Author's Note: I'm introducing my second main OC in this chapter, just so you know. Everything weird in this chapter is explained in the next, so if you don't completely understand what's going on, that's cool. You're not supposed to. :)
Disclaimer: I will never own Avatar: The Last Airbender.
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Chapter 7: Pretend
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The group flew to the outskirts of Gaoling; there they left Appa, at Toph's determined request. She wanted to walk into her hometown, wanted her bare feet to verify the state of things; she wanted the comfort of the ground beneath her toes to keep her steady if everything was as she expected.
As the group entered, a wave of unease drifted over them. To the naked eye, it seemed that the entire place was deserted; there wasn't a single cart or vendor on the streets. No civilians were in sight. The houses were not boarded up, but all windows and doors were closed; the only sound was that of the wind teasing them, making them further hate the desolation.
For a brief moment, Toph struggled to inhale; she could sense no one outside, but for homes whose floors were made of dirt or stone, she could see into them. The city was not deserted – its citizens had merely been crippled with fear. Toph had no doubt as to what had caused this devastating halt on the town's activity, but the Shinsei had gone – what, then, were the citizens so afraid of?
Another moment passed, and then another; Toph was sick of the seemingly aimless progress, and the burning desire to know was unbearable. Without warning she burst into a run and took off blindly in the direction of her old home, not caring in the slightest that she had a substantial amount of distance to cover or she could make much faster progress with the help of earthbending. She relied on the feel of the earth beneath her feet, but for a moment, she just wanted to run.
Soon enough she began to use earthbending, but the running had been a wonderful way to blow off steam; she made quick progress and before she could truly process what she was doing or where, exactly, she was going, she had arrived at the gates of the estate. She could feel that the others had followed her, but she was a good distance ahead of them and had time to herself before they arrived.
The light breeze tousled her messy black hair, but nothing before her stirred; she reached out a hand to touch the new-feeling wrought iron gate. It was intact, but it was wide open, each side reaching out to her as if to embrace her. Her searching fingers fell to her side and she ventured forward, listening vainly for any sign of life.
She continued forward up the walkway and found that the door was also open. The light breeze was not strong enough to make the door move and creak on its old hinges; she simply walked forward, the empty, cavernous house as bleak as anything she'd ever come in contact with. It was so heartbreakingly silent that she bit her lip and found that a tear had snaked its way from her eye and was drifting down her cheek, just as painfully silent and devastating as the house – her home.
Nothing creaked, nothing moved; the place was so lifeless that another tear escaped, and another. Her mind was jumbled and thoughts were out of place – she vaguely noticed that they had installed new stone floors in almost every room (probably only a few months ago), and it barely occurred to her that her room, on the far side of the house, was exactly the same as she'd left it, down to the crooked cushion on the floor beside the door.
Toph's footsteps were excessively careful and reserved so as not to disturb anything; she moved from room to room, marveling at the lack of destruction. Everything was upright; there were no signs of struggle. Perhaps there had been no struggle, as she had originally thought; perhaps her parents' throats had been slit in the midst of night. She attempted to quell this thought with the knowledge that such a spineless attack wouldn't have held enough flair for Kanaye, but she was so unsettled that she immediately made her way to her parents' bedroom.
She'd never been in that room before. The floors were wooden, and they repelled her; besides, it was disrespectful to enter the room in which her parents slept. She did so now, though, driven by the horrible concepts of death that flitted across her mind, flickering in and out of her head. She was blind; if she reached out to the bed and touched a dead body…
She approached the bed and reached out, not wanting to wait in painful suspense. She exhaled a pent-up breath when her fingers met the comforter – the bed was empty. She knew the room was small; they weren't there. She decided that they weren't in the house, and a wave of bittersweet relief washed over her.
Then, quite suddenly, she felt uneasy.
The hair on the back of her neck stood up; she wondered if the others had reached the estate yet, but somehow she knew that they hadn't. Someone was with her, someone was in the house… someone was in the room…
"Hello."
Toph's heart rocketed, but she managed to somewhat keep her composure. "Who's there?" She backed out of the room, into the stone hallway. "Come out here. Come here so I can see you."
"You are blind." The voice obviously belonged to a young woman; it sounded clear and lovely, almost like music. Toph didn't trust it in the slightest; the woman continued to talk. "You cannot see me, no matter where we are."
Toph had no desire to explain. "I can, if you come into the hallway… You have no right to be here. Who are you?" Questions stumbled over themselves in Toph's mind and she just wanted the woman to come into the hallway so she could see her. She knew that she didn't know the woman – but if the woman spoke, she wanted to know if she was lying. How could she have been there? Toph hadn't heard breathing, hadn't heard a single thing to indicate life. Her uninvited guest was obviously skilled in the art of stealth.
The woman complied and walked into the hallway. Toph had backed away from the door; she was ten feet away from the woman, and she hoped to keep it that way. Toph could tell how tall the woman was, about how much she weighed, how comfortable she felt being right in front of a stranger. What she couldn't tell were the woman's identity and her intentions, and these things interested her the most. "You haven't answered me. Who are you?" Toph's voice was demanding; she was obviously very surprised at another person's presence.
"I am Sira," the woman informed her, "and I can help you. You are the daughter of the people who lived here, are you not?"
"How did you know that?" Toph asked, breathless and taken aback. The word lived, in the past tense, made her skin chill.
"I see pictures," Sira replied. "I see paintings of the three of your together. You were younger, though… they have none of how you look now, but you are unmistakable. Your name is Toph, too, correct?"
Toph was frowning. "I'm not answering any more of your questions until you tell me why you're here. What happened to my parents? What right do you have to be here?"
Before Sira could respond, Toph heard the others enter the house. She had no need to face Sira to know if the woman had something violent in mind and turned away, approaching the door. Sira followed.
"Toph!" Sokka called.
Aang joined him. "Toph, are you in here?"
"I'm here," Toph replied. "But we've got some company, too." She reached the doorway and stood before her friends; Sira stood behind her, not quite a whole head taller. "I don't think she's violent, but I do know that she has a lot of things to tell us. Like why, for Spirit's sake, are you in this house?" Toph had turned toward the woman and was waiting for an answer.
Sira's expression was grave. "It is true, I am not violent. As to why I am here… I was awaiting your arrival. There is more to tell you, but is a time and place for such explanations and it is not here and now. I know who you are; you are Avatar Aang, you are Katara of the Water Tribe, you are Sokka of the Water Tribe, and you are Fire Lord Zuko. I am no stranger to your titles, though your accomplishments are mysteries to me." She allowed the corners of her mouth to tilt upward, though she seemed cautious about the action.
Toph didn't trust strangers, especially after her experience with Ru. The woman wasn't violent, however, so Toph didn't especially feel the need for such a thing. She wanted answers, but perhaps they could keep company with her for a time.
"May I accompany you?" she asked. "Into the city? I have unfinished business I must attend to, and I wouldn't want to further frighten the residents. You'll understand what I mean soon enough."
Aang seemed ill-at-ease, but he wouldn't readily deny her such a simple request without having a proper reason – one that didn't involve just a feeling. As he opened his mouth, Zuko quickly evaluated the Avatar's emotions and spoke first. "You know of us, but how do we know you're not an enemy?" he demanded, glancing at Aang irritably.
"Fair enough. As I told Toph of the Earth Kingdom, my name is Sira. I have no title. I do not know quite how to prove that I am not a danger to you, but if you give me the opportunity, I will gain your trust on my own. Is that all right?"
The others considered. Finally Sokka said, "That sounds okay to me."
Katara and Aang offered nods of agreement. Toph didn't much care; she wasn't going to trust her. She didn't like strangers and she wasn't going to warm up to them just like that. Zuko was tight-lipped, and he seemed to be mulling it over; after a few moments, he nodded once. It was settled.
"I suppose we shall begin to advance toward the settlement, then," Sira said resignedly.
There was one more thing Toph had to know, though. "What happened to my parents?" she asked, a light plea creeping into her voice. She didn't know it, but Sira sensed this and understood how much Toph needed to know the answer.
Sira exhaled softly. "I do not know for sure," she replied, "but when the Shinsei – yes, I know of them perfectly – left this place, your parents were captured alive."
When they reached the town, it was just as deserted as before, if not more so. Not a single thing had changed about the place except the wind; now it was hotter, as the sun was about directly overhead. The world felt dead. Toph, lips pursed in slight annoyance and slight curiosity, turned in the direction of the nearest home with a dirt floor.
"There are people in there," she said. "There are people in most of the buildings, as far as I can see, but they just won't come out." She approached the home to which she'd turned before and, when she reached it, she knocked.
If she hadn't been able to see with her feet, she would have sworn that the house was empty.
She knocked again, more forcefully this time; when this yielded no results, she took her meteorite bracelet off and shaped it into a rough key. After thrusting it into the lock, she willed it to fit correctly and in moments she was inside the house without being made to break down the door. Being an earthbender was a wonderful thing.
The entire place had three rooms. The farthest away from the door was the bedroom, and she headed there now; the two people in there (a mother and son, she decided) were aware of their visitor's presence and were quaking with fear. Toph's curiosity was stretched even more, and when she passed through the door into the room of the two people, the mother held her son close to her in a crouching position.
"Relax, I'm not going to hurt you," Toph murmured. She approached them carefully, attempting to set them at ease.
"That's what you said the first time," the woman choked out. Then she found the courage to look up, and surprise flooded her face as she recognized the guest. She gasped. "Ah… oh!" She coughed and seemed to forget herself; after considering the situation, she struggled shakily into a standing position. Her child continued to cling to her skirt, but she tried to make him let go. He wouldn't. She opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn't find a single thing to say.
"What was that all about?" Toph asked.
The woman inhaled quickly. "For the past two days we've been terrorized by… I'm not even quite sure. They simply came in and – they took all of our food, used our homes for shelter… mine was spared, thank the Spirits, but… we haven't been able to account for ourselves because we've been too afraid, and I'm sure many tried to escape the city. We're probably missing half of our population… and they were violent… they haven't killed anyone that I know of, but perhaps…"
Toph nodded. "Did they have any reason, do you know?"
The woman began to shake her head, and then stopped. "There was a man… he was different from the others. I don't know what it was about them, but they didn't seem… I'm not sure. They walked, and talked, and they ate – Spirits, they ate – but something didn't sit right about them. One man, however, wasn't like them, and he seemed to be running the whole operation. He kept demanding to know where the Bei Fongs lived, but no one would tell him. He finally got fed up and took a child hostage – he threatened to kill her if he didn't the information he wanted. He learned, and he went there… and they came back, but it was only to pass through. It was the last we saw of them, and we'd really like to keep it that way."
Toph's lips were tight. "What happened to the kid he took?"
The woman shrugged. "He took her with him when he went to the Bei Fong estate. I don't know if he returned her to her family or not because I didn't watch them leave – I just heard them. When they arrived they were earthbending, but they left on foot, and running… I just don't know."
Toph nodded. She turned to leave; the woman reached for her sleeve, but she drew back before her fingers made contact with the cloth. Who was she to touch Toph Bei Fong, a renowned war hero and elite earthbending master? It was strange; she hadn't even known of the girl's existence in a hometown they both shared. She had experienced the shock of a lifetime to see the young woman standing before her instead of one of those monsters, but that shock was overshadowed with relief – the first she'd felt in days. She didn't want to let that relief just walk out the door.
"Where will you go, now?" the woman asked. "Is the Avatar out there? The others, too?"
"They are. I'm going to find out exactly what happened to that little girl right now, but if you want to come outside, you are safe. The invaders are gone."
The woman smiled shakily, and her son seemed to understand that the danger had passed. The two followed Toph out of the house and they approached the rest of the group; they'd been waiting for Toph's return.
While the woman stood in shock and awe of the Avatar, Toph noticed that a few of the citizens were approaching their doors; they would look out of them soon, and when they saw the Avatar and his companions, they were sure to know that everything was okay. Toph turned to Sira.
"You said that when the Shinsei left my home, they captured my parents. Was there a little girl with them?" Toph's voice was urgent, compelling. She wanted to know now.
Sira replied, "They arrived at the Bei Fong household with a little girl, but they did not leave with her. When they departed, I took the girl home myself. Then I returned to the estate to wait for you." She was completely sincere.
Toph's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but she did not voice her concerns. This woman was puzzling! Was she in alliance with the Shinsei or against them? Was she neutral? Was she a spy, not outwardly dangerous but sent to take back information to Kanaye? Who was she, and what were her intentions?
Toph was frowning. "Will we learn who you are and your intentions?" she asked.
Sira nodded. "Soon, Toph of the Earth Kingdom. Soon."
"You can stop saying of the Earth Kingdom. If we're allies, and I hope we are, formalities aren't really necessary. Same goes for the others." Toph turned away and something caught her attention – in a building a bit farther down the street she could "see" a child. A young girl, she wagered. A young earthbender, at that.
Sira inclined her head. Her straight black hair fell over her shoulders and resembled a curtain in the way that it moved. "We are indeed allies… Toph."
Toph nodded and began making her way toward the building in which she'd seen the young girl. Sokka began to follow; Katara and Aang coaxed the citizens out of the shadows of their dwellings and into the street where it was now safe. Zuko considered his options – follow Aang and Katara or Toph and Sokka – and chose the earthbender and warrior, if only because he would feel awkward trying to soothe frightened citizens. He was clothed in a mysterious black cloak and didn't look that inviting – he might make them change their minds about coming outside. Sira walked in his wake.
The building was a small sort of warehouse; Toph threw open the door, taking no heed to the heavy locks on either side. Under her superior earthbending guidance, they shattered and she entered calmly.
The entire thing was one room. It was relatively small, as it wasn't built to accommodate the eight people who had taken refuge within its walls. A rather large, supposedly intimidating man stood in front of the others and he towered over Toph; his expression would have given an innocent bystander the impression that he was in control of the room. Toph was never one to be intimidated, though, and while she could tell that this man was a bender from the way he stood (he could so easily fall into an earthbending stance from the way he was standing now), she couldn't have cared less.
"Mister, I need to see the little girl." Of course he knew who she was talking about; the child was the youngest person in the room, save a sleeping baby that was clutched in the arms of its mother.
Toph could tell that the child was about eight or nine; seven maybe, but that seemed a little young to be so able to display that fact that she was an earthbender. She walked like one, stood like one – she'd probably had good training. "Over my dead body," the man spat out, maintaining the three feet distance between them.
"I don't think we'll have to take such extreme measures." She'd previously been facing the ground, but now she looked up at him; the room was sparsely lit, but he would have recognized her anywhere. He hadn't been able to distinguish her clothes very well, else they would have given her away, but his heartbeat sped up as her identity came to him.
"The Blind Bandit!" His gaze shifted to Sokka, then Zuko and Sira. He seemed not to trust them, but Toph and Sokka were welcomed, almost. "Sokka of the Water Tribe, it's an honor… I'm so sorry, you see I thought you were… well, it doesn't matter. The Blind Bandit, wow, uh… wow. I'd love to fight you in a real match, that'd be great – you know, if you ever –"
He seemed to be caught up in meeting Toph that he didn't remember her original request. "I need to see the child," she told him, interrupting some confession of how battling her in an earthbending match had been his dream for years. "The girl. I need to talk to the girl."
The man seemed a little surprised, and then he became uncomfortable. "I'm sorry, but she can't see you right now… I mean, she's a little traumatized and her family-"
"I really need to see her, and if you're going to make this difficult-" Toph began, but she stopped. The small figure of a girl had pushed past the man and was standing within Toph's reaching distance.
The child opened her mouth to speak. "So you're the Blind Bandit?" she asked, voice curious and not frightened in the least. Toph liked this, was attracted to the basic innocence and admiration she found in the girl's voice.
"You bet she is," Sokka said, stepping forward. The girl looked up at him with what he would have, had they been in a brighter room, identified as curiosity.
A small smile broke the child's inquiring features. "So you wanted to talk to me?" she asked, and without waiting for an answer she shuffled past her visitors without offering them a second glance. Once they were out in the open she turned to Toph, and then shifted her gaze to the others. When her eyes landed on Sira, her heartbeat sped up immensely; Toph noticed that the child seemed to forget to breathe, and all of a sudden the girl was gripping her hand for dear life. Words escaped her.
"I have not come to hurt you, child," Sira said soothingly, but the girl still could not find her voice. "Your first impression of me was wrong. That person was not me, it was an imposter; I brought you home, did I not? I returned you to you family. Are you not grateful at all?"
Toph was frowning, wondering what in the world was going on. Sokka said, "What in the name of Avatar Roku is this all about? Why are you afraid of her?"
The girl would not meet his eyes. "I don't know you," she said, speaking to Sira. "I don't know you, and I want to pretend it never happened. Because you scared me and then were kind to me – people aren't like that. I don't understand you." She turned away, and her heart-rate began to fall to normal levels. "Miss Blind Bandit, ma'am…?"
Toph shook her head. "I was going to ask you about the Shinsei. Those people that took you from your home and brought you to mine."
The child turned away, allowing her thin brown hair to shield her face. She sniffled, just loud enough for Toph to hear and no one else. "It… I… please, Miss Blind Bandit, please don't make me. You want to know, but I can't." She was shaking. "I can't, I really can't… but you can ask her." She pointed an incriminating finger at Sira; the woman's face betrayed emotion for the first time. She was upset, sorrowful. "You can ask her because she knows just what happened…"
"All right, then," Toph murmured. "That's all I wanted. No one's stopping you from going back to your parents – go on, now." Toph nudged the young girl toward the building, and she moved toward it slowly, crippled with the fearful memories that ran through her mind.
Toph turned to Sira. "What did you do to her?"
"I didn't hurt her," was the reply, and Toph sensed that Sira was near tears. Most of what had just happened had gone right over her head, but she had established one thing: Sira knew things that were crucial to their quest, and she intended to uncover them.
"Are you allied with the Shinsei?" Sokka demanded immediately, and Sira shook her head.
"No." The single syllable was all she was able to manage.
Zuko was frowning. "If you come with us, will you tell us what we want to know?"
Sira nodded, inclining her head more than necessary so as not to allow the world to see her blue eyes brimming with tears. "Everything," she said. "I swear to you, I'll tell you everything."
Toph found truth in every word.
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End Chapter
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Author's Note: Review, please! Yeah, I know it was a little weird, but the next chapter explains pretty much everything that was confusing in here.
