“Don’t touch me!” As the stench of
his hated enemy violated his nasal passage, a white hot rage engulfed Shu,
wiping away every other thought within the shrunken man’s head. Not only had
the avatar destroyed every aspect of his life, but she’d also ruined his
death. Feeling her calloused palms
caress the bottom of his pallid body caused the equalist’s skin to crawl with
repulsion.
“Aaagh” As if she held a burning
coal, Korra’s face contorted with pain, dropping her shrunken prize.
“Korra!” Asami’s startled cry
coincided with the soft splash as Shu was dropped into the water below. Moments
later, Shu listened as a colossal crash echoed through the bog, accompanied by
a violent current as the avatar was brought to her knees in agony. Shocked by
the chilly embrace of the water and tossed about by the current, it took
several seconds for the shrunken man to break the surface once more.
“It’s him.” A weak voice choked by
pain greeted Shu as he finally surfaced, gasping desperately for air. A quick
turn of his head revealed the source.
Once again, Shu was stunned at the
sheer scale of the avatar, as he found himself floating just beneath her face.
Brought to her knees, Korra’s muscled arms were buried nearly elbow deep in the
murky water to either side of Shu as she supported herself, her limbs trembling
as she fought to keep herself from collapsing into the bog. Looming overhead,
she appeared more like a mountain than a living being, her strangled gasps of
pain sending out ripples through the water that threatened to submerge the
shrunken man. Despite the piece of cloth covering the lower half of the
avatar’s face, he could still make out her twisted grimace of agony.
“What?” A far off voice broke Shu
from his fascination, reminding him of his circumstance. It wasn’t too late. He
still had a chance to escape. Frantically, the man looked around, searching for
a quick way to end his own existence.
“He’s… Tiny.” As Korra let out a
choked whisper from above, Shu quickly realized that there were no easy ways to
end his own life. In the dozen seconds it would take him to even swim to the
nearest piece of land, the avatar’s companion would be upon him, judging by the
faraway splashes rapidly making their way towards his location. He only had one
option left.
“What the…” As the wake from Asami’s footsteps
splashed against the man and a low gasp of surprise reached his ear, Shu took a
deep breath, plunging himself beneath the surface of the murky water.
This
was his final chance. Shu wasn’t the greatest swimmer, but desperation lent the
man strength as he kicked his way deeper into the boggy water. A bone-deep
chill settled into the shrunken man as he paddled, robbing him of strength as
he struggled away from the light above. If he only got far enough away from the
surface, the murky waters would surely conceal his whereabouts, at least until
the cold water finished its dirty work. However, the warm embrace of a soft
hand shattered Shu’s final hope.
“You!” An angry, feminine growl
greeted Shu as he surfaced once more. As the man was pulled from the icy embrace
of the bog, Asami’s two jade irises burrowed into his struggling form. Like the
avatar, a strip of cloth covered the lower half of her face, obscuring her ruby
lips from view.
“Let me go!” With an angry shriek,
Shu frantically struggled against his unwelcome savior’s grasp. All around him,
soft flesh clung firmly to his bare body, driving away the deathly chill that
had started to rob him of strength. Having had his suicide ruined once more,
for the first time since he could remember, Shu found someone besides the
avatar as the target of his hatred.
“I’ve got him.” As Asami called out
to her companion, she brought her other hand up to meet the first, cupping her
palms around her shrunken prize. Squirming within the brunette’s grip, Shu
could just barely make out her strained frown through a gap in her fingers.
“We need to get out of the spores.” However, Asami
quickly suppressed her discomfort, schooling her expression as she gazed off to
the side where her companion struggled to stand with a worried gaze. As Korra recovered,
Asami carefully made her way out of the swamp and back towards the more stable
ground near the base of the cliffs, cautiously navigating the treacherous
footing beneath until both she and Korra found themselves on dry land once
more. The entire time, Shu continued to struggle in her grasp, struggling to
slip free.
“Are you alright?” Within his
captor’s hand, Shu felt Asami’s voice vibrate through his body. Finally free of
the choking spores and treacherous bog, the man felt the woman’s grip tighten around
him for a moment, pinning him in place. Removing a hand from Shu’s thrashing body,
Asami reached up and stripped the rough cloth from her lower face before resuming
her grip once more. To the side, Korra did the same, letting out a relieved
sigh as the damp cloth was pried from her boyish face.
“I’m fine. Just wet.” Looking down
at herself in disgust, the avatar took in her current appearance. From nearly
head to toe, she was soaked, stinking of fetid water and stagnant muck. A thick
layer of slimy mud caked her forearms and legs from the knees down, clinging to
her like a second skin.
With his hated enemy once again in
sight, Shu felt his anger turn towards her once more, and causing Korra’s
expression twisted in pain. However, without the sheer guttural repulsion of
being held by the object of his hatred or speaking with her directly, Shu’s
anger was merely enough to cause the avatar to grimace and flinch.
“Korra!” Glancing down at the man within
her hands, Asami noticed the direction of his gaze and quickly shifted her
grip, completely engulfing Shu within her hands and breaking his line of sight.
“I’m fine. The pain’s not that bad.
I was just caught off guard before.” Outside of Shu’s line-of-sight, the avatar
took a steadying breath before forcing herself to stand up straight. In what
was clearly an effort to change the subject, the avatar turned her gaze towards
the cliffs above, careful to avoid her companion’s worried gaze. Uncharacteristically,
the skies were overcast, causing the ever-present daylight to dim.
“We need to chase after that dark spirit
before someone gets hurt.” Korra shaded her eyes as she looked above, pretending
to judge the distance back up to the cliff as she gritted her teeth.
“Korra…” Letting out a low voice of
concern, Asami recognized Korra’s demeanor for what it was: a front.
“Afterwards, we can ask that freak
some questions. Maybe one of the spirits-“ The avatar pointedly ignored her
friend’s words, stubbornly refusing to acknowledge her state. However, Asami
didn’t relent.
“Korra!” This time, Asami raised
her voice, cutting off Korra as she spoke. Startled, the avatar finally looked
at her companion once more.
“You’re not fine.” Asami let out a firm
voice of concern, her jade eyes finding Korra’s and forcing the latter to look
away. She knew how much her friend hated feeling vulnerable, how much she hated
admitting weakness. Asami took a step towards her companion, standing in front
of her and forcing Korra to meet her gaze.
“You can barely stand.” Asami’s
words were barely a whisper as she attempted to soothe her friend.
“But someone could get hurt. We
have to-” Korra’s voice was weak. However, before she could even get started,
Asami cut her off.
“Quit being stubborn. You can’t
help anyone in the state you’re in.” There was a hard edge to Asami’s voice as
she put some force into her words. Korra recognized it as the tone her friend
took when she was being stubborn about something stupid.
“Do you think you could still airbend us back
to the top of the cliff?” Softening her voice once more, Asami turned her eyes
upwards, pointedly ignoring Shu’s squirming within her palms. Listening to the
avatar share such a tender moment was sickening, though the lingering cold of
the bog and the vile caress of Asami’s hands distracted most of the man’s
anger, muting the curse’s affects.
“Of cour-… Probably… Not.” Asami’s pointed stare cause
Korra’s confident response to wither on her tongue, digging out the truth. To
Asami, her companion’s answer was about more than just her ability to bend, it
was about her overall condition. She’d seen Korra take a beating that would
have put most people out cold and keep on swinging, so the fact that she
couldn’t even bring herself to perform a basic air-leap caused Asami’s heart to
sink.
“Listen, we’re not too far from that toad
village. What do you say we head back that way and look for a safe place to
climb back up as we go? We can ask for help if we happen to cross any spirits.”
Finally having some grasp of her friend’s condition, Asami was careful to keep
the worry out of her voice, putting on a strong front of her own. As worried as
she was, she knew Korra was worse off and needed a pillar of support.
“Alright.” Korra’s defeated
response only added to Asami’s worries.
“But before that, we need to set up camp. We’re both exhausted and
soaked. Besides, we’ve been walking for most of the day already. We both needed
to rest anyways.” Both women knew Asami’s words to be an exaggeration, but
neither pointed it out.
“Oh, come on. We’ve still got a few
hours of sunlight.” Forcing a smile, Korra spoke in a lighter tone, seeking to
brighten the mood. There was no night in the spirit world. It was an ongoing
joke Korra liked to make whenever Asami harped on her to maintain a regular
sleep cycle, much to her companion’s annoyance.
“You know, that joke wasn’t funny
the first time.” Thankful for some levity, Asami responded with her regular retort,
taking comfort in the familiar back-and-forth.
“How about the twentieth?” Korra’s voice
was tight with pain as she forced out a playful chuckle, which Asami pointedly
ignored. Still, she couldn’t help but let out a small sigh at her friend’s good-natured
pestering, until Korra’s face crumpled in pain. The sound of the avatar’s
laughter had ignited another wave of hatred within the shrunken man that passed
after a few seconds.
“Come on. I think I see a hill at
the bottom of the cliff face. Maybe we can find somewhere dry to rest.” Swallowing
her worry, Asami led her companion along the cliff side, seeking out a dry spot to make camp.
Unfortunately for the two women,
the hill turned out to be little better than the nearby bog, spongy and
saturated with fetid water. Unable to muster the strength to waterbend the soil
dry or earthbend a depression into the mountainside, the women were forced to
walk further in search of shelter. All the while, constant pangs of pain
assaulted the avatar, causing them to stop from time to time as Korra endured the
attacks and Asami was forced to watch helplessly. Between the wretched terrain
and intermittent breaks, the pair were forced to walk for an hour further
before they finally located a suitable spot to camp, a small cave carefully
concealed from view behind a weathered bolder along the base of the cliff.
Although the entrance to the cave
was barely large enough to crouch through, once inside, the two discovered a
larger cavern, more than suitable to offer them shelter. The space was regular
and round, too spherical to have been a naturally occurring formation, though
judging by the dusty interior whatever creature or spirit had created the stone
den had long since abandoned it.
Finding the cavern not too
dissimilar to an igloo, the two spotted a finger of light trailing down from
above, marking the location of a rough hole in the ceiling that both served to
illuminate the space and act as a chimney. Unfortunately for the two, they had
only planned on a day’s walk to and from the toad’s village, so neither woman
had more than the clothes on their back, let alone any camping equipment. With
her hands occupied with the captive held within her grasp, Asami was left to
wait helplessly as Korra went out to gather what little fire wood was available
in the boggy environment, just barely managing to start a fire with her
firebending so they could dry their soggy clothing.
“So, what are we going to do with
him?” Sitting beside her companion around the fire, Asami voiced her question, a
note of concern in her voice.
“We take him with us.” As Korra
responded, the woman began to pry off her boot, releasing the stench of soggy
feet and bog water into the enclosed space.
“Of course! I mean-“ As the stench
hit Asami, the fair complected woman felt herself grow pale as she couldn’t
help but turn her head and cough, quickly scooting further away from her
companion as her words were forgotten.
“A little warning!?” Asami
chastised her companion in a wheezing voice as Korra recoiled in embarrassment.
“Sorry.” Blushing, the avatar sat
her boots on the opposite side of the fire, close enough to dry yet far enough
to mitigate some of the stench. Moments later, she stripped off the outer
layers of her clothes as well, setting them on the stone floor by the fire to
dry, leaving only a tight white sports bra and a pair of panties to cover her
muscled form. Realizing that her companion had made no move to strip off her
own soaked clothing, Korra approached Asami, holding out a hand.
“Do you need me to-” Korra had
barely begun to offer to hold the
shrunken equalist in her hand when Asami shook her head.
“You remember what happened last
time.” Asami gave a concerned look towards Korra, referring to the agony she
had experienced when she had picked the shrunken man up earlier.
“Come on, you’re soaked. You can’t
just sit there. You’ll get sick.” Despite her exhaustion and pain, Korra’s
voice rang with concern.
“Besides, it’s not as if you can
carry him in your hand forever…” Korra allowed her voice to trail off, leaving
her implications to the imagination.
“Of course. But I mean, how do we
deal with him? It’s not like I can set him down. He doesn’t seem exactly… right
in the head.” Normally, Asami would have asked Korra to earthbend a hole in the
ground or something, but in her current state Korra had struggled to even start
the fire. Asami wasn’t sure whether it was due to the curse, exhaustion, the
constant pain, or all three, but they couldn’t rely on Korra’s bending to
provide an easy solution.
“What does it matter. He’s tiny
now. Why don’t we just drop the little
creep in my boot or somethi-” Korra felt her legs go weak as the constant pain
suddenly jumped from a dull ache to a searing burn.
“Korra!” Asami’s alarmed voice
echoed within the cavern.
“I’m fine.” Swallowing, her cries
of pain, Korra grit her teeth as she endured the new wave of agony.
Within Asami’s palm, Shu felt his
anger boil over at the avatar’s words. Although he’d heard stories to the
contrary, the crude little brute hadn’t changed a bit since he’d last seen her
in Republic City. She was still the same vulgar thug who’d rampaged against the
equalists, using brute strength to crush those who opposed her without a single
consideration for their circumstances like so many of her filthy bending
brethren. Even against a shrunken and helpless foe, she wouldn’t hesitate to
show her barbarism!
Well, he’d show her! He wasn’t like
her other victims. He wasn’t helpless anymore. Although he didn’t understand
the specifics of this curse, he could still use it to inflict pain. All it
required was a little focus. Envisioning in his mind the various wrongs he had
endured and brutalities he had witnessed as a result of the avatar’s careless
cruelty, Shu stoked his anger, listening as a stifled groan of pain eventually
forced its way from the avatar’s mouth.
“Korra!” Focusing on his hatred,
Shu resolutely ignored the cry of worry which rocked his body from above as
well as the sense of satisfaction at his enemy’s suffering which threatened to
distract from his anger. He was so focused on his hatred that he didn’t notice
the hands around him moving until he felt a sharp blow against his ribs.
“Gah!” Caught unawares, Shu found
the breath driven from his body as he fell to his side atop Asami’s sweaty
palm. Shocked, the shrunken man turned his head upwards to find his captor’s
other hand hovering above him menacingly, poised to send another thundering
flick his way at a moment’s notice.
“It stopped?” Struggling to catch
her breath, Korra managed to squeeze out the words between choking gasps, her
voice tinged with surprise.
“I noticed it back when you
collapsed after you tried to grab him. The second I picked him up and he
focused on me, you got better…” Though Asami’s voice was still tight with
concern, it also held notes of relief. Finally, the woman was no longer forced
to watch helplessly as her friend suffered. Within her palm, Shu couldn’t help
but feel his hatred directed towards his captor as he rubbed his bruised ribs.
“So that means all you have to do
is give him a flick every now and then and-“ Korra’s threatening words were cut
off by a wave of pain which itself was cut off by a soft thump of Asami’s
finger. This time, the woman’s flick struck Shu in the temple, dazing the man and
causing the world to spin.
“Stop antagonizing him!” Asami’s
voice broke as she cried out, exasperated. As Korra slowly recovered from the
new round of pain, her companion continued in a lower tone.
“He said so himself, didn’t he? His hatred
brings you pain.” At the woman’s words, the cave grew quiet.
“But can’t you just keep…
distracting him?“ After a few moments Korra broke the silence, carefully
phrasing her words in the least antagonistic way she could manage.
“It’s not that simple…” However, at her
companion’s question, Asami merely stretched out her hand, displaying their
captive. Dazed, Shu laid helplessly in his captor’s tender palm, his naked body
exposed as he grasped his temple. Already, a large black spot could be seen
forming on the side of his ribcage as well as a giant knot on his head.
“I’m not sure how long he’d
survive…” Asami’s quiet words echoed in the cavern. Seeing the havoc two simple
flicks had caused the shrunken man, Korra audibly swallowed.
“Then what do we do?” This time,
Korra’s voice wasn’t tight merely from pain.
“You are going to lie down and get some rest.” Korra didn’t miss
Asami’s emphasis on the word “you.”
“What about you?” There was note of worry in Korra’s voice.
“I’ll sit outside and keep him
distracted. I figure keeping him as far away from you as possible is probably
for the best.” Within Asami’s palms, Shu began to stir once more, as if
punctuating her words.
“But don’t we need to interr-“ As
Korra began to raise her voice in protest, Asami leaned in, placing her ruby
lips against the avatar’s. The darker woman let out a murmur of surprise before
her companion pulled away, standing up from the fire.
“No buts. Rest.” Already, the fire was
beginning to grow low as what little kindling they had managed to scavenge had
long been reduced to fading embers. However, they had served their purpose. By
now, Korra’s clothes should have mostly dried, allowing the woman to use them
for bedding once she brushed away the dried mud, and Asami’s were barely damp. With
a purposeful gait, Asami left the cave, carrying her charge with her.
Having mostly recovered within
Asami’s palms, Shu began to stir once more, reaching a hand tenderly to his
pounding temple. Despite the hour spent being carried aloft by his captor previously,
he had yet to grown used to the disorienting sensation of being carried, and
now that his head was spinning he felt as if he would be sick. However,
thankfully, his journey was a short one. Crouching her way through the low
entrance of the cave, Asami stepped out into the overcast sunlight.
Sitting beside the cave entrance,
Asami leaned her back against the cliff, sinking to the ground. No longer in
front of her companion, the young woman quickly relaxed, allowing her stoic and
calm exterior to crumble, revealing fatigue and worry. Shifting the limp man
into a single hand, Asami slipped her hand down to her boots, removing them one
by one along with her socks and setting them on the stone beside her to air
out.
Although the fire had dried her clothing,
the woman’s socks and boots still remained soaked. Thankfully, the open air
carried the scent of soiled boots away, sparing the pair. Settling into a
comfortable position, Asami’s brought the hands holding the shrunken man to
rest on her lap, her piercing gaze radiating hostility as her eyes bored into
her captive.
For the first time since he had
been shrunk, Shu was given a moment of peace and quiet, allowing him to
contemplate his current circumstances. As Asami’s piercing glare bore into him,
he couldn’t help but feel truly insignificant, his anger withering in awe at
her overwhelming scale. She was like a titaness before him, his full size
barely reaching the size of her pinky. A single squeeze of her hand, a flick of
her wrist, and he’d be nothing more than a red smear. He didn’t even have the benefit
of clothing to shield him from his captor’s emerald glare, not that it
mattered. Compared to a little humiliation, his anger was-
As Shu’s thoughts returned once
more to the avatar, a soft gasp of pain could be heard from the cave. Shortly
after, a soft squeeze around his chest knocked the wind from the man’s lungs,
breaking his train of thought.
“Don’t… While I’m still being
nice.” There was a low growl of threat in Asami’s voice as her emerald gaze
bore down into the shrunken man.
Alone with the avatar’s companion,
Shu anticipated many things. He expected to be interrogated, accosted, or
challenged. However, contrary to his expectations, Asami sat silently, resting
her head against the cliff side as she tiredly stared down at the man. As the
minutes passed by in silence, Shu began to grow restless, unnerved by the
unflinching gaze directed towards him until a subtle sound drifted from the
cave once more.
As her eyebrows furrowed, Asami’s
hand tightened again, driving the air from Shu’s lungs and causing his rib cage
to release an ominous creak. However, this time, the sound didn’t fade, despite
her efforts to break the focus of the man in her hands. Narrowing her eyes, she
relaxed her grip on Shu, tilting her head and focusing on the sound tickling
her ears until she recognized it for what it was: sobbing.
Closing her eyes, Asami’s
expression twisted in pain, her own heart aching as her friend suffered nearby.
From down below, Shu could see beads of moisture beginning to pool at the edge
of his captor’s thick lashes, feeling a sense of elation as he too recognized
the sound. However, for the first time, a feeling besides hatred bloomed within
the man as he thought of the avatar. Warmth bloomed within Shu’s chest. That warmth soon crawled its way from his
throat, erupting as twisted laughter.
Opening her eyes, two liquid trails
dropped down from Asami’s jade-like eyes, racing down the curve of her pink cheeks
as she glared down at the man in her hands. Disgust and anger contorted her
delicate features into a grimace of hatred, one Shu had seen in his own
reflection, causing the man to laugh even harder. A quick squeeze drove the air
from his lungs, sending a surge of pain through the man. However, even when the
pressure let up and Shu refilled his lungs, Korra’s distant sobs were like a
symphony to the man, causing his laughter to resume. Seeing the man’s unflinching joy, Asami glanced
to the side, her eyes ablaze with fury.
It wasn’t until Shu felt himself
being carried aloft, only to be dropped into the top of Asami’s soggy boot that
the man’s laughter was cut off.