Raava Academy

Ferals

"You're in a cave, a feral's nest. It's dark, dank, and cooolllld." Toph drawls out the last word, cuddles herself, and pretends to shiver, "One of you is holding a flashlight, the other, a gun, with two silver bullets," she pauses, slowly pacing the room. Toph always did like to add in these melodramatic pauses, to build up the tension, "You've cornered your target - a lone, starving feral. You aim, you're about to shoot, but then-"

Toph slams her hand on the nearest desk, which happens to be the one Asami's at. I hold back a laugh when she nearly falls off her chair, her eyes almost popping out of their socket, Kai grabbing her arm to steady her. "- five more jump down from an unseen ledge, snarling, growling. Hungry." Toph stretches out her fingers and crouches down as though to mimic a feral. It's a poor impression, but I'll give her points for trying. "What... do... you... do? Write it. Go." She demands, raising a finger into the air.

The classroom erupts into frenzied whispers, though you can pretty much hear Bolin's every word, and I tilt my head back to see Opal placing a hand across his mouth and rolling her eyes at me. Subtlety really isn't Bolin's strong point.

"Korra?" Jinora whispers, "What do you think?"

The answer has to be valid, it has to fit with your group. For example, in Bolin and Opal's case, they couldn't use fire bending since they're earth and air benders, respectively.

"Burn the crap out of them, I guess," I quietly mutter, chewing the end of my pencil, staring across at Asami. She's furiously scribbling something down, and Kai is gripping his chin, squinting. Now he's wide-eyed, nodding with excitement, and I have to wonder what she's come up with.

"Korra, there's six of them," Jinora whispers, grabbing my chin, tilting my head and returning my gaze to the blank sheet of paper.

"Uh, combine your air with my fire, make a fire vortex, take em all down," I say, whilst writing. We've practised combined attacks like that before, and we're not perfect by any means, but it's quite effective. It's kind of how I imagine the avatar state would feel, being able to fuse elemental effects like that, if I could only get my damn glow on. "Once they're knocked back, finish them off." I continue. Jinora doesn't look convinced whilst she reads the two lines I've written. Maybe she's right, I usually come up with something a little more imaginative.

"Times up!" Toph yells, "Bolin, we already know yours since you shouted it across the room," she folds her arms and sighs, "You're dead. Magma? You can't bend lava, you dimwit." Bolin looks like he's about to protest, and Opal's holding her head in her palm, shaking it in disdain.

"Okay, blondie, let's see yours," Toph says, grabbing Sen's paper. Sen is a good guy, and as always, he's paired with his boyfriend, Yena. They're kinda cute together; Sen's blonde, short scruffy hair is a stark contrast to Yena's intricately platted, silky-black locks. They're both firebenders, so should be pretty good in this kind of scenario, or so you'd think, but Toph cackles loudly when Sen finishes reading from their paper. Something about flooding the cave with firelight to blind the ferals, then disguising their smell with bat droppings.

"Hahaha, oh you boys. You kill me. Well, actually you killed yourselves in this case," Toph frowns, slamming her palm on their desk, "A polite reminder, my little minions - ferals can smell and hear pretty much anything, just like a sane can."

Sanes. That's what we affectionately call non-feral vampires, humanoid in appearance, and civilised - or so we're told. Those are the one's we're not allowed to kill, now that there's laws to protect them. I can't say I've ever met one, and given some of the shit I've heard, I can't say I ever want to. I shudder, remembering the recent dream, and the taste of blood. Is that what it's like when they feed? How can they cope with that? How can they enjoy it?