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Post by DM: Dersite Merchant on Aug 19, 2011 16:23:43 GMT -5
Hot, dry, sandy, and deteriorating. Those words were easily the best to describe the odd stone ruins. In the middle of the broken down and half-exposed entry hall laid a young, kinda chubby looking boy, appearing in his preteens, with tan skin, amber eyes, black hair, and clothes in varying shades or red or gray.
The boy slowly came to, pulling himself into a setting position and rubbing his eyes. Where was he? He stared around curiously around the room and at the desert that could be seen outside. The boy sure didn't know of any deserts in the Fire Nation, that's for sure. Could he be... in the Si Wong Desert? ...He remembered his friend Aang once talk about it before...
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Post by ShadesofGrey18 on Sept 9, 2011 23:31:46 GMT -5
Meanwhile, just outside the ruins, two people (or, if one wished to stretch it, one and a half people) landed; the desert was getting far too hellish for their tastes, so they decided to stop for a break. Michael took a swig from his water bottle, thoroughly exhausted from the recent chain of events.
'God dammit, Yukari; it's just like you to send us back in separate groups...' he thought to himself.
Mamizou took a drink from her sake bottle; she wasn't much better off, in spite of being a Youkai. "Hey, Mike! Let's get outta this sandstorm, quick! Those ruins don't look that safe, but they're probably better than nothing."
Michael shouted back, "Yeah! Let's go!" The two of them then ran out of the storm, into what safety the ruins provided.
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Post by DM: Dersite Merchant on Sept 10, 2011 22:01:56 GMT -5
Staring walking around the room to get a better look at his surroundings, the boy took notice of the various remains of artifacts lying around. It was clearly what was left of some ancient civilization from long ago, but he couldn't figure out what.
Wait, what if this wasn't the Si Wong Desert but the remains of one of the Sun Warriors' ancient cities?!? His father told him so many stories about the fabled first human Firebenders and held their ideologies in high regard. As such, he'd always maintained constant care to stick to the art's basic roots while training his son to bend, slow as his progress admittedly was.
It suddenly became apparent that a storm had kicked up outside. Boy, it was a good thing he was inside.
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Post by ShadesofGrey18 on Sept 10, 2011 22:07:51 GMT -5
Michael and Mamizou had managed to get sufficiently far inside for the sandstorm to not reach them; they were currently observing their surroundings.
All of a sudden, Mamizou's ears perked up and Michael jerked slightly. They turned to each other and simultaneously whispered, "Did you hear that?" Michael unsheathed his sword and they slowly started creeping around, trying to locate the source of the noise.
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Post by DM: Dersite Merchant on Sept 10, 2011 22:37:09 GMT -5
....Nah, it couldn't be Sun Warriors. The place just didn't have the feel he got from his dad's stories. But then... If he wasn't in the ruins of some Sun Warrior place... What was he in the ruins of?
Backing up slightly, the boy failed to notice he wasn't alone in the room anymore and that someone else was some distance behind him...
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Post by ShadesofGrey18 on Sept 10, 2011 23:23:21 GMT -5
Michael jerked again. 'Yep; we're not alone here.' Michael then decided to try and find the extra person; he signaled to Mamizou to wait and hide. Using his sound manipulation power to mask any noise he would've made, he snuck closer towards the mysterious person.
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Post by DM: Dersite Merchant on Sept 12, 2011 20:49:25 GMT -5
Taking a few more steps backwards, the boy continued to stare around his surroundings, soaking in everything. Well, everything except what was behind him.
One second, he was taking everything in. Next, he suddenly realized he'd backed up against something... no, someone... someone?! The boy yelped in shock and jumped forward, wheeling around. Great spirits, how could he not notice there was somebody else here?
The wide-eyed boy immediately took a defensive position, staring unblinking at the individual that just showed up in the middle of nowhere. Inches from his outstretched hand burned a small ball of fire in midair. If one were to put words to his posture and expression, they'd probably be something like, D-D-Don't try anything funny. I-I have f-fire and I'm not afraid to use it... He didn't actually say this, of course, but he might've said something like that.
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Post by ShadesofGrey18 on Sept 12, 2011 21:25:39 GMT -5
Michael held his hands open (after resheathing his sword) and said, "Whoa, whoa! Easy; I'm not gonna hurt you." 'Huh... just a kid... wait a minute...' Michael extended his hand. "My name's Michael. Michael Neilsen. What's yours?"
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Post by DM: Dersite Merchant on Sept 12, 2011 21:36:41 GMT -5
Michael? Michael... Neilson? That was a weird name; at least not like any he'd ever heard before. He didn't know too many people who had a family name either, though it was far from unheard of. Still, this 'Michael' clearly meant no harm as he suggested. The boy relaxed, letting the flame die as his arm flopped down.
"Oh, uh, my name?" He mumbled shyly, as if unsure if he should. He was sometimes a little wary around strangers (older strangers in particular), but... he didn't seem really seem that bad... not really. "It's... Kuzon..." he finally said. "...just Kuzon..."
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Post by ShadesofGrey18 on Sept 12, 2011 21:42:36 GMT -5
When Kuzon gave Michael his name, a spark of thought started working in his mind. 'Kuzon, Kuzon, Kuzon... that name sounds familiar... but where from.... Ah!'
Michael opened his mouth to say something, but before he could get any words out, Mamizou popped out of nowhere right next to him. Needless to say, Michael nearly jumped out of his skin.
"Gah! What the heck, Mamizou?! Give a guy a little warning next time!"
Mamizou was too busy laughing to respond. Michael facepalmed and turned back to Kuzon. "That flame... what is that?" Michael knew what it was, of course; he had watched "Avatar: the Last Airbender" quite frequently when he was younger, but felt it best that he didn't reveal things he shouldn't know.
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Post by DM: Dersite Merchant on Sept 12, 2011 22:07:43 GMT -5
Michael seemed to have a curious reaction to his name... but Kuzon couldn't quite read what it was. It didn't matter anyway; some woman named Mamizou suddenly appeared startling him. Kuzon did his best to suppress a chuckle, though the humor of the moment did loosen him up a bit.
The flame? Oh, the one he made? "Oh, this?" he asked casually, holding his palm upright to conjure another one. "Well, I just... made it; I am a Firebender... Not that great of one, but ah..." he shrugged matter-of-factly.
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Post by ShadesofGrey18 on Sept 12, 2011 22:24:25 GMT -5
Michael then thought to himself, face unchanging, 'Aha! I thought so. This guy never appeared in the show, but he was mentioned by Aang. This must be his old friend.
Mamizou spoke up, her raccoon tail swishing behind her. "Hey Mike, what's with the light show?"
Michael gave Mamizou a bemused look and said, "You heard the kid, didn't you? He's a Firebender. I've heard about people capable of bending the elements to their will, but I'd never seen one before today. Heheh; I guess you could consider my power to be something like that; it's a bit of a stretch, but..." Michael shrugged.
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Post by DM: Dersite Merchant on Sept 12, 2011 22:39:03 GMT -5
Kuzon cocked his head, staring at Michael... There was something strange about this man. "Wait... You've never met a bender before?" he asked curiously. An oddity in itself, considering there were benders all over the world, but then, "...yet... you have a 'power'... like bending?"
Needless to say, the young Fire Nation boy was a little lost.
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Post by ShadesofGrey18 on Sept 13, 2011 8:17:22 GMT -5
'Well, I guess I have to explain, anyway...' Michael sighed in his mind.
Michael noticed the perplexed look on Kuzon's face and said "...I take it by your expression that you have no idea where you are, exactly? Well... I'll try to explain, but it's a little complicated."
Michael knelt down by a sandy area and started drawing some pictures; Mamizou started chuckling because they were not very good.
"Cut me some slack, here! I'm no artist."
Michael had drawn four pictures: A circle with some landforms on it, a place surrounded by something, the Four Nations, and another large collection of landmasses.
"Okay. This place is called Dimensional Island." Michael pointed at the second collection of landmasses. "This place is basically the place where all the different worlds meet, like yours..." at that, Michael pointed at his (kinda crappy) drawing of the Four Nations. "Mine..." Michael pointed at the circle with the landmasses. "...And Mamizou's." Michael then pointed at the circle surrounded by something.
Michael then said, "And as for my power, I developed it when I was brought from my world to Mamizou's. I suppose, if you stretched the definition, I could be called a Soundbender." At that, Michael snapped his fingers at a large rock sitting in the middle of the floor; the sound wave that he amplified shattered the rock.
Michael turned back to Kuzon. "Does that make sense at all?"
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Post by DM: Dersite Merchant on Sept 13, 2011 14:19:39 GMT -5
Kneeling down to watch, Kuzon listened to Michael's explanation. Frankly, all this talk about different worlds converging was quite mind-blowing... Yet it reminded him of a time before when he and his old friend from the Air Temples would have hypothetical make-believe discussions (like about if that were this way or this and that would've happened instead) for fun.
Just think... the young Firebender thought in wonderment. What it there were other worlds where even some of our wildest made up scenarios actually happened?
Michael then explain his power: that of a Soundbender. Kuzon watched in amazement as he snapped his fingers at a rock and amplified the soundwaves to the point that the rock crumbled under the pressure. Kuzon stared at the awesome display, which he found positively, "Flamin..."
The boy thought it all over as Michael asked if he understood it. "I guess..." he admitted.
Thinking back to the Soundbending display, Kuzon remembered something. "I had a friend... An Air Nomad... from around there..." he explained hesitantly, pointing out the spot in Michael's crude map of his world where the Patola Mountain Range would be.
"He had this flamin' hot trick he could do with his Airbending that allowed him to amplify sounds, like his voice, by bending the vibrations in the air..."
He chuckled quietly, thinking of all the crazy mischief the two got into together... But then as Aang came to he front of his mind... a kinda sad and hollow feeling came with it. Kuzon frowned and sighed a little.
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