#rp-start

There was just too... much... dust!

Inazuma was shoulder-deep into the leg cavity of her fifth mecha-tank of the day, and the repetitive nature of the job was beginning to wear on her mind. She had to disassemble the pieces, limb-by-limb, and clear up the dust-- just the dust that the two airbenders had blasted the tanks with when they abducted the Avatar. Unfortunately, there was no fancy technique to removing all of the dust except for an inordinate amount of wet rags and patience.

She heard the door to the repair bay open and shut, but Inazuma remained focused on her job, unable to turn around and see the visitor.

"Nashook? Is that you?" she asked, referring to the Water Tribe technician that she worked with. The two of them always had to work in the more poorly-equiped repair bay... but that didn't stop either of them from getting their jobs done. They were just as adept as the Earth Kingdom technicians .(Nashook even moreso. He was a mechanical genius.)

The footsteps stopped behind Inazuma as she extricated herself from the hollow mechanical leg to get a fresh rag. It wasn't Nashook she came face-to-face with.

"Ms. Zhu Li? My apologies. I thought you were Nashook. Have you seen him?"

"United Earth Empire moves to settle Swampland"

The headline of Maniitok's newspaper spelled out the phrase in big, threatening letters, and though his eyes read and reread the article beneath it, not a single word stuck in his mind. He was lost in thought, as he was prone to be these days. He had attained the wealth and respect he had desired for so long since the Elites had been separated after Harmonic Convergence, and was now looking for something... fulfilling.

Though the people of Republic City tended to walk quickly along the sidewalk, foot-traffic slowed to a meander as people jostled past a girl dragging a large footlocker behind her. Wait, it wasn't a girl; it was a young woman. As Maniitok caught sight of her face, the name clicked in his head-- then immediately reverted to his much-maligned nickname for Nyla:

"Pipsqueak? What are you doing?"

The city of Zaofu was under the control of Kuvira's forces. Citizens were closely monitored by guardsmen, curfews were enacted, and no one was allowed to leave the city without permission.

Akul berated himself for believing he could have gotten out before things got this bad.

Though it was the middle of the day, and the domes were down with the sun shining down on the marketplace, Akul felt as much on his guard as he would have on the shadiest Republic City street at night. He could feel the could prickle in his neck of his every movement being watched. Even with a completely innocent shopping bag of small gears and springs for him to make watches, he still worried that anything he did could be perceived as rebellious or give the guards cause to take him in-- not a big deal in and of itself, but he wasn't exactly in Zaofu... officially. He had smuggled himself in disguised as a guardsman on the trains several weeks before Kuvira's forces had arrived in order to further his craft in metalbending.

What was supposed to have been a three-day stay had become a week, two weeks, a month, then Kuvira's forces came and the city had been locked down, with him inside.

Still, it wasn't that bad. There were rumors of lead scientists and other notable persons going missing, but that's all they were; rumors. It was equally as likely that these people had gone into hiding within the city itself. Aiwei couldn't have been the only person with a hidden way out of the city.

Lost in thought, Akul took a corner too quickly and slammed bodily into someone else. Sheets of paper, watch-springs, tiny gears, and two pairs of glasses went flying as the two bodies recoiled and fought to catch themselves before they hit the ground.

Akul steadied himself as he blinked, his vision slightly blurred without his glasses. "I'm terribly sorry." he said, his monotone voice betraying his sincerity. "I wasn't paying attention, and--"

He stopped. It was possible that he was mistaken without his glasses, but the other person was... it couldn't be...

lunamatrem

The penthouse was quiet, with the only sound being the trickling water flowing down the sides of the fountain that stood as the centerpiece. Maniitok wandered about in his robe, silhouetted by the light of the full moon streaming through his windows.

He hadn't been sleeping well, lately. Nightmares, bad thoughts, and the like. He put back the last of the fire-nation whiskey in his glass and dropped it carelessly on a nearby table. He wandered out onto his balcony, relishing the cool blast of night wind rising up from the streets of Republic City. It was quite a view from his balcony-- the best money could buy. However, now that he had everything he could want... he still found himself wanting something that he couldn't put his finger on.

provisionalpresidentkuvira

The train glided forward as Inazuma pushed the throttle forward. It had only taken Kuvira moments to clear the tons of rubble from the train tracks... after capturing and recruiting the very bandits that had recruited them without gaining so much as a scratch.

Despite all that, Inazuma's heart sank. Her reports had said nothing about bandits in the area, much less the tracks being vulnerable to landslides and other traps on that particular stretch. The delay had been entirely her fault, and they would be late to the governor of Yi's town, and now they had two-dozen prisoners that required guarding and eventual training into the military-- time and resources that couldn't be wasted now that the primary objective for the time being was to unite the disparate states.

Inazuma's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the cockpit door.

"Come in!" Inazuma called, annoyed that she couldn't sulk by herself for a short while. She looked over her shoulder--

Kuvira was standing right there.

Bumi had heard the noise as well, something that shook the whole of the building under his feet. He scanned the room, looking around for what could have caused such a huge tremor. “I don’t know, your highness,” he whispered “but stay close to me.”

( vinesofmercy )

Akul was out of his element. The botanical market wasn't really his home turf, but he had to purchase some swamp lilies in order to try out a new recipe he'd had his eye on. However, with the shopkeepers trying to hock various bouquets, gourds, and fruits at extravagant prices, he was unable to get a word in edgewise.

Looking around the marketplace, he scanned the crowd for someone who might know what swamp lilies looked like. He caught sight of a young woman who seemed to be admiring flowers at a nearby stall.