subnautica | [OPEN MINGLE: SEPT 8-16]

[OPEN MINGLE: SEPT 8-16]

[So what are you up to as we pass out of the first hectic week of September and into the second? Calm strolls with alien elephants or fast swims with alien sealife? Flashing your sunglasses at crime scenes? Dreaming and building dreams? Waking and building...buildings? There's always a lot to do here, whether it's formal missions or just shenanigans with friends.

Zenning out is fine too!]

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[Korra finishes moving one part of the earth into its proper place before she stops, shooting Rose a smile as she wipes the beads of sweat from her forehead.]

Hey yourself. And, yup, this is bending. Earth bending, if you want to get specific. [She spreads her hands out, gesturing at the half-formed island.] You've probably heard about Annabeth's big project already. This is just part of it.

I sure have, but god knows I have no idea how to contribute, so I'm leaving it to the pros like you. That elemental stuff I mentioned? I kiiinda can't use it without some help from... well, I guess the easiest way to explain it would be the personifications of those elements themselves. That help isn't here right now.

[ well, mikleo is, but... so is sorey. there's no real reason to armatize with him when sorey is right there, is there? they have a bunch on their plate already. ]

So it's called bending?

[ she tilts her head, curious. ]

[Korra's own curiosity grows even as she answers Rose's questions.]

Yeah. I think I told you last time that people in my world are born with it. I guess it's not like that with yours. So, what are the personifications of elements, anyway? Are they spirits of some kind?

Yep! They're called seraphim, to be specific, but spirits are the easiest comparison to make. Only a select few people can see them. And by select few, I mean, like... me and, er, two others... ? That I know of, anyway. You need to have something called high resonance to be able to interact with them at all, and that's an extremely rare thing. To any ordinary person, seraphim might as well be nothing more than a myth or an urban legend.

I think I mentioned something like this when we last talked, but water, fire, earth, wind... you name it. They come in all different flavors.

[After a surprised sort of silence, Korra shakes her head, smiling.]

It's still crazy to me, how many similarities our worlds have sometimes. The spirits I know of had their own world, so people rarely saw them in the material world. And usually only people who were really spiritual could interact with them.

[She shrugs.] Most people didn't really know what to think of the spirits, I guess.

Right? It's totally crazy!

Having resonance high enough to see seraphim is sort of similar to what you described. Sorey is human, but he grew up living isolated with seraphim, so it was always just natural to him. You'll never be able to see seraphim if you don't believe in them, and even then, it's not that simple. Some seraphim end up keeping to themselves, but we share the one same world.

Seraphim and humans used to live alongside each other, thousands and thousands of years ago, but... uh, stuff happened? No matter how long it takes, Sorey and Mikleo are hoping we can get there again, and I ended up coming along for the ride!

I don't think most people know what to think of seraphim, either. Hard to think much of anything about people you don't even know are there.

[Though she listens intently, Korra visibly perks up once Rose mentions the separation.]

Whoa, no kidding? The spirits and humans used to live together in the material world, too, before the portals were sealed up ten thousand years ago. [She bites her lip, shifting uneasily on her feet.] They're open again now, but the integration's been kind of...rough. No one's used to the spirits suddenly being around again like this.

Maybe you and your friends will have better luck.

[ rose tilts her head, mulling it over before offering korra a genuine smile. ]

Give 'em time. It's hard to accept what you don't understand, but they'll come around eventually. Not everyone is as open-minded as others, so you just gotta have faith that people will come to their senses once they realize that spirits aren't as different as they thought they were.

Look, on our planet, we haven't even reached that point yet. Who knows when we will? There's still a ton of work to do, and none of us can exactly keep at it from here.

[ rose rests her chin in her hands, having sat down on one of the rocks during their conversation. ]

I'm assuming people have accepted your powers, haven't they?

[ there's a brief pause, a thought occurring to her. ]

Didn't you say bending is pretty normal there, too? Is this... y'know, crazy earth stuff something everyone can do?

Yeah, bending's been around for...a long time. It's pretty normal.

[For a moment, a shadow crosses her expression as she remembers Amon and the resentment of the non-benders.]

A...anyway, there's four main types of bending. Earth, water, fire, air. Usually you're just born with one of them. Skill levels kind of vary, though. It takes a lot of practice before you become a master of bending.

[ rose definitely caught that mood change-- if there's one thing she's good at, it's reading people-- but there's no need to bring it up, so she just listens. ]

So if you're born with one of them, does that mean you have to learn the others? I'm assuming you did.

[Korra pauses, her smile turning sheepish.]

Actually, I'm kind of a special case. There's a few special types of bending that branch off the main ones, but mostly, whatever you're born with is what you're stuck with.

I sort of guessed you were different somehow. I dunno. Just a weird hunch I had.

[ rose's smile is a little sheepish, too. maybe she's delving too deep into korra's life, but rose doesn't exactly have much in common with most people around here, and she clicked with korra right away. she leans forward with a thoughtful hum. ]

Er... I probably shouldn't be interrupting your hard work like this, huh. Sorry, it's just that I don't think I've met anyone else here with this much in common. It's like I can't stop coming up with more questions, just because.

[ she shrugs, the very slightest hint of color warming her cheeks. ]

What can I say? You're an interesting person. A likable one, too, and let me tell you, I've run into some serious jerks since I landed here. It's refreshing to meet someone so easy to talk to. I'm all about the independent women thing.

[Rose's comment warms her, making her smile widen a little.]

It's okay, I don't mind. I've been at this the whole day, I probably needed the break anyway. [Korra settles on the ground beside her.] You can keep asking questions if you want, if you don't mind me asking some of my own.

[She pauses.] Back home, only the Avatar's able to use all four elements. That's me...the Avatar.

I don't mind one bit. Go ahead, your turn.

-- the Avatar? And there's only one of you?

[ is she someone as important as alisha? well, rose was never one for formalities, but still, doesn't that make her kind of, uh, famous? if there's only one in the entire world... ]

That... sounds like a pretty huge deal.

I had a little talk with Mikleo back in the base a while ago. Is it really that rare for people to see seraphim?

[She grins, putting her worries out of her mind for a moment.]

Yeah, it kind of is. It's sort of a cycle--when one Avatar passes on, the next one is born.

Wait, what?!

[ rose is visibly shocked. ]

Are you saying you can just... see him? Hear him? I told you, nobody back home can interact with seraphim.

[ okay, she totally ignored the part that came after that. oops. ]

... so, you're the Avatar. The only one on the planet. Are you, like, a goddess or something? Do people worship you? Are there statues? Are you rich?!

[ rose asks the important questions. ]

Yeah, I can see and hear him. [Her puzzled look melts into one of understanding a second later.] Oh, that's...something that I forgot to mention. Avatars have this...connection to spirits. I guess I'm half-spirit if you want to look at it that way.

[Rose's stream of questions makes her blink, slightly overwhelmed.]

Uh...not a goddess, I hope people don't worship me, it's sort of complicated, and...no.

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[OPEN MINGLE: SEPT 8-16]

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