The Smoke That Consumes [Closed]

[oceanblue]

Characters: Zuko, Katara, [Ask before joining]
Date: 2 Weeks after Evandau
Location: Wood Sector, streets
Situation: Zuko, due to his infection, has snapped and is chasing Katara
Warnings/Rating: Possible Violence and much tearbending


She didn't know how long she had been running. The scenery had changed--that much, at least, she had been able to notice while dodging the continuous blasts of fire that lit up the night washed streets. Her lungs, already strained from her failing dash for escape from the Fire Sector now burned from the smoke as he got closer.

It never took much these days to set him off, thanks to the infection. His nightmares had grown more intense, and, helpless, Katara had watched him slip further and further into the madness. She had done her best, watching over him, helping soothe the pain when she could, offering as much support as she could provide. Some days had been good; others had been much more trying. His nights were always rough.

And tonight was clearly one of his worst.

What had set him off was still unclear, though she figured it didn't matter so much now, not when he had snapped like this. His fits so far hadn't been this violent; she had always been able to find a way to calm him one way or another. Something inside him must have snapped and was very much not on its way to being mended by the water bender any time soon.

And so she ran, hoping to take his target out of the picture, hoping that he would calm on his own, hoping in vain. Unable to escape, she had tried to fight, but his rage, and whatever was driving it, refused to be quenched by the little water she carried with her.

The edge of the turtle. If she could just reach its edge, she'd have enough water to bring him down, to at least slow his attack until this wave had passed. And so it was there she ran, dodging and sweeping, not daring to mourn just yet.

Once this was over, she would help repair what they had marred. But until then, her only focus was getting him away from everything, and closer to the water. Fear cackled in her ears as the trees around her burned, but she refused to listen.

The moon, full and bright, watched over the girl and her pursuer as they wove through the street.

Comments

[lordhotman]

He had been trying so hard to hold it back. Zuko could feel the anger and the violence creeping over him with each passing day. It has mostly been sharp words, maybe throwing something occasionally. But it wasn't enough to satiate his urges.

And tonight, he had just lost it.

His anger and rage, the source of it not completely understood, had sent him over the edge. Zuko didn't want to be this way, but he couldn't stop it. So he took it out on the closest source, and that was unfortunately one of his friends.

What Katara had fled, Zuko was in hot pursuit. His expression was twisted in rage. A look he hadn't had in some time now. He dashed after her, running through the street without seemingly to tire, his anger driving him.

"GET BACK HERE!" he screamed. Of course that wouldn't work, so he just kept chasing her. Throwing fireballs as he went. If he was in his right mind, Zuko would be mortified, but he wasn't.

[oceanblue]

A fireball hit too closely, knocking her off her feet for just a moment before she rolled to one side, and leapt to her feet again, dashing for the closest cover she could find: one of the larger trees at the edge of the clearing where she had found her small stream that she used to practice her bending.

Wincing as flames shot around her, she waited until they died down to risk a look at him. Running wasn't helping, and she wouldn't get to the edge without him catching up to her. Her only choice at present was to stand and fight him.

Taking a deep breath, she pulled from the water in the small stream, throwing it in his direction with a grunt before she ran again, trying to at least get behind another tree while he was hopefully distracted by her attack. She didn't want to hurt him, but it appeared there was no getting around it.

She would have to bring him down.

"Zuko, this isn't you! Stop before I end this!"

[lordhotman]

He's relentless, and fast, seemingly not tiring anytime soon as he just runs off his anger. Zuko threw fireballs and great blasts of flame at her at every opportunity he could get. The trees that she got close to or tried to hide behind were not sparred either. Soon enough the flames caught on limbs, leaves, and bark. Smoke rose into the air as the fire licked at and consumed the wood. The firebender doesn't notice or care about the vegetation, for his sights are on Katara.

Nimbly he dodged her water, while the onslaught of flames continued. Her words brought a sneer to his face.

"I'll end YOU!"

[12goingon113]

Look Aang! Look! Fireworks! Mya had squealed with delight. But when Aang turned to look out the window of the Children's Ward it wasn't fireworks that he saw in the distance over the Wood Sector, but firebending. He called in a nurse to relieve him as calmly as he could, and as quickly as possible Aang dove for his glider and leapt from the window towards the source of the blaze.

Something about the air around Zuko and Katara shifts. The flames unfurling from his attacks change shape ever so slightly. It's in the way they lap at the breeze as they burn, favoring one side over another. This subtle warning is the only one Zuko and Katara get before Aang arrives on the scene, dropping from the sky with his glider-staff in hand and already raised in defense.

"No," he commands. "You won't."

DUN DUN DUNNNNN

[oceanblue]

She braced herself behind another tree, a sharp cry escaping her as another blast scorched the air around her. Coughing--because panting and this much smoke didn't mix well-- she covered her mouth before another voice joined the sounds of tree bark screaming and limbs snapping.

No...!

Not too far from Aang, Katara leapt out from behind the tree, a fierce determination in her eyes as she brought a wave of water up with her which she swept widely at Zuko. She was glad to have the assistance, as it was very clear she was going to need it to get Zuko to a point where he could be calmed, but Aang was one of the last people she wanted mixed up in this mess...even if he was also one of the first she would have asked to fight alongside her.

"He's not himself, Aang! It's--" She dodged a fireball. "-- the poison!"

[lordhotman]

Thanks to Zuko's angry bending, the flames roared and climbed the trees quickly. Thick smoke soon engulfed the area as the fire spread from tree to tree. The burning chaos only served to drive him further, giving him a high unlike anything he had ever felt before.

But when Aang landed, his attention quickly went to him. An angry roar peeled from Zuko's throat and with a quick movement he went the blazing flames from two of the trees directly at the airbender. This being enough of a distraction for Katara's water to catch him off guard. Slapped by the force of the waterbending he was knocked off his feet. But not for long. His attention back on Katara again he sent several successive fireballs in her direction.

[12goingon113]

The best Aang can do when faced with such an assault is dodge and block. There's just too much fire to snuff at once being thrown at him. There's a small voice in the back of his mind that he's trying desperately to ignore that calmly points out everything he needs to not be thinking of right at this moment:

This is what it'll be like when the comet comes back.
This is what my people faced off against.
This is why they fell.

"I'm sure that's some of it," he calls back to Katara through gritted teeth as he moves his way through his defensive airbending forms.

And then Zuko's focus is shattered and almost instantly redirected.

"KATARA!"

Aang moves from air to earthbending, and the ground beneath all of them trembles. Providing Katara cover that can't be lit on fire is his first priority.

Just like the good ol' days~

[oceanblue]

"Aang!!!"

Her fear for Aang amplified ten fold as Zuko directed the cloud of fire towards him, and she doubled her efforts to gather more water as the younger boy evaded what he could. Once the firebender was knocked off his feet, she continued toward him, turning her water to shards of ice as he righted himself and sending them toward him in hopes to pin him down.

"Zuko, stop this!!! We're your friends!"

When he escaped her attack and turned his rage around on her once more, she froze, then dove behind one of the earth mounds provided, though not unscathed. Rolling, she grabbed at her ankle, trying to dull the singed flesh with the water still collected in her hands. With her attention so focused on the battle at hand, however, her healing did little good, and she gave it up quickly in favor of charging Zuko again, using Aang's earth shields as cover as she advanced. Once close enough, she leapt atop one of them, then flung herself down at the firebender, a gathered wave of water following her quickly to both cover her and hopefully force him down again. If not, she'd be close-- very close.

Wood Sector (Katara's Room)

[oceanblue]

Whether she was unconscious or simply just felt too sick to speak, Katara was silent and still as she was carried to her room. The pain throughout her body had been dulled considerably; whatever Akito had done, he had either done it really well, or something else had helped. There was no doubt in her cloudy mind that, physically, she would pull through.

Emotionally was an entirely different fate.

Once laid down on her bed, she didn't move, instead opting to finally rest. She knew Aang was somewhere in her home with Akito; she wouldn't have expected any less after what they had all just been through. She drifted in and out of restless sleep, until finally, she could try no longer and instead found herself staring at the wall her bed pressed up against. She shivered quietly in the dim light of the room, slowly curling in on herself a little at a time.

[alphatar]

As soon as Wan had told Korra that Katara was in dire need of healing, she left the hospital as quickly as possible after scrambling to get her medic bag filled with bottles of water. Having been to her, now younger, waterbending master's home before; Korra made record time by using the rooftops and branches to ignore any people that might have gotten in her way.

Korra climbed down the tree itself to get to Katara's window. A habit she picked up from friends she met on the turtle, those still here and those that have returned home. It had sounded like an emergency, so Korra didn't knock and instead opened the window to climb in.

"Hey." She said it quietly after she noticed the younger girl was actually awake. "How do you feel?" That was the most important question she could while she took off the strap that held her bag to get out a bottle of water. Giving her a look of concern, Korra's eyes searched for any visible burns. Just a precaution since her healing would let her know just where the damage is and how bad it really was.

[oceanblue]

When Korra entered the room through her window, the younger girl tensed instinctively though she was in no condition to fight, relaxing only when Korra spoke. Though she was grateful for the arrival of the avatar and her concern, she stayed still and unresponsive for a long moment before she finally moved onto her back with a groan and lifted her reddened eyes to the other girl. With tear tracks obvious across her cheeks and the obvious damage peeking out from below the thin blanket she lay covered with, it was clear that the waterbender had seen much better days. Nevertheless, Korra's kind presence merited a response, and Katara would give a short and strained answer.

"...awful."

[alphatar]

Seeing just what she had to look towards healing-wise, Korra knit her brow and bit down on both her lips. Some of it looked like it was healed already, a feat Korra was surprised at considering Katara's condition. She took out another bottle of water. This definitely called for it. When she finally got her answer, Korra met Katara's eyes and a pained look crossed her face; concern at seeing her like this.

Having worked as a healer for both clinic and hospital for over a year, Korra didn't even need to look at what she was doing. "I didn't know it'd be this bad. Wan just told me that your needed to be healed, and fast." She pulled the blanket down and drew from the bottle. Korra merged the contents and lowered it onto her burns. Blue light brimmed from the water as she let the soothing effect of the water settle in so she could work. Making sure the water wasn't too hot or too cold.

"How did this happen?" If there's one thing Korra knew, it was that Katara was a master waterbender. Something like this couldn't have been a simple accident.

[oceanblue]

Katara closed her eyes again, submitting entirely to Korra's work and sighing as the healing took hold. "Akito has been practicing... I guess he really got to test his... field skills today..." She couldn't heal herself, at least not this well in that condition. As Korra began healing her, however, she again realized the full extent that still needed work.

It was going to be a long night.
....It was going to be a long time before anything was right again...

When questioned, the girl hesitated, turning her face away a little and weighing her words carefully before she answered. "Zuko's been poisoned... A lot of people where... It can't be healed with waterbending...."

Her throat, despite the healing efforts, suddenly felt tighter.

"I've been... watching over him for the past two weeks... and he's always in pain... and he's...even more short tempered than normal..."

Tears slowly made their way out from under her lashes, and suddenly, she wished she could just pass out again. She was sure Korra would feel her heart rate pick up.

"Tonight he just... he snapped...I-I was trying to get him to the edge of the turtle once he had started attacking me but.... but..."

[alphatar]

Korra became engrossed in what she was hearing, her hands slowly gliding the water over Katara's body as she tried to picture it in her head. The poison wasn't something she had seen first hand, and the fact that Zuko had done this. Then there really weren't any other firebenders aside from Iroh and Wan; not that that gave her any consolation.

"Zuko's, at the hospital." And she'd see about getting answers from him too. "It's okay, I'll make sure you're okay after this." She didn't have to tell Katara that it would be okay, not when she knew how effective their healing techniques were. At least, Korra assumed she did at this age.

"It's not your fault this happened." Korra reached over to put her hand on Katara's cheek, rubbing away a tear with her thumb. Her heart rate was easy to pick up when she could feel her chi paths through the water. It hurt to see her mentor, friend, like this.

aaaand she's broken. The mentor becomes the...mentored?

[oceanblue]

"Is he okay?"

The words left her mouth before she could think them through, choked as they were. She knew how awful it was when Zuko slept. She couldn't think of a night since the attack that he hadn't had nightmares and woken up screaming, and after what he had been through tonight...

...after what she had put him through tonight, a voice added; she had been absolutely traumatized at the very idea of bloodbending, and the fact that she had put him through it, even knowing how much pain and confusion he was already submerged in...

Korra's reassurance that it wasn't her fault were barely heard as she began shaking from a losing battle with her emotions. Pure sorrow for everything that had happened--the original attack, his nightmares and her failing abilities to heal him, the pain they had caused each other this night-- overflowed in the form of tears, and once she was able, Katara would unsteadily sit up and bury her face in her hands, or Korra's shoulder if she would allow it.

"I-I... Korra, he was....he was going t-to kill himself... a-and I used bloodbending to stop him...!"

Meanwhile: Out in the hallway...

[12goingon113]

Once Katara was safely installed into her bedroom, Aang left her side to give her some time to rest. Or at very least be with her own thoughts for a while, since he was fairly certain she was only pretending to rest in the first place.

But then he thought he heard something in her room. As he tip-toed closer he began to feel the presence of another Avatar. The front door hadn't opened, and Wan had said he'd be sending Korra when he found her, so he can only assume that she'd come in through a window or something.

Rather than interrupt their conversation, he instead eavesdrops on it.

Bloodbending.
That's what that was.
Even the name of it sends a chill up Aang's spine.

[alphatar]

There wasn’t any hesitation from Korra when Katara sat up, she offered her should and put her free arm around her; both for comfort and to physically support her. Being on the other end, older, just became more odd. But she didn’t have time to take it all in, only time to give Katara what she needed.

Which was difficult given what she told Korra next.

"You.did?" Keeping the surprise out of her voice was impossible. Especially when it was Katara who had outlawed bloodbending in the first place, and that Korra had been on the receiving end of the waterbending technique; enough that even her bending was taken away by it.

Her healing slowed as she looked at the younger girl, but Korra got back on task and hugged Katara to her.

"Don’t, worry about that now." That could wait until later, she knew that Katara wouldn’t have just done the act recklessly. "He’ll be fine. Let’s make sure you are too, okay?"

[lordhotman]

[Some time later, Zuko starts to wake up. There's a small groan and his eyes start to open, then he cringes at he bright lights.

This... is kinda familiar.

Then as the memories of what happened start coming back, Zuko suddenly sits up, looking around with a horrified expression on his face.]

[raavashing]

[When Zuko sits up he'll be met with Wan's hand going to his chest to push him gently, but firmly, back down.]

Easy there.

[lordhotman]

[That crazed look he had earlier had at least faded and just nagged at him slightly in the back of his mind. However, he's not exactly calm, because he swats Wan's arm away.]

Katara! I hurt Katara! Is she okay?!

[Panic and worry edges his voice as well as his eyes, which look imploringly at Wan.]

[raavashing]

[This time Wan's grip was not quite as kind as he put his hands on Zuko's shoulders and held him in place.]

Katara will be fine. Korra's already gone to see her and the other waterbender that showed up saw to her burns before I brought you here.

[lordhotman]

[Wan's grip is strong, but it's his words that finally get him to relax a little. He swallows hard and then looks away. What had he done? He had hurt his friend. The only one of his friends here that actually trusted him. But now there's no way she ever would again.]

omg my html

[raavashing]

[Once he relaxed, Wan's grip eased up and his tone softened.]

Please, lay back down. You weren't hurt as much as she was, but you were still hurt. You need to rest.

It's okay. It happens to me too, lol.

[lordhotman]

I'm fine.

[But his protest is weak and he lays back down anyway. Phyiscally he feels fine anyway, if not a bit sore. But mentally... that's far from the case.]

[raavashing]

You're not.

[Wan said, shaking his head.]

You've been poisoned. It's been lingering for a couple weeks now.