Snippet #1521784

“Nike knew from the beginning. She told me when I was old enough to understand.” Well, that made sense. Katarina doubted that much of anything escaped Mother Nature's knowledge, and she could also only imagine how terrible it must be to bear the burden of all that knowing, and yet be so unable to fix what you felt in your heart should be righted. That last bit was a pain that Kat suspected she would be coming to know very intimately in the near future. The young woman's eyes slid closed; she tried to focus on her breathing. The room was... warm. She had not noticed that before. She was not in the least uncomfortable, being extremely resilient to temperatures in both directions, but she wished it would cool down for Machai's sake.

For some reason, it did, and Katarina was puzzled enough that she almost did not feel the weight lift beside her as he moved. She did, though, and slightly-deadened eyes tracked his progress forwards, and then back again, though her mind was still elsewhere. She knew she had recognized Vincent, but had he known her? If so, he must have known for a while, to be so unaffected in the moment. Or maybe he was just stronger than she was. Heaven knew she was next to useless just then, and she was feeling guilty about that. What if they had decided to attack Nike? She would have been able to do nothing. Well, unless getting herself killed amounted to something.

"This is going to sting," Machai informed her kindly, and though she knew he was talking about the medical supplies he was carrying, she couldn't help but apply it to a larger set of circumstances anyway.

"Yes... I think it will," she replied underneath her breath, almost flinching when he took one of her hands. His were made of ice! Or was it just that hers were burning up? Actually, the latter was more likely. This had happened to Kat on more than one occasion in the past, usually when she was under stress. Her internal body temperature would spike horrendously; though it would never do her any harm, it tended to scare the wits out of doctors. She'd stopped seeing them a while ago because of such issues.

She sucked a breath in between her teeth as the antiseptic made contact with her skin, but overall it was nothing too horrible for someone who had suffered much worse inside a dojo. Machai was almost absurdly gentle about it, and Kat couldn't help but smile at the exaggerated care he took with her hands. She might not have been doing such a great job of showing it lately, but she really wasn't fragile in the slightest, no matter what she seemed. The gauze bandages secured into place, he seemed to search her for something. “I think Nike has tried to help him, to show him this way, but she cannot force him. He is not a Descendant the way you are. You may be twins, but you carry the weight of the Ancient Clans.”

"It's okay," she murmured. I know. I understand. I forgive you. If indeed there was ever anything that needed forgiving. Her brother was a Cruzzola. She had seen that plain as daylight on the water, and she could not deny the truth of it. It was true, that she saw something of herself mirrored in his face, and she knew she could never hate him. But at the same time, he had made a choice: to aid that man, the Father, in bringing Nike to her knees, in bringing humanity itself to ruin. And she... she could not allow that to happen, no matter what.

She knew, somewhere deep in her soul, that her brother was still inside that cold man somewhere. Kat resolved to herself right then and there that she would do whatever it took to find him, to bring him back. She knew she would not be able to kill him, but if she had to fight him to wake him up, she would do it with her head held high and everything she had to give. Half-measures and reservations had never made any sense to Katarina- all she had lacked was a purpose, a goal to drive towards with all her will. Now that she had one, there was no turning back. She touched her bandaged knuckles carefully, feeling that the pain there was already reduced. "Thank you," she said simply, and just like that, her cheeriness was back. If it was tinged with just a little more painful knowledge, nobody would have to know.