paixaorpg | Start of Something New [Closed]

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Start of Something New [Closed]

Character(s): Terra, and it's open for all to tag!
Content: Terra arrives at Paixao.
Setting: Joutenheim Gate.
Time: Late morning or midday.
Warnings: None!

"When she was running, she wasn't watching where she was going. The next thing the blonde girl knew, she fell through a hole. When she opened her eyes again, she discovered that she was no longer in Jump City or the desert.

Terra got off of the ground and dusted herself off. People were standing in a line, and seeing this prompted her to do just the same. Looking up at the gate, Terra looked at the two, giants with their clubs, and she gulped. "Great. What did I get myself into?" she muttered.

"Name?"

This stopped Terra's train of thought -- but she didn't hear what was asked of her. "I'm sorry?"

"What's the name, kid?"

"Oh! Uh. I'm Terra. Hey, what is this pl-?" Before she could finish her question Terra was handed a map and a small, rectangular shaped object. She stared at the object for a few seconds, wondering what she was supposed to be doing with it. "What's this?"

"An electronic journal. Better to have it now than having to buy it inside."

Inside of where, though? "Uh... thanks." Taking a deep breath, Terra walked inside of the city -- and her eyes widened upon entrance. She grabbed the map and opened it up.

Paixao, huh? Well, this might be a chance to start over.

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Paixao had been eventful thus far but now look at the turn everything had taken. The sudden influx of newcomers was astounding. The gates were constantly crowded and running and Saix had even taken notice to the low stocks of journals at each gate when he passed the gates.

And of course there was the weather. It had become erratic. Instead of the usual mild temperature for the entire city, each section seemed to have a different climate. One could easily pass through scalding heat, through thunder and rain, and then to sub-zero temperatures, just as this area was. The whole nature of the situation put Saix in a miserable mood, or at least as miserable as he could be without a heart.

It was this day that the Nobody passed by Joutenheim gate when a blonde teenager stumbled through, eyes wide and face aghast. He almost pitied the girl for arriving at such a confusing time. The weather had taken a toll on the entire city.

Placidly, Saix approached the girl. "New to Paixao, I see."

Terra has yet to realize the toll it's taken on the entire city when she arrives. Although she could have gone without the cold weather. Terra wasn't ready for this sort of weather. This would have also put a damper in her mood, if it wasn't for her confusion.

Before she could have a chance to look through the information and her new device, and read the rest of her map, Saix approached her. She glances up at him, and after a few moments nods. "Yeah. I'm new. But I'm not sure how I got here." A nervous laugh. "What exactly is this place?"

What is it, indeed. She noticed that a lot of the average citizens here were definitely strange. Their clothes definitely didn't fit the last place Terra was at, let alone her generation.

This just got worse and worse. The cold was definitely starting to make her shiver and her feet was starting to get numb too. If she didn't find some kind of footwear soon, things could start to get bad. It was already a bad situation when she couldn't really feel the things around her: the snow was muffling all the movement. This was the reason why she bumped hard into the back of a girl that seemed to be her height. She hit the ground pretty hard and got a mouthful of snow.
Great, now what, she thought.

She was too distracted to even notice that Toph was walking around her until she felt something and Toph fell down. Terra turned around and glanced down, spotting the young girl on the ground. "You okay?" she asked, kneeling down to check on her.

"I'd be fine if it weren't snowing!" Toph's angry reply slipped out of her mouth before she could control herself. "You know, its one thing to have to maneuver yourself through a completely strange place without being able to see anything, but its another to do it when the weather is against you, and you can't even walk in bare feet!"

Toph almost screamed the last part, but realized she probably was causing a scene, something she definitely didn't want. Unfortunately, at the moment she had nothing to depend on but the kindness of strangers, and it wouldn't help if said strangers thought she was a lunatic.

"Sorry about that. I get a little annoyed when I'm in a real bad situation. I'm Toph. Nice to meet you. Um, where am I?"

Without being able to see -- oh. A glance at the girl's eyes answers Terra's question. Oh. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I wish I was wearing pants. Wearing shorts doesn't cut it in this sort of weather," she said to the young girl.

"Hey, Toph. I'm Terra," she greeted back with a bit of a grin. And looks down at the information she had. "Uh... you're in Paixao. I'm not exactly sure where we are, either. I just arrived, too."

"Well in that case we have two things in common: fashion decisions and ending up in a place you never asked to be in the first place!"

Toph grinned in spite of her confusion. "In the meantime, we should take shelter somewhere, someplace where they won't bother us too much. I can't read the map, so maybe you have an idea where we would be headed next?"

Toph liked the girl, but right now she liked getting some shelter more, and not being able to see where these weird people were directing her was a very noticeable disadvantage.

"Good idea. The sooner we get out of this weather, the better," Terra agreed, and she opened up a map to take a look. She scanned through the different locations and the information, trying to figure out their next route "Let's see. There's a couple of hotels we can go to. I'm sure one of them has reasonable prices--"

She paused in mid-sentence when she came across a thought. A very important thought. "You know, since this place looks a lot different than what I'm used to, and it's different from your own home... I'm wondering what sort of money they accept."

"Shoot. I guess you're right. They would want money in this place-whatever kind of a place it is." And this was pretty important to determine. Toph had no clue what anybody or anything looked like right now, and the snow was making sure that she had less of an idea. The snow muffled vibration and that made it almost impossible for Toph to use any kind of intuition.

"See if there's anything on that map that helps us poor folk." She giggled, finding the irony of that laughable, but stopped, knowing Terra would have no idea why she was laughing.

"If there are people like us ending up here for no reason, they probably have money issues, right? So there's probably a place to go if you're down on your luck. Or, you know, we could mug somebody, but I'm thinking you like option A better."

"Yyyyeah. I think avoiding the chance to ruin our reputation ahead of time's a good idea, especially since we need help," Terra said through her laughter. She looked through the map and looked for any place they can get to.

Terra grinned. Looks like she just found something! "There's a place called 'Lady of Lords Soup Kitchen.' Gives you a place to stay, some food, the basics. We can take a look around that distract and see if there's anything else we can go to, too."

((Sorry about the small delay. Internet got tied up and school ate up a lot of my Internet time :\))

"Good choice! I'm already starting to lose the feeling in my feet." Toph grinned, glad that they now had a way of getting out of this accursed weather. "I hope they allow overnight stay too, because as far as i can tell, places like these demand some kind of currency, and I doubt our upbeat personlaities will be enough to pay the locals. Lead the way!"

She offered Terra a wide enough berth to walk ahead, and hurried alongside her, trying to ignore the numbing weather. "So tell me: what brings you to this freaky place? I can only say I was minding my own business atop a really furry creature, and I might have wandered off into some sort of alternate dimension...that, or karma is punishing me for sleeping or something. The way my luck goes, maybe its a punishment for running away from home. 'Course, if its that, I can tell karma to stick it up its rear, because I'm never going back to posh living and pampered prison." She looked over to Terra. "You ever have that feeling you didn't belong, and people were just trying to make you fit into a place that just wasn't you?"

Toph was just making idle conversation, although both girls knew it was a little far from that. To Toph, she was trying to understand what her new companion was about by talking a little about her own experiences. She had a feeling they might share a kind of similar past.

Terra began leading Toph to their next destination, following the map. She wasn't hurrying up since she didn't want to lose her new companion, but she really wanted to get out of this weather.

Taking a glance around the area, she said, "Furry creature? You totally have to explain that one to me." She laughed a little, and thought about how to answer Toph's question without sounding insane. But since Toph had no idea where she was either, she didn't have a reason to make something up, did she? "Me? I don't... really know. Last thing I knew, I was running away from something," she frowned as she recalled her last moments in the last city she was in, "and the next thing I know, I fell into a hole, lifted myself off of the ground, and here I was."

She didn't immediately answer Toph's question, but sh didn't want the pause to become uneasy. She tried to answer quickly, but stumbled over her words. "O-Of course. Er, I mean. Well... yeah. I do. A lot, actually," she said. "You know, I used to be a pampered, rick kid, too. Looks like we're both a little far from that lifestyle now, aren't we?"

"I'd say so." Toph laughed, still rejoicing at not having to be kept under lock and key, under some bizarre impression that she needed protection. "As for the creature, it was a flying Bison, but I doubt that anythng like that is availible in this world. Still, this place might be worth looking into. I'm glad we're both a little similar though, because I just got here and the track record for trusting people yoou just met is pretty low, wherever you go."

Toph didn't add that if anyone tried to hurt her, they'd sign they're own pain, but she barely knew the girl and didn't want to frighten her. "Bet you're wondering how I can move about even though I'm blind. Well, it just so happens that me and the earth get along pretty well. What I mean is-"

Her notebook beeped, and Toph activated it, talking through it and having the device transcript her words. Toph looked quizzical at first then looked over at Terra.

"Hmm, you're blong, skinny and wear goggles, right?"

Terra nodded, forgetting Toph was blind, but the girl felt her movement nonetheless. "Why?"

"There's a girl asking about you. I think she might know you. See for yourself."

"A flying bison? Dude, that's awesome! The only things that fly in my world are birds and bugs.

"Yeah, I see what you mean. It's hard for me to trust people, so it's nice to have someone who's in the same predicament as you." Or at least, somewhere close to it. Terra glanced over at Toph. "Yeah, I was kinda wondering how you're able to--" She paused when the beeping came, and came to a stop when she heard somebody was asking about her.

"... Oh?" She looks over in the notebook to see who it was. Really, who could be wanting to see Terra in a place like this? Terra didn't think she knew anyone who ended up here. But she was proven wrong when she saw who it was, or took a good guess at who it was.

She immediately felt her stomach turn. "... I... didn't know she was here," she muttered quietly, not realizing she was speaking out loud to herself.

Toph heard the uncertainty in her voice and put a hand to Terra's shoulder. This wasn't so much a reassuring gesture (as Toph wasn't sure of the feelings Terra was experiencing) so much as it was Toph trying to tell from Terra's pulse what she was feeling.

"Hmm." Toph was quiet, then blurted out, "She makes you feel a little nervous huh? I figured you knew each other. Well, I'm not sure what'll happen, but she seems kind of just wanting to get reaccquianted with old faces. I'm guessing this place can be pretty lonely without people you know. Besides," this time Toph patted Terra's shoulder with genuine good feeling, "you've got me here in case something goes wrong. I may not look like much, but once we're out of this snow, I can be pretty scary."

Toph figured Terra might just scoff at this, and that was ok. There was no need to show off.

She was curious as to what Toph meant by being scary, but that makes her feel a little better. Knowing that somebody had her back put her mind at ease. She exhaled a deep breath. "Guess if she wants to see me, it must be for a good reason, huh?" she asked, putting on a positive demeanor for now. They still had plenty of time before they reached the soup kitchen.

Terra thought about it, and then asked, "So how are you able to get around? And how were you able to tell I was nervous?" She figured it might have been just the way her voice sounded, but Terra couldn't help but suspect it was due to another reason.

Toph shook her head. "Good reason, bad reason, whatever happens, we'll deal with it. I owe you for guiding me out of this place, after all."

Toph was actually a little amused at the other questions Terra was asking. So she guessed Terra had't thought to question what Earthbending meant? Well, that was ok. Toph figured that where some of these people came from, it might be seen as some form of arcane magic, which was nonsense. Better to set Terra straight than have her think she was a witch or something.

"When you're blind, you have to make up for losing one sense that comes to most people easy. So you develop other things: smell, taste, that kind of thing. Me, I've been really good at hearing: vibrations, pulses, things like that. After a time, I found that it could help me do something else too."

Toph stopped a moment, closing her eyes. Without warning, she brought her hands to her face, arms crossed, then took a forward step with her right palm out, right leg in front of her. The snow before her suddenly shot out of her path and hit a passerby. She brought her left hand back and swept it palm down toward her waist, and another pile of snow hovered in the ait before she sent it too forward in a blast, extending her left arm out, palm up. She brought both hands to her waist, and nodded to Terra.

"And THAT, new friend, is why I became an Earthbender."

Terra watched as Toph displayed these things she could do -- and was surprised. She had a good idea of what Earthbending meant, since she was a geomancer herself, but seeing it in front of her was different. She moved differently than Toph did. Terra easily guessed that her movement looked more sloppy in comparison to Toph's.

The last thing Terra saw Toph as when they ran into each other was an Earthbender. Toph wasn't helpless by any means, at least to Terra, but seeing her display of power impressed her very much. "That's amazing," she said, a wide grin on her face. "Seriously. Not too many people can use their other senses to do things like that."

Hmm. Since Toph was an Earthbender, maybe... "You know, they don't call it Earthbending from where I'm from, but they do call it geomancing. I'm what you can call a geomancer," she said. Although, Terra then realized something: with how her powers work, she wasn't in a position to brag.

Now Toph was able to be surprised. It wasnt that she hadn't sensed a certain scrap in the girl- if anything, she reminded her of herself a little bit, and it was almost unfathomable that they would posess the same kind of power. Toph was only hesitant in seeinf hoe Terra displayed these powers. It was always a good idea to evaluate anyone in your mind by the feeling you got, and if Toph was going to make any determination in what Terra was able to do, she'd have to "see" first hand. After all, a lot from Terra that she got was uncertainty, and if that were the case, it might leak out in other ways too.

"I never knew it was called anything but Earthbending," Toph said. "Well, in any case, if we have a similar power, I wouldn't mind seeing what you can do. Show me?"

"You really wanna see?" she asked. Uh, well, duh. Same powers. "... Well, all right."

She takes her stance and concentrates. Taking a look around at the citizens, she waited for an opportunity to display her powers without hitting anyone. When she saw an opening, she moved her arms upwards, rocks coming out of the ground and she threw them forward, as if she were throwing a ball. She then put her arms downwards and rose them up, taking rocks from the ground and tossing them up into the sky.

She looked to Toph, and rubbed the back of her head. "I can take up large rocks and fly on them, too, but I don't think anyone's going to like it if I made a bit ditch in the middle of the street," she said.

"I'm glad you realize that." Toph smiled, not condesendingly but more like she was evaluating someone. "You know, you really aren't half bad so long as you really out your heart into it. Oh, and you could use a little discipline...otherwise, you might hurt somebody right? But the power is all there: it really is my luck we wound up seeing each other. If I were along, there'd be no way I could show anybody what I can do, and I doubt you could either. Any way, maybe its fate or something."

Not that Toph believed in anything silly like predestined providence. "At any rate, we better hurry on to the soup kitchen, because after both of our displays, I think I feel pretty hungry. While we're there, we could meet that friend o yours and see what else we could find about thjis place, right?"

Toph flashed a genuine grin, glad to have met a girl who resemble her a little, even down to their size.

"You think?" she asked, feeling relieved. Sure, hearing that from the Titans, er, other people reassured her, but it was different when it came from another geomancer -- er, Earthbender. "You know, maybe it is fate. Not that I like thinking of things like that." Because if fate and destiny really were literal, fate probably hated Terra at this point in her life.

"Oh! Yeah, we really ought to get going. We really need to get somewhere warm, too. At this rate, my legs are going to start turning blue," she laughs. And if Toph notices, Terra was ready to lead her back down the path to the soup kitchen. "And who knows? Maybe she can give us the tour of this place if things go well between us," she said, trying to be optimistic about meeting Raven.

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Start of Something New [Closed]

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