revenance_rpg | 1. This is the House that Bolin Built

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1. This is the House that Bolin Built

Characters: Bolin, Ping (his Meow Wow) & YOU
Content: Bolin decides to save munny and build his OWN ~~house~~ earth tent. Although he needs to clear the area of some Nightmares first.
Location: Traverse Town, Backstreets
Time of Day: Evening? Hard to tell with no sun.
Warnings: Abundance of cute? IDK

While a few people had mentioned the First District as a good place to set up camp because of the fewer Nightmares about, Bolin felt that it would be better to set up in a place a little less crowded. He needed to find a spot that wasn't so open and that wouldn't be a hindrance to others. Bolin was a city boy himself so exploring Traverse Town and keeping an eye out for such a place wasn't too difficult. How often and he and Mako done the exact same thing in Republic City when they were younger? Looking for empty alleys and abandoned back streets, where an earth tent would hardly be noticed and out of the way of police that might have hauled them back to an orphanage somewhere.

Bolin's wandering had taken him through a few of the districts and had certainly taken him across the paths of a few of the Nightmares everyone had warned him about. His first encounter with them had caught him off guard and he'd almost gotten hurt, just because he wasn't used to attacking small creatures. Ping had been a big help then and Bolin had quickly picked up the slack, slamming boulders and earth disks to cut through the Hebby Repps and Komory Bats that tried to ambush them.

It was honestly by pure accident that Bolin stumbled into the backstreets of Traverse Town, but as soon as he saw all the waterways and canals streaming through the area, he knew this was the place he was looking for. A little ways in he found a small alcove that was off the main path and surrounded by walls. The perfect alcove.

Bolin put his hands on his hips and looked to Ping, "Welp little buddy. I think we found our new home."

Ping tilted his head as if to ask 'I don't see it.'

Bolin took a step forward, ready to get to work, when several dark forms emerged from the air: Meow Wows, Hebby Repps, and Pricklemanes. Bolin frowned but brought his hands up, "Great. Looks like we have to clean this place out first." Ping jumped forward, his large butt wiggling in anticipation of the fight. The Nightmares sprung on them and Bolin and Ping started fighting back.

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Riku was wandering the backstreets with Bram, his Komory Bat. Honestly, he wasn't sure what he expected to find at this point: he'd figured out by now there was no sign of Joshua or the others, and neither did Xehanort seem to be around. Still, he kept wondering if there was something he'd overlooked, or if somehow he needed to refind the Keyhole and unlock it again...

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the sounds of battle nearby. He took off as quickly as possible down the streets, summoning Way to the Dawn to hand when he spotted Bolin. The new guy seemed to be holding his own well enough, but a little extra help wouldn't hurt.

"Leave these to me!" Taking his Keyblade in both hands, he launched a Dark Firaga spell, a dark ball of flame which split into smaller fireballs and smashed into the Nightmares. His Komory Bat swooped in to help defeat any still standing.

Just as Bolin was causing the earth to erupt in a variety of spikey pillars to pierce the Hebby Repps, Riku appeared. Actually, Bolin noticed the dark fire first. He'd heard of blue flames but never black ones. Bolin looked surprised and then turned to see who it was. "Riku?" He was good with names and faces so even though he'd only seen the other over the network he recognized him quickly enough.

The remaining Dream Eaters were wiped out in short order and Ping lumbered back over to Bolin's side. Bolin pet the spirit's head, "Good boy." And then he looked back to Riku, "That was amazing! I've never seen a fire bender use black flames before. Is that a rare technique or something?"

He still apparently had trouble remembering that not everyone called elemental stuff "bending". That would take awhile to sink in for Bolin.

Once the Nightmares were gone, Riku lowered his Keyblade, and Bram flitted back over to him. "A... rare technique? Something like that," he muttered, almost embarrassed by Bolin's enthusiasm. Really, he'd never seen anyone get excited about him using darkness before, but he guessed that was only because Bolin didn't understand what it was.

"You're not too bad yourself. That's some impressive earth magic." He gestured to the spiked pillars Bolin had pulled up from the ground.

"Well, there's normal fire and I've heard some fire benders can make blue flames so I figured..." but then he starts to remember some of his conversations and frowns, "but I guess that isn't fire bending, is it?" Which just made him MORE curious, this world was so strange and people could do awesome things that weren't necessarily bending.

Right. Bolin smiled, "Thanks. Years of practice." He then shook his head, "It's not called magic, it's bending...although, you're not the first to say that to me so I guess maybe it's earth magic in a dream?" Bolin was still learning all of these things. He shrugged, "Anyway, now that we've cleared out the nightmares I can make that Earth tent I was telling you about."

Since there were no further threats, Riku dismissed his Keyblade, which vanished from his hand in a flash of blue light. "Who knows? My powers aren't this bending, stuff, though. I use magic." And darkness, but he really didn't feel willing to explain that to someone he'd just met and who probably wasn't familiar with the concept. Wouldn't want to scare him off.

Riku nodded, Bram landing on his shoulder and likewise giving a chirp of assent, probably because the Spirit wanted to be part of the conversation more than he understood what was being said. "Sure, I'd like to see how it works."

Bolin thought about that for a moment and then nodded. He kept forgetting that this wasn't his world any more and that bending wasn't a "thing", it was magic. It made him wonder if he could possibly learn other elements through this magic system, but the concept was so foreign that he dismissed it right away. It'd be weird to suddenly be able to cast fire spells or whatever. But, maybe he could contemplate it later. "Right...magic. Sorry, still getting used to the terminology I guess."

He then nodded and turned back to the area, "Okay then, one earth tent...coming up." Bolin hadn't done this in a few years, but as a child he'd made them often enough that the movements came back naturally to him. He focused on a corner of the alley, where two walls already stood. He then moved his arms upward and pulled on the earth beneath them. Suddenly several rock walls jutted out of the earth and jammed themselves into the brick walls already built. Bolin made sure there was enough room to stand and everything and soon there was a small structure made out of a combination of the brick from walls of the alleyway and his own earth bending. It looked a little like this.

"See? And I can close up the opening with an earth-made door as well." Bolin stepped forward and rapped his knuckles against one of the walls as if testing its sturdiness.

Riku stood back and watched as the structure took shape. Once it was finished, he was visibly impressed, moving closer to get a better look. It looked safe and Nightmare-proof enough, almost like a cocoon made of rock.

"That's really something. I know magic, but only for combat -- nothing with other uses like that. Where'd you learn to do it?" Maybe if this "bending" stuff was close enough to magic, he could learn it, too.

"I'm mostly self-taught. I never had a Master or anything, though a few other people on the street have shown me some earth bending moves. I got a little bit of a formal teacher when Mako and I moved into the ProBending circuit." He finished circling the structure and then moved inside, gesturing for Riku to follow if he wanted. It was still flat ground on the inside but a few movements and Bolin had pulled up a few rounded pillars to serve as chairs. Now all he would need with his munny would be to buy a sleeping roll or something to that effect.

"But this stuff was stuff I learned out of necessity. Mako would make us a fire but Republic City got pretty cold during the winter so I would usually be in charge of making a shelter. It took me awhile to get it right and we always had to be careful of where we set up." Things were pretty territorial in Republic City. Triple Threat Triad territory was the safest, surprisingly, especially once they started doing odd jobs for them. The police usually only went after vagabonds in the parks and busier streets so if you hid in an alley you were usually okay. Of course, if other people wanted your spot there would be a fight...something Mako had done more so than Bolin who was forced to usually just watch.

Bolin shook his head. His current situation was sure bringing up his memories of the past.

Riku ducked inside after Bolin, looking around. Bram promptly took wing from his shoulder, flapping up to the roof of the earth tent to hang upside down. Riku laughed softly, amused at his Spirit's antics, and Bram gave a pleased squeak, wrapping his purple wings around his body to take a nap. Talk about making himself at home, Riku thought, taking a seat himself on one of the stone pillars.

"That must have been tough," he replied, expression turning back to a serious frown. "I know what it's like to have to survive off your own back like that." Riku didn't know the kind of things Bolin had been through, but he had an idea -- he'd been through a similar thing in the realm of darkness, trying to survive, look out for Sora, and stay hidden from Organization XIII all at the same time. It had never gotten easier. "At least you had someone looking out for you."

Bolin took a seat himself, eyes moving over the walls and landing on Bram as he hung upside down like a weird ceiling fan. Bolin smiled slightly and then took a seat. Ping lumbered over and with a huff flopped down at Bolin's feet. "Yeah...it was rough...and I know I never would have made it without Mako." Bolin then noticed Riku's frown and quickly added, "But, we did make it, and things are a lot better for us now. For one, we don't sleep on the street any more."

He nodded, "Yeah, I did have that. Sounds like you didn't," he glanced up at Bram, "But hopefully that's changed for you too."

"I was... on my own out of choice," Riku said. And it was true -- he and Mickey had gone their separate ways, Riku looking for some way to get rid of Ansem while he watched over Sora, Mickey having his own business to take care of. And after Sora woke up, Riku had disappeared into the shadows, not wanting to be seen or heard from ever again, aside from to help his friends.

Well, things hadn't exactly worked out that way. Riku nods, brightening a little. "Yeah, it has changed. I'm back with my friends -- like Sora." And sure, he still had some issues to figure out on his own, but things were definitely looking up. "Who's Mako? A friend of yours?"

Bolin wondered why he would chose that, but also realized it was probably none of his business. He didn't know this guy well enough to feel like he could ask. Bolin reached down at scratched behind Ping's ears instead.

"That's good to hear. Sora talked to me on the communicator so it's good you can be here with your friend." Bolin shook his head, "Mako's my older brother. We're...kind of opposites, but that works to our advantage sometimes. He must not have dreamed his way here or maybe he's not even asleep yet. It's hard to imagine doing this without him though."

"Just because he's not here doesn't mean you're apart. Could be that right now in the real world, he's still with you, trying to figure out a way to wake you up."

His brother worrying over him was small comfort, but at least it was better than the thought of being completely apart. To Riku, the knowledge that Kairi, Mickey, Yen Sid and all the others were probably around to help them from the other side was some reassurance as well... even if they couldn't do much.

"Besides, you're not on your own. Everyone here seems ready to help each other -- and we have our Dream Eaters on our side, too."

The boy chuckled, "That would be just like him. He always has to drag me out of bed in the mornings for practice and training and stuff." Bolin was never a morning person, although once he was awake he was never grumpy or difficult to get along with. It was just impossible to get him out of bed without a lot of shaking him and yelling in his ear...two things that Mako had learned to do very effectively.

"It's good to hear you say that. I felt pretty lost when the moogle was telling me about this place, but everyone who spoke to me on the communicator made me feel better about the circumstances." Bolin rubbed Ping's head, "This guy helped me a lot too." Ping made a happy noise and rolled over onto his back to expose his stomach.

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1. This is the House that Bolin Built

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is it sad that I just NOW got the "Bram" naming reference?

Nah, it's awesome you caught it! XD

\o/

On my current playthrough of DDD, Riku's Komory Bat is called "Stoker", loool

BAAAW

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