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Post by ShadesofGrey18 on Sept 13, 2011 21:21:29 GMT -5
Mamizou noticed Kuzon's expression. She figured that she ought to say something. "Hey kid, I wouldn't worry about your friend too much; he could be somewhere else on Dimensional Island for all we know." Mamizou's tail swished around a bit while she thought. "Y'know, if your friend is here, we could probably help you find him if you want. What'dya say, Mike?"
Michael didn't have any problems at all. "My power could probably help us find him, too."
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Post by DM: Dersite Merchant on Sept 13, 2011 21:48:04 GMT -5
Kuzon did feel marginally better, if only for the thought behind their offer. But he still had a feeling it wouldn't be nearly that simple. Folding his arms with an awkward shrug, he mused, "I dunno... My friend... Well, he ran away a long time ago... The monks never told me why... And then sometime later... someone really important did something... terrible... And I'm afraid he probably would've gotten involved..."
As the second half of his concerns came out, his tone and posture shrank little by little. It was clearly something he didn't like talking about.
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Post by ShadesofGrey18 on Sept 13, 2011 21:55:10 GMT -5
Michael shrugged. "Honestly, that probably wouldn't change much; timelines can be pretty wonky here, too. Mamizou's world is permanently stuck in an era of time that occurred roughly 150 years in my world's past." Michael then started hovering in the air like he was sitting, his feet starting to hurt from standing still for so long.
"So, anyway, could you give us a little backstory, Kuzon?" Michael knew the basic timeline of Avatar, but felt that hearing it directly from Kuzon couldn't hurt. 'Though,' Michael thought to himself, 'I should probably avoid letting slip that his world is a TV show where I come from; that would spark too many questions that I don't want to answer.' "I'm certain that between Mamizou and I, at least one of us can help you out. I have a few other friends here in Dimensional Island I can call on, too."
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Post by DM: Dersite Merchant on Sept 13, 2011 23:02:03 GMT -5
Hmm, they seemed supportive enough. They didn't sound too judgmental or anything either. And in the wake of everything that recently happened, it would probably be nice to have someone to talk to about everything. "Well, OK..." he said casually. "My name is Kuzon, as I already told you, of course. I'm from a middle class family living on one of the outer islands of the Fire Nation. I don't have too many friends, but I did by chance meet an Airbender named Aang when I was little. He was such a flamin' guy, and he thought I was pretty flamin' too, so we got along really well." That nostalgic grin was back on his face. "The two of us, we'd get in and out of so much trouble together," he remarked, ironically echoing the same statement the other half of the duo would make, word for word, around a century later. "One time, when we were younger, we snuck into the local pig pen to ride one of the moo-sows. To the opposite extreme, there was one of our last adventures when we ended up saving a dragon mom's egg from poachers!"
"At the time, my nation was coming out of a huge industrial revolution, and we were doing pretty well economically at the time," he continued. "A lot of people were starting to boast how all our industrial improvement made us by far the best of all the Four Nations." With a shrug, he remarked honestly, "Ah, I didn't know about that. I mean, Aang's been all over the world, and from his stories, the other three nations sounded pretty amazing in their own ways too. Whenever there was time in my schedule, he'd sometimes take me on quick trips to meet some of his other friends at the other nations. There was this one kid in the Earth Kingdom named Bumi; this guy was certifiably nuts! But... in a good way..." He made a so-so gesture with his hand as if subtly asking, You get what I'm saying?
"I always loved when he'd come visit, 'cause we'd always do everything together." With a slight frown, he recalled, "But then one day, he stopped having time to come over anymore. The monks told me he was super busy with stuff at the Air Temple from that point on. With what, I asked; they wouldn't tell me. At the very least, I hoped whatever he was doing, he'd be done in time to come over and join me at the Comet Festival (it's a celebration of the Sun Comet, the big space rock and brushes past the Earth every hundred years and catches fire, increasing Firebenders' powers by a lot)... But then one day, he just... ran away."
Kuzon frowned and shook his head. "I don't understand why he did it. He has so many friends all over who care about him; why would he just disappear?" He sighed, pausing for a moment. But before either Michael or Mamizou had a chance to cut in, he went on. "It got worse from there. Our leader--Fire Lord Sozin--he ordered his armies to take the power of the Sun Comet and... and he launched a huge invasion of all the Air Temples with it. By the time any of us found out about it, he and his top generals told us about a big battle against the 'Air Nation Military', quote/unquote, and how the Air Nomads were cruelly suppressing the Fire Nation's economic growth." He folded his arms again with a scoff. "I spent too much time playing with an Air Nomad to fall for a lie that big."
"Since our current Fire Lord was the first person to do something that major with the Sun Comet, people have started calling it Sozin's Comet," Kuzon went on. "The military had been ordered to fan out and search for any remaining Airbenders that might 'form a violent rebellion' or whatever. And though all of it, I still hadn't heard a peep from Aang. I'm worried that... What if the army found him and...?" He trailed off at that point, but the fear in his tone was still easily detected.
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Post by ShadesofGrey18 on Sept 13, 2011 23:11:09 GMT -5
'Okay... maybe, if I stretch the truth a little...and if I'm careful... yeah. I don't think I can keep everything from him...'
Michael spoke again, saying "I understand what you mean about the 'nuts in a good way,' I have a friend named Marisa who's certifiably insane half the time, but she's a good friend. And... actually, through one of my friends, I peek to other worlds from time to time; I have seen yours before, now that I think about it. This friend of yours, Aang, is he bald with an arrow tattoo on his head? If so, I believe I know what happened to him back in your world; I still don't know if he's here or not."
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Post by DM: Dersite Merchant on Sept 13, 2011 23:21:31 GMT -5
"What?!" The revelation that Michael might actually know a little regarding his long lost friend took Kuzon by such surprise that he was suddenly forgetting common courtesies like personal space. "Whathappenedtohim?" the wide-eyed boy wildly demanded. "Isheokay?"
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Post by ShadesofGrey18 on Sept 13, 2011 23:28:28 GMT -5
'...Yikes, I wasn't expecting a reaction that fiery, that's for sure.'
"Well... I can't be 100% certain due to alternate timelines and stuff, but I'm pretty sure that this is what happened. After he ran away, he was caught in a storm; he and his... bison, I think it was, were trapped underwater. Aang froze himself and his bison in ice. He didn't get freed from the ice for 100 years, if I remember correctly... I think I know why the monks wouldn't let you see him after a while, but that's his place to tell you, not mine; at the least, should he be here on the Island."
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Post by DM: Dersite Merchant on Sept 14, 2011 10:54:24 GMT -5
"A... hundred... years..." Kuzon drew back to a more respectable distance, but his expression was completely blank. His best was frozen and would stay that way longer than most people lived. Sure they said timelines were a little screwy on this universe island place, but... How would Aang survive something like that? How could anyone survive something like that? Even still, if he did survive and escape after that long, the world would be so different... How deeply would that affect Aang? Would it change him? For better? For worse?
Kuzon is unavailable at the moment as his mind is currently blown to bits. Please leave your name, number, and a message, and he will get back to you. Thanks. Beeeeeep...
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Post by ShadesofGrey18 on Sept 14, 2011 13:24:21 GMT -5
Michael looked at Kuzon's blank expression. Though he typically avoided swearing (at least, the more vulgar words), this was one time he would make an exception. "...Shit. I'm seriously regretting having said that."
Mamizou started laughing, managing to say "I think you broke him, Mike! BAHAHAHA!"
Mike shot Mamizou a glare. "This is serious! What would you do if you found out that something terrible happened to one of your friends?!"
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Post by DM: Dersite Merchant on Sept 15, 2011 20:36:00 GMT -5
For awhile, there was absolutely nothing from him...
"Aang... Why Aang...?" His expression and posture were still mostly blank, but he seemed chillier now. Never before had he felt so alone. The few local friends he had were already becoming distant following their clashing views of the Fire Lord's new policies. Even his parents' relationship with him was a little strained.
And his one true friend, the one he would willingly share and do anything with... Now he felt even less sure he might ever see him again. And at the slight chance he did, would he still want to be friends?
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Post by ShadesofGrey18 on Sept 15, 2011 20:45:05 GMT -5
Mamizou chuckled, "Guess you didn't break him after all, Mike."
Michael facepalmed and said, "Don't worry too much; I'm certain you'll see him again. And if we do run into him here, I'm also certain that he'll be happy to see you; from what I saw of the future of your world, he didn't change a bit personality-wise."
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Post by DM: Dersite Merchant on Sept 16, 2011 14:43:46 GMT -5
"How can you be so sure...?" His voice still sounded distant, but it was clear he was coming back. He posture was a little slouched, though, and he wouldn't look either Michael nor Mamizou in the eye. "And even if we do meet again, my nation did cause him a lot of pain... Even if he doesn't blame me, if we do meet again, it would still... well, it would..."
He couldn't quite come up with the words of what he was trying to say.
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Post by ShadesofGrey18 on Sept 16, 2011 17:14:06 GMT -5
"A hunch. But my hunches are very rarely wrong; if memory serves, he befriended Sozin's... grandson, I believe."
Mamizou looked outside. "Hey! The sandstorm's clearing up!"
Michael glanced in the direction Mamizou was looking. "Excellent. C'mon, Kuzon, you're coming with us; we're gonna help you find your friend." Michael extended his hand, palm open. "Whad'ya say?"
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Post by DM: Dersite Merchant on Sept 17, 2011 21:33:40 GMT -5
Taking a deep breath and exhaling, he finally looked upward towards Michael's face. If he's friends with the 'current' Fire Nation royal lineage, that had to be a sign things were getting better. After everything that happened, he knew he had to see Aang again if the chance came. If Michael thought he could help make that chance, he trusted him.
Kuzon reached over and accepted the older man's hand with one word and a sense of determination peeking through the remains of sadness on his face. "OK."
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Post by ShadesofGrey18 on Sept 17, 2011 23:15:11 GMT -5
Michael smirked. "Alright; let's get going! I'm not certain where we'll go first, but I figure that we're bound to run into him eventually." Turning around, he picked Kuzon up onto his back. "Hold on tight, and whatever you do, for the love of God, don't let go!"
Mamizou ran outside and jumped, taking off into the air, Michael only a few steps behind her. Michael did the same, a determined look set on his face.
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