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Post by yasu on Apr 3, 2007 17:19:51 GMT -5
At the urgency of his voice, Yasu quickly bowed and then rushed after Taka, who at that point had already begun making his way to...wherever he was leading her to. They wound around the halls, and she noted how empty the Inn felt. They finally paused in a secluded area, and she blinked uncertainly. "Cmon, down in here. It's a shelter. There're lots of em, and this one is for those in our hallway. Mom and Dad will probably stay up though, helping people." She heard him sighm and then say quietly: "They'll make out okay though."
She nodded. He looked down, and then around. He seemed to find what he was looking for and abandoned her at the entrance of the shelter. She looked into the darkness and shivered slightly. She wasn't...good with tight places. It made her feelt a little warm sometimes, a little unbareable. As lightning split across the sky, Yasu's teeth clenched. But no crash of thunder came, and her voice came out in a shuddery breath. She glanced at Taka and smiled slightly. He had grabbed candles. Smart, she commented.
He leaned down into the cellar and lit the way slightly. Dirt. Dirt. Dirt. Rock. Dirt. Slightly bigger rock. And more dirt. Ooh, and a cabinet with a few other candles it seemed. Good, good. Holding a candle in one hand, he got into the shelter by a small ladder, and Yasu fumbled behind him. The instant she stepped from the shelter, she was met with a cooler atmosphere that made her sigh happily. She wasn't fond of the humidity, that was normally found in the Fire Nation, it amde her feel warm and dirty and sticky. It was a bad feeling.
She looked around for Taka, who had disappeared into on of the darker corner of the shelter while placing a candle against the wall. The candles didn't light very well, and Yasu slowly lifted her arms to hold herself. Another flash of lightning must have struck outside, because after a moment of silence, a large rumbling erupted around them, making Yasu jump and let out a soft squeak of protest. I hate big storm, I hate big storms, I hate big storms... Yasu had nearly forgotten her fear in all of the excitement of the day. Yasu loved the rain. She hated the thunder that might come with it. Thunder made large sounds, and it reminded her of the rhinos the Fire Nation soldiers sometimes rode upon. She shivered at the thought.
"I'll be okay," she whispered just under her breath quietly, shutting her eyes tightly against the slight dimness of the shelter. Opening her eyes, she asked, "Taka, where is everyone else?"
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Post by taka on Apr 3, 2007 17:42:51 GMT -5
Taka continued placing the candles around. He'd though he only had a few, but he'd been wrong. He had a veritable mountain of them. Probably favoritism by his parents, but that was okay. He lit the candles from the other ones already lit. He then placed them around the small room. There were 10 of them, surrounding the two teenagers in the small 10x10 room.
He thought he heard Yasu squeak, but he must have been wrong, because she looked okay. He pulled the cover on the shelter back into place, and secured it by closing a latch from the inside. He then heard Yasu, her voice sounding small and scared. "Taka, where is everyone else?"
He turned round and crawled over to her, the cieling being a bit too low in places for him to do much else. "They're on their way to their own shelters, Yasu. Like I said, there are lots of these things. We get a storm like this once every 2 or 3 years. It just happens. But we're used to it." Another blast of lightning, accompanied with lots of thunder, shattered the relative peace of the shelter. And then again, and again. Lightning kept crashing, and the rain could be heard, along with the screeching wind outside the inn. It was certainly a big storm... and a fast moving one too! It had come upon them so quickly! Taka turned around again, and sat down next to Yasu, leaning back against the wall, sighing. This was going to be a long day.
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Post by yasu on Apr 3, 2007 17:51:17 GMT -5
Yasu slowly sunk to the ground, eyes wide in the dim-litted room. She felt her eyes becoming adjusted to the lighting, but she wanted it dark. SHe did better in the dark sometimes in storms. She slowly leaned her back against the wall, eyes widened even more as she heard the rumbles of thunder as the storm got closer and closer. The shelter, as she had well predicted above ground, was small. Very small. She should have known. Things don't stay good for long. She let out a shuddering breath when she saw Taka's figure going up the ladder to pull the cover over the opening.
And then the latch came down, making Yasu jump once more. Breathe...Breathe...Breathe...Just remember to breathe...You're not breathing!! Yasu let in a big breathe quickly when she realized that she had, indeed, forgotten to breath after a few minutes, and let it out breathlessly. She'd be okay. She felt something stir in the air, and felt something come beside her, but she didn't turn her head from where she was facing the ladder.
"They're on their way to their own shelters, Yasu. Like I said, there are lots of these things. We get a storm like this once every 2 or 3 years. It just happens. But we're used to it," he explained from beside her. How had he gotten there? Oh, he must have crawled. Her mind was slow coming, but it was getting there. She let out another shuddering breath and nodded, trying to force another smile on her face as she turned to look at him. But then thunder came crashing around them and she jumped high, nearly hitting her head on the low ceiling of the cellar, while giving off a soft squeak.
She squeaked sometimes. It was something that came with her never really yelling and screaming as a child. Remember, she was quiet. She took in a gulp of air and let it out, shutting her eyes tightly as another thing of thunder came rumbling by. She brought her knees to her chest and hugged them quietly. She was embarassed to speak, but she did anyways. "Oh, well...that's good. That you're used to it, I mean." She turned to him once more and tried to give him another shaky smile, "At least someone is," she commented under her breath as another loud BAM surrounded them and she clutched her hands into fists so tight that she felt a nail break the skin of her palm.
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Post by taka on Apr 3, 2007 18:03:36 GMT -5
Taka smiled, as he looked over at her. And his smile disappeared. The thunder, for once, had stopped.
She was hugging her knees, obviously frightened by something. Her face was scared, and she looked like she was ready to cry. Her body was shaking, and her fists were clenched tightly. He wondered what she could be afraid of. Was it him? She WAS alone with him. Maybe she was scared of him. Or maybe it was the darkness. Or maybe the small space. He didn't know, but he didn't want her so scared. It was bad.
He scooted a bit closer. If she scooted away, then it was probably that she was scared of him. That would solve that. The lightning was still holding back. He really hoped it wasn't another one of those big ones... he could deal with it, but they sometimes hit the Inn.
"Yasu, what's wrong-"
And then, possibly the loudest sound Taka had ever heard exploded above him. It was obviously lightning, but it was so loud and destructive sounding, that it was obvious it had hit the Inn. He heard the splintering of boards on some of the higher floors, and the echo of thunder rumbled for a long while, deeply into the sky, and through the ground to the two teenagers. He shivered slightly after that one. Even he, who was used to it, had been phased a bit.
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Post by yasu on Apr 3, 2007 18:16:08 GMT -5
Yasu noted the silence. She lifted her head only slightly, before placing her chin on her knees, releasing her fisted hands to wrap around her legs. Okay, so she was a little scared of storms. Not very much, mind you. But added to the account that she was under ground...well...she just wasn't too phsyced. Her ears strained to the sound of rain pounding against the roof above their heads, way above. She was surprised she could even hear it from down here. But then again, it was all that pent-up rain. There would be a lot of it. She scrunched up her face, and it was at that point that she realized how stiff it felt. She must look terrible.
Thankful for the dimness of the room, her face flushed at the thought of how ridiculous she looked. She felt the air stir beside her and glanced at Taka, who was sitting still once more by the time she had looked. Had he scooted away from her or toward her? Had he always been that close? Her face flushed pinker, ashamed of herself and a little embarassed. It was then that she realized that she was alone. With a boy. In a cellar. During a bad storm. In the near dark... Her face flushed even more and she hid her face in her hands and knees, but did not inch away from him.
"Yasu, what's wrong-"
By the time he had spoken, her face had cleared of any pinkness and she looked to him curiously. Only to be interrupted by one of the loudest sounds she had ever heard. Her eyes widened in pure shock and fear. The thunder was so loud, it shook the ground that they sat upon. Some dirt from above their heads, mixed with a bit of wood and dust, drifted to the ground from the impact. She heard a loud sound like breaking wood, and knew why the thunder had been so large.
It had hit the Inn.
Yasu clutched at her heart; it was racing a mile a second. She shut her eyes tightly and took in deep breaths before she let out a shuttering breath and said with a weak smile, "I'm a...I'm just a little scared of big storms...mostly thunder..." And tight places. "It's no big deal," she looked over at him and tried to give him a reassuring smile. "I'll be okay..." and then she looked up at the low-hanging ceiling and said aloud, thoughtfully, "That was a big one, wasn't it? It sounded like it hit the Inn...I hope everyone's okay..."
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Post by taka on Apr 5, 2007 20:04:17 GMT -5
Taka felt a little shaky afterwards. He'd been so certain, so brazen. He'd been so completely certain that his father would be alright that he'd walked right past him. NO! Had he even given his father a thought? Had he even thought about it in the unconcious? Was he worried at all? He felt terrible. The chance that something might have happened to his family hurt him deeply, though he hadn't heard any screams, which meant that there wasn't a huge problem... he hoped. Oh, how he hoped.
He was so lost in thought that he jumped and slammed his head into the cieling when Yasu spoke. "I'm a...I'm just a little scared of big storms...mostly thunder...it's no big deal," she said. "I'll be okay..." He was breathing heavily, trying to calm down. He didn't want his family hurt. She seemed to home in on this, and said, "That was a big one, wasn't it? It sounded like it hit the Inn...I hope everyone's okay..."
He clutched at his heart. He physically felt bad, breathing faster. He needed to stop, he knew, and he started to calm down, a lump forming in his throat. He couldn't believe it. He was USED to this kind of thing, he couldn't start crying now. But he couldn't hardly help it. He was so scared for his father and mother, who might STILL be out there helping people.
A lump formed in his throat, and he managed to keep back from sobbing, though the tears still came, and his voice was hoarse. "I...I hope so too." And that was all he could manage to say before another lash of lightning struck nearby, and declared to the world it's fury and potency.
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Post by yasu on Apr 5, 2007 20:17:01 GMT -5
Yasu felt the air tighten around them almost right after she had said it. She glanced at Taka, nervous...beacause...well, he seemed nervous. And hadn't he said he was used to this sort of thing? So why was he nervous all of a sudden? Was the storm worse than they thought? She brought a finger to her mouth and began to bite the nail nervously, before stopping herself and instead grabbing a strand of hair and twirling it on her index. What was going on up there? It had gotten quiet again...she knew what to expect now, and just stared at the far wall, eyes slightly wide. I hope everyone is-- And that was when it hit her, why Taka was so nervous...so worried. He was nervous for his family.
She glanced at him. At least, that's what she thought. It might not even be him that was making the air so tense. It might have been the storm way above their heads. It could have been her that was nervous. Now that she really studied him in the dim light, he was clutching at his chest...as if he was in pain. Her eyes darkened in worry and she started to readjust her self when he spoke, his voice a little hoarse, "I...I hope so too." She readjusted herself completely, so that she was leaning her left shoulder against the wall, her body facing him completely. She started to reach out to him, to turn him toward her, to see if he was crying... "T-Taka-kun...?" But the storm lashed out. Hard.
The earth rumbled to the thunder, and Yasu was so shocked at the sudden shudder that she squealed and grabbed hold of Taka's shoulder with both hands, hiding her face in her hands there. For a moment, she did not released her hands from his sleeve. Then, slowly, she lifted her head from his arm and looked up at the ceiling. She looked back at Taka, and gave him a shaky, shy smile before slowly releasing her tight grasp from his sleeve. "Sorry," she whispered softly, as if she was frightened her voice would reawaken the momentarily silenced thunder. "I'm sure you're family is alright, Taka-kun.Your father is smart-- I'm sure that if he felt this storm was--" her voice cracked when another thunder erupted above their heads, but then she continued on, her voice a bit more shaky now, "...was real bad, he'd take cover. He'd make other people take cover, too." Then another loud thunder erupted and she winced, covering the top of her head with her hands, her eyes squeazed shut.
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Post by taka on Apr 5, 2007 20:51:17 GMT -5
The lightning was rumbling through the ground, when suddenly, something grabbed his arm.
Something? Someone. Yasu.
It felt... good. She was scared, obviously, and her touch, even like this, felt nice. But all too soon, it was gone. She pulled back a little bit, saying, "Sorry...", almost like a whisper. "I'm sure you're family is alright, Taka-kun.Your father is smart-- I'm sure that if he felt this storm was--" BAM!.... "...was real bad, he'd take cover. He'd make other people take cover, too." He found himself in agreement with her. Granted, he should have given it more thought, but they were fine. They were fine, fine fine.
BAM! Another blaster of lightning. Yasu had shuddered, and squeezed her eyes shut, her hands over her head, as if she couldn't bear it any more. He looked at her, remembering what his father had told him. She was scared...
And selfishly, he thought she was cute.
So he scooted over to her completely, and, a litte bit for himself, a little for her, he put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her over against him. "It's alright... like you said, we're all in shelters. It can't hurt us here..." It felt good, simply to be beside her. He was being very selfish, but he didn't care at the moment.
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Post by yasu on Apr 5, 2007 21:05:20 GMT -5
The air had eased between them, so she guessed that she had lightened his nerves, if not just a bit. So slowly she pulled her hands from her head, beginning to inch away from him once more. She sighed inwardly, wanting to be out of the cellar. It had only been a minute, but it felt like a long while before she felt movement beside her. Yasu was scared to look. Was he moving away? Was he going to go check on his parents? No, she hoped not. He would get hurt. And she'd feel it was all her fault. She felt feeling guilt like that. She'd felt it when she killed those firebenders in the forest. She'd felt it when she'd sent her mother to jail. She didn't want to feel it again...
But something was against her now, beside her. Her eyes widened suddenly in realization when she felt an arm around her shoulders, pulling her against something warm. Her eyes widened even more, her body stiffened against his touch. Embarassed and flustered, her cheeks reddened. "It's alright... like you said, we're all in shelters. It can't hurt us here..." A silence stretched between them, and slowly her muscles relaxed and she gulped down her fear and nerves and embarassment.
"I know..." she said, her voice a whisper once more, "but sometimes, people can't help what they fear." She lowered herself against the wall, and rested her head against his shoulder. She jumped only slightly at the next thunder, her heart racing...but not from fear. Now that she was so close to Taka, her mind wasn't thinking on the storm quite as much, and his action had served to take her mind off of everything but the cellar. Her cheeks still red, her eyes darted up to his face, studying him. "Thank you..." she said after a minute.
She couldn't lie to herself, just as she couldn't lie to others. His action...it felt...nice? Well, it was nice of him. Kind of a comfort thing. But was this going way beyond her comfort zone? She suppposed so... but hadn't her art tutor at the Academy once told her that it was always good to step out of the comfort zone once in a while? A small smile spread across her lips.
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Post by taka on Apr 5, 2007 21:45:43 GMT -5
At first, there was a silence, and he wasn't certain whether he was going to get slapped or something. But apparently, she was feeling merciful. "I know..." Her voice was a whisper once more. "But sometimes, people can't help what they fear." She then leaned back against the wall, and rested her head against his shoulder. That felt nice. Her warmth felt nice in itself, also. It wasn't cold, but it just... felt nice. It just did.
After a few more moments of silence, he heard another whisper. "Thank you..." she said. He smiled down at her, though he wasn't sure she could see it. He was thankful he had such a good friend.
"Thank you..." he said back to her. He rested his head just on top of hers. It, again, was a selfish thing to do, but it was nice. And he was suddenly a little tired anyway. Resting like this felt pretty good. There wouldn't be a problem doing it for a while, probably. So he just stayed that way, he face a little red, but... he didn't feel embarrassed. It just felt... right.
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Post by yasu on Apr 8, 2007 15:12:35 GMT -5
She felt awkward there, her head on his shoulder, his head on hers. It felt awkward, strange, alien, wrong...but so right all at once. It was a little startling, to say the least. If Emi was there to witness this tid-bit of fancy from Yasu Al, she'd faint from utter surprise--or rather, she'd laugh her head off because Yasu wasn't one to just suddenly show even an inkling of affection for another of another gender. Of course, Emi hadn't seen Yasu in so long...and Yasu hadn't seen herself since she had left the Fire Nation. She had changed so much since when she had been just a mere trainee at the Rebellion base in the Fire Nation.
"Thank you..." he had said back to her a few minutes ago. For what, she wondered. But her eyes were beginning to droop, sitting like this, so suddenly warm and comfortable. She didn't remember why she was in the cellar to begin with for a moment, until a crash way above their heads brought her back to the present, making her jump so high her head banged up against Taka's and the roofs.
She pulled her knees up to her chest at the reprocusion, her hands clinging to the top of her head, her face bent down low as she moaned in pain. She rubbed her head for a moment longer, and then lifting her head slightly to look at Taka, she smiled apologetically, and in shame. "I'm sorry," she said, "Did I hurt you bad? Are you okay?"
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Post by taka on Apr 8, 2007 21:30:51 GMT -5
He was having such a good time. And apparently, so was she. She was warm, and it was cozy, and even the lightning had let up for a minute. He liked this a lot. He wondered what Yasu thought about it. Would she feel awkward with him afterwards? Everything had happened so fast, with the rain coming in. He hadn't even realized it...
And then suddenly his head was jarred upward and into the cieling as Yasu jumped, frightened by the lightning. Taka let go of Yasu, holding his head, lowering it, moaning. "OW!" he cried. It hurt a LOT. A small bump was rising, and there were stars in his eyes. The first emotion was shock, and the second was anger. He'd been comforting Yasu! How could she just slam him upward like that? It really hurt! He was surprised he wasn't bleeding. And she was barely hurt herself.
He closed his eyes, and tried to throw out the anger. He shouldn't be mad at her- she's scared of it, for goodness sakes. Just don't lay your head on her and you'll be fine.
He groaned, rubbing his temples, trying to get rid of a massive headache that was coming on. He stretched out, laying down as best he could- his head really did hurt. "I'm sorry," he heard. That must be Yasu, though he couldn't really tell. "Did I hurt you bad? Are you okay?" He groaned again.
"You got me pretty good," he said good-naturedly. By now, he'd rid himself of his anger, realizing it wasn't her fault. He grinned weakly. "Now I've got a headache..." He continued rubbing his temples, sighing, and closed his eyes again. "It's fine though..." he said, "It isn't your fault. It was probably mine somehow..."
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Post by yasu on Apr 9, 2007 21:18:33 GMT -5
When he moaned again, Yasu bit her lip nervously. Oh, dear spirits above, had she hurt him that bad? She lowered her hands to nervously twiddle her thumbs in her lap, watching him wordlessly. "You got me pretty good," he said finally, and by the sound of his voice, he sounded like he meant it good-naturedly...but...she was so worried, she couldn't tell. In the dim light, she could see him smile weakly. "Now I've got a headache..." He sighed and moved his hands back to his head, rubbing his temple with his eyes shut. Yasu felt terrible. "It's fine though, it isn't your fault. It was probably mine somehow."
Still, Yasu Al knew it was her fault. It made the feeling in her gut all the worse. She looked around a moment, and her golden eyes finally rested upon a candle not too far from where they sat. It was on of the ones on the cupboard. Her mouth set in a determined line, Yasu fell to her hands and knees and crawled over to the cupboard, flinching only once when another thunder came crashing all around them. She hurried to the cupboard and grabbed a candle. From there, she went over to one of the lit ones on the wall and lit the new candle she held.
"Oh, say all you want," she muttered as she came toward him once more. She set the candle on the ground between them, "but I know its my fault, and I'm sorry." She slowly lifted her hands from where they had sat in her lap, and she removed his hands from his temples. Slowly, she lowered his head close to the flame so she could get a good look at his head. She studied his cheek first, and grimaced. "I'm so sorry," she whispered, "you might have a bruise...but..." she tilted his face down toward the flame to get a look at the top of his head. A small grin lit her face, bright with humor. "You have quite a bump on your noggin, Taka-kun." Her smile faded.
"I'm surprised its not bleeding." She released his head and leaned back against the wall, half defeated. "My fear hurt more than just me this time," she glanced at him, and then she looked away, partly ashamed of herself. "I'm real sorry, Taka-kun. You must be angry with me..."
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Post by taka on Apr 9, 2007 22:56:02 GMT -5
He kept on the ground, just trying to get rid of his headache. The thunder was fading, though if that was because of his headache or real was beyond him. He could hear Yasu moving around a little bit, though for what, he didn't know. He didn't care much, either. His head hurt badly. It just felt terrible. He couldn't think really. It just blotted everything out, except sound.
"Oh, say all you want, but I know its my fault, and I'm sorry." That must have been Yasu. But he couldn't talk. He didn't want to try and make more sound, because that hurt his head. He smiled up in return, trying to show that he wasn't mad. He felt two soft hands grasp his and move them down from his temples. He felt a bit of red rush to his cheeks, but then they were gone, and they were instead guiding him down to the ground completely so that he could lay down completely. He felt something warm beside him, and saw a light in his eyes. He dared to open them, his headache lessening slightly.
"I'm so sorry...you might have a bruise...but..." His face was tilted down a bit. "You have quite a bump on your noggin, Taka-kun."
He saw her face, and she looked remorseful, and sad. He felt bad for making her feel that way. "I'm surprised its not bleeding." She led him back up to a sitting position, against the wall. "My fear hurt more than just me this time," she glanced at him, and then she looked away. "I'm real sorry, Taka-kun. You must be angry with me..."
He shook his head. How could she think so? He'd already told her otherwise. Perhaps it was just something she did. He shook his head gently, not wanting to stir the headache around again. It still hurt a lot, but he'd deal with it. "I'm not mad at all Yasu-chan..." He smiled at her, and then moved the candle out of between them. He closed his eyes. "It wasn't your fault at all. I shouldn't have used you for a pillow." He chuckled a bit, before scratching his head a bit, and then he took a deep breath, and exhaled, at least showing that he wanted to go to sleep. He'd need to sleep this off.
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Post by yasu on Apr 13, 2007 18:46:48 GMT -5
Taka had shaken his head. She remembered that he had told her that she said sorry too much earlier. But, she felt that it was her fault. She felt she should say sorry. She bit her lip, pulling her eyes away from him unhappily. "I'm not mad at all Yasu-chan..." She glanced back at him in surprise just to see his smile fade away as he moved the candle out of the way. "It wasn't your fault at all. I shouldn't have used you for a pillow." He chuckled, but Yasu just could only smile a bit, still ashamed of her fear. He scratched his head, and she realized his eyes were shut.
Lightning had flashed in a while, or at least thunder hadn't sounded. She sighed heavily and leaned back. "You should rest, Taka-kun," she whispered softly, though she felt he was actually asleep beside her. She glanced at him, and then smiled shyly, looking at the far wall across from them. Slowly, her eyse began to shut. Maybe...when I wake up...the storm will be gone.
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