InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Do I look like I'm your mother"

Gin Weasley (chasing_gin) wrote in mirage_rpg,
@ 2008-08-08 21:28:00

Entry tags:

ayla, cassie ainsworth, clark kent, complete, daisuke jigen, day 10, elminster aumar, faith lehane, gabrielle, ginny weasley, giselle, haruka tenoh, hurricane party, kadaj, katara, legolas greenleaf, max evans, michiru kaioh, rogue darkholme, rose tyler, sailor neptune, sailor uranus, scott evil, seeley booth, sonya blade, susan pevensie, temperance brennan, the doctor, xena

Hurricane Party!
Who: Ginny and the other residents of the resort
What: Hurricane Party!
When: Day 10, around 7 PM.
Where: The White Sands Resort Bar and Club
Rating: PG? I don't know what crazy shenanigans are going to occur.
Status: In progress.

Ginny hated being stuck indoors.

She almost literally been trying to climb the walls in her frustration when she'd decided to throw a hurricane party. She hadn't met many of the residents, and figured if there was anyone else as irritated at being stuck inside then they'd appreciate the change of scenery. It'd also give people a chance to mingle and meet. She wondered if there were others from her world here besides Tonks.

The planet had been most accomodating to her ideas. The club was currently themed for a luau, and small lanterns shed a soft glow over numerous smaller groupings of tables as well as over the dance floor and bar. She hadn't been sure what the other residents might eat, so she'd asked for a large selection of snacks. The bar was well-stocked as well. She didn't recognize all of the things stocked, but she did notice a bottle of Firewhiskey and what appeared to be butterbeer.

Now all this party needed was people. Maybe she'd get to see Max again.

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k_waterbender
2008-08-15 02:45 pm UTC (link)

“If you can imagine it, I guess it has the head and tail of a feline and the body and wings of a bird. If they’re tame they make a decent house pet, or so I’ve heard.” Katara said, smiling. It really was too bad this planet didn’t have some of the animals her world contained. This world contained strange animals that only seemed to be… one type of animal. It was incredibly rare to find that in her world. The Earth King’s bear was the only one she ever really saw. “I wish I had a picture, I could show one to you.”

“The Lifestream?” Katara asked, a bit confused. “Is that like… qi that runs through your planet instead of running through the people?” Her eyes widened. “Maybe that’s what this planet has! Maybe a Lifestream is what powers it, and if we can find it…” She trailed off. What would they do if they found it? Cut it off? How would one go about blocking qi pathways in a planet? It wasn’t as simple as blocking pathways in a human the way Ty Lee and the Kyoshi Warriors could. Even then, cutting off the Planet’s qi could cut everyone off from getting what they needed. What if it killed the planet? The people would still be incapable of leaving this place. “Nevermind.”

“Yes, the very same Moon Spirit, only… not now. The Moon Spirit gave her life as a baby, so she could live, but five years ago someone from the Fire Nation killed the mortal form of the Moon Spirit. Yue had to give the life back, so the world wouldn’t fall out of balance. She’s the Moon Spirit now, at least in my world.”

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mothersbestson
2008-08-15 03:15 pm UTC (link)

Kadaj could easily imagine what the cat owl looked like and a smile tugged at his lips when he thought about the image in his mind. He fantasized what must be like to fly with a cat owl's wings. A slow, purposeful motion through the air very different from his battles, when he had leapt amazing heights or distances at incredible speed.

"The Lifestream qi lives in the planet and in us," he explained. "We come from it and return to it. It can be maniputated into other forms of energy but some say doing that is killing the planet. I don't think so; the spirits are too strong for that...." He looked thoughtfully perturbed for a moment. "I don't know what form of Lifestream this planet has. Has anyone actually communicated with the planet? That plague says something about asking its assistants but the only assistant I saw was this mute stone man. Why ask if they won't tell us? Is this world playing with us?"

Without thinking about it, his hand reached for the hilt of his sheathed sword, pulling it to his side and gripping it tightly inside his glove.

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k_waterbender
2008-08-15 03:40 pm UTC (link)

“In my world everything is alive and has its own qi. I don’t know if there’s just one major source of Lifestream, though. I think someone would have mentioned it if there was one main source. There is a Spirit World, and when people die they are often reincarnated. Only the Avatar is in tune with his past lives, though.” The waterbender spoke, thinking about Kadaj’s words as she did so.

“I think if you returned the manipulated Lifestream energy to the main source later, it shouldn’t be damaging to your planet.” Katara said thoughtfully. “Then again, your planet could be completely unlike mine.” She almost smiled as he began his barrage of questions once more- he had such an inquisitive mind- but his questions seemed to be making him restless, so the smile never appeared upon her lips.

“The only communication anyone has had with this place is the tablet and the golems. They will answer ‘yes’ and ‘no’ questions, but otherwise they’re silent. There’s no way to rectify this. If you want meaningful answers you must ask the right questions in the right way, or you won’t get anything helpful from them.” Her hand moved to lightly touch his gloved hand, a small pressure pressing against it, so he would know her hand was there. Her voice grew softer, comforting. “It will be all right, Kadaj. We’ll find the answers in time. I do think this World enjoys toying with us to some extent, but it’s just observing us. It wants our reactions. I believe it wants to witness our entire range of emotions.

“Look around you. Everyone is so different. Their reactions to each other and to this place are what it wants, and as living beings we need to go through our range of emotions to live. That’s why it’s pulled people with stories to tell, people with personalities that conflict and comfort and anger. We can’t help but appease it… for now.” Katara’s silver eyes gazed intently into his vibrant green optics, as if to say, for now we’ll appease it, but we’ll find a way out in time. Just give it time.

Katara didn’t want him to become angry and hurt someone with his sword. Perhaps she was still reeling a bit from her encounter with Vincent earlier than morning, but she felt protective of these people, these strangers from anything that might harm then.

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mothersbestson
2008-08-15 04:39 pm UTC (link)

Had he not been watching her closely, looking into her eyes the instant she touched him, Kadaj would have leapt back. His hand tremored and the cat slit eyes returned in a rush but he managed to listen. The waterbender had a totally different effect on him than meeting Anakin did. Where the Jedi made him feel wary, Katara was comforting quite like Aerith had turned out to be in the Lifestream. He much preferred her discussion of the Moon Spirit to Anakin's explanation of the Force, though he understand both.

When she spoke of looking around at all the different people, he continued to stare at her instead. He'd already been visually reconning the others. This was different, as if they exchanged not just information but a little bit of their spirits perhaps. Kadaj knew he'd never be quite the same and he didn't have to know why. It just was.

"How do you ask the right question in the right way, Katara?" His voice sounded calm and something that wasn't there before glowed in his eyes. But the hand still holding the sword hilt trembled again.

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k_waterbender
2008-08-16 04:10 pm UTC (link)

Katara continued to press her fingers against his gloved knuckles, even while his hand trembled. He was worked up, and she was trying her best to keep him calm, to keep him from doing anything drastic. She had no idea what he would do, but she knew it would be best for him and for all involved that he keep his sword sheathed.

As she spoke, her silver gaze continued to remain on his verdant eyes. Despite her suggestion, his stare remained trained on her. That was fine, though. It meant the waterbender had his attention. As long as his attention was on her, she knew he would listen.

When Kadaj asked his question, Katara shook her head and removed herself from his . “I don’t know yet, but I don’t think the golems ever lie. I think if there’s a way to ask them ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions that could lead to something. It’s like narrowing down the options, I suppose. They lead you where you need to be, too. I haven’t quite figured it out, but there has to be some way to get answers.” A small smile lifted the corners of her lips, and she gave his hand a light squeeze before removing it; however, she continued to watch him closely. “I know everything will be okay, though.”

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mothersbestson
2008-08-16 09:08 pm UTC (link)

He continued holding the hilt of Souba but he sighed and his body relaxed a little. His shoulders tilted back, opening up his posture so he lost that appearance of advancing on unknown enemies.

"I'll try asking them questions and see if I can find the way to learn something constructive. But they can't say what happens if I kill someone; it's not a yes or no kind of question," he conversed with his seemingly gentle demeanor. "Do you know what happens if someone is killed here? Perhaps an old enemy of mine will appear here." He waved his free right hand in the direction of all the others attending the party.

At this point, since he'd been stolen from the Lifestream to become so very physical again, Kadaj couldn't guarantee he might not attack... Cloud? Sephiroth? But Cloud had held him when he died while Sephiroth abandoned him and he had after all, been the truest son. His expression darkened with all the thoughts he couldn't tell.

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k_waterbender
2008-08-18 11:02 pm UTC (link)

Katara smiled softly as she felt his hand relax. She knew the rest of his body relaxed a little, too. That pleased her.

“You could try narrowing it down. Maybe you can ask about every way the Planet could hurt someone. Oh! I want to ask a golem this myself, but I was thinking it would be a good idea to ask them, ‘If you kill someone, will the Planet send you home?’ It’s a yes or no question, and if it says ‘No.’ you could ask a yes or no question about every way you think of.” It was just a suggestion. Katara felt a little silly admitting she wanted to ask a golem that question. Being sent home wasn’t much of a punishment for her. Maybe for Miguel it would be from the way he talked about how life in his world had been unsatisfactory.

Katara was a bit shocked with how nonchalant he spoke of killing another, killing an enemy. “I wouldn’t try it if I were you.” How could death be so… casual to someone? “The idea of killing someone doesn’t bother you at all?” She was appalled, yet some part of her was curious, too. This boy before her seemed so innocent and so young. He seemed unlikely to kill anyone, even a fly, yet he spoke of killing the same way one might speak of washing their clothing.

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mothersbestson
2008-08-19 12:32 am UTC (link)

Nodding at her comments about asking the golems, he knew his thoughts had been put into motion to plan something in his subconscious. Right now he paid attention to her reaction about how he seemed to regard killing others. The shock was clearly evident in her beautiful eyes.

"I was created to fight and kill anyone who tried to stop us from achieving our goal," he decided to explain as basically as possible. If she cared to know more details later, he might tell her those too. He had a totally calm demeanor now and spoke gently. "Such was my life until I died and was taken into my world's lifestream. Let's say being there altered my ideas about certain beliefs but being there also made it clear nothing about dieing is to be feared."

Kadaj shook his head slightly, looking for words to explain further. "But now I'm alive again, aren't I? No, physical again... Maybe the only trouble with dieing is others who are still physical might miss you? I do miss my brothers...." A weird sort of emotion came over him, one of sadness that he rarely experienced. "Should I be content my brothers are still there? I mean, is it selfish if I didn't want that?"

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k_waterbender
2008-08-19 01:06 am UTC (link)

Confusion filled Katara as she heard him speak of his purpose. Created? That was a strange way of putting it. “How can someone be ‘created’ as you put it, and what goal were your creators trying to achieve?” The waterbender was naturally curious about the lives of others, though not for the purpose of gossip. Her purpose was to learn more about the people themselves, how they worked, and why they did the things they did. “If you died and were taken into your planet’s Lifestream, how did you end up here? Were you reincarnated into this life you’re in now, or are you a spirit now?” Some spirits could make it so they weren’t simply something one could walk right through. You could touch them, and you could hit them with things. She remembered when Sokka had hit the Hei Bai Spirit with his boomerang. That had been a terrifying time, but, if Kadaj was a spirit, she wasn’t afraid. He wasn’t angry right now, though. Silver eyes flickered to his weapon. She would hate to see him angry.

“Maybe your planet is different than mine. I don’t want to leave those I care about. I love living. I know how hard it is to lose someone you love through death, and I don’t want my death to cause that for those I care about.” Katara was thinking of the loss of her mother. She knew if her father or her brother had to lose her, it would be like losing Kya all over again, only worse. Then they would be devoid of both. At least Sokka wasn’t a child any more. His wife would comfort him and take care of him.

Kadaj seemed to answer all of her questions, all of her thoughts. He was alive, not a spirit of which he was aware, and he missed those who had passed. “I think it is selfish to want someone here who has gone on to a better place, but I don’t think it’s a bad thing. I miss my mother every day, and now that I’m here, I miss my friends every day. I want them here, but at the same time I don’t want them to have to suffer through being in this prison, just like I wouldn’t want my mom to suffer through life when she could be happier wherever she is in death. For me, it goes both ways.”

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mothersbestson
2008-08-19 01:55 am UTC (link)

Kadaj felt an angry impatience somewhere in him. So some of Sephiroth's will is still with me? he marvelled not for the first time. But it wasn't the same insane, soul-gutting fury as it had been. A part of his creator would always be there the same way parents gave children their genetic structure. And he'd live with it by merging his own growing personality with the foundation of his identity.

He looked thoughtful, lighting playing the fingers of his black glove over his pale face. "My creator, Sephiroth, was an experiment which merged a developing fetus with alien cells. But the so-called scientists were mistaken because they thought this creature was an Ancient, the original people on my planet." He said this clearly and softly, very much mimicking the way Aerith had revealed the real story to him. Except that he failed to pick up on the moments of gentle teasing she displayed even in the lifestream. But why should death change one's personality, unless they deliberately lost some of their memories in the stream? Kadaj had relinquished much of the fury but not the remembrance.

"Sephiroth grew up without being told and he became a very successful soldier, a name known to many. But.... when he found out people say he went insane. I think he went sane, or at least according to what the alien cells perceived, he went sane and had been mad before to not know how superior he was to everyone else." Kadaj wondered if Katara could grasp this part but he would finish his story. "He caused destruction and was determined to destroy all humans for having killed the Ancients thousands of years in the past. Sephiroth was mislead by the scientists' mistake of thinking the alien was a Cetra, or Ancient, you see." It occured to him that the real last of the Cetra, Aerith, helping him so much after his death was ironic. Their world would have been so different if Sephiroth had truly been part Ancient and Kadaj wouldn't exist.

"To make this short, Sephiroth was finally killed but he refused being assimilated into the Lifestream. He split into three who came back to the world to do his will. I was one of the three, Katara."

As he said this his pupils narrowed down but while listening to her talk about how she loved living, they gradually grew until they attained a human roundess. "I guess you're really talking about love. I doubt I know what that is because in one way, as far as my brothers and I were concerned, we always existed." He shrugged. "We just were and I've wondered if love doesn't grow from all the time you're together in the material world. It's more of an idea to me than anything else, I suppose."

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k_waterbender
2008-08-19 03:58 am UTC (link)

Katara found she couldn’t quite like this Sephiroth person. He reminded her of the former Fire Lord and the hold that the Fire Nation had had on the world for one hundred years. It was odd to hear how easily Kadaj accepted all of this, and agreed that Sephiroth was right for doing what he had done, sane for doing it. When he admitted that he was one of three forms of the man, she was shocked. How could this boy, this boy who seemed so nice and even a bit innocent, be part of a destructive force that wanted to destroy mankind, one that didn’t care if lives were lost?

“I don’t really know what to say to that. There was a war in my world that last for one hundred years, and ended when I was fifteen. One nation tried to conquer the rest, and so many people were killed in the process. The Fire Nation was going to destroy the entirety of the Earth Kingdom before he was defeated. He did it for different reasons, though. Namely power. Like Sephiroth, he felt more powerful than any other person in the world, though.”

Katara thought about his words for a moment. A person who had never loved? “Maybe you’ve loved and you simply never realized it. Sometimes love can take a person by surprise. It’s one of those emotions that sort of creeps up on a person. I’m sure you’ll feel it, or suddenly realize when you’ve felt it.”

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mothersbestson
2008-08-19 01:09 pm UTC (link)

"How was the Fire Nation defeated?" Kadaj wondered. "And fighting the war in your world used the bending abilities instead of swords and guns? There was nothing like hand-to-hand combat?" His face revealed rapt interest at how different warfare was on other planets. Already he had seen variations of powers from Anakin but Kadaj liked Katara where he couldn't stand the Jedi knight.

As to the other topic of their talk, the opposite of war: "Is acceptance, no matter what happened before, love? If that's so, then I knew a soul in the Lifestream who loves everything. She was a real Ancient, the last of them." The fire for war left his eyes as he spoke of this and he could have been mistaken for an angel.

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SPOILER ALERT!

k_waterbender
2008-08-20 12:44 am UTC (link)

“Well, the Avatar- Aang- took the Fire Lord’s bending away. It’s a technique that no one in that time knew except the lion-turtle who taught him. Well, I guess when Aang defeated him he’d proclaimed himself the Phoenix King and his daughter became the new Fire Lord. While Aang fought Phoenix King Ozai, my brother and his current wife took out the Fire Nation Air Force with our friend Toph. The Phoenix King’s son and I defeated Azula, the Fire Lord of the time, while everything else was happening.” That had been an incredibly stressful time for everyone involved. Katara was just glad that it was all over. “After that, Zuko, the one who helped me defeat his sister, took the title of Fire Lord and declared the war over.”

Katara’s brows rose. “Of course there were weapons. I don’t know what guns are, but we had all sorts of weapons. My brother was particularly fond of his boomerang, a machete, and a sword. Not everyone in my world can bend. The only nation that was comprised completely of benders were the Air Nomads. Everyone among them could airbend. Those who can’t bend the elements find other ways to hold their own. I’m not saying that everyone was a warrior, but my father and my brother were both warriors, and my brother’s wife is a warrior. Sometimes weapons help with bending, though. Aang uses a staff with his bending sometimes. Fire Lord Zuko can use dual broadswords along with firebending, too.”

The waterbender thought for a moment on his words. Was that love? “I suppose that’s a good indicator of love.” She said softly. “I think it’s different for everyone, though.” A warm smile passed over Katara’s face. “She sounds like a wonderful person. I would have liked to meet her.”

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Re: SPOILER ALERT!

mothersbestson
2008-08-20 05:31 am UTC (link)

Lion-turtles? Kadaj wondered to himself. His brows furrowed beneath the whispy slivers of hair that permenantly fell over his eyes. There seemed to be a lot of people involved with defeating the Fire Lord who had plagued her world so terribly.

When she came to her last comment, Kadaj changed moods quickly. "The way this planet seems capable of taking anyone, who knows, you might get to meet her," he mused in a light-hearted manner. It seemed like a good idea to shift direction though he didn't know why. He merely followed his whim.

"I think I've distressed you enough," he heard himself saying. "I should go think about all of this now and let you engage with someone who's more fun than I am." His hand tightened on the hilt of Souba but it was merely to add a small formal flourish to the slight bow he performed.

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k_waterbender
2008-08-20 09:58 pm UTC (link)

“Yes, but, for her sake, I hope the Planet kindly leaves her where she’s happiest.” The idea of meeting someone like the woman Kadaj mentioned was appealing to Katara, but not the idea of suffering through living as a prisoner of the Planet.

Katara stifled a yawn. The hard workout she’d exhibited that day had begun to set in her muscles, and the lack of sleep she’d accomplished for the day was settling into her mind. “Actually, you’re not distressing me. I’m really glad I got a chance to meet you and talk to you. However, I was thinking about leaving the party soon anyway. I need to check on a friend of mine who didn’t feel very well the last time I saw him, and I need to get some sleep.” In response to his bow, she put her fist to her palm and bent forward courteously, respectfully.

“Have a good evening.” Katara said pleasantly with a smile before vacating the premises.

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