Oh How the Mighty Die (A LOK Fanfic) [Avatar: TLAB-LoK Watty Awards 2017]

4. Zaheer

(A/N: I was going to keep this short, but one does not simply write a short chapter about Zaheer. If any of you are worried, the  Tenzin cliffhanger will be explained soon. ;) I forgot to mention that Tenzin is 66, and Zaheer is "52". )

Disclaimer: If I owned LOK, do you really think I would stop at 4 seasons? Nah, man. This wonderful universe and characters belong to Nickelodeon and Bryke.

Zaheer was dead long before Avatar Korra.

Although people didn't seem to cry over his death as much.

He doubted she mourned him, but he couldn't really blame her. The airbender had tried to eliminate her long before it was her time to go.

Both of their deaths had been a surprise. Zaheer personally thought his had been a dollop of karma.

A stealthy earthbender who blamed him for the rise of Kuvira somehow had broken into his prison and gotten past the guards. Zahher himself had been meditating (he had never slept well in prison, putting him in another one hadn't changed that) when he felt another presence in his chamber. The airbender had opened his eyes to a boulder flying in his face.

He had done his best to fight back, but he was caught off guard and chained to his assassin's element.

His killer (Zaheer thought this person had been a woman, but he didn't know for sure because said woman was dressed in all black and the cavern was dim) had just metal bent his chains around his legs when he heard a guard cry out. Zaheer was pulled from the sky and his back slammed into the ground with a sickening crack. He heard yells, but his hearing was fading out. He couldn't expel or breathe in air. Zaheer's vision turned white, and he woke up in the spirit world.

It was explained to him by an old man by the name of Iroh that if one had a strong enough spiritual connection, they could spend the afterlife in the spirit world.

Zaheer had been dumfounded; he had tried to kill the Avatar and put her through years of depression and torture. Why should he be excepted into a world that was practically hers?

When he had asked about this, the elderly man merely shrugged.

"Raava determines who has a strong enough spiritual connection to come here when gone from the Physical World". Iroh gave him a critical once over. "Maybe she has deemed you worthy."

With that, the wise man walked away, leaving  Zaheer with his thoughts.

The former Red Lotus member had been to the spirit world many times; he knew it like the back of his hand. When he had visited when he was alive it had seemed flimsy and dream like. Now that he was here in death, everything seemed more solid.

Zaheer had wondered if you would see a dead Avatar walking around. Probably not. They might have their own little death sanctuary.

Then, the airbender had started to explore. He had a new world and all of eternity before him.

Reflecting back, Zaheer wondered if he could have gotten more naïve. He had thought he had known everything there was to know about the mysterious place. He had learned many a thing from Iroh; they were timid friends, Zaheer only visiting him once in a while. He had asked Iroh if anyone else who died, even if they didn't have a strong spiritual connection, could have ended up here in the afterlife. Almost sensing that Zaheer was asking about his friends (and girlfriend) had gently shook his head. The pain of that knowledge burned like a thousand suns. Even in death, he could never be reunited with P'li. The martial arts master had waited until he was alone to let the tears fall into his cheeks.