Can I Sleep in Your Tent Tonight?
An Avatar: The Last Airbender fanfic
I DO NOT OWN AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER. THIS IS JUST A FANFIC.
PLOT: Toph, an earth-bending adventurer, joins the gang on their quest.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This fanfic is the first part of a three-story collection of Avatar fanfics I am writing. The second part is "Blind Love" and the third part is still under work. To maximize your understanding of the inter-related storyline of these three fanfics, please read this story first, then "Blind Love." When the last part is finished, please read it to bring this epic trilogy to a close. Now, on with the fanfic.
CHAPTER ONE
The gang had met a new friend on their quest: a blind Earth-Bender named Toph Bei Fong, the daughter of a royal Earth couple. Aang was told to seek a patient, illusive Earth-Bender; one who listened and waited before attacking. After witnessing firsthand her capabilities, he knew this pampered, yet tomboyish Toph was indeed that Earth-Bender. While she was rough at becoming part of the team, Toph had eventually come to like the three and got used to being around them. She was going with them primarily to escape from her over-protective parents.
Toph loathed how her parents perpetually treated her like a baby. They believed all the ills of the world would befall her if she so much as stepped one dirty foot outside of the Bei Fong Estate. Toph ran away and never looked back. She and the rest of the team had left Gaoling, Toph's home-city, and were on the road towards the Foggy Swamp. A wise sage lived there, master of a form of Water-Bending unique to that geographical region. Rumor had it that he could manipulate the moisture in plants and vegetation to create a protective wrapping of vines. Aang said mastering all forms of the bending arts would allow him to unlock his true powers of the Avatar State and ultimately stop the Fire Nation from conquering the entire world.
Aang, Katara, Sokka, and now Toph had traveled for some time before reaching a large Earth city. Not quite as big as Ba Sing Se, but almost comparable. The kids decided to rest up for a while and look around for supplies for the trip ahead. They passed through the gate and split up, Aang with Sokka and Katara with Toph, and went shopping in the town's expansive market district.
"I was getting pretty hungry out there." Said Toph to Katara as they browsed the numerous aisles of foodstuffs, looking for some delicious grub. "I'm glad to be able to eat something other than nuts!" Katara looked down at Toph and smiled. She and Toph had lost quite a bit of weight since starting their travels with Aang. Katara's ribs could be seen quite prominently when she stretched backwards or sucked her gut in. She often felt them and wondered if being so skinny was good for her health. Katara was more concerned about Toph. Her growing body needed much sustenance and nutrients. A sparse diet of nuts and berries was hardly sufficient. Katara and Toph bartered some of their belongings they acquired on their treks for a hearty Earth-Kingdom meal: Earth-style flat noodles with Turtle-Duck meat, peanut sauce, assorted vegetables, and a side of white rice and egg-drop soup. The girls sat on the ground against the wall next to the vendor and ate their first real meal since leaving Gaoling. The sun wasn't as hot now as it had been in the last few days, but it was still stifling. Toph had changed her wardrobe slightly by cutting the sleeves of her shirt, exposing her now tan forearms.
"WOW! That was delicious!" Toph said before slurping the broth at the bottom of her bowl. She set the bowl down and let out a sizable belch, which made Katara blush. It was odd seeing Toph do something like that, being royalty and all. She certainly didn't let that keep her from acting like a commoner. With the Fire Nation getting craftier and craftier with their attempts to capture the gang, acting like commoners and blending in with the crowd may be a good idea. The girls drank some water to wash their meal down with and got up to leave. While Katara capped her sealskin canteen, Toph looked around the market as if daydreaming. The gang had had a run in with some highwaymen on the road, whom demanded money or else. Not wanting to cause any more hardships in the world, (or for themselves for that matter) Aang quickly handed over a good portion of their money, much to the distain of his comrades. They were ready to fight for their belongings. The peaceful Aang took the nonviolent path. The subsequent shortage of gold made it hard for them to buy anything, and bartering with what they had was less than successful. Toph was not accustomed to living on minimal food and money and thus had been getting desperate. Now Toph was willing to do anything for some good-old luxury. She grabbed Katara's wrist and led her behind the vendor's building.
"What are you doing?" Katara inquired.
"Ssshhh!" Toph shushed. "Did you like that stir-fry we just ate?"
"Yeah, I did, but why are you acting so weird all of a sudden?"
"Do you want some more? Ya know, for later?" Katara was curious about where her friend was coming from. She wasn't thinking about stealing, was she? Katara recognized that particular tone of Toph's face from before, it implied she was getting ready to do something brave, or perhaps stupid.
"You're not going to steal food from them, are you?"
"Don't think of it as…stealing. I'd call it…um…borrowed capital! Yes! We will take it now, and pay them back by liberating them from the Fire Nation!" Katara broke free of Toph's grip and crossed her arms and scoffed.
"Okay, for one, I don't think you should be proclaiming the defeat of the Fire Nation so loudly. Secondly, I don't think economics work like that…"
"Oh, c'mon! We'll just take a little, and only because we need it once we set off again in the wilderness, okay?" Katara sighed, her mind in quarrel with itself over the moral relevance of stealing to survive.
"I still don't like this idea. What if we get caught?"
"We won't. I'll go get it, and then we can run back to the meet-up spot and wait for the guys. We'll be in a new district of the city and the guards won't bother chasing us that far. But that's implying the guards will find us in the first place. I've stolen before, when I needed to, of course. I'm not so helpless just because I'm blind, okay? You saw how I handled myself against those goons at the Earth Rumble."
Katara was disappointed with Toph. She knew Toph liked things on the wild side, and was often in compromising situations, but stealing? That didn't seem like her, even if she was nabbing food to keep from starving.
"I can't believe what I'm hearing!" Katara whispered loudly. "I wish you would help those in need, like I do, but instead you talk about stealing? What's gotten into you?" Toph shushed Katara again.
"We'll discuss this later. Right now, I need to make my move before I lose my chance." Katara stood with an agape mouth and watched Toph slink back out into the crowd. She adjusted her studded, brown leather belt and walked away casually, like nothing was to be thought of her. This is exactly what Toph wanted.