Hello my friends! Just a quick reminder that I don't own Avatar or Legend of Korra, ALSO if you want to see some original art of Kita and the gang, check out my instagram page banana_brock !
"So, we've agreed on terms for Prime Minister Giyan to present to his council, now I'd like to open the discussion to each nation." Yanwei announced.
Jinora stood and opened her mouth to speak, but the President held a hand up to halt her.
"If you're going to say what I think-"
"Yes I am. For the last thirty years my Father and myself have petitioned to restore the Northern Air Temple and for thirty years it's been ignored."
"I'll tell you again, there's not enough to restore at all Jinora."
"Then we rebuild. The Population of Nomads and Acolytes are growing steadily, where will we go once the temples are full?"
"Unfortunately, with everything else we have to deal with, that's something we'll have to solve when we come to it."
"I'm not saying we build it in a day, but if we start a gradual process, it will at least be liveable by the time we need it."
"This is not the opportune time."
"When will it be? Every five years there's conflict, every day there's conflict, to you it'll never be the right time!"
"You told me you'd show me the budget, every cent right?" Kita asked calmly, placing her hands on Jinora's arm to calm her.
"Of course."
"Could we do it now? Master Jinora can tell us the minimum we'd need to start basic construction. How long do you think we'd need to finish, Master?"
"I don't see it being a problem for another fifteen years at the very least. Harmonic Convergence thankfully helped to begin repopulation, but even with a steady birth rate among airbenders we won't fill out all three temples. I just feel an imbalance, the world isn't right without all four, and historically the Northern Temple deserves to be preserved and respected."
"Fifteen years. Spreading it out over that long can't cost nearly as much. I know we can rework it."
"I suppose I'll call my assistant."
"How 'bout it pretty boy?" Shiori smirked.
Ari just rolled his eyes and returned his attention to the television.
"Come on, lazybones, I've been slacking on my training the past few days."
"I don't want to be the victim of your pent up aggression, little girl."
"I'm not a little girl."
"And I'm not a pretty boy."
"Prove it."
"Guys come on," Raavi sighed.
"No, no, I think I'll have to prove it." Ari snapped, standing.
Shiori grinned triumphantly and the two shuffled out to the courtyard. Raavi was too curious to stay behind, and sat on the stone steps bordering it to watch.
"I'm a little rusty, be gentle." Ari feigned, raising the back of his hand to his forehead as he pretended to swoon.
"Hah! Yeah, sure," Shiori snickered, then taking her stance.
Ari let her come to him, stepping aside to avoid the flame she shot, then watching as she darted for him. He drew a stream from the pond at the last second to snap at her ankle while she was balancing on the ball of her foot. She narrowly dodged and backflipped away to gain distance. However she received a blast of water to the face upon landing. She spit the pond water from her mouth and wiped her soaked bangs out of her eyes.
"Rusty huh?"
Ari shrugged, batting his eyelashes and smirking at her.
Shiori broke out in laughter and said fiercely, "You're on!", before charging at him.
Raavi couldn't help but think, 'Benders are weird' as he watched with wide eyed bewilderment.
"What's that look?" Ari asked, pausing his movements to look at him. Yet, Shiori used his distraction as an advantage and planted her fist in his cheek, sending Ari flying. She laughed and smugly glared down at him.
"You want a piece too?" She dared Raavi.
"We can take her," Ari said as he stood and caught his breath.
"Need a weapon?"
"I got 'em right here," He laughed, flexing his biceps.
Shiori put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow at him.
"Really."
"Well, I do have my trusty knives with me at all times, but I'll go easy on you today,"
Raavi raised his fists, index fingers protruding slightly as he prepared to use his chi blocking training. Shiori went for him first due to underestimation with a kick, fire shooting from her foot. Raavi swiftly ducked under it and pivoted, sidestepping around Shiori and jabbing his knuckle into her side. She crumpled instantly and Ari watched in shock.
"How are you so fast?" She groaned.
"What do you mean how, he was raised by Airbenders, duh."
"I also had a thing with a Kyoshi Warrior who was passing through the city, she gave me some lessons," Raavi bragged.
"This is getting interesting," Shiori chuckled, standing and catching Raavi off guard with an elbow to his temple.
"Finally!" Kita sighed, stretching and bending backward to crack her back.
"Tomorrow is better, the festival helps to wind down," Jinora said.
"No relaxing today. Not if you want to Earthbend."
"But Giyan I'm so tired…." She whined. He shook his head at her with a faint smile.
Once they reached the temple, the three climbed the steps to see Shiori, Raavi, and Ari all laid out in the courtyard. Their chests were heaving with heavy breaths, yet they all wore grins.
"Uh...guys? Are you alright?" Kita asked, waving her hand above Shiori's face to fan her.
"No, we tied, it's not alright," she laughed.
After Kita assisted them with healing water and some bandaging, they ate a quick dinner. Shiori and Ari endlessly argued about who got in the most hits, to which Raavi wisely said, "It's not how many, it only matters who dealt the worst single hit. Obviously it was me."
Kita warmly grinned at them, enjoying the fact that they were bonding. She would've preferred it occur without violence, but 'At least it happened at all, right?', she thought.
"Ready?" Giyan asked suddenly. Everyone stopped and looked to Kita, who scanned their faces and felt immense gratitude. They were all here supporting her, and she didn't intend to let them down. Kita nodded with tenacious determination, yet her stomach was a ball of nerves, and memories of her past came flooding in.
Kita had been on her own for nearly a week now, having evaded any suspicion from Earth Kingdom officers. She stayed hidden during the day, only emerging in the darkness where she could easily maneuver Ba Sing Se's nightlife. She stood at the back entrance of a restaurant, where she had made friends with the cook. He slid out of the door holding a chipped plate full of questionable scraps.
"Thank you!" She smiled, bowing before accepting it.
"Take care kid."
She nodded and scampered down the alley, then shoveling the food down her throat.
Kita wracked her brain for a way to get out of the city as she ate, thinking back to the guards that stood in her way. Initially, she had tried to be amiable enough to convince them to let her out without question, but that didn't get her anywhere. Unfortunately, she realized, she'd need to sneak past them.
It was a hard lesson for Kita to learn, but not everyone in this chaotic mecha would respond as well to her chipper attitude and kind words as that cook had.
Kita huffed and set her plate down on the stone ground, resting her chin in her hands. She started humming a light tune before standing and lazily shuffling down the alley. Stopping at a well in the center of a small town square, she leaned over and saw her reflection in the murky water. Frowning, she waded her fingers through the leaves and dirt infesting, what should be, this neighborhood's drinking water. A thought occurred to her and she snapped her head in every direction to make sure she wasn't being watched, then taking a step back from the well. Kita took a deep breath and pulled her arm up with a loose hanging wrist, finger tips pinched together as she visualized clear water separating from the debris. To her delight, a clean stream came flowing out towards her, and she brought it to her lips. However, before she drank, the thought of everyone else depending on this well made her stop. She looked around and spotted an empty barrel, then directing the filtered water into it. Once Kita had filled it to the brim, she took a few small sips before scampering off down the street.
She passed a small cluster of men huddled together, one clutching the collar of another's shirt.
"You told me you'd pay twice that, you tryin' to screw me over?!"
"This is a runt, it won't even grow full size!"
Kita stopped in her tracks at the sound of metal rattling. A cage was at their feet, with a cowering silhouette inside peering up at them.
"I don't care what you do with it, just take it off my hands."
"I'm not gonna pay you for it if I'm just gonna sell it to some meat packing factory."
Kita gasped, hurrying towards them and kneeling in front of the cage. A white kitten, hazel eyes paralyzed with fear, shook in the corner.
"Ssh it's okay…" She cooed, fiddling with the lock.
"Hey, kid!" They all turned and began to reach for her, but Kita swiped her hand across with a stripe of blue fire. While they were distracted, she tucked the cage under her arm and darted away. Yet she could hear their hurried footsteps gaining on her, so Kita made a sharp turn down another street. However, at the next block it had been closed off due to construction, and as she skidded to a stop, looked over her shoulder at the group of men following close behind.
A thought crossed her mind, and she set the cage down at her feet, the kitten hissing as they were cornered.
'If I really am...the Avatar…' she thought, sliding her foot out behind her and breathing in through her nose. She formed a fist, flexed her muscles as tightly as she could, and punched upward.
"Pft, what was that supposed to be?" One of them laughed. The rest joined him in snickering and closed in on her.
"No, I...I have to…" she mumbled, looking around and knowing she could only escape by lifting herself out. She stomped hard on the ground, but again nothing happened.
The next moment, Kita was shoved onto the ground as another of them reached for the cage. Before she could even think, her palms thrust forward, flames shooting from them. One of them chuckled again, and grabbed a fistful of Kita's silver hair.
"Firebenders don't scare us, kid."
She clawed at his hand and kicked her legs, but stopped the second she felt a drop of water hit her forehead and trickle down the side of her nose. Her blue eyes looked to the source and saw a drainage pipe, a crack in it causing the leak. She took another deep breath and visualized the water forcing its way through the small opening, mimicking the pulling motion with her hand. Suddenly, she and the man holding her were doused with the frigid water, and he let her go. Kita scooted away before throwing the contents of the puddle forming around them into the faces of her assailants with enough force to knock them down. Regaining the cage, she sped past them and didn't look back as she ran faster than ever had before.
Once she had put a safe distance between them, Kita slid down a stone wall, chest heaving as she caught her breath. She broke the lock and let the door fall open, the kitten curiously sniffing as it hesitantly stepped out.
"You're safe now. No meat factory for you…" Kita smiled gently, resting open palms on the ground.
"Come on, it's okay," she urged. The kitten pawed at her fingers before sniffing them, ultimately deciding it was safe and crawling into her hands. Kita brought the small creature up to her face so that their noses touched.
"I think we've got a lot in common little one...I'm sorry I couldn't earthbend, or that would've been a lot easier…" She sighed.
The kitten began purring, squeezing her eyes shut and nudging Kita. Then she felt a different texture brush against her arms and looked down to see white feathers coating petite wings.
"Wow, you're amazing!" She giggled, the kitten sticking her scratchy tongue out to lightly scrape against the tip of Kita's nose.
"Would you mind staying by my side for a while..? I could give you a name, and I'll make sure you never starve or get cold, and we can travel the world together!"
She hopped onto Kita's shoulder and snuggled into the crook of her neck.
"So it's a deal?" She giggled, nuzzling the soft fur with her cheek.
Kita brought her attention back to the task at hand, taking a wide stance in front of the boulder Giyan placed before her.
"So I just move it?" She asked with a shaky voice.
"You don't move it with a stance like that," he said blankly, kicking her back foot closer in and pushing down on her shoulders.
"Your arms are like noodles!" Shiori shouted from their spectating spot on the steps.
"Not helping!"
"Ignore them," Giyan said, standing in her view of them.
"Okay," she sighed, breathing deep and closing her eyes.
"Now move it," he ordered.
She took a firm step forward and punched her fist out, but to no avail. Her shoulders slumped, stance faltered, and Giyan used the opportunity to swiftly kick the back of her knees and send her crashing onto her backside.
Shiori and Ari erupted with laughter while Raavi smacked both of them in the shoulder.
"What was that for?" Kita asked, frowning and brushing the dirt off her pants.
"You had good form and gave it up so easily. Not the quality of an Earth bender."
Kita looked down at the ground and crossed her arms.
"When we met, you did not strike me as a weak person. Someone who fails once and loses all inspiration."
"No, no I'm not I just…."
"She feels a lot of pressure that's all, I know her strength more than anyone else here. This girl is almost as brave as me," Shiori joked as she approached them. Kita's eyes lit up and she grinned.
"Then show me. Earth bending is determination."
Kita nodded, breathed deep, and regained her stance.
The sun began to set and Giyan left a tired, sweaty, and disappointed Kita in the courtyard. She sunk to her knees and placed her palms on the stone.
"I can't do it…" she murmured, nose sniffling in every attempt to hold back her tears.
Shiori and Raavi both stepped forward in an attempt to go to her, but Ari placed a hand on each of their shoulders.
"Bad time, I think." He told them.
"Hey, I'm her friend I can-" Shiori began, smacking Ari off of her.
"Ehem," Jinora cleared her throat, holding a hand up to the three of them as she strode past. They all stared as she approached Kita, kneeling next to her.
"Come with me."
Kita nodded and stood, letting Jinora put an arm around her and lead her beyond their view.
Raavi sighed and returned to the temple with every intention of raiding the kitchen while Ari followed, heading for the baths. Shiori, however, stayed right where she was, frowning at the spot where Kita left her sight.
