piratejournal | 1st Element: Written

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1st Element: Written

[Wan decided to test the book with something written. It was better than looking like a fool and talking aloud to himself in a place full of cold-shouldered strangers who were obviously looking for more of a reason to fight him. He didn't know what he'd done to upset the town he woke up in, but it was clearly enough for them to be threatening to his person. And he really didn't want to get into a fight with anyone and risking harming bystanders.

Raava's silence was also a concern, but she had grown less talkative the longer they were joined. They didn't need to talk that often anymore. So he didn't put much thought behind that. Not yet, anyway.]

To the book that speaks back: Hello.

I have recently woken up in this place and I don't know or recognize anything about it. I've traveled all over my world and nothing like this village exists. I would like to learn more about it, but the people aren't very friendly and most refuse to speak to me.

So I ask you, hopefully helpful book, for your aid.

I'm not really concerned about my safety, I can handle myself. But I have a friend... an animal friend. She's a catdeer and she answers to the name 'Mula'. If there are a lot of catdeer in this place, she'll be the one with a bedroll and small travel pack tied over her back. Please don't hurt her, she'll do you no harm. If she runs, that's okay. Just tell me where you saw her and I'll get her.

Thank you.

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I wasn't feeling down. But thank you. I guess I should figure out what to do now. Where to go. I don't really like being called a pirate, but I can't exactly deny that I'm 'unwanted' by a lot of other humans, either. This world or my own.

Do you have any suggestions?

I'd say go right ahead with the "head out to sea to find mystical shard pieces and adventure" idea, Wan. You could probably hang around the town with the fountain, but they're, uh. You know, they're great, but not so great with their welcomes. Joining a crew would make a lot of stuff way easier for you travel-wise, if you think it could be your style. Huge timesaver! And I bet you wouldn't have much trouble hooking up with one at all! [ His tone scales back on the enthusiasm after that, settling somewhere a little more quietly genuine. ]

We're all pretty unwanted around here, so it's kind of like you fit right in already. You know, if you think about it.

How would I go about 'hooking up' with one? I've never really done boats before. I know of them. There was a city once that had them and some docks and they used them to fish. But when I was traveling I didn't really need them to get around.

Hmmm. [ Valid concerns, he sees. ] I just kind of asked the book. And then my brother was like "oh hey Bo, you're a pirate now and you're gonna be on the ship everyone from home is on." Which I didn't really mind! It was kind of nice to not have to figure that out without any advice. You can ask whoever you hear from in this thing, maybe? Maybe list some of your strong points! Experienced traveler, diplomatic, good with animals... or at least one animal, anyway. Do you juggle or something?

No. Well, actually, I could juggle. And I'm good with animals. And an experienced traveler... I'm trying to learn to be better at being diplomatic. I kind of need to be back where I'm from.

But I'm also able to control the elements. Not as well as I could back in my world, I've just found out. I can still do it though.

Ooh! [ THE PRO-BENDING AGENDA CONTINUES... ] Okay, lemme guess-- waterbender, right? Maybe an earthbender? I mean, whoever you are and whatever sort of 'element controlling' that includes, that's great. I just have the future of an awesome sport to think about, too.

Waterbender? Earthbender? I don't actually know what those are, but I'm guessing it's what you call people who control the elements of water and earth respectively?

Yyyyyeah. You haven't heard of 'em? [ Whoa, maybe there's more than just one world with catdeer after all. ]

No. You're the first to call it bending. It's okay. It means about the same. To answer your question, I can control the four elements of fire, air, water, and earth. I don't know if your world has different elements than that. Someone else mentioned lighting as an element they could control through their chakras.

[ Looong pause. ]

Okay, Wan, be upfront with me. Have you ever been the bridge between the human and spirit worlds, and, uh.

Are you the Avatar?

No pressure! Just. Juuust wondering.

[While Bolin had been silent, Wan had talked a bit more to Asami and found out the two were from the same world as Korra. So the sudden jump in questioning wasn't a surprise. Though, he had almost gotten to the point of assuming Bolin wasn't going to respond. Hearing his voice again did give him a moment's pause.

And then his own stretch of silence began.

He wasn't sure if he should answer that question at all. There was already a lot he was dealing with in the hours after speaking with Korra. Raava being silent and the pain of drawing her power out when he had last tried were at the top of the list.

Finally, almost five minutes later (an eternity of a wait!), Wan responded in a soft, tired voice.]

Yes. I am.

Edited (to not too) 2014-05-14 03:31 (UTC)

[ Five minutes is the new ten thousand years. That's Bolin's take on things.

... and with the confirmation, he sort of leans backwards at a dumb angle just to make sure Korra's still on the ship. Okay. Still there, which is great! Sure. That's a thing. ]

Huh. [ Oh god, what does he do now... he hates mysteries. Like, this is one of Korra's other lives. One who is a hundred percent not Korra. Talk about creepy. What are some good things he can still latch onto? ] Okay, then! Guess we got that covered. Two Avatars. And, hey, the world's not blowing up, either, so. Yeah.

[ He has no idea what he's doing anymore. ]

I'm pretty sure that having every element at your command and stuff is gonna be a huge help with getting you on a ship.

Of course the world isn't blowing up. We're bonded to Raava, not Vaatu.

[He takes some offense to the idea that two of his lives in the same place and time would blow anything up. Raava wouldn't let that happen... right? Of course, Raava wasn't exactly able to talk to him or even be touched by his mind without making it feel like he was ripping apart. So maybe a world was blowing up. But it was just his. The one inside his own head.]

Yeah, I don't really know how most of this stuff works. In my head, it sounded like the kind of thing that might happen. But that's fair! If you guys did things ten-thousand-years-of-darkness style, that would probably be a way bigger problem.

[Wan let out a sigh and leaned back.]

Honestly? I don't know how it works either. I'm making most it up as I go along. Until I talked to Korra a couple hours ago, I didn't even think of the possibility of there being other Avatars after me. Or that they would be needed.

[ At least nobody is alone in being really confused right now. ]

Well hey, bringing balance and peace to the whole world takes a lot of work, right? Sometimes you just need more than one. [ It's okay guy. ] Plus, people have trouble not messing stuff up- and trust me, I'm an expert on that. So I always thought the Avatar sticking around was pretty great! The world's a way better place because of you guys. [ And he probably wouldn't have met Korra otherwise, which is blasphemous. ]

Oh believe me, I know all about messing things up. The world wouldn't even need an Avatar if I hadn't messed up big time.

[A surprisingly genuine laugh followed as Wan couldn't help but smile at his own thoughts.]

But I guess I can count myself lucky that I got a real chance to fix that mistake. In my lifetime and however many have come after. I'm glad to know that the world has benefited from that. It means I managed to keep my promise to Raava even if it didn't happen in my lifetime.

[You're an okay guy, Bolin.]

That's the spirit! Trust me, man, you do great. And if we really don't have to worry about time back home while we're here, you've got plenty of time to think about what you wanna do next. I bet things are gonna be fine. [ All aboard, first stop, Optimism. ]

Ooh, and maybe we can get some pro-bending going, you might like that!

[Wan will happily ride the train to Optimistville]

I don't know what pro-bending is. You'll have to tell me about it.

You're in luck. I'm probably the number one pro-bending authority on the journals right now! It's a great way to spend some energy, and we've been needing some more people who can bend earth or water! [ DESTINY... ] Pro-bending is this really great sport where you have two teams of benders, and everyone tries to knock the other team off the platform. I mean, there are rules and everything, and someone might need to give you pointers on how to move in the ring, but it's great.

So... it's just a game using bending. Sounds okay. How many benders do you have?

Dude, it's more than okay. You'll see once we get everything together. Right now we're a little short on players. Which is kind of the thing when you get a lot of people from different worlds together. I'm an earthbender, Mako's a firebender, you and Korra can pretty much do anything... Captain Ace is kind of a firebender? We need another earthbender or another waterbender to get two teams.

You need one waterbender, one earthbender, and one firebender on each team? What about airbenders?

There's... kind of an airbender shortage in Republic City. There aren't enough of them around to have one for every team that's out there. [ Also the shortage is in the entire world. Because wholesale slaughters almost 200 years ago. But he's definitely really pretty sure that's not his story to tell, probably. ] I guess there would be ways to adapt the rules to include them if we got enough here. Even if it's hard to figure out how you call fouls on something that you pretty much can't see being used.

You can see air being used. Well, if you're close enough. I guess that would be hard to regulate from a distance if most people can't control air. Airbend. There must be a lot of teams in the city if there aren't enough airbenders to be on each. It sounds like a popular game.

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bolincredible - 2014-06-02 01:23 (UTC) - Expand

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raavashing - 2014-06-02 22:18 (UTC) - Expand

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1st Element: Written

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