200 word drabble: Bright Lights, Big City

[attackfish]

Written for avatar_500 prompt #67, World.

Summary: She's starting to think she never should have left home.

Bright Lights, Big City

Korra hugged her knees and stared out the window, listening to the wind hissing through the tree branches.  The radio sat off on a shelf above her, silent and foreboding.  It seemed like every time she turned it on, Amon's voice billowed out.

She was starting to wish she had never left the South Pole.  Growing up there, nothing had ever scared her, not like this.  She had never doubted that someday, she was going to be the Avatar the world needed, one of the greats, as great as Aang or greater.

And now, even Tenzin was starting to notice, and Tarrlok was throwing a party in her honor.  There was no getting away from it, and all she wanted was the ice and isolation of home, the simplicity of training with the Order of the White Lotus, and her old confidence in herself.

She had still seen so little of the world, just one city in one country.  There could be more little wars, and more Amons all over the world, and she wouldn't know it yet.  If Republic City was too much for her to handle, how was she ever going to keep the whole world in balance?

Comments

[lavanyasix.livejournal.com]

There could be more little wars, and more Amons all over the world, and she wouldn't know it yet.

I dug this line. On one hand, she's making it before the big coup. On the other hand, it still holds true. The Equalists aren't actually a worldwide threat, even at the apex of their power. One big war in one city is still, in the grand scheme of things, a fairly modest problem, especially since we're never given any real sense that Equalism has a wider appeal outside Republic City.

So the line has a lot of punching power for me. Korra's right. In the long-term view of her life, Amon and his war will just be a blip for her. Her first real challenge, sure, but 'first' in a line of 'many'.

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

That's the thing that really gets me about Legend of Korra. She is constantly living with the shadow of Aang, who faced as his first real test, a truly global threat in Ozai and the Fire Nation. Korra is facing a much smaller threat as her first test, but because she is woefully unprepared, and because she has no idea of the ways Aang screwed things up as he went along, and because it's her first time, she feels like a total failure for every little problem. And eventually, she'll be taking threats like Amon in stride. They'll be normal and everyday things. But this is her first time, so it feels a little insurmountable to her right then.

[chordatesrock.livejournal.com]

That makes me really feel for Korra. It's a lot to deal with.

[attackfish.livejournal.com]

Poor little baby. It's all so new to her.