I only own the stuff I came up with. The stuff that I originally didn't have in my story is not mine.

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Book 2: Earth

THE COMPANION

Chapter 14: The Blind Bandit

"It's too bad they can't sit with us," Katara said disappointed.

"Yeah, but at least they made it in," Aang replied with his cheeky grin.

Sokka simply said, "She scares me." Aang and Katara just laughed at him.

They continued walking until they found some open seats in the front. "Hey front row seats! I wonder why no one else is sitting here?"

As if on queue a boulder nearly hit and crushed them. "I guess that's why," Sokka said.

Some man rose up out of the middle of arena and said his name was Xin Fu. "This is just gonna be a bunch of guys chucking rocks at each other, isn't it?" Katara said sounding bored and uninterested.

"That's what I paid for." Sokka was really excited to see this. Throughout the fight his favorite was The Boulder. The Boulder seemed to be everyone's favorite. However, Aang and Katara both found it strange that he talked in third person.

Then Xin Fu introduced the champion... The Blind Bandit. Aang and Katara were both confused because she was just a little girl! A little blind girl at that! "She can't really be blind. It's just part of her character right?" Katara asked him concerned and curious.

But one look at her eyes and Aang knew that she couldn't see. "I think she is," he replied.

Sokka however, could care less if she was blind or not. He was rooting for The Boulder 100%. They watched the fight with interest. "The Boulder feels conflicted about fighting a young blind girl." The Boulder said.

"Sounds to me like your scared Boulder," she retorted mockingly.

Her comment disturbed him and he said, "The Boulder's over his conflicted feelings and now he's ready to bury you in a rockalanch."

The Blind Bandit didn't seem intimidated at all. In fact, she continued to provoke him. Then, Aang heard her laugh and instantly recognized it. This was the girl he saw in the swamp! This was the girl who was supposed to be his Earthbending teacher!

Aang watched the fight very closely. The fight didn't last long. She took out the boulder in two moves. Sokka was devastated. "How did she do that?" Katara asked while Sokka cried.

Aang smiled and replied, "She waited...and listened."

"So, how are we gonna get in?" Ajay asked me after we had left our friends.

"Easy. We create chaos." Ananda told him simply, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Funny, isn't that what got us kicked out in the first place?" He asked her, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

She just gave him a sarcastic smile and replied, "Yes, but this time it's different." Then she turned and punched a random person in the crowd. She knocked the woman out cold! Then she quickly bent down to heal the bruise that was forming quickly on her face.

Ajay was shocked. "Ana what the-"

"Help! Help!" Ananda began shouting! "She fainted! Please we need help!" Immediately people began swarming, security included. Ananda stood up, grabbed Ajays hand, and they slowly worked their way to the back of the crowd. Once there, they ran for the doors. With the lack of security, they were able to sneak in with the crowd of people that wasn't swarming the unconscious woman.

"See? Simple," she told him with a smile. It scared him more than reassured him. "Come on! Let's sit in the back. I don't want to get hit with giant boulders again!"

"Really? That's what your worried about? Of ALL things!"

Ananda just looked at him and asked, "Well are you going to sit down or not?" Ajay just hung his head and shook it in defeat and took the seat next to her.

They watched the fights and she was rather impressed with the Blind Bandit. She was by far Ananda's favorite. "Alright you two, show time is over!" They heard a burly voice say from beside them.

"Yeah! You two are coming with us!" They looked over to see two security guards. One of which just so happened to be the same one that worked here five years ago when they got banned.

"Well..." Ananda began slowly and stood up, "time to go!" Then she grabbed Ajay and bolted. She vaguely heard Aang decide to challenge the Blind Bandit. But she'd ask him about that later. Right now they just had to run.

So, fighting the Blind Bandit didn't go too well. She got really angry and just left without even talking to Aang at all. That's all he wanted to do in the first place. Jeez, why did this have to be so difficult!

After the fight the trio began walking through the streets thinking of ways to find out who the Blind Bandit is. Well, two of them were. Sokka was a bit preoccupied. "I gotta admit, now I'm really glad I bought this bag. It matches the belt perfectly!"

"That is a big relief" Katara sarcastically told him.

"If we wanna find the blind bandit, then the Earthbending Academy is a good place to start," Aang told them.

They went in and talked to the two boys that they had seen earlier. They were pretty scared of Katara so it wasn't hard to get information from them. The two boys said the flying pig was the symbol of the Beifong family, so the trio decided to look there next. They were on their way to meet the Beifong family when two people ran in front of them. They were out of breath and kind of shocked to see each other.

"Oh! Hey guys!" Ananda said breathless. "Can't talk now, but if some big burly men come running by looking for us, we weren't here okay?"

"Um... Okay." Aang replied unsure and confused. And with that she took off running with Ajay in tow.

"Well that was weird." Katara said.

"What about her isn't weird?" Sokka asked. They all looked at each other and shrugged then continued walking.

They arrived at the Beifong estate and their talk with the Blind Bandit, Toph they called her, didn't go well. And dinner, dinner went even worse. Aang and Toph basically fought the whole time. They were in the living room when Toph came in and suggested they call a truce and go for a walk.

A few minutes after they left Ananda came rushing in, breathless and exhausted. She came to a sudden stop in front of the enterance to the living room. "Has Aang left yet?" She asked Sokka and Katara urgently.

The two looked up, startled to see her. "What? But you... how did you? What?" Sokka said confused.

"Has Aang left yet?" She asked again more urgently. This time the two sensed her panic and immediately became alert.

"Yeah. He's in the garden with Toph Beifong." Katara answered her. Ananda didn't stick around to chat. She ran as fast as she could to the garden, but by the time she got there they were already gone.