The next morning, Korra was very proud to demonstrate to Master Katara what Hattak had showed her. "Now I know how to move the water a lot better!" Korra beamed happily.
"Well done Korra." Katara smiled down as Korra began streaming the water around her body. "Let me see if we can apply this technique in other ways." From that point on Katara adjusted her teaching methods to help Korra see the direction the water was moving before practicing any techniques. This helped them make steady progress day by day. The two of them talked and laughed, watching as more ships began to arrive with members of the White Lotus on board.
"Master Katara, why are so many more of the uniform guys showing up?" Korra finally asked one day as a large metal boat pulled up to the nearest dock and seventeen more men in robes stepped out.
"They're coming to help you." Katara explained. "You'll have a lot to learn in the coming years, and the White Lotus wish to guide you along your journey." The last few men left the ship with a young man trailing after the last few men. He was thin and taller, with pale olive skin and chocolate brown eyes. He didn't have much luggage compared to the others, only one bag that wasn't too large. Clearly, he was accustomed to travel, but not very used to ice. He had hardly taken three steps off the ramp when his feet slipped out from underneath him and he fell flat on his back. Korra giggled, covering her mouth as she watched him groan and try to collect himself. The man in front of him stopped, and helped him back to his feet.
"You're going to need to watch your step from now on Netso." The older man warned him. "At least until we get you some better boots."
"Yes Father…" Netso nodded, his cheeks turning warm as he heard the snickering. He looked up to see who was laughing and Korra stopped, beaming at him innocently as she waved at him.
"Welcome to the South Poooole!" She shouted and Netso smiled nervously, waving back at her before hurrying to catch up with the others. He was much more careful now to only walk where he saw footprints and hoped his shoes had enough traction.
"Alright Korra." Katara pulled the young student's attention back to the lesson at hand. "Let's begin working on your waves."
When Korra got home that evening, their father wanted to speak to Korra. At first, she worried that she might have gotten in trouble. Had he found out about the jerky she was stashing under her bed? Nodding, she sat down at the table across from her dad, stiff and nervous as Hattak helped their mother with dinner.
"I'm sure you saw all the new ships coming in lately during your training." Tonraq began. Korra nodded, wondering where this was going. "Most of them are members of The Order of the White Lotus. They used to help the previous Avatar. Now they are here to help you."
"So, I'm like their boss now?!" Korra loved the idea of being in charge of a bunch of adults. Tonraq laughed at the idea, shaking his head.
"No. Right now they are here to help teach you." He explained. "Eventually you're going to learn all of the other elements, and they want to be here to watch over and be sure you have the best teachers possible." That was all Korra needed to know for now, and she nodded in understanding. "But, in order to give them all a proper welcome, I'm going to have a banquet. I want you to come with me as well so that they all can meet you as well."
Korra pondered the offer a bit. Honestly it sounded like a boring party for a bunch of stuffy old people. No fun at all. "Can Hattak come with me?" She pointed to her brother hopefully. At least then there would be someone that she knew at the party.
"Alright…" Tonraq agreed to his daughter's request.
"The two of you better behave yourselves though." Senna spoke up finally, giving them both a warning look. "No pulling any pranks on our guests." Hattak snickered and casually nodded in understanding. The two of them could get into mischief if they were bored enough.
Korra was wrong. The arty wasn't boring at all. It was EXCRUCIATINGLY dull! Many important leaders had joined the ceremony as well, but after the welcoming ceremony when a few masters did some cool waterbending tricks, the rest was dinner and talking to all the people who came. Korra had a formal, navy blue dress on lined with white fur, and her hair was done up so tight that it itched. Hattak was much better with talking and putting on a nice smile for everyone, but everyone was interested in Korra of course.
Hattak felt for the first time the rift between him and his little sister. The knowledge that one day she would go on to do many important things and he would most likely still be at home… Hated that idea. How long would Korra need him for?
"Come on Takki." Korra grumbled, grabbing his arm when no one was watching and heading for the door. Hattak followed her, watching behind them awkwardly as they left. "Uuuuuugh! That was so LAME!" She groaned when they were finally outside. "Why did dad want us to come?!"
Hattak smile at her, relieved that Korra felt the same. "Yeah, that was even more boring than Master Patsu's history class." Picking up a clump of snow, the two began to use waterbending to send it back and forth, laughing about how silly some of the guests were. "Did you see the balding guy shivering? He had three coats on and was sitting right by the bonfire!"
"I bet he was from the fire nation." Korra stuck her tongue out. "And he's used to it always being warm. Or what about the one with the huge nose?" They continued tossing the snowball until an odd sound caught their attention. A crackling static and grumbling as an excited voice came in and out sporadically. The snow splat on the ground between them as the siblings looked to one another before heading off to investigate.
And in the lef-…olf Bats! "Come on Come on…!" Someone was muttering and Korra spotted a young man fidgeting with a dark brown box that was making the noise. "It's about to start…!"
"What are you doing?" Korra asked, standing right beside the young man. The stranger yelped in surprise, jumping back and looking around. Once she saw his face, Korra recognized him. "Hey, you're the Lotus guy who slipped when you got off the ship!" Korra laughed and the teenager blushed indignantly.
"Y-You saw that?" He muttered, looking between the two kids. "I have better shoes now. I won't be falling again." He sighed and looked back to his box. "Don't tell anyone I'm out here ok? There's a Pro Bending match starting and I don't want to miss it."
"What's Pro Bending?" Hattak asked, leaning in to inspect the box. The dial was turned and finally the sound came in loud and clear. Let the first round, Begin!
"You don't know what pro bending is?" The teenager seemed shocked by how clueless these kids were. "It's a big sport in Republic City! Two teams will fight for territory in a huge ring! They only have three minutes though." Korra and Hattak were immediately drawn into the explanation and they were all crowded around the radio, listening as the match unfolded.
"I'm Netso by the way." He introduced himself during a commercial break.
"I'm Hattak, and this is my little sister Korra." Hattak did the introductions for them and Netso turned to stare at the little girl. Netso hadn't known what to expect when he and his father moved to the South Pole to help the Avatar, but this certainly wasn't it. She was so young!
"Guys it's back on!" Korra shushed them and the three went back to listening intensely while Netso explained the rules to them. It only lasted a few minutes, but they were all jumping and cheering by the end When the Sabretooth Lions took the win. "That was so cool!" Korra's eyes were glowing. "Can we listen to another one? Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleeeeeeaaaaase?!"
"There's going to be another match in five minutes." Netso explained, crouching and drawing in the snow to give the kids a better visual.
"I'm so sorry sir…" Netso's father apologized to Tonraq when they found their children together. "I told him to leave his radio behind but-"
"Don't worry about it." Tonraq smiled, waving it off. "They seem to be enjoying themselves. Korra's already done her job and showed up for the banquet." Korra would have a hard enough life already without the constant pressure from the White Lotus. Tonraq was determined to give Korra slack wherever he could while she was young. If he wasn't the host, he probably would have joined the three of them so he could learn about Pro Bending as well.
(A/N): Thanks for the early on support of my fanfiction guys! I'm going to try and keep my Author's Notes to a minimum and delete them when they become unnecessary. I'm only putting one here because I need a bit of help coming up with a proper title for this story. "Korra Remastered" is obviously just a placeholder for now. If any of you have ideas for a better title I would love to hear them in the comments.