He stood stock still, attempting to survey his surroundings while simultaneously ignoring the finger poking his arm.
After a moment the finger formed into a fist, which smacked against his armoured shoulder. The protective layer prevented any pain from blossoming - not that he expected any even if his arm had been bare.
"Cut it out," he muttered in the vain hope she'd obey.
"So you can talk after all," she crowed.
"Yes. And you can be silent, so please do so." Sokka kept his voice as neutral as possible.
She ignored him, going back to prodding. But instead of his arm, she focused on the lump near his chest.
"What's this?" Toph demanded to know.
Sokka debated the merits of deflecting her question, but in the brief time that he'd come to know the girl he'd learned she was nothing if not persistent.
Carefully he reached into his jacket and extracted his glock. Keeping his finger away from the trigger, he showed it to his charge.
Her pale eyes squinted at the weapon, before widening as she fully took it in.
"Wow. Where did you get that?"
Sokka didn't answer for a moment, before deciding caving was the best option.
"It was my dad's, in his army days. He gave it to me not long after my mother died. He said it was so reliable, if you threw it away it'd probably come back to you like a boomerang. So I named it Boomerang.
"That's why it's blue. He was in the Water Tribe corps, quite highly ranked."
A frown appeared on her face.
"I don't know what blue is," she muttered sullenly.
Surprise and confusion struck Sokka. Was she so sheltered that she didn't even know what a colour was called? It didn't seem possible.
"What do you mean you don't know what blue is?"
The frown deepened, and she turned away.
"I'm colourblind, stupid. Everything looks the same to me anyway - fuzzy."
Ah. Yes, now he remembered her dad had mentioned her visual impairment. Oh dear, he'd just committed a faux pas, hadn't he?
Tucking his gun back into its holster, he gingerly put a hand on her shoulder.
"Sorry, I guess I forgot. Not the sharpest knife in the drawer sometimes," he said self-deprecatingly.
The girl snorted in derisively, smirking in amusement.
"You don't need to tell me that," she laughed.
Rolling his eyes at her, he shook his head for a moment.
"Gee thanks," he said flatly.
"I'd say you can't be that bad if my father hired you, but some of the other guys he's employed were pretty worthless. My old tutor, Master Yu... well, he didn't last long," Toph explained.
"What happened to him?" Sokka asked, interested.
"Oh, he ended up joining up with a gang leader and they tried to kidnap me for ransom money," was her airy reply.
Sokka blinked, stunned at her confession.
"Wow. No wonder your dad's a bit paranoid, that's crazy."
Toph waved her arm in a dismissing gesture.
"Nah, they were idiots. I ended up locking them in their own cage and left them. They might still be in there actually. As skeletons."
Sokka was horrified.
"Are you being serious? Man, I am going to keep a close eye on you from now on."
Toph looked at him for a moment before cracking up, bending over and holding her stomach as her raucous laughter sounded out across the grounds.
"Maybe I'm lying, maybe I'm not. You'll never know," she grinned. "At least you're not half as stuffy as he was."
She wiped away the tears that had leaked out of her eyes during her laughing fit before staring at him intently for a moment. Sokka gazed back at her, a little unnerved by how her eyes seemed both unfocused and razor-sharp.
"Can you keep a secret?" She asked him.
Wrinkling his brow, he nodded.
"As your employee, I am sworn to keep your confidence, Miss Beifong."
She punched him in the arm again, scowling slightly.
"Sorry. Yes, sure thing Toph." Sokka corrected himself.
"Good. Come with me," the young woman instructed.
He raised an eyebrow as she turned and began walking away, but nonetheless followed dutifully. His instructions were to keep her safe - not keep her still, after all.
They walked across the perfectly kept lawn for several minutes, before reaching the borders of the estate. The mansion was surrounded by elaborate metal railings, but there was a small, tucked-away gap where the metal had rusted away that lead into the outside world.
Glancing through the hole, it was amazing how the area suddenly went from rich and maintained into and untamed wilderness in only a few steps.
Shrubs and tussocks of grass sprang up here and there with patches of heather and wild flowers dotted around. Insects flittered around, gathering from the various plants and birds lurked in the treetops, taking wing at their approach.
Sokka stopped just short of it, placing his hand on his charge's shoulder to keep her in place. He surveyed the verdant hinterland with a small measure of worry.
"I'm not so sure about this, Toph. I don't think your dad will be happy if I let you leave the estate. We should turn back before anyone wonders where we are." Sokka tried to convince her.
Toph would have none of it, shaking her head angrily.
"I haven't showed you anything yet. Forget him, nothing will happen," she insisted.
"Easy for you to say, you're not the one with a job on the line here," Sokka retorted. "Fine, I'll see whatever it is you want me to, if it's quick. But when I say so, we're leaving. Got it?"
Smiling at his resigned look, Toph easily slipped through the gap into the wild. Sokka had to put some effort into squeezing past, being somewhat larger and carrying more things.
The pair stood and admired the lush landscape, it was much more beautiful without the obstructing metallic barrier.
And then Toph was on the move again, heading deeper into the woods. Sokka scrambled after her, easily navigating through the tall grass. He twitched slightly as he took in the shadows cast by the tall trees, seeing all the many places suitable for an ambush.
True, it was very unlikely, but he was on edge after Toph's story earlier. He put his hand in his jacket, fingers curling around his glock. The cool metal was comforting against his skin.
Trailing after the black-haired girl, he wondered just how many times she'd been out here for her to have gained the level of familiarity with the area that she did. Perhaps he would be wise to mention the hole in the fence to someone to prevent more excursions.
But then again, Toph would surely know he had done so. Angering her would only cause more problems for him, she'd never forgive him for constraining her freedom.
His contemplation came to an end when Toph suddenly halted by the side of a small incline. It appeared to be some kind of mound of earth, or maybe a hill.
"Is this what you brought me out here for? There's nothing there." He said, bemused.
Toph made a shushing noise, putting her fingers in her mouth and giving a short, sharp whistle. For a moment nothing happened, and then something began to emerge from a hole a few metres away from them.
Sokka stared at the long, pointed snout and striped face. The beast snuffled as it walked to Toph, other badgers appearing behind it.
"Badgers. I see. They're, um, nice?" Sokka stated uncertainly.
Toph crouched down, stroking the head of the biggest one. The little badgers crowded around her.
"When I was a kid, I ran away from home for a bit. I found this sett here, with these badgers. They didn't treat me like I was broken because I can barely see. They just accepted me. So I kept coming back whenever I felt sad or lonely," Toph admitted.
He gazed at her, petting the wild animal in the evening light with a serene smile on her lips. How could he deny her this? Even if the hole was discovered, he vowed he'd open up another one for her.
"Thanks for showing me, Toph," he said, squatting down to join her.
The badgers looked at him, and he held a hand out to one. It sniffed curiously at his fingers, giving them a small lick. And then it bit him.
He yelled in pained anger and the group fled, dispersing into their hole. He brought his hand up to his face and inspected the damage. It wasn't a deep bite, not even breaking the skin, but it still hurt a bit.
"You scared them off," Toph huffed. "There was no need to scream, you wuss."
"It mauled me!" Sokka exclaimed. He frowned at the entrance to the sett before offering a hand to Toph. "Come on, we're leaving. That's enough of wild creatures for me."
Ignoring his hand, Toph rose on her own. He shrugged, leading the way back.
"They don't know you, I guess it's no surprise they reacted strongly," Toph mused.
"Strongly? It could have taken my finger off," he muttered.
"Whatever, pansy," Toph laughed.
Sokka scowled harder at her comment, but chose to ignore it as they passed back into the Beifong Estate. He waited for Toph to get ahead of him, before grabbing a few leafy branches and laying them over the hole. Soon the gap was invisible.
Only they would know it was there.
