Korra went to her uncle, greeting him. Seeing her smile and eyes, Akashi believed that she admired him.
'The more you trust them, the harder their betrayal hits.' Akashi thought. 'It's like finding out that your friend from two hundred episodes ago is the main villain.'
Behind Unalaq, Korra's uncle, was a hot twin. But one of them was a fem-boy and the other was a real girl.
If he was to remember correctly and link them to their cartoon-like characters, they were both powerful waterbenders who could toy with Korra's team.
'But without bloodbending, no matter how skillful a waterbender is, they would still be lacking.' Akashi thought to himself as his soon-to-be father-in-law went to meet his soon-to-be uncle-in-law—maybe not the uncle part.
The two exchanged glares, as if there was a deep past between them.
Well, if Akashi's memory wasn't shit, he believed that it all started with Unalaq setting a trap for his brother, forcing him to send troops after thieves in the North Pole, in some holy location. Then, Unalaq agitated spirits to attack the North Water Tribe, and at that time, the blame fell on Akashi's father-in-law, Tonraq, who then got banished and moved to the South Pole, where he met his wife, Senna, and had Korra.
Unalaq was giving Tonraq the shit look, as if his brother was a disgrace and it wasn't the former's fault in the first place.
'That motherfucker, still acts right even if he was wrong. Don't tell me he's the kind of guy who tells a lie and believes it.' Akashi thought. 'Maybe they had different beliefs in the first place, and that was the reason why they don't like each other. Korra is too oblivious to notice that.'
Unalaq then turned to Akashi, "And you must be the airbender, the only one who appeared out of Aang's lineage."
"The one and only," Akashi replied, calmly. Not like when meeting his dad and mom-in-laws.
Unalaq smiled, "I wonder why, though? I've heard that airbenders are spiritual cultures, and for you to wake up your bending, you must have a strong spiritual aspect."
Akashi suppressed his frown, and he thought, 'Should I act as if I'm affected by what he says. Does he think I and Korra share the same nativity aspects, and that he could pat my airbending ego by talking about spirituality.'
"Dont know. Never met spirits before," Akashi shrugged, "Just took a few deep breaths in, a few breaths out."
Unalaq chuckled, "If you clear your mind, you may find yourself in the spirit world doing that."
Akashi nodded, knowing that already. But he had never felt appealed to go to the spirit world. Matter of fact, he didn't want to risk it. The spirit world was a dangerous place where humans couldn't bend. And spirits were already powerful beings. If he messed with one of them, they may send his soul to the Mist, where he would spend eternity getting tortured mentally. And Akashi hated the feeling of lack of control.
"I may try it one day," said Akashi.
"I can teach you." Unalaq offered.
"I appreciate the offer," Akashi nodded.
"My uncle is one of the most knowledgeable people about spirits." Korra said, scratching her uncle's spiritual ego.
Akashi turned to Tenzin. Poor guy. Must be jealous.
Anyways, Unalaq went on with some sort of speech as he saw people starting to gather. This group included the son of Aang, the chief of the Northern Water Tribe, and the Avatar. People who came to the festival gathered around them.
Unalaq began talking about how humans are making a mistake by getting away from the spiritual world, and that they may pay for it, and how the sky used to be full of dancing spirits during this time of year, following the origins of the spirits glacier festival. But now, the sky was only dark.
Following his speech was a woman's scream.
A large, purple figure of a spirit appeared, attacking one building, destroying it with one hit. Its shape didn't look closely to human, other than its short feet, and stretchy arms that had sharp claws at their ends. Standing between three meters and a half, it glared at everyone with yellow shiny eyes, a dark purplish aura covering its body.
"What's that!"
"Run!"
The people in the festival turned and began running.
The benders, waterbenders, firebenders who happened to come here for a visit, attacked it, but the spirit took their attacks as a joke. Its figure turned into a blur, sliding through the attacks, its speed so impressive, even for someone like Akashi.
'Spirits, in the human's realm, should be killable, like the fishes. Their strength is limited by the form they chose to take.' Akashi thought as he gave a glare at Unalaq, who slowly retreated.
In no time, it appeared in front of the benders and clawed them. They flew away with one hit from it.
Korra cursed, "Damn it." Unable to get in Avatar state to avoid destroying this place, she attacked with air, fire, and water. The spirit, in no time, got angry that it got hit, and then ran toward Korra.
Not taking a minute to reconsider, Akashi appeared in front of Korra and pushed his hands forward, creating a jet-sharp wind that hit against the spirit, which crossed its arms.
"Akashi! Get away. It's dangerous to deal with this spirit. It's too strong for you." Korra warned, reaching her hand to grab Akashi.
But the latter just slipped. The spirit turned into a blur. In no time, it was raising its claw and standing before Akashi, before slamming down at him.
"Akashi!" Korra yelled, her eyes glowing.
But Akashi simply dodged the claw, and it hit the ground instead of him.
"If you chose a form based on speed, then I'm the worst possible match for you." Akashi said, waving his hands, creating two sharp wind blades.
They hit against the spirit, but no blood spilled. Instead, its body reacted like a jelly, absorbing the attack and reshaping itself, as if it had never been cut.
'Unlike the moon and ocean spirits, these spirits chose their form based on practicality. I like it, I won't lie. But as long as they obey the laws of this realm, they are not invincible. Still, too strong.'
The spirit, angry, dashed at Akashi, waving left and right. Akashi side-stepped, took a step back, jumped slightly, and all, dodging by the hair. Thanks to his agility stats, he had enough reaction speed. And thanks to his ability to remove air resistance, he could move faster. And most importantly, thanks to his flying skill, he was unobstructed by gravity and could command the air to carry him to directions that seemed impossible for humans to think of.
"This…" Korra muttered, utterly confused. She then turned to Tenzin, saying, "Tenzin. Do something. You know about the spirits, don't you?"
Tenzin, who was looking at the scene, utterly shocked by Akashi's skills, faked a few coughs. He was caught in awkward situations. Other than talking to spirits, like his father used to do, he didn't know anything. All he knew was that the spirit was angry. And they needed to understand why, and solve it.
"Okay. I don't mind showing as much."
Akashi said. As he noticed that people took a safe distance, he decided to try one of his attacks. After all, no matter how strong the form the spirit chose in this world, it still could be damaged.
Akashi lifted his hand, air leaving, creating a massive vacuum sphere that shrunk, air circling around it. And it kept shrinking until it got to the size of Akashi's palm.