markofthebrave | [Action, Voice] .006

Entry tags:

[Action, Voice] .006

[After a good cry, some good advice, and throwing down with the whole of Luceti against Aku the other day, Katara is feeling much more like herself. And she is on a mission. She can be found mid-afternoon heading towards whatever store in Luceti sells paint.

Fire Nation Red in her living room? Not anymore!]

Let's see... I guess I could go blue with green accents... or maybe something even more neutral? Maybe find a cream... No, no orange, it's too close to red...

[Katara has never had a chance to play with paints and colors before! She's a little lost with all the options. She just knows that she wants to make their shared space an open, welcoming one, one that represents all of them ~~and even the one that they're missing~~ and one which won't remind her of that stupid experiment's 'misplaced decimal.' But she has come far enough that she doesn't want it to just chase out Zuko either, although she is perfectly happy never seeing him again. Clearly, the girl is expecting too much out of paint. Someone help?]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It's rather unsettling. Rebuilding can be a lot of work, but it can be a good thing for the people involved, too. [At least, he hoped so. Setting the Grasslands aflame and flooding the Duck lands were necessary tactics at the time, but it would take a while for things to return to normal.] It might take time, and it might be painful, but... that's the way things are supposed to be. As strange as it may sound, I'd take that over being forced to act like nothing happened any day.

I know what you mean. There's something really satisfying about knowing that what you're doing makes a difference, that you're restoring something and making it safe again. When my village was attacked by the Fire Nation... we had to rebuild. And every day I'd see things get taller and stronger, day by day feel a little bit safer.

...but I guess that would be a lie here, anyway.

[He shakes his head.]

Things may work differently here, but I think that makes what you have done all the more important. Rebuilding your home, and everything that it meant to you, the fact that it made a difference... It's something you can come to appreciate a little more, isn't it?

[What Katara had meant was that the feeling of safety here would be a lie -- because no matter how many times they built up they still wouldn't be safe. But she can't quite bring herself to out and out say something so hopeless, so she's going to go with what he said.]

Yeah, it is. Heh. I never thought I'd be missing days of cleaning out fish. [She smiles a little and moves away from the store.]

You want to go sit down by the fountain? It's not pink today so it should be OK. Or do you want to go somewhere inside?

[That was exactly why he avoided it. There are times when it seems like nothing they do is going to be enough, but thanks to him, he knows he shouldn't give up so easily. Must... remain... positive. To an extent.

A pause as he considers her question. Hmmm.]

We can sit down by the fountain, I guess. If you're sure it's safe now, that is.

[A wry smile.] It wasn't so bad even when it was pink. As long as you didn't drink it. And the willow trees were kind of nice.

[And so she will start walking towards the fountain.]

[He waves dismissively.] I wouldn't know. I only heard strange things about it. [Which is a lie, because he was totally there, if only briefly. But that's not the point. He follows after her.]

Oh. It was... [Have a light blush.] well. It could have been worse.

It was amazing how many people thought it was OK to drink that stuff, though. I'll admit I got pretty curious.

[And she sits down by the fountain.] But someone had to be around in case Sokka got all loopy again.

Seems like a lot of people couldn't help their curiosity. I don't think anyone could have gotten me to drink that stuff, though.

[He sits down next to her.] Keeping an eye on your brother, then?

Something like that. [It's weird talking about Sokka to someone who doesn't know him. If it was someone in her group, she'd feel free to go off on what an idiot he could be and how this one time they were in a desert he drank some cactus juice and was absolutely useless after that. But Caesar doesn't know him that well, and that makes her hesitate.]

He can be great sometimes... and sometimes he can act like a real idiot. But I guess we all were that day. I didn't pay too much attention to anyone once Zu-- the guy the experiment made me fall for showed up.

Edited 2010-03-07 07:44 (UTC)

I think I was pretty distracted, too. I hope my brother didn't do anything too stupid during the week. But then, it's a brother's job to be an idiot. Sometimes.

I guess that's true. [She casts him a considering glance. If he was distracted too, does that mean he was also effected by the experiment? Is that sort of thing even... OK to ask?]

...they got you too, huh?

Yeah. [He nods. Caesar doesn't seem too bothered by the whole thing in general, but...] It was, uh... an experience.

[Since he doesn't seem too bothered by it, Katara's not going to feel any shame in asking further.] Was it... someone you knew? From your world, I mean?

[The only thing she won't get is a name—Caesar doesn't care what anyone thinks of him, but it could be bad for Senel since, you know. Married and all.]

Not from my world, but I've met them before. They probably know me better than I know them, though. [He tilts his head.] They knew me from the last time I was apparently here.

Huh. [At this point she's only curious. She's not going to push to find out who it is.] Did it feel like... you'd always been in love with them?

[Sadly for Caesar's sake, Katara hasn't actually had a chance to talk to anyone else about this.]

Yeah. It was strange. I couldn't understand why it took me so long to act on those feelings, even though I'm sure I've never felt like that before.

[Considering Caesar knows absolutely nothing about this kind of stuff, he can't even understand how he acted on those feelings. What was he doing?]

[Katara's hands clench into fists.] I just don't understand how anyone could do something like this. Isn't it enough that we're stuck here against our will? Now they have to go and make it so we can't even choose what to do with our own hearts?

An experiment like that is rare, but it's not unusual for them. Considering the kind of place this is, though, it's a surprise that everyday isn't an experiment. Not of that sort, anyway.

[He makes a valid point, and it catches her interest enough to stop her temper.]

That's interesting. I'm told that they only have new arrivals at certain times during the month as well. Do you think their power over Shifting is more limited than they'd like us to believe?

It's possible, but it might also be that having New Feathers arrive more often just doesn't suit their interests. Even with the experiments themselves, they might need time to prepare and collect data, which could explain why they only happen at certain times. We don't know much about the Malnosso themselves, particularly how large the organization actually is, so there could be a variety of reasons for it.

[Her shoulders slump.] ...that's true too. [Unspoken: I hate this. She's silent for a long moment, turning over what he's said... he's managed to impress her.]

You said you were a strategist. I'm beginning to see why. [Have a small smile. Absently, she shifts and dips her hand into the fountain, deriving some comfort from the touch of her element.]

So what do you think about their claims that they need our help? They said... that the Third Party was preying on innocent people.

[Caesar rubs at his neck. He's not used to people saying such nice things.] Well, I... I do try, I guess.

The Third Party is a strange bunch. When we were attacked by them before, they said they wanted to free us from this place. It sounds promising, only their idea of freedom for us was death—a permanent one. The fact is that we are important to the Malnosso, however. They might have asked for our help, but it's not just their battle we'd be fighting. They want our assistance because they can't protect us themselves, and if we don't fight, we're only putting ourselves at risk. We're kinda stuck between a rock and a hard place. [...] Although, despite them actually having come out and asking us directly, I wonder how much of a choice we actually have in the matter.

[Katara looks at her hand and swirls the water around in the fountain a little.] A war doesn't give you much choice about fighting anyway. You have to defend what you love and anyone who can't defend themselves. If the Third Party is trying to kill us too, then it's our war as well.

...although you have to wonder... [She glances up at Caesar.] if there is some way to play them against each other. They want us in the middle -- there should be some way to turn that around. To get home.

[He nods.] I agree. It isn't unfair that we'll be forced into this battle, but it's not very different from any other war that's ever been fought.

Good question. There's still a lot we'd need to know before we can do something like that, though. Knowledge about the Malnosso's technology and their ability to produce Shifts, especially. We don't know where this place is or what's outside of that barrier, so even if we could distract them long enough, we wouldn't know what to do once we got out there.

[Action, Voice] .006

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]

[Action]