This one has a few flashbacks that are all in italic paragraphs. I hope this gives you a little insight of how Toph works and what's to come.
Disclaimer: I do not, nor ever will, own Avatar the Last Airbender.
Blind Bounty
Chapter Six
Other POV
In her dream, she's floating in space, anchored down by a large unidentifiable object. She's on her back, knuckles tense and white. Something in her throat constricts, and she's thrown from her dream like a rag doll…
…And immediately placed inside another dream. This time she's trudging up a hill that's almost at a ninety degree angle. Mud coats her ankles, tightening around her ankles and forcing her back down the way she came from. Large chunks of sharp hail rain from the sky in bursts of furious downpour, scraping her arms and hands. She's almost to the building in front of her…So close.
And yet so far. She's suddenly put into a tiny, claustrophobic-inducing sized room, with her ankles and hands shackled. The irregular thumping and rising of the room tells her she's not in a building, but…a vehicle of some sort. It's moving at a very fast pace, obliterating anything in its path. The heavy chains on her feet and wrists weigh her down heavily. Suddenly a door opens, and two pairs of feet enter the scene.
"Get up." One of them hiss. When she doesn't respond right away, she's jerked to her feet by her shackled wrists.
"I said get up you filthy Water Tribe peasant! There's no Avatar to save you now. You're under my mercy."
With all the dignity left in her soul, she glares at the evil girl in front of her. Hatred radiates from her eyes like steam from the wet ground.
"Mercy? Mercy? You have none. And the Avatar is on his way. Untie me now to save yourself the trouble."
Giggles escape from the other unshackled girl. "Now why would I do that? You're nothing but bait for the Avatar, and I can't have you escaping."
"Why would I escape? I'll fight you right here right now."
The man next to the despicable girl steps forward, but is stopped by a dismissive hand wave.
"Stay there. She's no threat to us." With an evil smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes, she flounces out of the cabin, and slams the door behind her. The other girl glares at the door until she can no longer hear footsteps.
Toph POV
There are some mornings where Toph notices her herself before noticing her surroundings. She blinks rapidly, eyelids lowering and rising like thick, opaque curtains in a fierce gale. It takes a great effort to open her eyes completely, and rub the irritating sleep out of the corners. The part near the edge of her eye is laced with dry skin, continiusly chafed by a never ending wind. Something tickles her feet, and she reaches down to shoo it away.
Probably just a bug. She curls up on the hard surface of the ground, conserving her body heat.
Her suscpicion rises when there seems to be a bug on her foot, face, arms, and legs at the same time. That's when she realizes she's on something furry…and alive. Toph gives a shout of surprise, and bolts upwards. She clutches the animal beneath her with her toes, trying to get a better sense of where she is and where the beast is going.
Well first off she knows she's in the sky. And second off, the same people from last night: Sokka, Aang, Suki, and Zuko.
Rggggghhhh. A loud groaning noise fills her eardrums, vibrating them quickly. She slaps her hands over her sensitive ears, wincing.
"What kind of animal is this?" Toph shouts loudly.
Aang is at the front, guiding the animal with steady, controlled hands. Sokka is a few feet in front of her, Suki resting on the other side of him. Zuko's wide awake. His heartbeat is loud and steady, despite his hot temper. It's somewhat calming, hearing the orchestra of heartbeats. Aang's heart beats like a hummingbird, Sokka's metrical hammering, and Suki's irregular, loud pounding. Their body heat seeps into her, as well as a calming sensation of… acceptance?
She dismisses the idea, and impatiently awaits the answer to her question.
"It's a flying bison. You'll get used to him in no time." Sokka answers, unleashing a monsterous yawn. He stretches, casually draping his arm around Suki's shoulders. She punches him playfully on the shoulder, giggling. If it wasn't obvious that they were together it is now. Especially by the way the two's heartbeat rates skyrocket when they're within reach of each other.
Despite her parents' many arguments, mainly over her, the same thing happens each time her father discreetly lays his hand over his mother's. She guesses they were smiling at each other.
"Oh…What's his name?"
"This is Appa." Aang pipes up from the front. The lumbering beast beneath him groans in response, making the boy laugh.
"Where'd you get him?" she asks warily.
"Appa was with me when I was frozen in that iceberg for 100 years. We've been together since I was only a little kid; even before I knew I was the Avatar." She nods in consideration, but has taken an extreme caution to animals; furry or not. Appa seems like a nice flying bison thing, but the only animal she cares for are badgermoles.
"In speaking of Appa…where's Momo?" Zuko questions. Everyone pauses to mull over this, except for Toph.
"Is Momo by any chance a small animal with tiny wings on his arms?" They all nod.
"Yes…"
"He's underneath Appa, on his…" she frowns…"left third leg."
Curious chittering comes from beneath the beast, becoming louder as the small lemur climbs up Appa's thick hide. Momo plants himself right next to Toph, poking her with a small paw. He chatters at her, expecting an answer.
"How do I shut this thing up?" she asks casually.
"Here, give him this."
Something suddenly thunks Toph on the head. "Ow! What was that?"
Whatever it was Momo's already snatched it away. Cracking noises come from the object as the lemur works on it.
"He has pretty sharp teeth, but doesn't bite." Suki explains. She picks up Momo, who begins shrieking at her. The loud, protesting noises fade out as Momo relaxes into Suki's grip. "He'll get used to you in no time." She says, transferring the sleeping animal to her. Toph reluctantly takes the sleeping animal and holds him awkwardly. His soft fur rubs against her skin as she adjusts the dead weight. Momo makes a comical noise, and snuggles closer to Toph.
"Umm…how do I wake Momo up?"
"I wouldn't if I were you." Sokka warns. "Momo is pretty cranky if he's woken up early."
She grumbles underneath her breath, trying to get comfy beneath the animal. Momo just stretches out further, and even goes as far to start drooling on her. She groans as his drool slowly falls down her arm.
He drools like a waterfall.
Toph can't be more happy than she is now.
"Yes! Yes! Ground! Sweet, sweet ground!" Toph launches herself off the flying bison, and lands on the soft grass. She sighs, and falls down on her back. Silky tendrils of long, sweet smelling grass tickle her face and feet. It's like floating in an ocean, except she isn't drowning.
Suddenly she becomes cold with a memory.
Toph is leaning forward in the thicket, warm evening air pressing on her sides. She presses her hair back, and digs deeper into the earth for some answers.
Come out come out, Jun-Lee. I know you're in there.
Toph is tracking a mission that'll bring in a lot of money, and reputation around the Earth Kingdom. She is to find General Haku's daughter by tommorow's sundown, and bring her back unharmed. Easy enough, seeing how the description of his daughter is "mousy, petite, and scrawnier than straw." Jun-Lee's turned out to be a much harder target. Toph's gone in circles trying to pick up her light, just barely there footprints. The only way she can track her prey is by the cracked branches and disturbed piles of earth. Even these are far and few between.
She's finally found her first footprint… and it seems to be the last one. She leans forward, trying to hear some kind of noise, or alert that Jun-Lee's there. The faint rustling of wind is taken over by a cracking branch, and a sharp intake of breath. Toph smiles maliciously, and steps forward.
One can imagine her shock as she tilted forward, ankles held down by the thick swamp mud. She gasps as cold water fills her mouth, and begins coughing and spluttering out water. It feels like the water is trying to pull her down to the bottom and never let go; not until she has drowned to death.
How did this happen? She thinks, as she thrashes around in the blood-warm waters of the swamp. It's suffocating her, the water. Her muffled screams suddenly become audible as she gets a grip on the ground, and bursts up for fresh oxygen. Jun Lee lets out a small gasp, and sprints away. Toph retreats to the bank she has just come from, gratefully resting her arms and feet on the ground again.
She's a rock. And rock's do not float. Shuddering, Toph moves away from her almost watery-grave, and looks for another way around. Bounty is on the line and she can't risk losing money or her reputation to some mousy girl. She is Toph Bei Fong, and a Bei Fong never goes or poor or loses.
Ironically, Toph catches Jun-Lee flailing around in quicksand right before dawn. The crying girl is more than happy to go with Toph.
"Man this grass is so soft!" A body suddenly lands next to hers. She gives a small yelp as a gust of air blows her over on her backside, and ruffles her tightly bound hair. Small, curly-q strands stick up in the air, and Toph annoyedly smacks them back down.
"Watch where you blow that air." She growls, moving a good five feet away from Aang.
"Oh, sorry Toph." The way he cheerfully says this (or maybe that's just how he always sounds) tells her he's knocked people over before. Something hard pokes Toph in the butt. She swivels around and picks up a small, heavy rock. A sudden, revengeful idea comes to mind.
"Think fast!" Toph shoots the rock at Aang. It makes a beeline for his back, only within a few feet of him. He turns around as the pebble sails towards him, and quickly jumps to the toes of his feet and side steps it.
Wouldn't have been easier to just stop the rock with earthbending?
Yes. Toph knows that earthbending in that case could have been much more easier to do then dodge the little rock. Airbending is his element, but shouldn't the Avatar know how to crumble a little rock?
"Ow! Who threw this rock? Momo!" Sokka's loud voice wipes away any silence left in the group, and is immediately followed by offended remarks from Momo. Toph snickers, but doesn't tell him that she threw the rock.
"Leave Momo out of this! He never did anything to you." Suki says, stepping between the two. A brief silence ensues, until Sokka breaks away, muttering something about "evil lemurs." He tells the group he's going to go look for dinner. Zuko decides to go look for some wood for a campfire, and goes with Sokka.
"I'll stay here with Appa and Momo and try to fish something." She climbs up Appa's saddle with ease, and pulls out a crude fishing rod. "I've caught more fish on this thing in 2 weeks than Sokka has in 3 years." She chuckles and goes to look for a spot next to the water. Toph sighs with relief, happy that she doesn't have to go anywhere near the water.
"So Toph. What do you want to do? Cook? Clean the gunk between Appa's toes?"
Toph shrugs. "I carry my own weight."
Aang frowns a little, or at least that's what Toph imagines he's doing. It's actually more of a slight droop than scowl.
"Oh. Well I'm going to go find some food. All Sokka usually finds is nuts and rocks. You can come if you want."
I could get a better view of my surroundings. Just in case things turn bad I'll have a place to run.
She quickly scratches that.
Better yet if they cross me, I'll have somewhere to stash the bodies.
Later that Day…
"So Toph, tell me more about your experience as a bounty hunter."
His curiosity rubs her the wrong way, but she complies.
"It's basically just listening to the ground for a long time, trying to pick out differences and areas that people might have crossed." Toph has a few white stones in her hands, picking them up as Aang occasionally flies to a nearby tree to grab food. She can tell which stones are white stones by their density and weight. Also because he told her they are white.
The island they are staying at isn't very large. It has long, gently sloping hills, and a population of peaceful, fuzzy sheep. The group, meaning Sokka Aang Suki and Zuko, must have been here before. They know where to get the food and even where to set up camp in the secluded isle.
"Is listening to the ground kind of like earthbending."
"Listening to the ground IS earthbending, Twinkletoes! You can't just punch the ground and expect a boulder to pop up. You have to listen, and feel for things that are already there." She huffs, and stomps a small white stone up to her arm pile. There are about fifteen or so, enough for her to line the campfire. "I'm done here, do you have enough food for them?" Toph says them because she doesn't consider herself part of the group. Obviously Aang does.
"Yeah, we each get two, whatever these fruits are."
At the mention of fruit, Toph's stomach does a flip flop. She drops a few rocks, clutching her gut. Sweat comes only a few moments afterwards, and the effort to keep from coughing and/or sneezing nearly turns her red. A few more rocks drop, and the distruption seems to anger her stomach even more.
Slowly Toph sinks to her knees, stomach growling like a jaguar. She keeps in the little whimpers she wants to let out, and instead focuses on the ground: soft and unyielding.
"Toph? Toph!" In an instant Aang's by her side again, worry coming off of him in waves. Toph, through her fuzzy senses, can still smell the sweet lemongrass and orange scent coming from Aang.
"I'm okay." She rasps. And her words are true, as her constrictor stomach ache and chronic sweating have disappeared. Toph moves away from Aang, her face slightly heated, and collects her rocks again. She walks towards the direction she believes is camp, leaving Aang behind.
For some reason she can feel his intent gaze on her neck. It chills her, the thought of knowing someone's watching.
And without further disruption, Toph sinks into the soft ground, propping her head up with her arm. She allows her eyelids to close over her foggy eyes, and transfer her mind over to her dream state. She uses her stress-releasing technique, tightly clenching her muscles, then relaxing them to the point that she feels like jello. It works every time, even at the times when she has had to sleep on hard desert grounds.
That reminds me of that mercenary. What was her name, Loni? Oh yeah! Chit-Sang's girlfriend. She gave me a run for my money alright, but I got her eventually.
She shuts her eyes and allows the memories to return to her.
There's a loud bang as Loni finds some other object in her house to hurl at Toph. Toph ducks as a large garbage can top whizzes over her head, nearly taking some of her hair with it too.
"Loni! I know you're in there! Just make it easy on everyone else and come out-" Toph shouts. Her sentence is cut short as her chest hits the dirt again. This time Loni has thrown the entire trash can.
No wonder this woman is strong enough to kill a man. Toph thinks in awe and slight terror. She has just single handedly thrown a full garbage can nearly twenty feet. In the description the fire nation general read aloud to her, Loni is wanted for the manslaughter of Lieutnent Fou. Also for the destruction of multiple bars and conning men out of their money; Men specifically. She's described as a five foot two, brunette (that part didn't matter, nor did her eye color) with a weight of 123 pounds and a "deceptively sweet personality." She lives in the town of…
Toph doesn't even need to know what town she lives in. A woman like that probably gets her money by conning idiotic men. Around these parts (as Toph has heard) all the men go over to a place called "The Compound" for drinks and other business of that sort. It only takes a few minutes for Toph to find Loni in the mix of giggly women, and when she does, things turn ugly real fast.
It starts with shouting, then screaming, and pretty soon Loni is being dragged out by two cranky looking bartneders. Toph follows, ready to swoop in and arrest the woman the instant the guards let go.
Until a bounty hunters' hands are on their prey, it's anyone's kill. One of the first things Toph learns in the business. In her first year of hunting, she's given a nasty bruise on her right thigh that never seems to go away. It isn't from prey, but another ruthless, territorial bounty hunter. June is her name. Toph's never crossed that woman, and hopes she never has to again. She's molded herself into the same state of mind, ready to attack anyone who tries to steal her prey.
As the night goes on, Loni grows weary of throwing things at Toph, and settles for locking her door instead. Toph kicks down the door, and uses her custom earth handcuffs to detain Loni. She is turned over to the Fire Nation in a mere few minutes.
And yet Toph never forgets what Loni mutters to her that night.
"You think this is over? Fat chance, bounty hunter. I will find you and kill you. The others you've sent to jail will help me too. Toph Bei Fong you are dead meat."
Toph blows it off, but still allows fear to harbor in her mind. She's on someone's hit list now, and they know her name too. It's just part of her job, being a bounty hunter. That includes the danger that comes with it. Whether the danger comes from her prey or the merciless terrain, Toph knows what she's in the business for.
The thrill.
As promised, a longer chapter. This just barely made it to the update date, and I'm surprised I've been able to do all this. I've been REALLY busy, first trying to beat this prodigy viola player in my orchestra (I got first chair though :D) and I've also taken up tutoring on Mondays and Tuesdays. (I'm the tutor, just saying :) Tutoring takes up most of my evening, and of course after that its hours of studying, practicing, and viola. I'm trying to work out a schedule that'll allow me to give you guys the best chapters possible, but Thursday nights can't happen anymore. It might have to be every other Thursday or Saturday if I can manage even that.
On a much better note, OH MY M&M's! I'VE GOTTEN REVIEWS! Thank you to Seamew, whose long reviews have inspired me to triple proof-read my work and spell check twice.
One last thing: For those of you with serious writer's block try following the link on my profile for writing music. I LOVE that song :D, and it's really helpful to clear your mind to get writing.