Siku refused to give him the time of day.  He clearly didn't know the first thing about water bending, let alone science.  The amount of water in the air was so slight that harnessing it was an ability acquired only by masters and only useful when there were no other options.  Katsu was off before she had even heard the child.  She furrowed her brow at the sound as it finally reached her - the hell was it?  She placed a hand on her sheath and started after the Avatar, hoping to God they weren't already facing a trap in the form of a child.  She came to a halt just behind Katsu.

A young boy of no more than six rested in the back street, his face buried between his knees.  It sounded like he was holding his breath every few moments before it was let out raggedly.  He looked up, wiping at his face when he saw Katsu, though his eyes remained bloodshot.  "O-oh... Uh... I..."  He sputtered, flinching as though each word hurt to say.  "M-my dad...  he said to run...  So I did...  There were men...  He tried to tell them to leave..."  He tucked his face back into his knees, "But...  they just came in.  I don't know what they want...  I think my family's in trouble..."

Siku's lip curled back slightly, a gentle scraping sound coming from her sheath as she drew her dao.  "Let's get going, then," She said, still wary of a possible trap.  She felt paranoid, but it wasn't like she was going to abandon the boy either.  In this quiet town, though?  Who would be attacking his home?  She lowered her voice beside Katsu, "Right behind you."

The boy flinched, staring at her sword and starting to crawl away slightly.  The intimidating glint of the bright steel was off-putting as the set sun and already-bright moon struck its surface.  When he noticed Asha, however, he lightened up, feeling calm when he realized that a young person trusted these two enough.  And the white-haired man gave him a sense of security too, though he knew not why.  Siku, on the other hand, was giving him chills and he shakily rose to his feet.

"This... this way," He said, moving at a brisk walk down the road.  He led them out into the open street, down a few roads, and right outside the edge of the town on the coast.  The ocean stretched far off into the distance, shimmering under the light of a million stars.  Beneath its surface, countless fish of countless varieties swam, blissfully unaware of how easy it could die within the next few minutes.  The water lapped hungrily at the shore's edge, never getting any nearer to swallowing it than it was with the previous lick.

"It's the one on top of the hill," The boy stated, pointing ahead.  It didn't seem like much from the outside, but looks could be deceiving.  He took off up the hill for the home, but as he was about to shout, Siku grabbed his arm and put a finger to her lips.

"Sh."  She hushed, releasing him and bending a stream of water over her left arm as she started up the hill, looking at Katsu before nodding toward the front door.  She was going around back.  "Asha, up top," She instructed, "See if you can find a way in up there, or come through a window when you hear us going in, alright?"  The swordswoman crouched and gave the house a large radius as she moved around the house, coming up to the rear door.  For a moment, she debated knocking, but finally decided to just slowly open the door.  The little boy stood directly behind Katsu, however, feeling safer with him.  Siku crept through the door with her blade at the lead, taking small steps into the first dark room.  Her eyes narrowed in the darkness, [i]Where... is everybody?[/i]