I don't own anything. And another manga recommendation: Immortal Rain. The art, storyline, -everything is stunning.
There's a lot of fighting in this chapter. Heheeh. Maybe I should have labeled this as an action story? Well, don't worry my dear Readers, there will eventually be romance… and more. Eventually. Heheheheh. Hope you like seeing things in Toph's POV too (I tried it out in this chap. Let me know if you all prefer a narrative or character POV's—or are indifferent)
ON WITH LE STORY
xxxxx-xxxxxx-xxxxxx-xxxxxx-xxxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xx
Song Yi pulled three pins from her hair, undoing her bun, and brandishing them as she made a fist, " Master Zuko, I challenge you to a fight!"
The truth was, Song Yi had not been trained in Dual Swordsmanship, Fire Bending, or any other form of martial art. This was why she had given Zuko a drugged tea, one that she hoped could put her on equal grounds with him.
It did not.
In a matter of moments Zuko was already pinning the clothing of her arms to the ground with her own hairpins, and then effectively running away as fast as he could. Iroh helped her up, again, and Song Yi dejectedly left to retrieve him some more tea.
Zuko ran through the gardens entrance, covering his face as he passed any female, running down the hallways. He was almost to his room when he was stopped by a voice from behind him.
" Zuko, are you drunk?"
It was Ty Lee, the daughter of a nobleman and a long-time friend to his sister Azula, whom she followed blindly.
Zuko kept his back turned to her, and raised his voice to a squeaky high pitch, " What are you talking about? I'm not Zuko! I'm –uhhh-Ping . . . Pong."
Ty Lee laughed, " You're totally drunk. I mean, just look at the way you've been running—all zig-zagy."
" I told you, my name's Ping Pong." He kept up the pretentious clown voice.
" Is that your drunken persona, Zuko? Well, I guess it's a good thing you are drunk . . . otherwise I wouldn't have a chance at winning."
Zuko reached for his doorknob, but before he could, he was dizzily throwing himself to the grown as Ty Lee's fist whizzed past his face.
They both shifted into fighting stances. Zuko flipped his long hair out of his face, which had come undone from its traditional topknot during his fight with Song Yi.
" Ty Lee, you don't honestly think your circus tricks can win against fire bending, do you?"
Ty lee's chocolate brown eyes crinkled in amusement, " I'll block your chi, and then you wont be able to."
'Shit, I forgot she could do that.'
Ty Lee is a formidable hand-to-hand combatant, utilizing a unique form of martial arts that attacks the pressure points on the human body. By striking these, she is able to disrupt that individual's chi flow and temporarily paralyze them, removing their ability to use bending.
"Does Azula approve of all this?" Zuko questioned.
" Oh yeah, it was her idea in the first place. Don't worry Zuko, we'll make cute babies." Ty Lee winked as she threw herself forward with a spinning kick.
Zuko blocked her leg with his left hand, bringing his right hand forward to grab her leg and throw her to the ground. Ty Lee allowed herself to be thrown halfway before grabbing both of his legs, effectively bringing them both to the ground.
She landed on top of him at first, but he rolled over on top of her, only to be thrown off as he was kicked in the stomach.
Zuko landed on his feet, and Ty Lee jumped to hers, bringing her elbow up above her head before attempting bringing it down onto his shoulder. He dodged the attack, which would have blocked his chi and dislocated his shoulder.
" If you're not going to play nice, then I'm not either."
With that, Zuko moved his hands in a circular motion, making a ring of fire around Ty Lee.
" Hey! That's not fair!" Ty Lee shouted, " How am I gonna get out of this?"
" I'll put it out when I'm inside my room." Zuko stated, before he opened the door to his bedroom and rushed inside. He barricaded the door with his bookshelf and with a few chairs, then broke the fire ring around Ty Lee.
He heard a muttered, " Thanks." From behind the door, then the sound of fading footsteps.
Zuko sighed in relief, then moved to his bed and plopped onto it. The bed bounced beneath his weight, the red of his robes matching perfectly with the red of his sheets.
The drug was beginning to wear off—it was a good thing he'd only taken one gulp of the tea. Otherwise, he'd have lost to even Song Yi, and definitely to Ty Lee.
' Then I'd have to marry her . . .' Zuko shuddered. There was nothing wrong with Song Yi or Ty Lee, per se; he just didn't want to marry them, or anyone, for that matter.
'Since when is being married—or willing to be married—the only benchmark for growing up?' Zuko thought to himself. That was why his father had ordered him to do so, anyway. He wanted his son to 'mature' and become more of a 'man.'
' I'm nineteen years old, already! I'm a man!' Zuko thought angrily. ' And it's not like Dad has a clue about marriage anyway. Look at how that turned out. He allowed himself to be a part of an arranged marriage even though he was already in love with someone else (Song Yang.) Then he ignored mother's feelings, and once he assumed power, he banished her so that he could be with Song Yang, and made her is High Courtesan.'
(Since Ursa –Zuko's mother- was not killed, she is still technically the "Fire Lady." This is why Song Yang couldn't become the Fire Lady and only became Ozai's High Courtesan. It is unknown as to why Ozai spared Ursa from death.)
Zuko considered the topic for a while until he suddenly did a double take, rolling over on his bed, ' Doesn't that make Song Yi my half sister? Ewww and she was gonna try to marry me!'
Zuko shuddered, then said aloud, " And what's with Azula trying to play match-maker with me and Ty Lee? I mean, of all her friends to choose from, you'd think she'd pick Mai . . .' Zuko paused at the thought, then frowned, his thoughts turning sour.
Azula had been right in not requesting for Mai to battle him. They had dated for three months, but after going on a vacation to Ember Island with his sister, and Ty Lee, they'd broken up.
At Ember Island, Zuko had become increasingly short-tempered and tactless around her, growing frustrated when shiny shells and ice cream failed to impress her (though Zuko did accidentally cause the ice cream to fall into her lap) and protective when other guys took interest in her. When he picked a fight with one of the guys who'd been ogling her, Mai had reprimanded him for being "impatient, hot-headed, and angry." He had then responded by saying that she has "no passion for anything" and that she was "a big blah." Mai had been stung by this, and had softly yet harshly said that their relationship was over. They hadn't spoken since.
Zuko threw a pillow across his bedroom, then decimated it with his fire-bending skills, ' I am not hot-headed.'
After sulking for a while, Zuko realized that he was thirsty, walking to his door so that he could retrieve some water from a maid, when he realized that his own barricade was in his way.
' Shit. If I go outside, I'm going to be bombarded with attacks again.'
" Now what do I do?"
Zuko contemplated his situation for a moment, and then finally decided he couldn't stay inside his room forever. He took a deep breath, and prepared himself for the worst. He un-barricaded his door, and stepped outside.
' Here goes.'
-xxxxxxx-xxxxxxx-xxxxxx-xxxxxx-xxxxxx-xxxxxx-
So my first fight was a piece of cake. I didn't even have to use bending. I just tapped the girl on the forehead with a pebble and she fainted. My next fight, another easy one. The girl just laid down on the ground and admitted defeat. It seemed most of the girls were uneasy with fighting someone who could bend, because they themselves either could not, or weren't ever taught how. This was probably because, in the Earth Kingdom, it was frowned upon for upper class women to bend.
It was amusing at first—watching prissy girls bow down to me and admit defeat. It soon became annoying, however, after it happened again, and again, and again. At this point, the few audience members who had showed up were beginning to doze off. —Who wants to watch fights where no one is even trying?
I was starting to get sick of this trend. I was obviously going to win the damn thing if every girl surrendered.
Lastly, I was paired up against The Girl from before, the one who had mocked my clothing and such. I sighed, and gestured for her to bow down and admit defeat to me like all the others had.
She smirked at me upon entering the stage and said, " This is going to be so easy."
I did an inner high five, ' They saved the best for last.'
On the outside I remained as stoic as I am capable of (which really isn't stoic at all) and I cocked a brow, " Do you think so?"
She flipped her shoulder length hair over her shoulder, " I know so."
The girl whipped to fans out from her obi, " Beauty contests, fighting contests, it doesn't matter what it is—I win it."
I chuckled, " I like your spunk. What was your name again?"
" My name is Mariko. And I'm sorry, but a blind girl like you really doesn't stand a chance against someone who was raised by the Kyoshi warriors."
I said nothing, but whipped out a few large rocks, sending them plummeting towards Mariko. They were light enough, and were a good way to test if this girl was serious about being a Kyoshi warrior. If she was, then this tournament was about to get interesting.
Mariko dodged the rocks effectively by running, coming into a close proximity with me. She whipped a fan open, trying to use its metallic edge to slice and dice me. I sidestepped her advance easily.
When I had first fought women who had been trained or raised by Kyoshi warriors back at Earth Rumble tournaments, the dual fans had thrown me off a bit for a little while, though I eventually had figured it out. I knew from previous tournaments that Kyoshi warriors liked to evade, redirect and generally make themselves a pain in the ass.
I preferred more direct attacks, (though I could easily make myself a pain in the ass) and, feeling egged on by the awakened audience, I threw the girl off her footing by sliding the earth beneath her feet from side to side. She fell, but quickly recomposed herself, saying, " I underestimated you."
" Fuck yeah, you did." I said, moving the earth beneath her again. She fell (again). " But don't worry, sweetness, I'm used to it."
Revenge is pretty sweet.
The audience's roars were becoming louder, and more people were beginning to fill in.
"Stop toying with me!" Mariko shouted angrily as she flipped herself into the air and away from the ground I was manipulating. She threw a fan at me and I blocked it with a wall of rock. A wall might be a bit excessive for one fan, but the fact of the matter was that I couldn't see things once they were in the air.
And the truth was, I could easily finish off Mariko . . .
'But I might as well give these people a good show.' I thought to myself, smirking. My smirk fell, however, as the fan she had thrown boomeranged from behind me in the air and skimmed the skin of my cheek.
" You underestimated me, too." Said Mariko, catching her fan. I could almost hear her grin. It seemed she had figured out my weakness. Blood dripped down my chin.
' Well. Things really are getting interesting.'
Mariko slipped her fingers between the loopholes at the bottom of her fans and began to spin them around her fingertips. She set them loose and they whizzed through the air, slicing at the sleeves of my kimono, even as I ducked.
I laid low to the ground as the fans swooped down and flew just above my head—Mariko catching them as they returned like they were Frisbees. I exhaled in relief that they'd missed me, the warmth of the earth radiating against my hands and relief didn't last long as suddenly, Mariko had disappeared.
I stood back up again only to have Mariko's foot collide into my chest as she executed a flying roundhouse. I fell back onto the ground, rolling to the right as one of her fans landed next to my ear, then rolling to the left to dodge the other.
Because she was so close to me, I could pinpoint the direction she was throwing her fans in.
I stood again, leaving her no time to pick up her fans, moved both arms forwards in a punching motion, which sent two dagger-rocks in her direction.
Mariko jumped high into the air and flipped over me, quickly retrieving her fans from the ground and throwing them at me again. I tried to move my leg outward so that I could form a cocoon of dirt to protect myself—but my kimono proved too restrictive. Instead, I fumbled, and tripped to the side.
This time I wasn't so lucky—there was now a deep gash in my upper outer thigh. The sent of blood filled my nostrils, and I thought, ' How the fuck am I supposed to win in this goddamn kimono?'
Mariko moved to catch her returning fans again and I knew I had to think of something fast—otherwise my head was next!
" I told you a blind girl like you couldn't stand a chance. If you can't see, you can't fight. " Mariko chuckled, and my eyes widened as an idea came to my mind.
"This fight . . . isn't over yet." I looked up at her, and smirked.
" You're pretty arrogant for someone who's about to lose."
" That's my line." I said. The moment she'd mentioned my blindness as a handicap I knew how I was going to win.
I moved my hands upward and clasped them together. Just as she sent her fans flying once again, I swiftly brought my hands back down and was catapulted into the earth, burrowing below the arena's grounds.
Now that I was safely below ground, I just had to pinpoint the area Mariko's vibrations were coming from.
I closed my eyes and focused. As I did so, I felt a distinct sense of clarity in my surroundings. The audience was cheering wildly, Xin Fu was announcing to the audience that I had used my earth-bending skills to bury myself below the ground, and Mariko was shuffling about at the center of our stage. With a powerful punch upward, the earth beneath me moved up and catapulted me out of the earth.
I suspect I must have resembled a flying superhero.
Dirt, dust and mud sprayed out from beneath me and next to me as my fist collided with Mariko's chin, sending her flying backwards. She hit the ground, stunned, and I moved my arms outwards, covering her with a blanket of dirt, causing her to become immobile.
I waltzed up to her, the dried blood on my cheek cracking as I grinned triumphantly, " Now, this fight is over."
Xin Fu marched onto the arena, my stage, and lifted my arm up, saying, " LADIES, AND GENTLEMEN, WE HAVE A WINNER!"
The audience roared, Mariko huffed, Xin Fu continued to hold my fist up, and I thrust the other one up victoriously.
Everything was great, that is, until, I heard a familiar, approaching voice from the audience. It was my mother. And she was screaming.
Mother was running down the stairs of the audience, people turning to look up or down at her as she shouted my name, " Toph! Toph Bei Fong!"
'Ohh god . . .'
Xin Fu helped her down from the sidelines, which were raised above the arena, and she ran up to me, " Toph, are you alright?"
I lowered my fist in an awkward motion, " Mother, I'm fine."
" You're bleeding!" My mother started to cry.
" Mom, what are you saying? It's a scratch."
The audience had grown silent, watching on in interest.
" We have to get you home immediately. Our doctor will take care of you . . . I'm so sorry this happened, Toph. " My mother took my hand, and squeezed it lightly. It was like she was afraid that if she held it too hard, it would break like a piece of glass.
I stayed in place, " Mother, I love fighting. I love being an Earth-bender. And I'm really, really good at it. And just look, I won."
My mother became quiet, " I know, I saw . . . but . . . but it must have been . . . luck or—or Xin Fu probably helped you! "
Xin Fu shook his head, " She fought on her own. In fact, you're daughters been fighting for a while. In Gaoling, you're daughter was known as ' The Blind Bandit.' She's quite talented, really."
My mother gasped—everyone from Gaoling, even my mother, had heard of The Blind Bandit. She turned to me, her mouth opening and closing in shock.
I took her hand in mine, as she had done before, but I squeezed it firmly—neither of us was going to break. "I know I've kept my life secret from you, but you were keeping me secret from the whole world. You were doing it to protect me, I know, but I'm sixteen years old and I've never been to a real school, or had a real friend. So please . . . "
My mother waved her hand, stopping me abruptly, " We're leaving."
Xin Fu began to speak, " Miss Poppy—"
" You're fired," My mother stated flatly. " You allowed her to be in a dangerous situation when you were supposed to be protecting her. Please collect your things from our house by tomorrow morning."
Both Xin Fu and I stood in shock, though after a moment he bowed in resignation.
As my mother dragged me out of the stadium, I heard confused murmurs in the audience, and then Xin Fu's booming voice, shouting, " MARIKO OF THE KYOSHI WARRIORS WINS BY DEFAULT!"
We left the Western area of the city in silence. It was strange to see my mother walking about outside of our home. Even amongst the royalty that traipsed about this side of town, she seemed exceptionally regal.
My mother broke the silence, " Right after your father and I got married, we tried to produce an heir. But after several months of trying, I went to see the doctors, and they told me I was incapable of becoming pregnant."
I kept my mouth closed, my eyes downcast as she continued, " After a while, your father began to consider taking a second wife. He and I never really loved each- other, so I told him it was fine. I had lost all hope. But then, one day I went back to that same doctor, and he told me that there had been a miracle."
She continued, " I was pregnant—with you. Those nine months you were in my belly were the happiest of my life. I knew that you were going to be the most beautiful, intelligent, and healthy baby. You were. But, you were also blind. The doctors told me that there was no cure, no way of fixing it, and that you would forever be in danger of getting hurt. As far as I was concerned, no one was ever going to hurt my baby . . ." My mother turned to me, and I felt my eyes sting with tears, " My baby." She said, stroking my un-wounded cheek, " I'm sorry you haven't been able to do things other children have because of my selfishness. But . . .You're all I have."
We made it to the front doors of our estate. I allowed a tear to roll down my cheek, but wiped it hastily, " I'm sorry for making you worry."
" Toph . . . promise me . . . you will never fight again."
Fighting meant the world to me and I loved my mother. I knew I had to make a choice.
" I promise."
xxx-xxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
TO BE CONTINUED
