Chapter 11- Earning Pointless Paper

"What's the big idea with making me train this early in the morning? The morning is evil," Korra groaned as she caught a ball. You, Korra, Bolin, and Mako were in the training room, the humans were practicing and working hard.

All the while you and Pabu were sunbathing. The only downside? You realized Pabu has a crush on you, so he keeps trying to get closer to you, and rub his head against you.

Of course, you don't realize it, Bolin did and thinks it's absolutely adorable, Mako doesn't care, and Korra finds it hilarious.
"There are my little hard-working street urchins. It's an honor to finally meet you, Avatar," You opened your eyes to see an older human man walking in.

"And you are...?" Korra wondered.
"Butakha. I run this whole pro-bending shebang. Here's your winnings from the last match," Butakha introduced himself and gave Mako a stack of yuan bills.

"Ah ah ah, not so fast. First, you owe me for the Avatar's new gear, gym and equipment rentals from last month, rent on your apartment, and a personal loan for groceries," He then proceeded to take the entire bill back, and the last sentence had Mako turn to look at Bolin.

"I'm a growing boy!" He sheepishly claimed.
"Oh, and one more small item of business: The Fire Ferrets need to ante up thirty thousand yuans for the championship pot," Butakha also added, causing the three's eyes to widened.

"Thirty thousand yuans?!" Of course, you never understood the concept of money, you think it's a sham and believe everything should be free.
"Sorry, kids. You got 'til the end of the week to come up with the dough, or else, you're out of the tournament," Butakha apologized and turned to walk off.

"You wouldn't happen to have a secret Avatar bank account overflowing with gold, would you?" Bolin asked Korra, who shook her head.
"I got nothing. I've never really needed money. I've always" had people taking care of me," She replied.

"Then I wouldn't say you have nothing," Mako grumbled, turning away.
"Sorry, I didn't mean-," Korra began.
"No, it's all right. It's just ever since we lost our parents, we've been on our own," Bolin confessed, which had you felt sympathy for the two humans.

'Parents... like Sifu Iroh and Aye Aye?' You questioned, wishing to have a family.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't know," Korra apologized, but Mako piped in.
"So, anyway, how are we gonna come up with the money?" He questioned, and Bolin immediately got excited.

"Oh, oh, I got it! I got it! I've been training Pabu to do circus tricks. Now people would pay good money to see that! And, I was thinking adding your tiger monkey to the mix! They'll be a cute couple!" Bolin beamed, holding Pabu and motioning towards you.

"Come on, Bolin. We need serious ideas," Mako rebutted, shaking his head at his brother, getting his bag.
"I was serious," Bolin mumbled sadly.

"Don't worry about it. I'll figure something out. I always do," Mako threw his bag over his shoulder and walked towards his equipment. Bolin frowned for a moment, before having an idea and looked at Korra.

"Hey, you mind if I borrow you're tiger monkey?" Korra was startled at the question, and stammered for a bit.
"I don't know, she's not really... a people person," Korra gave out a lame excuse.
"Please! If I train her to perform with Pabu, it'll be easy money!" Bolin begged, getting into his knees.

Korra thought for a moment, before turning her head towards you.
"What about it? Are you up to it?" She asked you. You wanted to join Bolin, he seemed like a great human to hang out with, but you remembered what Tenzin said.

'Hide that you're a spirit, we don't want you to be hurt,' But then again, you're just being a regular old tiger monkey who can perform tricks. You gave a coo as to say 'yes!'. Korra looked at you with an 'are you sure?' look before nodding.

"Well... alright..." She mumbled, allowing you to get onto her shoulder, where she petting your chin, and got closer.
"Be safe, okay? Tenzin trusts me to protect you, and I know you can protect yourself," She whispered, before handing you off to Bolin, who smiled.

"Alright, I know exactly what you both could do!"

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"Come one, come all. See these amazing Fire Nation animals as they cross the Ladder of Peril, upside down!" The human boy dramatically gasped, wearing a ridiculous attire and motions to both you and Pabu, who was also in a get up.

You fought tooth and nail for him to not make you wear one, which he finally accepted.
"Psst, psst. Big finish, guys. Stick the landing," He nudged you both. Pabu did what he was told, while you decided to be extra and did a flip with it too.

"Ta da!" Bolin exclaimed, surprised at your skill.
"Thank you, ladies and gentlemen! You are too kind! Seriously, too kind! You can come back here and put money right in this- Okay, that's fine, that's fine," Bolin raised his hat towards the other humans walking by.

While that happened, something caught your eye and you decided to run off for a bit, Pabu following close behind.
"One yuan down, 29,999 to go," He looked down, disappointed.

You came back with a wallet in your mouth, looking proud with yourself, but Bolin was horrified.
"You stole this?! We are not criminals! Shame on you!" He snatched the wallet out of your clutches, and scolded you.

You rolled your eyes at the human, but felt a little ashamed. Suddenly, a vehicle rolled up in front of you three, and a human male peered out.
"Hey, Bolin. Is that you?" He grinned at the human on the ground.

"Oh, hey there, Shady Shin," Bolin simply said. You didn't like the aura that the human in the vehicle was giving, so you just gave a hiss and watched him closely.
"Heard you're a big time pro-bending player now. Not bad," Shady Shin complimented.

"Uh, thanks," The other human hummed.
"So listen. I got an offer for ya. Lightning Bolt Zolt is lookin' to hire some extra muscle," Shady Shin leaned against the window, gesturing to Bolin's arms.

"Uh, I don't know, Shin. Mako told me to stay away from the Triple Threats," Bolin began, feeling uneasy about the offer.
"Pfuh, your brother ain't the boss of you. It's just a little security work. Nothin' crooked," Shady Shin snorted and tossed a bugs stack of yuan bills into the hat.

Bolin was in total shock as you questioned how you're act wasn't acceptable, but working in a shady job is.
"You game?" Shady Shin grinned, to which Bolin hesitated, but agreed and got up.

You wanted to follow, but the moment you took a step, a sudden jolt when through you, your stomach began to choke, the blood coming back up into your throat. You began to hiss, chirp, and gave a screech, wanting to leave.
"Come on! It'll be safe when I'm around! Let's go!" Bolin said, trying to pick you up, but you got out of his grasp and ran off.

Pabu ran after you, confused and worried for you. You continued to run until the blood was finally spat out. You sighed and nonchalantly turned around. Pabu gave a little screech of horror, but you just shrugged.

"It happens," You spoke out, shocking Pabu, but he just nuzzled against you, tail flicking. You figured Bolin would be fine himself, so you motioned Pabu to follow, as you wanted to explore more into the city.

That was until you both stopped at a big statue, with a human holding a flame out. You stared at it for a while, admiring it for a moment.

"...familiar..."

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"Surprise! I'm your friend now!"

"W-w-what?! You shouldn't be here! A earthbender should never be here!"

"But I'm your friend!"

"Friend...?"

"I'm (y̶̡͕̮͇͖͕̮̳̲̓/n̸͉̠̘̲̼̼̩͗͒̕͝͝)! We can do so much things together! The two of us will be the great friend duo!"

"But... do you know who I am?"

"z̷͋̎͒̆͂̏̔̓͜ų̷͕̙͚͖̲̱̐̒̀̆̎̈͜k̴̼̺̤̗͒͐͊͜ͅō̵̝̭͙̊... my name is z̷͋̎͒̆͂̏̔̓͜ų̷͕̙͚͖̲̱̐̒̀̆̎̈͜k̴̼̺̤̗͒͐͊͜ͅō̵̝̭͙̊,"