Never Take Life Seriously: No One Makes It Out Alive Anyway
Scarlet Rose
"If people thought you were dying, they'd give you their full attention." – Chuck Palahniuk
There was little to do after their mission was completed. For a long while, she decided she could not return home and stayed with her companions. But it was not long until her companions were taken away by their lives. Forgive her, but she felt forsaken, forgotten.
It was not their fault that they had their lives to carry on with, and she was only a small part of each of them. Still, she resented the fact that they left her to take care of her own business.
When, finally, she had returned home, her family could not recognize her. Of course they loved her with all their hearts, but it would not be enough. They could not understand her or be truly close to her. At least from then on they gave her the space between them she had always wanted.
Even as their deaths came to pass and she, unmarried, continued on the family trade, she had never closed the gap between them. She was rich enough, and unhindered by her parents, so she traveled the world once again. She joined her friends in their homes, watching as their lives came together or fell apart, and letting herself be amazed when she realized that they were stronger than she had ever given them credit for.
They thanked her when things fell apart, because they believed it was her strength that they had taken example by and recovered. They did not know that it was their own strength. Whether or not she roused it was really none of her concern if it was already there in the first place.
Uselessness crept across her mind. But she knew she was the greatest of them all. She had her pride, and the skills to back up her loud mouth. So, she accepted duels and challenges of all kinds to fight her for the reigning title that she kept so carefully locked up in her heart.
Eventually, the challengers stopped coming, and the title was undisputed. Boredom hung about her face wherever she looked. So she started another project.
She took on students, surprising all of her friends and companions in this act of generosity. They did not know it was the students she was relying on to stick around for her torturing and it was them that she held onto to keep from driving herself insane.
Even as the students started rolling in, she was visited by an estranged companion: a king. He reintroduced her to a world she had forgotten since childhood and the adventures of four other companions. Gambling.
While her students were at play, she gambled away. She swindled and stole con-artists out of their money, and when she tired of their games she took to betting on chance. It would turn out that she was as lucky as she was blind.
Her family name grew in wealth until it was quite possible she could buy the king's title out from under him. But she would not think of this option; royalty did not have the amount of independence she needed. Perhaps this was the only reason she was not crowned a title among the other masters and noblemen.
There was little to think about when the orphanages sprung up as to where the money should go. Middle aged and becoming quite the shrew, she unloaded a lot of the wealth upon these poor places. Her companions thanked her profusely for her generosity, and she didn't bother to correct them of her true motives. Her vault and treasury were simply running out of space, and where better to put the excess cash but into public service programs?
And so, she gained the reputation of a hard ass with a heart of gold and did nothing to sway them to the truth. It was not for her own sake as much as for theirs. She knew of her own faults and did not wish to worry her friends with them. Perhaps they should've looked closer anyway.
There is always the trouble that comes with the combination of gambling, money, fame, and a recovering war torn world. She was a great target for war hawks. She was also really good at handing them back their asses after said attempt on her life.
She knew however, that you can't win them all.
And she didn't.
Lady Toph Bei Fong, the Blind Bandit, the Greatest Earthbender in the World, was killed by an assassin whom had watched her be defeated by a gangly looking challenger at Earth Rumble Six.