Hopefully I got Toph in-character.
Disclaimer: Everyone else has one, so I got one too. Hooray for conformism. I don't own Avatar.
The silence of the midnight forest was usually only pervaded by the distant screech of a hog monkey with only a fluttering of wings and the hoot of a cat owl in response. Tonight, however, the calls of nature's creatures were accompanied by the gentle rhythmic thuds of bare feet making contact with the cool moist earth below them. Accompanying these calloused feet was the pale form of a young woman clothed in a dark green tunic and light brown traveling pants, matching the surrounding underbrush and earthen ground, with a single black bracelet around her left upper arm. Her delicate skin was made even paler by the crescent moon's thin light escaping through the many overhead branches and sparsely landing upon the girl's skin. She walked slowly, determinedly, as if with purpose, yet still softly enough to not disturb the quiet more than necessary. Her face bore a blank expression, with misty green eyes, half-drooped from boredom, unmoving and covered by sleek ebony bangs, giving her the appearance of one under the influences of sleep-walking, contrasting with her steady gait. The scarce amount of moonlight provided little aid for those whose ocular vision was tantamount to their ability to travel. But she wasn't thusly handicapped. No, she was better than that. Badgermoles taught her, years ago, the secret of seeing without one's eyes. Seismic sense has given her a better vision of the world than that of many others, despite being blind from birth. She is not hindered by total darkness. She can see past closed doors. She is the greatest Earthbender the world has ever known. She is Toph Bei Fong.
Three years, Toph repeats in her mind for the hundredth time that night. It's been three stinkin' years. And indeed it has been. Three years since the Phoenix King of Getting His Butt Whooped was defeated by the Avatar. Three years since Toph has had any contact with her friends. Three years since Toph came back home to Gaoling to try and make her parents understand that she is no longer, and never has been, "some weak little girl that needs protection." And, because her parents are more thick-headed than an armadillo lion and refuse to understand that I am the greatest earthbender ever (I mean, come on, who else can freaking bend metal?), it's been three years since she's had any freedom. Well, until yesterday at least.
Her parents had been keeping her cooped up in the house except for important occasions which were, as her parents would so often point out, only befitting for a daughter of the Bei Fong family. Apparently traveling the world with the Avatar and helping save the world isn't enough for freedom, but it's enough to get the attention of lots of potential suitors. And her parents were milking that for all it's worth. Toph had early on realized that "important occasions" was code word for trying to set her up with snobby rich prissy sons of noblemen. Noble. Heh, she thought. That's a good one. They saw me as nothing more than a prize to claim. Eventually, it became clear to her parents that this blind-dating system wasn't working (the irony was not lost on her) so when they had finally stopped bringing suitors, she thought they had finally given up. She thought they would let her pick someone for herself, not that she had anyone in mind (definitely not a stupid clumsy incredibly strong Water Tribe warrior). She thought that she finally had a little bit of freedom back in her life. She thought wrong.
When she turned sixteen, legal marrying age in the Earth Kingdom, her parents had decided that they would just pick someone for her instead. And that's when she realized she had to high-tail it out of Gaoling. Again.
Nothing was really stopping her before. She could have left anytime she wanted. Greatest Earthbender here. But, like it or not, her parents were family and she couldn't just leave them. So she sucked it up and played along. She could handle keeping her Earthbending to a minimum when the estate had company. She could handle doubling up on her studies to make up for the time she had spent "gallivanting about." She could even almost tolerate having to wear dresses every single day. But arranged marriage is where she drew the line. Her parents didn't exactly have a good track record of finding good suitors for her. And they didn't even tell me. She had over-heard two servants taking about wedding preparations for "the Bei Fong daughter." It didn't take much for her to put two and two together. That night, she was gone. As soon as she felt that no one was outside her room, she changed from her smooth silken sleeping clothes to her traveling garb, grabbed her pack (filled with food, two pairs of her much-missed Blind Bandit outfit, and money), headed out to her balcony. She jumped the two stories down to the grass, softening the impact with a clenched fist and an inward flick of her wrist, and slipped effortlessly underneath the ground with the aid of her Earthbending. From there, it was only a few minutes of underground travel to the heart of the town.
Jumping up out of her tunnel, she relished the feeling of fresh earth on her skin, something her parents had abhorred which meant that her healthy coating of earth was no more. She stomped her left foot to sense for anybody in the area and note buildings to give her an idea of her current orientation. Satisfied with the returning vibrations, she turned left and began walking in the direction she had identified from past visits as northward.
Before she came back home, cardinal directions meant nothing to her. Without the ability to see, she couldn't use a map to distinguish North from South. Her studies changed that. She had two tutors with her almost all day, constantly berating her with questions. In which year did Avatar Kuruk face Koh? What is the square root of 625? Who founded the Northern Water Tribe? What is the natural habitat of the toucan puffin? On and on they went- history, math, politics, ecosystems and whatever other tortures they could come up with. That was about as much fun as stepping barefoot onto a boarcupine. And she knew what that was like all too well.
But as much as she hated it, which was a lot, she had learned a lot of valuable information. She learned about the geography of the Earth Kingdom and where everything was in relation to everything else. Gaoling was near the south and Ba Sing Se in the north east with the Si Wong Desert in between. Her tutors had taught her that the sun rose in the East and set in West. The only way she was able to learn directions was from the heat of the sun. If she knew whether it was morning or afternoon and could feel the rays of warmth, then that's all she would need to know which way she was facing. Unless it was night or midday and the sun was straight above her. But that doesn't count.
She also managed to learn a lot about what was going on around the world while trapped in her own little prison called home. Turns out not all the Air Nomads had been wiped out by the Fire Nation's onslaught and they were slowly trickling out of their hiding places in the mountain ranges. She was baffled, along with many others who didn't know the details, as to how they had survived the destruction of their temples and lived on for another hundred years avoiding the Fire Nation. And why stay in the mountains? She never got that either. King Kuei had returned to reclaim his throne as ruler of the Earth Kingdom with the Avatar backing him up. No one opposed him. The Southern Water Tribe was beginning to show signs of having more Waterbenders and was growing larger with help from its sister tribe and Fire Nation support. Hearing about the world also happened to be a way for her to about her friends.
Fire Lord Zuko was working on making economic agreements between the Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes and was making reparations on the Air Temples. Avatar Aang was traveling with his sky bison around the world ensuring peaceful relations whenever he heard about a conflict. 100 years of war are hard to forget- Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom citizens had a lot of skirmishes. And then there were the crazed Ozai-loyalists. Toph'd hear a story about them at least every month. Then the rumors came in about a Waterbending youth in the South Pole with skills to give Pakku of the Northern Water Tribe a challenge. Sugar Queen no doubt. When Toph had last seen Katara so long ago, the Waterbender had told her she was going back home to try and help her clan any way she could. To the extent of Toph's knowledge, she was probably been teaching anyone that showed potential for Waterbending. I feel sorry for her students. Having to deal with her must be rough. "Meathead" was the only one she hadn't heard anything about. If everything went according to plan (him and his stupid plans), he'd be in Ba Sing Se University now. They had all been on Appa because Twinkletoes was taking them all home from Ba Sing Se- Toph to Gaoling first because I'm awesome (and okay, also because it was first on the way), Fan-girl to Kyoshi Island (good riddance) and then Sugar Queen and Captain Boomerang to the South Pole. Snoozles said that he was going with his sister to help rebuild his tribe and do whatever is needed of him. Then once things quiet down, he was going to go back to Ba Sing Se and enroll in the University there. A week before, the Mechanist and Sokka had been personally invited by the King to work at the university in the Engineering Sector. Having priorities to take care of in the South Pole, Sokka's offer was available for whenever he should return. The Mechanist and his son Teo had moved in to the Upper Ring where the King graciously provided housing for the two of them. She hadn't heard from any of them since. She couldn't really blame them too much. Writing letters to a blind girl wasn't exactly the best way to communicate. I know they're all busy, but they could have at least tried to visit me once in a while, she bitterly thought.
But now she was free. And free meant doing whatever she wanted. And what she wanted was an adventure. Not just any adventure. Oh no. This had to be an adventure to make up for years of solitude and boredom. This had to be an adventure fir for the world's greatest Earthbender. That was yesterday- the day she realized that adventures are no fun by yourself. She went through her (very short) list of friends, trying to decide on someone, anyone, who could join her. Twinkletoes is traveling around the world stuck doing Avatar duties. Hmm, what if I asked to join him? He gets to travel a lot. She had thought about it a bit more and realized that as much fun as traveling is, she much preferred it on the ground, rather than on Appa. She's flown enough to last the rest of her life. And she didn't think she could handle Twinkletoes himself for too long. He was too…sissy. He was cool and all, just not Toph-adventure worthy. Sugar Queen is in the South Pole. Toph shuddered. Not at the thought of how cold it would be there, but at the idea of being away from her element. Neither of those sounded too appealing. Sparky's busy ruling the Fire Nation and all. Plus he doesn't seem like the type to enjoy a good adventure. Toph still hadn't forgotten the last time she hung out with Zuko alone, when they were on Ember Island looking for Aang. He wasn't any fun. Fan-girl? Suddenly, the idea of traveling alone didn't seem so bad. Guess that leaves Meathead in Ba Sing Se. Yea, he's got his studies and all that but it's not like he can't take a break for a week or a month or two. Plus Iroh's there too. It's settled then. To Ba Sing Se!