They were winning. They were actually winning.
Mako's heart was pounding and adrenaline was rushing through his veins. They were in the semi-finalists. If they won this round they were on to the championship. If they won the championship they won the jackpot.
Mako was running forward with Korra at his heels. "Mako, to your left!" Korra yelled.
Mako knew the tactic and quickly rolled in the direction he was told. He felt the water rush past him and the firebender on the opposite team was quickly covered. In an instant the water froze and Korra pushed the statue back putting the ice statue of a man into zone three. But Mako was focused on the other team's earthbender. He was only in zone two while his waterbender had been knocked into the pit and his firebender was now in zone three.
Bolin was shooting rocks at the now thawed out firebender with a zone gap between them. Korra ran over to help.
That left the earthbender to Mako. The other team had won the first round, The Fire Ferrets had won the second round. If they won this round they won the game. Mako jumped up and sent fire raining down from his heel. Mako made sure to land behind the line. The earthbender quickly shifted out of the way of Mako's fire and sent two discs flying his direction. Mako easily blocked them and then started to shoot fireballs at him. Disc after disc now. Mako was on the defensive. There was no way he was going to push this guy back at the rate he was shooting those discs.
A disc hit his foot and Mako landed flat on his face. He quickly rolled as another one soared past his head. He tried to spin upwards with a burst of fire to gain his footing. Before he could turn around all the way he felt an impact to the back of his head.
He was out like a light in a matter of seconds.
Mako could only remember one other time he'd been knocked unconscious.
"Mako!"
The shrill screech echoed down the alleyway. Mako jumped up and instantly ran towards the sound of his younger brother. He skidded around a corner and was almost instantly hit with his brother's green clad shaking form. The two toppled over and rolled across the grimy street.
"What's wrong, Bolin?" Mako asked as they came to a rest.
"I-I was just trying to get some fresh food for us, Mako." Bolin said quickly.
"Bolin… What did you do?" Mako asked warily.
"Nothing!" Bolin cried. "Before I could get there a pygmy panther jumped out of a trash can and scared the living spirits out of me!" Nine-year-old Bolin clutched Mako's shirt. He was quivering.
Eleven-year-old Mako sighed. "It's alright, Bolin. Let's just get back to our shelter, alright?"
Bolin nodded and Mako led him back to their shed in the alleyway. Mako had been up all night making their nice little shed while Bolin had curled up on top of their bags and slept. The shelter was cleverly disguised so that unless you were looking for it you wouldn't be able to find it. It was also conveniently located a block away from the marketplace.
Mako and Bolin crept back into their shed. The various candles spread within gave them enough light to be able to see. Sunlight also came in through the holes. In the left corner of the room was their stockpile. They had enough for today, but they'd have to go searching for some food tomorrow. "Stay put. Alright?" Mako said as he sat and leaned against the wall.
"Alright, Mako." Bolin agreed.
Mako had to give the poor kid some credit. He was only nine. Mako had been nine when they'd first had to hit the streets. Right after their parents had disappeared and left them alone. Bolin had been seven.
It seemed like three seconds later when a shout from Bolin was startling Mako awake again. He jumped up and ran outside. Bolin was within eyesight and a red furry creature appeared to be attacking him. "Bolin!" Mako yelled as his fist caught aflame.
"Oh! Hey, Mako!" Bolin replied. The red creature stopped and perched on Bolin's shoulder. It was a fire ferret. It appeared a little underfed. The flames surrounding Mako's fist dissipated. "This is Pabu! I just found him. I told him we could keep him. We can keep him, right?" Bolin batted his eyelashes and put on his best polar bear-puppy eyes.
Mako weighed the options. "Fine. But you're in charge of him, Bolin. That means you have to get extra food and everything for him."
"Thank you, thank you, Mako!" Bolin cried and hugged Mako tightly. Pabu licked Mako's face affectionately.
"Ya, ya." Mako squirmed. "Now I'm going back in. Don't get yourself into any trouble."
"Oh I won't, Mako!" Bolin promised enthusiastically.
Mako yawned as he went back into their little shed. Really the only thing that separated him from Bolin was a sheet of metal that was riddled with holes. The biggest hole was near the bottom. He laid down on his side on the layers of blankets he'd spread out to make the floor and watched Bolin through it. He was simply playing with the fire ferret in the street.
Mako blinked. He swore that's all he did and suddenly everything outside was dark. He resisted the urge to cuss as he realized Bolin wasn't inside. "Mako!" Bolin cried.
"For Agni's sake!" Mako groaned and rushed out of the shelter. "What is it this time, Bolin?"
Mako looked up and found Bolin was surrounded by four men. All of them much larger and older than them. Pabu was wrapped around Bolin's neck and seemed to be quivering. The knocking of Bolin's knees was all too obvious. "Mako?" Bolin squeaked.
"What are you doing here?" Mako demanded of the men. Mako appeared to be fierce and serious on the outside. On the inside he was just as scared as Bolin.
"We should be asking the same of you. You're the one trespassing." One of the men replied.
"We are not!" Mako protested.
"This alley belongs to the Equalists, kid." The man growled.
"Fine then! We'll get out of your precious little alley." Mako yelled back. "Just let us pack up."
"No packing." A different man said. He brought a knife out of his belt and held it dangerously close to Bolin's throat.
Mako lost it.
He threw a fist of fire forward and then quickly created a ring of fire around them all. He ran through the flames and then pulled Bolin out. He kept a hold of Bolin's wrist as they sprinted down the alleyways and streets. As Mako made a sharp turn he ran straight into a frying pan. Someone had been dumping its contents into the streets. Mako rebounded backwards into Bolin and had enough time to say ouch before he passed out. The lady with the frying pan ended up being a kind and hospitable woman. She allowed them to stay in her house for a month. Food included.
Mako groaned as he became aware of a steady pounding in his head.
"Hey, I think he's coming to!" Bolin's voice chirped.
"Mako?" Korra asked. "Can you hear us?"
Mako peeled his eyes open and found that several people were hovering over him. Two of them were Korra and Bolin. He felt like he was moving, but wasn't sure how because he was pretty sure his legs weren't moving. His eyes drooped shut again.
"Mako?" Korra asked again.
"Don't talk so loud." Mako mumbled. His head pounded with every beat of his heart.
"Do you remember what happened?" Korra asked with a hint of concern in her voice.
Mako tried to nod and then winced. "Ya." He croaked.
"That guy cheap shotted you, Mako!" Bolin cried with outrage. "It's against the rules to aim for a person's head! And he got at you from behind! Totally cheap!"
"Did we win?" Mako asked. He opened his eyes again to look at Korra and Bolin.
"Of course!" Bolin said as a wild grin spread across his face. "The refs called the cheap shot and gave them a two zone penalty. We automatically won!"
Mako smiled widely despite the throbbing pain in his head. They were going to the championship!
Korra was smiling too. "Look, Mako. They're taking you to the hospital to check out your head. Please cooperate with them."
"I'll try." Mako replied.
He couldn't believe it.
They were going to the championships.
A/N: I love Mako and Bolin so much, but I'd like to know more about their background. So I took the liberty to make some of it up! :D I actually wrote this a while ago before we had a lot of the information we do now. So please excuse any fallacies if you find any.