Post by Teяa253 on Sept 18, 2008 23:07:53 GMT 1
I had fun writing this one (and had to push the deadline back 7 minutes. sue me, okay?).
ENDURE THE BURNING FURY
The bond between these two siblings continued to grow. Although Katara still did not smile, Sokka could tell that she was happier than she used to be. Sokka found that it was not the fact that she hurt herself that made her forget about her mental pains, but rather, whenever she was bending. She never had anyone to do it with her, and so she would end up hurting herself instead.
“Katara,” Sokka exclaimed when he found this out, “why didn’t you ever tell me this before? Do you know what I could have done to help you?”
“I,” Katara stammered, “it’s not quite the same though. It’s just... I like to attack—like it... it feels good.”
“Katara,” said Sokka, “there has to be something I can do about that.”
“You’re a bender,” she replied, “so fight me when I get those urges. Don’t just jump to the conclusion and freeze my hands. That frustrates me further and makes me get really angry once I can free myself. You’ve seen before how that happens.”
“I,” Sokka exclaimed, “what?”
“I’m pretty sure I spoke clearly,” Katara replied,
“I can’t fight my own sister,” Sokka exclaimed, “It... it wouldn’t feel right.”
“Don’t say that,” Katara snapped, “you’re already shutting me down right when I think I get an idea of what’s wrong. Why do you have to do that to me? Why don’t you give me a chance? Why can’t you listen? WHY, WHY, WHY”
Sokka could tell that she was starting to freak out. Flames had formed on her hands, and she began yelling and screaming—just standing there, yelling and screaming. She turned around, shooting a fireball which Sokka luckily intercepted, and stormed out of the house.
Sokka, realizing what that could do, ran after her. She saw him, and started running. He shot some water towards the ground in front of her, and she lost her footing.
Sokka used this as his chance. He lunged through the air, caught his sister around the waist and they both hit the ground. Katara was again screaming and kicking, trying to break free. She was biting at one of the braces she kept on her hands, and Sokka was glad that she almost never took them off. He was also glad that they lived by themselves and far away from the town; otherwise her screaming would have had neighbors complaining to him, and he didn’t need that.
Katara was still kicking and screaming. Sokka knew what to do, so he grabbed the scruff of her neck and lifted her back onto her feet.
“Katara,” he said, but Katara crossed her arms and turned the other way, “don’t do this to me, Katara, okay? I... just like you, I need some time to learn to be able to bear with you, alright?”
Katara said nothing. She had already made up her mind on what she wanted to do, and Sokka had declined. Sokka was aware of this.
“Look, sis,” he said, “If it makes you feel better, I’ll... I’ll fight you. It’s just that... to duel against my own sister—it hurts me more than physically.”
“Good,” she said, referring to his consent, “let’s do this.”
Katara’s method of firebending was absolutely insane. Sokka had no way of really describing it. She was incredibly powerful, very swift, and her moves were alarmingly accurate. Huge bursts of flames emitted from her arms, enormous fireballs burst from her legs, and occasionally she would make enormous lightning whips which were potentially fatal, but luckily for Sokka he had trained against such insanity when she was younger and less powerful. Sokka had surrounded himself with water except for his face, s the fire would be extinguished should he be hit, but he had tot use ice to block the lightning and either send it up or down towards the ground.
Katara seemed not to care that she could potentially kill her brother, but luckily for them both, Sokka had the skill necessary to survive.
He watched his sister use force behind her moves, and it was here that he realized just how well-built she was. She was not only strong for a girl, but also strong for her age. Sokka also noted that she was trying to act older than she was—she was not old enough to think that she wouldn’t be scarred from the death of her father and the loss of her mother. Sokka understood that she thought she didn’t have to and yet she did, and that this was making her feel bad.
“Katara,” he said, but Katara was too deep into what she was doing. He figured he’d have to wear her out, so this was where some cheating came into play. Katara lost her footing, and right when he did, Sokka splashed her, intentionally concentrating large amounts of water on her hands. He then froze a path in front of him which also froze her hands, not only in blocks of ice, but also to the ground.
Katara began freaking out, trying not only to get up, but also trying to break free. She began tossing herself around, kicking and screaming and frantically trying to break her hands out of the ice. However, every time she was facing the opposite way, Sokka would freeze a little bit more ice on and make sure that the old ice was not melting. After several minutes of frantically trying to break free, Katara gave up and began crying. Sokka just waited. He knew that if she was faking it she would scream after a while, and if she wasn’t she’d continue crying. He waited and saw that she didn’t let up. She had resigned. Sokka unfroze her hands and began to soothe her fingertips (the rest of her hands were covered by her braces).
“Katara,” said Sokka, “I think I might know what might be part of the problem.” He said it that way because he knew if he claimed to know her problem and was wrong she would completely distrust him.
“What,” she said, still sniffling,
“You’re trying to take on things that even grown people have trouble dealing with. Even a grown man will mourn the loss of a relative, especially one as close as their own father. You’re just going through the part of life where a person’s emotions become wild and unpredictable. You’re only 15, Katara. You don’t need to try and handle things that big by yourself yet. That’s why I’m here to help you.”
“You’re only 18,” Katara replied, “what can you do?”
“I’ve been 15 before, Katara,” said Sokka, “and I know what it’s like. I also know that it affects women more than men. Just trust your brother on this one...” he set her head gently on his lap and began stroking her hair.
They had been fighting a long time, and by the time they had finished, night had fallen. Sokka was outright exhausted, and he had to put Katara to bed too. He struggled to keep his eyes open, and when he collapsed on his bed after kicking his boots off after a long day, he was asleep in seconds. The fight took more energy out of him than it did from Katara, for Katara seemed to have limitless supplies of it.
The next morning though, Sokka was in for a nasty shock. He looked over at Katara’s bed and found her gone. He looked for her boots at the foot of her bed, and they were gone too, which means she had gone out somewhere.
“That’s really bad,” he thought to himself, “I wonder what happened?” he went outside and looked up at the sun to measure the time of day. It was already clear past mid-day. He had overslept. He also felt that his head had been knocked, which probably meant that Katara had probably tried to wake him up. This was bad—really bad. Anytime he was asleep and she wasn’t, she’d get frustrated, which had probably meant that she had left in a foul mood. Where would she go though?
He went into town and to his horror; he saw a poster with a familiar face on it. He ran and grabbed it, quickly scanning it over. It was a wanted poster, and it had his sister’s face on it. It was a surprisingly accurate depiction of her as well. The most surprising thing about the poster though was that it was dated two days ago. To Sokka, this didn’t make sense. He had been in town yesterday before fighting Katara, and he hadn’t seen it. Then the thought suddenly hit him. He had slept through an entire day. This probably meant that Katara had been brought down. He went to the local law enforcement office and asked about Katara Altina, showing the man in charge the poster.
“Ah,” he said, “that firebender girl... she’s got some time to do for some damages she caused—unless you have the money to bail her out.”
“She’s my sister,” he replied, looking down at the ground.
“Ouch,” the man commented, “and I take it that you can’t afford her bailing then?” he named the price, and Sokka confirmed it.
“No,” he said, “I cannot. How long are you going to keep her?”
“Well,” he said, “fortunately we were able to put out the fire before the damage got too great, but she’s got at least another day in here. Come back at sundown tomorrow and we’ll release her back into your custody. I’m sorry about this.”
“No,” said Sokka, “I understand. The law is the law; but... can I stay with her please? She... she needs me.”
They both paused and suddenly heard screaming. Sokka recognized that voice. He knew it from anywhere.
“That’s her,” he exclaimed, and then suddenly paused.
“What day is it today?” he asked the official, and he told him. Sokka stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes widened. There was one time about every month where Katara’s hormones and emotions would overtake her, and there could be no one that could stop her. He knew that she was probably chained down because of her wild attitude, but now he demanded that he be allowed to see her.
“She needs me during this time more than anything else,” Sokka said, “Please, I’ll do anything.”
“I was only restricting you for your own safety,” the man said, “but if you’re sure about it, then you cannot hold us liable for any injuries you might obtain.”
“I understand,” Sokka replied, “but she needs me. Take me to her.”
He was brought to Katara’s prison cell. They could still hear her screaming and yelling. When they got there, she was kicking and screaming and trying to firebend. The room they were in was excessively cold. Luckily both of them were born in the water tribe, so they were resistant to being cold, but the low temperature did keep Katara from firebending nonetheless. She looked up at Sokka for a second, but seemed like she didn’t even recognize him. Right now, Katara’s teenage hormones and her emotions had completely consumed her, giving her limitless energy. She was chained around a post and was still trashing violently. Her boots were off, as if she had tried to break herself free during all the thrashing and madness. Every time she saw someone she would glare at them for a second before yelling as loud as she could at them. Sokka could tell that she really hated this and that she was honestly suffering from it.
“There you go,” said the man to Sokka, and he closed the door. Katara’s cell was the only one occupied, and so Sokka sat in the hallway, just watching her from in front of the bars. Every time she saw even him, she would scream at him as loud as she could. She literally had no limit to her energy right now.
“Of all times of the month,” he muttered to himself, “why did it have to be this time of the month?”
He watched as his sister still thrashed and struggled, and he noticed that it was getting warmer in here. The low temperature around her cell was rising, and she was regaining the ability to bend again. Sokka watched her start to throw fire until he would no longer watch. He watched her open up old wounds. She was again beginning to injure herself, and yet she was too consumed with rage and frustration to care. Sokka put his head down into his hands and wept. Tomorrow was going to be a very long day for him, and especially for Katara. He hadn’t even thought of how he would explain himself to her.
~Katara~
ENDURE THE BURNING FURY
The bond between these two siblings continued to grow. Although Katara still did not smile, Sokka could tell that she was happier than she used to be. Sokka found that it was not the fact that she hurt herself that made her forget about her mental pains, but rather, whenever she was bending. She never had anyone to do it with her, and so she would end up hurting herself instead.
“Katara,” Sokka exclaimed when he found this out, “why didn’t you ever tell me this before? Do you know what I could have done to help you?”
“I,” Katara stammered, “it’s not quite the same though. It’s just... I like to attack—like it... it feels good.”
“Katara,” said Sokka, “there has to be something I can do about that.”
“You’re a bender,” she replied, “so fight me when I get those urges. Don’t just jump to the conclusion and freeze my hands. That frustrates me further and makes me get really angry once I can free myself. You’ve seen before how that happens.”
“I,” Sokka exclaimed, “what?”
“I’m pretty sure I spoke clearly,” Katara replied,
“I can’t fight my own sister,” Sokka exclaimed, “It... it wouldn’t feel right.”
“Don’t say that,” Katara snapped, “you’re already shutting me down right when I think I get an idea of what’s wrong. Why do you have to do that to me? Why don’t you give me a chance? Why can’t you listen? WHY, WHY, WHY”
Sokka could tell that she was starting to freak out. Flames had formed on her hands, and she began yelling and screaming—just standing there, yelling and screaming. She turned around, shooting a fireball which Sokka luckily intercepted, and stormed out of the house.
Sokka, realizing what that could do, ran after her. She saw him, and started running. He shot some water towards the ground in front of her, and she lost her footing.
Sokka used this as his chance. He lunged through the air, caught his sister around the waist and they both hit the ground. Katara was again screaming and kicking, trying to break free. She was biting at one of the braces she kept on her hands, and Sokka was glad that she almost never took them off. He was also glad that they lived by themselves and far away from the town; otherwise her screaming would have had neighbors complaining to him, and he didn’t need that.
Katara was still kicking and screaming. Sokka knew what to do, so he grabbed the scruff of her neck and lifted her back onto her feet.
“Katara,” he said, but Katara crossed her arms and turned the other way, “don’t do this to me, Katara, okay? I... just like you, I need some time to learn to be able to bear with you, alright?”
Katara said nothing. She had already made up her mind on what she wanted to do, and Sokka had declined. Sokka was aware of this.
“Look, sis,” he said, “If it makes you feel better, I’ll... I’ll fight you. It’s just that... to duel against my own sister—it hurts me more than physically.”
“Good,” she said, referring to his consent, “let’s do this.”
Katara’s method of firebending was absolutely insane. Sokka had no way of really describing it. She was incredibly powerful, very swift, and her moves were alarmingly accurate. Huge bursts of flames emitted from her arms, enormous fireballs burst from her legs, and occasionally she would make enormous lightning whips which were potentially fatal, but luckily for Sokka he had trained against such insanity when she was younger and less powerful. Sokka had surrounded himself with water except for his face, s the fire would be extinguished should he be hit, but he had tot use ice to block the lightning and either send it up or down towards the ground.
Katara seemed not to care that she could potentially kill her brother, but luckily for them both, Sokka had the skill necessary to survive.
He watched his sister use force behind her moves, and it was here that he realized just how well-built she was. She was not only strong for a girl, but also strong for her age. Sokka also noted that she was trying to act older than she was—she was not old enough to think that she wouldn’t be scarred from the death of her father and the loss of her mother. Sokka understood that she thought she didn’t have to and yet she did, and that this was making her feel bad.
“Katara,” he said, but Katara was too deep into what she was doing. He figured he’d have to wear her out, so this was where some cheating came into play. Katara lost her footing, and right when he did, Sokka splashed her, intentionally concentrating large amounts of water on her hands. He then froze a path in front of him which also froze her hands, not only in blocks of ice, but also to the ground.
Katara began freaking out, trying not only to get up, but also trying to break free. She began tossing herself around, kicking and screaming and frantically trying to break her hands out of the ice. However, every time she was facing the opposite way, Sokka would freeze a little bit more ice on and make sure that the old ice was not melting. After several minutes of frantically trying to break free, Katara gave up and began crying. Sokka just waited. He knew that if she was faking it she would scream after a while, and if she wasn’t she’d continue crying. He waited and saw that she didn’t let up. She had resigned. Sokka unfroze her hands and began to soothe her fingertips (the rest of her hands were covered by her braces).
“Katara,” said Sokka, “I think I might know what might be part of the problem.” He said it that way because he knew if he claimed to know her problem and was wrong she would completely distrust him.
“What,” she said, still sniffling,
“You’re trying to take on things that even grown people have trouble dealing with. Even a grown man will mourn the loss of a relative, especially one as close as their own father. You’re just going through the part of life where a person’s emotions become wild and unpredictable. You’re only 15, Katara. You don’t need to try and handle things that big by yourself yet. That’s why I’m here to help you.”
“You’re only 18,” Katara replied, “what can you do?”
“I’ve been 15 before, Katara,” said Sokka, “and I know what it’s like. I also know that it affects women more than men. Just trust your brother on this one...” he set her head gently on his lap and began stroking her hair.
They had been fighting a long time, and by the time they had finished, night had fallen. Sokka was outright exhausted, and he had to put Katara to bed too. He struggled to keep his eyes open, and when he collapsed on his bed after kicking his boots off after a long day, he was asleep in seconds. The fight took more energy out of him than it did from Katara, for Katara seemed to have limitless supplies of it.
The next morning though, Sokka was in for a nasty shock. He looked over at Katara’s bed and found her gone. He looked for her boots at the foot of her bed, and they were gone too, which means she had gone out somewhere.
“That’s really bad,” he thought to himself, “I wonder what happened?” he went outside and looked up at the sun to measure the time of day. It was already clear past mid-day. He had overslept. He also felt that his head had been knocked, which probably meant that Katara had probably tried to wake him up. This was bad—really bad. Anytime he was asleep and she wasn’t, she’d get frustrated, which had probably meant that she had left in a foul mood. Where would she go though?
He went into town and to his horror; he saw a poster with a familiar face on it. He ran and grabbed it, quickly scanning it over. It was a wanted poster, and it had his sister’s face on it. It was a surprisingly accurate depiction of her as well. The most surprising thing about the poster though was that it was dated two days ago. To Sokka, this didn’t make sense. He had been in town yesterday before fighting Katara, and he hadn’t seen it. Then the thought suddenly hit him. He had slept through an entire day. This probably meant that Katara had been brought down. He went to the local law enforcement office and asked about Katara Altina, showing the man in charge the poster.
“Ah,” he said, “that firebender girl... she’s got some time to do for some damages she caused—unless you have the money to bail her out.”
“She’s my sister,” he replied, looking down at the ground.
“Ouch,” the man commented, “and I take it that you can’t afford her bailing then?” he named the price, and Sokka confirmed it.
“No,” he said, “I cannot. How long are you going to keep her?”
“Well,” he said, “fortunately we were able to put out the fire before the damage got too great, but she’s got at least another day in here. Come back at sundown tomorrow and we’ll release her back into your custody. I’m sorry about this.”
“No,” said Sokka, “I understand. The law is the law; but... can I stay with her please? She... she needs me.”
They both paused and suddenly heard screaming. Sokka recognized that voice. He knew it from anywhere.
“That’s her,” he exclaimed, and then suddenly paused.
“What day is it today?” he asked the official, and he told him. Sokka stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes widened. There was one time about every month where Katara’s hormones and emotions would overtake her, and there could be no one that could stop her. He knew that she was probably chained down because of her wild attitude, but now he demanded that he be allowed to see her.
“She needs me during this time more than anything else,” Sokka said, “Please, I’ll do anything.”
“I was only restricting you for your own safety,” the man said, “but if you’re sure about it, then you cannot hold us liable for any injuries you might obtain.”
“I understand,” Sokka replied, “but she needs me. Take me to her.”
He was brought to Katara’s prison cell. They could still hear her screaming and yelling. When they got there, she was kicking and screaming and trying to firebend. The room they were in was excessively cold. Luckily both of them were born in the water tribe, so they were resistant to being cold, but the low temperature did keep Katara from firebending nonetheless. She looked up at Sokka for a second, but seemed like she didn’t even recognize him. Right now, Katara’s teenage hormones and her emotions had completely consumed her, giving her limitless energy. She was chained around a post and was still trashing violently. Her boots were off, as if she had tried to break herself free during all the thrashing and madness. Every time she saw someone she would glare at them for a second before yelling as loud as she could at them. Sokka could tell that she really hated this and that she was honestly suffering from it.
“There you go,” said the man to Sokka, and he closed the door. Katara’s cell was the only one occupied, and so Sokka sat in the hallway, just watching her from in front of the bars. Every time she saw even him, she would scream at him as loud as she could. She literally had no limit to her energy right now.
“Of all times of the month,” he muttered to himself, “why did it have to be this time of the month?”
He watched as his sister still thrashed and struggled, and he noticed that it was getting warmer in here. The low temperature around her cell was rising, and she was regaining the ability to bend again. Sokka watched her start to throw fire until he would no longer watch. He watched her open up old wounds. She was again beginning to injure herself, and yet she was too consumed with rage and frustration to care. Sokka put his head down into his hands and wept. Tomorrow was going to be a very long day for him, and especially for Katara. He hadn’t even thought of how he would explain himself to her.
~Katara~
.. 
