Chapter 1: Welcome to Ba Sing Se

Korra remembered only that she attempted to meditate inside that darned metal box after Tarlokk showed his true colors. To her chagrin and surprise, he'd incapacitated her with bloodbending. Funny how these chain of events seemed to occur just as she was training to master the mind and spiritual aspects of the Avatar.

The rocks situated under her head were a bit uncomfortable, but she couldn't find the need to care at the moment. The sun beamed down on her prone form, yet there was a slight breeze that kept her from breaking into a sweat. The ground beneath her seemed to be paved and was covered with cobblestones. Before it even occurred to her to wonder why there was dirt and rock and grass where a metal cage should be, she wondered why she didn't feel injured at all.

I should open my eyes right now, but I feel too tired, Korra thought, the past few minutes already leaving her mentally exhausted.

"Surely you mean a skunk-bear?"

"Or a gopher-bear?"

Korra could hear rivulets of conversation drifting towards her, but the sounds were slightly muffled. Forcing her sleep-ridden mind to focus, she sat up and spotted a window next to her. Looking through it carefully while keeping her profile hidden from view, she could see the interior of a house which held a bald monk, who looked to be maybe 12 or 13.A male and female, similar enough in appearance to probably be siblings appeared to be wearing traditional water tribe clothing sat near him, and a girl with traditional earth kingdom clothing was lounging on a archaically made chair, shamelessly picking her nose.

"This place feels dated. Weird," Korra whispered to herself. Slowly backing away from the window and back outside, she could recognize now the sloped roofs of the houses and the stone ground she had been lying on. The whole neighborhood looked like one of those historical landscape exhibits within Republic City, describing the lifestyle of the different kingdoms during the infamous occupation of the Fire Nation seventy years prior. However, she couldn't find any signs or posts stating the place was an exhibit to begin with. She considered asking the group of kids where she even was. Crawling through the window was definitely out of the question and made to circle around the house to the front door.

"We don't care about the rules and we're not asking permission! We're finding Appa on our own and you should just stay out of our way!" came a very heated shout from the inside of the door. On cue, a lady with a robe was forced out of the door, who seemed to be walking away quickly. Frankly, she looked frazzled, as if she was told to kill herself.

"Nice neighborhood this is," Korra described sarcastically. With that interesting exchange, she began to have second thoughts about knocking but decided against it. She needed to know where she was. Almost unconsciously, Korra brushed off imaginary dust from her shirt and the coat that was wrapped around her waist, hoping to give a good first impression. Examining the large house momentarily, she confidently knocked on the door.

"I told you we're not interested-oh," the bald monk started. "Sorry, I thought you were Joo-Dee," he apologized, inclining his head momentarily.

"No problem," Korra assured. "I'm just trying to get directions."

The monk nodded, humming in thought. "Well, this is the inner ring. Where were you trying to head to?"

Inner Ring? What is that? Korra pondered the boy's statement, unable to recall a town called Inner Ring.

"Thanks," Korra spoke up, if only so she could prevent an awkward pause. "Any places in particular I should be checking out?" The Avatar asked, hoping that she didn't sound too clueless. The monk didn't seem to pick up on it though, although he seemed to frown as if remembering something.

"There's the Earth King Palace, but good luck getting in there..."

Korra's brows raised almost instantly.

"Did you say 'Earth King's Palace'?"

The monk nodded his confirmation. "Yeah, they're not very hospitable if you ask me..."

Korra had tuned him out around the same time he began to ramble about the Palace's politics.

If where ever she was had an Earth King's Palace, that meant she had to be in the Earth Kingdom. And the only two places to have those were either Omashu and Ba Sing Se. Now she remembered what 'Inner Ring' meant.

"How in the world did I end up in Ba Sing Se..?" she muttered questioningly, attempting to think rationally and prevent herself from panicking.

"Lady?"

The boy's voice tore her from her thoughts and her attention snapped back.

"Hm?"

"I said would you like to come in?" the monk said patiently. "One of my friends could probably get you a map."

"Oh, uh...Thanks," she replied with a slight bow of her head, stepping in side after the young man opened the door wider to let her in.

Hey Viewers, this is a story i'm just fooling around with. Let me know what you think. If you have something heavy to say about it, please go ahead and knock yourself out. Just keep in mind that this isn't necessarily a serious story line. Just a "What if Korra time traveled?"