Sheâd been at least three hours early to the arena, completely unable to think about anything else all day anyway. Her landlord had wished her luck on the way out, and even given her his lucky coin, which she now wore around her neck, under her uniform. It was a sweet gesture on the old gamblerâs part, even if he did have a vested interest in her team winning. She found that the longer she stayed in this city, the more she found to like about it, even if some things still didnât always make sense to her.
Kiara straightened the light blue uniform gloves. She presumed that Rika had ordered the uniforms, because they were in the appropriate color, and had an otter-penguin mascot figure on the front. As many mascots were, it was fiercer than it was cute, but she found it adorable anyway, and was proud to wear it besides. Double-checking to make sure her knee-high boots were in place and strapped firmly to her legs, she dusted off the white fabric that encased her thighs even though there was no dirt on it. She hadnât realized the uniforms were this fitted, but then it made senseâthey needed to be able to move around without excess fabric in the way.
Her headgear, she left on the bench for a while, running a brush through her dark copper hair before tying it up for what had to be the fifth time in as many minutes. She was nervous, and she knew it. Catching a glimpse of herself in the full-length mirror to one side of the locker room, she smiled at the â03â emblazoned on the back of her uniform. She might be really, really nervous, but she was also excited. She believed in her teamâtheyâd worked hard for this, practicing ways to work together and cover each othersâ weaknesses, and she was confident they would succeed. Because not only were they teammates⊠they were also well on their way to being friends. She found that she was really looking forward to the day when she could call them such with as much assurance as she had for their skills as her teammates.
One thing at a time thoughâand the first thing was to win this match.
Rika rolled over in her bed, one arm dangling from the bed while the other was laced with the sheets. The soft snoring noise of San echoed lightly through the empty home, however; the sound of something sharp, and hard fell upon the floor. Rika immediately loosened the covers that had entangled themselves around her as she reached for the clock, momentarily ignoring the sharp pain in her back as she read the digits. Horror painted her face pale as she immediately thrashed about, trying to get out of the covers and ran into the bathroom, quickly throwing on her clothes before flying out the door.
Two hours prior, Haki found himself in the locker room of the Pro-bending arena. He leaned against his locker, staring at the uniform in his hands before glancing towards Kiara. Her uniform had the number three embroidered in it, whilst his had number one. A smirk crossed his features at that thought before he quickly dressed into his uniform, completely aware that Kiara was still in the locker room. It wasn't like he was ashamed of anything, really. Once he was finished, he glanced towards the clock, noticing that the time read a good thirty minutes before they were to begin their match. And Rika was missing.
"I do believe we are being stood up by our Lotus," he spoke, something like disappointment laced in his tone. "You don't think she is going to abandon us? Because I have abandonment issues," he spoke, though this time laced with a sense of sarcasm. It was about this moment that Rika chose to show, bee-lining it for her own locker and ripped it open as quickly as she could. She pulled out her uniform, throwing her shirt off in the process and flung it so it wrapped around Haki's face, temporarily blinding him from any view.
"I'm sorry I'm late! My alarm, it didn't go off!" she stated through even breaths as she pulled on her uniform. Once it was situated properly, she pulled the helmet on, unaware that it was on backwards. "Ten minutes to spare," she stated, her face lightly flustered in the process.
Kiara was smiling happily, about to turn and greet her teammate, when he reached for the lower hem of his shirt and started to pull upwards. With a very peculiar noise that sounded a little like someone being choked, she abruptly about-faced, so fast her hair fanned and whipped around to smack her other cheek. Her eyes were squeezed tight shut, and she covered them with her hands for good measure. âWarn me next time?â she squeaked, relieved that she hadnât seen anything. Oh dear, if her mother ever found out about this⊠well, it was a good thing her mother wasnât going to find out about this, to put it mildly.
Sheâd been raised in what was perhaps the worldâs most conservative culture, and that included the Fire Nation, so really it was hardly a surprise that sheâd reacted thus. The sound of footsteps alerted her to the fact that Rika had entered, and the other womanâs hurried explanation sufficed to explain why. From the way she was talking, Kiara surmised that Haki was in his uniform now, but she only cracked one eyelid very tentatively at first, ready to squeeze it shut again at the first sign of bare skin. Fortunately, everyone was clothed by this point, and she breathed out a sigh of relief, before smiling gently and reaching over to Rika, taking hold of her headgear and turning it around in her hands, replacing it the right way around.
âThatâs probably more comfortable, right?â she asked with a bright grin, then grabbed her own and set it down over her head, shaking her ponytail loose to run freely down her back. Rebelling from her determined roles in life or not, she couldnât quite bring herself to cut her hair, even if it would be more convenient. âOkay, guys. âŠAre we ready?â
Rika laughed nervously when Kiara fixed her helmet. "Did not know that was on backwards" she stated with a light laugh. "Thanks," she added as she glanced into the mirror, making sure everything else was in order. Haki merely shrugged his shoulders at the first comment Kiara made before Rika had entered, peeling the white shirt from his face as he tossed it aside, into one of the hampers. Rika could feel the surge of adrenaline already working its way through her system. Not only because she had almost been late, but because she was excited about this match. It was their first match.
"Whether we are ready has nothing to do with the outcome of this match, but to answer your question," Haki paused, tilting his head towards Kiara. "I believe we are ready for the most part. Shall we?" he stated, leaning out of the door from their locker room with only his head being visible. Rika shook her head, sighing softly with a soft slump of her shoulders. That man could be so infuriating and confusing all at the same time. Honestly, she doesn't even know how she puts up with him.
"What about you Kiara? Are you ready for this? I know its not something you've watched, but I hope practice at least made you excited about it," Rika stated, stumbling a bit over her words as she tried to formulate them properly, though she was sure they were just a jumbled mess to Kiara when she spoke. Though she was excited about the match, it didn't make her any less nervous than the rest of the newcomers. She followed slightly behind Haki as they made their way towards the arena.
Kiara shook her head at Hakiâs response. She hadnât been asking about the outcome, only if they were feeling all right about it. She personally had about a million butterflies in her stomach, and it seemed like they were all intent on her murder. Maybe he wasnât that concerned, but⊠at least Rika seemed to understand where she was coming from, and she smiled at the other girl. âIâm ready as Iâll ever be for this,â she said with a slightly-nervous laugh. âLetâs do it!â She trailed behind her teammates on their way out into the arena, focusing on keeping her breathing steady despite the thundering beat of her heart. She could do this⊠they could do this.
She could hear the other team being announced, to the applause of the crowd. Their opponents were also a newer team, but definitely had a few matches under their belt, and were considered to be up-and-comers, so this match was being watched pretty closely. Kiara didnât have much time to think about that, though, because it was time. She stepped onto the platform that would raise her into the ring and saw her teammates do the same with their own. The water already tugged at her, a comforting sensation that she used to soothe herself as much as possible.
âAnd the challengers, a first-time team new to the arena, the Otter Penguins! The announcer boomed, and the platform beneath her lurched, sending her stumbling half a step forward. She was still recovering when it locked into place, and it left her feeling a bit silly, but the crowd was applauding again, and she looked over at the small sea of faces. Most rookie matches werenât this well-attended, but she could tell that a lot of the crowd contained other probending teamsâshe even recognized faces from a few matches sheâd seen.
But her anxiety fell away and revealed a smile instead when she saw the funniest thing: one of the members of the crowd was holding a bannerâlight blue, with a crudely-drawn⊠well, she thought it was supposed to be an otter penguin on the face. It looked a bit like a child had drawn it with a marker from memory, but the most hilarious part was that it was straight-faced, coolly-observant Fang that was holding it, wearing a light blue shirt, as heâd promised Rika. Kiara elbowed the other girl and nodded towards him, just to make sure sheâd seen it. Somehow, she felt a little more at ease now.
Rika nodded at Kiara's enthusiasm, feeling the nervous dread washing away and being replaced by something more akin to ecstasy. She could feel her heart starting to pick up its pace as they stepped out into the platform, glancing at the stands with a bit of awe. She wasn't expecting this kind of turn out, however; to say she was surprised would have been an understatement. The team they were facing was fairly new to the matches as well, but this would be their first match. Suddenly, all the confidence drained from Rika's face in the process. Haki glanced at the two girls from the corners of his eyes.
"Now is not the time to be losing confidence, Lotus. This is your dream, it'd be a shame if you didn't reach it before it even began," he teased lightly, causing Rika's face to turn a light pink with anger, but she sighed in defeat. He was right, it wouldn't do her any good if she lost the confidence in her team, after all; they were training diligently for the last two weeks. They could pull this off. Haki smiled lightly at the new fire that burned behind Rika's eyes before spotting Kiara nudging Rika and pointing to the stands.
"I'd say your friend is a man of his word," he stated as Rika finally followed their gazes, spotting Fang sitting in the stands. True enough, he was wearing a light blue shirt, and oddly, holding a sign that appeared to have some type of drawing on it. Rika covered her mouth in an attempt to not laugh at the drawing, but allowed a few laughs to escape her. "That is not nice, Lotus," Haki stated, though he too had a bit of a lid on his laughter. The man either couldn't draw, or had a child attempt a drawing of an Otter Penguin. It was endearing though.
"I know, I'm sorry but that drawing," she stated, still trying to contain her laughter. Instead, she waved towards Fang, a little too enthusiastically before placing the hand back over her mouth. She was only brought out of it when something caught her attention, and noticed the other team making their way onto the platform. The smile twisted into something resembling a smirk as she glanced at her teammates. "It's now or never guys. Wish us luck!" she stated, taking a defensive stance in the process.
Kiara straightened the light blue uniform gloves. She presumed that Rika had ordered the uniforms, because they were in the appropriate color, and had an otter-penguin mascot figure on the front. As many mascots were, it was fiercer than it was cute, but she found it adorable anyway, and was proud to wear it besides. Double-checking to make sure her knee-high boots were in place and strapped firmly to her legs, she dusted off the white fabric that encased her thighs even though there was no dirt on it. She hadnât realized the uniforms were this fitted, but then it made senseâthey needed to be able to move around without excess fabric in the way.
Her headgear, she left on the bench for a while, running a brush through her dark copper hair before tying it up for what had to be the fifth time in as many minutes. She was nervous, and she knew it. Catching a glimpse of herself in the full-length mirror to one side of the locker room, she smiled at the â03â emblazoned on the back of her uniform. She might be really, really nervous, but she was also excited. She believed in her teamâtheyâd worked hard for this, practicing ways to work together and cover each othersâ weaknesses, and she was confident they would succeed. Because not only were they teammates⊠they were also well on their way to being friends. She found that she was really looking forward to the day when she could call them such with as much assurance as she had for their skills as her teammates.
One thing at a time thoughâand the first thing was to win this match.
Rika rolled over in her bed, one arm dangling from the bed while the other was laced with the sheets. The soft snoring noise of San echoed lightly through the empty home, however; the sound of something sharp, and hard fell upon the floor. Rika immediately loosened the covers that had entangled themselves around her as she reached for the clock, momentarily ignoring the sharp pain in her back as she read the digits. Horror painted her face pale as she immediately thrashed about, trying to get out of the covers and ran into the bathroom, quickly throwing on her clothes before flying out the door.
Two hours prior, Haki found himself in the locker room of the Pro-bending arena. He leaned against his locker, staring at the uniform in his hands before glancing towards Kiara. Her uniform had the number three embroidered in it, whilst his had number one. A smirk crossed his features at that thought before he quickly dressed into his uniform, completely aware that Kiara was still in the locker room. It wasn't like he was ashamed of anything, really. Once he was finished, he glanced towards the clock, noticing that the time read a good thirty minutes before they were to begin their match. And Rika was missing.
"I do believe we are being stood up by our Lotus," he spoke, something like disappointment laced in his tone. "You don't think she is going to abandon us? Because I have abandonment issues," he spoke, though this time laced with a sense of sarcasm. It was about this moment that Rika chose to show, bee-lining it for her own locker and ripped it open as quickly as she could. She pulled out her uniform, throwing her shirt off in the process and flung it so it wrapped around Haki's face, temporarily blinding him from any view.
"I'm sorry I'm late! My alarm, it didn't go off!" she stated through even breaths as she pulled on her uniform. Once it was situated properly, she pulled the helmet on, unaware that it was on backwards. "Ten minutes to spare," she stated, her face lightly flustered in the process.
Kiara was smiling happily, about to turn and greet her teammate, when he reached for the lower hem of his shirt and started to pull upwards. With a very peculiar noise that sounded a little like someone being choked, she abruptly about-faced, so fast her hair fanned and whipped around to smack her other cheek. Her eyes were squeezed tight shut, and she covered them with her hands for good measure. âWarn me next time?â she squeaked, relieved that she hadnât seen anything. Oh dear, if her mother ever found out about this⊠well, it was a good thing her mother wasnât going to find out about this, to put it mildly.
Sheâd been raised in what was perhaps the worldâs most conservative culture, and that included the Fire Nation, so really it was hardly a surprise that sheâd reacted thus. The sound of footsteps alerted her to the fact that Rika had entered, and the other womanâs hurried explanation sufficed to explain why. From the way she was talking, Kiara surmised that Haki was in his uniform now, but she only cracked one eyelid very tentatively at first, ready to squeeze it shut again at the first sign of bare skin. Fortunately, everyone was clothed by this point, and she breathed out a sigh of relief, before smiling gently and reaching over to Rika, taking hold of her headgear and turning it around in her hands, replacing it the right way around.
âThatâs probably more comfortable, right?â she asked with a bright grin, then grabbed her own and set it down over her head, shaking her ponytail loose to run freely down her back. Rebelling from her determined roles in life or not, she couldnât quite bring herself to cut her hair, even if it would be more convenient. âOkay, guys. âŠAre we ready?â
Rika laughed nervously when Kiara fixed her helmet. "Did not know that was on backwards" she stated with a light laugh. "Thanks," she added as she glanced into the mirror, making sure everything else was in order. Haki merely shrugged his shoulders at the first comment Kiara made before Rika had entered, peeling the white shirt from his face as he tossed it aside, into one of the hampers. Rika could feel the surge of adrenaline already working its way through her system. Not only because she had almost been late, but because she was excited about this match. It was their first match.
"Whether we are ready has nothing to do with the outcome of this match, but to answer your question," Haki paused, tilting his head towards Kiara. "I believe we are ready for the most part. Shall we?" he stated, leaning out of the door from their locker room with only his head being visible. Rika shook her head, sighing softly with a soft slump of her shoulders. That man could be so infuriating and confusing all at the same time. Honestly, she doesn't even know how she puts up with him.
"What about you Kiara? Are you ready for this? I know its not something you've watched, but I hope practice at least made you excited about it," Rika stated, stumbling a bit over her words as she tried to formulate them properly, though she was sure they were just a jumbled mess to Kiara when she spoke. Though she was excited about the match, it didn't make her any less nervous than the rest of the newcomers. She followed slightly behind Haki as they made their way towards the arena.
Kiara shook her head at Hakiâs response. She hadnât been asking about the outcome, only if they were feeling all right about it. She personally had about a million butterflies in her stomach, and it seemed like they were all intent on her murder. Maybe he wasnât that concerned, but⊠at least Rika seemed to understand where she was coming from, and she smiled at the other girl. âIâm ready as Iâll ever be for this,â she said with a slightly-nervous laugh. âLetâs do it!â She trailed behind her teammates on their way out into the arena, focusing on keeping her breathing steady despite the thundering beat of her heart. She could do this⊠they could do this.
She could hear the other team being announced, to the applause of the crowd. Their opponents were also a newer team, but definitely had a few matches under their belt, and were considered to be up-and-comers, so this match was being watched pretty closely. Kiara didnât have much time to think about that, though, because it was time. She stepped onto the platform that would raise her into the ring and saw her teammates do the same with their own. The water already tugged at her, a comforting sensation that she used to soothe herself as much as possible.
âAnd the challengers, a first-time team new to the arena, the Otter Penguins! The announcer boomed, and the platform beneath her lurched, sending her stumbling half a step forward. She was still recovering when it locked into place, and it left her feeling a bit silly, but the crowd was applauding again, and she looked over at the small sea of faces. Most rookie matches werenât this well-attended, but she could tell that a lot of the crowd contained other probending teamsâshe even recognized faces from a few matches sheâd seen.
But her anxiety fell away and revealed a smile instead when she saw the funniest thing: one of the members of the crowd was holding a bannerâlight blue, with a crudely-drawn⊠well, she thought it was supposed to be an otter penguin on the face. It looked a bit like a child had drawn it with a marker from memory, but the most hilarious part was that it was straight-faced, coolly-observant Fang that was holding it, wearing a light blue shirt, as heâd promised Rika. Kiara elbowed the other girl and nodded towards him, just to make sure sheâd seen it. Somehow, she felt a little more at ease now.
Rika nodded at Kiara's enthusiasm, feeling the nervous dread washing away and being replaced by something more akin to ecstasy. She could feel her heart starting to pick up its pace as they stepped out into the platform, glancing at the stands with a bit of awe. She wasn't expecting this kind of turn out, however; to say she was surprised would have been an understatement. The team they were facing was fairly new to the matches as well, but this would be their first match. Suddenly, all the confidence drained from Rika's face in the process. Haki glanced at the two girls from the corners of his eyes.
"Now is not the time to be losing confidence, Lotus. This is your dream, it'd be a shame if you didn't reach it before it even began," he teased lightly, causing Rika's face to turn a light pink with anger, but she sighed in defeat. He was right, it wouldn't do her any good if she lost the confidence in her team, after all; they were training diligently for the last two weeks. They could pull this off. Haki smiled lightly at the new fire that burned behind Rika's eyes before spotting Kiara nudging Rika and pointing to the stands.
"I'd say your friend is a man of his word," he stated as Rika finally followed their gazes, spotting Fang sitting in the stands. True enough, he was wearing a light blue shirt, and oddly, holding a sign that appeared to have some type of drawing on it. Rika covered her mouth in an attempt to not laugh at the drawing, but allowed a few laughs to escape her. "That is not nice, Lotus," Haki stated, though he too had a bit of a lid on his laughter. The man either couldn't draw, or had a child attempt a drawing of an Otter Penguin. It was endearing though.
"I know, I'm sorry but that drawing," she stated, still trying to contain her laughter. Instead, she waved towards Fang, a little too enthusiastically before placing the hand back over her mouth. She was only brought out of it when something caught her attention, and noticed the other team making their way onto the platform. The smile twisted into something resembling a smirk as she glanced at her teammates. "It's now or never guys. Wish us luck!" she stated, taking a defensive stance in the process.