markofthebrave | [ Action, Voice ] .043

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[ Action, Voice ] .043

[All right, enough of this. It's Spring and she still loves Spring (only her third Spring ever!) and Katara has decided she is going to enjoy it. No school today, so in the late morning to mid afternoon, if you are by the paths along the river you will see one (1) Katara, with a basket and her knife, taking cuttings of wildflowers. She's careful not to take too much from any one tree or bush, and she's clearly enjoying herself.]

[General Voice]
I think my favorite part about Spring is the flowers. We just didn't have anything like this where I grew up. Although in the summers I'd go on a hunt for Mouse Ears. [She pauses, remembering the last time she'd done that...] Or at least I did when I was a kid. I even found one once!

But for all you people who grew up with flowers like this - what was it like, in your Springs? Did you have any fun flower traditions?

[And after the wildflowers have been turned into bouquets, it's time to go visiting! If she hasn't seen you or heard from you in a while, and she knows where you live, your house/apartment is Fair Game.

There are, however, a few people she needs to speak with about a few specific things, so it's time for some courtesy filters! These are not very strong and mostly to prevent your journals from spam]

[Filtered to Shikamaru]
Hey - you up for a spar later?

[Filtered to Nami]
...are those mikans still up for grabs?

[Filtered to Trafalgar Law]
...would you mind if I stopped by?

[Filtered to Zoro]
...hey. I haven't seen you, and I think we should talk.

[Hmm. That was everyone she needed to talk to, right? Hopefully that was it. If it wasn't, she hopes she'll bump into people during the day. Like Sokka - an idea has occurred to her which needs discussing.]

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[OK, good, now we're to the listening part. She takes a deep breath and starts to explain.]

Because we haven't yet. I know that other people have searched them, and they haven't found anything, but we haven't. We could see something they've missed. I can't say that 'we've done everything we can' until we've at least looked.

[He frowns at that. He's been to the barrier himself. Poked it with his sword a bit... kicked it some, stubbed his toe. It was pretty solid. But he has never crossed the entirety of the tunnels. And mostly it's because of how long they are.]

... that's a really long trip, especially if we're examining everything. [He's not saying no.]

I know. But I'm going to do this. You can come with me, or I'll find someone else. I'll go by myself if I have to.

[...a sigh, as she realizes that she's strong-arming him when she doesn't need to. She is doing it. There's nothing (or nothing she can think of, anyway) he can say to stop her. But she doesn't want him coming along just because she's twisting his arm. It's not urgent that way. But... what if...]

Look, Sokka - it's not like I want to spend a couple of days cut off from my bending. But this is something I have to do.

[Man. He doesn't have this same concern. He's quite okay with knowing other people have thoroughly explored the tunnels. There's really not much point to this that he can see. But on the other hand... there's no chance he's going to let Katara go do this all alone. He could talk her out if he wanted to. Throw some sound logic about why this is a bad idea. Three days is a long time and if something happened halfway through, they wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

But that would just make her mad, she'd rant a bit, and then stew over it for awhile. Or just go anyway. He never found reason to be the most effective weapon against her.

... besides, there is that sappy and sentimental part of him that doesn't see this as all bad. It would be satisfying to at least be trying to find a way out. Even if he doesn't expect to succeed. That and... they haven't done anything together in a long time. Not that he feels the need to do everything with his sister, far from it. But even in the last draft, he fought beside Suki more than her. That's a lot different than how things were at home... or traveling with Aang.]

[Fiiiine.]

Well it's not like we have to take off tomorrow or anything, right?

[Sokka's got stuff he's gotta do, yo. And you never know who might show up in a New Feather cycle.]

[Something in her relents, softening her posture the slightest bit.]

Not tomorrow, but soon. I want to go before the next experiment, and you know they usually come at the end of the month.

[The New Feather cycle is in her thoughts as well - if Azula shows up, she doesn't want Zuko, Toph, and Suki to have to handle her by themselves.]

Guess the Malnosso are getting pretty predictable, huh?

[He has similar thoughts. Or it could be a friend from home. Of the squishier variety. Who knows?]

If only there was some way we could cross the tunnels faster...

[He idly wonders if a horse or something could be taken down there. It's just a matter of how that would be managed.]

Well, you've got time to get thinking on it. I don't want to go too fast though. Otherwise we could miss what we went down there to find.

So... plan to be gone for the week then, huh?

You have something better to do?

Well... Leon and I are going to start incorporating alchemy into weapons, I have to take Winry to the ocean and teach her to fight, pick out a present for me and Suki's one month engagement anniversary, there's that big boat building project, I'd have to clear the break with Professor Raine and Master Souji, teach Luke how to camp, and it probably wouldn't hurt to go fishing with Zuko.

[Yeah. Plans. Lots of them.]

... so, I can push stuff around, I just gotta have some warning.

[...]

Forget it.

[And she turns to go.]

Hey! I didn't say I wasn't going to do it! [Jeez, sisters. He crosses his arms.] Just make sure we have plenty of supplies.

[She whirls back around.] Look, I know it's a long shot, but there's no point in doing it at all if we're not going to do it right. I don't need you to come with me. If you're too busy, I can get someone else.

[...]

And since when did you even like alchemy!

Look, if you're going to go through some crazy tunnel looking for a way out, you're not going in there without me. It's my job to look out for you, remember?

... and it's not like Ed's alchemy. [Leon doesn't act like it isn't magic either.]]

This isn't about you 'looking out for me!' [She's never denied that charge their father placed on him, and she's not going to start now. But he has other responsibilities that he's taken on and never has that been more clear to her than this moment.] If I run into anyone down there, they'll be just as powerless as I am.

[Which isn't to say that doesn't mean they won't have a good chance of kicking her ass that way, but she's far from helpless as a 'powerless' fighter either.] This is about going down there and actually trying to find something! If you're just going to go and push to get it over with as quickly as possible, then I'm better off with you here finishing up one of your projects!

[That's not to say that there wouldn't be a way to do this more quickly while still stopping and searching thoroughly, or that she would be opposed to such a way. But that's not the vibe that she's picking up from Sokka right now, and the fact that he would rather work on the things that tie him here than go and search out even the faintest possibility of something that would get them out infuriates and frightens her.]

[Unless they're like Sokka and don't have powers to begin with. Staff training or not, it wouldn't be all that hard for Sokka to take Katara down without her bending. Especially if it was with murderous intent.

... not that he is expecting that.]

Look, we both know that actually finding anything down there is a shot in the dark. I don't want to speed through it, but I do want to be efficient, at least.

And what do you mean by that.

That we have a way of moving fast, that's all. We only need to stop for stuff that look suspicious.

[If they plan to check every last inch of that place, it's gonna be weeks.]

And how are we going to know what looks suspicious if we're going too fast to really look?

We're smart people. We'll figure out an appropriate speed and suspiciousness level while we're doing it. It's not like I've made a chart for that or anything.

[He'll do that later.]

Edited 2011-05-20 11:31 (UTC)

'Speed' and 'suspicious' level? [Deep breath.] Sokka, I don't want you to come if you aren't going to take this seriously. I don't want to be down there longer than I have to, and I don't want to do this again. If you think you can find a way to be fast and thorough, then fine. If not, then just forget it.

[You've obviously got other things that are more important to you than chasing down and examining every corner of this place to find a way out. So suit yourself. But Katara's going to try to wrap this up now before she snaps at him or bursts into tears.]

[That's how Sokka rolls, Katara. You should be used to it. After all, he was so encouraging and serious with Aang the day before Black Sun, when he had to 'kill' the Fire Lord.]

Come on, Katara. Be reasonable. I said I was going to do it, so I'm going to do it. Don't be so dramatic.

Don't you get it? I don't want you to go if you don't want to!

[And she turns to go.]

You just - think about it and get back to me.

[There's plenty of time to ask someone else if she needs to.]

[What did he say about being dramatic!!

Well, there's no use drawing this out. He already made up his mind long before he started listing his other stuff to do.]

Yeah, I'll think about it.

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[ Action, Voice ] .043

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stop lookin at me like I'm Zuko!!

Deal with it

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