The Fire Ferrets Tryouts! [semi-private]

[lavamylife]

[EDIT:  OOC:  This post is mostly private for waterbenders and firebenders as they're the only people that would actually be trying out.  However, if you want to interact with some of the others (and Bolin would be okay with you being there -- feel free to ask me if you're unsure!), feel free to pose in, either for Bolin or with the other people involved.  Sorry for the complicated rules and whatnot, but I figure it'd be worth it to be inclusive as opposed to exclusive!]

[Private-ish to firebenders and waterbenders]

"Alright, Pabu.  It's time to get the Fire Ferrets back in action!  Are you with me?"

The fire ferret squeaks in approval as he sits atop Bolin's shoulder.  Bolin nods back with the biggest grin, and he pushes open the doors into the gym where no doubt several candidates were waiting to join his elite crew.

"Welcome, everyone, to the official Fire Ferrets team tryouts.  I might not have met each of you personally, and you might have instead just found one of my many fliers instead, but my name is Bolin, team captain and previous pro-bending champion!  Also, I'm a mover star and the earthbender of the team.  I hope you've all brought your A-game to this event, because only the best of the best can be on the Fire Ferrets, and this year we're going to show all those other teams what we're made of and take back the championship!  I'm not going to go easy on you, and I definitely want to make sure we're taking on the right people.  Some of you will go away disappointed, but two of you will ride with Pabu and I to victory once again!  To each of you, I wish you all the best of luck.  Let's get started!

"So first up today, we have..."

[OOC: Bolin will be pairing up potential candidates into 1v1 or 2v2 matches.  Feel free to find a friend with the opposite element and fight some NPCs, or find a competitor of your element and have a duel with one another?  Or have a more personal "interview" with Bolin... and you can try to get to know Bolin and the rocks that he throws at people better?  Or all of the above!  While you do need to impress Bolin, feel free to have fun and show off your bending to your competitors too.]

Comments

[raavashing]

Wan was here because he had seen Bolin's flyers around and and though he wasn't really interested in holding down a regular job, he was interested in what pro-bending was about and he'd met Bolin a couple times already.

Wan spent most of his time waiting to be called studying the rule book and trying to decide if he should try out at all. He'd been using air most of the time and if anyone showed up that he'd met before that knew he used air, he'd have to refrain from actually trying out. Which was disappointing, but he wasn't about to make it publicly known he could use more than one element.

He'd put his name down anyway. No element listed. Because maybe no one who had seen him airbend would show up and he could enjoy the tryouts. Even if he didn't get on the team.

[[Mostly just standing on the sidelines, will be up for an interview with Bolin or one on one matches using water should no benders he knows show up.]]

[lordhotman]

Imagine Lee's surprise when he comes to tryouts and sees a familiar face among the group. He walks over, wearing the cloak and mask he usually did when he went out. Coming up beside Wan he tries to keep his voice low.

"Wan, what are you doing here?"

He's an Airbender anyway, right? As far as he knew, airbenders weren't in probending.

[raavashing]

Turtle fur.

Thinking fast, Wan put his finger up to his mouth, "Shhh I'm pretending to be a waterbender. They don't have airbenders, but if I use the power of air, I can lift and throw water around almost as good as a waterbender. None of them will know."

Because that made total sense. Complete and total sense.

Wan had no chance if he had to live up to that boast.

[lordhotman]

If Zuko wasn't wearing a mask, he wound see his doubtful expression. Using airbendibg to move water? What?

"I don't think that's going to work."

Even if it did, it would be pretty limiting right?

[lordhotman]

A mysterious person in a cloak and mask showed up at the tryouts. He had seen the fliers and heard about probending. He was tired of laying low and not being able to do anything. So here he was, eager to be a part of something. Even if it meant he still had to hide his identity.

"I'm Lee, a fire bender."

He said this as he came and checked in. Lee had read the rule book and thought he had it down. Now he just had to make it through the tryouts.

[lavamylife]

Bolin is standing opposite this "Lee" character with a notebook in one hand and a pencil in the other. "Lee," he says as he writes down the name in his notebook. "Gotcha. So, have you done any pro-bending before, or are you new to the arena? Go ahead, you can be honest; I'm not ruling anyone out just because they've got a lack of experience."

He suddenly looks up at the firebender from his notebook and tilts his head much like a confused polar bear puppy might. "You're... wearing a mask..."

[lordhotman]

On the other side of his mask he's going Bolin an irritated look.

"Yeah. So?"

He already knows it looks weird. He gets it. But people keep looking at him weird and pointing it out. He's really starting to wonder if this is any better than letting people see his scar.

[lavamylife]

Yikes. Touchy. Bolin winces a bit as the retort hits him, and he backs off. "Hey, it's... it's totally fine. I just didn't know they were the in thing again." Certainly Bolin hadn't seen anyone around Republic City with masks, but maybe it was a very new fad? Maybe Bolin would have to go get a mask of his own.

Nonetheless, he finishes writing down a few opening notes before setting down the pad of paper. "Alright, hopefully you're warmed up. First things first: Let me see some of your firebending at some of those targets?"

[paishodown]

Asami wasn't here to try out. She was on her feet, though, handing out towels and water bottles to the players.

The influx of new people in Republic City brought in some top-notch benders. That much was obvious. She knew more about probending than your average fan, so she may chime in with a comment here and there.

[lavamylife]

This year was much unlike last year. Bolin hadn't actually held tryouts last year. He had literally scrounged up a firebender and a waterbender last minute after hearing Mako and Korra were leaving the team in order to compete. So organizing tryouts for the Fire Ferrets? This is a huge organizational undertaking, and organization is not entirely Bolin's strong suit. And so when Asami arrives with some equipment that Bolin was scrambling to get ready, he is, how you say, more than grateful.

"Asami, I am sooooo thankful that you came here to help!" Bolin says as he runs over to hear, almost out of breath. He is definitely relieved because Asami knows how to take care of all the loose ends, even if Bolin had already told her once that "he'd be perfectly fine," though he certainly said that she could come and watch if she had nothing better to do.

[paishodown]

"I see you're doing fine without me..." There was a hint of teasing in her voice as she set out helmets and pads for the candidates to take.

"Good turnout, though!"

[lavamylife]

Bolin looks a little bashful at that because he knows exactly what she's referring to. "I've been more nervous than anything else; I wasn't sure how many people were going to come, especially since some people literally crumpled up my fliers the moment they passed by." Mako had been right; the Fire Ferrets name wasn't as strong as it had been last year, but at least he still managed to get a good showing. "But yeah, at least a lot of people came to the tryouts! Now all I can hope for is that I can find some good benders in the mix!"

[raavashing]

Oh this was just great. The rich girl who was giving out some supplies the other day had shown up with water bottles and towels and was making friendly talk with Bolin. After Zuko called him out on the airbending/waterbending thing, Wan's mood had soured, now it was just plain stunk. He wasn't going to get to try out at all or enjoy the day. He might as well just leave, right?

Except that he was already there and he really wanted to enjoy and watch (and maybe learn?) the pro-bending style. Which meant if he wanted to stay out of the way, he'd have to go hang out next to Asami.

Reluctantly, he did so. He was still dressed in the same second-hand clothes he'd bought to 'blend in' with the current era that he'd been wearing the day he and Asami had met. It was pretty much the only outfit he owned. Fortunately, he didn't smell. So when he plopped his butt on the floor next to Asami, arms crossed and huffing, he at least wasn't offending her nose. Even if he was likely offending her everything else.

[paishodown]

Lovely. Asami glanced sideways at the man who settled next to him. There weren't very many people she recognized from that first day, but he was one of them. Her initial reaction was to frown, stick out her lower lip in petty annoyance.

But she was also never one to let that linger. Asami mustered up a pleasant (enough) expression and cleared her throat.

"Did you need something? Water?"

[raavashing]

"No," he pouted like a child. Then a moment later lifted one hand up in acceptance while leaning his head on the other, "But I would like some. Please."

[windfire_donuts]

Fortunately for everyone involved, it seems Nezha has taken the hint and has left his spear at home. He's still practically bouncing on the balls of his feet in excitement, however.

"We've met. I am ready to try out."

[yangarang]

Having previously had a conversation with Bolin, Yang is feeling pretty confident there's a good chance she can make the cut. Mostly because she's confident she's good. She eyes the others trying out, cracking her knuckles and stretching her arms behind her back.

"Yang Xiao Long," she announces her name loud enough for everyone to hear. She wants everyone to know here name now and get used to it. Then to Bolin, "but you already knew that."

[lavamylife]

Bolin knew both of the two, having met the both of them while passing out fliers the week before. He was definitely happy that they'd both shown up, though all things considered, he was definitely heavy on the firebenders. Really, it was the waterbenders that were less disposed to probending, even if they could be found. He could only hope to show up.

"Nezha, good to see you. And you too, Yang! Glad you could both make it!" He greets them both with a hearty grin, as if it were the best day to make their acquaintances. He pauses for a moment, looking over his notebook and scrunching his forehead. "You're both firebenders, right? Hmmm... how about I see what the both of you have? One versus one, in a fight to the death!!" He pauses, still grinning before realizing what he said; clearly Bolin has had a few too many life-threatening fights of late. "Well, maybe not exactly death... but make it a good match. Only one of you can make it on the team, after all!"

[windfire_donuts]

Nezha quirked his head with a slight frown, almost as if he were disappointed that it wasn't to the death. A smile quickly replaced it, however, and he turned to his opponent, extending his hand to shake.

"You're name's Yang? Don't hold back, alright?"

THE MASKED WATERBENDER

[raavashing]

At some point Wan had ducked out of the tryouts, giving up on being able to tryout publicly. Partially because of Zuko, partially because of Asami, and partially because he really did want to try his best not to screw things up for Korra by obviously bending more than one element where a lot of humans could see it. So he left. And about a half hour after he left, a waterbender in a mask (not as fashionable as Zuko's) showed up dressed in the exact same oddly similar clothes as Wan had been. Only he was wearing sandals with nice new white socks instead of the basic flats he- *ahem*- Wan had been wearing. They obviously weren't the same person.

So obviously.

He put his hands on his hips and called out in a cocky (but somewhat muffled by the mask) tone, "I'm here to try out for the waterbender spot."

Not that it seemed he had any competition currently, but he did still have to impress Bolin.

"Who wants to face me?"

[lavamylife]

And so far Bolin was having completely bad luck so far when it comes to waterbenders. There were a good number of firebenders, and some pretty good ones, but waterbenders were far and few between, and those that came weren't exactly true pro-bending material. For the good news, the Fire Ferrets were going to be much more competitive last year, but the bad news is that it still depended upon getting a waterbender for the team; elsewise they weren't going to be competing at all.

Yet when someone comes in with a rather cocky attitude, well... it both turns Bolin off while at the same time filling him with hope. "A waterbender?" he says with hope, yet almost instantaneously he sighs rather animatedly. "Another person with a mask? Really, are masks the in thing again in the fashion world?"

[raavashing]

Wan leaned in and lifted his mask just far enough that Bolin could see his face and then whispered to him (and made sure it was an actual whisper), "Psst. Bolin. It's me. Wan. A lot of people have seen me airbend, so I have to hide my face."

And then (after clearing his throat), he replied louder, "I am one of the finest waterbenders I know! I'm sure there won't be much competition with me on the team."

[lavamylife]

Bolin looks skeptical up until that one moment when Wan leans into Bolin's ear and finally tells him his name. Bolin's face goes immediately to shock, eyes wide open and lips slightly parted. So it is Wan—THE Avatar Wan—and he is here to try out for the Fire Ferrets! They are SO made!

"Riiiiiight! Of course! I remember... giving you a flier, huh?" Bolin nudges Wan with his elbow knowingly. Bolin really is pretty bad at keeping secrets. "You're that famous waterbender I know... the great, uh, Rokusawa!" That sounded like a legit name, right? Right? Right?

"Okay, W—Rokusawa, let's see what sort of skills you have!"

SUPER LATE but

[sifukatara]

It was hard to go anywhere in Republic City without SOMEONE talking about pro-bending, and Katara had been immediately taken with the sport. If nothing else she definitely wanted to get a chance to learn more about it, so finding Bolin's flyer for try-out's seemed like the perfect invitation (even if a tiny voice in the back of her mind was pointing out that she knew nothing about the sport- it couldn't be any harder to master than waterbending was).

By now she'd managed to procure some casual water tribe clothes and was doing her best to try to play it low key.

Well- trying out for a championship team was sort of the OPPOSITE of playing it low key, but that's what the alter-ego was for. She'd listed her name as "June" and specified her element honestly, and afterwards began to have a look at the others who had turned up- looking for anyone approachable or familiar.

Once Bolin had a free moment she decided to hazard a little more honesty to see where it took her and what she could learn, so she approached, offered a genuine but slightly nervous smile, and-

"Hi, Bolin? I know this is going to sound a little silly, but the thing is I'm still kind of new to the city and I'm not entirely familiar with the rules of pro-bending yet. Would you mind giving me a 'crash course'?"

[lavamylife]

Despite having actually met Katara before—or really, having met the much older Katara before—and despite that there actually are so many people here who are pretending to be someone else, Bolin will completely be oblivious to the fact this June character is... in fact Katara. He doesn't recognize her at all (even if she were to show up with her hair loopies). It's not like he would expect a young Katara here anyway. Plus there wasn't a statue of her for him to recognize.

He'd caught her name casually when she'd come in. And now that most of the tryouts had been completed with only a few to go, he's a little more free to go into details. Besides, he would want to give everyone a fair chance!

"Ah yes... June, right? No problem!" he says with a great deal of enthusiasm. "I mean, there are a lot of new people to the city, and not everyone has seen a pro-bending match. Do they even have pro-bending outside of Republic City?" After all, she certainly looked Water Tribe by her dress and complexion; she is very Korra-esque. "But it's actually pretty straightforward. Of course, there's quite the set of rules about what you can do, what you can't do. But once you get the basics, then you can worry about the particulars.

"So, let's start with the layout of the arena, hm?"