thebastion | [192 and 193] Look out below, I know there's no decision [OPEN]

Entry tags:

!event

[192 and 193] Look out below, I know there's no decision [OPEN]

Who: Everyone!
Open: Open!
When: Day 192 and 193
Where: Skyway
What: We might be nearing the end...
Format: Any
Warnings: N/A

[Another stretch of time, another period of finding nothing new. It's been left to Zayna and her father now, to complete those maps. Which they've been doing diligently, but Zayna has been wondering if they've reached the end of parts of other worlds being pulled in to the sky above their own ruined home.

That is until day 192. And just like before, there's another three each on two different days.

So they return and like before Zayna offers off the sketches of what they've found.]

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Ah--...

[Quacking? How did she miss that--

No, wait. There it is.]

... I hear it, too.

[A quack? Zuko hasn't heard it, but her attention turns towards the pond a ways off, nearly hidden from view from where they are. Maybe...]

This way.

[The quacking grows clearer as they approach the pond, and sure enough, there are at least half a dozen turtle ducks swimming there. A few of them swim towards the shore when they catch sight of her.]

...I guess I'm not the only one who made it.

[She doesn't know if that makes her want to smile or cry.]

[Ryu follows along quietly, since Zuko seems to know which way to go. But when he sees the turtle ducks in the pond, he grins widely and crouches down next to the shore.]

Oh... they're... cute.

[He kind of wants to take one home. He's not a big fan of water, but surely they can find a place for these...]

Ohhhh...

[They're...

strange.

Adorable. But strange. Ducks with turtle shells?

Zuko your world confuses Rin.

(But then again Rin's world would confuse Zuko plenty)

She inches closer to the water, crouching down and holding out a hand in hopes one of them will venture close.]

Hey there...

[Neither of the people crouching by the shore are Azula, so the turtle ducks seem comfortable enough swimming right up to them. One of them pecks at Rin's empty hand and then looks up at her expectantly. Where is the bread?

Zuko hangs back for a moment. If this little flock survived, is there any chance some person within the palace might have? Or maybe it's just a fluke, like the demon they'd found in Rin's home. There'd been no one to find there.

She returns her attention to the turtle ducks, joining the other two in crouching by the pond.]

They won't fare too well out here, will they? If anything from the Skyway finds them.

No, they probably won't. Should we take them home?

[Maybe his Dragon's Eye will help tame them. Then again, he doesn't know how to intentionally make that work.]

If they'll follow us, at least. Do we have any food that we can give them?

Oh, yeah.

[She could tell the one pecking at her palm really wanted something to eat, and Ryu just confirmed that. She couldn't imagine there was much left here for them.

And once they left, the skyway creatures were going to get in...

She shrugs her bag off, digging through the pockets until she was able to pull out a large cloth wrapped bento box. The food inside wasn't nearly as Japanese as the container would have suggested, but freshly baked bread was among the meal.

She sat down properly with the box in her lap, tearing off chunks of the loaf to hand to Ryu and Zuko, taking a bite of her own before putting some crumbs in to her hand for the turtle ducks.]

There ya go.

[Zuko follows suit, holding out a handful of crumbs to the turtle ducks. Some of them were content to mill around in the middle of the pond before, but the prospect of food brings all of them eagerly crowding over.]

I don't think we'll have much trouble bringing them along.

[There's something strange, though, about sitting here again, doing something that was so familiar and comforting growing up, with two people who never belonged here. She should be grateful that there's anything left and that anyone wanted to come with her, but this isn't how it was meant to be.

She might be tearing up a little, okay.]

[Ryu holds some out to them too, but moves a little closer to Zuko as he watches her. He doesn't want to crowd her, but he knows how emotional finding these places can get.]

We can sit here a little if you want.

[He's not sure how to do the comforting thing. Nina was always better at that. But it hurts to see other people hurting.]

[Rin catches that. It's hard not to. She's always paying far more attention to what other people are doing over herself anyway.

She picks up one of the turtle ducks carefully in her hands, making it quack excitedly at her, and scoots over so she's sitting closer to Zuko.

She doesn't say anything, but she does nudge the other girl, giving her an encouraging smile.

It's okay to feel sad about all of this.]

I used to come here with my mother...

[Zuko isn't all that used to being comforted. Her uncle would have had some wisdom to offer her now. Mai might have tried to distract her. The way Rin and Ryu are looking at her, quietly encouraging her to let her guard down and just feel however it is she's feeling... She can't. A part of her still feels like she doesn't deserve it, or doesn't need it.

And a part of her just needs something to fight against.]

That was a long time ago.

[She sniffs, doing her best to pull back the tears, and then shoves what's left of her bread at Ryu and gets to her feet.]

I'm going to have a look around.

[Ryu blinks in surprise, and tilts his head slightly as he tries to silently get Rin's attention. He doesn't know how to do this. Zuko needs someone to help her, but he doesn't know what to do.]

[Rin returns it with a "don't look at me, I suck at this stuff too!" look, but after a moment she sighs and sets the turtle duck down.]

Stay here.

[They'd need advance warning if anything mean tried to come through that gate.]

Hey! Wait up.

[Zuko slows a few steps and glances back at Rin, but she doesn't stop. She doesn't know what she expects to find, but it's important to look, right? Important to be thorough when this could be all she ever gets. The turtle ducks are something, one little living piece of home.]

There probably isn't much of use here, but I figured we'd check.

[Her voice is still hoarse. Maybe it hurts so much because she spent so long trying to get back here, even before the Calamity. This isn't the first time she's lost everything. It's just that this time, there's no promise of getting it back. Finding the Avatar had been the slimmest hope when she'd started, but it had been something.]

[Ryu doesn't know how to girl, though. He just sits with the turtleducks, feeding them. Who's a cute little animal? You are! You are!]

[Of course he doesn't...]

Y'can still bring stuff back, if you want. Even a little thing. Somethin' to decorate your room?

[A reminder of home, a small piece of it to have amongst all the other things that are probably still so foreign to Zuko.]

[Ryu, this is not about how to girl. It is about how to Zuko.]

This isn't about decorating. This was my home. My destiny. I was so... sure that this is where I was meant to be.

Now look at it. I'm supposed to rule over a bunch of turtle ducks?

[She winces after she says it, because she really is glad to have found them, and she knows she has no reason to be angry with Rin. She just wants a lot of things she can't have.]

[He doesn't know how to do that either. He picks a turtleduck up and puts it in his hair. ... It's very wet.]

[Ryu please.

Also owch Zuko, she's just trying to help.]

I know that. But what the hell else are you gonna do? Gettin' pissed off ain't gonna bring any of this back for any of us!

[Wet turtle duck will also be trying to eat Ryu's hair.]

So I can be sad, but I can't be angry? It's like the universe is laughing at me.

[She glowers at nothing, and turns away.]

I know you're right.

It's just... hard to let go.

[Feeling angry or sad, feeling anything at all isn't going to change the facts. The only thing she can even try to change is how she deals with them. She was never good at that.]

[... Oh. He'll just. Gently try to tug it out of the cute animal's beak. Hair is not good for you.]

You can feel whatever the hell you wanna feel, Zuko. The fuckin' universe is laughin' at all of us.

... I ain't tryin' to be a bitch but. You're not the only one who had their whole life interrupted. And yeah, it's fuckin' hard to let go. But I'm tryin' to find ways to do that. For me it meant takin' some of those parts of my old life back to my new one.

If that doesn't work for you, fine. Don't do it. It was just a suggestion anyway.

[Rin is... reasonably irritated at getting snapped at, but Zuko did backtrack and say she was right, so she's trying to keep herself from completely going off on the princess.

It's not easy, though. Every time she goes on one of these treks she's reminded just how powerless they all are in this.]

I'm here 'cause I don't want you do deal with this alone, okay?

[Zuko bites her tongue, managing to hold back any remarks about how Rin wasn't about to lead a nation, how she didn't have to feel responsible for the loss of her entire people.

Anger has been her way of dealing with things for a long time now, and it's never really worked out that well. Arguing with Rin won't make her feel any better; it'll only alienate the closest thing she has to a friend right now. Especially when she's probably wrong.]

...it wasn't a bad suggestion. [Maybe if she has a few things to hold onto, it'll make letting the rest go easier.]

Let's check the rest of the garden. Then we'll go.

[This side of the garden is empty, unless they want to dig up the flora. She turns to walk back towards the only real building on the grounds, on the other side of the pond. It's ruined on one end where it would have connected to the palace, but there might still be something in what remains. A banner at least.]

[Ryu puts the turtleduck down gently and goes to find the other two. They can swing past and get the turtleducks later.]

[Fortunately, Ryu walks pretty quickly and catches up easily, waving.]

You guys okay?

[Maybe not, but Rin has had to feel the loss of not just one world, but two worlds. Assiah and Gehenna are both gone and maybe demons weren't the friendliest creatures in the universe but she still came to recognize them as her kin.

Just like Night had been...

The conversation is over now, though, and she just follows wordlessly, hands stuffed in the pockets of her pants as Ryu joins them.]

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