House of Glass
Part 1
Bolin was following smells. He was alone again. His brother was with Korra, doing something official, he wasn't certain what. It wasn't really his business. His new girlfriend, Eska...well, to be honest, he was avoiding her. He still had bruises from their last date when she had insisted on showing off her ice bending powers by bouncing him several feet into the air. Honestly it had not been too bad, but he wasn't in a hurry for a repeat performance. He smiled wanly at the memory as he strolled from shop to shop, tugging the collar of his coat higher to keep out the chill wind. Pabu was sleeping in a special pocket inside Bolin's winter-wear, and he was glad of his furry friend's added warmth. He wasn't used to the frigid temperatures there at the South Pole.
He paused in front of a pottery shop to sniff the air again, trying to locate the origin of a particularly intriguing odor of noodles. He had always loved Southern Watertribe dishes.
"KITA!" a shout caught his attention. Bolin did not have time to wonder what a "Kita" was as someone slammed into him full force and knocked him into the snow.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" the young woman, who was now sprawled beside him on the cold ground, spluttered. The snow gathered beneath her and pushed her gently to her feet. She didn't stop to brush off the front of her water-tribe attire, or to help him up. Instead she shot him an impish grin and darted away down the street, then between two buildings. Moments later, before Bolin was able to fully collect himself, a man rushed out the way the girl had come, scowling up and down the street.
The man, also dressed in Southern garb of blue and grey, looked down at the earthbender in the snow and his eyes widened. "Did my daughter...?" he didn't finish. He didn't need to. Instead he held out a hand and pulled Bolin to his feet. "I'm sorry. Kita is a trouble maker. She's always running off, shirking her duties. Are you alright, young sir?"
Bolin brushed snow from the front of his coat, feeling Pabu inside, wriggling with displeasure at nearly being crushed when his master had fallen. "I'm fine," Bolin waved a dismissive hand, smiling broadly. And he was. The snow of the street was packed hard, but it was still far better to fall onto than the stone streets of Republic City.
"Ah, good, I'm glad," said the man, also smiling, though his was thin. He had a day's growth of stubble on his broad jaw and was wearing a shop-keeper's apron, Bolin noticed. "My name is Torq. This is my shop," he gestured to the pottery store with another weak smile. "Feel free to stop in any time for the finest pottery in the Southern Water Tribe."
"I will," said Bolin, wondering how he could walk away without seeming rude. A few of the people in the street had recognized him as a friend of the Avatar and some of the children were pointing. Normally Bolin relished attention, but he had been trying to keep a low profile. No sense in getting Eska's attention before he was ready for her. He noticed that Torq with still looking up and down the street with annoyance on his features. "Hey, how about I find your daughter for you? I'll send her right back." Bolin offered hastily.
"Would you?" the man seemed cheered. "I can't leave my store to look for her, and she had chores."
"You can count on me!" Bolin stood straight, giving an exaggerated salute. He spun on his heel and marched comically away in the direction he had seen the girl run. He wasn't certain he would be able to find her. A waterbender in a city of ice? That would be like finding a needle in a haystack without metalbending. He rubbed the back of his neck, wishing he could go back to following those smells. The alley the girl, Kita, had gone down, was empty, so he followed it onward. He idly wondered what Korra and Mako were doing. Korra had insisted on separating herself from her old teacher, Tenzin, and if he was honest with himself, Bolin missed the old airbender. He wasn't entirely certain that Korra had been right to send her mentor away, even as more and more weight with piled onto her shoulders. He silently still wished he could help bear the weight with her. The sting of her rejection was will a fresh wound, though he would never show it.
So lost in thought was Bolin that he hadn't realized he was walking out of the main thoroughfare and into a park. The frosted trees, which were sculpted from ice (not much grew this far south) shimmering in the sunlight. A hot spring simmered quietly nearby, with some thin foliage grappling for a foothold on life, growing beside it. Then Bolin caught motion out of the corner of his eyes and was awoken from his reverie. It was the quickest darting of blue against the white and rock. "Hey," he called, experimentally. "Come back, please!"
"Why?"
Bolin looked up to see a young woman standing on top of a large rock beside the hot spring. He was tempted to gently tip her from the rock with his earthbending, but he resisted. "Are you Kita?" he asked instead.
The girl had the look of many members of the Southern Water Tribe. Darkly tan skin,long hair so brown it was almost black. The rounded face with prominent nose and high cheekbones. Her eyes shimmered bright blue as she glared at him. His eyes took in her slim, lithe figure. He couldn't help it. He was only a man after all. She looked whippy and muscular, as many female waterbenders did. Her expression was sour, and her arms were folded across her chest. "Did my father send you to come get me?" he growled.
"Well, yes," Bolin admitted, stepping closer. "He said he have chores."
"Of course I have chores. I always have chores. Which is why I have to sneak away. If he ever gave me a break I wouldn't have to. I'm supposed to meet with my waterbending teacher in a hour, but I just couldn't stand to be around that shop for one more minute. If you want me to go back, you're going to have to make one hell of a convincing argument." she bent her knees, raising her hands, slender fingers spread. Water from the hot spring burbled up towards her.
Bolin eyed the hot water nervously. His own muscles tensed, but he did not take up a fighting stance. Instead he adopted an overly casual one. "Hey, your father may have sent me, but it's no skin off my back of you actually make it back to him. Not like he's paying me or anything."
He was pleased to see her relax, the water slithering back into place in the pool. He tried not to show the relief he felt. This was easy enough. He was good at hiding his emotions when he needed to. Most people thought he wore his feelings on his sleeve, and it was true, sometimes they did get the better of him, but such slips were growing less and less frequent. He fixed the girl with an interested stare. "So you train with a waterbender?"
"In secret," the girl grumbled, sitting down, cross legged on her rock. "My father won't even let me do that. He doesn't know that I still do. After my mother died he stopped my training and insisted I only use my waterbending to help in the shop. I make the inventory you know? All those clay vases. I use waterbending to make them."
Bolin was impressed, and this he let show on his face. "You do?"
"My mother used to," said Kita, still looking grumpy. "But now I have to, and it is driving me insane. So I escape."
"I see," Bolin said, smiling at her in a friendly manner. "My name is Bolin, by the way," he widened his stance, and with a tugging motion of his arm, and he tipped the girl off of the rock. Her reflexes were quick, and snow swirled up to meet her and bring her gently to the ground. She folded her arms again, but Bolin could see an eager smile twitching her lips.
"Bolin, huh?" she tried to sound disdainful as she looked him up and down, her arms still folded. Then her eyes got very wide and a huge grin broke past her defenses. "So you're a fire-ferret!?"
Bolin was a little surprised. Not many people in the tribe even knew about pro bending. He puffed out his chest, "Why yes I am," he said.
"No you, him," Kita pointed to Pabu, who had stuck his head out from Bolin's collar.
Suddenly something small and white plummeted down from the sky with a thin shriek and struck at Bolin's chest. Kita gasped and jumped, attempting to catch the creature as it circled around to attack again. Bolin was completely taken off guard, blinking confusedly as the thing came around, small talons spread, towards him.
Before the mystery attacker could strike again Kita had snatched it from the air, clamping both hands around a struggling and squeaking bundle of white feathers and fur. "Prin! No! We do not eat fire-ferrets! That's is very naughty! Don't make he freeze you into an ice cube!" she warned.
The little creature stopped struggling and glared at the lump that was Pabu, hiding in Bolin's coat again. "I'm so sorry," Kita gasped, exasperatedly. "What a naughty creature you are, Prin!"
"What is that?" asked Bolin, intrigued.
"Owl-bat," Kita held up her pet for Bolin to see. It had the body and white feathers of a miniature snowy owl. It glared with huge, yellow eyes and clacked a hooked beak. Two, cupped, bat ears stuck out of the feathers on its head, and instead of bird wings, membranous bat wings were trapped beneath Kita's thumbs. "She usually isn't so rude. She just saw your fire-ferret as food."
Kita held the owl-bat in one hand, then reached into a pocket and pulled out some thin, leather straps. She looped one over the creature's leg, pulling it tight, and hooked the other end to a buckle on her glove. Then she held out her arm and perched Prin on it. The creature made a happy chirp and sidled up Kita's arm and nuzzled her cheek. "Sorry, again," she smiled at Bolin.
"She's really cute!" Bolin announced. He loved animals. He would have asked to hold Prin, were he not worried how Pabu might react.
"You're an earthbender?" Kita asked, clasping her hands behind her back.
"I am indeed," Bolin struck a pose. He could never resist showing off. With ease he lifted the rock Kita had been perched upon, out of the snow, moved it several feet, and set it down with a heavy thud. Displaced snow showered them. Well, it showered him. Kita redirected the snow which would have struck her onto him as well. She laughed, hiding her mouth behind her hand. Bolin was struck by her laugh. Uneven and little silly sounding, but so true. Her eyes shimmered when she laughed and Bolin felt himself blushing. He deflected by grabbing two sticks and pretending to be a snow man, which only made her laugh harder. She was in fits when he earthbent some small stones up to be his smiling snowman face. She held her sides, doubled over. Bolin felt his blush deepen, and he admonished himself. He had a girlfriend.
Kita straighten, tears of mirth in her eyes. Her cheeks were also red, though from merriment, Bolin knew. Kita held out her arms and with a swift, downward motion, she had stripped the snow from Bolin and left him feeling dry and warm. "I've never trained with another type of bender before," Kita admitted, her expression eager. "Want to?"
"Sure," Bolin answered before he could even think about whether this was a good idea. Soon the two of them were comparing technique and practicing variations of moves they both knew.
Kita tried the wider, more grounded stance Bolin had showed her. When she changed the snow around her into water it gushed in a large, uncontrolled wave. Kita barely managed to deflected it from hitting her new friend. "Oops," he chuckled. "It seems like I am always trying to soak you today."
"You're not?" Bolin asked. He stood more lightly, holding out his arms and moving them in a jerky attempted at fluid motion.
"No. Here," Kita walked over and stood behind him, arranging his arms. She even reached forward and covered his hands with hers, positioning his fingers. "You move too firmly. Flow. Like the river," she said. She guided his arms. Instead of lifting a rock, or even small stones, a fine silt of earth rose up from under the snow. Like dust. It clung together in a stream, almost like a water whip.
"Cool," Bolin managed. He was blushing again, feeling her arms around his shoulders, guiding his hands. He was glad she was behind him and could not see. He let her guide him, turning his hands palm up to make the thin stream of earth rise, then palm down again to bring it gently to the snow, leaving a swirling pattern where it landed.
"Okay, that was cool!" Kita crowed, clapping Bolin on the back. Prin peeped appreciatively at her master's happiness.
Bolin turned and gave her a big, lopsided grin. "No kidding! I don't know why I never tried this before! Water and earthbending styles work pretty well together. I wonder if I could use any of that in my pro bending."
"Pro bending?" Kita cocked her head, her dark hair falling over one eye.
Bolin had to keep himself from exclaiming how cute she looked in that moment. He was done wearing his heart on his sleeve. "I'm not only the owner of a fire-ferret, I'm a member the of the probending team called The Fire-Ferrets."
"I've heard of pro bending," Kita said, leaning up onto her toes in her excitement. Her face was close to his and he backed up a step, nervous. "I've always dreamed of leaving this village and going to Republic City to see pro bending. Well, that, and everything else Republic City has to offer. I just want to get out of here," she said, her expression fierce.
"Doesn't you dad need your help in his store?" Bolin questioned, pulling a rock over with his bending and sitting down. Kita plopped casually down beside him. He wasn't used to girls being so easygoing around him. Korra had been, and look where that had gotten him. He scooted away fractionally. He was going to be more guarded this time.
"I don't care about the stupid store!" Kita announced. "That was my parents' dream. I'm a different person. I've got to be free. I'm like an otter-gul. I gotta swim and fly," she spread her arms for emphasis. "So, Bolin, teach me some pro bending moves?"
"Er, sure," he said, standing up, a little thrown by her hasty change of subject.
Kita dropped her hands, which had been poised for waterbending. She glanced towards the sky. "Oh, wait. I'm late for my waterbending lesson with Mihra, the village healer. My mother wanted me to be a healer, so she had me taking lessons with Mihra. Mom and Mihra have taught me basically everything I know," she smiled thinly. "Which isn't much."
"Seems like you're a really good waterbender to me," Bolin said, before he could stop himself.
Kita grinned, wide and crooked, just like he did. "So I'll see you around, Bolin?" she asked, as she turned to walk away.
"Sure, of course," he spluttered. What happened to playing coy? Her eyes, that's what happened. He quickly looked at his hands, then back up. She was gone.