Yup. Zuko and Iroh are the ones going through the Serpent's Pass. How do you like that? The question of course being rhetorical. There's not much that can be done about it at this stage. The Gaang, on the other hand, are taking Toph's vacation in the only Fire Nation city on the East Continent, resting and recovering before striking out in search of Appa.
And, I swear to god, this isn't a Tokka work. Seriously. I can't say that enough. Despite what the words of the story say that contradicts me. Who are you going to believe? The author, or the story?
...Don't answer that.
Zuko looked up as he and his uncle moved through the box canyon. "Why are we coming this way, again?" he asked. Iroh smiled lightly, as he often did these days.
"Ever since Full Moon Ferry was burned to the ground, there are few ways to safely get to Ba Sing Se from the south. The one which remains is a path which cuts across Full Moon Bay, right down the middle."
"Why don't I like the sound of this?" Zuko asked.
"They call it the Serpent's Pass," Iroh said.
"Because it bends like a snake?" Zuko said.
"Sure, why not?"
Zuko's eyes narrowed. Ahead, he could hear voices. His hand went to his swords, which rode on his back. Iroh rolled his eyes, but Zuko knew that it was only paranoia if you weren't right. He peaked over the stones, into the next stretch of the canyon. A field of tents stretched around the bend, and a huge array of poor, tired people moved around listlessly.
"What is this?" Zuko asked.
"It is the camp," a voice came from above him. Zuko glanced up. There was a man, probably no older than Zuko, sitting on the stone. He wore what looked like a hodge-podge armor, his hair was shaggy and wild. He chewed on a stem of wheat. "It's where all the people gather before they move through the Pass in small, manageable groups."
Zuko frowned, leaning against his own piece of stone. "There's a lot of them."
"There's a lot of refugees," the stranger said. He hopped down to Zuko's level. He had a pair of hook swords on his back. "I'm Jet. These are my freedom fighters, Smellerbee and Longshot."
Zuko gave a start as the two people Jet indicated seemed to appear out of nowhere. One was short, wearing a leather breastplate and heavy makeup. The other was an unassuming fellow with large ears, dark eyes, and a tattered conical hat, carrying a bow. Zuko composed himself and gave them a nod. Jet pointed to the camp again. "What do you see?"
"A lot of poor people," Zuko said, moving down toward his uncle, who was already walking into the camp. Jet shook his head.
"Look a bit closer," he said, pointing to one side. Zuko looked, and saw a large man spooning out jook to a family. He ladled out one scoop, and then pushed them aside, even though there were three, with three bowls. Zuko scowled. He looked over, and saw another person in what looked to be a local uniform rifling through somebody's bag while another complained to a man with a spear.
"Corruption," Zuko said simply.
"Exactly," Jet said. "This War is bringing out the worst in everybody. These people don't need to get robbed by the people they think are trying to help them. It's not right and it's not fair."
"Life is seldom fair," Zuko said. Jet shot him a glance, rolling the sprig of wheat away.
"That's why there's people like us in the world," Jet said. He leaned in a moment, holding Zuko to a stop. "I saw that scar. You were burned by some Fire Nation soldier, weren't you? Well, we've all lost something to the Weary War. Longshot and Smellerbee lost their entire families to the Fire Nation."
"Damn right I did," Smellerbee said. The voice was strangely high. Was Smellerbee a woman? If she was, she was an odd looking one. Longshot just nodded, a distant look in his eyes.
"So," Jet said. "What did you lose?"
"What do you want from me?" Zuko asked, curtly. Jet let go, holding his hands back.
"Nothing. Not yet, anyway. Just have a look around. I figure you'll be looking for me by tonight. Don't worry. I think you'll more than welcome what I've got in mind," he said, his cronies walking away with him. Iroh walked up to him, a strange, flowered hat now sitting on his head.
"Are you making new friends already?" he asked innocently. Zuko just stared at him.
"Where did you get the money for that hat?" Zuko asked.
Aang stared around in wonder. "What is this place?" he asked. Ty Lee had changed back into the clothes she'd worn in Omashu, while the others had to find something else to wear. Aang himself was wearing something which looked like a school uniform, with a broad hat. He looked around the city, all cut into the stone, but clad in metal and painted a myriad of reds, blues, and greens. Ty Lee beamed.
"This is Burning Rock," she said. "The easternmost city in the Fire Nation."
"Yeah, because you conquered it," Katara muttered.
"No, we liberated it," Ty Lee said.
"You say potato, I say white crunch tuber," Sokka said. Ty Lee frowned. It was a weird look on her. She was almost comically annoyed.
She squared her shoulders. "It was founded by the Fire Nation seven hundred years ago. But a hundred years later, it was conquered by Earth King Shen. Then, for the next couple of centuries, it was owned, under varying names, either by various local kings, Great Whales, and for a few years, even the Northern Water Tribe ruled here. Then, ninety years ago, Sozin's son Azulon brought Burning Rock back to its founding nation," she said.
"This place seems like it takes a bit of just about every culture," Aang said. Top-knots and red clothes mingled with tie-backs and greens. Hanboks and yukatas and kimonos, all with dizzying array and variation.
"There is. This is the only place in the world where brother and sister can be earthbender and firebender," she said with a grin.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Toph said. "Terribly interesting. So, can we get some place to put my feet up? I haven't picked between my toes in days. It's been driving me nuts!"
"That looks like a nice place to have dinner," Katara said. She looked in her pockets, frowning. "If we had any money to spend, that is..."
"I can cover it," both Ty Lee and Toph said simultaneously. Both turned to each other. "What?" both said in unison. Aang was just pleased to have a meal which didn't come from a bush. Toph and Ty Lee argued over who was buying dinner, an unusual state for Aang. Usually, it was everybody digging to see if there was enough money amongst them for anything.
Aang was already eating his beans and greens when the earthbender and the acrobat hammered out a schedule of who was going to pay for what, when. Apparently, this was kind of a big thing for Toph. She didn't like other people paying for something of hers. Aang made sure to remember that for when Toph's birthday came around. Aang watched the city go about its business from the table outside the eatery. It was a very pleasant place, in its way. Despite the fact that it was a Fire Nation city situated in the Earth Kingdoms, everybody just sort of got along. There wasn't any tension that Aang could see. Just people living their lives. It brought a smile to Aang's face.
A man walking by leaned in close to Aang. "Like earthbending?" he whispered.
"Who doesn't?" Aang answered around beans. The man quickly handed Aang a pamphlet.
"You might want to see this, then. Big money for an earthbender, if you've got the stones," he said, then he walked away.
Katara leaned over. "What is it, Aang?"
Aang shrugged. "Something called Earth Rumble VI. Who is Vi, and why is he having an earth rumble?"
"VI is six," Ty Lee said, eating her own salad. Everybody turned to her. "We use different numbers."
Katara's eyes widened. "You know, Toph's been pretty down since Si Wong. Maybe something like this would lift her spirit?"
Aang nodded. "That's a good idea, Katara," he turned to Toph, who was walking by eating jerky. "Hey, Toph, would you like to..."
"Kick ass in an underground tournament against the best earthbenders that congregate to this city?" Toph said, snatching the pamphlet, crumpling it up, and throwing it over her shoulder... right into Ty Lee's dinner. "Let's face it, I'm not feeling up for competition right now."
"But your hands are finally healed," Katara pointed out.
"And didn't you say you were going to show the world how 'badass' you were?" Sokka asked.
Toph started to smile, blushing slightly. "Yeah, you're right. I have been letting my awesome quota slip a bit, haven't I?"
"Oh! This is going to be so much fun!" Ty Lee said, almost shaking with excitement in her seat. "I wonder if we can show up early and get good seats?"
Toph looked at Ty Lee, then to Katara. "You know, you're dangerously close to losing 'Sugarqueen' to her," Aang laughed at that. Toph pointed at him. "Don't laugh, buddy. You're on thin ice with 'Twinkletoes', yourself."
Aang finished his lunch as the others talked of happier things. The desert had been a transformative experience for him. He went in, seething with anger, a hate in his heart boiling close to the surface. Now, he knew that it was probably still there, but he held it, not with a white-knuckle grip, but an easy stance. It was like holding a sword. Too tightly, and it would easily be torn away. A loose but sure grip, though, and it would always be under his control. It felt good to be in control again, even if he still did miss his lifelong friend. A server came by to clear the table, and Aang gave a salute to her, strangely enough, also called the Burning Rock. "Flamey-o, Hotman," he said.
"What was that?" Ty Lee asked, laughing.
"I was thanking her," Aang said, confused.
"Flamey-o?" she asked. "Hotman?"
"What?"
"We should probably get to finding this 'Earth Rumble'," Katara said, smiling and ignoring the verbal trade. Sokka and Toph began trading 'hotman's amongst themselves, laughing more and more each time, until Katara told them both to can it. It would probably take a little bit of doing to find a quite literally underground earthbending fighting tournament in what was nominally a Fire Nation town. But luckily, Aang had just the person to find it.
Zuko watched. The people in the camp went about their lives, stuck in limbo. They wanted to go on, but they couldn't. Because they didn't have the strength, the courage, the money; the reasons were as varied and plentiful as stars in the sky. He stopped beside a brook, leaning down to splash some water on his face, to wipe away days of grit and sand. He looked over. Other people apparently got the same idea.
Three close to him were dressed in green hanboks. One of them was very heavily pregnant. They saw him looking at them, and one of them raised a hand. "Hello! You are traveling to Ba Sing Se?" he asked.
"A lot of people are," Zuko said, noncommittally.
"I'm Taan, and this is my wife Ying, and her sister Yu," he said, introducing the two ladies traveling with him. He moved closer, Zuko just stared at him. "You look like you've come a long way."
"Long," Zuko said.
"Tell me... Have you paid your pass fee, yet?" Taan asked.
"Pass fee?" Zuko asked. That didn't make sense. The passage was free.
"When we got here, the guards said that if we wanted to pass through the Serpent's Pass, we would have to pay the fee. We gave them everything we had, but we still can't get through," Taan said. He kneaded his hands with worry. "I'm beginning to think they've forgotten about us."
"Let's hope they haven't," Zuko said, turning away. Extortion. He knew it no matter where it went. He saw similar activities all over the camp. Food sent to feed the families and refugees was being horded, and the dross being ladled out. Families were being shaken down for every cent they had. An anger burned in Zuko.
"You've got that look on your face," Jet said, suddenly standing beside him. Zuko just gave him a glance. "You see what these people are suffering under with these incompetent goons 'guarding' them. And that's not including the ones who are stealing from them."
"Who's going to do something about it?" Zuko asked. He already guessed the answer. Jet smirked, rolling the sprig of wheat – probably a new one – in his teeth.
"That depends. Are you up for a little fun after the sun goes down?" Zuko stopped, staring at the young man. Did Jet have any idea how what he had just said sounded?
"Depends on what you mean by fun," Zuko said, carefully. Jet smirked.
"Meet us where you saw me first. And make sure you bring your swords. Just in case," he said. And in a flash, he vanished back into the crowds. In a way, Zuko was actually relieved that Jet was intending violence. The possible alternative had made him more than a bit uncomfortable.
Toph was a miracle worker. She found the arena in minutes, even though the path to it would probably have taken hours to locate if she hadn't cut out the middleman and just made her own lift down. Ty Lee was impressed. Of course, she could tell from looking at Toph's aura that the little earthbender was still uncertain. In herself, and in her abilities. She marched up to the registration table and pounded on the wood. An administrator looked down, probably seeing a little blind girl with a few other people standing well behind her.
"The admission area is up at the front," he said, leaning back. "Unless you got lost, then you might want to ask one of the people behind you to bring you back to your mommy and daddy."
Toph scowled, then stomped on the ground. The administrator was tossed out of his chair. Toph clambered up over the wooden table, and stared down at him. "I'm here to fight," she said. The man gaped for a moment, then shook his head.
"That's a neat trick, but you should probably leave the earthbending to people who can see what they're doing," he said. Toph scowled a bit harder, and stomped again. This time, the man sank into the ground, until only his head was sticking up out of the floor. Toph hopped down on the other side of the desk, as Ty Lee moved a bit closer. Toph had a foot pressed against the man's head.
"I'm. Here. To. Fight," Toph said deliberately. "Now put me on the roster, or people will find you a thousand years from now during an archaeological dig."
"Fine! Fine! I'll put you on the roster," he shouted. She smirked, and made a short gesture. He popped back up most of the way, and she dragged him by his hair out of the hole. He flopped to the floor. He grabbed a form and pointed it at her. "You're going to have to sign this."
"Excuse me?" Toph asked. Ty Lee was confused.
"It's a personal injury waiver. If you get killed, your parents can't swear a blood feud against the Earth Rumble organization or any of its members."
"And how would I sign it?" Toph asked, her tones very even.
"She's blind," Ty Lee said. The man shuddered, then shrugged, handing it toward Ty Lee. Ty Lee handed it to Aang, who handed it to Sokka. He pulled out a weird tube thing and did some scribbling, before handing it back, following the exact same path.
"Well, the spirits have mercy on you, little blind masochist," he said. Toph gave him a hard stare, but then hopped back over the desk and went into the locker room. There wasn't a door, but for Toph, that didn't matter. She made one. The others followed after her.
"Now, this is my kind of place," Toph said. It reeked of sweat and alcohol, with some blood mixed into it. Large, sweaty men practiced their earthbending forms all over the place. Some of them were large and burly. Others, just morbidly obese. Toph moved through the room, looking at the men who would be her competition. One, though, stood perfectly still as Toph moved through the room. She almost bumped into him, except Katara stopped her. She looked up. "Well, aren't you a quiet one?"
"The Boulder doesn't sign autographs for fans," he said, his voice almost embarrassingly macho.
"Please, like I'd want an autograph from you," Toph said. Luckily, she couldn't see that Sokka was holding a scrap of paper and his weird brush-thing, a wide grin on his face.
"The Boulder is busy preparing for the tournament. You'd best walk away, and let the Boulder practice."
"Yeah, practice all you want, the Pebble," Toph said, smirking. He scowled down at her, then he assumed a stance, but it was quite unlike any of the others in the room. It was low, but whereas theirs were brutish, his were almost careful, despite his bulky build. He shifted his foot just a touch, then snapped out with a tiny gesture, and a column of stone snapped up from the floor, knocking a fat earthbender to the ground.
"Hey! Save it for the arena, Boulder!" somebody said nearby. Aang stared in shock at him. Toph did too, and she dragged them away from him.
"Who was that?" Aang asked. "He fought like you!"
"You think I didn't notice that?" Toph whispered loudly. "I've heard of that guy. He calls his form 'Mantis', and he's the unbeaten champion."
"Toph, you don't need to do this if you don't want to," Katara said, but Toph got a smile on her face.
"Oh, I'm doin' it," she said. "And I'm going to destroy him so completely he'll never recover from it."
"Alright. You four, out of the locker room," the official said. "No civilians back stage when the competition has started. Get up to the arena, kids."
"Who are you calling a kid?" Sokka asked, but he was already being dragged away by his sister and Aang. They all went around the 'arena' and came in the proper direction. The stands were packed to the rafters, but the first few rows were completely clear. Sokka brightened when he saw this. "Hey! Front row seats. I wonder why nobody else wants them?"
Ty Lee pointed at the boulders embedded in the lower rows. He shrugged, and sat himself down, front row, center. The rules were simple: Toss the other guy out without physically touching him. The fights were short, at first. Locals and no-talents getting picked off by the more experienced, more skilled benders who either had military training, or else just competed regularly. Finally, Toph's first match came up.
"Ladies and gentlemen, returning from his strong showing at Gaoling," the announcer, standing at the center of the ring said, "Weighing an impressive four dan, hailing from Omashu, I give you, the Big, Bad, Hippo!"
The morbidly obese earthbender from the locker room stomped onto the rectangular arena. He did look distinctly like a cowppopotamus. The announcer continued. "And his opponent, hailing from parts unknown, weighing... really? Eighty-five jin? Ahem. Introducing, Toph Bei – whoa!"
The announcer was cut off as Toph entered the stage, because she made a gesture, and the announcer slid across the entire stage, stopping next to her. She stomped, and he lowered to her level. She whispered something into his ear, then sent him tearing back to the arena centerline and popped him back up. He looked understandably shaken up over the whole business.
"Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen," the announcer said. "Introducing, the Blind Bandit!"
Toph smirked, unwinding the bandages around her hands and fingers. "You might be big, but you ain't bad," she said loudly. "I'm going to toss you so hard you leave a crater."
The Hippo stared at her, then stomped forward once. "Hippo, mad!" he said, then bit a rock apart for no readily apparent reason. Toph took up her stance. The Hippo tore out a chunk of the arena and threw it at her. She stepped out of the way, lightly. The people began to boo and catcall.
"Is this just going to be burly people throwing rocks at Toph?" Katara asked.
"That's what I paid for," Sokka said.
"You didn't pay for anything today," Katara pointed out.
"You're going to have to do better than that," Toph said loudly.
"Hippo crush little girl!" Hippo shouted.
"Do they all refer to themselves in the third person?" Ty Lee asked.
The Hippo began to jump into the air, pounding the ground with his feet. The whole surface of the arena began to sway to and fro, but Toph just matched her balance to the sway. The announcer, not so lucky, fell off of the arena. The people began to cheer again, thinking they were going to see a ring-out any moment. Even from this distance, Ty Lee could see the smile appear on Toph's face.
The girl twisted her arms, and the shift of the arena actually became more extreme. She kicked her foot forward, and a ripple moved along the ground. When the Hippo came down from a jump, it was onto her earthbending, so he slid rather than land. Then, she made a punching gesture, and the stone slammed up out of the floor, throwing the Hippo through the air and into the ditch surrounding them. She twisted her arms back, and the arena became level again. There was silence in the arena.
"Yeah!" Sokka shouted into the silence. "Toph knows how to put the hurt in the dirt!"
Ty Lee couldn't help but laugh.
Toph sat back, her feet up, and picked her nose. Her feet had already had their sanitation picking; anything more would be akin to masturbation. She turned when she heard somebody walking toward her, quite unlike the others who were now giving her a wide berth in the locker room.
"You performed quite admirably out there, miss Blind Bandit," A voice said in the darkness which was her blindness. She flicked her snot away. "Quite impressive."
"What can I say?" Toph said. "I'm an impressive person."
"I am Xin Fu. I run Earth Rumble, and I know an impressive talent when I see one," Xin Fu said. Toph shrugged. "Tell me, this character. How do you pull it off?"
"Pull what off?" Toph asked. "I'm blind."
There was a long silence. "So you're going to be like that, are you?" he sighed. "Fine. I just want you to know, a character like yours could go a long way in this business. People are always looking for the upset, and you've pulled one off. I think they'd like the idea that a blind girl could slaughter her way to the top."
"Good, because that's exactly what I'm going to do," Toph said.
"I can make that happen," Xin Fu said. "Next tournament, your name will be catapulted to the top. The Blind Bandit, Champion of Earth Rumble Seven!"
"But this is Earth Rumble Six," Toph said. "I've got no intention of losing this one."
There was another pause. "Trust me, you're not going to win this one."
"That's your opinion," Toph stood, smacking a small amount of the dust off of her. "Look, I know what you've got in mind. I've seen your type before. You're asking me to put in a good showing, then flop at the top, and then you put a bunch of scrubs up against me in the next tourney. Let me be perfectly clear; I ain't interested. I'm going to win. I'm going to prove I'm the best earthbender in the world. And I don't need your help."
"You're making a mistake, Bandit," Xin Fu said. "I can make it possible for you to be a champion. I can also make it possible for you to vanish from competitive earthbending forever."
Toph smiled. She felt good. She felt better than good. She was winning, no tricks, no cheating. Her earthbending was just better. She turned to Xin Fu. "You can try."
In the darkness, a shadow moved. The spirit with the green and red face slipped through the rocks high in the canyon. Below, the many slept, cold and afraid. Exploited. They slept, he didn't. He had to correct an injustice. The spirit moved through the stones, to where the guards walked in tight circles, eyes everywhere but where they needed to be. The people depended on them for protection, but their eyes were turned inward as much as out. They had something they didn't want to get away.
The spirit moved in the night, ever closer. Ever patient. It was a matter of cun and seconds. Either would spell the difference between success, or death. Perhaps not his, but somebody's. There, a gap in their patrols. A spirit moved in the darkness, and then there was nothing.
In the tent of the leader, a large earthbender named Gow, the spirit moved. His feet were silent and precise. They needed to be. Gow wasn't here, but his men surrounded the tent, and would notice if something cracked or fell or shattered. The spirit knew that it had to be here, but where exactly? He could not say. He looked under bedding, under the desks. The last option, one he hoped was not the case, was the large chest in plain sight of the flaps. Every few seconds, somebody walked by. The spirit waited.
After minutes, maybe hours, the time was right. The spirit moved in the darkness, his hands reaching forward as one of the guards walked by. A series of brutal punches to the face and chest. Neck to silence him. Diaphram to disrupt breathing. Face, face, face, face, to put him into unconsciousness. It was all that the spirit needed. He put looked through the guard's pockets, looking for the keys. No luck.
The spirit paused. Somebody was standing behind him. The spirit's swords came out, a pair of twin dao, as he twirled away. A pair of hook swords was arrayed against him. The spirit hesitated. This was not expected. Jet smirked, rolling the sprig of wheat in his teeth. "I thought you'd be here," he said quietly. He looked out of the flap, and nodded inward. Smellerbee entered, and made a straight path for the chest. She pulled picks from her belt and had the chest open in a few seconds. She nodded to Jet.
"Come on," Jet said. "We're going to need a few extra hands for this."
Zuko tipped up his green and red oni mask, staring at Jet. "You seem to trust very easily."
"Trust is something earned. You're earning it. Now come on," he said. Zuko let the mask slide down, and the three dug into the chest, liberating a glut of stolen copper and silver coins. There was a flicker of shadow in the darkness, then, but for the unconscious, groaning figure of the guard, the tent was empty.
Sokka wasn't sure where Ty Lee got her large card, which displayed a sketch of Toph, with the slogan "Blind Bandit #1", but he definitely applauded her zeal. How something like that could already exist was frickin' hilarious. Eight fights, and she was earning thunderous accolades from the crowd. With the normal announcer out with a concussion, his replacement stepped into the arena. "Alright. If you don't know her by now, you must be as blind as she is." Xin Fu said loudly. "The Blind Bandit!"
Toph strutted into the arena, her scarred arms raised above her. But Xin Fu went on. "And her opponent. A local, a powerful earthbender from right here in Burning Rock. Former champion; Fire Nation Mung!" The man moved into the ring, in resplendant reds, a red standard in his hands. The people cheered just as much as they did for Toph. All of the except for Sokka himself, of course.
"Booooo! Go back to the Fire Nation!" he screamed. Ty Lee turned to him, lowering her painted board a bit.
"Umm, Sokka? This is the Fire Nation."
"Right, well... uh..." Sokka said. She just stared at him. What he would give for a distraction right about now. His prayers were answered when Mung was hurled out of the arena and was embedded into the stands next to Sokka. He turned. That was quick. Ty Lee looked around him, to Mung.
"That was just embarrassing," she said. Sokka heard a sharp whistle. Toph was its source. She thrust a bridge out of the arena, ending in front of Sokka. She waved him toward her.
"Get over here, Loverboy," Toph shouted. The crowd hooted and hollered, and Sokka went bright red. He slinked onto the arena floor, almost apoplectic from embarrassment. Toph smirked, and made a gesture which caused him to slide rapidly toward her, and she caught him like he was a lady dancer. "I need your help with something."
She pounded again, and this time, the two of them slid back through the walls and into the locker room. When there, Toph brusquely let Sokka fall to the floor.
"What in the Hell was that?" Sokka shouted, very glad she couldn't see his complexion.
"Ah, I was just messing with ya'," she said. She sat on a bench, kneading her fists, and breathing steadily. "I've got a problem, Sokka."
"And what would that be?" he asked.
"I don't see well enough," she said. Sokka stared at her. "I know where people are, and I can tell what they're feeling, but I've got no idea what people actually look like."
"I guess that's a problem with being blind," Sokka said.
"The Boulder is a twit, but he fights the way I do. Small motions, indicated only by body language. I can't see body language. I should. I know it should be possible. I just don't know what a man's body is supposed to look like."
"That could be a problem, what with the blindness," Sokka admitted.
"And that's where you come in," she said. He stared at her.
"How?"
"You're a man. Or the closest thing that I have access to. Just stand there, and let me 'see' you," she said. She moved toward him, raising his arm out to his side. She began to run her rough, callused hands along his, then down his arm. "And just remember that this doesn't mean anything. And if you tell anybody about this, I'll kick your ass."
"O...kay?" Sokka said. She moved along his arm, then up to his face. Her blind eyes were wide in front of him. She was cute, in her way, but he couldn't help feeling like he was being weighed for the slaughter like a pig bull. And besides, she was way too young for him. She went down his face, and began to move down one side, feeling the muscles in his chest and back, his ribs, down to his abdomen. "I think that's far enough..."
"What, you don't have legs?" Toph asked. She reached a little lower, and Sokka jumped into the air. "What's that?"
"Something you shouldn't be holding," Sokka said, his voice a little higher than usual. She shrugged, and moved on. He was grateful. So were his potential sons and daughters. She knelt in front of him, roughly feeling the way the muscles in his legs slid over each other, going down, down, down to his feet. She paused, stepping back.
"Alright. Do something," she said, closing her eyes. He frowned, and shrugged. She mimicked him. He put his hands on his hips. She did likewise. He scratched his invisible beard for a moment, then went into a theatrical flourish. She did the same, both beard and flourish.
"You're doing it!" Sokka said.
"I am?" she said. "It's that easy?"
"Did you expect it to be hard?" Sokka asked. "Although, you did miss my expression."
Toph smirked, then pressed her hand hard into Sokka's face and pushed him over onto his back. She laughed. "Faces don't move enough. But I think I've got what I need."
"That's nice," Xin Fu's voice came from the back entrance of the locker room. Sokka turned and saw the toned, long-haired earthbender stride closer. A bevy of other colorful characters were arrayed behind him. "It won't do you any good, though. I've got too much riding on The Boulder in this tournament."
Toph smiled. "I'm surprised he isn't here with you."
"Oh, he doesn't know about this back room business," Xin Fu said. "It might sully his image. Suffice it to say that the Blind Bandit will not attend the finals match, and forfeit mysteriously to the standing champion."
"Should I go get Aang?" Sokka asked.
"Do it and die," Both Toph and Xin Fu said at once. Toph turned to Sokka, and grinned. She stomped, and kicked her foot, and the wall of the locker room surged. It ruptured the wall around it, vomiting everybody onto the arena floor. Sokka hit the ground and rolled, almost to the edge of the drop, only saved by Toph raising a ledge before he splattered himself. She turned to him. "Sit back and enjoy the show, Loverboy."
Toph took her stance. While the crowd clamored and shouted, some with fear and others with excitement, there was a pool of calm around Toph which she didn't expect. She wasn't afraid. She wasn't nervous, even. She felt Xin Fu and his lackies picking themselves up off of the ground, shaking their heads and getting their bearings. She didn't know why she couldn't see them this way before. Until now, it was just a heartbeat and a footprint. Now, she could see them.
She felt Aang standing in the seats, but she pointed at him. "Don't even think about it, Twinkletoes, these ones're mine," she said. And she meant it.
There was no doubt. She knew her earthbending wouldn't fail her. There was no fear. She'd already beaten everybody here. There was no confusion. There was only Toph. And Toph began to smile. Mung was the first one to run at her, trying to avenge his embarrassingly fast loss, no doubt. She waited, gauging his footsteps. Then, when he was lifting off from one foot, she snapped her hands up. The tremor sped along the arena. She pulled her arms to the side. When he tried to take another step, the stone shot up, sending him spinning in backflips into the air. A second wave of stone smashed him into the stands.
"Stick around, spectators," Toph shouted. "Watch as the Blind Bandit cleans house!"
The Badgermole was next. He was a pale imitation of her true teachers, a tunneler in the ground. She didn't even wait for him to show himself, dropping into a stance, and flowing with a low kick. The earth spat him out violently, and he flew straight into Mung. The Hippo, obviously not learning from his past mistakes, hurled a stone at her. She was astounded as it flew. She could still feel that stone, even though it wasn't connected to the earth any more. Her smile erupted into an all-out grin. She let it fly past, then hurled it back, kicking back a block of stone the size of the Hippo himself to chase it. They all burst over the Hippo, but it was just a distraction. She pivoted and wrenched, and a huge chunk of the arena catapulted the morbidly obese fighter into the pile of semi-conscious earthbenders that grew quickly in the stands.
"Is that all you've got?" she shouted. She felt the Gecko surge down from the roof, only because he was idiotic enough to do it with a pair of stones in his hands. He hurled them at her as he landed. She reached out, grabbing both, and crushed them into sand. She pistoned her arms out, and then flared, and an eruption of stone blasted him into the 'discard pile'. Mister Banzai was next, stomping a wave of stone at her as he charged. If Toph wasn't blind, she might have been fooled, but she saw the trick he was trying to pull on her. If she stomped the wave down, he was going to use her movement against her and trap her in the floor. So she didn't oblige him.
She leapt forward with an axe kick, a chunk of the floor sticking to here bare sole. She cleared the wave and smashed the stone down on Banzai's head, driving it into the floor. She gestured brusquely away, and he was added to the pile of has-beens and never-weres. Two others, one calling himself the Blue Spirit, the other the Butcher, looked toward her, turned toward the back of the arena, and then did probably the smartest thing in their entire lives, and made a break for it. Xin Fu didn't seem very happy with her, right now. She leaned over and spat on his floor.
"Come over here and I'll slap that smile off your face," Toph said.
"I'm not smiling," Xin Fu answered. He took a step forward, and began to drop into a deep stance. She knew her opportunity, and took it. She gave a tiny, shifting kick, and the stone rippled as it sped toward him. By the time his foot came down to enter his horse stance, the wave reached him, and spun his leg around and wide, dropping him into a painful splits on the stone. He let out a strangled yelp of pain. She did the merciful thing and smashed him aside with three fingers of stone. He landed amongst all of his other no-talents. Toph turned and faced the 'champion's booth'.
"Heeeeey Booooulder!" Toph shouted. "Come out and Plaaaaaaay!"
She sauntered to the center of the arena as the bridge began to form, one footfall at a time. The Boulder walked out, the stone leaping up to meet his gait, then falling back down when he was finished, and he took a look at the arena. He unbuckled something Toph couldn't see, and passed it to a ring-lady as he entered the fighting floor. He crossed his arms.
"The Boulder feels conflicted fighting a small blind girl who was just ambushed by most of the entire roster," The Boulder said.
"Sounds like you're scared," Toph said loudly. "And I don't blame you. I'm much more badass than you. But you know, maybe the audience would like to see two little girls fighting."
There was a moment of silence. A hush fell over the crowd. The Boulder uncrossed his arms. "The Boulder is over his conflicted nature, and now is going to bury this Blind Bandit, in a Rockalanche!"
The crowd erupted, but Toph wasn't listening to them. He moved into a stance very similar to her own, and he waited. She smirked. Letting her take the initiative? That was usually her trick. She held her hands out to the sides, and pulled. The stone began to tremble under her feet, and just as it was ready to burst forth of its own volition, she channeled its anger forward, sending a rock wave the likes of which Mister Banzai couldn't manage in his wettest dreams. She smirked, but the smirk died when he made the most minute of movements, then thrust into the strongest part of the wave. The wave turned back, rippling over the floor like – as her mother would say – a droplet of water in a still pond. She pulled the stone up into a wedge, which the waves crashed against.
She didn't expect an honest fight. She punched out, and part of her wedge slashed across the floor. The Boulder twisted, catching the slice and hurling it back at her. She stopped it by punching it out of the air, crumbling it to dust. So that was the way this was going to play, was it? She reached high, then surged down, doing what nobody expected. She didn't attack up from the ground. She attacked down from the ceiling. The Boulder saw it coming, and moved to counter, but she was fast. He looked up, preparing to catch and redirect her attack. He stopped the stone from crushing him, but when he looked for his target, she was standing almost right in front of him. And she was grinning. A punch, to move the rock. The most basic of earthbending techniques. The Boulder's hands, trapped inside the prison she'd prepared, couldn't let go, and he flew out of the arena. The crowd went silent. She turned, and walked to the center, the triumphant grin still on her face. She raised her fists in victory. And then, there was pandemonium.
Katara couldn't stop smiling as Toph strutted her way out of the arena, the green and gold championship belt slung over her shoulder. Aang looked every bit a proud father. Sokka was just almost passed out from excitement. Ty Lee had already run off, though, stating that she thought she recognized somebody in the stands.
"That was amazing, Toph," Katara said.
"Yeah, I was, wasn't I?" Toph said, patting her belt. "I've gotta say, you have a lot of saccharine, hopelessly idealistic and borderline idiotic ideas sometimes..."
"Gee, thanks," Katara muttered.
"But this? This was a good one," Toph said, slugging Katara in the arm.
"Ow. What was that for?"
"Just shut up and like it, Sugarqueen," Toph said happily.
Gahj Muul couldn't have been happier with himself. He'd picked out her destination as cleanly could be. He turned to the man sitting next to him.
"Do you see who I'm talking about?" Muul asked. The man just stared, his eyes extremely intense.
"I didn't think she'd be stupid enough to actually go by the name 'the Blind Bandit'," Muul said, "but it just made it that much easier to find her. And that's were you come in."
The man sitting next to him turned, staring at Muul with dark eyes. A third, tattooed and flaming in the middle of his forehead, also stared. "If we work together, we can bring her down. We split the bounty, fifty/fifty," Muul said.
The man rose from his seat, an expression finally appearing on his face. Disdain. Muul scowled. "Very well. Sixty/fourty. I admit, this girl has become something of an obsession for me. I will stop her. And I will collect that bounty. She's wanted dead or alive."
The man stopped, staring, and took a deep breath. Muul grabbed his arm. The man paused, looking down at the hand which dared to grasp his bicep. "Not here. We wouldn't get out alive if the earthbenders here brought down the roof on us, and they would, if they thought we were terrorists. Outside. I have faith that your... abilities... are beyond their capacity to endure."
The man pulled his arm out of Muul's grasp, and huffed, letting the air out of his lungs. He walked away, his iron foot clanking against the stone stands up in the highest seats as he went. Muul smiled. By this time tomorrow, the Blind Bandit would be dead.
Zuko moved aside the flap of the tent in the early morning. Ying sat up, rubbing her belly, a look of alarm on her face. Zuko made a shushing motion, and nodded outside. After a few moments, the heavily pregnant woman joined him outside. "What are you doing here, Lee?" she asked. That was the name Iroh used to introduce him. It had already gotten around the camp, it seemed.
"There is no passage fee," Zuko said quietly. "The men were just extorting the people before they sent them across."
Ying held her hands to her mouth in sadness. "But... that was all of our money," she said. Zuko nodded, then pulled out a small purse of coins. Her eyes widened as he set it into her hands. "What is this?"
"Your money," Zuko said. His tone became hard. "While the low must obey the high, the high must respect the low. They were no better than criminals."
Ying had tears in her eyes. "Why did you do this?" she asked.
"Somebody had to," he said. He moved to walk away, but she grabbed his hand.
"Thank you," she said earnestly. Then, she turned, heading back into her tent. Zuko turned back, and walked through the camp. It was the last of the stops he'd had to make. They didn't know how much each person had lost, so they just divvied it up as evenly as they could and gave everybody an equal amount. The people were just pleased to get anything back. Jet was suddenly walking beside Zuko.
"Not bad for one night's work," Jet said. "You'd make an excellent freedom fighter."
"I wasn't fighting for you," Zuko said. "It just needed to be done."
"There's a lot of things that 'need to be done' in this world, Lee," Jet said. "Just look at what the Fire Nation has done. They took my parents. They scarred you for life..."
"I'm not interested in joining your little club," Zuko said, gruffly. Jet smirked.
"Talk to me in a little while. You'll change your mind."
"I'm not going to be here in 'a little while'," he said. "I'm crossing the Serpent's Pass today."
"People haven't crossed in days," Jet said. "They used to go in groups, but..."
"Well, I'm going. Anybody who wants to come with me can follow," Zuko said loudly. People began to send ripples throughout the camp. Jet just smirked.
"I like your style, Lee," Jet said. Zuko walked through the shanty town and located his uncle, who was drinking tea with several old ladies.
"Get up, Uncle, we're going through the Pass today," Zuko said. Iroh popped up, looking a bit confounded.
"But I was having the most wonderful..." he began.
"Now, Uncle," Zuko said. He'd had enough of this place.
Zuko walked through the camp, to the edge where Gow's men formed a line. They held out their hand, bidding Zuko stop. "Where do you think you're all going?" they asked. Zuko looked back. Ying, Taan and Yu were all standing close behind him. Clamor throughout the camp was that the pass was open again. Zuko turned back.
"We're going into the pass today," Zuko said.
"You can't go into the Pass," the soldier said.
"Then stop us," Zuko said. The men looked at him, then to each other. They parted. Zuko moved through.
"Please excuse my nephew," Iroh said behind him. "He's so excited to see the great city!"
"Uncle!" Zuko snapped. Iroh shrugged and followed. The small family was next, and Jet's small party was right after them. Zuko emerged from the canyon, and beheld a gate over the land. It reached, jagged and snaking, up through the water. A sign lay on the ground, where once it hung from the gate, reading 'Abandon Hope.'
"My, that is just awful," Iroh said. He looked up. "Somebody should really put that back up. It's so untidy leaving it on the ground."
And Zuko, the others in tow, began to walk down the Serpent's Pass.
The gentleman of weapons drank his tea as he stared across the waves from the deck of his ship. It looked like any that were produced in Azul, but where those were drab and black, his gleamed of silver. It was far smaller, but it was everything that he needed to go as he needed or wanted. He raised his brush and once again worked to capture the moonrise.
The butler silently poured a second cup of tea, before walking away. The gentleman of weapons had to admit, while Fat remained at his home in Azul, it was good to find decent help. He heard a sound on the deck plating, a patter of footsteps. He raised a dark eyebrow, and a dark grey eye turned. He knew somebody stood behind him. He had a good idea who, as well. He set down his brush, running his fingers along the sword which rest upon his knees. It was the finest blade he had ever produced; made of a unique metal he'd had to barter hard from the Northern Water tribe, it shined with an almost heavenly white sheen. And it could cut the face of a god. The footsteps moved closer, stealthy. Almost playful. A smile came to the gentleman of weapon's tanned, weathered face. He set his sword aside, and waited for the inevitable.
The steps became a run, and he felt something barrel into him. Tanned arms and legs thrown around him, while a girlish squeal erupted from its throat. "Piandao!" she cried. "I knew I saw you back there!"
Piandao got out of her monkey grip and stood, facing her. He smiled down at her. "It's been a long time, Ty Lee Baihu. A long, long time."