Welcome to Republic City!

[cyclicalitymods]

It was a bright and sunny normal day in Republic City. Children were playing, spirits were chirping about, and everything was going along like normal. Well at least that's what everyone seemed to think. That is until so many people seemed to be appearing out of nowhere. For some reason Republic City seemed to be more lively and the crowds bigger.

The spirits have grown restless as if something important was about to change, and to try to fix that change, the spirits with their big long tree like limbs dragged people into the world left and right. Even the vines covering Republic City seemed to help. Although the spirits had the best intentions in mind, some people were more affected by the grab than others. There's talk that people in this city don't even know what this place is. People who have never heard of the words "bender" or "non-bender."

Welcome to Republic City! And to those who already live here: Happy Saturday. Please make yourselves at home and don't mind a little spirit gunk. It's mostly harmless. Go enjoy yourself a classic mover. Maybe you're the athletic type. If that's the case, come watch a few Pro-bending matches or form your own team. Just watch out for any Satomobiles. They can be deadly no matter how pretty the driver is.

Please remember to enjoy your stay and don't cause too much trouble. The Republic City Police don't need more riffraff to take care of. And don't stray too far. To make the the peace is kept, there's a huge spirit barrier around the perimeter of the city. It seems pretty strong, but it won't be able to last forever. Still, it's worrying. Radio signals and telegraphs don't seem to be getting past it.

[ OOC: The game is officially open! From this point on, feel free to make any posts you want or tag into this. Please remember to tag your posts with Canon: Character. Finally, although the game has no real network, you're free to respond with prose or brackets, whatever you're comfortable with. With that said, have fun! ]

Comments

[fallensun]

"As secretive as ever, L-- ...Squinty." He was nothing if not considerate. Actually, not resorting to some sort of insulting nickname was more respect than he showed most non-benders (and most benders too, let's be honest), but if he wasn't supposed to use real names, he was more than happy to oblige.

As for the ring, he'd chosen it very carefully. It was easily concealable (not that he bothered, but Lau would want to), but immediately recognizable for what it was. The message it sent was also clear, but most importantly it was something he figured Lau would want, thought that expression of his hinted there was more going on there than Judar knew. Which was good, because it meant it would give him something to weasel out of him while checking out his sweet airship.

"Can we find someone to eavesdrop? I want to toss them out."

[lordhotman]

Well she's doing a pretty good job of it so far, and Zuko could use a friend in this strange place too. They both probably could, actually. But wait... at his command?

"Uh... I didn't mean it like that."

He probably had sounded a bit... authoritative? After all, as Fire Lord, he's used to ordering people around, but he didn't want her to think that he was doing that to her! Apparently her playfulness had been kinda lost on him.

[truestheart]

"Fire nation?" The quizzical tone would be enough to show that this kingdom name was totally foreign to him. He knew of many different worlds names but this one was brand new. The word Lord however is not and it's enough for Henry to realize he was probably speaking with someone with a very high standing. His face reddens because, oops, he was probably being rude to royalty before even though he was technically royal. Regardless, he's quick to give his own little bow of the head back.

"Yeah, of course. My Name's Henry and I'm from Storybrooke, Maine. But, there's no real dragons there, unless you count the one my mom beat under the town, but there's no real dragons there."

Sorry, is he babbling? He feels like he's babbling now.

[fallensun]

So shouldn't you be helping them?

[He'll follow her over for a better look, but he's still not really interested in helping. He just chews on his food and watches the people across the street scramble around. Hasn't anyone called the fire department? They have one of those in Republic City, right? He's been in Ba Sing Se for so long he doesn't really remember, not that he bothered to know in the first place.]

[creepycyclops]

Slade pauses. To be honest, he wasn't entirely sure why he did it, though upon reflection he supposes that Prince Zuko - at least, the one he'd read about - was one of the few figures of history he really respected or related to.

"If my hunch is right, you are simply a younger version of our Firelord Zuko. It would have been a waste to let you meet your end that way."

[gainedacoupon]

She gave him a confused look at first and then burst into a fit of giggles. She forgot how serious he took things. He must have thought she was being serious. She shook her head and smiled.

"I was only teasing you, Lee. I knew you weren't trying to be all," She paused for a second only to try and make her voice sound deeper and continued on, "Jin do this Jin do that."

I think the keywords work here

[truestheart]

[He's not sure if this is part of the trick or if the other boy is just kind of teasing him. He stares down at the marble for just a moment, wondering what's about to happen. Then the marble just spins and blossoms out into a sphere of air and he's sitting on top of it. There's a yell of laughter as he just...kind of spins around above it while sitting atop the sphere. He-he can't really get how to make himself stay steady atop like Aang does but it's still amusing rotating mid air.]

W-Whoooa! This is amaaaaaziiii-i-i-i-iiing!

[savedtheworld]

Really? What a coincidence. I met a very nice hero, so I'm having fun, too.

[gainedacoupon]

I am with yoooour help!

[ She will be shoving a bucket of water at him when they get closer to the fire. She may not know much about this city, but she knows walking away when citizens were in trouble was not an okay thing to do. ]

[savedtheworld]

[Aang laughs some more.]

It really is, isn't it? If you try hard enough, you can get yourself balanced on it!

Just Zuko (younger) first, then open as she gets her bearings!

[dustonmyfeet]

The smell hit first.

And then the sound.

The smell was bad enough -- trash fermenting in what was left of the sun, something that was probably animal urine -- but the sound was worse. Satomobiles shrieking through the streets, people shouting, her seismic sense screaming in every direction as it captured every footfall, every hum of machinery, every bug crawling through the walls. It hit her in a sudden surge, flooded through her senses until suddenly, sharply . . . she emptied the contents of her stomach on some nearby shoes.

There was silence for a long moment. The owner of the shoes stared down at them. He was well-known in the area, one of the members of a bending triad who'd just come upon the girl, stopping to investigate the intruder in his group's domain.

For her turn, Toph wiped her mouth, forcing the flood back, yanking it under control. "Where are they?" The words came out sharp, hard; it had taken only the bare instant for Toph to realize that wherever she was, the others weren't around her. They'd fallen asleep on Ember Island, the last night before setting themselves on Ozai. There were only so many logical explanations. Obviously this was some kind of Fire Nation patrol; they'd been found after all, and she only had so much time. "You'd better talk fast."

She was crazy. The kid was crazy. And she'd thrown up on his shoes to boot -- this little upstart whose eyes didn't look right, who was facing him down like she was somebody. The triad member's eyes narrowed; he reached out to swipe . . .

And found himself with a pillar of earth spearing into his gut, knocking him hard into the opposite wall.

[truestheart]

Okaay, okay! Let me just-!

[And he tries to copy the exact same position Aang's doing. Just cross his legs and...oops.

His foot slips and the whirling on the top goes much faster and WOOSH. He's flies off and lands right into a bush nearby.

That had to look like it hurt.]

[lordhotman]

By now Zuko had somewhat gotten his bearings. He didn't really have any answers yet, but he'd managed to figure out the city somewhat. He'd met some people. Some he knew and some he didn't, and he's come to the conclusion that this place is just crazy.

At the moment the young Fire Lord who wasn't, was walking through the streets. He'd managed to find himself a cloak, and had put on that metal mask that that one weird guy had given him. Trying to conceal his identity as best he could from prying eyes.

He was heading back to where he and his Uncle were staying when he heard a shout from an alleyway. Immediately Zuko paused, turning his attention in that direction. That voice sounded very, very familiar.

The triad member gasped and heaved as he slid down the wall, the wind knocked out of him. He staggered back to his feet, eyes filled with rage as he called the little girl several expletives. He proved to be a Firebender as suddenly he was summoning fire in both fists. She was going to pay for that.

At that moment, Toph would probably recognize a set of running footsteps behind her. Though there is something just a little different about them. The owner of the feet is a little older, and just a little taller. Zuko came running in, leaping over Toph's head much to the thug's surprise and lashed out with a flaming kick.

[raavashing]

I'm sure the people here wouldn't mind sharing their fire with you. But, if you want a roof, there are plenty of abandoned buildings in the Spirit Wilds. I'm camping in one of them right now. It's cozy.

[bookbends]

Right, the statue. [ She can't help but feel glad that she was correct in thinking airbenders might have been drawn to it, even if they apparently didn't know who Aang was. She says a silent thank you to her grandad for his helpful statue before nodding at the question. ]

That's right. Actually, they're my family, too. My dad is the serious baby right there. [ And she gives a small laugh as she points him out. ] I guess you probably don't know, but this whole island is for...

[ And then she starts to trail off a little, because she's finally turned to look at the boy next to her. ]

...Avatar Aang. [ His name is said differently; her voice is full of surprise and disbelief, but also an already bubbling excitement. Although she steals another quick look at the picture before turning her gaze back to him, she doesn't need to; she's seen this picture and so many others so many times that there's no mistaking it. ]

You're here. I-I can't believe it. [ She makes a motion forward as if to grab him, maybe to make sure he's real or maybe in a hug, but nervously seems to think better of it. ]

[dealing_dreams]

"Mm, well, I question why any authority at all is granted on the basis of one's bending abilities..." Lau's voice lilts playfully. "But then again, I speak from the lowly perspective of a spiritually unenlightened non-bender!"

"It seems to me, though," he continues as he walks in stop with Slade, "that any any authority which is not earned but rather bestowed by the heavens can be taken away just as easily."

[dealing_dreams]

"Oh, with airbenders popping up all over lately, it shouldn't take us too long to find someone who wants to attempt to unlock the ancient and mystic airbender art of flight," Lau agreed brightly as he lead the way towards the nearest airship docking station. "I've been rather successful lately, and success tends to attract imitators and spies. Although this new spirit barrier around the city could affect my deliveries... I expect it has something to do with the Avatar." He let out a dramatic sigh. "These sorts of disturbances almost always do."

Belatedly, Lau found himself stroking the late Queen's ring, and he quickly furled his long sleeves over his hands. It was strange... Hou-Ting's death should have brought peace, or at least closure, to his mind, yet he was still unsatisfied.

"But yes, as I was saying, lately I've had a bit of a rat problem. I could use the services of a good cat."

[lordhotman]

Zuko stares for a moment, not really sure what to make of that. What IS he supposed to make of that? Suddenly he appears in the middle of a bunch of screaming machines, gets pulled into an alley by some weird metalbending freak, and is told that he's a younger version of himself? This is UNBELIEVABLE. And he does have trouble believing it. It's written all over his face.

"So you're saying I'm in the future? That's impossible!"

Really, this guy has to be pulling his leg right? But he has this feeling that he's not. He doesn't look like the kind of man that would joke. Lie maybe, but not fool around. He then pauses and picks up the mask with a frown, not really knowing if he should believe this guy or not. But he did just save him. No matter what his reasons might be, it's still true.

"Thanks, I guess."

But that still doesn't mean he trusts him.

[dustonmyfeet]

Okay, that was . . . unexpected. Seismic sense registers the footsteps, the leap . . . and the thug's yelp as he's forced to yank back from the blow, completely throwing him off balance and sending him topping into a nearby trashcan. Toph allows herself the briefest moment to blink before slamming her heel down into the earth. The thug is flung high, high into the air . . . before landing in yet another trashbin, sending leftover rotten cabbage flying in all directions.

"What happened to the others?" Zuko's footsteps were absolutely familiar, mapped out and defined as a fingerprint in her mind. The words remain direct, sharp; if there's something going on, that has to be dealt with first. "Where are we?"

Pause. ". . . And did you get fat or something?"

Some details were important.

[paishodown]

"Sounds like more Spirit business, than anything. This isn't the first time we've had weird, irreversible things happen since the portals were reopened." Suddenly, airbenders and spirit vines invading large quantities of the city. Go figure.

[fallensun]

[He frowns down at the bucket. How did he get himself roped into this again? He's holding a bucket intended to douse a fire in some crappy little store in Republic City while wearing jewelry he stole of the still-warm corpse of the queen of the Earth Kingdom. There's a certain irony about that and it's not the kind he likes.]

Who said I wanted to help?

[He tosses the water at the building, not that it does a whole lot of good. Probably, being a firebender, there was probably more that he could be doing, but he was an agent of the Red Lotus, not a member of the fire brigade.]

[prettyinhandcuffs]

Eying the taller woman, Duo frowned. He didn't like the sound of that 'irreversible' bit. "Spirits? Huh, don't have those where I'm from, not real ones. They part of the local religion or something?"

[airyopalescent]

[Boy he looks surprised.]

I did. So you better be nice to me or I'll tell my Aunt Lin.

[A beat, then she laughs a little.]

Actually that wouldn't really work... but we are related.

[yangarang]

Well, if you're sure... [ It was just flyers and even though she was otherwise using her free time, it felt like too simple of a thing to be taking this woman's money for. At the same time, she wasn't really in a place to turn down easy money.

Yang graciously takes the stack provided to her her. ] I can't drive yet, but I'm hoping to soon. I'd almost kill for a moped-- Only, you know, without actually killing. [ Because she wasn't that kind of lady. ]

[fallensun]

"With that barrier up, there should be all sorts of interesting rats. That could keep a cat busy for a long time. Provided they get enough food."

That last bit was non-negotiable. That was the biggest cost when it came to keeping this particular cat. Judar's appetite could be monstrous at times and it didn't really matter to him whether his funds could support that or not. He'd already bankrupted a few unsuspecting tourists by ingratiating himself into their party as long as there was food on the table and making a quick exit once it was gone. It was so much easier when he was growing up and people just gave him whatever he wanted whenever he asked for it...