Rebel // 38 [Accidental Voice]

[bullet_dance]

[ooc note: takes place after this log.]

[Early in the evening, Luceti will be able to hear what sounds like paper being torn and shredded followed by a brief glimpse of this face:]

Comments

[Action]

[markofthebrave]

[You didn't have to be the warrior Katara was to be able to sense the sense the coiling intent and edged evaluation coming from the swordsman when she stepped forward and Katara takes a moment to breathe. If it had been her, and some stranger had come to help Toph, she'd be watching them just as carefully - but she couldn't afford the distraction of his evaluation once she got to work, and she didn't care about his opinion - this was about Nami. And the sooner this was settled, the sooner she could get to work. If she had her way, she'd shoo them all out so that she could concentrate in silence, but she wants Chopper to be in there to monitor Nami's physical body while she works and she knows that getting Sanji to leave would be next to impossible - which is fine, she can work with people watching her, but not if she's going to be distracted by them, not for work like this.

So she shifts towards Zoro, her stance ready and relaxed and meets his gaze evenly.]

I know that you don't know me. And I only know your name, and that you're part of Nami's crew. But Nami's my friend. And I'm going to explain what I wouldn't on the bridge in front of everyone else, and then I'm going to help her. You can either trust that I'm going to do that, or you can try to stop me right now - because once I start to help her, I'm going to need to concentrate.

[Her gaze flickers from his to Sanji's when he enters the room, but her stance doesn't otherwise change. This needs to be settled now, as quickly as possible, so she can dismiss him along with everyone else and focus on Nami, and not have to worry about her instincts going off and distracting her. He's one of their crew - if he says he'll let her help, she'll believe him. If he tries to stop her, he's in for a hell of a fight.] Okay?

[Action]

[threeswordsoul]

[This isn't at all how he expected to get Chopper back again. But circumstances are what they are, so when their reindeer gathers close Zoro just rests a steady hand atop the soft pink hat and breaks off to glance down briefly.]

I know. [Good work.]

[When the girl addresses him he takes in both to her words and her body language. Calm. Up-front. Zero bullshit or blustering and a fighter's confidence in her stance. Ignoring the cook's re-entry, Zoro tilts his head a fraction to the side.]

Katara, huh. [His stare bores into her for the space of several more heartbeats. When she doesn't flinch, he deliberately shifts its weight off of her and back to Nami, drawing his intensity close into himself.] ...Stop wasting time, then.

[Action]

[tanukipoint]

[Zoro's assurance is more comforting than the swordsman could ever know. Chopper's ears twitch briefly, and he offers a hesitant look up at Katara. Part of him doesn't even want to know, but the rest of him - a much larger part in comparison - needs to know what that bastard did to his nakama.] You said...her mind was injured?

[Action]

[markofthebrave]

[Wasting time? She'd normally bristle and throw that right back at him - but she really didn't want to do exactly what he accused her of. And just like that, she flips the switch in her brain that is causing her to regard Zoro as a 'potential threat' to 'ally' and she dismisses him as she focuses on Chopper. She's never done, never felt anything like this before. She had to make him understand so that maybe he could help her help. And even if not, she needed him to understand what had happened - he was Nami's doctor.]

Do you remember the way that my healing works, with sensing chi paths? That can let me 'see' inside inside someone, and with Nami...

[How to explain...] Imagine that the chi pathways in her mind are like a cobblestone road. Each memory or thought is like the stones, and the road itself is what lets her have those memories and thoughts.

[Her calm falters for a moment and she grows intent, disturbed.] What I saw was like - a badgermole had gotten underneath the road and rooted around, overturning stones and making a den where it found things that looked interesting and - leaving this dark, disgusting slime behind it wherever it went.

[She glances quickly at Sanji.] The borders of the road are still intact. And that means that Nami's mind is still OK. Whatever did this... didn't care if it destroyed her, but she didn't let it. But what it left behind...

[She looks back at Chopper.] It's bad. I don't know what it is, but I know that it shouldn't be there, and I know that if it stays her mind will never be the same again. So that's what I'm going after.

[Action]

[oda_hates_me]

[Nice to see Zoro was as tactless as ever. Whatever, he grunts something under his breath and lets Chopper handle that angle, switching his focus to Katara. He stares at Nami while the girl speaks, expression grim but otherwise calm. He keeps his tension to himself.]

Will this effect you at all? [he doesn't say it with the intent to hold her back or hinder her decision, since at this point they have little choice regardless. But it never hurts to know the odds.]

[Action]

[markofthebrave]

[Katara blinks at him, as if the thought had never occurred to her - and it hadn't. And it didn't matter.]

It shouldn't. I don't need to touch it with myself - just with my bending. It's - almost like any other infection. Just made up of something different.

[...I hope.] That's why I asked you to boil the water. In my world, the kind of water you use can make a difference. So I thought maybe using water as pure as we can make it here would give me an edge - it's worth a try.

[Action]

[tanukipoint]

[Chopper winces at the explanation; it sounds messy, complicated, and painful. To be honest...unfixable. But he has to trust Katara with this. She's the only one who understands what's happening, and she's fully prepared to dive into it for Nami's sake.]

[His grip on Zoro's pant leg loosens as he takes a step forward. If this can be cured, he won't be standing on the sidelines - he's a doctor, first and foremost. Fears can go eat it.] Is there anything I can do?

[Action]

[markofthebrave]

[She nods.] I want you to sit on the other side and watch her. I'm going to be concentrating, and since I'm working with her chi there's a good chance I'll notice if something's wrong - but I'd feel better if you were watching too. This way you can let me know and give me enough time to pull out of it cleanly in case her body's too weak for this right now.

[And... she really has no idea what she's doing. She just knows that it needs to be done. That - whatever that was - shouldn't be allowed to stay inside Nami any longer than it already had. She's got her uncertainties clamped down, but she'll still feel better if someone's watching.] Any more questions? If not, if you think the water's boiled... we can get started.

[Action]

[oda_hates_me]

It should be done now. [Her answer was enough to satisfy him, so he wastes no more time with questions. It only takes a minute to return to the room with a pail of boiled water.

After setting it next to Katara, he takes a couple of steps back, prepared to silently observe]

[Action]

[markofthebrave]

[While Sanji left, Katara and Chopper made themselves as comfortable as they could with Nami stretched out pale between them. And when he returns, Katara spares him a quick smile.] Thanks, Sanji.

[Then she bends the still-boiling water out of the pail. Breathing out, she instinctively freezes it into a solid chunk. Then she separates what she needs from it, and returns the remaining ice to the pan - just in case it's needed again. The water coating her hands now is cool and fresh - she glances at Chopper and starts to move to take her seat.] Ready?

[Action] 1/2

[threeswordsoul]

[Zoro tenses and jerks off the wall automatically when the boiling water the girl is somehow manipulating snaps into ice, dropping an unthinking hand to a sword-logia-Aokiji-]

[Action]

[threeswordsoul]

[...but no, that's impossible. Not to mention neither Chopper nor Sanji reacted, so as suddenly as his lethal intent surged, it vanishes and he leans back again, just as contained as before, if slightly more wreathed in suspicion. >_> Move along, nothing to see here.]

[Action]

[tanukipoint]

[Chopper's ears swerve in Zoro's direction at that slight upset. He...can't really blame the swordsman considering the connection he probably made, so as soon as he senses the wane in aggressiveness, the reineeer's full attention settles back on Nami and Katara.] Yeah.

[Action] 1/2

[markofthebrave]

[Katara catches that movement out of the corner of her eye and quickly glances over her shoulder to see if someone had come in the door or - oh, no, it was her he'd focused on.

Katara has to swallow back a quick, exasperated retort. Now wasn't the time to get riled up, she had to focus, but that doesn't stop her from narrowing her eyes at him for a moment before turning and sitting down.]

[Action]

[markofthebrave]

Let's do this.

[She places her hands on Nami's head, and they begin to glow. Just as before, she's comforted by the fact that Nami's chi is lit, and easy to follow. Before following the flow up to where that thing was, Katara takes a moment to concentrate on Nami's chi, the pulse and ebb of it, the way things should be.

Those watching Katara will be able to tell when she comes into contact with the horrible taint in Nami's pathways. Her body tenses and her breathing deepens, becoming almost meditative. She had no idea what she's doing - but it's there and it shouldn't be and it's wrong and she's scared, but she said she'd do something about it, so she has to find a way.

There are a few false starts. This - psychic sludge - is resistant, sticky. It takes a little while to find a way to grab hold.

She seeks it out, in all the uprooted memories and hidden corners of Nami's mind and surrounds it with the glowing pulse of purity, of life, surrounds it until it shrinks down to nothing. The water on her hands flares green, taints to black, before it stops its glow. The first time it does that, she's startled and stares down at her hands as if something went wrong - and then she remember something she learned in school, something about white blood cells and the way that they die when they fight infection...

So Katara discards the water, pulls out more from the ice in the bucket and starts again. And again. And again.

Until all the taint is gone.]

It's done. [She lifts her weary head to meet Chopper's gaze, nods a little and slumps in her seat. She'll move. In a minute.]

[Action]

[oda_hates_me]

[Gdit, Zoro. But so long as the shithead doesn't make a move to do anything stupid, he goes ignored by the chef. Sanji's more preoccupied watching Katara begin her work as it is, taking note of the glowing water...

And ends up tensing when the water turns an ugly black. Shit, is that normal? It's hardly a reassuring sight, but he keeps all startled comments to himself when Katara continues on after a moment's pause. Whatever the cause, it's not enough reason to stop.

He releases a slow breath when she announces the end. Even though Nami looks no different, he takes some reassurance from the words. She'll be okay.

Now, to make sure the other will be too]

Are you alright?