markofthebrave | [ 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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[And so, sometime today before Katara and Sokka have fully made up from her taking the stuff out of him yesterday, Katara finds Toph and sits down beside her.]

Hey, Toph.

Hey, Katara. Finished getting ready?

Pretty much... [Sigh. She'd normally use this time to ask Toph how she's doing but... she knows that Toph will be able to deal with whatever comes. And she'll be there then, just in case. But first...]

Listen, I need to talk to you about something.

[Katara sounds like she's going to give her some bad news, or talk about something she's been worrying about. Toph focuses on the conversation more, anything that gives Katara something to be concerned about is too important to let her mind drift from.] Sure thing. What's up?

[...sigh. How to do this? Better start at the beginning. Her tone is a little bit wry, but there's an undercurrent of seriousness that should indicate that this story is clearly Going Somewhere.]

Listen. A while back I was walking by the smithy, and I saw flames coming out of it. So when I ran in, I saw one of the guys that Sokka was working with throwing around fire like it was nothing - he had some sort of a torch that shot it out, like bending but -- [She's getting distracted. She shakes her head.] I stopped him from burning the place down, and then he said he was just... killing spiders. I told him that fire wasn't something to play around with, that it gets out of control easily, and that it's hurt a lot of people... so kill them another way. And then he told me that he didn't give a damn. That he liked hearing the spiders scream.

...so I stopped him. I iced his hand.

And he really flipped out. He called me a magic-using freak, accused me of bullying him... I didn't want to start any trouble, so I let him go, explained things as best as I could, and left.

[There's no easy way to say this either. She does not agree with Sokka's decision. At all. But she cushions it a little anyway.] Sokka knows about it. He works with the guy. He feels responsible for him. So yesterday, he invited him to fight with us.

...

...So where do I find this guy, and how hard do you want me to hit Sokka?

[A soft laugh. She'd like to see Raphael try to take on Toph.] You can hit Sokka as hard as you want, and you can find the guy... whenever we go, I guess. I already talked to Sokka. He's got his reasons. I don't like them, I think it's stupid, and he definitely should have talked to us first. I think this Raphael guy is unstable and I don't trust him.

But I volunteered to go in order to watch Sokka's back. If he feels like he has to fight and watch over this guy... then that's the whole reason why I decided to go. To protect him, even if it's from his own stupid self. He wouldn't listen, so I'm going to do the only other thing I can.

Well, Sokka isn't all that trusting, so there has to be something about this guy that's good. Is he like Zuko? You know, back in his 'burn it with fire, capture the Avatar' days?

[Honestly, if the guy's that unstable and untrustworthy, Toph doesn't want him around. Bad enough watching her back and her friends' backs, but watching them for enemies AND watching for someone on there team to betray them? Too much of a distraction.]

Edited 2010-07-26 07:09 (UTC)

[She does not sound very convinced.] I don't know. I've stayed out of his way. [So I don't kill him.] Sokka says that he has brothers he'd do anything to protect, and that one of them is still here. The other two went home.

Other than that... I don't know.

I just want you to be careful. If he steps out of line... [Here her voice gets hard.] I already told Sokka it wouldn't be his problem anymore.

[Toph is going to have a serious talk with Sokka about his decision-making process, especially where it involves short-tempered possible psychos that kill things with fire. You'd think Sokka'd be against that as much as Katara. Maybe the machine-making stuff did something to his head.]

If he steps out of line, I'm not the one who has to be careful. [Grins.] Whoever this guy is, I bet he can't flame his way out of rock.

[A quick, answering, and nearly vicious grin.] I know.

He doesn't usually fight with fire, I don't think. He had sais - I've heard it said that they're ninjas. [Oh.] And his footsteps will probably feel a little different - since he's a giant talking turtle.

...A giant...talking turtle.

That's actually really cool! Aside from the weird 'just turtle' thing. And a ninja, huh? Well, as long as his feet touch the ground.

Edited 2010-07-26 07:26 (UTC)

[Heh. And Toph might be able to sense Katara relax, as she shifts a little bit around to get more comfortable. Toph knows now, she'll be able to watch her own back... not that she plans to stop watching for Raphael either. Things will work out all right.]

Yeah - just like a turtle-duck except... without the duck. It's weird.

There is just something WRONG with all these animals. It's like someone split normal animals in half and set 'em loose. And then they started talking. Other worlds are just creepy.

[...fffff, just... laughing now. Recovering enough to respond a bit.]

I know! And then they say our animals are weird!

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