Chapter 17

"Why don't you BABIES get over that I'm a better earthbender than you, or at least let me out so I can prove it!" Toph's attempts to aggravate her captors into releasing her were unsuccessful. She wasn't sure where they had found wooden handcuffs, or even a wooden cell, for that matter, but they had done a good job of stopping her escaping. As long as she was in here, there was no chance of her busting herself out. More insulting than the wooden cell, however is that her kidnappers had put a blindfold on her. A BLINDFOLD.

As if those holding her prisoner could read her thoughts, she heard one voice say, "What's the blindfold for? You know she's blind!" a slightly nervous voice answered,

"It's just the procedure I follow with every person. You didn't tell me she's blind!"

"I thought it was obvious!"

A deeper voice that made Toph shiver interjected, "Stop quarrelling, wimps. Your job is important. You must guard her until they arrive."

Why was that voice so familiar? Why?

Toph tried to fathom where she'd heard that voice before. But it was obvious.

Shin-fu...

He was the man who had captured her twice before. It was because of this man that she could metalbend. How had she not noticed it was him earlier? She had fought in his ring over and over, always crushing the other wrestlers. She had even crushed him. When he had threatened her. But what did he want? Revenge? Toph wasn't sure about that. Unhinged as he was, Shin-fu wasn't the type to seek a fight he knew he would lose. She had to know.

"What do you want?!" the three men's heads whipped around to face the girl behing wooden bars. The nervous one glanced cautiously at his boss.

"No it's ok, we can tell her" the confidence and glee in Shin-fu's voice made Toph want to gag. He took a step closer to the cell, his hands resting on the carved wood. "You" he said, slowly and deliberately "are going to teach me metalbending."

This took a second to sink in. Metalbending? Was he serious?

"Then you have to let me out so I can show you." Toph knew this wouldn't be and option, but she had to know how he was planning to do this.

Toph's calculating look was met with a smug smile from Shin-fu. "We can't do that until the chi-blockers arrive" His plan was too perfect. He had beaten her. Surely.

Toph snorted at him. "How exactly am I supposed to teach bending if I can't use it?"

"I don't need a demonstration, little girl. I just need instruction. And you will give me that instruction, if you want to leave this place."

The blind girl turned and faced the corner of the cell. This wasn't what she'd wanted for her first experience of sharing her specialised skill. This just wasn't what she wanted. Toph focussed all her energy on sending a message to her sister. It had to work. If Joy had managed to send a distress signal then so could she. It was all she could do. She rolled over onto her side and eventually drifted into a doze.

A jolt passed through Toph's body. She jerked awake. A quick scan of her surroundings confirmed that nothing around her had changed. The jolt had to be... yes. A message from her sister. We're coming for you.

This was enough to comfort Toph into a doze again. If she was going to be stuck here for a while, she better spend the time catching up on sleep. She seriously needed it.

-oOo-

I felt like I should put an author's note, but I don't really have much to say! I think it may have something to do with the fact that this is being written at 1am XD.