cyclicality | [OTA]

Things are getting bad, and fast. Yuri had been kicked out of his apartment upon being dubbed a foreigner. He hasn't been here for a year, in fact, he moved here close to the time people from other worlds showed up, Being the poor citizen he is, Yuri can't even prove he was a resident of Ba Sing Se beforehand either. Not that it would really matter if he could. Its not looking good for him, that's for sure. Homeless and unable to buy most things that he needs, even though he has plenty of money, he's got no choice but to spend most of his time at work. Which means Varrick's boat. He's not exactly happy about it, but there could be worse things.

Having heard about the gold appearing at city hall, Yuri's curiosity drove him to take a look. What he saw disgusted him. That evening the gold appeared as people said it did, and he just stands by and watches as people scramble for it. He doesn't need the stuff, and even if he did, what good would it be? Being labeled a foreigner, the gold would just give him more trouble than it was worth. Thus he just leans against the wall of a building and watches, Repede sitting next to him and huffing his disapproval as people scramble for the glittering stuff. And they say dogs are animals. Though the mysterious word that's appeared with the gold hasn't gone unnoticed. Though all he can do is speculate about it.

"Tch." Eventually Yuri gets tired of watching this and turns to go, but then something else catches his eye as it appears nearby. What appears to be a large, glittering gem. It's huge actually, for a jewel anyway. The crystal is several inches long and wide enough to be held with two hands. It's color is a light blue. Yuri stares at it for several moments. He feels like he's seen it before. But that's crazy... right? But the nagging feeling won't leave him alone. He moves towards it, but someone else swoops in and snatches it.

"Hey!" Yuri shouts at the man as he tries to flee with the stone. Repede leaps into action, putting himself in the man's path and growls menacingly. This gets the looter to pause, staring nervously at the dog. Repede barks and snaps his jaws, causing the man to back up into Yuri who looks down at him imposingly. The small man squeaks and drops the stone. "Don't hurt me!" And with that, he runs off. ... Well. That wasn't too hard. Stooping down, Yuri picks up the crystal and looks it over.

Later, Yuri takes the crystal back to Varrick's boat. He's already had several people try to snatch it from him. It would be safer to keep it there.

((OOC: Feel free to approach or run into Yuri at any point here! Or even on his way back to Varrick's boat.))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Yeah well, welcome to the real world I guess. Most of us have had that happen since we got here. It's not exactly safe for a girl like you to be walking alone."

He would have hoped that would be obvious.

"So you're a firebender, huh?"

Again, she gives him a pensive look, before looking down at her hand. Slowly flickering flames began to dance in her palm, licking languidly at her fingertips. "I am. Normally I just use it for dance, but... My brother's lessons actually did come in handy after all."

A pause. "What about you?"

"I was born a nonbender," Yuri said with a wave of his hand.

Which wasn't a lie. He was. But he was also intentionally hiding the fact that he was now an airbender. Something he still hadn't quite come to terms with yet.

"Oh?" she asked, her tone pressing just the slightest bit. "Has something changed...?" There had been those rumors...Maybe he knew first hand.

"Other than the spirits going crazy? Not really."

Yuri completely blew it off, not about to release his secret easily. Again, not really a lie, cause well... the spirits going crazy kinda caused his... condition. But yeah. Not exactly the truth either.

She gave him a long look, before tilting her head. "Did they do something to you? A lot of people had their bending changed, and there have been airbenders popping up all over the place."

"Yeah, I've heard about that. Pretty strange, huh?"

Again, he wasn't going to outright say it. He was neither confirming or denying that the spirits had indeed messed with him. But he is trying to gauge Dove's opinion on the matter.

She raised a brow. "Are you always this transparent?" she asked, sarcasm thick in her voice. Shaking her head, she continued. "Honestly, I think it's really neat-- history says it was Avatar Aang's dream to rebuild the Air Nomad culture once the war was ended, so I think it's amazing how the spirits jumped to his aid."

She cut her eyes toward him (not so subtly) before looking away. "I mean... I'm sure it's kind of shocking to the people without bending suddenly who ended up with airbending-- and the others who had their talents tampered with. But...I think it's great."

Yuri eyed Dove quietly for a moment before turning his gaze back out to the open water.

"You think he really would have liked that? I mean, it's not exactly the same thing. And yeah, that kind of stuff changes peoples lives."

She met his gaze quietly for the brief moment, then nodded. "I do, yes." She shrugged a little, rubbing an arm absently. "Think about it: he was the last airbender on earth. At the very least, it would be lonely, even surrounded by people, to know that you're the only one of your..." She shook her head as she struggled with a proper word, before finally settling, obviously dissatisfied. "....kind left. And as the avatar, who wouldn't want an entire culture to be resurrected in their lifetime? Maybe it's a generation late, and it's not exactly the same, but its just as much his legacy as Republic City..."

"As for changing people's lives..." She paused, thoughtful. "Bending isn't a bad thing. It's...actually really useful. For little things, even." A small laugh, to lighten the mood. "I cook with mine sometimes."

"Can't argue with that. But the new airbenders aren't exactly monks."

Even if the bending art was revived, the culture wasn't going to be the same. Yuri's heard about the Air Nomads somewhat, and that really doesn't sound like the lifestyle for him. He kinda doubts he would fit into that legacy that she's talking about.

"Well...no," she replied, a little crestfallen and shrugging again. "But the world isn't the same now as it was then, either." A grin. "There are even Fire Nation Citizens who like to have fun now. We dance and everything," she added, making her exaggeration obvious. It certainly wasn't her fault the older generations had always been considered a bunch of stiff military types.

Returning to a serious note and peeking at him curiously, she added: "I'm not sure they all have to be monks, though I know there are a lot who do respect the old traditions. Even so, the ones who don't are also still airbenders, and from what I've seen, they'll train anyone. On Air Temple Island, I mean."

Train anyone, huh? Heh. Yuri's gaze now shifts into that direction.

"That's across from the big statue, right? Never actually been there."

Not that he'd go to seek training or anything. Right. But maybe it wouldn't hurt to at least take a look around.

Talented actress she is, she suppresses what she thinks might be a tiny victory to a small smile and a nod. "Yep...There's a portal to the fire nation there, now, too. I've been a few times, just to check on things..." Her grin fades significantly, and she, too, looks out across to the Island. "Not that there's much for me to check on right now."

A lengthy pause. "The Island itself is beautiful."

[OTA]

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Not sure if history fanatic, politician, or anthropologist.

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