Chapter 4: Operation Earth Rumble Fighter Behind Served On a Silver Platter
"If you want to see your daughter again, bring five hundred gold pieces to the arena," Katara read. "It's signed Xin Fu and The Boulder."
The two oldest Beifong children exchanged dark, meaningful looks. Sokka stared at the note. "I can't believe it…" He suddenly snatched it out of Katara's hands and fell to his knees, holding the note up to the sky. "I have The Boulder's autograph!"
Katara resisted the urge to smack him in the head with a water whip, instead turning to the others. "Who are these people? Why did they kidnap Aang and Toph?"
The oldest boy, Zhi, ran a hand through his short, dark hair. "It's… well, I'm not sure. But I knew that Xin Fu guy was bad news." He clenched a fist, knuckles whitening, nails biting into his palm. "And now that creep has my little sister."
"We need to get them back," the girl said. Her name was… Meilin, maybe? Meiliu? "And you know how Mother and Father will react if they find out about this." She looked up, meeting Katara's eyes. "We need to keep them from finding out."
Katara wasn't sure what the big deal was, but she nodded.
Sokka, recovered from his bout of goofiness, joined them with a more serious face. "So. How are we planning on rescuing them? 'Cause I'm guessing we are. I know Katara and I wouldn't leave Aang, you probably want your little boulder-chucker back. What's the plan? Do we have a plan? Do we even have an idea besides 'rescue them'?"
"I can chuck boulders too," the little boy said grouchily.
Zhi blinked. "Um. Yes. Okay. We're going to need to-"
"Zhi?" Light spilled out onto the lawn as Poppy opened a door. "Meilin? Is Toph with you? What are you doing outside?"
All the kids exchanged quick, panicked glances before Zhi said, "Yeah. We were just, um, talking with the Avatar and his friends. And showing them around the garden. Because they love nature and couldn't wait until morning."
Katara rolled her eyes.
"All right," Poppy said, not sounding very doubtful. If Katara and Sokka had tried pulling a story like that on Gran-Gran, she would have seen through it before you could say "oops". But then, Poppy and Lao Beifong hadn't struck Katara as the firmest snowballs in the pile. "Come in soon, please. You need sleep, and you shouldn't be disturbing Avatar Aang and his friends. And I don't want Toph catching a cold."
"All right," Meilin called. "We'll be right in." The door closed, and she turned back to them, eyes wide. "Okay. We somehow need to come up with five hundred gold pieces in the next what, hour? Or find some other way to break them out?"
"I have sixteen kaq," Katara said. At their strange looks, she blushed. "Oh. Right. Um, Water Tribe money. Not much good here, I guess."
"No," Zhi said, scowling. "I don't think that actually paying the ransom is a great idea. We need to break Aang and Toph out. Toph can take care of Xin Fu and The Boulder once she's free."
"Do we know what sort of confinement they're in?" Sokka asked, scratching his chin.
Zhi chewed on his lip. "I'm guessing… metal cells," he said. "Most reliable and portable way to keep earthbenders contained. I'm not sure where, though. They might be hidden in the backrooms, or the tunnels, or just in the arena itself. I don't know." He gripped his head. "I don't know…"
"We should scout the area out," Sokka said. "If you don't know what to expect, and I've only been there once in my life, we need more information before we can come up with a working plan."
"But the longer we wait, the longer Toph is trapped…" Zhi said quietly.
"She'll hang on until we get there," Meilin told him. "It's more important that we figure something out that will work."
Katara fiddled with the cork in her waterskin, agitated. "So… we just sit around?"
Zhi looked up at her. "I don't like it either. But… we need to keep this quiet. You have no idea how bad this would go over with our parents. They don't know anything about our… other activities. We have to keep this rescue quiet."
"We need to go inside," Meilin said. "We all should act normal. I'll cover for Toph. You guys cover for Aang if anyone comes looking for him. Once things have settled down a little, we can meet to plan."
"Why don't you guys stay in your room, and Meilin, Jiao, and I will come to you," Zhi said, smirking a little. "We know the place."
As Katara and Sokka headed back to the guest room, Katara clenched her hand around her waterskin. Aang. We're coming for you.
;=;=;=;=;
The rug in the guest room was soft. Sokka buried his fingers in the thick shag and watched the three kids sitting down across from him and Katara for their powwow.
"All right," Sokka said, rubbing his hands together. "I've been thinking, and what we need is a good name for this."
"A name?" Zhi repeated incredulously.
"I'm thinking Operation Get 'Em Back. Or possibly Operation Seal Jerky, because then we could talk about it in public and no one would suspect a thing, because it's so random, right? Or Operation Mountaintop, because, y'know, Toph is like the mountain, and Aang is the wind, because it's always windy on mountaintops -"
"We don't need a name," Meilin said sharply. She was kind of cute. Not a pointy, dangerous cute like Suki, and not jaw-droppingly beautiful like… like Yue, but more of a polished cute. With underlying toughness. "We need a plan."
"Where are Xin Fu and The Boulder going to be?" Katara asked, giving Sokka an annoyed glance. Great, now he had two girls mad at him.
"Probably in the main ring," Zhi said. "The note says to come to the arena, not the backrooms or the entrance or anything."
Sokka rubbed his chin and thought about the layout of the arena, from what he could remember. Really, he should be better at looking at a scene quickly and memorizing the important points. But The Boulder had been too distracting.
Granted, although he'd made a big thing out of getting The Boulder's autograph, Sokka was feeling much less goodwill towards the fellow ever since he kidnapped Aang.
Zhi had been saying something. Sokka tuned back in. "...making it harder to access. We'll probably have to go in the front. I'd like to scout out the area first, but without Toph we really don't have a way to unobtrusively check the place out – sorry, Jiao, you just aren't that good. We'll just have to figure things out on the fly, I guess."
"Yay," Sokka said. "That's the best way to do things."
Katara touched her waterskin. "Even if things go downhill, there's only two of them. I know they're good earthbenders, but I'm sure we can handle them long enough to get Toph and Aang."
"I'm not a bender, but I'm pretty good with a sword," Zhi said.
"Really?" Sokka said, suddenly interested. He'd always wanted to learn how to use a sword. Maybe when they had Toph and Aang back, he and Zhi could spend some quality time together with pointy objects. Zhi probably didn't know how to throw a boomerang.
"I don't think I should come," Meilin said. Everyone looked at her in surprise. "I'm not a fighter. I wouldn't really be much use to you. And someone has to stay at home and cover. It's bad enough when all four of us sneak out, but if all of our distinguished guests are gone as well, you're more likely to be discovered. I can help keep people from noticing." Sokka was impressed she managed to say "distinguished guests" without laughing. It just sounded funny applied to their little group.
"All right," Zhi said reluctantly.
Sokka's eyes fell on the green and gold champion belt in the corner by Aang's pallet, and the sack it sat on top of. A grin slowly grew on his face. "Hey guys. I think I know where to get five hundred gold pieces."
Everyone looked at him. He picked himself off the fluffy rug and went over, picking up the canvas sack. He returned to the rug and dumped the sack out. A stream of glittering gold coins tumbled into a pile on the rug. "Aang's winnings from the championship. I'm sure he'd agree it's going toward a good cause."
It was Jiao who pointed out the obvious problem. "But that isn't five hundred pieces."
"It can't be much more than a hundred," Zhi agreed.
"Aha," Sokka said. "For your information, it's a hundred and twenty gold. I counted. Also, do you think that Xin Fu is going to dig down through a bag that is heavy and big and obviously has lots of money in it to count out five hundred gold pieces? I think not." He started putting the gold back in the bag. "So, if we put rocks in the bottom of the bag, and put these on top, it could be enough to fool them into letting Toph and Aang go. And even if it's not, it might be a good distraction."
"Not rocks," Zhi said. "They might be able to sense the rocks in the bag. It has to be metal, because earthbenders can't sense or bend that."
"Metal, then," Sokka said. "That works. Same concept."
"That might actually work," Katara said.
"All right," Zhi said. "Let's find a bigger bag and some metal stuff that could pass for money, and we can work on how to free Toph and Aang, wherever they are." He grinned. "Once Toph's out, we won't have any trouble. She can hand those two their behinds on a silver platter."
"That's it!" Sokka said. "We'll call it Operation Earth Rumble Behind Served On a Silver Platter."
No one objected.
;=;=;=;=;
Being stuck in a metal box wasn't easy.
Aang took deep breaths and tried not to lose it. Air was freedom. Room to move and fly and run. Being cooped up like this was hard. He clenched the bars and stared out over the dimly lit arena. It's okay. Just a… just a nice room here. Looking over the ring. It's a big room. I just can't see all of it because I'm looking out the window. I have lots of space.
Aang's leg bumped the back of the box. He swallowed and stared out. He really hoped that Katara and Sokka would get here soon. He wanted to be out of this box so badly. It was too small for him to really airbend, and there was nothing to waterbend.
Toph had it easy, he thought, glancing over. He could just see the corner of her box, hanging next to his. Earthbenders liked solid things. They liked caves and small spaces and hard things and still air. She probably felt fine.
Aang leaned his head against the bars and did his best not to cry, and wished desperately for a breath of fresh air.
;=;=;=;=;
Being stuck in a metal box wasn't easy.
Toph leaned her back against the cell and tilted her face upward. Most of the time, she didn't mind not having sight like most people did. Her unique earthsense gave her advantages that seeing people didn't have. She could see around and behind things. She was working on telling when people were lying. She could sense the world around her just fine with her feet. But here, far enough away that she could barely sense the earth around her at all, she was truly blind.
She struck the side of the cell, creating a bonging sound, and tried to read the vibrations with her feet. It didn't work. Metal wasn't like stone. It was hard and deep and dark, and she couldn't feel things through it. An irrational scream welled up in her throat, and she choked it back. Relax, Toph. Things are going to be fine. Zhi and Meilin will come help you out. And the Avatar's friends will come for him.
It doesn't matter that you're blind. That you can't see anything, and you can't defend yourself, and you can't even tell if anything's coming your way. Doesn't matter at all. You're the Blind Bandit. Hang on until these guys let you down for something, and kick some serious butt.
Aang had no idea how lucky he was, being able to see out, to watch what was happening. Anything but being locked away. Just like her parents had locked her away for the last twelve years.
Toph swallowed hard and slid down as far as she could in the tight box, wishing that she had something, anything, that she could see.
;=;=;=;=;
"You think you're so tough?" Toph shouted down. "Why don't you come up here so I can smack that grin off your face?"
Aang glanced down in spite of himself, at Xin Fu's scowl. "I'm not smiling," the man growled.
"Hey! Shin Food, or whatever your name is! Bring your greasy head over here for a minute, would you?"
Aang felt warm happiness and overwhelming relief bubble up inside as he heard Sokka's voice. They had come for him after all. He was going to be okay. Katara and Sokka would get past all the earthbenders somehow, and maybe Appa would swoop in and get them all, and everything would be fine.
Xin Fu's head snapped around, his scowl darkening. "Who are you?" he growled.
Sokka sauntered forward. Behind him was the littlest Beifong child, Jiao, holding a sack in one hand. "I'm Aang's friend. And Toph's. Jiao and I are here to get 'em." Sokka looked at Jiao, who held the bag up. "We brought five hundred gold pieces, just like you said."
"The Boulder feels suspicion!" The Boulder announced loudly. Aang rolled his eyes.
"Where are the others?" Xin Fu glowered at the pair. "Don't pretend you came alone. I'm no fool."
"You sure 'bout that?" Sokka shrugged. "Zhi had to stay home to make sure nobody got in our way. And we couldn't tell Katara and Meilin about this, because you know how girls are. Not suited for being in such tense situations, and unable to actually do anything useful."
Aang heard the distinct sound of Toph, in her metal box, jolting upright in rage.
"So… do you want the money?" Sokka called. "Or should we take it back? I mean, I'd like my friends back, but at the end of the day I'm not sure I'd rather have them than five hundred gold, you know?"
"You wouldn't leave your friends," Xin Fu sneered.
Sokka shrugged. "Meh. Try me."
Aang gripped the bars, claustrophobia forgotten. Sokka couldn't mean it, could he? He was just bluffing to get Xin Fu to let them go. But why wasn't he just sending the money over? And where was Katara and the other Beifongs? Why weren't Lao and Poppy here?
"Also, I was wondering," Sokka continued. "Most people don't even know Toph exists. How did you find out that the Beifongs had another daughter? And how did you know it was her?"
Xin Fu reached into his belt pouch and pulled out a leather bracelet. Aang was too far away to see it, but Jiao said, "That's Meilin's!"
Xin Fu held it at arm's length, letting it dangle. "I found this in the back tunnels where the Blind Bandit had last been seen, and it has the Beifong symbol on it. After that, it was just a matter of watching and waiting. Once we saw her… how many black-haired, blind little girls are there in Gaoling?"
"Very clever, I must admit," Sokka said, stroking his chin. "So, about that money transfer? Are you sure you wouldn't like, say, a nice two hundred gold instead? Still good value, easier to transport…"
;=;=;=;=;
Katara tried to tune out the sounds of Sokka distracting Xin Fu, and focused on moving silently. Next to her, Zhi was a graceful shadow. His darker, green and brown clothing blended into the arena much better than Katara's bright blue outfit. She desperately hoped that Sokka's ridiculous banter was enough to keep Xin Fu focused on him.
Once they got close enough, Katara was going to try and take Xin Fu out. If that wasn't a feasible plan, she would instead target the chain on Aang's and Toph's coffins, hoping the rusty metal would break. It would be a rough landing, but once Aang and Toph got out, they could help. Katara didn't know much about Toph, but she was a good fighter.
Slip closer. Zhi was wielding a long sword, green light glinting dimly off the edge. If Katara was unable to deal with Xin Fu, Zhi would hold him off while Katara worked.
It was a risky plan, born minutes before upon seeing the arena and where Toph and Aang were. Zhi and Sokka had whispered furiously together for a few minutes before telling Katara and Jiao their plan, one that hinged on Sokka's ability to be infuriating enough to distract Xin Fu and The Boulder. Jiao would be earthbending backup if necessary. Maybe not enough to win, not against two strong earthbenders, but maybe enough to keep them busy for a time -
The ground shook, and stone exploded up, encasing Katara and Zhi in rock up to their shoulders.
She cried out in shock. Xin Fu turned slowly, a nasty grin spreading across his face. "Oh, dear. It looks like you weren't being quite truthful there, boy. Fortunately, I had backup." Several of the other fighters from the rumble appeared, smirking. Fire Nation Man said, with no trace of his ridiculous accent, "Looks like we caught a couple of sneaks here."
"Let us go!" Katara demanded, struggling against the rock. Zhi was trying to break out, too, but was equally helpless.
"Oh, no, I don't think so," Xin Fu said, approaching her. "Boy!" he called to Sokka. "Maybe you wouldn't trade five hundred gold for your friends… but what about your sister?"
"Don't hurt her!" Sokka yelled, pulling out his boomerang.
"And let Toph go!" Jiao shouted.
The Boulder said, "The Boulder thinks it is a bad idea to let the Blind Bandit go!"
Xin Fu sneered. "Really, boy. Did you think I would actually let her go? I've seen her bend before." He gestured to the earthbenders. "Get the boys. I'm sure the Beifongs would pay a lot to have their children back. And the Fire Nation would love to get their hands on you three," he added, pulling out their wanted posters.
"No," Katara whispered, watching in horror as the earthbenders converged on Jiao and Sokka. Her brother threw Boomerang, whacking Fire Nation man in the head, but one of the others swatted it out of the air with a rock on its way back.
Jiao turned and ran, slamming rocks behind him to stop the earthbenders. A couple chased after him, but he darted out of the arena. They returned as Sokka was encased in stone, too.
Katara fought back tears, watching Sokka futilely struggle. They were all captured. Except for Jiao, but how much could he actually do?
;=;=;=;=;
Jiao couldn't do anything.
Toph and Zhi were captured. So was the Avatar, and his friends. There were more earthbenders than he could hope to fight against. He was just a nine year old boy with mediocre bending.
He ran, and kept running until he was out of the cave and in the dark woods. He wasn't sure where he was going. Home? But he couldn't bring himself to. Even though his siblings and (maybe-friends? except for the Avatar, he still hadn't forgiven Aang for what he did to Toph) the others had been captured, were in danger, he couldn't. Couldn't…
But he needed to find someone to help free everyone. He didn't know if even Master Wu would be able to stand up to the rumble fighters at all. Master Wu was a skilled earthbender, but somehow Jiao didn't think that would translate well to a combat situation, especially with a bunch of people who did nothing with their bending except fight.
Jiao stopped, breathing hard. If only he had another Toph! With her unique abilities and training, not to mention raw power, she would wipe the floor with those dunderheads -
- wait.
He didn't have another Toph. But what about the ones who taught Toph?
Jiao remembered all the rumbles he'd seen. The badgermoles brought out in the aftermath of a fight to sweep away the mess…
He turned and sprinted back towards the arena.
;=;=;=;=;
Sokka would have been shocked at the language coming out of Katara's mouth – where had she learned half of that? - if he hadn't been busy yelling the same things at the group of earthbenders currently huddled together, talking quietly.
Zhi was silent, eyeing the foul-mouthed Water Tribe siblings, probably glad that his kid brother was out of here. Toph and Aang were still up there listening, but Toph seemed like the sort of kid to cuss anyway, and Aang probably didn't even know that they were cussing. Sokka had never heard the kid say anything stronger than "monkeyfeathers".
"Silence," Xin Fu growled.
"Oh, I'll silence you, you moon-blasted son of a stinking pigworm!" Katara yelled. "Your father was a drunken ogre and your mother was a slimy -"
Sokka never did get to find out what Xin Fu's mother was, because the man flicked an irritable hand, and earth grew up to cover her mouth. She yelled, the sound faint and muffled.
"Katara!" Aang yelled down. He sounded close to panic. Sokka was torn between hoping he would go into the Avatar State, and hoping he wouldn't. On the one hand, if Aang did, he'd be able to get out easily. On the other hand, Sokka didn't know if they would all make it out okay. Aang could get pretty violent when he wasn't himself.
A memory of a joke Dad told him long ago resurfaced. "On the one hand, he'd get out. On the other hand, you have five fingers," Sokka muttered, and couldn't keep from snickering.
The levity passed quickly, and he returned to studying their surroundings. He couldn't see any way to get out of this stone prison -
The walls shook.
All the earthbenders whirled as a section of wall slammed down, and Sokka's eyes bugged at the giant creatures lumbering toward them. Looked like badgermoles were coming in handy again!
There were four of them. The biggest was in front, striped head swinging from side to side, and perched on top was the little Beifong kid, grinning like he'd just been singled out for a hunt.
"Jiao!" Zhi yelled in surprise, at the same time that Aang gasped, "Badgermoles!"
"Keep them away," Xin Fu snarled at the others. They moved forward, cautious.
The Boulder launched his namesake at the lead badgermole with a powerful kick. The creature almost lazily raised a massive paw and slapped it aside, rock exploding into powder. One of the badgermoles in the back snarled, and a wave of earth surged forward, parting around the other badgermoles and coming back together to shake the group of earthbenders. Fire Nation Man stumbled and fell, knocking the Gecko over.
"Just stop them already!" Xin Fu yelled, slamming a fist up. A spike of rock shot up under the biggest badgermole, but the creature growled in anger and slapped its tail down. The rock stopped, and the badgermole moved forward, blind eyes narrowing. Jiao tugged at its ears.
"Free my friends, and family!" he sang tunelessly. "Because… they are so nice, you seeee! Remember Toph, who's blind like yooou, she's in here trapped and threatened tooo!"
Sokka winced at the sound, but Jiao's impromptu solo seemed to have gotten the point across. The smallest badgermole in the back, with light carmel-colored fur and misty green eyes, loped gracefully forward and around the fighting earthbenders, coming toward Sokka like a giant furry angel.
And no, he wasn't in love with a badgermole at all. He still thought they were giant ugly lumps that were way too fond of music. But this one was just so… adorable, and she was probably super soft and fuzzy… maybe he could name her Granite or Rumble or Carmel...
Then she slid her paw down, and the stone encasing him, Katara, and Zhi melted away, and Sokka was pretty sure that he'd never met anything as beautiful or strong. Except Yue, but he was pretty sure Yue wouldn't mind Carmel. The moon spirit was great that way.
"Come on, Sokka!" Katara yelled, as Jiao ran to them. "We have to get Aang and Toph!"
One of the badgermoles in the fight bellowed in pain. Carmel ran towards the dust-filled tussle, and Sokka's eyes widened. What if she got hurt? He had to help get Aang and Toph out so they could end this.
"I found the mechanism for letting them down!" Zhi yelled, pointing up at the metal box mounted by the chain. "It's probably meant to be triggered with earthbending."
"I can't reach it," Jiao cried. "It's too far away. I'm not good enough!"
Sokka stared up, slipping Boomerang out of its holder. Drew back, eyeing the distance and angle. Let fly.
"Sokka -" Aang started,
Boomerang slammed into the metal box. There was a loud creaking sound, and the chains rapidly unspooled.
Sokka threw himself out of the way as the coffins crashed into the ground, and winced so hard his whole body seized. That had to have hurt…
;=;=;=;=;
Toph had taken worse.
Her third or fourth rumble had cracked her left wrist. She had claimed that she had gotten up in the middle of the night from nightmares and tripped, landing on it. Mom and Dad had Meimei sleep in her room for a while after that.
A few rumbles after that she had come home with at least one cracked rib. She was nine. She hadn't won a single fight. She always came home sore and, sometimes, in real pain. But she wouldn't give up.
It was the cracked ribs that finally clued the rest of her siblings in. Zhi pried it out of her, and it took her a really long time to convince him that she needed to do this, needed to fight and try again and again, get stronger and better.
Zhi made her take him the next time.
It was the first match she won. It felt amazing, and she knew that having his support there had given her strength.
After that, she had started winning more. Getting better and better. She still had bruises, cuts, scrapes. A twisted ankle once. (No wonder Mom and Dad thought she was so fragile. She got hurt just by walking to the door, it seemed to them.) But she learned to deal with the pain, work through it, and appreciate its absence. And as she got better, she didn't get hurt as much. She hadn't lost a match in a year and a half.
Until Aang.
And Aang was the reason she was lying here in a metal box in its side, her head spinning and whirling, her right shoulder burning with pain, the world throbbing around her. She could hear voices outside, funny-sounding. This wasn't as bad as the time she got clipped in the head with a boulder, though. And she had won that match.
Pounding started, the noise jarring her, painfully loud. The metal cell rocked with every pound, and finally there was a loud snap. The top was thrown off, and fresher air washed in.
"Toph!" Zhi cried, his voice tight with worry as he hurriedly sheathed his sword, steel whispering against leather, and reached in to help her out. "Are you all right?"
Toph dragged in a shaky breath, and stood. Let him help her over the side. She felt better once she could plant her feet on the solid ground and see.
There was some sort of fight happening on the other end of the arena. Those were unmistakably badgermoles, and… were those the rumble fighters that caught her? Yeah, she'd know the Hippo's step anywhere.
Her head gave a particularly sickening lurch, and Toph barely kept from wobbling sideways. She had to stop this before anyone got hurt. Right now, the badgermoles were keeping up with the human earthbenders, but the giant animals weren't used to strained combat like this. They wouldn't hold out too much longer if she didn't help.
Breath. Another breath. Move forward, feeling more stable with every step on the familiar stone of the arena. Slam up a cloud of dust, choking and enveloping, confusing the seeing people. This was a trick she rarely used in rumbles, because the audience didn't like it if they couldn't see what was happening. But here, she would take every advantage she could get.
The badgermoles didn't have any trouble, either. They didn't need eyesight to fight, and now the seeing combatants were severely handicapped.
She moved forward, bringing a hand around. Halfway through the form, her shoulder screamed, and she couldn't keep from gasping in pain. She used her feet instead, kicking up rock spikes to bounce one fighter out of the arena, shaking the ground under another to make them lose their balance.
The Headhunter's scream echoed through the arena, from high to the left. Almost without thinking, Toph stamped and turned. The effort tore another grunt from her lungs, but the entire center circle rotated, along with everyone on it. A moment later, she heard the satisfying sound of the Hippo being knocked flying, and both men crashing into the biggest badgermole (probably the father of the smallest one, she noted).
There was a whoosh of wind, and she suddenly felt a strong gust whip away the dust cloud, dispersing it. Nice. Thanks a lot, Avatar Idiot.
But the only man left was Xin Fu, and he was surrounded by badgermoles and Toph. Still believing in some part of his mind that a little girl couldn't possibly be as dangerous as a hulking, muscled animal. He ran towards her, slamming up boulder after boulder.
Toph spun past one, and tried to punch another apart, forgetting for a moment about the pain in her shoulder. She doubled over in agony at the impact, pain exploding up and down her arm and shoulder. She managed to slam up a rock shield to deflect the rest of Xin Fu's blows.
Gritting her teeth, forcing herself to think past the crippling pain, Toph reached out with her left hand and gestured. The ground shook beneath Xin Fu. He leaped aside, and Toph slammed her foot down. A rock pillar erupted beneath him as he landed, sending him flying. The sound of him impacting the side of the arena made her smirk a little. Maybe now he'd know how she felt. And boy did it feel good to hand him his behind on a silver platter. Sweetness.
She heard babbling voices. Coming closer. Footsteps, lots of them. Dragging herself up, she turned toward the group running to her. Zhi, Jiao, Aang, Katara. Sokka, for some reason, seemed to be running past her, to the four badgermoles. Weird kid.
"Toph!" Zhi shouted. "What's wrong? Why didn't you tell me you were hurt? Is it your arm? Shoulder?"
"Shoulder," Toph gritted out as they reached her. "Doesn't matter. I beat that creep up so bad he's gonna think he died and went to Koh."
Something touched her shoulder and she yelped in surprise, automatically shaking the ground in defense. Katara gave a yelp of her own and stumbled back. "I'm a waterhealer! I can help your arm!"
Toph stopped. "What?" she said at the same time as Zhi said, "Toph, please. Let her help you."
Toph wanted to refuse just on principle, but the agony ripping at her shoulder wouldn't let her say anything but, "Fine."
She groaned between clenched teeth as gentle hands touched her skin, covered in a layer of cool water. But the water actually didn't feel bad, soothing and numbing. Then something prickled under her skin. A good prickle, as pain eased, as muscles relaxed and nerves calmed. Toph let out the shuddering breath she didn't even know she was holding, and stood quietly as Katara ran her healing hands over Toph's shoulder and upper arm. She wanted to protest when the older girl moved to Toph's head, but it still felt good, water-wrapped hands cupping her temples and washing away the pain and dizziness.
Finally Katara stepped back. "I don't know how you were standing, Toph," she said, her tone slightly scolding. "You were pretty messed up. Sokka shouldn't have -"
"If he hadn't, I wouldn't have gotten out," Toph said, finding it much easier to speak when her lungs weren't constricted with pain. Her shoulder was still sore, but a more normal, strained sore. Not feeling like her arm was coming off at the joint. "And you were a healer, so it all worked out. Is everyone okay?"
"We're fine," Zhi said.
"I got banged up when we fell," Aang said, then added hastily, "but not as bad as you. I kind of cushioned my fall with air a little."
"Airbender," Toph muttered. Of course. "Jiao?"
"I'm fine," he said. He sounded a little shaky, but this was his first fight. He'd get better.
"So…" Katara said. "What do we do now?"
Zhi huffed a laugh. "Drag your brother away from the badgermoles and get out of here?"
;=;=;=;=;
Sokka crooned to Carmel, rubbing the fur behind her ears as she nosed his shoulder. The badgermole's fur was so soft and silky, just begging to be stroked. "Oh, you precious girl you," he murmured, tracing the stripes in the middle of her face, up over the top of her head and down her neck. "Appa's just a big shaggy lump, but you're not, are you? You're just the sweetest, prettiest creature ever-"
"Sokka," Katara said from behind him, "we need to leave."
He jumped and turned defensively. She was smirking. "If you can drag yourself away from your one true love, that is. If Zuko had known, he could have baited his traps with badgermoles and you would have gone willingly."
"I was just telling her thank you for freeing me," Sokka said with all the dignity he could muster. The fact that Carmel was now licking the side of his head in long, raspy strokes undermined the effort. It was also distracting.
"Right." Katara rolled her eyes. "You big softie. Come on, we need to get home before someone finds out that Zhi and Toph and Jiao are gone, and before these crooks wake up. And how do you know it's a girl, anyway?"
"I just do," Sokka sniffed, ignoring the fact that Katara had a point. He reluctantly gave Carmel a goodbye hug, running his hands through that oh-so-soft fur behind her ears and down her neck, and peeled away. She sniffed after him before turning back to the other badgermoles.
"I'll never forget you," he promised over his shoulder, ignoring Katara's snort. Carmel didn't even acknowledge him. That was women for you. Steal your heart and then toss it away.
Katara grabbed his arm and dragged him over to the rest.
;=;=;=;=;
"I saw her a few minutes ago," Meilin lied smoothly, trying to quash the slowly rising panic as her worried mother questioned her. "She was heading to the kitchens. Toph gets up for drinks a lot," she added casually.
"But I was just in there," Poppy said, wringing her hands. "I can't find her anywhere!"
Oh, Shu. This wasn't good. Why this of all nights did Mother decide to see if Toph was sleeping well? "Bathroom?" Meilin offered.
"Not there, either. Nia was going to go see if Zhi or Jiao has seen her."
Only years of practice at schooling her face kept Meilin's eyes from widening in definite panic. "Ah-"
The young servant rounded the corner, breathing hard. "Lady Beifong!" she gasped. "Neither of your sons are in their beds!"
"What!" Poppy cried.
"They, they might have all gone for a snack or something," Meilin said, scrambling to fix this disastrous situation. "Zhi likes to make sure Toph has someone to keep her from running into things and such-"
"The Avatar and his friends are missing, too!" another of the night staff shouted as he rounded the corner too.
Poppy went white. "What if they kidnapped Toph and Jiao!" she gasped. "They wanted someone to teach the Avatar earthbending-"
"What?!" Lao shouted, appearing in the doorway next to them in his sleep clothes. "He did what with my children?"
Meilin stared at the chaos descending around her, and made a quick decision. It was no easier despite the speed, but there was nothing else she could do at this point. "Mother, Father, they're fine," she said, hoping beyond hope it was true. Please, please let everything go all right.
Both froze, then slowly turned to her. "Meilin?" Poppy asked. "Do you know where they went?"
Meilin didn't know how much to tell them. Should she tell them about the kidnapping, and watch them go crazy again? Should she refuse to say anything? What could she say? At this point, she realized, she had no choice but to tell them far more than she ever wanted to about Toph's nocturnal activities. At least she didn't have to tell them about the Underground...
Swallowing, Meilin met her parent's eyes. "You know how Toph's an earthbender?" she began.
;=;=;=;=;
"I don't know."
The Avatar looked like he was going to push Toph for an answer anyway. Zhi gave the boy a sharp glare, holding it until Aang's eyes dropped and he looked away. "It's just… Bumi said I needed to find someone who waited and listened. And you're the first earthbender I've met who really does. Are you sure -"
"She just said she doesn't know," Zhi interjected, irritated. What part of I don't know did the Avatar not understand? "Give her some space, okay?"
Toph rolled misty eyes (a trick that Meilin had painstakingly tutored her on until she could eye roll with the best of them), trudging along the wooded path toward the Beifong manor with the rest of them. "I don't need space, I need him to shut up about kings and listening and swamps. I don't care about your weird spirity Avatar mumbo-jumbo. I want to know good reasons why I should leave my home, my family, and everything I know, to go who knows where with you, be thrown into mortal danger, and teach some brat to throw rocks?"
"Uhh…" Aang said.
Zhi smirked.
Just then Sokka spoke up, sounding surprisingly serious. "Because if you don't teach him, the Fire Nation is going to win the war," he said. "There's a comet coming at the end of summer, and it's going to give firebenders incredible power. They could take Ba Sing Se itself with that kind of firepower." He ran his fingers across the edge of his boomerang, glinting silver in the moonlight. "Yeah, Aang could probably learn earthbending from someone else. But I'm guessing that he won't learn as well from someone else, and your earthbending is different than other people's, anyway. Better, I'd guess."
"You noticed it was different?" Toph said, a note of surprise in her tone. She stepped high to avoid the stone jutting slightly out of the path in front of her. "Huh. You're more observant than most."
Sokka shrugged. "Anyway, I know you didn't want to listen to the spirity mumbo-jumbo. I get it. It's hard for me to understand, too. But spirits are real whether they like it or not, and they want you to be Aang's teacher."
"Why do they care?" Toph asked tiredly.
"Balance," the Avatar said, and for the first time he sounded more like an Avatar than a kid, serious and strong. "The spirits need the world to be in balance. The war has unbalanced the world a lot, and they aren't happy. But if the Fire Nation wins with the comet…" He looked down. "The Air Nomads are already gone. Katara is the last of the Southern waterbenders. The Fire Nation is trying to wipe the rest of the world out, and that kind of imbalance would be more than catastrophic."
"But why?" Katara whispered. "Who would want to rule over death and ashes?"
"I've heard that Sozin was mad as a laughing hyenakeet," Zhi said. "And every Fire Lord after him has been crazed too. Maybe it just runs in the family." He shivered.
"That would explain Zuko for sure," Sokka muttered.
Zhi's ears pricked up. "Zuko? As in, the banished Fire Prince Zuko?"
"Yeah," Sokka said offhandedly. "He chased us from the South Pole to the North…" He trailed off, clenching his fists. "He has a lot to answer for."
"Huh," Zhi said. "I always felt kind of sorry for him, but I guess he's as bad as the rest."
"Sorry?" Katara repeated incredulously. "You feel sorry for him? What in the world could have possibly made you feel sorry for that evil, heartless jerk?"
Zhi eyed them. "You know how he got that scar, right?"
The Avatar and his friends looked taken aback. Jiao looked up, confused. "Who? What scar?"
Zhi bit his lip. "The prince of the Fire Nation," he said. "He supposedly has a big scar all over half his face." He ran a hand across his own face to demonstrate.
"Wrong side," Sokka said.
"What?"
"His scar's on the left."
"Whatever." Zhi dropped his hand. "Anyway, you never wondered?"
"I… no," Katara said grudgingly. "Whatever it was, I'm sure he deserved it," she added angrily.
"I don't know details," Zhi admitted. "It's kind of a joke, among the nobility. Earth Kingdom nobles like to use it as an example of how barbaric the Fire Nation is, and they also like the idea of one of the princes of the enemy being burned and cast out on a wild goosedillo chase."
"What do you mean, burned and cast out?" Aang asked.
Zhi glanced at Jiao. He didn't want to be too detailed. Jiao didn't need to hear that. "Way I hear it is, Prince Zuko disrespected his father in some way, and was ordered to fight a ritual duel to restore his honor. But instead of fighting, he pleaded for mercy. Begged his father to forgive him…" Zhi swallowed. "There was no mercy."
Aang's eyes were huge. Sokka looked faintly ill. Katara stared down at the dusty road. Jiao asked quietly, "The Fire Lord hurt his own son?"
"Like I said, they're all crazy," Zhi growled.
"I'll think about it," Toph said abruptly. Everyone looked at her in confusion. "I'll think about coming with you guys," she clarified. "If the situation's really this bad…" She scowled. "I've always wanted to do something to help win the war. I never thought it would be teaching the Avatar earthbending, but… I'll think about it."
Zhi bit his lip. "You know I'd be coming too, right? There's absolutely no way I'd let you traipse off by yourself like that."
"She wouldn't be by herself," Katara said indignantly. "We'd be with her."
"She's my little sister," Zhi said stubbornly. "I'm coming."
"Overprotective worrywart," Toph grumbled, but she was smiling. "I need to talk this over with my sibs," she told the Avatar. "I'll let you know what everyone thinks. I want to hear Meilin's thoughts on this – what's going on?"
Everyone looked at her. "What now?" Zhi asked, rubbing his face. "We're almost home…" He gestured ahead, where the Beifong manor was just around the bend.
"Exactly," Toph said, frowning. "It's the middle of the night, but I can feel the whole place… is… swarming…" Horror dawned on her face. "Oh, no."
Zhi felt his stomach drop. "They found we were missing."
;=;=;=;=;
"...all the irresponsible things. Zhi, I am severely disappointed in you," Lao said sharply. "I cannot believe that you have allowed this behavior to continue like this. I trusted you, and you abused that trust and allowed your little sister to run off and – and attend rumbles? She could have been-"
Toph was sick of this. She loved her parents, she really did, but they didn't understand her at all. "Dad," she said, cutting him off. "I wasn't attending the rumbles. I was fighting in them. I'm the greatest earthbender in the world, Dad." She was almost pleading, trying to get him to see. To understand. "I'm the Rumble Champion three years running. I hardly ever lose a match. I know I kept this a secret from you, but you kept me a secret from the world. My siblings are my only friends. Please, I just wanted freedom. I'm not the fragile little doll everyone thinks I am."
Lao was trembling. Toph wasn't sure if it was from regret or fury. "I can see that I have made a severe oversight in my parenting." He struck a clenched fist against the table. "I have given all of you far too much freedom, and you violated my trust. Zhi, Meilin, Toph, Jiao. From now on, you will be guarded twenty-four hours a day. Zhi, we will talk later. I cannot yet fathom the depth of my disappointment." He turned toward where the Avatar and his friends were standing. "Guards, escort the Avatar out. He is no longer welcome in my home."
"But I need Toph to teach me earthbending!" Aang said desperately. "Please, sir-"
"Out!" Lao bellowed, breathing hard. Toph had never felt him lose control like this before.
The three kids left, and Lao took calming breaths. "Guards, escort my children to their rooms. Youn, assign a guard to each one of them. Make sure there is a shift by their rooms at all times."
"Father, please," Zhi said. "We weren't doing this to try and spite you or anything-"
"Go to your rooms," Lao hissed. The four of them fled.
;=;=;=;=;
They knew what they were going to do.
Toph, after sealing her bedroom door with rock so the guards couldn't stumble in, pulled on her rumble outfit and earthbent her way into the tunnels she'd made under the house. It was simple to head over to the rooms of the other three. Quietly she earthbent her way up and collected Meilin, Jiao, and Zhi.
"I need to go," she told them. "I'm going to be the Avatar's earthbending teacher."
"Are you sure about this?" Meilin asked, and Toph nodded. "For one thing, I need freedom. And now I'm not going to have any here. And… well, I feel like I'm supposed to be his teacher."
They spoke quietly and urgently for a few minutes. Jiao desperately begged to come. "Who's going to teach me proper earthbending if you leave?" he asked. "If I come, you can teach me along with the Avatar!"
He made a good point.
Meilin would stay. She was currently in the least trouble, and she didn't want to go wandering around the countryside with the Avatar. "Besides, someone needs to tell Mother and Father where you went," she said. "They might go berserk and hire bounty hunters to bring you back or something, otherwise."
Zhi would go. "Let the Underground know, okay?" he told Meilin. "I think that traveling with and protecting the Avatar and his earthbending teacher is more important than sneaking maps off Father's desk after he meets with local Fire officials."
"Of course," she said.
Toph hugged Meilin for a long time. "Stay safe, little badgermole," Meilin whispered.
;=;=;=;=;
Jiao swallowed hard as they ran through the tunnels, him and Zhi and Toph. He was leaving. It was a big adventure, and he was really excited, and they would probably do all sorts of cool stuff and fight the Fire Nation. But he was leaving home. Even though Mom and Dad were super restricting, and never let Toph do what she wanted to, and would never have approved of the badgermoles, it was still hard to leave them. He knew how worried and sad (and mad) they would be.
But how could he turn this down?
They emerged into the side courtyard, where the Avatar and his friends were loading in the sky bison's saddle, ready to leave. "Wait!" Zhi called, hushed. "We're coming."
The three turned, and Aang's face lit up. "You are? Really?" He looked really happy. Jiao narrowed his eyes.
I haven't forgotten what you did to my sister. Somewhere out there, there's a octopuspede with your name on it, and it'll end up in your pants.
"Yup," Toph drawled. "Our dad realized that he couldn't keep us sheltered forever, so he said we were free to travel the world."
"Well," Sokka said with an amused half-smirk, "we'd better get going before your dad changes his mind back."
"Sounds like a plan," Zhi agreed, moving towards the bison. "Um, how do we get on this thing?"
"Just climb up Appa's leg," Aang said, leaning over the side. "There's plenty of fur to hold onto. He doesn't mind."
"Oy," Toph said. "Aang. Before we go, I have something I want to show you."
"Okay," Aang said cheerfully, leaping over the side. As he landed, Toph bent a rock up underneath him, sending him flying through the air to land in a Orinamayi willow.
Toph smirked. "I'll have the belt back now," she addressed the saddle, one hand extended. Sokka scowled and tossed it, but Zhi stuck a hand out and snagged it out of midair. "Watch it," he said, handing the belt to Toph.
"I could hear it," Toph told him.
"Ha," Zhi said, pulling himself up into the saddle. "You stink at midair locating. We should work on that."
"Whatever," she sniffed. Behind them, Aang fell out of the tree.
Jiao buried his fingers in Appa's thick, soft fur. It wasn't silky-sandy like the dust-covered fur of badgermoles. More of a coarse softness, warm as anything. When he pulled his hand out, strands of white fur clung to it.
"Good boy," he mumbled, climbing up into the saddle after Toph. He liked the bison already.
;=;=;=;=;
"Father, I don't know what your problem is, but Toph is an amazing earthbender," Meilin said tartly, her patience and manners long gone. "She can take care of herself, and she can teach Jiao, and Zhi's there to help, too. He'll watch both of them."
Lao gripped his head. "I cannot believe you allowed -"
"Allowed what?" Meilin burst out. "I didn't decide to let them go! Zhi made his decision. Toph made her decision. Jiao made his decision. And I made mine." She glared at her father. "Besides. Think about it. Do you really think they will be in more danger with the Avatar and his powerful allies than here? Maybe you should take a longer look at that map of Fire Nation troop movements in your desk drawer." Lao's mouth dropped open, but Meilin stormed on. "You notice how many are coming down from Omashu?" She dropped her voice, her words almost calm. "Mark my words, Father. In half a year, Gaoling will belong to the Fire Nation. I think that leaving was the safest option. And if you can't see that, you're a blind, arrogant fool." She whirled and hurried away, slippered feet shushing on the smooth wood floors.
Lao stood with his mouth hanging open for a long time.