video; un:mako

[arclightning]

Uh, hey. Mako here.

[ Nailing it so far, right? Mako's standing in front of a half-blue, half-green wall, dotted with small lunar sconces. Everything looks kind of dusty and half-finished, and the watery afternoon light illuminates yet more dust drifting around him.

Notably, a small dragon, red-scaled and content, is draped over his shoulders like a scarf, watching the Omni with bright eyes.

Mako glances momentarily off the screen, mouths something, and then looks back, clearing his throat. ]

It's come to my attention that a lot of you have been setting things on fire left and right since we washed up here. Obviously, this is dangerous to you and the people around you. If that's you, you need to make an effort to control it immediately before something worse than singeing your clothes happens.

For those of you who just washed up, I'm a firebender. That means I can do—

[ He holds up his left hand (scarred with strange marks) in front of himself and splays his fingers, making a small puff of fire appear and hold over his palm. It flickers there like a candle flame, dancing between Mako's fingers, before he drags it in a small arc and lets it go out. ]

—that, and—

[ Another flick of his fingers, this time producing little purple-bright sparks that zap between the tips and then dissipate. ]

—that. And a lot more.

So. If you need help learning to control your powers, and you do, come to the Raccoon Room in Cellar Door on Wednesdays. You'll see the sign. I've been doing this since I was a kid. Anyone else who wants to help, feel free to drop by too.

[ Finally, he looks up, his serious expression dropping just slightly. ]

Trust me. If a bunch of snotty six-year-olds back home can learn how to do it, you can.

[ The little dragon huffs in agreement, fire puffing out of its nose, and Mako reaches forward to cut the feed. ]

Comments

[onekindsoul]

It shouldn't I don't think so anyways.

But I think it's been warped- Kind of like it was in Deerington but diffent.

I think it's protecting me in another way now. The fire and that doesn't hurt me but it definitely gets everything around me.

[Kind of wondered if it was anything like Yang's semblance but once again it was definitely not the same.]

Yeah. Well maybe we should give him a call- Mako knows a lot about fire too- I can always try asking him.

[justoscar]

But, Auras aren't supposed to affect the environment negatively like that... right.

[Even the Maidens seemed to have pristine control of their elemental powers. Oscar, with his limited real world experience, had never seen or heard of anything like what Ruby was describing.]

Mako was gonna be the next guy on the list anyway. Fire is his specialty, and he's got a good way of not making people feel bad for having trouble.

[onekindsoul]

I mean it can be used offensively- It's just not this easy to do.

Or it could be like Uncle Qrow's semblance- But you know. Kind of better or worse?

[Well as far as Ruby was aware this was a special case herself.]

Yeah- Could be the 24/7 poker face. Hard to tell. He's probably going to be who I go to.

[justoscar]

[Oscar made a worried sound. Qrow's semblance seemed like it was the sort that couldn't be controlled easily, and was a far cry from anything Ruby ever did.]

Elemental aspects usually aren't so unpredictable, though...

[He thought of Nora. He though of what he knew of the Maidens. This was too difficult to even guess.]

Going to Mako's a good idea. Maybe I'll go too, to see if there's anything anyone else in the house can do to help you.

[onekindsoul]

I know, I know.
But we're in uncharted territory here.
I don't think anyones semblance has ever been changed quite like mine has- or anyone else who showed up here.

We're not really dealing with how things work a home. It's Deer-Or I guess Trench logic now.

[She'd had to deal with one warp to her powers- This was getting thrown through it all over again.]

That'd be great. You can always chip me out if I end up on ice all over again.

[justoscar]

As a friend put it: we're Trenchies now.

[He beamed, just glad that Ruby was in good spirits over all this.]

I'll chip you out any time. Maybe even peck you free with my beak! I can still turn into an owl-- so, it's not all bad.

We've got this.

[onekindsoul]

Sounds like a good friend if you ask me. Rolls off the tongue better than calling us the woke or the awoken?

[Okay. That's a surprise she hadn't been expecting.]

You can still do that!? Why didn't you tell me sooner!? Is it any different here? More or less controlled than before?

[justoscar]

He's friends with a few people in the house-- we only started talking in the spring, but I think he's been here a few times before?

[Now that he was talking more with Vyng and learning a little from Fox, he was recognizing a few things... Like how some of the flowers that ensnared the Clockhouse had a distinct vibe that felt similar to the wild-looking and weirdly wise nature man.]

And-- sorry for not mentioning it. The owl thing is the only magic from our world that I can... Touch? It's weird to talk about.

I wanted to make sure of a few things before I brought it up

[onekindsoul]

Okay! That narrows it down a little, I probably know him. Give me a name already?

[She gives a little shrug.]

Don't worry about it- I get how my powers are a bit more- noticeable considering he circumstances.

Well go on and tell me about what you can do. What have you learned so far?

[justoscar]

It's Vyng.

[He was grinning. Leave it to the boy who had far too many lifetimes of wizard memories to keep making friends with people older than him...]

As for the rest, I haven't figured out much yet. But, I think the way we entered this world gave me a mind reading ability? And... I don't know what to call it, but I can sort of tell what my friends are feeling even if we're in different parts of town. It's kinda like what Ozpin and I can do together, but it's like that connection was made a little bigger.

[onekindsoul]

Oh! So just one of the brightest and friendliest people around? Hard to miss him.

[She had been up to shenanigans with Vyng on more than one occasion. He was good people.]

Ooooh. Woah. I had no idea. That's cool- And I mean it sounds like it can be a whole lot to have to bear too.

Maybe that's what this place does- Kind of changes but enhances what's there before. Maybe the fire and ice with me is just kind of like reaching a bit more into what my family can do. Like with Yang's semblance.

[justoscar]

Yeah! Shortcake gives his approval-- that's really all we need.

[Shortcake the black stallion was oddly wise at times, and Oscar knew to trust his judgement. Animals had a sense about others that people didn't.]

I guess that makes sense. The owl shape was something I came up with on my own-- with a little bit of help from Julia. The rest of it...

It makes me wonder if Julia knew things about us from Home and made arrangements to reflect those things. Your new powers look a little like Yang's. Mine is something I wish I had been able to do in Atlas, when we were trying to help Ironwood. Maybe it would have made everything a little different?

...Who knows?