moonchild ☽ legend of korra

book 1 - chapter 5

I blink a few times, trying to wake myself up. Today, I was joining the Fire Ferret's training session as I "have to oversee" Korra's waterbending as a part of her deal with the boys. I never thought that agreeing to this would mean getting up so early. They start off by passing a ball between the three of them.

"What's the big deal with making me train this early in the morning?" Korra asks, with an unamused face. "The morning is evil."

"Truly." I groan, putting my face in my hands. I slap my cheeks a few times. Wake up, Luna.

"We're the rookies." Bolin explains. "So, we get the worst time slot in the gym."

"And you're the rookiest of us all." Mako says to Korra. "We gotta get you up to speed if we want to survive in the tournament. Deal with it!"

He throws the ball back to Korra in an aggressive manner. She pouts her lips. "You deal with it!" She says sternly before throwing the ball back to Mako, making him roll and fall back. He falls pretty close to where I'm sitting.

"You good, flame boy?"

He chuckles as he stands up. "Just fine, ice girl. Thanks."

Suddenly, the door bursts open. "There are my little hardworking street urchins!" A man says as he walks in. He seems eerily familiar. Then, realization hits me. It's the man that I saw outside the arena the other day, the one that helped me with the address written on my mom's diary. "It's an honor to finally meet you, Avatar."

"And you are?" My best friend retorts, raising an eyebrow.

"Butakha. I run this whole pro-bending shebang." He answers smugly before turning to face the bending brothers. "Here's your winnings from the last match."

Butakha places a thick wad of cash on Mako's palm. My eyes widen. Mako has a big smile on his face. "Ah ah ah ah." Butakha suddenly says, waving a finger at Mako. He grabs a small portion of the money from Mako's hand. "Not so fast. First, you owe me for the Avatar's new gear. Gym and equipment rentals for last month. Rent on your apartment. And, a personal loan for groceries."

Once he's done, he's left Mako and Bolin with nothing. I frown, that doesn't seem fair.

"Oh, and one more small item of business." He continues. "The Fire Ferrets need to ante up 30,000 yuans for the championship pot."

Bolin's eyes widen. "30,000 yuans?!"

Butakha places his hand on Mako's shoulder. "Sorry, kids. You've got till the end of the week to come up with the dough. Or else, you're out of the tournament."

I stand up, making my way up to the trio. This isn't good. At all. Bolin turns to Korra, "You wouldn't happen to have a secret Avatar bank account overflowing with gold, would you?"

I raise my eyebrows at him. But then turn to face Korra, as it's a genuine question. She shakes her head. "I got nothing. I've never really needed money, I've always had people taking care of me."

"Then I wouldn't say you have nothing." Mako says bitterly, as he begins picking up the equipment on the floor.

"Sorry, I didn't mean—"

"No, it's all right." Bolin assures. "It's just...ever since we lost our parents, we've been on our own."

My heart sank. I look over at Mako, who is on the other corner of the gym, putting the equipment away. "I'm so sorry, Bolin." I say. He offers me a small, bittersweet smile.

"I'm sorry." Korra says. "I didn't know."

"So, anyway..." Mako's voice startles me, making me jump. I didn't realize he had made his way back over to us. "How are we going to come up with the money?"