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[open] Heaven is Under Our Feet

WHO: Weiss Schnee and YOU
WHEN: Nov 10 all day

It had been several days, and Weiss had not gotten her waterbending abilities back. She was devastated. Every night was restless, and every morning was spent fruitlessly trying to pull moisture from wherever she could. She would even go somewhere with running water and try to get it to do what she wanted. Nothing was there.

Instead, she found herself being able to move rocks without touching them. And that... was mostly it. She could no longer feel the water circulating her body, but she felt other things; during this whole mess, she was still grounded, still able to keep a cool head on her shoulders. Despite being sad, she still stubbornly tried to regain her abilities.

Weiss was not certain why she wasn't a wreck right now. Waterbending was her life... well, it had been her life. Now it wasn't. The thought that she might never be able to do it again, after taking it for granted for so long made her sick to her stomach. This had never happened before. Was her loss caused by the City? The Spirit Wilds? Or had her body decided she was undeserving of her power?

As she was wandering, looking for answers, she came across a bucket of water sitting outside of a building. No doubt it was used for washing, or catching rain, or something. That didn't matter. What was important was that there was water in it. And Weiss was desperately trying to move it without touching it.

[ooc: she hasn't fully discovered the earthbending gift she has temporarily received. maybe someone can help a girl out? action or prose accepted!]

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Wan had lost all his bending. It was only Raava's presence within him, warming him, that had kept him from completely panicking when the felt the spirit enter him and scramble up his insides. It was confused and it made him feel almost empty. But he also couldn't let that stop him from the duty he'd set upon himself in helping the poor of the city. Which meant he was out in the Dragon Flats again, jogging along from here to there to talk with the friends he'd made and see how everyone was doing.

When he spotted Weiss, he diverted from his course to go say hello, "Weiss! Did you drop something?"

Weiss had been concentrating so hard on trying to bend that she actually jumped when Wan came near and spoke to her. She had not heard him approaching at all.

"Mist-- Wan!" she said, bringing her hand up to her heart. "You scared me."

"Sorry," he said, meaning it despite the grin he was giving her. "I didn't realize you were so focused on..."

Wan's voice trailed off as he glanced down to take a look at what she'd been concentrating on, "...a bucket of water?"

Again, Weiss focused on the same object. She demonstrated her problem, using simple waterbender stances and moves that did not work. "My bending powers are gone," she explained in frustration. "It's been like this for three days at least!"

His eyes widened briefly and then he looked down as he straightened up, "Mine are, too."

One hand went to his hip and he shook his head, trying to shake the melancholy off, "It has something to do with the spirits that used to connected to the barrier. They broke apart and the barrier disappeared, and when they did, the spirits entered the bodies of many humans. Most of them while they slept. I was awake when it happened. I'm sorry you were changed."

Weiss turned her attention on Wan, eyes widening slightly at his words. "The spirits did this to us?"

"Not on purpose," he replied in a gentle tone. "Well, they sought us out intentionally, but they didn't mean to hurt us or scramble us up like this."

She reached up to comb her fingers through her ponytail, frustrated. "I don't understand any of this," she said in irritation. "The barriers, the spirits, the people from different worlds. I came here for a new beginning, but so many things don't make any sense in this stupid city!"

Actually, Weiss did like Republic City for what it was. She enjoyed meeting new people, especially. But the fact that she had lost her bending was wearing her thin. It was evident in her body language how stressed she was.

Wan lifted his hand, but did not touch her, "Easy there. I know this is difficult to understand and it's difficult to adjust to, but a lot of other people are going through it, too. You aren't alone."

"That doesn't make me feel much better," Weiss said with a sniff. Though she did seem to relax a little. After a beat, she added, "You said the spirits entered us. Do you know why they sought us out?"

"Not really. The one that entered me used the last of it's energy to do so and it faded away shortly after it scrambled me up," he admitted, sighing. He had tried to get a sense of what the spirit wanted when it merged with him, but it wasn't strong enough to survive the experience. "I think most of the spirits that did this were at the end of their lives. They were stronger than the ones that were trying to bring more of nature back to the city, but not enough to continue on once they joined with a mortal body."

Weiss still looked like she was confused. Why would spirits randomly merge with a human? "They really messed things up," she sighed, bringing a hand up to her head. "Taking away our bending... what was even the point?"

"It's a good reminder that we're still as human as anyone else?" Wan smiled ruefully, trying to make it sound like a joke, even if it wasn't. "It was for me, anyway. A good kick in the pants, as I've heard some people say."

Her eyes met his again. Oh, darn it! Wan always managed to say something profound at the right moment. It always blew Weiss away.

"...Do you think our powers will come back?" she asked a bit timidly. He was so patient with her, and Weiss was glad they were becoming friends.

"I hope they will," he replied, still keeping his smile. "I know bending doesn't make a person who they are, but it's still a big part of the people who have it. I worked hard to get where I am with it. But it's not what defines me. And it's not what defines you. But I do hope it will return to you."

"I don't know how you could say that," Weiss frowned. "Of course bending defines a person! It's something we're born with, and we practice it everyday to get stronger and hone our skills! Waterbending is a big part of my life!"

Maybe the only part of her life, she worried, that mattered. After all, Weiss' bending abilities were her own, not her father's. She taught herself how to make and use ice as her main technique.

Wan tried not to let it show, but the words hurt. His bending had defined his legend and for a while there, he had thought that it defined him. Until he joined with Raava at Harmonic Convergence and realized afterwards that it was his actions that had defined him. The gift that was his bending did not make him who he was.

He continued to keep his smile, hard as it was do to so, and shook his head, speaking softly once again, "Even the Avatar isn't defined by his or her bending. That's not what matters most about who they are, or the actions they take. You are not your bending, Weiss. I know because I've never once seen you bend in front of me. If it was so much a part of you that it defined you, you wouldn't, couldn't be able to go so long without using it. And we spent hours on the day we met, just traveling across the city. Not a single cube of ice to show for it."

Edited 2014-12-01 02:11 (UTC)

At first, Weiss felt as though she were being lectured, albeit gently. But when she thought about it, she realized that Wan really hadn't seen her bend at all. He'd been nice to her, even when she treated him as less than a person and didn't understand his motives. And it wasn't because she was a bender.

Still, it was hard to accept that bending was not what defined her. She dropped her defensive stance, no longer looking angry, but still quite sullen. "I don't think I deserved to have it taken away."

"I don't, either," Wan agreed easily. "But this wasnt really about who deserved to lose or gain anything. I can't explain it well, but I felt it when my bending was taken at away. It wasn't... purposeful. I think it was more an accident than anything else. I'm sure it won't last very long. I hope it won't, at least."

Wan's words seemed to reassure her enough that Weiss lifted her head. "I hope so too. What makes you think it's not permanent, though?" She really had very little understanding of the spirits. Or, rather, of spirits that took up residence inside someone's body.

That was actually very wishful hoping on Wan's part. And as much as he would have liked to lie and tell her some extravagant reason as to why he was positive it wouldn't be permanent... if he was wrong, he didn't want her to be even more hurt because he got her hopes up too high.

So he told her the truth.

"I don't know. But I have hope. Those who were born with bending, it's a part of them, even more than those that have been given bending. It's not the whole of who they are, but it is a piece of them and as much as I know it doesn't define them, that it doesn't define you, I do think you should be able to feel whole. So I hope."

Weiss nodded solemnly. Sometimes, it was good to have a pep-talk. She was still upset, but at least someone else knew what she was going through, and that someone else happened to be a friend.

"Well, if you're positive, then I'll try to be positive too. Thanks, Wan."

"Sure," he took a step back and nodded toward the street. "Why don't we get out of here? I think you could use a break and I'm getting a little hungry. We can try to find some food. And you can tell me if you've found a job yet!"

She looked back at the bucket of water, the water that refused to do anything for her, and then sighed. When Weiss turned to face her friend again, her smile looked pretty defeated.

"I think food would be an excellent idea."

"Great! What would you like?" He started off down the street with a quick trot, but settled into a walking pace within a few strides. It was mostly to get them moving. She would have to jog to catch up and it might distract her from her troubles a little. "I don't have a lot of money, so I can't afford much, but I'll buy for you if you'd like."

And jog she did. Weiss was actually surprised to see him run off so fast. But he was still talking to her, so she knew that he wanted her to come with, possibly to get her away from the bucket of water. Wan was practically an expert at getting her out of slumps by now.

"I can buy my own food," she said as she caught up, mildly insulted.

Wan smirked at that, laughing a little, "Okay. You can pay for yourself. That still doesn't tell me what you'd like to eat. What kind of foods do you like, anyway? All I know of Water Tribe food is sea prunes and seaweed noodles."

"I haven't found any good seaweed noodles here," she admitted, looking a little homesick in that brief moment. "But I like noodles in general, as well as dumplings. Oh, and fish." Now that she was talking about it, Weiss noticed her stomach was beginning to growl. She was grateful for the change of scenery already. She had not really left her home for a couple days, due to the depression, so a fresh warm meal was welcome.

Yang was much in the same boat as Weiss and rather than staying frustrated over it, she chose to get her pent up aggression out over the situation in other ways. She couldn't really train at the arena, but it didn't mean she didn't have to keep in shape. So for now she had opted to use her free time taking laps around the city. She was hopeful that her new bending was only temporary and that she would have her firebending back in no time.

Her workout is quickly halted when she catches sight of an all too familiar face doing... whatever it was she was doing. "Uh... Weiss? You okay?"

The water did not move at all, which only proved to frustrate and sadden Weiss further. Just as Yang came over to her, the waterbender pouted and kicked over the bucket without even thinking, spilling the water everywhere.

She looked up when Yang said her name, ashamed of her temper. "Yang! I didn't see you!"

Yang jumped back, holding her hands up in attempt to halt the water. It worked-- a little. The water stopped just short of Yang, as if a barrier was holding it in place. Giving it a wary look, she sidestepped the puddle entirely to stand beside Weiss instead of in front of her. The second her hand dropped, the water continued its previous trickle.

The way the ice princess flailed at the bucket it was clear she was in the same boat as herself and Ruby. "Bending issues?"

That... Weiss was almost certain she saw Yang block the water. But she was a firebender, right?

"Yes," she said hesitantly, gaze lowering. The heiress looked devastated. "I haven't been able to waterbend for several days and I don't know why."

Jaune had been wandering the city again on his search for a job when he happened across her. While he couldn't exactly see what was happening from behind, it looked like either she was leading an invisible orchestra or she was trying to bend... something. Either way, it was enough to catch his curiosity and he decided to approach her.

He didn't want to startle her, so his footsteps were heavy as he walked up behind her. The bucket came into view, and things started to make a little more sense than before.

"Hi there! I couldn't help noticing--" No, bad way to start this conversation. Do over? "Do you need any help?" Still not great, but better.

Weiss made a yelping noise, obviously surprised that someone had been able to get so close to her while she was fixated on her problem. She whirled around quickly, trying to calm down her heart-rate.

"I don't appreciate being sneaked up on!" she snapped coolly as she pointed an accusing finger at the offender. It was someone she'd never seen before, a teenage boy, probably close to her age.

Aaand he really should have seen that coming. He had definitely tried to make his presence known, but in the end it hadn't worked. Which was fine, really, because despite the fact that this girl was now yelling at him for startling her, Jaune had found himself suddenly floating on cloud 9.

The girl before him was beautiful. Radiant! Exquisite. And other words that were complimentary in nature. He felt small after being scolded, but for an entirely different reason. This girl was a moon goddess, and he was unworthy.

That explained the doofy grin on his face. He heard what she'd said, but chose a different topic of conversation instead.

"You're... gorgeous."

Her eyes widened a little, out of surprise. "Uh. Thanks," she finally said, leaning away from him. Great, just what she needed that morning, a kook hitting on her. "But if you hadn't noticed, I'm kind of busy here."

Oh right! There was a point to all of this.

"Let me help you. I'm great at helping. You need a guy to help you out? I'm the guy you call." He looked to that still unmoving bucket of water, and realized he had no idea where to even start.

"What is it you're trying to do?"

Weiss groaned audibly, not knowing which frustration she should be more frustrated with. Eventually, she stood up straight and gestured to the bucket.

"I'm trying to bend," she explained. "I lost my powers."

Oh. That... was not something he was so sure he could help with.

"Is that even possible? I know that getting bending powers is a thing, but losing them?" He quickly added, "Not that I doubt you! I just didn't know-- Sorry."

She shook her head. "I didn't think it was possible either. But I haven't been able to do any waterbending for, like, three days." Weiss crossed her arms, feeling very insecure in that moment. Her bending was very special to her, it was what defined her, made her special. And now that it was gone, it felt as though a huge part of herself was missing.

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[open] Heaven is Under Our Feet

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wan is great

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KICKS DOWN DOOR, falls on face, arrives to post way late

second-hand embarrassment

there is plenty more where that came from

o no

Re: o no

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