A Shady New Babysitter
She tentatively loped though the path towards the estate that ruined her family and forced her into the life she must lead, smiling cynically at the irony of her revenge. The front door of the mansion was embellished with a large winged-boar knocker made of iron and covered with fine gold leaf. "Fine craftsmanship," She noted, bringing the ring of the knocker to eye-level and sneering at it, "I bet it's local. Not factory in the world could make something this intracite." She delicately knocked only loud enough that someone within twenty feet of the door could hear, letting her features soften while letting a placid grin cover her face. A burly servant answered the door
"H-hello sir, I-I've come to apply for the job offering- the governess position." She muttered gently, with a tremor of fear. The guard replied by looking upward with a 'ye spirits, not again' before turning towards the main hallway, "right this way, ma'am."
"So, miss . . ."
"Shu. Just Shu." The Albino bowed before the richest man in the Southern Earth Kingdom: Lao Bei Fong.
"Miss Shu," his wife, Poppy Bei Fong continued, "Do you have any relevance with childcare?"
"Oh yes my lady," Shu replied sweetly, "I had five younger sisters growing up, and mother had me help with all of them." That of course was a lie. She had two older brothers, both taken and slaughtered in the war. But now was not the time to rage at the past.
"And were any of them 'disabled'? Blind, deaf, barren . . ." Lao began listing symptoms.
"Well, my youngest sister walked with a limp for her entire life, but that never stopped us from playing in the garden or her from becoming a good masseuse."
"And why do you think the role as our governess suits you, Miss Shu?"
"I've always loved spending time with young children, and I don't think anything in the world would make me happier than spending time with a future heiress to the largest company in the Earth Kingdom." Shu sheepishly grinned at her future employers.
"Miss Shu, we'll need a moment to discuss this," Poppy turned to her husband before moving towards a room across the hall, "We'll be back shortly."
Shu waited until they closed the door behind them before silently creeping over to it and gently placing her cupped ear on the wood:
"I don't know, Poppy. There's something strange about this one; she's so wispy and frail-looking, almost like a ghost!"
"Honey, we've been through this before: if you turn away every applicant for the position for minor concerns the position will never be filled. We've already turned away fifteen girls for strange premonitions you've had of them."
"I know, I know. But when I look at her, I try not to show it to her, I am consumed with fear; it's almost as if she is a vengeful spirit that has finally come to do me harm."
Shu had to cover her mouth and nose with her free hand to hold back a laugh.
"Oh come now dear, this girl may be the sweetest applicant we've had thus far. She could not harm you even if she wanted to. Besides, the fact that she's so frail might give her and Toph something to bond over. We may never find an applicant this well-suited for her."
"Well, if you really feel this confident about her then I will trust your judgment." Shu carefully moved back to the center of the room and pretended to stare at an ancient wall scroll.
"We've decided: You'll start today, Miss Shu."
"O thank you my lord, you will not regret this." 'You will regret this'
"You will find Toph in the Northern most room of the estate, please keep in mind her blindness and accommodate your practices accordingly." Lao explained, preparing his and his wife's belongings for a two-hour long journey to oversee the opening of a new factory in Omashu, "I wish you the best of luck."
"Thank you, my lord." Shu watched as their eel hound sped away to the Northwest, knowing that they would be back before sunset. At first she had contemplated making her first robbery during their absence, but there were too many guards, too many servants who would easily catch her and rat her out. No, the best course of action was to find their money vault, pretend to not know where she's going if questioned, and then go play with the blind brat. So she started wandering around the estate, locating several other important locals along the way: the master bedroom in the southeast corner of the mansion, the kitchen and dining hall in the center, the east wing, where the servant's quarters were located, and several bathrooms, before finally reaching the vault in the western-most wing of the mansion. It had a huge dead-bolt lock on it, but otherwise sat unguarded. "They put a lot of faith in their technology, don't they?" Shu whispered, checking the lock for how easy it would be to pick, if it came to that. Indeed, it was more complex than the average lock as far as picking it goes, but with years of practice she was certain that it could be picked in less than a minute's time.
Satisfied that this would be easy, she made her way north towards where Toph was said to be. When she got there, she was more than surprised to see two well-armed guards outside the door plus an even more intricate lock covering the door.
"Who goes there?" asked the guard on the left, blocking the door.
"Sorry for intruding, but I'm the new governess," Shu bowed calmly, "I was told that I could find the young lady in this room."
"Oh, it's no trouble," the second guard shrugged, "to be honest, we we're waiting for you to show up so we could take a break."
"Toph shouldn't be any trouble," the first guard added, handing Shu the key to the lock, "she's been awful quiet lately, she might be taking a nap so try not to be too loud when you go in."
"I'm sure I'll be able to handle it. Enjoy your time off!" Shu unlocked the door only after the guards were gone, wondering to herself why someone with so much money would position his guards to his daughter's door and not the door to his vault. Perhaps there were more treasures to this place than previously expected, and the sneaky old man hid them n the most innocuous of places. Only after thinking of such treasures her focus returned to Toph's room, with nobody inside it save herself.
Many thoughts began running though Shu's head when she realized the only explanation was that Toph ran away from home. To paraphrase them:
''tbad,eventhougheveverythingyou',youcanstillfixthisyouonlyhave . . .let'ssee . . .', STAYCALM!' . After taking her own advice, she looked around the room for clues to where Toph might be. The window over her bed was open (Which made her wonder why a blind girl would NEED a window.) and it looked like several nearby objects were stacked up against the stone wall that surrounded the estate. Shu locked the door to Toph's room and pushed her bed against it for good measure before climbing out the window and following the path Toph had presumably taken. The stack of boxes atop a large barrel may have suited Toph well, but for Shu it forced everything above her hips over the wall. Beyond the wall, the city of Gaoling ended, and endless hills blotted out the horizon, blanketed in tall grass and dotted with only enough trees to loosely be called a forest. Shu took a deep breath in before climbing fully over the wall, "Dammit, she could be anywhere out here," Shu hissed before glancing back towards the Estate, "The things I have to do for money and revenge!"
