trans_9 | Winter Wonderland: Southern Tribe Style

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alex furest

Winter Wonderland: Southern Tribe Style

She thought it would be impossible at first: the idea of keeping the area around the Outsider's hotel that cold, and keeping snow on the ground with just the use of water? It sounded crazy, and Katara had been wondered if she was skilled enough to do it. It was why she and Sokka hadn't had their Southern Water Tribe thing: it would have just been re-imagined in the Sensorium, and in a way that was almost cheating. The real experience, ice cold water and all, needed to be had, and there were certainly enough people on Trans 9 who could have used a little playtime.

That was, of course, before she had time to think. In time, she was beginning to see that where she had failed was really in her own confidence level: she could see her limitations, and didn't go further than what she could do. The longer she did that though, was more time she realized she had to be trained in other ways, if water wasn't available. It was hard to think about, but she had to be ruthless in her ability to be able to take down a person if she needed. This kind of fighting, though, felt much like murder. So after the Yeerk incident, she made a promise to never raise a hand against a person in that way, like her anger towards Jet or Zuko in the past. To do that would edge closer to that place, and she needed to remember the true goal: standing against the Ohm.

That said, she learned a great deal of other things, like how to super extend her breath, how to manipulate her body much more than she had before, and how to strengthen your feel of "wave" so much your arms were hardly ever tired. Now she found that this was possible, all that was needed was the water. With Stacey's approval, this happened.

And so Katara got to work, bobbing and weaving, guiding the water to solid water, using force to create that into powdered snow. It was work that would have severely diminished her in the past, but now it was simply a joy to be bending again, to have her element all around her instead of just contained in a small pouch, and she let loose. The snow was an interesting sensation, it was like shaping ice and then shaking it between her fingers: it littered the ground all around the Outsider's backspace, and she was glad that they had that backspace to begin with. She figured that once this was over, the water would bee used for the sauna, so she figured one last bit of fun would be a good thing.

"Okay!" She said after awhile, looking around her. "Now hopefully people will come!"

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Katara was getting entirely too canny towards the Overlord's psychology than Zetta would appreciate, if he were at all aware of the fact.

"It's not like anything I've ever seen before," Zetta said frankly. "Who's that in the drawing?"

She smiled. "My brother: I think you missed him, but he was a fun guy. Funny, a little annoying, but overall one of the best brothers anyone could ever have. I miss him a little more since they repodded him, but luckily for me, there are still people looking after his little sister."

She counted Overlord Zetta in that too, even if she wouldn't ever say it.

"Nope, never met him. I would've remembered."

He frowned at the picture a moment longer. "But hey, he's at least in the pods, right? My brothers are dead for sure."

He said that utterly casually, the way he might have said his towels are dirty.

"I thought he left before you arrived anyway," Katara said, looking a little sad, "I wish he was here, but at least I know he's safe and waiting in the pods. It's a shame though: Sokka is really smart, and would have helped with fighting the Ohm."

Katara looked shocked at the Overlord's revelation though. "That;s awful! How did it happen?"

"They were in my Netherworld when it was destroyed," Zetta said, simply. "They'll come back, when my Netherworld does. Heh, it's not all that different from them being in the pods, except they can't show up and annoy me someday!"

"Oh," Katara said, brightening at least at they possibility that Zetta would have his brothers back, although she could only imagine what Zetta's family was like. That would be pretty interesting.

"Are they anything like you? I think that might be pretty funny."

"Hyaaa ha ha! The great Overlord Zetta is unique!" After the expected show of pride and smugness, the Overlord delivered the actual answer to the question. "My younger brother was a scientist, always messing with mechs and battleships and stuff. My kid brother was a mage-type. Nothing like me at all."

"Trust me, I believe that," Katara said jokingly. "And they were all demons? I think I'd like to see them, actually. I mean, did you guys get along and all, or were they jealous of you being the Overlord of everything?"

"Uh... yeah, we were all demons." Was Katara's brother not human? What a weird question. "We... Eh, we were all right. They hung out in my Netherworld, they didn't want their own. They were fine just doing their own things. Came in handy, though. I'm actually a little sorry they're gone."

After a moment, the book fixed Katara with a stern look. "If you ever meet them, don't tell them that."

"Sorry for that," Katara said, laughing. "To be honest, I can't imagine you having brothers that aren't laughing about how awesome they are. I should still think of them as different people, just like me and my brother. If you ever met him, you'd know how different we are."

She giggled. "I won't, I promise!"

"See, there's the thing. When you're a spellcaster, you're laughing at how awesome your spells are. When you're a scientist, you're laughing at how awesome your technology is. But those are just tools. When you're Zetta, you don't need bombs and mecha and nukes to be awesome! The awesome is in the blood and muscle!"

Katara shook her head, but could pretty much agree with that logic. If Zetta was that good, he really wouldn't need to laugh at those specific things.

"Did you ever get into fights with any of them, or are they under your thumb too, now that you're an overlord?"

"Are you kidding? We fought all the time!" The book looked distinctly disgusted now. "That's the thing about family, even if you become the most badass freakin' Overlord in the cosmos, they still never forget when you tried to wrestle lave into submission thirty-four thousand years ago."

Katara did burst out laughing here. "Oh trust me, I know what THAT'S like. Me and brother are totally like that! Don't get me wrong, the situations are bound to be dissimilar, but we used to argue all the time even though we're both accomplished fighters. But that's what good about family: they always have you back."

"My family never had my back!" Zetta huffed. "What kind of an Overlord would I be if my kid brothers showed up to save my ass every time I was in trouble?!"

She laughed here. "I don't mean like that, although I guess that would be nice! No, I mean they would support you and stuff, they'd be all proud their brother owns practically everything. Even if I didn't agree with how my brother did that, I'd be awed he did in the first place, you know?"

"Ha, I don't think you'd let anyone you knew get supreme power some way you didn't approve," Zetta said. "You'd kick their ass before they could start doing anything evil."

"At that point I think I'd have to," Katara said, but then looked a little glum. "Although when my brother was here, it was me that he thought was changing. If he were to wake up now, he probably wouldn't change his mind about that either, especially if I told him about Matt."

"Why's that?" Zetta asked, secretly eager for gossip.

"Because before I was here, there was someone I loved, still love. His name is Aang, and he's the Avatar, the reincarnation of past lives sworn to protect the people in my world. He can bend all four of the elements, and in my time, he's the reason I'm a master waterbender and how my world was saved. I could go on about Aang and how amazing he was...in fact, he was here on the ship, trying to mobilize everyone. But it seemed like every time he arrived it was only for a little while, and even then I never really got to see and be with him. Then Stacy repodded him and made us forget, then brought him back and repodded him, again."

She swallowed. "I...waited for him, more than a year to come out. I cried, but I knew he was here, knew that there would be a way he would be freed, that he would come and I would end all of the pain held been through, try to help him. But after all of that, I just kept losing him again, and it nearly killed me inside. If Sokka were to come here now, he'd know about Matt and he'd think I was betraying Aang."

And she lowered her head. "I know it isn't something you would really understand: what does love matter to an Overlord? But for someone like me, Aang had been everything to me, and the last thing I'd want to do is hurt him. But the more time passed here, I realized that Matt liked me, and I could have a chance to be happy, if only until Stacy gets us killed or throws the Ohm at us. All of that waiting and crying and being in pain, it looks brave on the outside, but it was the worse time I've ever had on the ship. Nobody knows about it, not even Billy and I tell him everything. I figure I can tell you because you'll at least give me the least biased opinion out of everyone."

Zetta listened to all of this impassively, which was fairly easy when one was a book, and when one had no pupils or irises to betray eye motion. He listened intently enough, though, that at the end, when Katara actually asked for his opinion, in not so many words, it took him a moment to realize it.

First, the inevitable bluster: "Of-of course not! Demons don't do love, especially Overlords! And especially not me! All I love is myself and my power!"

Then, after a few moments of mild preening and careful watching to make sure she understood all that, the real answer. "But look -- a year's a long time for you, isn't it? I can't keep track, but I know you humans live really short lives, and you're a pretty young one. A-Anyway, the point is, you can't live in the past. That's just stupid. The past is the past, you're living in the present.

"All that stuff you hear about soulmates, it's crap. There's nothing that binds souls together naturally. People make those ties. So it's not like there's only ever one person in life who's ever right for you and perfect and who you can love. There's a bunch of people who you could probably manage it with if you tried.

"This guy of yours?" The hell kind of a name was Aang, that was stupid. "I guess he loved you too? If he really did, he wouldn't want you to be miserable, he'd want you to be happy."

She laughed a little here. "That's kind of what I thought you'd say. Besides, I don't exactly know how demons fall in love or anything, or even if its possible."

She looked down a little. "I really loved Aang, and I still do: he showed me it was possible to love the world even though all of his people were killed, and that there were so many beautiful things about the world. But I care a lot about Matt too: he was here for me when I lost Sokka, he's always had a way of making me feel good about things, and he has this wonderful voice..."

She flushed here, then looked at him. "The thing is, I know my brother will never understand it, with all we went through. But I think that you're right, Aang wouldn't want me to be unhappy. It's just...with all that we as a group went through, and how I changed when I arrived on the ship, I think my brother felt like he was losing me, and that's my fault."

She took a breath. "But I am happy with Matt, for however long it lasts before something crazy happens."

"Your brother hasn't lived your life, and he's not gonna start," Zetta said, pointedly ignoring the Matt-is-great part of all that. "Same damn deal. Whether he approves or understands, the thing that ought to matter to him is your happiness. You loved someone. You still love him. That doesn't mean you're chained to him for the rest of your life.

"Besides, if your first boyfriend comes back, you can always just start a harem." Yes, he's deadly serious. No, that wasn't really helpful, was it.

"I know he hasn't, and any of my teachers would probably tell me that I should be looking out for the things I want. But I'm not like that, especially when it comes to my family and Aang. For awhile, that was what they were to me, and he will always be special to me. Wherever Sokka is, I hope he'll understand."

Harem?

"What's a Harem?"

"Multiple lovers?" Zetta intoned it as a question, as if he couldn't possibly understand how this concept was foreign to anyone from any world. "I mean, why limit yourself to one of them?"

Re: Outside the Hotel (even if... not... anymore)

Re: Outside the Hotel (even if... not... anymore)

Re: Outside the Hotel (even if... not... anymore)

Re: Outside the Hotel (even if... not... anymore)

...it's like we summoned him by mentioning him! We rock!

Re: ...it's like we summoned him by mentioning him! We rock!

Re: ...it's like we summoned him by mentioning him! We rock!

Re: ...it's like we summoned him by mentioning him! We rock!

Re: ...it's like we summoned him by mentioning him! We rock!

Re: ...it's like we summoned him by mentioning him! We rock!

Re: ...it's like we summoned him by mentioning him! We rock!

Re: ...it's like we summoned him by mentioning him! We rock!

Re: ...it's like we summoned him by mentioning him! We rock!

Re: ...it's like we summoned him by mentioning him! We rock!

Re: ...it's like we summoned him by mentioning him! We rock!

Re: ...it's like we summoned him by mentioning him! We rock!

Re: ...it's like we summoned him by mentioning him! We rock!

Re: ...it's like we summoned him by mentioning him! We rock!

Re: ...it's like we summoned him by mentioning him! We rock!

Re: ...it's like we summoned him by mentioning him! We rock!

Re: ...it's like we summoned him by mentioning him! We rock!

Re: ...it's like we summoned him by mentioning him! We rock!

Re: ...it's like we summoned him by mentioning him! We rock!

Re: ...it's like we summoned him by mentioning him! We rock!

Re: ...it's like we summoned him by mentioning him! We rock!