markofthebrave | [ Action, Voice ] .042

Entry tags:

[ Action, Voice ] .042

[Even Katara can only deny the effects of the dreams so long. It wasn't so bad at first when they were just vivid and of a different Luceti... but this other world, with these strange people she feels connected to, and the strange consistency of them, as if they were actually telling a story...

...and she knows the dreams have been effecting her dad too. And that it hasn't been good. So... she's going to take today to do maybe what she should have done from the start.]

[Filtered to Sokka]

Hey, I need to talk to you. What time can I come by?

[Filtered to Zuko]

...can we meet later?

[Filtered to Chouji]
I know this is weird, but have you been dreaming that we--

[Filtered to Shikamaru]
Did we ever--

[Filtered to Masaomi]
Don't take this the wrong way, but I had a dream about us, and we were fighting. You broke my rib, but it wasn't a bad thing and I can't stop thinking about--

[Filtered to Nami]
...have you been having dreams that we were friends, once?

[Filtered to Ginko]
Ginko... have you ever heard of parasites that... live in the dark and steal sight from people's eyes, and can be drawn out by moonlight?

[Filtered to San]
I dreamed you had come into my house for food, that you drew a knife and nearly attacked Sokka, and I had to knock you down.

[Filtered to Sanji]
Sanji, did we ever...

[Filtered to Jet]
I - you - there was a dam that -

[Katara abruptly shoves away from her journal, scribbling through her filters madly. Checking with Sokka and Zuko would be enough. She didn't want to go and get people upset or excited about something that may or may not be true. She hesitates for a long moment at the doorway to her father's room, contemplating knocking and asking him-

What have you been dreaming about, Dad? They haven't stopped. Do you think they mean something?

-but eventually she just writes a note that she's going to spend some time practicing, picks up her yari, and heads into the forest. She's almost hoping to see one of the beasties everyone's been talking about. She could do with a good fight against something she can actually touch.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Oh, that got them.

[Familiar voice might be sounding just a little annoyed. It's not your fault, Katara, honest. It's just a little irksome, getting chased into a tree by a pair of overgrown hairless wonders.

Said hairless wonders continue their attempt to sniff him out, the one stuck on ground level circling the tree.]

[...sometimes she really hates being right.]

It got you talking, anyway.

[And she puts two fingers in her mouth and makes a piercingly loud whistle. The Beastie attempting to climb the tree loses its hold and falls to the ground... they appear to be realizing that they are going to need to deal with this noise-maker, and the one which fell down begins to pad over to her.

...still not overly threatening, but low to the ground...]

And if you were planning on doing anything other than hide in a tree, now's a good time.

[While they're separating and all.]

[Grumble, grumble.] I was workin' on it.

[And hiding. But also working on it. Katara might hear the sound of a zipper as he removes some things from his backpack. In the meantime, there's a shaodw sliding down the trunk of that tree.]

[Katara, meanwhile, backs to the side - not further away, because she doesn't want to get out of range of whatever Shikamaru's going to do (and if he doesn't do something she is going to hold this rescue over is head forever, and she knows he knows it) and slowly moves her yari into a ready position.

The beastie follows her, mouth peeling back in a growl. It wants her to back away.]

Too bad. That's my friend you've got there, and you're in my home. [There's a bit more vehemence there than strictly necessary.] If you know what's good for you, you'll run now.

[WHICH IS WHY HE'S WORKING ON IT. Bad enough Temari saved his ass once, a few years back...]

Heh, you might want to get ready to run too. [There's the sound of glass clinking together.] Go for the legs, if you can. They're not going to like what's coming.

[The shadow on the tree trunk suddenly seems to leap forward then, angling for the forelegs of the Beastie nearest to it.]

[Get ready to run? Seriously? Her dad would be so disappointed if she couldn't handle one medium sized monster.

...but then again, if she were Shikamaru... oh man.

And Katara crouches down, ready to run indeed if she needs to. The blades click opened on her yari.]

Are you going to talk them to death?

[She's watching the legs of the beastie approaching her - it pauses to turn back as the other one cries out in pain when Shikamaru's shadow makes contact with its legs.]

Edited 2011-04-29 05:53 (UTC)

[Har har. You want action instead of words?]

[You got it. Tossing down three glass bottles, full of ammonia and match heads: homemade stink bombs.]

I'm not that sadistic.

[Yup. She knew it. She's going to frikkin' kill you, man.

Fortunately, Katara was already holding her breath. Still, a little warning would have been nice.

The beasties howl, a sound most bone-chilling, but Katara doesn't hesitate to attack. She may not have her son's preternatural skill with the blade, but she's certainly no slouch, and she hamstring's the Beastie nearest to her in a simple matter of step-dodge-strike.]

[Also holding his breath, Shikamaru leaps down from the tree once he can hear that the second beastie is being take care of. The one nearest him reacts sharply, teeth snapping. It doesn't get far though, with it's legs pinned like that. Once Shikamaru hits the ground, he moves to catch the creature's head in a mule kick, knocking it against the tree.

He doesn't know if that'll be enough to keep it down, but it should be dazed enough. At least for the next thirty seconds.]

[Katara, meanwhile, is following through with a vicious backwards jab at the back of the Beastie's neck. To hamstring a beast and then leave it alive is just cruel.

Unfortunately, the animal doesn't seem to realize that Katara is trying to do it a favor, and it makes a vicious swipe at her with its foreleg. She's fast enough to jump back and take advantage of the way it falls off balance, but it's a close thing.]

Edited 2011-05-04 01:56 (UTC)

[At least neither one will be following them now - and he's hoping the stench of the stink bombs will at least throw them off for a little while if they try.

Making sure they are dead, or just finishing them off would probably be the best way to go about it. But Shikamaru doesn't like killing things when it's not necessary, and right now he's not sure if it even is.

...and the blood. That just has him unsettled right now.

He gets ready to bolt, stopping by where Katara is, making sure she's all right but turned to go as soon as she's ready.

He'd probably, you know, just ask. But yeah. Stink bombs. He hasn't even taken a whiff and his eyes are watering.]

[She exchanges a glance with him and tilts her head - right so, running now? Away from the stink bombs? Yes? Good.

When they get to a clearing, Katara gasps, taking a big breath of clean air, and shoves him hard on the shoulder.]

You could have warned me!

Edited 2011-05-05 22:05 (UTC)

[He grunts, but takes it, rubbing his shoulder where she shoved him.]

I'm sorry, you seemed tired of talk.

[Please. He should just be glad all she did was shove his shoulder.]

That's not the same thing and you know it, Shikamaru!

[He puts his hands up, placating. Such a troublesome woman. Rather than argue though, he knows to quit while he's ahead.]

Okay, okay. I'm sorry, all right?

Hmph. You should be.

[And she starts walking, dropping it - which is as good as an 'I forgive you.' to that 'not really apology, I'm just saying this to get you to stop' line that Shikamaru gave her. At least she's not forcing the issue with hypotheticals along the lines of 'what if I hadn't held my breath and one of those THINGS attacked me while I was gagging' or the like. She's sure he gets the point.]

...why were they chasing you, anyway?

[They didn't seem to care at all that she was there, after all.]

...I dunno. [He sounds genuinely unsure about it too, and maybe just a little anxious.]

I came out here looking for Raph, but ran into one of those things instead, even though I was trying to be stealthy. The second one showed up not long after that, and they just kept... following me.

[He shrugs as if it's no big deal, but he's still moving. The further away they are, the better.]

[She glances behind them and starts paying more attention to the undergrowth.] You can't hide from the nose.

[So don't feel too bad about fail!stealth.] And neither can they.

[So have some backhanded praise for the stink bombs - because if they were tracking you by scent they're going to have a hard time doing that now, since they both reek.]

[That wins a grin.]

Heh. That's the plan, anyways.

[...even if he'd had something else in mind for those stink bombs. Oh well.]

[Katara takes a look around where they'd headed in their blind run... and starts leading them to the left, back to town.]

It's weird that they were so focused on you. You'd think if they were interested in people, they'd come further into the village.

[He shoves his hands into his pockets, looking down at his feet.]

From what I've heard, they've mostly been avoiding people. They just don't hesitate to defend themselves, and they can get nasty if they have to. [As they just saw.]

It didn't look like they were 'avoiding' you.

[They had you cornered. In a tree.]

[Hey, he jumped in the tree, okay. 8|]

Maybe they thought I was carrying around some dog kibble - I dunno.

[Maybe they're what drag people off into the woods.]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action] 1/2

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action] 1/2

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]