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tushanshu_logs2014-09-18 03:39 pm
oceanblue) wrote in tushanshu_logs2014-09-18 03:39 pm
The Smoke That Consumes [Closed]
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.
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.
no subject
He just watched as one of his worst nightmares played out before his eyes, why wouldn't he be fine? And that's not even going anywhere near whatever it was that followed, because that didn't shake him to the very core of his being either.
Nope. Aang's just peachy.
As is evidenced by the fact that he bobbles both the blanket and the ointment during his master level attempt at aloofness
"Akito wanted me to give these to you."
Nice save, Avatar. Nice save.
no subject
She watches him bounce before her eyes fall shut with a resigned sigh. "Akito is a good roommate...Is he okay?"
no subject
"I think so," he says sincerely. "I don't really know him well enough to know otherwise, but I think he's okay. His...his waterbending has really improved."
The last bit wasn't planned, but Aang couldn't stop himself from saying it anyway. He approaches the bed, having recovered control of the blanket and ointment.
"I'll be okay. Right now I'm kind of way more concerned about you, and you getting better."
*wraps them both in warm blankets and offers tea* ;__;
For now, however, the girl stayed still below the thin sheet, her eyes tired as she struggled with a response. "I'll be fine, Aang..." She looked almost guilty as the unspoken 'eventually' hung in the air and as Aang showered her with concern. She knew very well just how pathetic she looked there before him--she felt it, every bit of it-- but she was still more terrified of the shame she had brought upon herself: what she had put them through by bloodbending, by being unable to help Zuko, by getting herself nearly killed, by not reaching out for help when she should have...
An uneasy silence fell over her and again, she sought out the avatar's gaze, the blue of her eyes swimming with everything she needed to say to him. Tentatively, she finally began her disorganized apology. "I'm...so sorry, Aang... I never meant for ...for any this to happen..."
When I find myself in times of Trouble, Uncle Iroh comforts me. Singing words of wisdom: Jasmine tea
"Katara, don't," he says quietly, never looking or shying away. There's nothing but love and compassion on his face. "Just...just rest."
oh my gosh Jasmine tea that's brilliant XD
If only I could claim credit for that. Alas, 'tis fandom which deserves the praise.
At the Southern Air Temple, when he fully realized the fate of his people.
In the Si Wong Desert when confronted with the men who took Appa.
Countless times when nightmares of The Storm would waking him screaming from a deep sleep.
He wants very much to crawl into the bed to rest her head against his shoulder the way she always did with him, but that's not really his place, is it? Not only does he know know the extent of her remaining injuries, but she's not really his Katara, is she. She belongs to some future version of himself. A version of himself that has experienced the months he has yet to live through.
Time is an illusion, he tries to remind himself, but this particular illusion is oh so very strong.
Nyyyeeehhhh too many sads
She reasons through it all, jumbling her thoughts as they all come at once. He doesn't know that he and Zuko become close friends-- and now, despite the way he seemed to be trying to get along with the idea, he's seen Zuko attack her, bring her down to this. His reaction to her arrival was so sincere... She had brought about a new determination to be there for him--and the others--and now she's hurt. And she's dangerous, and he knows that now--what she can do, that she was willing to do the unthinkable to someone she holds dear.
As his hands close around hers, she does finally turn her face down, tears spilling freely into her pillow. She wants nothing more than to go home, to find Aang, to end at least one war. But now they're trapped in two, and in this moment, even Katara can't pull from the spring of hope inside her.
All the sads!
It's in this moment that Aang realizes that it's not just her injuries that are making Katara act this way, but...the combination of everything else that had happened. Everything else that he hasn't seen yet, and that people had neglected to tell him about, for what ever reason.
Though admittedly, "Oh Hey, by the way? Katara can control people with her bending now," is a bit harder to work into conversation when compared to, "You and Zuko are totally friends."
Aang would be lying if he said he was okay with this new ability Katara had apparently developed. It was horrifying, and he was equally as scared of her as he was for her.
This must be what it feels like to be Katara when he's in the Avatar State. And no matter how much destruction Aang had caused in that triggered state, Katara had stayed by his side. Often she was the only one able to talk him back to himself. If she was afraid of him, she hid it well. And its in that moment that Aang resolves to return the favor.
"When I was in the hospital Toph would tell me about the stuff I hadn't lived yet. About how I was in a coma for a long time after Ba Sing Se. And about how you stayed with me the whole time." His voice is quiet, but resolute.
The bed shifts slightly under his weight as he carefully airbends himself next to her on the mattress.
"If you want me to go, I'll go. But I promise you I won't go far."
The very air around them warms. It's the least he can do.
BLUH
When he speaks, she clings to his quiet voice as if its her only chance of staying afloat. The memories aren't good ones, but before they can take her under, he's beside her. His promise makes something waver within her; hope flickers back into her eyes as her sudden fear of being abandoned by her best friend is aptly cast away by the avatar's loyalty.
"Aang…"
She know he's scared of her. Why wouldn't he be after what he had seen? She's a bloodbender, can manipulate people as she wills... friends with the boy the airbender recognizes only as an enemy, the boy who had brought her to this after she had assured Aang he was safe, an ally…she's kept secrets, telling no one how difficult life had become watching over Zuko, telling no one about the tempest building within the boy…She wasn't even sure anyone aside from her suite mate knew she had taken up the task...
Aang's willingness to put it all aside for now, his forgiveness, however, is the most reassuring thing she's met since coming to this awful place, and as the air warms, she finally lets go of the tension over her, relaxing as best she can under the blanket of his company. She's safe, here, and she's going to do her absolute best to explain anything he wants explained. Of all the people here she knows, he deserves it most.