Bloody Thirsty

Toph's POV

The world was spinning.

"Do you think she'll wake up soon?"

"I don't know, Sokka. I sure hope so."

Burst of color faded in and out of my mind, and my neck burned as the cool night air brushed past it. I was shifted to a bridal style position as we continued to fly, wings beating on either side.

"Do you think she was bitten too fiercely?" Hairy Loopy asked, worry and suspicious bleeding through her voice at once.

"Hey, don't look at me!" Once more, a voice came from the same place as the warm arms that encircled my body. Realizing this, I made an effort to wake up, and see what the hell was going on.

"H-hey," I murmured faintly. It was an effort just to raise my eyelids halfway. Gazing up at the blurred image of Boomerang Boy's face above my, I was only able to mutter, "wha'?"

Sokka looked down at me, surprised and please. "Katara! Aang!" He cried. "She's awake!"

I struggled away from the blackness, the utter bliss of being unconscious and oblivious. "Wha'—wha''s goin' on?" I slurred. "Where 'm I?"

They all looked surprised. "Just outside New York," Sokka answered immediately. "We have to take you to a safe place for your transformation."

Something didn't click. "Ya—y'said't w's gon' be a week," I managed to get out, still fighting oblivion.

"Oh, it is," Katara explained from a few feet away, still flapping through the air as gracefully as if she'd been born and raised right up in the sky, "But the first few days are tough. You need to be stationary, and you also need bl—err, supplements," she corrected hastily. "And food."

"Ya were gonna say blood," I accused, my speech returning slowly but steadily. "From who? Don't wanna—don't wanna…kill anyone…" My eyes drifted close, and I forced them open again. "Who?"

"From the vampire that bit you—so, Sokka's," Aang answered, as Sokka harrumphed.

"It's my blood," he said sulkily.

"Well," Katara snapped, temper flaring, "Maybe you should have thought about that before you decided to sit out the fighting. Then you wouldn't have been able to bite her in the first place, would you?"

"I wasn't sitting out," Sokka protested. "I was making sure she didn't get hurt!"

"Fat lot of good that did," I muttered, struggling to raise my head. At last, I was able to force my eyes open all the way. My first crystal-clear image as a vampire was of Sokka's face. And, unfortunately, my first coherent thought of said view was Man he's cute.

I could only conclude that vampirism somehow affected its victim's rationality, sanity, and hormonal drive, all at the same time.

"Are we gonna get there soon?" I asked, brain still moving a bit slower than normal. "Or are is vampire's sense of time skewed or something like that?"

"Somewhat," Sokka allotted. "Like that time Katara said we'd be at the farm in five minutes, but it took seven." He sighed dramatically. "How my stomach mourned."

"So you drink…animal blood?" I wrinkled my nose. "How…appetizing."

Because for some reason, don't ask me why, I was having a craving for blood. Human blood. Man, did my arm look delectable…

And for some reason, cow blood or whatever didn't sound half as good.

Oh, no, it's starting already, I thought, horrified, and wracked my brain for a food, any food.

Tacos.

Ugh, I thought, skin crawling.

Lobster.

I felt like gagging.

Fried chicken.

Nausea over came me at the mere thought of such an atrocity.

French fries.

My disgust was comparable to a human being forced to consume ridiculous amounts of toilet water.

One last food, my favorite in the entire world. And then…I'd know for sure.

I took a deep breath, and whipped up my best image of a chili-cheese hotdog, steamy, spicy, and ripe the eating.

At first, I thought I'd be okay.

But only for a moment.

'Cause then, I started to really imagine what it would be like to bite into it, with all of its steamy goodness—

And shuddered.

"Oh, God," I said aloud, "I really am turning into a vampire."

"Pretty much," Sokka shrugged. "What were you expecting—Ryan Seacrest?"

"No," I scowled, but was disrupted in my comeback by the sudden change in flight patterns. Hey, be careful!" I yelped, as the ground drew rapidly closer below us. "We're gonna crash!"

"No, we're going to land," he explained patiently, tightening his grip. "See?" He jerked his head toward an old abandoned barn far below us. "We're taking you there. Not exactly five star service, but close enough."

We dipped closer to the ground and headed towards the makeshift shelter. As we dived through the rotting barn door, Sokka shouted over the rush of the wind, "Brace yourself!" We skidded to a halt across the rotting floorboards, and rolled a few feet until we came to a screeching halt. For a moment we lay there, a tangled ball of limbs and lose folds of fabric. Then, I realized exactly who I was tangled with, and began to struggle away.

Aang and Katara followed close behind, making considerably more dignified landings. "You better start feeding her," the Arrowhead himself directed at Sokka, making me feel more like a helpless little infant than I ever had before. "Before she gets too bloodthirsty."

"Blood…" I moaned, my mouth watering at the mere mention. Okay, now I was just freaking myself out.

"Are you sure you don't feel like cow blood instead?" Sokka asked me weakly. I eyed him hungrily, and he sighed. "I guess not."

Bending down, he brushed the hair away from his neck. "Okay, take a drink. Just…make it quick."

"I'll try," I said, practically drooling. Then, I slowly crawled over on my hands and knees, and poised over the smooth, tanned flesh.

Part of me couldn't believe what I was about to do. It felt sick and wrong, from the perspective of my old human life.

But I wasn't a human anymore. I was a vampire.

And if vampire's drank blood, then so be it. I was living proof of the fact that we could hardly resist even the mention.

With that thought in mind, I lowered my head and sank my fang's into the perfect skin of Sokka's neck.

It was strange, almost unnerving, drinking from another vampire. Of course I'd never known anything else, but still—it felt binding, almost like the contract Sokka had mentioned.

And besides that, I'd gotten the feeling that drinking another vampire's blood was more than it seemed. What, exactly, did the ritual entail? Friendship? Servitude? Heaven forbid, love?

I mean, it wasn't like I hated the guy, but seriously—we'd better not be sealing ourselves into some sort of forever-faithfulness contract.

As I drank, I expected my thirst to subside. But instead, I constantly found myself craving more, more, more. How could they ever stand it? Was this just a problem with newbie vampires, or when drinking the blood of another?

I had less answers than I would have liked. For the moment, though, I quit the over thinking and focused simply on drinking up.

After a few minutes, Sokka seemed to grow a bit restless. At last, reluctantly, I drew away, wiping my mouth.

"Thanks for the meal, Boomerang Boy," I muttered.

"You're welcome," Sokka answered. "A few quarts of blood is nothing for a new friend, right?"

I eyed him curiously, noting the black humor. Leering at him, I got right up in his face, realizing the perfect scheme for a bit of a joke. "Does that mean I can have another?"

"Err…" Sokka paled. "Well, maybe you should—"

I laughed. "Whatever, Boomerang Boy. As if I want any more of your blood."

He stared after me, befuddled, as I flounced away. It was fun to play this teasing game with him, wasn't it?

But I couldn't shake the feeling that something was up with this blood-sharing deal. Walking up to Aang and Katara, I asked casually, "So, what was that contract-thing Sokka was talking about? Nothing big, right?"

They exchanged glances. Turning to me, Katara said slowly, "Toph, that was what Sokka was talking about. The vampire-to-vampire blood sharing is normally something only employed for…" she winced.

"Yeah? What?" My voice rose in pitch as I leaned forward, worried.

Katara sighed. "Toph, it's nothing big, unless you really mean it. It's a forever binding contract almost always used ensure faithfulness due to it's 'no way out' applications, and normally used for—"

"What?" I asked, slightly panicked.

"—lovers," she finished.

I stared.

It turned out that panic of mine had actually been right.

Me and Sokka? Forever bonded? Lovers?

No way out?

….

….Oh.

Please, I beg of you.

Somebody pinch me.


A/N: Not much action, and not my best :( If you guys think I should take it down, rewrite it and repost it, then I'll have no regrets in doing so, 'kay? Also, just a note, since there were some inquiries last chapter: This will NOT follow Twilight in any way whatsoever.Just wanted to make that clear :) Oh, and also: Toph isn't blind. Just wanted to make sure you guys knew...so please, tell me what you thought!