Searing pain dragged her back into harsh reality. Groaning and letting her eyes flicker instinctively open as sound returned, she shifted, straining to get her feet back on the ground.
From somewhere ahead, an unfamiliar voice rang out, dripping with condescending pity.
"Having some trouble there, Chief?"
Ignoring the taunt, she struggled again to rise, letting out a raspy moan of pain as her left knee hit the floor.
Clicking his tongue disapprovingly, the speaker stepped forward.
"Might wanna keep off that leg. Looks like you broke something. The Boss sends his regards, by the way."
Crouching cautiously on her right knee, she laid her palms against the ground, struggling to reorient herself and take stock of her surroundings. She could feel two other heartbeats within the small chamber; one coming from the speaker, and a second one from a body sprawled on the floor at his feet. The first, she didn't recognize, but as she latched onto the rhythm of the second, her breath caught in her throat, and a sharp spike of panic ripped through her.
She knew that heartbeat, almost better than her own.
It was the heartbeat she'd been searching for.
The shock must have shown on her face, because the man let out a little cackle, nudging the still body with his foot.
"Oh, that's right. We decided to pay your little darling a visit. I'll give you this, Chief; you raised a tough kid. Not quite tough enough, though."
Finally managing to haul herself to her feet, Toph twisted her face into a menacing snarl.
"You'd better hope she's all right."
Stepping forward, he shrugged.
"Eh, we'll see. You, on the other hand…"
Without warning, he shifted into a fighting stance, prying several smallish stones out of the floor and launching them rapidly toward her.
Instinctively, she stepped back, dropping into a fighting stance, but her injured leg refused to support her weight, buckling at the knee and dumping her onto her back. Cursing under her breath, she rolled quickly onto her stomach, ramming her fist against the ground just as her attacker launched another volley of stones. A trio of rock columns leaped from the ground, and he dodged hastily, skittering to the side and slamming his heel into the floor, sending a shockwave of earth rippling toward her.
Spreading her arms as far as she could, she dug in her fingers and the toes of her good leg, buckling down and holding on with all of her might. The wave passed around her, but the section of ground she held on to remained steady. Pushing herself up onto her knees and biting back a cry of pain, she flung out an arm, sending a cable flying toward him out of one of the spools strapped to her waist.
To her shock, he didn't dodge, ramming his fists into the floor instead and covering them with a coating of rock and dust, before digging in his heels and snatching the flying cable with his armored hands. Toph let out a gasp, pulling her hand back in an attempt to reel it in, but he held fast, dragging her toward him bit by bit until finally, he was able to seize the front of her breastplate, hauling her to her feet.
"And there we have it. Still, Chief, I gotta say, I'm impressed. It's almost a shame that it's over, now, but…"
Something slipped out of his sleeve and into his hand.
"You know what they say about all good things."
He raised the object high over his head.
"Goodnight, Chief."
The arm plunged down. A brilliant starburst of pain exploded through her chest and stomach, and the world seemed almost to drop away into nothingness around her.
The silvery hiss of splitting metal jerked Lin back to full awareness.
Dragging herself up into a sitting position and shaking her head in a vain attempt to clear it, she looked up, seeking out the source of the noise.
Across the cavern, the leader of the group that had attacked her stood, back to her, clutching the front of her mother's armor. His other hand gripped the hilt of a knife, plunged into the gap between the plates covering the chest and solar plexus, all the way up to the guard.
Everything went still.
Her vision seemed to swim and blood roared through her ears, almost unbearably loud. She wanted to cry out, but the sound stuck in her chest, burning and heavy, like a clump of molten metal.
Sensing her eyes on his back, he turned, withdrawing the knife and releasing his hold on Toph. As she crumpled to the ground, he chuckled darkly.
"Oh, finally back with us, Junior? You're just a little bit too late. Mommy's already checked out."
His lip curled into a sneer as he held up the bloodstained weapon, idly turning it over and over in his fingers.
"Couldn't protect her, could you? How sad. But don't worry. You'll be able to apologize to her in person momentarily."
Something in the back of her head seemed almost to snap.
A savage scream bubbled up into her throat, and she flung herself up and forward, ramming into him with all of the force she could muster and sending the two of them tumbling over and over on the dusty cave floor.
It was a vicious beating.
All sense of form and finesse vanished from her mind. Her rage demanded blood and pain, and the easiest way to get it was simply to strike, to kick, to grapple, to pull and scratch and bite.
The battle passed in a blur. At one point, she became vaguely aware of the knife gouging a line of white-hot fire into her cheek, but in her frenzy, she paid it no mind, redoubling her efforts.
She wasn't sure how much time had gone by when he finally managed to free one of his feet long enough to bend, but it was all he needed to gain the upper hand again.
The rock caught her directly in the ribs with a sharp crack, throwing her back against the cavern wall. Spots of light burst in front of her eyes, and she groaned, struggling to get up, but to no avail.
Her opponent had more luck. Climbing to his feet and gasping for breath, he stooped to retrieve the knife, wiping his bleeding mouth on the back of his sleeve and curling his split lip into a threatening sneer as he stalked across the cavern toward her.
"Phew! Not bad, Junior. Not bad at all! Still not good enough, though."
Wrapping a hand around her neck, he hauled her to her feet, pinning her against the wall and tightening his grip until her head began to swim, and the edges of her vision crawled with seething black.
"Say hello to your mother for me."
He raised the knife.