Bumi

OOC Information

This application is for any character who IS a part of the ATLA/LoK series.

Player: Bing
Age: 30+
Characters: na
Contact: Plurk/AIM: agoodshinkickin, DW private message

IC Information

Name: Commander Bumi
Age: Early 60s
Canon: Avatar: The Legend of Korra
Canon Point:
Physical Description:

Possessions: Clothing on his back, which isn’t going to be much as he’ll be falling out of a tree after slipping out of his coat as he’s pulled.
Companion: BumJr, the dragonflybunny spirit.
Personality:

A bit of a wild man, but the bravest commander you’ll ever meet.

Bumi is most certainly his father’s son. Not only does he laugh at gravity just as hard as any Air Nomad, even though for most of his life he himself couldn't fly, but he also seems to have inherited the lionturtle’s share of his father’s playfulness and sense of whimsy. Throughout his life and well into his 60s he’s managed to cultivate an aura of childlike playfulness which can be either a boon or a liability depending on the situation and who you're talking to. Antics that delight his nieces, nephews, and officers, seldom go over as well with other non-commissioned adults, in particular his siblings. The fact that he favors hyperbole to a fault and delights in the telling of tall tales doesn't always help his causes. Regardless of how in the right he may be, or how sound his particular arguments on a given topic are, Bumi runs the risk of not taken seriously by peers and adversaries alike.

He is also his mother’s son and is as fearless as any of the long line of Water Tribe warriors that came before him, male and female. Bumi is equally at home at sea as he is on land or in the air. He’s loyal to his ideals, and to his family in his own ways. While Tenzin may not have appreciated the kinds of affection he had to offer, this was merely Bumi’s way of grounding his golden child brother so that he might have as much of a normal childhood as possible.

For the overwhelming majority of Bumi's life he was a non-bender, and as such had very little expected of him. It's not that he was coddled, but rather that no one really knew what to do with the rambunctious boy who more than lived up to his namesake. The fact that his parents were young first-time parents when they had him probably didn't help his sense of entitlement. They told him time and time again that he could do what he wanted regardless of his lack of bending ability, and so he took them at their word. Internalized that belief so strongly that proving it to the rest of the world became his driving force.

There was no way that Bumi was going to let his status as a non-bender hamper him in his self-appointed duty to protect his family. After all, in the Water Tribe the oldest son becomes the master of the house when the father is not around. The one responsible for the safety, health, and well being of those left behind. So he did the only thing a Water Tribe warrior could do in his situation, he joined the military under the banner of Enlightenment Through Superior Firepower. It was far easier for Bumi to identify with his Water Tribe heritage, a culture that had many notable and successful non-benders, than his Air Nomad roots where he was the first non-airbender in history.



There's a lot of Bumi's self-image and self-worth tied up in his status as a non-bender that's now being called into question thanks to Harmonic Convergence's gifting of airbending to previously non-benders. So much of Bumi's life had been devoted to making his family proud of him, only to have the one thing that in his eyes would have made everyone's lives easier be thrust upon him randomly is a challenge for him to deal with.

Challenges aren't bad things, he's used to those. It's just going to take him a little while to open his mind to the possibilities.


History:
Wiki

Sample:
http://abitofawildman.dreamwidth.org/309.html
http://rctimes.dreamwidth.org/423.html?thread=221351#cmt221351
http://rctimes.dreamwidth.org/423.html?thread=53671#cmt53671
http://rctimes.dreamwidth.org/423.html?thread=58279#cmt58279

Nationality: United Republic, though he's had a history of more identifying with Water Tribe culture than Air Nomad.
Bending: Very early Air.
Subset: None yet.

It was well after nightfall when Bumi finally made it to Republic City. So late in fact that the ferry to Air Temple Island had long since stopped running for the day and Bumi found standing alone on the dock considering his options.

He could swim Yue Bay. It wouldn't be the first time he'd done it, and his belongings are safely stowed in his waterproof sea bag, but he's already tired from a long couple of days travel and as much as he likes swimming, he'd much rather be in a boat.

He could easily find a room in a nearby inn or hotel, hold up there overnight, and catch the ferry first thing in the morning. Of course the trouble with that was waiting even longer than he already had to get to the island to meet his newborn niece.

He very briefly considers breaking and entering for the sole purpose of attracting the attention of the Police, and then asking Baby Bei Fong for a lift on an Airship.
While that idea had merit, if for no other reason than to see the look on Lin's face, it seems likely to require about as much effort as swimming and would probably end up with him spending more time on the mainland than it would if he just booked a room somewhere.

As he stands there weighing his options he can't stop his eyes from drifting towards the statue of Avatar Aang standing boldly in the bay.

"Yet another one of those times I'm kicking myself for having turned down the offer of a bison. Bet you're loving this," he says to the looming figure of his father.

"Does he often answer back?" asks a voice from behind.

"No, never," Bumi responds with a sigh. "Usually he just smiles at me like he knows the punchline for a joke I've yet to hear the whole way through."

"From what I remember that sounds about right."

Bumi turns towards the voice. There, under a street lamp, is an elderly man dressed in the subdued greens of the Earth Kingdom.

"Did you know him?" he asks with a nod of his head back towards the bay.

"Of him, more than anything. And certainly not as well as you did, Chong."

Bumi is puzzled for all of thirty seconds, before he recognizes the regular from the back room Pai Sho tables at the Eelhound.

"I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage..."

"My friends call me Tu," the man offers with a smile.

"Nice to officially make your acquiescence, Tu." Bumi offers his arm for clasping, a gesture which Tu accepts heartily.

"You as well, Commander Bumi."

"My friends just call me Bumi," he says with a grin. "Unless they also call me Chong."

"Well Chong, it appears to me that our lack of introduction isn't the only disadvantage you're experiencing this evening. Making your way home to meet the little one?"

"Trying. Missing the last ferry is what I get for thinking the train would be faster," he says with a sarcastic bark of a laugh.

"You, of all people, chose a land route rather than water?"

"I know, I know. I'll never hear the end of it," Bumi sighs as he turns to look out towards Air Temple Island.

"Well not from me. Especially if bribed well."

"Oh?" he turns back to find that Tu has begun to walk away, towards another part of the dock.

"We can discuss the details while we make our way across the bay. My berth is three slips down."

Bumi wastes no time picking up his bag, and following after the old man.

It doesn't matter that the leave is much deserved, or far too long in coming, he still feels horrid for taking it. His place was with his men, and so he was less than pleased to be ordered to take R&R after returning from his funerary tour.

Who could kick back and relax after that?
Who would want to?

A United Forces meant that there was a whole lot more travel involved when it came to visiting the grieving. He'd stopped in to see Kya during the Norther Tribe leg of his journey, and his mother as they passed the Southern Tribe. Bumi was ever careful to steer as clear of the White Lotus Compound as possible. His Uncle Zuko suggested Ember Island as a place to spend his leave, but Bumi knew there was only one place he could go.

He arrived in Republic City with absolutely no fanfare, and remained at the bar for the entirety of the ferry trip across Yue Bay. The last thing he needed was to see that statue right now.