It had been two weeks since Lord Zuko first travelled to the Fire Nation with the others. He returned a week ago, deciding he had imparted as much information as he could give his younger self about the modern Fire Nation's state of affairs, and he had taken on new advisors that would assist the interrim Fire Lord in getting his footing. Uncle Iroh was there to support the younger Zuko, too, he'd left Druk behind to protect the palace from any would-be opportunists, and even Avatar Wan had offered his help joining the search parties in finding Izumi.

In short, Lord Zuko had done everything he felt he could at this time to keep the Fire Nation stable, and his duties to Republic City beckoned again, forcing him to return. The unrest in the city of late had to be addressed. Early this particular morning, however, while he was preparing for a meeting at City Hall, Zuko did not expect a page to rush in with a message there was a dragon outside the building. He hurried outside, and sure enough, there was Druk, waiting patiently.

"Druk? I asked you to stay in the Fire Nation, old friend." Zuko approached his dragon companion, resting a hand on his broad muzzle. "Why did you come back?"

Druk simply stared at him and gave a low rumble. His appearance here worried Zuko. If something had happened in the Fire Nation that would make Druk seek him out, or if there was something wrong with the portal, he needed to investigate right away.

[ooc: feel free to use this as a catchall if you want to thread out your character being dragged back from the Fire Nation after the two-week mark! THANKS SPIRIT WORLD.]

A couple days after the portal had appeared, there was a gathering of people on Air Temple Island, right in front of it. Word had quickly spread and reached the ears of certain people that this was particularly important to. Unfortunately, action wasn't immediately taken due to the fact that the younger version of Zuko had been injured during the earthquake. However, after having his wounds attended to, he was ready to go.

The plan was to get the younger Zuko to the palace, confirm his identity, and then have him settle in as the ruler of the Fire Nation. Which would hopefully prevent or stop any further chaos from breaking out there. Zuko's friends, especially those that had been living with him in the wilds, had all been invited to come with him. Once the palace staff was replaced, anyone staying there would be provided with what they needed. 

Zuko himself looked a little worse for wear as he waited for everyone to get organized, before making the trip through the portal. Leaning on one crutch, he looked up at the fiery red portal. Amazed that such a thing could even exist. A lot of strange things were happening in their world, and he could only hope that they would get some answers eventually. Not to mention find the people that were missing. People like his future daughter and grandson. 

 Zuko had woken up this morning feeling... a little bit out of sorts. He couldn't really explain it. He just felt different. Colder, like his inner fire had gone out and he couldn't stoke it again. But that was silly, because there's no way that could happen. Besides, it was getting cool now with the season change, so that was probably it. 

He hadn't noticed the light that had settled upon him last night. Nor did he know about the barrier having fallen. Yet.

Getting ready for the day, with his mask on, Zuko went out into the wilds for his daily morning firebending practice. Once he was in his usual secluded spot, Zuko took the mask off again and began his warm up exercises. As he went through the motions, the usual warmth and fire that should appear... didn't. He paused and scowled deeply. Something... wasn't right. 

He tried again.

Nothing. 

Now he was starting to get worried. With a few yells accompanied with some kicks and punches, he was dismayed when no fire appeared at all. Not even a hint of it. 

This was bad.

Really bad.

This was even worse than when he had 'lost his stuff' after joining sides with Aang. Even then he could at least create little wisps of flame and some smoke. But this... nothing happened at all!

He tried one more time. Still no fire. But then he heard the ripple of a small pond right next to him. Zuko froze instantly. He was here alone, wasn't he? Turning around, he looked around for someone else. Probably a waterbender.

"Show yourself!" he shouted with a side swipe of his arm as he turned again. ... And the water moved once more. What? Looking down at the pond, he then moved his arms again, and stared in mixed amazement and horror as he began to... Bend. The. Water.

And then the wilds would echo with Zuko's cry.

"WHAAAAAT?!"

"THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!"

---

[Closed to Lord Zuko]

Later, a masked figure was running through the streets of the high class section of Republic City. Going up the steps and to the door of the Fire Nation style house where his older counterpart was living. Completely ignoring anyone that tried to stop him. 

There he was banged on the door with his fist with the utmost urgency!

[Duo can be found wandering around the Spirit Wilds with a pencil and a newspaper in hand, scribbling bits of English onto the paper and occasionally going up to people to ask to get a bit of the text read to him.]

Hey, can you make out what that says?

[Man, he was glad the locals spoke English, even if they didn't write it. Couldn't be too hard to pick up the rest though, right?]

Option A. Spirit Wilds (OPEN)

With the press catching on that she was "recovered" and around again, it was only a matter of time before they started trying to hound her for more information. And only a matter of time before Korra realized the Spirit Wilds were a perfect place for her to get some peace and quiet from them. The people in the city were still wary of the vines and tended to stay away. The spirits were a different matter, of course. The vines were their home, and Korra occasionally saw them watching her curiously as she passed.

There was one that was particularly persistent. She swore she saw those leafy ears disappearing behind some vines at least four times in the past half hour. What the heck was it doing?

When Korra heard some rustling behind her only a few minutes later, she stopped and said, "If you're going to follow me, you could at least quit it with the hiding act."

Except it wasn't the spirit at all when she turned around. "Oh, sorry! I thought you were...someone else."

Option B. Around Air Temple Island (OPEN)

Though Korra had trained all her life, there were still new things to be learned about bending all the time. After seeing a few air new air benders practicing the day before, Korra had the bright idea to do the same, with one of the more...interesting training moves. The tip of her tongue stuck out as she concentrated on balancing with one foot on the narrow pole, her hand raised and keeping a leaf dancing above her palm with a gentle air spiral. She stayed aloft for a few minutes, thinking how it wasn't as bad as she thought it might be...

Of course, her balance only lasted until a lemur, without a certain young air bender to latch onto, leapt onto her head and sent her tumbling to the ground with a yelp.

"Pokey, get back here! Ugh." Korra watched him fly off with a scowl as she rubbed at her head. Hopefully, no one had been around to see that...

Option C. Closed to Lord Zuko

Lord Zuko's presence in the city was a great relief to Korra, especially with Raiko, Lin, and Tenzin all missing. Now that a few weeks had passed, with still no news or developments, she thought it was high time she and Lord Zuko had another talk.

Following his directions to his home in Republic City, she loitered outside the door, twisting the material of her shirt between her fingers. This is stupid, she thought after a few minutes. Breathing in, she forced herself to raise her hand and knock on the door firmly.

Who: Anyone that's taken up residence near Wan's abandoned apartment in the Spirit Wilds + their friends
What: Catch-all for threads happening in that general living area
When: Oct 4th-Oct31
Where: The Spirit Wilds Vagabond Hippie Commune (not actual name of neighborhood)
Warnings: None!

Post a Top Level for people who are living or temporarily crashing here to tag your character for any reason. It's open to all, not just people wanting to punch/arrest/visit Wan.

The White Swanfish Gala is this evening - A VIP-only event where invitations are only sent to the likes of the heads of industry, Mover stars, avatars, and their guests. The host is Wil Zan (Slade's affable civilian alter ego), and he is dressed in a fine white and blue silk nehru, smiling broadly and chatting with what seems like every patron there, one at a time. He has brought in the finest chefs to provide an unlimited stream of fine food and drink, popular musicians provide entertainment and lively music to dance to, and this gala is sure to be an event worth talking about for years.

Interestingly, Zan has set up some rather unusual security measures. Though your average riff-raff will be kept out, he has intentionally left strategic security gaps that can be bypassed by the bold and the cunning. Zan actually has men covertly watching these gaps, but instead of stopping these party-crashers, their instructions are to inform Zan. (This serves as a sort of test for potential apprentices that Slade may try to recruit in the future.)

((NOTE: This is an event log, so not every reply has to be toward Slade. Feel free to write what your character is doing at the party or how they snuck in, etc. "Zan" is likely to give you his attention, but others can too.))

This is a post to keep track of all the tags in game. This way, before you've used your tag, it will still show up in the list. You can basically ignore this post. Bury it with other posts.

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! ]