Blinding Ice
The North Pole air was dry as it was cold. That was the first thing Toph's nose noticed as Appa landed on the small ice community.
The sound of excited children gathered around the large flying mammal as Toph felt a gentle hand touch her shoulder.
"Toph," Katara's soft voice entered her ears, "you need to wear shoes. The ground is completely frozen over with ice. Otherwise you'll get sick."
With fake bravado, Toph let out a snort and unsteadily stood up. "A little cold never killed anyone."
She carefully stepped down Appa's fluffy tail and stopped once she reached the last of it. Standing there, she slowly extended her toes onto the ice. It took a split second for her to recoil and fall backwards on Appa's warmer tail.
It wasn't the coldness that shocked her but the darkness in her head that remained. She had reached solid ground but no vibrations created an image for her to see.
She was against this whole trip. Toph never wanted to go the North Pole. It was mass of ice floating on water; a place unfit for an earthbender, never mind a blind earthbender.
Her friends persuaded her to come when she had initially declined. They, mostly Sokka, nagged her to forget her fears of flying and swimming and come with them. Another Gaang Adventure, they called it.
Flying on Appa was something she had learned to deal with. They were safe on his back and he was their only mode of travel. And what was there to see in the sky? Just a bunch of air?
Oceans and seas were Toph's worst enemy. She was truly afraid of drowning. Toph had never once learned how to swim, and she didn't think of it as a necessity until they were being attacked by that giant serpent at Serpent's Pass.
She had almost drowned.
The feeling of water dragging her downwards while she fought to stay afloat sometimes haunted Toph. She had needed earth but there wasn't any. Just her, in the darkness, and the sensation of the cold, liquid water pulling her to her death.
That day she had become hysterical, her mask of toughness shattered into rubble. It wasn't just because of fear but of something else.
There was something deeper within those fears, something she kept hidden in the darkest corners of her mind.
Fear is only as deep as the mind allows, many great intellects had said. Her fear had consumed not only her body and mind but also spilled into her heart.
She grew up in darkness, unsure and guarded, until the badgermoles entered her life. After years of practicing underground she learnt their secrets and after years of hard work and growing up in darkness, she could finally see. The darkness in her head wasn't as unbearable as before, this way of seeing was like torchlight in a cave. This new light filled her up with hope, helped her feel normal and made her the strong person she was today.
Fire brought pain, a feeling Toph embraced that made her mask harder, but air and water, those two elements took away her ability to see and it was because of these two elements that her deepest fear was summoned.
Toph was miserable. The vacation to the North Pole was quickly turning out to be a nightmare.
Every day she would wake up, sit on a chair, and enjoy the warm embers of yesterday. She never ventured far away from the hut that she shared with Katara, and she hated the restriction of shoes as they suffocated her feet.
The change in environments was taking its toll on Toph personally. This place was too close knitted, there wasn't enough space to breathe, to think, to be alone. All of this contributed to her speaking less, her body always seemed rigid, and her mouth unleashed harsh comments without restraint.
The others seemed to be having fun; even Depressed Face was enjoying herself. Toph always declined when Katara and Sokka offered to play tour guide and explore the 'wonders' of the frozen wasteland.
Toph raised her barefeet over the dying embers and shifted into her chair for a more comfortable position, savoring the fading warmth.
"Toph," a familiar voice she couldn't distinguish called from outside, "I'm coming in. If you're naked that's your own fault." Sokka, she realised.
A few seconds of rustling, a second chair was dragged near the embers and joined her in the stillness.
"Hey, Toph. Don't see you around much often," he said. The words coming out of his mouth felt awkward like the air in the room.
Toph silently wiggled her toes as she continued to be entrapped in her own darkness. "Maybe I don't want to be seen."
Another pregnant pause and the uncomfortable atmosphere in the room remained. At this point Toph's body had become rigid and a scowl was painted on her lips.
"There is somewhere I want to take you, just the two us. What do you say?" Sokka asked.
Guilt wasn't what lead to her answer. Maybe it was her longing for the presence of someone else or maybe it was just because of Sokka. She always knew it was difficult for her to say no to him
"Okay."
The sound of crunching snow echoed in the unknown setting as the two friends continued their walk. Toph's arm was coiled tightly around Sokka's as she finally freed herself to the sensation of being dependent on somebody else.
The weak heat of the sun and the ever present arctic wind made Toph long for her little hut. Her warm, safe, little hut.
"So," Sokka said dragging the word out, "can you tell me why you've been so distant lately? You're shutting yourself in that hut and barely saying a word to anyone. What's wrong?"
Toph internally sighed. This talk was something she had been anticipating since they left the tribe. It was their thing. When she wasn't herself he would pull her aside, just the two of them, and she would unload everything onto him, but today there were no exact words describe what she was experiencing mentally. None.
Each step they took Sokka's question lingered in the air, and with each step the answer moved closer to the tip of Toph's tongue.
"I'm blind," she confessed truthfully.
After saying that out loud she could tell how ridiculous her statement sounded in the open air, yet still it felt like she had allowed someone a key into her mind.
Sokka stayed silent and just kept on walking. She didn't need eyes to see the puzzled expression on his face. Why was it so hard to express feelings?
"I know you don't understand what I just said, Sokka," Toph said. A lungful of cold air calmed her thoughts as she mustered up enough courage. "But basically, I'm afraid."
"Of being blind?" he asked. The confusion was still there in his voice and Toph remained baffled on how she was going to clear it.
"I see through the earth, Sokka. The earth are my eyes, and now I'm stuck on this block of ice, no offense, and it feels like I'm a helpless child all over again. I hate feeling blind, Sokka. I hate it so much."
It was out. Every single thought and fear in the open and Toph could feel her mind breathing, no longer suffocated by her heavy burdens. Toph wished she could see Sokka's face. Did he get it? Had he understood why she had changed?
Sokka came to a stop and helped Toph sit down on the plush snow. He gently took her chin with his rough hand and turned it towards him.
"I may not understand what you're feeling Toph but I can see it's hurting you. Whatever this fear is, we're here for you. That's why we're your friends, let us be your eyes. You don't have to be alone." Sokka's words entered her ears and circulated to her heart.
She didn't have to be alone.
Toph suppressed the tears that she could feel welling up and instead punched Sokka on his chest - she was aiming for his shoulder, but oh well - and gave him a small smile.
"Now, we didn't come out here just to talk," Sokka said. He pulled Toph up and they once more began to walk. "I have a little surprise for you. It took some time to actually accomplish, so try and be grateful even if you hate it. Promise?"
Toph couldn't help grin at Sokka's childish behavior but she indulged him and promised.
It felt good, how at ease she felt at this moment. Light from fear and heavy thoughts, she felt her true self inching into her body little by little.
Sokka helped Toph descend down a small slope of snow onto a harder surface. Toph couldn't feel nor hear the plush, crunching snow under her feet. Instead it felt solid like ice but without the cold penetrating through the bottom of her shoes. It almost felt like…
"Come on," Sokka encouraged, "take off your shoes."
Toph lifted her short left foot and hurriedly took off her shoe. Her sole met solid earth and instantly felt the vibrations of the earth create an image of her small surroundings. Sokka was a few feet away from her and she could see him smiling at her with his stupid grin.
"It took days to find a piece of earth in the North Pole, but we were really lucky to find this place. It took some waterbending, firebending and some crazy shoveling skills from yours truly, but we did it," Sokka explained. "We thought you were earth sick but it turned out to be more than that, huh?"
His chuckle filled the barren area. Toph could feel her tears caper down her face as it met the cold, solid earth. Her silence made Sokka take a worried step towards her.
"Do you like it?" he asked uncertainly.
Toph turned to him with her teary face and a huge grin spread across her face.
She may feel miserable in the dark but with her friends around, they would always try and drag her into the light.
Probending Competition: Round Four
Write a about the worst fear of any character of your choosing coming to life. However, within teams, you cannot choose the same main character or the same fear to write about.
Main character: Toph
Fear: Being blind and depending on others
Prompts used: chair; North Pole; "Fear is only as deep as the mind allows"
Words: 1676
I hoped you enjoyed reading and hope you root for the White Falls Wolfbats!