InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "make me complete"

Katara of the Southern Water Tribe (k_waterbender) wrote in mirage_rpg,
@ 2008-08-30 20:25:00

Entry tags:

complete, dahak, day 13, katara

Who: Dahak and Katara
What: An unlucky meeting for her but a lucky one for him…
Where: The Garden
When: Day 13; Late Afternoon
Rating: PG to PG-13
Status: Complete

Katara woke up feeling fairly good about things. The last couple of days had been successfully productive, and she wanted to keep that up. Having nothing to do with her time left her feeling depressed, and she didn’t like when pessimistic thoughts plagued her mind. She wanted to continue looking on the bright side of things, no matter how bad they got.

With that desire in mind, she had prepared herself for the day, wearing her traditional clothing and hair style. A light breakfast was her food intake for the time being before she headed straight for the training room. A dummy awaited her there, but she wasn’t surprised. Katara had had it in her mind since she awakened that she would practice the compiled learning of the staff from Xena and Gabrielle so she could be better when she met with them again.

For two hours she practiced various forms in defense and offense. The dummy held firm against her blows, obviously not some cheap piece of equipment, but, if it had been a real person, it would have been in quite the state of disarray. Eventually, Katara realized she needed someone to work with on these, too. Working alone was quite a work-out, but she couldn’t improve past the points where she’d already done well. A few moments later the door opened, and a clay golem entered the training room. She’d seen how graceful they were for their material. They moved like humans, except it was obvious they had no spirit to them.

Katara trained with the golem, giving it simple commands such as which rounds it should be blocking and which it should be attacking. There were other rounds when it was supposed to be a combined effort of both. The Planet had a pretty good judgment where the level of difficulty was concerned. Of course this place could read her mind, but that didn’t mean it didn’t make the golems go easy on her. After a few hours, the waterbender was sweating, but she felt as if she’d made more progress with her training, even if just a little. She’d effectively turned her defense into an offensive move and hit the golem’s calf. Incorporating her waterbending disciplines effectively into staff training was important to her because it was familiar, and she was good at bending.

She needed food then fresh air. The training had been hard and productive, but she was sweating, and she‘d been going at it for hours. It was time for a break, time to cool down, time to get something else in her stomach to replace what she had worked off. Replacing the staff on the rack on which she found it, Katara nodded to golem politely in thanks before vacating the room to make her way to the kitchen.

The first thing she found was cool water to drink. It soothed her aching to some extent, but it wasn’t a bad ache. It made her feel good. She could just go down to the ocean to heal it again, but she wanted it there, at least for a little while. Once she’d eaten a good lunch, she traveled outside and to the garden to relax a bit.

Katara walked among the flowers, smiling a bit at the aesthetic beauty of the place. Even if the Planet was a horrible prison warden who kidnapped people from lives they might not have wanted to leave, it did have good sense when it came to displaying appealing sights. Soon she found an intricately carved stone bench, so the waterbender planted herself upon it to enjoy the air. It was hotter than anticipated, but the young woman didn't really mind.

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dahak
2008-08-31 12:35 am UTC (link)

Inside of his room, Dahak remained for a day after his little confrontation with the good Doctor. There were far too many 'bumps' in the plan for the dark god's liking. And while brute force was an answer to his dilemma here, the dark one could sense there were some present that were potential rivals to his power, those who, at the right calling, could be counted on to throw off their cloaks of mystery and assume the role of a hero, if they viewed their goal as just. One of them might even be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to 'destroy' him, given the right circumstances.

However, if instead of their being a clear villian in this play, if they started to distrust one another, then instead of a unified group of heroes against his evil, there would be a sea of bickering, fighting, fingerpointing. Those who tried to get everyone together would not be trusted, and those who might otherwise sacrifice themselves for the good of all would instead consider watching out for themselves instead. Or, even better, potentially allow themselves to be destroyed, if one close enough to them despised them enough to attack. Yes, there were so very many ways to break a person... Slowly destroy their spirit from the inside out until they were nothing but a corrupted shell.

There was something though, something that flickered in the darkness inside of Dahak's soul... a... kindred spirit, if it could be called as such. A creature of darkness and corruption. Something here was born of darkness, as he was. He felt it, only for a moment, but it was there, a flash of black across an otherwise peaceful sea of blue, and then it was gone again, snatched before he could truly probe at the source of it. No, he could find it, but stretching his powers out that far would risk catching the attention of others who could be a thorn in his side.

One might have assumed that a fellow dark spirit would have been a cause for celebration with Dahak, but then one wouldn't have understood the nature of darkness and hatred that well. For those who enjoyed peace and light, there could be alliances, friendships, pacts, treaties. For those who followed the path of darkness, there was only one thing, and that was power. Those who were cunning and strong destroyed those weaker than then, or forced them into servitude. But one always had to watch those beneath him, for surely even those weaker were plotting for a moment of weakness where they could strike. Even if he managed to force this creature to bend to his will, whatever it was surely would be a threat. Perhaps though, it would be worthwhile bargain to make, especially if whatever it happened to be was stupid enough to let itself be sacrificed.

First though, it would need to be found, and thus for the first time since his talk with the Doctor, Dahak left his room. Inside of it there was nothing but inky blackness, though none were there to see him slide out of it, see the way the darkness seemed to cling to his form as he pulled away from it and stepped out into the abhorred light of day. Though his powers of darkness were strongest during the night, with a willing host like this the difference was almost negliable. Thankfully Michael had foolishly been willing to part with it when Dahak had arrived here.

Dahak wandered then, looking for some type of corruption. After all, a creature of darkness didn't exactly leave trails of fluffy bunnies in their wake. There would definitely be something to pick up on. But alas, there was nothing, and the lord of darkness scowled at that as he found himself wandering into a lush garden. Ah, Gardens, they were so beautiful, and yet for a viper, the perfect place to hide. But those were fond memories long since passed, and Dahak wasn't the type to get nostalgic...

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dahak
2008-08-31 12:35 am UTC (link)

But there, walking amongst the flowers was a beauty. Ah, and a female this time. She was young and beautiful, which meant that she probably had some vanity towards her youth, and pride as well. Ah, young women were amazing creatures, so seductive one moment, so able to strike like a coiled serpent the next. Love was something Dahak despised, yet if there was one thing he 'loved' it was women in the prime of their youth.

Placing a hand behind his back he caused an apple from the kitchen to appear in his hand, brushing it off lightly on the cuff of his sleeve. He wore a button down shirt halfway undone and a dark pair of slacks, but didn't look too sinister as he approached Katara. "Nice day isn't it?" he said with a quiet smile, and then extended a hand. "Apple?" he asked. There was actually nothing wrong with the apple, he just wanted to see if he still 'got it'.

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k_waterbender
2008-08-31 04:04 am UTC (link)

Katara was quite glad she’d chosen to wear her hair braided. A fierce, sweaty morning of training would have been terrible with her thick tresses down, making it difficult for her skin to breathe. Plus, the heat outside was terrible. It became less and less pleasant the longer she was outside. It was a good thing the Planet had given her a thinner fabric of Water Tribe style dress, rather than the warm, thick fabric from which it was normally made.

The waterbender wasn’t ready to get up and leave the sun, though, even though the stone bench was warm, too. The day was so bright, and beautiful. It made her feel a lot more peaceful than the indoors managed. She wondered where Vincent was, and what he might be doing right now. The thought was stifled moments later by an inkling sense of unease around her.

Katara felt it before she even knew anyone was around. It crept up on her slowly, just making her wonder what was wrong. She was probably just worrying needlessly about Vincent. The waterbender tried to stifle the feeling. It wouldn’t go away, but it did move to the back of her mind. Observant as she was, the young woman saw the man moving toward her before he spoke. His face seemed pleasant enough. “It’s a bit hot.” She replied. She could feel a bead or two of sweat forming at the nape of her neck. She’d been in worse, though, when Appa was stolen and she had to get an angst Aang, a suffering Toph, and her hallucinating brother and lemur out of the desert over the period of a couple days. That heat had been intense. She was infinitely grateful that Sokka had stolen the astronomical map from Wan Shi Tong’s Library before he’d taken the building back to the Spirit World. It also helped when Toph accidentally kicked a portion of a buried sand sailor.

“Oh. No, thank you.” Katara smiled politely. “I just ate.” She simply didn’t eat when she wasn’t hungry, and because she’d just eaten, hunger wasn’t a problem. Overeating wasn’t her style. “I’m Katara.” She introduced herself pleasantly.

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dahak
2008-08-31 04:55 am UTC (link)

Dahak was mentally evaluating Katara even before he got to her. Not probing into her mind, however, but peering into the darkness of her soul. She was almost sickeningly untainted. A peace lover. Genuine, fair, kind. Someone who wouldn't get mad at anyone without a good reason for it. Oh, she had a temper, but it was almost always to do good rather than to lash out at someone for the sweet joy of making them suffer, or cry. She also was friends with other people who championed good. Oh, but there was a little darkness in that heart of hers, he could feel it.

Yes, her mother was taken from her, and it had made her angry enough that she'd nearly killed someone. But newer, fresher, was the sense of... doubt... lust... betrayal. Yes, he could definitively work with this one. But there was something else, an image of a man that flashed through her heart just as he came up to her. The creature was a beast, then a man, wearing a golden claw. How odd, but if he could change his form, perhaps, just maybe this one would lead Dahak on the right track to finding the creature that he had been searching for. Good things DID happen to bad people, as the saying went.

Her refusal to take the apple confirmed the fact that gluttony wasn't on her list of nasty habits, and it made Dahak almost want to snarl at the girl, but instead he forced a sweet smile and brushed off the apple, polishing it and taking a bite himself, proving to her that it wasn't poisoned or something like that. Then again, he could eat poison just fine and live, so it wasn't really a true test. Perhaps in the Water Benders eyes it would show some form of trust though, depending on how trusting a person she was. That was the good thing about goodie goodies though, they tended to be rather trusting folk.

Really, he wanted to see more of the mysterious person that had flashed up for a moment, and see Katara's connection to him. "I'm David." He replied softly, and gave her a light wave rather than a handshake. "Nice to meet you." He blinked as a leaf from one of the trees slowly fell off, and calmly reached out his hand to catch it and paused, looking at it in his hand, then smiled softly. Calmly he sat next down to Katara, and looked down at the leaf in his hand again as if expecting it to jump out.

"You know..." he said softly. "It's kind of funny, where I come from, we have a superstition, that if you stare at a fallen leaf with someone you care for in your heart, you can find out if the two of you were meant to be together, but you have to completely focus on them in your mind and nothing else..." Dahak waited then to see if she'd take the bait. If she started to concentrate hard on the mysterious crimson figure, Dahak would use his magic to levitate the leaf slightly, all the while peering into her heart to see what he could find out about this strange man with a golden claw.

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k_waterbender
2008-08-31 09:31 pm UTC (link)

Something about the man made her feel awkward and uncomfortable in an altogether separate way than Vincent had. With Vincent, Katara had felt nervous because she liked him, and she cared that he thought well of her. With David, she felt a slight unease gnawing at the back of her mind, one she couldn’t quite place. Something in his face seemed… false perhaps.

Katara had never imagined the apple would be poisoned or bad at all. Not only would the Planet never have popped something like that into another’s hand to proffer to another, she was a generally trusting person. Sure, poison was something that existed in her world, but she’d never had to deal with it or avoid it.

When she’d introduced herself, she hadn’t offered her hand. It wasn’t customary in any of the cultures she knew of to do that. Most had a sense of bowing with a fist in or below the palm. In the Water Tribes, two men who knew each other well would grasp each other’s forearms, but that wasn’t how strangers should greet unless they were from one of the sister Tribes or something. “Likewise.” Katara said, not really sure if it was a pleasure to meet him. Something about him just didn’t seem right.

Almost subconsciously, the waterbender scooted away from David as he sat beside her. It would have just looked as if she were giving him more room, not wishing to interfere in his personal space, but in reality- though she may not have realized it- she didn’t want him in her space. When he divulged the superstition of his culture, an image of her dream from a few nights ago fluttered through her mind, making her stomach clench lightly. “Well, David, you and I have only just met. I don’t think it would be appropriate for us to try that.” He had said two lovers were supposed to do this together, not alone.

Besides, Katara may be spiritual, but she wasn’t all that superstitious. Sure, she’d nagged a fortuneteller to read her fortune day after day after day once when she was younger, but that was different. She didn’t allow the proof of facts to get in the way of something like that.
Even then, she couldn’t help thinking. Her mind wouldn’t focus on just one thing, though. Aang and Vincent both kept moving through her mind, but she tried to stifle her thoughts in favor of conversation. “How could someone see they’re meant to be together in a leaf?” She asked skeptically.

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dahak
2008-08-31 11:19 pm UTC (link)

It was all Dahak could do to keep from murdering the water bender on the spot there in that garden. Was this entire place infested with morons? He felt a cold rage bubble in his gut as seething hatred poured into him. His eyes almost glowed with it, but Dahak forced himself to have enough control so that he wore the decieving mask of kindness. Oh, but now... now he would see to it that he made an example of this one. At first he'd considered what a delightfully corruptible servant she would make. He'd had many back home who had bowed to the 'One True God'. However, now there was only seething anger, and a desire to see her body broken and lifeless at his feet.

Patience, though. Patience. There would be time enough for that later... yes, after he was done with the other one, infested with darkness, he would come for her, show her what true pain was. He could imagine her begging for mercy as he flayed the flesh from her body piece by piece, and the thought gave him an even more cheery smile, though Katara would have no idea why.

"I..." Dahak paused a little and wondered if the water bender was really that dense. "No, it's not something you do with someone you love, it's something you do to see if someone you love is meant for you..." he said, trying not to let his anger creep up on him. Seriously, he'd made it clear enough the first time, but now he couldn't very well force her to do it.

Yes, this was going... not so well. Even so though, her mind crept back to the pair of them. One a champion of good, the other... the other was shrouded in darkness. He could tell that she feared for him in some way, because there was something in him that she couldn't heal. Besides, in those moments she gave him all he needed, a name, a face. And a glimpse into something else... someone she held close, someone she trusted... someone she didn't think would ever hurt her. Yes. That was all he needed for now. And revenge... revenge against this one would be sweet. This 'Vincent' cared for her, so if that was the case she would be all the catalyst that Dahak would need to truly see what darkness lay in the man's soul.

Dahak didn't bother to reply to her question about how one could see their love in a leaf. Instead he simply blew the leaf off of his hand and let it float around in the air, watching it flutter off. "It's more of a superstition anyway, I don't think anyone would actually be able to make it work..." David said with a gentle sigh, standing up as if slightly offended. Oh, but it was more than slightly.

"I should be going, though... it was nice to meet you, Katara..." he lied softly as he made his way towards the exit.

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