Hundreds of years after Korra, the world needed its avatar more than ever. Dark spirits tormented innocent civilians for unknown reasons. These same dark spirits had killed Inie's parents. She then left to try and find people to help her stop the world from descending into darkness. This is where our story begins.

Inie stood at air temple island clutching her glider. Memories from her past clouded her mind, some good and some bad. They were memories of her past family at the western air temple. They were memories that she was trying to lose. No, she needed them. They would be her drive to end this terrible dark spirit epidemic. She was looking upon Republic City, a place where she could surely find people to help her with her cause. Inie jumped into the air, her glider opening as she soared towards the city that resembled hope to her. She flew through the air, now flying above the streets of Republic City. Suddenly, she heard screams. They were coming from near the wilds so she flew in that direction. Smoke was rising in the air and people were running away from one particular spot that she couldn't quite see through the smoke. Whatever had happened, she was determined to find out.

Orange flames licked towards the ceiling and smoke begun to filter through the rafters. Suddenly there was some cheering and clapping and a slight sizzle as the fillet steak landed back onto the wok. A quick flick of the wrist and the steak then slid into the bowl to the side. There was a slightplop as it splashed slightly in the stock and sat on the vegetables that were already in there. Turning Zhao then gave the bowl a quick flash of flame before walking it out to the table of the customer.

"Fillet steak ramen, extra beansprouts." The man smiled and Zhao did a slight bow before returning to the wok. Grabbing a scourer he filled the wok with some water and scrubbed away the oil and grime. It was only half an hour before the lunch rush and already most of the tables were full. Of course the Grill had takeaway bowls however the atmosphere of the grill was warm and most people wanted to stay and sit down with friends. Checking the supplies one more time Zhao grabbed himself a small bowl he had made earlier and heated it up, flames from his hands charring the bowl. Walking outside he sat down on one of the tables outside. Using a spoon he lapped down the chicken stock and vegetables. Saving the sliced chunks of chicken for the end. Watching the world go by was a nice pastime and Zhao enjoyed the colours of downtown. Just then Zhao spotted a large herd of people moving towards the shop. Sighing about how busy the street got he stood and walked back into the Flaming Grill. Taking a position behind the desk he ignited the grill and started heating up the wok, pouring in some oil and got out a tub of vegetables. Zhao had the shop to himself today, his parents were out having a day to themselves. Just then the crowd rushed past and there was a crash. A table ended up hurled through the window, making glass fly everywhere.

Zhao ducked down underneath the desk and heard as people were screaming now, more glass breaking bounced off of the walls and Zhao finally peeked his head over the top. The crowd was still hurtling past but it was thinner. Just then the crowd was gone and everything seemed silent. Tilting his head Zhao continued to study the window. A black, almost holographic hand suddenly curled its way around the edge of the window and Zhao's eyes went wide. The hand then pulled a large body into view.

"Oh god no-" Zhao jumped down behind the counter again and scrambled to try and get into the back room. The sound of wood stretching and warping echoed and then the sound morphed into splintering and cracking. Sitting up Zhao tried to see what was going on. The entire front of the shop had been ripped open and the dark spirit had stepped into the shop. ZHao was struggling to control his breathing and was tring to get out of the back door without notifying the spirit of his existence. As he crawled towards the bag door he could hear the spirit getting closer and closer. Finally he turned a corner and sat with his back up against the wall. The entire room felt cold and he could tell the spirit was just behind the wall. However, just as soon as it had arrived, it was gone and Zhao looked around quick enough just to see the back of the spirit leaving. Shaking now Zhao got up and stumbled to the bac door. He was in the middle of a panic attack and finally getting to the alley behind the shop he collapsed down.

"I'm leaving."

...

"Akari, I said I'm leaving."

.........

"Akar-"

"Dad I heard you. I'm trying to concentrate." Akari said, with slight irritation in her voice. "You really don't need to announce every time you leave the house." There was a long silence before her father sighed.

"Are we still doing lunch today?" he asked, getting a nod in response. Walking over to where she was working on her newest ice sculpture, he admired it for a moment before pointing to the face. "Your forgetting the scar she had under her left eye." he would say with a sad voice. Akari blinked and leaned away from her work.

"Mom had a scar there? I never noticed it."

"Yes I suppose you wouldn't. It was very faint. She thought it looked horrible but I always thought it made her look very... cool." he said smiling. Akari cracked a grin as well and gently punched her dad's arm."I'll make lunch today and bring it to you, how's that?"

"Alright. I'm leaving."

"Bye." she said going back to her work.

Time passed and Akari was still hard at work, only to realize her.dad had forgotten his bag on the kitchen table. She stood, blowing a cold air onto her sculpture to keep it from melting too quickly, and she grabbed her dad's bag, running outside to hopefully catch him before his work started.

As she walked, she heard some people whispering about some commotion going on in the Spirit Wilds, and Akari's curiosity spiked. What in the world could be going on, that even those in the inner city knew about it. Looking around, she quickly spotted a delivery man and ran over to him.

"Excuse me. Can you please take this to my father, Councilman Narrok?"

After being assured it would get to him, she began her way towards the Spirit Wilds. Running in a brisk pace, soon she was able to see a cloud of black smoke arising in the distance. Bending the water of a nearby fountain, she rode the wave up onto the roof of a building before returning it to the stone fountain. Looking out towards the cloud of smoke, she could see that something was definitely going on.

As she moved closer, she swore she heard the sounds of screaming getting louder.

Doing a roll mid-air and diving, Inie flew into the center of the smoke cloud with amazing speed. She did a quick spin as she landed which blew all of the smoke in different directions, away from the center of the action. She looked around, trying to catch wind (pun intended) of whatever had caused this commotion. But as quickly as it had started, it was over. "What was tha.." The sentence was cut short as Inie was tackled by a dark spirit. She created an air bubble around her, pushing the spirit back. But when the air bubble faded, the spirit was back on her, its claws around her neck and its other arm holding her limbs down. She couldn't move and her eyesight was fading. "I'm going to die here" was her last thought as she blacked out.

Zhao was breathing heavily now. Another shop nearby ha caught fire and was billowing smoke into the alley. Zhao didn't mind the smoke but he knew enough in an enclosed space could kill anyone. Sputtering slightly he got to his feet and stumbled to the end of the alley. The street was empty now, completely devoid of all life, and death. There was no bodies, nothing, as if everyone had just been taken away. Walking the way the creatures had come from Zhao noted that they seemed to originate from the Spirit Wilds. He was tempted to turn and run in the opposite direction when a large truck pulled up. Inside was the unmissable uniforms of the Republic City police and at the entrance to the truck was Officer Shen. Shen had been Zhao's arresting officer three years ago and had been the driving force behind his enrolment in the department too.

"Zhao, you son of a-" Shen chuckled. "What are you doing out here? The street's been cleared, we are trying to contain them in the Wilds. That one was the only to break the perimeter. Never mind, I could use your help. How do you feel about being deputised?" Zhao was tempted to tell the officer where he could shove the suggestion, but Zhao had no other idea of where he could go. And he wanted to help however he could.

"Will I get paid for this Shen?" The officer laughed again and shook his head.

"No, Zhao, it's a public service." Nodding glumly Zhao jumped into the back of the truck and stumbled as the vehicle pulled away. The men in the back all looked fairly glum. Clearly they had had other plans for the day turning a last few corners Zhao noticed the change in environment and knew they were entering the Wilds. Dismounting quickly the entire area seemed t be caked in a fog. Just then an area of the fog dissipated, off to the right of Zhao. Before Shen could say a word, he was busy talking to the dismounting officers, Zhao was running towards the clean air. Pushing through the fog he was suddenly in the open space. On the ground a girl, airbender by the looks of it, was either dead or unconscious. On the other side of the clearing there was a man, no idea if he was a bender, running from one of the spirits. Without thinking Zhao jumped forward, raising his hands a small jet of fire, only a few inches long, sparked in his hands. It was like a blowtorch in his palm and as he positioned himself he waited for the running man to go past. As he did so Zhao rolled himself backwards and shot a wall of flame between the spirit and the man. The spirit collided with the flames and there was a low rumble as it ploughed through. Two glowing eyes turned into tiny slits as it focused on Zhao and he jumped backwards, leaving another trail of fire as he tried to escape imminent doom. He was not a quick enough however and the spirit shot one hand through the fames and knocked Zhao backwards. His head was spinning now and Zhao slowly got to his feet, slightly dazed.