InsaneJournal

Day Twenty-Two; Group Activity
Who: Katara, Armand, Anakin Skywalker, and Rose Tyler ((Posting Order))
When: Day 22 ; A little after noon
What: Group Activity ; Skiing and Snowboarding
Where: The ski lift
Rating: PG-13
Status: Complete

Katara awoke slowly, allowing the warmth of the fire in the center of her room envelop her just as surely as the pelts that covered and surrounded her. She had dreamed of strange things the night before, and she attributed it to her weariness. Ever since Zuko arrived she had been using much of her energies to heal and convince. She’d had to heal Toph of her burns. She’d had to heal Zuko of the poison that had spread through his body, and she’d had to work at healing his foot. One more session ought to finish the healing of the stab wound he’d suffered from Toph. She’d also had to attempt to convince Zuko with all of her might that he had been brainwashed, that Aang hadn’t tried to kill him, and that Iroh had not died in the explosion the Dai Lee had made him think had been caused by the Avatar. The last two days were… intense and wearing to say the least.

A shuffling around her door caught her attentions. If only she had Toph’s ability to see through sound and vibrations, she would know what was going on, but she didn’t. Removing herself from the all-too-welcoming pelts upon which she slept, the waterbender moved to her door. She pushed a hanging pelt aside and pushed open the wooden portal to see an empty hallway. The soft click of the door leading to the outside let her know that someone had come and gone, leaving a chill of cold air behind whoever had been there. A small thrill went through her, but her conscious mind had yet to grasp it.

Almost instantly, Katara’s eyes fell upon the note stuck to her door at eye level bearing her name. She knew before she opened it what this meant. The second day of her arrival had meant one such note, and she had had to learn how to play the game of bowling. That was how she had met Giselle, Tyler, Jun, and Christian. How strange that she hadn’t seen any other than Giselle about in some time.

What would it be this time? Katara slipped the paper from the envelope, and her eyes skimmed over it.

Instructions:
Go to the ski lift. You will be skiing and/or snowboarding on the slopes. This is mandatory. If you do not go, a golem will find you and take you there. Do not leave until the activities are finished, or a golem will take you back.

The time this would all occur was also listed.

The waterbender’s eyes bulged as her mind processed a familiar word within an unfamiliar word: snowboarding. Without a second thought, Katara ran out into the hall and toward the door that led to the outside. This was the reason she had felt that small swell of excitement at the colder air. It was cold enough to remind her a little of her homeland, of the Southern Water Tribe in the South Pole. She threw open the door and ran barefoot out into the snow, glee stamped into her very soul.

All around her the world was pure and white. It washed away her worries and left her feeling clean and joyous. Even the icy air blasted away any ill feelings. It didn’t matter that the buildings did not resemble those of the Southern Water Tribe or even of the Northern Water Tribe. She was almost home wherever there was snow. It was her native climate. It made her powerful, for she was a waterbender, and snow was comprised of water.

However, she could not remain in this icy climate for long wearing only underwear that wrapped only around her chest and only around her hips and upper thighs. Her legs, head, arms, feet, hands, and midsection were all too bare to bear this freezing weather. With a swift movement she was inside the warmth of the hallway again, barring the door against the cold, hopping around on her now-red feet to warm the sting from them.

Immediately she rushed back to her room, through the open door- closing it behind her- and got herself ready to face the day. A quick, hot shower, her normal hairstyle, her normal water tribe attire with long sleeves added to wear beneath her top, and she found a long jacket that resembled the one she’d owned at home to the T. She also found the three fingered gloves common to her people. She was more than ready to face this day with an open mind and happy thoughts.

Katara spent the day outside, only going inside when she became too cold. She worked on her snowbending and icebending, having a complete blast with it all. She hadn’t forgotten her friends and their dilemma, but she decided there was nothing she could really do right now, not when she had to go to a forced Group Activity to learn another skill about which she had little knowledge- or so she thought.

Eventually lunch time came, and she ate a hot, satisfying meal before it was time to go toward her destination. It was easy to find. Where else would “slopes” be if not around the area of the mountains? The ski lift stood out like a sore thumb with a large shack quite near to it. Directions on its door told her to go inside and wait for the others.

When she went inside, she found that there were four long, wide boards with what looked like strange footwear attached to them. Beside these were eight narrower boards with eight sticks, each grouped into four pairs. There was a bench in the middle with a table that bore four mugs and a large pitcher. Upon inspection, Katara found the pitcher was filled with hot chocolate. On the wall in front of both the bench and the table hung a flat device she had learned was a television. Flashy images coupled with intense music displayed varying persons wearing one or two boards clasped to their feet as they slipped over the top of snow covered mountains and hills.

All she could do now was wait. She poured herself a mug of hot chocolate to sip until the others arrived.