•• 𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐅𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞 •• (The Legend of Korra/Mako fanfic)

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

'Good evening, ladies and gentlemen!' Shiro Shinobi greeted the radio listeners and the people in the arena. 'Tonight, we have a special guest: Nike, the leader of the Capital City Catgators!'

The crowd applauded and cheered while Shiro thank the firebender for being there and finding time in her schedule for an interview.

'Thank you for having me,' Nike thanked before the questions began.

'How does it feel to see the arena from this perspective?'

'The view is quite different from the one from the field. This one is less intimidating,' the female laughed a little.

'I don't doubt you!' Shiro chuckled. 'So, there are many theories on your blue flames, but the question everyone asks is if they are blue or if it's just an optical illusion. So, what is it?'

'A good magician never reveals her tricks,' Nike gave him a playful smirk.

'Mysterious as usual,' the interviewer said with a smile. 'But now that the Catgators are in the Pro-bending Tournament, we'll all be able to get better theories, right, folks? How excited are you for your first match?'

'I'm beyond excited,' Nike replied with enthusiasm earning some cheering from the people in the stands. 'The guys and I have been training extra hard for this tournament. We are going to give our all.'

'That's what we want to hear!' Shinobi replied before asking the next question. 'And what do you think about this year's teams? Are you keeping an eye on a specific one?'

'Well, I haven't seen some of this year's teams in action yet since they weren't participating last year, so I'm keeping an eye out for those,' Nike confessed. 'Despite that, the team that has my attention is the Red Sands Rabaroos. They are all strong and talented benders, and they are all females! They show everybody how Pro-bending is an inclusive sport, like every other sport in the world. People need to be more inclusive as well; that's the only thing missing.'

'I assume you're looking forward to facing them in Catgators first match,' the radio broadcaster commented.

'Definitely!' Nike smiled.

'What about your life outside the arena? How do you balance being a professional athlete with your personal life?'

'Well, I spent most of my days at the gym, but I always have time for myself,' Nike began explaining. 'I have group training with my team, of course, and then I have mine and I train four to five hours a day. On my day off I normally lunch with a friend or just spent it at home relaxing and reading a book.'

'That sounds like lots of work!' Shiro said with an impressed look in his eyes. 'What about routines before a match? Do you have any ritual?'

'I don't,' Nike laughed. 'I just rest the day before, so normally I train for only one hour and on the day of the match I go for a walk maybe or I just relax at home.'

'And what keeps you motivated?'

'My amazing team,' the firebender said with happiness in her golden eyes, 'my incredibly competitive self and the fans of course. Hearing them cheer for us and applaud when we do something great is just amazing. To see someone recognizing our work and success is amazing. So, thank you everybody,' she said looking at the people in the arena with a smile.

The public cheered and applauded at the lady's words.

'Well, I don't really like to point the elephant-rhino in the room, but we all want to know about your experience with the Wolfbats,' Shiro said.

Nike was already expecting that question and she was prepared.

'Well, it was challenging. We had very different ways to train, to play and to prepare for matches,' she began. 'And we also had different ideas when it came to following the rules.'