(A/N): Final fic for the Pro-Bending Circut.
*Note: I actually cuss in this fic so...just saying*
Task: One person fights another, focusing on the person who won
Prompts:
(color) - crimson
(smell) - rain
Word Count (Not including author's note): 1,762 words
When she had planned out the path, most of the crew members had gotten worried, arguing that late is better than never but they were two weeks behind and they couldn't risk being any later without losing the majority of their sponsors. Korra knew this. Asami had confided in her over a whiskey late at night as both of them let out their day's stress into the punching bag Korra kept in her room. When they exited the government protected waters and towards the unsafe path, they stuck together, holding hands and hoping for the best. The entire crew was vigilant for any trouble. That's what you get for bringing them into piracy prone waters, Asami had said to Korra as the two of them steered the ship, avoiding anything that looked suspicious. The trip was three days long, shorter than the ten day long trip that the safer path would take. When the first day had passed without any trouble, it felt like everyone on the ship had let out a sigh of relief; half of them getting ready for bed while the other half got ready to guard.
As the second day rolled around, the ship stayed tense, ready for an attack anytime. The crew members took shifts on guarding the ship and cargo, keeping a weapon on them at all times. Was taking this path a good idea? Asami told Korra as they steered away from another ship that showed up on the radar. Korra knew Asami hated the fact it was her fault that her crew members were so scared.
"It isn't your fault," she reasoned. "The path had to be taken."
"There were multiple paths. Safer ways to reach the destination with only a little more time," Asami argued, pacing back and forth in the room.
"The path is safe. The crew can defend themselves and so can we. No one is going to get harmed on the trip." Asami had nodded and Korra had put on a confident smile.
Neither of them believed it.
"Last day of the trip; hopefully nothing goes wrong," Asami said as she directed the crew on what they were to do. "Keep a weapon on you at all times and stick with another crew member. Watch each other's backs. No one is going to get hurt on this trip." The crew members murmured among themselves, grabbing daggers and knives and wandering out of the room. Asami sighed, looking over to Korra who gave her quick thumbs up before looking back at the radar. The usually empty screen showed a large boat coming their way.
"No way," Korra muttered as she upped their speed and grabbed the intercom. She looked over at Asami who seemed to have realized the same problem. "I swear I didn't look away from the screen for a second. Where did the boat come from?"
"I don't know but we need to get rid of it," Asami said.
The intercom cackled, slowly warming up from lack of use.
"There's a boat coming our way. Keep calm and just follow the drill," she said quickly. From the corner of her eye, she could see Asami furiously pressing buttons trying to drop the boat. It didn't seem to be working. Korra opened her mouth to continue her speech when she heard a scream from outside the door. The radar beeped, showing her that the boat was close, too close for Korra's comfort. Grabbing a sword from under the steering wheel, she planted a quick kiss on Asami's cheek before she ran out the door. Behind her she could hear Asami curse before grabbing a sword and chasing after her. Korra bounded up the stairs, taking them two steps at a time, running from hallway to hallway, knowing the layout of the boat by heart. Grabbing the door handle, she pushed the door to the deck open. The smell of salt water and rain from the previous few days greeted her. Normally it would be relaxing but today it just made her nauseous.
The crew members stood around the perimeter of the boat, weapons out and glaring at the pirates. The boat across from them was a large, industrial shipping boat. On the deck stood a large group of men and women, weapons out and ready to fight. Korra had always assumed by pirates, people meant bearded guys with oversized, hole-ridden shirts and gold teeth; not the people who stood on the opposite boat. One of the pirates was wearing a Harry Potter T-shirt and another was wearing a god damn skirt.
Whoever the captain was, he or she was making sure that the boat matched the same speed and parallel to Asami's. A door slammed opened. A woman emerged, wearing a green, militaristic suit, with a death glare that made the crew shudder. Korra could easily that she was the captain of the ship. Walking close to the edge of the ship, the woman hopped over the rail and (somehow) leapt over to Asami's boat; grabbing a hold of the handles and flipping herself over. She leaned on the railing casually, as if she was just a friend who had visited the boat before. The crew surrounded her, refusing to back down yet obviously scared of what would happen.
"Hello," the lady said. "I'm Kuvira and I'm going to take everything off of this ship." She smiled, obviously having gone through this routine multiple times.
"Who's your captain?" She demanded, looking between the crew members. Korra could tell that she knew that it was Asami; she was only trying to get a reaction out of the crew. Asami walked forward and the crew parted for her. She reached near the front of the crowd when Korra stepped up.
"Get the fuck off my ship," she said angrily, her hand holding the hilt of her sword, ready to draw at any moment.
"Now why would I do that? I don't have everything yet," Kuvira said. "Now if you'll cooperate, everything will be just fine."
"I said get off my fucking ship," Korra practically screamed. Korra smirked, pulling out a sword from her belt.
"You're a stubborn one aren't you," she said, leaning forward, her sword scarily close to Korra's face. Korra didn't flinch, instead staring Kuvira in the eye with the best glare that she could do.
"Bring me to the cargo or else my crew will come onto this ship and kill every single one of your friends there," Kuvira hissed, grabbing Asami's arm and pulling her in close, holding the knife to her throat. "Let's start with this one shall we?"
Asami shook her head furiously at Korra. She pretended not to notice, pushing pass Kuvira and walking towards the cargo door, looking over at Kuvira with the corner of her eye. When she saw that Kuvira had dropped Asami and was walking towards her, she stopped.
"Why are you stopping?" Kuvira demanded, holding her sword up. Korra smiled.
"We can't fight over there, what if we hurt someone?" she said innocently. "I want a one-on-one match; whoever wins, wins, no rematches, nobody else but us."
Kuvira smirked. "You think you can beat me?"
In a quick fluid motion, Korra lunged forward, drawing out her sword, the tip right below Kuvira's nose. The smirk was replaced with a sneer.
"Yes," Korra declared, pulling the sword back and getting back into her starting stance.
Kuvira narrowed her eyes, looking at Korra suspiciously. They stayed still for a moment, waiting for the other person to take the first move. Kuvira attacked, thrusting the blade towards Korra's face which Korra blocked instinctively, pushing the blade away and towards the ground. The ship was silent besides the clanging of the swords. Everyone seemed to be holding a collective breath, waiting for someone to go wrong.
The loud ringing of the swords was not unnatural to Korra who spent most of her childhood practicing sword fighting techniques. She blocked and attacked; ducking under the swinging sword, ignoring the crimson stream of blood running down her face. When she got into a duel, nothing else mattered besides where the sword was going to land next.
Korra knew that it was coming. There was a slight hesitation in Kuvira's blade and she took it, disarming her and kicking the sword over board. Kuvira glared at her, running forward head on, knocking Korra off balance and dropping the blade on the ground. Without a moment of hesitation, Korra blocked the punch from Kuvira and flips her over onto the ground.
"It's over, get off my ship," she said, forcefully. Kuvira sneers.
"If it's over, then I should be dead," she said. Korra looked at her, confused. She fought against people, defended herself and the people around her but never killed anyone.
Kuvira laughed, using the hesitation to free herself and flipping Korra over. Korra mentally slapped herself for letting her guard down for even a second. Her arms and legs were pinned down; she had nothing to get herself out of the situation.
The first punch from Kuvira was unexpected. By the fifth, Korra's face felt numb. She had pushed back, tried every way to free herself yet she found herself stuck. From the corner of her eye, she could see the crew members in shock, some of them trying to come forward and others pulling them back. Then she saw a blur of red and all of Kuvira's weight was gone. Everything was blurry for a second before she realized that Asami had pushed Kuvira back against the ship railing and punched her hard in the stomach, multiple times. She inwardly winced, she knew from experience of practicing fighting with Asami that her punches weren't fun things.
With a final punch in the jaw, Kuvira fell over, spitting out some blood then a tooth. "See, your girlfriend here knows how a fight works." She smiled, throwing the tooth at Korra who automatically caught it before instantly dropping it on the ground. "Good fight, I'll see you guys later." And with that, she went over to the side of the boat and jumped back over to the ship. The crew members stared as the pirate ship steered away and back towards the ocean. When it was finally out of sight, the crew members let out a sigh of relief.
"That was a close one," Korra noted, as she stared at the tooth that Kuvira left on the deck.
"We're safe. That's all that matters," Asami said, kicking the tooth off the deck.
"Yeah, that's all that matters."
(A/N)#2: Shush. I can't write endings.
