deercountry | The Times of Change

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The Times of Change - Korra Monthly Log

Who: Korra, mix of open and closed prompts - New CR always welcome!
Where: Around and about
When: Throughout the month
What: As her priorities shift, and still mourning the loss of Asami, Korra remembers departed friends, and promises to keep.
Warnings: Possible emotional stuff, some minor violence.

Promises to Keep - Open to Tinya

She'd remembered, as her emotions began to clear, that she'd made promises to help Tinya improve her own abilities, which meant getting things ready again. So she sent a message over with directions to the home/fortress she and Asami had worked on together - carved directly into a rock face at the far end of the map. Remembering the place before, the two main levels were the home - and then there were bunker levels below the ground that could, in an emergency, fit dozens.

But what needed preparing today was a flattened space she'd carefully worked on herself, right down at the water's edge. A stone circle, broken into quadrants - each quadrant with one of the symbols of the elements carved into it. She'd done that by hand, with hammer and chisel. A labour of patience, which was a good reminder.

With Asami gone, she'd left it be and now she was sweeping the last dead leaves and bits of detritus away from it. It would be used again, today.

Commemoration - Open to Usagi

She's been remembering Rei, now that she's making her opening push to see about organizing a Republic. She could use her thoughts on it, and her undoubtedly pointed questions. She had a way of making Korra consider other points of view that she hadn't before.

Something on the air told her that today was a day to remember a departed friend. She made her way down to the shoreline, a small photo in a frame with her, and some incense. She found herself under a red-leafed tree, which she felt appropriate, placing the items with careful reverence. Then, she folded her legs under herself, sitting opposite the photo, and sighed.

"You know, I really could use your advice these days. You are missed, and somewhere I hope you can feel that."

The Snow White Effect - Open to Snow

She watched the calendar with some dread - each month now would roll around, with Asami gone and...it hurt. Like a part of herself had been ripped out and she had nothing to fill it with. She put on a brave face, especially as friends like Luz suffered their own losses - but she'd known what Asami was to her. Avatars tended to instinctively be drawn to those who they were meant to be near. Friends closer than family, bonds thicker than blood - and often to those they knew to be their soulmates.

She was certain, and the rings she'd had made, now shoved in a box in a storage closet where she couldn't see them, attested to where she'd wanted things to go. And now, she was certain, they never would.

She knew the course she was on would make her enemies - and frankly she doubted she'd survive it. The grim weather on the monthly anniversary combined with this to put her in an absolutely awful mood.

Naga, curled up on the living room rug, lifted her head with an interrogative noise as Korra walked by, huffing in disappointment that her mood still hadn't lifted.

Advocating the Republic - Open

The rest of the month, whenever she could, she made speeches, put up flyers, talked to people - about what a Republic was, what the benefits of it were. It was, she was certain the necessary first step. And she was certain the idea was gaining traction; there were always volunteers to help her now, though the numbers were few.

Always, she hammered at the same theme: people should be free, protected by their laws, protected by those with the power to do so - who should not seek power themselves. That the obedience that people owed wasn't to the Pthumerians but to each other - that by organizing, by working together, they could push towards a day when they could defeat the curses this place threw at them so regularly.

In the moment, she was handing out flyers, chatting with a couple. She crouched down to address their small child, smiling at reaching out a hand when the child did. Korra being Korra, essentially.

And not at all noticing a blood minister, nearby, pulling a knife from his robe. The man himself was...disgraced, of no official standing. Which made him the perfect 'lone attacker', though the question of whether or not his appearance here today was...arranged by others? Certainly wasn't about to be answered anytime soon.

The Shop - Open

And she made time to earn her keep, as well - the glass items shop-cart she had built with Mako's help still made its way around Trench, though less often than it had; Naga still pulling it along, the tiny covered shop on the rest of the wagon still filled with potential glass treasures.

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Usagi was walking up from the waves when she came across Korra and stopped when Rei's portrait was staring back at her from the frame. She inhaled sharply, having just sent her monthly letters into the ocean for the girls and Mamoru. She didn't mean to walk in on Korra's tribute to Rei and looked away.

"She was very good at giving advice," she offered. "Even if it wasn't really advice you WANTED to hear, it was always advice you needed to hear."

Tinya hadn't felt right on insisting that anything happen. If her time in the other world had been a teacher, it wasn't to have expectations. Of any kind. She didn't like the notion of trying to be all that...forward about anything, even friendship.

not anymore, when the previous urge had been unmistakable.

she'd heard that Korra's beloved had left through the grapevine and hadn't wanted to impose herself on anything. she was bad about that, about the not imposing. probably because she was so hungry for friendship herself that she sometimes forgot about the way others may feel.

but that was neither here nor there. she was in grey ballet attire. not white, she knew she wasn't pure enough for it. not black, she didn't consider herself corrupt enough for it. so grey was a happy medium.

she'd went to go to offer to help with the clean-up. if refused,"

...I'm ready when you are.

She looked over her shoulder at Usagi.

"The best sort, much as it can be annoying sometimes," she replied. "Got me out of more than a few situations in the time I knew her. Which wasn't even that long."

"That's Rei for you," she smiles softly, sadly, as she thought of the priestess. Had she made it back home? She prayed she did. "She always got me out of bad situations I somehow put myself in. She'd scold me but she was always there, without fail."

She looked over at Tinya, nodding.

"There's a broom over there," she said, with a slight smile. Sweeping was good practice. The routine of it was helpful.

She grinned warmly at Korra.

"Hmm. Wax on, wax off. Could be worse," then she heads over to get the broom and start sweeping. She doesn't do anything unless she's sure she can do it well. "Why didn't you join the karate tournament? You could have done great."

Chizuru doesn't fully know what's going on here. For one, the idea of a republic - coming from the time and place Chizuru comes from - is utterly foreign. She's caught the talk of it here and there, believing that she heard a message along those lines over the strange devices, but she didn't understand it well enough to comment on it.

Except now she's encountering someone talking about it out on the streets as well. Was it the same girl as the one who was talking about it before..?

.. Chizuru is pondering it for a few moments as she watches Korra, but then she suddenly gets distracted when she sees something flashing in the light. For a second she has no idea what it is, but then the blade turns a little, and Chizuru sees exactly what that one person is holding-- and where he's heading with it.

"M-Miss!" She calls out, startled, hoping Korra realises Chizuru is talking to her and not one of the other women around here. "Watch out!"

"Got me out of my own head, and the number of people who can do that..." she said, with a slight chuckle.

She shrugged.

"Because I probably would have won," she replied, without ego. "And...I don't think it's entirely right for me to fight for glory or profit. I tried my hand at it once, when I was at my lowest ebb and...it was profoundly unsatisfying."

She'd done it as part of trying to...well, find herself was the wrong phrase. It had been a bad time.

What might surprise is that she steps into the path of the knife. Because if she dodges, that puts the child and her family in danger - and that she'll never allow. Besides which, as many experienced combatants will tell you is that moving into the attack is often exactly the right way to start - when the arm is lifted high to strike, there's very little force it can use to push down.

And so she moves into her attacker, a forearm slamming upwards into his while the knife is still high, arresting it's momentum fairly easily. And her free hand forms a fist, aiming upwards into his abdomen. She moves a bit more, then, to, try and get his arm under control, turning it so he'll drop the knife.

"Drop it, buddy!" She takes a moment to nod at Chizuru. "Thanks for that."

"Hmm. That would change one's perspective on such a thing. Are you...doing better now? Not at your lowest ebb? That sounds like a terrible feeling."

And one entirely too close to home. Tinya had been pretty close to that when she was brought from home again. A sick child, a crumbling marriage, and an entire team who seemed to think she was free therapy. It was a heavy load to carry, no matter how hard she tried to make it seem easy.

She gasps the moment she sees Korra moving like that. It's not even like she's never seen the technique before, since Chizuru sure has watched multiple battles at this point - but she just can't help but worry. Even if it's an effective move, it's also a dangerous one, and Chizuru's heart beats with worry and anxiety right up until the moment she notices the knife is no longer coming down or heading directly for Korra.

Even though she might not know Korra, it's not like Chizuru would want to stand there and just see anyone hurt.

And though the situation seems to be de-escalating with the way the other has got that attacker in her grip, Chizuru still keeps a bit of a safe distance for another moment. There's that knife, after all, and Chizuru has her own reasons to not want to get even the tiniest cut in public, even aside from the fact no one likes to get hurt in the first place.

But even though she doesn't approach just yet, she still calls out all the same.

"Is.. Is everything okay now..?"

The attacker is still holding onto the knife, after all, even if it might only be for a few more moments if Korra is successful.

"Better than that, certainly," she continued, finishing a section of the sweeping. She scooped up the leaves, tossing them into the air with just a little gust of airbending, scattering them into the wilds beyond.

"I wasn't sure of who I was, what I could be. Where I was going. Who I wanted to be with. I'd been robbed of all of that. Now, at least, I know who I am. The ground I wish to stand on."

She wrenches the man's wrist a little bit, the knife dropping. She picked it up by the hilt, stabbing it into the ground, deeply, so it couldn't be easily dislodged.

"Looks that way," she said, as others came forward to take hold of the man, assuring Korra that he'd be dealt with fairly. Which made her grimace a bit, though she nodded. This is why a Republic was so necessary - that there be due process, guarantees of rights even for those who transgressed.

She stooped to pick up that dagger, closing her eyes in concentration as she moved, pushing effort and energy into one of her specialties: metalbending. The blade vibrated a bit in her hands and then took on a sheen, turning slowly into a liquid form and reshaping as she pulled her arms back in, reforming itself into a ball, which she let harden again. Featureless, far less likely to hurt someone. Much better.

She offered it to Chizuru.

"Souvenir?"

"She had a way of cutting through the mess in your mind to get to the heart," she offered, smiling even wider at all the times Rei knew exactly what was wrong because well, she was Rei.

"I'm sure she knows you miss her."

"Good. I know from teammates who have been in similar situations, there's no getting out of it without a supportive friend, a change in circumstances, or both."

What had happened with the Rift had been hard on everyone, those gone and those left behind. She had her troubles, too, but it was easier on everyone to pretend like she was doing fine.

"That's a great feeling. Once you have it, it's hard for things to shake you up. That kind of...serenity, I suppose, that's the goal."

She sighed, nodding.

"Spirits, I hope so. She deserves to know people cared about her here."

She turned a bit, offering a hand.

"Korra."

"Is that what you're looking for?" she asked, gently.

It was important to know, from the start.

"Oh! Um.."

Hang on a moment. Chizuru is still way too surprised by everything that happened there. First the attack that startled her, then the way Korra seems to deal with the man so easily, and then finally the way the other girl just straight up transforms a knife right in front of Chizuru's face.

She's used to strange things happening in this place by now, but this definitely ranks up there with some of the strangest things she has seen, leaving her wide-eyed and blinking in the face of Korra's offer.

"S-Sure," she says, slowly taking it from the other. It'd be rude to refuse, right.. ".. thank you."

She stares at the ball for a moment before her gaze returns to Korra's face.

"Sorry if this is a little forward to say, but.. you seem so impressive. The way you handled all of that just now, without even getting scared.. I don't think a lot of people could do that."

Tinya ducked her head a little. Most people didn't understand her unrelenting drive for perfection, but none of them had been raised by Winema Wazzo who was satisfied with nothing less. "Yes, I--I tend to be hard on myself. Like the tournament. I was angry at myself for not winning. Mother says that no one cares about second place. Or third or fourth, whatever ranking I ended up getting."

"You did a new thing," she replied, simply enough, placing the broom across well-muscled shoulders, stretching a bit. "You tried something new, learned from it, and now are a little bit more than you were. Everything after that's just details."

She paused.

"Also, no offence, but your mom's full of it. You cared, right?"

She's had enemies a very long time, really. Even before she'd known about them - the White Lotus society keeping the young, learning Avatar safe from people who would have harmed her.

"Heh, thanks. It's called metalbending, it's...well, you just sort of convince the metal it wants to be something else, to make it simple. And it's nowhere near the first time someone's tried to kill me, unfortunately."

"I guess. I'd never competed like that before. Or at least never competed when it came to martial arts. And, I did learn that I didn't have to depend on my birthright to be effective."

She's trying to talk herself up and out of the hole that her mother would have put her in. She knows she's more than her mother gives her credit for, but at times like this it's hard to overcome the little voice of criticism her mother planted in her mind.

"I cared. Maybe a little too much, but I cared."

Those are both big statements to make. After all, even if Korra seems to almost try to downplay what she just did a little with her explanation, Chizuru still absolutely thinks the other did something wild just now. Chizuru wouldn't even know where to start on convincing metal.. She didn't even talk to it, or anything!

But then there's the second part, and that feels just as difficult to process.

"Why.. would people want to kill you like this..?"

Granted, she knows next to nothing about Korra. But even from the brief moments she's seen of the other so far, Korra seems cool, and strong, and not unkind..

It's only a moment after that question escapes her mouth that Chizuru quickly shakes her head, adding: "I-I'm sorry, I guess that question might be a little too forward..!" But she was so curious that it just slipped out anyway, oops.

"She knows," she offered as she, Makoto, and Minako were still here and Rei knew exactly how they felt about the priestess never mind all the friends Rei had made.

She took the hand and smiled.

"Usagi Tsukino. Nice to meet you, Korra-san," she said instead.

Naga was a very clever girl, which is why Snow was not the least bit surprised to get a call from her. What she WAS surprised about was being told that Korra was in such low spirits. She packed a large pie and some other treats before she knocked on Korra's door.

"Now everyone, be on your best behavior, and don't be upset if you can't come inside."

She turned back to the door.

"Korra! Korra dear! May I come in?"

"Usagi. I've heard the name a few times," she said, slowly standing.

"I think you're friends with pretty much everyone I've met here, in some way or another. Even Maul."

"Cared is good," she replied, with a nod. "Competing is good. Learning from it is better still. Any fight you walk away from is good, too - but better if you figured out something for the next time."

She looked down at the completed circle, then nodded at Tinya's garb.

"And I take it you're here for something specific as a result."

She smiled, waving that away.

"Forward? Nah. I keep asking myself the same one, even though I know the answer. What I do is...try to help people. Defend those who need it, change the things that harm or oppress them. Whenever I do that, somebody doesn't like it. It's just one of those inevitable things."

She fished for some rocks in her pocket, offering them to a nearby merchant in exchange for two apple-like fruits. She sat down on a nearby well edge, offering one over to Chizuru.

"In this case, it's because I think the people here deserve a better sort of government - a Republic. Where everybody has an equal say in who is in charge, and what laws get made. That's always going to threaten somebody who likes things the way they are."

She heard the muffled voice, then the clear question. She was pretty sure she recognized the voice, but wasn't at all sure what they were doing here. But, well, curiosity can cut through even the darkest of moods, really.

"Oh, uh...sure? I can...yeah, come right in."

She didn't look like a hobo in mourning did she? She glanced quickly in a mirror. Ok, good, that might be embarrassing. She didn't like looking a mess, even if she felt one on the inside.

Snow let herself in, taking off her cloak and handing it to her animals who were kind enough to hang it up for her. She handed the giant stag, her omen, Faramund the basket she was carrying. After a 'thank you' to every creature, she moved over to Korra and smiled gently as she grabbed her hands. Snow held them tight before moving to hug Korra.

"Naga said you were upset! What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Usagi blushed a bit deeply at hearing that she was friends with everyone Korra had heard from and then Maul and she merely shrugged, still smiling.

"Ah! Really? Heh, well, I love meeting people. And yeah, Maul is one of my closest friends here... even if a lot of people wished I wasn't," she scratched her cheek. The girls didn't question her friendship with Maul, they knew Usagi was too stubborn about holding out her hand.

"I can be your friend too if you want?"

Edited 2022-06-20 04:30 (UTC)

"I'm still not sure what I learned. Maybe that I got too cocky? I work as hard as I can to try and approach perfection, but I don't know if that's possible."

Her mother insisted that it was, that she was perfect, she wouldn't accept less than perfection. But Tinya was far from perfect.

"Yes. To become better with my Coldblood abilities. I...know someone back home who can use lightning, but none of my teammates could control ice or fire."

Chizuru supposes the concept isn't entirely new to her. People attacking those who are actually trying to do good or protect things.. It happened back home as well. But it doesn't make it any less sad. Korra seems like a genuinely good person to Chizuru so far, so it really doesn't seem fair for her to have to deal with any of this. She nods and hums a little, to show that she understands what the other means, and then takes the fruit when it's offered to her.

Usually that might have been a lot more hesitant, given how awkward Chizuru is with just accepting things when they're given to her, but her mind is on too much all at once here to properly worry about that. Instead she just clutches the fruit between both of her hands, still seeming to think about what Korra told her, even as she moves to sit down as well.

".. I know this might sound a little ignorant." Chizuru is careful to preface what she's about to say with that, especially since Korra seems to be thinking so much about this government thing.

And she knows she herself is far from great when it comes to thinking about anything relating to that.

"But.. if that's the kind of government you want, then what kind of government do we have here right now..?"

It's just that it was at least a little bit more clear to her back home what sort of government they had there. But here? Chizuru isn't too sure if there's anyone telling others what to do at all..

She nodded.

"He seems...less murder-y than he used to be. Which I guess is at least partly your influence. I don't like how he thinks, but...I also don't like making up my mind on a person who can still find redemption."

She smiled, offering a hand.

"As for me, I can never have too many friends. Especially the way I tend to make enemies."

"Perfection is a matter of perspective," she replied. "Once you reach what you consider that final hill - then there's always another hill, coming over the horizon. Perfection is an illusion. Not bad to strive for, seeing how many hills we can climb - but if we obsess over it..."

She nodded. "Well, let's start with the basics. How do you summon your abilities?"

"That's the thing," she said, "there isn't much of one. What little there is seems based around the Blood Ministers - at least that's where the authority seems to lay."

She paused a minute, taking a bite of fruit.

"And some people would say that it's good that way, but there's no protection. If someone tomorrow starts stirring up anger against a minority, what is there to protect them? Or if someone wants to control what everyone does? A Republic is made out of its laws - with people voting for who represents them, and regularly changing it when those representatives don't fit any more."

She barely had time to look down at her hands before she was hugged tight. And for a long moment she's speechless, doesn't know what to say. There's so many questions about how she knew, how she could talk to Naga and...

And none of it matters right now because the hug just has everything else welling up she thought she'd tamped down and suddenly her eyes are filled with tears.

"It's...it's been a month," she says, "since she's gone."

Korra's words make Tinya blush. She's always been chasing that illusion in hopes that if she reaches it, her mother won't be so cruel. She honestly can't remember a time her mother ever said something nice to her, just criticism, biting comments, and the occasional browbeating.

"Well...I think of them. I try to focus the same way I used to when I could phase. Ice is easy. The other two, not so much."

Chizuru shifts a little where she's sitting.

"But people protect each other here, right..?"

It's not even like she's going against what Korra is saying here - though Chizuru is having a hard time wrapping her head around the very concept of a republic, considering the kind of society she came from. She's so used to the shoguns and the emperor just being the boss..

But more than anything - she doesn't want to think of this city as a place where people are unprotected. Because it's sad to think of everyone being in danger, for one, but also since it's scary to think about on a personal level.

"I've been in trouble a lot of times, but people have always helped me out when I needed it."

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The Times of Change - Korra Monthly Log

Commemoration

Promises to Keep

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advocating

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The Snow Effect

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Re: The Snow Effect

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(CW: emotional/mental abuse)

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