Basics

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

There was a time to get sick. There was a time to bemoan the things that seemed like empty spots in her head. and there was time to sleep and dream of times that were better (or have nightmares of worse times too). But when these times passed, and eventually that was the case, there was nothing left to do but go back to what you were best at, and refine it to make it your own. Going to the podpop had been a start, and Katara capitalized on it the next day. A visit to the Sensorium and the scenery changed: she was at the desert lands they'd been left to brave after the library sunk and Appa had been captured. There was no gang here though, just miles and miles of sand and heat bearing down on her. To Toph and Aang, she was sure these circumstances were unpleasant, but to her and Sokka specifically, it had been alien and frustrating (it had helped Sokka that he was strung out on Cactus juice and she was fixated on keeping the group together at the time). She had also made sure there would be no water nearby, and so her pouch was also gone.

The morning was spent in quiet meditation on the sands. Her mind was full of questions and brimming with thoughts, but she momentarily displaced them from her mind. She was uncomfortable, sweaty and hot, but stayed in deep meditation, moving from time to time so she wouldn't cramp up. Once she'd seen the sun position itself to indicate noontime, Katara rose, and her attire was that of her firebending disguise: she would need it.

The exercising in the Weirding way, however, required targets, so the desert was now strewn with several dummies. Here Katara incorporated her Bene Gesserit martial art with that of the training she'd practiced in Will's gym: she catapulted herself upward, struck with deadly precision and then rolled into a new defensive stance, ready for the next attack. It had been awhile since Katara incorporated her waterbending flexibility with the Weirding way, and truthfully it was seldom Katara practiced the art, fully aware (thanks to deadly robots) how damaging it could be. She bent her legs a bit and brought her arms up again, using her force against the dummy and knocking it backward with what looked like minimal effort. She knew it would be awhile before she was an expert in the Weirding Way, but that was more than reason to practice, with all they had encountered.

When she had worked up a definite sweat, she went back to the flexibility part: she flipped, jumped, turned several times in the air and, on her back, curled her legs upward and leapt back to position. She was stinky and definitely perspiring, but that was easily taken care of if she decided to turn the Sensorium into a spa, not that she was in a big hurry to do so.

Comments

[nerve-pincher.livejournal.com]

Spock had come to the sensoriums to quietly observe the scenes others created here. It was not his intent to intrude, merely observe and learn, and move on.

But this particular landscape reminded him vaguely of his home, so he lingered a while longer, and watched the young woman at her practice. It was a style rather different from that which he had been taught, but it was clearly effective.

He decided to make his presence known, so that she could decide whether he was welcome here or not.

"That is impressive."

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Katara had sensed someone, but it wasn't anyone she knew, and most people on the ship had a quiet understanding to not interfere until the other person was done. When she looked up at the person that had just spoken, she was a little surprised.

He definitely didn't look like any kind of persons she'd met, although he was definitely not the most bizarre looking person on the ship either. His ears were a little different, and the haircut was a bit strange but otherwise he looked to be human. She could ask him about that later.

"Thank you," she said. "It's a combination of the bending I know in my world and training I learned here in the ship. I'm not fond of fighting, but considering how things are in the ship, it never hurts to be prepared."

She gave him a smile. "My name is Katara, of the Southern Water Tribe. Who might you be?"

[nerve-pincher.livejournal.com]

"I, too, abhor violence, but understand the necessity to defend oneself," Spock said with a slight nod. "I am Spock, of the planet Vulcan. I do not wish to intrude, but your choice of climate in which to train intrigues me. It is similar to the climate of my home, and generally inhospitable to humans."

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Katara nodded. "Well, I've been here a pretty long time, and we've had to fight several different sorts of things on the ship. If I'm going to be prepared for a situation where I don't have my abilities to fall on, I'll have another way to be prepared."

She looked a little sheepish here. "Actually, me and my friends found the climate pretty inhospitable when we had to wander it. We got pretty dehydrated. Where I'm from is actually the complete opposite of this: its all ice and water. But I wanted to test my body here, since I'm beginning to learn to preserve the water I have. That, and its a way to keep me focused."

[bigbad]

When Spike opened the door to the Sensoriums, he didn't know what he'd find. He wasn't expecting bright sunlight. His immediate reaction was to flinch back. Sunlight burned, and he had no intention of going out so soon. But he quickly realized that he was not bursting into flames. He stepped into the room and smiled, tilting his face into the sun. It couldn't be real, but that didn't mean he couldn't enjoy the illusion.

Then he noticed the girl.

He'd always enjoyed watching people fight, and this was no exception. The way she was attacking, the jumps, the flips, how she was moving... he smiled. There was a reason he called it a dance. Beautiful.

He sauntered forward casually. "Care to have a go against something that'll fight back, love? I could use the work-out."

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Katara paused to look at the person who had just spoken. Now, Katara had a fascination with people and different colored hair. She had already seen blonds on the ship, and so normally, that wouldn't have impressed her all that much. However, the combination of blond hair, the long jacket and the fact that he was easy on the eyes was more than a winning combination for her. Not that she was interested in THAT way, but he still looked pretty cool.

"You're probably pretty strong, if you want to fight me after seeing me do that," she said, grinning. "Okay then, why not? This might be pretty new for both of us."

She gave a long stretch, then got into stance.

[bigbad]

Spike grinned. "Pretty strong, yeah. Not many can take me." He was planning on holding back, anyway.

He didn't bother stretching or getting into any special stance. He just walked forward, arms hanging loosely at his sides.

"Name's Spike, by the way. Who're you?"

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

"Well, we'll see about that," Katara said, giving him a playful smile. "I'm no weakling."

He didn't stretch, and that was pretty curious. Was he one of those superhero types that was able to fight without cramping up? That would be pretty extraordinary: she would have to watch for him.

"Katara, of the Southern Water Tribe," she said, and disappeared, only to reappear behind him a second later. The Weirding Way was pretty daunting that way. "Interesting name!"

[notsaintkaiser.livejournal.com]

Vivio opted for a bit of a distraction after seeing Signum arrive. For the most part, though, she needed to get the fact that she may be the only one from her timeline showing up here. Wandering into the Sensorium, she found herself in the middle of a desert...

...then spotted Katara and her training. She watched in awe as the girl moved and bent in amazing ways. Whoever taught her that was amazing.

The girl stood and watched, her device landing on her shoulder as she did.

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Katara felt the presence of someone in the desert and turned to see who it was.

"Oh, hi Vivio!" She said, smiling. She had always liked Vivio despite their limited interaction. The girl had a bubbly way about her that was infectious.

"What brings you here?"

[notsaintkaiser.livejournal.com]

Vivio let out a giggle as she went to approach Katara.

"I needed to get my mind off of some things, so I ended up in here. Didn't realize you were in here...!" Her face took a more curious look. "I'm just curious - what were you doing earlier?"

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

"Oh, I hear you!" Katara said. "I've actually done that a few times myself, and even though its usually an accident, you tend to meet really interesting people there!"

She gave a small smile. "One day I wandered in here and met...my trainer. I forgot her name and what she looks like, but because of her I learned to fight this way. I figured if we ever came to a time to fight where there was no water for me to bend, I'd have another way to protect people."

[hisfathersstaff.livejournal.com]

Negi was trying to clear his head from the long day that had stretched out from his release from the caverns. Chamo setting up their quarters (and possibly scouting out the area), he was trudging into the Sensoriums when the heat of the desert struck him.

Blinking the sun out of his eyes, he noticed the girl practicing. She seemed to be utterly enthralled in her movements, and some of the moves seemed quite familiar to Negi. Then it hit him: some of those moves came from Tai Chi, or rather a heavier combat variant of it.

He watched for a long moment, his cloak swirling around him in the harsh sands.

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Katara was getting fairly engrossed in her training: so much so, in fact, that she almost didn't sense the other person who's arrived during her simulation. For now she continued toning her muscles, concentrating on her martial art movement without the Bene Gesserit touch: she was building up, after all, to get to where she wanted to be. She had held off using her pouch for awhile, and now she was ready. She rolled on the sand twice until she got near said pouch, and a moment later it was at her hip, and several of the dummies felt the sting of her water turned to ice shards, each hitting several sensitive spots. She finished off with a water whip: it was small, but concentrated, accurate.

She paused, finally sensing that someone was here with her. She looked up, sweating but not breathing as hard as she could have. "Hello?" she said. "Who are you?"

[hisfathersstaff.livejournal.com]

Negi snapped out of his trance from watching her move. It was like watching Ku Fei practice her art, or perhaps her hammering it into him. "Oh! I... terribly sorry I was looking around and um, just noticed you practicing. Is that Tai Chi?"

He then blushed again. "Sorry, I'm Negi Springfield. I just woke up a while ago."

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

He blushed? That was the first time she'd ever seen a boy blush so easily: normally she'd only seen it on Sokka or Aang whenever they were embarassed. She found it a bit endearing, but decided not to tell him so. For all she knew, boys might be like that in his world, more sensitive than where she was from.

"Tai Chi?" Katara asked. "Um, no, actually I was practicing my waterbending. It's usually more impressive when I have more water, but I was concentrating on just movement and martial arts right now. If its similar, I'm glad: I find the movement soothing."

She extended her hand, smiling. "I'm Katara, of the Southern Water Tribe. Pleased to meet you."

[sithhavecooties.livejournal.com]

He'd started his exploration of the ship out of that lingering Guard professionalism -- know the terrain, knowing is half the battle, know where the good tapcafs are -- but Ben couldn't deny that the ship was interesting. And the door that opened into into a sprawling desert was definitely one of the most interesting things of all.

He watched the girl exercise with an acrobatic grace. It wasn't the Force-assisted, sky-high leaps of a Force-user, but the precision reminded him of Dyon facing off against the Sith on Dathomir, and he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she wasn't just tearing up the sands to stay in shape. "Looks fun," he said with a grin.

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

The feeling of someone being here was familiar in a different way, and she knew where she'd sensed it before: it was the feeling she had anytime she was near a Jedi. True, she had only been Obi-Wan and Luke, but the Force gave off a presence that only a few could actually feel and, as Katara had been trained in Bene Gesserit ways, she had learned to recognize that presence fairly quickly. She looked up and was surprised to find a young boy watching her. He was pretty cute, and she was sure that if he'd been here before, she would have seen him.

"Oh hey," she said, smiling. "It is fun, once you go through all of the work to be good enough to make it that way. I got a pretty vivid feeling from you...are you from Luke's world?"

She'd ask his name in a moment.

[sithhavecooties.livejournal.com]

Some things, Ben reflected, never changed. Water was always wet, the Empire always stuck back, and even when he was yanked out of his own galaxy and stuck on a trans-dimensional worldship everyone still knew his famous father. Well, at least he'd had sixteen years to get used to that. "He's my dad," Ben said, offering her a hand. "I'm Ben."

[sent-herself.livejournal.com]

Watching Katara fight is like nothing Mulan has ever seen, and so she loves to observe. What does she care if the desert sun is oppressively hot? A soldier can tolerate a little bit of hardship.

"How's it going?" she calls, when Katara takes a break long enough to spot her. Katara's not the only one feeling a curious emptiness at the back of her mind, and Mulan probably isn't the only one who could use a friend right about now.

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Katara paused, turning to see who addressed her and grinned. She had found a friend in Mulan since the last time they'd meditated together, and Katara was more than happy to have peroplwe she could count on. She didn't mind the interruption at all.

"A little better," she said, smiling. "I had a bit of a sickness the last few days, so I'm trying to make up for lost time. I'm sure that Arha would approve. Um, do you mind the weather too much? I can change it if you like, so it suits you."

[sent-herself.livejournal.com]

"I'm fine." A conical straw hat appears on her head, and Mulan tilts it back to peer at Katara with a small smile. It is GOOD to have a friend, no matter how many other things might not be so great. "I'm glad you're feeling better. I'm sorry I didn't know, or I would have come to keep you company."

[theregularguy.livejournal.com]

Deserts did not a happy Sokka make. He grimaced, looking out over the dry sands. He hated places like this. Too hot, too dry, too much sand. He sat back against a dune, watching Katara for a short while, his sunglasses firmly perched on his nose to keep the simulated sun out of his eyes.

"You're getting better."

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Katara didn't bother to look around, since it was pretty clear who was here watching her. Since it was in the desert, she was sure he was wearing those crazy glasses too. She was glad he was here though: she had an idea after getting lost in that chaotic Library ordeal that Sokka wasn't a fan of that desert. When it got down to it, she wasn't either, but training was training.

"I better, with all of the training I missed," Katara said, turning to see her brother. Yep, totally wearing the glasses. "And you've been keeping up on your sword training too, right?"

[theregularguy.livejournal.com]

"Of course! I need to get Zuko to spar with me still, though. He has those double broadswords after all." He flopped back into the sand. He was already sweating like crazy and he'd only been here a few minutes. Darn deserts. He wiped a hand across his forehead.

"It's way too hot here. And why would you even want to come back to this place, anyway?" His voice was a little incredulous. After their ordeal, the desert was the last place he would have picked in the Sensoriums.