paixaorpg | Why are you gone? [Active]

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Why are you gone? [Active]

Character(s): Kir, anyone who finds him
Content: ~~unhinged~~ Spurred by Jing's disappearance, Kir searches for any clues as to what happened
Setting: Paixao Central Station [J6]
Time: Evening; post this thread and this post
Warnings: Umm... angst?

To say Kir was upset was an understatement.

Paixao had been nothing but an emotional rollercoaster since he'd arrived. Finding out that he'd been turned into a human, then the panic at realizing he'd been seperated from Jing. Although he'd gained a brief reprieve when his companion had finally contacted him over his journal, it had then paled in comparison when Jing failed to show at their meeting place and then the absence of any communication. Saving Timon from Larxene's trickery had given his mind a distraction, albeit a harrowing one, for a few days.

Undeliverable.

When Jing had contacted him earlier, Kir had finally allowed himself to hope that things were finally righting themselves and all would be fine. But hours had ticked by, far longer than it should have taken the thief to catch the train to the Havasu Medical Center, and Kir had been impatient enough to once more try and contact him.

Undeliverable.

And he couldn't. The messages, each one more frantic than the last, were met and returned with a cold, emotionless statement: undeliverable.

Kir could only come to one of two conclusions. If, by the same random chance that had brought them to Paixao, Jing had been sent back to Aquavitae, his journal would no longer be present and therefore unable to work. Yet his mind rebelled that thought. He wouldn't leave me here! We were taken together, we just wound up at different places in Paixao! So we'd be... sent back together, right...?

Undeliverable.

However, the other option was simply inconceivable. Postino delivered the mail in Aquavitae, and for him, "undeliverable" meant only one thing -- that the recepient was beyond his reach, and there was only one explanation for that: death.

Kir was not ashamed to say he'd fled the Havasu Medical Center at these conclusions. To be witness to Timon's happy reunion with his friends, while the fate of his own partner was unknown and frankly doubtful, was more than the former albatross could handle at the moment. His chest was tight and his eyes stung as he tried to get himself under control.

No no no! There must be some other explanation! Think!

Because both current options would drive him mad if he believed them to be true.

In a desperate daze, he made his way to the Joutenheim train station, asking people left and right if they'd seen a teenage boy in a yellow coat, but all he received was negative replies. Finding that the wallet was still in the stolen coat he wore, he shoved money at one of the attendants, and clenched the ticket tightly in his hand while the train circled its way through the scheduled stops and made its way back to the Central Station.

Here he began to repeat the process: find a person, describe his partner, receive no new information. Each repetition hit him harder, until he finally had to sit down against the wall because he felt dizzy and ill.

What's... what's going on? It's hard to breathe...

OOC: This thread is mostly for continuity, seeing as how Jing-mun resigned from the RP, but anyone's welcome to join in. Kir's having a bit of a panic attack at the moment, so he may not be coherent right away. Someone should definitely take him home with them. ;)

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There wasn't much to be said after that fight. She and Sanzo had sat down and had a long talk while Sanzo drank, and he had promised to keep an eye on Terra, who still was unconscious. Toph asked that he let her wander for awhile, and he begrudgingly agreed. It was one of those times Toph preferred to have the ground beneath her feet, even if this place still felt a little fake to her. Getting directions from others, Toph had decided that she'd go to the train station, maybe travel in the train for awhile. It was a stupid plan considering that Toph really couldn't see where it would take her, but it beat hanging around the soup kitchen and she had already eaten her fill. Now she just kinda wanted a place to rest, maybe meditate for a little while.

She heard the bluster of people and headed in that direction, knowing there was no way she could miss the Central Station. There were plenty of people this day, talking and hurrying about, anxious not miss their train. Toph sighed and leaned a little on the railing. These were one of those few times she wished she could see things, just so she'd have something to get lost in for a little while.

She felt someone near her, and felt, even in this crowded place, the anxiousness in his heart. Shrugging to herself, Toph made her way over to him, and bent down a little.

"Are you ok? You seem kinda lost."

Kir almost didn't hear the concerned words being spoken. One hand was clenched in the material of his shirt, knowing he had to calm down or he would make himself sick. It had been something Jing used to worry about: although Kir often displayed normal human emotions, his body had still been that of an albatross. And the power of human emotion, such as grief or even guilt, couldn't be handled by anything but a human heart.

He wasn't sure if that still applied, but either way, it felt awful.

"I... I... I ain't lost," Kir muttered, because he could not answer the first question asked. He glanced up at the girl above him, almost automatically asking, "Have you seen a guy around here, wearing an oran--"

His gaze settled on her whitened eyes and he stopped. "... nevermind," he said lamely. "I guess not."

"Yeah, it was pretty hard just getting here," Toph said, grinning. "You wouldn't believe the kinda junk I had to go through just to get here too. First a friend of mine and I were training, then we come across this grumpy monk, and then we get attacked by this ghost! The weird thing was, I think the ghost got beaten elsewhere, or I wouldn't even be here!"

Toph smiled, then the smile faded away to a look of concern. "Ya know, when you don't have to rely on sight to tell things, you can rely on things you can sense. Like you, I feel like you're close to breaking down or something, and let me tell you, something like that is hard to ignore!v Look at these sea of people- most of them are just walking along, making their stories as boring as their lives. Makes me think there might be something to these so-called nobodies I keep hearing about. But you, you're not a nobody. If you don't mind me asking, what's got you so down? Who are you looking for?"

Kir tried to make himself pay attention when the girl recounted what (he guessed, anyway) were her recent adventures, but it was hard for him to concentrate. The sharp pain caused from trying to breathe was fading back to an ache, but his heart still hurt. So hearing her evident pride at her accomplishments failed at lifting his spirits.

Yet when Toph said he was close to breaking, he flinched a bit. She ain't making that one up, that's for sure...

"I... I'm lookin' for my friend. We got pulled into Paixao together, just to difference places. And we've been trying to meet up for a while, but stuff keeps happenin', and... and now I can't get a hold of him at all and it's like... I know something's happened to him, but I don't know what."

Toph could tell that her attempts to try to cheer him up hadn't worked, and she couldn't help but feel a little pained, if also awkward, that she couldn't cheer him up. Whatever bond this boy had with his friend, it had been a strong one. She was getting to a point where she was running out of things to say, but she really didn't want to leave him alone. He seemed so lonely, so lost...a little like her when she still lived with her parents before she started to secretly go to Earthbending tournaments.

"In that case, we can still try looking for him! I won't be much help, but the more I follow you, the more I can familiarize myself with your footsteps. I can't promise we'll find him, but it definitely beats sitting here." She extended her hand to him. "Toph Bei Fong, earthbender. Pleased to meet you!"

Kir supposed, in the girl's own way, he'd just been told to get up off his ass and stop feeling sorry for himself. He stared at the girl's face for a moment, and then gave a soft chuckle. It wasn't because he felt much better, but it had been something he'd needed to hear.

He took the girl's hand and used it to get to his feet. He was only vaguely amused to discover he was shorter than she was, but if the journey to Paixao had screwed up everything else about him, his height was of relatively little concern.

"I'm Kir," he replied, "but I ain't got a title. What's an earthbender?"

Toph smiled. Something in her had wanted him to feel better, and even if she was playing it by ear, she was slowly starting to understand that sometimes people in this world needed to get in touch with a self they were keeping back in them.

"Glad to hear it. You seemed as if you didn't want to life your face up, you know? But come on. There's so much to look at in this place. Let's see what we can find!"

Toph extended her hand and hoped he saw that she was sincere. She was.

Kir thought it was off that she hadn't answered her question, but shrugged it off as she was simply not one to share things about herself. (Still, if she used it as part of her introduction, one would think she'd be used to explaining it. Ah well.)

So much to look at...? That was an unusual thing for her to say. Maybe she was only partially blind? After all, she didn't carry a cane or anything. Blind people carried canes or sticks, didn't they? He'd never met one.

When... when I find Jing, Kir thought, purposely using a firm tense, I'm definitely gonna ask him. He knows lots of weird stuff, he'll know.

"Don't you hafta catch a train or anything?" he asked, cautiously gripping her hand with his own --handshake?-- and glancing over the crowd. "Or did you just come in on one, and were goin' somewhere?"

It was natural for Kir to wonder why Toph was at the train station-heck, she barely knew herself. She supposed she was lonely, and since Sanzo had left and Terra was still knocked out, she wanted some company. Now that she actually found someone to talk to amidst all the people, she felt more relaxed.

"Nah, I don't have a train to catch. I figure this place is pretty big, what with all the people. As for the earthbending thing, I figured if you wanted me to leave you alone, there was no point in getting into it. Now that I know you're interested, I'll tell you. Where I'm from, some people have the ability to control the elements: fire, water, air and earth. I'm an earthbender, so I can actually move the earth. Because I'm blind, I have to rely on my other senses to move about. The reason I walk barefoot is so I can feel the vibrations with my feet. I actually have a friend who can do the same thing, but she called it something different. Listen...I know you don't know me or anything, but seeing as how we're all here on our own, would you mind joining me for awhile? I have to admit...being without anyone, walking around is kinda tricky."

The former albatross hadn't even noticed that Toph was barefoot until she'd said anything. Kir began to feel like a heel (no pun intended); here he was sulking around about being changed into a human, when other people's natural bodies were certainly more troublesome for them.

"That's a pretty interestin' talent," Kir agreed. "Don't know anyone at home who can do somethin' like that, although there's no shortage of people doin' weird things there."

He hesitated a moment, but he just couldn't turn a girl's request for help down, no matter what. "Yeah," he replied, "I can hang around until your friends come..."

I just gotta keep askin' people about if they've seen Jing in the meantime...

Toph smiled and walked alongside Kir, happy to have the new companion. Besides, he seemed so down, and it bothered Toph a little. Something in how dejected this boy sort of spoke to her even though she couldn't remember a time where she had a constant friend. There was Terra, and she was beginning to see that even though she'd been without friends for a long time, she somehow found some common ground. This made her happy, enough that she flashed Kir a wicked grin.

"Hey, what say we explore this weird city for awhile? We'll just get on the train and go wherever it takes us. Like...I dunno, this place, Promenade Terrace? We can look for your friend there too!"

Toph hoped he'd say yes. She already left a note to Terra telling her she'd be back later, so why not do something to occupy the time?

"You seem awfully cheerful for someone that got stuck here," Kir said, a tad bit suspiciously. "Since you're obviously not a native. You been here long?"

Toph seemed so happy and carefree, and Kir was glad that she was (he certainly didn't want everyone to be going through what he was). If anything, Toph's apparent randomness was just like Jing's was, back in Aquavitae, to go wherever the mood struck him.

"Sure," he said, trying to force a little cheer of his own into his voice. He glanced around, noting the extreme busyness of the train station. "I think... the tickets are that way."

He hesitated, wondering if he should offer her his hand to get her through the crowd. He didn't want to imply she couldn't do it herself, but he also didn't want her trampled. "Uhh..."

"Been here long enough," Toph said, putting her arms behind her head, then giving Kir a look. "I haven't been here long enough to explore everything though. I keep hearing about all the places to visit here, and even though its completely out of my world, better to deal with it as if comes, right? Oh, I can recognize your footsteps. I usually only need to hear them a little bit. If you want though, I can take your hand. Uh...sorry about the whole 'blind' thing. It's one of those annoying little things that make getting around kinda difficult."

She took Kir's hand and went with him to the ticket master. Well, this day was turning out more and more different than what she had initially planned.

"You must have pretty good ears if you can hear footsteps," Kir said, "'cause I think it's hard to hear anything in this place! But you don't need to apologzie for bein' blind..." He thought that was an odd thing to apologize for anyway.

Hands together, they wove their way through the crowd and up to the ticket counter. A quick look at the map, and Kir determined the correct train they'd need, and purchased the tickets with some of the money he had left. If this kept up, he'd have to steal more.

Once they'd found their way to the train and taken a seat, Kir asked, "If you don't mind me askin'... when you came to Paixao... is that what made you blind?"

"No, I was blind since birth," Toph replied, kicking back with her arms around her head. "You could say that being blind is the reason I'm such a good earthbender. Without being able to see, I had to focus on what I was able to hear. Because of that, it actually kinda enhanced my hearing. See, when it comes to earthbending, its all about sitting and waiting."

Toph swung her legs from side to side, and cocked her head. "Thanks for paying though. I think I may have lost some 'currency' while I was in that fight. If you don't mind me asking, what do you look like?"

"Oh," Kir replied when Toph said she's been blind since birth. At least she was used to it, which actually made more sense, given how comfortable she seemed. He supposed it had just been an impulse to ask, given that being pulled into Paixao seemed capable of changing just about anything.

"You were in a fight?" he said, then added indigantly, "who'd get into a fight with a girl, anyway? That's just... ugh, humans some days."

Kir started, however, when she asked what he looked like. Then he thought, I'll bet she has to ask that a lot.

"Me?" His voice came out a bit more dismayed than he would have liked. "I'm, uhh..." He'd never really taken a good look in a mirror since he'd arrived, but he could take a stab at it. "I've got... black hair?" Yes, the same colour as his feathers were supposed to be. "And I think I'm..."

He had already figured out he was shorter than she was. "Yeah. And I'm short. And..."

He didn't know what colour his eyes were, but he hoped they were the same.

Toph laughed a little. "You forgot how you look? Man, sometimes I forget people take for granted the fact that they can do that. I have no idea how I look!But yeah, I was in a fight. Some weird ghost thing appeared and suddenly needed to wreck havoc. So we had to try and subdue it."

Toph sighed. "Where I'm from, being a girl doesn't matter: what kind of bender you are does. If you're a water bender, you're pretty much isolated, and if you're an earthbender like me, you fear for your life more often than not. See, we have firebenders, but unlike the other nations the fire nation seeks power over other by any means necessary. Not exactly the kind of guys you wanna meet, especially if you're an earthbender."

Toph shrugged. "So what's this friend of yours like anyway? He must be pretty special if you care so much about finding him."

"Ehh?" Kir laughed a little, wryly. "No, it ain't that I forgot, it's just... well, I don't normally look like this. In fact... I don't normally look anything like this. That's why I asked if ya got turned blind by comin' here. It wouldn't be the strangest thing that's happened."

"So there are ghosts here, too?" Spirits were nothing new in Aquavitae. "Sounds like you took care of things!"

He listened to her explain about benders and how the different elements seemed to hold different ranks. "Sounds like the kind of plot you'd find in Zaza," Kir mused.

But he was a little selfishly glad that Toph couldn't see his expression when she brought up his friend. "His name's Jing. Back home, we're partners... we've been together for years, and I look out for him, 'cause he's always gettin' himself in trouble. I know he can take care of himself, when it comes to savin' his skin, he's got all sorts of tricky little moves. But sometimes, he gets a certain way, and it's not good for him and that's when he really needs me around."

He looked down at the floor, barely even acknowledging that the train had begun to move. "Now, I just can't contact him at all, and no one's seen him. An' I don't know if... if maybe this place sent him back home without me, or... if it's something worse."

Toph felt a little bad about bringing up his friend, but she figured as long as they were going to try and look for him, she might at least know what he was like.

"He sounds like my kinda guy," Toph replied. "You know, I had friends i was going to hang with back where I'm from, but I wound up being thrown here. They seemed like a pretty neat group of people too. Ya know, I gotta say its hard coming here, not knowing if you'll see any familiar faces. You just make do with the best you have. If there's a chance we can fight out what happened to your friend Jing, then we ought to investigate."

Toph twiddled her thumbs. Yeah, if there were any familiar people from her world, she hoped that there wouldn't be a firebender among them. She had had enough weirdness being attacked by a ghost.

"If we can't find him, you're more than free to stay with me and my friend Terra. It's not fun being thrown together in a place you've never seen before, but its a lot less scary when you have someone to be just as scared with you."

Kir gave a strained smile when Toph offered him to stay with her and her friends. "Thanks. The people who've got pulled here sure seem to be on the up-and-up, like they're always lookin' out for the other people who've got stuck here. Almost everyone I've met so far..."

"Well, we'll see what happens. I've been stayin' with Timon, but he's met up with his group of friends and it seems like they're all goin' somewhere, so they probably don't want some stranger hanging around."

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Why are you gone? [Active]

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