pslplz | Winter Is Coming

Sokka grinned, anticipating something really impressive.

"Hey, I know what you're capable of," he said.

Ouka, who could recognize that they were taking this impressively far, crossed her arms.

"If you're trying to scare us off--"

"I am really not," Sokka interrupted her. "Just... go wild already, okay?" He raised an arm, then dropped it, like he was starting a race.

"And don't make me regret the 'wild' part..."

"Heh heh," Toph chuckles quietly, in a way that must sound very menacing if you happened to be a piece of metal.

She takes a few more steps and feels her toe bump up against something hard. She pulls off her glove and stretches her out her hand, but all she feels is--

"Hey, Sokka... Where's the entrance to it?"

Because she knows what she's feeling right now is just ice, and from the feel of it, it goes up a ways.

"Give me a minute," Omi says. He scans the exterior, then steps forward and raises both his arms. From the mass of ice supporting the ship, two ridges about three feet apart rise and refreeze, spanning from the ground up to a hole in the ship's side. He then bends a makeshift staircase in the space between. It isn't his prettiest work, but it will do. It's more important that the steps are consistent.

"Try that. The stairs are just to your right-- there's a railing on either side."

Toph fumbles a bit with her hand still out until she finds the railing. It's only a moment longer to find the stairs themselves. She feels her way up the first, then the second. Then she smiles.

"Thanks, this will work nicely. Ouka, follow me please."

She huffs and she puffs, but this has been going on long enough that something had better happen. And she does want the best seats...

Probably an upside of being blind is that you can't see the look on people's faces as you talk to them, and so it's harder to doubt yourself. Ouka has to always just double down, push forward, and damn the consequences. So she follows.

Below, Sokka lowers his voice-- enough to foil Ouka, but not Toph.

"She's not going to do anything permanent to your fiancee," Sokka whispered to his friend.

For Omi, reassurance; for Toph... the most gentle of reminders!

Toph knows Ouka must be following because she can hear the crunch of snow and ice crystals behind her, the scrape of another mitten on the railing that Omi helpfully added.

She also hears Sokka's reassurance, and Omi's response which, from the sound of it, seems like Sokka's words may have had the opposite intended effect.

"That doesn't make me feel better." Well.

"Hey," Toph says loudly enough for the boys to hear. "Relax, will you? We're just going up to have a chat. Girl talk. You boys can join in a minute."

Ship-trashing will happen and in good time, but first things first: Real Talk with the judgy girl, because you don't talk that way about Toph's friends. Especially not Sokka.

Why do the words 'girl talk' will Sokka with existential dread?

Not so Ouka. She does sense something is not right, but can't begin to put the feeling to rights.

"We can talk about whatever you want," she said, her words filtered through a pout. There wasn't even anything worth pouting about, except that she had no idea what was going to happen, now.

"I know we can. That's the nice part about both of us being the completely honest type." Toph feels the texture under her boots change into something less slick and knows they've made it to the ship. Finally!

Placing her bare hand on the side, she pauses there and spends a few seconds in silence.

"It's fine in this room, but we're not going to go wandering any further. There are a few booby traps I need to take care of first. Step on in."

That's just a good guess, right? The obvious conclusion, of course the enemy ship is booby-trapped; she remembers Katara's and Sokka's stories.

"So what do you want me to be honest about?" she asks. This is not the expected turn, and wasn't Toph supposed to be the one proving things...?

Once she's on sweet, solid metal, Toph yanks off her shoes and MAN that floor is cold but she refuses to put her boots back on already. Looking, looking-- aha.

"First off, let's get rid of this draft."

She runs to the weapons mount on the wall and peels the six-foot square off the wall like it's an old poster. A spin and violent shove, and the slab flies across the room to patch the entrance, denting the frame around it with its overlap.

Does she have your attention now?

Winter Is Coming

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject