Where have I been all this time? Somewhere being lazy and unmotivated...
Step, turn, step, step, turn, step, spin, step, spin, step, turn…
It had been a while since Jinora had properly practiced her airbending, but now she was and to her it felt great to properly be at one with her element. She was going through the spinning gate exercise. She had long since mastered the gates, the stepping, the turning and the spinning. She knew what to look for in the gates and how to react to the various angles of which the gates were in relation to her. After many of her childhood years of drilling it over and over, it had become second nature to her. She really had learned how to adapt to change. She was considered to be somewhat of a prodigy with her bending. Tenzin was sure that his eldest daughter would be ready to receive her arrows by the time she turns 14, perhaps 13 even.
Jinora leapt out the other side of the gates with an elegant spring in her step before landing gracefully, exhaling as she relaxed her body. She looked toward her father who gave her an approving nod and a smile while Korra, who was standing beside him, gave out a small, but energetic, 'woo' of a cheer for her.
"Now it is your turn, Korra," Tenzin said bluntly.
Korra groaned as she stepped up before she began the same exercise. Jinora took up a position beside her father as she watched the avatar go through the same drill as she had. As far as Jinora was concerned, Korra was doing exceptionally well. She was getting the hang of it at a faster rate than she herself had. Korra really was a natural.
The training session continued for the next couple of hours. From going through various forms, back to hopping back through the spinning gates, to meditation and then to actual manipulation of the air around them but not finishing without facing the spinning gates one last time. By the end, Tenzin concluded that both avatar and eldest daughter had performed flawlessly and were indeed on their way to becoming great masters.
With today's training over, Jinora decided to go to her room and curl up on her bed with a book. But not without cooling herself off with a nice glass of lychee juice first. When she entered the kitchen, she found that Korra had a similar idea in mind and was already one step ahead of her. Jinora grabbed a cup out of a cupboard as she watched the avatar pour herself a glass of the sweet tasting juice.
"You want some too?" Korra asked when she looked up and noticed Jinora watching her with a cup in hand.
When the young girl nodded, Korra reached over with the glass bottle of juice to pour some for her. Jinora looked up at the Water Tribe native as she took a drink from her cup and noticed the sly grin on her face. She gave Korra a questioning look, somewhat afraid of what Korra would say to her.
"So how was your secret picnic?" Korra asked in a casual tone before taking a sip of her drink.
Jinora practically spat the contents of her mouth back into her cup. She then grimaced, knowing that her drink now had a foul mix of saliva in it, before looking up at Korra. Korra seemed amused at the young girl's reaction and pushed the subject further.
"So?" Korra questioned.
"There was no picnic," Jinora said bluntly before she had a go at drinking again, hoping Korra wouldn't say something that would cause her to spit her drink back out again.
Korra simply chuckled at the airbender as though to say 'I'm not convinced'. Before Korra could try to push the subject even further, Jinora quickly downed her drink and ran off. Jinora's desperation to avoid the situation only heightened Korra's suspicion that Jinora has been up to something. Quickly, however, her mind went somewhere else entirely when Mako entered the room to ask how her training was and other miscellaneous things.
One downside about living in such a modern city was the light pollution at night. It became difficult to see the many stars that spread across the night sky like a vast, white spotted black canvas. She had remembered seeing the stars at night when she had ventured down to the Southern Water Tribe on numerous occasions to visit her grandmother. The amount of stars she could see new was miniscule compared to what could be seen at the South Pole. It was rather disappointing. But that disappointed feeling quickly disappeared at the sight of a certain homeless boy approaching Central City Station with a slightly bored expression on his face.
She had snuck out again with minimal difficulties and had been sitting on the ground by the Zuko's statue for quite some time. So long, in fact, that she had resolved to star gazing out of boredom as she waited for the possible appearance of Skoochy. The waiting had finally paid off, however, for he had finally shown up on a whim after almost an hour after Jinora snuck out.
Skoochy did not seem to notice that the airbender girl was sitting by the statue, watching him from a distance. His attention was turned toward the busy road beside him as he watched as the innumerable Satomobiles clogged the road way. He was pondering the necessity for such a loud, complicated and not to mention expensive contraption. But then again, he was never in a rush to get anywhere, so walking would always suffice for him.
Jinora brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them and rested her chin on her limbs as she watched the homeless boy stare seemingly off into space. She watched him stroll as she waited to see how long it would take him to take notice of the fact that she was there.
It wasn't until Skoochy noticed that his surroundings had gained an orange tint that it registered to him that he had arrived at his destination. It didn't take long after a quick scan of the area to find that the young airbender was already waiting for him. She was looking at him as though he were the only one there. Suffice to say, she was glad that he had finally shown up and the girl couldn't help but smile.
"Hey there, air head," Skoochy greeted as he approached the girl, hands in pockets and bored faced.
Jinora pouted in response, affected by the name she was called and unable to think of a retort that would have an amusing effect on him. After a couple second of mulling it over, she gave up trying to think and instead stood up to greet to homeless boy.
"Hello," Jinora greeted back in a satirically bitter tone.
Skoochy snickered as she returned his greeting, clearly amused that the name 'air head' was still having an effect on Jinora. After a quick exchange of words, they found themselves walking. To nowhere in particular it seemed, but for Jinora it felt much better than sitting on solid ground for an hour straight.
They soon found themselves amongst the Dragon Flats borough. Jinora never seemed to be able to get over the fact of how quiet and desolate the borough seemed in comparison to the rest of Republic City. In a way, it reminded her of life back at Air Temple Island, but it was still a nice contrast.
Skoochy led their little duo on a journey that snaked between the various houses and apartment buildings throughout the borough. When asked by a curious Jinora as to where they were going, Skoochy simply shrugged and said he was going by instinct. This caused Jinora to hold back a small laugh as she recalled a story her grandmother Katara had told her, some time ago, about one experience of hers during the Hundred Year War. Sokka's instincts led them straight into a Fire Army camp when he decided that Appa was too noticeable in the sky and that they should walk.
Recollection aside, Jinora decided to go with it. It wasn't like there was going to be an enemy army camp for them to stumble into after all. After some time, Skoochy halted his movements and seemed to scan the area.
"What's going on, Skoochy?" Jinora asked out of curiosity.
Skoochy shushed her as he began to move forward again. Jinora suddenly began to feel concerned. Maybe they were on the verge of stumbling into something potentially hostile? Maybe not an army camp, but something that would be still harmful or bad for them?
Skoochy rounded a corner and halted again. He cupped his ears, listening out for something. Again, Jinora's concern grew. He took a few steps forward before jumping to grab the top of a wooden fence beside him and pulled himself up to peer over.
"Skoochy," Jinora said in a slightly frightened voice, "what's going on? Are we in danger or something?"
The street urchin propped himself back down on solid ground. He gave Jinora a blank look for a moment before biting back a laugh. It became clear at that moment to Jinora that she had just been paranoid.
"No, you silly air head," Skoochy teased through his giggles, "Someone's got their radio playing. Sounded like a Pro-bending match is on and I want to have a listen. It's just over this fence here."
Jinora was about to retort his airhead comment when he shushed her once again, his ears peeled. Jinora decided instead to listen out for the radio as well, she could hear it but she struggled to hear anything coherent. It seemed Skoochy wasn't able to hear it all that clearly either, for he had a slightly frustrated expression on his face. After a few moments, Skoochy once again propped himself up on the fence and peeped over.
"Okay," Skoochy said as he dropped himself off the fence, "here's the situation. We're beside this house's backyard and the radio is positioned on the far side of the veranda with an old man asleep on a chair next to it."
"Okay…?" Jinora nodded unsurely. To her, it sounded as though he was conducting a military operation.
"So what we're going to do to get close to it is to jump this fence and climb on top of the veranda and sneak on over to the far side. There's a pipe on the side of the wall near us that we can use to climb onto the roof which will lead to the veranda. Got it?"
Jinora nodded before rolling her eyes when he wasn't looking. It really did sound like he was putting together a little operation. Still, it was nice to see Skoochy get serious about something for a change.
After a few moments, Skoochy jumped to grab the top of the fence before hauling himself over. His landing on the other side was more like a flop onto the ground than something more preferred, like a proper landing, but he was not deterred. He picked himself up and snuck over along the side of the house to where the vertical pipe was. Having done this climbing manoeuvrer many times in the big city, he was up onto the roof in no time. He peered back down to see how Jinora was doing. He was surprised to see that she was nowhere to be found.
He looked left and right and down at the ground below him. No Jinora.
Where'd that air head go?
It was no surprise then, that when Skoochy looked up, that he was surprised to find a certain airbender flying through the air straight at him. He hit the deck so quickly that he had to clutch his hat to his head as she soared over him and landed gracefully on the roof of the house. The street urchin got up to find Jinora clicking the wings of her glider shut.
He forgot that she always carried around the damn thing.
Putting aside that thought, he quietly made his way over off the roof and over the far end of the veranda while he ushered Jinora to follow him. He reached his destination and found he could hear the radio clearly. Mission accomplished.
He laid himself down into a prone position on his stomach on top of the veranda with his arms folded under his chin. Jinora lowered herself into a similar position next to him.
"…and it's a knock out! Where there you have it folks, the Ember Island Eel-hounds have won by a stunning round two knockout against the Laogai Lion-vultures. Coming up after a word from our sponsors: the new team versus the veterans. The Golden Temple Tigerdillos versus the Qiu Hua Rat-vipers in their debut match! Stay tuned…"
"Damn," Skoochy swore quietly, "We missed one of the matches."
A strong gust of wind blew by before Jinora could make a response. She looked toward Skoochy to find him shivering briefly as a chill was sent down his spine as a result.
"Hey Jinora," Skoochy said after his chill induced spasms ceased, "take off your coat."
"W-why?" Jinora asked, surprised by the boy's proposal.
"Just do it." Skoochy simply relied.
Jinora inwardly shrugged as she sat herself up and took it off before nestling back into her prone position that was surprisingly comfortable. Skoochy took the coat from Jinora before he too nestled back in into a prone position next to her before covering the both of them with Jinora's coat.
The airbender felt the heat rise in her face. She found herself positioned quite close to the street urchin under their new makeshift blanket that was her stolen, oversized trench coat. She was literally rubbing shoulder to shoulder with him. She looked toward him to find he was simply looking at the ground below them, unaffected by their close proximity.
Trust me to think that way, Jinora thought with a pout.
It was then that Skoochy perked up as the radio began to sound a little livelier.
"And we're back folks. Shiro Shinobi here once again to give you the usual rundown of the match. And now, we have an interesting matchup for you all ladies and gentlemen. A new rookie team has entered our midst for their day of reckoning. On the blue side, from the eastern United Republic of Nations city, Qiu Hua, we bring you the Rat-vipers! On the red side, we have the veterans. The one, the only, the Golden Temple Tigerdillos! The crowd is cheering as the two teams make their way to the arena. I don't know about you, folks, but I'm hoping to see a new Fire Ferrets happen here with the Rat-vipers.
"But hopes aside, the teams are in position. The ref has given the go ahead, the bell's rung and they're off. The Rat-vipers show promise as they waste no time taking the initiative. A surprisingly fast one-two combo from the Rat-viper's earthbender sends their opponent's waterbender, Han, into zone 2. Looks like the Tigerdillo's firebender is in trouble being blasted again and again by streams of liquid. But Hung is not without support. His earthbending teammate, Komaru, is fighting water with earth. Hung has an opportunity to retaliate and he takes it. The Rat-viper's waterbender is ducking and weaving hot, hot fire. The poor Rat-viper is getting ganged up as now Han, in zone 2, sneakily trips him with a stinging coil of water. He's on the ground, can he get up? No! An earth disk to the chest sends him to the drink!
"It seems the Rat-vipers are demoralised by their loss as a barrage from the veterans sends the survivors into zone 2. They get the green light and the Tigerdillos begin to advance into Rat-viper territory. The Rat-vipers are having it tough with a man down. Despite their good start, these young ones certainly aren't up to the level of their seasoned oppone- What-ho! The Rat-viper earthbender tumbles like a chunk of earth into the drink after a water-earth combo slams him mercilessly. Their last remaining player is on the razors edge. He's pushed to zone three. The Tigerdillos are hot on his heels as they push up once again.
And saved by the bell! Round one goes to the Golden Temple Tigerdillos. It seems tonight we will not get another get another case of the Fire Ferrets this season, folks…"
Skoochy gave a silent cheer for the Tigerdillos as Jinora gave the boy a strange look. She had never gotten excited about Pro-bending, despite Korra's heated descriptions of recent matches whenever the avatar is reading the newspaper. As such, she wasn't sure what Skoochy was getting excited for. Then again, her father had always been against the sport and his ideal must have rubbed off on her. Perhaps if she actually watched a match she would get a much better impression.
For now, she would just soak up Skoochy's close company while the situation permitted it.
The match between the Golden Temple Tigerdillos and the debut rookie Qiu Hua Rat-vipers continued in a similar fashion to the first round, only this time it played out faster. In the end, the increased pace meant there was no bell to save the Rat-vipers, and the Tigerdillos were victorious by a knockout. Skoochy abruptly pumped a fist into the air as the match concluded, startling Jinora. There was only one other match that followed after the beat down between the Tigerdillos and the Rat-vipers. Straight after that, they made their way down off of the building and back into the streets and alleyways of the borough. With Jinora wearing her oversized coat once again.
They soon found themselves at a clearing, what looked like the site of a recently demolished building. Skoochy ran out to the centre of it and surveyed his surroundings. With a satisfied nod to no one in particular, he asked Jinora a question.
"Hey airhead," he said, "How good a bender are you?"
"Uh… Why?" Jinora asked, but judging from his smirk and what they had been doing earlier, she could guess what he was getting at.
"Well," he began, "I was thinking, maybe we could have a little one on one Pro-bending match."
Thought so, Jinora mused mentally.
Skoochy's enthusiasm for the sport had left Jinora somewhat curious about the sport. She thought that maybe getting into the sport would be a way for her to connect with the boy. And so…
"Alright then," she accepted his challenge.
From what she gathered from Korra's incessant talks and from the matches she heard on the radio, the aim of Pro-bending was to push their opponent back until they fell off the arena using nothing but bending. But not over the side, as Korra made a special point of one time when she was explaining the rules to her, although Jinora hadn't been listening all that intently to the avatar. Jinora silently curse herself for that. Knowledge of the sport would have been very useful for her right now.
However, Jinora thanked her lucky stripes that she had perked up and listened at the mention of the firebending aspect of the sport. Firebending had three distinct rules: One, no fire blasts can last for more than a second, meaning no constant streams. Two, no direct strikes to the head. Three, because firebenders created their own fire, there were no rules concerning where they got their fire from, unlike waterbenders and earthbenders.
Since, unsurprisingly, there were no rules concerning airbending in Pro-bending, Jinora felt that she would go along with the firebending rules for herself as best she could, seeing as she didn't have to be concerned about her source of her respective element.
And with that, Jinora slipped into a stance, ready to blast some serious rear end with her airbending. Skoochy chuckled heartily at Jinora's acceptance of his challenge and he too slipped into a stance. His stance, however, made Jinora cringe. He had his fists up in front of his face while his legs were moderately straight as he hopped on his toes, being light of his feet. It just seemed so wrong to the airbender. The traditional concept behind earthbending was to be rooted to the ground with wide, stable stances. If someone were to give Skoochy a rough shove at that given moment, he'd surely be bowled over. She was beginning to understand why her father was not overly excited about the sport.
No, she thought to herself, not wanting to be discouraged just yet, it's changing times. Changing times, Jinora. Think about firebenders who can generate lightning. It used to be a trait amongst only the most powerful of firebenders but now nearly anyone can do it. It's firebenders who generate lightning who power the power stations. This is just a modern style of earthbending.
They stood in their stances, staring each other down intently, for quite some time.
"Um," Jinora started after ironically being the first to lose her patience, "when do we start?"
"Uh…" Skoochy said as he slipped out of his stance, thinking, "I guess on the count of three?"
Jinora nodded in agreement, still in her airbending stance. Skoochy readied himself before starting.
"One, two, three!"
Skoochy took the initiative, bringing up two small chunks of ground with the stamp of his foot and sending them flying toward Jinora with two separate punches from both fists. Jinora reacted accordingly, stepping and spinning out of the way of the two projectiles, while at the same time still remaining close to her starting position. Skoochy continued to send chunks of ground her way and Jinora continued to evade.
Step, spin, step, turn, step, step, turn, spin, she recited in her head as she dodged.
Her years of drilling through the spinning gates were paying off. She was able to evade every single one of Skoochy's projectiles. After a short while, he began to tire from his onslaught whereas Jinora had yet to even manipulate her element. Noticing Skoochy's faltering attacks, Jinora smirked inwardly as she decided to turn the tides in their little match.
Jinora took a series of steps forward as she rotated her body. As she finished her rotation, she swung her arms in a long, wide, horizontal sweeping motion. This motion sent a short, but concentrated and powerful, gust of wind straight into Skoochy's upper body. The street urchin was sent flying. He was knocked off his feet and was thrown back a considerable distance.
He hit the ground on his back with thud and a loud 'hurk' from his mouth, evidence that the impact winded him. His strained expression as he sat himself back up brought an expression of concern to Jinora's. With a gasp, she quickly rushed over to him as she cursed herself for going so overboard.
"Oh spirits, Skoochy, I'm so sorry!" she cried out as she held back a tear of guilt that threatened to expose itself.
Jinora sat herself down beside him. The landing looked like it had hurt, and so she was concerned that maybe she had caused some damage to his body. As an airbender, she was a pacifist by nature. This was the most harm she had inflicted on anyone in her life since the Equalist raid on Air Temple Island during the Anti-Bending Revolution. Even then, she felt some remorse afterward. Now for her to do such a thing to her friend and, better yet, the boy she liked, made her feel more and more guilty.
Skoochy took a moment to catch his breath and regain his bearings. He just got his butt kicked. Not only that, but by a girl who was younger and smaller than him. He pouted and avoided eye contact with the worried girl beside him as he acknowledged his defeat. He decided that he was never going to tell anyone about this. His friends would never let him live it down after all.
Once he felt that he had recovered, he turned to face Jinora.
"Heh, that was pretty good, air head," Skoochy said with a cheeky grin, "Just remind me not to pick a fight with you."
Jinora frowned when he called her an air head once again. All her feelings of guilt and remorse for sending him hurtling through the air quickly disappeared. And in response, she threw a strong blast of wind straight into his face which sent his hat flying off into oblivion. He certainly knew how to avoid picking a fight. Not.
But she had to admit, knocking Skoochy onto his behind was kind of fun.
About time I got this one out, huh? Laziness on my part with nothing in the way of an excuse for it.
If this chapter seemed a bit rushed to you, that's understandable. I hastily put together the latter five sixths of this chapter together under the sudden realisation of just how much time had passed since my last update.
On another note, I realised I made an error in the first chapter. I wrote '...while the sun slowly disappeared behind the mountain range beyond the capital city'. When you think about that hard enough, you'll find I wrote that the sun was setting in the east rather than the west. I'll have to edit that.