Day 216 [Open] | Business as usual!

[dragonform]

Who: Ryu 3, Open
Open: Open
When: Day 216
Where: The Forge/Aoi's Pool/The Onsen
What: Ryu is getting used to life back at the Bastion, but there's still some things amiss.
Format: Will match!
Warnings: Dergons


Ryu is up and about, his recovery has proceeded quite well for someone in his poor state.  While his physical injuries and balance issues are mostly done and gone, there's still the matter of replacing his gear.  Especially with his sword lost, this has left him with going to the forge, trying out a variety of different weapons.  Even some of the ranged options, which Ryu might have ordinarily never considered before.

It's here people might find him using one of these weapons with varying degrees of success, though he finds himself drawn back to swords whenever he ventures into anything he might consider too exotic.  Perhaps you can help him make up his mind, or just chat it up with one of the resident dragons of the Bastion.

---

His habits of regaining his physical prowess have led him to try swimming a bit more often, though he's cautious to go out too far into the deep end.  After all, he can't swim very well.  He knows Aoi would be a fine teacher, but he hasn't had a chance to speak with her since his departure onto the Skyway.  He figures she's probably bound to show up sooner or later, given her natural affinity for swimming.

Though while he's trying to get the hang of swimming, he'll welcome any company that might come by the pool to see just who's making all the waves.

---

Ryu's day after all is said and done closes at the Onsen, where he's keen to relax  in the heat while the aches and pains of his body are soothed.  The times he spends visiting the Onsen are usually in quiet contemplation.  Be it something someone said, the day's events, or whatever it is he tends to mull over in a given day.  If your timing is right, you might catch him in the Onsen, or on his way home.  He's certainly looking a lot better and walking mostly straight without his walking stick.  He seems to be in a good enough mood to talk, at least.

Comments

[dragonform]

Ryu shakes his head, it was a long time ago for him. "I cut them both down with my own two hands. And some years later their organization was completely dismantled. Nina had headed up an investigation and almost arrested the entire organization from her own initiative." From the way he speaks, it's pretty clear just how highly he thinks of her. "In fact, the first time I saw her again after Angel Tower was because she was arresting the Mayor of McNeil village. He put his goons out to attack us because my brothers and I were tricked into robbing him."

Though while the organization and pretty much all of its members were dead or arrested, there were still some matters that couldn't be overlooked. "I was always more angry they tried to kill my family than anything else. But we all survived somehow. I found Rei almost a decade later, and Teepo..." He trails off, frowning for a moment. "Sorry... It's a little harder to talk about him."

[daughterofursa]

"You don't have to." Teepo--that was the brother he'd been forced to fight, wasn't it? Zuko never had many qualms about fighting her sister, but she imagines it's very different for those who actually have a caring relationship with their siblings.

"...your friend Nina sounds like a capable leader." Would he rather talk about her?

[dragonform]

Ryu nods in thanks. "She wanted to see the world, she felt like her parents didn't understand the way the world worked outside of their castle."

And perhaps what endeared her to him most? "She always believed in me. No matter what anyone else thought of me, she would always proclaim 'Ryu isn't a bad dragon!' and anyone who thought otherwise was gonna get a stern talking to." He adds with a small laugh. "The king had it in his head I was a crook and kidnapped her from the castle, when in reality she left of her own free will. When Garr said there was a possibility I might die at Angel Tower, she wasn't going to have any of it. I think... Without her, I might have turned out to be a very different person. When everything seemed so confusing and terrifying, she was there to remind me what was important. I wanted to protect her at any cost."

[daughterofursa]

"It's important to have people like that." People who believe in you and support you, especially when you're having a hard time doing it for yourself.

"Although, it's hard to imagine you being a bad person. I'm sure you would have been different, but not that different."

[dragonform]

"Some of the memories are a bit fuzzy, but... When I had less control over my power, I did end up killing a few innocent people. And when my brothers and I were younger, we were stealing from the villagers to get by." He admits, looking a little uncomfortable in doing so. "They were none too happy with us, especially with the harvest that year being so lean. But they changed their tune about us when we killed a monster that was attacking the village and tearing up the crops."

"But after I grew up, I tried to put all that behind me."

[daughterofursa]

Zuko is quiet for a moment before admitting, "I've stolen before, from good people sometimes. I never paid them back like you did."

[dragonform]

"It wasn't like we were selfless about it. We got caught by a woodsman named Bunyan who lived close to our house. He made Rei go up alone, so Teepo and I followed him. I later found out Rei had an ability similar to mine, and that he would have been able to handle the Nue just fine on his own."

[daughterofursa]

"Selfless or not, you still repaid a debt, didn't you? There are a lot of things I never got to make up for."

[dragonform]

"I think you were just like us. You wouldn't have stolen from anyone unless things were really that desparate." He answers with a shake of his head. "I don't think you're a bad person. Just some mistakes, same as me." Hurting people, on the other hand... He's still carrying quite a bit of guilt about that.

[daughterofursa]

Zuko shakes her head, because Ryu doesn't really know what he's talking about.

"I wasn't desperate. I was angry. And I've made a lot of mistakes. I know... I'm doing okay now, but I don't want to make any excuses for who I used to be."

[dragonform]

He takes the information she's given. The more he learns about Zuko, the more she talks about just how much she regrets doing. "What was your life like before the Calamity?" He asks, knowing about Ozai, and a little about her uncle, but exactly what all she was doing before that is a mystery.

[daughterofursa]

Zuko hesitates, but she doesn't think Ryu would suddenly hate her for admitting it. She's convinced at least some of the Bastion would, of course, but not Ryu.

And besides, with Toph here, the other girl might wind up mentioning it off-hand. It's farther in the past for her, and she never witnessed Zuko at her worst first-hand.

"I spent most of the past three years hunting the Avatar. The one person who could restore balance to our world. I was willing to do anything for it."

[dragonform]

For a moment, he looks at Zuko as if appraising her and what she's saying. "You almost sound like Garr. He thought it was his duty to kill me, but... Neither of you are bad people. Just different back then, with different ideals."

Now everything was coming into place, with how Ryu perceived Zuko's history. "I think I'm beginning to understand everything. There's no changing the past, but... I wish I could have been at your side to fight alongside you. You deserve better than all you've suffered." He shakes his head, but Zuko is right. There's absolutely no way he could ever hate her. "You've raised your sword in the name of protecting innocent people. Even with your past, nobody can call into question that you have a good heart."

It wasn't really in Ryu to hate anyone, the cases that have happened were extremely rare. He might be disappointed or angry for a brief time, but he wants to make it perfectly clear he holds nothing of Zuko's past against her. In his eyes, she's a fine friend and honorable warrior.

[daughterofursa]

The truth is, Zuko holds it against herself. In her mind, she can never be as good a person as most of those here. There's always a danger that she might slip, though it's not going to stop her from trying. It's reassuring that people here think well of her, but at the same time she feels like she's been deceiving them.

"It's better that you weren't at my side," she says with complete certainty. "It's bad enough I put my uncle through all of that. I can't imagine how frustrating it must have been for him, watching me screw up over and over. I mistook or ignored the advice he gave me so many times."

[dragonform]

Ryu shakes his head, smiling at Zuko. "Friends are still friends, even when they make mistakes. All it would've meant is I'd be helping your uncle give you a push in the right direction."

Even with how bleak Zuko's past sounded, he's adamant about her being a good person. Nothing is about to change his mind.

[daughterofursa]

"We wouldn't have been friends if you'd met me then. I was a real pain, even to my allies."

To say her crew hated her would be an exaggeration, but they certainly hadn't liked or respected her.

[dragonform]

"Hey, if you weren't trying to kill me or sell me off to the highest bidder, you'd already have a step up on most of the people I eventually came to call friends."

[daughterofursa]

"Well, it wasn't money I was interested in," Zuko says, but she doesn't sound convinced that that makes her any better. They could only have become friends after she realized her mistakes, like how they met here.

[dragonform]

"You had your reasons, but you still made amends with this Avatar, right?"

[daughterofursa]

"Eventually. He was a forgiving kid." Even so, she figures she must have really put his ability to forgive to the test. If she'd made any more mistakes... well, things might have turned out a lot differently.