I own nothing but my OC
The waves lap at the sides of the ship, spraying water into the air. I watch over the side as we roll into the international port of Republic City. Midday here is nonstop traffic filled with the back and forth movement of the lunch rush. I hear the faint sound of a horn honking in the distance while a delivery driver haggles with a ship captain. To think that 5 years ago I was still living the quiet country life of the Southern Water tribe, I smile to myself.
An updraft of wind whips my hair from my face, the boat horn announcing our docking. I leave the top deck to return to my cabin, eager to grab my bags and catch my next boat to air temple island. My white lotus escort passes by me on their way to the cargo hold. They've come a long way in the past couple decades, from being considered the most elusive society of Avatar Aang's age, to now where they serve the Avatar and any of their connected remnants. Katara had insisted they escort me despite the numerous protests I had, arguing that the ship had crew would be enough. But my previous master wouldn't have any of that.
"We should be ready in a few minutes Master Tien." I nod in thanks to one of the men dressed in the dark blue and white of the white lotus regalia. I step aside as people file past me, leaving the ship and moving beyond the docked ships. They merge into the city streets, lined with Sato Mobiles and trolleys and pedestrians of all nationalities.
My breath catches and my throat tightens, a combination of nerves and excitement rising within me. I take a deep breath of the salty air before stepping off the boat. ready for my next stop.
'Oh my god this place!' I marvel at the size of these buildings and the sheer amount of space here. I can't help but gape at the sight. I've travelled numerous times to larger cities but those places are nothing compared to this massive metropolis. All the satomobiles and just the sheer number of people is almost overwhelming. I lean back in my seat of my ride, trying to see the top of passing building. All I can catch a glance of is the windows reflecting the afternoon sunlight though. My escorts wind the satomobile through a few sidestreets, taking us to a smaller dock a mile up the coast for more local traffic to travel throughout the bay. We park at a less impressive ship, not like the metal vessel I rode here but it has some charm. Its older and smaller, built for the sole purpose of ferrying passengers to the island. The Lotus members unload my few things from the car to the ferry as I catch sight of Air temple island from our location. It's a short lived moment as it only takes one trip to have my things loaded on the ferry.
The trip to the island is quiet and cold. I can't help but frown as I pull my jacket tighter around me, a bit put off that I chose to wear a lighter grey set of robes rather than the heavy blue ones I was used to wearing in the south. The ride isn't unbearable as my travel companions offer me some tea to warm up. I feel as if I've just boarded the ferry though and now we're docking yet again. I disembark after the Lotus escorts, the island's air acolytes and a familiar giant of a man I'd grown quite fond of are there to greet us.
"Riala!" I grin, hearing that familiar timber voice sound out over the noise of the crew docking us. I walk off the ship, arm outstretched to give him a hug.
"Tenzin, how've you been?" His beard twitches into a smile as he wraps his arms around my shoulders, I can just barely see over top of his shoulder to where Pema waits patiently at the top of the hill. I can make out 3 little figures jumping excitedly around her. I pull away from tenzin.
"I'm happy now that you've arrived." He leads me away from the boat, asking the acolytes to take my things to my room. "And I was glad to get your letter, the Republic City Police Academy is excited to have you from what I hear."
"Yes, and thank you for setting that up Tenzin. When Korra passed her Waterbending exam finally, truthfully, I didn't know what else to do with myself. She finished and I -" Tenzin rests a hand on my shoulder "-Really, Riala it's no worries. They were all too eager to have you aboard." I give him a grateful smile. I watch the air acolytes move around us and hustle up the hill with my things.
"Thank you Tenzin. And thank you for offering to let me stay with you at the island." I gesture to my things as he waves off my gratitude.
"Riala I think you underestimate how welcome you are. Pema will love having someone else around, and I'm sure the children will too." I smile, excited to finally see pema again. Tenzin always made it a habit to visit Korra as much as he could and sometimes Pema and the kids were alongside him. We always had a good time catching up during these visits.
"How is family life?" I quirk an eyebrow at him, thinking of a recent story Katara had told me of her grandson, Meelo. I see that Tenzin has aged quite a bit from his years as a father, but he smiles, chuckling.
"They're all doing well, thank you. Jinora and Ikki are at that age where they're starting to bicker though, and Meelo, he doesn't like being left out of the mix." I chuckle, walking alongside him as we move to the heart of the island. "Pema must be having fun." I remark sarcastically.
"Well...she wants another baby." Tenzin shakes his head in disbelief.
"And you-?"
"What happens will happen, I'm busy of course-" I nod, thinking of his duties as councilman. "- and I want to enjoy our time with our kids now, but I'll admit-" he smiles "-I wouldn't mind another." I shake my head playfully.
"I don't know how you do it Tenzin."
"Coffee." He says bluntly. Tenzin and I laugh as we catch up until finally reaching Pema and the kids. Pema and I hug, the woman grinning ear to ear as she introduces their kids. Jinora is very well spoken, asking me if I'd answer some questions about my training. Ikki compliments my outfit and asks about her Grandmother. And meelo slyly hugs my legs, earning a laugh from me. Pema shoos her kids away while Tenzin leads me to my room in the girls' dormitories. Its a two story building facing the city with several rooms and a staircase to the second floor in the rear. The grounds are beautifully manicured and there is a garden nearby. Tenzin leads me inside.
"There's not too many air acolytes here so you'll have some relative privacy. I took the liberty of giving you a room on the second floor, these down here aren't full but I think you'll appreciate the view upstairs." I pat Tenzin's arm.
"Again. Thank you Tenzin." He smiles and the air acolytes return from upstairs, having finished delivering my luggage. "Pema is making dinner at 5, once you're settled I'll give you a tour of the island."
I nod as he leaves, thankful for some time to myself after nearly 5 days of travel. He is right of course, the view is beautiful. My room overlooks the bay towards the city and at this time of day the sun is nearly set. The lights of the city are reflecting off the water I can see just over the tree line, I take a minute to just appreciate it while I sit in the window seat. Once I'm satisfied I smile and look at my room, feeling more grateful for having Tenzin as a friend as I think of my prospective future here.
My first day at the Police Academy is grueling, the workouts are tough and I one heck of a time trying to find my way to my office but gods I can't deny that feeling adventure. Tenzin's friend, it turns out, is a man by the name of Tonah, an earthbender in charge of the rigorous training for all the new cadets. Tenzin wasn't wrong though when he said he'd been all too eager to have me join his teaching board.
He goes on and on about my experience and my qualifications while I sit awkwardly, trying to ask more about my position and what he expects of me. It must just be the newness of having a waterbender at the academy, I think. From what I've gathered a majority of the squad was made up of either earthbenders or firebenders. Of course any waterbenders were needed elsewhere, the city's fire departments, healers for hospitals and medics, and they were always looking for them in the Navy. He leads me through the building to introduce me to his team of trainers, a few members of the real Republic Police force that only work part time in order to teach.
It's made up of 3 firebenders, Rima, Lau and Shiyu. Then there's Alix, a strong woman if there ever was one who is training to make it to assignment on a metalbending task force. I'm barely aware of Tonah looking at me as he talks about my training with the Avatar to them.
Rima gives me a look up and down. "So you're Tien?" I give her a questioning look, not sure why I would have to defend my credentials to this woman.
"I could show you some I.D.?" I joke, which gets some laughs.
"I mean- I don't mean to doubt you but..." She shrugs. "-my bad, I just thought you'd be a little different really." I smile.
"Yes. Well I mean I get it, honestly, alot of people don't try to make their bending a lifetime learning experience. I had some issues finding a Master when I went North. Mostly because they didn't think I had enough experience." I pause, "That's not to sound arrogant. Its just I did have issues when I started out. I didn't look the part, people thought I was too young, or they just thought 'Master Tien' was a man before they found out my name was Riala." I tick off all these on my fingers. "Its funny how this day in age you still get people like that..."
"But you trained with Master Katara? And those years in the north and south? Tonah said you learned from both nations?"
"Yes." There's some nods of approval. Nowadays Waterbending was taught in schools and classes for some basic uses for kids to learn but fighting and protecting yourself wasn't as common an ideology as it is for the Avatar. Healing was regularly taught though.
"Tien has an extensive background yes, and while she doesn't have any police training she does have what it takes to train a cadet." Tonah explains. "She'll be running drills with us and whipping our rookies into shape." I smile and nod to Tonah.
"I was about 5 when I started my waterbending training and I had a lot of support from my parents to do what I do. I've assisted my masters in training and I've had the chance to train with an earthbending nation's city police as well. I look forward to getting these cadets into the best shape we can for Republic City." I say, hoping to try to wrap up this Q & A. Tonah nods and claps his hands to call attention to himself.
"Well if we're all set I believe we've got our work cut out for us. The Chief will be in some time this week to see the new cadets and get an update." I blink, surprised to hear how fast things move here. "Make our new member feel welcome, no hazing, no tricks-" He laughs as he sees my surprise "-only joking." I laugh awkwardly, dispersing from the gym so they can get back to work and Tonah can finish showing me the Academy.
I see classrooms and smaller training rooms all equipped for different bending abilities. Some with concrete floors and no mats, others with only dirt floors, another room is set up with metal obelisks dispersed throughout the room. "Metal bender training." He explains. He shows me the route to the student dorms and the area where teachers' have their offices set up.
"I believe that's it for here." I watch as groups of cadets move about in the halls, either on their way to lunch or classes. "I can show you the Police Headquarters if you'd like? Occasionally we get calls to train with the police force and it might help to know where it is if you need to. Another thing is sometimes the Chief calls us on security detail."
"Am I a part of that as well?" I ask, no caring if I am or aren't. Tonah nods, "You're technically what we call a member of civilian law enforcement. With your background too I have no doubt she'll call on you if she needs to." I nod, eager to get to work.
Tonah gestures me out the door. "Let's talk a walk to HQ then, shall we?"
"Lead the way." I say, watching the cadets milling about.
Tonah and I walk a couple blocks over to the Police Station, a sprinkle of rain falling over the city. Tonah asks me about working with the Avatar and Katara as we walk. I answer as best I can while creating a wide umbrella over us to keep the rain off of us.
"You're quite handy." He laughs. I smile while we walk into the Station square. A statue of the first Chief of Police, Toph Beifong, looming over the entrance. Tonah sees my surprise as I look at the statue.
"I had the same reaction my first time seeing her." He leads me up the steps, officers and citizens filing in or out depending on their business. "Chief Beifong does well to hold up her mother's legacy."
I nod approvingly as we enter the building. I gaze around at the lobby of the station, clerks all around, people sitting in the center around granite pillars, a republic city police force insignia in the center of the floor. Tonah leads me past the clerks and jumps into a tour of the station, his city issued uniform getting him past the clerks.
I see holding cells in back, and floors of multiple offices with different departments and department heads. In one particular section of the building there's a few large gymnasiums and some barracks in back for officers working doubles or those that are too tired to make it home. All the while there are still people coming and going. Not a minute later there's an influx of uniforms as Tonah tells me the shifts are changing. We head back to the lobby, following the crowd.
He stands with me in the middle of the lobby. "So, how's your first day?" I nod, undoubtedly impressed and excited to start training and working. "Exciting."
"Glad to hear it." Tonah smiles and we exit the building. He's starting to point ahead of us when he smiles excitedly.
"Chief Beifong, good to see you." I pause to watch him walk up to an older, stern looking woman. She's in uniform, but its different than the khaki green I'd seen from other officers or even from Tonah's grey uniform. Her coat is open despite the chilly winter air, displaying the metal uniform accented by black and yellow. I follow behind Tonah as he greets her. She's tall, matching Tonah's height, and if I could bet on it she's nearly Tenzin's height.
"Tonah. What brings you to my neck of the woods?" He looks to me eagerly.
"Just showing our new trainer around the mill." He smirks, I reach out my hand to the Chief. My stomach turning as I find myself face to face with the Chief of Police on my first day.
"Riala Tien. Pleasure to meet you." I bite my cheek, the name Beifong ringing a bell with me as my thoughts race with memories and stories of Toph. I remember Zaofu despite my best efforts. 'No, don't bring those memories up.' I tell myself.
She gives me a once over before giving my hand a firm squeeze with her's. Her hand is warm and solid as it shakes mine. Its that handshake that makes me realize why her officers would follow her. She's formidable and tough...with a soft spot for something I'm couldn't place my finger on.
"Likewise. Although I have to admit-" I fight the urge to roll my eyes at the predictable surprise "-I pictured you differently." I bit my lip shyly before speaking.
"I get that a lot." She quirks her eyebrow, surprised or unsure I can't tell. I get an uneasy feeling that she's a person I could either get along with or not, it all depends on right now though.
"Well good to have you aboard. You don't find too many waterbenders on the force." She makes to leave but pauses, looking at Tonah. "They could actually use her in the med bay too." She looks at me, her green eyes catching me off guard. "You have experience right?"
I nod. "A bit." Tonah shakes his head.
"She could get a reference from Master Katara if need be Chief." I give Tonah a look, mentally begging him to stop talking me up to the her. The last thing I need are higher expectations on my first day.
"Cool the fangirling Tonah." She gives me a nod, "-if you ever need something else to do the med bay can always use an extra hand." I give her a nod, "Yes ma'am."
"Just Chief, Tien."
"Alright, Chief." I say trying it out. She nods and leaves, "Get to it kids, this city can't run itself." She disappears into the Headquarters behind us. I see a massive statue perched in a large window in the center of the building. Another tribute to Toph Beifong of course.
Tonah pulls me along and I stop marveling at the architecture.
"She's very-" I start, trying to find the right word.
"Yes." Tonah answers before I can finish.
"Serious?-" I try, but that's not the right word. It describes her but its not what I'm looking for.
"-Yes." He answers again.
"Stern?" I try, ignoring his quick answers.
"Yes." Tonah agrees again.
"-I don't know what the word is-" I admit, skipping over his answer once more.
"Really?" Tonah laughs, giving me an astonished look. I shrug.
"She seems as if she's all of the above really but-" Tonah waves off my ramblings.
"She's tougher than metal but everyone knows she's got a soft spot for her officers-" He puts a hand on my shoulder "-but don't screw up. She can make your life a living hell if she wants to." He let's go of my shoulder, adding, "So do your work and do it well." I watch him roll his eyes exasperatedly, "A few officers go astray and she has no issues laying them down if need be."
"Sounds about right."
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