markofthebrave | [Action, Voice] .012

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[Action, Voice] .012

[Painstakingly filtered to the Straw Hats, Toph, Zuko, Sokka, Ginko, Allen Walker, Nash, Smithy Workers, and Caesar Silverberg, even though she's still a bit mad at him. 72 percent.]

If anyone knows how to make the filter higher, I'd really appreciate it.

Someone arrived from my world today who it would be a good idea to be cautious around. Her name is Azula, and she is a very powerful firebender who can also bend lighting. I don't know what she'll do without a Fire Nation here, but I can bet that it won't be anything good.

Don't trust her.

[And so after stalking Azula's entrance into Luceti and conversation with Roku, Katara decides that about now is a good time to interrupt them. So she will gingerly make her way over to where Roku is.]

Hey, Roku? Can I get your help with something?

ETA: And after about 2 minutes, that filter will have been bumped up to 100 via Ginko.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Ginko remembers.

Isn't that how man mastered fire? With intelligence?

Very glib. But your ignoring the larger issue here.

No, wait! You don't know what will happen if you burn it...]

I can certainly agree with you about fire.

[thoughtful pause, considering her] It seems the elements in your world harmonize with their people in some degree. [characterize what's important to them...]

Mm. So they surprised the world an conquered most of it. And you say that war went on for how long?

[Katara would interact with that statement - about the elements harmonizing with their people, because that's true in some ways and pretty much fascinating. But then he asks that question. And her hand goes up to her necklace.]

A hundred years. [Pause. There's more to say - about what they did, about what happened. But it's hard to force out of her throat for a moment. Still. She has a feeling he wants to know, and if she's going to ask for his help, he'll need more information... and she doesn't hold back very well.]

My tribe... in the beginning of the war, they came for us relentlessly. They didn't want us to be able to leave, to help anyone else. So they went after the waterbenders. At home, we used to be able to use bending to make our cities - houses and streets and gates made out of snow, all maintained by bending. But the Fire Nation... killed or captured every waterbender in the South Pole.

[She's not looking at him now. So he might not see the look that crosses her face when she thinks of Hama. The pain and grief is personal, and not a history lesson.] That was eighty years ago. When I was born, we still knew what the black snow meant, but the raids had died down... they didn't want to stay in the South Pole, and they didn't see us as of a threat. But they wouldn't let us forget about them either. They'd still come and attack our home, try to keep us in our place.

[Her hand drops to her lap, and she looks up at him, the expression on her face very quiet, and very sure.] I'm the last waterbender of my tribe. And for a long time, there was no one to teach me.

[A hundred years...

the idea of bending making cities, and the benders being the primary targets in war-- it's all working to form a much more complete picture of the world Katara comes from. And that fierce what my bending means to me...he smiles a little sadly.

"Keep us in our place", huh? That explains even more.

And at her very last remark, Ginko takes the cigarette from his mouth and looks at his thoughtfully, between laced fingers. The last.]

I can see why it's so important to you.

[he looks up again to meet her eyes. It's all he has to say.]

[Katara blinks and looks over at him with wide eyes - and she remembers. She's a little embarrassed at what she said - it hadn't been the kindest thing she'd ever said. But she wouldn't take it back either. And suddenly, it's very important to her that Ginko does understand. So even though this isn't really the point of this conversation at all, she starts sharing more... more than she's ever told anyone else. At home, there hadn't been a need. Everyone had seen it, and those who hadn't had seen her when she'd already mastered her element. She wonders for a moment what Toph - with her fine mansion and rich foods - would have thought of their home in the South Pole before brushing the thought aside and leaning slightly forward.]

I was very young when I first started bending - and it took my parents a while to figure out what had happened. They'd never seen waterbenders before. It was my Gran-Gran who finally recognized what I was doing - [And her lips twitch up for a second] - she said she just couldn't understand why Sokka kept coming back from stealing my toys soaking wet until she saw it herself. I was almost five at the time. And she kept it to herself for a while. But it wasn't too long before she told my dad.

[Another quick, painful smile - like a crack in glass.] Dad was thrilled. He started looking for a master for me as soon as he could. But there wasn't any... not in the whole South Pole. And it didn't matter that I had the power if I didn't have the skill. Before Aang showed up and [believed in me] taught me some of the basics of just - bending - the most I could do was stream water. And I had to make that up myself.

[And I practiced, by myself, for hours just to get that - and no one cared.] And it didn't do any good - at all. In fact, [Her face is pained, embarrassed] the village didn't like me practicing my bending there at all - there were a few really embarrassing accidents, and... it wasn't as if it could do any good, rebuild the village or hunt, or fight, or anything...

[And she shakes her head slowly, and drops her gaze.] And it didn't matter that Dad had tried to be quiet when he was looking for a waterbending master for me. The Fire Nation found out anyway. [And at that, her throat simply... closes up. For a long moment, she can't speak, and when she does next, her voice is heavy.] They came back. And they destroyed our village. Home used to be what was left of a city... now it's a bunch of tents, a hall - a giant igloo, and the village fire pit. [She shakes her head as if to clear it and looks back up at him.] It was better that way, easier to defend after the warriors left. Less open space meant more warmth in the cold months, and we got by.

[And she smiles a little.] And after we went to the North Pole, Master Pakku brought down a bunch of other waterbenders to help rebuild the village. I can't wait to see what it looks like now.

[All my life, the one thing I most wanted to be, the only thing I wanted to be, was a brave waterbender. To be able to help my family and my tribe. To be who I really was.]

Edited 2010-04-30 20:28 (UTC)

[ Stories of death, and dreams, and tragedies-- shortcomings and ambitions... Ginko's life is made of up of these, a patchwork of other peoples' stories. He walks through them, like the weather.

But these aren't quite normal circumstances-- and the alternating moments of pain and fond remembrance are not crossing the face of a stranger. And so wile he listens to the story, piecing together the history of a world and it's people-- he is also deeply moved for the girl who sits in front of him. And the weight of fear and apprehension and loss that is not conveyed by her words, he feels in the moments of silence, and the tension in her fingers against the cup. He makes especial note of the foul memories that "they came back" must be saturated in.

He has seen total destruction before-- not of war, but of natural disaster. But nature does not hate, or plan. And it returns what it takes with the impassive regularity of the seasons.

She's so determined... but on such unstable ground.

So he takes everything that she tells him like a gift, not saying anything until she's finished. Then he smiles faintly.]

So. And from that destroyed village came their only waterbender-- and she fought for every skill she could learn. And in the end helped to restore balance to all the nations.

["dad was thrilled" ....quietly] Your father must be very proud of his children.

[She blinks at his words, startled at the compliment.] Well - yes, I mean. I did. But we did it together, all of us.

[Even if for me it's still not done. - And now she feels a bit... exposed. She hasn't told him about Pakku, about what she had to do to learn, but... now... well. She'd wanted him to know.]

And I hope he is.

[And because she feels exposed... and the story has served its purpose... and before she can begin to regret what she shared... Katara moves on:]

My village wasn't the only one the Fire Nation destroyed... all across the Earth Kingdom, there are orphans and villages in the grip of the Fire Nation, earthbenders who were forced to work for them... Jet was one of those, an orphan.

[And she shakes her head now.] But Roku -- he doesn't know, he doesn't understand any of this. Aang didn't either, when he first work up. The world had been without war. And it took... horrible things for him to believe us, for it to be real to him. I - don't know how to tell him...

...but with Azula here...

[Well, that tells him a little about Jet, for now. At "how to tell him", his brow furrows slightly] But...in the end. This isn't your world, no matter how many of you come here. And he belongs to a different time-- a history that has probably already been set. [ Ohh....he can't think about that for too long. ] He lived his lifetime. He can't change or be responsible for the future. Is it so important for him to know?

[he considers the little he's heard of them]

You think Azula might tell the story with her own actions?

[She pauses for a long moment and turns the situation around in her head - and then looks at Ginko.] Before I met Roku, I don't know if I would have believed that a firebender could be like he is - he's so... innocent. The way Aang was. Right down to the end, Aang would tell us stories about how he had friends in the Fire Nation...

...Azula and Zuko aren't like that. And I know he wants to ask about Zuko's scar... even if we could convince both of them to lie to him, he'd still know something was different just by how... hard they are, in comparison. And Azula...

[She shakes her head.] She really believes that she's better, that the Fire Nation is better than everyone. She doesn't just say it - she believes it. She was the one who suggested burning the Earth Kingdom to the ground. Of course, that was probably just what Ozai wanted to hear, but... still. He's not... blind. He'd have to see the difference.

Hmm. Well, that kind of belief-- in superiority-- is a strong motivator.

[then he trails back to her first statement with a smile and a slight shake of his head]

Honestly-- I'd be more surprised if there weren't a good many people like that. I doubt the entire nation is as bloodthirsty or power-hungry as it's leader. What about the farmers that raise the nation's food? Or the craftsmen and tradesmen? Even if the children's minds are shaped from a young age...they can't all be evil.

But to be raised form childhood into the kind of power that Azula and Zuko would have had? [a pause] .....what is Zuko's history with you and your brother?

[Katara shakes her head, smiling a little.] No, the whole nation isn't like that - although... well. The soldiers, they... seemed to be the same, anywhere.

And Zuko... heh. That's a long story. [And not all of it is mine to tell.]

[he raises an eyebrow] Too long to tell?

[She tilts her head to the side and considers him.] You really want to know?

[After all, she's been talking about her world for... a while now. She wouldn't be surprised if he needed to be somewhere else. ...and she wants the moment's delay to just... decide if this is something she should be talking about.]

Only if you don't mind telling.

... he's a firebender, but one of your allies. I've wondered how that came to be.

Well... [She's still not entirely sure how Zuko would feel about this, but...] I guess I can tell you my part of it.

[Where to start, where to start...] When we first found Aang, he and I went penguin sledding. While we were out there he saw a Fire Nation ship that we'd managed to beach, belonging back to some of the first raids. And he'd... never seen anything like that, so he talked me into going on it... ['If you want to be a bender, you have to let go of fear.'] but the ship was booby trapped. It shot off a signal. When we got back, Sokka was furious.

[....penguin sledding? What are penguins? How do you sled them?

these are questions he suppresses with the gravity of the situation.]

...someone saw the signal, huh?

[She nods, a bit wryly.] What were the chances that the Fire Nation prince who happened to be searching for the Avatar happened to be in the area?

We didn't know it at first, but Sokka prepared for war anyway... [And... she remembers. Her brother, standing up on the wall of ice, all alone. His face painted, his boomerang in his hand, and he just wouldn't move out of the way.]

The ship crashed through our defenses easily. Sokka was the only warrior left - and he stood his ground - but Zuko had been preparing for this moment his whole life. He thought that the Avatar he would face was one hundred twelve years old, the master of all four elements...

...he was so surprised when it was Aang. Aang agreed to go with Zuko if Zuko would spare the village. And Zuko did - and they left.

Edited 2010-05-14 21:31 (UTC)

[he pauses to think about that... Sokka all alone. There must be a reason he's such a resourceful young man-- they had to be that way. It tells him something about Zuko as well.

But more than anything-- something stirs at the thought of a war caused by old men and fought by children.]

[a little amused at the thought of him meeting Aang] I'm sure he was. [and he nods] He kept his word, then.

[Katara nods.] Yeah, he did. We didn't think much of it then... [that was before we knew...] but there are plenty of Fire Nation commanders who wouldn't have. We couldn't stop him.

[And her free hand clenches into a fist.] Even if it was just to keep us busy so we couldn't go after him - which we did, Sokka and I. Appa had recovered enough by then to fly after them, and by the time we got there, Aang had already broken out of their hold - we were just his ride out of there.

After that, we set off to the North Pole. Zuko followed us every step of the way - he caught up with us a bunch of times too. Each time... wasn't good. Most of the time we barely managed to get away.

[raises an eyebrow] Sounds like he had something driving him, to be so persistent. [he doesn't mean to pry into Zuko's business-- but he can't help noting it]

-- what caused the change, then?

[Her brows furrow, and she looks away.] I think... Zuko... saw things. On his journey through the Earth Kingdom after us. After we defeated the Fire Nation at the North Pole, Zuko's own father turned against him. He sent Azula to bring Zuko and his uncle Iroh back to the Fire Nation... so he had to wander through enemy territory, alone and with no one between him and the people there. He had to see what the Fire Nation was doing to people... and that didn't fit in with what he'd heard his whole life.

[She pauses, clearly not done, and remembers. A cave, lit by glowing crystals. Having no other recourse but to vent her fury at him - and then he apologized. He told her about his mother. And she... believed him. With all of her heart. And she remembers the words that she'd never been able to forget, for all that came after them. "I used to think this scar marked me. The mark of the banished prince, cursed to chase the Avatar forever... but lately? I've realized I'm free to determine my own destiny, even if I'll never be free of my mark." And she remembers the feel of his scar beneath her hand, and what she'd almost given up... and because of that, who she would have lost. Her brow furrows, and she is clearly distressed.]

I don't know what made him change his mind for the last time. I'm from before that happened. But I do know... that he really did change.

Hnn. [he nods. Capable of some compassion, then-- even after being raised a certain way his whole life.

Ginko can't read her mind, but all he derives from the silence is that the situation must have been complicated. Especially if he began as their enemy. He has some idea that Katara might not have been very swift to forgive, in the beginning.]

People do, sometimes.

[a pause, as a thought occurs to him] The time you were taken from-- was it after he joined you?

[She shakes her head.] No. It wasn't.

Ahh. [slight smile] So this is something you've had to learn.

[She blinks.] What? I mean - what is it I had to learn?

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