EVENT: Day 322 [open]

[bastionpc]

Who: Those who went to the Ura camp, plus anyone in the Bastion
Open: Open
When: Day 322
Where: Northern Bastion + wherever
What: Everyone comes back from the Ura camp. They have a core, but they also have some very bad news.
Format: action
Warnings: dead character within



[Late on Day 322, getting closer to evening, the group finally returns from the Ura camp. Vee and Zee have been left behind, as they were going home anyway, but there are a few changes to the rest of the party.

First off, there are two new people, but they don't look particularly happy to be here. They are also being watched closely by at least a couple of the group of Bastion people.

Secondly, only seven of the eight who left are returning from this trip alive.]

Comments

HELLO THERE

[daughterofursa]

[And there's the one person in the party that Zuko hadn't really known before, the one who went completely out-of-control. Zuko can understand anger, anger was something she relied on for a long time, but it never led her to do anything like that.

Not that Zuko really has the capacity for it right now, but her expression isn't exactly welcoming.]

What is it?

[darkshooter]

[And then this bloody Ikuri will attempt to give you a hug. No, I'm not kidding.]

[Y/N?]

[daughterofursa]

[Woah woah woah, hold on there! Zuko may not be completely anti-hug, but she really doesn't want one from a near-stranger who slaughtered people the first day they met and is still covered in their blood.

She's definitely gonna be pushing those arms away.]

What are you doing?

[?] - alas that current surprised icons don't fit

[darkshooter]

[!]

[darkshooter]

[...]

[but you were both on the same side. And surely you were grieving too...]

[it won't be totally strange when she actually thinks about it, but at this interval she sort of took it for granted.]


[No words, mostly you're getting this look. Hurt isn't...quite the right word, although there might be the tiniest touch of that, but she was definitely unpleasantly startled.]

[I thought this would help you. ...You don't wish it?]

[daughterofursa]

[Zuko doesn't know how to accurately express her levels of Do Not Want right now but what she does manage to say is:]

You're covered in blood.

[/2] - and I did forget my proper count before, whoops. XD - I'm tired.

[darkshooter]

[...her eyes widen. It seems that the idea someone would take issue legitimately hadn't occurred to her before. Really, she'd all but stopped noticing]

[darkshooter]

[a firm nod.]

Will clean.

...Meant no insult.

[daughterofursa]

[Does that mean she's going to try again after she's bathed?]

I'm not insulted.

But we're not friends.

[/2]

[darkshooter]

[That depends on this discussion, but she just might...]

[...Menawhile, that- that's a curious remark you made there. She tilts her head, and she holds her chin between thumb and index: pensive gesture, look in her eyes to match.]

Not... not friends.

[Trying to wrap her head around it.]

[darkshooter]

[Her posture and expression both shift, so that she's almost looking sidelong at Zuko now. Mostly curiosity...but a touch of wariness as well.]

...Allies?

[The word is spoken somewhat slowly, with that same wariness finding its way in.]

[daughterofursa]

Allies, sure.

Everyone in the Bastion is in this together.

[/2]

[darkshooter]

[And that's another nod.]

Mm. Good.

[It wasn't so much questioning whether or not you were on the Bastion's side, although hearing you say so is reassuring all the same. Rather, her curiosity was more on the personal wavelength: whether or not Zuko was going to maintain that sort of stance with Ikuri in particular. You can serve the cause without serving one another, after all.]

[darkshooter]

...You.

[And this time...once again, seeing as how her language seems to be regressing: gestures with her hands and overall manner to convey meaning.]

Want-- help you. Allies.

[Because even if you're not friends, allies help one another, do they not?]

[daughterofursa]

I don't need your help right now.

[Even letting her friends help her is a fairly recent achievement for Zuko. What she really wants right now is to see Aoi...

And this is the moment that she remembers Aoi and Crona were friends, and she remembers how Aoi reacted when Zuko was wounded, and she thinks about how distraught she's likely to be.

Her expression wavers before she blinks and takes a sharp breath and forces her mouth into her customary frown. Not here. Not now.]

Later we'll have a talk about discipline.

[darkshooter]

[...]

[daughterofursa]

What?

[Does she think she doesn't need a talk?]

[/2]

[darkshooter]

[That will depend on a lot of things, so it's probably best not to push that question at this junction.]

[Actually, what she might be thinking of right this very moment is that falter of yours. The look you're getting for it may be something kin to sympathy.]

[darkshooter]

[But, you said it yourself. You're not friends, and you don't need her help. So be it.]

[She'll turn around and begin walking away.]

[daughterofursa]

[Zuko is... a little annoyed not to get an answer, but not enough to push for one. She find Ikuri to talk later, once she's really up for it.

She lets out a sigh and looks around. Maybe... she should try to find Aoi. More likely to break the news than to be comforted herself.]