Runaway Freak
"Hey, this is Korra, I can't come to the phone right now, but if you leave a message, I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Peace out…! Bye!"
"Oh, Korra, it's Mommy… Daddy and I are so worried about you. Daddy's okay, a little burned, but he'll live. He always does. … Korra, what happened was real. If you happen to be one of those mutants, it doesn't make us love you any less. You'll always be our Korra, sweetie. We love you, still. We love you… so much. Oh, Korra… Please. Come home."
She didn't know how her powers began to manifest.
She had it all. Scholarship in lacrosse, great network of friends at school, go to college. It was going to be an amazing life after graduation.
The future was right in front of her.
Then she accidentally burned her father. They were innocently playing touch football with each other, then all of a sudden, fire came out of her hands, burning Tonraq's arm.
Looking at her hands, every part of her began to shook. She hurt her father. Her entire being wasn't actually human. She was a monster.
One of them.
A mutant.
They'd come after her. Tear her apart, limb from limb and it would all go away. Lacrosse, her friends, the college scholarship.
The future was gone.
And here she was in a back alley, hiding from the rest of the world.
The rain made everything gloomier.
It wasn't just fire she could shoot out of her hands. Somehow bits of earth and rock moved with her as well. When she was overly moody or upset, water would begin to violently sway as well.
Her insides began to growl. She hadn't eaten since this morning. That was the problem with being on the run. You forget to plan and budget. Begging would be out of the question. One, she had too much pride, and two if she couldn't control her new powers, they'd come after her in two seconds flat.
She opened the dumpster in the alley. God, it stank, but finding whatever was in there was better than nothing. At least it was the dumpster of a diner.
The dumpster lid suddenly fell, landing on her hand. Her limb sang in pain as she yowled. An explosion of fire left her hands, and soon all the trash was on fire.
Her eyes widen. Oh, no. She hid behind the back alley, only to set off something to attract attention.
The door opened, revealing a middle aged man with three long ponytails. From the apron on his person, he looked like he was the owner.
Someone saw her.
This guy was going to report her, and she'd find herself in the custody of God knows what.
"No, please… don't hurt me, I didn't mean to set this on fire. Please… Don't report me!"
Surprisingly, the restaurant owner was calm. Moving his hands, the rain and water around them began to move, right to his very will. He instructed the fluid to land on the burning trash, and soon everything was back to normal.
Korra froze.
He was just like her. Was water the only thing he could manipulate? Was he a mutant, too?
He turned to look at her. "You look famished… Come inside. I'll cook something up for you. On the house."
Before he stepped back inside, he turned to look at her again. "My name's Tarrlok… What's yours?"
"Korra… My name is Korra."