Arrival to Viola
A collab between Sketcher and Alice
[spoili]Staring in the distance, Mei saw the city. Slowly becoming bigger than a spot on the horizon, she was able to see more and more details. A smile crept on her lips as she was growing excited. Leaning on the rails, she squinted her eyes, trying too something 'special'. What? She had no clue, but she was on the lookout to see something that was 'typically' something of Viola. That was after all why she had set the name on her list. Viola, it sounded like a soft whisper that promised exotic and a variety of new things to see. Perhaps food that wasn't made anywhere else except there. People that dressed differently than any place in the world, to show how different the city and nation were.
"Getting some fresh air?" asked a voice from behind. Luca walked up next to her, mimicking her by leaning on the railings.
"Ah... It's been really long since I've been there. I'm pretty excited!" The boy's blue eyes shone as he watched the great city grow gradually with the moving ship.
"Do you have anything you want to do when we arrive?"
"Huh?" Mei looked over her shoulder as she heard a voice. But soon the smile came back as she turned her head to stare again at the city in the distance.
"I don't know. It is just like the city of the Northern Water Tribe. It already looks so different than the place where I grew up." Mei thought for a moment on what kind of plans she could make. Places to visit or people to meet.
"I sadly don't know much about it, but I do want to see if there is something special about it. You know," Making a gesture with her hand, she wasn't sure how to put it into words.
"As snow is... for the Water Tribes?"
Luca thought for a couple of moments, looking up.
"Hm... Well, I guess what's special to Viola would be art, technology and food," he said.
"Though some cities would be more... specialized in certain ones. Woduhe has a lot of places you can get some high-tech gizmos. Stuff like pocket radios... I heard they're even trying to make a phone that you can carry around."
Frowning, Mei then let out a brief laughter.
"Don't be so silly." She told him, not believing that there was a possibility to make such things. Pocket radio's? Her own family wasn't even wealthy enough to own one radio. Their neigbour had one, but she couldn't imagine something as a box that made sound into her pocket. And he just told her that there were men and women trying to make something as a pocket radio? The world was apparently full of crazy people.
"What are your plans actually?"
"I don't have many plans. Perhaps just walking through one or two cities in Viola and then heading south. I want to go to the Southern Tribe to see some of my relatives there again," he said, smiling at the thought.
"I guess, here, I could call my sister and apologize about the payment I made her make..."
Mei bit her lower lip. She still didn't like the thought that she had been able to get to Viola, because he had paid for her. It would've been different of course if she had managed to get more on her own towards the place. Just like her 'barrel ride' towards Shangtan.
"Perhaps I can try to accompany you a bit longer. I kind of owe your sister some money. Seeing how thanks to her I'm able to visit Viola, right?"
Luca looked at her, surprised.
"Sure! It gets really lonely when I'm travelling... I'd appreciate it if we could go together for some time more," he said, grinning widely. Just as he finished talking, the ship started to near the port.
"Well... Looks like we're here. Let's get off quickly."
A bit surprised, Mei was glad that he didn't mind it. She wasn't sure yet how she would be able to repay Luca's sister, but she had now at least a chance to ask the question in case she wasn't too sure what she could do. Not that she assumed that she could pay back such a prize as Luca had paid for her to get to Viola, but perhaps a favor for a favor would be accepted.
"After you." She told him, smiling as she was getting more excited with each passing moment. Within a few minutes, she would set step on ground. Ground on which Viola was build.
Luca nodded, rushing over to the stairs to get down to the lower level. As his foot slammed to the last step, he looked back, turning over to the way off the ship that had just now stopped, making the terrain shake a bit. Flashing a smile, he walked over to the edge and made a jump from next to the crowded two steps onto the pier and turned.
"So... Food first?"
Following Luca, Mei didn't rush as he did. Keeping an eye on him, she now and then glanced at the port. It was much different than Fountain city. Managing to catch up with Luca, she managed to hear him.
"Sounds good with me." Brushing a few strands of hair out of her face, Mei kept looking around. Trying to take everything she could see in.
Luca had a playful grin as he marched away from the port's building and onto the streets with some cars zooming past. The white and grey buildings that reached up, twisting, looked much more grand than they did from the ship. He turned to Mei, biting his index finger as if thinking.
"Ah... Shall we walk around till we find a nice place? I don't know where we could get a bite here..."
"Did you see that?" Mei asked. She was in a great mood as it was clear in her tone and facial expression. Placing her hands in front of herself, Mei let out a soft laugh. She had a real good time in Viola as it was so much things she hadn't seen yet on her travels. Knowing that she was acting a bit childish, she slowly intertwined her fingers together and moved her hands over her head, to the back of her head.
"I wonder if they have more of such nice buildings around. You know," She gained a cheeky smirk.
"Perhaps we should try to see how they look on the inside or better! Get on top of them and enjoy the sight. Wouldn't that be cool if we could just do that?"
"Hmm..." Luca thought for a few moments as he looked up at the buildings.
"There's obviously no way up to the top from here, but... I have an idea." A smirk curled up his lips as he ran towards an alley without another word, only expecting for her to follow. Last he'd read, Viola was making big announcements about its ameliorating slums. Perhaps they could find a construction site there...
Following Luca with a growing smile, Mei quickly looked over her shoulder to be sure that her umbrella wouldn't fall off the small holster. It was a really golden purchase she had made when they had entered the city. So far, everything in the city had been quite nice she thought silently. However she then started to notice that they were leaving the blocks with nice houses and buildings.
"Luca, I don't think..." Mei started, growing a bit unsure about the direction they were going towards.
Luca took a glance back, giving her a reassuring smile.
"Don't be such a worrywart! There are some large constructions going on here. If we could sneak on one of them, we could get a nice, high view of the city," he said before locking his eyes on one with all of the floors set.
"Look how high up that thing goes. We could get to the top and see all there is to see!"
Feeling both a tad offended as challenged, Mei didn't utter another word of the worries that she had. Speeding up, she would stay however a bit closer to Luca. Glancing to the building he likely talked about, Mei couldn't help but finding the suggestion tempting.
"Fine. But then let's get back to the more... civilized area?" She suggested, throwing a look over her shoulder. These kind of neighbourhoods weren't her favorite kind.
"Sure," he said with a cheerful tone before he found his upper body not moving forward as something impacted his face, making him fall on his back as if he'd slipped. While the boy groaned, holding his nose, his assailant walked out from behind the corner with a bat in hand, smirking. Three more men appeared from behind some run down buildings behind them. Luca tried to stand up, stumbling backwards and balancing himself, standing next to Mei.
"Lookie what we have 'ere boys," said the attacker with a mischievous tone.
"A bunch o' brats! Well, ye know the drill. All yer belongings. And don' forget that beaaauuuutiful parasol of yours darlin'."
Looking surprised, Mei then seem to grow worried as she took a step back. Glancing over her shoulder, she could count three more grunts.
"Luca, are you okay?" Mei asked worried, her right hand slowly moving to her side. Spreading her footwork a bit out, she keep looking worried to Luca instead of focusing her attention towards the grunts.
Noticing the footing, the three other men's grins widening as two of them pulled out pocked knives, and the other one simply cracked his quite used, scratched up knuckles.
"I'm fine," the boy grumbled.
"We... We can take these guys, right?" At that time, his eyes had gone to look for a sewage entrance before looking down on the pad he was standing on.
"Brave l'il brats, eh? I respect that," the leader said, laughing.
"Beat the life out o' 'em." The brute with the fists walked towards Mei, his malicious grin widening. The other two snickered as they waited for the man to attack.
"L... Let's move back a bit," Luca suggested, nervous, yet somewhat excited. The man swung his fist right at Mei as Luca finished his sentence, his stance that of a novice boxer.
Narrowing her eyes, Mei quickly stepped aside as she raised her hands. One hand grabbed hold of the wrist that the man's arm that he swung towards her. The other wrapped around his arm as she would use his momentum to lean backwards. As she leaned backwards, Mei moved her leg foot against the man's stomach. Within a few seconds the man landed hard on his back and Mei quickly got on top of him with a backwards roll. More out of reflex, the man raised his hands in order to defend himself in case she wanted to punch his face, but Mei's left hand sweeped towards his neck. In a few moments the man had gone from attacking to gulping and becoming silent, a dagger planted in the man's neck. Getting up, Mei looked worried back to Luca, another dagger in her right hand.
"Move back? Got it."
The other three men glared at the girl. The two with knives charged at her, handling them with impressive skill for average street thugs. Luca turned his attention to his own attacker.
"Um... Maybe we can make peace?" he suggested with a fake childishly innocent voice, his hands held up defensively in front of him, before the man moved forward to attack him.
Gotcha. He flicked his wrists up and water seeped out from the manhole's lid under the foot that first touched the metal, quickly envolopping the man's foot in water and ice. He tried to take the foot out, but comically failed.
"Wanna switch?"
"S...Sure." Mei replied. With the knife she was wielding, she evaded the stabs and strikes. Deflecting now and then a strike, but was more forced to move around as the two man tried to attack her from different positions. Ducking for a slash, Mei rammed the knife she had in her right hand in the foot of the man in front of her as she also heard a cry of pain. Rolling to the right, she would then raise herself while kicking the man that had stood behind her with a kick in the stomach. The attacker in front of her had been maimed at his arm during her evasive manouvre, but neither was yet taken out.
Luca turned around as Mei took his place against the guy stuck. Luckily for him, since she was fighting the other two a meter or two away, he had the chance to attack preemptively. He moved both arms in an arc from his side to his opposit shoulder, water following a larger trail from his bag and to the two villains in a thin line. One of them managed to duck, but the other wasn't so lucky. He tried to withstand the blow with his arms, which led to a cut appearing in his wrist, making him drop the knife and grab the wound.
When she swapped places with Luca, Mei was a bit surprised that he was a bender. But focusing on the fight again, she pulled out another knife. With the man, that had his foot trapped, not having his focus on Mei, she simply aimed for a second. Throwing the knife, she already looked for who would dare to approach them now, pulling out two knives - one for each hand.
Before the second man could move forward after the duck, Luca flicked his wrists, having the water return from behind the man's feet, taking him off guard and tripping him. The water made its way up to his bag's water pouch. Now out matched against the two, the two bandits left their knives behind and fled.
"...Ow... My nose still hurts," the boy muttered after a few seconds of silent celebration.
Storing her knives back in their respective holsters, Mei glanced first at Luca. It seemed that he hadn't been hit or worse.
"Seems somebody is a capable dancer." Mei joked as she went to gather her knives, unfazed by the result the knives had achieved. Cleaning them at the cloth of a dead bandit, she stored the weapons back.
"Though I suggest we get out of here. Before we get in trouble."
Luca looked at the dead bodies pitifully.
"Poor guys... I know they weren't really good people, but..." Sighing, he started to jog towards their original destination.
"We got this far; we might as well climb that thing. I mean, we kinda did earn it," he said, glancing back.
"The whooole city will be for our eyes to feast on!"
Glancing at the dead, Mei shrugged. She felt little remorse. They could've ended up like that and it was only done in the act of self defence. When Luca however stated that they could climb, Mei wavered again. But she didn't want to chicken out as the prospect of a nice view over the city was what she really would like.
"I guess we did earn it with sweat and blood..." Looking to the dead body near her, Mei felt that it was just a few moments too soon for such a 'joke'.
Luca gave her a rather bemused look. He didn't really feel to comfortable with cadavre jokes... Before long they would reach a half empty construction site.
"Hm... They use a sort of lift to get to the top. Maybe we could sneak on it," he said with a mischievous grin as he sighted the contraption that was moving down. With his body lowered, he started to sneak towards it.
Following Luca, Mei heard what he said.
"Yes, cause we haven't broken enough laws and rules already?" Mei asked, sounding sarcastic, but she was in a good mood. Though she hadn't mind fending off the bandits, she hoped that they could use the lift without needing to use any sort of violence. It was exciting as she could feel the rush of adrenaline still being present in her body, causing her cheeks to fluster a bit reddish.
"Eh... I'd rather have done that without any killing," he said, grumbling.
"But, it was self defense. Plus, that first guy hit me pretty hard." Luca looked over at the two workers standing in front of the lift's void.
"See that pile of rubble right next to it? We'll climb it and jump on top. That way, they won't know we're there and when they get off, we'll be able to simply slide down into the lift and go up up and up!"
"I do." Mei replied, hearing what he had to say further. Though she coudn't argue, other than that he was suggesting to jump on top of a lift. Without being sure if it would support two people - Mei wasn't really sure if it would be a good idea.
"Are you sure that it can hold two people?" She asked, sounding a bit worried.
"Eh? Of course! Those things are used to carry tools and materials higher up! Don't be a worrywart!" Without if she was ready, the boy snatched her wrist and ran towards the top of the lift. Before she could argue back, Mei yelped softly as Luca dragged her along.
"I'm just more careful." She mumbled, more to herself than towards Luca. For a moment Mei wondered if it was going to be like this for some time. Luca was actually dragging her from place to place. The thought made her smile a bit, almost forgetting what they were going to do.
There was a loud thump as the two landed on the lift, just before it had started to move. The two workers tried to catch sight of what had happened but decided to ignore it. Panting, Luca whispered to her.
"Hehe... We're almost there. I can't believe that actually worked!" Glaring at him for a moment, Mei replied back with a whisper.
"Next time give me a warning. I can jump, no need to drag and throw me on a lift." She briefly glanced around. This was her first time on a lift and it made her feel somewhat nervous.
"Are you sure that this is safe, Luca? What if the thing will break and fall down? Or explode?" Mei whispered.
"This isn't my first time on one, you know," he said, sounding a bit disappointed at her distrust just as the lift came to a sudden stop. Fearing for the worst for a moment, Luca looked down to see the two workers leave. His grin widening, the boy grabbed onto the ledge and let himself swing down under quietly.
Following Luca, Mei tried to glance behind her. She was worried that they would be caught and had to then explain what they were doing. Then she realized what he had said. For a moment she felt the need to ask him where he had been on a lift before. But it wasn't the time to ask him about his earlier experience with lifts. Trying to watch out where she stood, she hoped that nothing bad would happen.
He smacked the red button that was above a
stop button, and the lift started moving up once more.
"We're almost there!" Luca gazed at the enlarging scenery that had started passing over the slums they were at.
"It's so beautiful even from here. Ah... I hope the sun starts setting soon. A good view of that scene.... Ohhhh! I'm so excited!"
Growing silent, Mei felt overwhelmed. If it was due to the fact that she wasn't too sure how safe it was to get near the railing, but she was speecheless. The height was a bit daunting, but the view was one she imagined birds would experience every day.
"This is amazing." With Luca even mentioning the sun setting, Mei glanced at him.
"How long do you think that will take?"
He looked over at her, flashing a smile.
"Should be about... I dunno, 15 minutes? You know what would've been awesome? If we'd gone further west. Then we'd have been able to see the sun dip into the water!" Luca thought back to when he'd last sat and watched for half an hour as the sun slowly lowered.
"A few more floors left."
"How will we get down if the lift will go down and.." Thinking about it, Mei wasn't fond of the idea of being stuck on the roof of the high building for the whole evening or night. And the fairy tail image of going down with her umbrella, slowly descending, wouldn't work either. Gravity had taught her in the past already that such fantasy didn't work out.
"We can call it up," he said, smiling, hoping she'd ease up a bit.
"At worst, we'd just walk down. There should be stairs. Or we'd spend the night up there and wait until the workers come." The lift stopped at the very top. Luca made his way out of it gladly.
"Let's goooo!"
Still afraid for what would happen if things wouldn't go as smooth as he explained it to her, Mei followed Luca.
"Have you ever done this before?" She asked him.
"Going with a lift and being on top of high buildings?" Briefly Mei felt like a silly peasant girl who had never been to a city. Only to remember that was actually the case.
He stood at the edge of the floor, a wide grin on his lips.
"Well... I guess I did but never on a construction site," he said, chuckling.
"This is something quite different. Everything is so open... You can see the entire city." He let himself fall on his bottom, swinging his legs on the ledge.
More cautious than before, Mei remained a few steps away from the edge. She wasn't that afraid of heights, but this was entirely new to her.
"Is it really that safe at such a distance?" She asked, refering to where he sat.
"What if you will fall?" Trying to not sound scared, Mei wavered about getting closer to the edge. Facing brutes was one thing. The prospect of falling from such a height... a totally different one.
"Ah... I never really thought of that too much," Luca said, laughing.
"I guess I'd die? I don't really see how someone could fall off while sitting, y'know! Unless someone pushed me, I think I'd be safe!" He patted the spot next to him, lifting the dust.
"Though if you stood, you might get a bit dizzy and, you know... fall."
Biting her lower lip, Mei slowly lowered herself. She found it a bit scary. Moving slowly, like almost if she was a snail, towards the edge. Narrowing her eyes, she held her breath. Grabbing Luca's hand, she trembled a bit as she found it terrifying to be near the edge like this. Finally, she sat like him. Holding her breath in for a couple more seconds, she then saw the view.
"Given... If I fall to my death, it was sure a nice view at least."
The boy laughed as his face turned into a light tint of red.
"The view is nice, isn't it?" He turned ahead at the city once more.
"Ah... This kinda reminds me of home." He stopped for a few seconds, not moving or speaking before taking a deep breath.
"I've been meaning to ask you... You said you come from the Fire Nation but you never really said why you left..."
Staring into the horizon, Mei was silent for a few moments.
"Reasons." She calmly said.
"Good ones." Looking to the right and then to the left, she sighed.
"Why does this reminds you of home?" She then asked, looking at Luca with a curious expression on her face as she did so.
"Ah... Well, when I was living in Ba Sing Se, I got to see the city quite a bit from a... higher spot," he said, hesitating.
"Um. In any case... I don't really wanna push this too much, but y'know, if you wanna talk about the reasons, I'm all ears. It can always help to just kinda... vent, I suppose."
"I'll remember that when there is a reason to vent." Flashing a smile, she looked back. Staring at the view, Mei found herself slightly more relaxing thann she had been before she had set on the edge.
"Wasn't the sun going to settle soon?" She asked, looking for it. A smile crept on her lips as she pointed at it with her free hand.
"I've never seen the sun settling down from a height like this. Have you?"
"Well, alright," Luca said as reassuringly as he could.
"Hm. Nah, not really. I've never really paid any attention to stuff like this before." He thought for a few moments.
"Then again, we did originally just come up here to get a good view. I guess it's a nice coincidence, isn't it?" He gave her a pleasant smile, his cheeks still a light tint of red.
"It is." Leaning a bit back, Mei stared at the sun that was slowly settling down.
"I must admit that I've not paid much attention to the sun settling on my travels. I have always been more interested in people, culture and how things are." Finding it a bit hard to proper explain it, she hoped he would understand what she meant.
"Know what would be great?" She said as her smile started to grow.
"Being able to fly. Imagine how wonderful it would be to see the sun settling down while you're at the clouds."
"Well, if we ever get the chance, perhaps at Ba Sing Se, we could go on an airship, up high," he said, thinking.
"I don't think they go higher than clouds, however. At least nothing on sale. Interesting idea, though... I heard some Air Nomads that have mastered the ability of flight live on something like a floating city! It's just an old legend, but think about it. They'd be able to see the greatest views all the time, watching everything!"
An airship? Mei thought about it. The legend he just mentioned made its way to Mei's fantasy. She could picture a floating city. Perhaps somewhat ancient and hidden away above the clouds. It thrilled her as she was trying to imagine herself able to visit such a place.
"Do you think that something like that is possible?" Sounding rather enthusiastic, Mei hoped he could say yes. The possibility of such a place would make it to the top of her list.
"Ehhh.... Possible? Yeah, of course. Probable? Not too much," Luca said reluctantly.
"It is rather interesting though. There are a few mentions of it in old history books and chronicles. Hey, maybe we could find an Air Temple and get some more information there? You know, all legends are based on reality!"
Mei's eyes widened as a glint appeared in the eyes of the girl.
"Really? Really really?" She started to get excited. Looking back at the sun with a wide smile, Mei noticed that she was still holding on to his wrist.
"Let's make a promise then." Raising her hand, that held his wrist, she released him. Hooking her pink with his, she spoke with a serious tone.
"Let's promise that we'll find this floating city."
Luca looked at her, a bit surprised. A wide grin crept up his lips as he nodded, looking her straight in the eyes.
"It's a promise! I'll definitely not be the one to break it, so you'd better do the same! I don't take promises lightly," he said with a cheerful yet quite sincere tone.
"As do I. Good, that's settled then." Lowering her hand, she smiled at the sun that was going under. Already Mei was thinking on how they could locate or even reach a floating city in the skies. It sounded impossible, but it made it more attractive as a goal.
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