Well here's chapter two that I have to say I quite like which is rare for my work. I usually hate it and have to wait for that feeling to go away before I can write more of it. But anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Disclaimer: The Legend of Korra is not mine and I do not own any of it. If I did you would know, everyone would be a lot more British.
Chapter 2 – Korra's Favourite Thing
Looking back at it...meh she would have done it the same way.
All she knew was she wanted to punch him again...and then again. It really did not matter to her in the long run that she had gone to the Air Temple to help Nam but...
Well there are people out there who just push your buttons the wrong way. Nam...he's a button pusher, will face like a fist magnet.
Thinking back...well she would do nothing different.
Air travel was awesome and it was her favourite part of being an Airbender. It was even better when she was using the Avatar state to fly and ridiculous speeds. To be honest she had actually had way too much fun flying because by the time she reached the Air Temple...she owed Tenzin a new glider.
The Temple was surprisingly quiet for the current situation. Air Acolytes were wondering around doing mid day chores, a Sky Bison has chosen part of the training field as a new napping spot and for some reason she could hear flute music.
Not one to waste time she ran to the nearest Acolyte, a young mousy haired woman a few years older than Korra and maybe half as tall and pulled her to a stop, "Nam where is he?" she half shouted at her making the diminutive woman cower a little.
"W...who?" she stammered fearfully, her big eyes watering and making Korra feel like a Sky Bison bullying a lemur.
"Sorry," she apologised quickly releasing her arms and holding up her hands trying to calm her down.
The tiny woman shrank away from Korra, clasping her hands protectively over her chest. She still looked on the verge of tears.
"What do you want?" she asked taking a small step away from Korra as she said it.
She took a deep breath, soothing out the excess energy from the Avatar state, "There is a man here by the name of Nam-kh..." she paused forgetting how to say the second half the guy's name, "Nam, do you know where he is?"
She gently shook her head seeming to relax a little, "No sorry," she squeaked, it should be illegal for people to be this cute and defenceless, she was like a baby moose lion.
Korra sighed and looked back at Yue Bay, she could not be sure but she thought she could see a police airship headed in their direction. She had very little time before they got here.
"Have you seen him at all at day?" she asked turning back to the tiny Acolyte.
A faint blush appeared on the girls cheeks and she looked away from Korra, "I..I think so," she squeaked, "he was...over by the men's dormitories..."
Leaping into an air scooter, Korra made at once for the dorms knocking over the poor Acolyte as she passed. "Sorry!" she called back marvelling for a second at how far the woman had flown.
She moved as far as she could across the island passing the sleeping Sky Bison where the flute music was also coming from.
She rarely had any reason to into the main areas of the men's dorm. She usually made a bee line for Mako's room and ignored everyone else. Thanks to that after she arrived she found herself lost in the mix of corridors and small courtyards that made up the men's dorm.
At least she could not here that damn flute music, why was an acolyte playing a lullaby for a sky bison?
She looked everywhere in the building, short of searching though all the rooms. She got nowhere, to be honest she had next to no idea what to look for apart from look for some guy that's not an Acolyte.
"Nam!" Korra shouted not seeing any other option, "NAM!"
Several passing Acolytes stopped in shock, staring at her in confusion. Surprisingly however she got lucky as one Acolyte pointed her back towards the training grounds and the sleeping Sky Bison. Was Nam the Bison's name too?
Having no other ideas she raced back towards the training area. She was sure any minute Beifong and her men would descend on the hapless Northerner...and it would be her fault. As she got closer to her destination she realised that the flute music was getting slowly louder.
This Nam could not have been playing a lullaby to a Sky Bison while she tore she hair out looking for him.
Save for the giant Bison snoozing a short way from the spinning gates nothing looked out of the ordinary. However she had been right, the flute music was loudest around here, but where could this guy be if she couldn't...
Realising her mistake and forgetting how her frantic her search had been for a second, she walked around the Bison's immense frame so see three figures sat leaning against its stomach. She only briefly registered Jinora and Ikki, who both looked half asleep, before her eyes were drawn to the man playing to the flute. Well she thought it was a flute...where normal flues four feet long and made of bamboo.
She knew at once than this guy had to be Nam, the odd name fit him very well. Though he was the last thing she had expected in a man connected to ancient Air Nomad tradition.
Nam was swarthy skinned with untidy thick brown hair that fell just short of his eyes. His features were angular and he had a strong jaw line which was covered in a day's worth of stubble.
She could not discern much else from him that was not covered by his hair or the flute. She couldn't even guess his build as he was dress in a grey great coat, with these strange bits of fabric over the arms that reminded her a little of Air Nomad clothing. For some reason he had a pair of green tinted square lens goggles hanging around his neck.
While he may not have looked the part of the Air Nomad, the way he played his flute at least fit the part. It had a beautiful calming quality to it that actually helped her calm down a little.
"Nam?" she asked tentatively, she wanted to be sure this was the guy and not some creep she had to kick off the island.
He stopped playing, paused for a second and looked up at her. His eyes were long and dark grey with an intense curiosity in them that reminded her of bird of prey puzzling over its next meal.
Now that his lips were away from his giant flute she saw that his mouth formed a natural pout that would be girly if it did not seem to match the rest of his face. Over all he had an oddly playful look about him that made her feel strangely nervous.
"Are you hear to murder me?" he asked his deep voice more questioning than worried.
"Errr..." she said dumbly, "no Im Avatar Korra," what do you say when someone asks a question like that?
He raised an eyebrow, "Do you always introduce yourself like that?"
She frowned a little, "Not really no," another weird question.
"Good because saying your Avatar Korra defeats the purpose of you being the one and only Avatar," Ok he did have a point there, "can I help you with something lovely Avatar?" he looked down at his flute positioning his fingers in order to start playing again.
Suddenly remembering her all important task she cried out, "The Police are coming for you!" even to herself she sounded over the top. Ikki briefly woke from her nap before falling face first into the Bison's stomach again.
Nam stopped, his flute half way to his mouth and looked back up at her with renewed interest, "Would this have anything to do with the break in last night?"
Korra's eyes widened a little in shock, "How did you know that?" she asked taking a defensive step backwards.
"I have this magic machine call a radio that tells me local news," he replied sarcastic making Korra feel a little stupid, "it also plays music and tells me to buy things.
"Is that supposed to be funny?" she asked feeling her annoyance rise as he continued to speak.
"Of course not," he replied in mock seriousness, "you should never trust a radio, they all have their own agendas!"
Korra folded her arms in front of herself in annoyance, "This is not a joke!" she half growled at him.
"Oh you're just missing the punch line," he joked flashing her a large mischievous grin that made Ikki and Meelo look tame by comparison, "try to see the fun in things, it helps."
"Does it protect you from Metalbenders?" she asked pedantically, she may as well fight fire with fire.
"No but it's worth a shot," he said shrugging, "if not then I'll throw my flute at them."
"Oh no no no," Korra said at once bending down to get in his face, "Tenzin sent me to make sure there was not fighting, so there will be no fighting."
He smiled slyly at her, in response, "Who said I would fight them," he reasoned in mock defence, "is my flute now a deadly weapon?"
"The way you play it, ye." Ok it was a little mean but this guy was so smug and laid back she felt like taking him down a notch.
Suddenly Nam was up on his feet, he was still smiling but now it looked more like he was hungry for something. He was taller than her, around the same height as Mako. Though he seemed a little broader threw the chest and shoulders, though that could just be the jacket.
She found herself backing away a step, there was something intimidating about that look on his face. It did not look entirely sane to her.
"What was that about my flute playing?" something in his voice made the hair on her neck stand on end.
Nothing was wrong with it really but she had this uncontrollable desire to get under this guys skin, "Hey I'm sure they don't mind it up in Temple City with all that space to get away from you. Though I'd love to know how you stop them from kicking you off a mountain and bringing peace to the world again."
One of his eyebrows rose at that, it seemed she'd impressed him, "Ok Avatar Korra," she got the feeling she'd earned a nickname, "what are you here for? This is fun and all but I have the feeling your here for something else than my enriching conversation?" he emphasized the word "enriching" in a way that made a shiver a little.
Korra knew that Lin and her police would only be a short while away so she decided to be direct, "Nam, Tenzin sent me to..."
"It's Nam-kha," he interjected casually.
She felt herself clench her jaw and continued from where he had cut in, "...to make sure you don't do anything stupid when Chief Beifong comes to talk to you." she noticed a slight twitch in his right eye when she mentioned Beifong.
He stood in shock for a moment his mouth slightly open before quiet suddenly he grinned far more brightly at her "Brilliant," he said and suddenly he began to take off his massive coat.
"What are you doing?" Korra asked frowning at him as the threw down his coat revealing a long sheave grey shirt stretched over a muscular torso. The shirt had several odd clasps and straps around his wrists and shoulders. Not that she cared, the guy was surprisingly buff for an honorary Air Nomad.
He tightened the straps on his wrists and pulled on a pair of grey leather gloves from his back pocket before answering, "Chief Lin Beifong and I have a history and I've been inching for a chance to get back at her."
Korra felt a bit of panic rising in her chest, Tenzin had asked her to keep him out of trouble not get him pumped for a rematch with Beifong. "No!" she shouted standing front of him as if to block him from the still absent Beifong, but what the hell she was getting desperate.
He frowned at her looked a little amused, "No?" he said questioningly, 'yes, I'm not passing this up."
"Well you're going to have to," she replied leaning forward a bit to get her point across better, "I mean what's your problem don't you want to help catch a criminal?"
He gave her an impatient look, like she was pointlessly taking up her time, "As fun as that sounds Avatar Korra," he replied mockingly as he fitted his goggles over his eyes making him look oddly menacing, "unless you plan on taking me down yourself this conversation has become pointless."
With that bomb shell he turned his back on the most powerful bender on the planet and started stretching casually. As if the police weren't about to drop from the sky and mess up his day, or rather give him a reason to mess up his own day.
She felt something snap inside her head, she didn't know what it was about this guy that got to her so much but now she wanted to smash those stupid green goggles. And if his face happened to be in them at the time all the better.
She slammed her foot into the ground making a column of earth rise suddenly under Nam's stupid feet. The goggled freak went flying, ten...twenty feet into the air before he began to fall. She began to feel a little guilty an till Nam turned gracefully in mid air and landed in a gentle crouch just in front of her earth column
He stood slowly rolling his shoulders back and smirking at her, "Does this mean were playing now?" he asked a sly note of excitement coloured his voice very different from when he had spoken about Beifong.
"If I have to fight you to stop you then ye," she took an Airbending stance, she didn't want to hurt the guy...too much.
Nam grinned widely at her and looked up at the sky behind her. Looking back Korra saw a police airship in the distance and it was approaching fast. She felt a little relieved that he would soon be off her hands, though she still wanted to punch him in the face at least once.
"Ok," he said cheerfully bouncing on the spot, "here's the game. You have an till Beifong gets here to take me down. You win I come quietly and will act the humble citizen."
"And if you win?" she had to ask...
His grin turned a little evil, "Apart from my fun with Beifong hmmmm...a kiss." He gestured flamboyantly at his own lips to make his point clear.
"What!" she yelled in outrage, no believing where this was going and hating the small blush that she felt creep onto her cheeks.
"A kiss, from you that is if that was not obvious," Ok now that smile was making her a little uneasy and queasy, "I'm not hearing a no yet."
She quinced a little at the concept, apart from the fact she was dating Mako the idea of kissing this guy was not appealing. He was handsome she would not deny it, but he was also crazy. He was willing to attack a police force made up mainly of Metalbenders with nothing but his own fists and a bamboo flute.
She had to subdue him or risk letting Tenzin down making herself look incompetent. Plus she realised with a small smile, what chance did he have against her.
"Ok," she said smugly, thrusting her right palm forward and sending a massive blast of air striate for the idiot's chest.
Nam was sent flying backwards and would have been sent across the training ground if at the last second he hadn't turned in mid air and grabbed hold of the newly risen chunk of earth.
Realising she had been played Korra slammed her foot into the ground bringing up a large chunk of earth and sent it flying at Nam with a right hook.
But this guy was good, using the column as launching platform Nam leap over her chunk of earth with ease. When he hit the ground he rolled to his feet quicker than blinking and darted for her.
Wanting to keep her advantage Korra dived to the left and out of his reach. Landing on her hands she swung her legs around and summoned a wave of fire hoping to trip him up. She failed however for as if they had practised it he leapt cleanly over the swirling flames and landed just short of the tail end, not evebn breaking his stride.
She had to admit he was better than she would have thought, he moved like a predator. But there was something about the way he moved that was a little familiar.
She soon regretted her moment of admiration however as it allowed him to get far too close to her. Swinging wildly with her left arm she tried to stop him with another wave of fire but he swerved out of her way with such easy it was insulting.
He kept close to her after that, playing with her! Whenever she turned to strike he shifted out of the way like he was in sync with her attacks. Even when she swung wildly at him with a spinning kick enhanced with the wind and he just moved with it seeming to move with the attack, swirling around to punch her in her right side.
The force of his block was like being kicked by Naga, she had no way of staying on her feet as the blow lifted her into the air and she was forced to use Airbending just to stay close to the ground.
Growing angry at the ease with which he was playing with her she charged him again with a furious barrage of close range bending attacks mixed with conventional ones, trying as hard as she could to get the upper hand for even a second.
It was when she was thrown down after a stupid attempt to elbow him from behind that she realised she recognised his movements. She had practised them repeatedly with Tenzin. He may not be a real Air Nomad, but he had trained like one.
His movements were just like Airbending forms, smooth and precise. Letting the attack come rather than stopping it all together. The only difference was that he had fused the ancient style with more modern styles that allowed him to land sudden powerful blows that would have had a lot of lesser benders on the ground by now.
Well...on the ground permanently not like she was now.
Fight a blush she stood slowly approached him in a sideways curve, walking smoothly around him like she would in her Airbending training. When they connected it was hand to hand and it was on her terms. They dodged around each other for while sinking into the motions, she would learn his method then chrush him with it.
He threw a punch she ducked right under it. She tried to trip him he simply moved with her. She quickly learnt his rhythm, where he placed his feet, when he moved, how he shifted his stance when she went for him. They continued an till she saw her opening.
Adding a little fire to her next attack she got Nam to dodge more widely and just as he placed his foot exactly as she knew he would she shifted the earth beneath his feet. He tripped, not violently, but just enough for her to turn, bring both hands together in a swirling motion and send a sent a funnel of air striate into Nam's chest.
This time he really did go flying, straight into the turning gates. He disappeared from sight as the gates swallowed him out of sight. Korra knew she should not feel good about beating him but hey the guy was jerk and as the Avatar she thought it was her civic duty to deal with jerks.
After a few seconds one of the outer gates turned and Nam swaggered out looking happier than ever. His face had taken on an almost manic look and Korra's good feeling seemed to dissolve out of her. Something told her she had just made this worse.
"Well then," he said panting slightly, gesturing dramatically with his arms as if to present himself, "let us finish this Avatar Korra. I have a new erg to win those lips now!"
He charged at her running so fast Korra took a step back. He seemed different this time, more serious and she did not want him any closer to her than she could help. She may have the advantage of bending, but he was a lot bigger and stronger than she was.
Wanting to stop him she sent two blasts of fire at him making sure they were large and powerful enough to at least slow him down. She didn't know how but Nam seemed to just side step them, missing the flames by a finger breadth. It was like he had no fear or he did and the fear of the flames was just egging him on further.
Panicking a little she bent the ground under his down into a six foot pit but all he did was roll to the side and continued his charge. In one last effort she tried the same blast of air trick she had used on him before but this time he was ready. He slid under the funnel and as she was preparing the bend him fully into the ground Nam sprung up and kicked her in the chest with both feet and knocking her off her feet.
She hit the ground hard, rolling as best she could to get back up and keep some distance between them. This time Nam did not just duck and weave out of the way. He came at her head on, first hitting her with four quick jabs that felt like hammer blows on her arms that she was forced to put up to defend her face. Taking advantage of this he quickly grabbed her arms and yanked her towards him so hard her feet came off the ground.
She momentarily lost her sense of up and down as her forehead came into contact with Nam's. It felt like getting hit by wall, a wall that was flying at you. It took her what felt like forever just to stagger to her feet.
At least Nam was being a gentleman and not going after her when she was down. The world would just not stop spinning and her hearing was not working properly.
Still dizzy she tried to hit him with a few wild fire blasts but with no luck. He dodged them like they were nothing and in all honesty they were the way she was throwing them. Eventually she tried an ill conceived kick, she knew at once that it was a mistake but damn it she wanted to hit this guy.
Faster than blinking Nam dunked under her leg and kicked the second one out from under her. She hit the ground yet again, she franticly tried to get back up but as she did something very heavy landed hard on her stomach.
Nam smiled down at her from his new position on her chest, "So are you against or for open mouth?" his voice sounded so casual when he said that that she wanted to rip off his goggles and shove them into his mouth...and then punch him. Oh how she wanted to punch him just once.
"When I get my hands on you!" she growled at him struggling as hard as she could, trying to get free. How could a guy that moved so gracefully weigh so much.
"Wow you're eager, I like it!"
"GAHHHHH," she screamed when she realised could not get free, "stop talking!"
"So you like your men handsome yet silent, am I right?" Nam said with an evil smirk on his face.
"Just get off me!" she was not going to give him more ammunition than he already had.
He made a noise somewhere between a laugh and a bark, "Nailed it," she was going to strangle him, "well no matter your type, a deal is a deal and I will now be claiming my reward."
As he Nam leaned in Korra was ashamed to say she whimpered a little. She was just about to be defiled when she heard a whipping sound and the chink of metal.
For once Nam was not smiling, for a split second he looked like he was dreading something very uncomfortable. Korra actually felt offended for a moment an till Nam was yanked sharply off her into the air.
Someone helped her up who she was glad and a little embarrassed to see was Mako, "Are you all right?" he asked, his worry clear on his face as he gently massaged her arm.
"Ye," she said groggily shaking her head to clear her vision, "ye Im fine what took you so long?"
He smiled in relief making her smile a little in spite of her aching head, "Good I was worried, the Chief was talking about this guy on the way."
Korra looked over at Nam who was being suspended in mid air in front of Beifong who was jabbing her finger in his face and was saying something that seemed to be boring him as he wasn't even looking at her.
"He's just some freak with a death wish," she said surprising herself with the amount of spite in her voice, "I let my guard down..."
Mako glared in Nam's direction scowling with more force than she thought was necessary, "Don't feel bad Korra even I heard about this guy back in the day."
"What?" she said in surprise, how had Mako heard of Nam when he had been just a kid.
"A few years back when Boe and I were on the streets," Korra winced a little at the image, "the Triad guys used to moan about a guy call Nam-kha that kept ruining their work. Mostly the Agni Kais but everyone got a bit of his work back then. It didn't last long but the things people said about this guy made your blood run cold."
She frowned a little, she was not found of Nam but she had a hard time imagining him was a villain, "What kind of stuff?"
"I broke things," Nam shouted over with apparent delight in his voice.
Mako's frown deepened, "You put people in hospital!" he said angrily.
"Triads," he replied a dark relish in his voice, "they hurt people if you had not noticed."
"Ye most of them," Mako spat back, "but others were just people trying to stay alive!"
"There are better ways!" from the way Nam said that she could tell that there was more to his past than what she had been told. More than just sheltered half Air Nomad with a taste for combat.
"Enough both of you!" Beifong shouted silencing Mako but making Nam laugh.
"Back to the station Lin?" Nam asked her conversationally, "do you still have my old cell open for me or am I to remain in irons?" the smile he was giving Beifong was half amused half vicious. She had to find out what was going on there!
"We just want to ask you some questions Nam, you don't have to make this harder than I know it's going to be." Beifong's voice was hard yet oddly gentle for her.
"Be glad to," he said in a friendly manner, "just as soon as Avatar Korra and I finish our business."
Lin frowned a little, "Korra what business do you have with him?"
"I have a name."
"Cram it," she snapped at him sounding more like herself, "Korra?"
"It's Nam-kha."
"Shut up!" Beifong and Mako said in unison.
"Korra?" Lin questioned again ignoring a grinning Nam.
Korra felt herself blush again, "It's nothing juts one of his stupid jokes," she was not going to do anything for the goggled freak even if he had won the bet.
"Then I refuse to help in anyway," she could tell from his evil grin that he was perfectly serious.
"Nam!" Lin said threateningly, "don't make this hard on yourself!"
"I have the right to my silence," Nam said in a mock calm voice, "Avatar Korra and I had bet and I will collect or this little event will do little but change my scenery."
Mako turned to her frowning a little, "Korra just give him what he asked for and we can get out of here."
Ok that annoyed her, she loved Mako and all but she hated it when he told her to do anything. In the middle of her irritation she had a sudden idea. She walked over to Nam who was lowered a little so that they were almost face to face. She smiled at him in the most feminine way she could and kissed him on the cheek.
When she broke away she resisted the erg to look at Mako or Beifong who she knew were both open mouthed and gaping at what she had just done. She smiled at Nam who seemed to know what was coming because while he did smile at her he did not for once show any teeth.
It actually looked good on him, smiling like that seemed more honest than his manic grinning. So she felt a little bit guilty when she punched him in the face.
His goggles cracked and flew of his head as he reeled back shaking his head to clear it. Beifong made to pull her away from him but stopped when Nam started laughing.
His long grey eyes looked at her like she was something new and exciting, plus his grin was back and he looked over all delighted, "You are going to be fun I can tell," he said with relish.
"All right get him out of here," Beifong said to her men who began carrying Nam back towards the parked airship. Lin rolled her eyes at her as passed, "come down to the station later, I have a feeling he likes you and believe me we need that."
"Later Avatar Korra," he called after her as he vanished from sight.
As she began walking back towards the Air Temple she paused by Mako who seemed to be frozen in place looking at her. Grabbing him by the shirt she pulled him down and gave him a long hard kiss, on the mouth not on the lips.
As she walked away she called back to Mako, "If you want to think of something to get me for my birthday convince Beifong to let me punch him again!" and she was serious, it had been more fun than the Avatar state.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter, I know I did. I have the next few chapters planned out and hope to have them out over the next few weeks or days if I'm bored enough. Please review the stories if enjoyed it, I do so love to hear your opinions...unless there about my grammar which I have no way of fixing more than I have.
By the way if you want an idea of what Nam's coat looks like just type, Sharpe Great coat into google. Its a grey version of that.