Toph was alone again. Fire and darkness surrounded her and for a moment she wondered how she was still alive. The flames licked her arms, scorching the flesh, and yet she could not seem to feel the pain. And then she heard it, a cold, merciless laugh that chilled her to the bone. The laughter was followed by a voice that was familiar, though in that moment Toph couldn't place it with a name. "Weak and pathetic." the voice said. "That's what you are Toph. Weak and pathetic."
"N-no." Toph gasped, struggling against the flames. "I am not weak."
"Then how did we capture you?" the voice asked, the amused tone sending chills down Toph's spine. "If you're so great, why was it so easy for us to take you down?"
"You got lucky." Toph said, her tone defiant despite the fact that she had no way to win.
"No." the voice said. "It has nothing to do with luck. We captured you because we're better than you. Oh, and we had some help from your friend."
Toph's insides went cold at that as she realized what she was being told. And then she felt the flames rise up around her, consuming her body in a pyre that burned her alive. "NOOOOOOOO!" she screamed and then everything went dark and the pain ceased.
Toph snapped awake, her breath coming in short, painful gasps. A dream, it had just been a dream. She was still alive and there were no flames here. And yet she could still not move. Panic gripped her and then she remembered what had happened. Ren had betrayed her. She was a prisoner of the very raiders she had thought she'd defeated back at her cave and it was all Ren's fault. Ren had stabbed her in the back and she had passed out from pain of multiple fireballs hitting her. She had no idea how long she'd been unconscious, but she sensed she was no longer in the location where she had been captured.
Activating her seismic sense Toph determined that she was in a clearing in what was left of a forest. Her hands and feet were bound, though her captors had not gagged her. Still, she was at a decided disadvantage, as she could not earthbend due to her limbs being bound. Even using her seismic sense was difficult in this predicament, though she could still use that to her advantage. And that wasn't her only weapon, as she also had her anger with Ren to fuel her, though she couldn't rely on that too much as blind anger could lead her into an even worse situation if she wasn't careful
"Well, look whose finally woken up." a gruff, mocking voice said, drawing Toph from her thoughts with a jolt.
She turned her head towards the sound of the voice and gave the speaker a smile. "Looks like you got lucky Hong." she said, trying not to think about the dream she'd had before waking up.
"Lucky?" Hong asked. "No, it wasn't luck that allowed me to capture you. It was fate."
"Fate huh?" Toph asked, her tone sarcastic. "Is that really what you believe?"
"It is." Hong answered. "What is it to you, anyway?"
"Oh, nothing." Toph answered. "It's just, I wonder if it was really fate that led you to this moment. I mean, you proved incapable of capturing me at my cave, so what makes you think your fortunes have changed now?"
"Why shouldn't he think that?" another voice asked, this one making Toph's blood boil. "I mean, he is a firebender after all. And everyone knows firebenders are superior."
"Hello Ren." Toph said, her tone stiff. "Nice of you to join us, you traitor."
"A traitor is she?" Hong asked. "Oh, that's rich. You actually thought Ren was your ally? You must be stupid. Ren is, and always has been, loyal to Fire Lord Azula."
Toph couldn't believe what Hong was telling her. It didn't make sense. Ren had told her that her parents had been allies of the Order of the White Lotus, that her father had been killed because of that, that she was now a vigilante fighting for justice against Azula's cruel regime. And yet Hong was telling her that Ren had been loyal to Azula this whole time. It didn't add up and yet somehow she knew it was true.
"So, it was all a lie, was it?" Toph asked, her blank gaze focusing on Ren. "Everything you told me was a lie?"
"It was." Ren answered, her tone cold and uncaring. "Everything I told you was a lie, stories fabricated to get you to trust me."
"But why?" Toph asked. "Why go through all this trouble just to capture me? I'm no one special, just an earthbender trying to make it the world."
"Don't try and worm out of this wench." Hong snapped. "We know exactly who you are, Toph Beifong, and we're not going to let you escape from us again."
"You know who I am?" Toph asked, wondering where they could have gotten that information.
"Oh yes." Jiro said, joining the conversation. "We know you fought with the Avatar against Fire Lord Ozai, we know you were born in the Earth Kingdom city of Gaoling, and we know that you consider yourself to be the greatest earthbender in the world." He grinned, showing his yellowing teeth, and spat on the ground at Toph's feet.
"That's impressive." Toph said, seemingly unfazed by Jiro's comments. "Though I wonder where you could have learned all that?" Again, her sightless gaze turned towards Ren, as though she was reading Ren's mind.
"If you're thinking I told them anything, think again." Ren said. "I told them nothing."
"Yeah, somehow I don't buy that load of bullshit." Toph said. "How else would they have learned all those things about me?"
"You underestimate the power and reach of Fire Lord Azula." Hong said.
"So you're trying to tell me that Azula told you all that stuff?" Toph asked. "Somehow I doubt that. If you were really that close with Azula you wouldn't be out here looking for earthbenders to capture, you'd be in the Fire Nation capital serving as one of Azula's personal assistants or something like that."
"Again, you fail to appreciate our reach." the female firebender said. "You don't know us, so for all you know we could be close with Azula and we simply asked for this assignment."
"What's your name?" Toph asked, her gaze still fixed on Ren's position.
"Lyra." the firebender answered. "What's it to you?"
"Well, Lyra, I'm sorry to tell you this, but I do know you." Toph said. "You're just like every other Fire Nation citizen who foolishly sided with Azula. You're an idiot and one day that's gonna come back to bite you in the ass."
"If we're so foolish, then why are you the one who's tied up?" Jiro asked. "And why isn't Zuko sitting on the throne or the Avatar coming to stop us? If we're fools, then it seems to me that our positions should be reversed, don't you think?"
Toph had no answer for that. It was true that these raiders had managed to capture her, but that was only because Ren had helped them. So Toph was still inclined to think of them as fools, but she couldn't deny that Jiro was right. Azula had won the war and that did make Zuko, Aang, and the others look like fools and failures. But the victory hadn't been solely due to Azula's skill as a firebender or a leader. In many cases she and her followers had gotten lucky and had it not been for a handful of key moments the outcome of the war would have been much different. However, Toph thought it was best not to bring this up, lest the raiders take offense and torch her on the spot.
"Well, I guess you're right on that one." she finally conceded, her gaze now fixed on the ground in front of her.
"Huh, that's surprising." Hong said. "The little earthbender actually knows when to shut up. I wasn't expecting that."
Toph said nothing. She sensed that it was in her best interests not to piss Hong off, given that she couldn't defend herself. Had she been able to earthbend she wouldn't have been quite so cautious, but there was little she could do to alter her circumstances at the moment. So her best option was to wait and hope that an opportunity to escape would prevent itself.
Later that evening that opportunity would arrive, though it was not quite what Toph had been hoping for. Hong had decided to stop for the day and let his troops rest, as the two non-benders, Ryo and Chi, had been complaining that they were tired. The break was fine with Toph, as it gave her the time to think without being dragged along the ground like a sack of potatoes.
The break also gave Ren a chance to break out her homemade fire wine, much to the delight of the raiders. "I propose a toast." Ren said. "To Hong, the greatest of Azula's raiders, congratulations on your capture of the rogue earthbender Toph Beifong." She raised her cup and smiled at Hong, who grinned back.
The others followed suit, though Jiro seemed to do so with some reluctance. Toph sat and listened to their conversation, hoping the wine would knock them all out so she could escape. Her seismic sense let her know that Ren wasn't drinking, but she wasn't too worried about that. As long as the others passed out. She could handle Ren on her own.
"Your words are appreciated Ren." Hong said. He grinned again and took a long swig of wine, the others following suit.
Within seconds Ryo and Chi were unconscious and Jiro and Lyra were swaying as though they were already plastered. Only Hong seemed to be unaffected, though even he was looking a little drunk. Seeing this Ren moved to give him more wine, which Hong took without question. Again, he drank deeply and this time the wine seemed to hit him. He glanced at Ren, his vision fuzzy and heard the thumps as Jiro and Lyra hit the ground.
"What...what's going..." His sentence trailed off as he keeled over, unconscious before he hit the ground.
With Hong and the other raiders unconscious Ren moved to Toph's side, her movement purposeful and determined. She reached out for Toph's shoulder, but Toph scooted away with a look of disgust on her face.
"Stay away from me, traitor." she snapped, her tone harsh.
"Toph." Ren began. "Toph, listen to me."
"Why?" Toph asked. "Why should I listen to you? You betrayed me. I have no desire to hear anything you have to say."
"Please Toph, just listen to me." Ren said, a note of pleading in her voice. "I didn't do this to hurt you, I swear."
"Oh really?" Toph asked, her tone incredulous. "Then why did you do it? You mind explaining that one to me?"
"Alright, I'll tell you why I did it." Ren said, sensing that this was the only way to get Toph to cooperate. "I have known about these raiders since before I met you. I knew they were following us and I couldn't let them get their hands on you. So I came up with a plan to get them before they could get you. This is part of that plan."
"I'm not sure I understand." Toph said, her tone more curious than angry.
"We are approximately a day away from a raider base." Ren explained. "Hong and his people were going to capture you and take you to that base so you could be tried and executed as a rogue bender. The other night I got you drunk and then met with Hong and told him I would hand you over to him. He went along and now all we need to do is get the drop on him. It's a trick, you see. I led him into a trap and he doesn't even realize it."
"Okay, but that doesn't explain why you couldn't fill me in on the plan before hand." Toph said, her tone angry again.
"I had to keep you in the dark." Ren said. "If you had known about the plan beforehand you wouldn't have been able to act surprised when I 'turned' on you and Hong would have figured out that we were up to something."
"That's where you're wrong." Toph said. "I could have still acted surprised even if I'd known the plan. Besides, how do I know this isn't just another trick? How do I know you didn't just knock Hong out so you could turn me in yourself?"
"Come on Toph, does that really seem like something I'd do?" Ren asked.
"I don't know." Toph answered. "You tell me."
"Look, I know I hurt you by doing this, but I swear this is all to stop Hong." Ren said. "Everything I told you about my past, it was all true. I told you it wasn't so Hong wouldn't get suspicious, but it's all true. I want to stop Azula and this will help us do that. Please, just trust me. There are no ulterior motivations at work here, I promise."
Toph considered Ren's words for a moment, before deciding she would trust Ren for now. "Okay Ren." she said. "I'll go along with this for now, but if you screw me over again, I'll fucking kill you. Got it?"
"I do." Ren said, moving to undo Toph's bonds. "But don't worry. I won't betray you."
"What are you doing?" Toph asked, as Ren slid the ropes off her wrists.
"I'm undoing your bonds so you can earthbend again." Ren said. "I'll retie them, but loosely so you can slip out of them easily."
Toph nodded. "Okay, so when do we put this plan into action?"
"In the morning." Ren answered. "We need Hong and the others to be awake so we can see the looks on their faces when they realize that they've been played."
Toph nodded again and she and Ren lay down to sleep, both of them envisioning their surprise for the raiders and how nice it would feel to finally be rid of these idiots.
The next morning Toph awoke to find Ren rousing the raiders, who still seemed to be feeling the effects of the wine. Ren glanced at her and smiled and Toph nodded, understanding that they were only minutes away from springing their trap.
"Ugh, what the hell was in that wine?" Hong asked, glancing at Ren.
"It was just wine." Ren answered. "Why does everyone ask me what's wrong with it?"
"Never mind, it's not important." Hong said, shaking his head. "How's our little earthbender doing this morning?" He glanced at Toph as though he expected her to answer.
"I'm fine." Toph answered, her tone calm and her expression passive.
"Well you won't be for long." Hong said, grabbing her and hauling her to her feet as he spoke. "Today we'll reach our destination and then you'll be executed for opposing Azula's reign."
"Actually, I don't think she will." Ren said, with an amused glance at Hong.
"What are you talking about?" Hong asked, confused. "She's our prisoner and she can't earthbend on account of her bonds."
"Well, actually, I can." Toph said, sliding her hands out of her bonds as she spoke.
Shocked, Hong let her go and stepped back. The others stepped forward to help their leader, but Ren blasted each of them before they could get any closer. Hong stared at her in disbelief and then moved to attack, only to have Toph stun him with an earth block to the head.
"Sorry Hong." Ren said. "But I lied. I'm not loyal to Azula and I have no intention of letting you take Toph in. It's nothing personal, I just don't like tyrants who kill innocent people."
"You'll pay for this." Hong snarled. "If it's the last thing I do, I'll see you both burn."
"No, I don't think you will." Toph said, before opening a massive pit beneath the raiders. Screaming, they fell into the pit and Toph stepped up to the edge. "Now, why don't you sit down there and think about your mistakes for awhile, how's that sound." She glanced back at Ren, who seemed to like this part of the plan.
"Sounds like a great plan to me." Ren said, grinning as she stepped up to the edge.
Without looking at her Toph reached out and placed a hand on Ren's shoulder, as if to congratulate her. For a moment Toph contemplated tossing Ren into the pit before deciding against it. With a smile she closed the pit and then turned away, satisfied with her victory.
"So, what now?" Ren asked, moving to follow Toph.
"Now we go our separate ways." Toph said. "I'm going to Ba Sing Se, but I'm doing it alone. Don't follow me, our friendship is done."
With that she turned and walked away, leaving Ren to stare at her in shock and bewilderment as she contemplated the end of their friendship.
A/N: And so ends Toph and Ren's relationship. Maybe. Anyway, as you can tell, Ren's betrayal was trick to get Hong and obviously it worked. However, Toph is still upset that Ren lied to her about the plan, so that's why they've split up. It may be permanent, it may not, you'll just have to wait and see. Until then, hope you enjoyed.
