EVENT | LANDFALL | KITHIKA | BOTTLE

[cherrywood]

Characters: ALL!
Date: February 12th - 28th
Location: Kithika, inside the bottle
Situation: The discovery of an artifact from the first war against Malicant reveals the land of Kithika within a dimension of the Death Plane... and just happens to be contained inside a bottle.
Warnings/Rating: Please indicate content warnings in subject headers as applicable.

OOC INFORMATION ♦ CITY OF KEELIAI ♦ INSIDE THE BOTTLE ♦ THE WORLD EATER
Arriving in Kithika is unpleasant for the most part. Transport through the glass vessel deposits you in the middle of a thick and murky swamp, with air so hot and humid it feels as though one is breathing through a wet towel. This is a place of perpetual night and there are no celestial bodies visible overhead through the twisted vines to break up the blackness, making the only light visible that which comes clumps of marsh fungus that emit a steady glow in a variety of muted colours: pale blue, whitish green, watery mauve. The only other light comes from those who can generate it themselves and that will reveal numerous broad-leaved trees, in some places standing too thick to move through. Below, knee-deep water laps in swirls at their legs, accompanied by the occasional slithery feel of something moving in the bracken against wet limbs, gone before it can be identified. A variety of strange noises from creatures of the swamp fill the air with buzzing and hoarse croaking, interrupted by the screech of mosquitoes the size of hummingbirds darting past and hungry for a meal.

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OOC NOTE: Characters will not be able to progress past the Temple and the Grounds for 48 IC hours after which point, the way to continue onward to find the dragon will be discovered. The second log will be posted on the 17th, to help spread out the tagging. Thank you!

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OOC INFORMATION
Landfall Questions | Approved Item Requests | Player Plot - Kryptonian Rampage OOC

CITY OF KEELIAI
Emperor's Orders: Miasma Explained | Marshaling the Forces | A City Under Siege | Halting the Scourge

INSIDE THE BOTTLE
Crossing the Swamp | Decayed Grounds | The Sullied Temple | Stone Idols | Item Discovery

THE WORLD EATER
Battling the Dragon | Soul's Poison | Kryptonian Rampage | The Guarded Pool | Weighing the Options | Aftermath

Comments

[browbeater]

What?

That's-- No, Korra, that isn't what happened.

[first thought: Korra's memory had been messed with. Which was surprising and not all at the same time, just by virtue of them being in a situation that neither really recognized.

Anything could happen.]

We never split up, I was with you the whole time.

[alphatar]

I know that's what I should have done now. [This is her own fault and she desperately wants to wake up now, not be judged by Mako when he doesn't even remember what happened.]

I'm sorry I couldn't get to you in time.

...I tried.

[browbeater]

This place is... not normal. I'm telling you, whatever you think happened didn't happen. We didn't split up when we went after Amon.

[he's more insistent as he says it this time, especially as she seems to not be listening to him in the first place.

Between her and Bolin, he isn't sure what the hell is going on, but he doesn't like it. And he wishes, just this once, Korra would listen to him]

[alphatar]

Don't make me show you. [It started out bitingly, but speaking while looking into his eyes makes the last words sound like a plea. He's here. That should be enough for her, she knows that.

Closing her eyes, she shakes her head and then looks around them.]

Where are we anyway if we're not dead? [Even implying that he's not dead makes her heat ache.]

[browbeater]

[I don't need to see anything.

Though he doesn't say what he's thinking. He just sighs heavily instead. She isn't listening to him. So, instead, focusing on the here and now is what he plans to do.]

Inside a relic. A bottle that's been cursed with death.

[he steps away from her, and back towards the statues]

We're trying to find our way past this.

[alphatar]

[Death. Of course. How he can't see the obvious connection just makes her force an exhale out of her nose.]

Then let's get past this if that's what you want. [Never would she indulge anyone this much, not unless they were Asami or Bolin. But Mako has a place in her heart that's been empty since that night. Until now anyway.

For Korra, the statues are in shambles and she can only look at Mako before following after him.] What is it?

[browbeater]

[he looks back at her, his face practically unreadable for a moment. This wasn't about him, and he realizes that if she didn't know what he was talking about, he'd have to elaborate more]

It's not actually my idea to be here. This is to help Keeliai-- the place we've been trapped at for the past few months.

[he turned to continue looking at the statues absently]

Asami and Bolin are probably near-by.

[alphatar]

Past few months? [The name doesn't register at all and she's just looking at him as questioningly as he was looking at her earlier. At least Bolin and Asami were here too, they'll help with this.

She stands next to him and looks up at Mako with a sidelong glance.] Are you okay?

[Losing him isn't an option, even it is something like a dream. Not when he feels so real.]

[browbeater]

Yeah. [he frowns] Yeah, I'm fine. Bolin and Asami should be able to back me up, here. [pause] ... Maybe Asami. Bo's acting weird, too.

[he doesn't know what to think over what she's told him, so instead he's just going to focus on trying to find the others.

He doesn't want to ask her anymore about what she remembers, especially knowing she's not listening to him at all.]

[alphatar]

[Being called weird isn't helping her get anything across to him, so she just idly asks:] Tell me about Keeliai.

[Maybe, just maybe, it's a place where he went to live after he died. Far fetched, but when it comes to him, she's desperate to grasp at straws.]

[browbeater]

[he raises his eyebrows, though he doesn't glance back at her. He's somewhat surprised that she'd ignored what he'd said about Bolin.]

It's a city on the back of a turtle.

[that was easy]

In a land between dreaming and death.

[part of him is aware he's just caking on to her assumption that he's dead, but the stronger sensibility he has just knows that's ridiculous]

[alphatar]

[Turtle. Dreaming and death. Exactly those assumptions she made earlier: a dream with- him.]

You're saying I've been there too? [Why not ask, she may as well spend time with him while she can.

Walking over to one of the braziers, Korra opens her hand near and sets it alight with a blue flame that spread to brighten up the temple. It reflected off the wishing pond and she takes a better look at the room they're in.]

[browbeater]

[he starts to respond, but her firebending catches him off guard. Blue?]

... Since when has your firebending been blue...?

[maybe there was something more significant going on than he originally thought. He'd thought it was just her memories being messed with, but if that extended to her bending too, that was something way more significant]

[alphatar]

[Bringing up her gaze from the trinkets in the well, Korra stares at Mako for a few moments. Now she's starting to understand why he isn't getting any of what he's telling her. Why she's not getting any of what he's telling her.]

When the White Lotus failed my firebending test and forced me to learn restraint. [The last word's bitter. Fire is her personality's element and she's confident that she had enough mastery over it.]

You don't remember me telling you that either...

[browbeater]

Restraint's important.

[he stares at her in disbelief, at the level of venom and bitterness rolling off of that word. But it's of particular importance to him, given his own personality.

And his own past.

What in the world was going on?]

Given the huge war that just happened, I'd think you'd understand why they were concerned about it. [yes, huge geopolitics with Korra was not a winning combination, and Mako dials back his example]

What happened, exactly? Don't just hint at it, Korra.

[alphatar]

[She's actually amused at his reminder of restraint, considering how much it's been forced on her in the past. They've had this discussion before, and somehow it ended rather well.]

No, I don't really. Firebending's an art, just like the other elements and I have to master it. [Simple, cut and dry.] I just told you what happened. I failed my firebending test and had to train more. A lot more.

[browbeater]

Restraint's important. So why is your firebending blue? [he presses, insistent.]

[alphatar]

Because it takes advanced firebending to reach that level. [Opening her hand, she emits a blue flame in her palm that slowly changes to the typical orange color.]

I'm still open to teaching you if you want. [Grinning she closes her eyes as the flame turns blue again.] It'd look good with your lightning.

[browbeater]

No thanks. I don't need it.

[... he can't even be sorry. She was bragging about her skills, while openly using more advanced forms of firebending just because. He wasn't going to indulge that, no matter the differences in their history.

And with that, he steps away from her. If he dug deeper, he had a feeling he wasn't going to like the answer he got.]

[alphatar]

[Closing her fingers, Korra extinguishes the flame. The answer doesn't surprise her at all.] Suit yourself, Mr. Hot-Shot.

[Everything about him feels different and Korra sits down on the stone flooring, bringing up a slanted slab with earthbending for her to lean against.]

How did we even get here? I thought you said you lived in Keeliai on that turtle's back?

[browbeater]

Someone opened a relic, and what was in here started spreading out there. So, we're here to stop it. So, we got here through magic after they asked for our help.

[he keeps weaving through the statues, they had to find a way past this somehow. That was probably key to fixing things with Korra-- and with Bolin]

[alphatar]

So just destroy whatever's causing it and we get to go home. Sounds easy.

[But she isn't as eager to get home just yet.]

Who asked for help and used this magic?

[browbeater]

The Emperor. Evandau.

[and hopefully, when this is all over, they'll be able to go back home and she'll be fine again. He glances back at her. That... was actually pretty normal for her, though, admittedly. Punch first, ask questions later.

Or it used to be, until... well, everything that they saw in the future.]

Look, I don't know what happened, but this place did something to you, like it did to Bolin. Bolin doesn't remember that he's an earthbender, and you think I'm dead. So, yeah, I'd like to solve whatever's the problem and get out of here as fast as possible.

[alphatar]

I don't know what happened either and why we're remembering different things. But Bolin's earthbending?

[But she tilts her head and breaks off a piece of the slab she's on.]

How can anyone forget something like that? [Bending's a part of her, just like it is for every bender.]

[browbeater]

The same way someone thinks that someone's dead when they're not.

[it's a pointed answer. Maybe a bit petty, but between her calling him dead and Bolin being upset that he could still bend, he really was running out of patience.]

It's an effect.

[he wanted to tell her to stop showing off, but decided that it wasn't worth it. He really, really wanted to find Asami, and hope that she hadn't done the same thing Korra and Bolin had.]