Winding Legacies: A 'The Legend of Korra' Rewrite

Episode 7: Original Airbenders Part 2

"Taking a break?" Pema chuckled as she made her way into the relic room, bouncing Roahn in her arms. Tenzin let out a breathy laugh and looked over at the Ikki and Meelo, the two of them completely tuckered out in the freshly sorted pile of Eastern Air Temple artifacts.

"It seems that unearthing the secrets of the ancient airbenders does interest some people after all." Tenzin pushed himself to his feet and met Pema halfway into the room. He grabbed her hand and pressed a kiss to her cheek, then tickled Rohan with his free hand as he asked, "Have you two been settling in alright?"

Rohan cooed and wagged his little fists at Tenzin, making both of his parents melt in cuteness. "Mostly. It will take some getting used to, but I imagine it's even harder for the new recruits. I've at least had the pleasure of getting the hang of this lifestyle since I graduated from Ba Sing Se University. They're just now starting and I'm sure the un-homey energy of the temple isn't helping."

Tenzin's lips fell into a thin line. Pema was right, and he realized that he never even considered that as a factor. Tenzin sighed, "I haven't thought about it that way. Maybe I've been a little too hard on the recruits."

"Or maybe you just haven't been hard on them in the right way," Pema hummed, handing Rohan over to Tenzin. He took Rohan gently into his arms and rested his head against his chest, a little glimmer shining in his eyes as he fondly looked down at his son. "It's a learning curve for all of us, but I'm sure you'll get there."

"Hopefully. I've left them in the care of Bumi for the moment. Korra actually suggested I get outside input in order to help with the recruits, and I think that approaching them from a different perspective may actually help."

"That girl's smart, so I have no doubt that she gave you some good advice." Pema smiled and caressed Tenzin's cheek. They shared a pleasant moment of silence before Pema stepped back and headed for the relic pile Ikki and Tosi were napping on. "I'll wake them up and get these two ready for dinner. Could you and Rohan please go find Jinora and Kai and tell them to join us?"

Tenzin instinctively nodded in agreement, heading for the doorway. It wasn't until he was partly down the steps to the main courtyard that a thought appeared in his head.

Wait, where are Jinora and Kai?

"You know, maybe there's a bright side to all of this."

Jinora rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure there's a very bright side to getting kidnapped by bison poachers."

Before they even landed in the valley, they could tell something was wrong by the lack of bison in the area. It became clear once they were knocked out of the sky and caught in flying nets that their suspicions were quite correct. And, soon enough, they found exactly where the bison went: right into cages in an encampment just a few paces down the mountain pass behind the valley.

"Quit your yapping. It's bad enough that we have to take you with us just so you don't blab to your little airbending friends. Don't make this any more difficult than it has to be."

Kai scoffed. "You're endangering an endangered species. I'm sorry if we're not exactly going quietly." Kai grunted as he flew forward. His face slammed against the other edge of the cramped cage he was forced into, and Jinora jumped as the edges of her cage shuddered from the impact of his colliding with her own.

"Hey!"

The kidnapper didn't pay Jinora any mind as he kicked Kai's cage again, this time from the less protective metal bars pressed against his skin.

"Knock it off, Ganbat. We're Rustlers, not freakin' menaces. Leave the kids alone."

Ganbat promptly turned away from their cages, muttering something underneath his breath that Kai and Jinora couldn't make out. Luckily for them, the Rustlers were all crowded around a bonfire that faced the front of their cages. Being enclosed in a box that had them almost eye level with the ground was bad enough, but not being able to keep tabs on all of their movements would have been even worse.