markofthebrave | [ Action, Voice ] .045

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[ Action, Voice ] .045

[Raine was right. A draft had come, this one worse than before - and in a place where she could be more useful than any other location. And she wasn't going.

She took a good long look at that list. And there are some people that she has to visit.

...okay, there are a lot of people she has to visit.

First stop - Shikamaru and Chouji's place. If she can't go herself, then she has to do what she can to help the people who are going out out, and that means talking with the strategist going out there who she trusts.

Next stop - Casa de Freedom Fighter. She may have put it off if her talk with Shikamaru hadn't made her realize how absolutely necessary this was.

From there... spirits, so many people... Katara takes out her journal and stares at it a bit before making a general voice post and then crafting some filters.]

If anyone - needs me for anything, or if there's anything I can do to help out before you go, I'm around. I've fought in swamps before, and although I don't know anything more about this one, I'll try to answer what I can.

[And now it's time for filters. She doesn't have anything specific to say to these people, not over the journals anyway, so the message is the same.]

[Filtered to Ginko, Masaomi, Raine, Kurt, and Sanji]

Hey. If you have time, I'd like to see you before you go.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[The door to Shikamaru and Chouji's apartment will be open when Katara gets there: surprise, in and of itself, he knows.

More than likely though, this ninja will catch her when she comes out of the stairwell, poking his head from the kitchen to see who's visiting their floor.]

Aa, it's you, Katara. Hey.

[That is unusual, yes. Enough that she smiles a little when she sees him.]

Were you expecting someone else?

Nope. [Which is why he was checking. He disappears back into the kitchen, walking over to one of the tables to pick up several of the kunai he was sharpening in there, among other things. Weapons maintenance - he's finished now, so he's carrying them back into the apartment.] Just the opposite.

[...you carry so many weapons, boy.

She follows him in.

This is hard. She knows it's the right thing to do, feels it in her bones, but it still feels a little weird.] I know that you're going to be busy, but I didn't just stop by to tell you guys goodbye. Although I wanted to do that too.

[And she glances around for signs of Chouji.]

[So many it'll take two or three trips to get them all. He drops this load off on a coffee table, taking note of where her eyes wandered.]

Chouji stepped out to get something. He should be back anytime now, if you want to stick around to talk to him too.

I'd like that.

[And then she turns to face him squarely, her shoulders straight with determination although her features are still a little clouded.]

A lot of my friends are going on this draft. People I've fought with or seen fight. It's just going to be you and Albert out there, for known strategists, and if Albert is anything like Caesar he's a complete noncombatant.

So I think that the best thing I can do to help is to tell you what I know about the fighting styles of the people on the list who you need more information about. And then I'll talk to my friends and tell them they can trust you.

[Because I'm trusting you.]

[He figured that out for himself, working with them last time. Albert is an excellent tactician, Shikamaru can give him that. He's had few problems following his orders. But there's a reason Shikamaru was put in charge of the group he lead, and he knows that it was that combat experience.]

I wouldn't go so far as to call him a noncombatant, but I know what you're getting at. What you're offering... That'll help me a lot, so thank you.

[More than anything, even if he doesn't know close to half of these people, he's afraid of these people dying while they're out there. It'll happen, and he won't think twice when it does, but it's not something he wants. Knowing what they're capable of, and having them willing to cooperate (or so he hopes) means he can work with them better on the battlefield. The better he's able to do that, the better he's able to keep that fear from realizing itself.

Shikamaru pulls his journal out of his flak jacket, opening it to the names of the people on the draft list and hands it to her with a pen.] I need to get the rest of my stuff. Underline the names of everyone you can tell me about, and we'll talk about them once I have everything back in here. Okay?

Okay. [She takes the pen and a seat and frowns down at the names when he leaves. So many people... so many people who can't fight.

And Katara feels the familiar rush of rage and helpless energy. She takes a deep breath and starts underling names. Some people she knows more about than others. Some people she just knows about through Sokka. But a little information is better than none at all. She's finished and mostly composed when he gets back.]

[It doesn't take more than a few minutes for Shikamaru to get the rest of his things, and he can clean up later. He puts the rest of his weapons down - the trench knives with a little more care - and takes a seat.]

Done?

Yeah. [With a small smile, even! And she passes the book over to him.

She didn't underline himself and Chouji for obvious reasons, but other than that... that's pretty much it.

Actually, she was impressed with how many people she didn't know. She used to make a point of greeting at least two New Feathers every cycle. She needs to get back to doing that. Katara's convinced that only as a community will they ever find a way to escape.]

[But hey, it's better than nothing. He looks over the list with a nod - every bit helps.]

All right, let's start at the top then. Alexei Denoia.

[...a name off the watch list, at that.]

[Katara closes her eyes for a moment. Remembers.] The first time I met Alexei he was dying from a stomach wound. I healed him, he said it was a personal grudge, and Nami was with him so I didn't push. I can't tell you much about his fighting skills, because as much as we'd talked about it, we never actually got a chance to spar before he was sent home. But I remember that as a person he was always very calm and logical - he was clearly some kind of soldier.

[She shakes her head.] I didn't even know he was back until the Luceti Valley experiment. I don't think he remembers any of that.

[Which is - sad and annoying, really. It's not like she wanted the guy to owe her one... or two... how many times had she healed him anyway? But that was her one connection with the person.]

If you want to know more about him, you can ask Nami. They were friends, then.

[Pause.] But from what I remember about him, he wasn't the kind to listen to just anyone. If you want him to work with you, you'd have to get his attention somehow.

[And she's not sure you want that. She remembers his consistent questions about her waterbending... and now that he's on the watch list, has just enough sense to wonder about them.]

Edited 2011-06-02 20:07 (UTC)

So he went home and came back. [Speaking of that experiment... he thinks this guy was related to Chouji somehow for the duration of it. Weird.]

I got the impression he had military experience too, hearing him speak with the Commandant. He'd probably make a valuable ally, if he could be swayed, but I'll have to look into it. [Obviously, he has the same concerns.]

Next name is the Batman. [...he is not expecting heavy details on this one. 8|]

[Katara frowns again.] I haven't spoken with this one. I know he went home and came back too, I don't know how much he remembers. He was on Diana's team - a bunch of superheroes, they called themselves. He worked with the Green Lantern and Superman.

I only met him once. It was [she pauses to think] right before you got here, actually. When everything was falling apart in the barrier and there were monsters everywhere. He'd been badly hurt - severe lightning damage and a bunch of cuts. But he was still coherent and conscious, able to speak with me.

Diana took him to rest after I was done, and I haven't seen him since.

[...she misses her.] But if Diana trusted him, I do too. You know that he was the one who made the cells in the tunnels, right?

[Katara doesn't feel the need to draw conclusions from this information. She's sure that Shikamaru can get the same that she did.]

[...he should keep a tally of just how many people on this list you've healed, Katara. And how many you did your first time meeting them. What is this pattern here.

But he nods.] I heard that somewhere. Difficult as it is to find out much about him, when he is doing something he seems to have good intentions.

[And Katara thinks of a scared little girl with burns on her back, fingers a half-remembered pain on her arm absently.]

I guess he's got his reasons to keep himself a secret.

[She pauses for a moment.] Sokka made a signal for him once. It was a giant bat projected into the sky. He said that he spoke with him. But... that was before he went home. I know that he uses weapons when he fights, but that's about it.

...these superheroes are kinda theatrical, huh?

[That wins a sort of smile.] I guess so. The Green Lantern explained to me what they were about once; using their special abilities to help people. I thought it sounded pretty amazing.

...I never understood the costumes, though.

It's like they're putting on a show of it. [He shakes his head, but he's grinning. So long as they help people, whatever.]

All right, next one on the list is Buffy Summers. I met her myself yesterday, actually. And there's her mention in the guide. [The one who killed the general. Very impressive.] What else you got on her?

[Quite a bit, actually, since all her powers got transferred onto Sokka for a while. But that doesn't tell him all that he needs, the heart of who Buffy is. And Katara's seen that steel once or twice.]

What do you know about vampires?

[He raises an eyebrow, interested.] Not much. Far as I know it, there aren't any in my world.

What I've read about them in the library seems to vary depending on the source. The only common ground I've found is that they seem to be some sort of supernatural creature that drinks blood, and that they get their name from the vampire bat.

[There's probably more - he didn't look into it that deeply.]

[She nods. Well, that's more than she knew.] There aren't any in my world either. But in Buffy's world, they're predators, extremely fast, extremely strong, and very deadly. It's her job at home to fight them. She's called a 'slayer.' And she's been doing it for a long time.

Vampire slayers have superhuman strength and speed, and they heal very quickly. They're also naturally good with any weapon they come across.

And Buffy's smart, too. She might not always sound like it, but I'd trust her at my back. And I know she's the kind of person to watch out for people who can't help themselves.

[He nods in agreement to that - he knows Buffy coordinates things at the combat school - indicates she's the type to look after people.]

Triple threat then. No wonder people think so highly of her. [He thinks about it.] I probably won't have to worry about her, actually. If I get the chance to work with her, all the better, but she strikes me as the type who can handle herself just fine. She's competent.

[Katara nods, smiling a little.] I think so too.

Good. Then I know I'm on the mark.

[Eyes back to the journal.] Daisy. Aa... she's the one who put up that survival guide for combat in the rain forest, right?

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