thehometree | Glimmer, glitter, shine...

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Glimmer, glitter, shine...

One by one, new adventurers now arrive in the Tree. As one gain wings and rises to the second floor, another light brings in the next person. Soon, a steady stream of people from all kinds of worlds, times and realities come to join the others. Whether confused, angry, excited or scared, your arrival is welcomed with nothing but joy as the fireflies and glow worms descend to greet their new friends.

The Tree offers no explanation and no reason, but the truth is undeniable.

As you will soon realize, it isn't easy to be tiny.

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There's a very obvious and suspicious pause as Korra's caught between giving her name like she would normally do and maybe trying to avoid it. Though no one has recognized her (the hair cut had been a very good idea) yet, her name isn't exactly a common one. Saying it now would be equivalent to giving up the game.

In the end, her honesty wins out, and she says, carefully, "Korra." She isn't quite able to hide the quick dart of her eyes to the side, like she's checking for any reactions.

It's just something to make note of - there's a lotta reasons someone might want to run from who they are. He can't say he doesn't feel tempted to give a different name, because anyone who shows up from the future like Anna did is going to know he's dead, and he just doesn't want to go there.

'Pretty name,' he says. 'Where're you from?'

Korra relaxes visibly when he doesn't seem to connect the name with the current Avatar. She doesn't know how that's possible, but she isn't going to complain.

"From Republic City," she replies, thinking that reply safe. She is wearing Earth Kingdom colors anyway. "What about you?"

He frowns, not connecting the name to anything in his memory. It didn't sound foreign at all.

'Sorry to say I've never heard of it. Which country is it in?'

She stares. He's never heard of Republic City? It's hard to wrap her mind around that at all.

"It's the capitol of the United Republic--right next to the Earth Kingdom?" Korra throws a couple more names out, suddenly not liking where this conversation is going.

Raising his eyebrows, he replies, 'No. Sorry, sweetheart. Don't suppose you'd know where Brooklyn, New York is?'

"No, never heard of it," she says a little numbly. None of this is making any sense to her at all.

"You really haven't heard of the Earth Kingdom or the United Republic?"

If he's never heard of Republic City then it follows she wouldn't know where New York was, but it's a shocker to hear it. He bumps her shoulder gently with his own, having judged it safe to do so.

'Sorry. You wanna tell me about it?'

She blinks at him, jolted out of her shock by his friendliness.

"I--yeah, I can tell you about it," Korra says, giving him a tentative sort of smile. "I guess that means you'll have to tell me what New York is like."

Though she's trying to put a brave face on, part of her is still reeling. If neither of them can recognize the places they've named, it can only mean they're from completely different places. Completely different worlds, maybe.

'I think we got ourselves a deal.'

He guides her over to a table with a light pressure on her shoulderblade and pulls out the chair for her to sit down. The branches are comfortable, true, but there's something more proper and normal about the table that's a balance to the insects and the wings on his back. Notably different from hers, but that's a mystery for later, just as the different worlds thing is also something he can think about afterwards, when he's met the immediate need of food and water.

'So. What're the folks like? Buildings?' A beat, and he adds, hopefully, 'Radio?'

Surprisingly, Korra doesn't mind the pressure at her back while he guides her to the table. And she sits, taking care not to knock into anything else with her wings.

"We have radio," Korra says, thinking of all the times she'd listen to pro-bending that way. "There's some music channels and one that's just for sports."

Which makes her think of something else. "Do you have bending?" she asks abruptly.

It's amazing to know that worlds apart, something like radio is still common. He clasps his hands on the table and listens, intently.

'I can touch my toes for you if you like,' he answers, wryly, guessing it's probably not that kind of bending, but she left herself wide open for that one.

She makes a face at him before she can help herself.

"Not that kind of bending," she says, bottom lip sticking out slightly. "I meant the elements. That kind. But I'm already guessing the answer is 'no'."

She's more shaken than he first thought, and he squares himself, being a little more serious. 'No, sorry. Why don't you tell me about it?'

Though she senses the shift in attitude, Korra still doesn't speak up right away. How do you explain bending to someone who doesn't know it at all?

"There's four main elements: water, earth, fire, and air." That seems like a good place to start. "A lot of people are born with the ability to bend where I'm from."

He nods, mentally taking notes. This'd be more on his list of things to tell Steve - he's meeting someone from a world which can manipulate the elements. The possibilities are endless: no one in a polar expedition would freeze if they had a firebender. And there'd be less drought with waterbenders around. 'Just one, or more of 'em?'

There's another telltale pause as she finds a way to answer his questions. The more people talk to Korra, the more they probably realize just how many issues she's trying to avoid at the moment.

"Just one," she says, looking just a little shifty as she finally replies to him. "It depends on who your parents are."

'That sounds pretty swell,' he remarks, giving her a bright smile, and not calling the avoidance. Her feet have shifted her weight too often in the past and there's a subtle tension in her fingers. He doubts it's his size and presence, but he's made himself a little smaller and more contained just in case, his feet firmly on the ground. Whatever's after you, it can't come here.,

'We don't have anything like that. Just technology. What kinda sports do you have?'

Her expression lights up now, as it usually does when sports comes up in the conversation. Though she stopped playing in the tournaments ages ago, she still misses it some days. Not that she could play like she used to, in the shape she's in now.

"There's a few other games, but pro-bending's the most well known, especially in the United Republic," Korra says, looking a lot more relaxed. "Three to each team--one firebender, one earthbender, and one waterbender."

A-ha, he got her to smile. This he'll keep in mind for later, as well as the fact that the team doesn't have airbenders.

'We've got plenty, my favourite's baseball. You got a team you follow?'

Though the smile doesn't disappear entirely, it does dim into something a little sadder and more wistful.

"Yeah. If there's one team I've gotta pick, it's always going to be the Fire Ferrets." Korra pauses, leaning against the table. "They're disbanded now, anyway."

So - probably not playing anymore. 'The Dodgers for me,' he says. 'They're our team, from Brooklyn. Lookin' forward to catching another game with my pal soon as I can.'

It's a lie, but practiced so much that he barely misses a beat. Steve's the only one who'll be catching any games from now on.

"Your friend?" Korra prompts, once Bucky mentions him.

It seems a little strange, maybe, to be talking about something as common as sports (two different ones, even) when they've all been essentially kidnapped and sprouted wings on their backs. But it's calming, as well, and gives her something normal to latch onto.

Normal's the best thing to ask for when all kinds of crap happens, and he just so specialises in turning the conversation that way. Of course there's moments of unnecessary frivolity but in the War a few hours of rest and a good game, and some hot chow would do a lot more for a soldier's morale than a speech or a cage of duty.

'Yeah, my best friend.' He very nearly glows, affection radiating off him.

That kind of affection is hard to miss, and for a second, there's a sharp ache of longing for everyone Korra's left behind. Her parents, Naga, Katara, Tenzin and the rest of his family. Her friends. All the letters they sent over the years.

You've been disconnected. It's sure beginning to feel that way, now that Toph's pointed it out.

Swallowing past the lump of emotion that's formed in her throat, she says softly, "You should tell me about him."

Edited 2015-03-25 05:33 (UTC)

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