cyclicality | Welcome to Republic City!

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Welcome to Republic City!

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! ]

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"That's a cute name!" He tries to give a friendly poke at the spirit. "Nice to meet you, Bumju!"

And he looks up at the bearded man. "But what about you?"

Bumi just looks down at the boy, a bemused smile on his face.

"I'm Bumi. And he's Bumi Junior, or BumJu for short. And I think that's my coat." He gestures to the oversized-for-Aang United Forces uniform coat that he's carrying.

Aang presents the coat to him with an almost automatic movement, as he's now mostly staring at Bumi in bewilderment.

"Bumi?! But... but... How'd you get so young?" And oddly Water Tribe-looking...

In confusion he silently mouths How did I get so... until he finally gets what Aang is asking. What follows is a loud peal of laughter.

"No, no. Don't let the hair fool you, I'm not King Bumi of Omashu, though I am named after him." He slides into his coat and then runs his hands through his hair for emphasis.

"I thought you looked different from that Bumi!" he says as if he had discovered this vital clue. "It's nice to meet you, New Bumi! Your parents sure must've been fans of him."

"I guess you could say that. He was my father's oldest friend, and I mean that literally. He'd died not a few years before I was born. Been doing my level best to live up to the man's legacy ever since."

For a moment, he idly wonders who this man's father could be, but that train of thought is derailed by another part of the sentence. "Bumi's... gone?" He says with a silent gasp. He knew he was far in the future now... but Bumi had seemed timeliness. Aang focuses his attention on the ground, sniffling slightly. "I... I'm sorry to hear that. But... I'm sure you're doing a good job with his legacy."

Bumi knew that posture all too well, he'd seen it too many times to count, though if pressed he could probably come up with a number anyway. He made it a point to visit the families of those who fell in the line of duty under his command. It was the very least he could do.

"It was his time," he says quietly as a formality that wasn't there before slips into his voice. "I'm sorry for your loss, Aang."

"Thank you." He spares a light smile as he glances up towards Bumi's eyes, while blinking back tears in his own. "Ih- it's okay. It must have been his time. He lived a really, really long life... and it must have been full. I guess I... I'm lucky he was still around after I got out of the iceberg. And... your dad must have been a great friend for him, too."

Bumi offers a small smile and nod in return. It warms Bumi's heart to see his father as a child be as free with his emotions as he was when he was much older. People used to joke about his mother's penchant for 'tear-bending' but it was usually his father who misted up first.

He's not sure what to do next, and so Bumi looks to BumJu for advice. The little dragonfly rabbit spirit nods his head once, as if he knows Bumi is looking for permission to keep going.

It's then that Bumi starts to shift his hypothesis. Maybe he isn't dead. Maybe BumJu is leading him on a spirit quest. Maybe now instead of seeing cannibals everywhere, Bumi is getting a similar conversation with his father that Tenzin had in the mists.

"They were really close for a while, and then there was a long stretch when they didn't talk, but they picked up right where they left off when they did see each other again. And Dad was even really extra forgiving when Bumi trapped his friends in creeping crystal as a joke.

It was a weird relationship."

He's certainly a tearbender in his own right. But as he listens to Bumi's story, he ends up exclaiming eagerly.

"Wait, did you say creeping crystal? That's what he did to my friends, too! I wonder how often he did that joke!" Despite the arrow pointing down on his head, some things tended to instead go directly over it.

Bumi just blinks, and in that moment sees so much of his little brother before him that it's all he can do to not smile.

"Well, the way Mom tells it...a Lot. It's just no one ever fell for it again after that one time."

"Wait, just one time? But then... what about the time Katara and Sokka got stuck... in... it...?"

His eyes slowly widen as a possibility starts to unfold.

"Yoooouuuuu wouldn't happen to be related to any Avatars, would you?"

Watching Aang catch up was like watching a house catch on fire; slowly at first and then all at once. All the while Bumi's grin merely widens.

"Only on my father's side," he says as matter of factly as he can manage. Then he looks up and to the right. "Well, I guess in a way I'm also related to Korra. Water Tribe being one big family, after all..."

His eyes certainly are catching on fire, as he remembers the family picture that Bumi showed him. He stumbles back several steps while pointing at him.

"You... you... you're a baby!" He shakes his head as his visualizes it more accurately, reading into Bumi's face. "No, you're the smiling kid! You're..."

And then he manages to take a step closer, breathing shallowly as he looks that bearded man in the eyes. "...m-my... son?"

"Only when I don't get my way." His smile morphs into one much like the one he has in the family photo on Memorial Island. It's unclear if this is in reference to "the baby" comment, "the smiling kid", or the "my son."

Bumi nods once.
BumJu is THRILLED by this turn of events, and trills loudly with apparently glee.

He can see it now clearly. And he looks on speechlessly. This funny old guy... he's family.

Aang manages to find words only by looking towards Bumju. With a light scolding tone, he went, "Bumju! How long did you know?"

But then he faces Bumi again, and uncertain of what more to say, he scurries forward to try to hug him.

If the amount of preening to his ears/wings is any indication, BumJu knew for a very long time indeed.

Spirits can be so smug sometimes.

Bumi sinks down to one knee as Aang rushes forward to hug him. The man has a black-belt in hugs, but only because he learned from the best: his father.

It's only after he's gathered Aang up in a hug that he brokenly whispers, "It's good to see you, Dad."

It was scary, seeing proof that his time on this world was limited. Even moreso, living in a time where he was only known as a long-dead hero.

It felt better to be known as a father. He might not have met his son before, but hugging Bumi helped him feel so alive. It's a powerful grip, so Aang tussles with his own mastery of hugbending.

"It's good to see you, too," he murmurs softly, likely feeling a light tickle from the beard. "Bumi."

Bumi can't help but laugh, but there's some part of that laugh that sounds a bit more like a sob than anything else.

"You know, I remember you being taller..."

He remembers seeing a tall monk in that picture. And it's odd to imagine himself being that much taller than Katara. He won't rule out the possibility that he ends up wearing stilts in the future.

Aang gives a soft laugh. "Maybe the beard adds a few extra inches." And then with a few more squeezes, he'll pull back.

He chuckles heartily at that. When Aang pulls away the tracks of a few tears line Bumi's cheeks, but he doesn't wipe them away. After all, crying was never something to be ashamed of, not in the house he was raised in.

"Oh yes, clearly. I'm actually several feet shorter than I appear," he says stroking his own beard.

There might be a little bit on Aang's face as well. He looks at Bumi - so bearded and boisterious and full of life. Life that Aang himself will be responsible for bestowing on him. It's weird in a lot of ways, but it feels so good, too.

Aang laughs and strokes at his own chin. "Really? Now everything's starting to make sense. We... we made some really science-y progress already!"

"Wouldn't Sokka be proud of us?" he says wiping his eyes with the back of one hand as shoulders continue to shake from another round of laughter.

The mention of Science! will forever remind Bumi of his Uncle.

"Yeah, I'm sure he will be!" Science always reminds Aang of Sokka, too... but let's be real, that's probably because Aang never even heard of the concept of science until he met Sokka. "I'll make sure to tell him that when I see him again!"

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