This is my longest chapter so far. Over eight thousand words! I hope you like it.
To answer your question, guest (you don't have a username). You're story sounds amazing and I'd love to write it, but I'm planning for this story to have four books and as they will take another year or something including my exam revision so I won't be able to write it.
Please review. Your reviews and support keep me going!
Chapter 6: Toph Joins the Party
Eira sighed impatiently as Sokka's eyes shifted back and forth from the green bag to Katara, Aang and Eira.
"Sokka, if you want the bag, buy the bag. If you don't, then don't." Eira complained.
"Well, it's pricey… but I really do like it." He said pensively and Eira groaned again. Gosh!
"Sokka, we have enough bags already, and it's expensive." She said, tapping her foot as she crossed her arms.
Aang lay back on the cobblestone floor, tipping his conical hat to shelter his face from the sun as Momo slept on his chest. To be honest, Eira wanted to get some rest as well. Sokka had been trying to decide whether or not he wanted that bag for ages.
Eira hitched her own bag up onto her shoulder as she looked around impatiently. A man was handing out some flyers behind them and being quite creepy about it, leaning close to little kids as he told them about it.
"Come on, Eira. He deserves something nice." Katara said, smiling lovingly at her brother even though Eira could see that she was becoming exasperated with his indecisiveness.
"I do, don't I?" Katara looked at him with a bored expression. "But no, it's too expensive. I shouldn't."
"Then don't!" Eira said bluntly. "Can we go now? If you've forgotten, we actually have something to do, i.e. getting Aang a teacher."
Katara and Eira began to walk off in boredom and Aang groggily got up from his napping spot and followed them. Sokka began to walk with them but then he stopped in his tracks as he looked back at the bag.
"You know what? I'm gonna get it." He said enthusiastically, smiling as he looked at the bag and paid the man.
Eira, Katara and Aang waited for him at the end of the street when the man who was distributing flyers walked up to them, handing one to them.
"Psst, psst! Hey, you kids love earthbending? You like… throwing rocks? Then check out Master Yu's Earthbending Academy."
Aang took the flyer and looked down at it curiously. Katara, Eira and Momo also began to look at it and Eira couldn't help but cringe at the poor quality of it. It was a bit… too flashy. Too obviously trying to sell.
Aang turned it around and smiled.
"Look! There's a coupon on the back! The first lesson is free." Aang exclaimed cheerfully.
"Who knows? This Mast Yu might be the earthbending teacher you've been looking for." Katara said but Eira was sceptical.
"I think Aang should try it, but I don't think we should be too hopeful, considering that he would have to pay for more lessons."
"Yeah, but I'm the Avatar. I'm sure they'd allow it this one time." Aang said optimistically. Eira shrugged.
"Probably."
Sokka came running up to them, his new green bag slung over his shoulder and he looked wonderingly at the flyer.
"Hey, what's that?" He asked.
"It's a voucher for a free earthbending lesson for Aang." Eira quickly explained.
"Then let's go!" Aang said excitedly, almost skipping off to the academy and Eira smiled. It was hard not to get swept up in his excitement. It was contagious.
They all walked calmly through the town and they managed to find the academy pretty quickly seeing as it was pretty big but it had the vibe of a school that only really cared about the money its students brought in, not the students themselves.
Eira never really liked those kinds of schools but she was never openly opposed to them. If they wanted to pay for an education, that's fine. Just as long as there is a free option close by.
Aang walked in slightly nervously as he handed the voucher to who looked like the teacher and then the man dragged him off inside the school for a uniform and an introduction.
After what Eira guessed to be half an hour, Aang and several other pupils around his age were taken out of the building and placed in front of several boulders.
The uniform they wore consisted of a plain green and cream tunic and green conical hat. Eira didn't really get why they were so popular but, then again, she wasn't really a hat person. Heck, if it wasn't for the fact she would stick out like a sore thumb without it, she would defiantly not be wearing her scarf.
Aang looked bored with the lesson and looked around, twitching but when he saw the other kids with their serious expressions he quickly straightened his back and took on a more serious expression.
Eira leaned against the wall with Katara, Sokka and Momo. One problem with
"Take your stances!" Master Yu said commandingly and all of the students began to take offensive poses, with the exception of Aang, who had absolutely no idea what to do.
Master Yu struck out his fist in front of him.
"Now, strike as if you're punching through your opponent's head!" He instructed and the students on the side with the boulders lifted them and shot them at the students opposite them.
The student in front of Aang threw the boulder at him and he was hit in the gut and smashed against the wall of the building as the force of the blow threw him across the courtyard.
Ouch! Eira thought, wincing slightly. That was going to hurt. I'm glad I'm not an earthbender. It looks even harder to do than airbending.
Aang sat up groggily, clutching his stomach as he did and Master Yu walked over to him, he looked down with a plastered smile on his face.
"So, are you ready to commit to more lessons?" He asked expectantly. "If you pay for the whole year in advance, I'll bump you up to the next belt!"
Aang just stared up at him, covered in sand, dust and shards of a pot he'd smashed into and as the teacher left, getting the message that Aang clearly didn't want to pay for more lessons and as Aang brushed the dust off him and got up, he trudged over to where they were sitting.
"Ehh, he's not the one." Aang said, tipping his head to the side to shake the sand out of his ear.
Eira stood up, as did Katara and Sokka, and she patted his back reassuringly.
"Hey, at least you know a little more about earthbending, right?" She asked but he nodded weakly. He was clearly not even sure he did learn even a little something.
"I know that rocks hurt when they're hurled at you." Aang said, smiling a bit easier.
"I think The Boulder's going to win back the belt at Earth Rumble VI." Eira's head twitched to the side as she heard some boys chatting to themselves as they walked out of the academy.
"He's going to have to fight his way through the best earthbenders in the world to get a shot at the champ."
Aang was also overhearing their conversation and he ran over to them curiously.
"Excuse me, but where is this earthbending tournament?" He asked as Eira, Sokka and Katara slowly walked over.
The two boys looked down arrogantly at Aang, as if wondering 'why is this kid talking to us' and Eira felt strangely reminded of some boys in her old school… and that wasn't a good comparison.
"It's on the island of Noneya… "Noneya" business!" One of the boys said sarcastically before they both burst into laughter and walked out.
"How long did it take you to think of that one?!" Eira called as they turned the corner. Idiots.
"Oh, I got to remember that one!" Sokka said, laughing and wiping tears of laughter away. Eira glared at him but he was too caught up with trying to think of ways to use it.
Katara smiled motherly at Aang.
"I'll take care of this." She said consolingly to Aang before she began to run after them. "Hey, strong guys! Wait up!"
They waited for a few minutes and Sokka looked down at his bag and held it out, then he looked at Eira's bag.
"What was I thinking?" Sokka asked before turning angrily to Eira and Aang. "I don't need a new bag, Eira already had one! Why did you let me buy this?"
Eira crossed her arms in irritation.
"Maybe we just wanted to see you get buyer's remorse." She said sarcastically. Sokka dropped the bag on the floor and sat down grumpily, pouting and arms crossed over his chest.
Momo hopped off Aang's shoulder and curled up in the bag, starting to sleep. Eira was just about to make a comment about how at least Momo liked the bag but then Katara came running back, an odd smile on her face.
"You ready to find an earthbending teacher?" She asked. "Because we're going to Earth Rumble VI!"
Aang's eyes widened in surprise.
"How'd you get them to tell you?" He asked but Katara just smiled and gestured effeminately with her hand.
"Oh… a girl had he ways." She said vaguely and Eira laughed.
"Flirtation or beating them up?" Eira asked as Katara began to lead them in the direction of the tournament. Katara also laughed.
"I iced them to a wall so they would tell me." She explained. Eira smiled.
"I don't understand why anyone would choose flirtation over just icing people to walls." She said, shaking her head in disbelief.
They walked until it was starting to turn to nightfall and they arrived at an odd alley with green posters all around and lots of men and boys streaming into the building.
The atmosphere was similar to a wrestling match and Eira had to admit it was energising just being there.
They walked through a tunnel and as they walked out into the light, they saw a large rectangular arena in the centre of the room with a large pit surrounding it.
The seats/stairs started up from the other edge of the pit and they expanded backwards to the corners of the rooms with embedded steps forming spokes from the edge of the pit to the back of the room.
It was surprisingly well made but to Eira's distaste, Sokka decided to sit near the front and Eira couldn't help but notice how the other spectators had wisely decided to leave at least five or so rows empty… just for them… right.
"Hey, front row seats!" Aang said happily as he sat down cheerfully on a stone step. "I wonder why no one else is sitting here." He wondered as he looked around. Eira, Sokka and Katara sat down, Eira a little more nervous than normal and just as Aang finished his sentence, a large boulder flew at them and slammed into the area next to Sokka.
They all jumped backwards, away from the rock and they all exchanged nervous glances.
"I guess that's why." Sokka said, stuttering slightly.
"But we're not moving now." Eira grumbled as she saw the other rows filling up with a shocking speed. They weren't going to find better seats.
"Welcome to Earth Rumble VI!" A loud, booming voice rang out the stadium and they attention was turned to a tan, muscular man with long dark hair who was rising on a platform in the centre of the ring and after getting their attention, he levelled the platform to the ring.
"I am your host, Xin Fu!" he said, raising his arms to gather cheers from the crowd and both Eira and Katara sighed in frustration.
"Yep, no real tactics here. Just guys chucking rocks at each other." Eira complained.
"That's what I paid for." Sokka said happily, absolutely beaming. Eira rolled her eyes and shared a look with Katara. Boys.
"If you just wanted to see guys chucking rocks at each other, you should and Aang should've stayed at the academy." Eira said resulting in Aang and Sokka looking unamused at her. Eira shrugged them off.
"The rules are simple." Xin Fu announced. "Just knock the other guy out of the ring and you win!" Xin Fu used earthbending to propel him up to a podium above the ring and a bell rang out from a place Eira couldn't properly locate.
"Round one: The Boulder vs. The Big Bad Hippo!" As Xin Fu talked, two men walked out into the ring, one was a man with thick features and a muscular body, obviously The Boulder, and as he walked further into the ring, he raised his arm to appreciate the cheers being given out by the crowd and opposite him, the Big Bad Hippo walked out.
He wasn't nearly as wrestler-looking as The Boulder. He looked a lot more like a sumo wrestler with a fat body, shapeless features and, sadly, just a pair of green shorts with some darker accessories on them. Also, unlike The Boulder, he simply roared at the crowd, revealing his four large molars.
I thought they called him The Hippo just because he was fat. Eira thought, slightly surprised.
The Boulder pointed accusingly at The Hippo.
"Listen up, Hippo. You may be big, but you ain't bad!" He grinned insanely and Eira tried to hold in laughter. His voice was even more ridiculous in real life. "The Boulder's gonna win this in a landslide!" He boasted but The Hippo roared again in response.
"Hippo… mad!" He grunted as he raised his arms in anger and slammed his foot to the floor. The ring shook with the force of the slam and The Boulder began to shoot three rocks at him but they shattered against The Hippo's bulk and he even caught one between his four molars and crushed it.
He spat it out and began to jump up and down, his sheer size and weight, as well as his earthbending, causing the ring to sway and tilt. The Boulder looked down in disbelief and began to rock, losing his balance.
"Unbelievable, ladies and gentlemen! The Hippo is rocking the boat!" By the way the crowd cheered "rocking the boat" must be some kind of special move, like the pile driver or whatever in wrestling.
Eira rested her chin and her hand as she continued to watch the fight, bored. It was strange how two men earthbending at each other could be so… strangely boring. Unlike many other fights Eira had witnessed and taken part in, this lacked the awe Eira usually had for the art.
As Eira thought, The Boulder had earthbent the area under The Hippo and used it to throw him out of the ring, sending him flying into the ditch around the arena.
The crowd cheered and whooped at The Boulder's victory and The Boulder raised his fist in the air proudly, resulting in an eye roll from Eira.
"The Boulder wins!" Xin Fu announced and Eira looked at Katara, Sokka and Aang. Katara had been watching the match with an analytical eye, looking for an appropriate earthbender for Aang, in a stark contrast the boys' wide-eyed excitement,
"How about The Boulder?" Katara asked, looking at Aang. "He's got some good moves." Aang shrugged unsurely.
"I don't know. Bumi said I need a teacher who listens to the earth. He's just listening to his big muscles." He explained.
"I have to agree with you there. There's practically no real form to his movements. He's almost literally just throwing rocks." Eira commented. "What do you think, Sokka?" Eira asked, looking across Aang to see Sokka cheering loudly and whoop-ing with the rest of the crowd.
"Next match… The Boulder versus Fire Nation Man!" Xin Fu told the crowd as an overweight man in a Fire Nation outfit walked on to the stage, waving a Fire Nation flag as he did.
The stadium was filling with boos as people began to throw things at the man and Sokka stood up and loudly booed him, giving him a thumbs down as he did.
The "Fire Nation Man" turned to the people in the seats and began to speak, setting up his flag.
"Please do rise for Fire Nation national anthem." He instructed in a pseudo-Russian accent and Eira was thoroughly confused. First of all, why did he have a Russian accent if he was supposed to be from the Fire Nation and, secondly, how was there a Russian accent in a world with no Russia!?
He put his hand over his heart and looked up at the ceiling. "Fire Lord, my flame burns for thee!" He warbily sang as he dropped to his knee and raised his arm.
Sokka picked up a loose rock and readied to throw it, following the example of the other people in the crowd.
"Go back to the Fire Nation!" He yelled, throwing it at the man and hitting him on the head.
"Sokka." Eira hissed, reaching over Aang to pull him back down. "He's not really from the Fire Nation. It's just a propaganda stunt. To show the strong, brave earthbender overcoming the weak, stupid firebender." She explained. "It's just a confidence boost to the Earth Kingdom citizens."
Sokka's face fell as he looked back to the fight, where The Boulder was slamming his weight onto the ground and creating a pillar of earth to forcefully throw the man out of the ring, down into the pit.
"So, it's staged...?" He asked in disappointment but Eira shook her head,
"Not entirely. This fight is, but I'm pretty sure the others weren't as it is a tournament."
The smile on Sokka's face returned widely and with his enthusiasm restored, he anxiously waited for the next match to be announced.
"Yeah! Woooo! The Boulder knows how to put the hurt in the dirt! Yeah! Woooo!" He yelled happily.
The fights continued to go on and on, The Boulder winning every fight he was in and the pile of his "victims" in the pit starting to build up but Aang still didn't see an earthbender suitable to be a teacher and Eira knew that his teacher wasn't going to show up until the very end.
After a while, Eira's eyes began to unfocus and the fights were passing in a blur but Eira's eyes snapped back into focus when the lights began to dim and Xin Fu began to rise on his platform.
"Now, the moment you've all been waiting for." He said ominously and Eira smiled. It actually was the moment she was waiting for. She could finally see Toph in action in real life.
"The Boulder versus!" He started and then he gestured towards the other side of the stage, revealing a small girl who was mainly obstructed by her massive green belt and mop of black hair that covered a lot of her face.
"Your champion… the Blind Bandit!" Xin Fu shouted and Toph raised her belt higher over her head, taking in the loud cheers of the crowd with a blank expression on her face.
Two women walked up to her and they took her belt and cape to give to the winner at the end, Eira assumed.
Seeing her eyes, even from a distance, was interesting to see from a distance away. Eira couldn't exactly tell what they looked like clearly, but they looked almost foggy. I wonder what caused her to be blind. Eira wondered though she had no idea about what caused blindness at birth. Medical things weren't her forte.
"She can't really be blind." Katara stated sceptically, squinting her eyes at Toph to see if there was anything that hinted at an act. "It's just part of her character, right?"
Aang looked thoughtfully down at her.
"I think she is." Aang said in hushed amazement.
"Well, I think she is…" He deadpanned but then he gestured downwards with his thumbs. "Going down!" He shouted in excitement.
"Aang, since I can't really reach, can you punch Sokka for me?" Eira asked, leaning backwards.
"Hey!" Sokka exclaimed in indignation.
"Just be quiet and watch the match." Katara scolded sharply.
Eira and Sokka both sat straighter in their seats and looked forwards at the ring.
"The Boulder feels conflicted about fighting a young blind girl." The Boulder said, clearly trying to gain more support from the crowd.
Good thing it doesn't matter with Toph, though.
Toph pointed at The Boulder mockingly.
"Sounds to me like you're scared, Boulder." Toph taunted, pulling a mockingly scared position and The Boulder looked stunned.
"The Boulder's over his conflicted feelings, and now he's ready to bury you," He said, flexing his arms in a dramatic gesture. "in a rock-alanche!"
Toph smiled arrogantly.
"Whenever you're ready, The Pebble!" She taunted again, throwing her head back and laughing loudly.
As she laughed, Aang's eyes widened and he gasped slightly as something clicked in his head.
"Aang?" Eira asked quietly and he was shaken out of his daze. He shook his head to clear his mind and smiled reassuringly at Eira.
"I think she's the girl from my vision." He said in realisation, looking down at the ring intensely, not wanting to miss anything.
"It's on!" The Boulder yelled and they both faced each other off and with a loud roar, The Boulder slammed his foot down on the earth, clearly preparing for something spectacular and Toph shifted her weight, sliding her foot over the earth and The Boulder raised his next foot but Toph kicked her foot at the ground, moving impossibly fast and the earth caught The Boulder's foot and his foot slipped, sending him into a full split.
The entire crowd winced and Eira couldn't blame them. Ouch.
The Boulder howled in pain but Toph wasn't sympathetic. She moved her hand swiftly through the air, as if batting something away and three large spires of earth shot out at The Boulder and sent him flying into a wall, allowing him to fall backwards down into the ditch.
Toph smiled slyly and span around victoriously, raising her arms proudly.
"You're winner, and still the champion, the Blind Bandit!" Xin Fu declared, leaving the crowd in complete awe.
"How did she do that?" Katara asked, clearly shocked. Eira smiled knowingly as Aang looked at Katara.
"She waited… and listened." He said, looking down at Toph who was about to be handed her belt back by Xin Fu but instead, he held up a small brown bag.
"To make things a little more interesting, I'm offering up this sack of golf pieces to anyone who can defeat the Blind Bandit." He offered, motioning towards Toph but he was met with nothing but silence.
He looked around, irritated at the lack of reaction.
"What? No one dares to face her?"
Aang stood up and smiled.
"I will!" He stated happily and the look of disappointment on Xin Fu's face was clear. He was clearly hoping for a more exciting opponent.
Aang walked down to the ring and murmurs began to break out in the audience as he closed the distance between the two of them.
"Go, Aang!" Sokka yelled encouragingly. "Avenge The Boulder!" he added.
"Do people really want to see two little girls fighting out here?" Toph mocked but Aang was unfazed.
The crowd ooohed but Aang held up his hands in a peaceful gesture.
"I don't really want to fight you. I want to talk to you." He admitted.
"Boo! No talking!" Sokka booed, resulting in death glares from Eira and Katara.
Eira punched him in the arm.
"Don't boo Aang." She scolded.
As Aang took a step, Toph smiled and stomped the ground, causing a large rock to fire out of the air and launched Aang into the air and he used his airbending to float down like a leaf.
He landed softly on the ground behind Toph and Toph's frustration at not being to properly see him and she frowned.
"Someone's a little light on his feet! What's your fighting name? The Fancy Dancer?" She asked mockingly and Aang sheepishly smiled, leaving Toph an opening to launch another pillar under his feet and sending him flying into the air once more.
"Where'd you go?" Toph asked in frustration and as Aang landed softly on the ground he waved his hands in protest.
"Please, wait!" He said hurriedly but Toph smiled.
"There you are!" She span around and threw a massive rock at him but he managed to stop it with airbending but the air blast blew around the rock and blasted Toph backwards out into the ditch.
There was a moment of shock from the crowd as everyone tried to figure out what had exactly happened. Aang had beaten their champion, that's what everyone was concerned about, but Eira was watching Toph storm out of the ring as Aang tried to reason with her.
"Wait!" Aang cried but Toph walked through an opening and slammed it shut behind her.
Aang looked sorrowfully at the now-closed doorway as Sokka, Katara and Eira ran down to the ring. Sokka quickly took the belt and bag f money from Xin Fu and the crowd was cheering loudly, but Eira and Katara looked concerned at Aang.
For all he knew, he had just lost his teacher.
"Way to go, champ!" Sokka said cheerfully, wrapping an arm around Aang's shoulder as he grinned, not reading the mood. Like always.
"Don't worry, Aang. We'll find her." Eira whispered reassuringly, after all, she knew they were going to find her.
o.O.o
After deciding that it was too dark to properly search for the Blind Bandit as it was already night time by the time they managed to leave the arena, they spent the night in a small hotel of sorts and decided to spend the next day searching.
"I've got to admit it, now, I'm really glad I bought his bag, It matches the belt perfectly." Sokka said in relief as he looked down at the green metal belt wrapped around his waist as they walked over to the Earthbending Academy.
"That's a great relief." Katara said sarcastically.
"Then, maybe, we don't have to waste our limited money on accessories from now on." Eira added. Sokka frowned.
"Hey, we won the money as well, in case you've forgotten." He pouted.
"But if we want to find the Blind Bandit, the Earthbending Academy is a great place to start." Aang said, looking into the courtyard of the academy for anyone who might have some information.
To the left of the courtyard, the two boys from the other day were practicing their earthbending by jabbing their hands into pots of sand-yeah, Eira didn't exactly understand how that worked either- and as they approached them, the boys looked up and rolled their eyes.
"Oh, great, you again." One of them complained but Katara glared at them and they backed off. Eira and Sokka smiled.
"Nicely done." Sokka said smugly.
The other boy looked at Aang and he looked at him with realisation.
"Hey! You're the kid who beat the Blind Bandit!" He exclaimed. Aang nodded.
"We need to talk to her. Do you guys know where she lives?" Aang asked hopefully but they shook their heads.
"The Blind Bandit's a mystery." One of them said, raising their fist dramatically. "She turns up to fight, then disappears."
"Helpful." Eira commented sarcastically. "But, do you know of any families with a blind daughter?" She asked.
He stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"Nope."
Aang looked to the floor, then back up.
"Wait, the girl I saw in my vision was in a white dress, with a flying boar." Aang described. "Do you know anyone like that?"
"Well, a flying boar is the symbol of the Beifong Family. They're the richest people in town. Probably the whole Earth Kingdom." He explained. Well, since the Earth King exists, I doubt it. Eira thought.
"Yeah, but they don't have a daughter." The other one added.
Aang smiled anyway.
"A flying boar is good enough for me." He said. "Thanks."
They turned to leave but Eira couldn't help but hear one of them whisper.
"Yeah, you better leave." Eira smirked. They're still acting confident, even when they're scared and got iced to a wall by Katara.
"Hey, I got my eye on you." Katara said intimidatingly, turning around and pointing at them as she walked out.
"Water Tribe." Sokka said quietly as he turned around coolly and waked out of the courtyard. Eira sniggered and hit him in the arm a bit more softly than normal as she actually thought it was funny.
"Smooth, Sokka." She commented as they walked through the street. "So, does anyone know where the Beifong's live?" Eira asked.
"Well… they said they were the richest in town, so we should just look for a big house or something." Aang said, as if just that second planning how they were going to find it.
"Or we could just ask someone." Katara added, jabbing her thumb behind her at the several groups of people mulling about their daily business.
"That works too." Aang said cheerfully, walking over to a group of women talking together. He talked to them for a minute or so and then when he walked back, smiling.
"The Beifong estate is just a couple of minutes away in that direction." Aang informed them, pointing to their right.
"Great!" Sokka said and they all walked quickly down to the massive house at the end of the street. Eira had never seen a house so big. It was a mansion with a huge wall around it. The gate was made of a smooth wood and a symbol of a golden flying boar was emblazoned on the top of it.
"Wow… they are rich." Sokka commented in awe as they walked up to the tall gates.
As they did, they stopped in front of it awkwardly. Aang turned to them.
"So, uh, who wants to knock?" he asked.
"But who says they'll let us in?" Eira asked. "I know you're the Avatar Aang but we can't just charge into a home and demand that they let us see their daughter and take her away into a live on the road, constantly being chased by people wanting to kill us."
His face fell, then he smiled.
"Then we can go another way." He said, using his airbending to propel them all up into the air, over the wall. Sokka and Katara landed hard in some bushes but Eira and Aang managed to use their airbending to land a bit softer.
Aang looked around as Eira went to help Katara and Sokka up but as she was helping Katara, she heard a voice speak up and she turned around to see a girl in a white dress and neat black hair. It was beyond weird to see Toph look like that.
"What are you going here, Twinkle Toes?" She demanded, her attention on Aang.
"How did you know it was me?" Aang asked innocently in shock.
"Don't answer to Twinkle Toes!" Sokka exclaimed. "It's not manly!" Eira rolled her eyes.
"Says the guy who wasted all our time picking out a bag and acting glad that "matches the belt"." Eira commented.
"How did you find me?"
"Well, a crazy kind told me I had to find an earthbender who listens to the earth. And then I had a vision in a magic swamp." Aang began to explain but as Toph raised an eyebrow in disbelief, Eira stepped in front of him.
"I think what's Aang's trying to say is that when we saw you at the tournament, he was really impressed with your bending and thought that you'd be perfect to teach him earthbending, Toph." Eira explained.
"Wait, how do you know my name?" She asked sharply and Eira paled and blushed somehow at the same time. Cachu! Cachu! Cachu! Eira swore mentally as she tried to think of an excuse. Dammit! Why did she call Toph by her name before she said it?!
"I overheard it." Eira quickly lied. "But you're the perfect teacher for Aang, you're an incredible earthbender."
Toph eyes narrowed in suspicion as she could clearly tell Eira was lying and she shook her head stubbornly.
"I don't teach." She said bluntly. "Now get out of here, or I'll call the guards." She said dismissively, walking off.
"Look, we all have to do our part to win this war, and yours is to teach Aang earthbending." Sokka said strongly.
"Guards! Guards, help!" Toph cried, putting on a false tone of panic and Eira's feet turned cold in panic. What?!
Eira, Sokka, Aang and Katara dived into the thankfully-large bushes and managed to hide themselves before the guards ran onto the scene.
"Toph, what happened?" One of the guards asked as Eira tried to ignore the several itchy, sharp branches stabbing her body.
"I-I… thought I heard someone. I got scared." Toph said timidly and Eira couldn't help but think that that voice on Toph sounded so wrong. She wasn't a timid rich girl, she was awesome.
"You know your father doesn't want you wandering the grounds without supervision, Toph." The guard said softly.
There were sounds of walking and after they faded away, they burst out of the bush.
"Well… that failed." Eira muttered as she brushed the leaves and dirt off her clothes.
"Yeah, how are we going to get her now?" Sokka asked.
"How about we ask?" Aang asked, shrugging.
o.O.o
Then, the next thing Eira knew, she was sitting around a table with Loa and Poppy Beifong as well as Toph and her teacher and because life hated her, Aang, Katara and Sokka got to sit on one side of the table but, no. Eira had to sit on the other side with Toph and her teacher because there wasn't enough room on the "guest" side.
Just perfect.
Eira looked nervously at the soup on the table in front of her and tried to sit up straighter. Having Poppy and Lao present made her feel like she was sitting in front of the Queen, and the food she had to eat was spaghetti bolognaise! (Seriously, who can eat that cleanly and politely?)
Sokka, on the other hand, was unaffected by it and was devouring his food. A servant brought over a bowl of soup and placed it in front of Toph.
Lao instantly frowned and turned to the servant.
"Blow on it. It's too hot for her." He ordered but Aang took this as an opportunity to impress them.
"Allow me." He said politely, sending a small swirling tornado of air at her soup and it blew away the steam.
Everyone at the table clapped but Toph looked annoyed.
Now Eira was closer, she could now see that her eyes were actually green, just foggy. She'd always though they were some sort of light blue when watching the show.
"Avatar Aang, it's an honour to have you visit us." Poppy said gratefully.
"In your opinion, how much longer do you think the war will last?" Lao asked. Aang looked around thoughtfully.
"Well, I'd like to defeat the Fire Lord by the end of summer, but I can't do that without finding an earthbending teacher first." He explained, looking at Toph to try and give a hint to her parents.
They did not get it.
"Well, Master Yu is the finest teacher in the land." Lao said, chuckling as he gestured to Yu. "He's been teaching Toph since she was little."
Master Yu sat up straighter at the compliment but Aang looked enthusiastically at the Beifongs.
"Then she must be a great earthbender!" He said excitedly. "Probably good enough to teach someone else!" He looked like he was going to continue but his chair rocked and he yelped in pain suddenly.
Eira looked at Toph but she continued to eat her soup quietly. There was a silence for a while but then Lao looked back to Aang.
"Toph is still learning the basics." Yu added.
"Yes, and sadly because of her blindness, I don't think she will ever become a true master." Lao said sadly.
"But, wouldn't it help her?" Eira asked. Might as well at least try to help her parents understand.
Lao, Poppy and Yu turned to look at her, confused.
"What do you mean by that?" Lao asked.
"If she's an earthbender, and a good one, wouldn't it be helpful for her to learn to "see" with and manipulate the ground she stood on. It could help her get around better and become a better earthbender." Eira explained, trying to make it seem like Toph wasn't already doing that so she wouldn't get in trouble with her parents.
Master Yu shook his head.
"Unfortunately, that is not the case, young lady. While that would be the dream, there hasn't been a recorded incident of earthbenders, "seeing" with their earthbending." He informed.
"But I'm sure she could. I bet she's already-" Aang began but he was flung forwards into his soup.
Everyone stopped eating as they looked at Aang pick himself up from his soup and he glared at Toph but then his nose began to twitch.
Oh no. Eira thought quickly as she flung up her arms defensively as Aang sneezed, sending all of the table contents flying and, sadly, as Eira defended herself, she put a bit too much power into it and a large gust of air sent them flying into all of the walls.
Eira blushed in embarrassment as she looked around the room and the now not-so-neat walls that she had managed to ruin and Toph jumped up angrily from her chair.
"What's your problem?!" She demanded angrily.
"What's your problem?!" Aang asked equally angry as he also jumped up from his seat.
Lao and Poppy wiped their faces with their napkins and Poppy looked around with a forced patience.
"Well, shall we move to the living room for desert, then?" She asked formally, clearly trying to cover her annoyance with their destroying of the room.
"Yes, let's do that." Lao agreed, getting up and walking out, his wife closely following behind.
o.O.o
The Beifong's had decided to give them a place to rest for the night and Eira had decided to take a walk in the garden seeing as her attempts to subtly tell Poppy and Lao that their daughter was a great earthbender where failing.
She had never seen parents so blind with their over-protectiveness but Eira could tell that it was Lao who most of it was lying on but also that it was out of genuine care for their daughter.
Eira used her airbending to jump up onto the roof of the mansion and she looked up at the stars curiously.
Lately, she'd been trying to see if there were any constellations she could form in her mind but with the lack of light pollution in this world, the sky was a formless pattern of stars. Beautiful and chaotic.
Eira sighed. Was she never going to convince anyone in this world of anything, really? She couldn't help but think that her presence in this world wasn't really amounting to anything.
Even as the only female airbender in this world, it wasn't really making a difference as so far, her airbending was only good at enhancing her physical movements. A jump. A punch. None of the "manipulating the air currents" things that Aang could do with ease.
You did save Yue. A little voice in her head reminded her. Eira smiled. She had managed to save a life. That was something. Eira remembered the dream she had had in the North Pole and grimaced. There were a lot more lives that needed saving. She would stop Long Feng from killing Jet, the sandbenders from taking Appa and if she could, she'd stop Azula from infiltrating Ba Sing Se.
Eira laughed quietly. Oh, if only she could do all of that. Most of their problems would be solved before they even began. But then again, knowing her BS luck, she'd end up creating even more problems.
Eira looked around at the garden and saw Toph and Aang walking on the bridge and chatting.
Toph was such a strong person. At only twelve she was a master of her art and she managed to do it without her family even knowing. Eira had always thought Toph was one of the most badass characters in an animated TV show and she deserved the title.
But as Eira looked at them, she saw Toph drop to her knees and place a hand on the ground.
"It's an ambush!" Toph yelled and Eira's eyes widened as they began to run across the garden, Toph dragging Aang but then a dirt tunnel surrounded them and the weird gecko wrestler-earthbender guy jumped out of it as well as the other earthbenders Toph had beaten.
But before Eira could react, two large metal cages slammed themselves on top of them and The Hippo jumped up and down of them, completely trapping them.
"Hey!" Eira called out. "Stop!" Eira jumped down from the roof and grabbed her staff. She slashed it at them and managed to throw The Gecko across the garden and slam into a wall but she was hopelessly outnumbered and outmatched as the ground underneath her shot up, sending her flying into the air and then a boulder slammed into her chest and sent her crashing into the floor.
"Eira!" She heard Aang cry out but her eyesight was fading into black.
"I think you kids owe me some money." Xin Fu said menacingly and Eira completely lost consciousness.
Next thing she knew she was being shaken awake by Katara.
"Eira! Eira, what happened?"
Eira's eyes flickered open and she was thankful to see it was still night and she was still in the garden but then she saw the boxes were gone, along with Aang and Toph.
"No, no, no, no, no." Eira stuttered. "X-Xin Fu, and the other earthbenders. They took Toph and Aang." She said in horror as she staggered up and saw that Sokka was looking at a small scroll with a a knife stabbed through it.
Eira heard Poppy and Lao gasp in horror as Sokka took the scroll off the knife and handed it to Katara.
"If you wanted to see your daughter again, bring five hundred gold pieces to the arena." Katara read out. "Eira's right, it's signed Xin Fu and The Boulder."
Sokka reached out and grabbed the note back.
"I can't believe it…" He said seriously as he looked down at it. "I have The Boulder's autograph!" he said, dramatically holding it above his head.
Eira glared at him in annoyance as Poppy wiped the tears out of her eyes.
Lao looked at his wife sadly and turned to Master Yu.
"Master Yu, I need you to help me get my daughter back." He said.
"We're going with you." Katara said, looking at the note in Sokka's hands worriedly.
"Poor Toph, she must be so scared." Poppy choked out and Eira looked sympathetically at her.
"Your daughter's stronger than you think. I'm sure she's fine." She said.
o.O.o
After the Beifong's got their money prepared and Eira retrieved the money from Sokka's bag and took it in her own, just in case, they used an ostrich-pulled carriage to take them quickly to the arena.
They entered cautiously and they were greeted with the scene of all of the earthbenders and Xin Fu standing on the lit up ring with two metal boxes hanging from the ceiling.
"Toph!" Lao cried as he saw her and Sokka's eyes narrowed as he set the bag of gold on the ground.
"Here's your money." He said sharply. "Now let them go." He demanded as Master Yu earthbent the money across the ring and down to Xin Fu.
Xin Fu slowly picked up the bag and looked inside and when he saw it was the money, he gestured for Toph's box to be let down and released.
Toph fell out from her box and Toph ran over to Lao. Eira looked up at Aang, still in his cage.
"What about Aang?" Eira asked, crossing her eyes.
Xin Fu grinned as he showed them a Fire Nation wanted poster.
"I think the Fire Nation will pay a hefty price for the Avatar. Now, get out of my ring!" He ordered.
"How dare you!" Eira shouted in disgust. "You're betraying your nation and the world. How could you?" Eira asked, charging forwards but Katara and Sokka held her back.
"Eira, don't!" Aang called from inside his box. "I'll be okay!"
Eira looked up at him.
"No, you won't if you're sold to the Fire Nation."
Xin Fu looked almost amused at Eira's anger.
"Toph, there's too many of them." Katara said as Toph and her family began to walk away. "We need an earthbender, we need you!"
Lao turned around indignantly.
"My daughter is blind. She is blind and tiny and helpless and fragile. She cannot help you!" he insisted.
"Your daughter is powerful, strong and an excellent earthbender." Eira shot back. "You're only seeing what you think she is, not what she actually is."
Lao looked down at his daughter and began to escort her away but Toph pulled away from him.
"She's right. I can help them," Toph said confidently, walking back to the ring.
The earthbenders were preparing to go, The Boulder holding Aang's box over his shoulder, but Toph bent the edges of the ring to stop them from leaving.
"Let him go!" Toph said loudly. "I beat you all before and I'll do it again!"
"The Boulder takes issue with that comment." The Boulder said indignantly as he threw Aang's cage to the side.
Eira, Katara and Sokka began to move forwards to help but Toph help out her hand to stop them.
"Wait! They're mine." She said, smiling as she said the last part.
Toph shook the ring up and the earthbenders began to lose their balance and as Toph walked up to the fake Fire Nation guy and she dodged the wave of earth he sent at her and she bent her own wave to earth at him and threw him out of the ring and into the stands where a horrified Lao and Yu were sitting.
Eira, Katara and Sokka ran over to Aang's cage and tried to break it open, Sokka constantly banging a rock against his cage.
"Hit it harder!" Aang said panicking.
"I'm trying!" Sokka said, trying to hit it harder as Eira punched the air behind her and sent the Gecko flying into Toph's range and was sent flying into the stands as well.
Sokka slammed the rock on the lock on last time and it completely shattered.
Eira and Katara pulled the cage open and Aang jumped out to see that Toph had just completely wiped out the ring and all of the earthbenders were collapsed in a pile.
"Wow." Eira gasped. She was unbelievably powerful. "Toph, you're amazing."
Toph smiled.
"Thanks."
o.O.o
They all returned to the Beifong estate and they were currently watching Toph confront her parents.
"Dad, I know it's probably hard for you to see me this way, but the obedient little blind girl you think I am just isn't me." She said determinedly. "I love fighting. I love being and earthbender, and I'm really good at it. I know I've kept my life secret from you but you were keeping me secret from the whole world. I know you were doing it to protect me, but I'm twelve and I've never had a real friend. " She protested.
"So, now that you see who I really am, I hope it doesn't change the way you feel about me."
Lao looked down at Toph and then at his wife.
"Of course it doesn't change the way I feel about you, Toph. It's just made me realise something." Toph looked up at her father happily.
"It has?" She said.
"Yes, I've let you have far too much freedom. From now on you'll be cared for and guarded twenty-four hours a day." Lao said strictly. What? Twenty-four hours a day?! Eira thought in shock.
"But, dad!" Toph started but Poppy stopped her.
"We're doing this for your own good, Toph." Poppy said, trying to be good cop.
"Please escort the Avatar and his friends out. They are no longer welcome here." Lao ordered his servants and they began to walk out. Aang looked sadly back at Toph.
"I'm sorry, Toph." He said quietly as Eira walked out of the door.
"I'm sorry too. Goodbye, Aang." She said back and they all moved to outside where Appa was resting.
"Don't worry, we'll find you a teacher. There are plenty of amazing earthbenders out there." Katara said reassuringly.
"Not like her." Aang said quietly, jumping up onto Appa as Eira, Sokka and Katara climbed up onto the saddle.
Sokka began to look at the green metal belt and began to polish it as Eira looked back at the house. Toph should be arriving soon and she wasn't disappointed as Toph was running towards them, bag in hand.
"Toph! What are you doing here?" Aang asked in surprise.
"My dad changed his mind. He said I was free to travel the world." She explained, clearly lying but they were going to take it.
"Then we should be leaving before he changes his mind again." Eira said.
"Good idea." Toph said, preparing to get on Appa.
"You're going to be a great teacher, Toph." Aang said gratefully and Toph stopped, as if thinking of something.
"Speaking of which, I want to show you something." She said and Aang naively jumped down.
"Okay." And as his feet touched the ground, a rock sent him flying into a tree.
"Now we're even." She said, then she held out her hand expectantly to Sokka. "Um, I'll take the belt back." She said and as he tossed the belt down it hit her in the head and knocked her down.
"Ow."
"Sorry." Sokka apologised as Aang fell down from the tree and Eira couldn't help but laugh.
"Come on, guys. We better get going." Eira said and Aang threw Toph onto the saddle and took the reins.
"Appa, yip yip!" He said, flicking the reins and they flew up in the air, content with their successes.
Eira leaned over to Toph as Appa flew. She was clearly not used to flying.
"Don't worry, flying gets better after a while."
"I doubt it." Toph said and Eira paused as she thought about what she was going to say next.
"By the way, I know your father didn't change his mind, but I'm glad you did." Eira whispered and was rewarded with a small smile from Toph.
Eira couldn't wait to see what was going to happen next.
Toph's here! Boo-yeah! This will be fun!
Please review!