"This is it." thought Korra. She had her feet firmly planted on the ground. Her staff in her hand. Master Tenzin stood far behind her, his three children looking on eagerly.
Korra felt the morning air around her, how it flowed, changed direction in an instant, but as always, it worked silently. She held on to the smooth wood of the staff that had taken her nearly a month to fashion, under her Master's guidance. She smiled as the wings of the glider unfurled neatly from the sides of the staff, the pesky mechanism had previously given her so much trouble that when she had finally gotten it to work properly, she could hardly contain herself.
Korra did admit though, that when Tenzin had first told her that the next stage of her training was learning to fly, it felt a little overwhelming, given the fact that Airbending wasn't easy for her, but Korra never backed down from a challenge.
She had always admired Jinora, Ikki and Meelo's skill with their gliders, and on days when her patience concerning creating her own glider was non existent, just looking at the three children soaring through the air was enough to rekindle her determination.
Now standing on a small cliff, Korra was about to attempt flight for the first time. It was only about a four foot drop into the ocean, but Korra hoped that she wouldn't need the calm water to break her fall. As she let the wind catch the paper wings of the glider, Tenzin called to her, "Don't fight the air, Korra!"
Before Korra had a chance to think about what he meant, a stray wind caught her and pushed her over the cliff.
Tenzin grimaced, and waited to hear the splash announcing the Avatars failure... but none came.
Above them, Korra could be seen floating along an air currant, her triumphant victory cry echoing loudly. Korra could hear the children cheering for her on the ground. She was flying, albeit clumsily, but still airborne.
"WOOOHOO!" she cried "TAKE THAT!" However, her triumph was short lived, for a terrifying thought hit her "Uh, Tenzin?" she shouted over the wind, unsure if he could even hear her "HOW DO I LAND THIS THING?"
As if sensing a mortal weakness, the wind picked up, pulling the glider away from the shore, away from Airbender Island. Korra felt like her arms would be torn out of their sockets as she held on to her aircraft for dear life. The wind, which had seemed so welcoming and friendly earlier, toyed with her. It shook her like a tree. It tossed her and turned her mercilessly. Korra grunted as she fought to keep the glider balanced.
She was coming into the mainland now, but Korra still tried to turn around, resulting in a sharp plummet towards the Pro- Bending Arena. After a last minute attempt to steer the glider in a different direction, she only just managed to raise one arm to protect herself against the inevitable collision.
"AAAAARGH!" *crash*
"Korra?"
"Ugh..." she grumbled, aware of a shooting pain in her side. Korra, opened her eyes and raised her head to find herself nose to nose with none other than Mako.
"Owww..." she groaned.
"Just wondering, how exactly did you manage to get stuck in my ceiling?" asked the Firebender impatiently.
Korra, now fully awake glanced around at her surroundings. She was seemed to be in Bolin and Makos attic, or rather, HALF in the attic. She suspected that her behind could clearly be seen protruding from the roof of the Pro- Bending Arena.
She looked at Mako and smiled sheepishly "First flying lesson."
"I didn't know the Bisons hated you this much" he smirked.
Had both of Korra's arms been free, she would have put them on her hips and scowled at him, but unfortunately her left arm was trapped between the sharp roof tiles. "As a matter of fact, the Bisons actually don't hate me." she said "I was using a glider."
"Not very well. That much is obvious." Mako laughed.
Korra released a long line of swear words.
"Be nice, or I may just leave you hanging there."
"Oh really? Me? Here? All day, all night long? I thought you'd had enough of me during training! Besides, I've been told I can be quite an annoying roommate when I want to be." smiled Korra innocently.
Mako didn't need much more persuasion than that. "Fine then!" he groaned, grabbing hold of her free arm and trying to pull Korra down from the low ceiling.
