Sokka the 74th - [Action/Voice]

[markofthewise]

[THE FIRST DAY.]

[Two weeks. It's a long time to be on a mission, but Sokka has no regrets. The mess with Kin'cora had gotten to him and he found a kind of relief in working with other people from other enclosures. There was a lot of talk among him and the others. He spread the word. Maybe it wouldn't do Luceti much good, given he learned very little, but the more the others knew, the better. But boy was he glad to be back in Luceti. When he emerges from the tunnels at around 6PM, he's tired out from a hard day of work, but it's a good kind of tired. He makes going home his first priority. He'll miss dinner, inevitably, but with any luck there's leftovers. Catching up with the others takes a few hours before he ever breaks away to wander the village.

What's on the agenda? Hitting up the smithy to see where things are at. He never got to find out how much was lost after the Kin'corans left, so it's time to see if one of his minions smithy buddies took an inventory. And you know, he wants to check in on them too. That's cool. Also, he heads to Good Spirits because he was informed very sternly by one of his buddies on the mission that the only proper way to end a hard day's work is a good stiff drink. Sokka, the adult that he is, was inclined to agree. THAT IS HIS ENTIRE DAY.

But there is another.]

[DAWN OF THE NEXT DAY]

[Sokka wakes up and does his usual morning routine and goes to NOT the smithy, but the BATTLE DOME. That's right. Record scratch. After talking to the main console for awhile, he heads into one of the rooms and in something that takes some finagling at first, he starts... building a sub. A holographic sub. One that is small enough to fit into his hand, but can expand if he gives the command, so he can work on specific details. It's like working on a blueprint, but in 3D. His nights on his mission had been spent trying to recreate the submarine made by the Mechanist. He's been steadily improving on the design, specifically built to be powered by waterbending, but done in a way to streamline the process and make it faster. And sturdier. He's not sure it will be easy to build with Luceti's technology, but...

Well, Haruhi got him excited. And he spends the better half of the day on this. Because of the Dome time limit, he's constantly seen going in and out to restart the program or grab a snack. For those hoping to fight, this is probably annoying, since there's only six chambers that tend to get used a lot. At one point during the day, he loses the dome to some short and grumpy guy, so Sokka turns to the journal.]

Has anyone really tried the stuff in these vending machines before? I mean, I usually just get a soda or something, but this stuff is amazing. Like... look at these. [He lifts up an oreo to the camera.] It's two cookies, but with some kind of paste between them. But the paste tastes like sugar! And then there's these! [Sokka lifts up an red lump of candy.] Apple gels. They're great, although I don't think they taste like real apples. There's something unusually refreshing about them. I had about ten just now and it made my fingers all tingly. Actually, I'm kind of feeling tingly all over and-- [Sokka looks away and spots something else] Oh! And check this out! [He pulls out a WORM. A multicolored worm.] It's a CANDY worm. I was thinking I could use it for fishing, but it's actually kind of tasty. Oh, and then there's these fished shape crackers...

[He'll go on like this for awhile. People can listen or ignore him, but he'll be casually highlighting the awesome contents of the Battle Dome vending machines.

He'll be coming home later with the stomach ache from hell.]

Comments

[markofthewise]

Head tilt. "Yeah? What was it?"

Katara didn't go on missions. Not since Aang showed up. So it had to be big. Right?

[markofthebrave]

"A group of MSF soldiers went rogue and took over a hospital. They were threatening to bring all the patients to the Cultists. The mission called for people who specialized in nonlethal combat."

That's the short version.

[markofthewise]

"Wow." He took a moment to process that. Then followed it up with another: "Wow."

It seemed so random, he wasn't sure how to wrap his head around it. But it sounded serious. "Did you beat them?"

[markofthebrave]

"It... wasn't that simple."

She looked down.

"Some of them, we were able to persuade to stop doing what they were doing. Others had to be restrained... but their leader didn't have any intention of being taken alive."

[markofthewise]

"So... what did he do?"

[markofthebrave]

"He had a bomb. There wasn't any way to diffuse it. It would have taken the entire hospital, if... someone didn't take it from him and run it into a Shift-protected area."

[markofthewise]

"And it worked, right? I mean, you came back alive." He paused. "Wait, you didn't get yourself blown up did you?"

[markofthebrave]

"No, I didn't." The faintest emphasis on the 'I.'

"Precis did. She brought it into the Shift-protected area, but nothing could stop the bomb. She saved all of us."

[markofthewise]

He knew Precis. They'd talked before, hadn't they? She seemed a good sort. And she was...

Dead. Back by now, maybe, he didn't know. But that had to sink in.

"... I. I see."

[markofthebrave]

There was a long moment of silence and Katara's eyes closed for a moment. She exhaled.

"...the hospital was horrible, Sokka. They had a psychiatric ward and a death penalty ward and people were just... missing chunks of themseves, or so broken..."

[markofthewise]

He couldn't help but wince and swallow a lump that had someone got caught in his throat. It was those kind of things that he had thought about, but never ever wanted to imagine.

"... that's. I should have been there."

[markofthebrave]

Or here, when I got back. I missed you.

But Katara just shrugged one shoulder, almost a twitch. "You were on your own mission. Shikamaru and Masaomi were with me. Don't feel bad about that."

[markofthewise]

Masaomi. Of course. But Sokka couldn't be upset about it. He may not like the guy, but he was at least someone who would try to look out for his little sister. Whether she needed it or not. The same with Shikamaru.

"I know. It's just. Loading ships... while you were doing that."

[markofthebrave]

"We didn't know."

She sighed and stared down into her soda.

"I just - thought it was important. I thought I might be able to talk with some of them, and I was, but... not everyone here is willing or able to hold back in a fight. And I can do that."

Hold back - not kill. Ha. Such a different perspective than what she once had.

[markofthewise]

He could understand where she was coming from. He learned from Piandao how to deal damage and spare his opponents when he could. From Okita Souji, he learned killing strokes.

"Did any of them listen?"

[markofthebrave]

"A few of them."

She hesitated further.

"This... is a really bad place, Sokka. We knew it was, but the more we learn... the worse this planet seems. And some of them have been dealing with it for lifetimes."

[markofthewise]

"It makes you wonder." He nearly didn't finish that thought, but after a moment, carried on. "What it will be like if we get stuck here. For lifetimes."

[markofthebrave]

"We might end up like them," she voiced it slowly, naming the fear. "They all came here from other worlds too - everyone with small wings. We'd end up just like them."

[markofthewise]

The most eery part was Katara being able to admit that. If there was someone he could rely on to be hopeful for the future...

"Three months, Katara. Four days less than that, actually." He squeezed the size of his arm. "And then it's three years."

[markofthebrave]

"I know. But three years is still nothing to them."

I want to go home.

[markofthewise]

"I know. I know it's not. But every single year..."

It feels like his chances of being sent home dwindle.

[markofthebrave]

"I know. But it doesn't matter. We're not going to end up like that. We're not going to stay here forever."

She refused to believe it.

[markofthewise]

"I'm sure they--" I'm sure they said that too. "Yeah. I know."

[markofthebrave]

"We can't, remember? Aang's from our future, and he remembers you... and you remember me."

[markofthewise]

"I wonder if it works that way for them too."

That excuse. The belief of their own timeline being so in tact...

It wasn't enough anymore.