Team: Water Tribe
Round: 4
Category: Drabble
Prompt: (6) Action, bleeding
Word Count: 588
Something was very wrong. Toph knew it as soon as the others touched down in camp. She had been left behind from the reconnaissance mission to guard camp, which she had thought was a stupid idea from the get go. Just because she couldn't see didn't mean that she couldn't do reconnaissance. That thought was confirmed when she heard a panicked voice and felt the thump of Appa coming in for a hard landing. She ran over to them, trying to find out what happened.
"Dammit!" She heard Katara exclaim. "My canteen is empty! I've got to go get more water!" Something whizzed by Toph, she could only guess that was Katara.
"I'm going to make sure we weren't followed! Zuko, stay with him!" Aang shouted. She heard a branch snap and knew Aang had jumped into the trees.
Toph wasted no time, scrabbling up into the saddle. Not being able to see, when everyone was in such a panic was hard. No one was speaking clearly, or making sense. She felt her way over to Zuko, "What's going on? Who-"
She stopped dead. All around her, she felt the sticky warm substance, it covered the bottom of her foot. It made her sick, she tried to move backward but was rooted to the spot. "That's a lot of blood, isn't?" She whispered, holding her hand to her mouth. Tears welled and she knew exactly who's blood it was.
"We were attacked, Toph. Ambushed. Sokka fought hard, but he was injured. Badly." Zuko supplied calmly enough, though she could here his voice shaking with fear. She knelt down beside Sokka and placed her hand on him, running it up and down.
Across his chest was a terrifyingly deep gash, that was openly bleeding. She hardly heard Zuko telling her that Katara had done what she could on the way, had stopped the bleeding to a little extent. She was now focused solely on Sokka, horror and fear welled up inside her. Was he already dead? What could she do? Her hand was shaking, she didn't know if it was a good thing she couldn't see at this moment or a bad thing.
"T-toph?" Sokka spoke so softly, it was hard to catch. But it made her jump all the same and grab his hand.
"I'm here, I'm here! What the heck happened?" She asked.
"N-nothing really. Hit a big guy with my boomerang. He hit back. With his sword." He replied, trying for a laugh but coughing instead.
"Relax, stupid." She didn't mean it, she gripped his hand tighter. "Katara is going to fix you right up. Don't you ever do this again!" She growled.
"What? Fight?"
The sarcastic reply died in her throat almost as soon as she thought it. No, of course, she couldn't ask Sokka to stop fighting and protecting people. That would be like asking him to stop breathing. It was him. It was what he lived for. She curled up against him, shaking her head. It was him alright. Her lovable idiot.
"No. Scare me. Don't do that again. I thought you were dead."
Sokka smiled as Katara came bounding back up, whipping out the water as fast as she could. Toph felt the cool liquid hit her hand and she moved it. Everything was going to be okay, now that the bleeding was under control. He would be weak but he would be alive.
"I can't promise I won't," He said, hugging her close. "But I can make an effort. Thanks, Toph."