Chapter Nineteen

¥ New Beginnings: Part One ¥

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'I WISH I COULD GO BACK IN TIME AND RIGHT MY WRONGS.'

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I do not own Legend of Korra or the Last Airbender, all credit goes to the people who made the two happen. I only own Kanna and the things I make up along the way. Most of the script comes from the person who created it. Descriptions come from the show I've watched and the things I've read.

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Kanna Kya

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"We found the Avatar and her Protector washed up onshore, but they don't remember anything." A female sage informs the others. Male Sages put Korra on the table and Kanna on another one. Both girls are clearly out of it, sweat dripping down their foreheads as their half-lidded eyes try to make out what is around them.

"Raava. Raava. Raava." Korra weakly repeats.

"The avatar spirit." Kanna weakly tries to reach fro Korra. "Help." A shaman realizes what Kanna is trying to express and uses her firebending to read Korra's energy. She creates fire from her palms and waves her hands around Korra. Kanna snaps her hand out for a split second, focusing on hurting the woman. The shaman's fire disappears as she clutches her throat desperately. The other sages quickly gather around her while gazing uneasily at Kanna who seems murderous. "Don't touch her."

"She's only trying to help like you asked." One sage states. "Please let her do her job." Kanna goes to say something before her eyeslids flicker and she passes out once more. The shaman gasps for her much needed breath.

"Something is very wrong." She stated in worry before redoing the process again. "A dark energy has infected her. We must purge it before it destroys her Avatar Spirit." The shaman turns to face Kanna and performs the same process. "The same dark energy has infected her as well." Her eyes widen in horror. "It is eating away at the good spirit in her, she will remember the truth about the protectors." Fear seems to strike them all at those words.

"The last Protector to remember went insane and tried killing her daughter to stop the protector line from continuing." One male sage says in a voice not above a whisper.

"I didn't know the Protector was even taught how to blood bend," one female sage whispers to the other.

"Yeah isn't that a banned bending?" The other sage mumbles back.

"Should we even trust her around the Avatar? What if she tries to kill Avatar Korra with it? Especially if the memories come back?" The sages quickly shut up when the shaman looks over at them in warning.

"We need to take them to the waters." The shaman orders.

In a large cave with a large hole in the ground and light shining up from below, the Sages lower both girls into subterranean spirit waters on a hammock. "Let the waters cleanse the darkness that plagues your spirits." They all watch as the light seems to surround the girls. "And let us pray that it works." Their eyes linger on Kanna's figure. They do not like to imagine what would happen when she wakes up and the good spirit withholding the memories have the past is gone. 

••••

As Korra opens her eyes, she is in a dreamworld, surrounded by a purple light. She is looking at her own image, engulfed in a blue light. "Who are you?" Korra asks.

"I am you." The image answers.

"Who am I?" Korra questions. Korra's image ripples and is replaced by Aang's.

"You are the Avatar." Aang replies.

"I don't know what that is." Korra shakes her head. Aang's image ripples and changes into Roku's.

"In order to remember, you must regain your connection with your Avatar Spirit." Roku informs her. Roku's image ripples and changes into Kyoshi's.

"If you don't, darkness will engulf the world. You will die, and our era will end." Kyoshi states.

"How do I regain my connection?" Korra inquires. Kyoshi's image ripples and changes into Kuruk's.

"Go back. Return to the beginning. Find Raava." Kuruk says and pushes Korra by a strong current of water and bubbles. She frowns in discomfort as her body flips around, but the current quickly stops. Korra turns around and sees Wan in front of a circle of light.

"Are you Raava?" Korra questions.

"No, but I can help you find her. My name is Wan, and I will show you how I became the first Avatar." Wan answers. "But first, we must wait for the other one to join us."

"Other one?" Korra furrows her eyebrows. "You mean the girl I was with when I woke up?" Suddenly, a blue light appears and Kanna steps out of it. She holds her head in slight pain as another blue light appears and another woman steps out of it. "Who are you?"

"We are the Protectors. We protect the Avatar at any cost. My name is Ran," the woman bows, "and I was the first Protector."

"Does that mean I'm her Protector?" Kanna asks while gesturing towards Korra. Wan and Ran both nod their heads.

"Now, let us take you to the very beginning."

••••

Wan is running with a confident grin and a bag in his hand in the street. Ran is beside him as she glances back and laughs hysterically. Three very similar looking brothers, one short, one medium sized, and one tall, each holding a guan dao glaive of a matching size chase after them.

"Nobody steals from the Chou brothers!" Little Chou shouts while raising his spear threateningly.

"Really? Because I just did." Wan taunts them. Ran jumps on a railing and holds her hand out to Wan.

"You're dead, Wan. And so is your little pet!" Big Chou yells. Wan takes Ran's hand and jumps on the railing. Wan turns around to salute the brothers mockingly before letting himself fall backward, off the railing. Ran puts her arms out beside her before joining him.

"Actually, I feel quite alive." Wan says. The Chou Brothers run up to the railing. Wan grabs hold of a clothesline, which breaks his fall and swings him back up. Ran copies his movements and the two hide in an alcove as the Chou Brothers come crashing down screaming, tearing all the clotheslines down with them. Ran and Wan jump down onto their fallen bodies and bolt away as quick as they can. They run over a bridge, scaring a flock of birds in the process to take flight. The Chou Brothers run onto the bridge after them.

"Hey, stop!" Little Chou shouts. The birds drop droppings on the Chous, causing them to slide to a halt. Ran and Wan drop down on a roof. They jump toward a wooden bar, around which they turn and somersaults off on the next roof. They run down it and jump on a lower located roof. They jump again to another roof, but start to slow down to a walk. Ran slides down the roof tiles of a last house and lands on the balcony. She waves her hand to gesture that it is safe and Wan closely follows behind her. They both make it to ground level and sit down. Wan rummages through the bag with his left hand, his tongue sticking out in anticipation. He pulls out a roll, but just as he is about to take a bite from it, Big Chou lands in front of them. Big Chou's two brothers appear from behind him. Ran sighs.

"He-he-hey, fellas!" Wan looks at his roll sadly for a moment. "You're just in time for lunch!" He throws a piece of food in Big Chou's face leaving a red mark on his nose and jumps over him, but is tripped by Middle Chou, subsequently falling on the ground. Ran quickly attacks Big Chou, knocking his legs out from underneath him and takes the blade from him. She advances on Little Chou with a war cry, bringing the blade up to swing when Middle Chou tackles her. The blade goes flying out of her hand.

"I told you no one steals from us." Little Chou chuckles. Big Chou takes Wan by the collar and easily lifts him in the air with one hand while glaring at him. Wan nervously laughs at him. A screaming Wan is thrown off the wall. He disappears behind a tree lands in the mud of a pigsty, rousing the interest of a nearby standing moo-sow. He sits erect, disgustedly wiping the mud out of his face. Disheartedly, he looks to his right where the animal is sniffing at him. He hears a feminine scream and watches as Ran join him. She splutters, spitting the mud of her mouth.

"Good plan." Ran dryly says.

"It could've worked." Wan defends himself.

"Yeah, could've, should've and it didn't." She stands up and wiped the mud off her clothes. "Let's go home." They head back home and enter their tree house. A young man is sitting on the ground,  watching as they climb through the door.

"Did you steal from the Chous again?" Jaya asks while sighing.

"Yeah, and I got to nothing show for it except a few dirty rolls and a whole lot of bruises." Wan digs into his shirt before pulling out a roll and handing it to Jaya. Jaya smiles as Wan walks over to another figure. "Hey, Yao, I got some food for you." A branch-like hand reaches out to grab the roll to reveal a disfigured old man who appears partly quasi-treelike. Yao eats the roll, closing his eyes and smiling in delight.

"Mmm. Delicious!" He opens his eyes to Wan. "Thank you, Wan."

"And Ran," Ran grumbles while taking a seat on the ground, "everyone always forgets about Ran." Jaya laughs at her and ruffles her hair. Two skunk squirrels, a peacock pigeon, and a woodpecker lizard enter the house as Wan sits down in front of them. The animals look over Wan's shoulder and stare at his roll.

"You guys are hungry too, huh?" He tears small pieces from his roll and feeds it to the animals, who all eat happily. Ran smiles at the sight, remembering that this is why she likes him.

"Wan, you should eat." Jaya softly scolds.

"Here," Ran hands over her food to Wan, "you can eat mine."

"They need it more than I do," Wan says before crumbling the rest of the roll up and pushes Ran's hand away, "Besides, I'm tired of eating scraps." He takes a cup and teapot from a nearby table and pours some tea for himself. "If only there was some way to get into the Chous' food cellar. We'd be eating like, well, like Chous."

"If Chou the Elder catches you sneaking into his palace, you'll end up dead. Or worse, he'll banish you to the Spirit Wilds." Jaya warns.

"No, don't get banished." They all turn to Yao. "You don't want nothing to do with those spirits. They'll get inside ya, scramble up your mind, turn you into this," he motions to himself, "a monster," he buries his face in his hands and turns away, forlorn.

"Don't do anything crazy, Wan. You just gotta accept the world is the way it is. Some people have power. Some people don't. And you don't." Jaya glances at Ran. "And don't go following him if he does do something stupid."Wan sips his tea and appears to be thinking. He looks away and smirks.

"Not yet, anyway." He mumbles. Ran heard his words and sighs, knowing that he's going to drag them into another one of his dumb plans.

••••

In the city square, there stands a group of people. One strong looking man is trying his best to get people's attention with his loud voice. "Are you strong? Are you fearless? Do you have what it takes to battle the spirits? Then join the hunt." A huntsman says.

"Count us in." Wan says while raising his hand and grabbing Ran's left hand to raise it as well. She blows a piece of hair out of her face as she waits for the laughter. The huntsman gives them a scrutinizing look, before laughing.

"We're going to be out in the wilds for a week. You little ones wouldn't last two seconds." He says. He takes an even closer look at Ran, "especially this little lady."

"You don't even know what we can do." Ran scoffs and glares at him. "A woman can do anything a man does."

"I can handle myself and Ran is one of the most dangerous women I know." Wan crosses his arms with a smug expression on his face. "We all get fire, right?" He loses his smug expression as he asks.

"Yeah, but do you know how to use it?" The huntsman asks.

"Well, not exactly, but I-" Wan gets cut off as another hunter walks up to them and places his hands on Wan's and Ran's shoulders.

"Ah, let them come. Not like we got any other volunteers lining up." He says in support of them.

"All right. Welcome to the hunt." The huntsman smiles. Wan whoops and raises his hand for Ran to fist bump. She stares at it and non-excitingly fist bumps him.

"I'm going to haunt you if we die." She whispers with a dark smile. Wan shudders at the sight and quietly prays that they make it through this alive because being haunted by her is the last thing he wants. He can only imagine all the torture she would put him through.

••••

A bit later, the hunting party is walking up a forest trail to the lion turtle. At a cliff, they stop, and the huntsman blows on his horn. The lion turtle emerges upon hearing the call, the city laying on its back. Ran gawks a little bit at the sight before composing herself when Wan turns to look at her.

"The lion turtle." Wan nudges Ran and gestures to the lion turtle in awe. She smiles softly at how adorable he looks.

"Great guardian of our city, we are venturing into the Spirit Wilds to bring back food for our people. Please, grant us the power of fire." The huntsman requests.

"The power is yours to keep until your return." The lion turtle raises his claw. The group looks back at Ran and Wan.

"You're first, kids." Ran and wan nervously glance at one another as they approach the lion turtle. His claw touches them and a golden light emits from the two.

"May the element of fire protect you against the spirits." The lion turtle says. Wan tests out his newly-received ability by punching in front of him. The blast he creates sends him tumbling backward. He comes to a stop among the other hunters while the head huntsman steps forward.

"Just make sure you aim at the spirits, not us, okay?" The huntsman states.

"Sure thing." Wan says, standing up and gazing at his hand with a smirk. He stops to watch Ran. She seems to be easily manipulating the fire, forming some whips in her hands before making them disappear. She brightly grins causing Wan's cheeks to heat up.

"And that is how you do it," One of the other hunters mumbles. Wan shoots them a glare as Ran makes her way back to them.

••••

The group is making their way through the forest, Ran is humming softly while keeping her hands up in a battle ready position. She will protect Wan if anything goes wrong during this plan of his.

"Everyone, stay close. Spirits love to pick off stragglers." The huntsman states. Wan pauses and seems to make himself smaller.

"Uh, guys?" Wan says in a trembling voice. "I don't think I can do this." Ran narrows her eyes at him in annoyance.

"You did not drag me into this just to give up midway through." She snarls. The group of hunters stop and turn to face the duo. Two hunters chuckle at her mad expression towards Wan.

"Now, quit your whining. We haven't even seen a spirit yet." The huntsman says.

"I think I wanna go home." Wan shines. The huntsman walks up to Wan and points a finger at his chest.

"I knew you were nothing but a sniveling coward. Go give your fire back to the lion turtle," he shoves Wan back and turns around to continue on, "and don't ever show your face around me again." He glances at Ran. "Would you like to still join us?"

"No, I'm sorry. I'm with this idiot." Ran smiles apologetically as the hunting party leaves them behind him. He looks after them over his shoulder and his frown shifts into a smirk. He walks away while slightly raising his right fist in confidence. "This has to be your dumbest plan yet."

"And you went along with it," he wiggles his finger in her face with a joking grin on his face. She shakes her head at them as the two make their way back home. They enter the treehouse to see Jaya and Yao sitting on the floor.

"Ran, Wan, you're back." Jaya greets.

"What goodies did you snatch for us this time?" Yao rubs his stomach. Wan and Ran exchange a grin and extend their hands, causing a small flame to appear in their palms much to Jaya's surprise. Yao yelps in shock and crouches back into a corner, shielding himself. Wan closes his palm, extinguishing the flame while Ran throws the flame into her other hand for show before making it disappear.

"What did you do? You can't steal from the lion turtle." Jaya scolds.

"Really?" Wan smiles smugly. "Because we just did," he high fives Ran.

"No, you did. Ran just follows your dumb decisions to protect you." Jaya spats a little bit. He truly cannot believe the duo would do this. "Remember earlier when I said to stop following his dumb plans, this was one of those dumb plans." Ran sheepishly smiles.

••••

Wan and his friends make their way to the Chou estate. Ran is skipping beside them, just happy to be leading something for once. "You know it's forbidden to bring the power of the element into the city. Please, go back to the lion turtle and return the fire." Jaya begs his two friends. The group stop to look at him.

"Jaya, it's time to stop being so afraid of the Chous and show them we have the power to change things." Wan takes out his mask from his bag and put it on. He turns to leave. The rest of the group follow his example, though their masks are all the same, save for Jaya's. The group has gathered before the Chou's family palace gates. "Hey, Chous! Open the gate, and let us in." Chou the Elder walkstoward the railing, his three sons in tow. He stops and looks down.

"What are those filthy peasants doing here?" The Elder spits.

"Don't worry father. We'll take care of them." Big Chou says. The Chou brothers turn around, leaving their father to continue looking at the group below. The Chou brothers emerge from the palace's gates. They line up before the doors, which close immediately again. Wan points at them.

"Hand over all the food you're hoarding," he swipes his hand down, emphasizing his threat, "and we won't give you any trouble." The brothers start laughing.

"You're not getting past us." They raise their spears. "We have the weapons." They point it toward Wan. "You're powerless."

"Powerless, huh? Let's show them how powerless we really are. Ran." Ran grins at him. The Chou brothers all raise their weapon toward the group and slide in a battle stance. As they charge the group, Wan raises both his hands and his left knee. He takes a good step forward and thrusts his hands toward the incoming brothers, firebending at them. Ran jumps up and spins, shooting fire out of her feet and towards the brothers. The brothers jump out of the way to either side of the blasts, sliding over the floor. The blasts crash against the palace's gate. The fire consumes the gate and breaks it open, leaving the group standing right in front of the open door. "Follow me!" The group runs through the broken doors. They reach the courtyard and Wan surges forward to break down the door to the food cellar with his firebending. As soon as the fire dies down, the other raiders run op to the now wide-open building. "Grab as much food as you can." The villagers all run inside the shed.

"You're doing a good thing," Ran wraps her hand around his. She smiles and kisses his cheek before running into the shed to help gather food. Wan slowly touches his cheek, gawking at what just happened.

"Maybe you're right." Wan turns to Jaya; the first raiders return with big bags swung over their shoulder. "Maybe we do have the power to change things." Ran comes out and passes the food she grabbed off to Jaya. Suddenly, a group of police men rush in with the Chou brothers.

"Stop right there!" Wan and Ran turn to see ten armed guards.

"Looks like the Chous found backup." Jaya says.

"Get everyone out of here. I'll hold them off." Wan rushes forwards as the group bolt for the walls to climb over and escape. Ran watches them leave before sighing and rushing after Wan. "What are you doing? I told you to leave!"

"When have I ever left your dumb butt?" Ran throws him a smile. "You're in it for the long hull with me, Wan." Wan does not know what he did to deserve such a woman to stand next to him through everything. Wan and Ran leap forward and scatter the troops with a powerful firebending blast. He throws another blast to keep two soldiers at bay. A soldier comes at Wan with his spear aimed at his chest. Ran quickly forms a fire whips and grabs the spear, yanking it out of his hands and throwing it. Wan grabs hold of another soldier's  weapon and uses it to turn and swing his attacker against Big Chou, who was standing behind him. He uses his own momentum to keep on turned and hurl the weapon away. Ran continues to whip the others, slightly laughing at their screams of pain. Little Chou seizes his moment and jumps onto Wan, clasping on tight. Wan tries to toss his assailant. Ran notices his dilemma and hurriedly firebends the four people surrounding him away from him. He manages to throw Little Chou, though the guy held on to Wan's mask and took it with him. Little Chou comes to a halt. He sits up on his knees and immediately raises his hands in defeat.

"No, please! Have mercy!" He looks up to see Wan looming over him with a fire ball readied in his right hand. "Wan?" Wan's resolve wavers and he snuffs out the fire in his hand as well as the fiery circle surrounding them. As soon as the way is cleared again, Wan is instantly tackled to the ground by two guards jumping at him from his left. Ran shouts in anger, shooting fireballs at them all.

"Run!" Wan shouts. He watches as Ran hesitates before launching a huge fireball in the middle of the courtyard. The fireball leaves a cloud of smoke in its wake. When it is gone, Ran is no longer there. Wan smiles in relief at the fact that she is safe. Wan is being held and pulled to his feet. They are surrounded by the soldiers and the two other Chou brothers.

"Even when you have the power," Little Chou crosses his arms and leans in toward Wan, "you're afraid to use it." Wan angrily looks down on Little Chou, but slants his eyes to his left in a sad defeat. "We will find that other person."

••••

At the cliff from earlier, Wan, the Chous, and soldiers stand on it as they face the lion turtle. Wan is held by his arms by a soldier standing on each side of him, with the Chou family standing in front of the lion turtle. "Tell me who else was involved in the rebellion, and I might take mercy on you." Elder Chou says.

"I'm not telling you anything." Wan defiantly says.

"Then, you've left me no choice. Wan, you are hereby banished." The Elder decrees. The guards start to push Wan toward the lion turtle.

"Yeah and give back the fire you stole!" Little Chou yells.

"No! Wait. Great lion turtle, I am sorry for stealing the fire from you, and I accept my punishment. But please, I need to be able to protect myself in the wilds." Wan pleads while holding his hands up in surrender.

"Never again may you return to this city. But," Wan looks up to the lion turtle with hope. "I will allow you to keep the power of the element."

Wan is shoved out of the city. He looks back at his city one more time before hanging his head in sadness and walks away to the Spirit Wilds as the sun sets. On a tree a bit far away, Ran, Yao and Jaya sit on it.

"Bet he doesn't last," Jaya turns and looks at Yao, "till morning." Ran huffs at those words and quickly climbs down the tree.

"Ran! Don't!" Jaya follows her and grabs her arm. "He made his choice. Stop following him."

"I can't do that." Ran smiles sadly at hun, ripping her arm out of his grip and dashing towards where she last saw Wan. Jaya shakes his head and rubs his temples.

"I don't understand her obsession in following him everywhere." Jaya complains. Yao makes his way down and stands beside him.

"That's because you don't understand love yet." Yao says, watching her fading figure.

••••

Wan is walking down a path in the forest far in the background, nervously hiking along and flings fire at any spirit he thinks is a threat. He scream and throws a fireball when a figure pops out of the trees. Ran diverts the fireball into something else, giving him a deadpanned look. "How was I suppose to know it was you?" He defends him before stopping and realizing who is in front of him. "What are you doing here? You should be back in the city, safe and sound with Jaya and Yao!"

"Like hell I was gonna let you be banished alone," she scoffs and makes her over to him. "Now, where are we going?"

"We are going nowhere. I'm going further in the wilderness and you are going back to the city." He pushes her in the direction of the city. "You can't follow me this time, Ran."

"That's not your decision to make, it's mine." She snarls and gets close to her face. He nervously sweats at the murderous gleam in her eyes and at the fact she is in very close proximity to his lips. "I am coming with you whether you like it or not. We both have fire and it'll be safer if I'm here to help you. Understand?" He rapidly nods his head, backing slowly up into a tree and suddenly hears a shrill voice.

"Hey," Wan shivers in fear and quickly waves his fire around to see who the voice is, "watch where you're stepping, human!"

"Who said that?" Wan asks scared, fire in his hands as he whirls them all around. Ran ducks to avoid being burnt and sees the little blue frog underneath his foot.

"I'm assuming him," Ran gestures to the frog spirit on the ground.

"She's right!" Wan looks down as a small blue frog slides out from under it. "How'd you like it if I started walking all over you?"

"I'm sorry," Ran smiles apologetically at the frog.

"You're just a little frog." Wan sighs in relief. The frog suddenly grows in size. The two humans gawk in shock.

"Who's little now?" The frog tries to stomp Wan with his foot but Ran grabs Wan and yanks him away just in time. Wan runs off with her screaming as the frog spirit tries to whip him with his tongue.

"How about we don't anger the spirits!"

"I didn't mean to!"  The two stumble upon plants and a Venus flytrap tries to eat Wan. Ran blasts a fireball into its open mouth and it releases Wan. She grabs his hand, dragging him with her as they bolt away. They both see various spirits, some floating tadpoles and some puff balls when they find themselves in a small clearing. Wan collapses onto the ground, huffing and puffing while Ran leans slightly over to rest her elbows on her knees.

"You are bad luck." She pants out.
To their surprise, the grass underneath him appears to be alive and swiftly wraps itself around him, dragging him into the ground. He narrowly escapes with firebending, scorching a patch of the grass, frantically climbs out, and runs off while panicking. Ran sighs and follows him. By morning, the two are dead tired from all the running. Wan looks haggard, covered in dirt and having dark circles under his eyes from a lack of sleep. He is visibly shaken, looking left and right for any signs of danger. He stops walking once his stomach growls and makes his way over to a tree that he believes to be carrying fruit. He tries eating it only to discover that it is a nest of hornets Wan finds himself surrounded by buzzing hornets; running in zig-zags all over the place.

"Get off me! Get off me!" He yells. Ran grumbles and grabs a hornet, burning it. Wan, once again, has bolted away. She sighs, tiredly following him while burning any hornets near her. Wan is painfully tumbling down a cliff. He is thrown off an outcropping and falls further down. He eventually slides to a halt, groaning and looking all disheveled. As he looks up, he sees a peaceful looking oasis with fruit trees. Ran slides to where he is, looking in perfect health and condition since she took her time. She watches as he approaches it but as he attempts to cross the bridge, a spirit appears out of nowhere in front of him and shoves him back.

"You are not welcome in my oasis, humans." Aye-aye spirit says.

"Please, help us. We're starving and we haven't slept all night." Wan pleads, raising to his feet.

"Not my problem." Aye-aye spirit crosses his arms.

"Let us pass!" Wan fire bends at the spirit. Ran facepalms and sighs. The spirit widens his eyes in surprise for a moment before turning angry.

"Why have I been cursed to like an idiot with a death wish?" Ran mumbles.

"You dare use fire against me?" The spirit blinks out of sight only to reappear behind Wan with a mocking face and grabs him. "Now, be gone with you!" He throws Wan to a bush. Wan walks out of the bush with the aye-aye spirit blinking while looking annoyed, followed by an uninterested expression as the spirit walks away. Wan hangs his head in defeat and walks away. Ran shoves Wan into a bush as a parade of spirits make their way towards the oasis. Wan nudges Ran with a smirk as an idea pops in his head. They emerge from the bush disguised as bush spirits, joining in an attempt to enter the oasis. They approach the spirit and the aye-aye spirit narrows his eyes at them in suspicion.

"And who might you be?" Aye-aye spirit asks.

"I am Bushy, the Bush Spirit with my wife, Bushette, the other bush spirit. And we would like the enter your oasis." Wan says dramatically.

"Very well," Aye-aye spirit motions toward the oasis. "You may pass," As Wan walks by, the spirit widens his eyes in surprise and sniffs. "Wait a second," he grabs Wan's head, "Something stinks," he pulls off Wan's mask. "I knew I smelled a human!" He turns and takes Ran's mask off as well. She sheepishly smiles at the spirit. Wan's face turns blue and sweats nervously before shrugging nervously with a very big, sheepish grin. The aye-aye spirit picks them up and throw them in the water. Ran winces in slight pain, rubbing her back as she stands up.

"Come on, let us in, just for a little while." Wan pleads.

"No! Go back to your lion turtle." Aye-aye spirit commands.

"Believe me, I'd love to go back home. But I can't. I was kicked out." Wan says and points at Ran. "But she can go back anytime yet she's following me!" Ran crosses her arms and angrily looks at him.

"That's too bad."

"Poor humans."

"Don't pity him. He's just like every other human: ugly, destructive, and lacking any respect for nature." Aye-aye spirit spats.

"Who are you calling ugly, Ugly?" Wan retorts.

"Oh my lord, Wan, shut up." Ran hisses. The aye-aye spirit looks surprised for a moment with the other spirits turning and looking at him before frowning in annoyance.

"Mmm." Aye-aye spirit says.

"If you can't go back to your city, then you should go live in another one."

"What? There are other lion turtles?" Wan asks, looking over at Ran to see her equally as shocked as he is.

""There are other lion turtles?" Of course there are," the Aye-aye spirit spreads his arms to make his point, "dozens of them! Boy, you humans are stupid, too."

"So which way to the nearest lion turtle city?" Wan asks.

"Please." Ran adds in, hoping that being nicer will convince the spirits to help them.

"Hmm. I think it's on the other side of none-of-your-business valley." Aye-aye spirit laughs at his own joke, looking to the other spirits for approval. He stops laughing after no one else seems to be. Wan is frowning in irritation.

"Real funny. You know what? I don't need your help. I'll find it myself." Wan turns around and starts marching down the tube before suddenly disappearing underneath the water. Ran sighs, reaching in to grab him and help him back to the surface.

"Good luck!" One for the friendly spirits yell after them.

••••

Wan and Ran are walking until they come across a cat deer caught in a net. Wan, intent on cooking the animal, produces a flame in each hand, but is slapped by Ran. "Look at him." She whines. Wan sighs at the sad and pleading stare from the cat deer. The two approach and the cat deer growls.

"It's okay. We're gonna get you out of there." Wan reassures it.
Wan climbs the tree to cut down the net that is holding the cat deer. However, before he can take action, the four hunters he was supposed to join earlier arrive.

"Finally, we caught something," the huntsman motions toward the cat deer. "Get it down."

"No!" Ran shouts, angrily forming an fire whips and wrapping it around one of the hunter's ankles, yanking it to make him fall. "Leave it alone!" Wan steps out from behind the tree trunk and onto the branch.

"Back off." Wan joins her.

"Ran? Wan? What are you doing here?" The huntsman asks, looking very wary as the fallen hunter gets back up.

"We're saving this animal." Wan says.

"That animal's our dinner. Now, get out of the way." The huntsman orders.

"No way!" Ran shouts and fire bends balls at them. Wan jumps out of the tree while firebending at the hunters and a chase through the Spirit Wilds commences, with the duo using the many dangers of the forest to their advantage. On is dragged under by living grass. Wan runs past a tree with hornet nests, grabs two, and flings them at the hunters. Ran ducks to avoid getting slammed in the face with one. She glances back and laughs as another hunter is swarmed by insects and is dragged off into the air. They run on, evading the fire blasts the last two remaining hunters throw at them. Ran notices one blast that Wan did not and knocks into Wan to force him to avoid it; however, it nailed her. She smacks against a branch and falls barely conscious on the ground, enabling their pursuers to catch up. Wan kneels beside her and warily eyes the two.

"Well, looks like you're all out of tricks." The huntsman growls. The aye-aye spirit appears behind the huntsman and possesses the second hunter, who starts partially transforming into the spirit's likeness.

"I. Really. Hate. Humans!" Aye-aye spirit yells. The huntsman Is assaulted by his possessed comrade and rus away screaming. The aye-aye spirit leaves the hunter's body. The man groans, but upon noticing his deformed hands, starts feeling up his face. Realizing he now looks partly like an aye-aye, he runs away screaming as well. The aye-aye behind him watches him go with a uninterested look.

"I don't know what he's screaming about." Aye-aye spirit picks up Ran and gestures for Wan to follow. "He's better looking now." The aye-aye spirit carries Ran back to the oasis and places her in spirit water, which heals her wounds. He pushes Wan into the water as well to heal his minor wounds. Ran wakes ups and gazes around in pure wonder at the blue light surrounding them.

"I feel great. What's in this water?" Wan asks.

"It has special healing properties." Aye-aye spirit replies. Ran sits up and smiles in thanks as a spirit hands her a fruit.

"I didn't know that existed." She states.

"There are a lot of things that humans do not know exist." Aye-aye spirit says.

"Thanks." Wan says as the spirit hands him a fruit as well and takes a bite out of it. "So what did you do to that hunter?"

"Yeah, that was so cool!" Ran gushes.

"Spirits are able to take over a human body for a short time. If I stayed in there any longer, I would've killed him, which I did consider." Aye-aye spirit says while tapping his chin.

"Should've." Ran nods her head in agreement.

"Thanks for saving our necks. But why'd you do it?" Wan questions, leaning over to wipe some juice off of Ran's chin.

"I saw you two save the cat deer from those hunters. I've never seen such an act of selflessness from a human before." Aye-aye spirit admits. The cat deer approached them and rubs his face against their shoulders.

"Told you we weren't like the others." Wan says standing up as Ran pets the cat deer happily.

"You're so adorable." She whispers, planting a kiss on its nose.

"Guess I underestimated you, humans." Aye-aye spirit says to them.

"Are you off to find another lion turtle city?"

"I was. But I think I've had enough of humans for a while. I've decided to stay here and learn the ways of the spirits." Wan informs them. Ran pauses at this information and stares at him. "Will you join me?" He smiles at her sheepishly since he did not ask her.

"Of course I will. I'm liking spirits a bit better than humans at the moment." She replies.

"What a great idea."

"That'll be fun." The cat deer nudges his face underneath Wan's arm for some loving from him as well. He chuckles and gladly scratches the cat deer's chin.

"Oh, now, now, hold on. Two humans living with spirits? That's never been done, not even with one human." Aye-aye spirit shakes his head.

"First time for everything, right?" Wan shrugs.

"Please," Ran pouts and cutely cups her hands in front of her face, "I think the spirits would like us to stay too." The other spirits nod their heads in agreement.

"Hmm. I guess we can try it. I've never had a human as a pet before. I think I'll call you "Stinky."" Aye-aye spirit says to Wan.

"The name is Wan." Wan says in annoyance.

"Stinky is more accurate." Aye-aye spirit says and Ran snorts.

"He is right, you do stink." Ran comments. Wan quickly points at her.

"How come she doesn't get a new name?" He whines.

"I think I'll call her," Aye-aye spirit taps his chin in thought while staring at her, "Protector."

"Why?" Ran and Wan simultaneously asks.

"Because she is always protecting you," Aye-aye spirit shrugs.

"He does have a point. I am always protecting you."

"You're not doing a very good job at it."

"Excuse me!"

"Ow! I didn't mean it! I'm sorry! Ow! Stop hitting me please!"

"Humans are amusing."

••••

The huntsman returns to the city square alone.

"What happened in the wilds?"

"Where are the others?"

"Gone. Spirits took them. They were protecting those kids, Wan and Ran, like they were one of their own." The huntsman informs the crowd.

"Did you hear that?" Yao turns slightly to Jaya, who smiles. "They're still alive."

••••

A white dragon flying in the air in a figure-eight motion. It swoops downward toward ground level where Wan is firebending and performing the Dancing Dragon technique, moving toward the right as the dragon flies right. Ran stands behind him, copying his movements. Their spirit friends are watching them, even the giant frog spirit. They clap and cheer for the humans as they stick to the form. They bending fire in the same motions as the dragon.

Wan's hair is now longer and hanging, and with a scruff of hair on his chin. He is in a battle stance in front of the oasis. Ran stands next to him, her own hair braided and down to her knees now. The hunters stand on the other side of the bridge, whom Wan and Ran ward off by redirecting their fire.

"And the way Wan and Ran move fire, it's like nothing I've ever seen. They uses it like it's an extension of their body. It reminds me of how Ran used the fire from her feet." The huntsman frowns and readies to attack. The hunters throw their fire, but when it reaches Wan, he redirects it and throws it to the ground near the hunters, making them fall over. Ran redirects the fire into the water to extinguish it. The hunters stand up and run away. The spirits show up and gather around them cheering. Wan downs cup of tea given to him by one of the spirits in victory while Ran happily munches on some fruit.

••••

"Ran and Wan have proven that with the power of fire, anyone can survive in the wilds." An older Jaya with a short beard and mustache with Yao, stand before a crowd of townspeople in the foreground in the forest outside the city. "We don't have to live under Chou the Elder's rules anymore, so I say we leave this city and start over." He raises fist. "Who's with me?" The crowd cheers. They all receive firebending from the lion turtle before leaving toward the Spirit Wilds.

••••

In the Spirit Oasis, the humans are preparing to leave. The cat deer has a traveling pack and a saddle. Wan scratches its neck, and it tilts its head and purrs. "You ready to go, Mula?" He leans down and holds out a hand, helping Ran to get on Mula as well. He wraps his arms around her waist to grab hold of the reins since she is sitting in front of him. He kisses her cheek and smiles at the blush on her face. The two have grown more affectionate towards each other during their time here.

"You sure you want to leave?" Aye-aye spirit sadly asks.

"Yes. It's time we see the rest of the world and find the other lion turtle cities." Wan says.

"I'm proud to call you my friend, Stinky." Aye-aye spirit smiles and turns to face Ran. "Keep him safe, Protector."

"Always." Ran smiles back at him.

"Thank you for everything. Goodbye, everyone." Wan and Ran waves goodbye to their friends as they leave the oasis.

"Will we ever come back?" Ran asks sadly.

"Someday, I'm sure of it." Wan says. They ride away from the oasis. They travel for a while when they reach a stream where they encounters a parade of spirits running away in the same direction.

"The all-powerful spirits are battling!"

"They're gonna wipe out the entire valley!" They go to investigate what is causing the stampede. They reach a clearing where two large spirits, a black and a white one, are locked in battle, destroying their surroundings as they go. They get off of Mula, running up to the spirits and firebend at them, drawing the spirits' attention.

"Stop, or you'll destroy everything!" Wan shouts.

"This doesn't concern you, humans!" The blue spirits yells.

"It does when the lives of spirits and animals are in danger." Wan yells back.

"If you're a friend to spirits, then use your fire to help me break free." The reddish blackish spirit says.

"Wan, I don't think we should interfere." Ran nervously says, a deep unsettling feeling develops in her stomach at the sight of the reddish spirit.

"Don't involve the humans. This is between us." The blue spirits states.

"Please, save me. She has tormented me for ten thousand years." The reddish one informs Wan. Ran narrows her eyes suspiciously.

"Ten thousand years? Let him go!" Wan yells.

"Wan, don't!" But it is too late. Wan firebends at the spirits, but is tossed aside by Raava. As he emerges out of the bushes again, he notices that the two spirits are only connected with one another by one tentacle. He firebends at that connection, severing it. As soon as they're separated, the reddish spirit flies away to rest atop a nearby mountain, while the blue one screams and shrinks slightly.

"Thank you, human. You have performed a great service for the spirits." The reddish one says and flies away.

"Do you realize what you've done?" The blue spirit shouts angrily.

"Yeah, I helped a spirit who was being bullied by you." Wan says, crossing his arms.

"Wan, I don't think you did." Ran softly mumbles. Wan gives her a confused look.

"You are gravely mistaken. I was keeping him under control." The blue spirit says.

"And what gives you the right?" Wan angrily asks.

"You don't even know who I am, do you?" The blue spirits sighs.

"Should I?" Wan asks.

"Yes. My name is Raava. That spirit you freed is Vaatu. He is the force of darkness and chaos. I am the force of light and peace. Since the beginning of time, we have battled over the fate of this world. And for the past ten thousand years, I have kept darkness under control and the world in balance, until you came along." Raava informs them.

"You should've listened to me," Ran sighs and rubs her forehead tiredly.

"So, by freeing Vaatu, I let chaos into the world?" Wan remorsefully asks. 

"Precisely. The human and spirit realms are headed toward annihilation, and it's all your fault."

••••

Korra and Kanna are still laying in the water. Kanna's eyebrows are furrowed as if she was in pain. "Raava. I found you." Korra mumbles.

••••

Kanna cautiously gazes around and looks back at Ran. "Why are we away from Wan and Korra?" She asks. "Isn't there more of the memory to see?"

"There is, child, but," Ran sighs and smiles sadly, "you will learn the truth behind your existence in the next few memories. I am not sure if you want to know because it will change everything."

"What do you mean?" Kanna inquires in confusion. "I was taught at a young age what being a Protector means."

"Yes, but you were never taught the truth on how one becomes a protector." Ran informs her.

"I was born to be a protector. That's why I have this mark," Kanna pulls down her shirt to reveal a symbol of four circles intertwined on her left collar bone. "This shows that I am meant to protect the four elements, the avatar."

"Kanna, you weren't born with that." Ran gently tells her. "It was branded onto you when the transition took place."

"What?" Kanna whispers and shakes her head. "No, that isn't right."

"The good spirit in you helps hide those memories from your mind. They're too traumatic for a protector to remember. The last protector to remember went crazy and tried killing her daughter. You are born into the Protector bloodline, that is true, but you are  not immediately a protector upon birth. Someone must gift you that." Ran explains to Kanna.

"Is that the transition?" Kanna inquires.

"Yes." Ran nods her head.

"Is that what happened to you? Someone gifted you it?" Kanna questions.

"No, the next memory will reveal what truly happened to me, but I had to gift it to one of my descendants and it was not what I expected." Ran admits to her.

"You say gift and transition very negatively. And how traumatic can it be that my good spirit has to block the memory?" Kanna gazes at Ran, slightly worried to learn the truth behind her existence.

"That is why I am asking you if you wish to see the next few memories. There's a chance that because of the dark spirit in your mind, that these memories will trigger your own." Ran patiently waits as Kanna thinks to herself.

"I want to continue. I need to know." Kanna says. Ran nods her head in understand and grabs her. A bright light surrounds them once more and they are pulled into the next memory.