Catch-all for October

[alphatar]

Characters: Korra (alphatar) and OPEN.
Date: All throughout October.
Location: Various.
Situation: All the things.
Warnings/Rating: N/A, will edit if necessary.

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[duelkatana]

His face darkens a bit at that; he glances away, mouth pulling into a thin line. They most certainly did. It's almost comical how many times they had to 'deal' with Shredder, only for him to return in a blaze of glory months later. You'd think decapitation would wrap things up nicely the first time...

"It was a long battle, but we won in the end," he says, looking back at her. He gives a slight, firm nod. "And I know my cousins will, too."

Maybe not without scars; Leonardo's own final confrontation with the Shredder is what left him with the gouge in his shell, and there were scars beyond the physical to deal with, too. But if there's one thing he's certain of, it's that his counterpart's family will one day prevail over that same evil that haunts their lives.

[alphatar]

She knew exactly what that look meant, there was a battle she had to endure as well. It's price had almost been the three voids left behind from losing her bending.

"Of course they will, they have the right leader, too." She folded her arm and grinned. "I already promised to help all of you just in case he shows up." While Korra did have a high opinion of her abilities, she also knew that it was important to not face things alone.

Especially when they were scattered brothers from different worlds.

"Since I've never really learned to fight along with you guys, I can only say that I'll just give it my best shot."

[duelkatana]

It doesn't surprise him that she's offered her help in dealing with Shredder. It leaves him a bit conflicted; the turtles are at war with Shredder, and it's a blood feud that has lasted more than one generation. Having allies willing to fight that war with them is humbling - but if anything should happen to them, the weight of responsibility falls upon the turtles.

Of course, it's nothing he isn't positive his double has already considered. He's the one who really knows Korra, here, and who is Leonardo to doubt his judgment? Korra's offer is very kind, and Leonardo knows that she has the skills to back it up. He has no doubt that if push comes to shove, she'll make good on her promise.

What she says next is a little more surprising - though it makes sense. All of the turtles had over fifteen years to gel as a unit in their respective dimensions, and even in a place like this, their patchwork-quilt family has been learning how to compensate for the missing pieces. Korra and Leo may have sparred and trained together, but doesn't mean they know how to work together.

"Has he ever mentioned anything like that to you?" Curious, Leonardo brings his hand up to his chin and frowns in thought. "Learning, I mean."

[alphatar]

So far, Leo had been the only one she had sparred with. Naturally, her and Mike usually devolved to jokes, food, and games. Usually. There was that one wrestling match in Sinbrilee that was awkward at best.

After thinking through that, Korra jutted her lips thoughtfully and completely seemed like she would nod, but instead she just shook her head. Ninjutsu was one of the arts she wasn’t learning from Dinah, and she never even thought to ask her sifu if she knew it.

Even the new Team Avatar had time to train before they started to actively work against Amon, even if it was just pro-bending training. Even with Tarrlok’s task force, Korra knew the three elemental styles they had to use and working in concert with them wasn’t hard thanks to that familiarity. But with a style she didn’t know at all, let alone the variations each of their weapons brought to the table, and that was just them individually.

"Nope. That never really came up." That was something she should have thought of on her own, and yet it never crossed her mind even once. "There’s usually so much going on, I think he’s usually too preoccupied." At least, he always seemed to be thinking of something when she saw him.

"I did want to tell you guys about the dojo I train at." When she’s training with Dinah anyway, the second floor of her suite is set up for all training aside from that. "It’s closed at night, so I could just leave one of the windows unlocked for you guys to use. It’s huge."

[duelkatana]

Leo nods, shelving the topic for now. He thinks he'll bring it up with his double in one of their future sparring sessions; he's sure the younger Leonardo will appreciate the idea of keeping their friends close in heart and blade both. Ninjutsu might take years to master, but that doesn't mean they can't use their mastery of it to mesh with other styles.

Something to think about, either way.

When she mentions the dojo, his brow shoots straight up. "A whole dojo?" An edge of youthful teenage excitement that Korra might find familiar creeps into his expression, lighting his face up. He quickly checks it - or tries to, at least. "Are you sure? I mean - I wouldn't want you to get in trouble."

[alphatar]

The only time she had seen Leo be that excited was when he brought her to this very spot, eager to practice their styles against each other. Now, it was apparent that that look must be something that all Leonardo’s shared.

Her smile may have had a hint of mischievousness to it.

"My teacher runs it, she won’t mind. It’s huge, a lot bigger than what I’ve got set up. You can throw someone and they’d hit the ground before a wall." Not that she had done that or anything.

She might have. Maybe.

"You want to see it?"

[duelkatana]

That sounds quite impressive, considering the setup Korra has in her suite isn't half bad itself. Back home, Leo's family had the entire lower level of an abandoned pumping station to utilize as their training space, but he hasn't been to a real, authentic dojo since his brief stay in Japan.

He returns that smile of hers full force. Gone is the apprehension, in its place the eagerness of a bona-fide teenager that could only be more obvious if he were bouncing up and down. Which he is not. Although we're probably getting there.

"Well... if you insist."

[alphatar]

"Well, I did bring it up. The Wood Sector’s a ways off. Feel like some rooftop hops?" Normally she kept off the rooftops at night, fear of another run-in with the Batman, but she wouldn’t be alone. And bother Leonardos were skilled, she knew that if her sparrings with Leo were anything to go off of.

"I’ll try and slow down for you if you need me to." Teasing isn’t something she can help when she knows that there would be fun to be had. It was one of her favorite things to do, Dark Knights notwithstanding.

[duelkatana]

Rooftop jumping? Now she's speaking his language. Leonardo's smile widens a hair, because he figures that this means his younger self must have already shared with her the art beloved by ninja turtles everywhere. Either that, or rooftop jumping is a thing in her world anyway.

"Whatever you say," he returns jokingly, shoulders lifting in a mock-shrug. He doesn't mind the light teasing at all; he's no stranger to hearing it from his brothers, and in a way, it keeps things familiar for him. He gestures north, towards the general direction of the Wood Sector. "After you."

[alphatar]

Definitely a thing learned from Leo. Something she enjoyed, even if she currently couldn’t do it as often.

“And here I was thinking of a little race.” She lamented with a smirk. Breaking into a run, Korra headed north towards the city limits of the Water Sector. Once she reached the first building, she crouched only for a moment and jumped upwards with a large gust of air pushing her to the top.

After her first few jumps, some of them assisted by earthbending the ledges to give her a boost, Korra gave a quick look around to see if Leonardo was keeping pace with her. Last race, Leo had gotten there before her and now she was determined to win this race.

Even if they really didn’t agree to it being a race, that’s just her competitive edge showing.

Her next jump allowed her some better lighting since she used firebending to give her some extra propulsion across a longer jump. They would be in the Wood Sector in no time thanks to simply cutting across the city without having to follow any winding roads or avoid any of the kedan walking below.

Just a straight line.