#gateguide

The past couple of days have been... interesting. Somehow, after just spending time in her new apartment, puzzled by the sudden relocation and the technology that was given to her, Korra found herself wanting to go out. Every day, for a few hours at a time, she would, glancing at everything around her like a lost puppy, confused by how things seemed to work and of all the different kind of people she had seen in such a short amount of time.

The spinning of her head made her want to get away, to find some wide-open space to just... bend. Manipulate the elements ( aside from water now, she thought ) and let herself loose. Wanting to do just that, Korra went out in search for a park, luckily finding one with enough space and range as to not hurt anyone.

Looking around to make sure that no one was truly around, she takes her first stance, breathing deeply, then airbending to create a breeze that spins around her. Pieces of grass are gently torn and blend with the wind, falling back down peacefully as she switches stance. Tensing her body, Korra begins to earthbend, plucking pieces of earth from the ground and launching them into an open area. After the last one falls to the ground, her stance changes again, her feet light as her breathing quickens. Jabs and spinning kicks are released along with the flames that came with them, assuring that the range around her is small. However, a fireball from a quick, hard jab launches farther than she thought it would, hurling towards what looked like a blonde girl from a distance.

the building was enormous. with equipment and rooms similar to those she had seen once or twice while helping free any number of friends back home from the empire’s facilities, alisaie felt right at home as she darted about exploring the abandoned compound. she had already gathered from her exploring that this place had been called the “astra research facility”, and so far she had found a bit more information than she had already known about this world. 

honestly though, not much of it made sense to her. 

alisaie had never been the “smart one” out of her life-long partnership with her twin brother. nay, she had been the more rowdy one who preferred combat over dusty tomes, though she did all she could to make their family proud. when met with complex information, she often brought it to the attention of her much more research-oriented brother to make sense of, so they could move forward. alisaie spent much more time napping at desks than actually using them for their intended purpose, though that was something she would never willingly admit to. 

with a piece of discarded paper in hand, alisaie did her best to skim through the information. she paused in her light reading as she heard approaching footsteps, elongated ear twitching slightly in response which made the silver earring glint in the light. as she had learned thus far, this island was not the friendliest of areas, and so once again her hand reached for her weapon, letting the paper in her hand fall to the ground once more. the testing lab she was in had the floor littered with similar papers, which she had previously collected some and left them on a nearby counter.

There’s a story around these parts: even flighty as she is, she has been able to glean that much from all this. And perhaps it is because that is what Ahiru likes the most, stories; because stories are meant to be happy things, as far as she is aware of— although, this one is not so happy, by the looks of things. Perhaps, that is just fairy-tales that applies to, and certainly not real life, but if nothing else, there is always some truth to glean from tales.

( And what about your own story, girl? What kind of ending do you see for yourself? )

       Ahh, stay calm, stay calm. If there had been one thing she’s been practicing for some time now before arriving in Koi, It was that she knew her emotion got the better of her at times. And while most of her emotion was reasonable ( to the maiden’s eyes ) she could not afford to start making the pour down with nothing but rain ( she needed answers about the wearable she was in, how she had gotta here and.. If there was any way out of this place. )

       However, she would immediately stop everything that she had planned on doing. With eyes widening once spotting a familiar figure from the distance, and it was then that she began to walk towards the other. From a walk at first to a full-on sprint soon after, it would not take her very long to approach her friend. The sense of unease and concern would vanish as though it was never there, to begin with. A grin was plastered to her cheeks, lips parting as she finally spoke.

       ❛ Lucy-san Juvia is happy to see you here---! ❜ She spoke, her tone sounding cheerful. ❛ Is Natsu-san, Erza and... ❜ A pause. ❛ Gray-sama here too? ❜

fear weighs on her footsteps, every step forward getting smaller and smaller until she came to a stop. her heart beats loud in her chest, looking up at the building in front of her... could she do this? she didn’t want to do this. aoko didn’t want to go in. the building looks too threatening, even if it was abandoned. the thought of ghosts and creatures of the night send a chill up her spine, and she makes a small sound, before catching herself and gulping it down.

she should run. she should go... 

she was always a whiner, huh..? she always had...

who?

aoko doesn’t know.

she’s not sure what the mayor means by some of her words. she’s not sure how the mayor got into her head, too. was it magic? it was cool, and back home, aoko would never ever have thought about islands in the sky... but the more impossibles she discovered, the more questions and fear arose. aoko was so alone. aoko didn’t like being friends with only her thoughts, not like this... when alone felt more permanent than a temporary lull. 

what would kaito have thought about this? she doesn’t know why that name keeps popping into her head, or why she misses him so much. the pang of longing isolates her further.

but she couldn’t stay in one place...! not when everyone was scavenging the island. not when the mayor was trying her best, too! aoko had to help! like now! but staying in front of the main entrance wouldn’t help her fear too much. deciding to step back and serach the premises first, she spots a girl approaching the facility.

“Uhm- Are you going in alone? Aoko doesn’t think it’s safe...!”