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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It's distracting from their mission to actually be inside now. To see those halls that tug at that sad feeling of nostalgia inside. It's not home - not the one he remembers. But it's distinctly familiar.

But once the time comes for knocking at the door, Aang manages to be in a mischievous mode. He hands back and places his hands over his mouth to stifle some belly giggles.

Once the door is slid open, Aang hops out into the doorway! And he's making a pose that oddly resembles jazzhands. But... there's no one there.

Bumi just stands there, stock still a few feet inside the doorway.
This...this isn't right. It's not right at all.

"He should be here. He's always here this time of day. This..."

His furry brows furrow in a confusion that borders frustration.

"Maybe...maybe he's helping Pema in the kitchen."
Without any more notice than that, Bumi pivots on a dime and begins to double-time it towards the large communal kitchen.

Aang's smile fades in favor of a frown. He can't help but feel something's up. He nods as Bumi pivots and then scrambles to pursue him.

"Who's Pema?" He calls out while they're on the move.

"Tenzin's Wife," Bumi calls over his shoulder without breaking stride. He rounds a corner, then another corner, down a hall and through a set of doors to...an equally empty kitchen.

"What in the flameo is going on around here?!"Q

His wife... so that would be Jinora's mom. He hurries his pace and skids to a halt when Bumi stops. Then he looks around.

"Flameo is right! Um... What if they went out to eat?"

"Out to eat," he says with a dry laugh. "You clearly haven't met Meelo yet. No something is wrong. They were all...here when I last saw them. All of them, even Kya."

He snaps his fingers. Kya! She'll know what's going on. He turns towards the door, and yells as loudly as he can for his sister. Only...this time it's a bit more loudly than usual. Bumi hasn't quite realized the potential of his airbending yet.

Or how to control it.

"KYA!"

Whoa. That is some shout. Even Aang ends up covering his eras as a result.

"H-hey. Calm down. Everything's gotta be okay. ...Right?" He is starting to get a little worried. Aang had heard about Tenzin getting kidnapped when he met Korra, but then they found out he had been saved. It's still enough to give him some concern.

Bumi waits by the door for the return bellow from Kya...that doesn't come.

"I don't like this. Something's wrong," he mutters to himself, before turning towards Aang and trying his best at putting on a brave face.

"I'm sure it's fine. It's totally fine that everyone appears to be gone when they were just here a second ago."

Aang is only getting more worried from that, but he wants to put on a brave face too. And he smiles sheepishly as he goes on.

"Y-yeah. Maybe it is fine. Is... is it your birthday? Maybe they're hiding for a- a surprise party!"

Bumi scratches at his beard in a very Sokka'esque manner.

"No, but...that would make it an extra surprise," he attempts to reason.

"The surprisiest...." he mutters, and he is reminded of Sokka enough to wonder if that cool beard is real. "If it was, then where would they hide?"

Bumi blinks.
Thaaaaat was a good question.

"The highest shelf in the library."

And with that Bumi's off again, this time towards the library.
Volume upon volume of Air Nomad history, law, and philosophy line the floor to ceiling book cases. Well...most of the bookcases. There's one small nook up towards the ceiling of one case that's less full than the others.

"The library?" Aang pops up an air scooter this time as he pursues Bumi! And once he enters it, for a moment his worries are sidetracked as he takes in the sheer volume of literature. "Whoa... so many books! A-are they all about... the air nomads?"

Bumi, for his part, is hyper-focused on climbing up to the topmost hiding spot on the room.

"Most of them, though...Jinora's got a bunch of romance novels stashed away up here..."

"There are novels about romance?" But seeing Bumi climbing like a hog monkey helps him to return his mind to his mission. The missing family. Aang makes some airbending hops along the shelves to try to reach the shelf first.

Aang's earlier arrival allows him a little more time to get a good look at the lemur's nest of a book nook. It's a well loved, and long used private space high above the floor of the library. And as mentioned...there are polarbear dog-eared romance novels lining one wall.

"All novels are about romance in one way or another...aren't they all?" he reasons between huffs as he climbs.

"Really? That's neat! I never read much to begin with, so I'll take your word for it." But he frowns as he looks into the nook and then calls back towards Bumi. "I don't see anyone. Do you need help getting up?"

Bumi's maybe three quarters of the way to the top when he hears Aang's confirmation...and stops climbing. The sensation of dread that washes over him is just so heavy, that it threatens to pull him back down to the floor.

"...no."

"Bumi?" He asks sadly as he looks right down to him. He's expecting some kind of assurance or back-up plan, but nothing's coming out.

Where could they be.

He allows himself to feel it all; the indecision, the crushing doubt, the dread, and the grief of having lost his family...somewhere. Each of these realizations knocks more and more wind from his sails, until finally there's jut him clinging to the bookshelves doing the only thing left for him to do: He breathes.

With each breath he comes back to himself, and finds that he's one step closer to center.
Somewhere...wherever his brother is, he's sure Tenzin is gloating.
The jerk.

Bumi laughs a dry laugh and continues his climb to the top of the bookshelf, where Aang is. With a huff he's clambering over the top, landing in a bit of a heap across from the boy who will someday be his father.

"I'm okay," he says reassuringly, though if it's for his benefit or Aang's is not entirely clear.

Aang watches cautiously as his son climbs and deposits himself nearby. And then he leans over in concern. Things are getting weird, and scary, and he can't hope but wish he could be that older version of himself. That he was wiser, stronger - whatever he needed to be to solve this problem. To be the Aang whom this man, this son, needed.

"I- I'm sorry." He breathes slowly as he looks over Bumi. "I don't understand what's happening at all."

Bumi casts his attention out the expanse of the library below them, and allows himself one quiet, mirthless laugh.

"Me too. On both accounts, really."

He runs a hand through his wild hair and sighs before turning back to face Aang.
Aang the entirely improbable, and yet here.

"You'd have really gotten a kick out of all of them." He smiles, but there's a heavy contrast there with the sadness so evident in his eyes.

It is such a huge and grand library. But without all those people he's heard about, it just seems so empty. So he looks towards his son instead, while he dangles his legs over the edge and makes some light kicks.

"I... I know I would have. From what I heard. And from just meeting you and Jinora..." He blinks for a moment, getting vaguely more hopeful as he thinks this through. "I did see Jinora earlier, s-so she's gotta be out there somewhere. She didn't seem to know what was going on, but... at least not everyone's missing. Maybe they're just on some kind of spirit trip!"

He blinks a few times before the name sinks in and finds purchase in his mind.
Jinora.

"Jinora!" he exclaims when finally comes to the exact same conclusion.
Jinora is here and not also missing!

"She'll be home by curfew. She always is. Spirit trip?" he laughs again. "Not likely, though...oh I hope they're not all looking for me. I'll never hear the end of it."

"Whatever it is, I'm sure we'll find out." He is sad not to see them. But at least he has a feeling that whatever's happened to them, they're not in danger. It might just be a matter of waiting. So he flashes Bumi a light smile. "We just gotta have a faith. And wait for Jinora's curfew!" She didn't seem to know what was going on either, but maybe she found some answers since they parted.

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