A/N: Word count: 1,245. Prompts: Beach ball, Tahno, silver, Action, Adventure
"Everyone, please do not panic! Stay calm! We will get the situation under control soon!"
The circus master yelled from her megaphone from a top the soapbox, watching the now tiresome people attempt to fight off the aggressive lion vultures. A middle-aged woman dressed in a long, green cheongsam that had a large, blooming flower design going up the left side of it. Her black hair that was once tied in a neat bun was disorderly, with half now out of her bun. She couldn't figure out how her animals became loose or how to get them back in their cages. They hadn't been tamed enough for circus use yet and their trainer was nowhere in sight.
"Can I use the megaphone next?"
She turned to see Ikki standing next to her with a wide grin on her face. In her arms was a large, silver beach ball.
"Who in the world are you? And is…is that my beach ball?! Have you been in my dressing tent?!"
"Why don't you just call everyone inside the tent. The lion vultures aren't going to follow them inside an enclosed establishment plus they're too busy looking for cabbages and unfortunately, most of the cabbages from the stand have gone missing so maybe you should head to the market and-"
The circus master couldn't take Ikki's rambling. Today was just not the day. "Alright, alright. Here. Take the stupid megaphone. I've had enough of this business anyway."
Ikki set the beach ball down and gratefully took the megaphone. Now she could talk everyone's ear off and be sure they could hear her. After balancing herself on the ball, she began to talk into the megaphone, using her air bending to amplify her voice further.
"Everyone, single file into the circus tent. No pushing or shoving please. And no trampling either. Retreat to the safety of the tent one at a time but go fast enough but not too fast or other someone will get trampled. Make sure you also take a bathroom break and drink plenty of fluids, fighting off wild animals can really drain your body after all. And make sure.."
Either the crowd was listening to Ikki or her rambling was driving them nuts. They shouted at one another to go inside the tent. Ikki wondered why they didn't do it in the first place.
"Ikki! There you are!" She heard her elder sister yell behind her.
"Jinora! Korra!" She turned around to see Korra and Jinora holding sacks of something slung on their shoulder. "You missed all the action. First this man tried to throw earth discs at one of the lion vultures but then its beck was so strong that it just broke right through it and it dive at the man and-"
"Can you tell us after we get the lion vultures under control?" Korra asked as she grabbed the megaphone from Ikki, who didn't realize she was still talking into it. "Have you seen Meelo?"
Ikki thought for a moment. "Hmm…Yep!"
Korra sighed in relief. "Good, where?"
"In the sky. Flying around."
Jinora and Korra blinked, confusion written on their face. "Flying?" They asked in unison.
Ikki pointed up at the sky.
Normally, Korra would have been shocked by what she saw but the day had been so weird, nothing shocked her anymore. Meelo was flying around on a lion vulture. She was glad Tenzin wasn't there or he'd have a heart attack.
"Onward, my steed, and we'll show these circus animals who's boss!" He yelled.
"Meelo, get down from that lion vulture right now!" Korra yelled.
"Sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of my domination!" Meelo ignored the rest of the shouting coming from the ground. He was king of the sky right now. He thought the other lion vultures saw him as one of them now, seeing as they didn't seem to mind is presence as he glided through the air.
With the people now inside the tent, the lion vultures were now just circling around. A few landed on the ground to take catnaps.
Meelo's new friend took him soaring past the circus, through the cluster of trees that rested just west of where the circus was. The wind brushing past him as he watched the world below him go by was the best feeling ever. He knew air was the best element but this sealed the deal.
"Forget being heroes. Let's be wanderers. We can make money selling the weird artifacts we find on our journeys!"
A purring sound came from his new companion. Actually, it was a stomach rumble.
"Hm, I'm kind of hungry too. We could head back to the circus for food or…" He thought.
Past the trees was a clearing people frequented. With the circus close by, not many people were out that day. Well, there was one person.
Tahno had set up a picnic for himself and two of his lady friends. Even though he was no longer a pro-bender, his job as a musician still kept many of them interested. As they settled on the blanket, he pulled out the food he had in his basket: a pouch of sweet buns, a few sandwiches on a plate and a bottle of pink lemonade.
"Well now, ladies.." Tahno began, smiling at the two giggling girls in front of him. He held up the sandwiches and pouch of sweet buns.
Before any of them could reach for the food, Meelo and his lion vulture swooped down and in a flash, it was all gone.
"What the…" He said in disbelief.
They flew off with Meelo sticking his head in the cloth pouch of sweet buns. The lion vulture had just finished swallowing the sandwiches.
"These are better than mom's" He said in a muffled tone from stuffing his face with the buns.
His chewing drowned out the screeching of another lion vulture, which rammed into his. Had he not been an air bender and great with balance, he would have fallen off. Luckily, he was able to cling to its mane as its wings flapped about, hissing at the other lion vulture.
"This means war!" He cried.
After steadying himself, he leaned forward and grabbed a hold of the furry creature. "To battle!" It screeched in response and dived towards the other lion vulture.
A small battle ensued, with both lion vultures swatting and nipping at one another, twisting and turning as they flew through the sky.
"Go left, no, go right! Aim for the eyes!" Meelo cheered. His father's teachings of peace and harmony didn't seem to have much affect on him at the moment.
His lion vulture charged at the other one once again. The two became entangled, clawing and biting at one another. Meelo tumbled with them, hanging on for dear life.
"Whoa!" He cried as his body involuntarily moved about. During all this time, he'd managed to hang on to the pouch of sweet buns, but one wrong bump made his hand slip and they fell down to the ground.
The opposing lion vulture immediately ignored them and dived after the sweet buns.
"After those buns!" He commanded. The lion vulture ignored him. It remained hovering in the sky, seeming to look at something in the distance. "What's wrong boy? Is there a mystery that needs solving or a damsel that needs saving?"
The lion vulture sped them off towards the direction of the circus.
"Onward to another adventure!"