Perhaps it was the noble ladies and lords that where constantly roaming the hallways, or how everyone was so careful to stand on ceremony. Either way, Korra could barely stand to be trapped in the palace, which is why when he friends finally found her, they found her sleeping next to her horse Naga in the stable.
"Korra!" Asami yelled, causing the young girl to sit up with a jolt. "Honestly, we are offered goose down beds and comforters and pillows stuffed with swan feathers and your sleeping on the hay! What am I gonna do with you..." The beauty mused and Korra smirked, rubbing the back of her head. "Oh don't you give me that smile, up, up, up!"
The mercenary groaned as she was forced up, giving the her three companions a tired look, "Oy, what is the big idea...it's not like I was doing anything wrong..."
"Well the king has been so kind as to ask us to join him and his son's for lunch..." Tenzin started to say when Asami finished.
"And you can't go meeting the King smelling like a barn!" She yelled and Korra groaned as she felt herself get dragged back inside the castle. "I don't get you sometimes Korra..." She said and the Avatar snorted as she continued to drag through the castle.
"I'm a mercenary...personal hygiene is not usually on high of our priority list..." She said, frowning as she pulled a piece of hay from her hair. Asami didn't seem to fall for that argument though, and pushed the girl into the guest bathroom that was connected to the room that Korra refused to use. As she started to shed her armor, she could feel Asami's hand's quickly undressing her, and tossing her into the cold bathtub. "Shit it's freezing!"
Asami huffed, breathing out through her nose, "Well maybe if it didn't take so long to find you it would have been warm!" She said, and the nobleman's daughter pushed up her sleeves, grabbing a scrub brush and soap as she started to rub off the dirt on Korra's skin.
"GAH ASAMI YOU'RE RUBBING ME RAW!"
"SHUT UP AND STAND STILL! HOW DOES SOMEONE EVEN GET THIS MUCH DIRT ON THEM!"
The two's exchange continued like that for awhile, water splashing each way, and pouring out of the tub as it turned to a light brown color. When Asami was satisfied with her job, she pulled the swords woman out, plopping her down on the ground with a towel as she tried to undo the nots in her hair.
"Honestly Korra, you should take some care in your appearence..." She said but the young girl gave the same response as always.
"No one cares what you look like on the battlefield..." With that Korra looked forward, tears pricking her eyes as her friend pulled on the knots and tangles in her hair. "Damn you're merciless woman..."
Asami laughed at that, pulling out the last knot, and putting her friends hair up in her ponytail. "There we go, all clean, no smell, and brushed hair..." Proud of her work, she rolled down her sleeves and went to check her own appearance in the mirror when she heard the clanking of armor behind her. "Korra, you can't mean to wear your armor at the dinning table!"
Korra's cheeks puffed out, "Of course I do, you know I don't feel comfortable without it on!" She said and put the final piece of thin metal plating on, "Plus, this stops people from trying to walk up and stab me in the back...like last time..."
The two friends frowned at the thought, knowing that their where more men who wanted them dead than wanted to be her friends. Asami looked at the ground, her dark eyes studying the floor when she felt a familiar hard slap on her back, "Come on can't keep the king waiting can we!" Her friend said, showing off a large, cheesy grin as she headed out the door.
The two where a few minutes late to the table. The king himself didn't mind, but the rudeness did not go unnoticed by the Crown Prince who sat their with a bitter scowl on his face. As Korra took her seat across from him and the King, at a spot usually reserved for a guest of honor, the prince had to add his remark, "I hope you will show more dedication and timeliness towards your job, Mercenary..."
Korra raised an eyebrow, before a cold smile rested on her face, "Do not worry your highness, MY blade never misses it's target..." The prince flinched slightly at the comment, but he wasn't about to let her have the upper hand.
"Well maybe if you didn't have to spend so much time putting on armor when you are just joining us to eat, then you might have made it on time..." He took a sip of the first course soup in front of him, looking up through his eye lashes for a reaction. "I mean, really, wearing battle armor to a meal, what are you thinking, commoner..."
Korra's cold smile didn't waver on his face, "Well Your Highness, when as many men want you dead as me, then perhaps you could understand my sentiment towards armor at the dinning table..." She bent down and started sipping on her soup, trying her best to put all those years of Asami's manners teaching to use.
Prince Mako clicked his tongue at her, "Are you that concerned that you would think you would be murdered at the King's own table! Our guards are perfectly capable from keeping all threats away..." It wasn't Korra who responded this time, but instead the quiet and reserved Howl, who himself was wearing chain mail under his tunic.
"Forgive us for the insult Your Highness, It's just we have had the misfortune of being turned on by our employers more than once before..." he said, his grey steely eyes casted down towards the meal, not once looking up while he spoke. Mako's face turned red, as he turned his attention back to his meal when he brother's voice pipped up.
"So Korra! You must have ton's of adventures and stories to tell huh!" Bolin, the second prince of Republic, had asked so eagerly. He was clutching onto the his spoon with hands that seemed to big for someone who hadn't yet seen their 15th winter, as he looked at the Avatar. His eyes where practically shinning with excitement, as he continued to try and urger Korra for stories.
"I'm sorry Prince Bolin..." Korra replied, the same cold smile on her face, "My stories are hardly appropriate for conversation over the dinning table..." She said and Bolin's face fell. It was with that the all conversation at the table had died, the ladies, lords and the second prince feeling slightly uncomfortable at the heavy silence. Though the mercenary group, continued to eat, their thoughts focused on the food that was to good to be true.
Korra threw her friends a look, "This..." she said in a voice that was just below a whisper, " .good...do you think they'll get mad if I ask for thirds..." She asked Asami under her breath.
"Aye, can't say, might as well ask, and if you get thirds make sure you get me some to.." The beauty added, a smile on both of their faces as Korra cleared her throat.
"Can me and Asami have more please?" She asked the King who let out a joyous laugh as some servants came and placed another meal in front of the two of them.
"That's your third set!" Mako exclaimed his eyes wide, "You two are ladies, how can you let yourselves indulge as such!"
Korra shrugged and gulped down another piece of meat, "Can't let food go to waste!" She simply, but the disgusted look on Mako's face didn't disappear.
"Still you shouldn't eat until your full! Have some self respect!" He practically demanded, and Korra glared back at the prince. Mako flinched at the look, slightly shocked by it, since people where usually to afraid to look at him at all, never mind giving him a menacing look. "I...I-...honestly..."
Korra finished chewing her piece of meat, and Tenzin rubbed the bridge of his nose when he saw that look on her face, "You've never been hungry have you Prince..." She said, stabbing another piece of meat with her fork, as she waited for the Prince's response. "No of course you haven't, you've been raised her, all comfortable and nice inside the palace, never wanting for food..."
Mako's face had flushed red, and he stood up abruptly, knocking his chair to the ground as he glared at Korra. "You...You are a beast of a woman you know that..."
"And you are a failure of a man!" Korra slammed her fist down on the table so hard it caused the whole table to shake. People's eyes grew wide, as the mercenary slid her chair back, standing up as well.
"She-she can't say something like that to Prince Mako!"
"She'll be hanged!"
"Who does this arrogant girl think she is!"
The whispers soon spread throughout the servants and Ladies and Lords who where dinning further down the table. Mako just ignored them though, keeping his eyes focused on the Avatar. She might have been thought pretty once, it her skin hadn't been darkened so much from the sun. Maybe if she would shed that bulky armor, and put on a nice dress, or stopped pulling her hair up like a man, she could have been thought of as cute.
Mako stopped himself from having such thoughts, and his eyes drifted towards Asami. There had been rumors of a girl of unparalleled beauty who traveled with the legendary mercenary. They called her the 'Beast Master' since she was the only person who the Avatar would blindly listen to and follow around like a lost puppy. She was more of his type, or at least that was what he decided.
He was pulled out of his thoughts by Korra's surprisingly feminine voice, "If you would excuse me your lordship..." She said, not giving a bow like the common curtesy was as she turned on her heel and marched out of the hall.
"I like that girl..." The King said simply, sipping on his tea and Mako clicked his tongue.
"She's a beast Father..." He said and the king chuckled in response.
"Yes but I've always been fond of animals..."
\\\-/
Korra nearly kicked over a decorative suit of armor as she stalked the hallways. Mako's pompous attitude was just a constant reminder on why she could not stand nobility. Any mission she took from a higher up, they always acted disappointed with her, as if they where expecting something completely different.
"Damn the spirits, just what where the expecting! I'm only me!" She said her sighing becoming heavier and heavier until she came up the courtyard. It seemed more like a small forest in the middle of the castle than a garden and the girl looked around in amazement. "Aye this is more like it..." She said, withdrawing one of her swords and holding it out in front of her.
She waited until she could feel a breeze, and then swung her sword quickly in that direction, as if she was trying to the wind in half. Yet she stumbled, throwing to much weight and force behind the movement, and she nearly dropped her weapon. Regaining her posture, she tried again only to be meet with similar results.
"Still no luck I see..." The voice came from her swordsmanship teacher Tenzin and the young girl frowned, sheathing her sword in aggravation. "Just be patient Korra, it will come to you..."
The girl crinkled her nose, "Aye it won't I can't do this whole, fight the wind thing Tenzin..." She said with a sigh and her teacher came by her side.
"Perhaps you are just anxious..." He said, and the girl raised an eyebrow. "Tonight we should go out and see what information we can find regarding the rebellion..."
Korra nodded her head, surprisingly serious when it came to work, "Aye, but it won't be easy, the king made a mistake by making my arrival so public. It would have been easier if I could have infiltrated their ranks and gained their trust...this is gonna make it so much more difficult..."
Tenzin smiled as he looked at her, stroking his beard, "Do you ever turn away from a challenge?" He asked, and Korra showed him a grin some may have mistaken as evil.
"Never...