Fall Test Drive Meme!

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TEST DRIVE
Application FAQ | Taken Characters | Reserves | Application

Welcome to the Fall Test Drive for The Revival Project!

For those who do not know, this game is a spin-off from the closed The Drift Fleet game. For more information about what this game is about, please check out the FAQ here or the premise here.

Starting on the 7th, the TDM will be required for all applications. Please view the FAQ for information about how this works. Any questions about the game please direct to the comment section of the FAQ as well.

If you are a Drift Fleet alumni, please label your character as 'DFAU' on your top level so we know. Also, keep in mind you have complete flexibility on how your character comes here. They could be taken before endgame, after endgame, two years after, one year before, etc. It's up to you! The only option not allowed is to completely restart your character (because then it's not DFAU, is it?)

So go! Explore Agra 10! And, as always, HAVE FUN!

Please use either the first event or the previous TDM for prompt ideas!


code bases by tricklet

Comments

[riseswiththesun]

Honestly, being here really isn't all that great. He still hasn't managed to convince Aang or his friends that he's changed, and that he really genuinely wants to join them and help teach the Avatar firebending. That's partly why he's so frustrated as he puts himself through his paces, but until someone figures out a way out of this mess, he's basically stuck.

At the exact moment when he's given up what he's deemed a failure to adequately perform, he hears someone running up to him. Raising his arms in a defensive position, he looks to see who's coming. As soon as he realizes just who she is and that, for some reason, she's grabbing him, his jaw drops open in surprise. "Uh- You can't?"

That's just one of many questions he has, because the last time he saw her, she definitely didn't look that happy to see him. "Are you sure you're not thinking of someone else?" That doesn't quite make sense, but neither does the way she's looking at him.

[waterwhip]

Katara's happy grin shifts into an expression of confusion, but instead of letting him go, her grip on him subtly tightens. "Who else could I be thinking of? Unless there's a different Fire Nation Prince Zuko that you're aware of."

She squints at him, examining him to make sure his pupils aren't dilated, or for any other sign that he's hurt. "Are you okay? Did you hit your head? Is your lightning wound not healing up properly?" A look of real concern passes over her face at that question. Zuko had risked his life to save her and she'd only had a few moments after defeating Azula to work on healing him before the Agrii swept her up to their world.

Letting go of his shoulders, she instead takes him by the hand and starts to pull him towards the fountain. "Let me have a look at it and we'll do another healing session."

[riseswiththesun]

If Katara looks confused, it's nothing to how Zuko's looking right now. He looks down at where her hand is resting on his shoulder, but then he glances back at her as if wondering how she can even stand to touch him. "Well, no, there's just me, but- You sort of hate me, don't you?" There's no "sort of" about it. He knows Katara loathes him, and she has every right to do that. As a prince from the Fire Nation, he represents everything she ought to hate.

But there she is, inspecting him, looking into his eyes, and he has no idea what's going on. "What are you talking about? What lightning wound? I don't-" And then something clicks in his head. "Did Azula find you? Did she attack you?" Maybe somehow Azula followed him to the Western Air Temple, in which case it's all Zuko's fault.

Before he knows what's happening, though, Katara's got him by the hand and she's pulling him along. "I don't understand, you want to heal me?" Never mind the fact that he's uninjured; he can't begin to understand where this is coming from.

[waterwhip]

"I don't hate you!" Katara insists, a little taken aback that Zuko could even think that was still the case. Had she hated him once? Absolutely, and she felt entirely justified in her sentiment at the time; Zuko had betrayed her after she'd poured out her heart to him. She thought they'd come to an understanding, but he turned around almost immediately and helped Azula attack them.

In spite of all that, things had changed. He had changed, and he had worked hard to regain her trust. Eventually, he'd won her over. Why is he now acting like he can't remember any of that?

"Yeah, Azula found us. Then you fought her off to buy the rest of us time to escape. And of course I want to heal you. You're only hurt because you took a bolt that was meant for me." She glances back at him, tugging him along like it's the most natural thing in the world for her to be concerned about his well-being.

She urges him to sit on the lip of the fountain once they reach it, and steps back a pace, crossing her arms. "Okay, let me see the wound. I need to make sure it's closed up the right way or it might get infected."

[riseswiththesun]

It's around this time that Zuko figures out something weird is going on. Actually, that's not so unusual for him, but this is something much weirder than just the usual funny business. For one thing, he doesn't remember saving Katara from anything, and for another, he definitely doesn't have a wound. That has to mean something, doesn't it? "But- Hang on a second. What if I said I don't remember a thing about saving you?"

And to further try and prove his point, he stops walking so he can pull at his clothes, revealing plain bare skin and no injury.

"I don't think whatever you remember happening has happened for me yet, and yes, I know that sounds completely crazy." It doesn't even seem possible, but he can't argue with the facts. But then he smiles in that awkward way of his and rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "If it means anything, though, I wouldn't just stand there and let you get hit."

Even if he barely knows her, and even if he used to be full of hatred and the need for revenge, now he thinks he wouldn't be able to just stand by and watch. And then another thought occurs to him, and a flush of red can be seen creeping up his neck.

"Uh, thanks for wanting to heal me, though." Even if there's nothing for her to heal, the thought still means a lot to him.

[waterwhip]

When Zuko opens his shirt to reveal the smooth, unblemished skin, Katara steps back with a look of wide-eyed befuddlement. "That's not possible," she says. "How..." He looks just the same as she remembers him from the moments before she was pulled away. His hair is the same length, his clothes are the same; it's just the wound is gone.

"What's the last thing you remember?" she asks, a hint of defensiveness edging into her tone. "Are you saying that... that we aren't friends?" She knows that, realistically, if what he's saying is true, then he can't be more than a few weeks behind her. She has to be sure about it, though--he didn't look so different when he sided with Azula in the crystal catacombs under Ba Sing Se.

His word of thanks makes her cross her arms, her head lowering sheepishly. The situation is becoming almost unbearably awkward now. "You saved my life. I couldn't let anything happen to you."

[riseswiththesun]

Zuko just stands there for a second or two, staying silent while Katara gives him a good looking over. Clearly she's surprised by this turn of events, but he doesn't have a good explanation for it. "None of this makes sense, but- I'm fine, see? Obviously what you said hasn't happened to me yet." And that's really a weird thing to think about.

"Well, I kind of followed your group to the Western Air Temple, because I knew Aang needed a Firebending teacher, and I didn't think he had one." Zuko's starting to ramble mostly out of nervousness, because he's afraid of messing this up, but he's glad that Katara's talking to him and not drenching him in water again.

"You weren't happy to see me, of course. Why would you be, after everything I've done?" His shoulders drop a bit then as he remembers how many times he attacked Aang and his friends, and how many times he wronged Katara as well. "The last thing I remember is you not letting me join you, so... I just kind of left." He sighs then and straightens back up. "We're not friends, at least, not as far as I can remember. I won't blame you if you want me to keep my distance around here."

A small part of him hopes she'll let him stick around and try and redeem himself for his past failings, but he's trying not to let his hopes get too high. And then, when he hears her words, it's his turn to lower his head, a slight tinge of red creeping up his neck. This situation really is awkward, and not at all what he expected. "I- I don't even know what to say to that, but... It means a lot?" And it's more than he deserves.

[waterwhip]

It's funny how much a few weeks can change someone's perspective. Even though she'd been the one to ask, Zuko confirming they weren't friends makes a lump form in her throat. Katara clenches her fists, thinking back to the way she'd rebuffed his request to be taken into the fold, and while she felt entirely justified at the time, it's upsetting to think of that being his most recent recollection of her.

They never got to fight alongside each other. He hasn't yet helped her find some small measure of closure regarding her mother's murder. He hasn't yet chosen her, out of all their companions, to help him fight Azula on the day of Sozin's Comet.

This boy had turned his life around to do what was right. He'd lost everything. Now, they were friends. They were supposed to be friends. She'd been so excited to see him there--that someone else here would understand her history without having to rehash everything.

But her friend hasn't arrived yet. He's weeks away from being that person, if he ever will be now that he's on this world instead of theirs. A strange feeling bubbles up in her chest, and to her horror, Katara sniffles once as tears well up in her eyes.

"Don't be stupid!" she says, throwing her arms around him in a tight embrace. "Just because you don't know it yet doesn't mean we aren't friends!"

[riseswiththesun]

To Zuko's horror, Katara starts crying, and he instantly feels both guilty and at a loss for what to even do. It's his fault she's upset, he knows that much. But he can't make himself remember things he hasn't even experienced yet, so that just adds to his confusion.

"Uh, hey, I didn't mean to make you cry. I just-" He knows he's messing this situation up, but for once, he has no idea how to fix it. "I'm sorry, I'm really bad at... everything!" That last word slips out before he even knows it's on his tongue, but it really feels like the truth sometimes.

He disappointed his father, he failed to ever really understand his sister, and for reasons he can't even begin to understand, his mother left. And what's more, he really messed things up with his uncle, who always tried to support him even when he was vengeful and bent on finding the Avatar. He regrets that last part more than anything.

But before he even realizes it, Katara's hugging him, and it's not just any old hug. It's the first hug he can remember having in a long time, and that means something to Zuko, even if everything about this situation is confusing and awkward. "Well- Uh... Thanks, Katara, that really means a lot. And I'll try to make it up to you somehow."

Exactly how that's going to look, he doesn't know, but he's going to try to be a better person and to not let her down again.

[waterwhip]

Katara is more than a little embarrassed by her own reaction, and after a second she pulls away to plonk down beside him on the edge of the fountain. She scrubs at her face with the fabric of her bracer, sniffling one last time.

"You're not bad at everything, Zuko. Don't say that. I... I'm not sure if it's okay for me to tell you much about what's going to happen in the future, but... just don't say that kind of thing about yourself. You're better than you realize."

She wants to be able to say more, of course. If she could narrate for him the course of events that have played out since he was brought into the group, she would, but would it not be better for him to work through those things on their own? She supposes if they're stuck here now, it probably wouldn't hurt anything--on the other hand, he might not even want to know. He's always been the kind to forge his own path, and she imagines that would be the case here, too.

"You don't have to make anything up to me, either. I already told you that you saved my life. I know you're good now; you don't have to prove anything to me."

[riseswiththesun]

When she sits down next to him, he lets out a long sigh and lets his gaze drop down so he's staring at his hands. "Yeah, I know, you probably shouldn't tell me too much. But- You don't know how many things I've ruined by acting without thinking. I regret all the bad things I've done, but regret isn't going to fix anything." He shakes his head before continuing. "And now that I'm here, I don't know when I'll be able to do that. Even if I was back at home, maybe I still wouldn't have the chance to."

He's thinking of his uncle now, and wondering if maybe he's too late to try and repair the damage he's done. Of course he knows that Iroh is the forgiving type, but what if he's pushed him too far one too many times? "I bet people like my uncle won't even want to talk to me anymore. I wouldn't blame them for that."

But then again, he thought Katara would never forgive him, but obviously now he knows she can, and for the girl sitting next to him, she already has. It's hard to wrap his mind around, but he thinks Katara wouldn't lie.

"I know this sounds selfish, but I really don't mean it that way. I might not have to prove anything to you, but I still have to prove it to myself." And from where he's standing now, he's not sure how long that will take.

[waterwhip]

"Regret is a good place to start, at least," Katara points out. "It means you know that the things you did before were bad. Some people will never admit they did anything wrong." People like Zhao, or Azula, or Ozai. They refused to see the error of their ways, making themselves effectively irredeemable.

"Back on our world, you worked so hard to earn our trust and fix your mistakes, but here you have a chance to start fresh with people who don't know you. Everyone I've met has been really nice--I bet you could make friends if you gave yourself a chance."

From her seat, she watches the expressions as they shift on Zuko's face. The mention of Iroh makes her frown, though only because of Zuko's negative self-talk. "Your uncle loves you more than anything. I know he does because I've seen it. Trust me on that, okay?"

She smiles at him then, moving her hand to briefly pat his shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up too much. There's a lot of goodness inside you."

With all that being said, Katara stands and beckons for Zuko to follow her. "Come on this way. There's a greenhouse with food, if you're hungry." Talking about feelings can work up an appetite, after all.

[riseswiththesun]

"I know it is, but you're the only one who knows it, at least from my point of view. I can't even tell anyone else how sorry I am. As far as they're concerned, I'm still the enemy." He doesn't mean to sound like he's stuck on this one problem, but it's the biggest obstacle in his path right now.

"But you're right. People here don't know who I am, so maybe this is my chance to start over. I want people to like me, and to not see me as who I used to be." Which shouldn't be a problem, since his reputation hasn't followed him here as far as he can tell.

"You've seen it? How?" He doesn't mean to question her, but it's news to him that Katara's met his uncle. But then she's up and gesturing for him to do the same. "I guess now that you mention it, I'm a little hungry."