koiwamizuiro | 1st Dive: Beginnings [Action]

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1st Dive: Beginnings [Action]

[A quiet and peaceful slumber after a long, tiring day in high school for Ai Nanasaki ended up with her waking up in the middle of a forest, her body on the ground surrounded by leaves. Not that she thought she was waking up at first, but that she was in the middle of an odd dream, rather. A particularly vivid one.

It was a bit cold - certainly colder than her room had been - and her body didn't feel as relaxed as it did on the comfy mattress. And she was lying on something else other than the ground.

As Ai leaned forward, her eyes inspected her surroundings curiously, her head feeling a bit dizzy. It resembled the hill her grandfather owned, but... there was something off about it. She wasn't on the route she usually took, either - there wasn't one to begin with.

Still feeling something on her back, she reached over her shoulder and touched what felt like a wing. Also, she seemed to be wearing a peculiar white sundress and not the pyjamas she had gone to bed with.]

Huh...

[This was so strange. And it felt real. It didn't feel like a dream.

Ai continued turning her head around, and it wasn't until her gaze landed on a book right beside her when she stopped doing so.

The girl reached out and inspected both covers of the peculiar object with curiosity in her eyes.

Standing up with the book in her hands, she opened it up, trying to make sense of what was happening. But what was inside of it just seemed to confuse her even more at that point.]

Where am I...?

[Her voice sounded as confused as it could be. It was a good question. And why did it feel like she had wings on her back?]

(OOC: Ai will be walking around the forest while inspecting the book, trying to either find anyone who could help explain what was going on or a sign of civilization. You can catch her there.)

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Well... the thing is, this world's really mysterious. It just takes people here from other worlds, and sometimes it sends them back. I'm sorry, but for now, you're stuck here. [He hated having to explain this.]

[That wasn't what Ai wanted to hear. Wherever she was - wherever Luceti was - there was apparently no way out.

So everything she had and knew in her world, she was just separated from? The people there, her friends and family? That was not easy to take in, if it really was true... Her eyes remained wide and her mouth was slightly parted.]

Do you know why are we being brought here? For what purpose?

[And then, there was that comment about other worlds confusing her even further. From the tone in his voice and the way he explained it to her however, it gave Ai reason to believe that the boy was one of the people who were also taken here against their will, even if he hadn't stated it outright yet. She wanted to confirm it, though.]

Were you just taken here, too?

[He tried to look as reassuring as possible. But there were so many answers they don't have.]

We don't know why. There's scientists called the Malnosso who keep us in this area, but they claim they're not responsible for bringing us here. It's some kind of force in this planet instead. It's not something that's forever, but... no one can predict when people go home. I'm sorry.

And... no, I'm not exactly new here. [He doesn't say how long just yet - he knows just one year can be intimidating. It was bad enough when he arrived that year ago and found out how long Katara and Sokka had been here without him.]

[Though Aang was breaking everything to her gently, Ai's face still fell at the grim revelation.

The Malnosso kept everyone in the area? If they were not the ones that brought them here, then why were they doing so?

The only relieving fact was that it wasn't something that lasted forever, but that came with the lack of knowledge as to when which was unnerving. Aside from that, even he didn't seem to know much, and he wasn't a newcomer like her...]

Where am I on this planet now?

[She looked around the forest as she said it, a chill running down her spine. It was getting even colder.]

What is... Luceti, exactly?

[Was it that forest that the two of them were in now?]

Well, to put both of those questions together... Luceti's this area we're stuck in. What's the word... "enclosure". That's it. We're all kept inside a barrier, but there's a village too, where people live. And they don't tell us stuff about the outside world... like where we are on this world.

But, uh... Hold on, let me help you. This might just look a little weird. [He says as he makes a small fire above the palm of his hand through firebending, to try to warm things up a bit around them.]

[So Luceti wasn't the forest, after all, but it still sounded like a relatively small area - this enclosure both of them were in, especially if there was just a single village. Presumably, the boy came from that village himself.

Before Ai's mind could race with more questions again, she had her attention caught by the fire that the boy created out of thin air right in front of her. Her eyes widened as she looked at it.

It did look weird... Or rather, it was unexpected. The immediate effects of the fire were pleasant, however, which made her ease up a little.]

Oh... how did you do that?

[That could as well have been just a glimpse of what she could see and what was possible in Luceti.]

[He gives a sheepish grin.]

Oh, that? That's just some firebending! In my world, there's a thing called bending where we can control the elements, and... [Nervous laugh] this is it! I guess it's the easiest way to tell if someone's from a different world from me...

[After all, just because he doesn't recognize someone doesn't mean they're from a different world.]

[Firebending, huh... More like magic.

A moment passed before Ai processed everything the boy said to her when she collected herself.]

I have not seen anything like this before... But I am feeling warmer now. Thank you.

[The way the boy was firebending now was certainly helpful, but Ai couldn't help but wonder how else he might could apply it, the freedom he had with it. It sounded like it could be dangerous...

What interested her, though, was him mentioning that there were more elements in his world, fire presumably being one of them.]

What other elements are there?... In your world?

[If a person could do firebending, then there was probably a way to waterbend as well.]

[That's definitely a good guess. Aang talks on with a smile as he guides her, occasionally swishing the fire a bit by moving his hands, but he makes sure to hold it far out enough to prevent any accidental burns.]

You're welcome. A lot of worlds don't have any abilities like this so I hope it isn't too weird.

And, well there's also water, earth and air. Most people who can bend can only end one. But I'm the Avatar, so that means I get to bend all four!

I do not know about any other worlds, but we do not have anything like this on Earth. Magic does not exist there.

[Seeing him firebend was weird at first, but now it was something she was quite grateful for because she wasn't feeling nearly as cold anymore. That made her quickly get used to it, faster than she'd have expected she would.

So she was right about the waterbending. She couldn't help but be immediately curious as to what people who were capable of that could do, but then her eyes widened upon hearing that the boy was - and that was, apparently, somebody special among his people.]

...The Avatar? Are you somebody of high standing in your world?

[She said so with a certain disbelief in her voice, considering how young this boy was. He didn't strike her as somebody full of immense intelligence or wisdom that would probably be required to control all four elements - she would imagine somebody like that as an elderly, bearded man instead.]

I see. Well... it's something you're going to have to get used to, there's lots of worlds that have magic and other abilities out there.

[He gives a meek smile. He doesn't get excited about explaining being the Avatar as he does about bending in general, but he goes throgh with it.]

Yeah, I am! Or I'm supposed to be. The Avatar's supposed to learn the four elements to help keep peace in the world and balance between the nations. Plus I'm the bridge to the spirit owrld.

[It would take Ai some time to consider magic as something normal and plausible, but one step at a time, understanding what was possible with it and what wasn't, and she'd slowly get used to it... She would most certainly be intimidated first, though.

She noticed that Aang wasn't particularly eager to explain all of this, but he didn't seem to mind her questions in general, and there were a lot of things she was curious about.]

How did you become the Avatar? You seem... pretty young, if you do not mind me saying so. It sounds like there are a lot of things you are responsible for.

[And what of the spirit world? Was it a world his own had established connection to somehow? What she was learning from him was quite fascinating to her.]

[He explained calmly. A lot of his anxieties about being the Avatar had been calmed enough for that.]

Well... I was born that way. It's the way the Avatar cycle works in that world. Bascially, the Avatar's spirit gets born in a human body, and the spirit gets reincarnated to the next nation in the cycle whenever the current Avatar passes on. So people are the Avatar until birth. But... They're not supposed to actually start having the responsibilities of the Avatar until they come of age and turn 16.

[It's weird to think he's almost nearing that age now, being mentally around 15 - while his body still was 14 due to a brief trip back home just a few months ago.]

[So, whether they liked it or not, there were people like him who were destined for such a role; it wasn't too unlike a hereditary monarchy, except that it wasn't the entire world that the next line was put in charge of. While the Avatar got all of those powers, it still sounded like quite a heavy burden to anyone, especially those who wouldn't want to be deprived of a normal life.]

...Can you choose not to fulfill the duties of the Avatar, even if you were born to become one?

[Ai was 17 and she couldn't imagine having that big of a responsibility when this young. She had her fair share, but she was still just a simple girl.]

How many years do you have left until you reach that age?

[She could tell that he wasn't exactly 16 yet.]

[He's silent for a moment. In a way, he had tried that - just to refuse. That's why he ran away. But his being gone all that time, in a way that was the root of his world's problems.]

You could try to choose that. But people can still try to make you live up to that responsibility. After all... there's only one Avatar at a time. No one else can do that job.

A-and I still have another year left before I'm that age. But... I was kinda called to do it earlier than usual.

[There was nothing he could do more than a mere attempt to escape from that responsibility, then. At least he seemed to have accepted his role now, but she imagined that he's had a hard time doing that - she sure would, in his case.]

Accepting such a fate must have been hard on you. If it is for the good of the world... I guess would have come to terms with it eventually if I had to assume such a role. It would be... really overwhelming, though.

[Just Ai she suspected, he was younger, so his answer did not surprise her, but still left her curious.]

Why were you called earlier? Had something gone wrong in your world?

It was hard. And... it took me a while before I really accepted it. Because I had to.

And that's why I had to be called early - there was gonna be a war. I needed to stop it, but... I messed up instead. [He said with a sagging of his shoulders. Talking about this was easier ever since his first talk with Katara, but there was still some difficulty in it, in admitting to his failures.]

[Ai tilted her head a bit in wonder at the boy's sorrowful expression and the sadness in his words to her. What he was saying sounded awful - and he was the one who had to be responsible for such a large-scale issue. She had only just met him, but she couldn't help but want to reassure him a bit.]

I do not think many people this young would be able to even accept the position of the Avatar, much less deal with a war...

[She was about to address him at the end of her sentence when she remembered that she didn't even know his name at this point. Her eyes widened a bit in surprise, realizing that she had been rude not to introduce herself.]

I-I am sorry. I do not know your name, and I did not give you mine. I am Ai Nanasaki.

[A slight bow of her head followed as she crossed her arms.]

It definitely wasn't easy... [He said solemnly.

But he smiled as she introduced herself.]

It's nice to meet you, Ai. My name's Aang! [He noted the small bow and gave his own.]

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1st Dive: Beginnings [Action]

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