1. This is the House that Bolin Built

[buymedumplings]

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.

Comments

Awesome!

[buymedumplings]

Bolin probably would have argued that they didn't need help, but in the middle of battle wasn't the time for it. Ping barreled into more of the Meow Wows like a fluffy tank of doom. Bolin, meanwhile, summoned more mini-boulders and smashed through the other Nightmares. He noticed munny and fragments flying everywhere and made a mental note to pick up the pieces later.

Once the area was clear Bolin wiped some sweat from his forehead and turned to the hooded figure*. "Thanks for the help."

*[Ooc: Assuming she's hooded? Feel free to correct me on that XDb]

XD

[skysmirror]

It looked like he was used to fighting, which was all to the good, but that wasn't a guarantee that he was used to fighting Nightmares or anything similar. Add that to inheriting quite a bit of Sora's "must help" attitude and Xion wasn't going to just leave someone who looked like they might need her help. The boulders were a new kind of style to her. At least his aim was good, and she could dodge between them to hit the already dazed Nightmares. Barkley barked happily when Ping joined him. C'mon, they'd Meow Wounce these Nightmares outta here!

Fortunately it wasn't a long fight. Xion dismissed her Keyblade and offered a small smile. "You're welcome."

[buymedumplings]

He wasn't...but it's not like they were as bad as the opponents he HAD fought in the past. Certainly he at least didn't have to worry about them suddenly chi blocking him or anything like that and he was familiar enough with dodging fire, water, and earth attacks. Between his attacks and Xion and their Spirits they made short work of the Nightmares.

Once the final Nightmare dispersed Bolin scooped up some of the fragments left behind along with some munny. He made sure to leave some for the hooded girl though since she had helped too. "You're a good fighter, I'm guessing you've been fighting these things longer than I have." Ping trotted back over to Bolin and the boy gave the Meow Wow a head rub. "Aww, you did good too little guy. We'll have to treat ourselves after I finish setting up the earth tent, okay?" Ping hopped up and down in excitement at the promise of treats.

"I just hope they stay away long enough for me to build my earth tent."

[skysmirror]

No, the Nightmares wouldn't try to take away his bending, block his chi, or anything like that. Add that to the fact that he seemed used to dodging the sort of attacks they could throw at him, and he probably would have been okay without Xion's help. Still, it just didn't seem right to leave him on his own.

She was so busy collecting her share of the fragments and munny she almost didn't register the compliment. When she did, she blushed a little. "Just a few weeks..." Fortunately, he quickly turned his attention to his Meow Wow. At the mention of treats she looked around to see if the Nightmares had dropped any they might have missed, but it looked like there were none this time. Pettings were enough to console Barkley for this loss, and Axel seemed content to be picked up so he could curl around her in a way that she was starting to become used to.

"Earth tent?"

[buymedumplings]

"Yeah. I didn't want to waste munny on the hotel when I could just build an earth tent out here." He gestured around them at the general area. The alley was perfect with high walls and out of the way of the main thoroughfares. It suited his needs perfectly and wouldn't cost a penny for rent.

He realized belatedly that the hooded figure might not know what he was talking about. A lot of people didn't recognize earth bending here, let alone the things you could do with it.

"I can show you if you want...might be easier."

[skysmirror]

Making sure self and Spirit had a decent, safe place to sleep didn't seem like a waste of munny to Xion. Then again, she couldn't make an earth tent or any other kind of tent. If she'd been able to provide herself and her Spirits with a safe place to rest, then maybe she would have considered the hotel price a waste of munny.

His way of thinking was right--Xion had no idea what he was talking about. Her curiosity was overcoming her shyness, though, and she smiled at his suggestion.

"That would be nice...Oh! I'm Xion."

[buymedumplings]

Bolin blinked and then smiled, straightening up, "I'm Bolin and this is Ping." He gestured to the Meow Wow beside him. "Now...step back a bit and I'll show you what I'm talking about."

Once Xion was moved back he focused his attention on a corner of the alley where the walls were already high and would help serve as more protection. Bolin stomped his foot against the ground and pulled up with his hands. The alley's floor split open and several rock walls shot up and then attached to the dead-end of the alley. Bolin pushed again and a small opening formed in the rock, completing the tent.

The tent was a decent size, at least enough room for a few people and Dream Eaters to sleep comfortably. It looked a little like this, crude but effective.

[skysmirror]

Xion returned the smile, and then obligingly stepped back. If he said he needed room to move, she'd give it to him. The better vantage point for watching him work was nice.

It wasn't like any magic she'd ever seen; he just seemed to control the earth with his movements. There were no spells or anything. Not that she'd ever known a spell that could move the earth, but it looked handy.

The tent was pretty impressive when it was finished. She stepped forward to take a closer look. "How..."

[buymedumplings]

"It's earth bending." His remark was simple as if there could be no other explanation. Bolin was still getting used to the idea that people didn't even know what bending WAS. It was such a big part of the world he was from it would be like someone asking how people walked. He stepped closer as he wanted to inspect his work.

"Bending is just something people from my world can do, well, some people and we can control different elements. My element is earth but my brother, Mako, he's a fire bender so he can make and control fire. There's water benders and air benders too."

[skysmirror]

"I see. One of my best friends could use fire, and others could use water and air...That was really strong magic, though, I think." Xion had never heard an explanation of exactly how the others used their elements. Some of it did seem to be stronger versions of spells, but that didn't explain everything.

It seemed odd to her that Bolin didn't know about magic. It was such a big part of her life that not having it seemed strange. Though, maybe with benders, nobody needed magic. That was a sobering thought.

[buymedumplings]

"Yeah, we have stuff like that too. Though, again, we don't call it magic or anything." When Bolin thought of magic he thought of sleight of hand and the guys who did the vanishing acts in street performances. Or, you know, weird magic chants and stuff like that. Magic, as far as he was concerned, was something in stories. Bending was different.

"So. What do you think?"

[skysmirror]

"Oh, magic is for more than fire and water and wind. You can use it to heal, too." Having never heard of any other kind of magic, Xion couldn't even imagine what came to Bolin's mind when he heard the word. Then again, she'd never had time to enjoy street performances.

After one more look at the tent, she nodded. "It looks safe."

[buymedumplings]

Interesting. That topic gave Bolin some pause. He then added, "Well, we have healers but they use water to do it. There are some really powerful water-bender healers out there, my friend Korra is one actually." He tilted his head and decided to ask, "Are there spells like invisibility or teleporting or something?" That was more of the magic HE was thinking of, things that couldn't be done with bending.

He nodded, "Good. That's kinda what I was going for."

[skysmirror]

Bolin's version of healing seemed interesting to Xion. "Really? I think Cure spells are more plant-based." At least, it had always seemed so from the flower image that appeared when they were cast. She'd always thought it was pretty. The idea of using water to heal had never come into her mind.

"Safe is a good thing to go for." She smiled slightly, then looked at his Meow Wow. "What do you think?"

[buymedumplings]

"Weird." Bolin replied without thinking. And it was...to him anyway. "Guess there are more differences than I thought."

Ping wiggled his butt, tilting his head to Xion. Then Ping waddled over to the tent and gave it a good, solid head butt. Apparently this was a way to test the tent in Ping's eyes. Ping hit it hard too but then fell back on his bottom and shook his head as if to clear it. Ping then made a pleased sound when he looked back to Xion.

[skysmirror]

Xion nodded. "It sounds like there are." Which was interesting, and she would have to ask him more about them later.

For the moment, he attention was occupied with Ping's reaction to her question. Axel hissed amusement at the Meow Wow's antics, and Xion herself couldn't help smiling as she reached down to pet Ping. "I guess that means you like it."

That settled, she could have gone back to discussing the differences between magic and bending. Bolin and Ping probably wanted to rest, though, and she should move on before more Nightmares showed up. "I should get going. See you later?"

[buymedumplings]

Ping was satisfied at least. As long as Bolin got him something soft to sleep on anyway.

Bolin nodded, "Yeah, I'm sure we'll see each other around. Thanks again for your help."

[skysmirror]

"No problem. See you later." Xion smiled and waved as she started off. Axel and Barkley squeaked their own goodbyes.