revivalproject | ★ 1 ★

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WHO: Agra 10 gets another Captain America, and this one is Bucky Barnes!
WHERE: Starting in the square, then pretty much anywhere you want to run into him around town/the forest
WHAT: Arrival and exploring (NOTE: If you'd like to continue/assume our TDM thread as canon, just go ahead and I'll roll with it!)
WHEN: Bucky's arrival, a few weeks into the first event
WARNINGS: Will mark if any appear!

The last thing Bucky remembers is being on the Bishop with Steve. Then, suddenly - he's in the middle of a run-down square in a run-down city and there's a glowing... thing downloading information into his head.

All in all, it's kinda like any Tuesday in the Fleet. Almost. Except not. Especially not since after things changed.

He's alone - at least, he is at first. Which means he goes looking for Steve, once he realizes he's got no communicator and, honestly, pretty much nothing else, either, except for the plain coveralls he's wearing and the red, white, and blue shield that might be familiar to some.

He eventually finds his way into places like the hotel, the hospital, and the power plant. He's not afraid to poke around, and anyone he spots that doesn't look like a threat will be approached without hesitation.

At first, he's looking for Steve - or for acquaintances from the Fleet. But that doesn't mean unfamiliar people get the brush-off. He'll come right up, ask if you know what's going on, and probably offer help if it looks like you need it.

It's pretty much part of the job, after all.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Katara feels a little bit like she's being taunted.

The building is marked "秘密隧道" as clear as day, and she wonders if there really is a secret tunnel inside, or if the words were put there as some sort of message to her. It's a little embarrassing, really, and it would be even more embarrassing if anyone else here knew about her history.

Even worse, that dumb song is stuck in her head now.

She paces back and forth in front of the building, humming that stupid song quietly to herself as she tries to decide how to proceed. On the one hand, it feels like an invitation. It's marked in a language she can read, unlike many of the other buildings, and the wording is a callback to her own experiences. On the other hand, going in alone is a terrible idea. Besides, hasn't she had her fill of secret tunnels after the last time she got caught in one for hours on end?

She kicks a pebble and sighs, burning with curiosity. Maybe someone else would be willing to go in with her? She could probably convince one of her new friends to take a chance.

Out of the corner of her eye, she notices an approaching figure, and she turns to see who it is. No one familiar, but she gives a friendly wave regardless.

Bucky definitely doesn't recognize the writing - or the person pacing in front of it, or the song she's humming (sharp hearing), but honestly that just makes the whole thing more intriguing. Which means he's already approaching when she spots him and waves; he lifts a hand in response, hiking closer to give the lettering another once-over, before he turns to the girl in front of it, looking a mix of wary and hopeful.

"Hey. Don't suppose you know what this is all about?"

He kind of means... well, everything, from the place they're standing in right now to the entire planet. He just got here, but he doesn't know if that means everyone else has, too, or if he's just late to the party.

Pointing to the painted calligraphy, Katara gives a noncommittal shrug. "It says 'secret tunnel,'" she translates for him. "So, someone either has a real sense of humor or there's actually a tunnel down there. If my friend Toph were here, she would be able to tell, but..." But Toph isn't here.

"I'm Katara," she adds hastily, before the absence of her friend can visibly get her down. "Did you just arrive?"

Bucky eyes the writing with a soft, "Huh." That's not ominous or anything; he peers as far into the entrance as he can, but even with better-than-average vision... yeah. Not much. "I can't tell, either."

He blows out a breath, but nods a little at the introduction, replying in kind: "Captain Barnes." But honestly, in this kind of situation, "You can just call me Bucky." It's not like he's about to really stand on rank at the moment, unless something really shitty goes down.

And at the question, he nods, "Yeah. Couple hours ago - I'm still finding my way around. Have you been here long?" Because that kind of a question indicates maybe she has been - but maybe she hasn't.

Katara nods briefly. "A few weeks now. We're all still exploring and figuring out what's what, but I can show you around later, if you want. There's a greenhouse near the square with lots of fruits and vegetables, and the water in the fountain is good to drink. There's a big inn, too, and most of us have found rooms there that are okay to sleep in." Those are the most barebones of the basics, and she'll give him all the pointers she knows if he's interested. For now, the tunnel is the most pressing thing.

"I wish Zuko was here," she mutters, mostly to herself. The prince of the Fire Nation--or was he the Fire Lord by now?--would be able to provide light for them in the tunnel, if there actually was one... apart from boosting Katara's morale. She starts casting around on the ground for a stick large enough to serve as a makeshift torch.

"What I don't understand is why they'd write 'secret tunnel' on the building," Katara says, gesturing widely at the wall. "It's not a secret if you label it. Why not just write 'tunnel'?"

"Do you know how many people are here?" Bucky asks; he's peering back into the tunnel, but definitely still interested in the answer. Maybe Steve is here, too - or maybe someone else he knows. Or he could be alone from the Fleet - but what matters is that others are here, and that means they probably stand a better chance together than they do alone - especially if some of them can read at least some of the writing.

He squints a little more, but then sighs and glances back at Katara. "It does kinda sound like a big joke," he has to admit - because she's got a point. You don't label secrets. Not like that. "You haven't tried going in yet?"

"I'm not sure how many, exactly," Katara says, crouching down to pick up sticks and bundle them together. "Nobody else from my world--at least not that I've seen, but I haven't met everyone yet. There's Tommy and Clint," she begins, naming off some of the people she's met. "Natasha, and Lance, and the Vision. Not just Vision--the Vision." Which reminds her rather pointedly of the Duke back home, though the two of them couldn't possibly be more different.

"I haven't gone in," she confirms with a shake of her head. "Last time I went through a secret tunnel, there was a cave-in and we got lost for ages."

Once she's bundled enough sticks together and stuffed a handful of grass into the top, Katara bends a stream of water out of her pouch and holds it in her hand, forming it into a sphere of ice and then compressing it into a rough lens. This in turn is used to focus the sunlight on the grass, hoping to catch fire to it. "Come on..."

That definitely gets Bucky's attention. "I know a Clint. And a Natasha - and the Vision." Not necessarily all from the same place (and yet, actually, possibly all from the same place - what the hell is his life, really). He blows out a breath, trying to keep his face neutral when he asks, "Anybody named Steve?"

His mouth twists at the idea of a cave-in - yeah, not his idea of a great time - but then he's admittedly distracted by the fact that she... what the hell is she doing with that... water?

Bucky's seen a lot of weird shit in his life. But that is... different. "That's a trick," he points out, eyebrows definitely a bit higher on his forehead than they were before. But after a second, he catches on to what she's doing - and not just the method she's using to do it. "You prefer that over the, uh, old-fashioned way?"

God, he would kill for a flashlight. Or even some matches.

"You know them?" Katara asks, mildly surprised, suppressing the unbidden wash of bitterness that rises in her throat at the idea that this newly-arrived stranger would know at least three other people here, while she's alone. It's not his fault, she reminds herself, and it's not like she wants her friends to be stuck in this place anyway. His question about a man named Steve has her turning back to look at him, pursing her lips slightly.

"Actually, yeah. He had a cat, and... a shield, just like that one, actually," she says, nodding at the vibrantly-painted metal. "He was nice," she adds, turning again to focus on her task of lighting the torch.

"I don't know what your old-fashioned way is," she says, unsure of his meaning. "If my friend were here, he could just make fire for us. But this is how the benders of my tribe have lighted fires for generations when they didn't have flint to strike a spark. Nothing more 'old-fashioned' than that."

"I guess it depends, but yeah," Bucky admits, giving her a smile that's definitely got a hint of a grimace underneath it. "It's complicated." He knows versions of them, but who knows if those are the versions that are here.

And it could be the same for Steve, and he knows it; still, he can't help the way he lets out a quiet, "Oh, thank God," when Katara says he's here - with a cat and a shield, too. That sounds like Steve. His Steve - well. One of them, anyway; that thought twists his gut a little, but then, he asked for Steve, not Grant. And now is not really the time to be quizzing her on everyone she's come across, and he knows it.

"Old-fashioned way's with two sticks," he offers, though flint would count, too. That's still more advanced than what they have, though, so. "But if your way works, then I'm willing to let you handle it." Bucky takes a step or two closer to the shadow cast by the tunnel entrance, but he still can't see shit, and trying again isn't going to solve it. "How long d'you think that'll last?" He nods to the makeshift torch. "You want me to put together a couple more, give us more time in there?"

"It seems a lot of things are complicated here," she says with a sigh. Katara hasn't yet knowingly encountered the issue that Bucky now faces, wherein versions of his friends are present which might not be the people he's familiar with. She can't even imagine what it'd feel like to be faced with someone so close and yet so far from someone she loved. Her description of his friend seems to match the one he's familiar with, at least.

His comment about using two sticks to make fire has her humming in conideration. "I guess they do use that method some places, but I grew up at the South Pole, so wood is a bit of a scarcity where I'm from. We use a lot of animal bones and dried seaweed in our fires, and we'd be extra careful through the dark months to keep fires burning in lamps fueled with animal blubber."

The torch manages to catch fire after a moment, much to Katara's relief, and she blows on it gently to encourage the young flame. "This should last... twenty minutes?" she guesses, given the length and thickness of the sticks she gathered. Thawing her ice lens, she streams it back into her pouch. "Yeah, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have a few extra." She supposes they really will go in, then, in spite of her apprehensions.

"Aren't they always," Bucky says wryly. Because even if here is new... it's definitely not a new experience.

Though he perks up a little, at hearing Katara's from the South Pole; "I've gotta admit, ten-year-old me has about a million questions," he says, with a soft laugh - even if his expression slips back into something more serious, a moment later. "Did you come here straight from there? I'm kinda used to waking up in weird places by now, but - " Not everyone is.

If she's not, though, she's certainly handling it admirably.

And it does indeed look like they're going to check this place out. He has to admit, he's curious - and if they handle it cautiously... well. Maybe it'll be worth it. He nods, getting to work gathering up the same supplies she used to make the first one, studying it for a moment before doing his best to follow her lead, looping everything together to make two more makeshift torches. It's a good idea - Katara's resourceful, especially with that water in her pouch. "Is that bending?" he asks, motioning to the pouch. "If we have that where I'm from, I sure haven't seen it."

"I would be happy to tell ten-year-old you all about the South Pole," she replies with a small grin, though the corners of her mouth slant back down at his next question.

"I didn't come here straight from my village, no. I've been traveling around for the last... nine months, I guess? With my brother and our friends. It's a long story. So... I guess you could say I'm used to waking up in strange places, but not like this."

When asked about her bending, Katara chuffs a little laugh and nods. "Yes, that's bending. Waterbending, to be specific. Nobody else here has seen it before, either, but where I'm from, there are benders who can control each different element--water, earth, fire, and air. Then, there's one bender who can master every element, and that's the Avatar. The Avatar is meant to be a symbol of peace to all the nations, and serves as a bridge between the physical and spirit worlds."

As she explains, Katara crouches to pick up a few more sticks--just in case--and when the both of them are finished, she takes a centering breath, hands the torch off to Bucky, and draws a stream of water from the pouch. "I'll go in first, since I can strike quickly with my bending if I have to, and you can cover us from behind with your shield. Sound good?"

Bucky hums, because okay - maybe she wasn't at home home when this happened, but it sounds like she was still at least on her homeworld. "But you weren't on a ship," he confirms, even as they start gathering themselves for whatever this expedition is going to turn into. "You were where you were supposed to be. On your home planet."

Because that sure means... something, he's sure, even if he doesn't know what, yet.

And as for the bending... "Huh," is mostly what he can say to that, at first - mostly processing, picturing people being able to do with fire or air what she's doing with water. It's simultaneously fascinating and a little worrying, if only because his mind maybe turns to the damage it can do just as quickly as it can imagine the good.

But it doesn't mean he's particularly thrilled when Katara just announces she's going in first, either. She is, after all (in Bucky's opinion), just a kid - and while kids can be plenty resourceful, he probably has more experience than she does in a couple of areas, including infiltration.

"That depends," he says, taking the torch but standing his ground, shifting so she can't enter just yet. "Tell me what that means, because I don't know how it works and I don't want to bet your life on it when I can probably take more damage than you can."

"A ship? No. I was in the Caldera... the capital of the Fire Nation. But I've been on plenty of ships, of course--the Water Tribe are hunters and fishers. I've even been on a few Fire Nation ships." She cants her head at the mention of being on her own home planet. "Wait, what kind of ship were you on?" she asks, surmising his experience has been quite different to hers.

Bucky's not wrong about the damage that bending can do. Katara has seen the devastation caused by firebending first hand, has felt the terror caused by another waterbender reaching inside and controlling the very blood that flows through her veins. Would he shrink from her if he knew the power she possessed? She hoped that he would never find out--that no one here would ever see that side of her ability.

But, then he basically asks for a demonstration of what she can do, and Katara has never been the one to turn back from a challenge.

Water already drawn, Katara turns and takes a few light, loping steps back from Bucky to give herself room. Hands held close and then pulled wide call the water, controlling her element, and her arms are sheathed in it. She uses the dual water whips in a twirling motion, lashing out at a wide swathe of the tall grass growing nearby and neatly shearing it short with the razor-sharp whip. Spinning, the water forms a wheel around her, and it freezes into a glittering arsenal of icy daggers that fly at the ground and land in precise rows. The ice melts a second later, returning with a gesture to form a loop around her. The others have seen the practical uses of her bending--Bucky is the first to see this sort of demonstration, the weaponized waterbending that marks her as a master of her style even at her tender age.

"My life has been on the line plenty of times," she says, not boastful but as a matter of fact. Her stance, the set of her jaw, the determination in her eyes make it clear that she's not just a teenager playing with magic water, but a proper child soldier. "You probably can take more damage, but my reach is longer. I just... I don't want anyone getting hurt when I can protect them."

Bucky shakes his head a little. "The kind that doesn't sail on water," he admits, pointing, well, up. "S'called a spaceship. Trust me, you'd know if you'd been on one." Which mostly just leads him back to the idea that she was kidnapped from her homeworld, which - well. Sucks. This sucks for all of them, but at least he's kinda used to the game, by now. She's not - so, at least, he can admit that she's handling it admirably well, and he can respect that. Then again, kids are a lot more adaptable than most people give them credit for, and he can recognize that, too.

He can also respect that she doesn't balk, doesn't protest that she knows what she's doing (like some people he knows), and simply falls back and - well. Wow. Shows him what she can do.

And it's impressive. Bucky's already got a healthy respect for water and ice, but that's in the general sense; this is definitely creative, and functional, and, "Well, shit," he murmurs, eyes flicking back up to her face. "I think I'm jealous."

He sure as hell is, because that isn't a trick - that's a skill, and a damned useful one. It's certainly one that a former sniper can appreciate - but as that former sniper, he's got a few ideas. "I've got a long reach when I need it," he says, because most people don't see a shield as an offensive weapon, but Steve had taught him that it absolutely is. But more than that, "Yours is probably longer," he can concede. "Which is why you're better off behind me. That kinda weapon works better when it's not on display, front and center." He considers the darkness, and what light they do have - which they're using up, and they should get a move on. "How about we do this together, but you stay right behind me. I cover you," he hefts the shield in front of him, "and you cover anything that surprises us, ideally before I have to deal with it." He's not asking her to trail twenty feet behind, but he'd still rather have a shield between her - and him - and anything they might meet. Ice can be strong, but he's willing to bet that vibranium is stronger.

Katara's mood is always lifted by people's appreciation of her skill, and she smiles at the expression on Bucky's face. While her eyes do narrow slightly as he explains the advantage of moving her to the rear, she scratches her chin in consideration. He obviously has some tactical experience, and after a moment of consideration, she gives a little nod.

"All right. I'll cover you. It would still be better for you to carry the torch, though--my bending works best when I can use both hands."

She falls into position behind him, but only very slightly. He's tall and broad, so she stands just to the side, not wanting her view to be blocked by his larger frame. "I'm ready when you are."

"I can do that," he agrees; maybe he's not used to compromising with people under his command, but Katara isn't actually a person under his command, and Bucky sure as hell has no problem holding the light - unless she's got some crazy vision powers to go along with the water-and-ice thing, he can probably see farther than she can, anyway.

So, he hefts the shield in one hand and the torch in the other, and nods, starting into the dark, cool tunnel at a slow but steady pace. He's not entirely used to exploring things by firelight, but the illumination is decent enough - not that there's a whole lot to see, at least at first. "I think we let this torch burn up, and see how far we get," he suggests quietly. They've got more than one backup, now, but that doesn't mean they need to use them. "Might be a whole lotta nothing, for all we know."

She is very certainly not under his command, but she's not unfamiliar with operating within a military unit. Though she might buck under the authority of an unknown leader, she also knows when to pick her battles. Like water, she finds the path of least resistance, and Bucky at least seems to know what he's doing.

Stepping down into the tunnel sends a little thrill up her spine, equal parts apprehension and nostalgia. She misses her friends. The water in her pouch sloshes gently, ready to be used to hurt or to heal.

"One torch," she agrees with a nod. "All right." Because there's no telling just how far the tunnel goes. "If it forks off... we probably shouldn't explore it any further, not without another person or two along." After all, the last thing they want is to get lost, especially without anyone knowing where they are or what they were doing.

"Agreed," Bucky says softly, because his memory's good, but he doesn't want to stake their wellbeing on it. Especially not if there might be a cave-in or any number of things that could cut them off from the way they came.

They move a little further in, Bucky on high alert for anything moving in the darkness ahead of them, but it's quiet - which is not as comforting as he wishes it were. "Can you tell if there's water around us?" he asks quietly, curiously - because this looks like a manmade (well... artificial, at least) tunnel, but that doesn't mean that's going to be the case, the further they get in. He wonders if her abilities include finding herself more ammo, as it were.

"I can sense water if it's nearby, and I can use water from basically any source," Katara confirms. "Water in the air, in steam or mist or clouds, in plants..." She trails off, not mentioning the next obvious, logical source: animals, people. She's sworn to herself that she'll never employ bloodbending again, and the less people know about it, the happier she'll be.

"It's actually pretty dry down here," she adds quickly. "But even if I spill the water I have, I can bend it out of the dirt."

The tunnel is cast in orange-white light and sharp shadows from their torch, and Katara listens for even the slightest sound. At least this world is unlikely to have any wolf-bats to attack them.

Bucky just nods, shortly - that's reassuring, at least, because it means she mostly can't run out of ammo, and that's handy. He likes this kid more and more, even if he realizes the reasons for that are pretty depressing.

Still, "Probably better than walking into an underground swamp," he points out - not that he's above getting his feet wet, but that doesn't mean it's fun. He'd much rather stay on solid, dry ground in a place he doesn't know. "Plus, that's another point for this place being intentional, whatever it is." As in, intentionally confusing, because it's not for utilities, despite the label (which he still doesn't trust).

Everything's quiet and calm as they continue for another several minutes, which is still more unnerving than not. It doesn't quite take them to the twenty-minute mark before the way the shadows are moving ahead of them changes, and he realizes, "Think there's a wall or a door up ahead."

Which, it turns out, there is - the latter, that is, a relatively plain metal door that Bucky sort of pulls up short and stares at in the torchlight, because, "I recognize that."

"Yeah, I can tell you from firsthand experience that swamps aren't fun at all. Especially if they're full of spirits." He might not see the grim expression, but he'll hear it in her voice. Though, the cave hadn't exactly been fun either, but here she is. Would she ever learn her lesson?

As they walk, the silence is a tense if companionable one. Katara is on high alert until Bucky brings them to a stop. She peers at the door through the darkness, then looks back at him.

"How can you recognize it if you've only just arrived here?" she asks.

"I'm definitely willing to take your word for it. Muddy farm fields aren't much better." Plenty of those in Europe, and depending on the time of year, a lot of them had felt like swamps, certainly.

But here and now, it's the door he's got to worry about. Because, "I don't know," he admits, sounding just as frustrated as he is confused, making his way up to the smooth, solid metal door and holding the torch closer for a better look. He's not stupid enough to just assume it's not some kind of trap, so he keeps his distance, but eventually, there's only so much looking he can do, before he's got to get closer and touch. "It looks like the door to the ship - the ship I was on. Like I told you."

But, "That doesn't make any sense."

"So... there's a ship under the ground here?" That doesn't really make sense. "Or maybe... they used pieces from a ship like what you were on to build something. A bunker, maybe."

Stepping up beside Bucky, Katara runs her hand over the smooth metal of the door. "Toph could pop this open, no problem, but I can figure something out with my bending if you want to check out what's inside." Because nothing could possibly go wrong there, right?

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