Chapter 3

"Sota?" A voice called out, but the young boy didn't seem to hear or pay it much attention as his gaze remained unfocused. "Sota? SOTA!"

"Huh!? What!?" The nine-year-old said, a startled cry escaping his mouth as he finally came back to reality. His eyes locked onto his teacher's, a displeased look on the elder's face at his disrespect.

Sota knew all too well that a lecture would be accompanying this reprimanding look, and could only blush in embarrassment at this. Of course, it didn't help that he was now the center of attention in front of his classmates who had taken it upon themselves to laugh at him. Hanging his head in shame, Sota couldn't believe that he'd been caught not paying attention. Again.

Master Taku took a moment more to gaze at him before letting out a frustrated sigh. Holding his hands up, he gave an authoritative cough, silencing the children, though their faces still held their amusement.

"Is there a problem, Sota?" he asked.

"No, Master Taku," he replied, adverting his gaze, no longer feeling worthy to be in the waterbending master's presence.

"Then pay attention," he said sternly. With a nod from the young man in question, the elderly waterbender shifted his stance back into formation. All of the students followed suit, returning to the stance as well as they copied his movements. "Remember, children; the key is to move fluidly. To properly perform this move, you must remain focused," he emphasized, throwing Sota another glance. "Let your worries pass through your body, and out of your arms, into your bending. If your mind is not clear, your movements will become stiff and ridge, making it impossible to do this properly."

The children proceeded to practice the move for the rest of class, their master nodding as they all worked it, and helping those who either had their stances incorrect or who were having trouble with the movement shifts.

"Alright, that's all for today, everyone. I want you all to practice and review that move for tomorrow because you will be tested. You are dismissed," Master Taku said.

Sota dropped his stance with a heavy sigh. As much as he loved waterbending class, lately, he hadn't been able to focus at all. Every time he left home, a pit of anxiety would grow in his stomach, making his already farad nerves even more so. Turning to take his leave and get home as soon as possible, Sota could feel all shred of hope he had accumulated in that short instance vanish at the sound of his name being called.

"Sota, a word," Master Taku commanded.

Sota cringed involuntarily, knowing all too well where this conversation was headed, but did as he was told, turning around and standing in front of the elder. A nervous sweat began to build on the back of his neck, though he did his best to ignore it.

"Yes, Master Taku?" Sota asked slowly in an attempt to keep his voice from shaking.

"Sota…is something bothering you?" Master Taku asked. "I'm concerned. Your bending has taken a significant decline in quality in the last few weeks, and you seem to be distracted quite often. Normally I would just attribute it to laziness and a lack of desire to learn, but with your case, I know that not to be true. When you first came, you were excelling very quickly and very well, especially for your age. I'm just wondering what happened to all that. Tell me, what has you troubled?"

It was times like this that made Master Taku one of Sota's favorite elders, second only to Master Katara. Though he was stern and held no room for foolishness, he was also very caring and protective of his students, going out of his way to help them whenever he could.

Sota swallowed the lump in his throat, taking a cool breath of arctic air to allow the frigidness to fill his lungs. He thought he was going to be in a lot more trouble, especially considering that this was the fourth time that week he had been caught not paying attention in class, and that was the last thing he needed at the moment.

"No, Master, everything is fine. I guess I've just been a bit preoccupied because of my sister. She's going to be returning home today."

It was true that Korra would be staying home for a few days, and that Sota was excited to see her. He always loved spending time with her and hearing all about her Avatar training. He especially loved when she would teach him new waterbending moves that no one in his class knew.

However, this was not the actual reason for his scattered brain behavior, but his master did not need to know that.

"I see," Master Taku said, the look in his eyes telling Sota that he wasn't the least bit convinced that this was the truth, though he seemed to accept it for now. "In any case, you're going to need to focus better if you hope to move on to the next level. If this continues, I will have to have a talk with your parents about it. Understood?"

Sota could feel his face pale as the color drained a bit at the thought of what his parents would say, especially his father, before giving a swift nod of understanding. Master Taku gave a nod of his own, dismissing the boy who took off for his home immediately.

The sun was high that late afternoon, illuminating the entire village as well as casting many shadows all around him. Sota paid it no mind though, his only thoughts being that he needed to get home as soon as possible without any more problems. He once again had that uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, and this did not sit well with him at all.

His suspicions were confirmed as he was suddenly assaulted with a large amount of water. The water was ice cold as it soaked him from head to toe. The force of the attack was intense as he soon found himself sliding into an open alleyway.

Sota breathed in and out heavily, clear puffs of smoke coming from his mouth with each huff while his body shook from the sudden shock of the cold water hitting him. A loud laugh caught his attention as his assailant walked up to him, towering over the young boy. Sota could only look into his face with fear.

"How's it hanging, shrimp?" he taunted.

"Hi, Urroq," he said quietly while adverting his gaze and slowly standing to his feet. As he prepared to bend the water off his body, Sota suddenly found himself being attacked with more of it. As it finally came to a stop, Sota prayed that this would be the extent of his punishment but was proven wrong as he was lifted off the ground by the front of his parka.

Terror and fear ran through his veins, showing in his eyes and body as he shook. Urroq, on the other hand, had nothing but mischief and malicious intent in his eyes.

"What's the matter, Sota? Don't tell me you're scared," Urroq taunted. "The little brother of the Avatar, all scared like a baby. Why don't you do something about it?"

"Let go of me, Urroq!" Sota cried out in a vein attempt but that only seemed to make Urroq's smile bigger as he punched Sota in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Sota groaned before being hit with another couple of hits in the same spot, causing him to close his mouth as he tried not to vomit, though his restless stomach didn't seem to want to agree with him today.

Watching as Sota began to stop struggling, Urroq dropped him to the ground. Sota held his bruised abdomen, cries of pain coming from his mouth that were soon cut off as Urroq stepped on his back, forcing Sota to lay on his stomach in the snow. The cold land would have been a welcome relief, but he had no time to dwell on this as his warrior's wolf tail was yanked hard, forcing his head up as Urroq drove his knee into his back.

"Man, you're pathetic," Urroq taunted, a sick laugh coming after his insult. "I don't even know why Master Taku wastes his time on a piece of Leopard Seal crap like you, or why you even bother trying. You're such a worthless bender, it's almost sad. What makes it worse is your hot-headed, loud-mouth sister is the Avatar. She probably took all the good bending skills and left nothing for you. Yet," he paused, putting extra pressure on Sota's back, delighted when he received another pain filled cry as his response, "you just think all high and mighty of yourself because you're the Avatar's brother and get special treatment for no reason. Something that you don't deserve."

Sota opened his mouth to protest but was quickly silenced once more as his hair was pulled again. As more tears ran down his face, he could only question why this was happening, especially when he didn't think that about himself at all. Not that it mattered to Urroq who leaned in toward him to whisper in his ear.

"But that's ok because I'm here, and I'm gonna help you remember your place."

Korra walked her way through the streets of the village, agitated beyond belief as she mumbled any manner of obscenity that she could think of. Every time she looked forward to something, her little brother had to ruin it. And this time was no different.

Having arrived earlier in the day, Korra had been ecstatic to be home with her family. Though with her brother at bending class and her father out working, it left her with just her mother to greet her. But Korra didn't mind at all and spent the time telling her of the new skills she had learned and how advanced she was. Senna was more than glad to be an ear for her teenage daughter while she prepared her favorite dinner, which only seemed to excite the young Avatar even more. The second she smelled it, Korra had stopped dead in the middle of her sentence, her mouth literally watering. Senna made sure to keep it out of sight however, knowing that Korra wouldn't be able to restrain herself if it was too close to her, and she was determined to keep it that way until her men returned home so that they could eat as a family.

Korra of course wasn't too thrilled by this, but listened to her mother's wish regardless, though it was getting harder and harder as the time pasted. She knew her brother would be home soon from class, and then she could fill her time with catching up with him until their father got home not long after. Or, at least, that had been the idea.

After almost an hour of waiting for him to get home, and still no sign of him, Korra's patience had grown very thin, and she was ready to burst with impatience while her mother only grew more and more concerned. It never took Sota this long to get back from his class, so Senna was of course beyond worried about her son.

"Korra, maybe you should go look for him. It's not like him to be this late from class, and I'm starting to get worried," Senna said. Korra wanted to protest, but knew it was pointless; her mother always got what she wanted. Besides, the sooner she found him, the sooner she could come back home and eat.

"Fine," she mumbled from the table. Sliding her chair back, she quickly threw on her parka and headed outside, making her way toward the town.

Needless to say, the fourteen-year-old Avatar was not happy at all, silently promising when she found Sota, he was in for a serious beating if he didn't have a good explanation for being so late.

It took Korra only ten minutes to reach the training field, and, to no surprise, no one was there. Korra frowned, and made her way back toward her home, checking as many places as she could, but still finding no sign of Sota anywhere. Korra was beyond frustrated and was ready to scream in aggravation when she was suddenly knocked off her feet as someone crashed into her.

Korra groaned as she sat up, Sota doing the same, his back turned to her. Korra's nostrils began to flare in anger as she reached out, grabbing her little brother by the hood of his jacket and preparing to give him a piece of her mind.

"What the hell, Sota?" she shouted at him. "First, you're late getting home, which, by the way, has Mom worried sick about you. Then, I come out here looking for you, taking me away from her fish stew, which you know I've been waiting for, only to have you knock me over? I've got half a mind to-"Korra's throat tightened, catching the rest of her threat in its place as Sota turned over his shoulder to face her.

Sota looked terrible, almost as if he had been mauled by a wild animal. His bottom lip trembled, swollen as the blood rushed to it, crusted over with frozen, dried blood that was trailing from his nose, though thankfully it didn't look like it was broken or bruised in any way. Though the same could not be said for the large, disgusting, black eye that seemed to swallow up the right half of his face. Korra could feel her stomach twisting in horrified knots as her sisterly instincts began to surge with concern.

"Holy crap, Sota! What happened to you!? Are you ok?"

"I'm, fine," he rushed out, turning away from her and trying to pull away from her grasp. "It's nothing, really."

"Nothing? Sota, you look absolutely terrible. You look like you just escaped from getting mauled by a rabid Platypus Bear. What the hell happened to you?" she asked again, gripping his shoulder tighter as he tried to pull away again. Korra narrowed her eyes; no, she wouldn't have any of that.

"I told you, I'm fine," he growled out, still refusing to look at her. "It was just a training accident."

"Oh really? How dumb do you think I am?" she declared, grabbing his warrior's wolf tail, and giving it a swift yank. Her response was a yelp and an angry glance as he looked over his shoulder at her once more. She quickly grabbed his shoulders, turning him fully around to face her. Sota tried to pull out of her grasp, but it was completely useless seeing as she was not only five years older than him, but also incredibly strong from all her training. As she held tight, Korra forced him to gaze into her eyes as she tried to convey all love and compassion to him. "Sota…look, I don't know what's going on, but you can trust me. I'm your big sister, and I love and care about you, and I want to help, but I can't do that unless you tell me what happened."

"I…I…I got beat up after class…" Sota said quietly, averting his gaze from her as tears began to well up at the brim of his eyelids. Korra pu lled him into a hug, careful of his injuries. His body shook softly against her as he cried all his pain and anguish out.

After a few minutes, he finally started to calm down enough to leave her embrace. Korra pulled back, wiping his eyes dry before helping him up to his feet and walking him over to a nearby fountain.

The two siblings sat quietly as Korra began to bend water out of the fountain and into her hands. The water began to twirl and spin, glowing a brilliant bright blue color. Korra then eased the water onto his face, letting the cooling effect work over his face as her healing powers worked their magic. Sota winced at the pain, wanting to pull away, but remained still so as not to get a lecture about sitting still from his sister as she helped him.

"I know, I know. It's gonna hurt a bit, but that's the only way to get it to work," Korra said, working over his eye. "So, what's the deal with this? Who beat you up?"

"His name's Urroq. He's another student in my class."

"You mean that twelve-year-old jerk who keeps failing to pass the basics class?" she asked, stunned as he nodded his head. "You let him beat you up?"

"Well, it's not like I just tell him it's ok to do it. He's way bigger and stronger than me in case you didn't notice."

"Well, why is he picking on you? Did something happen between you two or something?"

"No, he just doesn't like me, I guess," he said, lying to her. Korra didn't look convinced at all; he was hiding something from her. Or at least trying too.

"Are there more injuries on your body?"

"…yes…"

"Why haven't you told anyone about this?" she asked, getting angry at the thought of some muscle headed idiot beating up on her baby brother. "Do Mom and Dad know?"

"It's only been happening for a few weeks…and no, they don't know…I don't want to tell them," He said quietly.

"What!? Sota, what is wrong with you?" Korra shouted jumping to her feet in front of him as the water stopped glowing, splashing to the icy earth beneath her. "You need to tell them about it, or your teacher, or someone! No, you know what? I'll handle this!"

"What!?" he said in surprise.

"I'm gonna find this kid, and show him what happens when you- "

"No!" Sota protested, jumping onto his feet as well. "That'll only make things worse, Korra! Just, don't do anything! Everybody in my class already hates me because of you!"

"What!? Sota, how is this my fault!?"

"Everyone hates me because I'm the Avatar's brother! Everyone's jealous because of it and hates me. They keep saying that's the only reason I'm a good bender. After a while, Urroq started beating me up because of it, and everyone knew about it, and they praised him for it. And it's all your fault! If you do anything, they'll think that I sent you to beat him up and it would only make them mad at me even more!"

"Sota, you can't just let this slide! I'm not just gonna sit by and let this kid kick the crap out of you like this," Korra protested, her temper flaring at his accusation. "Either you're gonna tell Mom and Dad about this, or I'll handle it myself!"

"Just shut up and mind your own business, Korra!" He shouted before taking off and running toward his home.

Korra clenched and unclenched her fist repeatedly, the ground beneath her feet rumbling as it shook under her anger, ice and snow cracking under her intense bending power. With an angry growl, she stomped after her brother.

To be continued…