Old Wounds

Chapter 1

A potty break for Naga, that was all that they stopped for, and now the Avatar is playing fetch with her dear pet.

"While you're playing fetch, four of the most dangerous criminals are hunting you down.

We should get moving," Lin said impatiently, her arms folded, lips pursed in annoyance as the avatar launches the leather ball over a mountain pass with the assistance of her earthebending.

"Relax! We just got here. Besides, no one knows where I am except us!" Korra replied shrugging it off as Naga returned, panting, tongue out, with her tail wagging. "I think she wants you to throw it for her," Korra replied.

I'll pass, thanks." Lin replied looking down at the saliva-and-grass-coated leather ball "

. Teenagers, think they're invincible. Think a couple of the world's most dangerous criminals are no big deal. What naïve stupidity they possess! If only they knew...

Just then, Asami emerged from the Republic City Police Air Ship, having given her to Tenzin and the airbenders to use to get to the Northern Air Temple. "We just got a call from the radio about another airbender!" she exclaimed practically overcome with excitement.

"Finally! Where are they?" Korra asked eagerly.

"A city called Zaofu, the home of the Metal Clan," Asami answered.

Lin nearly gagged on air at the sound of that wretched place.

"You know the place?" Korra asked noticing the Police Chief's reaction.

"Uh... Never been there..." But that doesn't mean I don't it... and who rules it. "But I don't want you going there! I would rest a lot easier if you were back at Republic City." Where I can keep the most naïve and stupid teenager that I have ever known, now grow, from encouraging you to make even more reckless and impulsive decisions. ...Like extending this potty break for a stupid game of fetch that could very possibly give our location away if there's a village beyond that mountain where Naga could be spotted by somebody.

Korra stood her ground, even more stubbornly than an earthbender. "Sorry, if there's an airbender in Zaofu, then that's where we are going next," Korra replied firmly.

Lin glared at the Avatar as she reboarded the Police airship with Asami. I thought water was supposed to be the element of change. The people of the Water Tribes were supposed to be capable of adapting to many things. Great Uncle Iroh, why did you lie to me?

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Zaofu looked exactly how it did in the drawings Lin received decades ago when some architect she had never met asked for her opinion on his designs.

During the day, the 'protective domes' were left open giving an aerial view of the city that resembled a cluster of lotus flowers floating together on a lake that was comprised of the expansive, green plains of the Southern Earth Kingdom. The view was peaceful, almost serene, but at night, everything was different.

The protective domes were closed, to resemble cages, not buds or blossoms in Lin's eyes. As Lin saw it, the leader of the Metal Clan was not concerned with the safety of her people, but only her control on them. The nearest humans to the city were the waterbenders of the Swamp: isolationists unconcerned with the affairs of the Earth Kingdom, the Water Tribes, and the rest of the world. They would never attack the Metal Clan. The next nearest civilization was Gaoling, a wealthy trading town where Lin's family lived for centuries on a grand estate with expansive gardens, and high walls built not to keep the villagers out, but the pesky daughter of the master of the house in. The last threat Lin could think of was several days away by airship in Ba Sing Se. The Earth Queen was the only person in the entire Earth Kingdom who may have trouble with Zaofu's self-declared autonomy but if she hadn't attacked in the 30 years since it's founding, she probably wouldn't attack in the next 30 years from the date.