Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender and if I did season three would have started months ago.
I haven't written in awhile and I went back and read chapter six and I did not like it, but I don't fell like redoing it so here is ch.7.
Toph sat in her cell, quiet surrounding everything. As the moon lay high up in the sky everyone seemed asleep but her. Her hands working furiously trying to move the metal in her cell back and forth, but barely skimming the surface. She can now feel hints of vibrations, but they're very fuzzy.
In one corner of the cell, where Toph sits all day so no one will notice, she's lifted up a little bit of the metal, but not even close enough to breaking through. Someone standing outside the cell might not even notice it.
"I need a plan."
"You need a what," a guard said coming towards the cell.
"…..nothing," Toph said in a tone of confusion.
"Go to sleep…you piece of filth. It's late, very late and anything could happen to you in the morning, so I'd save my strength."
"Thanks for the advice. I'll think about that," Toph replied sarcastically, just getting an angry mumble from the guard.
"Can fire melt metal?" Toph said to a guard bringing her a plate of food for breakfast.
"Why would you want to know that?"
"Just out of curiosity."
"Depends on the thickness of the metal," the guard said idly.
"But it would have to be really, really thick for it not to melt."
"... I guess so."
A couple hours went by and Toph sat in the back of her cell still trying to break through. She was now actually getting used to the metal and the vibrations were fuzzy, but still there. Zuko still hadn't come by and Toph felt a little lonely, so instead she badgered a guard, who had no sense of humor.
He had a deep voice so Toph figured he must be tall and maybe a little beefy. He practically shook the ground with every insult Toph threw at him as he stampeded angrily. But to her he was only so fun to tease because eventually the comeback he used every time got a little old. He definitely had less going on in his head than five year old.
As the final meal came around Toph actually picked up her dish and fingered at some of her food. Vibrations were coming off of the plate. The plate was made out of clay. She hastily earthbended it into a ball and a thought came to her like water falling from the sky.
She wouldn't have to bend her way through the cell. She didn't even know where her cell led into even if she broke out. Every day at least once a guard walked by who always let off a jangling sound. Toph figured these had to be the keys to the cells. If she could somehow throw her strange clay ball at him as he walked by her cell and knock him out, maybe she could get the keys. It seemed like an unlikely plan, but it was better than nothing.
She would have to carry her plan out at a time when many guards weren't in the dungeon. That would be at night. She would have to wait until the guard walked by at night, which wasn't frequent. She could collect more of her plates just in case she ran into some more guards on the way out of the palace and there would probably definitely be some at the entrance, but at least there would be more earth nearby.
The next morning Toph woke up excited knowing she had some thread of a plan to carry out. Even if she got caught again at least she tried.
At breakfast the next day Toph saved her plate and hid it in one of the folds of her shirt. The guards were so unorganized no one noticed her dinner plate was gone the next morning. Her plan might actually work.
Zuko did show up that day with a look of resolve on his face. It was a little after breakfast when he came down, but he looked as if he had already been up for hours.
"I need information," he said sternly.
"…Why…so Azula will be proud of her little pet?"
"I'm not going to deal with your sarcasm today," Zuko said harshly.
"Just calm down; I don't care if you're pissed off or annoyed at life, or whatever your problem is, but your not going to blame it on me," Toph said looking straight at him.
Zuko was a little surprised at her blunt statement and how she was easily able to find right where he was standing.
"You are getting better at feeling, aren't you?" Zuko asked.
"What are you talking about?" Toph asked with a hint of annoyance in her tone.
"You're feeling through vibrations."
"I guess so." Toph said again looking straight at him. She wasn't powerful enough to break out, but she didn't want to give Zuko any ideas.
"So…you ready to tell me anything?"
"Zuko, two minutes ago I wasn't, so why would anything be different now."
"Oh," Zuko said nervously. To Toph he seemed a little strange. He came in stern and ready to reach his goal and now he turned nervous and a little frantic acting.
"Are you alright?" Toph said trying not to laugh. This really was confusing.
"Yeah."
"What?" Toph said. And she could tell she confused him more because he just mumbled something incomprehensible.
"Why didn't you visit me yesterday?" Toph asked.
"I didn't feel good."
"I don't believe you."
"Well, believe what you want because I don't care," Zuko said not making much sense.
"The guard I took to tormenting was not very much fun to annoy and he really did not relieve my boredom."
"I'm glad to hear I'm of some use in the palace, even if it is only to relieve the boredom of a prisoner," Zuko said being sarcastic for the first time.
"What does it look like outside palace?" Toph asked bluntly.
"Why do you want to know that?" Zuko asked Toph. Again he was a little taken aback by her question.
"I've always considered the earth nation to be full of luscious, wonderful, and heavenly earth, but the fire nation to be full of sand," Toph asked trying to sound casual. If she could find out about her surroundings maybe it would be easier for her to escape.
"The fire nation isn't full of sand. We have you're precious dirt too."
"Do you have a lot of earth?" Toph asked coolly trying very hard not to sound too excited.
"I would say just as much as the earth nation," Zuko said eyeing her strangely, "But that wouldn't matter to you because you won't be seeing our land."
"Thanks for pointing that out," Toph said getting annoyed, "I realize I'm in this cell, so you don't have to remind me. In fact you're the one who got me put in here, so why am I even talking to you?"
"I guess because you have no one else to talk too."
"I guess you're right," Toph said actually giving in. She didn't have anyone to talk to and it was lonely in her cell.
"Wait! You're actually letting me win. Are you saying I'm right?" Zuko said gleefully.
"Just shut up."
Zuko couldn't help but smile. He woke up this morning in a horrible mood and was in an even worse one when he came down to the dungeon, but something about Toph just made him smile.
Okay end of ch.7, so please review. Hopefully it won't take me as long to write ch.8.