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Avatar Arrival

Character Name: Korra log - OPEN

Who: Korra et al
What: What the characters are doing.
When: When the characters are interacting.
Where: Where the characters are interacting.

Content Warnings: None, will add if needed.

Washing Ashore - Closed to Team Avatar

She remembered floating in the water. Having been...herself, then something else, then herself again. But it all floated in front of her mind like leaves on the stream, there one moment and gone the next. Nothing she could focus on. She had, after a time, watched ashore. She had felt the water of a tide washing over her form, chill and...familiar. It felt like home, like the Pole; the cold water she had swam in when she was a child. It was not the sort of cold that bothered her, but it was strange. Where was the sun?

There had been greeters - or had supposed to be there - but their process was...interrupted. Because alongside Korra, the vast bulk of Naga had washed up. And while the mighty legs of the polar bear dog were still unsteady, her jaws were still powerful - and she drew herself with great effort over Korra, rearing back up as best she could, snarling at anybody who tried to approach. All the greeting committee were able to do was throw a cloak over her - and for a whole day, Naga kept up her watch.

And it was her face that Korra saw first as she smiled up into the strange sky. "Hey, girl," she said, reaching up to pet her face. "Thanks for taking care of me." She knew, instinctively, what had happened.

It took her some time to stand. More to get dressed. She looked through the pack, examined each object with a sigh. She'd been home. She'd been happy - she rolled the engagement rings she'd had made in her fingers, the key consideration of that - but something, and she had a sneaking idea what, had drawn her back in.

Finally, using a piece of driftwood until her legs were steady enough, she began to walk, her free hand holding onto Naga.

"Let's go find our family," she said.

Exploring - OPEN

In time, she rode Naga again. Once there had been food for both of them. She couldn't quite get her mind around this place - it was like Deerington but not...but she felt the same sense of the place. Like there was constantly something wrong. Something foreboding...

In the back of her mind, she felt it. The sense that she should...give up, accept the place. Face the future, turn from the past. It might even have worked, but she was still the Avatar - and the Avatar, even shorn from the direct memories of her predecessors, was a product of the past. To give it up would mean to...shed herself, in many ways.

And either out of stubbornness or will, Korra couldn't do that. Couldn't be that. She would not let this place lull her - she would find out what it was, what it was doing. If it was as malevolent as she had believed Deerington itself to be.

And thus, she explored. In the rest times, she worked on the driftwood she had found, out of some half-forgotten instinct. She could almost feel Aang smiling on her. She used fire, and water, and air to shape it, smooth it, add a shine. It was something to do while she thought, at first. But then it became something to finish.

She could be found many places, either on foot or riding astride Naga - the newly-made staff in her hand. She looked better than she had in Deerington - rested, fit, healed. In a word, ready.

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She smiled, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Weird or not, you're going to be fine. Mako's the best firebender there is. Even better than I am. You're in good hands, and if there's anything he can't figure out, I probably can."

"It's about passion," she added, "but people think that's all fire is. It's intelligence, too. Cleverness. And you're in luck, there."

"Thanks, Korra, I appreciate that," he smiles, genuinely grateful. "And yeah- I guess so? It's still all pretty... overwhelming right now, honestly. I never thought I'd have actual magic of my own, and it's not my favourite thing in the world? I'm still...trying to come to grips with the concept."

But he also doesn't want to accidentally hurt anyone while he's doing that, ergo the training.

"Some other coldbloods I've spoken to have had ice powers too- so if I ever get those, you'll be the first person I hit up, if that's...uh okay?"

He's mostly joking, but come December he sure won't be joking then.

"So long as you have the will to control it, you'll be fine," she replies, "and I'm certain you have that, and the patience."

But she adds a nod.

"Please do - I've been bending ice and water since I was old enough to walk."

"Well, I think I have more stubborness than actual patience, but I hear you, and I've gotta be sure I do it, it's that or let people get hurt."

And he's definitely not about that, thank you.

"I appreciate it, really, I figured you were the best person to go to. I mean- it might just stay as fire, but can't hurt to be safe, right?"

"One can flow from the other," she replied, wryly. "And you're right, it can't hurt."

"Hah, I guess you have a point there, they can be pretty interchangeable," he nods. "That's what I was thinking. Just making sure there's a safety net there."

She nods.

"Good thinking. And it gets more natural with time, believe me. Before you know it, it'll feel as natural as getting up in the morning."

"That's a relief to hear," he exhales. "I've been pretty worried about it. It's really not what I'm used to at all. I'm not super comfortable about the whole thing, honestly, buuuut I'm stuck with it."

"I can imagine," she said. "Sudden changes we don't seek aren't exactly pleasant. But it's nothing to worry about - if it's even vaguely like bending, there's a lot of your best instincts built into it."

"Yeah, Mako said as much, I think it is?" he rubs the back of his neck. "It definitely seems to react to my emotions so that's fun. Trying to get a better handle on those too, I guess."

She held up her hand, and in a moment it was wreathed in flame, which then constricted into a narrow band.

"Firebending, specifically, needs it," she replied, "it's how you keep from burning yourself. It instinctually tends to stay just far enough away from the skin."

She closed her hand, and the flame disappeared, leaving only smoke behind.

"And you'll manage. Passions will fuel the amount, but the subtler ones will give you precision."

He watches this display with wide eyes, nodding at the explanation. He honestly needs all the help he can get and he won't turn away any solid bending wisdom to help him handle his newfound abilities.

"That definitely makes sense. I mean- as elements go it's pretty... wild and dangerous. I guess it stands to reason that emotion is what drives and controls it," he rubs the back of his neck. "Wiiiish I was better at handling those, but I'm sure I'll figure it out. Don't- don't really have a choice otherwise."

"Fire's always two things," she replied, "it's wild and dangerous and destructive - but it's also about rebirth."

She smiled, taking hold of his hand to lift it up, encouraging him to try.

"Fire is a force of creation, Varian. Think about those emotions - the ones you feel when you create something new. Those are the ones that will grant you control, in the end."

Well, that's definitely a good way of putting it. Just like Mako, Korra's finding ways to make this something Varian can relate to on a level he understands deeply. Because this is where Varian has been struggling, control and trying to marry that to his own experiences.

"Okay, right. Creation. I... I think I can get that. "

He takes a deep breath, trying to focus on his hand she's lifted- he's worked with Mako in controlling a fire already created- but purposefully bringing some to life is a little trickier. He flexes his fingers a couple of times- and at first he doesn't think anything is happening. He tries to think about all the things these hands of his has created, good and bad, and how it felt to do that. He flexes his fingers once more and a tiny burst of flame comes out from his palms. It doesn't remain, but it did come at his command and that's the first time that's happened.

He's...actually surprised at how good that feels, brightening considerably.

"Hey, I did it!"

She claps.

"Hey! There you go! And it'll get easier each time, and your control will get better. And before you know it..."

She stepped aside, sliding one foot behind the other. Her eyes closed for a moment as she centered herself - and then she slid forward, one arm shooting up and out, palm upwards, and a gust of flame issued forth, twisting in a vortex from her hand, up into the sky and dissipating.

"Small seeds, mighty trees," she said with a grin.

He looks pretty dang pleased with this. It's not an easy process for him at all, and he's deeply glad for Korra and Mako's guidance in this. He doesn't know where he'd be without it. Probably setting a bunch of accidental fires and causing chaos.

He watches her bend fire and whistles. Okay, that's very impressive.

"I thiiiink I'm a ways off there yet, but that's pretty neat," he's genuinely impressed. "How long did it take you to figure all that out?"

"Fire was the second element that came to me," she replied. "Water was first, because, well, Water Tribe - that and my first teacher was the greatest water bender in centuries."

"So your starting element is the one you're born into? I...guess that makes sense" he chuckles. "Oh wow, so you had a real head start on all of that. That's got to have helped."

"Sometimes," she replied, shrugging her shoulders. "The elements were distributed, well, magically - but people tended to cluster after that, have families..."

So it had arrived more or less at the same place, really.

"These days, it's different - with Republic City, with the old borders less hard and fast, people are mixing more than they ever did."

"I guess that makes sense. Mako tried to explain it once, he did mention Republic City being a kind of melting pot," which sounds... pretty good, honestly. "Which is how he and his brother bend different elements."

"It's the future," she agreed, "because while the past might be a nice place to visit, we can't live there."

"That's very true. We can learn from it, but the idea is to build on what we learn."

She nods, with a smile.

"And that's where you come in especially. But I'm glad to help in any way, as you know."

"Thanks, Korra-" he returns that smile. "I'm really grateful for it."

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