"If this food is too spicy, I'll turn your bones to dust." Toph said.
"I ran out of spices miles back." Shinjiro answered, looking at Toph. She had made a small tent of rock, and was sitting cross-legged in it.
"Put the bowl on the ground," Toph instructed. Shinjiro did as she said, and wasn't surprised when she made a column of rock rise and bring the bowl to her.
"You're a good bender." Shinjiro said appreciatively, looking out into the darkness.
"Yep."
"Do you have family?"
"Do you?"
"No." Shinjiro said, shivering at the memory of his childhood.
"I have my family, so they don't count." Toph said bluntly. "Do you hate yours?"
"No. They were killed." Shinjiro said.
"Why aren't you dead?" Toph asked.
"It wasn't through lack of trying." Shinjiro said. "I'll find the man who killed my family after I get the antidote."
"Well, Ba Sing Se first." Toph said.
"I know. I'm a man of my word." Shinjiro said, then coughed. In truth, he was worried about this trip. It wasn't like him to do anything nice. He was known as 'The Ash Bounty Hunter' because, while most bounty hunters brought back the bounty alive, he brought back ash. He had never taken a single bounty alive, especially on water benders.
Shinjiro's family had been killed by Osa, a bloodbender, giving him a fear and hatred toward waterbenders. His mother, however, was an earthbender, giving him a respect towards earthbenders. Shinjiro was a good firebender, nearly a master, and even had a technique no one else had. Or, rather, no one else around had. He had learned it when he was five from his friend, Kyle.
Kyle's brown bangs framed his face, and his bright green eyes were full of excitement. "Yo, Shins! When I say 'Furgie Furg, gonna love you long time,' you say 'oh snap!'"
"Kyle, what are you talking about? And why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Shinjiro asked.
"Just do it!" Kyle said. Kyle was rumored to be insane, and sang many songs only he knew.
"Alright." Shinjiro said, as he had stopped arguing with Kyle months ago.
"Furgie furg gonna love you long time!" Kyle smiled.
"Oh snap...?" Shinjiro said.
"Don't mind if I do, Shins!" Kyle said, and snapped his fingers. Immediately, a column of flame shot young Shinjiro into the air. Kyle laughed insanely, and Shinjiro grabbed him by the shirt.
"That..." Shinjiro growled. "Was...Amazing!" Shinjiro laughed. "Teach me how to do that!"
"You focus on the ground at someone's feet, right?" Kyle said. "Then you snap. It's like normal firebending, but uses less motion and looks cooler."
"Ha-ha!" Shinjiro laughed. "You might be nuts, but you're a good firebender!"
Shinjiro smiled.
"Why are you so happy all of the sudden?" Toph asked.
"Maybe it's just seeing your pretty face." Shinjiro said, remembering what Kyle had said to one of the teachers when she asked why he was smiling. Unbeknownst to him, Toph was sensitive about her looks, not knowing what she looked like. So she hit him with a rock, sending him flying. "What was that for!" Shinjiro wheezed, trying to stand, the air knocked from his lungs.
"Maybe I'm just happy I can't see your ugly face." Toph said, then burped loudly. "You're a pretty good cook."
"Not that I'll know." Shinjiro said, looking down at his broken bowl. "You threw my food onto the ground."
"So that's what that vibration was." Toph laughed.
Shinjiro sighed, then thought about what Toph said. She couldn't see his face, and Shinjiro wanted to help her out.
'Trying to do something good in your final days on earth?' Shinjiro wondered. 'Maybe.' He answered.
Toph snored loudly, and Shinjiro realized she was asleep.
'She's actually fairly cute when she's not trying to kill me.' Shinjiro thought. 'I wonder why she wants to go to Ba Sing Se. Better not worry about it. I'm sick enough without stress weakening me.'
Shinjiro got into his sleeping bag, yawned, and brushed the hair away from his right eye, revealing it's grey, hazy iris. Shinjiro's eye was blind since Kairi infected him, and Shinjiro hid it with his hair.
Shinjiro wondered 'Will I even be able to walk when we get to Ba Sing Se? Even now, I feel the infection spreading. But I'll finish this and get that antidote. Nothing will stop me.'
A/N: Kyle is actually from another fanfiction of mine, Naruto: Kyle's Story, and Osa is from Xan075's Avatar Fanfiction.
-MN1