- You're Blinded Far Worse Than I -

Please oh please post a review! This might turn into a Taang story later on, but I'm not sure yet. ENJOY!

Characters: Toph (12); Aang (12)

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Airbender and I do not own anything from the original Avatar either. I only own my characters (which are not in this chapter) so just read and have fun!

Chapter 1— Up On the Cliff

The early summer sun blazed upon the land, creating terribly uncomfortable conditions for earthbending practice. However, it had to be done. Toph was a tough teacher for Aang, who needed to master earthbending soon, but her persistence was greatly appreciated.

"Again!" Toph shouted in an authoritative tone.

"Toph…" Aang whined, "too tired…"

"Come ON, Twinkle Toes!" Toph gave a hard stomp with her foot, pushing Aang over and over.

"Okay, okay, again," Aang gave in. He took his stance and waited calmly. Toph walked over to him and tied a black cloth around his eyes, to preventing him to see.

"Now…" she let her voice trail off as she made a few quick motions with her hands and some hard juts of her feet. Two huge boulders came towards Aang from the front while a huge wall of rock came out of the ground behind him. Instinctively he twisted his ankle at the wall behind him, crumbling it to the ground. The boulders were trickier, Aang had to wait and listen and know without looking. Suddenly he stuck his hand out awkwardly, sending one boulder flying back, but the other slammed into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him as he tumbled backward.

Toph heaved a great sigh and walked over to Aang, who was lying on his back. "You've got to listen!" she said to him.

"I was listening," Aang mumbled weakly.

"Listen HARDER!" she shouted, the sound reverberating off the canyon walls.

"Can I puh-lease take a break? We've been working all morning," Aang asked.

"Fine, you did well Twinkle Toes."

"I wonder when Katara and Sokka are going to come make with lunch," Aang questioned.

"Who knows? Sokka probably got stuck in a hole again!" she laughed at the thought.

Aang ran over to the edge of the canyon and peered at the distance. They were camped at the end of the ditch, where the land finally comes back together. Over to the side a few brown blades of grass were blowing in the dusty wind. The ground was dry from lack of rain and the sky was without a cloud. The land was flat and only a few snakes every now and then scuttled across the sand. On the other side, near where Toph was still practicing earthbending, there seemed to be a cliff. It descended into the canyon, and was probably at the highest point drop around the edges. It was also the only place where olive green grass seemed to grow. A couple yards over, there was a cabin that had— Wait a cabin! Aang thought.

"Look!" Aang pointed to the log house, "A cabin!"

Toph, whom sensed the structure before but hadn't said anything, glanced at Aang. The building was situated in such a manner that no one could possibly get there, except an Airbender. "Aang, no one probably lives there," she said sensibly.

"We can just check it out and see if anyone is there. Come on, we can fly over on my glider!" he grabbed his staff and twirled it so the wings were pushed out. "Hold on to my shoulders, Toph," he instructed. Toph obeyed and in seconds Aang had taken flight. It wasn't far however so there wasn't really any danger. They landed quickly and ran to the front door. Aang knocked sharply and hoped that someone would answer.

The door creaked opened slowly, in a surprised manner. From where they were, Toph and Aang could here voices and noises. But the person who answered the door was a person neither Toph nor Aang expected to meet.