η₯ε― β πΏππΈπ½π²π΄ πππΊπΎ (
banishment) wrote in
genessia2014-06-18 11:01 pm
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i β video
What in Agni's name is a vid-ee-oh-pho-nuh supposed to be, anyway?
[ zuko has no idea that the strange looking device he's holding up over his head and squinting at is the item in question. it's not his fault he has no concept of electronic communication, let alone electronics. his world has yet to hit a true industrial age. "advanced technology" in his day and age involves fires, steam, and bending, not... whatever this is supposed to be.
useless β that's what zuko decides it is. just a strange, mangled piece of metal and glass.
he discards it, setting it against the roots of the tree he's propped up against, but it's still recording him as he draws the pamphlet back out of the box. the necklace glistens on his wrist where he's affixed it like some sort of beaded cuff as he unfolds it. ]
[ zuko has no idea that the strange looking device he's holding up over his head and squinting at is the item in question. it's not his fault he has no concept of electronic communication, let alone electronics. his world has yet to hit a true industrial age. "advanced technology" in his day and age involves fires, steam, and bending, not... whatever this is supposed to be.
useless β that's what zuko decides it is. just a strange, mangled piece of metal and glass.
he discards it, setting it against the roots of the tree he's propped up against, but it's still recording him as he draws the pamphlet back out of the box. the necklace glistens on his wrist where he's affixed it like some sort of beaded cuff as he unfolds it. ]
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[ She shrugs, then pulls her necklace out. ] All of the people from other worlds have this. You can ask around. Either you can assume that everyone here is against you, or you can believe me.
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[ he regards her necklace, then raises his wrist into the air where he's got it wrapped around his arm like a gauntlet. zuko could easily put the videophone face down on the ground and read the pamphlet in peace β but she has a point. believing everyone is out to get him would do him no good. zuko has a lot of trust issues, but he's learned the hard way that you can't do everything on your own. ]
My name is Zuko. I'm from the Fire Nation, but I'm guessing you've never heard of it.
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[ She sounds reasonably annoyed about that. If she could figure out how, she could figure out how to get home she figures. ]
I'm Weiss, from Vale in Remnant, which you probably haven't heard of either.
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Can't say that I have. Are you the only one from your country here?
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[ At least that's all she knows about here anyway. ]
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still, it would be nice to have at least one of them here. even the waterbender with her threats and icy glares. at least he wouldn't be alone and so out of sorts with technology that's obviously way above his familiarity level.
was this what it felt like to be made to feel inferior? he regrets all the times he did it to others. ]
You have people you know. That's something.
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[ She's not denying that she's lucky. In fact, even if she doesn't say it, she's grateful for it because she's aware that there are a lot of people who don't get the opportunity to be alone. Having one of the people who consistently tried to destroy her family and everything they stand for here is a small price to pay to not have to be alone. ]
I'm not entirely unhappy here. It isn't a bad place, even if there are a few terrible people.
[ Like the man who tried to drown Ruby, or that guy who apparently has threatened to kidnap her- she doesn't remember that though. Or Adam. ]
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Even if this place isn't all that bad, I don't belong here. I'm supposed to be teaching the Avatar how to firebend. I can't do that here.
[ the way he says that last part stresses how important that task is. aang won't find another firebending teacher in time for sozin's comet. zuko can't stay here. he can't. ]
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[ At least, everyone was acting like they wouldn't miss the Vytal Festival and Weiss is pretty sure they've been here long enough to miss it if time didn't stop. ]
If you don't mind me asking [ she'd ask even if he did of course ] What's the Avatar and what's firebending?
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zuko sets the device in a shallow groove in the tree's trunk where a branch once was and takes a few steps back so he can give her a proper demonstration. he moves through a few basic firebending forms β red-hot blasts shot up into the air and across the field, fire drawn in an arc over his head by both his hands and his feet.
the device is retrieved from the tree once the demonstration's complete. ]
That's firebending. The Avatar is the only one with the ability to bend all four elements: air, water, earth, and fire.
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You don't need Dust to do that? At all? How do you do it then?
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[ zuko looks down at his hand, flexes his fingers. a small flame whooshes across his palm. it doesn't burn him, nor does it create or leave dust behind. ]
Fire is energy β life. It's like having the sun inside of you. You don't to find a fire to bend, because you can create the fire yourself, using that power that you have inside yourself.
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Where I'm from, all life was created from a substance we call Dust originally. Well, no one's alive from back then anymore but that's what we're told anyway. Humans managed to harness it and people like my family made it useful, more efficient, and can use it for all sorts of things. In that sense, it's similar to your fire but we can't do it without the Dust.
[ Give her a second as she shuffles around, holding up Myrtenaster's revolver chamber as close as she can to the camera without losing picture quality. ]
Inside these chambers is Dust. It's energy refined into a usable form so that we can do things like that.
[ She turns the chamber to show the red Dust, pointing to it as best as she can with one hand still holding the phone. ]
This is fire. It's dangerous to use it if you don't know what you're doing, but if you do it can be very useful if you do.
[ Of course, Weiss's uses of fire have proved somewhat.. less than fruitful, what with partially burning down some of a forest because she panicked when she saw Ruby in the way before they really were a team-team.
Well, she's a student for a reason and definitely an enthusiastic one. At least, she's self-proclaimed herself as the "smartest kid in school" and she doesn't goof around when it comes to learning time. Which is probably why she's so interested in fire-bending now. ]
We aren't limited to what single type we can use if we understand how to use Dust, but we certainly can't do it just by existing. Being able to do it without Dust sounds absolutely fascinating. Does everyone where you're from have the ability to do that with at least one element? Is it something you can learn?
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zuko shakes his head when she asks her question. ] No. Bending is something you're born with, and is more likely in bending families, though sometimes non-benders will have kids that can bend when they can't. It's instinctive, mostly. The first time I showed any signs of being able to bend, I was five and I set fire to a tapestry in the throne room, because I wanted to go play in the gardens instead of sitting still with the rest of the court.
[ it had scared him and his father had proclaimed "finally!" as if he'd been afraid he'd been cursed with a child who couldn't firebend. ]
Beyond instinct, you have to learn how to refine it. Some people teach themselves using bending scrolls as guides, depending on how much they want to learn. Others have private bending instructors or go to bending schools. Sometimes, the ways of bending are passed down through family members and you learn at home.
The Avatar is the only one capable of bending all four elements. The rest of us are bound to our individual elements. The current Avatar was born an airbender, so airbending is what comes most naturally to him. The other elements can be challenging and require a teacher. His firebending's rough, but he's getting there. He's a smart kid and picks up pretty fast.
[ when he's focusing and isn't distracted by something or wanting to play some sort of game instead. there are some days when zuko's truly amazed that the fate of the world rests on the shoulders of this playful, easily distracted kid. ]
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I understand that you all have these bending abilities and you have the Avatar, but.. from what I can tell, most other worlds don't have the creatures of Grimm to contend with. What do you guys use your bending for? Why is it so urgent that you get back, and why can't someone else teach this Avatar?
[ That's important too. She has some suspicions as to the answers, but she knows they could be entirely influenced by her own family's.. less than peaceful situation. ]
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[ zuko shrugs. ] Everything, pretty much. Bending isn't just a gift, it's a way of life. It's an art form, a fighting style, and an integral part of yourself all rolled into one. My bending went on the fritz for a while, once, and I didn't feel likeβ [ myself.
she's asking too many questions at once and that last one, well... ] It's because my country is at war with the other nations and the Avatar is trying to bring about an end to that war. To teach the Avatar firebending would be assisting him in these efforts, which is considered treason.
[ and he's the crown prince who's doing just that. ]
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[ Weiss doesn't look like she understands. Like at all. Mostly because she doesn't, because she's never been in a situation where you realize that everything your group of people stands for is a lie. Some of it's been shaken, sure, but she couldn't see ever flat-out betraying anyone. She's not unwilling to learn though, and she is honestly interested rather than intentionally being as insulting about it as she sounds. ]
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[ he's never shared this story with anyone, but it's been on the tip of his tongue since he fled from his father's chamber during the eclipse. there was a lot of shame and dishonor attached to this story before, but that's different now. zuko's proud of what he did that day, is grateful for the hardships he had to endure as a result of his decision to speak up, because it put him on the right path. had he not been cast out of the fire nation and seen the world for himself, he would likely still be as deluded as any other palace-dweller when it came to the war. ]
When I was thirteen, I sat in on a war meeting. I spoke out against a decision to put our soldiers on the front lines for the sole purpose of being fodder for our enemies. The generals don't care about what happens to their men. They're just pieces on a Pai Sho board that can be replaced if lost.
[ zuko steels himself. ]
Questioning the generals meant I was questioning the Fire Lord, too. He did this [ zuko points at his scar ] to me and banished me for four years. If the Fire Lord can do that to a member of the royal family, to the heir to the throne, [ not his son, because zuko is done being ozai's son ] just for talking out of turn, what do you think he's going to do to the rest of the world once he conquers it?
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Her own wasn't anywhere near as bad as his and she used makeup to make it less obvious even then, but when he spoke about it she felt a little self-conscious about her own scar. That wasn't a tale she would be telling a complete stranger though.
Weiss was almost jealous that he seemed to come to terms with it and know where he wanted to stand, but she certainly understood the problems with being family with someone who wasn't always viewed as a good person. Weiss may have been feeling a little more connected to this than she should have just because she had to deal with people saying things about her family all the time. She just stubbornly never wanted to even consider them a possible reality until recently.
It wasn't so bad as a full on world war, though. Even if she felt a little connected, she wouldn't act as though she understood. She knew the difference. ]
I think it sounds like you picked the right side if that's the case. I'm sorry.. about your family. It's difficult to have a family situation that doesn't prioritize family over business- or politics, or war. Doing the right thing is even harder if you still want to believe in your family. I don't give compliments out a lot, but it sounds like you're very strong to try to do the right thing.
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there's still a lot zuko's sorting through that he hasn't come to terms with β like how avatar roku is his great-grandfather and what it means to be the great-grandson of both sozin and roku, how he and aang are both parts of roku's legacy. there are still choices to be made, but he can say honestly that, for the first time in a very long time, he's finally confident in the ones he's made so far.
he's doing the right thing, even when it feels like it's wrong. ]
Royalty doesn't always have that luxury, and it's not unheard of for members of royal families to turn on one another for political gain... [ there were plenty of examples throughout history, from times long before sozin's reign and within the earth kingdom's monarchy, too, that he remembered from his studies. ] But, that doesn't exactly excuse burning a child's face, does it?
[ zuko scoffs. ] The only member of my family I still believe in is my uncle. [ ozai be damned.
he has mixed feelings about azula, having seen shades of his sister he'd forgotten were there during his time back in the fire nation before he made the decision to leave and join aang, but he can't let that get in the way. if forced to choose between his sister and the avatar a second time, azula's not the one he's going to be siding with. ]
I don't get compliments a lot, so... Thank you. It's actually kind of nice hearing that. I'm not exactly known for making the best of choices, so it's good to know that I've finally got the hang of that.
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[ Weiss isn't quite sure that she's getting her point across trying to be subtle about this, but it's hard admitting to a stranger that she sees a lot of things that she can relate to in his story. Mostly because she is usually a somewhat closed off individual until she decides she can trust someone. ]
I suppose what I'm trying to say is, you're not alone and I think I understand. Not completely, obviously, since no one could completely understand after just one conversation but- from one person who doesn't always make the best decision the first time to another, you're not the only one.
[ And that's somewhat important to her, because she knows what it's like to feel alone in something. She pauses for a moment, before deciding to add something else to draw attention away from that little admission. ]
And since you're here now, at least, it might be a good idea to take this opportunity to refine your skills and practice instructional techniques. It might benefit you when you go home and it certainly can't hurt!
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he smiles, grateful for that understanding. having that β well, it honestly makes him feel a little steadier in both this unfamiliar place and the path he's chosen. ]
I might have something new to teach Aang when that happens. [ he can work with this. something for him to do that isn't falling back on old obsessive habits and wasting all his time and energy trying to get home. ]
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[ Weiss sounds oddly proud of that fact, as though she's the number one person he could've met to make sure that he doesn't slack off. ]
Besides, I wouldn't mind seeing your firebending in person at some point.
[ She's sure she could probably pick up something from it to getting herself better at using her fire Dust. ]
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Give me a few days to get settled in this place, and that could be arranged.
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If you've figured it out on your own by then, you can use this device to call me before you come over so I know not to let Yang or Ruby ambush you. But if you don't, just stop by Tupelo Alley room 402 when you're ready. Preferably after 3:30, since I have to work in the mornings.
[ It isn't like she's got her father's money to back her up here, after all. ]
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