Korra did some jumping jacks to warm herself up. It was dawn, a cold morning, as was the norm nowadays. She'd gotten her tattoo what Azula said was two weeks ago, the ink having took four days to permanently dry in. The training was still as harsh as before, and as of yet, Korra hadn't made any progress with being able to split her bullet into two. She knew that it would take a long time before she'd get even a grasp of how difficult it really was, though, so she didn't mind.
Azula had demonstrated twice in training how to do it. Over the course of the new training, Azula didn't nearly berate Korra as much as she used to. She seemed genuinely… proud that Korra could actually learn it. Azula admitted how difficult it was, which was weird, considering how big her ego was. She told Korra that it took four times as much out of you as one bullet on its own. Korra saw how much of a strain it took on Azula, who was possibly the most natural firebender Korra had ever seen, which really gave perspective.
Azula's movements were so fluid and graceful, her technique elegant. She had more trouble getting her hair to stay in place than producing fire from her fingertips. Generally, when she walked around, she was stiff, and slow. But when she firebent, all the tightness and aches in the old lady's joints seemingly loosened up and allowed her to dance. Even after three decades of not producing a single spark, she was better than any firebender Korra had ever come across.
Korra opened her front door and yawned. She was wearing her usual Fire Nation getup, which she'd worn practically every day ever since she arrived. The twenty-three-year-old had lost her concept of time completely, which admittedly did help focus on training, but was surprised when she was told that she wasn't even gone a year. It felt like two or three. She wondered how the rest of the world was doing without her, and more importantly, how was Kalla doing?
I swear it won't be too much longer, sweetheart, Korra promised mentally, although it was more like a prayer. She had a burning desire just to even spend a day with her daughter, to see how much she had grown, had she said her first words, could she crawl yet, etc. If there had been any spirit vines on the island, Korra probably could've located her, but unfortunately, that wasn't the case.
Korra touched her toes, goosebumps rippling across her skin as the warmth of her small home was lost to the outside. Korra fiddled with her bun, making sure that it was in place. She shut her door, mentally preparing herself for another session. There had been one very pleasant improvement in her day-to-day life now, which she still couldn't get over the giddy feeling of.
The islanders didn't try to make her feel like shit every time she walked by them. Granted, they were never going to like her, no matter what she did, but ever since they saw the tattoo, they didn't say anything to her. Korra still got the occasional loathing look, but it was a testimony to the island that it commanded respect all on its own. Another combustion bender had even complemented her on her quick progress. A complement!
Korra hummed, shaking all the looseness out of her limbs, then peered at the meeting point in the distance. She was trying something new out for the third morning in a row, the time of the day when she had the most energy, and was refreshed. Korra pointed her finger guns at the ground, taking steady, even breaths.
She blasted fire out of her heels and fingers, slowly rising off the ground, not hurrying. She elevated herself to seven metres high easily enough, then upped the power.
Korra flew over to the top of the stairs, only taking a minute or two to do so. She landed comfortably, slowing her descent with perfect timing. The young Avatar reckoned that she could hold her rockets up at a good altitude for five minutes if she wanted to, but hadn't yet had the chance to experiment. The force required to lift her body off the ground was extremely intense, and keeping it all controlled in small rockets so that she didn't lay waste to whatever was below her was essential too.
She was about to go over to her favourite rock to sit on, as Azula wasn't there, but then noticed that the doors weren't actually closed. That meant that Azula must've gone on a walk, as she was able to open the doors by herself now. It wasn't a regular occurrence, but Korra didn't particularly mind. She decided to go look for Azula, as she felt impatient.
"Where can I start?" Korra murmured, not knowing Azula's preferences. It would've seemed strange to an outsider given how much time they had spent together, but Azula didn't like meaningless conversations to pass the time, which was fine by Korra.
Korra's ears perked up as she heard a scream further down the island, from a girl.
That's strange, Korra thought. These guys would only tell someone that they have a broken bone because they have to.
It was a general rule on the island not to show pain, and even though there were always people shouting out of exertion, it was the first time in a good while Korra had genuinely heard a scream like that.
"I won't help them if I associate myself with them," Korra said, deciding to leave it be. It might have seemed heartless, but no-one was nice to her, so she had no reason to be nice back. In fact, it was a kindness in itself that she didn't beat them up. But then she heard Azula's hoarse voice pierce the screams, giving out, and Korra sighed. It was early even for Azula to be giving out. That usually took place an hour into the morning session.
"I'll go check it out," Korra muttered, figuring she had nothing better to do. She hovered down the steps with her rockets, since she'd fallen down them numerous times, landing at the bottom with only a tiny stumble. She walked at a hard pace as the screams continued, getting louder by the second. By the time Korra had rounded the corner and saw Tatsuo regarding whatever was happening with his hands behind his back, she was quite nervous.
"What's going on?" Korra asked, walking up to Tatsuo and looking in the direction he was paying attention. She stopped suddenly in her tracks, her heart leaping into her mouth.
There was a young girl, maybe fifteen or sixteen, with her elbows and knees on the ground, crying out in pain. She was barely able to keep herself from collapsing. Korra guessed that she would've been very good-looking normally, but her face was scrunched up in agony, tears dropping to the ground. The back of her t-shirt was burnt off, the dark red shade of her burnt skin and blood horrifically matching her hair. She was trembling with no doubt a flurry of emotions, all unpleasant, as the beating continued.
"YOU WILL LEARN TO RESPECT ME!" Azula demanded as she continuously beat her blue fire whip onto the girl's back. She looked furious. "HOW DARE YOU DEFY ME?"
"What's going on?!" Korra interrogated Tatsuo, shocked. She'd known that the methods of this island could be extreme, but she'd never experienced anything near this level of punishment. She still didn't get on with Tatsuo, but she put her personal preferences aside for the time being
"She didn't give the Master the full respect she deserved," Tatsuo stated sternly. "And when the girl refused to take her beating by bending the Master's fire whip, she brought this punishment down on herself." Korra could tell that he wasn't 100% on board, though, when she saw him gulp.
"Master Azula, she's had enough!" Korra called out, putting her neck on the line. The ten or so people that were standing around, witnessing the flogging, all sharply turned their attention to her.
"What?!" Azula demanded, a look of disgust on her face as she turned around.
"I said she's had enough!" Korra repeated. "She's about to pass out, I think she's learnt her lesson."
"Avatar, don't get-" Tatsuo started, but was cut off by Azula.
"Don't go getting involved in other people's business," the old lady warned, her whip blazing brightly. All the onlookers stepped away, not wanting to be something Azula could direct her rage at. Behind Azula, the girl shook as she tried her hardest to stay up. Her effort was admirable for a few seconds, but she inevitably collapsed on the ground with a whimper, unable to move.
"She needs help!" Korra urged, gesturing desperately to the girl lying motionless on the ground. "She could get all types of infections if we just leave her there!" The girl began to pass out, which worried Korra even more. "She's about to black out!"
"You're right," Azula agreed menacingly, and turned on her heel, facing the girl again. Her fire whip dissipated as she put her hands behind her back, standing over the burnt and bleeding redhead. "Now, what is your name, girl?"
"Azami," the girl answered, making Korra's heart freeze. She'd pretty much supressed most of her memories of Asami due to guilt, but now that she thought of it, this girl did have a few similarities, like the way they styled their hair, and their general appearance. Korra's heart heaved turbulently as the memory of her break-up came flooding back, just as the sound of Asami's name.
"Asami, was it?" Azula asked.
"Azami," the girl corrected weakly. "With a 'z'."
"Azami," Azula began. "What have you learnt just now through an unnecessary amount of force?"
"I must not disrespect any of my superiors," the girl named Azami started. "And I… I… I…" she tried to continue.
"Spit it out!" Azula ordered. "Or else you're getting another ten lashes!"
"I…" Azami continued, trying to look at Azula, but then, the worst possible thing happened to her. She retched, then threw up half a pint of blood violently, shuddering. Azula may not have minded had it been on the ground, but as it happened, Azami threw up right on Azula's boots.
"You, you…" Azula trailed off, as she stared down at her boots, the disgust on her face transforming into hate. "You… CRETIN!" Azula tried to shake the blood off of her boots, but it sank in immediately. Azula nearly had a stroke for the next minute, as she kept on shaking her feet to get the blood off, to no avail.
"Master, I'm, so, sorry," Azami muttered, barely capable of putting sentences together. "I-"
"YOU CRETIN!" Azula howled again. "YOU FILTHY, SCUM OF THE EARTH, YOU-" Azula was lost as how to express her vehement fury, for the first time ever in Korra's experience. "I'LL MAKE YOU PAY!"
Azula formed an even brighter whip than before, and brought it crashing down repeatedly upon Azami's back as she unleashed her power on the helpless girl. Korra's instincts were screaming to help the girl, but she held back for some reason. She didn't know why, but maybe it was because Azula was her teacher, and was afraid of what might happen to her if she intervened.
"Has this been going on the entire time I've been here?!" Korra asked Tatsuo quietly, horrified as the girl wailed.
"It's how things used to be done," Tatsuo answered, not giving Korra any stick for once, "but the end result was that we scared away a lot of new recruits, so I… relaxed the policy slightly. Everything went smoothly, so I didn't mention it to the Master." Korra could tell that even he, Azula's most loyal servant, her right-hand man, was uncomfortable with this.
"Tell Azula that the girl has had enough!" Korra told him. "She'll listen to you, surely!"
Korra's panic rose even more as the girl's whelps grew weaker and weaker with every strike. The other islanders watched on without any comments. They weren't nodding along with this either. The girl made eye contact with an undecided Korra, while blubbering an apology for Azula. Korra was itching to help, and eventually, she couldn't stand back any longer.
"That's enough, Azula!" she shouted angrily, drawing all pairs of eyes to herself again. "She's had enough, look at her back! There's no point in wasting your time or energy on her anymore."
The girl named Azami was on the brink of death, by the looks of it. Her back was in tatters, a gruesome plane of blood and burns. Korra could literally see the burnt pieces of skin on the ground, that's how bad it was. The girl tried to move, but just moaned as her pain flared at the slightest movement anywhere in her body. Her voice was gone from crying, and she couldn't speak even if she wanted to.
"Very well," Azula agreed, wiping her brow. "Let's proceed with your training. Come along." The former heir to the Fire Nation throne started walking back to the usual arena where Korra trained. She strolled past Korra casually, as if she'd just watered her plants. Meanwhile, everyone else was leaving Azami on her own.
"She's going to die if we don't treat that immediately!" Korra told Azula, throwing her hands up in the air. "You hardly still expect her to treat her back on her own, still?"
"It's about sending a message," Azula stated, regarding Korra with a careless look. "The only reason you've never gotten that is because you've generally been an excellent student the whole way through."
"Would it have anything to do with the other thing?" Korra hinted heavily, not moving. "I talked back to you plenty of times, and I'm doing it right now. So why don't you flog me?"
"You're very enthusiastic," Azula stated dryly, but there was malice in her tone. "You're welcome to try it. Now come along, I don't like to be kept waiting. Leave her in the dirt."
Korra stood there pensively for a minute, torn between doing her duty as the Avatar to help those in need, and wary of stepping over the line. She was under no illusion that most of the islanders would jump at the opportunity to kill her, and by openly disobeying Azula, she wouldn't be helping herself. But there was a bloodied teenager right next to her, and one of the islanders nearby was carrying a bucket of water. She could tell that Azula was the only person who found this okay.
"I'll catch up to you," Korra told Azula, and reached out for the water in the bucket. She pulled it towards herself, holding it suspended just in front of her palm as she knelt down by Azami. Korra pressed the water over the burnt region, which was literally all of Azami's back, and it glowed. She was a tiny bit rusty at waterbending, but got the hang of it back in just a few seconds. She got a lot of mixed looks, people unsure what to think about her waterbending. There was one person who was absolute in what she thought about it, though.
"KORRA!" Azula bellowed, causing the water-tribe girl to jump even though she had expected the response. "What in spirits name are you doing!?"
"Saving a young girl," Korra answered, calm again, as Azami passed out, all the contrasting pressures on her back too much for her to cope with. "I know what I'm about to say will land me in trouble, but what you've just done is abusing your power. I didn't listen to most of my superiors when I was her age, but look at me now, I think I've turned out alright. There's no need for this harsh a punishment."
Korra finished her healing, but still grimaced at the result. There was only one layer of pink, thin skin, which looked like it would snap at any moment. She wasn't happy with it but unfortunately, it would have to do. She faced Azula, who was fuming.
"What does this tattoo mean to you!?" Azula demanded, walking up and poking the combustion bender tattoo on Korra's forehead. "Because it doesn't belong to a waterbender, I can tell you that for sure!"
"It means I have been recognised as someone who is capable of combustion bending," Korra replied, pissed off at Azula herself, "by two or more combustion benders. That was you and Tatsuo, wasn't it?"
Korra felt the atmosphere change from the onlookers as she talked back to Azula. One of them even covered her mouth in shock.
"You should learn your place, seal!" Azula insulted Korra, leaving the young woman to struggle to contain her anger from the racist jibe. "Bend over and prepare yourself for the beating of a lifetime!"
"No!" Korra retorted, drawing a few gasps. "I'm not submissing to your outdated rules! In fact, you should change them!" Korra felt she was dangerously on the tipping point of pushing Azula over the edge.
"I should change my rules?" Azula repeated, offended by the suggestion. "Do you have any idea who you're talking to?"
"I do!" Korra stated matter-of-factly, putting her hands on her hips.
"How do you plan on making me turn to your way of thinking, huh?" Azula questioned, her blue tattoo looking extremely threatening up close.
"You tell me," Korra challenged. "Any type of challenge." She only realised how open that was to answering a second after she'd said it. Burn an orphanage down, or kill the Fire Lord, was what she immediately expected.
But she was rocked by what Azula came out with a few seconds later.
"There's a very simple way to settle this, actually," Azula told Korra. "The stronger firebender should have the say on how this island is governed, don't you think?" Korra didn't reply. "In that case, I think an Agni Kai would fit the bill perfectly!"
Korra blinked, unsure of what she had just heard despite Azula being very articulate. "Pardon?"
"You heard me right," Azula said, staring Korra dead in the eyes, "an Agni Kai!"
"An Agni Kai?" Korra repeated. "How serious?"
"Your usual competitive Agni Kai," Azula said. "To the death." Those last three words really dropped the bomb, whispering breaking out between the islanders, who usually didn't talk to each other. Even Tatsuo was shocked by it.
"That's a bit far, don't you think?" Korra asked, holding up her hands. "I mean, it's a rule that you'd probably forget about in a week. And let's say I do kill you, who rules the island then? And what about my training?"
"You rule the island," Azula answered without hesitation. "I have the ability to decline it, of course, and it isn't dishonourable for me to decline a challenge, if I don't see it worth my time. As for your training, it is equally as good to my legacy if no-one else learns how to split their combustion bullet. I won't let you soil my reputation!"
Korra wanted to back out of the situation she'd just got herself into so badly, but Azula was really showing her up. She didn't care what the islanders thought of her in their day-to-day lives, but when she looked over to Azami, she was torn.
There was no way Korra wanted to rule this island, no way at all. She couldn't wait to get off the island to the rest of the world, even if she was still wanted in prison in most places. She knew that the rest of the island would never accept her, and that someone like Tatsuo could probably take her power away in a day if he really wanted to, should she become ruler.
Korra also had no right to be telling Azula how to run her own society, she wasn't even on Crescent Island a full year, if she was correct. There was a huge drug operation that she had admittedly turned a blind eye to, but controlling the island would mean all the crimes of that would fall on her shoulders. The young Avatar knew that she wasn't in too many people's good books ever since the episode at South Pole, but she planned to win them back one day.
On the other hand, Azula was merciless, and didn't have a shred of sympathy for others. Korra knew right there and then that if she ignored it this one time, there probably wouldn't be anyone to save the next victim. Korra hadn't always been a perfect Avatar, but she had never purposely let someone die without trying to do something about it. She had avoided murdering people, and things had generally turned out okay since, ignoring any damage that she suffered herself. The one exception was maybe her uncle, Unalok, at Harmonic Convergence, but that was different, given how he had already bonded with Vaatu by that point.
Korra looked back and forth between Azami and Azula. Obey authority, or help a girl in need? Then, Kyoshi's words from the time she had visited Kyoshi Island struck her:
Rulers of all kinds must obey your authority as the Avatar, Kyoshi's words echoed in her head. That gave Korra the answer she needed.
"Azula," she commanded, squaring up to the old woman. "I am the Avatar, and you will respect my wishes. Abolish the rule now!"
"You don't command jack shit on this island!" Azula replied. She usually would've made fun of Korra for saying something like that to her, but Azula wasn't feeling humorous in the slightest today. "What will it be, hmm?"
Korra carefully considered what she said next for a few seconds, before coming out with it.
"I'll fight you!" Korra declared, resulting in even Tatsuo taking a step back. "Master Azula, I challenge you to an Agni Kai!"
"I accept," Azula stated, glaring intently at Korra. "We'll duel to the death at midday, today, for the leadership of the island. Just so you know, backing out of a challenge that one requested of another is punishable by death."
"I'm well aware!" Korra responded, and stomped past her teacher, as well as Tatsuo. Already, just a few moments later, she was regretting her decision, but obviously couldn't back out now. For the time being, she would go and have her morning porridge before anyone could potentially send word for it to be drugged.
This was going to be like nothing Korra had ever faced from a firebender yet.