AUTHOR'S NOTES: Due to the large amount of extra chapters/content I have on hand, I am modifying my update schedule to Monday/Wednesday/Friday for at least the next 8 weeks. That said, here's chapter 4. The Avatar's journey takes her northward gradually, and one of the first stops is Gaoling. As hinted at by the title, it's pretty clear what the theme of this chapter is about.
Happy Reading!
BOOK ONE: POWER
CHAPTER FOUR: EARTH RUMBLE XIII
The goodbyes that Korra and her parents shared the following morning as Nakkoa and Kwan arrived to pick her and Naga up were bittersweet. On one hand, Korra was excited to go, but on the other, for all the spats that any parent and teenaged child got into, Korra loved her mother and father, and was going to miss them. This time around, she even let them know this with no ounce of subtlety in her voice.
"We'll miss you," Senna hugged Korra one last time.
"I'll miss you too," she looked at her mother and then up at her father. "I know I've not always been the easiest person to deal with… but I love you both… and I'm grateful for everything you've done for me."
The amount of exchange and sentimental goodbyes could have lasted hours as Korra realized the attachment she had to her family, but eventually, they parted ways. It was only after leaving them that Korra realized how attached she was. Other than Naga (who of course was coming with her), she didn't really have any other friends, except maybe Katara, but even that relationship was more of a mentor/student one than anything. As such, Korra didn't really have anyone else to say goodbye to.
The ship that Kwan and Nakkoa led her to, however, was not what she expected. It looked more like a cargo ship rather than a passenger vessel, and Korra was pretty sure that she could hear Nakkoa trying to sweet talk the captain in some form or another. While she did that, Kwan led Korra up the bridge and into the cargo hold, where miraculously, the earthbender, the Avatar, and the Avatar's polar bear-dog all managed to avoid the eyes of any of the crew.
"Is this legal?" Korra may not have been a letter-of-the-law type of person, but she was also only 14 and didn't really want to get branded a criminal this early in life.
"If Nakkoa does what she promised, it will be," Kwan promised as she shunted Korra and Naga down behind several four-wheeled vehicles that Korra had only ever seen a scant few of in her life. She had never heard the name 'Satomobile' in her life however, and so was unsure of what they were called until Kwan told it to her.
"What's Nakkoa doing, exactly?" Korra looked over at Kwan as they ducked into a corner behind one of the Satomobiles. "And why was she swaying her hips?"
"...Try not to think about that," Kwan shook her head, "We'll get you where you need to go though, kid. Of that, you have my word."
True to Kwan's word, the ship took them safely from the Southern Water Tribe up past the old Air Nomad Realms, and up to the Earth Kingdom port city of Gaoling.
"This ain't where we're gonna end up," Kwan whispered, "but it's where we gotta bail out for the time being. Let's move."
Naga, however, was having no more of this subtlety business, and so she nudged Korra strongly in a way that indicated for her master to climb up, before the two of them tore through the cargo hold looking for an exit. Kwan shook her head, but used the mayhem as a diversion and opportunity for her to sneak out without being seen. Korra might have had a clean record, but Kwan could not say the same thing by any means.
"Thanks for the lift!" Korra shouted as Naga barrelled up onto the deck and off the ramp and into the town. In the mayhem that ensued, Kwan managed to evade being seen, and it seemed that whatever Nakkoa had done had gotten her off the boat just fine.
Of course, once in the city, Naga didn't exactly stop right away, and beelined it for the nearest river near the south edge of town. Naga stopped at the bank before analyzing the water.
"Naga, what are you—waaagh!" Korra did not expect Naga to plunge directly into the water, but that was exactly what she did. She emerged a moment later, soaked completely while her rider was drenched from the chest and arms down. She made quick work of the large fish in her mouth, and suddenly Korra realized what Naga had been doing.
"Alright, girl, you win this one," she shook her head, "next time at least let me get off first though."
Naga barked before plunging her head beneath the water and snatching up a smaller fish, flinging it into the air before catching it in her mouth. Korra hopped off Naga's back and into the river, propelling herself to the bank with a bit of clever waterbending. She removed her boots and socks before pulling most of the water out of her clothes.
"Maybe Katara was right about taking time to work on that precision…" Korra muttered before gasping. "Naga, NO!"
But it was too late. Naga had crawled out of the river as well before shaking and violently spraying Korra with enough water to soak her all over again.
"I'd bet money you did that on purpose," she snarked, her lower lip sticking out in a very prominent pout, "if I had any money to bet and if I wasn't talking to a polar bear-dog."
Naga simply replied by pushing Korra back and licking her face. Korra knew she couldn't' actually stay mad at her beloved companion, and so a little more waterbending later and she was mostly dry. She did not dive into the river like Naga had, but Korra managed to spear herself a fish or two, and after a bit of cleaning and a guilty glance this way and that, she pointed her two fingers at it and ignited it with some small-scale firebending.
It definitely could have used a little salt, but beggars could not be choosers. She would have to find a way to earn some actual money, so she could buy actual food. As she replaced her footwear and walked with Naga back towards town, she found what she believed to be her answer, in the form of a flyer.
"Earth Rumble XIII?" Korra glanced at the flyer, "how hard could chucking a few rocks be?"
It was about 20 minutes before Kwan and Nakkoa both realized that Korra and Naga were missing. Naturally, Nakkoa wasn't too thrilled about it.
"We make one stop and you lose her." she barked at Kwan. "What do you think Unalaq is gonna say when we come back empty handed?"
"You're blamin' me for not keeping a 14-year-old kid on a leash?" Kwan countered, "The kid was stir-crazy, and so was her 'dog. Ain't no way I can keep up with that!"
"What did you guys do down there anyways?" Nakkoa paused, raising an eyebrow.
"We certainly didn't have a fling with the captain like some firebender I know," Kwan retorted.
"You didn't offer any better ideas," Nakkoa waggled her finger, "and I don't think you have the looks or the charisma anyways."
"Well, since you're clearly the brains of this operation," Kwan quipped, "I'll let you go ahead and find the Avatar. I'm gonna go knock some heads in an Earth Rumble tourney or two. Besides, I want to be able to afford out next voyage out of this two-bit hole rather than have to smuggle myself, the Avatar, and her polar bear-dog into the cargo hold."
"I'm honestly impressed that you weren't seen," Nakkoa laughed.
"Well, I did have to throw Korra into the trunk of a Satomobile at least once," Kwan admitted, "but I'm sure she'll be thrilled to tell you that story when you find her."
"Time will tell," Nakkoa hummed as she and Kwan parted ways.
Kwan had definitely been to Gaoling enough times to know where to find the Earth Rumble arena. She wasn't the champion, but hadn't been kicked out and permanently banned from the ring either. Both of these facts were things she attributed to the fact that she had never used lavabending in the arena, and wasn't about to start now.
"Stone-Laurel" as her ring name was known, had no trouble signing up and getting a list of formidable opponents. The progression system was simple insomuch that combatants fought lower-levelled opponents first and moved on to higher and more skilled opponents with each successive victory: and similarly, the victory purse grew heavier with each successive win.
Kwan won a total of 6 rounds before being knocked clean out of the ring by a fighter known only as the "Iron Man", but the man who KO'd her was no pushover, and Kwan could respect that when all was said and done.
Still, even after losing, she took her cut and joined the stands to watch a few more fights. It was always fun to see a new face, or watch as the latest champion defended his title. Today though, she was in for a treat.
While Kwan had been fighting in the arena, Korra had been spearing fish with Naga, By the time Kwan had been KO'd, Korra was only wandering into the arena looking for the place to sign up.
"You don't look like you're from around here, kid." the owner looked the teen over.
"Brilliant observation." Korra retorted, "was it the dark skin and blue eyes? Or did the blue Water Tribe getup tip you off?"
The man's visage twisted into a smirk. "Kid, if you can throw rocks as well as you throw shade, you'll do just fine in Kazuya's Earth Rumble Arena."
"Sure," Korra's face lit up as she moved one of her arms to bring a rock up from the ground, "earthbending's no problem for me. Neither is firebending or waterbending."
Korra didn't have any water on hand, but demonstrated a little burst of flame with a dexterous flick of her left hand.
"Right... about that," Kazuya interrupted her, "Avatar or not, it's called Earth Rumble for a reason. You stick to earthbending or you're disqualified, and if you DQ, you're out all the money you would have won, even if you had just beaten the champ."
Korra's confident expression melted in a split second as her face straightened and her lower lip stuck out. "So… just earthbending then, yeah?"
"Correct," Kazuya smirked, "earthbend to your little heart's content. None of this water or fire nonsense though. On the other hand, you've already got a cool ring name… and it saves me the trouble of having to deal with whatever embarrassing edgy ring-name you kids like to make."
"So what's my ring name?" Korra didn't quite follow.
"The Avatar, of course!" Kazuya slapped Korra on the back. "Now get into that changing room and get ready. You'll be up in a few minutes."
The only alterations Korra made to her attire was she decided to go barefooted and replaced the blue bands around her forearms with hand tape, which she also wrapped around her knuckles.
Her first opponent was someone simply called "The Mole". Of course, with Kazuya announcing her own ring name a moment later, any chance at subtlety they had was ruined.
"And all the way from the bowels of the Water Tribes, The Mole's Competitor is none other than the dark newcomer: The Avatar!"
Korra swaggered out, flexing her arms and grinning at various people in the audience.
"Son of a bitch…" Kwan muttered as she saw Korra. "Nakkoa's gonna kill us."
Korra didn't notice Kwan among the crowds, especially since they were a good distance away. The front three rows of stone seats were almost completely empty, for anyone who knew about Earth Rumble knew that it was an extremely common occurrence for rocks or sometimes even combatants to get launched clean into the stands.
This was not what happened to the Mole, but Korra managed to make quick work of the smaller mouse-eyed fellow, swinging her foot in such a way that she diverted her opponent's path, sliding the platform from under him and swinging him off to the side. A follow-up stomp caused a slab of stone to protrude and launch him off the stage.
"And we have our winner!" Korra could hear Kazuya's voice over the loudspeaker. Her first victory fired Korra up with more zeal and enthusiasm. She was ready for the next round.
Korra managed to take out two other opponents in a similar fashion, although both fights took much longer. Kwan watched Korra with some level of admiration. The teen was very agile and light on her feet, with very swift reflexes and reaction times to boot. Her form definitely needed some work, but crude, vulgar forms of earthbending were the norm around here. Her other two opponents had been stronger than The Mole, but for whatever reason, Korra had not remembered their names. Her 2nd competitor had been mouthy with the taunts though, and so Korra reacted the same way any self-respecting teenager would when insulted, which was, of course, to throw back insults of her own.
"You're pretty far away from the Water Tribes now, kid." the earthbender taunted.
"And you're pretty far from the victor's throne yourself if you're about to lose to a kid half your age!" Korra retorted.
"It looks like you got in a little over your head if you think I'm going out that fast." he took an earthbending stance and flexed.
"Ohhh…. Such a tough guy," Korra rolled her eyes, before waving her arms in parody, "Look at me, I'm so tough; I can beat up little girls by throwing rocks at them!"
"Best kid to ever come out of Earth Rumble was a 12-year-old blind girl in Earth Rumble VI," the man reminded her.
"And you're certainly not a 12-year-old blind girl," Korra riposted, "ugly enough that it nearly made me go blind though… pity I'm 14 and not 12."
"Let's see if you're rockin' can match your talkin' then!" he jeered, and the contest began. He was fast, but Korra was faster, zigzagging around his attacks for several minutes before getting right up in his face, forming a stone fist around her right arm, and launching herself up into a powerful uppercut that sent her opponent flying off the stands and into the pit below. The bell rang a moment later to signify the winner.
"Water Triiiiiiibe!" Korra spread her arms and sashaying her hips side to side in a vulgar display of power, which were completed with little bending displays. She may not have been allowed to use them in the actual fights, but that didn't prevent her from using them in taunts.
Perhaps as to not provoke the slightly cocky Avatar at this point, Korra's 3rd opponent was a bit more straightforward in his approach.
"It's rare to see a woman in the arena," he pointed out, "but no need for words. Let's let our fists and earthbending do the talking."
"Challenge accepted," Korra shrugged, a little bummed that there was less taunting, but she remained on top of her game and soundly defeated this figure in less time than his previous, more boisterous predecessor.
Korra met her match at the hands of her 4th opponent, a towering woman appropriately nicknamed "Titanborn". This would be a tough nut to crack.
"So when's the part where you take off the trenchcoat and reveal the two kids pretending to be an adult?" Korra jeered before the match began.
"To Oblivion with you, ya smug bastard," Titanborn riposted, "You'll be waterbendin' out your ears once we're through here!"
"It's a good thing for you I play by the rules," Korra brandished a flame on her hand, "Because otherwise you'd look the bigger fool than Ozai when I was done with you!"
"That's not the attitude I'd expect from the Avatar," Titanborn crossed her arms.
"Everything I do is the attitude of the Avatar," Korra retorted, her lower lip sticking out. "Because I *AM* the Avatar. So deal with it." She spat to her right as she said this.
"Alright, tiny, you're on," Titanborn stamped her foot and the match commenced. Korra knew she had been talking out her backside with all of these taunts, but she wasn't about to back down. The dance had begun, and only one would stand triumphant; the other would either be in the pit surrounding the arena platform, or would land themselves into the stands—quite literally.