He might be able to hear a rustle within the room--it's a noise of surprise, of someone jumping up from a bed and scrambling over the floor. The room is occupied already, it seems, and that fact is confirmed when the door creeks open to reveal a sliver of a young, tan, tear-streaked face.

Katara looks up at him with thinly-veiled suspicion, blue eyes narrowed slightly at Steve as she assesses him. He's got blue eyes like her, but he's pale--not Water Tribe, obviously. Stranger still, his hair is light, almost golden-yellow hair, unlike anything she's ever seen.

It's only when her eyes land on the cat in his arms that she opens the door fully, her guarded expression shifting to open curiosity. "Who are you?" she asks, "and what kind of animal is that?"