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Legolas (princegreenleaf) wrote in mirage_rpg,
@ 2008-09-23 09:40:00

Entry tags:

complete, day 16, katara, legolas greenleaf

Day Sixteen
Who: Legolas and Katara
What: Meeting for the first time, making friends, and deciding to go after Aragorn and Giselle. On a guess.
When: Late Morning
Where: By the cafe
Rating: Not more than PG, if that
Status: Complete

It had been a long night, and he hadn't minded in the slightest. When he'd finally slid off into the dreamlike reverie that served for the elves as sleep, it was with a slight smile on his face. Maybe, somehow, everything would be alright. Maybe his worry about what was coming was exaggerated. But even if it wasn't, he knew that together he and Aragorn could face it. The human was strong, resourceful, and an amazing fighter. It would be okay.

The waking dreams he had would beg to differ, and when he came out of his trance, he was just as upset as he had been the night before, when he'd begged the dark-haired Ranger for comfort. To make things worse, Aragorn wasn't even there. He'd left sometime in the night, or perhaps the early morning. Well, they'd see about that. He'd realized somewhere in the midst of his dreams, that he didn't have time to waste. If something bad was going to happen, he needed Aragorn to know how he felt, first.

It didn't take him long to get ready, to tie his long hair half back in the customary style of his, to put on his brown and green hunting outfit, and sling his bow over his shoulder. Then, it was time to track the Ranger. Sure, it wasn't going to be easy. Aragorn customarily walked so softly, even the most skilled tracker would have a hard time finding him. Legolas, however, wasn't worried. He was an elf, after all, and a wood elf by culture if not by birth. He would find him.

Determination was written all over his face as he left the room. First, he went to the one next door, knocked briefly. Aragorn didn't respond, which was as the elf had somehow expected. Off he went down the hallway and out the door. There, he cast his eyes around, looking for the slightest trace of the human. He sighed softly when nothing was readily visible. Damn Rangers and their soft footsteps! It took him a surprisingly long time, all things considered, to find any trace of Aragorn.

If any of the people had seen him, they would have been surprised by his behavior. Completely gone was the carefree, fun loving elf, and in his place, there was a grim-faced being. Before, it had been hard to believe his stories about the deeds he'd done. Now, they not only seemed plausible, but even likely. Without the slightest hesitation, he made his way to the cafe, tracking the light steps of the human Ranger.

Once there, he gave a soft cry of pure distress and dropped to his knees. A flat patch of grass might not tell most people much, but to him, it spoke volumes. Aragorn had been sitting here, with someone else. A small person, perhaps a female, he thought. And it hadn't been very long ago. Quickly, he rose to his feet once more, looking around for anyone who might be able to tell him what had happened. It almost looked like there'd been some sort of struggle...

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k_waterbender
2008-09-25 01:30 am UTC (link)

Last night had been a hard one for Katara. Not only had she ruined everything with Vincent to the point where she doubted he would want to see her in the evenings any longer, but she had also gotten horrible sick during that evening. She had luckily been in her room, but a horrible wave of dizziness fell over her that made her feel significantly queasy. Dread had wound its way around her so tightly she couldn’t do more than remain curled in a ball, trying to feel less ill. The wave had passed, but it left a bad taste in her mouth and a bad feeling in her gut. Sleep had been difficult to come by that night.

When she awoke the next morning, the sickening foreboding feeling had not yet passed. Katara hoisted herself out of bed to get ready for the day. This time, she would be a bit better prepared. She dawned her native attire, but this time the blue was darker, greyer than her normal apparel. White still trimmed the piece, though. She wrapped her hands and lower arms in a dark blue fabric with a grey, hard backing at the hand and forearm. Her fingers were still visible. It wouldn’t do well to have her fingers constricted by cloth. The pants beneath her top were the same dark blue, but they were a bit baggier with a thicker fabric. She stuffed the bottoms of these pants into the tops of her shin high, dark grey boots. Her hair was styled in the half bun she often wore with hair loopies beaded into it. She only strapped her normal water skin to her back, though. Whatever she was feeling, she would be prepared, but it was already obvious death was not an option here. What if she were simply overreacting with paranoia?

Getting ready took only a short amount of time, but she wasn’t rumpled or disheveled. Only the light shadows beneath her eyes foretold of her sleepless night. On her way to the main building, she thought she spied Giselle speaking with a man she had never before seen. Was it her imagination, or were they both slightly uneasy looking? They were too far away for the waterbender to see their faces clearly, but they looked a bit tense. A healer’s eye was acute to such things. She thought she saw someone else approaching them, someone darker. A feeling passed through her, but she was too tired to really discern that it was the same uneasiness she’d been feeling all along.

She entered the main building, moving toward the café. Once there, she ordered a muffin and some juice. She sat at a table to eat quietly by herself. How strange that had been. Maybe she really should go up to Giselle and the man to inquire about what they may have felt. After she finished eating she might.

It took her a long time to pick through her food and drink, despite how light the meal was. Katara had much on her mind about which to think, and by the time she’d finished eating, half an hour or more had passed. She couldn’t be certain, not that she truly cared.

After disposing of the little ruffled paper left behind after devouring the muffin and the glass, the waterbender moved out of door to find Giselle and her companion. They weren’t to be seen. They must have left. Not long after she emerged outside, a fair haired man seemed to hurry to the spot where the duo had been seated. He looked worried. Katara suddenly remembered the dark shadow of a man who had been steadily approaching Giselle, and her unease returned. Inhaling a breath, the Water Tribe femme approached the man. Were those pointed ears? How strange.

“Are you all right?” Katara asked with creased brows. There had to be a reason why he looked distressed or upset.

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princegreenleaf
2008-09-25 04:54 pm UTC (link)

His desperately searching eyes, dark with worry and concern, found someone. Someone who was walking towards him, too. Very convienant. Dimly, the part of him that appreciated such things noticed that she was, in fact, very beautiful. Elves are the sort of beings that see, and love, beauty. But mostly, he was too worried about his love to notice much of anything that didn't have to do with that.

Still, he was an Elven prince, and it showed as he straightened up from the marks on the ground, and bowed to her in greeting. "Greetings to you, fair lady. This is most fortunate, for had you not come to speak to me, I would surely have come to see you. You see, I have a most important question to put to you."

Legolas straightened up from his bow, his eyes direct as he looked at her. She was close by, it was possible that she knew something, had seen something. Anything, really, would help. If she knew it, he wanted to know it too. Also, being quite perceptive, he caught the slight trace of worry in her face. Might be unrelated, but...

"Have you seen a man? A very tall man, dark-haired, dressed much as I am, large sword on his back..." He glanced down at the marks on the ground before adding "He would have been with someone else, someone much smaller, a female perhaps?" A glimmer of something fire-red caught his perceptive eye, and he swooped down on it. A strand of long, red hair. "A female, certainly, with hair the color of fire?" He held up the hair for her inspection.

"It is most important that I find him, you see. He should have been back quite some time ago, and I need to talk to him..." He pointed at the scuff marks on the ground. "I'm certain that something happened to my Aragorn and his companion."

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k_waterbender
2008-09-25 08:06 pm UTC (link)

Katara was amazed at the beauty of the fair haired man. Blond hair was pretty much nonexistent in her world, but since she’d been here she’d seen a good deal of various colourings in people. She had been right when she thought his ears were pointed. As she approached, she noticed him straighten to his full height. He was taller than her by a few inches it seemed. It was rare for the woman of a five feet and eleven inch stature to find people taller than her, but that was mostly the case with women. Many men were shorter than her, though- but not Vincent.

His way of speech was interesting to her. She felt bad that he seemed to feel so distressed. His eyes told her that much. As he began describing the man, Katara’s silver eyes widened. That was precisely the man she had seen, and Giselle had been with him. When he lifted a long, red hair from the grass that she had not previously noticed, she was certain he was seeking the man she had seen. “Yes. I don’t know if he was tall because he was sitting when I saw him, but he was with Giselle. She has hair like fire, and she is much smaller.

As he pointed out the scuff marks on the ground, she finally noticed them. Had he not directed her attention to them, she probably wouldn’t have seen them at all. Her brother had always been the better tracker of the two. He would have known right away a struggle had taken place. When normal people walked, they didn’t scuff the ground like that. Oh no… “I don’t know exactly what happened to them, but when I was entering the main building I saw that man speaking with Giselle. Just before I went inside, I noticed a darker man approaching them.” Her fingers moved to tug lightly, nervously on a lock of her chocolate hair. “I didn’t think anything of it earlier, but, now that I do, he didn’t look very friendly- the darker man I mean. I hope nothing too bad has happened to them.” The worry wrinkled her brow, and her fingers moved to the stopper of her water skin of their own accord as her eyes scanned the area. What if the danger still lurked around them?

Katara found herself wishing she had indeed approached the two when she had thought to do it. At least then she might have been able to help Giselle and this man’s friend. Why hadn’t she followed her instincts? It was precisely this kind of thing that she’d trained so hard to prevent. She was a protector of people. She could have protected Giselle and that man. What if something terrible was happening to them right now? The Planet had said there was to be no killing, but it never said anything about hurting others. What if- Katara, stop it! There was nothing she could do at that precise moment. She could very well be wrong about what she saw. Maybe the darker man had been traipsing toward them for some friendly chatter? Somehow, she doubted that.

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princegreenleaf
2008-09-26 01:36 am UTC (link)

His eyes, while still dark with distress, gleamed for a second. She'd seen him! And what was even better, he'd been talking to his friend Giselle! This was good... only she didn't seem to see it that way. So he kept himself calm, with a bit of an effort, and listened to the rest of her story. When she was done, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"I know of the Lady Giselle. I have met with her before." He frowned as he lapsed into thought. "You know the girl too, do you not? And you liked her, from what I can gather. You seem concerned, at least."

He thought some more, running her story through his mind over and over. Well, there was no question about what to do. But first... "This dark man... did he seem dangerous?"

He was going after Aragorn either way. But only a fool rushes off completely unprepared, and Legolas was not a fool. Again, his eyes dropped to the ground, and he searched the marred grass. "A struggle, there was a struggle, Aragorn and Giselle didn't go willingly. This much I can plainly see. I will go after them." He sighed and shook his head. "But not immediately. As much as I would like to run to their aid, preparations must be made." He was basically thinking outloud as he spoke, though he was looking and the beautiful Water Tribe woman.

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k_waterbender
2008-09-26 04:09 am UTC (link)

“Yes. I met her the day after I arrived here. She really was very kind to me- to everyone actually. I would hate to see anything bad happen to her.” Katara replied. She was glad Legolas knew of whom she spoke. He knew both people she had seen. It made things easier for some reason. Needing to explain less might have been why.

Silver-blue eyes looked at Legolas when he asked if the darker man seemed dangerous. Katara recalled that jittery feeling she got when she saw him approaching the man and Giselle. If she thought about it correctly, he’d done less approaching and more… stalking. “Yes. He seemed dangerous to me. I didn’t think anything of it at first because I didn’t get a good look at him, but I remember getting a weird feeling when I glanced at him.

The darker skinned woman’s face paled slightly when Legolas announced there was a struggle. She had worried that might have been the case. She trusted his word because he looked like he had a keen eye, and his worry for his friends seemed genuine. “I’m going with you.” Katara announced when he said he would go after them. “I should have intervened before when I first saw them, but I didn’t. I am going to help get them back.”

He was completely right. Preparations were necessary. What could she do, lacking sleep as she was, to go against a man who had successfully overcome two people- one of whom had a sword? She was a powerful waterbender, but even she could see the stupidity in rushing after them like a fool. She knew how she would prepare. She would practice with only the amounts of water two water skins could carry because those would be what she bore on her back. At the moment she had one, but she would have two- both of which would be larger than the one she had right now. She was definitely not going to go in ill prepared. It looked as if the fairer man had his own little arsenal of hand weapons. No bending from this one. “I take it you’re really good with a bow and arrow?” Oh she hoped he was, and at the very least she hoped he was a good strategist. Her brother had been the only one of their group- until Suki showed up- who couldn’t bend, but he had a brain that could get him through any situation relatively unscathed. It would be magnificent if this lithe man were as good with a bow as the Yu Yan Archers of the Fire Nation, but she wasn’t going to get her hopes up there. She'd never met anyone that good.

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princegreenleaf
2008-09-26 07:06 pm UTC (link)

Suddenly, a smile lit up his face. Even with Aragorn gone, he found he couldn't stay serious too long. Sure, he would still find his Ranger, but the amusing side of things always ended up striking him. He bowed slightly to the woman, laughing a little.

"I just realized, my Lady, that we have yet to be introduced. I am Prince Legolas of Mirkwood. May the Valar smile on our meeting." His eyes, sparkling with amusement, showed that he was fully aware of the strangeness of introducing themselves so politely given the circumstances. He straighened from his bow.

"I would be so honored if you would grace me with your company, my Lady." He smiled, not offended by her question, and lifted his bow. In one smooth motion, he had an arrow readied, and flying. "That leaf, there." He pointed, and watched as the arrow flew right through the middle of the specific leaf he'd pointed out.

"And you, Lady, what is your specialty? I only ask because, if we are to rescue our beloved friends, we must work together."

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k_waterbender
2008-09-26 08:00 pm UTC (link)

Despite her worry and her shame at having done nothing, Katara found that Legolas’ smile was infectious. A small smile lit her own lips when she noticed his display of pearly whites. He was correct of course. They’d been speaking with one another all along while not knowing the other’s name. They only had one mutual acquaintance of whom they were aware.

“You’re right.” Not wanting to be shown up with his very polite and proper introduction she responded with a prim and proper one of her own. “I am Katara of the Southern Water Tribe. Daughter of Chief Hakoda.” It really was a bit funny. The Southern Water Tribe was supposed to be the peasantry of the Water Tribes with the Northern Tribe being the nobility and the Foggy Swamp Tribe being the back-woods type. Legolas was obviously of the nobility in his world with the title of Prince. However, she was the daughter of the Chief which was the highest rank one could have in the Southern Water Tribe. Just because she would have been considered a peasant, though, didn’t mean she lacked manners. She just wasn’t quite so stuffy as the nobility. The waterbender placed a fist against her flat palm, bowing to the newly met man.

“Who, or what, is the Valar?” She had never heard such a term, and the only way to find out would be to inquire about it.

Katara’s gaze turned toward the leaf he indicated. Her lids peeled back from her eyes to open them wider in surprise and delight as the target was hit dead center. “That is amazing! I haven’t seen such precision with an arrow since I witnessed the Yu Yan Archers in action a couple years ago.” This was definitely a good thing. His bow and her water would definitely work well together.

“My specialty is waterbending.” She took a step back from him before unstoppering her water skin. With one smooth motion, a stream of water flowed from its container, but not all of it. The water broke apart into five separate sections, each one coating a finger on her right hand. The water froze into sharp points, and, once she had her direction pinpointed, the finger sized, ice spikes shot off in the same direction as Legolas’ arrow, embedding themselves all around it so they formed a circle, each spike the same distance from one another with the arrow protruding from the exact center. “I can pull water from the air and plants, or I can bend the water in plants so they appear to move. If there’s water anywhere, I can bend it.” She neglected to say that she could bend the water in people or animals the same way she could bend water in plants because she was ashamed of that part. Besides, the full moon had been yesterday. She wouldn’t be able to do it now that it was no longer full. “I think we’ll be able to work together just fine. I’m a master waterbender, one of the best in my world, though I don’t really like to boast.”

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princegreenleaf
2008-09-27 01:58 am UTC (link)

He tilted his head to the side as he looked to her, and made a real effort to see past his own fear and misery. Yes, he was worried about Aragorn, but the Ranger was a strong, brave man. He would protect himself, and Giselle, until Legolas came for him like he'd promised. But Katara, the lovely Water Tribe woman, was not doing so well. He could tell, once he got past himself for a moment.

Carefully, unsure of the customs of her world, he put a hand on her shoulder. It was similar to how he would have comforted a comrade back home. He hoped it wasn't out of line. "Katara, we shall get them back, please do not think badly of yourself. How were you to know anything was going to happen?"

He laughed softly. It seemed that, despite his continuing worry, nothing would really keep him down for long. "The Valar are the powers, the ones who created everything." No one had really asked him to explain so bluntly before. It amused him. "The Kings of Queens of the world, the powers."

He frowned slightly at the unfamiliar term, but she quickly explained. He watched, and his eyes widened. "You are a Wise One, then, a Wizard! My lady, it is an honor to meet you!" He took up her hand, placed a reverant kiss on it, and let it fall back gently to her side. "Oh, what a pleasure it will be, working with you to get my Aragorn and the Lady Giselle back. Whoever took them had best be preparing to be defeated."

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k_waterbender
2008-09-28 06:31 pm UTC (link)

Luckily, the customs of her world- or at least her Tribe- hadn’t been so stuffy as the strict customs with which Vincent had grown. A gentle hand at her shoulder did not make her uneasy, but it was a sign of comfort from the slender, fair haired man. She knew Legolas’ words were true. How should she- who had been lacking sleep- have known nothing good would come to his friend and Giselle? She was still furious with herself for not having seen it coming, though. A war of one hundred years ended when she was almost fifteen. By all rights, Katara should have detected the subtle danger of what she had seen.

She was all too trusting that this Planet would protect them when, in truth, it only meant to keep them alive. What did that mean? People could be alive through torture. What if her inaction had brought that down upon the shoulders of such a kind woman as Giselle and a stranger? “Whatever took them is a force to be reckoned with. I know we’ll get them back. We have to.” She avoided answering his question. This Planet had relaxed her far too much. This may be a resort as far as the eye could see, but when it was the only thing people would have for the rest of their lives, bad things were bound to occur.

“The Kings and Queens of the world? Wow. Your world must be truly amazing to have such powers. In my world, we’re never really taught about the creators of the world. We’re taught about the Avatar and her or his duty to keep balance between all four elements, all four nations, the Spirit World, and the living world. There’s only one Avatar at a time, and he or she is reincarnated into the next nation of the Avatar cycle once he or she dies. They’re the only person in the world who has the capacity to master more than one bending art. Every other bender is dependent on the nation and skills they’re taught within their own nation. I guess he’s sort of like a peace keeper, but he’s not a ruler like the king. People govern themselves. He just makes sure they don’t destroy one another in the process.” It was interesting, the differences in the worlds of people she met. Perhaps Legolas was not of Earth like most seemed to be, for she’d never heard of anything like the Valar from the others she had met.

“A wise one?” Katara actually laughed out loud at that. “I’m only nineteen. I am definitely not one of the wisest people from my world. If you want to meet someone wise, you should meet Iroh. He’s the Fire Lord’s uncle. He’s incredibly wise. I’m just a young woman with an ability that I’m really really good at.” She thought on the other title he’d given her. “I don’t know what a wizard is, but I don’t think it’s the same thing in your world as what people do in mine. A whole bunch of people all over the world can bend. I have a friend here, Toph, who can bend earth the way I bend water. There are also firebenders and airbenders. They’re all over the place. There are many masters and many students. Bending is just manipulating the qi within one’s own body to manipulate the environment around us. It’s difficult, but some people get it better and faster than others. I got it really fast. I was a master within a year after finding a master. It’s not magick.”

The waterbender always felt the need to explain so people better understood what she was doing. In her world, she had never really had to explain because most people already knew just what it was. There was probably one bender to every two or three people. Maybe a little less, but not much. There were a lot of benders in her world.

“Oh. I forgot to mention that I’m a healer, too. I use my waterbending to heal, and I’ve learned the qi pathways so I’m really good at this, too. If anything has happened to them…” She paused for a moment. It was hard to think about such a thing. “If anything went wrong, I can help them.”

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princegreenleaf
2008-09-28 07:35 pm UTC (link)

Not being in any way magically inclined, and having no real knowledge of what the wizards and wise ones on his world did, what she did might as well have been the same. He couldn't really see the difference, but he also accepted her word that there probably was one. Again, what did he know? He was a hunter, a warrior, and a tracker. At those things, he was among the best, of course, but that's all he really was.

"Yes, Middle Earth is a wonderous place, it is not much like here. I miss it sometimes, but I do not mind this place." His face turned very serious again for just a second. "But only since my lord Aragorn came, which is why I want him back." Of course, there was more to it than that, but he didn't want to go into it. Once they found the Ranger, that would be soon enough.

"Nineteen? Are you being... oh, but forgive me. You are a Human, are you not? My apologies. Still, is there some reason why someone so young cannot be wise? I am sure that when Lord Elrond was nineteen, he was already drafting treaties and reading advanced books. Not to mention composing lays of the first age in Quenya."

His eyes widened as she spoke. While he was impressed that she could heal, and he really was impressed, it was also more than a little daunting to think of Aragorn, and even the lovely maiden Giselle, being hurt enough to require healing. "Do not speak of such things, Lady Katara. We shall find them before anything happens. I promised him I would always come for him, and that is a vow I mean to keep."

He bowed once more. "Forgive me, but I must go prepare. Tomorrow morning, early, let us meet here? We can, from there, track the way that their abductor took them. Until then, Lady Katara. It has been a pleasure meeting you. I only wish it could have been in more pleasant circumstances."

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k_waterbender
2008-09-28 08:26 pm UTC (link)

Middle Earth? Katara wondered if perhaps that was merely the name of a country the way the Earth Kingdom was one nation, or if it was the name of his world. Perhaps it was the middle of the planet Earth from where so many residents seemed to be. She did not inquire into this. That could be for another time.

Katara could relate to Legolas’ not minding this place because his friend was here. Toph was here which made it easier, but she really wished Sokka and her father could be here. She missed her family so much. Then she remember how she had met Vincent here. She was still confused about what to do with him or whether he even ever wanted to see her again. He had made this place a little more bearable for a while.

“Yes. I’m nineteen. You’re not human then?”

She supposed he was right. A nineteen year old could really succeed. Azula had been a master of calculation when she was fourteen, but power had been too much for her, and she’d lost her wits. Katara as a fourteen year old had been the one to take her out of commission when even adults had no power to compare to hers. Zuko became Fire Lord by the age of sixteen. Aang defeated the former Fire Lord/Phoenix King at the age of twelve. Sokka had come up with a clever plan to defeat the Fire Nation with an entire army of people at fifteen. Of course, it hadn’t been as much a surprise as they’d thought it would be, but it would have succeeded if it had been. Age wasn’t important. What people did with their abilities was the important part. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I just never felt like I should be called wise because I mostly associate that with older people.”

Katara looked away from Legolas. She felt bad that she’d brought such a thought to his mind, but she was being realistic. Not only should she prepare for battle, but she should also be prepared to heal. She didn’t need to tell him that, though. It wasn’t her intention to worry him. “Yes. I’ll be the one to help you keep that promise.”

She bowed again when he bid her farewell. “All right. I’ll meet you here then. I’ll be ready. We will get them back.”

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