Hey y'all. Thank you to all who reviewed, alerted and read the last chapters! That means a lot to me! Sorry for the lack of update, I've been busy with work and what not. Oh, and writers block. That too.
This chapter takes place when Toph is around 5-6 years Toph meets the badger moles. The word is Globe.
Please, read, review, enjoy!
Globe:
Toph's Point of View:
A cool breeze filtered in through the open window. Warm sunlight cascaded on the floor, and I wiggled in my wooden chair with impatience and discomfort. Mostly discomfort; the chair was hard and my feet couldn't even touch the floor. Sifu Fan Li droned on and on about numbers . Like I would ever be able to count them. Or the symbols for words. Like I would ever be able to read them. For a teacher, he wasn't very smart. School is hard for a blind person. He should know that. My parents remind him all the time. "Make sure the lessons are not too difficult for her! She is blind you know!" I can hear you, Mom and Dad, I'm not deaf.
Sifu continued to talk, as if I wasn't here. "If Lee has five leech nuts and Jun has 3 Leech nuts, how many do they have together?" I get it. Its eight nuts. Who says that they would combine them then? They don't have to share if they don't want to.
"Alright Toph. Time for Geography," Sifu Fan Li said. I could hear him taking something off of the shelf behind him. He placed something in front of me, I perk up in attention; I attempt to slide my chair forward.
"I placed a globe in front of you." I could hear him sit down on the other side of the desk.
"What's a "Globe"? I asked.
"It shows the world how it would be in space. Where all the nations, mountains and oceans are. It spins like it does in space and is raised so you can feel it," he explained. Sifu gently picked up my right hand and placed it on the globe. It was hollow, and made out of wood, I could tell that. I slowly moved my hand along the side, feeling the raised bumps and smoothness. Sifu took my hand again, and placed it on a different part of the globe.
"Do you feel that large raised part?" I nodded. "That is the Earth nation, where we live." He moved my hand a little to the left. "This is where the Capital would be; Ba Sing Se." He continued. I could feel the small ridges of what would be the walls of the city.
"Where are we?" I asked, forgetting to not sound interested. Sifu moved my hand again down.
"Here is Gaoling," He said. I moved my hand to the right of the sphere. The texture changed from smooth and flat to a bumpy semi circle.
"Whats this?" I questioned, fingering the new shape.
"That's the Fire Nation." My teacher told me. "Feel all the bumps? There are tons of volcanos there. Volcanoes are parts of the earth that crack and let out fire and smoke," He explained.
"Dad says that the fire nation is bad. They started the war," I remembered my Dad calling them something. But mom told me never to repeat it. I think it was something bad.
"Yes, they did start the war, but not all of them are bad people. I bet there is a little girl there, learning the same lesson you is right now," Sifu replied. I could almost hear him smile. I moved my hand down on the globe. I reached the bottom of it.
"Whats this place?" I felt a large oval shaped land.
"That would be the South Pole. It's entirely ice and snow and really cold. That's where the Southern water tribe lives," Sifu Fan Li answered.
"Who would want to live there? I bet you can't even walk around without shoes!" I shook my head and wiggled my bare feet defiantly. Silly water tribe people. They must be crazy. I moved my hand a little bit up, or North, according to Sifu.
I felt a tiny island almost attached to the South Pole.
"Who lives here?" I asked, looking up in the general direction of my tutor.
"The Southern Air temple was there. That is where all the Air benders lived," He said.
"Where are they now?" I questioned.
"They died almost one hundred years ago by the Fire nation. And not just that temple. The other temples were burnt down too." He said quietly.
"So Dad was right, the Fire Nation is bad!" Stupid teacher. He didn't have a response to that.
"What were they like?" I changed the subject for his sake.
"Very peaceful and friendly. In the Southern Temple, only boys and men lived there. All of them could Air bend. That's where they said the last Avatar was from. Only he disappeared one hundred years ago.
"I wish I could have a friend from there, they sound cool," I mumbled, rubbing my fingers over the globe. Sifu picked up the globe and put it back on the shelf; my hand flopped back on the table.
"Lessons are over for today, Toph. I'll see you tomorrow." Sifu began picking up his supplies. I stood up off the chair, rejoicing as my feet touched the floor and I stretched my legs.
"Can we use that globe again tomorrow?" I asked. That was the most interesting lesson we had in a while.
"Maybe. If you pay attention during math next time," He reasoned. I smiled and walked out off the room.
If I only knew at that point that I would get my wish. That I would get "my friend from the Southern Air Temple." If I only knew what that "Friend" would get me into. What would I be privileged to experience and who I would meet? That I would help save the human race. And meet the boy I would grow to love. If I only knew.
And for the first time in my life, I felt like I could see and take on the world I lived in.