Story Arc One: Trials of Ownership

After a half an hour march from the Omashu train station, General Kuvira arrived at the camp close to the main entrance to the Cave of the Two Lovers. According to reports, that was where she would find Governor Rami and everyone that has been helping her find a solution to the problems presented by the intruding spirit.

Kuvira had handpicked Bolin as her personal guard while the rest of her troops were patrolling the mountain to make sure their target did not escape. As such, it was only of the two of them that walked towards the main tent. That didn't stop several Earth Kingdom citizens from realizing who she was and bowing in respect.

"We love you Kuvira!" One of them shouted over the murmurs of the crowd.

"All hail the Great Uniter!" Another yelled, and was soon echoed by all listening.

The experienced general smirked slightly, pleased that her fellow citizens were grateful for her efforts to put the nation back on track and to improve the quality of life on Omashu in particular.

"And my designated governor certainly helped with that process," She acknowledged silently. "Perhaps my concerns were unfounded."

Soon, they meet the eldest granddaughter of the legendary Avatar Aang just outside of the command tent, and Kuvira raised an eyebrow when she gave the airbending master a closer look. She had grown up a lot since they last saw each other during their attempt to thwart the Avatar killing plans of the Red Lotus.

"Jinora!" Bolin exclaimed, his mood improving immediately. "You have gotten so much taller since last we met"

She giggled. "Had to happen sometime, Bolin. It's good to see you again, but you missed my 18th birthday."

"Oh, no!" The lavabender said with a mortified look. "I am so sorry! I will give you a gift as soon as I can! Promise I won't forget!"

"It's alright, I know you have been busy," The Avatar's grandchild said before her expression turned neutral and tilted her head to face Kuvira. "General," She added with a polite nod. "Congratulations on reunifying most of the Earth Kingdom during such dangerous and chaotic times. I have heard some nasty rumors about how you can go...overboard with your methods," The airbender admitted. "But I suppose it can't be all bad. Everyone I have talked to on Omashu and over here holds you in high esteem, for one."

Kuvira smiled softly at that. "I am glad to hear that. And yes, with so much of the Earth Kingdom overrun by bandits for years, it has been difficult to stabilize the region but things have been steadily improving for the people, so, it is most important work."

"I can imagine," Jinora replied. "Now, why don't you accompany me to the tent? Governor Ramai is almost ready to finish the spirit ritual that should gain us entry to the cave."

And so, they followed her inside.

The tent was large and the back entrance led directly into mountainside, to one of the entrances to the cave. Within, they found Governor Rami preparing to pour water with reverential care into an old-looking cup.

"Ohhh," Bolin whispered. "What is that?"

"Water from the Spiritual Oasis from the North Pole," Jinora replied in a low tone. "It's the best of the known substances capable of crossing barriers between the spirits and the physical world. In fact, it once helped my grandfather merge with the Spirit of the Ocean for a time."

"No way!" Bolin asked as his jaw drop.

The Governor turned her head to them at the sound of his voice and her eyes widened when she saw Kuvira. She shifted her position so that she was kneeling in front of her and made a symbol associated with loyalty with her hands.

"Great Uniter," She said with her head bowed. "I wish we were meeting under better circumstances."

Kuvira regarded the direct descendant of the famous King Bumi in silence for a long moment. As the eldest child of her generation, then Princess Ramai was actually first in line to succeed her father on the throne of the city-state of Omashu, which would have made her answerable only to the Earth Queen and only during coordinated military campaigns, as specified by the treaties signed for mutual defense during the Hundred Year War. However, she turned most of the traditional, artisocratic families against her when she chose a woman named Tamari as her lover. From what she had gathered, she actually had a lot of supporters among the common people during the scandal because her little brother, Kamu, was generally seen as a greedy and violent young man who would probably be in jail by that point if his father wasn't the king. But with their father ill and the rules of succession established by the aristocracy remarking that this was the sort of action that could invalidate someone as an heir to the throne, Kamu managed to get enough backing to enforce the law and banished Ramia and her warrioress of a lover from the city.

And then, the Earth Queen fell and things got so much worse in the region.

During her first year trying to restore order, she learned that then King Kamu was actually financing large groups of bandits that emerged from the power vacuum on Ba Sing Se, so that they could weaken his neighboring territories, in preparation for an invasion with his army. Kuvira eventually managed to stop him after Ramai and Tamari came to her and informed her of the situation, seeking to aid her in deposing her vindictive brother.

By the time they had brought the city under control, there was talk of restoring the dynasty with Ramai at the head, which Kuvira would have opposed but before she could have said anything, the heir to House Raya asked to speak with her in private.

There, Ramai said that after fighting alongside her and having the time to get to know her, she had come to believe in her mission. Moreover, she said that since she was unlikely to ever have a child since she was only attracted to women and Tamari in particular, then that would defeat the purpose of dynastic succession and would come to cause her trouble with the rich and powerful of her city eventually. So, having said that, she knelt before her back then, proclaiming her the Great Uniter as some had started calling her by then and vowing to serve her as loyally and as effectively as possible if she named her governor for life.

Pleased with her devotion and pragmatism, Kuvira had told the then 20-year-old to rise and granted her wish, officially abolishing the royal rule of House Raya in the process. And since then, Kuvira has had no real reason to regret her decision, especially given that she managed to rally a considerable number of Omashu citizens to serve in her army, and worked overtime to secure resources for her reunification campaigns.

Eventually, the metalbending prodigy opened her mouth. "The circumstances could be better," Kuvira acknowledged. "But we can adapt. Now, tell me what you are doing."

"Mixing these spirit vines that have become more common sights since Harmonic Convergence with water from the Spiritual Oasis from the North Pole," Ramai replied as she pointed at the cup. "We believe drinking the tea we are making this way will give Jinora here just enough of a boost to enhance her spiritual abilities; hopefully, that will be sufficient to cross the spirit barrier, despite the fact whatever has made the cave its lair only wishes to bring in earthbenders for some reason."

"In that case, I am coming with you," Kuvira declared. "That spirit may have a weakness to other kinds of bending. Together we will be able to catch it off-guard and ensure the fugitive cannot escape."

Jinora took a deep breath. "Very well then. Let's work together."

And with that, she grabbed the cup and started drinking, the arrow tattoo on her forehead glowing for a few seconds as she did so. Nodding to herself, Kuvira turned to Bolin.

"I want you to guard this entrance Bolin," She ordered. "Let nothing get past you."

"As you wish," The lavabender said slowly, "but are you sure you don't want me to come along? We don't know how powerful is this spirit."

"Quite sure," She said after inhaling sharply. "I am taking Jinora for tactical reasons but as for everything else...I need to do this by myself, Bolin. I owe it to Baatar."

Her officer sighed but didn't argue. "Understood then. Good luck, General."

And with that, he saluted and exited the tent. Kuvira turned back and addressed the eldest grandchild of Avatar Aang. "Are you ready?"

"I believe so," Jinora responded. "Let's go, if there are still living prisoners in that cave then, every second matters."

And so, after Governor Ramai wished her the good fortune, they marched towards the entrance to the now not so secret tunnel. Kuvira entered the darkened cave without issue, probably due to the fact she was an earthbender on her own right, but Jinoa struggled to cross the barrier for a few seconds, as if it was trying to eject her. But the airbender kept pushing and before long, crossed the threshold.

The first airbending master of her generation gasped for a few moments. Kuvira approached her.

Are you alright?" She asked with concern.

"Y-Yes," She answered with a baffled tone. "I have never felt spiritual energy like that before, though. Not during Harmonic Convergence, not even in Vaatu's presence. Whoever is here, it is powerful in ways I have never sensed before."

Kuvira frowned. "Anything else your senses are telling you?"

Jinora bit her bottom lip before closing her eyes to focus. About a minute later, they snapped open. "I don't know how else to put this but...something tells me that this spirit is looking forward to meeting you."

"Is that so?" The seasoned general asked as she crossed her arms. "Then let's not keep it waiting. The sooner we can resolve this, the sooner I can seek justice for Baatar."

"Right," Jinora said in agreement.

Then her expression softened. "Kuvira...we may not agree on everything but for what it is worth, I am sorry for your loss."

The metalbending leader took a deep breath and nodded. "Thank you. But let's focus on the task at hand. And don't drop your guard."

And so, the two of them moved forward with their torches lit, wondering what they were going to find deeper in the caves.

A/N: Just to clarify, I made up that bit of worldbuilding for Omashu since Legend of Korra didn't touch on what happened to the city, and Legend of Aang never really explained the relation between the King of Omashu and the overall monarchy of the Earth Kingdom that is centralized on Ba Sing Se. Heck, we never really learned what Bumi's last name was. And yes, I ended up using the likeness of Raya from the Last Dragon Disney+ movie for the casting of Bumi's descendant; I simply changed her name to avoid full crossover connotations because this thread is not an actual crossover. More on her and her lover, who was actually named just like the character from the movie the fans ship Raya the most with, after Kuvira gain the powers of Written Ownership, which should happen soon, chapter-wise.

Aside from that, as you can see, I aged up Jinora here. I am sure you can guess why...

Anyway, hope you are enjoying the ride so far. I will post the next chapter at the earliest opportunity. And as always, all comments and questions are most welcomed.