driftfleet | .01 [ action | video ] have we lost our way back home

Who: Katara and you!
Broadcast: Video, from the Marsiva
Action: Action on the Marsiva and then then post!Shuffle on the Vanquish
When: Friday, 3/23

[Katara wasn’t always a heavy sleeper, but she never did enjoy waking up. It was a slow process, even here, as if her subconscious had already registered the wrongness of where she was and was well on its way to the land of Denial.

Eventually, though - her eyes opened. And she stayed very, very still as fear replaced sleep in an adrenaline spike sharp enough to make her stomach heavy. Okay. Okay. She still had her bending, in fact, that was at full force for the first time since the last draft, she can feel water in a distant room. But these lights… those walls… that… well, actually, she kind of likes the music, but she can’t -- this is definitely not…

And then she feels it - or she doesn’t feel it - and she forgets her caution and bolts upright, straining her head to take a closer look at her back.]

[She doesn’t expect a response, but she does get up out of the bed and glance around. Her balance is off when she moves, so she takes careful, deliberate steps, as she takes stock of what she has and doesn’t have and exactly where everything is in the room and pauses as the fact that there is music seeps in. What... what is going on here?

But that’s nothing when she spots the viewing bay. She pauses, transfixed for a moment, and then walks very carefully over to the window. She places one hand against it and whispers:] ...there are stars.

[As she spends more time on the Marsiva, she’ll explore the food and take advantage of the exercise equipment, doing what she can to try to get her balance to where it should be without the added (useless; she tells herself she’s glad they’re gone) appendages.]

[ Video Broadcast while on the Marsiva ]
[Serious blue eyes peer out in stark contrast to dark skin as a girl of about eighteen addresses the fleet.]

Hello, my name is Katara. I'm from the Southern Water Tribe, but I've spent the past four years [Had it really been that long? Her expression flickers for a moment.] in a place called Luceti. I understand a... lot of basic information about this place from the augment, but I'm sure there's more to this place than just what is implanted in our heads by our captors.

[Frowning, angry at that, needing to take a visible breath before she can continue.] I'd appreciate any additional information you feel it's safe to give out over these things. And... [Her gaze drops for a moment before she regains her composure and looks back at the camera.] ...if anyone knows the name Luceti, or has heard of the Southern Water Tribe, I'd appreciate it if you'd let me know about that too.

[She manages a brief smile.] Thank you so much.

[Action on the Vanquish]
[Katara had been working on her balance on a make-shift balance-beam in the gym section of the Marsiva when she was suddenly teleported -- fortunately close enough to grab a wall. She bats at the confetti with a frown with her other hand as she straightens -- so this is the ‘shuffle’, huh?

The happy little jingle just makes her frown deepen. Jerks, playing with people like this… She gives a deeply exasperated sigh.

Hopefully no one is there to catch frustrated!Katara as their first impression; she will try to make a better second one by exploring the ship, sticking close to the walls, and looking to see who her new shipmates are with a pleasant smile on her face in a few minutes. Feel free to catch her walking around with a smile in a moment or two, but right now, she is having a few mental words with the Atroma and they are Not Nice.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

...no, it's the name of the Fire Nation. [Just... gonna... nope, can't hide the slow eyebrow climb on that one.]

Well, maybe you'll get lucky and they'll be one there. But I can't say I'm really interested in eating anything made out of dog.

[Yeah okay, that's a weird name. It'd be like naming Shibuya the... Pavement Nation or something.]

Is the entire place made of fire? 'Cause that's kiiiinda messed up if it is, yo.

[And whooooa!]

Katz, the hot dog ain't made outta real dog! It's made a' meat, like pig or cow or somethin'.

...if it's not made out of dog, then why do you call it that?

[It takes a second for her to see the irony: If the country's not made out of fire, then why do you call it that?] The Fire Nation is called that because that's the element the nation is tied with. I'm from the Southern Water Tribe, and we're called that because we live in the South Pole and the element our nation is tied with is water.

[wtf is an element, Beat does not compute]

'Cause it's a hot dog, duh. That's just what they're called, yo. Like "oranges" or "ice cream."

[Never ask Beat for explanations for anything.]

So are you and your tribe, like, sailors or somethin'?

[...but oranges make sense because they're orange and ice cream makes sense because it's iced cream...

You know what, whatever, she is not going to pursue this.] We'd have to be, if we ever wanted to get anywhere.

[But were they called orange because of the color or was the color named after the fruit? The true mysteries are here.

Beat scratches his head trying to puzzle that one out.]

...You live on the water?

[Indeed it is true.

Moving to open the door to the cafeteria now.]

I live on the South Pole. So we're surrounded by water.

[WOO FOOD! Beat bolts ahead and starts going for the food. It's like a buffet, but there are indeed (sadly) no chili dogs here. He'll have to find a way to make them so Katz can try.]

Water? Man! That's gotta be cold. Ain't the poles supposed t'be cold?

[Katara leans against the wall - putting her back to it feels strange, and she shuts her eyes for a second to remind herself to - breathe. She might be adapting to this quickly, but beneath the surface there is a trembling mass of fear and anger and guilt over the people she's left behind, and her balance is still off as she walks, and she hates being so helpless...

She opens her eyes again to behold the destruction a teenage boy can wreak upon a free, all-you-can-eat buffet. She crosses her arms loosely.]

Yeah, they're pretty cold. There's usually snow on the ground. Sometimes it melts a little in summer, but not for long.

[The swathe of destruction is vast, but mostly contained to junk food and meat at least. He's hungry and eating will maybe make his panic at being ripped from the Game at such a crucial point a little easier to bear. That and he needs food if he's going to fight and break down whatever doors need to be broken down. He turns back to Katara with his mouth full of chicken nuggets as he listens to her.

He's at least got enough manners to finish the food in his mouth before talking though.]

So it must be kinda weird for you t'be here then, huh? No snow.

[No pavement, no big buildings, just space and stars, and a heck of a lot of metal.

Beat stuffs another chicken nugget in his mouth to forget his own unease.]

...it's kind of weird for me to be here for a lot of reasons. [Beat, Katara has decided, might be None Too Bright, but he is at least kind. That goes a long way.] What's it like where you were from?

Eh, it's normal - Tokyo's a big city and Shibuya's a busy place. Lots of tall buildings---

[He pauses so he can shove a few more nuggets into his mouth, chew and swallow.

--cool stores sellin' all kindsa stuff, graffiti, yanno, the usual. And there's a lotta people, too. You can't go nowhere without runnin' into people in Shibuya, yo.

[In contrast, this place is almost deathly quiet.]

It ain't snowed in years though. It snow where you was from before?

[I mean... yes, it snowed where she was before, but this important question is put aside in favor of Katara lighting up, which is certainly not something Beat's seen before. She gives him a quick grin, standing up a little straighter.] Oh, I know someone from Tokyo! [And she visited there once and she thinks she went to Shibuya? Or at least traveled through it, it's a familiar name...] He's one of my good friends. He's from Ikebukuro, though.

[...was this even the same Tokyo? The chances were not good that they were from the same Earth, but... still, it makes her happy for a moment.]

[Huh! She knows someone from Tokyo when she's from the Water Planet/Country/Something-Big? Weird, but also? Who cares! It's cool!]

No way, that's awesome! Ikebukuro's cool'n all, but Shibuya's where it's at, yo. Got all the best food, the best clothes, it's where you're gonna see some awesome art on the walls, too.

I should take ya' there if we ever get outta this place. You know, once I ain't dead no more.

[...why is... what?

Carefully:] ...is being dead something you can reverse in your world?

.01 [ action | video ] have we lost our way back home

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