-AU Interlude- [Action] .027

[markofthebrave]

[...sometime this morning, Katara wakes up slowly, prodded too it by the pain in her back and the nagging sensation that something is different. The air isn't salty. She's not cold. The ship isn't moving

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[flicker_flash]

[This morning is back to normal for one small child, at any rate. Which is why she pauses in her careful exploration of the forest, turns and heads for the edge on a whim.

Whims are powerful things. She's looking for someone.]

[southernsquirt]

[Katara may have tried the town first, but it's very obvious that it is not home - there are people with wings! And so she has to try somewhere else.

That means the forest. The forest is scary.

But she's going to try anyway, and running as fast as her burned and tired little body can manage, she is going to attempt to get to the Other Side.]

[flicker_flash]

[You. Are. A familiar looking girl, but far too young. And Katie stares for a second from her place in the trees, before angling to catch up. She can see those burns. She knows who this is - past obligations draw a line for her, bright and clear. And she has no idea who did this to you, or who turned you into a little girl but you can't go off into the forest by yourself.]

Katara.

[southernsquirt]

[Someone knows her name.

No one here should know her name.

But maybe that means -- has she run into someone from home, somehow? Part of her strains to run, but she makes herself stand still.]

Who's there!

[eidolon_soul]

[Rydia, tired of Luceti shenanigans and needing a break, has avoided the barracks for now, in favor of target practice in a forest clearing not far from town. She lifts her bow and fires at her targets, grateful to ignore everything else for the time being. At least, that's true until she takes a break to retrieve her arrows and pauses, hearing footsteps nearby....]

[southernsquirt]

[Actually making it into the forest was, she thought, a good thing. She's now stepping more cautiously, sore, tired, hungry... and lost.]

[eidolon_soul]

[Those are some light footsteps. Curious, now, Rydia steps away from her targets.]

...hello? Who's there?

[southernsquirt]

[Okay, that's a voice. It's not a voice she knows. So she'll just be freezing right there for the moment, panicked.]

[offallingsnow]

[Well, here, you can at least have someone wearing blue. She sees you in the shadows there, child, but she came into this forest to get out of the village and practice. ...And practice she will, this time specifically with water artes.]

[southernsquirt]

[Katara has never actually seen waterbending before. So she doesn't know what it is, or isn't supposed to look like. She's unaware that she's been spotted, and so will just stay in that shadow, watching.]

[offallingsnow]

[After a short while, Nephry takes a break, wiping her forehead with the back of one glove.]

You can come out now. I won't do anything to you.

[southernsquirt]

[Nooo, she doesn't think she'll do that. Spotted, Katara is going to edge away. You're not someone she knows. You're wearing blue, and working with water, but you have wings too and this place is not home and she's not sure she can trust anybody.]

[orchidsandfire]

[Oh no. Diana's seen her share of AUs, but this had to be the worst one. She bends down a few feet from the girl, unaware that her red costume might scare the poor child even more. She calls out to her softly.]

Katara?

[southernsquirt]

[Someone in town knows her name? Katara glances around as quickly as possible, and as soon as she sees red, she doesn't hesitate. Time to run as quickly and hard as she can... which considering the burns on her legs and her back and the fact that she is very hungry and weak is not far at all.]

[orchidsandfire]

[It doesn't take long at all for Diana to catch up, and she gently places a hand on Katara's shoulder.]

Katara! It's me, Diana.

[southernsquirt]

[Sadly, that shoulder happens to be one of the many places on Katara's body that's burned. She cries out in pain and tries to break free.]

[markofthewise]

[The fact Katara was gone when he woke up was hardly a big deal to Sokka. He had forced himself to start sleeping in like he used to and wasn't surprised to be alone that morning. The fact he didn't run into her all day also failed to surprise him, even when he found himself eating dinner on his own. But as the evening pushed on and it got darker, he did start to get concerned, especially at the lack of anything through the journal.

Arming himself with a lamp, he sets off in the late evening to go looking for his wayward sister. He checks the predictable places in the village first before heading plunging the woods to seek her out.]

[southernsquirt]

[By this time, Katara is huddled up next to a big tree. Very quiet and very, very still. She thinks she's gotten pretty far into the woods, but it doesn't look like random spurts of running in blind panic are actually very good for your sense of direction. So she is not far from the village at all.

It's very dark out here. But at least she's not on the ship.]

[markofthewise]

[The person he's looking for is quite a bit bigger, but he finds himself surprised when the flicker of his lantern catches what looks like a huddled figure under a tree. He takes a step closer, raising the lantern in an attempt to get a better look at whoever might be there.]

Is someone there?

[southernsquirt]

[Crap. This is what she gets for falling asleep. Katara freezes, her eyes momentarily blinded by that lantern.

No, no one is there. Go away.]