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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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!"

Bumi's expression downshifts from amused to bittersweet and wistful.

"You promise?" It's been far too long since Bumi's seen his favorite uncle.
(no offense, Zuko.)

He chuckles again, this time much more quietly, and shakes his head. Bumi then turns his attention to BumJu.

"So, how long does this last? When do I wake up? Or...when does he turn into Korra?"

"Sure, it's promise! I just have to figure out where he went to!" But an eyebrow gets quirked at his questions, and he looks between Bumju and Bumi a few times. "Ummm what are you you talking about? Are you... sleepwalking?"

"I might be, it's one of the possibilities I've been working with."

"Sooo how many possibilities are you thinking of?"

"Well...there's the one where you're going to turn into Korra at any moment," he says counting them off on his fingers as he goes.

"Two is that I died when I fell out of that tree back there, which would totally explain the airbending if nothing else.

Three is that I died sometime last night in my sleep, which would make the whole fall kind of moot since it wouldn't have happened anyway.

Four is that the Spirit World has finally gone pear-shaped and risen above the illusion that time exists at all, and has for reasons beyond my ken merged people from past, present, and future.

And now five is that I'm sleepwalking."

His brow furrows as he reconsiders his options, silently counting back on his fingers to see if he's missed any.

"But - but I don't want you to die!" He exclaims with wide eyes.

"...Wait, what was that about the spirit world?" It sounds familiar.

"I'm not exactly all that fond of the notion either, if I'm being honest. But...we can't rule out possibilities just because we might not like them. We've got to be scientific about this." For emphasis he smacks a fist against and open palm.

"And well...I've more experience with death than I do Spirits or Harmonic Convergence. That was always more Kya and Tenzin's thing."

"Oh! They're the babies, right?" He chimes excitedly, remembering seeing the cutest-looking little girl of all time on that portrait. "Maybe we should ask them! But for what it's worth... I do remember something weird and spirt-y happening before I found myself in this city!"

"That's who I was running to see, because...wait, you do? What was happening?"

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