A/N: Just a little oneshot that just popped into my mind after watching the first two episodes of the new Avatar series today. Be gentle.
This story was moved to the new Legend of Korra category, yay!
Bolin burst into her room with a loud bang, excited and with a huge smile on his face – nothing new there.
"Korra, you're not gonna believe this", he excitedly exclaimed.
"Believe what-, wait, how did you get here at all? How did you get IN here, I've locked my door!" Korra sputtered.
She was currently sitting on the floor of her room on the Air Temple Island and trying to study one of the incredibly lame texts about airbending Tenzin had given her. It was all about "being one with oneself and the spirits that surround us". As if being one with the enemy team captain did any good in the pro-bending arena. Wait, did she just really think about "being one with the enemy team captain"? They were up against the Buzzard Wasps next and their captain was a huge jerk. Huge in every sense of the word.
I think I'm gonna puke. Now. All over Bolin. He will understand, she thought, turning greener by the minute. As excited as he was, he probably really wouldn't mind.
"Your door ..." back to the matter at hand, it seemed, "well, Tenzin will surely have another one ready when you come back."
"But I'm not going anywhere", she tried to deadpan and get a better look by her teammates bulky frame. Damn earthbenders and their heaps of muscle. She could see a few splinters on the floor just where her door frame had been.
Korra wasn't a cool headed person by any standard – still, comparing her to Bolin when he was excited was a little like thinking about how Ikki could be Tenzin's daughter at all.
"Yes, you are. I entered us into this top secret competition that's going to be held near the park tomorrow."
Any still lingering thoughts about enemy team captains vanished in an instant.
"Top secret competition? Really? Wait, what competition anyway?" she asked, a little excitement creeping into her voice, too.
Bolin knew he had her at competition. He wasn't dumb by a long shot, despite his somewhat goofy personality.
"Two on two. Mixed sets. Top notch, I hear. Quite a nice sum for the winners."
"You know my answer."
"Great, tomorrow, 11pm, I'll wait at the usual spot," he fell back into the usual spy speech he always used when talking about this type of thing. Korra only nodded. Usually he asked after practice in the gym, when Mako went into the showers. But obviously he couldn't have known about that special tournament yesterday.
"Now, how did you get here? How did you even know where to find me? Heeey!"
He was already gone. She looked over to all that was left of her door.
"Tenzin's gonna kill me. Slowly. With his bloody wind!"
~~o~~
It had all started 4 weeks ago. The Fire Ferrets had, with a little help of Korra's, defeated the Platypus Bears and advanced to the next round in the official pro-bending tournament. As she had made some progress with airbending in the fight, Tenzin graciously had allowed (ha, he should've just tried to hold her) her to continue competing. Which meant, aside from running through the new and improved 2000 year old airbending artifact and getting her butt handed to her by some wooden planks, she was practicing pro-bending moves with her team.
The same Ferrets, consisting of the somewhat darker and less outgoing Mako, his brother Bolin and, yours truly, the hyper-amazing Avatar, master of all four (well, technically still three) elements, hadn't lost a match since then. How Mako and Bolin could be brothers was a mystery to Korra. She didn't like to say – or think – it out aloud, but she and Bolin were somewhat alike: easily excitable, outgoing and just a hint into the thrill of the fight. Mako was the exact opposite, even a little broody at times. Even his firebending technique was called "cool under fire", for all her reincarnations sake!
But back to how she had come across the out-of-offical-tournament-and-somewhat-illegal-fights. Turned out even the stoic (and stuck up) Mako had once taken part in those street fights. But since Toza, the old gym owner in the pro-bending tournament building, had taken them in, Mako had never taken part in a street fight again. It was against regulations, but as far as Korra could see, you just didn't want to be caught. Right?
And so, she had partaken in 5 or 6 matches over these past four weeks. And won every single one of them. At least if you don't count the 2 emergency break-ups. And well, that one time, when … she certainly shouldn't think about THAT now.
Yes she, Korra of the Southern Watertribe, Avatar and master bender, would win another fight tomorrow. And now she would finish reading that piece of rubbish about chakras.
Two minutes later, she was fast asleep.
~~o~~
The day had come. The one and only. At least till the next match was up.
Korra hat met Bolin at the usual spot (a certain bush near the lake at the park), given her the mask. All fighters wore masks. It simply wouldn't do for anybody to know if they were pro-benders or just street thugs. The thug boss would likely frown upon such behavior (which could cost you your finger, depending how much he frowned) and the referees at the tournament could disqualify your whole team if they caught a whiff of such dubious engagements.
Bolin had led her to a secluded area not too far away from their meeting point. Still, Republican City was a huge complex to the igloo accustomed Korra and most of the time when she tried to explore it unsupervised she would find the strangest places – just not where she actually wanted to be.
The backyard they were currently in was filled to the brim with people. One could easily make out the fighters between them. They were the ones wearing masks, not saying much – your voice could instantly give you away, especially if you were a known pro-bender.
The organizing bookmaker had just started the illegal tournament. Not surprisingly, Bolin and her were the first team of two to be chosen to fight. The crowd knew their masks and also that they tended to make the things a little interesting by not going all out against weaker opponents. So more fights with them made a happy crowd, which let to higher betting rates … which made the bookmakers happy.
They were set against a bulky man wearing to much clothing and a female around Korra's age wearing entirely to little in her opinion – not in Bolin's, whose jaw she could see hanging open. The big one seemed to try copying Mako's style of firebending, going by the position his hands were raised.
"Ready. Begin," the referee announced.
It would be a fun night.
Korra jumped, raising dirty water out of the sewers beneath. Fun indeed.