Winding Legacies: A 'The Legend of Korra' Rewrite

Adventures in the Earth Kingdom: Chapter 1

By the time they entered the vast and arid lands that made up most of the Earth Kingdom, Asami and Bolin were surprised to find that they had to trade out their car for train tickets. Not that it was particularly necessary, they could have driven the entire way if they wanted to. But when else would they get the chance to ride the train in the Earth Kingdom?

They paid the storage fees to leave the cars in the parking garage of the Earth Kingdom's largest train station Gon Hu and headed toward the inside of the station, saving tickets for the next ride straight to Ronesu Village.

Given the huge size of Gon Hu, they were able to have a meal at one of its many restaurants before their train was called. Bolin and Asami took seats in a corner booth by the windows. It was quiet despite the many people bustling outside from train to train and Asami absentmindedly fiddled with a button on her coat until the waiter showed up to take their orders.

When they were done with the meal, Asami got up first since she had the tickets in hand. Pulling Bolin slowly with her, she made sure not to stir him too much from the half-asleep stupor the delicious meal put him in. As they got closer to the train, sleep seemed to move from Bolin to her and she struggled to even make it into their cabins.

Asami dropped Bolin off on her way to her room and when she closed the cabin door, she let out a relieved sigh and slunk against the bed tucked into the corner. She couldn't sleep until she climbed out of her thick red coat and into the thin sheets of the bed, but even then her sleepiness wouldn't yet take over.

She tossed around a couple of times and groaned. Asami pressed her knuckles into the sockets of her eyes and got up, fishing around in her coat pocket for a stray piece of paper and a pencil.

During the drive over to the station, Bolin and she had taken turns behind the wheel. And, when she sat in the backseat, she always pulled out her sketchbook and tried to get something down, whether it was what she felt she could improve in the feeling of the car being driven or just a simple pipe dream of a device she'd like to invent one day.

But tonight, she didn't have her sketchbook, only a lonely piece of paper and the pencil she always carries in case she needs to sign something. Asami tapped the pencil against her lip and hummed, trying to force some thought into her brain.

The usual idea of more cars came, of course, but she didn't feel like drawing those. She wanted something else, something new. But, as no new thoughts crossed her mind, she resigned to just drag her pencil across the page in the hopes that something innovative would appear to her through the scribbles.

Her hand waved across the page and her mind wandered away from the unstimulating activity to the long journey that had brought them here. Asami didn't mind the wait, it gave her time to prepare for all that could happen when she saw her mother again and think things over which seemed like the only thing she did those days.

As for Bolin, he seemed to grow quite homesick the longer they were away. She was sure once he found something to pique his interest he'd return to his bubbly self, but she wished there was something she could do until then to make him happier.

Asami gasped as pain shot through her thumb and her pencil landed softly on the bed next to her. Rubbing her hand gently, she grimaced in pain as she stared down at the drawing she made. Not to her surprise, it was her mother, or what her mother looked like the last time she saw her. Her eyes prickled as she thumbed the corner of the picture and pursed her lips, and she tucked the drawing away into her coat pocket before it could pain her any longer.

Laying on her back in the bed once again, Asami tossed some more before finding a cool and comfortable angle to lay down against. She let out a steady breath and closed her eyes, hoping for all their sakes that they'd make it to the village faster than anticipated.