light had faded from her skin.
“Hush Korra, you are only exhausted from yesterday.”
Korra gave a self deprecating laughter.
“I have done you a great disservice Asami. The worst of it is, that I am continuing to do it even now.”
Asami frowned, “What have you done Korra?”
The Avatar lifted her head and Asami saw her tear stung eyes. “I have kept you here, for only a day. But in the outside world it will be so much longer. I do not know how long but… I have been here for countless years and I have only ever aged when I left. This place is what your tales call a fairy ring, and I… I have bound you to it by my actions.”
“If this was a fairy ring I would have never woken up.” Asami argued.
“Nor shall you unless you return here, I have kept the magic at bay but… If you do not return it will catch up to you eventually. It is just that… When I saw you I could not bare to have you leave.”
The Avatar burst into guilty sobs and Asami felt her heart wrench painfully, not because she would have to return but because she did not know how long she had been gone from home and more so because she felt shameful that Korra, Avatar of the spirit of light would lie to be with her for just a day.
The huntress sighed deeply. “Korra… Even if you are right and time has passed so quickly outside. I… I do not regret coming here. I could never regret meeting you.” She leaned down and placed a kiss upon the Avatars forehead. “My time here has been so short, but if what you say is true, my heart must have stayed in the village because I do not believe for even a second, that I could feel as I do about you after only a day…”
Korra wiped her eyes and looked at Asami, her eyes searching for something.
“You are not angry?” She asked.
Asami kneeled so she could look Korra directly in the eyes, “I am. Maybe I will be more angry when I see the outside world again. But right now I am simple happy I have met you.”
She pulled Korra into a hug.
“But I have to return, I never told you why I came here, maybe I will when I come back, but there are things I have to do, my father must be so worried.”
“I understand.”
Korra whistled once and a Catdeer bolted towards her. “This is my friend he will take you home. When you are ready to return you may call for him. He will see you safely through the forest.”
Asami swung herself onto the Catdeers back, scratching and patting its neck. “Thank you.”
The Avatar exhaled harshly “You shouldn’t thank me huntress.”
Asami knew she was right but as long as she had not left, she could afford to live a little longer inside this wonderful dream, on impulse she leaned down and captured Korra’s lips in a brief kiss, causing the nearby spirits to go mad with glee. Korra had a faint smile on her lips when she pulled away.
“Now go, please.” Korra breathed and the sight of her half lidded eyes made Asami want to do anything but that.
The Catdeer lurched forward and it was all she could do to hold on as it jumped through the undergrowth in long springy strides.
When you see something every day you hardly notice how the tiny day to day changes alter and shape it so very much.
Asami saw it first in the fields, the crops that had been barely sprouting stood ripe, harvest looming just around the bend. Fences had sprouted where none existed before and the countryside held more distant farms than she remembered.
The weather had a chill too that perforated her light shirt but thankfully was held back by the soft leathers of her pants and vest.
When she came upon her village she noticed first that the blades of the windmill had finally been repaired and there were quite a few more houses and side buildings than before.
People looked in wonder at her odd mount because surely such a creature had not been seen for many years if ever. Even more people looked at her in wonder for without a shade of a doubt this girl could be nobody else but Hiroshi Sato’s daughter who went hunting once only to never return again.
She did not however understand truly how much time had passed until she stood infront of her fathers house, arguably still the biggest in the village but somehow much shabbier than it had been before as if her departure had taken its brightness with it.
The exterior of the house had been newly chalked last summer, but already it greyed and cracked and the briar that grew on the chimney nearly reached the top.
She knocked because instinct told her that this was no longer her home as it once was and thus propriety demanded she did not make an entrance without being invited.
The woman who answered was immediately familiar to her, if slightly older than she remembered her. Her father’s housekeeper gasped loudly and Asami felt the formality shed from her like a falling cape.
“Greta!” She said and fell into the wide eyed woman's arms.
“Miss Sato… It cannot be.” She croaked. “How are you here... “
Asami blushed. “It is a wondrous tale, but I think my father deserves to hear it first.”
The housekeeper paled.
“Miss Sato. I am afraid your father is not well… Since your disappearance… He.”
Asami nodded gravely and began walking towards her father's bedroom. “I understand. Will you prepare us tea? I will see his condition for myself.”
“Certainly Miss.” Greta said with a nod, she nearly curtseyed before recalling that Asami did not appreciate the gesture.
Asami’s heart clenched painfully when she heard the weakness in her fathers call for her to enter. Her knock had been very still but he had heard it, which she considered a good sign.
She opened the door wide and saw him, face turned from her and towards the wilds, propped up in a chair with pillows and many blankets.
“Father…” She said. His head whirled around to face her and he let out a strangled sob unlike any sound she had ever heard him make before.
He looked older than before, his salt and pepper hair had faded into wispy whiteness and the power in his frame had disappeared but he was still Hiroshi Sato that much was clear to her.
“Asami. Asami… Is it really you?” He sounded desperate for the confirmation and Asami wondered for a moment how often he must have heard her come home only to find it was nothing but a trick of his mind.
She crossed the room and took his hands in hers “It is me dad. I have come back home.”
He pulled her into his embrace, the urgency of his sobs pulling her own tears to the surface. How beautiful their reunion was when the fear of loss had been removed from it.
It was long before she could pull away.
When she did Hiroshi got his first real look at her. “You have not aged a day my daughter.” His hands gently cupped her face, while his eyes roamed over her features before settling on her lips who were still stained with red from the cherries of Korra’s sanctuary. “How can that be?”
“Because to me, it has been no longer than that. I have been somewhere, somewhere wonderful. But even though the time there was so short it feels… “ Asami looked away from her father, feeling the prickle of shame behind her eyelids. “How long has it been since I went away?”
“After the festival of light it would have been three years.”
“Oh Raava…” Asami muttered, her face blushing. “I have met her Father, the spirit of light.”
Hiroshi’s eyes lit up. “Truly?”
“Yes. In the forest. It is her I have been with.”
Hiroshi gave her a piercing stare.
“Your mother Yasuko, told me a story once. About her own mother who founded the festival for Raava.
She said that her mother, Yanoi, had met the light spirit in the forest and fallen in love with her. But she had her babies and your grandfather at home and she could not bear to leave them. So she made Raava promise to come once every year to the festival of light. There they would dance together for a night before Raava went back to the forest.
Yasuko told me that the young woman who came and cared for her mother when she was dying was Raava herself. Pleading for her to return to the forest, but she could not. Her time was coming to an end and she could not stretch it even for the spirit of light.”
“What happened then?”
“Raava stayed with Yanoi until the end. After the funeral she disappeared into the forest and was never seen again. I always thought it was something of a fairytale they spun around that girl to add some mystery to the festival.”
“What girl?”
“See, the girl was real enough. When Yanoi was old and close to her end, a girl did come here and lived for a while. Of course I was mostly occupied with keeping your mother sane while she was pregnant with you and making sure the business didn’t crumble around us. But I remember her fine. She was a remarkable young woman, always happy and surprisingly temperamental.” He chuckled at the memory.
“Dad? What was her name? Do you remember?”
Hiroshi scratched his head gingerly. “Can’t say I do, but old Greta might, she and the girl grew very fond of each other. Of course it seemed very much like everyone was fond of her.”
Asami kissed her bemused father's forehead and jumped back down the stairs to the basement kitchen were Greta was preparing tea and a light lunch. Hearing her fathers story had made her giddy and she ached so to return to the forest.
“Greta. Do you remember the girl who was here when Yanoi died?”
“Certainly Miss, I should think most of the village remember her with all the stories they tell.”
“What was her name?”
“If you believe the stories her name was Raava, but the name Yanoi always called her was Korra.”
Asami’s breath stopped in her throat. To think that Korra had stayed in this house once, and that she had loved Asami’s own grandmother. Maybe Korra didn’t remember? She hadn’t remembered her own name when Asami asked.
“And she comes every year on the festival of Raava?”
“Miss this girl is no longer a young woman… No doubt she passed long ago.”
Asami picked up on the insecurity in her fathers housekeepers voice “Greta I know she is no old woman.”
The old woman’s eyes widened. “You have seen her?”
Asami nodded happily.
“Oh Miss.” Greta’s eyes filled with heavy tears, “You must stay away from her. The girl is no spirit of light she is a force of darkness. She corrupts maidens hearts and keeps them deep in her forest so they may never truly leave…”
Asami cast her head down. “If that is so then my heart is already forfeit Greta.”
The Housekeeper clasped her face in shock. “You must never go back Miss, there lies only ruin in that forest. Yanoi was never the same after she returned. Please Miss.”
“It is too late. If I do not return I will fade away.” Asami mumbled and she felt some of her joy drain.
Gretha poured her a cup of tea for strength. Asami’s fingers rattled on the handle but she managed to down the scalding liquid, which did indeed calm her some.
Hiroshi had slowly but surely made his way downstairs. On his feet, away from his chair Asami could see just how much he had shrunken in her absence. His skin had gained some color from seeing her again, but it did not hide the unwholesome pallor beneath it.
His once finely tailored shirts fitted him like a sheet to a scarecrow, held up by the laws of physics but missing the mass to make that imposing frame which had been his most striking feature.
For once his tiny gold rimmed spectacles seemed appropriate in size and it scared Asami.
In her youthful foolishness Asami hoped that her return would turn his condition around. She was mortified to hear that he had sold his business off for a healthy sum but hardly touched the money, all while he himself and their family home decayed around him.
Soon the dinner tables were set with nutritious soups and hearty stews and Asami herself chalked the outside of the house and reshaped the chimney briar.
As time passed it became impossible for Asami to refrain from talking about her short adventure, the two elders listened with obvious concern until Asami found that she could no longer mention Korra without their frowns deepening and her own unfiltered joy at the girl becoming much too apparent. After several weeks Asami found that even thinking about Korra created a dull ache inside her and she wondered every night if she would wake up the next day.
Much to her chagrin Asami learned that no matter how many stews or soups she fed Hiroshi that whatever was gnawing at him had not stopped with her return. In the week before the festival of light his condition had become bad enough that he could no longer make the trip downstairs but had to take his meals at the small table in his bedroom, next to the window and his chair.
Asami ate with him until she realized it was more a matter of her eating and her father gazing towards the wilds a look of utter defeat etched upon his face.
He no longer talked and Asami took to reading him fairy tales and retelling those local myths she knew by heart.
A day then came when Hiroshi spoke again. His words were soft spoken to the point that Asami could barely hear them, but she leaned as close as she could without sitting on his fragile bones. Asami heard then the last fairy tale that he had been loathe to tell her before, because he did not believe it to be true then as he did now.
“The old stories say. That there were once two great spirits.
Raava the spirit of light and peace and Vaatu the spirit of chaos and darkness. When the world was still young, and very much different than it is now. A pair of brothers came upon them as they were locked in their endless struggle for dominance over the the hearts and minds of all living things.
The spirits both pleaded with the brothers to help them and they did, but they were divided. Wan wanted to help Raava but his brother Jaya wanted to help Vaatu, as neither brother could decide they both unleashed their fire upon the ties that held the spirits together, freeing them both.”
His story was broken by a fit of coughing, but he continued diligently as soon as Asami had helped him drink a few sips of water.
“The spirits fell to the ground in agony. Wan and Jaya went their separate ways to find and help the spirit that had gained their favor.
The brothers did not meet for many years but when they did they saw how the other had changed. Vaatu who had grown strong without Raava gloated over her, and Jaya did the same for just as much as Raava had bound herself to Wan, Jaya had bound himself to Vaatu and their power fed off one another.
During their battle Raava saw that she was losing and fused with Wan to become one being. Together they nearly managed to enslave Vaatu until Jaya intervened, fusing himself with the dark spirit and escaping.
The world has not know balance since Vaatu was freed and Raava has not succeeded in binding him to her ever since. That is why chaos reigns so freely over this world.”
“That was an awful story dad.” She cupped his cheek but withdrew when she saw his expression.
“I no longer believe it is a story Asami. Your mother told me once that she believed that your grandmother carried Vaatu within her, when she died at the moment of your birth Vaatu chose to take residence in you instead. Yasuko thought that your destiny was to end the cycle and return Vaatu to his righteous enslavement. I refused to believe her, because how could I? Believing her meant losing you. When you disappeared I thought for so long if… If there had been truth to her words.”
Asami looked at him in horror. Unable to fathom how he could accuse her of carrying the spirit of darkness within her.
“Did you know you were born on exactly the day your grandmother died Asami?”
The raven haired girl nodded.
“The spirit of Vaatu has always had a particular liking for your mother's bloodline. Just as Raava had for Wan’s” Hiroshi gave a dry, humourless chuckle. “The days when Raava and Vaatu would fight to enslave or destroy each other passed with your grandmother. She would not fight Raava but nor did she allow Raava to take her.”
“She resisted?”
“In a matter of speaking. As her own will began to wane, Vaatu’s powers over her grew. She was not able to resist his will to be free and Korra was not able to take the woman she loved by force.”
“I see.” Asami said non committally. The idea that the spirit living inside the girl she had fallen in love with nearly kidnapped her grandmother seemed strange and unsettling. More so the idea that she was carrying an ancient dark spirit inside her own body.
“Then… Then I have to return. To Raava and my destiny… While I can still resist Vaatu’s power.”
Asami felt an odd lurch inside her, like the words had been harder to say than she wanted them to. Hiroshi looked at her, the power of his voice once again fading.
“Asami.” His voice was filled with emotion. “Your destiny is what you chose, not what a fairy tale says.” His grip on Asami’s hand was so weak she could have cried.
“What about you?” she whispered.
Hiroshi patted her hand. “I have made arrangements already, months ago when I did not think you would ever come back. Greta will stay in the house, her daughter and her husband are moving here. The Sato mansion will know the patter of baby feet once more.” He chuckled. “The money will go to building a new school. Our village will have a name and people will come here to live and learn. That is its destiny. I did not raise a fool Asami, I know that you can see I am wasting away. You do not have to sit here and wait for an old mans death before seeking your happiness.”
Asami held him tight, she did not want to say it but being here was slowly draining her. To hear these words from her father had set her heart free. She held him long in her arms, both their eyes drifting towards the wilds, but Asami’s especially towards the foot of the mountain and the place she knew held a very special hot spring.
The day before the festival of light, the daughter of the newly named Satoru’s once wealthiest businessman set off towards the wilds. She had a heavy pack with her and her bow held firmly in her hand. As much as she loathed to admit that he had been right, she could feel Vaatu squirm inside her at the thought of going back.
Since learning of him she had begun noticing how emotions would often arise in her that did not seem wholly her own.
She did not need to call for the Catdeer it galloped into view as soon as she began walking between the trees, brushing against her and purring loudly. At nightfall she found herself guided more by the dazzling lights ahead than by the sure steps of her guide.
How easily one forgets the true wonder of magic.
The clearing held so many spirits their light made a mockery of the darkness.
The Avatar of Raava sat on the makeshift bridge that allowed her to easily cross the stream, and for all Asami knew she was brooding. Her leg dangling and absentmindedly kicking at the water below with a toe.
How endearing, that even an ageless spirit could act so.
Asami was not prepared for the look of pure joy that crossed Korra’s features when she noticed the Catdeer and its rider.
“Asami.” She whispered, and her voice carried through the chatter of the spirits and set Asami’s insides atwitter with a giddy uneasiness.
She gave the Catdeer a good scratching “Hello everyone.” She greeted the spirits before making her way to Korra and sitting down next to her. Being the taller of the two Asami’s boots plunged halfway into the water before she realized her mistake, Korra laughed and leaned into the other girl.
“I have missed you Asami. I did not think I would see you so soon.”
“I did not think so either.”
“By the looks of your smile I take it things went well on the outside?”
Asami’s face darkened and Korra immediately sensed the change in the spirits around her.
“Everyone!” She called to gather their attention, “I think it best if we are allowed some privacy.”
The spirits fluttered and disappeared, many of them finding their way past the two girls briefly showing or hoping for a small sign of affection.
“You are so adored.” Asami said without thinking. Korra took her hand and kissed it, “I wish only to be adored by you Asami.”
Asami smiled wryly “Things did not go so well… My father is alive, but… He told me things.”
“Oh?”
“About you.”
“Oh.” Korra looked away, “I realize there is so much I did not tell you. Please know I meant no ill will. What exactly did he tell you?”
“That you knew and loved Yanoi.”
“I did.”
“She was my grandmother.”
“I know.”
“That doesn’t bother you?”
Korra gave her an inquisitive stare. “Asami I have loved you through so many of your past lives. Yanoi was one of them.”
“So you know…” Asami found it hard to believe she was saying this, “that I am Vaatu’s Avatar?”
“Yes.”
“And you said nothing.”
“I didn’t think you would have believed me if I had.”
“But you trusted me to believe I would die if I didn’t return?”
“I trusted that you would want to. I have tried so many things Asami, to make your past lives stay with me and form a bond that did not require enslavement. No one has accepted… I thought Yanoi was special because she loved me back but…”
“But she didn’t want to return when it came to it.” Asami stated.
Korra nodded. “I underestimated Vaatu’s hold on her. But you....” She gazed at Asami and smiled with her entire being. “You came here on your own. I think… Vaatu might have grown a little infatuated with your bloodline for you are nothing like the people he normally chooses. When I saw you it was like… It was like the first time I saw Yanoi. You were so beautiful, so much like her.” Korra brushed Asami’s hair away from her face. “But it is clear to me that you have nothing of the cruelty that lived within her. I have waited so long for Vaatu to make such an mistake.”
Asami gulped. “What do you plan on doing with me?”
Korra frowned at the fear in her voice.
“My dear Asami, I plan to spend eternity with you.”