trans_9 | One more reason to keep on going

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One more reason to keep on going

Irma was gone. Matt was gone. Just about everyone from their universe seemed to have been podded, and Kaya decided, in the wake of this, that she should still make sure the classrooms were kept clean. The place she was staying, Will's room with all of the gymnastics, had been clean after Kaya ad attempted a fairly rigorous workout. She had made sure that Matt's wares were stocked, the common room swept and cleaned, so that when the other came around, they would have a nice place to sit and talk.

First there was Cornelia's room, with all of its earth nation goodness and flowers, making sure that the architecture was carefully polished and everything watered so nothing was neglected. She couldn't help passing by this room and thinking of Toph.

Then she moved onto Hay Lin's room, which never failed to remind her of Aang with all of its wind implements, very much something an airbender would have loved: she would have to make sure to tell both Aang and Nima about it if they had the chance to visit. It always seemed so big and grand and open to her, as she thought the element air should anyhow.

Tarnee's room, while once making her wary with its affiliation for fire, was gotten over once you stepped inside: it was kept in balance with all of the books and the globes that were a representation of energy everywhere. She always loved coming here to expand her mind a bit, and it was a perfect reflection of an intellectual girl Kaya never had the pleasure of meeting.

And then, of course, there was Irma's room. She knew there was an obvious bias here, stepping into the room that reflected her best, with all of its watery element and the ability to swim in and out of the water that surrounded the room. She was cleaning here a little, and then could not help herself: she discarded her clothing, wrapped only in her underclothes and jumped in, allowing the underwater environment to envelop her. Perhaps her favorite thing about this place was how she could still breathe underwater.

She was so entranced, she did not notice anyone coming in.

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"I am inclined to agree, Kaya. For a place such as this it would take one who can properly display the effortless grace the room invokes. You do it well."

As soon as those words were spoken, he dropped his arms along his side to cut down on wind resistance and sped after her.

Nokosi rose up to the ceiling and dived back down after her. He curled his body just short of the floor and coasted along the mist that hovered there. Long fingers stretched out and skimmed through the small, puffy-looking clouds before he watched it dissipate into nothingness, a smile akin to child-like awe stretching on his lips.

The elf rose his head in her direction again and used a relatively hard kick against the floor to send him whirling after her, arm slowly reaching out in an attempt to get a hold of some part--any part of her.

Kaya had certainly not expected the compliment, and despite her best intentions, a small smile shone through, herself a little off guard. "Thank you Nokosi I know you wouldn't say something like that without meaning it."

And he was already learning exactly what he needed to do in order to catch Kaya, who was already trying to get away. As it turned out however, what he was able to grab was just enough of her loose flowing clothing that she was back in her white bandages, still out of his grip but now missing most of her clothes.

She could have been embarrassed, but instead was smiling. Somehow, with Nokosi, she felt brazen, playful. "Not quite!" She said, rising a little higher.

"Tricky!" He called to her, folding the cloth into a sloppy square and tossing it down to his companion.

Fontaine was quick on the uptake and ran into the room just far enough to let the cloth flutter down and land on his head. The wolf quickly backtracked, his eyes narrowing into wary slits when the air threatened to lift him off his paws.

It seemed he was going to have to change gears, which was fine enough with him. Instead of trailing along behind her he was going to have to either cut her off or corner her. Both seemed like a good solution and with that in mind he flew off to the side and over towards the wall. He would have to wait for her to make the return trip and when she did that was when he would pounce.

Kaya laughed, moving a little farther away, but finding, now that he had the ability to do something like that, staying away from him was going to require a bit more effort on her part. She could definitely already see he was catching up, and though Kaya was from from being a girl who lost easily, she genuinely wanted to win.

She moved to the other direction, not keeping in mind that instead of trying to cut her off he was going to let her do all the work. Moving with the air currents was hard enough: getting away when you were taking too many strides was another matter altogether.

Before she could quite stop herself, she was headed in his direction.

A wicked grin stretched on his lilac face as his plan steadily unfolded before his eyes.

Even then he held still. He was going to make sure she didn't have ample room to dodge or twist out of the way when he went for her.

Only a little longer...a bit more...and there!

Nokosi pushed off the wall and shot towards her, his arms pinned down to his side as he quickly closed the distance. He narrowed his eyes against the rush of the wind, though the coldness of it served to bring further color to his face.

When he was nearing in close to his target, he held up his arms to catch her. Even if it didn't work, he now knew that he'd only have to alter the plan little by little until it did work.

Kaya was definitely going too quickly and had been in too much of a rush to stop what she was doing. Even as she saw Nokosi coming near, she tried to change direction, only just then realizing what a mistake that was. It was almost impossible to do something like that on the fly, and it made her a sitting duck now, even as she struggled to break loose.

"Darn it!"

He stopped just short of colliding with her full force and coiled an arm around her midsection, turning it into nothing more than a bit of a jostle.

His hair was a bit worse for the wear; strands here and there jutted out of what had once been a very neatly made ponytail. The energizing feel of adrenaline from the chase still pumped through his body despite the conclusion to the game, though his breathing was steadily slowing down now.

One corner of his mouth rose to form a lopsided smile when he finally turned his sights down to the smaller woman in his grasp.

"You have been caught," he said in teasing.

Yup, there was definitely no way of escaping at this point. Kaya was grabbed by Nokosi and she, despite herself, let out a little squeal, giggling like a child. She hadn't had fun like this in a long time, and even if she did lose, it had been worth all the trouble.

Meeting his gaze, she did get a look at how unkempt he looked, how the muscle in his neck moved as he started to catch his breath, and felt her own heart beating a little faster. She exhaled, smiling a little herself.

"You won't be...so lucky next time," she wheezed, than laughed again. "You look half crazy with your hair like that. I like it!"

Her laughter only served to widen his grin and the jovial nature of it caused his large ears to wobble slightly. It was a pleasing sound.

"Are you sure? Luck is one of my strong suits, you know."

His eyes rolled up when she mentioned his hair and her ran his fingers through the mess in a futile attempt to tame it. "Personally i prefer the look that is filled with leaves and such. It adds color."

After another moment he just abandoned any hope of it becoming even halfway decent without a brush and so, looked back down to catch a glimpse of her in her own disheveled state.

Nokosi lowered his head slightly but paused midway, eyebrows furrowed in thought.

He wasn't with Ronnae or Nehaa or Eli and despite his time in the cities, the display of what was 'suitable affection' to show a friend varied from person to person (and race to race to some extent). If he were back on Azeroth, he didn't think he would have thought twice about it at all, fireballs to the face aside.

So followed the path of what he did in a situation with an unclear outcome. He just followed his instincts.

Nokosi smoothed a few strands of hair from her face and pressed a rather chaste kiss to both her forehead and her cheek before regarding her with his usual cheery smile.

"That was fun! Even more so than the last room. Thank you!"

"And stubbornness is one of mine!" Kaya replied, quietly marveling the ears. She had never mentioned it to Ronnae, but she was actually very curious about the ears of elves, but even she wouldn't be so presumptuous as to touch without asking.

"Actually, I think I wouldn't mind seeing you with leaves in your hair," she added. "It looks.."

Then came the last thing she was expecting was the touch to her hair, and even less so was she expecting the kiss to her forehead and cheek. Even that she would have been able to deal, but then that smile accompanied it, and Kaya had to actually swallow.

She knew perfectly well that Nokosi had no idea what he was doing: to him it was another show of affection, and she made sure to fix a smile to her face, despite how fast her heart was beating.

"I told you you'd like it!" Kaya managed to blurt out, regaining composure. "And we;re not even over yet!"

Either he didn't seem to notice her small drop of composure or he thought nothing about it because he didn't mention it at all.

Even her sudden burst of words didn't come off as odd or out of place to his ears. With a nod of agreement he craned his head to look at Fontaine far below him, if only to check up on his companion.

"I am excited about that! Let us see...we have fire last, do we not? Let us go then," he said, loosening his grip on her. Already his mind was conjuring up all kind of strange creatures and dangerous locales that were associated with 'fire'.

Kaya thought it was best to not think much of it, actually: it was Nokosi, and something like this likely just went over his head. There was little point in thinking anything more about it. It would do HER a world of good not to think about it either, actually.

Besides, there was still this room to show him. Tarnee's room (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v102/elpedrososama/w90-16.jpg) was, after all, quite different from the other rooms. While they certainly stressed their element, and Tarnee's did just that on one end, on another it was plain to see who was the brains of the team. Sure, there were several volcanoes and the overall color was indicative of the element, but the books were also more of a testament to Tarnee's brilliance.

"What do you think?"

An eyebrow furrowed and his lips scrunched up as he scanned over the room with a discerning eye. It wasn't at all what he was picturing, but now that he saw the books, crafts and other things stacked on the shelves he thought he understood the link between that and the element of fire.

"I was under the impression that it would be more indicative in the literal sense of 'fire' but I do not think I am disappointed."

The small volcanoes that puffed out little balls of smoke surely caught his attention but instead he went over to one of the towering bookcases to look at the pottery, paints, beakers, books and other objects there.

"'Fire in one's heart and soul' refers to passion in the Human tongue, does it not? In such a case I think that this room is very fitting."

"I know, it throws you off when you first go in, doesn't it?" Kaya said, laughing. "You think you're going to be surrounded by fire and all, and here's this place with color and lots of books. It totally throws you off! But I've actually come to really like this place recently. There's so much to read about here!"

She smiled. "And I'm glad you figured it out so quickly. It took me a few visits to realize this was the true reason this embodied the nature of inner fire."

"To me, passion is one of the things that stand out most about someone. The drive, the dedication and heartfelt actions and words. Unlike happiness, sadness and a slew of other emotions, it is one that is very hard to fake. That level of pure honesty and feeling is why it is my favorite to both view and feel."

It was actually a bit funny to him that this was the room that invoked that. It had so many books and his quest to learn to read most definitely wasn't something he was passionate about. Sure, he could have access to as many stories as he wanted to, but there was something so much more infinitely pleasing about hearing the story told by someone, even if it wasn't first hand.

"Do you come here often to read, write and participate in the arts?"

The more she heard this from Nokosi, the more she began to understand why he was the way he was. He had, after all, been by with animals, so if there were anything that she thought he would value, it would be someone who was strong at heart, and that actually meant quite a lot to her.

"You have this way of having the best reasons for things," Kaya said, smiling in spite of herself. "It makes me think you are definitely one of the most sensible people I've ever met."

She sighed. "Not as much as I should, really. Mostly I tend to go to the media library for my information. Since I've started living here I've come here more often though."

Sensible? Yes, he supposed he was very sensible, despite the 'head in the clouds' mentality it seemed he portrayed.

Nokosi turned to look at Kaya, just the tiniest bit of surprise written on his face. "You have a way of complimenting me for the things that are uncommon to hear from the mouths of others. I thank you for that!"

He pressed a fist into the palm of his hand and bowed low to accompany the verbal gratitude.

"I have yet to visit the Media Library, though Ronnae tends to come back from there with many books. Would you tell me what most of the books in this room are about?"

Kaya smiled. "What can I say? I'm a very peculiar girl, and I've been through quite a lot of experiences here. I meet a lot of men who are complicated, and I can't blame them, but you are one of the first truly uncomplicated ones, despite how you live."

And strangely enough, she liked that. Well, in a way, he was both simple and able to carry on conversation about the most interesting things. It was nice.

That...was a good question.

"To be honest, I don't understand most of it, not without going to the media library to look it all up." She looked sheepish. "Science isn't exactly my forte."

He scrunched his nose up in displeasure. "All science, then? I am very good at taking things apart but not so much at putting them together." He was good at making traps, even complicated ones. He wouldn't have considered that a science, though.

"Still, I think using the portion of things in the room that require a bit of creativity or imagination might would be enjoyable." He poked one of the large vases on a shelf as he spoke, then leaned forward and pulled it down to peer inside it.

"Since you are from a small tribe, did you partake in the making of pottery, clothes and furniture?" He asked, voice echoing from his close distance to the mouth of the vase.

"I know what you mean," Kaya said dryly, thinking of all of the terms she was trying to decipher. She did not want to do Tarnee injustice by not trying to learn all of the terminology, but it was still difficult for her. "It's never been a strong point for me either."

She nodded. "I've been especially fascinated by the globes of energy, actually. I can see there's a lot Tarnee vested in this place. I want to make sure that I challenge myself in any way that I can, if I can manage."

Kaya nodded. "Yes, why do you ask?"

"No particular reason," he said, righting the vase. "The different ceramic items here reminded me of crafting things for my home in Ashenvale, and so I thought that I would like to know about your hobbies and skills."

Nokosi turned around and flashed her a rather childish grin. "We can go to the next place, now."

He was so excited for the astronomy area.

Kaya grinned. "My hobbies can be a little boring, actually. Sewing and training and cooking: I haven't made pottery in awhile I could probably manage it if I really tried though. Maybe I'll do that sometime: I do sort of miss it."

"Got it! The next room will be Will's, actually. After that, we can go to the other room, including the main library and the astronomy room."

He shook his head in disagreement, over-sized ears wobbling as he did. "There is nothing boring about those things for one unless they do not enjoy it. But I could use a few new bowls and the like. Perhaps we could do these crafts together, sometime? I enjoy spending time with you."

It was an honest question and remark; one he didn't think much of before speaking. There was never a way words could get misconstrued when you spoke simply and exactly what you meant (in his silly, silly mind). And he rather liked spending extra time; all his time with his friends.

"No I definitely enjoy doing those things I mentioned or I wouldn't do them," Kaya said, laughing lightly. "I just figured that they wouldn't sound as impressive as something else. But no, I wouldn't mind doing that with you at all. I do enjoy spending time with you too."

She figured, of course, that he meant that as simply having a friend there: as confusing as Kaya found most men, she found it was less the case with Nokosi, who was apt to say what he meant. Still, that didn't stop a flutter in her chest a little. It did make her happy too, being around him.

He shrugged his shoulders as he walked towards the door. "Perhaps to certain people. There are not many who know how much work or heart goes into creating such things. The same that would into something that is deemed an 'impressive' hobby."

Fontaine stood up and walked over to Nokosi then rubbed his head against the elf's shoulder. He responded in kind by scratching behind his giant ears. "It is like I mentioned before. You are very graceful and your ability with water bending has given you a very precise touch. I can imagine the things you craft with those hands are striking to behold."

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