Blinded by fear, the young human ran - straight at us. Only when he was a few steps away did he spot Elira, standing guard. Then his eyes landed on me, ready to howl. As if he saw the devil himself, or whatever the equivalent of that was here, he shrieked in fright and tripped, slamming face-first into the dirt.
Kind of funny. But the smile left my face right away.
The young but still massive mossbear chasing the human tried to stop and get its prey, but its own bulk betrayed it. Instead of sinking claws into that fool on the ground, it thundered right over him. Good thing I reacted fast, wings flapping, rolling clear - else it would have flattened me.
?My pack!?
The young mossbear barreled uncontrollably through where the foul-mouthed female had stood just a heartbeat ago and tumbled wildly, kicking up earth where the fire-wielder lay. A chill bit into my heart. ‘What if...?’
"Vara?!" the shy one cried, no less worried about her packmate than I was. She seemed untouched, not needing to shift even a step as the beast careened by. The others, though, weren’t so lucky. The fire-wielder lay directly in its path, and where Vara had stood, only a haze of dust and smoke remained. My chest hammered - until, as the haze thinned, a wave of relief steadied my racing heart.
"Fuck my tits! Did you see that? Say you did!" the foul-mouthed packmate yelled, half-hidden behind one of the sprawling roots weaving through the clearing. The one beside the fire-wielder seemed to have saved him from worse.
?Grrrr!!!? The young mossbear wasn’t nearly as thrilled as Vara. Its growl came out low and sharp, filled with annoyance at failing to catch its prey - a feeble little thing, weak as... some little rodent. Shaking itself off, the young mossbear scrambled to its feet and sought out its prey, ready to prove its skills as a hunter.
Without a glance our way, it headed straight for the young human. Not wasting a second, he scrambled to his feet and took off, screaming, "Why me? What does this animal have against me?"
"Seriously, did you see that?" Vara came up, holding her sore ribs, breathless. "One moment I thought I was a goner; the next I’m hanging on to that beast’s fur! When it rolled, I got launched into the air, and - ouch - Elira?" She stopped, startled, as her packmate pulled her into a hug.
"I thought you really were a goner, you idiot."
She grinned, hugging her back. "You won't get rid of me that easily."
"I sure hope not," Elira said, swiping at her tears. Touching, pack-tightening, foolish, clinging to each other when death waited just around the bend.
?Ready yourself!? I barked, dropping to all fours and forcing a breath into my lungs. ?ROAR!!!?
The beast might ripped out of me along with my roar. 'Come, send more to play, prove themself!' I dared, though I couldn’t say how far the challenge carried. As soon as it left my lips, darkness surged, and I felt my mind slipping. Breathless and spent, I collapsed, every bit of strength drained, agony spreading like wildfire through my veins.
─◇─◇─◇─
"Korra!" Elira’s voice sliced through the silence, anchoring me in its hold.
- You died
That Lattice notification greeted me as soon as I opened my eyes again.
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"Thanks the tits, she's breathing," Vara cried out, her voice stabbing into my ears.
"Y-You're right, she is," Elira stammered, half in disbelief.
My lips curled into a smile - a small movement that hurt worse than having a leg bitten-off. "I-I am." Talking hurt even worse, but there was no time to dwell on the pain. I had to know. "H-How long?"
"Just a few breaths," Elira said, making sense of my hoarse, shaky voice.
A groan slipped out from the depths of my chest. 'Why on Earth couldn't I have woken up when it was all over?!'
"You basically died, you know," Vara said, still struggling to believe what had happened. “Your heart actually stopped. You weren’t breathing at all.”
"Well,” I said, coughing. “That's what happens when you die." Bloody heck, I sure wish I had stayed dead. My regeneration was doing its thing, I could even feel the mana swirling through my body, repairing the worst of the damage, but every movement, every breath I took was so heavy, so painful.
"So, you really did die, K-Korra?"
"A-According to the Lattice, yeah," I growled, coughing up blood - actual blood. It wasn’t until I looked at Elira, her concern written plain as day, that I realized my error. 'Didn't I tell them I basically can't die? Shit! I didn't, didn't I?' In my defense, I had a damn good reason. The less people knew, the better.
"How can you be so calm about it?"
"W-Well..."
"Yeah, I'd be over the moons," Vara cut me off, glancing back toward the distant sound of mossbear grunts. Elira did the same, her eyes narrowing.
"D-Did it work?"
"Yes, it worked - a few more mossbears came rushing in."
"And thank the tits, they’ve all ignored us."
I coughed up, remembering back to what Deckard said and the frustration of the mossbear that chased the workhand. "We are too weak to be worthy as prey."
"Well, I'm not one to complain when I have no desire to end up as a snack," Vara remarked, halting as her eyes lingered on the stump of my leg. "Ah, tits. I did not mean to... How are you holding up? I mean, I know your regeneration is damn good, but... I had no idea it was that good. Can it still be considered just regeneration? Not any healer can..."
"I'll live." Unfortunately. Not much choice in the matter.
"That much we gathered," Elira growled, a hint of hurt in her voice. "Did you know?"
"W-What? That using my might again could kill me?"
"Yes!"
"Yeah. I did."
"Traiana's tits, I don't know if I'd have the balls - on second thought if I knew that my weave can bring me back - how many times have you actually died?"
A damn good question. One I had no answer for, save a shrug. "I’ve lost count."
Elira’s disbelief was clear as she tore her gaze from the battle. "What? Lost count? How can you lose count of something like that?"
"To be fair, it’s not so difficult.” Vara took the words off the tip of my tongue. "I’ve lost track of how many guys I've slept with myself."
Not quite the comparison I would have made, and Elira seemed to share my sentiment, her brow furrowing. Yet she swallowed her frustration with her friend, shifting her attention back to the clearing as the conflict raged on.
"Usually, not something pretty to remember…" I said, my voice trailing off as Vara gave me a helping hand to get up. I had hands, human hands, not paws. With my death, I shifted back once more. No bestial urge for blood and strong mate, no growls in place of words.
"Well, not my case. Usually it's something to remember - you okay, Korra?" Vara asked, finally noticing my shock of being human again.
"I shifted back. Why didn't you tell me?"
"You didn't know?"
"You spoke to us so naturally,” Elira also wondered, making ME feel stupid for not noticing. Honestly, I should have, it just… my thoughts cut short, my attention as well as the attention of the two drawn again by the noise of battle.
"Unless something changes, no adding to my guy tally," Vara muttered, her voice dark at the sight of the fight.
Though the clearing was teeming with at least half a dozen young mossbears, they lacked the strength to do anything more than stall the Shadowbreakers for a few breaths. My roar had been useless. My death, pointless.
Death.
They were still alive, all of them. After all that fighting, Deckard had failed to strike down even one. Or had he? Something inside me whispered that he had done it by choice, that he had steered clear of the final blow, though I couldn’t say why.