markofthebrave | [ Action, Voice ] .058

[ Action, Voice ] .058

[Somewhere in all the excitement of the past month, it... sort of didn't occur to her that she's now been in Luceti for two years. That's had some time to sink in now, along with the new announcement and - home. Actually getting to go home. Even if it's just for a day...

...but then it means that the Malnosso were lying to them, doesn't it. They do have the power to send them home. And all this time, they'd said it was random...]

[Filter to those who had been here when she arrived: Two years back or more.]

Hey. I think that I just... wanted to apologize. I know that when I got here two years ago, I wasn't very respectful about all the things everyone had tried to do in order to get out of here. It must have been so hard to hear that then, and to keep hearing it from every New Feather that we get when we know that we've tried everything we could.

But we have to keep trying. What they're doing, no matter what they say, no matter what they promise us, is wrong. We can't give up hope that we'll find a way out - we have to keep looking. There's a difference between waiting and giving up, and I know it's hard, but so many of you are still doing that, still trying to find a way out while making things as comfortable as you can for all the new people who are stuck here as we are, and I admire that so much.

So, thank you.

[/filter]

[And then, taking a deep breath, she'll continue:]

And hey, if anyone was using the sled tracks I made, I haven't had a chance to check on them since the ice storm. I'll probably be decommissioning them tomorrow and just turning it all into a giant snow hill, so if you go out there, please be careful, all right?

[Thursday is one of the days Katara goes to spar with Nami, so after making this announcement after school, she and Nami will meet up by the river to do battle with their staffs. Feel free to stop by and watch these two sexy ladies practicing, if you like.

If not, after dinner, Katara heads off someplace she very rarely is. The remembrance garden. This place has always made her uncomfortable... she's not sure it's right, but it's... something. Better than those things that reminded her of gravestones. And the perfect place to pour over her journal, flipping back until she finds an entry of Aang. It's been so long since she's seen him... she's all but forgotten what he sounds like. She feels almost bad about it, but... she misses him so much and yet... it's easier not to miss him.

And eventually, when her time in the remembrance garden is done, Katara will return to her house for an hour or two of bending practice in the back yard.]

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[...yeah, no comment. She just releases him, streaming that water back into the waterskin and... debates leaving Linda in the snow, to be honest. But she doesn't, slowly lowering the snow pile so that what is still essentially a baby won't be suddenly dropped.

She can stay in control of her emotions. It's not Linda's fault that her main weapon is one of the things Katara hates most.]

I didn't realize you and Linda were going to be fighting together. I thought it was about your training.

[She is not, however, complaining about it. But you know, it would have been nice to know these things before starting a spar.]

I need to work with her too, right?

[Somehow in being released, he ended up on his ass, but he gets up quick enough. Linda races over to get next to him, and he rolls his shoulders]

...She's my partner, so we've gotta fight together. Or that scary cat thing'll probably eat my brain.

I'm sure that Mewtwo wouldn't eat your brain.

[Her stance subtly deepens. They're a lot closer now. She'll have to be faster.]

Round two.

He might shove a spoon in it.

[but okay, he twirls his baton and takes up a stance again. Linda, beside him, does the same... Actually, first move. If he announces it that might be bad but he looks at Linda and then claps his baton on his palm. Linda nods and-

to start it off she's going to try to get closer to Katara and clap her own tail on her hands and make an supernaturally loud boom. Fake Out]

Edited 2012-03-09 05:41 (UTC)

[Well, Katara has no intention of allowing Linda to get closer to her. As soon as the Pokemon begins to rush towards her, Katara streams a waterwhip out in her direction.

It's doubtful that this will stop the Pokemon from executing her move, however, and for a moment the loud noise stuns Katara.]

[Excellent. That's all he needed, and he's sorry you get to get hit for it, Linda, because this allows him to break the distance between him and Katara. Should he try to hit her with the baton? he could probably dislocate or break something...

...He doesn't like that idea. Instead, he's going to go in for a lame move. He drops the baton mid-breaking the distance and instead tackles her]

[She turns to face him just before he crashes into her. Despite the steadiness of her stance, he rushes her and succeeds in tackling her to the ground.]

Oomph!

[But she doesn't stay down without resistance long, Katara immediately tries to roll them to the side.]

[It worked? What no. He's stronger, he braces his impact, pulling one of her arms far aside and putting some weight on her abdomen. He resists the roll.

...He should count]

[She responds to the weight on her abdomen with a small:] Mmph.

[And with her free hand, she seeks to create some leverage, attempting to draw her legs up between them and shove him off.]

[No, no- crap, he was under-doing it. He tries to shift his arm to get that arm too, but with the rest of this going on...

Actually-]

One, two, three..

[That's fine, he can go for her arm, she's already succeeded in levering it up so he'll have to grab it down, but now with that lever she thrusts her torso up and to the side, hoping to buck him off.

Frankly, she considers headbutting him too, but. That might be taking it too far.]

[ > bucking

Fortunately he's quite focused now... and wondering why on Earth a torrent of water or ice or something isn't getting him. He shifts his weight to put more pressure on her (possibly restricting her breathing a bit for winding purposes), keeping firm here.]

five, six... seven.

[Her only options, at this point, were to try to seriously hurt him. She let out a small noise of pain when he put more pressure on her, and thus loses most of her air. That leaves trying to ice his face with her breath right out, she can't grab enough to concentrate on it.

Still, Katara strains upwards, not willing to give up.

Not without it costing them. The knowledge of the first time she'd been kidnapped by the Malnosso, when she'd been restrained and beaten flashes through her eyes. She'd thought the same thing, then. He had her now, but that was all, if he moved a hand, shifted his weight in the slightest to do more than hold her, she'd find her moment and use it to attack or escape.

This does, of course, bring her chest into constant contact with his, because she's not backing down. She doesn't look away from his gaze either.]

[Really, he's not thinking about anything like that. He's just thinking-

Why aren't I being killed?

Not that she would kill him, he knows that. But he has the power. He should be coated in ice. He should be having this blood turned cold. He should be thrown off in a tidal wave]

Eight...

[He's confused. It shows on his face, but-]

Nine...

[He keeps rock solid in place. And after this, a grin sprouts up]

Ten!

[And after ten, he rolls off of her]

[She makes another small sound and sits up, not gasping for air but taking controlled breaths.]

You're heavy.

[Ow, her stomach is sore. Maybe she should have gone for the headbutt anyway.]

Sixty kilos. Actually, sixty-two lately.

[She waved a hand.

Whatever that means.]

Heavy. [She starts moving to get up.]

None of it's fat.

[Because this matters. Okay rolling over to check on Linda now]

There's nothing wrong with a little fat.

[That said off-hand, kind of grumbly, in part due to her culture and sheer practicality...

...and on a deeper level, Chouji had been so sensitive about his weight that she instinctively defends it as she moves to stand.]

[Oh. Right. ...Well then he'll justy go to see Linda. Pat her on the head. You did well. But when he does this-]

You didn't bend me off.

Of course not. You'd pinned my arms and my legs.

[She doesn't even think about saying this. Maybe she could have used Sona, but she doubts that the spirit would have the force to manage, entirely on its own power, the type of force needed to dislodge Masaomi's grip. It's something to keep in mind, though, if there is a next time.]

[Wait. he looks over to her, surprised, turning his attention away from Linda. Ignoring that there's one more round he looks like he just realized something. If you restrict her movements- she?]

[...wow, he really didn't get this?]

Bending isn't magic, Masaomi. It's not just - an act of will. Why did you think I practiced so much if my movements didn't have anything to do with it?

[She whips out a small amount of water from her waterskin with her hand, sends it chasing up and down her arm by extending her hand straight out.] The right movements, done in the right way, have everything to do with how effective you are as a bender. That's not all of it. There's how much of your element you can control, how well you can use what you have, and everything else that goes into being a good fighter. But the more smooth and precise my movements are, the more in line with myself and my chi I am, the stronger my bending is. If I can't move, I can't bend.

[She streams the water back into the waterskin.

This isn't something that she was just able to do. She had to work at it, and she still works at it. She's not sure if she should be flattered or insulted that she apparently made it look effortless.]

Edited 2012-03-20 20:11 (UTC)

Not at all... really. [He inclines his head, thinking a moment. It's not that he didn't know that she practices. It's not that he didn't know - hasn't admired - how she moved. But in light of that, he glances at Linda.

Electricity...

A thought comes to him, but it would be far too dangerous for him to try that now. But it's something to consider later. Linda just looks at him curiously and he shakes his head]

You must be a master, Katara.

That's right. [Her voice and countenance is, for once, completely free of anything resembling self-depreciation. She doesn't sound proud, although she is, but this isn't the same matter of pride that it was two years ago. She's done things with her bending she only hopes Master Pakku would forgive her for. But her tone is perfectly matter-of-fact. This is her status. It's who she is.]

I'm a master.

[It sounds a little weird coming out of her mouth - she never introduces herself by her rank. It kind of - heh - it sort of tingles.]

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