By Paper Wristwatch
Note:
I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.


Chapter Two: The Blind Bandit

It's one of those things people are addicted to. Whether it was love, or lust, or an attraction, it became a habit. But I've been watching this person for a long, long time.

I remember when I first laid my eyes on her. I was relaxing on a treetop, eating an apple. All of a sudden, sliding from the corner of the wall, a little girl was running as fast as she could, while holding what seemed like a bundle of packaged food. Behind her, a group of people were throwing whatever were in their hands at her. They were rocks and scraps of metal, but their aim was so bad that none of them ever touched her feet.

"Come back here, girl!" A baker yelled, his face red with frusteration

She stopped, turned around for a second, and cried, "You'll never catch me, The Blind Bandit!" Laughing like a maniac, she turned a sharp corner and started running again.

I nearly choked on my fruit. What was this, a bunch of old Humans chasing a mere child? A peasant, no less? How pathetic. Still, it was amusing to watch. I decided to follow above them.

The girl led them in a labrynth of old alleys. Eventually she lost them by hiding behind a bag of trash. After a long while, she walked out carefully, and head down a straight path. From what I could see in the air, there was a group of more younger children huddled behind a tower of old boxes. It was then I realized that she stole the food to feed these infants. I floated closer and landed before them, but they could not see; Humans can't see Vampires unless they allowed them to, or there was a physical contact.

But as my feet touched the ground, the girl yelled, "Who's there?!"

I was dumbfounded.

"There's nothing there, there's nothing there!" The children kept assuring her, greedily consuming the food at a fast rate.

"There is, there is something there," The girl replied, but barely in a whisper. "Go hide behind the boxes, now, and make no sound."

"But - "

"Now!"

And they all scurried like a colony of rats. The girl picked up a rusted metal pole on the ground and held it up, ready to attack, but shaking. I snorted. Even if this... child, could see me, she could never lay a hand on me.

It was mystifying once I got a close look at her. She was slim and short; I suppose she was no older than 15 or so. She also had long raven hair, and her bangs were stuck on her face with sweat. The girl was wearing what looked like a a loose rag, with patches and holes everywhere. But it was her eyes... her eyes that first caught my attention. They weren't normal Human eyes, that's for sure. They were a light jade colour, with a darker shade in the middle for where the pupil was supposed to be. I knew why now she was called, the Blind Bandit. She truely was blind.

"Show yourself!" She yelled again, walking closer to me.

So if she was blind, how could she know that I was here? I was shocked and confused.

But before anything else could happen, from behind me, someone yelled: "There she is!"

It was the baker, this time with a broken metal pole. He and the Blind Bandit ran towards each other, both with their weapons at hand, and at the same time they swung the pole at each other. Her's broke almost instantly, leaving nothing to protect her from the impact of the baker's attack.

The metal and her head collided, and she fell to the ground, groaning and bleeding. The children hiding immediately ran out, screaming, trying to protect their hero from further harm. It didn't work, as by then, the whole mob migrated into the scene, tearing each infant from the girl on the ground.

"Leave them alone..." She groaned. She crawled at their feets, shaking with fear, blood dripping from her chin to the ground. The man simply spat and kicked her in the face, and her blood splattered on the ground like rain. I clenched my fists in anger, and my blood boiled. These selfish beings don't know this noble girl...

"So there are more of these rats, eh? And they're all Deviations! Just like you, freak!"

But this time, she did not get back up. The children were screaming, crying, trying to get their guardian to stand and fight. Maybe she was knocked out, maybe she was just too weak.

I couldn't take it anymore.

"Leave them alone."

There was a sudden silence. No one moved, they could only hear the blind girl breathe slowly.

I decided to show myself. The old men gasped, wailed and pointed at me as I bear my teeth.

"V-V-Vampire!"

They all ran as I started to advance towards them. I breathed in, and I closed my fist, then acting like I was pushing a wall, a burst of flames erupted from my fingers. But they turned around to another direction before my fire caught up to them. It left a scorched mark on the wall.

The children were all around the bleeding girl on the floor, speaking in faint whispers. I walked over to them, but all the kids bravely stoof up to me, as if trying to shield her from me. I sighed. I couldn't attack them, there would be no honour.

"L-Leave our big sister alone!"

"Go away, you b-bad man!"

"Oh please, were your eyes closed? I was on your side." I sneered, "If you don't get out of my way, I'll have to burn you too."

They shivered, but came closer together. I walked into them, knocking them out of my way. They quickly came back to me like a disease, punching and kicking with their little bodies. They stopped as soon I embraced her, and my hand was placed on her wounds. I muttered an incantation, and her bleeding stopped.

I couldn't help it though, I licked the remaining blood on her face... it was bitter, but the aftertaste was sweet.

"Sir...?"

"Mmmmm... What?"

"What are you doing?"

I stopped myself before I could go down to her clothes.

"Oh, I was... cleaning her face."

I put her down, and the little people gazed at me in curiosity.

"Tell your... sister, that I said hi." With that, I turned around and disappeared from sight.