trans_9 | Dodging the Bullet

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Dodging the Bullet

Those who had decided not to undergo the rituals were given the option of staying near the observation deck, or in the small settlement near the edge of the trees.

The buildings of the settlement were made of the same stone as the wall, complete with the tribal markings, and people filled the streets, mostly consisting of those waiting for friends. Several more Moai could be seen, oftentimes around groups of Rapa Nui, dwarfing them in size. There were many more Rapa Nui scampering through the crowds, fixing things up here and there, or cleaning messes.

[Go forth and socialize!]

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Suns are still novel to Goliath, and he has opted to continue to visit this new world, rather than return to the observation deck for what would only be construed as brooding. The designs of the alien architecture, and the aliens themselves, give him recollections of the single extraterrestrial he met in his lifetime on Earth - though that individual was much taller than any of the natives he has seen so far. It is possible there is a relation, and he is interested enough in understanding a little more about these people.

Suns are very bright, though, and he walks with his wings upraised to shade his eyes, careful as he walks to watch for the small creatures lest one find itself in the wrong place when he takes a step.

Sho wandered around for a bit, depressed from being rejected in the first ritual. He sat down on a smooth rock and dug a little hole in the ground with his toe. Sho wondered why he had not passed. He thought his soul was harmonious. He had seen so many others pass, people who seemed far less harmonious than he.

A thought sprang up in Sho's mind, and he began to think about the Guyver, and if it had anything to do with the trial. It was a part of him, but also living organism. Did it have a soul as well? Perhaps a soul that craved destruction. If only he knew for sure.

Sonic sat perched on a tree, relaxing after the test. Unlike the few that did fail, he didn't seem too bothered by his failure. Things happened for a reason and apparently his views on "harmony" and "peace" didn't match up with theirs.

Their loss.

"Sir Sonic, aren't you disturbed by your loss?" Caliburn asked, resting nearby.

"Me? Nah. Can't always be the hero." Sonic said, blowing it off.

Allenby hadn't tried the judgment ritual.

Oh, she'd watched it. Chanting and a lightshow and the official-looking priest guy saying the guy's was qualified to go in. And that had been all she'd needed to see. Allenby had never thought particuarly deeply on spiritual matters; she had vague memories of going to church once upon a time and figured she was probably Lutheran, but that was about it. It wasn't the religion stuff that bugged her. Hell, the marriage thing didn't even bug her, that was obviously just a ritual thing and she could've probably found someone just to say the words and arm-wrestle or something after.

But when Domalai had said that his spirit had been judged to be harmonious... pretty obvious to Allenby that they'd done some kind of telepathic thing there. She shuddered. No way was she going to subject herself to that. Bad enough that the damn ship had woken her up by pretending to be her mom--and then learning that a good chunk of the crew thought it was perfectly fine to walk into a room that gave Stacy even freer reign inside their heads. Getting away from all that had been one of the things Allenby had most looked forward to on this planet.

She wasn't letting some alien guy who looked like a statue peek into her brain to decide if she was harmonious. (Which, she knew, she probably wasn't.) ...The other guys on the crew could probably handle the artifact gathering. Wasn't as if diplomacy was Allenby's specialty anyhow. It wasn't a problem to be solved with fists.

She hoped she could be more useful on the next planet. In the meantime, she hopped around the village, taking a seat atop one of the stone buildings and looking around for a good place to start exploring.

Alex had not been surprised that he had not been judged as being harmonious. His mind was almost always chaos.

His mind was still apparently in a storm as he wandered the village looking rather glum. Billy and Ronnae made it in. He had meant to be there to support them, but he couldn't manage even that.

All the happy couples didn't do much to help his mood either. He couldn't get his mind off Luna, and even Alice a little bit. He just wished he had one of his usual companions. Even though it was totally different, he wouldn't even mind at least Tavros. At least then he wouldn't feel so alone.

Nura hadn't even tried the ceremony. She was married already, thank you very much, and since Ben hadn't gone in, she needed to stay outside where she could keep an eye on him, not to mention Devlin, who had looked so frightened by the idea of marriage that he'd been as white as a bed sheet. Certainly, Querl was still here as well. Somewhere, deep down, it bothered her that he hadn't pushed or made much of an interest in her deciding to not attend the ceremony. But I'm just being paranoid, she told herself, as she walked along the small settlement.

She felt better for deciding to wear her sneakers this time, as it felt better for her feet. Not to mention, the shorts and tight top did enough for keeping her cool. Her high-up ponytail bobbed like a pendant as she walked, quite possibly one of the only white-haired heads in the area. She took note of the other people and creatures, stopping to say "hello" or wave in some form of greeting. Whether or not they were returned, she didn't pay much attention. Only continued ahead. Lost in her thoughts.

Danny whooped as he soared through the air. Sure, he had the Sensoriums and the City to fly in, but nothing quite beat the sensation of stretching his legs outside.

"Hey, dude. What's with the long face," He asked, after he'd reached the ground.

She skipped out of the judgment ritual. People already knew enough about her head. Forget that.

Eva remembers her pal from adventures o the Island of Misfit Toys. He looks as if he could use some cheering up. "No computers around here, chico. Everything alright?"

Semi-transparent human(oid) flying.

Alex probably would be a little more terrified a few months ago. This time he only jumped back a little bit, more at the sudden company than the fact that this boy appeared to be a ghost. It was better than running, right?

"O-oh," he breathed, "J-just... it's o-odd, with a-all these couples around."

He looks up at Eva and flashes a mildly forced smile. "J-just feeling a b-bit left out's all, I guess."

"Oh, see, I just didn't want people to hear my singing voice," she says with a smirk. A total lie, given how often she can be found singing to herself in public. "I wouldn't take it personally."

Hikari hadn't even thought about starting the ritual. Sorry, but she was way too young to even think about marriage, especially since her boyfriend was even younger than she was.

Tailmon had a smug look on her face though. "To think, I was wondering if I was going to have to drag you out of there against your will."

Hikari sighed. "You really thought I'd want to get married to Devlin when we haven't been dating long?"

Tailmon shrugged. "Lots of girl's your age go 'Oh wow, I can't wait to have a husband' how was I supposed to tell?"

Hikari just sighed, leaning back against a wall and closing her eyes.

This seemed to be something a little awkward for most people, something they could maybe laugh about, something they would think about later. For Katara, after seeing everything and knowing what it meant, wanted nothing. She didn't even know what she was going to think right now. She had promised Ronnae she'd stay around, even told Billy that, but the more she thought about it she felt sick to her stomach. She was cut off: her family didn't really talk to her and she didn't know what to say anymore. What could she do? Who could she turn to?

Hello, Kara. Here is Nura coming up behind you with cookies and a sympathetic smile. "Hey little sis. Something on your mind?" She put her hand on Katara's shoulder gently.

She turned to Nura quietly, trying to match the smile that just couldn't reach her eyes. Matt was beside himself and she had NO IDEA what Aang was thinking....all because of her. She took the hand and dropped it away lightly.

"It doesn't matter," Katara said. "I don't need to be consoled. I'm all right."

"Because I like you, and know you are having a rough time, I won't knock off points for lying to me." Nura put her hands on her hips, sighing. It was a very bad thing when the happy and bright Katara rejected a helping hand. The older woman could see it in the younger woman's face. "C'mon, Katara...you can trust me. It's obvious that you are in a Downer Girl mood and need some form of communication over your feelings." Dear gods of Naltor, she was starting to sound like her mother...even though there was obvious warmth and care in her tone compared to her mother's icy, rigid tilt.

"Th-that too," Alex always avoided singing in public, even though he really did enjoy it too- the singing, not the singing in public.

"Th-there's j-just so many c-couples around here."

Katara was quiet a moment. She respected Nura, loved her even: and at the same time, she realized how much better Nura would understand this. Billy had been kind, trying to salvage her pain, but Nura, she'd waited for Querl, hadn't she? Nura would at least blame her, tell her exactly how horrible it had been, what she'd done.

"Aang is back," she said softly. "I ran, because I knew they would tell him, the people from my world. I knew they would and I didn't know what to do. Matt knows, and he's racking his brain, and Aang knows and he's somewhere trying t0 understand how I could do this to him."

She shook her head. "I'm hurting them both."

Oh. Oh dear. Nura reached up her palm to slick back her hair, and the bangs against her forehead. "All right...let's take this one at a time, Katara. First: it isn't your fault. Second: boys will be boys, and let's get that cliche out of the way. Third: let's go find someplace to sit down and talk, where we aren't possible being overheard..." She glanced around, suspicious.

You never knew on Stacy...

She put her hand on Katara's back and guided the girl further out, through the settlement.

"Yeah, but how many of them want to be couples? That's the big question. I'm betting the divorce rate's in the 90's around here."

"You've got that kicked puppy face again," Eva says, coming and taking a seat next to Katara. "I take it things aren't going well?"

She couldn't help but think this was crazy, but she understood. They'd seen her, how she was, what sh went through. Katara knew, well enough, that Aang had been through much, weathered through so many things, and that this would hurt him more than anything. She knew that Stacy was cruel, that she exacted revenge when she saw fit. And she knew Matt was wondering what would happen, that he might let go of her.

And it was possible he might hate her. She had to prepare for that.

She walked with Nura, away, not caring anymore. What did these people matter?

"They've...been better," she said quietly. "Sorry you have to keep seeing me like this."

"Hey, I'm not the one in pain. Do you want to talk about it or do the classic bottle-it-up routine?" she asks gently. Eva's a pretty big fan of the latter.

Katara shook her head. "I dunno, I figure you have better things to do than listen to some teenager;s story, right?"

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Dodging the Bullet

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