markofthebrave | [ Action, Voice ] .024

[ Action, Voice ] .024

[Tomorrow. Tomorrow is tomorrow. Today, she has plans.]

Hey, Winry - do you still want to go get pizza today? I can make it for lunch, but... I can't hang out the whole day.

[She will also be making a point to visit her friends today, specifically the Straw Hat House. She wants to check in on Sanji, now that she knows what's happened to him, say goodbye to Nami... and she has a feeling Ginko will be there as well. If not, she'll try to contact him over the journal.

She also needs to stop in the item's shop. Being given a gift from the water of the river of light... Katara wants to find something similar to the container she used for the spirit oasis water so that if they get out there and she needs it, she'll have it.

The chances are good that she is also going to make a token effort to track down Buffy. She's heard enough about the last fight that she knows what happened there, and she wants to ask a few questions before heading out there - and she wants to hear about how this same mysterious Third Party General had died. It was the mystery that was bothering her - not knowing what they were really going up against or why they were really doing this. If she could talk to someone who'd fought them before, then maybe, maybe... the feeling of being used wouldn't be as strong and she'd be able to focus on what was really important.

She thinks about going over Caesar's house as well, but decides that a journal message will be good enough. He's probably busy preparing - or sleeping. And she had a feeling he wouldn't be able to do as much of that as he'd like, once they got out there.]

[Filtered Voice 90%]

Hey, Caesar. Ready for this?

[After her various conversations, she goes back home to make dinner and she, Sokka, and Toph have a surprisingly normal meal before slipping out a little earlier than normal for her accustomed practice time. She's not sure why they're going out to fight or why the 'why' bothers her so much - and she's a little scared, strung tense with nervous energy. The forms are soothing and precise and tonight there is just that extra edge, just that smallest bit of ruthless passion that gives away just how strongly the drums of her fathers beat within her - this is about war. And war is something Katara knows very well.

But when the sun starts to set she takes a break and takes a seat, watching it go down not thinking about very much at all. It's beautiful.]

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Something to look forward to! [A grin, and then she sobers.]

Have you worked out who's going to be watching your back on the battlefield?

Uh... me? Well, no, not exactly, but it shouldn't be a problem. I won't be out on the battlefield much, if I can help it.

Right, you'll be in one of the rest stops. But you'll have someone there who cna fight with you, right?

I'm not sure we have enough people to spare for something like that. [So, no. He won't. And he knows that sounds terrible, because he's had similar conversations before, so he adds-] However, there will be two teams in that particular area. I'd rather they didn't draw too much attention to the base, but once they clear out that area, we won't have a lot to worry about.

[No, she doesn't like that at all. There's a pause as she figures out how she wants to respond to that. She told him she'd support him, and she understands his reasons, but she's pretty sure he can't defend himself and this upsets her.]

I don't like it. You have to give thought to your own safety, you're the one everyone's agreed to follow.

[So what happens if you get hurt?] You should at least have some way of contacting someone if you feel like you're in trouble.

[He very much expected this. Of course, with how many times he's had to go through this, you'd... think he would have done something by now. Silverbergs are very stubborn.]

I've got a few tricks up my sleeve. And if something does happen to me, my brother will be there to take my place.

Why are you talking like you're disposable? I'm glad that you think you'll have a few things to help you out, but what I'm saying is that once we're there we can ask the Malnosso for anything. Give some thought to your own defense! What's to stop you from - at the very least, requesting some land mines or some form of communication device between yourself and the teams? It could only be useful.

Who said I wasn't going to? [That's what he was trying to imply. He didn't realize he had to be anymore specific about his own plans, but if that were the case...] If you must know, I was planning to ask for some rune scrolls - that'll give me the ability to use rune magic even without any runes of my own.

[...and sure. Maybe he'd never actually used them before, but they were meant to be easy to use. There was no way he could mess that up. Maybe.]

Oh. [It's not good enough. She doesn't know what those 'rune scrolls' can do. But.] Good. And you'll let the teams in the area know to keep a look out for you guys, too, so that if they see any flare up of your magic they can come running?

[...sure, why not.]

Of course. It would be a terrible shame if those jerks took over our base, right?

[But it will probably never come up, ever.]

[A soft laugh.] Yeah, it would.

So... your brothers going too, huh? [She's have to be blind, deaf, AND dumb in order to miss the undercurrents of... weirdness between the Silverberg brothers, even if Caesar hadn't mentioned something along the lines of it himself, long ago.]

That would seem to be the case. [And he didn't like it. At all. He sighs.] I'm surprised he didn't decide to take over.

[...there's so much tangled up in there that she's not even sure what he said for a minute. So she just - asks the most obvious question that comes to mind.]

And you'd just let him?

Of course not! [He almost sounds amused there.] He's a good strategist, I can't deny that. But he gets stuck dealing with this stuff all the time. And I'm just as capable as he is. There's no reason he should have to do this by himself.

[But that was only one of the many reasons Caesar felt so strongly about it. The fact is that his own feelings are still a little too tangled up to tell.]

[...and it takes another minute to process that.]

So... you want to take it off his hands and share the responsibility.

[So it's not about competition?]

[Oh. It still kind of is. That's where the, "I'm just as capable as he is." comes in! But these days, this was a little more important.]

Of course. But even before we knew that he'd be going, too, he was already making plans. He just doesn't quit!

[...and they're brothers?]

So you're just catching up on all the rest for him, huh?

[And then she drops it to smile.] If he's going to be with you, and you're going to do all the work, then it sounds like he'll almost enjoy it. I mean, at least the place where they're putting us sounds nice. I'm glad we won't have to sleep out on the battlefield or make our own shelters.

[Luceti can do awful things to a person.]

Heh. Maybe. [He'd like to believe that, but Albert usually wasn't so open when it came to showing his appreciation. Sigh.] You're right, and we're fortunate for that. It's much less for us to worry about, and it'll guarantee that our men are facing the enemy at their best.

[...'our men.' And for a second, it's a question on her tongue so hot that she can almost taste it - 'Like me?' Because that distance he just put there disturbs her, disgusts her, and when she's fought before it's been people she's lived and breathed and worked with, with members of a family, sending out people whose names were known, whose parents names were known, who were part of a community - but she swallows it back down. Because he was trained for this, he needed the distance, that's how he was trained. And she realizes, in a sudden flash of insight, that this is the first time he's had to send people he's lived and breathed with into battle. It can't be easy. Let him have his habits - she trusts him.]

Yeah. [A pause, because she can't see something like that and then let it go.] It will work out right, Caesar.

[You have no idea how much he'd appreciate the fact that she understands what he has to deal with, too. If he had to explain it to anymore people today, he'd be flipping tables.]

I know it will. You guys have me, after all.

[The second part, obviously, said just to be silly. Without a proper general around, someone has to try and keep people in good spirits. He had to stay positive.]

Heh - that's right. [Grin.] So you'd better take care of yourself.

[No, she's not letting this go.]

Of course, of course. I'll figure something out.

Good. [And her voice drops the firm underlying tone to reflect simple friendliness and warm concern.] And get some rest too, okay?

You don't have to tell me twice. [...but he actually had no idea when he'd be able to fit 'rest' into his schedule. Such is the curse of procrastinating!] You, too, all right?

[...she does not believe you, Caesar. And so she sighs.]

You can only plan so much ahead, right? Get sleep while you still can. And I will too.

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