Make my wish come true

[generalflirt]

Who: generalflirt and markofthebrave
What: As promised here.
When: Thursday night (thus future-dated sorta)
Where: Wherever Katara is practicing :|a
Summary: Well we know it is not a date...
Rating: 45.3 on Rotten Tomatoes

[So. He called her out, so he's a coming to her practice. That's the long and the short of it, really. Dressed the same as ever, looking the same as ever, the only real difference is how hard his eyes seem right now. He's going to be fighting soon, and the many emotions that accompany that knowledge has loomed over his head since the announcement. That's probably... part of why he's going to see Katara. Another part, lurking in the back of his head, is that he needs to know if he can fight someone - something - which can use magical abilities as potent as her's. That said, he's also afraid and he can sense she's concernedm so he's also there to dispel those concerns. Or something.

LOCATION OF PRACTICE NEGLECTED BECAUSE SHIRA THAT'S FOR YOU TO TELL ME But suffice to say, this evening he is there. Or getting there, anyway]

Comments

[markofthebrave]

[And then in she goes, holding the door for him.] So how are you holding up? I know it's a lot to think about.

[generalflirt]

[And in he goes ahead of her. He glances back as he does, shrugging again]

Is it? I've not been thinking that much.

[He lied]

[markofthebrave]

[Eyeroll] Right.

[Shutting out the snow behind her, Katara leans her staff against the wall and goes over by one of the few benches lining the wall.]

So no questions for me about what it's going to be like out there? I guess that makes sense - you'll be staying in the Distribution Center with everyone, right? I'll probably be outside there most of the time.

[Since Sokka is leading it, despite Shikamaru's offer, she feels like she needs to be there and have her brother's back.]

[generalflirt]

[...Well, there's a crux. He pauses and then follows her towards said benches. But part way there he pipes in with:]

No, I won't be there, actually.

[markofthebrave]

[Stopping short.]

Why not?

[Please don't tell her you're going to be going out there fighting because you think it's - some kind of adventure or something. She didn't take you for that type at all.

And there is a lovely lecture forming in her mind about how all people who can't fight should stay off the battlefield because it is a dangerous, dangerous place - but she's going to wait about three seconds more for you to answer her question.]

[generalflirt]

[His head is hung for a while. Two whole seconds pass, but then an unsettling smile comes across his face. It in no way matches his eyes, and while it might be trying for mirthful, it just comes out looking deranged]

Because I'm going to put an end to them all. [he looks up now, the smile now more obvious] If they're going to bring me back I might as well, right? It protects Mikado too, right? And if I kill them, then they can't hurt Frey or Kaori-chan or Cheyenne-chan or any of the others.

[markofthebrave]

[...Katara has dealt with creepier things than this. But if you asked her what they were, she'd be hard pressed to name them. There's a moment where she pauses, her gaze flicking over him and assessing as if she'd never seen him before, as if she's reaching out and trying to see invisible puzzle pieces and match them up with what she knows... or what she thought she knew.

'I'm going to put an end to them all.'

That sounds... more like Azula than anything else. But at least his motives were to protect people? Jet's motives had been to protect people.]

Masaomi... [She says his name tentatively, and then more firmly, like an anchor.] Just how are you going to do that?

[She'll address that freaky suicidal tendency later, don't think she won't. But first she's going to try to see what she's dealing with here.]

[generalflirt]

How else? I'll kill them.

[That's said flippantly again. It's still got a hard edge in it, but the smile fades into a serious expression. He's never thought about killing people before- it's just always been "beat them up" or "hospitalize them" but if this guys play for keeps... even if she's scared, he has to too]

[markofthebrave]

...right, you said that. [Which is creepy enough, really, but the way he said it, his whole manner...] It's a battlefield. If you step out on it to fight, they don't give you much choice. Most Third Party soldiers aren't that different than any other kind of soldier [besides the wings and the flying] except that they will refuse to stay down.

If you go out there to fight, you have to kill them. There is no other choice. But can you fight?

[generalflirt]

Aaah... I said before, I'm a lover, not a fighter. But I can fight, yeah.

[Flatly. So... flatly. Still with this hard edge of barely contained rage dulled into some synthetic "calm"]

[markofthebrave]

[Katara has no reason not to take his word for it. Sanji is one of the best fighters she knows, after all. But she'd seen it in the way he moved and Masaomi... his movements were always so exaggerated... her gaze takes on an assessment of a different kind.

...and he's so angry. She knows that kind of anger, she feels, knows it very well and it's - not good. It's not good at all.]

Have you fought in a war before?

[generalflirt]

[How to answer this... He pauses and then takes a few strides either way. He trails off and then shrugs, again. There's one or two answers here. One is simple, one is more involved]

Do you know what a color gang is?

[Does he want to tell her this?]

[markofthebrave]

[Unexpected change of subject is unexpected. He seems a little more inside his own skin when he's moving and that's a good thing, but she stands still and only follows him with her gaze as he talks.]

No... but you told me a little bit about gangs once before. When Sokka told you about the White Lotus and I told you a bit about what we did at home.

[generalflirt]

[...Inhale, exhale] Well... gangs fight over territory. Who can control an area, who can control the city. Eventually... we got big enough to fight over all of Ikebukuro. We fought and we fought and we really didn't know how to do much else.

[He sighs here. Why is this easier to say to her than it is to Mikado?]

Every day I beat up lots and lots of Squares. That was what people call a gang war, wasn't it?

[markofthebrave]

[...was it? She didn't know. And it takes a moment for her to put this into terms that she can more fully understand.]

So you fought over the city like some people fight over countries.

[There are more questions to go with that - like 'Why?' Why did you do that? Why couldn't everyone just work together? That doesn't make any sense.

...but when did the start of a war ever make any sense? This was about whether or not he'd be able to survive on a battlefield.]

...why? What happened?

[...sometimes, Katara has a hard time keeping her priorities straight.]

[generalflirt]

What happened...? We were the Yellow Scarves and the Blue Squares.

[He says this with a tone that clearly says "how could we ever coexist?" Also the tone with which he says "Blue Square" is probably akin to how she might "Fire Nation." Otherwise, this tone is blase, and he returns to eye contact with her, not really understanding the question]

[markofthebrave]

[Katara cocks her head, trying to understand.]

I mean, what started it? The war at home started when the Fire Nation attacked the Air Nomads. Is that what happened with you, someone was attacked?

[generalflirt]

Eeeh... I'm sure it began with something like that. After a while, it didn't matter though.

[So said the leader of the Scarves]

[markofthebrave]

[...she understands that, in a way she probably wishes she didn't.]

So the two groups - gangs [it's an unfamiliar word in this context, and it sounds like that when she says it] - just keep fighting each other. And you were fighting with them?

[...she's still not seeing this as a secret thing - in her experience, wars are very public. She doesn't even know how to ask if it is one. But she senses that this has been something private and important to him because he hasn't mentioned it up until now.]

1/2

[generalflirt]

Well, yes... I was with them...

[generalflirt]

I was the General of the Yellow Scarves.

[This tone, this face. Nothing could be more flat if you tried. It's clear this is all he will say on the subject, that this is s grave secret, one he hasn't told his best friend, Mikado, and is only telling her out of the necessity of this moment.]

[markofthebrave]

[Katara blinks at the sudden utter shift in his demeanor. She doesn't understand all of the context, but she does understand that this is very important to him - the fact that it's a secret also being communicated in his utter stillness. So she nods.]

Okay. [She accepts your credentials.] So what do you need to know about this kind of fight?

[Because, yeah, she'll see what you do know before she just starts talking. He's already determined to kill them, so... at least she doesn't have to worry about that.

...except that she does. And that he doesn't seem to care about dying either. Both of these things are Problems.]

[generalflirt]

Weeeeell... Before now, I've heard the best way to put them down is will kill shots - that would be the head and chest, plus kidneys and a few other places, or additionally to rip off the wings. The wings are a little like the ones we have, right?

[He sighs. And then rolls his his shoulders, keeping a hard gaze fixated on her. The tone is a bit more relaxed now, but still quite dark, still serious. Without the flippancy he's fond of. He takes two or three paces towards her]

What sort of weapons do they use? And what magics, besides those Shifter guys? And is there anything else I need to know... ah. Oh wait- what about pain tolerance?

[markofthebrave]

[Having this kind of conversation is not weird. Having this kind of conversation with Masaomi is. She blinks a little as he comes nearer, and she's not entirely sure she's fond of the way that he's looking at her, but all she does is stand there - loose and reflexively ready - and answer his question.]

Their pain tolerance is very good. I've never fought anyone like them before - they're so determined to kill us, you can almost taste it, and it doesn't matter how badly you hurt them, if they can move they'll still attack you. They use normal weapons - swords and throwing knives and spears. And their biggest advantage is that they have air. Their wings are much larger than ours, so they can come at us from above. Most of the regular soldiers aren't too fast, though. [Not like facing Shikamaru.] So if you're careful you should be able to dodge.

I've only run into a few who can actually do magic, and it's a lot like the kind of powers you learn from the filial spirits here. One of them tried to use water against me once. [A quick quirk upwards on the corner of her mouth.] It didn't work.

[generalflirt]

Eeeeh... not to fast, huh? [He trails off here, thinking. He then nods]

Mm~ I'm not used to spears and swords. Aaaah~ Oh well. [He now is re-entering seeming flippant mode]