Warning: Foul language and I ain't talking about birds.
Thank you Sebabug and guest for your review from long ago. I hope I can update again soon.
Happy Reading!
Chapter Two: Pig Latin
"Toph?" I repeated.
"Yes, Taw-ph. What's the matter with your ears?" she complained.
"What's the matter with your attitude?" I snapped.
"Well, if you just opened your ears, I wouldn't have to go repeating myself, you annoying brat."
"And you're a Blind Old Bat. Now, let me down!" I demanded, ready to tear her to pieces for making me hang here by her swamp hands for this long.
The old woman— excuse me— Taw-ph, rolled her eyes.
"Whatever," she said and with a wave of her hand, the mud imprisoning my ankle released and I fell, face-first, into the mud.
"Hey, you did that on purpose!" I yelled, whipping the putrid mud from my eyes.
"So what?" Toph shrugged. "Now leave me alone."
"You're the one who attacked me!" I countered.
Toph turned her back and waved me off. "Get lost."
Toph began to walk away, back into the Hell hole she must have crawled out of. Her mutate pigs trotting happily beside her.
I grinded my teeth with frustration. With practically zero options, I knew what I had to do. Even if I didn't like it.
"Wait," I begged. My muddy fist balled against my muddy cargo pants.
"What now?" Toph complained. She didn't even turn around when addressing me.
I took a deep breath, trying to cool my hot-headed temper.
"I somehow washed up in this asshol- your swamp and I need to figure out how to get back. I'm looking for someone."
"Quit bothering me," Toph said. "I told you already to get lost."
I sighed heavily. The urge to fight back was so strong, I had to bite my tongue. I knew that was going to be the answer, but I had to try. That was it. That was my only plan; the only option I had. All that was left for me now was to venture around in hopes I find my way back home, back to her.
In defeat, I turned around. My feet making inappropriate sucking noises as I pulled my legs out of the mud with each step.
"Wait." I heard her call for me. Toph.
"Look I get it, Old Woman. I bombarded your precious swamp. I'll be out of your hair now." I kept moving forward, away from Toph.
"I don't need you creating more chaos in my Swamp," Toph called. "Plus, it's going to rain soon. You need shelter."
Rain? I looked up at the cloudless, blue sky. Not one damn doom-and-gloom cloud hovered over us.
"What are you talking about? There's not a cloud in the sky," I questioned. Though there wasn't much point. She was blind after all.
Toph was either not listening or she didn't care. "Are you coming or not?" Her voice was all that could be heard in the distance.
I don't have much of a choice, I thought.
With that I did want any child would do when a white cart pulled up to offer candy, followed.
ξ
Toph must have tits that could predict the weather because, lord behold, by the time we reached her "home" a cave in the base of an endlessly tall rock mountain, it began to pour.
The cave was what I would expect a troll to live in. Cold, damp, and dark. Inside, the floor was dirt. There was a "kitchen" which included a table, a bucket for cleaning, and random, mismatched utensils.
There were large leaves laid on a mound of dirt that I could only imagine was her bed. There was another mound where the mother boar and child huddled up in a protective ball.
I did it, I met my first cavewoman.
"Nice place," I lied.
Toph snorted and fiddled with the fire pit until it lite. The fire flickered timidly, barely brightening the cave.
"Sit wherever and don't touch anything," Toph ordered.
Looking around, I saw a pot on the makeshift table. It was old with burn markers and dents. It was probably older than Toph.
Before I could even poke at one of the many dents, "I said not to touch anything!" Toph snapped. She grabbed the pot and went to fill it up with rain water.
I told you not to touch anything, I mimicked silently.
She maneuvered around her dungeon with ease.
"How can you walk so easily?" I asked, baffled.
Toph snorted again. Her arm extended outside of the entrance way gathering water. "You are stupider than you sound," she complained, rolling her eyes. "I am one with this world. Each step I take, each sound I hear, each vibration I feel; I can pinpoint exactly where I am and what's in my presence."
"You can do that with only sound and feel?" I asked.
"That's what I just said," Toph finalized. She took the filled pot and hung it over the fire. The water droplets that clung to the outside sizzled. "And I can tell when you're silently mouthing me off."
Incredible, I thought. I wouldn't be able to walk around this dump blind, let alone in the real world.
"But how did you know I was a red head?" I asked. "Do your feet have the ability to sense hair colors, too?"
Toph didn't find the joke as amusing. "That? Lucky guess."
"Wa-?" I had to admit, I was a bit disappointed.
Toph rummaged through her "kitchen" and found dinner. She stabbed it through a stick and joined it on the fire. The creature looked like a rat, but with antlers.
"What the fuck is that?!" I asked, creeped out. Its eyes were staring at me as its ass was getting roasted.
"Dinner," Toph simply put.
"It's disgusting looking," I pointed out.
"Then don't eat it," Toph said and took her seat in front of the fire. "Now enough talking, I'm tired of hearing your voice."
I joined her on the opposite side. We sat in silence for some time, watching the appalling rat/deer cook to a crisp. It was somehow therapeutic— the sizzling of the fire, not the rat.
I studied Toph. Her old body hunched over the fire, warming her wrinkly hands. Despite the cold rain and the cold cave and her inability to see the gloomy world round her, she looked peaceful. Content with how she got here and the life she was living currently. Like this wasn't her "home" but her home.
What's her story? What paths did she venture down to become a crazy mole lady? Could she see at one point?
"Quit starting at me," Toph scolded. "It's freaky."
Her squawking severed my concentration. "I thought you wanted quiet," I nagged.
"I also don't want to be looked at like an object," she snapped.
"What's your story? How'd you end up here?"
"I said quiet."
"Mph, whatever."
ξ
Silence was what Toph received while the cave echoed with each boom of the angered sky.
But some time later, Toph had a change of heart.
"Where did you learn air bending?" Toph asked, keeping eye contact with the flames.
"I thought we weren't supposed to be talking?" I justified.
"Just answer the question."
"Whatever." I rolled my eyes, knowing one couldn't win against a bat. "I use air-based jutsu if that's what you mean."
Toph stood her head with confusion. "There you go again… dating yourself."
"What do you mean I'm dating myself?" I questioned defensively.
"Jutsu, using hand signs, that's the old way of doing it. Before bending was discovered."
I was taken aback. "Are you both blind and senile? How else am I supposed to use my jutsu without hand signs?"
"Hand signs and jutsu haven't been used for hundreds of years," Toph explained. "Our ancestors discovered that by tapping into the spiritual realm, that our chakra are only compatible with one affiliation: Earth, Fire, Water, or Wind. That trying to cross over onto other elements was disrupting the balance of this world and creating a divide. Years of war finally ended with this understanding and the art of bending was born."
My mind couldn't wrap around this. This was worse than the time I had to copy off of Mae or else I was going to flunk. And it was written in another language, literally. I could have easily wrote "Pass the Richard" instead of "Pass the butter" if I wasn't careful.
"So you're telling me, everyone here only "bends" and they can either bend Earth, Water, Fire, or Wind?" I spoke slowly.
"There are branches off the four elements like lava, metal and such. But there's no wind," Toph clarified. "The peace didn't last long between the elements. The Air Nation was whipped over a hundred years ago. There's only one air bending family left," Toph explained.
"But I can use air…" I said.
"I know, that's what I'm trying to figure out," Toph said. "Why do you use hand signs, jutsu and possess the wind element? I would have called you crazy if I didn't witness it firsthand."
"Everyone back at home does what I do," I tried to justify.
"Where's that?"
"Konoha."
"Konoha!?" If she was drinking water, she would have choked. "That's fire nation land that got destroyed hundreds of years ago!"
This bitch was crazy. I had to admit, she had me going for a while. Different fighting styles, different lands, different world? She almost made me doubt who I was and every law of physics that complimented my life. It was impossible. It was simply impossible and I was a fool for falling for it.
Toph was probably on Jet, warping and eating her mind. The voices telling her to live in a swamp, to hid from society and fuck with this girl and tell her complete bullshit. How dare she try to mess with me!
"You're insane. You're trying to fuck up my brain. You're probably going to stake me with like rat/deer and eat me too!" I flipped. I completely flipped the fuck out.
"Don't be ridiculous," Toph said, stern, louder than I have ever heard her speak. The chemicals nipped at her.
I couldn't take this anymore. I was wasting time. "I'm out of here."
I quickly rose to walk out of the dungeon. Just as I was about the step foot outside, a lightning bolt struck not too far off. The sound and shock vibrations threw my right on my ass.
"I wouldn't leave if I was you. We are at the peak of the storm," Toph recommended.
"Fucking hell!" I screamed. I couldn't take this anymore. "This is bullshit! Instead of following and listen to your delusional mind, I should be finding a way back! I left her. I left her in the fucking Forest of Death because of the fucking necklace and I don't know what to do. I don't know what the fuck to do or where to go or if she's alright. I would never fucking forgive myself if anything happened to her! Fuck!"
I threw my body to the ground in a temper tantrum. Tears blurred my vision and I physically beat them down. I was a failure; one giant fucking failure that couldn't do anything right. Not for myself, not for her.
I sat in defeat as the storm continued to rage on. It felt like I swallowed some of the storm as it crashed and ripped open my body.
Toph remained in her place, listening to my rage. Of course she would hear, she wasn't deaf. But, I wish she was, so I could suffer in peace.
"A disability," Toph began speaking. I wished she didn't. "That's what my parents called me. A disability. Because I was "visibly impaired" they would say. "Be careful" they would say. "Zero fighting" they would say. They held me captive because they thought I was too fragile for this world. Little did they know, I was born a fighter and a pretty good one if you ask me.
But they never believed in me, so I left… well ran away was more like it. And I met Twinkle Toes and his friends. I didn't know it then, but together we did something incredible."
I couldn't help but listen. Her voice, her tone was happy but sad at the same time. It was reminiscence and the least crazy thing that I have heard her say.
Self-loathing and utter curiosity distracted my deteriorating thoughts. "What did you guys do?"
There it was again. That twinkle in her eye. "We created peace with all the elemental Nations and stopped a hundred-year war."
Stopped a war? I thought. There was so much I could ask, such as, how a group a friends could create world peace. At home, the nations were alright, for the moment. But, it would only be a matter of time before history will repeat itself and we will be fighting for our lives and the lives of our people all over again.
"Listen," Toph continued. "I get being frustrated and feeling self-pity. And, I don't know where you're from, but it sounds like a spiritual problem and there's only one person who can tap into the spiritual realm like that and help."
"Who?" I asked eagerly.
Again, the smile. "The avatar."
The what?
"And the avatar is… some kind of monk?" I guessed.
Toph made that same choking face as before. "You don't— oh, never mind. The avatar is the master of all four elements. The only one every generation with the job of restoring and maintaining balance in the world."
"But you just said a person can only be affiliated with one element."
"Everyone but the avatar," she corrected.
I folding my arms in distaste. "I never heard of such a ludicrous thing."
"And I never heard such a rude girl." Toph's reminiscent behavior was gone and replaced with her usual crass.
Trying to play her game, "Okay, how to I find this avatar dude?"
Toph smirked. "In Republic City, of course."
I couldn't tell if the loud storm was destroying my hearing. "What's a republic and what's a city?"
Toph groaned. "You are really hopeless, aren't you?"
She rose from her spot and started kicking dirt over the flames. "Alright, time for bed," Toph declared.
"What? Hey, wait a minute! I wasn't done talking!" I jumped up.
"Good night." Toph extinguished the starving flame.
Screw you, you old hag.
ξ
After an uncomfortable, pig smelling night. It was morning and I was ready to get the hell out of here.
"Now go due west until you stumble across a massive river and follow it straight into the city," Toph instructed.
I gave an affirmative nod. The morning was bright and sunny as if nothing happened the night before. I was more than ready to get the fuck out of here. Nothing with me except my normal ninja supplies and a sack with cooked rat/deer that I rather die than ingest.
"Thanks. I mean really thanks. I don't know if you're insane and I'm a jackass for falling into your pig shit, or you do know what you are talking about and I'm the one being insane, but… thanks for helping."
Toph snorted. She wanted me out of here as badly as I did.
This was my only choice and I was desperate to try anything, if it lead to a chance of getting back. To my home far, far away. To my teammates. To her.
"In case you wanted to know my name—"
"I don't," Toph snapped.
"It's Leda," I responded regardless, giving my devious grin.
Toph's old wrinkly face twisted with what I assumed was distaste. I got that same stink face from a lot of people. Don't remind me of the time I cut a huge chunk of this chick's pigtail because I "accidently" got gum in it.
"Well see ya," I saluted. "Hopefully never."
I wasn't far out when the call rang.
"Wait," Toph called.
"Hmm?" I looked back.
"You're red hair. It wasn't just a lucky guess," she admitted.
I stared, baffled. "Can you actually see?"
"Don't be stupid," Toph huffed. "You just reminded me of someone I met long ago. Energetic, thick-headed… a wise-ass. She had red hair, too. The color of the setting sun."
A pain struck my chest. There was only one other person I knew who had such obnoxiously red hair. So red we were offered to stand on a buoy to attract arriving ships. But I lost her long ago; left me with an alcoholic father. Gone.
"Well, umm… bye," I mumbled, masking my longing heart and took off before she could say more.
Far from Toph at this point, but still heard it. A whisper in these endless trees.
"Good luck."
ξ
I left grandmother's house, crossed the river, and slaughtered the Big Bad Wolf. Without trouble, I found it—
I soon learned it was hard to miss.
Republic City.
The Old Bat was right, at least with this. Republic City was real and it was nothing I could have never imagined.
Tall buildings that could block out the sun. People swarming around cobblestoned streets. I have never saw so many people in one place since I accidently set a trash can on fire after flicking an unextinguished cig into it.
But that wasn't that the pinnacle. Things I never seen, could never imagine to exist roamed the streets. People looked different, their clothes were different. The things there were selling. An old man was selling some kind of horn that made music.
Crossing the street, a sound blazed in my ear and I instinctively hopped back. Just in time, too, as a strange contraction that roll on four wheels and carry people zoomed by. A person steering a wheel was slamming on it, making the obnoxious noise.
Jumping out of the way caused me to stumble into people, who didn't seem fazed by the monstrous metal contraption rampage the streets.
"Move it," called an unfriendly voice and not-so-discretely shoved me. I tumbled and person stepped over me.
Where was I? What were all these things? How could I have never seen or been to a place like this? And why are the people so fucking rude? To find things that were ruder and more destructive than I was.
Instead of fear and discomfort, a smile grew on my face. My devious grin being my welcoming call.
I chuckled. "This ought to be good."
How do you think Leda will do in a city? She loves destruction.
Until next time!
xo