[ Action ] .041

[markofthebrave]

((The following takes place between 11:30pm on the 19th and 4:00-5:00 am on the 20th.))

[Katara awoke with a start - another nightmare. They'd been bothering her on and off since the draft, since seeing Nami... but now that Sokka was back she'd been getting better rest, so at first she thought all she'd have to do was lay back down and fall back asleep. No such luck. She feels more awake, more alive than she's felt in weeks. Deciding to get up and get a drink of water, Katara soon discovers the reason.

The moon is full. And it looks so close. All she needs to do is close her eyes and she can feel the pulsing of her own blood... of Zuko's, of Suki's, of Toph's, and Sokka... She opens her eyes, sets down the water, and tries to go back to bed, but she's too restless to sleep, and every time she begins to rest she can feel it. The push and pull. And she's so awake.

Katara decides it's a good night for a walk. The chill of winter is still in the air, so she bundles up, grabs her waterskin and her journal, and quietly makes her way out of the house. At first she starts to head towards town, but it's too brightly lit with those electric lights and she turns about halfway towards the plaza, deciding to walk along the river instead. She doesn't mean to go all the way to nearest lake - it's supposed to just be a quick walk to clear her head. But as the full moon battles with the clouds and the air fills with the heavy promise of rain, Katara loses track of time.

Feel free to bump into her as she walks up through town, along the river, or even down by the lake if she makes it that far - housemates can also bust her upon re-entry. >> This post inspired by the fact that the moon is closer to the earth tonight than it has been since the early 90s.]

Comments

[action]

[winged_moon]

[Katara isn't the only one affected by the pull of the full moon this night. As is becoming his custom Yue left the house once Yukito was asleep, taking to the sky to feel the cool night wind through his feathers before he finally settled in a tree near the edge of town, on the banks of the river.

He notices the approach of another but doesn't bother to move or speak to acknowledge her presence. He'll just watch her instead, his broad white wings curved forward slightly about himself.]

[action]

[markofthebrave]

[Katara's not thinking to look up at the tree tops - at least, not the ones facing away from the moon. She pauses along the riverside in her walk for a moment, turns her face up to it, and closes her eyes.

...then a cloud covers the face of the moon again and she starts to walk, holding one hand out over the river and absently bending up the water as she does. This close, this much power - she feels the urge to do something.]

[action]

[winged_moon]

[...how curious.

Yue watches with a slight frown creasing his brow as she hesitates and walks again, then lifts from his perch and hovers there with his feet just slightly above the branch.]

I didn't expect to find another out this late.

[rabidrapido.livejournal.com]

[markofthebrave]

[It takes less than a moment for Katara to place this particular return New Feather. After all, not many dogs carry a pipe. She immediately bends down and smiles.]

Hey, it's you! Although I don't know if you remember me or not... seems like a lot of people have forgotten things recently.

[rabidrapido.livejournal.com]

Woof!

[Action]

[no-use-running.livejournal.com]

[Who else here but Katara knows the effect of the Moon on the Water like Ami does? Perhaps it's not a surprise for the two to meet. Ami looks surprised, but it quickly changes to a smile.]

Katara. I suppose we're out here for the same reason.

[Action]

[markofthebrave]

[Katara smiles back.] Couldn't sleep?

Re: [Action]

[no-use-running.livejournal.com]

[The sight of a close full moon reflected in the water of the sea near the Dark Kingdom had been enough to start allowing her true memories to leak through back then, until Kunzite had disrupted it and taken her away with a warning not to look. It's a very powerful thing.]

Mm. I suppose it was the water calling. For you, too, wasn't it?

[ action ]

[acowardlyoak.livejournal.com]

[ GUESS WHO IS OUT AND ABOUT TONIGHT. and sulking. someone else he liked got sent home, and that has him feeling pretty damn blue. he's by the river that night, wondering if maybe getting back into a training routine will make him feel more like himself. ]

[ action ]

[markofthebrave]

[Training is therapy, except cheaper and more effective according to Katara. It takes her a moment to recognize him.]

Shuri?

[action]

[sea-king-bait.livejournal.com]

[A green-haired head is poking itself out of the river. It quietly watches her as she walks along it.]

[action]

[markofthebrave]

[Katara walks along a little ways before she notices the head in the water.] Hello?

[endgames]

[There's some peculiar rolls of thunder sounding the closer one gets to the lake tonight, lulling in and out almost as if in conversation. Worth investigating?]

[markofthebrave]

[Probably. She always was the curious sort. Chances are good that a ninja would be able to tell that she's coming since she's not exactly being cautious.]

[heavenslament.livejournal.com]

[Terra can't sleep, though it has nothing to do with the moon. She slips out of her apartment quietly, so as not to awaken her pet, and begins to walk her way through town. It's not a coherent tour so much as just going wherever her feet take her. At some point, she can be seen walking along the river, hopelessly awake and not very happy about it.]

[markofthebrave]

Hey, Terra! [...she doesn't look happy.] ...are you all right?

[Katara and tact are not always the best of friends.]

[daisy023]

[For her part, SPARTAN-023 is awake not because she cannot sleep -nightmares have been a recurring problem she has lived with for a long time-. She had seen the moon before, but never like this. Never so close. So for this time, much unlike her behavior, she gives herself the time to watch it.

Close to the river, nearing the lake, there is a suit of armor, sitting below a tree with a helmet by her side, looking at the moon.]

[markofthebrave]

[Katara notices the other girl and vaguely recognizes her, but doesn't want to disturb her solitude if that's the reason why she's out here alone. Just because she's out for a fairly good reason doesn't necessarily mean that it would hold true for others.

However, that won't stop her from a soft-] Hello.

[forestpride.livejournal.com]

[San is awake also, sitting on the shore near where the lake becomes a river. She doesn't notice Katara at first - she's looking up at the moon as well.]

[markofthebrave]

[And Katara calls out when she sees her, not wanting to appear to be sneaking up on the wolf-girl.] San!

[Action]

[derek-bliss.livejournal.com]

[Restlessness breeds restlessness? Or maybe not. At any rate, Derek is also out and about, and a lot closer to the village than he intended. But with the night time lit up as bright as the days he remembers, he's hard pressed to stay in the forest and simply lurk like some half savage critter.

That, and one of the strings on his guitar busted, so he needed to come into town anyway to get a new replacement pack.

Even with the light though, and the appreciation there-of, he's sticking to shadows. When he can at any rate. Passing by the river, though, is a little difficult, since trees really don't have a habit of growing right at the banks. So when he attempts to cross Katara's path, well, he fails at the whole 'you can't see me' thing. At least until he reaches the undergrowth of the treeline and has something to blend into.]

[Action]

[markofthebrave]

[And he's fast.] Who's there?

...Derek?

[banditsblindly.livejournal.com]

[Acute hearing and feeling vibrations can kind of be a bitch when someone leaves your house in the middle of the night. Toph isn't up quite fast enough to catch Katara before she leaves, and part of her is downright worried she's been kidnapped--ever since Sokka got back, she's been a little on edge, though she won't admit it.

She'll be waiting, just inside the door, for Katara to return. Hopefully.

And by the way, she does not look happy.]

[markofthebrave]

[Katara enters quietly, and none the worse for wear.]

Toph? What are you doing up so early?