Wandering Firebender
Seventy Seven: Metalbend
"Whoa! Hey, can you tell whoever's flying this thing to keep it steady?!"
Cindra stepped out of her room in the airship to find a young Earth Kingdom girl that she didn't recognize standing in the hallway complaining loudly.
Cindra had heard already that there would be someone new onboard the ship for this mission, and although she might've vaguely recognized hearing the name Toph Beifong somewhere before, this was her first time seeing her in person.
This seemed like as good of a time as any to introduce herself.
"Hey! Is everything alright?" She asked as she approached her.
"Does it look like everything's alright?" Toph replied sharply, "I need to feel vibrations to see where I'm going, but this stupid ship shakes so much in the air that I can't keep my balance." She explained with a huff.
"Do you need help?" Cindra offered a hand to her.
"Ugh..." Toph impatiently blew a puff of air out of her mouth before taking Cindra's hand. "Thanks."
"You're welcome. I'm Cindra. You must be Toph Beifong." She presumed.
"Yep, that's right. You're one of Katara's friends, right? The other waterbender girl?" Toph asked.
"I am, yeah! How is she?"
"Fine," Toph answered with a shrug. "Hey, where's hotfoot at? I thought he was supposed to be the captain."
"You mean Elio? He's...in his quarters. He's been going through a tough time lately." Cindra said in a lower voice.
"Yeah, well he's not the only one. I hope we land soon so I can get off this hunk of junk."
"Yeah...um, well, have you eaten yet? Why don't we go get some food?" Cindra suggested to redirect the focus of the conversation.
"Ooh yeah, that would be great! I'm starving!" Toph realized.
"Great. Let's go then." Cindra said, leading Toph by the hand down to the dining area.
Toph didn't seem to be entirely clueless of her surroundings, but she had an odd way of feeling her way around. It wasn't until she noticed the absent expression in Toph's eyes that she came to realize that Toph was blind.
Why would Zuko send a blind girl of all people to help them on this important mission?
"Hey, Cindra! Over here!" Sri, who was eating with Alger at one of the tables, called her over. Cindra and Toph walked over to them, "Who's your friend?" She asked curiously.
"This is Toph. She's accompanying us on this mission, apparently," Cindra introduced her. "Toph, these are my friends Sri and Alger."
"Toph? As in Toph Beifong?" Alger asked, raising an eyebrow.
"That's right. I know you, don't I? I'm pretty sure I don't know anybody else named algae." Toph asked with a sideways smile.
"Alger. Alger San."
"Sandman! I do know you! How've you been?" Toph asked enthusiastically.
"I'm well. I hardly recognized you, Toph. You look very different." Alger commented with a chuckle.
"Heh, you're just saying that because I ditched the makeup and the foo-foo girly clothes."
"Among other things, yeah." Alger agreed. They both chuckled at this.
"You two know each other already?" Cindra asked.
"Obviously." Toph said.
"We've spoken a few times at different functions. You were only about 7 years old the first time we met. I take it you aren't staying with your parents anymore?" Alger deduced.
"Absolutely not." Toph shook her head.
"Fair enough. Well, you seem to be doing well for yourself now if you have the Fire Lord's approval." Alger said with a polite smile.
"Oh yeah, I'm doing great! I traveled with the Avatar, saved the world, invented a new type of bending – you know how it is." Toph bragged with a beaming proud smile.
"A new type of bending?" Sri repeated. All three of them looked at her strangely.
"Yep! Check it out!" Toph said.
She picked up one of the metal chairs in front of her and easily bent one of the legs. She then broke it off of the chair so that she could form it into a circle. The others watched this in amazement. Alger stood up from his chair.
"How're you doing that?!" Alger asked.
"It's metalbending! See, what you do is you focus your earthbending on the fine pieces of rock in the metal, and you use that to bend the whole thing. It's cool, right? I figured it out myself." Toph said with a chuckle.
"That's impressive! Revolutionary even! Toph, please, you have to teach me how to do that." Alger immediately requested. Toph smirked a little.
"I dunno, sandman. It might be a little too complicated for a seeing-eye person like you." She shrugged.
"Now come on, you already know you can't just show me something like that and then not teach me." Alger insisted, walking around the table to approach her. Toph folded her arms and laughed.
"True! You are like super into that kind of stuff. Alright, follow me. I'll teach you what I know. We're gonna need some room." Toph said, beginning to walk.
After taking a few steps, the ship lurched again, causing Toph to stumble. Alger quickly grabbed her by arm, placing his other hand on her back to steady her. Toph stood up straight, cleared her throat, and brushed herself off.
"Uh, mind walking me somewhere where there's room?" She requested. And with that, Alger and Toph left Cindra and Sri at the table.
"Well, so much for eating." Cindra commented.
"I'm sure she'll remember later. Did you see Alger's face just now? I don't think I've ever seen him so excited." Sri pointed out with a giggle.
"Yeah! He's usually so...calm, I guess? I'm not sure the right word to use." Cindra giggled awkwardly.
"Haha me neither, but you're right. It was cute." Sri commented...
Elio's ship landed near Gaoling sometime in the early afternoon. The bay doors were opened and out walked Toph, Alger, and Cindra with several foot soldiers just behind them. Out in the distance, they could see a nearby small town.
"Hey, have you seen Elio?" Cindra asked Alger.
"I'm afraid not." He answered her with a shake of his head.
"I've never seen Elio." Toph joked.
"Uh...uhuh. Have any of you seen him?" Cindra asked the soldiers. They all shook their heads too.
"There's been no word from the captain." One of them said.
"Not yet anyway," Elio commented as he came out to join them with Sri following close behind. "Was everyone waiting on me?"
"Yes, sir." One of the soldiers answered as they all saluted him. Elio hummed quietly and cast his eyes on the nearby town.
Cindra watched him with concern. Though he was being quiet and mild-mannered like usual, she could see in his eyes that he still wasn't well; his expression seemed angry but also like he wanted to cry.
"Hmm, alright. Sri and I will go in first to talk to the townsfolk and figure out exactly where they are. If that doesn't work, we'll search the nearby woods in teams. For now, just guard the airship until we get back." Elio decided.
"Yes, sir." The soldiers saluted him once more before taking their posts. Elio started to walk towards the town, but Cindra stopped him by reaching out and grabbing his shoulder gently.
"Elio, can I talk to you for a second?" She requested.
"Yeah. Of course." Elio nodded. Cindra stepped away from the others. Elio followed. Once they were a short distance away, she moved in closer to him and spoke in a quiet voice.
"Are you feeling any better? You don't look like you're okay." She asked.
"I'm doing okay," Elio nodded. "Just coming to terms with everything." He said with a sigh.
"Coming to terms with what?" She asked.
"Stuff...I'm realizing now how much I really gave up by running away, and I'm still paying for it now. I guess I wasn't ready to lose everything. I don't know." He explained in vague terms, looking away and folding his arms in front of him.
"Is there anything I can do to help you?" Cindra asked, placing a hand on his forearm.
"I don't think so. I appreciate it but I'll be alright. I just wanna be in and out of here as fast as possible. The rest I can worry about on my own time." He answered.
"Okay...well if you ever need it, I'm here for you." She reminded him.
"I know. Thank you." Elio said appreciatively, running her hand over Cindra's for a moment and managing a little smile before breaking away and walking back to Sri. After that, he and Sri made their way into town.
"What's up with those two? Are they dating or something?" Toph asked Alger, who was standing next to her.
"I don't believe so...how did you...?"
"See them? Heh, you got a lot to learn about being an earthbender, buddy. Guess I got two things to teach ya." Toph thought aloud. She started to walk away from the airship and motioned for Alger to follow her.
Alger and Toph quietly walked off, going somewhere away from the airship that was isolated and open, presumably so that they could train privately.
Alger found himself feeling oddly nervous – it had been a long time since he had picked up a new skill, and he couldn't anticipate what the teaching methods of a 13 year old girl would be like.
"Alright! First things first: take off your shoes!" Toph commanded, Turning her shoulders towards Alger and pointing at him.
"My shoes?"
"Yep! The bottom of your feet need to be on the ground. You wanna learn how to metalbend? This is how we start." She stated.
"Uh, alright then." Alger slipped his shoes off his feet and set them down on the ground next to him.
"Come on, hurry up. What, you afraid of ants biting?" She teased, "Now get into a horse stance." She instructed, getting into her own stance. Alger followed suit.
"Tell me how this is a prerequisite to bending metal." Alger requested.
"If you wanna bend metal, you have to focus on the fine pieces of earth inside the metal, remember? I said that already. Well, to get you good enough at sensing earth to do that, I'm gonna teach you how I sense earth in the first place. It's how I see what's around me." She explained.
"Okay. I'm ready." Alger said with a nod, satisfied with this answer for now.
"Good, 'cause I'm not gonna go easy on you. Start by closing your eyes. I want you to focus all of your attention on the bottom of your feet. Feel the earth, and you'll start to sense vibrations. When you're ready, I'll test you."
"Got it...eyes closed...feeling for vibrations." Alger repeated to himself, doing as he was told.
He directed all of his focus to feeling the sensations on the bottom of his feet: the tingling of the grass, the soft dirt, and...a subtle feeling he'd never noticed before – something he could only describe as a gentle stirring within the ground itself.
"Seems like you're planted pretty well now. Are you ready to begin your test, my young student?" Toph asked. His eyes were closed, but Alger could hear her smiling as she said that.
"Yes, I'm ready, Toph."
"Hmm, I think you should start calling me Sifu Toph for the remainder of this lesson." She said, chuckling to herself.
"...just start the test."
After a few moments of stillness and silence, Alger felt a sudden shockwave in the ground underneath him. He stumbled in surprise, almost losing his balance and falling backwards. As he caught himself, he opened his eyes to glare at Toph, who started laughing again.
"Haha, my bad, that was a little hard."
"Please, Toph, can we be serious? We have an important mission that we should be focused on." Alger insisted.
"I am serious! I'm trying to help you here!" Toph said defensively. Alger let out a quiet sigh.
"Alright, sorry. Let's begin again." Alger said, getting in his stance again.
"Fine. And keep your eyes closed, alright? Just because I'm blind doesn't mean I won't be able to tell if you're cheating." Toph said.
"How would you be able to tell?"
"Because you'd start bracing, now close your eyes already!"
"Right! Eyes closed!" He said, closing his eyes again.
With his focus now back on the soles of his feet, he soon felt a shift in the earth. Rather than say anything, he continued to feel for more. Another shift came and then another, each one slightly softer than the last.
As Alger got better at picking up the variations of Toph's seismic shockwaves, he noticed that a picture was starting to be painted in his head – he was becoming increasingly aware of the surrounding landscape.
Someone was coming up behind him, walking at a slightly hastened pace. Alger opened his eyes and stood up straight. He turned around and saw that it was Elio walking up to him.
"Hey. What's going on here?" Elio asked, looking at them with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh hey, hotfoot! I'm teaching him some important stuff that he doesn't know about." Toph said as she waved to him.
"Okay?"
"Yes, Elio. If it's possible, I need just a little more time." Alger requested.
"Uh, well, the people in town haven't seen any Fire Nation soldiers around. No one knows anything so we're about to start sending out search parties. I could use your help, both of you." Elio informed them.
"Don't worry about the search parties. If you just let us finish, we can find them for ya. I promise!" Toph said with a grin.
"What do you mean?" Elio asked.
"Please, Elio," Alger insisted, placing a firm hand on Elio's shoulder. "I'm asking you to trust the process."
"...alright. You do your thing, man. I'll gather my men and we'll be waiting." He agreed, patting Alger on the arm before turning and leaving.
"Thank you," He said to Elio gratefully before turning back towards Toph and resuming his stance. "Okay, Toph. Let's continue."
"Sure thing. You know for boys, you two sure are pretty touchy-feely." She commented.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing at all, it's just weird. Anyways, we're gonna run through the test one more time. Ready?"
"I'm ready." Alger nodded and closed his eyes.
"No peeking now," Toph said before beginning the test. She sent out a series of shockwaves, each with a different level of intensity. This time, Alger was able to sense them all.
"How we doing, sandman? How many waves did I send out this time?" She asked.
"13!"
"Oh wow, you actually kept track. I'm impressed! You're ready for the next step!" Toph declared.
"Lay it on me." Alger said.
"I've sent my shockwaves, now it's your turn to send one back. This time, send out your own vibrations and see what you feel." Toph instructed.
"Alright." Alger cleared his throat before sending out his first shockwave. Immediately, he felt way more vibrations traveling through the ground and moving outwards like a ripple effect in water. It overwhelmed him.
"Not bad. Did you do that with your eyes closed?" Toph asked.
"Whoa...uh, no."
"Close your eyes. Don't open them until you're able to find me." She instructed.
Alger sighed and took a moment to focus again. He sent out a shockwave followed by several more. With each one, that picture in his head started to become clearer. He began to move towards Toph. She took a few steps to the side, but Alger was able to grab her by the arm.
"I got you," He said before opening his eyes. "What is this? How did you figure this out?" He asked her.
"I had to be taught by badgermoles. It's the only way they can see, and they passed it on to me. Now it's your turn." Toph said with a little smile as she pulled her wrist away.
"Thank you...you're a surprisingly good teacher." Alger complimented her.
"Take the 'surprisingly' part out and you got that right." Toph said in reply.
Alger chuckled and sent out another shockwave, feeling the vibrations in the earth. However, as he did so this time, he noticed something strange among the trees...unnatural shapes with more weight to them. Alger's eyes widened.
"Hey...do you feel that? I think those are the Fire Nation tanks we were looking for! They're over that way!" Alger realized.
"Sounds like we better go get hotfoot and his crew." Toph said, not sounding surprised at all.
"You knew they were there?"
"Yeah, they haven't been doing anything this whole time, so I figured this would be a good moment for you. I can't take all the credit now." Toph chuckled.
"Come on! We need to hurry before they move!" Alger said, beginning to run.
"Alright! And you can practice your metalbending now on the tanks!" Toph said, running after him.
Alger and Toph sprinted back to the airship, catching up with Elio just as he was gathering his men together. Alger called out to him as they closed in, and he grabbed his shoulder as he came to a stop.
"Elio! Elio! We know where the tanks are! They're in the forest that way!" Alger said urgently, pointing towards the trees.
"What? Really? That's so close though. Are they on the run?" Elio asked.
"No, they're staying still. They're deep in the trees; they probably never saw us land." Alger assumed.
"Alright. Well, we're all set to go. Lead the way." Elio said with a nod.
"Yeah, Alger. Lead the way." Toph nudged Alger with his elbow. Alger's eyes widened and he nodded.
"Yeah, y-yep. I'll show you." Alger said.
Alger made his way towards the trees, stopping right before the line between the clearing and the forest. He took in a deep breath, sliding one foot towards the trees. Elio, Toph, and the others all waited behind him.
"What's going on?" Elio asked.
"Shh. He's learning. Let him have his moment." Toph whispered, holding her finger up towards him.
Alger raised his foot up and planted it on the ground. He closed his eyes and felt the vibrations again, letting them stretch out and guide him. The image was fuzzy, but he could see that the tanks were straight ahead and beginning to move.
"I got 'em! We need to hurry! They're moving towards the town!" Alger shouted to the others before using his earthbending to land-surf through the trees.
"Alright! It's been forever since I've had a good fight! Let's go, hotfoot! Last one there has to clean up!" Toph said as she began land-surfing too, pushing ahead of Elio and his soldiers and making them stumble because of the sudden shift in the ground.
"Urgh, earthbenders." Elio muttered under his breath as he caught himself and signaled for his soldiers to follow behind them.
"Alright, sandman! We're coming in hot on these firebenders. You ready for a crash course in metalbending?" Toph asked.
"Already? I'm still learning to sense vibrations!" Alger pointed out.
"Exactly, which means you need to be learning how to think on your feet like me! Now listen closely, you'll feel different kinds of vibrations depending on the material you're hitting. To metalbend, you need to tell the difference between earth and not earth."
"But metal isn't earth!"
"It's got earth in it! You'll feel it! You got this, buddy!" Toph gave him a thumbs up.
The two of them reached the small squadron of tanks. Alger quickly surveyed that there was about 6 of them, each carrying a small handful of soldiers. It wouldn't be a war, but it wouldn't be an easy fight either. However, Toph engaged them first without hesitation.
"Surprise attack!" She shouted before launching a tank into the air with her earthbending. The surrounding all soldiers all jumped in surprise, taking a few seconds to realize what was happening.
"Did you just yell surprise attack?" Alger asked.
"I've been hanging out with Sokka too much." Toph realized.
"Take out those earthbenders!" One of the commanders yelled. Immediately, a large amount of fire started to rain down on them. Alger slid into action, creating a protective wall to take the blasts.
"Alright, sandman. It's your time to shine! Metalbend those tanks!" Toph instructed.
"What?!"
"You heard me! Do it like your life depends on it!" Toph pointed at him.
"Ahh alright." Alger growled before land-surfing to the side. He made his way right to one of the tanks and reached out for it, but he felt nothing. Two soldiers atop the tank immediately started shooting fireballs at him. Alger had to move awkwardly to dodge.
"Come on now! You got this!" Toph shouted to him, avoiding the firebending attacks but not fighting back.
"You could help me, you know!" Alger pointed out.
"Not until you metalbend!" She stipulated.
Alger huffed irritably to himself. He dodged another fireball and launched himself to the other side of the tank. He created a wall to protect himself from a fireball. Next, he stomped his foot on the ground to get a seismic sense of the tank ahead.
Alger closed his eyes and tried to reach for the tank again. He could sense the tank, but he couldn't feel any earth for him to move. Suddenly, he was hit in the arm by a fireball, causing him to spin and fall to the ground. Three firebenders started to run towards him.
"You gotta get in closer, sandman! Feel it with your hands!" Toph yelled.
"It's not that easy!" Alger shouted back before getting to his feet.
Alger dodged one of the soldiers trying to hit him with a fire chop. He stepped to the side and struck the soldier in the side of the head with his open palm. He then turned and jumped in the air, kicking a second soldier in the shoulder. However, his armor caused the kick to be ineffective.
The third soldier drew a sword and swung it at Alger's face, forcing him to bend back awkwardly just after landing. He stumbled back into his own rock wall before grabbing it with his hands and causing it to topple in front of the soldiers, creating some distance.
The soldiers on top of the tank started shooting fireballs at him again. Alger used his foot to pull out a column of earth. He struck it several times with his hands, sending large stones flying into the soldiers. Then he stepped towards the tank and placed his palm on it.
"Urgh...still nothing!"
"Keep trying!" Toph urged him.
The three soldiers caught up with him again. Alger turned and stomped on the ground again, twisting his foot to shift the ground beneath their feet. This caused one soldier to fall, but the other two happened to jump into the air to try and grab him at the same time.
Alger pivoted around on his foot before spinning around and striking one of them in the back, making him stumble forward. The second soldier, the one with the sword, swung at him again then shot a fire blast towards his head. Alger dodged the sword and grabbed his wrist to redirect the fire.
Now in close quarters with this soldier, he used his free hand with the sword to try and chop Alger right in the side. Alger's eyes widened, and he instinctively twisted his hand to catch the blade with his open palm. He moved his hand out to brace for the cut.
Alger felt a stinging sensation in his hand, but both of them looked down in surprise as the blade broke upon impact with his hand. The whole top part of the blade clattered to the floor. Alger froze for a moment before realizing what had just happened.
"Nice job, sandman! Now do it without getting killed!" Toph shouted before finally turning around fighting the other tanks.
"Y-Yeah!" Alger agreed before redirecting his attention to the soldier.
Now disarmed, the soldier attempted to blast him with fire using his free hand. Alger moved to the side and pressed his hand on the man's forearm, metalbending the armor upwards. This sent the man spinning into the air wildly.
"It's all about contact." Alger realized.
Alger moved towards the tank nearby and pressed both hands on it. He used metalbending to rip off two long pieces of metal. He stepped out from behind the tank and threw them towards one of the other tanks, both pieces piercing into the side of it.
Alger took a step back, and his seismic sense alerted him to one of the soldiers getting up behind him. Alger turned just in time to narrowly avoid getting hit by a fireball. Alger stumbled to the side, rolling over his soldier to regain his balance.
Now back to his feet, he threw several rocks at the soldier. The firebender dodged them and sent several more fire blasts his way. Finally, Alger struck his hand against the ground, causing a large mass of the earth to shoot upwards. This sent the firebender into the air before crashing back down hard.
"We're here!" Elio yelled to Toph and Alger as he arrived with his men right behind him.
"About time!" Toph said.
"You were supposed to be showing us the way!"
"You're here, aren't ya?" Toph pointed out before single-handedly taking out another tank by ripping it open with metalbending.
With Elio and his men now joining the fight, the battle quickly came to an end, as the small squadron of rogue soldiers were no match for a direct assault, especially with two metalbenders assisting. All the men were rounded up for capture, with the commander placed in the front.
"Captain, this is who the men say is in charge of this squad." One of Elio's soldiers reported as the man was forced to his knees with his hands tied behind his back. Elio walked up in front of them and looked down at him.
"Fire Lord Zuko will want to have some words with you when we return to the Fire Nation. Do you have anything to say for yourself?" Elio asked. The commander scoffed and looked up at him.
"Long live the Fire Nation. Long live Ozai." He said with a defiant smile. Elio swallowed, his eyebrows furrowing. He was disturbed by this answer. He briefly glanced around at everyone else.
"Alright. Get 'em out of here." Elio ordered. His men began to take the rogue soldiers away.
"Where are all these guys gonna go?" Toph asked.
"We've got a floor for holding cells on the ship. They'll stand trial in the Fire Nation. Is your hand alright, Alger?" Elio asked, noticing that his hand was bleeding.
"Huh? Oh yes, I'll be fine." Alger nodded.
"Good," Elio nodded before turning his attention to Toph. "Any reason why you were such little help on this mission?" He asked.
"Excuse me? You wouldn't have found these guys without me. Or it would've taken you way longer! Plus, I taught your friend how to metalbend!" Toph argued.
"Whatever. Let's just get out of here." Elio said, making his way back to the ship.
"Jerk." Toph folded her arms.
"Elio has been going through a lot lately. Please don't hold it against him," Alger said. "Thank you for teaching me this new technique. It'll take me a long time to master, but I appreciate you showing me the way."
"Yeah, no problem, sandman. Let me know if you need any tips, alright?" Toph offered him a fist bump, which he returned.
"I certainly will." Alger nodded before the two silently made their way back to the airship...