Practice, perfection, and pranks! l Open

It wasn't often that Kato got to sit down and rest. He was always training to be in the Water Tribe army for the North, which was a big deal since they were the bigger of the two tribes. Kato wasn't particularly skilled or gifted, he just loved having something to do, so when he had time to himself, he was often found still training and honing his skills.

Where one would find him now was tucked in a corner alley between two, tightly packed buildings, trying to think through a complicated rigged prank. He didn't so this very often, it wasn't really his style, but he did like the thinking it allowed him and the time to really decide how something worked. And it was always rather entertaining to see his projects in action.

Currently he was working on rigging a bucket trap without the door. It was a common prank, but no one could simply drop a bucket from nowhere. Unless you were a waterbender. Kato, being just that, had bended the snow into a tightly packed, two gallon bucket that would allow a whole bunch of water to douse whoever walked under it. As he moved his arms in a rhythm, the bucket lifted off the ground and he suspended it on an outcropping bridge above the walkway near the water. He fastened a rope made of well packed snow to its bottom and then wound this rope down the wall, across the sidewalk, and into the water. It was virtually impossible to see. The only hitch was he wasn't sure how well the rope would work. While being bended, it worked smoothly, but without him commanding the water, there was no knowing how it would hold up.

Standing back in the alley, hidden by a bended lump of snow made to look like some kind of cast off, he watched through a little window in his pile to watch the first victim test it.

Kato had expected someone to come by at some point. Though the alley wasn't frequented, the sidewalk was common for those who knew it was there. But what he hadn't expected was to watch some girl being cornered. Naturally, he didn't butt in. It wasn't his place to mess with something like this, especially because there was no right side unless he knew what was happening. As a neutral party, he sat and watched the events unfold from the tunnel visioned snow pile he as hiding behind. All he cared about was that the bucket worked. And it looked like, if it did, the girl would be getting the brunt of it.

Oh, poo. Kato watched as the girl managed to stop the water from hitting her but instead used it so throw her attackers off balance. Well, at least he knew it worked. With a sigh he stood from his spot and neared her, not concerned to know if she was okay or anything. "You know, it's against tribe rules to use bending as a weapon, seeing as you're a girl." Kato said, lazily folding his arms across his chest and stopping between the two buildings that created the alleyway.

Kato had meant to startle the girl, he realized this as he watched her whip around satisfyingly quickly. It was amusing, seeing her startled, since she had been so confronted before. Normally Kato was nicer than this, that was usually how it was. But this girl had ruined the prank part of this experiment and it disgruntled him a bit. As he walked closer, he listened for the sound of nothing, gathering in the information of the slightly less packed snow beneath his feet, the water running in the canal behind the girl, and the soft whistle of the wind by his ears. It was quiet in this back alleyway. That was why Kato loved it so much back here. Sadly, it had to be interrupted by some louder, noisier people. Still, this girl seemed like a decent person, he just hadn't known the story behind her being attacked by the boys he had seen. Maybe he would ask them later, he knew some of the faces he had seen and knew they wouldn't mind talking, even if the story was likely going to be very biased. Kato was still curious to know what it was.

Raising and eyebrow at her harsh words, Kato stopped where he was, feeling his distance from her close enough. Obviously she was okay, she didn't appear injured at all. Why would he have needed to ask if she was alright? Kato wasn't concerned at all because outwardly, she looked fine. Not harmed, not wet (sadly), just fine. Her breathing was a little fast and she looked angry, but Kato didn't see that as a bad thing. That meant she was probably better than ever, likely filled with adrenaline she could use to run a mile. Or something of a similar distance. Tilting his head sideways like a curious puppy, he tried to make sense of what she was saying. "You didn't even know I was watching." He stated simply, not sounding angry or happy, bored or interested. It was a simple fact that she couldn't have even sarcastically trusted him to help because she hadn't known he was there. It was silly, really, how these things never seemed to cross other people's minds.

And yes, the male Northern Water Tribe member was more concerned with the rules. It was forbidden for women to learn fighting with water, the men were the only ones to fight. Despite being open minded and accepting of most new concepts and ideas, this was one Kato didn't understand. The women were never in any danger than required fighting skills, but this girl clearly knew how to at least throw water around powerfully enough to knock some guys off balance. Looking down at her he awaited her response when someone else showed up. Where had she come from? Had she been there the whole time? No, she hadn't, Kato had been there the whole time and it was only ever him until the fiery one had shown up. Turning to look at her he put on the same curious face he had worn when trying to puzzle out Kenna's words.

"Who are you talking to?" It was purely out of curiosity, nothing menacing or annoyed about the words. He just wanted to know if she thought Kenna was being rude or he was. Because he was pretty sure he was being right. Shuffling his weight in the snow he turned his body slightly toward the other girl and slightly toward the first girl so he was facing both of them. This was interesting, not what he had expected out of his experiment, but it wasn't bad. Neither of them had seen him set up the prank, not that it had ended up as a prank, so he was in safe waters and now was only occupied by discussing whatever it was Kenna wanted to discuss. Oh, and the other girl. She seemed to have some things to say as well.

Shuffling his weight around, probably for the billionth time, Kato listened to what she said. He was cool and collected the whole time, easily able to handle himself around hot heads like her. Kato lived with several younger siblings who all had fiery personalities and he had grown up the quiet one. He calculated every move he made in his head before actually doing anything, in case one of them would result in him getting into trouble. Plus, he didn't like anger or annoyance or other emotions related to that because they provoked unclear heads and mindless action. Kato liked having a clear head and being able to act how he saw fit. Plus, he was willing to accept anything anyone said, even if they yelled it in his face. It was a well trained skill that he was not going to lose hold on in a single day. His prank had worked, he just needed to find a victim who wasn't going to stop the water before it hit them on the head.

Kato shrugged at her sarcastic comment. "I would have come out to see what the problem was. If their attacking you was within reason, I would see about getting the elders to figure out what to do about you. If it wasn't, then I would find a way to get them to back off." Without fighting, he refrained from adding. Fighting showed that the interaction effected him emotionally, and Kato lived to look emotionally detached. Sure, he was happy and content and could be seen laughing and occasionally frowning. To the public eye was a bored looking kid with a generally good air about him, but to most he was too neutral, needing to think more about what he wanted. None of them understood that this was what he wanted. Neutrality was a skill useful to battle and every day life and Kato had basically perfected it.

The other girl seemed invisible to the first girl. She hadn't acknowledged her presence so far, but it might have been tunnel vision because she was so angry with Kato. Whatever the case, Kato clicked his tongue at the second girl and made a curious face. "I agree she should be nicer, but I don't think that's the way to go about it. Plus, I don't think she ever said anything that implied she thinks she knows everything." Kato commented, his tone remaining level and neutral. He wasn't defending the first girl, he was just contradicting a few of the things the second girl said. He was on netural ground and if they took it as otherwise they weren't listening carefully enough. But, that was really up to them. Kato couldn't control what they did, just what he did.