It was hard to deny that being able to leave the compound for pretty much the whole day was a great thing, even if it meant accompanying Korra. Sure, I still didn't like the 'honor' of being her companion/minder, but actually going out to experience civilization almost made up for the burden.
Katara came up with the idea, though it was because Korra was starting to get restless at constantly having me closeby. For my part, I was just following Grand Lotus Altaq's orders, as they were still leery of another possible infiltration. In the months after that failed attempt Katara always sat in during Korra's meals, using the pretense of keeping her company while not-so-subtly being on the alert for any poisoning attempt. At the same time, patrols were rotated irregularly, and other than the higher ranking masters, I was the only member of the White Lotus who was allowed within spitting distance of the Avatar. Every other evening, Altaq or some other waterbender master would do a round around the compound's walls, to check for anything unusual.
It quickly resulted in Korra's usually hidey-holes to sneak out being discovered and covered up, and the masters kicking a fuss at the greater-than-expected enemy infiltration. Korra didn't try to correct them, so neither did I.
The waterbenders also froze up a small block for myself to live in, away from the communal dorms and closer to Korra's own quarters. It was nowhere near as cozy as the Avatar's fur and ivory decor, but having my own icy hovel was much nicer than sleeping through the snores and rustling of everyone else. Though maybe if I kept up the good work, I could petition for a comfier bed, that wasn't laid on a foundation of prickly hay for insulation.
All of that's to say that within a few months' time, Korra had had enough of the constant scrutiny (especially from having me constantly hovering around) and had brought it up to Katara over dinner. By then, things have relaxed a bit, and Katara acquiesced. And because Katara did, so too did the other masters with varying degrees of reluctance.
Of course, Altaq also ordered a group of older White Lotus members to shadow us as we went into Wolf Cove, though they kept their distance due to Katara's directive.
"They're kids, let them enjoy their youth. If anything happens, we can trust Xing to buy some time for the group to intervene." She made it sound like I was immune to alpha strikes or ambushes. That nobody else protested that notion meant that she wasn't the only one to think so.
Still, the first day out was nice enough. Korra being excited to simply jog around Wolf Cove was almost adorable, while the awed residents, particularly the adults, kept a respectful distance. At least initially. Only after meeting up with her parents and - as her father was chief of the tribe and city - being introduced to several prominent figures, the invisible barrier was slowly eroded.
First came the older folks, people who had known Aang, and heaped praises on Korra for bearing resemblance to him in some form or another. That of course made Korra beam proudly, and she eagerly basked in the huddle of seniors.
Then some parents brought their infants over to receive the Avatar's blessing, and again Korra was more than happy to accommodate them. Then they found out that Korra was a waterbending healer, and people started to really crowd around her.
I stepped in at that point, doing what I could to push the eager supplicants back. Annoyingly, I had to get on my tiptoes to give the nearest White Lotus observer - who was a good dozen of yards away from the growing mob - a pointed look before they finally swooped in to help with crowd control. By the way they warily addressed the crowd, either the masters assigned newbies to guarding the Avatar, or the White Lotus weren't trained at all to deal with mobs. Hopefully it was only the former, though I can easily imagine an order so used to being clandestine or relying on their reputation to gain cooperation being ill prepared to handle a nascent mob.
Good thing I worked in retail and conventions in my past life, or the clamour of eager petitioners might be truly overwhelming.
"Thanks, Xing," Korra sighed with relief as the crowd was dispersed.
"My apologies, I didn't expect the people's excitement to be so…frantic." Her father, Chief Tonraq, was genuinely contrite. It was mostly aimed at his daughter, but I still got a brief look, which was more than I expected. "I'll have guards assigned to you."
"It's fine, dad," Korra replied with an easy smile. "Everything worked out okay, and I'll know better next time."
At his frown, the girl gave a bright grin that I felt was foreboding. "It's fine, really. After all, I came out here to leave all the constant attention…" She gave me a sideways glance before correcting herself. "Well, most of the attention. Besides, I can look after myself."
"If you're sure…"
Would it be rude if I cut in? This is still the Avatar and the Southern Water Tribe's chief talking…
"Xing?" Korra's mildly peeved tone meant that she noticed my indecision.
Eh, since I had their attention, might as well.
"Perhaps a…token squad could be assigned?" I suggested to both father and daughter. "So, uh…" Fuck, what's a good excuse to get more bodies around me? Oh, right! "To show that Wolf Cove has the…uh, honor of looking after Avatar Korra?" There's prestige in these sorts of things, right?
I endured the annoyed look Korra gave me even as her father gave me a nod of approval. "That's quite insightful of you. Don't worry, Korra, I'll make sure that the men will keep their distance to not get in the way of your fun."
"Thanks, I guess." The girl deflated a bit, but not as dejectedly as when Katara had convinced her of the necessity of the squad of White Lotus following us.
With more people shadowing her, Korra's excitement was a little muted for the rest of the day, though it slowly melted as people learned how to behave when approaching her. I had to stand in the way a couple of times, mostly when Korra showed off her multi-elemental bending to impress the crowd; Some onlookers got a little too enraptured and got dangerously close to the flaming balls of ice and swirling debris.
The first day ended with Korra coming across a group of kids her (and I guess my) age on an open field. Far less taken in with her reputation than everyone else, the boy leading the rosy-cheeked gang put on a passable show of not being impressed by the girl who'd spun rock, water and fire around her earlier, and accidentally challenged her.
"It's whatever," he had simply said, which was more than enough for Korra who prided herself in her bending.
"Oh yeah?"
"I mean, you're just spinning a bunch of things around, so what." Poor sod. He was trying to remain cool and uncaring about her reputation. And before I knew it, I was standing with Korra on one end of the field, to face down twelve boys and girls in a snowball fight.
It was nowhere close to a fair fight.
"Stand back, Xing, I can handle this myself."
Or course she could, she was trained by Katara and other waterbending masters, whereas the teens arrayed against her were…maybe given a basic education in bending? I didn't exactly know what Wolf Cove's education system was like, but I bet it was nowhere near as comprehensive as the stuff Korra got.
I demurred for a moment, but relented before her irritation grew into a scowl. "Try not to ruin the fun for them," I suggested as I stepped back.
Korra scoffed before she began shifting into her stance. "You're telling me about fun?"
Korra gave them two volleys of waterbended snowballs, blocking all of the fluffy projectiles with tiles of ice. Thankfully, her retaliation was measured - relatively. With a stomp, massive boulders of snow rolled towards the opposition as if they were tomb-delving archaeologists, and completely buried them. Mr. Cool was pulled out of the snow feet first, and his teenage pride clearly snapped.
"Th-That's cheating!"
"No it isn't," Korra replied cheekily. "It's a snowball fight, and I used snowballs." The kids around her were nodding with defeat at that simple logic, but their glorious leader was the opposite of convinced.
"Stupid cheater!"
I was in the midst of stepping in then, noting how the accusation was getting on Korra's nerves. But then she managed to calm down with an audible exhale, and gave the boy a final glare before giving me a steely look. "Xing, we're leaving."
Well, that's surprising.
"It's getting late. I had my fun winning the snowball fight…"
Ah shit, way to spite the guy, Korra.
"Shouldn't we-"
"Come on, let's go." She walked right past me and the wide-eyed boy, pointedly ignoring his incredulous glare.
"Hey!"
I gave her departing back a glance, then looked at the sputtering teen. Yeah, he's too riled up now, better to not engage him. I then gave everyone else a short and awkward bow. "Thank you all for-"
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Their shifting eyes and the movement at the edge of my vision caused me to snap about. I dove forwards as the affronted boy created a large snowball and hurled it at Korra's back.
I watched her turn around at the crunching sound of impact, and felt the jarring pain as what was more than just snow slammed into my ribs.
"Xing? Hey!"
Korra leapt over me, but this time I didn't have to strain my ice-bruised side to wave for help. The city guard and White Lotus converged on Korra before her victim was thoroughly mauled.
We both received praise from the masters when we returned; Korra for her restraint (she didn't harden her snow into ice and the boy's face was still recognizable) and myself for intercepting the impulsive attack. Then after seeing a preening Korra off, Altaq and Katara took me aside for a pep talk.
"Your quick thinking has kept Korra safe once more, Xing," Altaq began with a rare smile that lasted for a few seconds. "But as you've seen, it only takes an instant for things to turn ugly."
Katara joined in, wearing a kindly smile. "You've done much better than I would have when I started travelling with Aang. I'm glad you're looking out for Korra, I'm sure you'll keep her out of trouble."
Well, it wasn't a lecture, and the day ended without Korra complaining about my company, which was nice. The outings in the following days went on nice enough, too, with the people of Wolf Cove getting accustomed to having the Avatar wander through its streets. Korra took part in more games with the local kids, though thankfully there were no more dick waving contests anymore.
Unfortunately, all the familiarity also resulted in some people forgetting themselves.
Barely a month after she started her thrice-a-week trip into Wolf Cove, the White Lotus shadows and city's security group became a bit more relaxed, just as their Avatar ward was. I couldn't really blame them, as the routine was generally uneventful.
As usual, I remained just a pace behind Korra's side as she wandered through the snow-frosted square of Wolf Cove's largest market. And as usual she basked in the attention she received, the vendors more than happy to offer up their baubles to her.
"No, Korra, you shouldn't," I sighed as she slowly pulled back from a rather ornate ivory necklace.
"Why not, I can pay later?"
"Remember the deal: you promised you'd only buy if you remembered to bring the money."
She pouted at me, and I noticed how the vendors right around her started shuffling back as they realized that the Avatar was flat broke.
"Aw, come on. You can just go to my parents' place and ask them for some cash."
She'd need more than just 'some cash' if she was going to pick up the stuff that was dangled before her…
Steeling my voice, I shook my head. "Sorry, Korra, but I'm not gonna let you break your deal. Remember what Katara sai-"
"Yeah, yeah. My word should be my bond," Korra said as she slumped in defeat. "Fine. I'll just…look around."
I hid my relief as we continued exploring the market. If it's one thing that kept Korra sticking to her lessons, it was the stories from Katara and her peers about how Aang followed those same principles as well. Hopefully after this, she'll be more careful about making promises and oaths; as Avatar, Korra's words would carry an uncomfortable amount of weight to it.
Also, Katara or Altaq might give me another quiet round of passive-aggressive encouragement to get the lessons to stick with Korra.
"Maybe you could be creative, just like how Toph was with Aang?" Katara might say, often using her experience as a reference. I had a feeling that she was trying to inspire me, as if the position of practically being the Avatar's shadow was really such a big deal.
The Grand Lotus was a bit more blunt about it, which I could appreciate. "It would not be good for Korra if she embarrassed herself in public. You're a bright lad, Xing, I trust that you'll find a way to make the lesson…palatable for Korra to pick up."
It was like being in retail again, having to answer to the managers, while also maintaining customer satisfaction. Fuck, imagine Avatar Karen…
"Oh, wow!"
My musing was cut short as Korra ran up to a couple of burly, pale-skinned men. Earth Kingdom, judging from their preference for greens and browns on their clothes. Dunno why the people kept to their homeland's color scheme so much, now that I thought about it…
One of them presented a whole whale walrus tooth, carved down to depict catamarans on rolling waves. The intricate piece was almost as long as the man was tall.
"Whatcha think, Avatar?" the other man said with a grin. "Nice, innit?"
"It's so pretty…" She stared at the milky-white piece of art in wonder for a second before shifting it to the men. "How long did it take you to make it?"
"Oh, not too long at all. Zao here's a master at making stuff like this."
"Very good with my hands," Zao simply said, though I was more impressed that his arms remained untrembling as they were kept outstretched to present the ivory.
And I didn't like how he phrased his reply.
His companion spoke again. "Now, this one here's already got an owner, but-"
"I'm sorry, but we don't have the money on us right now," I interrupted, earning a glare from Korra, though not even a flash of emotion from the men. That Zao's friend grinned wider gave me a bad feeling.
"Eh, it's no matter at all. You're the Avatar, right? Our pops were saved by the previous one, so we figured we'd show our appreciation. We've got a piece or two we can give away as thanks, how about it? Smaller pieces too, so you can carry 'em back home with you."
Korra's eyes went wide, and I knew I could only follow after her as she in turn eagerly followed the so-called grateful men to the back of the market. Beyond the stalls and vendors, Zao's friend gestured down an icy alleyway, lined on both sides with carved ivory in a variety of shapes and sizes.
"Whatcha say? Wanna take a look?"
Korra all but ran in, batting away my attempt to stop her. The man gave an…unsettling chuckle as he followed after her. I gave a quick glance behind me, noting the silhouettes of White Lotus and city guards hanging around beyond the shadows.
Well, at least they're in sight…
I pushed down my annoyance and stepped into the alley to catch up with Korra, taking maybe a dozen steps before the ice wall beside me quietly slid open and someone pushed me into the darkness.
The sharpness pressing against my neck and liver kept me from immediately fighting back as the wall closed, leaving me in dim lighting where a couple of figures skulked.
"Keep your mouth shut if you wanna live, boy," Zao said behind me, the stench of his breath washing down the side of my face. I glanced down a little, just enough to see a jagged ivory blade against my neck, and his other hand pressing down heavily on my shoulder. To my side, someone else held another blade against my side, keeping almost at arm's length away from me."You so much as move your legs and arms funny, and you'll be dead before you can bend."
Outside, I could hear an excited Korra and their accomplice engaged in conversation. She was poring over some particularly large ivory piece, or something.
"Come on, tie him up already," Zao said, snapping me back to my predicament. I counted four men in this space with me. Judging from the way the two in the shadows moved, they might be decent fighters. They moved fluidly and with confidence, though the way they loomed over me felt a bit artificial, as if they had to consciously appear intimidating.
The blade at my neck bit a little into my skin. "No funny business, boy, unless you want to whistle out your throat."
Huh, funny that he mentioned that...
"Hey, where's Xing? Where's your friend?" I heard Korra ask outside.
"Eh, Zao's probably trying to sell him a piece."
"We've no money, though." Good, Korra, press X to doubt!
"Well, he can't buy now, but later on…?"
"That's true…" No, Korra. Press X! Press X!
Strong hands yanked at my wrists, and felt the rough cords going around them tightly. Another shadowy figure crouched down, no doubt to bind my legs together.
Being sure that there were only four assailants with me, and picking out the rough dimensions of the room, I shot my knee up into the crouching figure, hearing the satisfying crack of his jaws slamming shut.
"What's that sound?"
I was already channeling my chi and my body was already moving even as I felt the blinding pains of my throat being slashed and my right side being perforated. A surge of heat to my hands burnt away the rope and created a flashbang, causing the men to cry out in surprise and their grip on me to weaken.
"What's going on?"
"Korra!" I shouted through my tinnitus the moment the wound in my neck melted shut. "Trouble!"
Not waiting for her reply, I quickly lashed out at the men around me before they recovered. No point in trying to fight fair; It was already four on one, and they were larger and stronger than me.
Without thinking, my hands and feet shot out. Movements honed by countless spars with Korra sent a barrage of kicks and punches at the men around me with the intent of making sure they didn't have the chance to bend against me. Bursts of chi at the right time propelled my strikes, giving them added force that broke through Korra's boulders and ice walls. I aimed for the joints to disable, as learned from the old manuscripts in the archives. I missed a fair bit, but breaking their bones instead of dislocating their joints was a decent consolation.
I had my opponents crumpled on the ground in maybe a dozen seconds, and by then there was the unmistakable sound of Korra going on a rampage outside. I bit down the pain to melt down the wall to the alleyway, and sure enough she was finishing up on her beatdown. Zao's friend was encased in ice and pinned to the wall, and two other accomplices (who probably used their bulk to shield the alleyway from outside observers) were being pummeled by rocks and ice. Shattered ivory crunched under her feet as she advanced on them, as usual preferring to beat her enemies into submission rather than encasing them in earth or ice.
Well, at least Korra didn't use her firebending here.
Help came too late, as it didn't even take half a minute for the Avatar to stand victorious among her clobbered foes. She noticed me, and the triumphant grin on her faded a bit into mild shock.
"Xing? Are you bleeding?"
Huh? I glanced down at myself, noting the blood on my uniform…and my fists. I looked back, and found the four men I fought far more mangled than those Korra had defeated. I spied broken bone jutting poking out from awkwardly angled limbs, and bits of blood specked on the wall.
Maybe it's a bad idea to only spar with Korra…
While the other White Lotus and city guard took in the men, I found a large crate with a false top buried under the broken ivory. Probably to throw me and Korra in?
"Well done, you two," Altaq greeted us once we returned. The other masters in the hall were beaming smiles after hearing the report on how well Korra handled herself in the ambush.
"Xing, your quick and selfless thinking stopped the mercenaries from kidnapping Korra."
Yes, mercenaries. Someone hired those goons to kidnap the Avatar. Someone really wealthy, and maybe from the North Pole, assuming that trail wasn't a misdirection. That's kind of the point of hiring outside help, after all.
Healed up by Katara, cleaned up and in a new uniform, I bowed silently before the praise. No point in interrupting the speech.
"And Korra, well done for acting quickly, and with…discretion."
There it was, the not-so-subtle look that the Grand Lotus and a few of the masters shot at me. Even Katara gave me a look of concern. Altaq continued to praise Korra's decisive action for a bit more before she was dismissed.
Not me, though.
"Xing."
With Korra absent, the disapproval in Altaq's voice was heavy. "While we commend you for your bravery and for foiling the plot to kidnap Korra, I must say that I hope you will learn to show more restraint in the future."
"But I was surrounded," I impulsively replied.
"You were," Katara said with a slow nod, some disappointment in her tone. "I know you were scared, but you did not have to be so…brutal."
Indignation swelled in me, and I felt a need to defend myself. But it was just as quickly smothered as I remembered the futility of talking back to the higher ups in my old life. I was getting off with a warning right now, no need to exacerbate things.
"You're doing your best to protect Korra, and we're grateful for that. But you should learn how to…to moderate your retaliation."
I kept my mouth shut as they went on for a while more, and genuinely tried to take the advice to heart. I used the downtime I had while Korra was studying with the masters to study pressure points from the archives and White Lotus healers, or tried seeking alternatives from my past life. Maybe I could figure out how to make pepper spray and smoke bombs?
A shame that all that knowledge would not be put to its intended use.