A/N: Yeah... new story. I actually came up with it last year when I had a really bad fever. I didn't fall asleep until seven in the morning because of it. And during all those hours, what do I come up with? This. Now let's just hope I can fill in the blanks I can't remember.

Red Painted Night

"The world is a cold, cruel place," thought Toph to herself as she felt her way around the metal box she was now trapped inside of. The metal felt cold and smooth as she ran her small hands around edges. It wasn't very big, it could fit two, maybe three people in it, maximum. She was thankful she was the only one in there.

Toph had just been kidnapped from what was left of her home to be a slave to the new ruler of all the lands. She had heard her captors come earlier that night, but didn't honestly think they would want her as their slave. There wasn't much she was good at. She was okay at simple housework, like minimum cleaning, but that's all she was really good for.

The thought struck her that they might have wanted her for her looks, but she quickly brushed the thought away. She could only imagine what she looked like at that point and only one thing came to mind, a total wreck. She was still sweaty from when she had been scared half to death when the people came for her and she could feel her hair sticking up in some parts. She didn't bother to fix her hair. She didn't care what she looked like.

A bump in the road brought her back to reality. She rubbed the back of her head where it had met with the metal wall during the bump. She wondered how long she had been in this box. It had to have been over an hour. She had originally figured that she was being taken to the palace where King Sako lived, but when she had gone there with her parents, it never took this long. She figured her captors must be making more than just one stop.

Toph started thinking about the palace, wondering what it would be like, living as a slave. Silently she prayed they wouldn't ask her to do anything that would be physically damaging. Though she knew she wouldn't do anything too horribly agonizing, the kingdom still lived by customs that women didn't do manual labor. Even though it was the king she would be serving, and he could do whatever he wanted, she hoped he would still follow the traditional customs.

The box came to a screeching halt and she heard voices on the other side of the metal wall. The lock on the door began to rattle and she heard it open. She could feel moonlight steaming onto her face.

"Get up," she was commanded. "It's time to meet your new master." She stood up in the metal box and started to walk toward the fresh air. She didn't notice when she got the end of the box and she tripped and fell onto the ground, which happened to be a few feet lower than she had originally assumed.

"What's the matter with you girl? You act like your blind or something," said someone in a low, grunt voice as she got up off the ground.

"That's because I am blind," she said calmly. She turned her head toward the voice so he could see that her eyes had film over them.

She heard him gasp.

Prince Aang sat in the palace kitchen watching the new slave cook try to learn where everything was in the enormous room. He knew his presence was making the new slave extremely nervous, and he knew it would be wise to leave, but he couldn't help himself. Watching the new slaves pretend to know the castle like the back of their hand.

"Ha!" thought Aang to himself, "I've been living here my whole life and I still get lost at times."

He heard the large kitchen doors open and a slave come running in. He turned to face her. She looked as pale as a ghost. He knew she just had a run-in with King Sako, his father.

"Prince, your father demands that you make an appearance in the throne room immediately. He says he has something for you," the slave told him.

"Alright, I'll be right there," Aang said as he stood up.

He walked with the maid to the throne room where his father was waiting for him. It took them a while to get there, but when they finally got there, his father was waiting impatiently for them on his enormous throne that was placed in the middle of the room. He looked to the side of him to see the new slave gawk in surprise. This was expected, because of the room's size and beauty. The ceiling was three stories from the floor and the whole place was made of black bricks. There was a row of pillars on each side of the room that went all the way to the ceiling, and each pillar had jewels in them decoratively. There was a huge window behind the thrones that had stained glass windows. They were a beautiful sight. The thrones did not fail to be magnificent as well. His father's throne was the biggest and had a radiant red ruby in the back of it. His mother's throne, which had remained vacant for two years due to her death, was smaller and instead of a ruby, it had a brilliant blue sapphire in it.

Prince Aang went up to his throne and sat done in it. It was hard and hurt his back, but it had a significant importance, so he didn't care.

"Son," King Sako started off, "as you know, our kingdom, the Air Kingdom, has been expanding, taking over those useless bending regions."

Aang rolled his eyes at his father. King Sako loved to gloat about his victories, despite the fact that Aang didn't totally agree on taking over all the other kingdoms.

"Anyway, I have a surprise for you Aang." Sako finished off. Aang perked up at this. He liked surprises.

The King motioned for the guards to open the enormous doors. They did, and Aang saw two guards drag in something between them. He squinted, and he could tell it was a little girl. His eyes widened in surprise as the guards dropped the tiny girl in front of him. She raven black hair and when she looked up at him, her fogged over emerald eyes seemed to pierce right through him.

"Son, this is your new personal slave."

A/N: First chapter done. Second coming out I don't know when. Comments are welcome.

Thanks for reading.