the legend of khione || korra

midnight walks and new faces

KHIONE

"What do you think you're doing?" 

Khione leant against her wooden cane, watching as Korra jumped, spinning around. She could've laughed at the guilty expression on her face, but settled for arching her eyebrows instead.

"Khione! You scared me," Korra laughed nervously. "I'm not... doing anything?"

Spirits, she was a bad liar. Her skepticism must've shown on her face, because Korra immediately backtracked.

"I mean, I'm-uh- taking a walk..." She trailed off as Khione walked closer, her cane making small taps against the stone ground.
Khione tilted her head, her expression unreadable.
"You wouldn't happen to be sneaking out to the city, would you?" It was a good suspicion; she'd overheard Korra and Tenzin arguing about pro-bending earlier that night, when she'd been helping Pema set up dinner. Khione assumed that Korra was the kind of person who couldn't take no for an answer, and it seemed she was right.

Korra looked around discreetly. "Alright, fine. But I swear, I just want to see a pro-bending game. I think this could really help me with my airbending," she said honestly. "Please don't tell Tenzin, I'll-"

Khione held up a hand, and was glad to see Korra stop talking.

"I'm not going to tell Tenzin. I was actually going to offer to come with you."
The words were out of Khione's mouth before she could really think the words over. Why had she offered to go with her? Khione supposed there was no harm in seeing one match, and letting her go by herself would be irresponsible. She'd heard from Ikki later about Korra's destructive first day in Republic City, and she did not want to be responsible for letting Korra go alone.

Korra seemed just as confused.

"You want to come with me? No offence, I didn't think you'd be the kind of girl to break rules."

Khione let out a small chuckle, the sound icy.

"Well, you don't know much about me," She pointed out dryly. "Besides, you don't know where the pro-bending tournaments are held, do you?"

Korra seemed to take this into account, mulling it over quietly. "Alright then. Let's go!" She stepped out of the shadows, following Khione as they hurried over the courtyard.

"Sorry if this seems rude- I noticed you have a cane..." Korra tried quietly, her eyes glancing at Khione's wooden cane. Khione bristled instinctively -she was used to ignorant people making offhand remarks about her limp, but there seemed to be no malice in her words.

"I was born with a limp," Was all she offered. Korra seemed to understand that it was a touchy subject, and nodded solemnly.

"So... What were you doing tonight?"

Khione gave her a listless smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Couldn't sleep, so I decided to take a walk."

She knew that Korra was looking at her, at the dark circles under her eyes that looked like bruises under the moonlight. She was aware of how she looked beside Korra. She was all sharp angles, slender wrists and harsh lines. How frail she must look next to Korra. Still, Korra didn't seem to care, and for that, Khione felt herself liking the girl more.

Have you been to any pro-bending matches?" Korra seemed to notice Khione's lighter mood, looking intrigued.

"No," Khione admitted. "I've never been interested, but like you said, I think this will help you with your airbending. Otherwise, I probably would've alerted Tenzin." Khione admitted, smirking a little.