Chapter 8: Crossing Paths

A few minutes had passed since the fiery outrage and most of the Terra team members had finally calmed down, although they still seemed to be somewhat tense. Aang sat cross-legged in front of them, doing his best to understand the situation as much as he could.

"So let me get this straight," he said, leaning forward to engage the soldiers, "all of you were sent out to stop the drill from moving any further, but you were taken down by Mai, Ty Lee, and some kid with white hair. You said that he was an earthbender to, right?" he asked.

"He wasn't just an earthbender," one of the men interjected, "in all of my years of service, I have never seen any earthbender who was as powerful as that boy. Before any of us could react, he single-handedly dispatched more than half of our members. In the blink of an eye, he was capable of slaughtering dozens of elite earthbenders. We didn't have a chance in hell."

"And those eyes," began another member, his voice trembling as he spoke, "t-those were not the eyes of a human. He's a demon….a demon…"

Aang felt a small knot form in the pit of his stomach as he listened to the men remember their encounter; nervously, he glanced up at Sokka and Katara who seemed to share his sudden sense of uneasiness.

He then turned back to the men, "well, don't worry. You're safe now. My friends and I have already thought of a plan to take that drill down so that we can end this terrible attack."

His words did not seem to stifle the men's fears as many of them simple stared down at the floor in silence. Aang blinked a couple times, hoping that at least one of them would show a sign of confidence, but alas, no more words were spoken. The airbender slowly stood back up, allowing the silence to persist before he solemnly walked away to rejoin his group.

"Well? What happened?" Toph questioned, even though she already knew the answer. She had been listening the entire time, and although she felt sorry for what the soldiers had gone through, she couldn't help but be particularly interested in the 'boy with white hair'. Being someone with the desire to claim the title of the 'most powerful earthbender', Toph couldn't help but feel slightly irritated by the news that there might be someone out there who was more powerful than her.

Aang let out a short sigh as he approached the group, "they seem fine – or at least better than they were a minute ago. But this whole 'boy with white hair' thing is freaking me out. I mean, we know that he's probably a new member of Azula's team, but to think that he was THIS strong."

"Not to mention the fact that he's an earthbender who's working with the fire nation; that alone is a bit strange as well," Sokka said as he stroked his chin with a curled index finger.

"Well, whoever he is, he's obviously someone we don't want to mess with," Katara added, "if we're going through with our plan, we have to make sure that we don't run into him."

Toph listened to the group as they spoke, but she remained oddly quiet. There was something that was nagging at her, something that she didn't quite understand….what was it?

"Anyway, guys," Sokka said, breaking Toph out of her thoughts, "if we're really gonna go ahead with this plan, we need to start now."

Aang, Toph, and Katara all nodded in agreement. The team went to go talk to General Sung, hoping that he would be able to get them somewhat close to the drill. Thankfully, the man agreed, and the group was taken down to the base of the wall where several soldiers were waiting in rectangular holes. Upon getting to the ground, the group of children were led down into one of the holes before many of the men wished them good luck and quickly left it in their hands. The hole wasn't really that deep, maybe between 3 and 4 feet down, and the group could see over the top to the drill as it slowly approached the wall.

"Ok guys, you know the plan," Sokka said, turning to the rest of his team, "get to the drill without being seen, find a way inside, take it down, and then get out – is that clear?"

The rest of the group nodded in understanding, placing their trust in Sokka's plan.

"I can create a dust cloud large enough to hide us from sight, but we'll have to hurry because it won't last very long. Also, stay close to me because its going to be really hard for you guys to see where to go," Toph informed.

"Ok, great. You ready, gang? Let's go!" Sokka shouted.

At that moment, Toph leapt up from the hole onto the ground above; winding her arms back and shooting them forward, she pushed a massive cloud of dirt into the air, making the particles float up and expand. Motioning for the others to follow her, Toph led the group directly into the dust cloud and toward the drill. After finally getting close enough, the young earthbender signaled for the others to stop, and she quickly created a small hole that was just big enough for everyone to get into. After each member of the group got in, Toph sealed the opening until everything became black. So far the plan was going well; all Toph had to do was get the team underneath the drill so that they could enter it. Easy.

Meanwhile, with Accelerator…

The white haired boy slowly walked alongside the drill as it made mechanical grinding noises to signify its movement. For the most part Accelerator enjoyed the wide open space, mainly because it was something he never really got in Academy city – although he could do without the heat. The large blue sky was a welcomed change too; he never really had the time to appreciate these types of things before – not to mention that he would never think to do so anyway. The wall was much closer now, and he could now make out the tiny figures of soldiers that stood atop the massive structure.

Accelerator sighed, 'If the avatar is gonna show up, he'd better get here quick. I'm starting to get bored again,' he thought.

Just then, he heard faint voices coming from somewhere around him; even though the loud sound of the drill was practically deafening, Accelerator could still make out the volume of people speaking. They weren't very far either; in fact, it sounded like they were only a few yards away from his current position. Glancing underneath the bottom of the drill, Accelerator spotted four discernible figures emerging from a hole in the ground. Helping each other onto the drill, the white-haired esper watched as three of the figures disappeared into the inside of the drill. Although Accelerator could've most definitely stopped them, his curiosity and need for entertainment got the better of him. With a small smirk on his face, the boy confidently walked over to the lone figure that stood underneath the drill.

"Who are you?" the figure suddenly demanded.

Accelerator was slightly taken aback, mainly because the figure wasn't even facing him, and there was not way that they could've heard him over the annoying rumble of the drill.

"Who am I?" Accelerator said, copying the figure's initial question, "I could ask you the same thing."

The figure refused to turn around and instead kept their back to him.

"It's none of your business," the figure shouted, "leave now and I won't hurt you."

"heh, you wish," Accelerator said under his breath.

"I heard that," the figure said as it began to slowly turn around, "I'm going to give you one last chance…..leave now and I won't beat the shit out of you."

Accelerator was surprised once again; not only at the fact that the person was able to hear his side comment, but at the fact that this person was a young girl.

She looked young, maybe younger than him, and she had dark black hair that seemed to frame her pale face. He couldn't see it at first, but upon further analyzing her, it became increasingly obvious that she was blind. Instead of having any identifiable eye color, the girl's eyes seemed vacant and somewhat glazed over – wait a minute. Girl, young age, black hair, blind. She was one of the people on the files that Azula had given him a few days ago, and even though some time had passed, Accelerator could still remember much of the document.

"hm. Where is the avatar…Toph Beifong?" Accelerator said with a grin.

Toph's POV

'My Name? Did he just say my name?' she thought to herself.

She had no idea who this boy was, but she was relieved that he was alone. If there had been more people, she might've been in trouble.

Almost unconsciously, Toph sent out a wave of her earthbending senses so that she could get a better look at this person; the waves rippled out through the ground, pulsating once it hit an object and returning to Toph. It was almost like a form of sonar, except Toph was capable of perceiving 3 dimensional objects so long as they made contact with the ground.

The boy didn't look very intimidating; in fact, he was even more unimpressive than Aang. Aside from his height, there really wasn't anything about him that seemed dangerous. His arms were incredibly thin, almost bony, and his body spoke of someone who didn't work out at all.

"How the hell do you know my name? Actually, you know what, it doesn't matter. You've already seen me, so I'm afraid I'm gonna have to keep you from telling anyone," she said.

"Oh I know more than just your name," he chuckled, "but you're right: it doesn't matter."

Toph didn't say anything after that; instead, she raised her leg up and smashed her foot into the ground, causing a large boulder to emerge.

The boy didn't budge, which slightly surprised Toph to a certain extent; most people start to get scared right about now. Her earthbending abilities were nothing to laugh at, and her aggressiveness alone was usually enough to get most people to back off. But not him. He just stood there, calmly watching as Toph tried to intimidate him. Was he just too scared to move? No, she could hear his heartbeat – he was as calm as could be. Why? Why was he so calm?

"Oh, by the way, did the avatar meet those soldiers?" the boy suddenly asked out of nowhere.

"what?" Toph said with a mixture of confusion and irritation.

"The soldiers. I think there were like five of them. Heh, how pathetic. To think a supposedly 'elite' team of soldiers could be so weak," he continued on with a bit of humor in his voice, "they should feel lucky that I let them live."

Toph remained quiet for a few moments in wonder as she tried to think about what this guy was saying. Soldiers? Which soldiers? Was he talking about the Terra team? – about the men who returned, terrified out of their minds. Was he talking about the group that was quickly defeated by some white-haired earthbender? If so, then who was he? Was he just there to watch?

Toph's mind worked overtime as she desperately tried to put the pieces together. Her brow furrowed with concentration, carefully considering the words of the boy in front of her. For a few seconds, her mind went blank…then, a light bulb went off in her head. Suddenly, everything made sense.

"You…" Toph began as she slowly pointed her hand at him, "you're the one who killed half of the Terra team. You're the one who threatened those men. You're…."

Toph swallowed as she spoke the final sentence, "…..the boy with the white hair."

End of Chapter 8

A/N: Hey guys, here is the next chapter for ya, straight out of the oven! Personally, I really liked the pacing of the last chapter, so I tried to keep it up in this one. Unfortunately, I couldn't quite get to the whole Toph vs Accelerator battle in this chapter, but rest assured, that will be the first thing for the next one. So, if you liked this chapter please leave a comment, and with that I will bid you adieu.