Spirit Wilds Vagabond Catch-All

[raavashing]

Who: Anyone that's taken up residence near Wan's abandoned apartment in the Spirit Wilds + their friends
What: Catch-all for threads happening in that general living area
When: Oct 4th-Oct31
Where: The Spirit Wilds Vagabond Hippie Commune (not actual name of neighborhood)
Warnings: None!

Post a Top Level for people who are living or temporarily crashing here to tag your character for any reason. It's open to all, not just people wanting to punch/arrest/visit Wan.

Comments

[Open!]

[prettyinhandcuffs]

The local spirits? Those too some time getting used to. But the folk living in the area weren't bad at all, and Duo found himself settling in rather easily. He'd done this before, after all, and it was sure easier now that he wasn't, oh, eight.

A. Phones off
It was pretty obvious pretty quick that the cell phone he'd had in his pocket was going to be useless here, and he wasn't exactly feeling sentimental about it. So the pilot had taken out his knife to start carefully disassembling it to see if he could make anything useful, parts carefully laid out over the blanket he'd managed to get his hands on.

B. Churchboy
Let's just say that as a kid who lived at a church once, Duo was rather prepared for helping out with the homeless, even as one of them. Especially as one of them. So cheerfully chatting up the locals while making sure they all got a share of the food he and Wan had snitched from the festival (and some from mister big-shot's party) was really second nature.

A/Oct 17th

[raavashing]

[Wan found Duo easily enough, coming into the space the kid had claimed with two pieces of fruit in hand. One for both of them. He suck down across from Duo in a single motion and nodded at the phone parts while holding out the hard, brown asian pear.]

What's this?

[prettyinhandcuffs]

Well, it was a cell phone. Now it's spare parts.

[He hell up the now empty casing.]

Little device from home that works for long distance communication and a couple other functions. But it needs a satellite feed to work and well, no satellites here.

[raavashing]

So it's like a very small radio?

[He didn't know what a satellite was, but long distance communication was something he was becoming familiar with.]

I didn't know radios could get that small. That's half the size of the battery for travel radios.

OTA

[raavashing]

Tea Time
Wan has a habit of making a lot of tea to share with the local spirits. There may not have been an oasis for them to relax in, but when he had a few quiet hours - usually in the evenings - he made as much tea as he could and gave them a place to congregate safely. Most spirits just played with the tea, but some enjoyed it for what it was. And of course, with the third floor Wan had taken over for his home all lit up, it was a clear invitation for anyone in the area to come up and join them.

Scavenging for Supplies
The Spirit Wilds had taken over so many buildings that only the few with the easiest access back inside had been cleared out by those who used to live there. It made finding basic supplies fairly difficult unless someone could find a way in that hadn't been spotted - or make their own. Wan was one of those people. He had no issue crawling thorough tightly-woven roots or flying over the tops of the trees to search for ways into buildings. While plenty of the plants grew through them there was a lot of still 'empty' space that he could maneuver around in once he was inside. And, of course, he could make his own light when he was inside so the dark never got to him.

Wan made scavenging trips once every few days to try and recover blankets and clothes he could give to the poor and homeless that needed them. He also managed to find the occasional stash of money and jewelry - though that was very rare as the people who abandoned the homes seemed to have grabbed those things first almost universally.

He can be joined coming back from a trip, heading out, or be tagged along with.

Stealing Food
Yep. He was back to doing that. Mako was completely right about him, he would just keep doing it. Especially as more and more people started hoarding what food they could get their hands on because of the barrier. Wan tried to keep his thievery on the down low and unnoticeable. But sometimes that wasn't possible. And this time it had a few cops chasing him back into the wilds. They didn't go far inside because the spirits showed up in droves to put themselves between them and Wan, but they knew he retreated there. Wan just gave sigh of relief when they left and went to thank the spirits for watching his back.

Dealing with Clinging Spirits
The Spirit Wilds actually prevented a lot of the small spirits breaking away from the barrier from getting to the ground. Mostly because of how thick the tree tops were. But that didn't mean a few didn't occasionally manage to get below them and float around trying to cling to the few humans now living near Wan. Or to Wan himself. Thus far they'd been easily avoided with a gentle push of wind. At least in Wan's case.

Scavenging/Stealing Food Whenever

[lordhotman]

"I'm coming with you."

This coming from a masked Zuko as he walked up to Wan, noticing that he was about to head out again. It didn't matter where he was going or what he was doing. He wanted, and needed, to do something. To feel useful somehow.

[raavashing]

Wan gave a nod and waved for Zuko to follow, "You can take the mask off. I know what you look like already."

He was headed to the edge of a former shopping district. A small, one city block space, where most of the ground floor shops had already been looted. But he was hoping the upper stories that held the former shopkeeper's apartments and some storage spaces would still have some things.

"Your shoes holding up okay? There's going to be a lot of broken glass around the buildings we're going to. I'm trying to clean up what I can now that animals are starting to settle in with the spirits, but there's a lot more than I can carry at any one time."

Not long after living together

[dustonmyfeet]

It was late. Quiet. The air was still, even the spirits seeming to take a rest. Toph slept in a nest of blankets against the cooling autumn air, burrowed in against the chill. Her sleep was deep, peaceful, her sides rising and falling in soft, even rhythm.

Until she woke with a jerk, suddenly far too awake.

In a moment she was upright, listening in the darkness.

Someone was firebending.

After months spent hiding from the Fire Nation, chased across the continent by one firebender after another, Toph was attuned. It was a matter of staying alive, of keeping the others alive against the antics of whatever had decided to chase them that particular day. It could roust her from the soundest sleep, jolting her into action.

Instinct kicked in immediately. With Zuko, Iroh, and Jin sleeping not so far away, she slid from her blankets and went to investigate, bare feet soundless against the stone.

She followed the firebending towards its source.

[raavashing]

Wan was about a block and a half away. He'd found a small 'clearing' between some buildings that he couldn't begin to figure out what it had originally been. But it wasn't as choked with vines and it was not particularly easy to get to or see into. Perfect for mid-night bending practice.

He moved through the forms he'd learned from the Spirit Dragon with ease, a dance several mellinnia old when he'd learned it. More so now, in this era. It was as peaceful as it was powerful. Something he needed when he had to hide his use of the other bending forms from so many.

OPEN!

[lordhotman]

Here in the spirit wilds, among the abandon buildings, Zuko feels the most comfortable and safest in taking off his mask. This is pretty much about the only place he does it, unless he's with friends where he's certain no one else will see him.

Mostly, Zuko sticks with his Uncle, but he's not above helping out with the rest of the community that has formed here. He still wears that mask when he's around a lot of people, even here. After all, he can't let his identity be found out and spread around the city. There was too much at stake, and his older self was a very publicly well known person here.

However, it's not unlikely to catch him with it off. He gets pretty tired of wearing it all the time.

As a firebender, he can be found starting fires for whatever is needed. Cooking, heating water, keeping warm, etc. Other time she can be found practicing his bending for the upcoming Fire Ferret tryouts. Or just generally helping out, or even when he wanders away for some alone time with his thoughts.

[gainedacoupon]

Jin herself found herself feeling pretty awkward just sitting in their place alone and finally decided to get up and move. She left their little apartment to just walk around the abandoned buildings when she spotted Zuko doing some pretty impressive firebending moves. She didn't want to exactly bother him, so she kept to her hiding spot around the corner. Every once in a while she would peek her head out just to watch him. He could probably sense someone was watching him though unless he was too into his training.

"Wow....it's like a dance of flames..." she whispered to herself.

[lordhotman]

Zuko continued to practice his forms. A few spirits skittering out of the way as the fire flew and danced in their direction before dissipating. However, the firebender then paused, his gaze sliding in the direction where Jin was hidden. He then let out a breath and straightened up, not bothering to turn around. He already knew someone was watching him.

"Who's there?"

Open

[restoredhonour]

Lord Zuko is paying a visit to the spirit wilds for the first time. If he's to help Republic City in any capacity, which could soon be a possibility, with the election fast approaching, he'll need to familiarise himself with all the changes the city has gone through. The vines and the spirits now inhabiting the city being one of the most obvious changes, and changes he can't say he dislikes. It had been his and Aang's dream to make the Republic a place for the four nations to coexist peacefully, and now that spirits have made their home in the city to coexist alongside humans, it seems only a natural extension of the same dream.

...Not that it's an ideal coexistence right now, with the spirits still maintaining the barrier keeping the city trapped. Perhaps the wilds can provide him with some kind of answer on that issue, too.

Zuko forgoes his usual company of metalbending guards, leaving them stationed at the perimeter. Given that the area is largely populated by benign spirits, vagrants, and other curious visitors like himself, he's not too concerned about security, strolling through the area to look at the vines and observe the spirits.

[lordhotman]

One of those vagrants just happens to be his younger self. Zuko was out exploring the wilds, looking for anything of use and just generally something to do, when he comes across his older counterpart. He pauses, looks around, and then removes his mask before approaching.

"What are you doing here?"

The last place he had expected to see his older self was out here. Didn't he know it was dangerous to get too close to the barrier with all the spirits running amok?

[restoredhonour]

Lord Zuko is surprised when he spots the masked figure, and moreso when unmasked to reveal his younger counterpart. So that was how he's been staying hidden so far? He frowns, feeling both guilt and sympathy that his teenage self should have to go through all this trouble. Even if it's in both of their interests, it still doesn't sit right, but like many issues in the city right now, it's not something any of them have an immediate solution to.

"I wanted to see the spirit wilds firsthand," he replies. As far as he was concerned, the area wasn't any more dangerous than the rest of the city at the moment, so he wouldn't let it deter him.

[dustonmyfeet]

"Thinking about a summer home here?" The voice emerges, wry and familiar, near his elbow. Then, after a pause, "You're kind of far out for the Fire Lord. Aren't you supposed to be surrounded by vassals or something?"

Apparently this is Toph's way of saying she's surprised to see him. And although she doesn't exactly resemble her usual self at the moment, she doesn't seem to be too concerned that he won't recognize her. The disguise mainly isn't for people who know her well, after all; it's for people who don't -- people who expect something larger than life, who don't like their ideal confounded by the reality of a small, dirty girl who picks her nose. Zuko, even if it's the older version, already knows all of that about her.

. . . Or did. Whatever. This whole thing is going to be a headache; she can just tell.

[restoredhonour]

Zuko is surprised at the voice, turning to look down at the child. Of course he recognises who it is straight away. Even if her appearance had been unrecognisable altogether, Toph is Toph, and no amount of clothes could hide that.

"Hello, Toph," he smiles. "I'm no longer the Fire Lord, merely her father. Why should I need vassals in retirement?" Especially when he's spent the past few years travelling the world with his dragon. Any royal entourage would be a needless excess, and the excesses of the royal court are something he'd done his utmost to put to an end during his reign. "I came because I was curious about the spirit wilds. I haven't visited the city since Harmonic Convergence, so this is my first time exploring them firsthand."

[gainedacoupon]

It was one of those days Jin decided to take a the long way "home" to that little apartment she shared with others. With all the shenanigans happening with the spirits causing a little mischief she really should have just gone straight home, but walking let her think and the longer she stayed out the less she felt like she was intruding on the others.

Unfortunately she was so lost in her thoughts she didn't realize that an older man had stopped right in front of her. She bumps into Lord Zuko and stumbles backward letting out a small yelp of surprise.

" Oh gosh, I am so sorry, Sir. I should have been paying more attention," her tone was completely apologetic as she moved closer to him to make sure she didn't cause him any harm.

" Are you alright?"

[restoredhonour]

Lord Zuko stumbled when he felt someone collide with him, but he still managed to keep his footing. He turned as she approached to regard her, and for a second he has to pause. Not for the first time, her face threw him off, and not for the first time he had to rack his memory, wondering if she's someone he had met before.

"...Ah, yes, I'm fine. I'm at fault as well -- I didn't see you." He'd gotten caught up in observing the spirits, but this is still a fairly busy part of the city, after all. It was careless of him to get distracted.

Re: Open

[descendsfromshadow]

Well, you know what they say about curiosity.

Blake had spent a long time avoiding the parts of the city overrun by the vines. Being a nonbender herself, it seemed like just the best course of action but, eventually, that curiosity had gotten the better of her and she'd ventured into the spirit wilds to look around. She hadn't been foolish enough to come unarmed though, carrying her sword, wrapped in a black cloth, on her back. Otherwise, the only other item she'd come with was a simple book.

... Aaaand she had spent the entire trip regretting her decision immensely as the more mischievous of the spirits had apparently singled her out as a target for tricks. For whatever reason. She'd done a pretty good job ignoring them, until one shot by and snatched that book out of her hand and sped off with it.

Now, she can be found at the base of one of the empty buildings, shouting up at the glowing critter as it leafs through her book.

"Hey! Give that back!"

Help?

[restoredhonour]

Lord Zuko hears the commotion from around a street corner before he sees it, having stopped to watch a few spirits playing around an abandoned building. The shout makes him hurry over at a run; crime is rife in certain areas of the city, and if there's a mugging or the like taking place, he wants to step in to help.

... What he finds isn't anything quite so serious, and he slows to a halt, staring up at the glowing spirit and then at the young woman it has apparently stolen from.

"Is everything all right?"

Open

[raavashing]

"Come down from your palace to join the peasants," Wan asked wryly, clearly joking as he appeared from behind a small copse of trees about a block and a half in. "What brings you to the Spirit Wilds, Lord Zuko?"

[restoredhonour]

"I'm doubtful spirits would describe themselves as peasants," was Zuko's response, equally wry. He was both surprised and not surprised to see the stranger again, considering they seemed to keep crossing paths like this. "I'm here to have a look at the spirit wilds firsthand. If there are any clues as to the causes behind the strange activity around the city, it would be here."

Perhaps this man could even be of help, he wondered? He'd known about Raava, after all, so perhaps his knowledge of spirits extends beyond her as well.

comes in late with tea

[teaspirited]

Iroh happens to be returning from a short shift at the tea shop and notices at least two of the metalbenders on his way in. Quite curious, as they usually didn't take up posts on the edge of the wilds. About halfway home, he spies his elder nephew and makes a beeline right for him. The guards outside suddenly make infinitely more sense.

"It is good to see you again, my nephew. What brings you all the way out here to the spirit wilds?"

\o/

[restoredhonour]

Zuko looks around at the voice, beams when he realises who is headed straight for him. "Uncle! I should have guessed I'd find you here." After what Korra had said about encountering him in the spirit world -- twice, even -- it should have come as no surprise that Iroh would like the surroundings of the spirit wilds as well.

"I wanted to see the spirits here, to see if there were any clues that could help us understand the barrier around the city. But I'm afraid my knowledge of the spirits is marginal, compared to someone with an understanding like yours."