Sometime early the next morning Toph stopped for a rest. She had been walking nonstop since deciding to return to Omashu and she was exhausted. Her muscles ached and she felt like she had been in an extremely physical fight. Worse than the physical exhaustion was the mental exhaustion. Toph had spent the entire day thinking as she walked and she had never felt more mentally fatigued then she did now. This was a problem as mental exhaustion meant she would not be as alert and she needed to be as alert as possible in case the raiders she had fought were still alive. She did not think there was much of a chance that they had survived being buried alive, but there was no guarantee and Toph did not relish the possibility of running into them again.
Unfortunately, Toph didn't seem to have much to say in the matter. Her body was exhausted and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't keep herself from slipping into the blissful escape of sleep. In the end Toph decided it was better to rest now and risk being attacked then continue on and be even more exhausted later. With that thought in mind she lay down and allowed sleep to take her, ever aware of how vulnerable she was leaving herself by doing so.
Several hours later Toph was awakened by the sound of movement somewhere nearby. Instantly on alert she rose into a crouch, preparing to defend herself if necessary. "Whose there?" she called, her voice devoid of fear. "Show yourself."
No response greeted her and she activated her seismic sense, hoping to get a better look at what she was dealing with. But whatever was out there in the dark it still managed to elude her senses. This knowledge sent a cascade of thoughts through her mind. The intruder could simply be an animal that was light enough on its feet to avoid detection. On the other hand it could be a peasant in need of aid, a potential ally, or worst of all a raider who had somehow found a way to avoid detection with seismic sense.
It was the final option that sent a chill down Toph's spine. She knew of no way to avoid detection by seismic sense but she supposed one could have been discovered. It did not seem likely however, considering the only person Toph knew who was light enough on their feet to avoid detection was Aang and that was only because he was an airbender. Still, she supposed it was possible that someone else had found a way to move that lightly, though she could not think of how one would achieve such a thing without being an airbender.
Ultimately Toph decided that whatever it was that she'd heard it wasn't an immediate threat and she lat back down to get some more sleep. Sleep did not come easy this time however and Toph found herself waking up every few minutes to listen for any sign of what was out there in the dark. She would spend several hours in a state of half sleep before finally deciding to move on, the prospect of more sleep now completely gone.
Sometime later, as Toph entered the western end of a long, narrow gorge, she heard the sound of movement again. Pausing she cocked her head to the side, hoping to hear more clearly, but the sound did not come again. Shrugging, she continued on her way, finally making camp again somewhere in the middle of the gorge. She had traveled through this gorge before, six years earlier when she'd made her journey to the village, and she had not forgotten it. The gorge was narrow like this for most of its path, but it did widen out a bit as you got to the eastern end, which emptied out barely a hundred miles from Omashu. In her current location Toph was well protected by the steep walls on either side of her which would make it virtually impossible for anyone to sneak up on her. Still, she would likely not sleep tonight, just to be safe. The prospect of no sleep was not one Toph looked forward to, but the events of the previous night had rattled her and she was not willing to risk an attack by raiders.
An hour or so later, as Toph sat munching on dried meat, she heard what sounded like small rocks tumbling down the side of a cliff. The sound was curious and for a moment Toph wondered if she had imagined it. But then she heard it again, the sound of rocks tumbling down a cliff, and she knew it was real. Someone was trying to sneak up on her by climbing down the steep walls of the gorge. Toph froze, letting her functioning senses guide her to the source of the sound, ultimately determining that it was coming from somewhere behind her.
Deciding not to risk walking into a trap, Toph fired off a earth block hoping to take out her secretive adversary quickly. Seconds later she heard a painful yelp, followed by a thud and then the roar of flames as they shot towards her. Firebenders, she thought. "Well damn." she muttered. "Looks like I'm in for another fight."
She stood then, preparing herself for battle, when another blast of fire came at her. Without thinking Toph brought up an earth shield to block the attack, all of her senses now focused on her attacker. "You'll have to do better than that." she shouted, hoping to antagonize her attacker into doing something stupid.
"How's this?" the firebender shouted, before two massive jets of flame shot out of the darkness. Toph easily blocked them as well, feeling the heat as the fire deflected off her earth shield. She also heard the sound of her attacker's voice, which surprised her with its pitch. Based on the pitch of the voice her attacker was female, no older than twenty, and this fact confused Toph. She had been expecting a deep, gruff voice, like that of Hong, the firebender who had led the raiders who had attacked her at her cave. But it was obvious from her attacker's voice that this wasn't Hong, which begged the question, who was this girl and why was she following Toph?
Deciding that she could risk it, Toph asked her attacker just this, hoping to distract the girl from more fighting. "Who are you girl?" Toph asked, her tone flat.
"I am no girl." the firebender answered, her tone irritated.
"Yes you are." Toph said. "I can tell from the sound of your voice that you're a girl, so why don't you tell me what you want and we can both be on our way."
"I don't buy that shit." the girl snapped. "How do I know you're not just going to kill me?"
"Because I don't kill innocent people." Toph answered. "Unless they're raiders. You're not a raider, are you?"
"No, of course I'm not." the girl spat. "I hate those murderous pigs."
Toph didn't immediately respond to that. The girl's story seemed difficult to believe and yet there was something about the way she had answered that made Toph want to believe her. Ultimately Toph decided diplomacy was the best option and spoke again, "Okay, I believe you." she said. "You are not a raider. Do you have a name?"
For a moment only silence greeted her question and then the girl spoke again. "Ren." she said. "My name is Ren."
"Well Ren, my name is Toph Beifong and I'd really appreciate it if you'd step out of the shadows so I don't have shout anymore." Toph said, her tone calm.
Again silence greeted her and then came the sound of footsteps approaching from the west. Toph activated her seismic sense to get a better look at this girl, sensing that she was tall and slender, with short hair and multiple piercings. She could not see Ren's face, as seismic sense was not that advanced, but she could tell Ren was young, perhaps seventeen or so and had been on the road for awhile now, though Toph could not be certain of exactly how long.
"Hello Ren." Toph said, once the other girl had reached her camp. "It's nice to meet you. Would you like something to eat?"
Ren nodded, staring at Toph in amazement. "You...you're blind." she said, after a moment of silence.
"Yes, I am." Toph replied, before handing Ren some dried meat.
"How are you able to fight when you can't see?" Ren asked, her tone curious.
"The ability to see does not affect ones ability to fight." Toph replied. "My other senses still function and because I am an earthbender I am able to use seismic sense to make up for my lack of sight. I guess you can say I have found a way to improvise."
"And you're out here all alone?" Ren asked. "Don't you have any friends?"
"I could ask you the same thing." Toph said. "What are you doing out here alone? You seem a little young to wandering the world by yourself."
"I'm seventeen." Ren said, her tone suddenly defensive. "And I have my reasons for being out here alone, none of which concern you."
"Fair enough." Toph said. "Though, you should know that I can tell when you're lying."
"I am not lying." Ren said, glaring at Toph.
"Yes you are." Toph said. "I can feel your pulse quickening as you try to come up with a good cover story. That's one of the advantages of being blind."
"Oh really?" Ren said. "Well, then you won't mind if I put that advantage to the test."
"Bring it on, little girl." Toph said, dropping into a combat stance as she spoke.
"Little girl?" Ren screamed, outraged. "You don't know me, what I've been through, so don't you go calling me a little girl." With that she stepped back and launched a blast of flame at Toph, who effortlessly deflected it with an earth shield.
Before Toph even had a chance to gloat Ren was attacking her again and she was forced to go on the defensive, blocking each of Ren's attacks with pillars and blocks of earth. For several minutes Ren kept up her attack, driving Toph ever backwards. Toph had to admit that Ren was impressive. The only other firebenders she had met who were this relentless were Zuko and Azula, and for a moment Toph wondered if Ren had known them. She quickly tossed the thought aside however, returning her focus to the task at hand, dropping into a crouch just as Ren launched her next attack.
Toph then summoned all the strength she could muster and slammed her hands into the ground, sending a roiling wave of earth in Ren's direction. Ren screamed, taken by surprise, and Toph closed the earth wave around Ren's body, trapping her in an earthen prison from which she had no chance of escaping.
"Hey, let me go!" Ren shouted, her tone furious.
"Not a chance, little girl." Toph said, grinning. "Now, while I've got you here, I want you to answer a couple of questions for me. Think you can do that?"
Ren glared, but finally nodded, her shoulders slumping in submission. Toph smiled and nodded, satisfied that Ren was no longer a threat.
"Okay, first question." she said. "Is Ren your real name?"
"Yes, it is." Ren answered and Toph nodded, satisfied that she was telling the truth.
"Second question." Toph said. "Why were you following me? Are you a raider?"
"I wasn't following you." Ren said. "And I already told you, I'm not a raider. I do not now, nor have I ever, worked for that bitch Azula."
"You're lying again." Toph said, her tone disappointed.
"No, I'm not." Ren said, a note of pleading in her voice now. "I'm not a raider, I swear."
"No, you're not a raider." Toph agreed. "But that's not what you're lying about, is it?"
Ren blinked, taken aback by Toph's question. "I'm not lying." she said again.
"Yes, you are." Toph said. "I asked you why you were following me and you said weren't, but that is a lie. You've been following me for at least two days now and I want to know why."
Ren paled, true fear gripping her as she realized she had no way out of this. "Alright." she said. "I was following you, but it's not for the reasons you think, I swear."
"Then why were you following me?" Toph asked, her tone flat and serious.
"I...I wanted to help you." Ren answered, after a moment of silence. "I saw how you tried to defend that village and I wanted to help you take out those raiders."
Toph was silent for a moment as she tried to process what Ren had just told her. "How do you know about that village?" she finally asked. "And how do I know it wasn't you who tipped the raiders off to its location in the first place?"
"I found the village by accident." Ren answered. "And I had nothing to do with the attack against it. I was living on the opposite side of the village from where you were and I was just about to reveal myself to the residents when the raiders came. And then I saw you come running into the village and I knew that you were trying to help. So when you left I followed you to your cave and witnessed the raiders attacking you and that's when I decided I wanted to help. It's all true, I swear to you it is."
Toph stood stock still following Ren's speech, her mind racing. On the one hand she wanted to believe Ren's story as it would be nice to have someone to travel with. But past experiences told her trusting this girl was a bad move. Somehow everything Ren was saying didn't quite add up and Toph wasn't sure if she could trust her. Still, it was worth considering the possibility that this girl was genuinely opposed to Azula's rule and Toph decided to sleep on it.
"Okay, well, I'm going to sleep." she announced, startling Ren with her abrupt change of topic. With that, she lay down, folding her arms behind her head and waiting for sleep to come.
"Wait, what about me?" Ren asked, her tone incredulous.
"You're going to stay in that prison until morning and then, depending on how I feel, I'll decide what to do with you." Toph said. "Now shut up and let me sleep."
Ren didn't speak again and Toph drifted off to sleep, her mind still racing as she tried to decide if Ren was telling the truth. It was hard to believe that she was genuinely opposed to Azula's reign, but then not all Fire Nation citizens had pledged their support to Azula, so maybe she was. Still, it was going to be difficult for Toph to put aside her mistrust of random firebenders. The Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom had been enemies for a long time and old feeling often die hard. The Harmony Restoration Movement had done little to change this and Toph wondered if true peace between the two nations would ever be possible now. It was strange though that the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation were such bitter enemies, as fire and earth were not the inherent opposites of each other. The opposite element of earth was air and the opposite of fire was water, and yet it was earth and fire that seemed to clash the most.
It was then that Toph was reminded of a quote she had heard during the war with Azula, when earth meets fire, devastation follows. It was a curious quote and Toph had often wondered exactly what it meant. She had not been able to figure it out before, but her encounter with Ren had given her new clarity and she now understood. Earth and fire were in a perpetual state of warfare and with that warfare came devastation like what had followed in the wake of Azula's conquest. And in that moment Toph wondered if perhaps Ren had come to her for a reason. Perhaps they were the ones who were meant to break the cycle and prove that earth and fire could coexist in peace and harmony.
A/N: Well, we have finally met the young firebender I mentioned in the summary. As you can see, her name is Ren and she is just as sarcastic and stubborn as Toph, which will make for some interesting conversations later in the story. Anyway, now you know where the story got it's title from and yes, the quote will come to play a larger role as we progress deeper into the story. Finally, there have been some questions about revealing the whereabouts of the others. To this I say, please be patient. I will reveal what happened to them in due time. Thanks.
