lucetilogs | Make my wish come true

Entry tags:

Make my wish come true

Who:

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]

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[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?

[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?]

Edited 2011-02-24 03:46 (UTC)

[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.

[...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?

[...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.]

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]

[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?

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]

[...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.]

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

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.]

[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.]

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?

[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.

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]

Edited 2011-02-24 05:31 (UTC)

[What's to be used to? Just don't get hit.]

What are you used to?

Fists, sometimes knives. Pipes... whatever could get our hands on, I guess. It was a city, after all.

[He shrugs again... considering. Well. Shouldn't be that different.]

[She tilts her head, considering.] I'm only passable with a knife. [Hugo had taught her. Months ago. In the mornings. And she hadn't kept it up.] And I don't fight with swords.

But staff fighting isn't too different than spear fighting. We could spar if you like.

[...this is partially out of curiosity. He'd turned into someone so... different than the Masaomi she thought she knew. She wants to see what that really means. She knows she's more truly herself when she's bending - fighting - then she is at practically any other time. She wonders if it's the same thing for him.]

Eeeeh... I'm not sure about that. [He cocks his head to the side. Man, he really doesn't want to fight a girl. Not that he wants to voice this because he knows with bending she's probably stronger than him]

You think we should?

[A shrug.] It's up to you.

[No, she's... not entirely sure. Because you scared her, a little, with the way that you went flat. She does trust you, Masaomi, but... she's been wrong before.] But I can always use the practice. And it'd be better than just watching me, right?

Aaah~ That's true. [He laughs.] After all, it's been a long time since I had a fight for real!

[He chuckles one more time here, taking one more step closer]

Will you use your bending?

[Definitely upping up the 'creepy' factor with the way you're handling this, Masaomi. Katara bends her knees a little in anticipation - and frankly, the way you're approaching makes her want to reach for her waterskin.

But this was your idea, Katara.

It was. She just didn't expect him to suddenly seem so... predatory.]

No, I wasn't planning on it. [Because nothing you described came close to it, and that would hardly be fair.] Going up against those Shifters, I have to get used to fighting without it.

Mmm. That's fair. [He sighs here, and then considers sucker-punching her. If she has said she was using bending, he actually would have. But as she said she wasn't... raising his hands, he takes two or three stops back and nods at her]

So let's go.

[And now he... hap-hazards a guard. to call this a "stance" would be a misnomer, but there also isn't any clear break in it. He's clearly never learned a "style" so much as just... fought. A lot. He considers just charging in, but he's giving her all of a few seconds to get ready herself]

[OK. That's more like it. She's gotten more used to this form of combat, even though it still is far from her first choice, and her stance is fluid and ready.

...but the fact that he's unarmed really bothers her.]

You're not going to grab anything?

[There should be some practice weapons lining the wall.]

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