01 ≋ a frozen ocean joins our hearts ≋

[waterwhip]

Who: Katara and you!
What: Exploring the area and not getting into trouble at all ever.
When: Within the first couple of days of arrival.
Where: The fountain and the greenhouse.
Warnings: None! Maybe later.

--∿≈≋🌘≋≈∽--

It isn't lost on Katara that the assembled band of 'heroes' brought from every corner are fortunate to have an abundant supply of fresh water. She is fortunate, more than most--some people drink what they need to survive without thinking much about it, but for a daughter of the Water Tribe, and a waterbender to boot, water is essential to Katara. It has informed every aspect of her life.

She bends in the square when she has time and it's not too crowded. Pakku would never let her hear the end of it if she let her skills get rusty, and frankly, she's worked too hard just to be allowed to learn to let it go to waste.

The water she's gathered up now will go to the greenhouse later, but there's nothing saying she can't play with it a little first. It coils through the air, forming loops and spirals. Refracted light dances on the ground and the walls of the buildings around her. Another movement catches her eye, and she turns, first with a guarded look and then a smile.

"Oh, hey! I didn't see you there."

--∿≈≋🌕≋≈∽--

Since discovering that her skills as a waterbender are invaluable in streamlining the process of cultivating food, Katara has made daily visits to the greenhouse to water and weed the plants. There are a few she's become particularly fond of--one is a little maroon and pink fruit she's dubbed the 'glueberry' for how sticky the juice becomes if it gets mashed; it's sweet and tart, and she knows they're packed with nutrients.

Her favorite is a much larger fruit that she discovered after a few days of tending the greenhouse. The husk of the fruit requires a bit of effort to crack, but the inside is filled with fleshy seed pods that taste like something between the mangoes that grow on Ember Island and the moon peaches Momo loves so much. The seeds are a glossy, almost iridescent black; Katara has begun to save them to replant, and to make beads for jewelry.

She wasn't expecting company today, but she doesn't seem disappointed for it. "Here, help me break this open?" she asks, the football-sized fruit in her extended hand. "You really have to try this. It's so good!"

--∿≈≋🌒≋≈∽--

Wildcard!

Comments

[pileofspirits]

"--Are you thirsty?" they happily parrot, almost before she's finished asking the question herself. Then, in the exact same tone, they roll into a different question with hardly a pause between. "Are you magic?"

Strange, but at least everything about their expression says that they're nothing but eager and curious.

[waterwhip]

Katara can't help the slight shiver she feels run down her spine. Eager and curious is fine, but the way her words are being repeated back to her feels... eerie.

She shakes her head, channeling the water into a lazy formation around herself. It's visually beautiful, but also useful in a fight: the ring can be deployed defensively and offensively--not that she intends to use it. If traveling with the Avatar has taught her anything, it's to have a little faith, but to be prepared all the same.

"It isn't magic. It's called waterbending," she says.

[pileofspirits]

Eerie, like the way the figure's dark eyes seem to reflect no light, even with the sunshine overhead. They watch the water loop lazily around her, and their hands idly mimic the motion. But their attention is mainly on the words being spoken. Their brow furrows.

"Waterbending. Bend... bending? Isn't water... bending, always?"

[waterwhip]

That unsettled feeling only gets worse as she watches the person copying her bending stances (even to no effect). The question doesn't make sense, but at least it's not just her own words repeated back to her.

"Water flows and moves on its own, but I bend it," Katara replies. "Are you... are you a spirit?" she asks, wishing desperately that Aang was here. He would know what to do in this kind of situation. It's the eyes that prompt her question--eyes unlike anything she's ever seen on a living person.

[pileofspirits]

Her explanation at least seems to make some sense to the being, as they nod a little, quietly thoughtful.

However, the question she follows up with manages to pull at their attention much more insistently. Their dark eyes widen a little, and they smile.

"Spirits," they correct. "We're spirits."

[waterwhip]

Katara shivers visibly, uncertain of how to proceed. The Water Tribes have always been deeply spiritual peoples, their culture steeped in mysticism since ancient times. Her own personal experience with spirits has been different than most of her kin, since she's met a few of them along her journey, and heard more besides.

None of those experiences had been particularly positive, however. There had been Zhao's murder of the Moon spirit and Princess Yue's sacrifice, followed by Aang's incredibly destructive attack against the Fire Navy. His story of Koh, the face stealer had been a hair-raising one. The Hei Bai that had captured Sokka had left a particular distrust in her; she knew that spirits could be capricious, easily angered, and without a mediator, she would have to figure out how to appease it (or how to fight it) if necessary.

Not one to back down easily, however, Katara steeled herself. "Spirits," she repeats. "Are you... nice?" The question sounds lame to her ears. "Have you been disturbed? Do you need help getting back to the spirit world?" Not that she would know how to do that even if it were the case, but knowing what she's working with is important.

[pileofspirits]

The creature murmurs thoughtfully after the first question, sluggishly considering what she's asking, but the second question strikes them as much more important. She asks if they want to go back, and a flash of wide-eyed fear immediately flickers across their features.

"No, no. We don't want to go back. Disturbed but... staying."

Their hands lift and reach for her a little, looking a little urgent, maybe pleading, before they catch themself.

"...Can we stay?"

[waterwhip]

Well. That wasn't exactly the reaction she'd been expecting, and the grasping hands make her tense up briefly, but the... spirits don't seem volatile in a dangerous sort of way, thankfully. In fact, the chord of fear she seems to have struck takes her aback slightly, and she lowers her hands. The water surrounding her falls from its defensive position.

"Of course you can stay," she says. "I wouldn't send anyone back to somewhere they don't want to go." Especially if it's not hurting anyone. What's the harm?

[pileofspirits]

She relaxes a little, and then they follow suit. Under their tangled cloak of rags, the line of tension falls out of their shoulders.

"--Somewhere they don't want to go," they repeat just as she finishes the words. Then they try again, correcting themself, "we don't want to go."

Though they're less immediately afraid now, the thought is apparently still bothering them. Reaching up to tug the edges of their hood, they retreat a little bit.

[waterwhip]

"Don't worry," Katara assures... them? "I'm not gonna hurt you."

She feels a pang of guilt now for frightening the timid spirits. As recompense, she does what she alone can do, and with a flurry of dancelike motions, she makes the water she was bending float and flow again, this time in more of a decorative than practical application. She crafts a sphere of water, gives it ice rings, makes them spin. It's a beautiful display of her bending prowess, which she hopes will cheer up her spirit spectators.

[pileofspirits]

The being's big, lightless black eyes widen again... and this time, it's from a sense of delight instead of fear. Slowly, a smile spreads across their face, and their fingers spread and fidget like they're fighting the urge to follow along with the motions.

"Dancing! And... sculpting. Scripting. No, shaping, like clay?"

[waterwhip]

"Just bending," Katara says with a small laugh. "It's all bending--the movements and the water."

She's less afraid now. The spirits seem docile enough, which is good in her books, and she'd like to keep it that way. With a final flourish, she turns the water into a wavelike ice sculpture.

[pileofspirits]

Whether they possibly have the capacity to be threatening or not, they at least seem nothing but the opposite right now. Their smile turns wondering when the water freezes solid, and they gather themselves up to approach it.

"Like winter. Just for fun?" They glance at her again when they ask, pausing in lifting their hand to touch it.

[waterwhip]

"For fun, yes, but for other things too. You can use it to protect yourself and your friends. Water can heal, too." And while she hopes she won't have a need for that particular talent here, she feels fairly certain that it'll come in handy eventually.

"I'm Katara," she says after a moment.