Where have I been all this time? Well, at home. But my mind has been elsewhere entirely for quite awhile. Two reasons for that. I'll keep it brief:
Reason #1: School sucks. It really sucks.
Reason #2: Naruto, Bleach, The World God Only Knows, Attack on Titan, Beelzebub and many other lesser known anime/manga series. Out of no where I began picking up all sorts of different anime/manga series in my spare time.
I'm sure you'll now have an idea in your mind about where I've been, and I also apologise for the long wait. Now without further ado, here's the chapter.
Jinora laughed as Skoochy gave chase to her. They found themselves playing a moderately sized game of tag with a group of other street kids, who Skoochy also knew, in a maze of alleyways amongst a few apartment buildings in the big city. Right now, Skoochy was 'it'. With a subtle boost from her airbending, Jinora was able to make short work of the pursuing street urchin. Of course, she didn't make it obvious that she was, because it was cheating after all. But it seemed Skoochy's sly habits were beginning to rub off on her. Because of her little 'boosts', she had yet to be tagged the whole night.
She never normally did anything like this; running around and expending energy willy-nilly. She had never had a desire to do something like this with her own sibling, or even Korra when she was extremely bored. So it came as a surprise to her when she found herself having fun with these children she had only met a few hours previously. It seemed her time spent with a certain street urchin was beginning to change the type of person she was.
However, as a result of literally running around for hour after hour, she was no longer able to keep up her pace in this game. Jinora turned her head to get a brief look behind her. She was shocked to find that Skoochy was still hot on her heels and gaining on her. It was a wonder where his stamina came from, considering his neglected upbringing surrounded by malnutrition. Nonetheless, Skoochy continued to barrel toward the surprised airbender. When the homeless boy finally caught the councilman's daughter, he practically tackled her to the ground as he grabbed her around the waist from behind. As they tumbled, he discretely made sure he took the brunt of the fall, lest she ended up with any scrapes or bruises that would leave her peers on Air Temple Island suspicious of what she's been up to.
"Aha!" Skoochy yelled with a strong hint of pride in his accomplishment, "I finally got you, air head!"
Jinora didn't respond immediately, too worn out from the constant running and was currently catching her breath. That and because she was surprised by Skoochy's sudden embrace, even if it was completely innocent. Once again found herself in a position that she was able to acknowledge as rather intimate thanks to the sorts of books she reads. Essentially, they were spooning on the rough ground. She made a mental note to make sure no one ever read any of the romance books in her vast collection. Ever.
"O-okay, you got me, Skoochy," she said awkwardly as she felt the heat rise in her face, "And stop calling me that."
Thankfully, her face was already red from exertion, so she didn't need to bother with hiding her blushes. Skoochy snickered at her annoyance at the name calling as he peeled himself away from the airbender before standing up and offering her a hand. Jinora gladly accepted his hand and allowed him to help pull her up. But before she could thank him for his kind gesture…
"Anyway," Skoochy said as he jabbed a finger into her forehead, "Tag, air head, you're it!"
Skoochy spun around and high tailed it away from the now fuming Jinora. But a moment later, she smiled briefly before taking off to tag someone else. She was having fun after all, she didn't want to stay annoyed and let it rub off on the others.
She spent much of the night running and laughing. But all the while, she couldn't shake the feeling of paranoia that she had forgotten about something at home before she left.
Normally Jinora was very careful when making sure that it was alright to go on an escapade to the city. There had been a few close calls, which would leave her on edge and sometimes prevent her from leaving, but she had never been caught. Though in the back of her mind, she knew it was only a matter of time. One slip and she could kiss goodbye any prospect of leaving the island without having to be under constant supervision until she was deemed old enough. However, her father seemed to be of what most would refer to as the 'over-protective' kind of father. So 'old enough' could mean sometime beyond her mid-twenties if Tenzin really wanted it to be.
It seemed tonight, however, that Jinora had indeed made that one slip, having not taken into account a very annoyed Avatar.
Korra was frustrated. Earlier that day, Tenzin had taught her a new airbending move. However, she couldn't quite seem to get the knack of it. To her dismay, Tenzin was not being all that helpful in giving her extra tips and pointers. He insisted that she should figure it out for herself to reinforce the concept of an airbender being flexible and able to find the path of least resistance or something like that. Korra had decided to zone out before Tenzin could get really stuck into his lectures on airbending. After practicing for hours on end well after sundown, Korra had decided that she would ask Jinora for some pointers on how to accomplish this new move, since she had learnt it some time ago.
Korra stalked down the hallway of the women's dormitory to where Jinora's room was, guessing that was where she would be. She hoped Jinora wouldn't give her a similar answer about paths of resistance or whatever. Surely the young girl would be a little nicer to her, right?
"Jinora?" Korra called as she knocked on Jinora's room door.
When she was not met with a response, Korra quietly slid the door open, to check if Jinora had perhaps already fallen asleep. To her surprise, she found a clean, empty room. With a frown, Korra closed the door as she made her way back outside. She completed two laps going around the island and through the various buildings in her search for the eldest airbending child. But her efforts were fruitless, which only added to her pre-existing frustration even more.
She sat herself down in the living room with a huff as she pondered where Jinora could possibly be. It seemed as though she wasn't on the island altogether. At that moment, a passing Pema noticed the Avatar's disgruntled demeanour.
"What's the matter, Korra?" Pema inquired in her usual motherly tone.
"Oh, hey Pema, didn't see you there," Korra said after a moment, annoyance evident in her voice, "You know where I can find Jinora? I can't seem to find her anywhere."
Pema took a moment to think, "I'm pretty sure she should be in her room, since its well past the children's bed time."
"Yeah, but the problem is, is that she wasn't in her room when I checked," Korra informed, before adding, "Twice."
A look of wonder, concern and worry passed over Pema's face all at once. Then she abruptly darted off toward women's dormitory, hoping Korra had just briefly suffered a serious sight defect or something of the sort. Korra got up and followed the older woman, to confirm that she hadn't gone crazy and imagined that Jinora was nowhere to be found.
Upon opening her eldest child's room door, Pema too found it to be devoid of Jinora's presence. A look of worry spread across her face as she spun on her heels and went back the way she came. It didn't take long before the nearly half the island was on full alert, searching the place for the young airbender, led under the command of a very worried mother.
A chill ran down Lin's spine as a cold breeze blew by as she stepped out of the police headquarters after a long day in the workplace. It was well into winter now. As she looked up into the night sky, she wondered whether or not there would be snowfall this year. A small part of her hoped there would be, as childish as it was. But there was always something about a light snowfall that would lighten up everyone's mood in Republic City. Just hope the snow fall didn't get so heavy that doorways got blocked and roads clogged. That was never good.
With a huff she left the station, getting into her Satomobile and cruising off into the city streets. She drove through the various streets of the city she had sworn to protect. Seeing the general populace around her finishing up their nightly routines without any hints of trouble brought a smile to her aged face. The city's peace and order meant her happiness.
Lin heard the occasional static crackle and tinny voice over the police radio that she had installed in her vehicle, though nothing spoken was significant or happening near her. Whenever she drove around town, she would always listen to police chatter rather than tunes and radio shows, to make sure she could attend to any matter in her vicinity, on or off duty. It wasn't like she had a lot to do with her spare time, when she had spare time.
"czzt—! Any officers in the vicinity, we have complaints of a vehicle causing havoc near the market district. Any officers within the…"
Lin sighed. Nowhere near her.
She continued her drive around a designated route she had put together many years ago that would eventually lead her home, while indirectly patrolling the streets. Lin had a thought that maybe she worked too much. But then she reminded herself once again, what else was she to do? Being 51 years of age, unmarried and without children left her with a lot of nothing in life.
Pushing the slightly depressing thought out of her mind, she continued on her not-so-merry way through the streets of the big city. The road going traffic was rather light, given the late hour. For the most part, the drive was smooth and uneventful.
"czzt—! Any officers in the vicinity, we have a report of a group of children causing disturbances in the southern district of the Dragon Flats borough…"
Lin took a moment to gain her bearings and found she was within the vicinity of the reported incident. With a shrug and with nothing else better to do, she called it in.
They had left the alleyways of the apartment buildings in the main city and had somehow made their way toward the Dragon Flats borough. As the night wore on, the street kids were beginning to get more and more rowdy. Normally parents would have ushered them to bed hours ago. But for the homeless orphans of Republic City, this was not the case.
And now Jinora was witnessing the consequences.
Without restraint, the youngsters began to cause a huge ruckus. They began to shout at each other at the tops of their voices, disturbing the quiet neighbourhood and the sleeping occupants of homes. The occasional trash can was tipped over noisily, their lids being tossed in a similar fashion, creating mess and more noise. While their laughed echoed into the night, Jinora felt things were beginning to get out of hand. Perhaps it was time she left for home before they got into trouble.
"Hey air head, we should probably get out of here," Skoochy told her, the name calling getting an annoyed reaction from the young girl without fail.
It seemed he had a similar idea to her. It was about time they started heading back. They turned to leave in the opposite direction of the rampant street kids, but stopped in their tracks when they found a motor vehicle approach them and pull over. Had it been any other vehicle, they would have continued on their way, but what stopped them was the red revolving light on the roof that screamed 'this is a police vehicle, you're in trouble now'.
Skoochy stood dumbfounded as he hesitated between two choices: run and lay low for a while or turn himself in and be sent off on his merry way after a very extensive lecturing by the authorities. Jinora on the other hand tried to will herself to leg it. Unlike the street kids, she had parents who would dish out punishment after being sent home. She wouldn't be able to fake her identity and pretend to be a street kid either. A good look at her face would reveal she was the eldest daughter of one of the city's council members.
However, she found herself rooted to the ground when a rather familiar figure stepped out of the vehicle.
"Hey fellas!" Jinora heard one of the street kids shout, "its Chief Bei Fong! Leg it!"
Lin watched as many of the street kids dispersed with impressive haste. Nevertheless, she proceeded to apprehending the two kids nearest to her. Extending her arms and with the flick of her wrists, metal cables rushed out from her coat sleeves, entangling Skoochy and Jinora before they could make a move.
Jinora could only watch on as Lin reeled them in like fish caught on hooks. She tried to avoid eye contact as the police chief inspected the two apprehended children. But it was nowhere near enough to stop the elderly woman from recognising her.
"Jinora? What are you doing out here?" Lin questioned; her voice frightening and strict.
Jinora was lost for words and could not muster anything up other than an incoherent mumbling.
Sighing, Lin ushered them into her Satomobile, "It doesn't matter. Either way, you're in for a heap of trouble young lady."
The jig was up. She was caught. Busted. Screwed. Done for. She was in for it now. Her father was going to find out about her escapades. She was going to be stripped of her freedom. She would never be able to sneak out to Republic City again. She wouldn't be able to see Skoochy anymore.
The thought of not being able to see the street urchin anymore devastated her.
So you must be thinking: 'I waited so long for THIS!?'
Yeah, admittedly, this isn't the best chapter and is rather short in comparison to the more recent chapters...Though as mentioned earlier, I had other things going on. That, and I was really uninspired while writing this. But I really wanted to get this out and not leave you guys hanging for too long.
Anyways... Jinora's been busted. See you next time.
As always, reviews are most welcome.