The months following Netso's arrival were some of the best. Korra and Hattak were advancing quickly in their waterbending training and had a blast sparring with one another. Korra asked Katara about learning more combat forms, having developed a more aggressive waterbending style, but Katara was hesitant. Though she knew that Korra would eventually have to learn how to fight, she wanted to help the young Avatar learn more defensive techniques. Combat would come when she was a bit older.

"How old though?!" Korra whined one day flopping over in the snow. She had been practicing how to redirect attacks for a month now and it was making her crazy.

"Why don't we begin offensive training when you turn eight?" Katara suggested, sitting down for a bit. "Just another year, alright? Your brother only just begun his sparring." That seemed to appease Korra for now at least. One more year… "I think that it's time we ended our lesson today. It's a bit early, but I have some business to attend to."

"So, I get the whole afternoon off?!" Korra sat up again, her eyes glowing. Katara smiled and nodded, watching as she scrambled to her feet to bow hastily. "Thank you for today Master goodbye!" She was gone in a flash, rushing home. It was such a bright and clear day out, and Korra knew exactly what she wanted to do. Once home, she began to rummage through the food storage, finding dried fish jerky.

"What are you going to do with that?" Hattak came in right then to catch his little sister. Netso was right behind him, carrying a large book.

"Shouldn't you be at school?" Korra asked, hiding the fish.

"No, it's the weekend silly. Netso was going to show me his Pro Bending collection." Hattak rolled his eyes. "You're the one who's supposed to be at school."

"Master Katara gave me the day off." She thought for a moment, then held up the food. "I'm going Penguin Sledding!"

"Penguin Sledding?" Netso tilted his head, a little confused.

"You've been here for six months and haven't tried it?!" Korra was shocked. Netso had been visiting regularly now for a while, teaching them about Pro Bending, sharing his radio when events were going on, and had formed a strong bond with the two younger kids. The idea that Netso hadn't even heard of Penguin Sledding was insane to her. "You gotta come with me then!" Korra grabbed more jerky, holding it up to him.

"I… I'm not sure if…" Netso tried to refuse, nervous about what he was getting into.

"It's a lot of fun!" Now Hattak was roped into the idea of going Penguin sledding as well. Netso looked at each kid, their pleading eyes, and caved.

"Alright…" He nodded in agreement and both kids cheered. Netso left his book on the table and wrote a note in case someone came looking for them before he was dragged off by Korra and Hattak. Outside the village, about a mile away, there was a small colony of penguins who waited for any fish that the villagers tossed out. They were fairly friendly with people as a result, making them the perfect ones to catch. Hattak showed Netso how to use the bait they brought and lead the penguins to the edge of the slope.

"Grab onto the top flippers…" Hattak felt the penguin begin to squirm uncomfortably. "And…"

"-GO!" Korra shoved her penguin forward and they had a bumpy start down the hill. Hattak went out after her to catch up and Netso gently pushed his forward. The icy wind whipped across their cheeks as they screamed with joy. Seeing a ledge nearby, Korra leaned hard to the left and flew into the air for a brief moment. Hattak and Netso tried to follow suit, but Netso fumbled and flew off his bird. The two rolled a bit, nearly snowballing out of control.

"HeEeEeEeEeLlLlLlLlP!" Netso screamed as he tried to find anything to end his decent downhill. Hattak swooped in close, reaching out and grabbing his friend's hand, getting yanked off course as well. It worked well enough though and both boys were able to slow down and came to a full stop. "Ha… Hahaha…!" Netso began laughing nervously as his heart exploded out of his chest. Hattak began to chuckle as well, watching their penguins hop up and waddle away with angry honking noises.

"Not bad for your first time…!" Hattak slowly moved to stand up before helping his friend gain his own footing. "You ok?"

"Yeah! Maybe a shorter slope next time for practice." Netso admitted softly. This had been the most fun he had since coming to the south pole! "Wait… Where did Korra go?"

Korra's cheers of delight drowned out the sound of Hattak and Netso's accident. She was focused solely on going as fast as possible and beating her brother. For as long as they had been sledding together, Hattak had been able to use his weight and skill to beat her in every race. For once it seemed like she had taken the lead and there was no way she would look back now and jinx herself! As she came up to a turn, she noticed an alternate path… Maybe a shortcut? Korra decided to risk it and turned right just far enough to enter the ice tunnel and picked up more speed on the smooth ice. As she burst out the other end, she had one last jump before slowing to a stop and rolling off.

"I WON!" Korra shouted to the world. "I BEAT HATTAK!" The cheers and gloating lasted for another minute before she slowly got up, looking at the way she came. Netso and her brother should be here by now… Or she should at least hear them coming. Looking around, Korra realized this place wasn't as familiar as she first thought. Though she had been riding on that slope most of her life, she usually stuck to the same path every time. Had this new route not been a shortcut, but led her a completely different way?

"Hattaaaaaaaaak! Neeeeeeetsooooooooooo!" Korra shouted up the tunnel, but the only response was her echo. Maybe they had taken the other route and were farther off to the left? Answers wouldn't come if she just stayed there, so Korra began walking off to see if she could find the two boys. As she walked in the general direction she thought they would have ended up, a noise caught her attention.

The snow was a natural muffler for most sounds, so the crying Korra heard had to be near. Whimpering, whining, and then a high-pitched bark made her heart skip a beat. "A polar bear dog?" Korra had seen a few around town, but never one in the wild before! This one sounded like it was hurt, and she immediately ran after it. A few minutes of searching and Korra spotted a ball of white fur curled up on the ground. "No way…!" She giggled with excitement. "Hi there!" The animal's ears twitched, and it looked up with small brown eyes as it growled. Korra stopped approaching for a moment as the dog's fur bristled and it tried to look intimidating. The only problem was that this was only a pup, and too small to be frightening.

"It's ok little one…" Korra wondered where its mother was. No other footprints were around however. "Are you alone too? It's ok!" The pup was thin and probably hungry, so Korra rummaged through her pockets. "Here! I still have some fish jerky! I was going to use it to feed the penguins, but you can have it." She walked a little closer, tossing the meat at first. The dog was confused, sniffing it cautiously before gently licking and finally taking a bite of the treat. Korra watched with awe and fascination as the animal ate and came a little closer with more food. The dog was hesitant, but snatched the piece out of her hand, chewing happily.

Korra giggled, happy the animal trusted her already. Korra then got on all fours and bounced around, pretending to bark. This confused the pup, though slowly as Korra continued hopping around, its tail began to wag and it grew more playful. Soon the two children were bouncing around, rolling in the snow as they played together without a care in the world.

"Are you sure you checked everywhere?!" Tonraq asked again, looking around the slope in terror.

"We looked around the whole hillside…!" Hattak was choking back tears of fear. At first Netso and Hattak made it down the hill together, figuring Korra would be at the bottom waiting for them. When she wasn't however, they began looking around to see where she might have landed, but with no footprints to go by they were completely lost. Hattak began to panic as the realization that his little sister was lost and it was his fault began to set in. Dark storm clouds were in the distance which couldn't be a good sign at all. Netso helped Hattak focus however and the two hurried home to inform their parents what had happened.

"We'll search again." Tonraq was in a panic, but careful not to yell or snap at his son who was hardly keeping it together. He and several members of the village and the White Lotus were all searching for Korra, hoping to find her before the blizzard hit. After that they would have to wait out the storm.

Korra hadn't noticed the snowfall at first, too busy playing with her new friend. As the wind picked up though, the cheerful barks faded and she looked up to feel the wind whipping around them. "Uh oh…" Korra was already having trouble seeing beyond their immediate surroundings and it was probably only going to get worse. How was she going to get home like this? Her new friend whined and she gently patted its head.

"Don't worry girl." Korra said with confidence. "I'll keep us safe." Her lessons on snow bending specifically were paying off now as Korra created a wall to block the direction of the wind, compacted it, and slowly morphed it into a solid igloo. It took a little work and some creativity, but within a few minutes the two had a shelter from the immediate danger. "Come on!" Korra beckoned the dog in and the two curled up together as the wind picked up speed.

"Not too bad if I say so myself!" Korra smirked at her ingenuity and quick thinking. The only problem now was that it was dark inside. "Maybe I can try fire bending…!" Plopping on the ground, the pup watched curiously as Korra ripped off her gloves and began trying to produce fire out of nothing. A few licks and whisps appeared at first, but she couldn't quite maintain it yet. A vein bulged on her head as she focused so hard until she suddenly produced a flame too large and burned her hand for a moment.

"OW!" Korra whined, looking at the mark it left. A bit red and the first layer of skin was singed, but that was all. It hurt a lot more than it looked. "I guess I have a long way to go before I can actually make fire…" She sighed, disappointed in herself. The pup whined, beginning to gently lick the wound for her. Korra smiled, rubbing the polar bear dog in its big head with her good hand as it did so. "Don't worry. This storm will pass in no time, then we can go home together!" Korra yawned, feeling drowsiness take over her. She laid down and the pup curled around her, one keeping the other warm as they drifted off to sleep…

"…orra…! …orra…!" Distantly, someone was rousing Korra from her sleep, followed by a powerful shaking sensation. As she woke up, it became more and more powerful until she opened her eyes. "KORRA!" It was Hattak, tears streaming down his cheeks as he shook his sister awake.

"Mmmmmm…" Korra rubbed her eyes to clear her vision and spoke in a drowsy voice. "Taki… What took you so long?" She mumbled as her father checked to see if she was injured or sick. "Daddy…!" She grinned at him as she registered his presence. "Daddy, I beat Hattak in penguin sledding…! And I made a new friend." She looked around to see if the pup was still there, but didn't have a chance before her family yanked her close, smothering her in a tight hug.

"You're ok! Oh, thank everything my little girl is safe!" Tonraq was on the verge of crying too, but had more composure. Hattak was sobbing quietly on the other hand, the relief and guilt overwhelming him. Korra had no idea how long she had been gone, but she let her brother and father embrace her until they calmed down.

A wiggling snout broke up the moment for them as the pup who had stayed with Korra tried to get between them all, worried its new friend might be hurt. "Taki look!" Korra sat back and wrapped a arm out the white furball's neck. "I made a new friend too! She kept me warm in the igloo I made!" That explained to Tonraq why Korra had done so well on her own. This small dog protected Korra and prevented hypothermia while they waited out the storm together last night. "Daddy can we keep her?!" Korra looked up with wide, pleading eyes as she hugged her animal friend.

"I…" Tonraq was against the idea of getting a dog entirely, or any pet for that matter. He had never really been fond of animals after all. "Let's go home and talk about this later." Tonraq got up, not wanting to deal with this right now and discuss it with his wife after things settled down. Korra wasn't ready to let the chance slip away so easily though.

"Ok." She nodded, scooping up the dog and holding it like a baby. "Come on Naga! We're going home now!" Great, she had already decided on a name for it…