Prologue: By Unwittingly Following the Trail of an Enigmatic Spirit

Year 174 After the beginning of the Hundred Year War: Earth Kingdom

The train moved as fast as its mechanical gears would take it, as the scenery blurred through the glass windows. But in the passenger car reserved for high-ranking members of her army, Kuvira was completely alone, as she commanded.

She stared at the map of her fractured homeland with determined eyes. Ever since the pathetic and damaging rule of the Earth Queen was cut short by the anarchist air bender named Zaheer, the Earth Kingdom had fallen into such incredible disarray. It has taken her almost 3 years of blood, sweat, tears, and iron-clad willpower to put things back on track and her job was not over yet but she couldn't deny that a lot of progress has been made.

By now, about 80% of her politically shattered nation has been brought back into the fold. As such, if she continued at her increasingly faster pace as her army, access to resources, and influential power base continued to grow, she expected to be mostly done in about a month, at which point, she imagined President Raiko of Republic City and the other world leaders will be expecting her to hand over power to that entitled, royal idiot, Prince Wu.

Kuvira would have scoffed at the thought yet again, except this time, her anger was being fueled by other offenses...and regrets.

In the solitude of her car, she sighed as deeply as she allowed herself to do. Then she stared at the picture she had kept close.

Varrick had decided to take it upon himself to interrupt one of her rare moments of joy by taking a picture of them just after Baatar had proposed to her. He claimed he would be remiss if he didn't record a moment of such historical significance. Kuvira had glared at him back then. The man was a genius but half the time he got on her nerves. She had wanted to smack him then but now, she was glad to have the photograph with her. Her throat constricted as she examined it.

"I am sorry Baatar. I should have been there to save you and I wasn't," She murmured, for what felt like the 100th time. "But I promise you, I will track down the last of the bandits responsible for your and make him pay."

As if on cue, the train started slowing down, and before long, she heard a slow knock on her door. Kuvira took a deep breath and schooled her features; her military training affecting her body language without thinking.

"Come in," She called out.

Before long her loyal officer and the only lavabender in her entire army crossed the door and saluted to her.

"At ease," The seasoned military leader said, as she watched his muscles relax on the spot. "Have we arrived at Omashu?"

"Yes, general," Bolin responded with a respectful nod. "Unfortunately, the rail lines that support the trains in this region stop in the outskirts of the city. But based on the radio report from your appointed governor that just came in, the last bandit from the group that killed Commander Baatar was seen fleeing into a network of caves nearby, in the Kolau Mountain Range."

Kuvira's fists clenched at the news, almost able to physically smell the retribution in the air.

"Understood. What do we know about these underground caves?"

"Oh, well, from what I have read and heard about the adventures of Avatar Aang, back in Air Temple Island, it is actually a complex maze that was made long ago by one of the first Earth Benders who learned the martial style from the badgermoles," He explained in his usual excited tone. "In fact, Ikki told me once that her grandfather Aang had his first kiss with his future wife, Katara, while they were trapped within those secret tunnels...oh, I am sorry," He said suddenly as if remembering something important. "That was insensitive of me."

"It's alright," She said in a patient but firm tone. "But I meant what do we know that could be of tactical importance?"

"Ah, of course," The lavabender replied, his tone sheepish as he scratched the back of his neck. "Well, apparently, there has been a lot of spiritual activity within those caves for about three months."

The metalbending master frowned at that and realized she had been away from Omashu for too long. "Go on."

"It seems that, according to the Governor of Omashu, a powerful spirit has made its way inside and turned the maze into his lair," Bolin said. "Strangely enough, all the entrances have been covered by a wall of spiritual energy that, as far as they can tell, prevents anyone from entering that isn't an earth bender."

Kuvira frowned. "How did they reached that conclusion?"

"Governor Ramia says that after her citizens got curious and started exploring their major historical site, they realized that, for some reason, the Earthbenders that came in were not coming out and that no one else that wasn't a bender had managed to push through," The lavabending officer reported. "Concerned, the governor established a quarantine around their famous Cave of the Two Lovers and started to approach the situation more carefully. But before long, a group of airbenders passed through and offered to help but ended up having to leave because they couldn't cross the spiritual wall either. After that, they gathered a few volunteers from the city's minority that could bend water or fire and the results were the same: their inability to penetrate the barrier. She says that it took a while to find more Earth-bending citizens willing to enter after the others remained trapped inside but eventually some agreed to try over 2 months ago. They still hadn't returned," Bolin added in a grim tone.

"Hmph. Did Governor Ramia happened to explain why is it that she didn't bother to inform me of these developments until I was in the area?" Kuvira asked with narrowed eyes, her hands behind her back.

"Errr, well," Her officer said slowly when he noticed her expression. "The governor did say that she didn't want to pull you away from your important work of reunifying the Earth Kingdom unless she ran out of options. Apparently, she has been consulting with a few researchers from the University of Ba Sing Se that specialize in cataloging the known histories and abilities of the most powerful spirits on record. And according to her, she was actually getting ready to prepare for another rescue mission soon, now that they have made a breakthrough in their research with the spiritual aid of Jinora so, perhaps she will have important information for us when we reach their camp outside the perimeter."

"Very well, then I suppose she has been trying her best under the circumstances then. Alright, now tell the men to move out," She commanded. "I don't care if they think Baatar's killer is trapped inside. I want our troops surrounding the entire mountain and every possible exit. I will be damned if I let him escape justice after getting this far."

"Of course," The lavabender replied as he saluted again. "We stand by you, Great Uniter."

And with that, he turned around and proceeded to carry her orders.

Once she was alone again, she finally took a look at the city of Omashu from her window.

She stared ahead for a long moment, gathering her thoughts. Then she inhaled deeply.

"I don't know who you are, or what you want, spirit. But if you stand in my way while I am trying to enforce justice for my loved one, I will make you wish you never crossed the spirit portals." She vowed, with a tone as hard as steel.

And so, Kuvira schooled her features once more and marched on, eager to hear what exactly had the most spiritually attuned grandchild of Avatar Aang managed to discover.

Flashforward: One hour later...

Within the Ancient Cave of the Two Lovers: Outskirts of Omashu

Inside the cave complex, a pair of eyes suddenly snapped open; the light flickering above her blazing in full for the first time since she tapped into the local spiritual energy that powered the illumination of the crystals through acts of love. However, she had made a few alterations to the mix with her own powers to warn her of potential arrivals while simultaneously measuring their worth.

And this time, she couldn't help but grin at the implications.

"Oooh," The female voice said in excitement. "This...this one is much stronger than others. By the stars, and I can practically taste her determination already. So delicious!"

Then she looked at the metallic pen beside her, thoroughly incrusted to a large boulder. She licked her lips.

"Something tells me that my wait is over. Let's see if you can rise to the occasion, whoever you are."

The woman chuckled and mentally intensified the spiritual wall, thereby cutting off any potential reinforcements.

"Let the trials begin."

A/N: Well, here it is. I hope you had fun with the first actual chapter. And yes, for those that remember about Omashu from Aang's era, while we never saw what happened with Bumi's localized dynasty in Korra's time, it is pretty much a given that Kuvira solidified her control over the major city at some point during the 3-year time gap. And since she was in the business of appointing governors she could work with if the previous leaders caused her trouble, assume that Omashu doesn't have a king or queen anymore. Which makes sense, given Kuvira's amount of control over her nation and desire to abolish the monarchic system of dynastic succession with a model of authoritarian meritocracy. But more on that later. I will expand a bit about the background of my OC, Governor Ramia, and who she was to Bumi in another chapter.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the beginning of this thread. Feel free to leave comments and questions down below, as I love feedback and it tends to make me write faster. Until next time everyone, see ya!