paixaorpg | Air and Fire [Active]

Entry tags:

Air and Fire [Active]

Character(s): Aang and Zuko
Content: An unlikely reunion takes place after Aang arrives in Paixao.
Setting: Niflheim area.
Time: Afternoon
Warnings: None so far.

It hadn't been for very long that Aang had suddenly found himself in what seemed to be an entirely different world. He had been walking for a while now, quite enjoying the scenery. Moments before he had been able to write and somehow communicate with others through the rectangular thing he had been given at the gate. One of the folders had said it was a journal so naturally Aang had to try it out. It took some fumbling but the system hadn't been too difficult to figure out.

The journal was pocketed away for now after he found out it also had a map and had taken a good look at it. Apparently there was a train station somewhere near here and Aang deemed it worthy of checking out. But for now he had to pass through rows of apartments to get there.

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It had only been two months since Zuko had last seen the world he came from and already he had fallen into place amidst the city. It was easier to adjust to city life the second time and unlike his previous life in Ba Sing Se; here his past couldn't haunt him and he could openly firebend. Which he was begrudgingly doing street-side for weeks before realizing the people here took anything shiny for money.

Without the need for money, anywhere to be or even Uncle to keep him company, Zuko had wound up spending his days in training. After all, he never knew when he might wake up back home.

Zuko had spent the day the same way he had most of his days in the city; dodging through the alleyways, climbing buildings and firebending about. He made attempts to stay subtle but even when seen, the citizens might give a disapproving glare but they'd never do anything, what a bunch of koala-sheep.

As he made his way toward the apartment, Zuko noticed a rather jarring obstruction between him and his residence, a ghost from his past, dressed in bright yellow the Avatar himself walking right towards him.

He couldn't hide now, could he? No.. He could fight him, but what good would that do? Zuko was a traitor to his nation now, not even the avatar could redeem that and how was he planning on returning anyhow? Was he recognized already? Maybe not.

Zuko turned around in place and swung a bag of groceries over his shoulder to hide his face and made it about three steps before realizing he was still dressed in earth kingdom clothing.

Luckily for Zuko, Aang had been too distracted to notice him at first. A child and his father had caught his attention and made him pause in his footsteps. The way the two were interacting reminded him of how he and Gyatso were a hundred years back.

It was a sad thought, then again just thinking about the past made him sad and angry with himself. But then, if he had stayed instead of running away like he had, he would never have met Katara and the rest of his traveling companions and he was glad he did.

He was alone right now though, alone in a strange but beautiful city. He just hoped that maybe his friends had somehow gotten here too. He gave the two a sad little smile before looking back to the road, it was then he noticed something familiar. Aang blinked and squinted his eyes at it, just in case he was seeing things but he wasn't. He still recognized the Earth kingdom clothing he was seeing.

"Excuse me!" Aang yelled out with a delighted expression on his face as he quickly made his way over to the person who was wearing the familiar clothing. "You're from the Earth Kingdom, aren't you?" He asked as he stopped right behind the person, staring at his back with hopeful eyes.

Well now what, Zuko wondered to himself and finally decided that he might as well get the most awkward moment of his life out of the way and after a short pause responded to his former quarry while turning to face him, "No, I'm not, but there's some girl on the journals who is."

Zuko had spoken in a calm raspy voice, but inside he was feeling much more like he had just stepped off a cliff.

"Zuko!" Aang let out a yelp of surprise and took an instinctive step back. His eyes widened in shock as he stared at the person who had practically chased him around the world. Why was he wearing those clothes? More importantly, why was he here? It was also quite a surprise Zuko hadn't turned around, gotten angry (although Aang never quite understood why) and attacked him yet.

Instead he had calmly spoken to him and it was because of this response that Aang ignored the urge to turn and run. He slightly relaxed his stance as he looked up at Zuko, obviously confused.

Something was missing too, the Avatar concluded as he glanced around Zuko for a moment. Nope, the old man that was usually with Zuko was nowhere in sight. Did that mean Zuko was alone?

"Why are you here?" Aang eventually asked, the tone in which he spoke not an unfriendly one but more of the apprehensive kind. He then realized what exactly it was what Zuko had said and his expression brightened in an instant. "Toph's here!?"

Aang's reaction did little to make this any easier, but it did give Zuko a bit of pride and an off-kilter joy that he still garnered such respect and shock and it manifested as a brief smirk across the the ex-prince's face.

Smirk intact, Zuko did his best to defuse the situation, "Relax, catching you wouldn't do me any benefit, here or anywhere."

However, he lost that smirk once he realized that he was asked what might possibly be the most obvious question and Zuko switched back to his traditional, slightly-miffed self.

"You think I wanted to come here? Everyone just wakes up at the city gates and gets stuck here, there's people complaining all over the message boards or did you pass up that or and just 'avatar' in here?"

Actually, He hadn't thought about that much, but there was a very high chance he was stuck in some sort of spiritual mix-up and that the Avatar would have just avatar'd in here and maybe he knew a way out.

Zuko dropped his tone just in case he was ruining his chance at escaping and continued the conversation, "I don't remember her name just that she was some earth kingdom girl with a big mouth and no vision."

At Zuko's words Aang did in fact relax, the ex-prince had a point after all, didn't he? There was no Fire Nation here and according to some people on the journal there wasn't a certain way out of here either. There certainly wasn't a point in catching the Avatar if the nation that wanted him dead most wasn't even there. Although the 'anywhere' had made Aang wonder whether Zuko had given up catching him altogether. He certainly hadn't seen him for a while back in Ba Sing Se.

"Right, right, sorry," he quickly said as he held up his hands in front of him in a defensive posture. Upsetting Zuko didn't sound like a very good idea, especially now that they were sort of getting along. At least, not being attacked on sight was a great improvement for the Avatar already. "I'm not quite sure which of those it is," he admitted as he scratched his head sheepishly.

Perhaps he had just appeared here like everyone else or perhaps he had 'avatar'd' his way here somehow. Maybe the world had summoned him because it needed help in some way? It could be either and Aang really didn't know, he had only been here for less than an hour after all.

"That's Toph alright," he grinned happily at the news. At least one of his friends seemed to be around here somewhere.

Zuko sighed, even the living embodiment of miracle didn't seem to be much help, but at least he did show that there was hope that maybe Uncle could come through one of those gates some time.

The former prince noticed the weight of the bag he was holding growing tiring on his shoulder. He had picked up groceries for the week on his way back from training and decided he should probably get them inside sooner rather then later.
He sighed once again and choked out an invitation, "M- Do you want to come in for some tea? I mean- I live just right over there... and if you've got no where to go, I can show you where I spoke with that girl."

Aang couldn't believe his ears, Zuko was inviting him over for tea? Was the world ending and had he been too late to save it? It took great effort to resist the urge to openly gape at Zuko but he managed somehow. Perhaps it was a trap then? With the way Zuko was stumbling over his words the Avatar doubted it. He gave the other a thoughtful look before it turned into a wide grin.

"Sure!" Aang enthusiastically nodded, hoping that maybe this time they could be friends. It would be nice to have a friend from the Fire Nation again. With the way the banished Prince was carrying groceries and the fact he had said he lived here, Aang's interest was piqued. "For how long have you been here?"

"This way, then" the banished prince explained as he led his strange new companion towards his home.

"It's been months now. Nobody knows how we got in and nobody knows how to get out, but there apparently is some way in and out. People do it all the time, probably without realizing what it was they did. They disappear off the streets in an instant and no one seems to be able to figure out why. Though, its not too bad once you're used to it."

With that, they arrived at the door. Which, Zuko pushed open and invited the avatar in. How bizarre, he thought to himself that he'd even want to, but they did seem to have a common history and this was the first reminder Zuko had in a long time that he wasn't crazy. At least, not about where he came from.

Aang nodded and grinned as he followed Zuko, looking strangely comfortable given the situation.

"Months? Wow..." He frowned, that must have been tough but on the other hand Aang was also glad to have someone he knew and had been here longer than him explain things about this strange new city. He listened carefully as Zuko told him how people came and went, and once he was finished the Avatar thoughtfully tapped his chin with his staff before speaking again. "It sounds like this could be some sort of Spirit World to me."

Aang eagerly stepped inside, looking around and taking in every little detail like the curious kid he was. This entire situation was strange altogether, coming into a different world and then being invited over for tea by Zuko. If someone were to tell him that back home, he probably would have laughed. At least Sokka would have, hysterically so.

After a few steps, the exile opened the door, revealing a small but well kept apartment.
It was rather sparsely furnished, though it all still seemed to be made with the same intricate detail as everything else in the city. In the middle of the front room, there was a low glass table, it had probably originally been intended as a coffee table, but Zuko had adopted it as his own table, with small cushions spread around it like seats.

Zuko took into the apartment, letting his guest follow behind.

"Go ahead and take a seat, I have to put some of this away" , Zuko offered, while he started to place his groceries in the kitchen. Which, wasn't really so much a kitchen as it was an area with a different style of floor, some cupboards and a stove.

The stove had originally been a mystery to Zuko, he'd never really had the chance to work something quite like it. Though it was a rather simple mechanic to turn the dial and to spark the gas, the timing was a trick he had sooner given up on and took to lighting the thing with a snap of his wrist.

In the fashion just mentioned above, Zuko lit the stove and put a bronze kettle over the flame to heat before rejoining his guest an continuing their session of questions.

"So what had happened just before you arrived?"

"Okay," Aang nodded while taking up Zuko's offer and sitting down at the glass table, putting his staff down right behind him. He looked around the room as he waited, noticing the fine details that matched with the rest of what he had seen of the city.

"Well..." Aang hesitated for a bit, the memory of what had happened saddened him visibly. "Appa got stolen from us on the way to Ba Sing Se. I was just flying around the city spreading these posters before I suddenly got here." He reached into the bag that held some of the last remaining posters and fished one out to show Zuko.

"What about you?"

((ooc: I'm so very sorry for the long wait, Muff. D:))

"You we're in Ba Sing Se?" ,The prince sputtered in surprise before remembering that he was the one who was bizzare to have been in the Earth Kingdom. For the Avatar, a trip to see the Earth King was probably customary.

"Right... I was, in Ba Sing Se before I was brought here, though that was probably before you were there, there probably would have been some word of the Avatar's arrival among the patrons."

((ooc: short post is short, next one shall be superior))

"Really!?" It was Aang's turn to be surprised, though his came in the form of an exclamation. It certainly did explain the clothing Zuko was wearing. He had to wonder how he got into Ba Sing Se in the first place though. After all, he doubted the people would take kindly to Firebenders especially if it were a Prince from the Fire Nation, banished or not.

"What were you doing in Ba Sing Se?" That was the question Aang decided to ask first, he still had plenty of others buzzing in his skull but it was to be expected. Why would he go to Ba Sing Se in the first place? The only reason Aang could think of was to capture him but Zuko had said it might have been before he had even arrived!

The ex-prince paused a moment to dwell on the events that had transpired what now felt like ages ago.

"After the... events at the north pole came to light, Uncle and I weren't just banished, we were labeled as traitors." Zuko explained, sitting down across from his guest.

"There weren't many places left to hide and with all the refugees pouring in from N- Omashu it actually wasn't too hard to slip in. We eked out an existence there for a while before I wound up here. Heh, Uncle's probably still serving tea, wondering where I got myself..."

Aang simply listened for the moment, unable to keep the sympathetic expression from his face. It sounded like it must have been tough for Zuko and his uncle. By the way the ex-prince talked, it was clear his uncle wasn't here so no wonder Aang hadn't seen him. That meant Zuko had been here completely alone for months...That was painful to imagine; being trapped in a different world where there was no one you knew for so long.

"Were you serving tea too?" He couldn't help but ask, somehow the mental image was quite...odd.

The exiled prince lost himself in memory, wondering what had ever happened to his Uncle Iroh or Jin, god he had forgotten about Jin... "Yeah", Zuko answered the young Avatar's question, without pausing to reflect on the repercussions.

Though moments later he popped back to amend his statement, "It was just for a survival sort of thing! It's not like I'm constantly just serving tea!"

With that said, the kettle behind Zuko began to whistle with steam and pressure.
"I should go get that..." ,the prince admitted, his eyes slanted to the side to avoid contact as he stood from the table.

Returning with the kettle in hand, Zuko looked down on his waiting guest and groaned, "How do you like your tea?"

The grin that slowly made it's way on Aang's face was almost big enough to rival that of a cheshire cat's or a particularly mischievous-feeling skybison. It was all he could do not to burst out laughing. It was a funny mental image, Zuko the fearsome enemy serving tea. Zuko had changed a lot though, Aang could tell.

"Very sweet," he beamed up at the prince, the grin replaced with a genuine smile.

Cringing, the prince grimaced inwardly, even after so long, he still couldn't escape his amazing talent for finding the perfectly placed moment to embarrass himself and cause the most damage. It was practically his life story by now.

Relenting what amounted to just another small defeat at the Avatar's hands, Zuko went back to his duties as a host, pouring tea for himself and Aang, making sure to get it extra sweet for his bald-headed counterpart.

Sitting down, Zuko put his hands around the cup, feeling the heat slip through the smooth clay of the mug and into the air.
"This city though, it's not too bad”, He admitted with a smile, “It doesn’t have a war going on.” Though, it wasn’t where either of them belonged and Zuko knew it.

Aang gratefully took his cup with a 'thank you'. Without all the yelling and fighting and random temper flares Zuko proved to be quite the pleasant company. If he were to tell this to his former companions they probably wouldn't believe him and just laugh.

The Avatar blinked in surprise for a moment when Zuko spoke again - was he smiling? Aang couldn't help but smile again himself at that.
"That's great," he said, wishing that there wasn't a war where they came from. It would've been so much better if all the Nations hadn't gone to war although he was probably to blame for that. He shouldn't have disappeared...

"So who runs this place?" He asked as he took a careful sip of his tea.

"Yeah" ,Zuko concurred, drinking a little while Aang spoke. Briefly, He wondered if the Avatar was here, what that would do to the environment back home, but quickly dismissed it, since they were ramifications he would've been more then happy to deal with a few months ago.

At the next question, Zuko didn't have too much of an answer, he knew there were always a lot of people dissatisfied with the government here, but he never read that far into it.

"Uh" he tried his best to recall, "I think there's a mayor and then some sort of committee called the organization, who work less publicly. I don't think it's like a normal government, since there's no apparent Emperor or King."

"Huh, it definitely doesn't sound like a normal government," Aang pondered on this for a moment while sipping his tea. "More kind of like how they run some villages but this place is a city. It's weird." Was his conclusion.

"Do they help the people who get stuck here?" If not Aang had to figure out a way to get out of here on his own. It could be a Spirit World of some sort. Aang knew people could get stuck in those considering the incident where Hei Bai had 'kidnapped' villagers before (including Sokka) and taken them there somehow.

"Are there any spiritual hot spots here you know of?" He suddenly prompted.

"Hot spots" ,Zuko balled his face up in confusion, he'd never really run into anything like that or maybe he had, he wasn't really sure if he'd know if he had.

"I don't know if I'd know if I ever saw one" ,the prince admitted "but, I'm sure there's a lot of supernatural people. Watch the message board on that thing for a while and you'll find more spiritual stuff then you can avatar a stick at; talkative demons, a ghost who hired himself out for assassinations, talking animals, there's even a guy who claims he's death, himself. If you want spiritual, its right on the journals. Just be careful about the people you meet one there."

"Well," Aang hesitated for a moment, this was probably a touchy subject. "You remember what happened back at the Northern Water Tribe? The pond with the Moon and the Ocean Spirits was a spot like that." In fact when you got near that pond you usually got a serene feeling washing over you and it was likely that other spots would be like that too. You could basically feel when you got near one.

The Avatar was about to explain this until the bits about demons, ghosts and talking animals caught his attention. The grin that lit up his face all of a sudden probably already said enough about what he thought of this.

"Whoa! Really? Maybe we could ask them!" By now he had already put his tea down on the table, pulled his journal out and was ticking away furiously, tongue sticking out and brow furrowed in concentration.

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Air and Fire [Active]

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