Episode 9: Beyond the Wilds Part 1

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Earth

Fire

Air

Water

Only the Avatar can master all four elements and bring balance to the world

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Korra is safely back in Republic City but Bolin and Varrick are still in the wind. Weeks ago, Korra removed the remaining poison from her body, but the memory of Zaheer's attack still torments her. After being defeated by Kuvira, she questions if she will ever fully recover. Meanwhile, Kuvira has been secretly harvesting spirit vines and has found a source stronger than any hotspot she had found before. Just how close is she to completing her spirit energy weapon?

Cameras flashed in Ryu's face as he tried to gather all of the tourists into one spot. "Everyone, can we stay together, please? The tour is about to begin."

With disgruntled mumbles, the crowd finally huddled together in front of Ryu. His mother flashed him an encouraging smile from the back of the crowd and his father nodded in his own supportive way. Ryu cleared his throat, fishing his notecards from his pockets.

"Welcome to the Spirit Wilds, a physical manifestation of spiritual energy pouring into our world." He frowns a little as his eyes scan over the next card. Quickly, he adds, "This tour is brought to you by the Raiko Foundation." Ryu flips to the next card. "Okay, who wants a closer look?"

The crow cheers and follows Ryu closer to the outskirts of the curled vines. "Now, we aren't allowed inside, but if you position yourself carefully, you can catch glimpses of the vines reacting to the airbending training all the way across the bay." Oohs and ahs filled the air as the camera flashes returned.

Ryu stepped back to give the crowd full access to the wilds. He joined his parents further away on the sidewalk, but before he could take a moment to relax, one of the tourists flagged him down. "Uh, sir?"

"Yes?"

"Why is that vine coming toward us?"

Ryu didn't even need to follow the tourist's pointed finger to see what they were talking about. The crowd erupted into screams as the tourist's arm was eaten by the thick vine as it shot out of the greenery. Ryu tried to rush forward and cut through the vine with a blade of air, but the vine did not budge. His head whipped around as more and more vines shot out and wrapped themselves around the other tourists.

"Everybody, stay—" He was cut off as a guttural roar echoed from within the Spirit Wild. A feathered orange paw jumped out of a gap in the vine-coated trees and circled around Ryu's ankle. It flung him high into the sky before catching him in between its sharp talons. There was nothing he could do as the spirit slowly gathered the rest of the tourists and pulled them into its dark depths.

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From a perch high above the courtyard, Korra moved a few stones in the intricate pattern around for Naga to play with. She smiled to herself as Naga jumped from one side of the courtyard to the other, not a care in the world. Soft footsteps pulled Korra's attention to her right.

Opal lowered herself onto the ledge next to Korra, her eyes not quite meeting the Avatar's. Korra didn't want to push her, so she returned her focus back down to Naga. Still, she knew something was wrong. She could feel it.

"Why didn't you attack first?"

Korra sighed. "I was trying to be more level-headed. Going in bending first has caused me more than my fair share of trouble in the past."

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