don't know who I am right now [open]

[vibing]

Who: Yuri Lowell, but as a child, & you!
What: Yuri attempting to train with a sword and stealing some jerky
When: January 12-19
Where: Crenshaw, Willful Machine, the beach

Content Warnings: N/A

A. Training
[ When Yuri first woke up here, he woke up in a room with a lot of weapons in it. At least three swords, two shields, and more knives than he could count. He immediately took one of those swords. He doesn't have one yet at home, but it's a dream, a dream to have a sword and become a knight and change the Empire for the better.

With stolen sword in hand, a ten-year-old Yuri is out in some barren area of Trench, whatever greenery was there killed by the cold and snow. The sword is too big and too heavy for him, more than half his height in length, and his arms are shaking from the exertion, but he needs to learn. He needs to fight. He was told that this place is dangerous, and he needs to be able to fight, to defend himself, and defend those who can't defend themselves. That's what he's going to do. That's part of the oath he swore with Flynn: to make the world a better place for everyone.

He slashes down with a grunt, but with too much force, and the tip of the sword lodges itself in the ground ]

Stupid-- sword--!

[ He grumbles and tries his best to get it out, but the ground is frozen and hard around it ]

B. Haggling
No, that's too expensive.

[ Maybe it isn't that strange of a sight in Trench to see a child haggling for food. Here is a ten-year-old, bundled up in a coat that is too big for him, sleeves bunched up on his arms, the shoulders hanging off his thin frame. He's trying to buy some jerky, something that seems practical and filling and he's ten and doesn't know how to cook yet.

The Trenchie doesn't look very enthused by this kid who only has a few stones to his name, and rejects his offer. Yuri's little hands ball into fists ]

Fine.

[ He turns on his heel and stalks away, making a show of it, only to twist on his toes a few yards later, and lurches back toward the stand to grab some of the jerky, making off with it before the Trenchie can grab him. Who knows if this is even illegal in Trench?

Yuri dodges through the crowd, clutching the jerky close. Do you stop him? ]

C. Wildcard
[ Want to run into tiny Yuri somewhere else? He can be found around Crenshaw, Willful Machine, and by the beach. Hit me! ]

Comments

[pabugotmoves]

[She raises her brows, mouth also full.]

A whaff?

[vibing]

A blastia. How you did that thing, with the cart.

[pabugotmoves]

[She swallows and- ahh- right.]

Oh- you mean my earthbending. I was born with it. I have a connection to the element.

[Bolin dusts the crumbs from her hands and focuses on one of the cobbles by their feet, waggling her fingers like a magician for effect before yanking the stone up from it's bedding. It floats there, weightless in the air.]

Pretty neat, right?

[vibing]

[ Yuri gasps softly, staring at it, then at her, then back at the cobblestone. ]

That's, that's, that's, you did that?!

[ He stares at her hands now, like he's trying to solve some kind of mystery ]

How?

[pabugotmoves]

[Uhhh. She furrows her brow. It feels so second nature to her, how you explain it?]

Magic?

[Not enough. And wrong. She can hear Mako like a fire-peanut gallery in the back of her head, arms crossed with his eyebrows pinched.]

Well.. not really magic. Where I'm from, some people have a connection to the four elements of nature. I have a connection to the earth like my dad, and my brother has a connection to fire like our mom did. It's just.. a part of who we are. My friend Korra is a master of all four, but she's like. Super special. She's The Avatar and it's her job to be the conduit between our world and The Spirit World.

[The rock spins slowly as she speaks before changing it's axis and rotating sideways with the smallest twitch of her finger.]

Stone, cement, even lava.. That's all me.

[vibing]

That's so cool.

[ His voice is small as he watches the rock move, pies somewhat forgotten now. He'll squirrel the rest away for later ]

Wow, and you can just do it. No blastia or anything. That's so cool! I can't wait to tell Flynn--

[ Oh, right. He can't tell Flynn. Flynn isn't here. His face falls and he looks away ]

Show me the lava.

[pabugotmoves]

[Oh that- that's sad.

Bolin should probably not poke that wound, huh. If only she were any good at reading people.]

Sure, but be careful, okay? It's super hot.

[Not that she thinks the kid will try to touch it, but you never know. She's pretty sure she's the only one who can handle this kind of stuff. It straddles an impossible line between earth and fire, a freak 1:100000000 genetic mutation only just beginning to emerge in the collective gene pool of mixed heritage benders. It will be centuries before the trait becomes fully known.. and with the only two lava benders Bolin is aware of either dead or here in Trench.. well. Maybe even longer than that.

The cobble she's been manipulating begins to turn faster and faster as she pulls the stone through a phase shift. It should be impossible. Not even The Avatar has done this. It's a kind of power Bolin hasn't really sat down to think about too much because the implications of the enormous destruction that could be created are just too huge. But here, in this little alley, sits an earth bender (who doesn't think they're all that special) with a street orphan minding their own business as the rock super heats and becomes a spinning orb of pure, living lava. The warmth of the orb radiates in the street, melting back any snow or ice around them, and it glows cheerfully with tiger stripes in a rhythmic pattern of the crust hardening and pulling inwards to remelt and cycle over.]

Who's Flynn?

[They seem important. Come to think of it-]

And you never told me your name.

[vibing]

[ Wow, that is cool. That is so cool. Yuri's jaw drops, staring at it change from rock to lava. He doesn't move back from the heat, kind of glad for it. It's really cold here, and he hasn't found the warmest of places to sleep. He would reach out, but even he isn't that dumb. He isn't going to touch it. He's only ever heard about lava in story books, though, never seen it, honestly wasn't even sure it was real. ]

That's so cool...

[ Questions, he's being asked questions. He doesn't look away from the lava, though ]

Yuri Lowell. Flynn is my best friend. [ It's easier to say as a kid than it is as an adult. It's just the truth. They're best friends, nothing can change that. ] He's not here.

[pabugotmoves]

[Neat, right? And useful when you're cold and live in a hole.]

Well.. it's nice to meet you, Yuri. I'm Bolin.

..

I'm sorry about Flynn. My best friend isn't here, either.

[vibing]

You too, Bolin.

[ Yuri looks up at her with furrowed brows. ]

Who's your best friend?

[pabugotmoves]

Oh, my friend Varrick? He is.. like. Crazy. And sometimes I kind of hate him? But all his flaws aside he's great and done a lot for me.. I know he would love it here. This is exactly the kind of place he would flourish.

[vibing]

You hate your best friend? [ Yuri side eyes her. That's weird. That's really weird.

He lets out a little huff ] Well I don't hate Flynn. Flynn is the best person I know.

[pabugotmoves]

[A soft laugh and she shrugs, playing with the lava. It pulls and stretches and recombines. It sure is cold out here.]

Well, it's complicated. I'm glad Flynn is so good.

What's he like?

[vibing]

[ Yuri watches the lava like it's a movie, transfixed by it, but he responds after a moment, words a little slower ]

He's brave, and strong, and fast, and good. He's, he's my best friend! We do everything together.

He wants to change the world. He wins at everything. He's good at everything.

[ Yuri doesn't have a bad thing to say about Flynn, not really. It's that pure kind of love that only really kids can have, loving each other and glossing over any flaws.

He looks away from the lava only to ask: ]

Why is Varrick your best friend?

[pabugotmoves]

[Man, that is so sweet. Genuinely so sweet. It makes her feel more warm than the lava.]

Well... ever since I met him he always made time for me. Even when everyone else was busy he always made room for me. And I guess... he believes in me. He makes all these amazing things and he included me in that. It's because of Varrick I got to be in the movers and we used his boat to escape my crazy ex fiance. We even joined the army together and we traveled the whole Earth Kingdom on a train for years. And sure it turns out that was a really.. really bad idea but that wasn't anything to do with him. So we escaped the army together, too. He taught me a lot and never made me feel stupid for not knowing. It's half because of him I can read and write so well. And he is so funny. Man, that guy.. I love that guy. he cracks me up.

[vibing]

[ Yuri ends up watches her instead of the lava as she says all that. ]

Flynn and I are going to enter the Knights together.

[ Maybe that's just what best friends do ]

Then why do you hate him?

[pabugotmoves]

He..

[A sigh. Oh, Varrick.]

He just doesn't always make the best choices and it gets him and sometimes other people in a lot of trouble. And sometimes he can be kinda selfish? And really dramatic. I mean really dramatic.

But I think he's basically a good person.

Being a knight sounds nice. We don't really have that here but you could become a hunter. That's kinda close.

[vibing]

[ Sounds kind of like Yuri when he's older, but younger Yuri doesn't think that about himself yet ]

Did he get you into trouble?

[ Because getting your own friend into a bad kind of trouble, that's inexcusable to Yuri at this point ]

Knights are the worst. But we want to make the Empire a better place, so we have to do it from the inside. That's what Flynn says.

[pabugotmoves]

[Oof yeah she is just gonna.. gloss over Varrick for now. It's a long story. Several long stories.]

Well Flynn sounds very wise. A secret inside job, I like that. People do say that change comes from within.

[vibing]

Yeah. That's what we want to do. Make the world better for people like us. [ Kids without families, people without power. Anyone who isn't a noble, really. Yuri looks so determined, like it would be hard to disbelieve that this kid isn't going to do his best to change the world ] Flynn is smart. The smartest.

[ He is also incapable of not overtly complimenting his friend, staring up at Bolin like she's going to argue with him ]

[pabugotmoves]

[How could she possibly argue with that.

If anything it just endears Yuri to her more, and she laughs softly, nodding.]

I bet he is. I hope he shows up some day so I can meet him and tell him how faithful you've been to the cause.

[vibing]

Me too. [ He's somewhere between determined that it will happen, and sure that it never will. He wants more than anything to have Flynn here, to not be alone, but, well. At least there are people here who actually want to help him.

He offers Bolin another pie ]