cyclicality | Call For Help

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Call For Help

After the events from November 11th, the city has been in a constant state of repair. In an effort to speed things up, a variety of construction companies have offered high wages for helping out since many have too many orders to keep up with. Earthbenders in particular are welcome, especially if they're able to metalbend, but it's hands for labor that are most needed.

Those who received the newspaper on the 5th of this month will have noticed some overlaying text that probably shouldn't be there. It said to meet outside the city council office if you want to help rebuild the city, but those who went on the 5th and the 6th know that nothing happened. Around noon today, however, a golden light shoots out of the ground. Instead of dissipating right away, it sketches out the word "hope" in the dirt. Shortly after, genuine gold appears where the light had burst forth. Every now and then, a variety of items and tools appear, lying scattered among the gold. Many of the newly appeared items can be used to help rebuild the city such as stacks of timber and stone, but many of the other items appear to have been previously owned. Heirlooms that had been previously destroyed now in perfect condition along with other lost items and the like keep appearing at random in front of the city council office in addition to all the gold.

The text on the newspaper wasn't lying, though. Someone is watching. Or something. Everything everyone does will be under close surveillance. Whether they keep the gold, leave it alone or give it away; whether they work to repair the city or sit and do nothing. Either way, the area around the council office is brimming with spiritual energy, but no spirits are coming out to play.

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Aang is snapped out of his reverie by the unfamiliar voice. She seems friendly enough, and he flashes a light smile towards her. "I've never seen a prank like this before! What would be funny about giving away a lot of money?" He looks over the gold nugget in his hand again. "Then again, I never met a spirit before with pockets full of money..."

That definitely causes Mia to think for a moment, though there's the hint of a giggle after a brief moment. "I suppose it might be a little funny for the prankster if the money wasn't actually real, though in the grand scheme of things, it'd still be in fairly poor taste." She shrugs at that, dismissing the idea for the time being. "It still wouldn't explain the weird messages in the newspaper though; if the spirits weren't responsible for that, I have no idea who could have been.

"But you are right," Mia says as shifts her weight to her other leg. "I don't know why any spirit would have all this gold..."

"It's definitely not chocolate! I checked." He says proudly. "And if it's not chocolate, I don't see how it could be a prank! The newspaper message did definitely seem too spirit-y to be anything that's not a spirit..."

He scrunches his face in thought. "Maybe the spirit sold a bunch of things he didn't need anymore!"

There's a moment where Mia doesn't quite recognise just how young her new companion is compared to her. She's five years older than the boy, though she had overlooked that until now because of his actions, not just grabbing all the coins he could and running for it. But Aang's more childlike demeanour causes a smile on Mia's face; in fact, she laughs a little, clearly humoured by his words.

"I suppose that is true," she says, playing along with his line of logic. Of course she knows other ways that it could be false, but she's not going to contradict him on this minor point. She's used to working with younger kids, after all. "And I suppose we could be dealing with a spirit selling his life's possessions. That said though," she continues, becoming more thoughtful, "I suppose the more important question is less where it's coming from and more why it's doing this.

"By the way," she says, interrupting herself, "my name is Mia. I'm from the Northern Water Tribe."

"Yeah... You're right, that's the real mystery!" He nods, and then he smiles as she introduces herself.

"It's nice to meet you, Mia! My name's Aang."

Mia blinks a little bit at his name. He's got the arrow and everything but... nah, it couldn't be possible. Aang hasn't been alive for quite a while. But still...

No, it couldn't possibly be.

"Aang, hm?" she offers a gentle handshake should he take it. "Named after the prior Avatar, I take it?" That's at least the more likely story. Maybe one of the Air Acolytes or something. But still, she smiles quite motherly at him.

"As for why, it would make sense that this might be connected to the spirits' message in the newspaper," she muses for a moment. "If that's the case, then maybe this is here to fund the city repairs? I mean, the spirits I know don't have much need for gold..."

"Y-yeah. Just like that guy!" He reaches forward and takes her hand, now that he's sure how handshakes work.

"Huh... Yeah, you know, that does make sense! When I think back to that message in the newpaper, it kind of comes together! So the spirits must want us to bring the gold to people who can help!"

Well, with that, she won't even question it any further. After all, Aang was probably a popular name after Avatar Aang died... or even after some of his amazing deeds? Or at least she presumes that that's likely.

Nevertheless, after shaking his hand she lets it go before looking back to the seeping pile of gold. There now happens to be a tool or two emerging from the pile, and certainly she can't help but raise an eyebrow. It's like the spirits know exactly what they want done. "That certainly seems to be the case," Mia agrees. She nods and gives Aang a smile. "The only problem is that... I worry some people will be coming here just for the gold and not actually to help. Whatever the spirits are doing, I can't help but feel that this isn't the best way to rebuild the city."

Aang looks on thoughtfully. "You're right. But... maybe there's why we're here, too! We can help people see the right way of doing things!"

Mia looks at Aang with a somewhat stunned expression to Aang's statement, and that actually puts her in deep thought. She doesn't know this boy here is actually the former Avatar, but rather she believes he's just a young boy that looks similarly; that he could come up with something so thought-provoking is nothing shy of amazing.

And eventually she gives the boy a rather mischievous grin. "You know, maybe that's what we're here for: us, and all these other foreigners in the city." And then, more genuine than mischievous, she adds, "You're much smarter than you look for your age."

Aang smiles bashfully at the compliment, with a rub at his neck. "N-nah, I just make sure to eat my vegetables every day!" Somehow that explains it. "So you're a foreigner too, huh? Well I agree. Whatever brought us here, we're here for a purpose."

Mia can't help but laugh aloud at that. She's certainly amused at this one, always telling jokes every few minutes. There's a gleam in her eye that suggests she thinks it's extremely cute.

"Well, foreigner in as far as I'm not from Republic City itself but rather the North Pole, yes," she says, adding clarification. "I've heard stories of a couple of strangers that don't seem to have ever been in this world before a few weeks ago, but I've yet to meet them."

"They're definitely around, trust me!" He says without confirming that he is one. But her other subject catches his attention moreso. "Wow, you're from the North Pole? That's great! It's so pretty up there!"

That's certainly good information to know. She would have dismissed the rumour outright if it hadn't been repeated so many times, but even then she wasn't fully expecting it to turn out true. But that thought is disregarded because Aang continues being as easy to pin down as she suspects.

"You're certainly full of surprises," Mia says with a little bit of surprise and amusement. "Not many are courageous enough to journey to the North given the climate up there. It is pretty amazing, I'll agree. Though Republic City is... it's beautiful in its own right too, hm? Especially the Spirit Wilds!"

"I guess I'm just a- a surprisey kind of monk?" He chuckles. "But you're right. This city's unlike anything I ever saw before! I really love the spirit wilds. They're so beautiful!"

"Exactly. I have to think that, so far, that might be my favourite place in the entire city," Mia says, almost breathless. "There are so many spirits there; I thought I already knew a lot about the spirits back home, but here, there are just so many more, and I find I have so many questions still unanswered. Especially since there are some definitely curious ones in there."

"I know what you mean! There's more spirits than I've ever seen before over there. I wanna get to know them all! And hey, maybe some of them'll know something about all of this gold business!"

Mia has to admire the young monk's enthusiasm. "Yes," she says with a light-hearted chuckle. "Maybe they just might. If you find something out though, I'd love to know."

"Don't worry, if I do, I'll definitely pass some word along to you. OR I'll see if I can get a spirit to send the message! Wouldn't that be neat?"

She can't help but giggle. "That would be pretty amazing. Spirit, yourself, or otherwise, I'll be happy to hear it.

"Good luck meeting all of the spirits in the Wilds then. I think it's going to take a while for that."

"Thanks! Don't worry, I'm sure I'll meet them all eventually. If you ever need to find me, I should be there in the wilds or up by Air Temple Island!"

"I'll make sure to look for you there," she says with a smile. She gives Aang a little bow before heading off on her way.

He returns the bow as she sets off. "It's been nice meeting you, Mia! Bye!"

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Call For Help

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