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

You don't have to go into too much detail, we can handwave the explainations

[truestheart]

"I'm beginning to think nobody has." There's a twinge of disappointment there, but also mixed on is relief. At least if nobody knows where he came from it probably a good sign that some evil being didn't steal him this time for 'insert horrible purpose here.'

"And fire benders are like airbenders but with fire?" Because he's seen plenty of air bending today to get an idea of what this all is. He's just chalking it all up to magic at this point. He's gotten a few explanations about where he was but more might not hurt? "That might help, yeah. I've never read about your world before so..."

o7

[restoredhonour]

"Yes, it is like airbending, only firebenders are capable of generating their own element, instead of bending what already exists around them. Like so--" And he creates a small flame in his hand, holding it there for a moment for Henry to have a look. He closes his hand again and the flame dissipates. "That is firebending, at least in its most basic form. Dragons are firebenders, too." Druk snorts his agreement, and smoke billows from his nostrils to demonstrate. Just in case there was any doubt the dragons here differed too much from the ones in Henry's stories.

Lord Zuko follows that up with a brief explanation of waterbending and earthbending, and their corresponding nations, and about the Avatar's capability to bend all four elements and her role in keeping world balance. He tries to phrase things in as simple terms as possible, even if it's astounding that someone should come from a world that lacks something as basic as bending.

"...And the city you've found yourself in is Republic City, part of the United Republic of Nations. All four nations are welcome to work and thrive here in harmony."

[truestheart]

The fire suddenly in Zuko's hand is not what's shocking when he see's it. He's seen fire formed out of nothing before, but, the fact that people could just conjure it at will here? That's the freaky part. How many evil people roamed around with these powers and hurled them at innocents?

The other than air, the other two elemental bending powers don't earn the same reaction. How bad could those three things be? He continues to listen, completely captivated by the knowledge being given to him.

Bending almost sounded like magic to him, the only difference was the limits to what he assumed bending could go to. Looking back to the dragon he just gives it a pat. Okay, so, maybe the dragons here aren't like the ones in the Enchanted Forest. He can get behind that.

"That's actually pretty cool," his tone sound very impressed. An entire world getting along? It's pretty spectacular. Even the Enchanted Forest wasn't as united.

Though, he turns to the problem at hand. Yeah, he's feeling a bit guilty that he just distracted a leader of a nation from a really big problem "It's probably not a good thing than that the center of all four nations is now trapped in a magical barrier." The question was how to break it?

[restoredhonour]

Lord Zuko doesn't seem to mind his negative reaction to fire being similar to his initial reaction to the dragon. Actions speak louder than words, and hopefully Zuko can prove to him, as he has proved to many others, that fire isn't necessarily evil and dangerous.

"No, it isn't. What I need to find out is how it got here in the first place, and then how it can be removed." But those are problems he won't place on this child, least of all when he's only just arrived here. "Henry, I suppose you arrived here without your parents or guardians? Do you have a place to stay?"

[truestheart]

"Who would want to trap the centre of all four countries? Is there someone you know who could do this?" Because, these are problems Henry is placing on himself. If it was magic they would just need to find some magical way to take it down.

Lord Zuko's questioning does put his mind back on that one tiny detail he keeps going back to himself. Henry frowns for a moment, it's probably enough confirmation that no they weren't here with him. "No, they're not..." the words hurt a little bit, but, reassurance soon replaces that tiny bit of worry. "I know they'll be here soon. My family always has a way of finding each other," it's not hope that's in his voice, it's conviction and one hundred percent belief.

[restoredhonour]

"There are those who might want to." Namely, someone like Zaheer who would fully have a motive for the disappearances of major figures around the city. "But who could have the ability to do so... I doubt it could be anything but an extremely powerful spirit."

The boy's answer about his family does, at least, bring a small smile to Zuko's face. It's obvious he means what he says, that he clearly has a strong bond with them. That belief should at least sustain him, even while he's trapped somewhere entirely unknown. "Until then, what will you do? I can see to it that you are given somewhere to live, and that your needs are taken care of."

[truestheart]

"If you know where they are we should go talk to them." Because bringing a child to a dangerous criminal would totally be a good course of action at this moment. "You think so?" He's never really dealt with spirits so he's honestly curious. The villains of the Enchanted Forest, of Neverland, were all capable of something to this degree, but hopefully, maybe there weren't people like Pan or Zelena with that kind of power lurking about.

Lord Zuko did raises a good point to him. He never even though of living accommodations since this was literally the first time he's ever been homeless. Thankfully, the old man solved that issue rather quickly. "You wouldn't mind? At least, until my family gets here?"

[restoredhonour]

"Unfortunately, that's out of the question while this barrier is in place. And just because they have a motive doesn't mean they'd possess the power to do so." Not even Zaheer, for all his spiritual enlightenment, could do anything like this, and probably wouldn't want to. He believed in freedom above all, even if his notion of freedom was taken to the utmost extreme.

"Oh no, of course I wouldn't mind. It would be wrong to leave you to fend for yourself in a place you're not familiar with." Finding someone willing to be the guardian of a boy claiming to be from another world might prove... difficult, but he's sure some arrangement can be made. Republic City is a very large place, after all.

[truestheart]

Then the first thing they needed to do was take this barrier down if they wanted to find answers. "Maybe we should ask that avatar person to help with this than. Someone else mentioned her and if she's that powerful she might be able to break it." After all, that's what saviours/heroes do. They break evil spells and barriers.

It puts a smile to his face when Zuko does say that they would make sure he wouldn't be left on his own. Since handshakes seem to be the obvious foreign thing in this world, Henry tries to mimic the bow gesture Lord Zuko gave earlier. Too bad, his he's clutching both hands together. "Thanks, Lord Zuko and I'll try and do what I can to help figure out how to take this barrier down."

[restoredhonour]

"If the Avatar is in any position to help, I'm sure she will," he replies. But given how badly she had been injured... he's not so sure it will be that easy. They might have to find a solution without the Avatar, this time.

"You are welcome," he says, returning the bow. He doesn't point out that he got it a little wrong; he's sure he'll pick it up eventually. "It's kind of you to worry about our world's problems, even though you have plenty of concerns of your own. If I can help you in return to find a way to return home and solve this entire mess, I certainly will."