63Author's Notes: Oh wow, I am overwhelmed by the number of people who have reviewed and put this on Story Alert. Thank you for the interest and support in the story; this makes me more pumped and really helps me in writing! The story is in no one's specific point of view but I guess this chapter is mostly from Tahno's standpoint even if it keeps a third person point of view? Did that make sense?
ReaperDuckling: I'm glad somebody noticed that! And some people might find the (one-sided) Amon x Korra pairing listed in chapter one weird but it won't be, hopefully, too OOC when we get to it.
Rindou Kiara: Yeah, I noticed that she is most at home with firebending in the show, probably because of her fiery personality, so it makes sense for her to be a firebender in a pro-bending team right?
Moni: Yeah, I know Tahno is a waterbender but the White Falls Wolfbats' uniform is earth colored; I'm sorry if there was some confusion with that part.
Arroba Dotcom, Athena Sapphire Night, Seekay, Pinky Prattle, destroying tokyo, meeka: Thanks for the review, hope you enjoy this next chapter!
Taming the Wolfbat
Chapter 2: Out of the Fire
"Yeah, pretty sure we're just friends, pretty boy."
Tahno was confused, to say the least, with this girl but kept calm as he led her towards the arena proper. You'd think the girl would swoon at the thought of being together with the Tahno especially after saving her from that old man but the girl had been adamant about them being in a non-romantic was only one logical explanation to this: "You're new around here, aren't you?"
Her eyes glanced at the pro-bender; "What makes you say that?"
"Oh, just a hunch," he said with a nonchalant shrug before opening a door with a grin. "Well, here we are – best seats in the house to watch the best pro-bending team in the entire world: the White Fall Wolfbats."
When the door opened, Korra couldn't help as her eyes went wide and she quickly rushed over to the railings with awe clearly written on her face. The door had led them to a pro-bender locker room, situated on the same level and offering a great view of the playing field. Another pro-bender, an earth bender, stood in the corner of the room and gave them a curt nod before returning to rummage in his locker.
"Whoaaa – this is A-MA-ZING!" she gasped out loud with an infectious grin as she looked back at the guy. Then a look of realization hit her; "Wait; you're a member of the Wolfbats? Three time defending champion, the Wolfbats? This is so cool; I get to see the best of the best in action!" Korra said, punching the air in front of her enthusiastically.
Watching this girl made the guy cross his arm, honestly amused at how… innocent and naïve this girl seemed to be. "Not just a member, I happen to be the Captain of the Wolfbats," he replied with a haughty grin, putting his free hand on his hip, wondering if this girl would finally realize who he was. And maybe this time, she would swoon and change her mind about being more than friends while she was at it.
"Oh, you're Tahbo! I heard you play on the radio!" or tried to at least, until Tenzin showed up and ruined all the fun…
Tahbo… What? That wasn't even a name. If it was a name, it was a lame one and he was anything but lame.
"It's Tahno, Tahno, my little Rabaroo, but I'll forgive you just because you're cute," he said, hiding his annoyance well, and mentally cheered in triumph when he saw he at least managed to make the girl blush in embarassment. No need to lose it, not before a match, he told himself as he smoothed out his hair, a habit he did to calm himself down.
Their little exchange was interrupted though as the door to the locker room swung open once more and a guy with a uniform identical to his walked in, helmets him as the fire bender of the pro-bending team. The earth bender in the corner kept quiet, giving no acknowledgement of his arrival as he did with Tahno, as the fire bender stared at the team Captain and let his eyes wander over to the girl with him.
His arrival seemed to fill the small room's air with animosity, making Korra uneasy as she kept quiet, waiting to see what would happen.
"Another fangirl, Tahno?" the fire bender said in a calm tone although the way he spoke the name seemed to have a hint of disgust to it and the glare he was shooting at the water bender was anything but calm.
Tahno, ever so unaffected by this show of hostility from his teammate shrugged; "Just a friend, Shaozu," he informed him with a smile at the girl who smiled weakly back.
That answer did nothing to wipe the glare off Shaozu's face as he glanced at Korra once more and huffed. "Right, a friend, just like your other friends," he hissed, ending that conversation as he went to his locker and suited up for their match, ignoring how the earth bender inched away from him when he got close, letting the silence reign on.. at least, not for long.
"What's his problem?" Korra hissed with a look his way, turning to Tahno for an answer.
Again, Tahno shrugged – he was doing that a lot today, wasn't he? – and smiled as he placed his arms around the girl who was still gripping the edge of the railings. "Nothing to worry your cute, little head over; you know how hot tempered fire benders are. I hope his hot head doesn't scare you off though; stick around to watch the match and after to see how a real pro bends."
Korra nodded, figuring he was right. She wouldn't butt into a personal affair when she just met them anyway. Her eyes went over when a platform connecting the playing field and the locker room started to appear and jumped up in shock when the earth bender, who had been quiet thus far, stood up and spoke; "We're up." He walked by them and on the field without another word.
"Not much of a talker is he?" the girl mused, echoing the amused smile on Tahno's face who nodded, figuring he had done enough shrugging for one day.
"That's Ming for you but you heard him, we're up," he said, removing his arm from Korra's shoulder and sauntered forward, stopping to look back at the girl… the girl in the Water Tribe outfit, the girl who didn't swoon at his advances and even got his name wrong. "I forgot to ask; what is the name of the fine lady I will be dedicating this match to?"
The girl just rolled her eyes and smiled; "It's Korra, pretty boy! You better knock them out," she shouted at him, punching her fist in the air as a salute.
Korra… That sounded… familiar. Tahno mulled over it but looked away from the girl, raising a brow at Shaozu, a silent order for him to follow, and he soon enough stood up from his seat to head out as well. Seeing that, he looked away, focusing back to the arena which made him miss the wide eyed look on the girl's face, on Korra's face when Shaozu bumped shoulders with her on the way to the playing field and hissed the word 'slut' angrily in her ear.
When Korra managed to recover from it, she glared at the fire bender and hissed back; "Jerk bender." But she didn't let said jerk bender from ruining her mood, no. She was about to see the best pro-bending team in Republic City in an actual pro-bending match and not even Tenzin was going to stop her, no way! "Come on Wolfbats!"
The arena was filled with cheers as the three time reigning champs walked out on the stage while, on the opposite side of the field, the Capital City Catgators stared them down in an intimidating fashion.
That didn't change the fact that the Wolfbats cleaned the floor with them in three minutes flat though.
I think it's best to end here. I'll try to update the story daily or every other day or so. Updates might slow down when we catch up to the latest episode but, eh.
Fun facts for those interested in the fates of the Fire Ferrets off-screen:
With Hasook abandoning the team, they get a replacement waterbender girl named Malina (who is the name of the Korra cosplayer from the show during the final match in And The Winner Is). They met her because she was a big fan of their team and showed some basic talent in waterbending and was Hasook's replacement at the last second. They almost lost against the Golden Temple Tigerdillos because of her but managed and have started to train her vigorously to at least stand a chance; she's a promising waterbender but is no match to Korra or even Tahno. Having a really blue waterbender, they struggle but manage in the end, relying heavily on the two brothers.
They encounter the same pro-bendings team as they do in the show: Golden Temple Tigerdillos, Pinnacle Palace Platypus Bears, Red Sand Rabaroos, Black Quarry Boarcupines, Bau Ling Buzzard Wasps and – in the finals, the White Falls Wolfbats.
Meanwhile the White Falls Wolfbats faced the Capital City Catgators this chapter and will be facing the Kolau Komodo Rhinos, the Laogai Lion Vultures, the Xiao Yao Zebra Frogs, the Ba Sing Se Badgermoles and, finally, the Future Industries Fire Ferrets.
Another fun fact: Tahbo or "tabo" in my language means a pail for water, I thought it'd be fitting.