Chapter Three: The Encounter
When Sokka finally gave up trying to keep up with the wounded child and began to try and find his way back to the inn he definitely had a strong suspicion in him. With all due respect to Katara's healing ability, his object of stalking has been moving as though he had barely been injured. And Sokka knew that Toph aimed to maim when she injured him, seeing as she seemed absolutely convinced that he nearly killed her himself.
One thing was sure though, if he had any sort of mole-rat, or pig-rat, whatever it was. It did not reside within his supposed house in the village. Feeling slightly ashamed of his inability to keep track of the boy, Sokka made his way back to the village, that is until he heard the shriek of a porcupine-boar.
He turned his head just in time to see the said boar lunge at him, reflexively, the warrior dropped to the ground, allowing the creature to pass above him, however, when he turned to confront the animal, he had noticed that it was running away from him, rather than trying to attack him.
"Yeah, you'd better run." Sokka muttered under his breath, grinning. He shut up however when he heard voices right beyond the small hill he was climbing.
"I need more time." A dark, deep voice stated.
"I'm unimpressed; I've thought someone of your power would already be done with it." A familiar voice replied, Sokka's eyes widened, it was Azula.
"I could kill them all in an instant, princess, as they're following the wrong lead. But you want the avatar out of this; therefore I must be discreet and cautious. Give me more time." To Sokka it sounded more like a command than a request, and apparently it did the same for the blue-flame bending princess for her tone of voice changed to an unhappy one.
"Very well, assassin… you have three days." The princess answered strangely, from what Sokka saw of her, he was sure she'd refuse. Then slow realization hit him, she was scared of him.
"Thank you princess, I shall not fail you." Sokka took it as the time to bail, there was an assassin after them, but he sounded nothing like the child. Maybe the child was just co-operating with the assassin?
He sprinted all the way back to the village, wanting to reach it as soon as possible to relay what he had just heard. He had to warn the others.
000
By the time the boy returned stumbling quite off balance through the door Toph's wounds were healed to the best of Katara's ability. Apparently they were never serious, just numerous. He really wasn't trying to kill her, but it felt so much so when he sucked her breath away, like she was dying, like she would never be warm again.
On the boy's shoulder was now a small pig-rat, snorting happily, but then recoiling as Momo flew up to have a closer look at it. The boy put the rat on the floor, where it scurried around as Momo chased it. His legs were slightly trembling; it was obvious he was standing despite his protesting muscles.
"Don't worry boy, he's not gonna hurt you." The boy reassured the rat, who was now hiding between his feet.
Toph couldn't feel Sokka nearby, so who was Sokka following, if at all? Her face must've shown her surprise, for Katara, who was giggling at the little rat's scurrying suddenly, as though she picked up what Toph was thinking, questioned the boy.
"Wait, wasn't Sokka with you?" She looked at the door expectantly, as if expecting the said individual to simply march through the door. But nothing came through.
The boy seemed thoroughly confused, "Is that the blue guy or the orange guy?" Obviously referring to the respected outfits of Sokka and Aang, Toph disliked this charade, he obviously knew who she meant.
"The one in the blue clothes," Katara answered, at which point Toph felt terrible vibrations in the ground. Someone was running towards them, she could feel by the way the person ran that it was Sokka.
"He's coming." She announced and turned her head towards the door, the heads of the boy and Katara followed her blind gaze, all were expecting the door to open, but instead, a loud crash was heard and the door shook slightly at the impact. Despite herself, Toph erupted in laughter.
"It opens the other way you dim-wit!" She yelled through fits of giggles, now joined by Katara and the boy, who hastened to pick up his cornered rat before Momo jumped it, and replaced it on his shoulder.
The door swung open, and a flat-sounding Sokka entered, "Of every single place we've been in, this place is the only one with doors that can't be opened in a rush…" He started, but stopped, probably he saw the boy, Toph wondered what went on outside after Sokka and the kid left. Sokka's expression was cryptic, and he did not speak for a moment, probably considering his words. She could feel him tapping his foot, seemingly impatiently, but with a rhythm that made her feel as though he was trying to convey something to her. She looked at him, and he began speaking.
"There's someone after us Katara, Toph was right." The boy's heart pace seemed concerned for the first time, and Toph grinned as she was finally backed up. "But, it's not the kid Toph." Sokka continued, and Toph's face fell, "The assassin is much older, and unless the boy can teleport it can't be him." Toph stared at the boy with immense surprise, how could it be?
"I told you I wasn't a Firebender!" The boy exclaimed, then going into another fit of coughs, genuine as far as Toph could tell. He instantly sat down on the nearest bed, continuing his coughing fit, it sounded serious even to Toph. But she didn't realize exactly how much it was until Katara screamed in surprise.
"You're bleeding!" Apparently, the spray of liquid she thought was saliva was in fact the same such life sustaining liquid. Toph turned her head towards the boy, now deep concerned stretched over her features. She couldn't feel the boy's pulse, as his weight was not fully on the floor, but she was sure it was irregular and racing.
The boy himself seemed terrified, legs thrashing about as he continued coughing without pause. Toph could feel Katara rushing over to him, and she could hear her bending the water out of her water-skin. The powerful implications of what Toph had done have suddenly rained down upon the blind Earthbender. If the boy dies, then she would be a killer, no better than the assassin she sought to abolish. She felt like someone grasped her heart with a stony hand and twisted it in place. She placed a hand over it, and felt a warm hand on her shoulder, Sokka's hand. He didn't need to speak, just the act was enough, reassuring, as though he had just whispered in her ear, "It's going to be alright, he's going to be fine." To Toph's immense relief, he never said those words; he just kneeled next to her, in silence, when the light footsteps of the avatar suddenly appeared behind the door.
"What's going on?" Aang asked, as he saw the grim demeanor of everyone in the room. The boy under Katara's care was now silent, the coughing fit over. Toph was sure that Katara's hand was over his chest, glowing as Sokka once described to her, as she attempted to heal the wound.
Everyone remained silent, and Aang seemed to pick up the hint, he sat nearby and didn't dare look at neither Toph nor the boy.
000
That evening, there was an iron grip of tense silence on the four travelers, and on their new guest, none of them could look him in the eye, Toph had never been more happy in her life she couldn't see. Because she didn't think she could stand to see the looks upon her companions' faces. She suddenly felt a tug from under her armpits, and she was lifted up to her legs.
"Come on Toph, I think we should take a walk." It was Katara, her voice was quiet and considered, sympathetic too. Toph couldn't muster any defiance at that moment, and let Katara take her hand and lead her out of the room.
"I'm going to be fine." The boy said to no one in particular, "She only said the injury was serious, not that it was… well... And it doesn't feel that bad. I just need time to heal."
"Yeah, if Katara keeps it up you should be just fine by the morning;" Sokka reassured him, "she just needs fresh water to work with. So she's taken Toph with her, you know to talk to her."
"She's probably feeling guilty huh? But I'm fine! Really am." The boy suddenly looked puzzled, "I haven't told you my name yet, have I? It's Li, Li-Huo. But you can call me Li."
"A pleasure, Li, I'm Aang, and this is Sokka." Aang introduced, gesturing at himself and Sokka as he announced their names.
The boy giggled when he gestured at Sokka, "Funny-man" He fondly named the warrior, causing Sokka to moan.
Aang was now holding Momo in his arms, as to prevent him from charging at Li's pig-rat, who was now sniffing around, picking up all sorts of human scents, and most importantly, food…
"You're the avatar aren't you?" Li asked studying Aang's strange appearance, "You sure look like him from the posters." He added.
"Yeah, I'm the avatar." Aang smiled embarrassedly, and the boy perked up suddenly.
"Wow, that's so cool! You're an Airbender right? Can you show me an Airbending trick?" The boy asked excitedly, "Please?" He added, with the cutest sparkly puppy dog eyes he could muster.
"I think it's a good idea to tell everyone you're the avatar, what with us having a mad Fire Princess on our backs, and a trained assassin trying to kill us." Sokka interjected ironically, crossing his arms and nodding in mock-approval.
"I thought we already established that Li isn't the assassin?" Aang asked, and Li quickly joined in.
"Yeah funny-man, I thought you said I'm not the bad guy?" He gave Sokka the same look he gave Aang, but Sokka seemed unaffected.
"Fine…" He said finally, looking at the floor, but then Li apparently changed his mind.
"Well, actually, he's right, how about later Aang? I think I should go and tell that girl I'm alright, I bet she's sad, I don't want her to be sad. What's her name again?"
"It's Toph." Sokka answered, "Just, try not to surprise her, or she'll probably kick you all the way to the Fire Nation."
"Toph, okay… Thanks funny-man." Sokka's face fell as he said that, and seeing this, Aang burst in silent giggles.
"It's not my fault! How was I supposed to know the door opens the other way!?" Li heard Sokka yell as he left, and laughed.
000
Toph was sitting on the edge of the village's well, one foot was on the rim of the well, it was bent, embraced by Toph's arms, and the other was swinging in the air, being too short to reach the ground. The well was made of stone, so Toph, while being slightly nearsighted, was not blind.
Katara in the meantime was practicing her Waterbending, playing around with a blob of water from the well in the air.
"It's alright Toph…" She said, "Even if I can't heal him, I'm sure he'll forgive you. You were distraught, you were attacked by a Firebender, you were confused and scared. It's not your fault." She tried to reassure her friend.
"But… when you guys left to look for me, and I came back… he admitted it. He confessed, there has to be two of them Katara, it doesn't make sense!" Toph said, tightening her embrace on her leg.
"Maybe you fainted, and dreamt it?" Katara suggested, "It could've been just trauma Toph." Toph had rather enough of everyone questioning her sanity just because she was attacked by a Firebender; she twisted her face and didn't answer. But suddenly, the air around her felt weird, she felt as though they were being watched. But she couldn't feel anyone. She got off the well, so she could better feel her surroundings, but there was nothing there.
"Do you get the feeling we're being watched?" Katara suddenly asked, confirming Toph's suspicions.
Suddenly, Katara pushed her back, saying urgently, "It's the assassin."
"What? Where?" Toph asked, she couldn't feel anything, except a weird ticklish feeling around her.
"We're surrounded by fire Toph, a big circle of it." Katara described, holding Toph's hand tightly, in case she had to pull her away.
Suddenly, Toph felt a rumble in the ground, originating from the well. She stumbled forwards, pulling Katara with her, as she heard an explosion. Katara gasped, "He vaporized the well!" She said; hand on her water-skin. Toph could imagine a geyser of flame rising from inside the hole, sending up vast amounts of steam.
"I will give you one warning, leave the avatar, or perish." A dark voice said, Toph suddenly realized what the ticklish feeling meant, besides it being a wall of flame. She was blinded; she couldn't see anything beyond it.
"The fire, it goes deep in the ground, I can't feel anything past it." She whispered to Katara.
Suddenly they heard a shout, "Fire! FIRE! Aang, Sokka, help!" it was the boy, Toph recognized, suddenly she heard the boy scream, this time, as though he was attacked.
"Leave him alone!" Both she and Katara cried, both sending their bending elements at the wall of fire surrounding them in order to break it.
While the shockwave Toph sent, which was supposed to restore her vision in that direction merely passed through the fire and disappeared, she could hear Katara's water sizzle and turn into steam, never getting past the burning barrier.
But as suddenly as it started, the fire went out, and Toph's feeling was restored to her, but she could feel no one else around, the boy included.
She could feel villagers standing at their doors, and windows, but being obviously too scared to go out. This made her angry.
"Where's the boy?" Katara asked worriedly, "Toph, can you…"
"No." The blind girl answered before her Waterbending companion could finish the question. "I think the… Hold on…" for she suddenly felt Li's footsteps behind her, he was running towards them. She turned around to greet him, but was suddenly struck by a tremendous, searing force, sending her through the air.
"Toph!" She heard Katara scream, she was bracing herself for a powerful collision with either the ground or a wall, but she was grabbed before any such thing could happen. Evidently, Aang had arrived on the scene. She managed a weak smile at him, before losing consciousness.
000
"Sokka, take her somewhere safe!" Aang commanded, handing his Earthbending teacher to his trusted friend and turning to look at her assailant. Sokka seemed reluctant to leave Aang and Katara alone to face this new threat, but did as he was told, running as fast as he could.
"Aang I don't have any water to bend!" Katara informed, concern etched into her face. Her hair loopies swung along with the wind, she tried to collect the humidity from the area to have enough water to bend, but it would take time. Time she didn't have.
The assassin, dressed in black garbs, covering his body and face like bandages stopped dead in his tracks as he shot the fireball at Toph, and was now measuring his two new opponents carefully, through flame-colored eyes. He wasn't much taller than Aang, and by the way he stood, it was obvious he was light on his feet.
Aang prepared his staff and took his battle stance.
The assassin breathed deeply, before moving forwards, spinning around, arms spread wide, leaving trails of fire as he moved, he began skipping as he moved forwards, still spinning, after a few of these he jumped high, landing between Katara and Aang, sending a circle of fire around him at them, forcing Katara to take cover behind the well and knocking Aang backwards despite the air shield he manifested by rotating his staff quickly.
The assassin persisted, but not after Aang, he leaped above the well, spinning as he did so, until his whole person was surrounded by a brilliant flame. Then, as he began to descent towards Katara, he ended his rotation, and concentrated all of the fire around him to a great ball of fire in his hands, launching it at Katara.
Katara screamed and raised her hands in front of her protectively, but before the ball could make contact, she was moved out of place by Aang, thanks to his new Earthbending abilities: He slid the ground she was on away from the fireball, which now washed over the area around the well, scorching the ground in its path. The assassin landed where Katara had just been and delivered a semi circle kick at her, unleashing a brilliant blade of flame at her. Which was once again, blocked by Aang's Earthbending, this time raising a rock barrier to protect her. The barrier was not strong enough to withstand the force of the kick however, and it shattered, leaving Katara once again vulnerable.
"Leave her alone! It's me you want!" Aang yelled, sprinting at the assassin and swinging his staff at him, creating a ferocious and concentrated gust, which the assassin countered it with a fireball he shot from both his fists, sending them forwards together reflexively.
The assassin then spread his arms to his sides, as if doing a breast stroke, except that he continued until his hands met behind his back, thus raising another firewall around him and blocking Aang's next assault with it. Then, the black wearing bender raised his arms upwards in a quick movement, sending another circle of fire in all directions, forcing Aang to raise another barrier to protect Katara, and in doing so, get knocked back before he could prepare another proper air shield. This time however, he was knocked out after colliding with the wall of a house.
But Katara had finished what she was doing, and a blob of water was now floating in the air in front of her, ready to strike. But the assassin, after turning back from Aang, raised his hands in submission.
"I don't want to do this." He whispered urgently, "If you can keep away from the avatar there will be no need for bloodshed."
"No need for bloodshed? What would you call attacking us like that, what do you call taking that poor boy?"
"Boy…?" The assassin asked, but then shook his head, "Look at the time I chose to attack, at night, when you're more powerful and I'm at a disadvantage, and look at my bending, it's weak, there's no passion behind it, passion drives us Firebenders. Just back off the avatar, and there will be no need for bloodshed." It took Katara a moment to realize what the assassin had just said, if he chose to attack them at his weakest point, and his Firebending was still more powerful than any they had seen so far, then how would he fight at high noon in the middle of summer?
"We're not deserting Aang, and we will protect him from the likes of you!" Katara called, launching a water whip at the assassin, who jumped out of the way, landing on a nearby roof, then shaking his head and disappearing into the night.
000
Toph was standing on a pillar of ground, she couldn't feel anything other than the pillar she was on, and there were sounds all around her, screams. She could hear Katara, begging for mercy, she could hear Sokka, crying and pleading, and she could hear Aang, his unearthly voice as he enters the avatar mode screeching. She could also hear laughter, terrible, maniacal laughter, the boy's laughter…
She woke up, drenched in cold sweat, she could feel she was in the inn, and it was filled with commotion, as Sokka, Katara, Aang and the boy were discussing something very loudly.
"What happened…?" Toph asked, rubbing her temple to try and calm down her headache. "We were attacked by the Firebender… and then…."
"Then Li, the boy you attacked, came by and alerted Aang and Sokka." Katara said, "But he felt something pulling him and me and Aang found him unconscious after we chased the Firebender away, during the fight, Sokka took you to safety, because the assassin caught you head on with a fireball." She told, speaking appreciatively, obviously happy they survived the night with no serious injuries.
"But… I felt him running at us, he was the one who shot the fireball at me." Toph said, remembering the running she felt before she was hit by the Firebender's attack, and pointing at Li again.
"That's impossible Toph; he couldn't have gone back to where we found him so fast after the fight without us seeing him. Not to mention having the time to change clothes" Aang assured, though he was not certain himself.
"Look kid, as I was saying, it's not safe for you to be around us anymore," Sokka started, diverting the subject from what Toph was sure was labeled in his mind as "Toph's rambling", she frowned as he continued. "If that guy comes back, you might get seriously hurt."
"Sokka's right, now that you're better you should wait in your house until your parents come back." Katara joined in, and Toph wondered how long she was out of it, Li seemed determined to change their minds, but gave in finally.
"I guess I can't argue with you." He said dejectedly.
"It doesn't matter, because we're leaving." Aang said, "The assassin could have hurt someone today, we can't endanger this village anymore."
"Not that we should care about those cowardly wimps." Toph suddenly said, "They were all awake, they just didn't want to help because they were scared, so they decided to let the Firebender kill us."
Katara's breath suddenly went shallower and Toph turned her head at her.
"He… The Firebender, he said he wouldn't have to kill us if we left you, Aang." Toph's eyes widened, "He said that he didn't want to kill us, that's why he attacked us when he was at his weakest, and when we had the advantage." Katara confided. "I mean, think about it, at night, Firebenders grow weaker, and Waterbenders become more powerful with the powers of the moon." She explained, "And he also said he'd lost his passion, that it was what drives Firebenders…" She recounted.
Toph stood up swiftly, "Li, if that's his real name, said the same thing! I can't have been dreaming that now! He said something about a Black Mission, which would make him lose his passion, and that he wanted you to think I'm crazy so I'll leave and he won't have to kill me!" Li's pulse, which Toph could sense, as he was sitting on the floor, was very stable, and he seemed to make nothing serious of what she had just said, almost as though he was dismissing it as a game he didn't feel like playing anymore.
"But… after he supposedly kidnapped Li, and I accused him of it, he seemed surprised to learn Li was even there… it doesn't make sense…" Katara wondered, leaving the group to consider the matter for a moment.
"Something stinks around here, and Li is in the thick of it all." Toph called, she could feel everyone hanging their heads, as if ashamed of her behavior.
Li said nothing, and shook his head slowly, but in Toph's mind he was grinning maliciously. When he spoke, his voice was measured, and somewhat melancholic.
"You're never going to stop hating me, are you?" He asked, she couldn't really tell, but she could feel that he was looking down at the floor.
No one responded, no one really knew how to, really, and the boy just got to his feet and went to the door.
"You're right Sokka; I'll be safer in my house. Thanks for your hospitality, and companionship." He said coolly, picking up his pig-rat from a nearby bed, where Momo was still staring at it dangerously, obviously oblivious to what was going on.
As he closed the door behind him Sokka said weakly, "Uh… no… problem?"
"Come on guys, let's get packing." Aang instructed, though in a rather motivation-less manner, "We should leave first thing tomorrow morning. Now that we don't have Appa, we have a long journey ahead of us."
Toph was silent, if that boy was indeed the assassin; he was the best actor she had ever met in her life. His voice had sounded so utterly devastated as he talked to her, that she couldn't believe it to be faked so.
Just for making her so confused, she resolved to bury the assassin up to his head in the desert. He was crushing them mentally, as well as physically, straining them, seeing how far they'll bend before breaking. Maybe Li wasn't really guilty, maybe the assassin simply made sure that his "image" in Toph's mind was eternally linked to him. Toph couldn't know, but she was sure it was him every time the assassin attacked her, absolutely certain. Exactly the same weight, with exactly the same posture, it was impossible for it to be anyone else.
She grabbed her bag and held it close to her, not having managed to take out anything from it since they arrived and therefore, with no need to pack. Once more in her life the Earthbending master felt like falling asleep and never waking up. For the first time however, she feared sleep, she feared the screams and she feared the laughter, but she felt its clutches carry her off, quietly, unnoticeably, just like the assassin would want to….