The barely dawning sunlight breaks through azure curtains, confirming that another day has come for her and her father to sail and break through white watered seas. She'd first sailed as a right of passage to her tribe and now have grown to favor it so much she wanted to test herself and challenge the waves and moon for their strength. Her determination and ambition puts her on the ranks of a warrior, like her father.
Rushed footsteps come to the curtain that separates her room from the rest of the hut. Senna, her mother, throws the cloth to the side and with abrupt movements she begins gathering Korra's things into the sack she had strapped to her back.
"Mom? - Mom what are you-" At first her mother doesn't respond and continues to shove Korra's essential belongings into the bag. Korra shuffles out of bed, knocking the covers to the floor, and stands at the edge of the cott. Her mother stops what she's doing and begins to sob into her free hand covering her mouth in a desperate attempt to hold herself together. Korra rushes to her side and holds her by the forearms to try to get the woman to face her.
"What's going on?" Korra's eyes so concerned and determined but her mother knew they were innocent eyes; ignorant ones that had no recognition of the events to come. Senna's hand comes up to Korra's ruffled truffles and begins to smooth them out as she remembers what it was like to try and comb and untangle a restless toddlers locks after days of avoiding a brush. Tears scurry down her mother's cheeks when the reality of never seeing her silly little girl again takes her away to an empty world without a purpose.
"Avatar! To the gates." a slave boy of the arena calls out, her sentence is about to commence. Putting on her ocrea, dark brown locks veil her face to conceal a mild smirk, the young woman looks to the boy to let him know she understands. Her bare feet trudge the ground as she follows the boy. Her posture upright, her chest puffed out, and her chin higher than any gods'. They stop and wait for the large doors to slide open. The corridor is filled with the muffled roar of excited fans behind a wooden clad door, ready for the next braul. Her name dancing amongst the crowds. Adrenaline taking its hold on her, she begins to play with the dirt between her toes in anticipation. The gates slide open and the whole arena overwhelms her senses.
"Don't lose, Avatar." He says, staring down the threshold.
"No worries, kid," she says just before a moose lion roars over the crowd, " I've lived through worse."
She moves in haste to the center of the arena, where her weapons chest is displayed, just past the twenty foot tall moose lion. The massive creature swipes its right fore paw against the ground and charges toward the gladiator.
"Citizens of the Republic, prepare to be entertained, for the Avatar's sentence for the evening: surviving our nations mascot or meeting the rest of her people in the spirit world!" says the munerarius. He sits in the aristocrat box, decorated in the most elegant of fabrics and valuable of metals. In it, with him, are about 7 other men and a woman. They're all draped with long richly colored robes and tunics with golden accents, making a clear contrast between the social classes within the stadium. Surrounded with lavish foods, they laugh and revel, ordering slaves for more, just more in order to establish their superior wealth. Yet none of them could ever match the House of Sato. However, Lady Sato never found it necessary to express her wealth. Why would she, her very name owns the best of the Republic. Shipping services, carriages, metal ware, and a well recognized gladiator school. So she sits in her cathedra ignoring the men and their rudimentary games, she'd rather be watching the show.
The massive beast pounces forward and Korra power glides under to the chest that would usually hold weapons for the match but all she saw was a rope with a noose tied on the end. She scoffs at the indication of what the politicians mean by this. It had been her fifth offense and this is her third time being thrown in with a moose lion. Each time she avoided mutilation with clever tricks, without killing the creatures. The first she'd out ran it and broke the beast, the second she'd tamed, and now is no different. She tosses the noose around in her hand as she contemplates on how to piss off the politicians this time. Her thought process is interrupted by an unnerving crash behind her. Her death sentence just hit the wall for the spectator stands. The crowd cries out in excitement; however, not too long after, they cry out in fear and anguish. The moose lion got over the wall, thanks to the gaping hole it'd made, and is now in the stands terrifying citizens.
It doesn't seem like she has to work too hard to give the nobles an aneurysm this evening. She chuckles to herself at such simplicity. She turns around to walk out of the arena. An easy escape compared to last time.
No blood, no regret. She thought.
"No, my son, my boy!" a shriek in the crowd managed to break through the layers of panic throughout the arena and reached the Avatar. She reacts immediately, rope in hand, she runs toward the beast and tosses the noosed end around one of the antler branches and heaves downward. There's a young boy hugging himself less than five yards away from the creature. The woman pleading to the spirits for their help and graces to save her boy seems to be his mother. She is being held back by a crowd of people trying to evacuate.
Bless the spirits, one less problem. Korra thought to herself struggling to gain control of the beasts head.
The moose lions paws thrash at the child, making him flinch and cry out to his mother. Each of their tones sounds so desperate for the others reassurance and safety it hurts the heart. Korra is now determined to keep that boy safe. She uses her whole body to pull the antlers down. Her arms and legs strain and flex. Her breath comes out as grunts at first, gradually escalating to a well declared roar of power. The beasts head weighs it back, grounding him, nearly crushing the herculean warrior. Korra took this chance and rapped the creatures fore paw to its opposite side hind leg while the it struggles on its back.
At this point the crowd is too panicked to notice that the threat has been averted, so its the munerarius' turn to take his opportunity and have his guards clean up the mess. About fifteen soldiers march out in line and attacks the creature.
"No!" Korra protests. Quickly disarming the first soldier she comes in contact with and begins to defend the beast.
Swing to the left, clash to the right, defend backside. Each swift movement she makes during battle looks as if rehearsed and perfected. Fluid like water. Her grace catches the eyes of those that weren't in the direct path of the previous danger. Mainly aristocratic investors looking to get ahead of their peers. She peeks the interest of one in particular that couldn't break their gaze. Impressed, they all begin to debate and bargain on the matter, all except Lady Sato. While the men quarrel over how much she'd be worth in the games, and who could gain from it the most, she leaves the designated box without raising any awareness. Being female, Head of House or not, you are still invisible to the eye of men.
Her body count grew but it seems like each time she takes down one three more take his place. Eventually she's exceeded the definition of outnumbered. Thirty to one. They form a circle surrounding her, closing in at a slow pace, furious light blue eyes race between each soldier, her mind contours to fabricate an escape plan, each one ending in failure. She closes her eyes and relaxes her face.
Damn them to the afterlife Korra thought. She raises her arms over her head and drops her borrowed weapon. Defeated she gets to her knees and allows one of the soldiers to put a black, and rather musty burlap bag over her head.
Well… I've still survived worse. She thought.