Title: Adequation
Rating: T
Disclaimer: Don't own Legend of Korra.
Summary: Avatar Korra, having mastered three out of four elements, was about to take charge of her own life and finally learn airbending in the grand city of her predecessor, Aang – is it any surprise that she missed the stop at RepublicCity?
Korra could say a lot of things about growing up in the White Lotus Compound. She never got to be a child. She rarely got to see her parents. Rarely was she allowed of the Compound, but rarer still was she allowed to be among the Tribe Settlements. She probably wouldn't even know basic Southern Water Tribe traditions if it weren't for Sifu Katara.
But Korra would concede that she did receive quite a large education, because the longer she rode Naga along the coast, the more she was remembering her old, boring lesions of Geography on the EarthKingdom.
Either that, or she finally got in touch with her Spiritual side, and Avatars of the past were whispering in her ear.
Whichever it was, Korra wasn't complaining at that moment. She had a general direction; (East. Don't stray from the coast.) She had enough food for a week for both her and Naga. (Some she'd taken from the Abbey, and felt guilty about. Some she found in Naga's saddlebag.) And most importantly, she had Naga, whose steady gait was still three times as fast as her own, and got her farther in two days than she would in a week.
Unfortunately, the terrain was interspersed with jagged cliffs from the mountain range just north of them, and it was requiring quite a bit of tricky maneuvering. Naga just wasn't used to travelling like this, with rocks, roots and vegetation all around and no snow to cushion her leaps and bounds; Korra could tell that Naga was tiring out physically.
Biting her lip, Korra pulled sharply on Naga's reigns, signaling the end of travel for the night. Without preamble, Naga collapsed right where they were, and Korra felt the stirring of even more pangs of guilt.
"Alright Naga, I'll unpack you for tonight, okay?" She asked, sliding off the saddle and already unhooking the saddlebags.
"Aruoo." Naga groaned at her. Korra smiled sympathetically.
"I'm sorry, I know it's tough. How 'bout I heal you a bit?" A big, bushy tail wacked her in the leg in response, making Korra laugh. "Okay, okay, hold on."
It was a simple matter to draw water from the ocean and purge it of its salt, but turning it into healing water took a bit more work. Korra might have studied under the best healer in the South Pole (after all, Katara focused on healing after the war – a great effort and symbol for people afterwards) but Korra lacked that innate 'knack' that natural healers had. She was too hard. Or maybe it was just that it was turning into 'spirit' water, and Korra didn't really dig Spirits, no matter that she was the Avatar.
Still, she hunkered down and started running the glowing voodoo along Naga's strained limbs, swatting away the giant head when she tried licking it. "That's enough Naga, let me work. I'll get you food once I'm done, I promise!"
Naga huffed, and let her work for a few minutes more, but suddenly her ears perked up.
Korra looked at Naga, knowing the polar bear-dogs hearing to be better than hers, and stopped bending. "Naga, what is it?"
Slowly, Korra could hear what Naga did. It was off tune, but distinctly the sound of someone singing "….eee…."
She moved to their packs just in case, while Naga stood guard as well.
"….city, ….oooo… eeeettyy!"
Brown and blue eyes cut to one another. They were in agreement.
In minutes, Naga was saddled up again, and they were running as fast as they could from whoever was singing, 'The Girls from Ba Sing Se.'
"Hey Naga, I spy with my liiiiiiittlllle eye…. Something red." Korra toned dramatically.
Naga looked around, and whuffed in a general direction.
"That's right! A bird!" Korra cheered.
"Aruooo…." Naga grumbled out.
"Uhm… a flower?" Korra guessed cluelessly.
Naga snorted. Korra pouted.
"Wrong… Uh, how about a –"
"…Village?" Korra asked in disbelief.
True enough, up ahead was a small port. It was one of those villages stuck half way between old and new, with wooden fishing boats scattered among mechanical ones, and a number of brick buildings among the wooden.
"What do you think, Naga? Should we go in, or skirt it?" Korra bit her thumb, and then promptly made a face at the taste. "Maybe we should at least go in for a bite to eat?"
Leading Naga into the port, Korra marveled at how little mind they were given. It always seemed like everyone should stare at Naga, but there wasn't anybody here who paid them any mind. Smiling a goof, she pulled alongside a man. "Excuse me; is there a tea shop around here?" Korra asked, a plan rapidly pulling itself together in her mind at the thought of food.
"Further down the main road." A hoarse voice told her before the old man toddled off without waiting a thanks.
"Gee… I hope everyone's not like that. C'mon Naga. Best just use your nose." Korra told the polar bear-dog.
The teashop was easy to find after that, and soon enough Korra had dismounted and sauntered in. "Hi, I'll take… a pot of brown tea… and three sticks of octosquid… oh! And some Neros! I love those!" Korra cheered on seeing the spicy snack.
"Seven yuans." She was told in a droll voice.
"Uh-huh… uh.." It took her a moment to remember that piece of advice: that the world revolved around money. Patting herself down, Korra tried to find where she put the money all those days ago. "Um, hang on. Lemme check Naga."
The clerks lips pursed, but he didn't say anything as she hurried out of the store.
"Yu-ans… Yu-ans.." Korra muttered to herself. Finally, she pulled out a sack of coins. "Seven of these things? Or maybe the paper things?" Irate, she just grabbed the whole bag. "Sorry, can you help me? What's 'seven yu-ans'?"
Eyebrows raised, the man looked at the bag, and Korra didn't think much of the smirk as he took out seven of the paper sheets. "Here, I'll get your order."
Happy to have paid, Korra stowed away the rest, her stomach gurgling at the thought of food.
Korra and Naga inhaled the food as it came out, and, with stuffed stomachs, made their way out of the port town.
"You know Naga, maybe this money thing isn't all that complicated after all! I mean, it was just give and take like any trade, you know?" Korra grinned, happy with her success. "So let's get moving!" She cheered, and Naga's pace increased to reflect that.
"Stupid girl." The clerk muttered to himself, even as he greedily eyed the seventy yuans he'd gotten from her.
"HEY!" A voice called out before she could exit the town proper. Korra looked around for the voice.
A burly looking EarthKingdom man was running up to Naga, an angry look in his eyes.
"What do you want?" Korra asked defensively.
"Girl, you think you can just waltz right in here?" The man sneered, and as if it were a cue, several more men detached from the surrounding buildings.
Korra tightened her grip on Naga's reins. "I haven't done anything wrong."
"You 'aven't paid the fee." A seedy looking man leered.
"Fee? What fee?"
"This one!" Someone snarled, and Korra found herself tackled to the ground. Behind her, Naga let out a bellow, and Korra struggled in the hold.
Three of the men had Naga surrounded, and from here Korra could smell burning fur – was one of them a firebender – yet it seemed that Naga was also just plain trapped, her feet lodged in the earth.
Fuming, Korra jerked her head up into the guy's nose, and rolled out of the hold into a standing position. "Hey! LEAVE NAGA ALONE!"
A blast of fire came her way, and Korra dodged it right into a boulder. "Ugh!" She grimaced, and backed up to get her footing.
Looking up, Korra's eyes widened as she saw the ropes that were being bound around Naga, the polar bear-dog's mouth already muzzled closed. "No! Arrgh!" Quickly, she sent a burst of fire in their direction.
She had to get Naga free, get them out of here! Kicking with brute force, she sent one guy flying and blocked a boulder, before sending another flaming fist their way. Slowly, she made her way over to Naga. Still surrounded though, Korra looked around. There had to be some way…!
Gritting her teeth, Korra summoned up a whirlwind of fire, and stomped to free Naga before leaping on the polar bear-dog's back. "Go, Naga!" She cried out, and split the flames as the dog leapt free of ropes.
The men behind her let out curses, and so Korra kept sending more and more fire behind them, trying to distract them, get away away away-
The town entrance was in sight, passing, a blur – and they were gone.
It took a further two days of travel, even with Korra and Naga now on an actual road along the coast. Finally, she could see something large growing in the distance.
"C'mon Naga, if we hurry we'll see it by nightfall! We're almost there!" Excitement bled in her voice, and Korra fisted the air giddily.
True to word, the hours passed at a brisk pace and not long after nightfall, they rounded a cliff that overlooked the great city.
"Wow…" Korra breathed. Miles stretched before her, farms turning into houses turning into buildings, and clear across the mouth of the river and bay, was a golden lit building, with a city towering behind it.
"Amazing! Naga, isn't it beautiful?" Korra twitched, wanting so much to just break Naga into a run. Thinking of the last few days, however, Korra erred on the side of caution and instead she dismounted. "We should stay here all night, okay? We'll leave early, and get there in the morning."
They were happy to gaze upon the end of their journey, to relax in hope it was over.