Chapter 14 The Blind Bender
"Lord Ozai, sir the Kagome woman has escaped! Fire benders and the Fire Guard from your son's Fire vessel tell me that Prince Zuko has joined the Avatar and is in league with the water tribe and water benders. They also say the Avatar is a powerful air bender, can you believe that an air bender. He's unlike the dead air benders, he's a half demon. But that's an interesting turn of events isn't it sir?" said Fire Sage Ping. "Thank you faithful servant; let's find the Avatar and kill him once and for all. And faithful Sage bring me Azula, my daughter," said Lord Ozai.
The Fire Sage left the royal throne royal and found Azula lurking the halls of their Fire palace. Azula was a beautiful disaster, a monster within but a beauty outwardly. Her long black hair matched her black twisted heart. "Azula, Lord Ozai demands to see you!" "Very well," she smirked coldly with her blood red smile. "Azula, you have been a worthy daughter and are heir to my throne. Your brother however, is friends with the Avatar and has chosen to be a traitor. Azula bring him to me, dead. I want you to find your brother and end him," he said. "Your wish is my command," she laughed heartlessly.
Meanwhile, Prince Zuko stayed with his Uncle. Three weeks had passed since the lightning attack to his heart. After weeks of sleeping, Iro woke up. "Prince Zuko? Are you nearby?" asked the healing man. "Yes Uncle, I'm here. I've been by your side for three weeks. I had my friends take you to Ba Sing Se to heal, that's where we are now Uncle. We are in the Earth Kingdom, its beautiful here," replied Zuko.
"Oh Zuko, you are strong and brave like your mother Ursa! She would be so proud of you, I am proud of you my nephew," said Iro. "Then why…why did you call me Leuten? I'm not your son…am I his replacement Uncle?" he asked while rubbing his scarred eye. "Oh Zuko, never! You are my nephew, no one on earth could replace my first son, just as no one can replace my second son," replied Iro. "Second son?" asked Zuko confused. "You Prince Zuko. When I wrote my will, I signed my life's treasures to my only heir; I declared that you Prince Zuko. I knew that your father would leave you nothing, and so I adopted you in a sense. When you were a baby Ursa asked me to be your Godfather, and that I am!" said Iro.
"You did that for me? Why Uncle?" asked the bashful Prince. "Because Zuko I had faith in you, I knew you would overcome your father's wrath. I still have faith in you, that you will take your rightful place on the throne when you are ready," he said. "You will be a great Fire Lord one day, Zuko." "Thanks Uncle," Zuko said as he hugged his Godfather with love and gratitude.
Ba Sing Se was starting to annoy Inuyasha; the King gave him Earth Bending Masters that didn't understand how to train a half demon. The first Master was scared of Inuyasha's temper, the second his claws, the third thought he was a woman.
"Your highness, no offense but these Masters suck. Do you have anyone else?" he pleaded. "I have one more, named Toph," he said. "Great, go get her," Inuyasha said. "I'm already here twinkle toes," said Toph. Toph was a small 12 year old girl that wore a wealthy Earth Kingdom robe. The robe was emerald and fell to the ground in flowing heaps. "Well?" she said. "This can't be Toph," Inuyasha laughed. "Trust me I am sunshine," Toph replied.
"Well Avatar I aint gonna wait all day. Show me what the powerful Avatar can do?" she grinned. "Fine," he said. Inuyasha then began to air bend at Toph, who knocked him down before air was formed. "How did you that?" Kagome asked as she cheered from the sidelines.
"I am blind, I felt the vibrations and figured out where he was located before he could strike," Toph said. "Well, I've been proven wrong. Will you teach me how to earth bend?" asked the half demon Avatar. "Sure I'll teach you, but you must learn to trust your sense of touch first the way I do. The trick is to trust your other senses, and not rely on sight to see your opponent," "But that's impossible to do," said Inuyasha. "Hello blind girl," she said.
Inuyasha nodded and realized if a blind 12 year old can do this then she is worth learning from. "I can learn to not trust my eyes," he said after a moment. "Excellent! We start at dawn Twinkle toes," and with that Toph left them to their thoughts.