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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She gave his hand a curious look and instead gave him a small bow with a big smile on her face. She felt a little bad she couldn't be much help, but he seemed really nice about it.

" My name's Jin. It's really nice to meet you, Lloyd, and it's no problem at all. I'm kind of new here too, but I want to help as much as I can."

Not expecting the bow, Lloyd stares for a moment, startled, his hand still hanging in the air. After a moment, though, he drops it, and offers a slightly clumsy bow back, following her cue. Huh, maybe she's from someplace like Mizuho.

"It's nice to meet you, too, Jin." He straightens back up, smiling again. "But if you're new, does that mean you need help, too?" She seems about as new as him. Could she have been pulled her like he was?

"I wouldn't say I needed help quite yet, but I'll probably need some later. Right now I'm kind of exploring this big ol' city. It's really amazing," she cheerfully replied back.

She had a little bit of an adventurer inside and what better way to learn about the place you randomly showed up in than to see it first hand, right?

"That's the best way to get information right? First hand?"

It's Jin's description of the city as amazing that gets Lloyd to look around with new eyes. The vines are alarming and hard to ignore, yes, but they mostly seem to be inactive, content to just act like, well, vines. Beneath them, around them, and in the places where they just aren't there...

It's a bustling city with people and animals he's never seen, soaring buildings and startling machines. He blinks, really seeing them now. "Yeah. Yeah, it is pretty amazing. I don't even know what half the things I'm seeing are." Which actually, now that he thinks about it, sounds kind of exciting. Even as he says that, a Satomobile roars past, maybe as fast as a rheaird. And now that he's looking, he can see someone inside it.

Lloyd perks up as possibilities suddenly bloom. "Hey, what if we rode on one of those things? We could get around really fast!"

"Do you think we could? They seem kind of scary and they yell really loudly when you walk in front of them," she says while glancing at the Satomobiles going by. She should really try to get used to them though.

"So don't walk in front of them." That seems simple enough. "And there's other people riding them, so I don't see why not. Just wait right here and I'll see if I can get one to slow down." And as fast as that thought formed, he's already acting, gathering his mana to boost himself as he jumps, planning to land on a Satomobile's roof.

Only the mana doesn't come. When he jumps, he only goes a couple feet up, not six or eight, so instead of landing on the Satomobile's roof, he almost jumps into it - face first. The vehicle blares its horn and jerks as the driver tries to swerve to avoid him. Sheesh, what kind of idiot jumps into the street?!

After that, Lloyd has to scramble to avoid being run over by the next one. The startled, alarmed look on his face speaks volumes. "Wh-what the h- What happened?"

Jin let out a scream when he was almost hit and quickly ran to his side to check if he was hurt or anything.

" You were almost flattened, that's what! What in Ba Sing Se were you thinking, Lloyd?"

He's not hurt, thankfully, but he is pretty shaken up. "I- I don't understand. I should have been able to jump that!" His eyes dart to the back of his left hand - a gloved hand with a small gem and a metal plate poking through a hole - but the Exsphere is still clearly there. He didn't lose it. So what happened to all his energy?

Did whatever brought me here drain me that much? He lets out a shaky breath. That would make sense, even if he doesn't feel like he's that drained.

Meeting Jin's eyes, though, he sees how worried she is. "I... I'm okay." He tries to sound reassuring, though he's not sure if he succeeds. "I just- I guess I'm more tired than I thought."

She frowned and gently grabbed onto his arm, as if to make sure he stays upright. He really seemed out of breath and shaken which she couldn't blame him. She herself almost got ran over a lot during her exploring today.

" Maybe we should find someplace quieter for you to sit down."

Another exhaled breath, and he's not shaking quite so much. He doesn't feel tired, but clearly he can't trust that to mean that he can try to jump on a Satomobile again. Maybe Jin is right. Maybe he should sit for a while.

But the idea of just sitting when there's so much to see, when there's still the mystery of his appearance here, and the vines, and everything to sort out - he's not sure he can stand to sit still with all of that on his mind.

So, a compromise. "How about if we just walk? There's still plenty we could see on our own two feet."

She let out a soft hmm to his reply. Well, he did seem to be calming down just a tiny bit, and fresh air helps a lot more than sitting still at least in her opinion. Okay she'll cave in, but only because he seemed better.

"Okay, Deal! "

Granted, the air in Republic City might not be as fresh as, say, the countryside, but the odd smells are already starting to become part of the background, ignored in Lloyd's mind in favor of more important things. Just the fact that they'll be moving, actively doing something, will be as good as fresh air right now.

Sticking to the sides of the road now (no use tempting fate again), Lloyd tries not to think too hard about what just happened and focus on taking in the sights. If it's still a problem in a few hours, then he'll start to worry. For now...

"Whoa, that statue's huge! I wonder who that is." Someone bald and bearded and important enough to have a statue you can see from this far away.

She turned her head to look at what he was talking about. Woah! That was a really huge statue.

"Hey lets go check it out!"

She'd been seeing big things like that all over the place, but this statue seems to be the biggest!

"Sure!" Hey, it's not like they have any reason not to! Besides, it's providing an easy distraction from the things Lloyd's trying not to worry about right now.

And who knows? Maybe along the way he'll see something that might give him some answers.

He starts forward, excitement quickening his steps. He's aiming for a side street that looks like it's a more direct path. "Come on, this looks like a shortcut!"

She happily follows behind him, trying to keep up with his quick pace. He had to be feeling a little better if he could move this quickly, right? And that thought made her feel a little better too.

" I wonder how big it is."

It's actually not so much that Lloyd's feeling better, since he never actually felt drained in the first place, but getting caught up in an adventure definitely helps get his mind off the fact that something's wrong.

"I dunno. It just keeps looking bigger and bigger!"

And that keeps holding true, right up until they around a corner of a street and a whole harbor stretches out across their view. A harbor cutting them off from reaching the statue.

"Wow, it's all the way out in the water!" How are they going to reach it out there?

"Do you think maybe they swim out there? I mean unless they had some way to float out there," she murmured softly as she stroked her chin.

She wanted to find out just as much as Lloyd did!

"That's a good question." Lloyd folds his arms, peering out over the water while he thinks. Too bad they don't have a boat. That would be the easiest way to cross the water. But he's made do without a boat before.

"I wonder if anyone's got a washtub they'd let us use..."

She tilted her head curiously and gave him a look. Why did he want a washtub? Could they... actually float out there in a washtub? The idea actually seemed really excited to her.

" It couldn't hurt to ask right? I mean if we could actually float out there like that we have to try it!"

"Hey, there's no 'if' about it," Lloyd said, grinning wide at Jin's encouragement. "I know for a fact washtubs can handle a trip like that! You just have to make sure you get one that's big enough and have something to paddle with." Was he speaking from experience?

Yes, yes he was.

"Come on, let's see if anyone will loan us one!" He started forward eagerly, scanning the shore for any signs of who had tubs.

She laughed excitedly and happily followed behind. Even if they couldn't find a wash tub they still might be able to find something that floats, right?

" This is exciting. I've never in over water before."

"Never?" Lloyd echoed. "Then this is the best way to start. Washtubs are fun!" Fun and completely uncomplicated, with no sails or rudder to worry about. Granted, that meant he'd have to work even harder to get them to go where they wanted to go, but he felt like he was up for the task.

The other thing about washtubs was that they were a lot easier to find than a boat that wasn't in use. It didn't take long for him to find an old washtub large enough to fit the two of them, or to convince a bemused fisherman to let them borrow it. (Secretly, the fisherman thought their attempt to sail in a washtub would be good for nothing more than a laugh, but he just smiled and kept that thought to himself. Let the young ones find that out for themselves.)

"Okay, now all we need is an oar," Lloyd said, pleased at securing their ride. "See if you can find something like that!"

"You got it Lloyd!"

She laughed as she ran off in another direction to try and find a paddle or something that might work for the both of them. This boy really knew how to be an adventurer. Maybe he was secretly one himself. Should she ask him? Would that be rude? Wait! What if he were some kind of under cover explorer. Just asking him could blow his cover. Okay, keep cool Jin. Just act like everything is alright and he won't even notice that you've caught on.

She makes her way back to Lloyd with two brooms in her hands. It was the best she could find, but it ought to work right?

Meanwhile Lloyd had gone searching in the other direction, splitting up so they could cover twice as much area. When he came back, it was with an old and weathered oar, something he'd found washed up under a pier. Only one, though.

But as it turned out, that was no problem, because it looked like Jin came up with something, too! Maybe not perfect, but hey, they'll make it work!

"Great!" he cheered. "It looks like we're ready! I'll do the heavy rowing and you can steer." Both equally important jobs, as far as he was concerned.

Dropping his oar in the tub, he grabbed the tub's rim and started dragging it toward the water's edge.

"Go ahead and get in!"

She followed behind him and slowly climbed into the tub. Already she was feeling a little nervous, but also excited. She's never had a chance to do anything like this before.

"I'm ready captain!"

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redcladidealist - 2014-10-16 01:55 (UTC) - Expand

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