Rorrick

They pulled up to a house and Lotus parked her bike in the tight space between the building and a thicket of dense bushes. "This is it?" Rorrick asked, "I thought you said we were going to a colony."

"This is just a safe house. We'll keep moving in the morning, on foot."

"What? We've been driving for days and now we need to walk? How much further are we going? I'm already officially farther from home than I've ever been. Farther than I ever wanted to be, honestly."

"Trust me, it's better than being taken by Security."

"I'm starting to wonder about that, actually."

"Don't joke." Lotus pointed at Rorrick with a stern look plastered over her face. "I don't know what ToCo are doing with benders but it's not good."

"I know, I know, I'm happy you saved my life or whatever."

"I'll check to see if there's any food left. We can rest here but we gotta move out quick."

"Sure thing, boss." Rorrick saluted Lotus as he followed her into the house. He jumped up onto the counter while Lotus checked the grimey kitchen. "So why do you think people are suddenly able to bend again? I mean, you said there weren't any benders for ten thousand years."

Lotus tossed a food portion to Rorrick and he tore open its vacuum seal. It smelled old but he didn't care. They ate together for a moment before she said, "It used to be that the Avatar was the bridge between the spiritual and the material worlds. Then, ten thousand years ago Avatar Korra opened the portals to the spirit world, forcing humans and spirits to live together. The records that I have aren't extensive but they suggest that the merger wasn't very amicable."

"How so?"

"I don't know, it could have been so many things. What I do know is that there was a weapon, a powerful one, that ripped the spiritual and material realms apart. The world was nearly destroyed, humans were nearly wiped out and the benders all lost their abilities."

"So what happened? Why are people bending again?"

"Harmonic Convergence."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Harmonic Convergence," Lotus said it again but more slowly, as if that would make it more easily understood. "It happens once every ten thousand years when the planets align, strengthening the connection between worlds. Avatar Korra used the last Harmonic Convergence to merge our two worlds and now that it's approaching again the spirit world's influence is returning."

"So what does that mean?"

"It means people will start bending, animals will merge with spirits, and the weapon will undoubtedly be used again."

"The weapon? You mean the giant apocalyptic weapon that nearly destroyed the world?"

Lotus looked at Rorrick and he didn't need her to answer.

"How do we stop it?"

"With you."

"How? How am I supposed to stop this crazy spirit weapon from returning and killing us all?"

"The Avatar has faced bigger threats, and with training you'll hopefully regain contact with your previous lives--"

"Wait, Korra? You said Korra! That's the woman, the woman in the blue coat that I saw."

"You've already seen her?" Lotus looked elated. She moved towards the safe house, nearly skipping. "This is good news!"

"Is it? She kinda got me fired."

"But with her knowledge you'll save the world."

"It's not like we actually talked, I just saw her in the office, she was just watching me with these scary eyes."

"Like I said, you'll need training. I'll help you as soon as you're ready but for now you need to get some sleep, I'll keep watch."

"I don't know if I'm gonna be able to sleep, not now. That was a heck of a lot of scary information just now."

"Try."

"But I--"

"We have a long walk tomorrow. You're kind of out of shape too so we might have to do it in two days."

"I'm not out of shape."

Lotus looked at Rorrick with critical eyes and he felt shame growing inside of him.

"Okay, so I've been avoiding the gym."

"Get some sleep."

"Fine!" Rorrick found a soft looking spot on the floor and sat down. "But I'm doing this out of protest."

"What are you protesting?"

"I don't know, I'm just feeling petulant."

"So, business as usual."

"Good night!" Rorrick put his head down and closed his eyes. Despite his insistence that sleep wouldn't come, he soon found himself dreaming.

"You don't have much time." It was Korra, she was sitting cross-legged beside Rorrick. When he sat up, he realized his body was still on the floor.

"Is this something spirity?"

"It's coming and you're not strong enough."

"You're Korra, right? The last Avatar."

"Not yet."

"You're supposed to help me, you're supposed to teach me how to beat this weapon, whatever it is."

"It's coming."

Rorrick realized they weren't alone then. He turned to look towards a shadowy corner of the safe house and there was something hiding there. A presence that was cold and frightening. "Is that it? The weapon?" He tried to ignore his lifeless body still lying on the floor behind him as he approached the shadow but it dispersed and reformed on the opposite side of the house. It was whispering something that Rorrick couldn't understand but the sound of it sent electricity through him.

"It's coming."

"Yeah, I get that, but how am I supposed to stop it?"

"You're not strong enough."

"I know! I'm out of shape, everyone feels like that's such an important thing to remind me of."

"Not yet."

"Why won't you say anything else? I'm not strong enough, fine, but how can I get stronger?"

"You don't have much time."

"This is useless. Can you even hear me?"

Korra turned and Rorrick saw that her eyes were just bright white light. "It's coming."

A hand reached out of the shadow and Rorrick felt it grip his shoulder. He was pulled back inside his body then, Lotus was crouched over him, shaking him awake. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Rorrick sat up and rubbed his head. "I saw Korra, you know, in my dreams."

Lotus smiled and hugged him. "You can't understand how happy that makes me."

"No, I get it." Rorrick pushed her off and got to his feet. "The world is ending, I'm the hero who's gonna stop it all, blah blah blah."

"Let's get walking, okay? I'm sure you'll feel better when we get to the colony."

"Oh goody." Rorrick took a bag that Lotus handed to him and put it over his shoulder. "Onward ho, to Freak Town."

They hiked through the forest for hours. Rorrick couldn't remember the last time he had spent such a long time on his feet. His legs burned and he was sure his toes were bleeding. "How much longer? I can't keep going."

"We could keep walking, it'd probably take five more hours with the way you move."

"We could do that." Rorrick fell to the ground. "Or we could lie down here and die."

A man stepped towards them then and Rorrick noticed that Lotus was happy to see him. "Jeera!"

"Good to see you're finally home." The man named Jeera hugged Lotus and then stared at Rorrick. "With a new friend."

"Nice to meet you." Rorrick nodded up towards Jeera. "My name's Rorrick, not that you'll need to remember it long."

"Why not?"

"I'm just gonna die here. I can't stand back up. I think my feet are broken."

Jeera moved to Rorrick's feet and crouched down. "May I look at them? I'm a nurse."

"Sure, not that you should bother."

"Yeah, cause you're gonna die anyway, I get it." Jeera laughed as he gently pulled Rorrick's shoes off. "Not really the right kind of shoes for a hike."

"I didn't know that I'd have to flee for my life straight from the office. Otherwise I would have worn more sensible footwear."

Jeera chuckled again as he uncorked a bottle from his belt. He waved a hand and a slithering snake of water lifted up out of it and twisted around Jeera's fingers.

"Whoa." Rorrick smiled at Jeera's skill. The water engulfed Rorrick's feet and started glowing. As he watched, the blisters and bruises began to heal more quickly than they ever should have been able to.

"I'm a water bender." Jeera pulled the water back and every drop slipped into the bottle. "Some of us can use water to heal people."

"That is so cool."

"What about you?"

"You mean, what do I bend?"

"Air!" Lotus interrupted and Rorrick got the impression that she wanted him to stay quiet about the whole crazy Avatar thing.

"Nice, we don't have a lot of air benders. Lotus said you guys were rare even back in the day. Are you good to walk now?"

Rorrick stretched his feet and he was surprised at how comfortable they felt. "Yeah, I should be fine."

"Good." Jeera turned to lead the way home. "The sooner we get to the colony the sooner we can get you some warm food."

"That sounds amazing." Rorrick went to follow the man but Lotus pulled him back.

"You can't tell anyone you're the Avatar."

"Yeah, I can see you don't want that. Why not? I thought I was supposed to be some badass leader."

"But you're not yet. Everyone back there is waiting for an Avatar who can save the world. You aren't that man."

"Ouch."

"Not yet, anyway. We're gonna work on it, we're gonna get Avatar Korra to help you and when we're ready we'll tell the others."

"Whatever. As far as I'm concerned the fewer people know about this Avatar crap the better. I don't need anyone looking to me to save the world. That sounds like more pressure than it's worth."

"Just because we aren't telling people yet doesn't mean you're not the Avatar anymore." Lotus took off walking again, easily gaining a lead over Rorrick. "You're still gonna save the world, and I'm gonna help you do it."