Book One: Sand

Chapter Nine: The Great Five

The gang was almost on their way to Gaoling. They had been flying for a day and a half and Luna was getting used to carrying three people, although Toph never got used to flying.

"Ugh! Are you sure you're going the right way?" Toph complained.

"Shasyu, I think we should ask for directions." Keana said looking at the map.

"I don't need directions, I just need to follow the wind." Shasyu stuck his finger in his mouth and pointed it in the air to feel the wind.

"Yeah well, we need to be going south and the winds are blowing east." Keana said sarcastically.

Shasyu just gave Keana an annoyed look as he steered Luna south.

"So, Toph, you never really explained why you want us to head to Gaoling, so I could learn earthbending." Keana asked

"Yeah, I don't understand we already have you. Why does she have to train in Gaoling?" Shasyu asked as Luna finally was heading south.

"Well, you see, there we can train in a safe environment. Plus, we don't have to worry about finding somewhere to sleep or worry about food." Toph explained picking her noise.

"Sounds great to me." Keana was excited to be going to Gaoling and see the place where Toph grew up.

Back near Omashu, Vaunon was crawling out of a hole from the ground. He was exhausted from the battle and he couldn't help, but cough from all the sand still in his lungs. "Curse that little waterbender." He was on his knees trying to catch his breath.

"Hello, Vaunon." Vaunon, still on his knees and looked up at the man standing in front of him.

"Oh it's you. What are you doing here?" Vaunon stood up.

The man he was facing was the same mysterious waterbender that Keana had fought before. "I see you failed to keep control of Omashu. I knew I should have left that to someone else." The man turned away staring at the sky.

"Please, give me another chance. I promise I won't fail again." Vaunon bowed as he begged for forgiveness.

"Very well, you have one more chance to prove that you are capable of being a leader."

Vaunon bowed once more to thank the man.

"This time we're taking Ba Sing Se." The man walked away as Vaunon followed after with a smile.

"Great we can finally land." Toph said after Shasyu told her they made it to Gaoling.

As the group landed Luna gave her usual relieved face after flying for a while. Everyone hopped off Luna and began walking into Gaoling. "So Toph, who's been taking care of your family's home?" Keana asked.

"My brother." Toph answered happily.

"You have a brother?" Keana's jaw dropped. "You never told me that."

"He was born when I was thirteen." Toph hadn't realized, but everyone in town was watching her. They had not seen Toph in many years.

"Hey, Shasyu noticed the lookers." Shasyu raised a brow at Keana.

"What?" Shasyu said.

"Never mind." Keana speeded up to catch up to Toph who was leading the way to her home.

"Finally here we are." Toph said throwing her hands up. Toph walked up to the giant gate.

"Whoa!" Shasyu and Keana said at the same time looking at the symbol of the Flying Boar.

A guard walked out to Toph. "I'm sorry, but may I help you?"

Toph was confused. "You must not know who I am." Toph was pointing in the guards face. "My name is Toph Beifong, and I would like to enter my home peacefully."

The guard just looked at her for a while. He noticed her blind eyes. "Do you have proof?" he asked.

"Well of course I have proof." Toph began feeling through her things. "Just a second, I know it's in here somewhere."

Keana and Shasyu watched in embarrassment. While digging, Toph accidentally tossed out an old photograph. Keana noticed it and picked it up.

"Hey Toph you dropped..." Keana paused as she noticed the painting of five people standing together. She saw young Toph, a man with a scar on his left eye, an Air Nomad, a young Water Tribe woman, and the final person she couldn't believe her eyes.

"Grandpa!" Keana screamed as Toph threw her bag in the air from freight. All Toph's things flew everywhere. The seal of the Beifong's landed on Toph's head.

"Um, here you go." Toph said strangly as she handed the guard the document.

Inside the house, Toph, Shasyu, and Keana were sitting comfortably in the Beifong's den. Keana was staring at the painting happily. "Why didn't you tell me you knew my grandfather, and that you were part of the Great Five?" Keana said hugging Toph. "This is amazing."

"To tell you the truth, I didn't know you were related to Sokka." Toph said shrugging her shoulders.

Shasyu took a look at the painting as Toph and Keana were talking. He looked at all the people in the painting until he noticed the Fire Nation with the scar. His eyes opened wide. "Um I have to go I'm gonna go check on Luna." Shasyu almost ran out of the house.

Keana and Toph were too busy to notice Shasyu leave. "That's right, the Air Nomad there is Avatar Aang." Toph said smiling.

Keana was still a little jumpy. "And the Water Tribe woman who is she?"

"Well, she is Sokka's sister, and if he's your grandfather, what does that make her."

Keana sat a while with a funny look on her face as she put the math together. "That's my great aunt Katara!" Keana jumped up as Toph shook her head in agreement.

Just as Keana went to ask of the Fire Nation man, Toph's brother walked into the room. "Hello Toph, long time no see."

"Yeah don't remind me." Toph said waving her hand in front of her face, as her brother walked over for a hug.

"It's good to hear you Gui. I've missed you so much." Toph said hugging her brother back.

"And who might you be." Gui asked Keana greeting her.

"I might be Keana, but I forgot." Keana said kidding.

The old man laughed. "We have a jokester here, I like that."

"Anyway, what are you doing here Toph, you've been missing ever since the passing of Avatar Aang." Gui asked his sister.

"Actually, that's why I'm here. This is the new avatar." I've brought her here, so I can teach her earthbending peacefully."

"You're the avatar? Amazing." Gui said checking out Keana as she posed silly. "Well that was a brillant idea, you can use the open grounds in the back to train."

"Anyway, sit back, have a snack, stay as long as you like, my home is your home." Gui bowed as Keana headed for the kitchen.

Toph giggled to herself. "Just like her grandfather."

Toph and Keana were standing outside in raggedy clothes. Keana had taken of her shoes, tied her hair back and went into student mode.

"OK, I'm ready let's do some earthbending." Keana was chopping the air.

Toph bended a boulder in front of her. "OK, first things first. Get into a hoarse stance." Toph commanded.

Keana bended her knees and spreaded her legs apart focusing on Toph's words.

"Now listen very carefully." Keana nodded her head in agreement. "Now, the key to earthbending is your stance. With out a solid stance you're showing the rock how intimidated you are. You have to show it who's boss. You've got to be steady and strong. Rock is a stubborn element. If you are planning to move a rock at all, you've got to be like a rock yourself, completely and mentally unmovable. Do you got that?" Toph asked Keana who was rubbing her head confused.

"Yeah I think I got it." Keana took a breath as she tried convincing herself she was an unmovable rock, steady and strong.

Keana pulled back her arm and punched forward. "Ha ya!" Keana yelled out as her fist made contact with the boulder. As her fist hit the boulder, Keana could feel the painful tingling sensation traveling through her body from her fist to her legs. "Ouch." she said as she fell to the ground backward.

"This is going to be a long day." Toph said covering her face.

"I don't get it I did exactly as you said and it didn't move." Keana complained as she got up off the floor.

"I figured this would happen. You're too busy thinking you're the rock, when you have to be the rock. Don't think it, know it." Toph said as she bended the boulder forward.

"Now, try it again." Toph said bending another boulder in front of Keana.

Toph put Keana through earthbending boot camp. Keana was doing push ups, shadow boxing, and blind folded fist fighting. Keana was doing well on the physical stuff, but the darn rock wouldn't move.

"Come on Keana I know you can do this, you just have to do try harder." Toph was trying her best to encourage her.

"I am trying, I'm doing my best, and I can't do it." Keana stormed off throwing her blindfold to the ground.

Keana wandered off to a pond on the Beifong grounds. There she found Shasyu sitting down feeding turtle-ducks.

"Hey Shasyu." Keana said sadly as she sat next to him.

"How's training going?" he asked.

Keana laid completely flat on her back with her hands covering her face. "It was horrible."

"Why, what happened?"

"I couldn't move the stupid rock." Keana threw her hands up. " I did everything she told me and it wouldn't move."

"Well, Keana it's only your first day, you can't expect to move it right away." Shasyu tossed a piece of bread into the pond. A a baby turtle-duck snagged the piece from the surface of the water as it's sibling came to eat some as well.

"You don't understand, you try moving a rock without touching it." Keana said sitting up.

Shasyu looked out into the water. "You try pinning a fly to a tree, from a mile away, without killing it." Shasyu said with a smirk.

Keana just gave him a strange look thinking about how hard that must be. "You're right, I bet that took you forever to learn."

"No, it just took patience and determination." Shasyu looked at Keana with a smile.

Keana noticed his smile, which was rare and smiled back. "Thank you Shasyu."

"Toph, I'm ready to try again, and this time I'll be more patient." Keana bowed at her master.

"Very well, let's get to it." Toph bended a boulder in front of Keana.

"Ready?" Toph asked.

"Ready." Keana answered.

Keana got into her horse stance, scrunched her eye brows, pulled her arms back, focused her thoughts and launched her fist forward.

"Are you kidding me?!" Keana screamed out in pain as she blew on her fists.

Toph looked down in disappointment. "We'll try again tomorrow." Toph said walking away.

"No! We won't try again tomorrow! I've spend all day training and meditating! I haven't gotten nowhere! The only thing I have is a broken hand and a big headache! I quit!" Keana let out all her anger as she walked up to Toph frustrated.

"Fine, give up on the world. Don't do your duties, but remember this, while the world crumbles back into chaos, that you were the one everyone was relying on and you gave up, 'cause you gave one day of effort into moving a stinking rock!" Toph wasn't going to let Keana yell at her without letting her know the truth.

Keana still angry looked over to the giant rock and ran up to it thrusting her fists forward with all her might. She couldn't believe she sent the boulder flying 15 feet forward, crashing into a wall.

"I, I actually did it." Keana stood frozen staring at the boulder, now nothing, but rubble.

"Congratulations, Keana you are now officially an earthbender." Toph said smiling.

Keana began jumping up and down in excitement. "Woo hoo! I did it." Keana ran over to where Shasyu was sitting.

"Boo ya! Who's your earthbender." Keana said twirling pebbles in her hands. Shasyu just looked at her strangely, but happy.

Keana went dancing around the whole town.

"You've done it again." Toph said to herself walking into the house so she could lay down.

"Sir, we have a lead about the avatar's whereabouts." A sandbender came from behind Vaunon.

"Where is she?" asked Vaunon.

"Our sources say she is in Gaoling." the sandbender bowed.

"Excellent. Prepare me a small team. It's time I get my revenge." Vaunon smiled as the sandbender walked away.

Well how do you guys like Keana and her rock moving powers? XP