The warning is greatly appreciated. She'd lost count of how many times she'd gotten startled and had to pull back at the last minute when someone interrupted her practice. So as it is, it's a Katara with her water well away that turned to greet Buffy, the habit of returning water she's not using to her waterskin far too ingrained to break, despite the abundance of snow along the ground.

"Hey, Buffy! Over here."

There are Chinese Lanterns hanging from the back of the house in order to better illuminate Katara's practice ground, which is otherwise just a simple patch of ground no too far away from the treeline.