For the sake of the story I have made Asami a bender. I will also add a couple of OC characters, as I have just realized that LOK didn't really have a lot of female characters in Korra's age group.
Disclaimer: I do not own any Avatar universe characters.
Korra reluctantly strolled through the double doors leading to the pro bending gym. The familiar sounds of earth clashing earth, fire bursting against fire, and water swishing past water resonated in every direction. Behind glass walls, Korra could see multiple playing fields surrounded by glistening water. Without glancing down at her trusty watch, Korra knew she had arrived a bit after the meeting time at 7 PM. It wasn't unusual for Korra to run a bit late to practices here and there, however this was the first time she had intentionally shown up a few minutes after. She didn't want to be here. She wasn't supposed to be here. At least not with these amateurs.
"Hi there!" a friendly voice sounded from ahead.
Korra hastily diverted her attention from the players on court to the girl with flowing raven hair resting on one of the benches up with a laptop settled on her lap. Afraid her voice would give away her distaste of being at the gym, Korra decided a simple wave would do and sauntered towards the girl. As Korra got nearer, the girl began to talk in a cheery, yet calm, manner.
"I'm Asami. I'm the Fundraising Chair for the Club Pro Bending Team. You must be Korra?" Asami gracefully stood and extended her hand to shake. Her hand was milky white and slender, giving off a fragile and elegant look. Despite the delicate look, Korra made sure to deliver a firm handshake. Dad always said a firm handshake shows character. To Korra's surprise, Asami responded with an equally firm grip while maintaining a disarming smile.
"Yea," Korra gruffly replied. Uncomfortable under the sweet smile, that could not possibly be completely genuine, Korra shifted her attention back to the field, were a lanky boy attempted to launch a disk using poor form and was swiftly struck by water that he failed to notice approaching his way. Korra internally groaned at such a rookie mistake and the abysmal form, and started to play with the hem of her shirt.
Asami, seemingly unaffected by Korra's apparent moodiness, went back to the bench and started to put some of her red and black gear on. "You probably wanna warm- up a bit before your tryout match, right? Don't wanna pull a muscle or anything right?"
Korra nodded, and placed her bag down gently on the bleachers, and started to put some of her gear on. The fresh leather gloves were a bit stiff as she put them on, rekindling the bitterness she had towards her situation. Her mother had purchased the high quality outfit to be used against serious competitors, not casual players of the great sport. So far, Korra had yet to spot a player sporting a brand name gear. After forcing her ponytail through the opening of her headgear, Korra blinked at the view of Asami, fully taking her in for the first time. The tall girl donned one of the finest, if not the finest gear one could acquire in Republic City, all customized to black and red. Asami's green eyes twinkled behind her helmet's glass shield. Her mane of wavy hair had somehow been tamed into a simple ponytail, with slight waves framing her face. Overall, she not only looked professional but maintained an air of elegance, something Korra could never dream of doing.
"Come on over here," Asami stated, as she guided Korra through a door and into a large training room that was somehow empty.
"You're a waterbender right?" Asami asked, as she began to stretch.
Korra, bent over attempting to maintain the minimal contact between a couple of her fingers and toes, managed a grunt of affirmation.
"That's great! We don't have a lot of waterbenders around here. Not too many waterbenders live in Republic City, and even fewer choose to participate in pro bending" Asami noted.
Korra glanced over at Asami's red and black attire. Red told Korra that Asami must be a firebender, however the girl's emerald eyes screamed earthbender. "What element do you bend?"
Asami raised an eyebrow and mused, "Are my clothes not obvious enough for you?"
Catching a skeptical look on Asami's face, Korra blanched. She probably looked really stupid. Of course she's a firebender blockhead! People everywhere wore the colors of their heritage. It was a sign of pride and boldly announced whom enemies were dealing with. Even in Republic City, the melting pot of cultures, one would try to incorporate their "original colors" into their outfit, even if it were just a necklace, to keep up with newest fashion trends and still maintain loyalty to their culture. Did she screw up again? Korra was sure she just succeeded in making herself look like an idiot. Asami was obviously one of the people in charge of tryouts and probably decided who got to be on the traveling team to competitions, the team that Korra had to be on. What if Asami judged her for an idiot? Maybe Asami didn't like idiots. What if Asami was even offended by being in the presence of an idiot? She definitely has to be from high society from the way she carries herself and her clothes. If she had just somehow offended Asami, would she not be able to make it on the team? Korra knew how a lot of teams worked. Skill wasn't always the only requirement to be on a team. A player needed connections. Good connections that would support her if something went wrong, not hostile connections that would backstab her. Or maybe Asami didn't think she was idiot and she was just joking?
Asami, taking note of the worry that played on Korra's face, immediately looked concerned. "I'm sorry! I was just joking. I haven't been asked that question in a while and I've always wanted to say that. I guess it wasn't an appropriate time, since you're probably a bit nervous for tryouts."
Korra forced a laugh and tried to refocus on her stretching. Great! Now she looked naive.
"My mom was an earthbender. That's why I have green eyes. My dad's a nonbender, but I somehow managed to inherit the firebending genes that had skipped two generations on my dad's side. Thanks for asking though. Everybody in this city quickly assumes. It's always nice to run into someone thoughtful." Asami mused.
Korra's shoulders drooped slightly. Then she internally laughed at the irony of somebody calling her thoughtful. It went against her brash and impulsive reputation that had set her apart back home in the south.
Asami went on to explain how club pro bending worked. Compared to varsity, which had three separate teams that would compete separately, club's three teams competed together. At competitions, an all male and an all female team would compete separately in four rounds. Lastly, the mixed team will compete to decide who wins. The winner will be the team that won the most rounds. However, if the trailing team wins the mixed match, the mixed match will continue playing until either the leading team wins one more round or the trailing team catches up and forces the opposing team into a tiebreaker. Korra though the whole process was interesting.
For tryouts, Asami paired two other freshmen whose names she had forgotten by the time she had reached the field. Just by looking at them Korra knew they didn't have much experience. Her opponents looked just as amateurish, with the exception of the other team's waterbender. Well if they turn out any good, I'll learn their names.
The girl's name was Tenka. Despite Korra single-handedly winning all the rounds by knockout, Tenka had managed to hit Korra a few times and force Korra to unleash some of the raw strength that had made her a valuable player back home. Despite Korra having glared at everything and everyone throughout the entire match, Korra decided she could bear doing this for a year. Only for a year.
After shaking hands with Tenka and the rest, two girls approached Korra. One wore an excited grin on her face and had twinkling blue eyes of excitement, while the other wore a mask of indifference. The latter's jade eyes pierced through Korra's skin, inciting a feeling of vulnerability.
"Wow, that was fun to watch!" The blue-eyed girl exclaimed. She extended her hand out, "I'm Rikka! We chatted a bit through email yesterday. I'm so sorry to hear about you're not feeling well, and I hope you're feeling better. You looked amazing out there though!"
"Korra, was it?" The other interrupted, only getting an annoyed glance from Rikka.
"Yea. Nice to meet you both of you. What's your name?" Korra responded, making sure eye contact was established. This girl looked like she could be bossy and Korra wanted to make herself clear that Korra was no pushover.
She smirked and extended her hand. "It is a pleasure to have you here, Korra. My name is Kuvira. You have quite the glare. I'm not sure some of those freshman may be coming back after today."
"The way you bend water is simply phenomenal. By chance do you hail from one of the tribes? Rikka acquired, her eyes betraying a dying curiosity. Before Korra could open her mouth to form a syllable, Kuvira swiftly took charge.
"Our dear Korra is from one of the small settlements in the Southern Water Tribe. She was a highly ranked junior. Educational establishments and national teams from both Tribes recruited her. Yet she chose to come to the fine institution that is Republic City University. My sources failed to supply me more information, but it looked like you intended to be on our varsity team? The varsity team does do an extraordinary job placing its players in the game for life."
Korra's suspicions were confirmed: Kuvira was intimidating and to be watched out for.
"Stalking much?" Rikka chided, lightly punching Kuvira in the shoulder. Kuvira did not budge, but maintained eye contact with Korra. A small smile found itself onto her face, transforming Kuvira's menacing features into seducing ones. Kuvira rolled her eyes to Rikka.
"Oh Rikka, you know how much I love to know…well everything." Kuvira readjusted her focus to Korra. "My curiosity couldn't help but cultivate when you sent me Korra's inquiry about our club. She sounded so professional and concerned about the possibility that she had missed the tryouts for our travel team that I knew she had to be a catch. So I simply attempted to fill in some blanks. I'm surprised you didn't do the same, otherwise why would you forward me the email, Rikka?"
"Why do all the work when you're more than willing to do it for me?" Rikka replied jovially, not at all slighted by Kuvira's rant. Turning to Korra, Rikka smiled, "Welcome to club pro-bending! We would love to hear how we were fortunate to end up with you, but I still have other matches to go and examine."
Rikka sent a quick glance at Kuvira, who seemed ready to speak, and firmly added, "As does Kuvira. I'll send you an email telling you what team you'll be on! It was nice to meet you and I hope you feel better!"
As Rikka began to walk away, she quickly rushed back and whispered into Korra's ear, "I'm also from the Southern Water Tribe! If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to contact me!"
Korra blushed at the close proximity Rikka had been in, and could still smell her lotus flowered perfume. Kuvira chuckled and nodded a farewell, taking quick, steady strides to catch up to the energetic Rikka.
Only one year.