Raava Academy

Black Jeans

I quietly unfold the tiny piece of paper that my classmate, Bolin, passed to me moments ago. There's a crude picture scribbled on it of a stick-man hanging itself, with crossed-out eyes and a stuck-out tongue, and it's so dumb that I can't help but snort out a laugh.

Unfortunately, this draws the attention of Miss Beifong (not to be confused with Mrs. Beifong, her slightly-younger and infinitely-more-fun sister).

"Is something funny, Avatar?" she grumbles, scowling at me. She looks so damn scary sometimes, with that cold-as-stone expression accentuated by the triple scar on her right cheek. Some people say that she got too close to a werewolf one day, though I'm not sure I'm convinced.

I sit upright and force the smile on my lips to flatten out, in an attempt to appear more serious. "Sorry, Miss Beifong. I... just had a tickle in my throat."

"Really? In that case I'm sure you can tell me the weak spot of the giant werebat," she says, raising an eyebrow and pointing her thin wooden stick to a crudely-drawn diagram on the board.

"It's... uhhh," I quickly scan the drawing, finding the beast depicted with thin legs, large wings, and huge pointy teeth. The usual, really. "Erm..."

"Today would be good, Korra," Miss Beifong says, folding her arms and tapping her foot. 

I gulp thickly, knowing that if I don't answer soon, there'll be yet another detention in store for me. "The wing membrane? If you damage it, it can't fly, right?" 

I hope I'm right, I think. I mean, it seems like it's the obvious choice. But then again, they're always obvious, and that's probably why I never pay attention and always get in trouble in this lesson. Put it this way - monster slaying isn't really rocket science. They're bad guys. Burn them. Bury them under rocks. Or stab them. Or all three. Easy stuff. Hell, I could probably even drown one if I wanted to, perks of being the master of all four elements, and all.

"Bah," Miss Beifong purses her lips and makes a sound somewhere between disappointment and disgust. "Lucky guess. You'd better pay attention, all of you. I'm watching," she growls, pointing two fingers towards her eyes and then towards everyone else in the classroom. She does that a lot, and I've never quite worked out why.

She coughs loudly, folds her arms and silently glares at the class for about a minute straight, before she continues her lecture. "Once we have disabled the werebat's primary ability – flight – we deliver a quick, lethal blow. Its heart is located in the same place as our own, but..."

She continues to describe in gory detail how we would finish off the poor, defenceless bat, suggesting we stick to long-ranged bending to avoid its winged talons. I quickly lose concentration again, and unfold the piece of paper I'd hidden away in my hand, scribbling another face next to the one Bolin drew. I smile proudly at the result – a very badly-drawn cartoon representation of myself, wide eyed and 'fearing' for my life.

I wait for Miss Beifong to face the board again, where she aggressively scrawls out another drawing of a monster, then I fold the paper and swiftly air-bend it across to Bolin's desk, two seats behind. I notice Mako, who's sat at the desk between us, roll his eyes. Man, that guy's no fun, I think. He's so serious, and it's such a stark contrast to his brother. Sometimes I find it hard to believe that I ever dated him.

"Bahaha!" Bolin laughs loudly and I snap my face forwards, grimacing. Come on Bo, I think. It wasn't *that* funny. But then again, maybe we're just both in one of those moods.

"What the hell's gotten into all of you today?" Miss Beifong snaps, before she stomps across the room towards Bolin's desk, everyone's desks rattling from the angry vibrations of her boots as they hit the floor. I find myself wondering if she's intentionally adding a touch of earth-bending, just to try and intimidate us. It wouldn't surprise me.

I twist my head around to watch, and I notice that Bolin's face has turned a shade or two paler than usual.

Beifong extends a hand. "Pass it here."

Bolin throws a quick, apologetic expression in my direction before doing as he's told, and I'm not angry at him, since I know he wouldn't be able to wriggle his way out of this one even if he tried. All I can do is watch, resting the side of my forehead resting against my palm, as the older woman's face turns a shade redder, and a few more frown-lines lines appear above her furrowed brows.

"Korra! Bolin!" she yells, storming to the front of the class without even looking at me, "I've told you to cut this shit out before, but since learning how to survive out there is clearly unimportant to you, get out of my class and report to the headmaster, NOW."

I hear Bolin's chair shuffle across the floor, and I quickly push my own stool backwards, shoving my books and pens into my satchel, and following Bolin as he heads out. I steal one last glance backwards, finding both Miss Beifong and Mako shaking their heads at me in unison. It's not the first time I've been met with their mutual disapproval, and if I didn't know any better I'd think that they were relatives of one another.

"Phew... I guess we're really in shit now," Bolin says, nervously fiddling with his fingers. He's a good guy, my best friend. I've known him since he started at the academy two years ago, and despite an awkward almost-date which I royally messed up, we've become really close... almost like family.

"Yeah. I haven't had to see him for months. This won't go well," I say, referring of course to our marvelous headmaster, Unalaq. 

Nobody's ever quite managed to get into his head, or work out what his agenda is. He seems to be a reasonable guy most of the time, but there's something about him that sends a chill down my spine and I can't quite put my finger on why. It doesn't help that he's a blood relative - my Uncle, to be precise. Thanks to that, it's taken a long time for the other students to even talk to me, since they assumed I had some bullshit advantage due to being family. And as if being the Avatar weren't bad enough, I think, sighing.

We walk down the rest of the corridor in silence, Bolin's heavy boots echoing loudly against the marble floor. No expense was spared when they constructed Raava Academy, or so you'd think at first glance. I know better. There are hidden defects, crumbling walls, rust and decay; if you know where to look, that is. One of the stranger things about the place is how the corridors seem to go on forever, and I'm sure new walkways appear to the sides from time to time. Must be my imagination, I think. 

I sneak a peek at myself on the way past the rows of lockers, which are reflective, so that they also serve as one of the Academy's several anti-vampire mechanisms. Yeah, looking good, I think, winking at myself. Bolin laughs, and I grin at him, knowing as well as he does that I should probably put my ego into check, some day.

"Well, here we go," I say, sighing loudly. Bolin repeats the gesture albeit in a more exaggerated manner. And just when we're almost at the office, both resigned to our fates, the intimidatingly large door bursts open and the most radiant person I've ever seen in my life walks out of it.

I stop dead in my tracks as she gracefully walks towards us, flicking her long, ebony hair over her exposed, pale-skinned shoulder. Her lips are the colour of blood, and when she notices me watching her, they curve ever so slightly into a smirk. She winks at me, a sparkle of amusement clear in her jade-green eyes while she walks past, almost brushing my shoulder with hers.

I almost fall over. "W-Who was that?" I whisper loudly, staring at Bolin.

"I dunno," Bolin says, picking at his ear with his little finger, "She looked cool though! Maybe a new girl?"

"Don't you think she was..." I say, turning my head to watch her walk away, the curve of her ass swaying ever so slightly in those figure-hugging black jeans.

"Was what?" Bolin asks, raising an eyebrow quizzically.

"Beautiful..." I whisper. I swear I notice a pause in her steps, barely less than half a second, as though she heard me.

Nah, I think. She couldn't have.

- Chapter art by http://pixlbender.tumblr.com/