markofthebrave | [Action, Accidental Voice] .003

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[Action, Accidental Voice] .003

[After having to push herself to heal and volunteering to help build the barrier with her bending, Katara is tired of not knowing for sure just how strong her bending is in this place. So sometime after the sun has gone down and the moon has risen high, she is going to quietly leave the Avatar house and travel to one of the closer lakes. She's not being overly sneaky about it, just quiet enough to be 'considerate,' if one of her housemates catches her in the act.

She'll be bringing her journal with her in case someone needs her or she needs to get a hold of someone quickly. She's still not exactly sure how this journal system works, so the chances are good that it will open on its own, and if it does all that will be heard is the sound of water moving and falling ice.

While she's there, she'll also be trying to contact the water spirit that she read about in the guide.

Pausing for a second, she stares at the half-moon] I wonder...

[Shaking herself, Katara resumes her forms.]

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[With no dark figures lurking out there, he's able to relax a bit.]

Take your time. We're safe here. [For the moment, he heads into the kitchen. Just long enough to put a kettle of water on the stove.]

[She hates this. She really, really hates this. A battle with the three of them and Aku keeps playing out in her head and each time it ends with them dead.

Unless... there was that. And maybe that would work... with all three of them there might be a chance to escape. Slowly, methodically, Katara began to pack her fear away. She hadn't bowed to Aku when he was right in front of her. She wouldn't bow to him now. She was not some scared little girl.

Slowly, Katara began to relax into the blankets, breathing out in relief.]

Making tea?

Looks like you could use it. [He can at least manage something simple that won't taste horrible. If only there was an Iroh handy.

With the water needing some time to boil, Sokka repositions a chair so he's facing her directly when he sits down. Take your time, he's busy running his own scenarios in his mind, trying to figure out which bastard was the one behind this.]

[She's just going to hold the warm cup in her hands for a little bit, and when she's sure her hands won't shake, she'll take a sip. Warm is good.]

I wanted to see what my bending was like at night. I wanted to see if the moon still made a difference. And I wanted to push myself... see how much I could and couldn't do. I got that chance.

[She shifts her gaze to meet Sokka's directly.] I met Flameybrows. Sokka. He's... really not good.

[She went out there? At night!? In the open!?

Aku... Sokka still remembers what happened to Stitch and Miyabi very clearly. Katara might have come out luckier than they did, but this was his sister and he wasn't even there.]

[Deep breath to keep calm, even though it doesn't do much to hide his frustration.] What did he do?

Edited 2010-02-19 06:31 (UTC)

[Katara suddenly finds the contents of her tea cup fascinating.]

The usual bit, I guess. Loomed, threatened, ordered me to beg forgiveness for trespassing... [And she's still not sorry she defied him, but she wishes she could have gotten some more information out of him first. She looks up at Sokka.]

He turned into a giant dragon. He shot -- a kind of flame from his eyes. He can breathe fire. He absorbed my ice spears right into himself... and Sokka... he can multiply. Somehow. I don't know how. But he can.

[All the other powers, those sound fairly familiar. The multiplying part... now that's worrying. How can you trap someone like that?]

... I don't even know what we're supposed to do. More and more of these creeps show up... first Stitch and Miyabi, then Luffy, and now you... [His voice becomes increasingly frustrated.] Why can't they give us people we can beat and have the decency to stay defeated?

[Long pause. She doesn't know who Stitch or Miyabi are, and she vaguely remembers meeting a Luffy over the journals, but... it sounds like Aku's already done quite a bit of damage. Now is the time she's supposed to say something inspiring, now is when she's supposed to be strong -- but she's cold and she's tired and Sokka's been here so much longer than her and if he can't figure out something... she feels helpless and scared... and she hates it.]

I don't know, Sokka. I don't know.

[Her hand steals up to her mother's necklace, found safely sown into the hem of her Fire Nation clothes where she'd left it. The cold stone is a familiar comfort.]

But I do know one thing - not even Aku is perfect. I could have sworn he was looking right at me but... he still didn't find me. There's got to be some way that we can hurt him.

[And it kills her to say this but...] And we don't have to defeat them. We just need to stay alive and keep everyone as safe as we can until we find a way home.

[So he wasn't the most observant demon. That was something, at least. If he couldn't even find the Strawhat house, then maybe he could at least be avoided. It was something at least.

But now his frustration at their situation is now shifting to the fact she was in that situation in the first place.] What were you doing out there alone anyways?

[Sigh. And here comes the lecture.]

I told you. I wanted to see what my bending was like at night.

But that doesn't explain the alone part, Katara! I've told you about these guys before, Aku included! If he hadn't completely missed you, there's a good chance you wouldn't even be here right now!

[Deep breath.] Look, I know it's not your fault, because I should have said this earlier. Especially with the way Toph runs off... From now on, none of us leave the village alone.

Don't you think I know that! [Oh Sokka. You had to spoil her 'yelling back' defense with preemptive reasonableness. Phooey.]

The only reason I got away was because I was able to hide in the snow. I wouldn't have been able to do that half as effectively if someone else had been there with me. And then we'd probably still be fighting, or-- [And she cuts herself off because Sokka or Toph dying is not an acceptable alternative even in an argument. Another sigh.]

But I think you're right. There's no reason to expect what worked once will work again. And at least with two of us out there, one of us could run and get help.

[Yeah, well if he had been there with you, he wouldn't have ticked off the giant angry demon thing! That's best left unsaid though. He'll let her get her angry outburst over with and skip to the part where she's agreeing with him. Much easier that way.]

Then it's settled. Toph isn't going to like it much, though. She's been running off into the woods and mountains all the time without telling any of us where she went.

[Katara can relate to that. She's not going to like it much either. But the thought of Toph going up against Aku on her own... gives her an idea.]

Yeah, but... as the chief organizer of the White Lotus, I'm sure that Toph can understand that it's necessary to take reasonable precautions.

Edited 2010-02-19 15:54 (UTC)

Don't give her any ideas like that. [Besides, he was invited to join the real one first! ... maybe.

[In any case, he moves to sit beside her. Who cares if she gets him a bit wet.] Let's wait until spring before we run into anymore bad guys.

I'm just saying that if she's going to be in charge of helping to protect people, she's got to understand that she needs to protect herself first! [Oh hypocrisy, Katara is so oblivious to you.]

[She's not really anxious to agree with that. She knows the snow saved her life today. Plus... She speaks quietly and lets herself lean into him.] Let's be home by spring.

[A sly grin.] Well, Toph is anything but unreasonable. [Oh, Sokka totally picks up on that hypocrite vibe, Katara. It's your favorite tune sometimes.]

We will be. [Unfortunately he doesn't sound at all convinced about that. His conversation with the woman looking for recruits has left him unsettled. Of all the things in Luceti, it's one thing he hasn't told anyone about yet. As far he's concerned, he'll keep it that way.]

[Toph doesn't bother with knocking on the door, because if anyone's changing she can't see them anyway. She's just like that. Not that it matters, because she's actually stumbling into the LIVING ROOM, apparently. Yes.] Wuh? Why are you talking and making noise so late? Or early. Whatever this is.

Edited 2010-02-19 17:19 (UTC)

[Just when she'd started feeling like she could fall asleep then and there.]

Hey, Toph. [Katara's voice is bone weary, with a hint of resignation. She didn't have any intention of keeping this from Toph -- maybe not even Zuko, although she'll hate to admit that she ran -- but at the moment? She's wet and exhausted and had been hoping to put off more confrontation until morning.]

Talking? Us? Oh... You know, it's just Water Tribe sibling stuff. But I think we pretty much wrapped things up. [As it is, he's perfectly willing to let Katara slip off to bed. Or perhaps take a nice warm soak, since that would probably be better for her.]

[she can't read heartbeats on wood, but she can hear Katara's weariness and Sokka's tone. She doesn't know anything, but she suspects it's more than just sibling stuff.] You keeping things from me? [I mean, lying about something important to a friend? Where's the trust?]

[Sigh. Katara is so tired.]

No, Toph. [She gives Sokka an 'it's OK' look. Toph's up now, gotta deal with it.] I'm just not sure how much longer I can stay awake. The most important things are that everyone's fine and Aku is a big jerk.

Can we talk more about it in the morning?

[Sokka just nods. He's perfectly willing to go back to bed if the topic is being dropped.]

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[Action, Accidental Voice] .003

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