บท 5: Maintaining the Balance: Ch. 5
In the days following her attempted kidnapping, Korra was moved around several times before ultimately ending up at a secret compound near the northwestern coast of the South Pole. There, she was expected to master the arts of Water and Fire Bending before relocating to Air Temple Island to study and master Air Bending.
According to the original plan, Korra would have started training shortly after reaching her new home. Instead, she was given two months to get used to the facilities while Katara organized her brother's funeral and helped to settle his private affairs.
Prior to his death, Sokka had touched many lives and accomplished many things. He was the son of the Southern Water Tribe's Head Chieftain, the tactician and confidant of Avatar Aang, the only male ever to be accepted into the Kyoshi Warriors, Chairman of the United Republic Council, Justice of the Republic City Supreme Council, Grandmaster of the Sokka School of Swordsmanship, Trade Commissioner of the Southern Water Tribe, and, most importantly, father to four equally impressive children.
Though most of Sokka's relationships ended before he was thirty, the few years he was 'active' had earned him quite the reputation. He was known to have wooed the First Princess of the Northern Water Tribe, and, a few years after the conclusion of the Hundred Year War, he ended up getting two different women pregnant at the same time.
While many accused Sokka of being a womanizer in his youth, the women he had been involved with never resented him. The thing that ended their relationship with Sokka was his insuppressible desire to make the world a better place. He was married to his work, so, shortly after the founding of Republic City, all three of his lovers pushed him to focus on his work while they focused on caring for their children.
Upon learning of Sokka's death, each of his former lovers, children, and grandchildren showed up to mourn and honor him. This included Suki, the Grand Matron of the Kyoshi Warriors, Ty Lee, the person single-handedly responsible for spreading Chi Blocking through the Kyoshi Isles, and First Princess Yue, Sokka's first love.
Accompanying their mothers were Suki's son, Ty Lee's twins, and Yue's daughter. Each was well in their forties, and, as a result, they had already had children of their own. Thus, while Sokka had spent the better part of forty years as a bachelor, the number of people that had gathered to see him laid to rest numbered in the dozens.
He was a well-loved and respected man, someone that had influenced and enriched the lives of countless people before his honorable death...
...
..
.
In an effort to increase his Chi reserves and improve his focus, Kahn was meditating within the refurbished prison cell afforded to him by the Order of the White Lotus. The secretive society still didn't trust him, so while the funeral arrangements of Chief Sokka were going on, he was held in loose captivity in the same compound as Korra.
Unfortunately, while Kahn's room was previously used to confine political prisoners, the Order of the White Lotus removed the reinforced wooden door as a show of good faith. Some might consider this a good thing as it allowed Kahn to come and go as he pleased. What such people failed to consider was that it also allowed Korra to do the same.
"Kaaaahn~! Come play with me~!"
After the novelty of exploring a new place had worn off, Korra immediately grew bored. Since Kahn was the only other kid living in the compound, he was the obvious and only choice for a playmate. He was a little weird, but Korra had a lot of fun playing with and bugging him. Thus, every morning, she would wake up, wash her face, and eat breakfast before immediately running over to interrupt his meditation.
Exhaling a sigh, Kahn opened his mouth to find Korra obediently standing outside his doorway. She used to come charging in, but, after an incident where she kicked him in the face, he managed to convince her they would no longer play together if she kept barging in and acting aggressively. At first, she didn't believe him, so Kahn ended up disappearing for the better part of two and a half days. After that, she no longer barged into his room without permission. Instead, she stood outside and pestered him until he came out of his own accord.
"Come oooon~! You don't need to wash your face! It's just going to get dirty again...!"
Ignoring the hyperactive girl's cries, Kahn took his sweet time washing his face and brushing his teeth with a special rubber toothbrush before finally coming outside. By the time he emerged, Korra had plopped down next to the entryway in a huff. She hated being ignored, so it always bothered her when Kahn went about his morning routine in such a casual manner.
Staring down at the pouty little troublemaker, Kahn's expression remained calm as he asked, "Is this your way of getting even? You want to make me wait for you...?"
Snorting through her nose, Korra crossed her arms and averted her face to the side without responding to Kahn's question. What she didn't expect was for him to plop down next to her, muttering, "Fine with me..." before closing his eyes and resting his head against the wall.
With her left eye twitching, Korra bumped Kahn with her shoulder before pouncing to her feet, pointing at him, and shouting, "I bet you don't even want to play with me! That's it, isn't it!?"
Rising to his feet, Kahn took a moment to dust himself off before staring directly at the slightly shorter girl and answering, "If I didn't want to play with you, I wouldn't. Like you, I just prefer to go at my own pace. Now, are we going to play, or are we going to keep wasting time?"
Balling her hands into a fist, Korra attempted to slug Kahn in his right arm. Instead, she ended up striking his palm as Kahn stepped back, a teasing smile on his face as he asked, "Oh? Are we sparring...?"
With an adorably grumpy expression on her face, Korra's response was to step forward, her feet briefly squaring before she placed all of her weight onto her right heel. Her hips twisted, and, in the same motion, she raised her left foot in a stunning display of flexibility that briefly brought it above her head before cutting towards Kahn's in a whipping motion.
Even without a teacher, Korra was a martial arts prodigy. The technique she used was called a Whipping Side Kick. Did Korra know that? No. She just wanted to kick Kahn in the head, so she moved her body in a way that would allow her to achieve her objective. Her movements were natural to the point of instinctive.
Unfortunately, though she would later come to appreciate it, Korra wasn't the only prodigy present in the confined hallway. Kahn may not have the personal memories and experiences of his Creator, but he had knowledge regarding tens of thousands of martial arts hardcoded into his memory. If Korra's actions were purely instinctive, his were automated to the point of mechanical precision.
Stepping in behind Korra's leg, Kahn placed himself in a position where the pit of her leg would collide against his shoulder before thrusting out his left hand to grab her wrist. The first action allowed him to negate the power behind Korra's kick, while the second prevented her from regaining her balance. She still had the option of trying to twist her body away from him, but Kahn would just need to step forward to interrupt the motion and pin her head against the ground.
"Grrrr-! Let go of me...!"
As he had during most of their spars, Kahn immediately released Korra the moment she told him to. Not because she had asked, but because he knew it would bother her. She was a very competitive person, so the more leniency he showed her, the more aggressive she would become. In time, however, this aggression would peter out. Kahn just needed to be patient.
Stepping away from Kahn, Korra raised her hands in an instinctive fighting posture before; her feet squared in a manner that would allow her to use both Water and Earth Bending if she really wanted to.
Mustering the kind of bravado that could only be seen in young children and excessively spoiled members of the nobility, Korra adopted a serious expression as she stated, "Today is the day I defeat you, Kahn! And when I do, you'll have to let me into your room whenever I want!"
Without offering Kahn the opportunity to issue his own terms, Korra raised her left foot before stomping it into the ground. A piece of the stone floor shot up to around chest level before she subsequently punched out with her right fist. If an ordinary person were to strike a piece of stone, they would injure both their hand and knuckles. When an Earth Bender struck it, however, it shot forward with sometimes lethal, often bone-breaking force.
Though he should have reminded Korra she wasn't supposed to use her Bending indoors, Kahn didn't really care for the Order of the White Lotus' rules. His purpose in the Actualized World of Avatar was to ensure Korra was allowed to grow up free and uninhibited by the constraints of society. He might prevent her from entering into his room and pestering him first thing in the morning, but that was more of a personal matter.
Side-stepping the melon-sized piece of stone, thick black smoke began to exude from Kahn's hands as he dodged Korra's follow-up attacks. By the time she had backed herself up against the wall at the far end of the corridor, more than half of the hall was filled with a nebulous, almost ink-like smoke.
"Kahn? You're scaring me..."
Though he was tempted to teach Korra a lesson by shaping the smoke into ethereal, demonic-looking wolves, Kahn immediately dissipated the smoke when he heard her uncharacteristically meek appeal. He had no problem teaching Korra a lesson, but he didn't want to traumatize her.
"Sorry about that. I thought, as the Avatar, you could deal with a bit of smoke. After all, you are a Firebender..."
Calming down after the terrifying smoke had vanished, Korra's radiant blue eyes lit up as she asked, "That was Firebending? Teach it to me!"
Instead of responding to Korra's outburst, Kahn just stared at her with his usual, borderline deadpan expression. Fortunately, Korra wasn't nearly as obtuse as some may think. In fact, when it came to getting something she wanted, she was remarkably quick on the uptake.
Understanding what Kahn expected of her, Korra forced a smile as she brought her hands together in an ingratiating manner and asked, "Will you please teach me how to bend smoke...?"
After nodding his head in approval, a faint smile developed across Kahn's face as he answered, "Well, since you asked so politely, it would be rude of me to refuse. Come, let's find a nice open space to practice. Until you master the basics, you should never, ever use Smokebending indoors. I'll explain the reason once we get outside."
Following his words, Kahn turned to lead the way outside when Korra, as per usual, attempted a sneak attack. After their very first spar, Kahn had encouraged her to attack him whenever she felt like this. This ultimately led to him getting kicked in the face, but, so long as he wasn't in a deep state of meditation or exploring the Spirit World, it wasn't too difficult to deal with the surprise attacks of a five-year-old...
Demonstrating this, Kahn casually side-stepped and spun around Korra before giving her a gentle kick in the rump. This caused her to stumble forward, but instead of face-planting into the ground, Korra managed to tuck her head in and perform a flawless somersault.
In terms of spatial awareness and innate martial prowess, Korra was a genuine prodigy...
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