Iris exhaled tossing fruit to Neva while she carried the bags of ration to Appa. She placed everything in, locked it, and turned around to sit on the saddle and take a breather.
"Is there anything I missed?" she asked
Neva chirped, tilting her head.
"You are right. I'll remember if I see something." with that she got down and made her to others.
"You know what? I'm gonna get it."
Iris looked at the bag Sokka was holding.
"It is a nice bag." she smiled
"And suits my style," he grinned and turned to the vendor. She turned to see Katara and Aang looking at her with frowns.
"What?" she asked, her smile fading away, "the bag is good."
Suddenly a man approached them with papers in his hands.
"Hey, you kids like earthbending? You like throwing rocks? Then check out Master Yu's Earthbending Academy."
He handed Aang and Iris a flyer each with a smile and left.
Iris looked down at the flyer. It didn't look like much. But then again it was all just harmless advertising.
"Look, there's a coupon on the back. The first lesson is free." Aang exclaimed and she did flip the flyer.
"Who knows? This Master Yu could be the earthbending teacher you've been looking for." Katara suggested
"I highly doubt that," Iris muttered, crunching the flyer into a ball and tossing it away.
"Why not?" Katara asked
"Bumi told you to look for a seasoned teacher. And seasoned mentors have a reputation. Students go to them, they don't advertise themselves to potential students." she folded her arms, "That being said, it doesn't hurt to check this out. Maybe you'll learn a thing or two. Or maybe it'll turn out to be a major waste of time. Either way, we learn something. Whatcha say?"
"Sounds good to me."
"Sure"
"What are you guys talking about?"
The four found themselves outside the front gate of a dojo compound. The gate was a paifang with a large green sign with characters written across it.
Since only earthbending students were allowed, the trio had to wait outside while Aang went in to try his luck.
Iris sighed, picked up a pebble, and started tossing it in the air and catching it.
"Can you earthbend?" Katara asked
Iris blew a raspberry, her fisted arm against her cheek, "I only know one earth spell and that just digs. So, nope! Can't earthbend."
"Do you wanna?"
Iris looked at Katara a little bored, "I'd prefer mastering my own element first." she sighed, "I still need to stabilize drawing energy from my surroundings. And I have to learn how to read energy without physical contact. There so much more! I'm not even halfway there!" she pouted
She tossed the pebble and to her surprise, it didn't come back. In its stead, Neva's angry squawks came.
"what, Nevs?"
Iris' eyes widened when she realized that the pebble had not only hit Neva, it had made her lose whatever game she and Momo were playing. Neva just swooped down and started angrily squawking at her, while perched on her knee.
"Sorry!"
Squawk!
"He's not the one."
Iris and others turned around as Aang walked out of the dojo. With a final trill, Neva flew off.
"That was quick," Iris muttered
Aang shrugged
"Now what?" Sokka asked
"Beats me," Iris shrugged
"I think The Boulder is gonna win back the belt at Earth Rumble 6."
"He's gonna have to fight his way through the best earthbenders in the world to even get a shot at the champ."
"Excuse me," Aang interrupted the two boys discussing the Rumble(?) and jogged to them, "but where is this earthbending tournament exactly?"
"It's on the Island of Noneoya - none o' ya business!"
And they started cackling.
Iris frowned, taking a deep breath. She kept a hand on Aang's shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze, "I got it."
With her other hand, she did the wand movement, "Legilimens." she whispered
A few more seconds and she canceled the spell, "Got the location."
She turned to the three, just as Sokka stopped laughing. He suddenly looked down at the bag, his mood doing a quick 180.
"What was I thinking? I don't need a new bag. Why'd you let me buy this?"
Iris sighed and swung her arm around Sokka, "Dramatic, much?"
Sokka glared at her which only made her chuckle, "Come on. We got a tournament to watch!"
It was a freaking Underground Stadium. But then again it was called Earth Rumble, so why not?
Iris looked around. The stadium wasn't brimming with the audience like she had anticipated. So maybe it was literally an underground, off-the-radar kinda thing? Maybe even illegal.
"Hey, front row seats! I wonder why no one else is sitting here." Aang exclaimed as the four sat down
A moment later, a massive boulder slammed into the seats to their right, showering them with dust and debris.
"I guess that's why," Sokka muttered
"Can we please move a couple of rows up?" Iris asked. And they did.
The more Iris saw the matches, the more she could find it relatable to those brutal wrestling shows Duddley would watch. And she vividly remembered those because he'd then use those same 'tactics' to beat the living shit outta her.
This one just had a little added earthbending to it.
A rumbling sound made them all look at the center of the arena. A man earthbended a mighty explosion of rock and dirt at its center. A huge column of the earth began to raise the man upwards until he stopped it. The man motioned and the column collapsed back to floor level.
"Welcome to Earth Rumble 6!" he announced, "I am your host, Xin Fu!"
"This is just gonna be a bunch of guys chuckin' rocks at each other, isn't it?" Katara asked bored
"That's what I paid for." Sokka excitedly replied
Iris looked at Katara, "Hey now that we are here, why not enjoy it a little?"
Katara looked at her and she shrugged with a smile.
"The rules are simple. Just knock the other guy out of the ring and you win." Xin Fu continued
He earthbended himself back to the announcer's tower to act as the commentator for the rest of the tournament.
"Round one! The Boulder versus The Big Bad Hippo!"
"Some of these people need better stage names," Iris muttered, "Seriously? Big Bad Hippo?"
"Listen up, Hippo. You may be big, but you ain't bad!" Boulder-guy grinned, "The Boulder's gonna win this in a landslide."
"Hippo mad!"
Iris always considered that people who referred to themselves as the third person were either too egoistic for their own good or too dumb for their own good.
"Unbelievable, ladies and gentlemen! The Hippo is rocking The Boulder!"
A few moments later,
"The Boulder wins!"
Boulder raised his arms in victory.
"How about The Boulder? He's got some good moves." Katara asked
"I don't know. Bumi said I need a teacher who listens to the earth. He's just listening to his big muscles. What do you think?" Aang asked Sokka and Iris
"Ha ha! Whoo!" Sokka cheered, oblivious to the question asked
Iris sighed with a roll of eyes, "Boulder looks great but you got a point. Also, he addresses himself in the third person. That's a serious no for me."
Katara and Aang shared a look and then continued to watch.
"Next, The Boulder versus Fire Nation Man!"
The crowd booed loudly as Fire Nation Man walked across a stone bridge to the arena floor waving his Fire Nation flag. The bridge crumbled behind him.
Sokka flashed thumbs down with both his hands, "Boo! Boo!"
"Sokka," Iris sighed but he just continued to boo louder.
The Fire Nation Man held the flag upright and addressed the crowd.
"Please to rise for Fire Nation national anthem." and he began singing, "Fire Lord, my flame, he dropped to his knees, "burns for thee!"
"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Iris muttered as she saw the scene unfold in front of her
"Go back to the Fire Nation!" Sokka yelled and threw a stone at the guy.
Which, weirdly, hit the guy on the head.
The guy, now pissed off, turned to face Sokka only to be twisted violently around and sunk into the earthen floor of the arena. In a flash, he was buried up to shoulders in the arena floor.
"No. No please!"
Boulder then jumped off from the column, hitting the ground right in front of the Fire Nation man, who is then hurled into the air and subsequently out of the arena. A second later, the guy hit the ground.
Iris winced. It'd be a miracle if half of his bones remained intact.
"Yeah! Whoo! The Boulder knows how to put the hurt in the dirt!"
Iris looked at Sokka, worried at his weird enthusiasm.
Neva chirped from her lap, looking at Sokka too.
"Yeah, this is the last time he's going to such a thing," she muttered back before looking at the arena.
To her own surprise, the next several matches passed in a blur. And Boulder won every one of them.
"Now, the moment you've all been waiting for. The Boulder versus your champion..."
Iris looked at the opposite end and,
"Wait. what in the holy world?"
Instead of a hulking competition, it was a little girl. Couldn't be more than a pre-teen. Early teenager, tops.
"The Blind Bandit!"
"I'm not the only one seeing a kid there, right?" she leaned a little towards the group
"Nope."
"Nah."
"I'm seeing her too," Katara looked at her, "She can't really be blind. It's just part of her character, right?"
"I think she is," Aang replied
"don't know. Guess we'll have to wait and see." Iris muttered
"I think she is..." Sokka began and then raised his voice, "going down!"
Iris sighed and then looked back at the arena.
Iris couldn't exactly hear the exchange between the Boulder and the blind girl due to their distance but the way she was laughing, had to be super mocking. And by the way, Boulder was tensed, she hit the nail.
The Boulder yelled and took a step forward. As his heel hit the ground, she moved forward and opened her arms. He was bellowing a battle cry. She began to swing her right foot in an arc towards the ground in front of her. As she struck the ground, the ground churned up and headed toward the Boulder in a straight line as if a gopher were tunneling toward him at great speed.
The Boulder's foot met the shock wave just as he was to put it back on the ground. And in the next moment, he dropped down onto the ground in a perfect split.
Momo squeaked, Neva chirped, Iris winced and Sokka's look of adulation and excitement turned to a look of pain.
The girl made a chopping motion with her hand and three stalagmites erupted from the ground near The Boulder and ejected him from the ring. He slammed into the wall beneath the stands and slid down into the crevice between the arena and the stands.
"Your winner, and still the champion, The Blind Bandit!" Xin Fu announced
"Did not see that coming," Iris muttered
"No!" Sokka cried and slumped on his seat
"How did she do that?" Katara asked
Iris shrugged.
"She waited," Aang looked at them, "and listened."
"To make things a little more interesting, I'm offering up this sack of gold pieces to anyone who can defeat The Blind Bandit! What No one dares to face her?" Xin Fu announced grabbing all their attention.
"He's really confident about that," Iris noticed. And considering the fact that no one came forward, the Blind Bandit really had a trick or two up her sleeve.
"I will!"
Iris' head snapped towards Aang so fast, Neva worried that she might get whiplash.
"Kid, no!" she ordered, "Hell, no. you are not stepping there. Nope. Nada. Sit down."
Aang looked at her, "I have a plan."
"Oh, you do. Don't care. May I remind you what happened last time you acted without thinking things through? You got thrown in jail! Convicted of murder!"
Aang's face showed the realization.
"Let him go!" Sokka came up behind Aang, "Let him avenge the Boulder!"
Iris crossed her arms, "How about you go in there and do that?"
Sokka blinked, "I would if I knew how to Earthbend."
Iris just frowned.
"Nothing like last time will happen, I promise." Aang reasoned
"No."
"Iris," he tried to say something but stopped then resumed, "I saw her. Before."
Iris raised a brow.
"At the swamp,"
Realization dawned on her a second later, "She's the girl you were chasing?"
Aang nodded. "I have some connection with her. I gotta face her."
Iris took a deep breath.
Aang is entitled to his own decisions.
Now she was hearing Duová in her head. Great.
"Fine." she exhaled, "But you better come back in one piece."
He nodded and then looked at Xin Fu, "I will face her."
Xin Fu looked worried for a moment. The crowd murmured its approval.
He jumped down from the seats and walked to the center of the arena.
"Go Aang! Avenge The Boulder!" Sokka yelled and received a smack from Iris.
"Do not encourage him."
"But he's gott-" he stopped when she frowned at him and looked at the arena.
"Do people really want to see two little girls fighting out here?" the girl said loudly
The crowd went "ooooh" at this bit of taunting.
"Really? fucking amateurs." Iris grumbled
Aang, in response, put his hands up in a conciliatory gesture. "I don't really want to fight you. I want to talk to you."
"Boo! No talking!" Sokka yelled
"Sokka," Iris softly began, "I hear another word out of your mouth until we leave this place, I'll take your voice for a whole week. Understood?"
Sokka looked at her, wide-eyed, and nodded.
"Good."
As soon as Aang took a step back, she stomped the ground with the side of her foot. A large rock grew out of the ground underneath Aang, who was launched into the air. He landed softly on the ground behind her. She turned around to face him.
"Somebody's a little light on his feet. What's your fighting name, The Fancy Dancer?"
Aang shrugged his shoulders. Another rock erupted from the ground and launched Aang into the air. He somersaulted through the air.
"Where'd you go?" she asked
"She really is blind," Iris said
Aang landed behind her. "Please, wait!"
"There you are!"
She turned quickly, raised a boulder, and threw at him in a straight line, like a bullet. The crowd cheered. Aang jumped into the air, turned, and airbent the rock backward. As a result, she and the rock were blown backward and off the arena.
Everyone looked surprised at that.
Iris chuckled with a smile, "That's my boy."
The three made their way to the arena.
Iris smiled at him only to see him eyeing the girl as she was walking away. He tried to go after her but she held him back.
"But-"
"Kid, she just lost. Give her some time. I'm sure we can find her again."
"How?" he looked at her
"We found her this time. How hard can be the second?"
Sokka quickly ran, hugged Xin Fu, took the money and the belt, the crowd cheering behind them.
"We'll find her, kid. Don't worry."
"I gotta admit, now I'm really glad I bought this bag. It matches the belt perfectly." Sokka said, preening himself as he wore the new belt
"That is a big relief," Katara replied, sarcasm filling her statement.
"Here you kids go," the waiter came and placed their lunch orders on their table. It wasn't often that they could eat outside in places like these, but now that they had a bit of extra money, thanks to Aang, Iris thought that having a good lunch won't be such a bad idea. They could treat themselves once in a while.
"If we want to find The Blind Bandit, the Earthbending Academy is a good place to start," Aang said
"Yeah, no," Iris responded, starting to eat.
"What do you mean?" Katara asked
"That girl looked way more advanced than some earthbending student. Also," she looked at Aang, "when you saw her she was wearing good quality clothes? right?"
"They were really good quality. Like silk." Aang responded
"And she uses a different name. I find it hard to believe that she'd be a regular Earth kingdom girl from all that. So," she turned to Neva, "Darling, think you can find her?"
Neva chirped and tilted her head.
"Yes, I will get you that."
Neva trilled and took off.
"She can find her?" Sokka asked
"She's a phoenix and she can track anyone anywhere. Neva will find her. Till then, can we please enjoy our lunch?"
Neva returned about twenty minutes later and she had a name. Before Iris could others what Neva found, they were interrupted.
"Hey, you're the kid who beat The Blind Bandit." the earlier kid from the dojo was there with his friend
"We need to talk to her. Do you guys know where she lives?" Aang asked
"The Blind Bandit's a mystery. She shows up to fight, then disappears."
"It's alright. Can you tell us anything about the Beifong family?" Iris asked, hoping she hadn't butchered the pronunciation of that name.
The two kids shared a look.
"They're the richest people in town, probably the whole world."
"Yeah, but they don't have a daughter." his friend added
"That's good enough. Thank you." she smiled. The boys looked at them a little uneasy but turned and left.
"Bei Fong family?"
"Neva tracked the girl down to this big house. the house had a flying boar insignia." she smiled at Aang, "She might be the one we are looking for."
"But they don't have a daughter," Sokka said
"Flying boar is good enough for me." Aang responded, "Let's check it out."
"Sit your arse down," Iris ordered, "First finish eating. Second, we are not barging into anyone's home like that."
Iris rummaged through their stuff.
"How much longer?" Sokka asked
"Just a second," Iris muttered, finally pulling out a small bag and a big piece of dried fish from within. She tossed the piece to Neva who clutched it and started eating. And then she jumped down.
"You, are coming with me." She looked at Sokka, "You two are staying put."
"Why?!"
Iris eyed them, "Guys, these are rich people, which means they are most probably aristocrats. One wrong word can set them off greatly. And no offense, kid, you do not have a brain-to-mouth filter." she softly smiled and looked at Katara, "And I need someone to keep an eye on him who won't encourage his crazy ideas."
Katara nodded, agreeing. Aang still pouted but didn't argue.
"Come on, Sokka. Let's see this Bei Fong girl."
The two walked to where Neva had located to be the girl's house.
"What's the plan?" Sokka asked
"To be very honest, I don't have one. So, I'm gonna just wing it." She looked at Sokka, who frowned at her.
"What?" she asked
"We are going to see this Blind Bandit without a plan?"
"Look, I know how terrible it sounds. And this winging it or playing by the ear could either be the best plan I've had in a while or the worst. I'm hoping for the former."
"I never thought you'd be without a plan," Sokka snorted
"Yeah, yeah. I don't always have a plan." She took a deep breath, "Tell ya what. Honestly, I don't have a plan half the time. Things just...fall in places."
Sokka chuckled.
"Don't tell it to the other two."
"Your secrets safe with me." He smiled as they stopped in front of the massive house. The gate had a crest with a flying boar emblazoned upon it.
"Must be the flying boar from kid's vision. Come on." she muttered, "Just follow my lead."
They entered the gates to be greeted by two burly men. Guards.
"Who are you and what business do you have here?" One of them asked
"Hi. Hello." Iris smiled, "We are travelers from the Water Tribe here to see Mr. Bei Fong on an important matter."
The two guards exchanged looks.
"We were not informed that Mr. Bei Fong was expecting guests,"
"Oh." Iris exhaled, "The messenger must have gotten lost with the letter or something. That's a shame." she looked at Sokka, "would you happen to have a copy of the letter?"
Sokka, after a two-second surprise of being talked to suddenly, recovered and quickly got into character. "No. They didn't provide me with a copy."
"Oh, spirits." she sighed, "Now what can we do?"
Sokka took a step forward, "Is it possible for us to see Mr. Bei Fong? The matters are very urgent."
"And what matters are they?"
"I'm afraid we are not at the liberty of discussing those matters to anyone but Mr. Bei Fong himself," Iris said
The guards exchanged a look.
"Forr all we know the messenger could take days to get here with the letter. And the matters are urgent. We'll be quick."
They exchanged another look.
"Come with me," One of them said and started walking inside. And the two followed.
The inside of the house was gorgeous and neat. The guard led them to a quaint empty room, where they were greeted by another woman, most probably a maid.
"They are here to see Mr. Bei Fong," the guard said
"Mr. and Mrs. Bei Fond are currently busy with another guest." she smiled at them in a warm welcome way, "It'll be over quickly. Please bear with me."
"We have no problem waiting." Iris smiled
"Is there anything you'd like to have while you wait for Mr. Bei Fong?" she asked
"We are good. Thank you for asking."
She nodded. "I'll be down the hall if you need me."
"Of course. Thank you."
With that, the woman left. Iris looked around to find that the guard had left too. So it was the two of them.
"This might be the worst and lamest idea I've had in a while," she muttered
"Now what?" Sokka asked
"We got in." Iris exhaled, "You stay here, I gonna look for the girl."
"You are leaving me here all by myself?"
Iris smiled apologetically, "Sorry, buddy. But one of us gotta stay."
"What if this Bei Fong guy comes?"
Iris stood up, "Then tell 'em to wait for me. I'm gonna visit the toilet."
"At this time? Really, Iris?"
Iris exhaled, I'm going to look for the girl. But if anyone asks, I'm going for the toilet. And I'll be back. Don't say anything. Just tell them to talk to me." with that she opened the door and quietly walked out.
First she walked down the hall and found the maid who had welcomed them.
"Hi. So sorry to disturb you."
"Is there anything you needed?" she asked
"Yes. Could you please tell me where the bathroom is? It's a bit urgent."
"Of course. I can walk y-"
"Directions would be great. Sorry about cutting you off. But directions, please."
"Yes, of course. If you follow this hallway, there should be a bathroom on your third right to relieve yourself."
"Thank you so very much. Again, sorry for troubling you." she smiled and as quietly as possible, jogged down the hallway. Once she was sure she was all alone, she quickly used her energybending and found quite a powerful earthbending energy source. The source was nowhere as powerful as Bumi's but damn, it was strong. She quickly and quietly followed it and ended up in a garden.
And there was the girl.
She looked so different. Donning a silk outfit with flowers in her hair. She actually looked like an aristocratic heiress. But there was no mistaking that it was her.
She stepped down and made sure it was just the two of them there.
"You know for an Earth Rumble champion, you are quite hard to find."
The girls didn't get startled, so she knew that she was there. Impressive.
She turned around and Iris noticed the milky, pale green eyes. She was actually truly blind. It was one thing to hear but to actually see, was a whole other thing.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?"
"Who I am can wait. As for what I'm doing here, I need your help."
"How did you find me?"
"I have my ways." Iris slowly walked towards the girl, to seem as non-threatening as possible, "I have a friend who needs to master Earthbedning. And he hoping you could teach him."
The girl remained still for a moment, before she spoke up, "You were with Twinkle Toes."
It took Iris another second to realize that she meant Aang, "Yes."
"If he needs to learn Earthbending, he should go to the academy."
"But that's not where you learned it from, is it?" and here was the playing it by the ear part.
"Look," she exhaled, absolutely hating what she was going to say but she had no other choice, "my friend, Twinkle Toes, is the Avatar. and he was told to look for a master earthbender who waits and listens to the Earth. That was what we were doing at the Earth Rumble. And he thinks you are a great earthbender, someone to teach him to earthbend. Please. He needs to learn this to defeat the Fire Lord."
The girl stood there, obviously thinking.
"Not my problem."
"It isn't. I understand. But, please. Consider this. It's a very humble and quite desperate request. It's a war. And all you gotta do is teach him Earthbending and we'll never disturb you again."
"You need to leave before I call the guards."
Iris took a deep breath, "Alright. I'm leaving. but...if you change your mind, we are in the town for another day. By the forest. Give this a second thought." With that, she turned around and walked inside the house. She was about to leave when she heard something and stopped to listen.
"Toph, is everything alright? I thought I heard someone." It was one of the guards
"No. It was no one. I'm all by myself here."
"You know your father doesn't want you wandering the grounds without supervision, Toph."
So, Toph. That was her name. Toph Bei Fong.
She turned and quickly made her way back to the room to find a stressed-out Sokka.
"Finally? Did she agree? Is she on board?"
"No. She's not. We need to leave now."
"How? The maid's already been here once!"
"Shit fuck!" Iris swore ad grabbed him, "It might be a little uneasy, but hold on." Just as she was about to apparate, the door opened and both of them froze.
Iris quickly broke the stupor, let go of Sokka, and stood straight. He followed her.
"I wasn't expecting any guests. Especially from the Water Tribe." the man said. He had all those aristocratic features and some bonus ones that defined him as a superior douchebag. And Iris knew that he was not gonna be easy to deal with.
"We understand." Iris smiled, "Like I told your guard, the letter about our arrival must have gotten misplaced or something."
"And may I ask what business do you have with me?"
"Of course, yes. Um..." she took a step forward, "We," she motioned to herself and Sokka, "are traveling with the Avatar. Avatar Aang. And during our stay at the Water Tribe, we were suggested to visit you if we were to drop by Gaoling."
"You are Avatar Aang's companions?"
He needed to get his hearing checked.
"Yes, we are."
"So where is the Avatar?"
"He's quite busy. We decided to drop by beforehand to see if you'd be available. We are leaving tomorrow. That's why. We didn't wanna impose or interrupt."
Mr. Bei Fong thought for a few moments.
"I suppose we can have Avatar Aang and his companions join us for the dinner."
"That'd be amazing." Iris smiled, "We'll see you at dinner, then. thank you."
"So? Was it her? did she say yes?" Aang asked as soon as the two returned
"Yeah, it was her." Iris replied, "And she said no. She doesn't care."
"She can't say no! She has to teach him earthbending." Katara exclaimed
"Katara, we can't force anyone. It's her choice. And we gotta respect that."
"But we do have good news!" Sokka piped in
"What is it?" Katara asked
"Her father invited us for dinner. Avatar and his companions."
The other two exchanged a look.
"This might be our only chance of convincing her, you know." Iris said, "Even then, kid, don't keep your hopes high."
"Got it."
Iris was not the one to have prejudices against people. After all her experiences, she'd rather see what kind of people they were before forming an opinion. But here, she couldn't believe that her prejudiced judgment was spot on. Lao Bei Fong was a grade A douchebag. His wife was not exactly an improvement either.
They literally treated Toph like she was a two-year-old who couldn't do shit without guidance and help. Then again, not like they knew that she was a reigning champion at an underground earthbending wrestle mania.
"Blow on it. It's too hot for her." Lao ordered
"Allow me." Aang offered and created a small whirlwind which zoomed across the table and dwindled out over her dish, cooling it, gathering an applause from the newcomers.
"Avatar Aang, it's an honor to have you visit us." Mrs. Poppy Bei Fong said
"In your opinion, how much longer do you think the war will last?" Lao asked
"I have yet to master the elements. But I'm quite optimistic that it'd end soon."
"Have you mastered earth yet?" Poppy asked
"Not yet, I'm afraid. I can't do that without finding an earthbending teacher first."
"Well, Master Yu is the finest teacher in the land. He's been teaching Toph since she was little." Lao said
Finest teacher, her arse. He was a waste of time.
"Then she must be a great earthbender, probably good enough to teach someone else."
Iris was slightly startled to feel the shockwave under the table. Aang, on the other hand, hopped up in his seat in pain and surprise.
"You alright, Aang?" she asked, worried.
Aang just glared at Toph.
"Aang?"
"Yes. Just a little startled," he replied and sat back down
"Toph is still learning the basics." Poppy said
"Yes, and sadly because of her blindness, I don't think she will ever become a true master," Lao added
Iris blinked. That arsehole.
she shared a look with others and pretty sure everyone had the very same thought.
"Oh, I'm sure she's better than you think she is."
Iris looked at Toph, who looked annoyed. Expecting another shockwave, because she had an idea that Toph would, she conjured a shield under the table and a second later, she felt it vibrate due to the shockwave, but it never reached them.
Toph looked surprised at the lack of reaction of her small jab towards Aang.
"What Aang, here, means to say is that Toph could achieve a lot despite her shortcomings. Her blindness doesn't have to stop her from mastering her birth element. It might be a small nuisance, but it doesn't have to be an unmovable obstacle. All she needs is optimism and constant support." she inhaled ad quickly added, "Which I'm sure you both are giving her."
Lao and Poppy looked at her and then exchanged a look.
And Iris realized that it might have been a sensitive topic for them.
"Shall we have dessert?" Poppy asked, quickly changing the subject.
"Of course." Iris quickly answered.
After dessert, the Bei Fong couple offered the quartet to spend the night at their house and they didn't complain much. They seldom got good warm places to sleep.
"Good night, buddy." Aang waved off Appa, who had taken space in the garden.
"You gonna be alright?"
He turned around to see Iris at the door and she entered, smiling at him.
"Yeah. I'll be fine."
"You did good today. With Lao and Poppy."
"Well, I did learn a thing or two from you."
Iris chuckled, and came to stand next to him, and leaned on the nearby table.
"You and Toph seem to have a little..." she smiled, "you still sure it's her?"
"Yeah! If it wasn't her then why would I see what I saw at the swamp."
"Fair enough." she nodded and chuckled, "Hey, things will turn out fine."
"I hope so."
"Good. Sokka's coming back in a while. At least that's what he told me when he vanished. Anyway, I'm in the next room if you need anything with Katara. Alright?"
Aang nodded
"Good night kid."
"Good night."
Iris turned and stopped. At the door stood Toph.
Aang peeked from behind her and saw her.
Iris slightly tensed. Toph was quite the force to be reckoned with from the short time pan they had known each other.
"Relax. Look, I'm sorry about dinner. Let's call a truce, ok?" she said
Aang stepped forward to stand next to Iris, as the two shared a look.
"Sure?" Iris replied
"Can we talk?" she asked
the two shared another look.
"Of course," Aang replied
Iris looked between the two, "You two get going with it. I gotta go."
Aang nodded and she smiled back.
"Good night, Toph." she smiled and walked out, exiting the room.
"Now where the hell's Sokka?"
Toph led him to a bridge over a small brook. Aang walked on the bridge, Toph along the guardrail.
"Even though I was born blind, I've never had a problem seeing." she began, as they reached the end of the guardrail and she jumped off and landed on the ground.
"I see with earthbending. It's kind of like seeing with my feet. I can feel the vibrations in the earth, and I can see where everything is. You, that tree, even those ants."
"That's amazing." Aang beamed
"My parents don't understand. They've always treated me like I was helpless." Toph added, frustrated
"Is that why you became The Blind Bandit?"
"Yeah."
"Then why stay here where you're not happy?"
"They're my parents. Where else am I supposed to go?"
Aang paused. What he was gonna say, he knew that he could land in a lot of hot water with Iris for that. But he had to take his chance.
"You could come with us."
"Yeah. You guys get to go wherever you want. No one telling you what to do, that's the life. It's just not my life."
"Well, not exactly." Aang responded, "Iris dictates a lot of our decisions. Overlooks them. At times she does tell us what to do and what not to do. All its all because she cares for us and doesn't want us to get in trouble."
"Iris?"
"Yeah, the older girl? She's the oldest of us."
"She has that funny way of speaking, right?"
Aang had noticed that the way she spoke was different the first time they spoke. At first, he had chalked it up to the era change but then he learned that she was from a different world. Iris' way of speaking was very unique.
"Yeah, that's her. "
Suddenly Toph turned and dropped to her knees and touched the ground, "We're being ambushed."
Iris was alarmed by loud metallic noises. She looked at Katara, who had also paused while preparing for bed.
"Did you hear that?" she asked
"Yeah. Sounded like metal."
Iris quickly stood up and rushed to the boys' room only to find Sokka there.
"Where's kid?" she asked
"He was with toph. He hasn't returned."
"Did you that noise? Metallic?"
"I thought I was hearing things." he got up and the trio were about to leave for the garden when they were met by Lao and Poppy.
"We heard a strange noise," Iris said,
"So did we." Poppy replied
"It came from the garden," Katara said
There in the garden, they didn't find the two kids. Rather, big impressions made in the ground.
"This wasn't here before," Iris noted
Sokka walked ahead and returned with a sword and a scroll attached to it.
"Whoever took Aang and Toph left this."
He handed it to Iris, who unraveled it and started reading
"If you want to see your daughter again, bring 500 gold pieces to the arena." Iris frowned. What the actual fuck? She looked down at the bottom of the scroll, "It's signed "Xin Fu and The Boulder.""
"I can't believe it." Sokka somberly said, only to suddenly grab the scroll, run a few feet and drop to his ground, holding the scroll over his head.
"I have the Boulder's autograph!"
"Sokka!" Iris yelled, "Not the time!"
"Master Yu, I need you to help you get my daughter back."
Iris turned to the adults
"We're going with you," Katara said
Iris looked at Katara. She then turned to see Poppy on the ground near the impressions.
"Poor Toph. She must be so scared."
Fucking hell. Iris knew with 1000% god damn surety that Toph would be anything but scared.
Iris had a nice plan where they could get them both out and didn't have to give them a single coin, but Lao and Poppy were not on board with the idea. They were scared, understandably, and just wanted their daughter back. So Iris's didn't pressure them much. She agreed to go with them, should things go south.
They entered the arena and Iris saw big metal cages hanging from the air. And Xin Fu and Boulder standing below.
"Toph!" Lao called
Xin Fu turned around to see them at the other end of the arena. Sokka held up a green bag.
"Here's your money. Now let them go."
He dropped the bag and Yu kicked it over to Xin Fu with an earthbending move. Xin Fu picked up the bag, opened it, and confirmed its contents. He turned around and gave a signal to someone.
Soon enough the one on the right began to drop. The case stopped a few feet above the ground. The bottom opened and Toph fell out.
She ran over to her father, who put his hand on her shoulder and guided her away, Yu in tow.
"Where's Aang?" she demanded
Xin Fu, in return, held up a scroll. It unrolled to reveal a wanted poster of Aang. Boulder followed suit and it was her wanted poster. Merlin!
"I think the Fire Nation will pay a hefty price for the Avatar. And his companion." he leered at her, "You will stay. Others, now, get out of my ring."
Iris took a deep breath. This was not how it was supposed to go.
And then one by one people started appearing in the arena. The first was a whirlwind. It stopped and dissipated to reveal Fire Nation Man, followed by a man in a green mask, a Hippo guy, and a gopher guy along with Xin Fu and Boulder.
Iris took a breath, her hand reaching for her fans.
"Go. I'll be ok." Aang called from above
Iris looked over her shoulder, "Go."
The siblings exchanged a look and walked off.
"Good." Xin Fu smiled at her and opened Toph's metal case, "Now get inside."
She pulled out her fans and flared them, "Not without a bloody fight."
And they attacked her.
Earthbendig wasn't her strongest suit. On top of lack of earth spells, she never really had an earthbender to practice her moves her. Give her an airbending, waterbeding, or firebendig bad guy and she'd turn out just fine. But earthbenders were not someone she had any experience with in a fight. Hence the reason she was getting her arse kicked.
She crossed her arms with a Protego spell and then threw out a fire rope speel, looped it around Gopher's leg and the other end at Hippo's leg and pulled, making them both fall on the ground.
Which in turn left her open for other attacks and Boulder attacked her.
She was thrown off a few feet and landed on her stomach. Ouch! her boobs hurt. And her rib. And her shoulders.
She got up with a groan, feeling a sharp shooting pain on her cheek. Oh good, she was bruised. She somehow stumbled to her feet, trying to balance herself, and flared her fans again.
Hippo turned around and walked away. At first, she was surprised and then shocked when Hippo picked Aang's cage and placed it on his shoulder, and started walking away.
"You put him down this instant!" she ordered
"No. But we are going to put you in the cage." Fire Nation guy smiled and attacked her. she cast a Ventus and blew out the fire and made another gust, stronger than before, and knocked most of them off their feet.
Only to be attacked by a sudden column of earth springing from underneath her which again threw her off entirely. Okay, now her body hurt more. Earthbenders were beating the shit outta her and it was embarrassing. She tried to stand up but a block of the earth was placed on her to stop her from moving.
She tried to apparate, only to realize how tired and bruised she was. She did manage to cast a Reducto on the block on her back which shattered it. she scramble to her feet but before she could have another thought or put another spell, a big rock headed for her and slammed into her. She was rammed to the raw ground. Her vision started blurring and soon everything went black.
Iris woke up to a cold feeling over her body, concentrating on her torso.
She groaned, trying to open her eyes. They felt heavy.
She kept trying and managed to open them after a few minutes as things started coming to her focus.
She took a breath and slightly raised her head. Katara was sitting next to her and a water blob was floating over her bra covered torso.
"Hey," she coarsely said
"Hey," Katara smiled, quickly transferring the water back to its container. "How are you feeling?"
"Sore. Peachy. Agonizing. I'll add more if more came to my mind."
Katara smiled, "You did take a big hit. Facing all those Earthbenders and a Firebender all by yourself."
"Yup," she groaned and tried to sit up, Katara helping her.
"How bad?"
"I healed most of the bad injuries. You'll be fine in a few days. Lighter ones are still there."
"Good enough." Iris exhaled, "Boys?"
"They are fine."
"Toph?"
"About that..."
10 minutes later,
"We were kicked out?!"
Katara sighed, "Yeah. Her father thinks that her proving to be a better earthbender than she shows should be rewarded by guarding her 24 hours a day because her freedom's too much."
"Fucking bullshit! That girl barely has any freedom! They treat her like a fuckin' porcelain doll!"
Katara sighed and looked at her softly, "We gotta respect their decision."
"Not cool, Kat." she groaned and fell back only to realize something, "where are we, then?"
"One of the guards offered a temporary place so that I can heal you. We are supposed to be gone by the time he comes back."
"Oh we'll be gone, no worries."
By evening, Iris was good enough to walk. So they left, walked to the forest edge ad started packing, ready to leave.
"Sorry, kid." she squeezed his shoulder
"It's okay. We can't force things."
"You guys are really mean, you know that right?"
The three chuckled and laughed.
"Don't worry. We'll find you a teacher." Katara said, "There are plenty of amazing earthbenders out there."
"Not like her." Aang sighed
"Maybe a better one's out there. You never know." she chuckled, "Quick tip, don't set your heart on one girl. A lot of them tend to break hearts."
Aang looked at her before he understood what she meant.
"It's not like that!"
"I better hope so," she called back with an amused smile
"Iris!"
They were about to be done when the rattling of bushes caught their attention and soon Toph ran out of them, breathing heavily.
"Toph! What are you doing here?" Aang asked
"My dad changed his mind. He said I was free to travel the world."
Iris frowned. She lied. She just lied and Iris could tell. There was no way Lao would change his mind this quick and about Toph. So...that meant...she ran from home. Great.
"Well, we'd better get out of here - before your dad changes his mind again," Sokka suggested
"Good idea." Toph smiled but Iris stepped in front of her.
"You sure have your father's permission?" she asked
While she did applaud her ballsy move for freedom, the last thing she wanted to be known was for kidnapping Toph Bei Fong, even if the girl willingly came with them.
"Yes!"
"What exactly did he say?"
Toph faltered for a moment.
"He apologized for acting irrationally and said as a reward, I can go with the Avatar."
Big fat lie. Iris' bullshit meter was screaming red.
"Well, if that's the case, we should leave now," Katara said
"We should. Before my father changes his mind and decides to bring me back."
Iris exhaled. They were running out of time. And they needed her as much as she needed them. But then, it was quite a risky move.
What the fucking hell?!
Iris turned and climbed atop Appa.
"You're gonna be a great teacher, Toph." Aang smiled
"Speaking of which, I want to show you something." toph said
"Okay."
Iris kept an eye and in another second, placed a Wingardium Leviosa on Aang as a rock erupted from the ground right underneath Aang.
"What? Where did you go?"
Aang looked at her and Iris shrugged, placing her down.
"We need to leave now!"
"Um, I'll take the belt back," Toph said
Sokka unhooked the belt and dropped it on her. It hit her on the head and laid her out flat in a heap.
"Ow!"
"Sorry."
Iris smirked at him.
Well, now this was gonna be a whole lotta interesting.
Toph has officially joined the gang.
I know it's been some since I updated and the frequency would remain so due to my upcoming semester finals. Gotta study.
You people know the drill.
Ciao