A/N: Hello, readers! I am happy to say that I'm almost done writing Book 2! Also, I have decided to postpone all projects, not including this one, until June 2nd. That's when I finish school :) I'll still be rewriting older chapters (by the way, make sure to check out the rewrite of chapter 1, and leave a review while your at it c:) I get to post my favorite chapter next week! I can't wait!
Chapter 27 response:
Vapor23: Hello, friend! Thank you for your review! I know posting it has been rough for you, this site is dumb sometimes, lol :) I agree, The Chase is a very fast-paced and action-filled epsiode. Seeing Toph and Katara argue is really funny, especially with Akira added into the mix. Thanks for your support, and I hope you enjoy :)
It was early morning. Our group was all peacefully sleeping, our chests slowly rising and falling. Well, everyone except for Aang. I'm not the heaviest sleeper, so as soon as I heard him talking to Sokka, I began to stir.
"Can you believe it?" My brother asked, his tone full of excitement, "After all that time searching for a teacher, I'm finally starting earthbending,"
"And this place, it's perfect," He continued, "Don't you think?"
Sokka responded with silence, still obviously asleep.
"Sokka?" Aang said, leaning over him.
Sokka groaned in response, turning his head slightly to look at him.
"Oh, you're still sleeping, huh?" He asked.
Sokka groaned again, turning over in his sleeping bag.
"Sorry,"
Suddenly, the earth began to shake below me, and I figured what was coming next.
"Good morning, earthbending student!" Toph announced, her loudness ensuring me that I wouldn't be able to get more sleep.
I picked my head up, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes as I watched Toph walk up to Aang.
"Good morning, Sifu Toph," Aang greeted with a respectful bow.
"Hey, you never call me Sifu Katara," Katara stated, her voice filled with exhaustion.
"Well, if you think I should…" Aang began, rubbing the back of his neck as a slight blush came to his cheeks.
Sokka suddenly sprung up, grumbling angrily.
"Sorry, Snoozles," Toph said unapologetically, "We'll do our earthbending as quietly as we can,"
Then, she proceeded to kick the ground up from below Sokka, sending him flying into the air. My eyes were wide as they followed him going up and then down, hitting the ground with dust that hit our feet. He sprung up, grumbling annoyedly as he hopped toward Aang, then Toph, in his sleeping bag. After Sokka had hopped away, Aang leaped toward Toph, excitement evident in his tone and expression.
"So what move are you gonna teach me first?" He asked, "Rockalanche, the trembler?"
"Oh, maybe I can learn to make a whirlpool out of land,"
"Well, let's start with move a rock," Toph said, putting her hand in front of him.
"Sounds good, sounds good," Aang said, his tone radiating with excitement.
They then both walked off. Katara turned to me before speaking.
"I'm gonna watch them," She stated, "Wanna come with me?"
I nodded in response before standing and walking in the direction Aang and Toph left through with Katara.
Katara and I had positioned ourselves at the ledge of a cliff, watching Aang and Toph below. They both had rocks in front of them, Toph's being larger than Aang's.
"The key to earthbending is stance," She stated, "You've gotta be steady and strong,"
She then got into a wide legged stance, her hands balled into fists at the bottom of her chest. Aang copied her, albeit with low accuracy. His stance having less assurance than Toph's, his legs not being spread nearly as much, and his hands being less sturdily placed.
"Rock is a stubborn element," Toph continued, shoving Aang forcefully so he would stumble out of his stance, "You've gotta be like a rock yourself,"
Aang stood, rubbing his back where Toph's hand had been, unsureness in his tone as spoke.
"Like a rock," He repeated, "Got it,"
"Good," Toph said.
She turned so that her body faced him, the placement of her hands unmoving, but that of her legs changing as she moved them together.
"Now, the actual motion of this one is pretty simple," She stated.
She moved her arms, shooting the rock forward with earthbending.
Honestly, I wasn't sure if the "watch and then do what I do," teaching method was going to work with Aang, but I kept my mouth shut, not wanting to tamper with their lesson.
"Okay, you ready to give it a try?" Toph asked.
Aang got into the same stance Toph had been in moments before, and I was beginning to think the "watch then do what I do," method might actually work on him.
"I'm ready," He stated.
I watched as my brother eyed the rock, his eyes narrowing in set determination. He went to do the same move as Toph had done, but instead of earthbending, he airbent, sending himself flying backward into Appa. Sokka, who was still in his sleeping bag, began to laugh, his amusement ringing through the morning air.
"Rock beats airbender," He stated through his laugh.
Katara and I came down from our rock, standing next to Toph.
"I don't understand what went wrong," Aang said, walking over to us.
"He did exactly what you did," I stated, pointing to my brother but turning my head to face Toph.
"Maybe there's another way," Aang remarked, "What if I came at the boulder from a different angle?"
Toph grabbed him by his collar, yanking him backward.
"No, that's the problem," She stated, knocking him twice on his head, "You've got to stop thinking like an airbender,"
"There's no different angle, no clever solution, no trickity-trick that's gonna move that rock," Toph continued, shoving Aang once again, "You've got to face it head-on,"
"And when I say head-on, I mean like this,"
She then proceeded to leap headfirst into the rock across from her, breaking it. My eyes widened in shock as I took what I had just seen.
"Did that hurt?" I wondered in my thoughts.
"Whoa!" Aang exclaimed, shock evident on his expression as he leaped back.
My brother looked down dejectedly, and Katara's eyebrows furrowed as she ran up to Toph.
"Hey, it's alright," I said, putting a hand on Aang's shoulder, "It's okay if you didn't get it immediately, it's your first time trying earthbending, afterall,"
Aang looked up, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
"Thanks, Kiri," He said, "It's just that- I got waterbending so easily, I guess I just figured earthbending would be the same,"
By that point, Katara and Toph had come back.
"Alright, Twinkle Toes, we're gonna try a different approach," Toph stated, "Precious, Katara, you guys are gonna need to stay out of the way,"
I nodded before turning to Aang, a sincere look on my face.
"Goodluck," I said.
We watched as Toph bent a large rock from the ground, placing it on Aang's back.
"Is she crazy?" I asked Katara, my eyes widened in shock, "That thing's gonna break his back!"
Katara, who looked equally as shocked, began speaking, her tone full of disbelief.
"When I told her to take a more gentle approach, I expected her to be a little more, you know, gentle,"
"Keep your knees high, Twinkle Toes!" Toph shouted harshly.
She bent the ground below Aang, making it harder for him to walk. He toppled over, the weight of the rock becoming too much for him.
Throughout the day, Katara and I watched as Toph trained Aang. Her style was…rough, to say the least, with lots of yelling and pushing. One of these training challenges was to use earthbending to dig your hands repeatedly into dirt. Toph did it flawlessly, burrowing her hands deeper and deeper into the soil, while Aang ended up jamming his hand into the ground. Katara and I ran over to him. Toph stood there, arms crossed and expression showing deep annoyance as Aang walked over to us, his face twisted in pain.
"My fingers-I think they're broken," He stated as Katara took his hand into hers and drew water from her water skin, "Ow,"
Katara hovered the water over his fingers, causing it to glow.
"Alright, no more healing sessions!" Toph snapped, stomping over to us, "If Aang needs to heal, he can do it after training,"
"Toph, he just broke his fingers," I stated, frustration in my tone.
"Oh, please, it was probably a hairline fracture," She responded dismissively, "He's just being dramatic,"
My eyes narrowed in deeper annoyance. I stomped back to the rock, Katara following behind.
We watched as Toph frequently scared Aang by coming up from the ground, testing to see if he was mentally prepared for anything. Another one of Toph's training challenges was that Aang would have to beat down rocks with Sokka's club, while his belt was used as a blindfold. I was surprised to see that my brother was actually doing quite well at that challenge, being able to identify where the rocks were without the use of sight. Toph lifted earth walls during the next challenge, making it so Katara and I were unable to see what was going on. I began to worry that the reason behind Toph putting up these walls was so she could train Aang as roughly as she wanted without us interfering. After that, Aang was set to stand in two earth pillars and toss a rock dumbbell up and down, with Toph frequently making the pillars shake to test if he was unmovable.
Katara and I were watching, this time from a closer distance, as Toph explained the next training exercise.
"This time, we're going to try something a little different," She stated, "Instead of moving a rock, you're going to stop a rock,"
She moved closer to Aang, her face set in a commanding aura.
"Get in your horse stance!"
Aang spread his legs apart, moving his hands into the position of the stance.
"I'm gonna roll that boulder down at you," Toph explained, pointing to a large boulder at the top of the steep hill above us, "If you have the attitude of an earthbender, you'll stay in your stance and stop the rock, like this,"
She then showed off the motion, pushing her hands forward. Concern etched onto my features as worry settled like a pit in my stomach.
"That boulder's gonna crush him," I thought with a gulp.
Katara walked up to Toph, her words calm as she spoke.
"Sorry, Toph, but are you sure this is really the best way to teach Aang earthbending?"
"I'm glad you said something," Toph replied in a sweetness that worried me further, "Actually, there is a better way,"
She then snatched Aang's belt from his torso, tying it around his eyes.
"This way, you'll really have to see the vibrations of the boulder to stop it," She stated, "Thank you, Katara,"
"Yeah, thanks, Katara," Aang echoed sarcastically.
Katara chuckled nervously. As we walked away to a safer distance, I lightly shoved Katara in her arm, my tone full of exasperation and sarcasm as I spoke.
"Nice going," I grumbled.
"Well, I didn't know she was going to do that," She responded defensively.
We watched nervously as Toph sent the boulder down to Aang, whose face was twisted in fear, sweat dripping down his forehead. When the boulder got close, he leaped over it, causing it to crash into the rocks far behind him. Toph ran down to him, her expression full of frustration. Aang took his blindfold off, revealing the crestfallen look in his eyes.
"I guess I just panicked," My brother admitted dejectedly, looking down as to not meet Toph's blind eyes, "I don't know what to say,"
"There's nothing to say," Toph responded haughtily, "You blew it,"
"You had perfect stance and perfect form, but when it came right down to it, you didn't have the guts,"
Sh punched him in his chest, causing him to sit down.
"I'm sorry," Aang sighed dejectedly.
"Yeah, you are sorry," Toph repiled harshly, kneeling down to get in his face, "If you're not tough enough to stop the rock, then you can at least give it the pleasure of smushing you instead of jumping out of the way like a jelly-boned wimp,"
My eyes narrowed in anger as I crossed my arms.
"Now, do you have what it takes to face that rock like an earthbender?" She asked loudly.
Aang looked at her for a moment, his expression sad as he lowered his head.
"No, I don't think I do," My brother admitted crestfallenly.
"Aang, it's no big deal," Katara said, her words filled with kindness as she put her hands on his shoulders, "You'll take a break and try earthbending again when you're ready,"
Toph once again crossed her arms, and annoyed look coming to her face as it had before.
"Besides, you still have a lot of waterbending to work on," I added, "Right, Katara?"
"Yep," Katara agreed, "How about we go do some training?"
Aang turned his head to look at us, sadness still lingering in his expression.
"Yeah, that sounds good," He stated.
"Yeah, whatever, go splash around until you feel better," Toph grumbled as they walked away.
"Uh, Toph, can I talk to you?" I asked, turning to her.
"What do you want?" She responded dismissively.
"Well, I know your teaching style is supposed to be "tough like earth" or whatever, but you aren't just being hard on Aang, you're being rude," I stated cautiously.
Toph's eyebrows furrowed, and fear settled into my chest.
"Are you saying I don't know what I'm doing?" She asked haughtily.
"N-no, I just-" I began nervously, "What I'm trying to say is, Aang doesn't respond well to, you know, reprimanding, as much as he does kind words and praise,"
Toph scoffed.
"You sound like Katara," She stated annoyedly, "Listen, Precious, I know what I'm doing, so you and Sugar Queen can just stay out of it,"
I let out a sigh of exasperation.
"Fine, I'll leave you alone," I said, "But don't get mad when you don't get anywhere with Aang,"
We then parted ways, leaving me with a sense of annoyance.
Later…
The sun was low in the sky. I was putting a flower crown on bun-bun's head, smiling proudly at my work. Suddenly, Katara ran over, her expression etched with worry.
"Akira, have you seen Sokka around?" She asked, "He left to go hunting a while ago, it's almost sundown, and he's still not back,"
I began to worry as well, remembering when I had seen Sokka last, many hours before.
"I haven't seen him," I stated, standing up and putting bun-bun into my bag, "But, maybe Aang or Toph have,"
Katara nodded, worry still evident in her expression as we made our way over to Aang, who I knew was meditating on a rock nearby.
"Hey, Aang, have you seen-"
"Meditating here!" Aang interrupted snappily.
"It's important," Katara said, "Sokka hasn't come back yet,"
"We should search for him," I stated, "We'll find him faster if we split up," Aang stood and nodded before running in one direction, while Katara and I headed in other directions.
I was walking around, calling out Sokka's name.
"Sokka!" I exclaimed, "Where are you?" All I got was my own echo in response. I sighed deeply before sitting down on the ground.
"Where could he be?" I asked myself. Suddenly, I heard a scream that sounded a lot like Sokka. I gasped, quickly standing and running in the direction the scream had came from. When I arrived at the scene, I saw Aang trying to fend off a sabertooth moose-lion, and Sokka in a hole.
"Please don't leave me again," Sokka said to Aang, his tone filled with fear.
"I won't," Aang replied with fierce determination. The moose-lion came closer, but my brother stood his ground, getting into the stance Toph had been in many times before. He pushed the moose-lion away with airbending, causing it to go back into the bushes. When the dust of the attack cleared, I heard clapping, and turned to see Toph sitting on a rock nearby.
"Was she there the whole time?" I thought.
"Toph, Akira, what are you doing here?" Sokka asked, turning his head to face her, then me.
"I don't know what Akira's doing, but I'm just enjoying the show," Toph replied nonchalantly.
"What?" Aang asked, confusion and frustration in his tone, "You guys were there the whole time?"
"Hey, I just got here," I stated, putting up my hands defensively.
"I've been here pretty much the whole time," Toph said in the same manner as before. Aang's eyebrows furrowed, and I could tell his patience was hanging on by a minuscule thread.
"Why didn't you do something?" He asked accusingly, pointing at Toph, "Sokka was in trouble, I was in trouble!"
"You could've gotten him out and helped us get away," My brother continued haughtily.
"I guess it just didn't occur to me," Toph sighed, tossing a nut at the ground and raising Aang's staff, which she had for some reason. Just as she was about to lower it, Aang stopped her, his words loud and clear as he spoke.
"Enough," He said, his voice low with anger, "I want my staff back,"
"Do it now," Toph commanded, jumping down from her rock.
"What?" Aang asked snappily.
"Earthbend, Twinkle Toes," Toph said, "You just stood your ground against a crazy beast, and even more impressive, you stood your ground against me,"
"You've got the stuff," She finished proudly.
"But-" Aang began, his voice lacking assurance.
"Do it now!" Toph shouted. Aang stood in front of a nearby rock, and I watched as he got into stance before moving the rock.
"You did it!" I exclaimed, running up to him and pulling him into a hug.
"Congrats, Twinkle Toes, you're an earthbender," Toph said.
"I can't believe it," Aang responded, his expression and tone radiating with joy.
"Aww, this is really a wonderful, touching moment," Sokka, who was still in hole, began, "So could you get me out of here so I can give you all a big, snuggly hug?"
"No problem, Sokka," Aang said, pulling out of our hug and running toward him.
"Actually, you should probably let me do that," Toph stated, "You're still a little new to this, you might accidentally crush him,"
"Yeah, no crushing, please," Sokka said. I watched as Toph slammed her foot on the ground, sending Sokka upward. She grabbed him by his hair, dragging him out of the hole.
When we got back to camp, Katara was overjoyed to see Sokka. Aang had his arm around Sokka, helping him walk. Toph and I were walking close behind, Toph holding Aang's staff.
"You found him!" Katara exclaimed happily, running up to Sokka and Aang with her arms outstretched wide. Aang handed Sokka over to Katara, who quickly pulled her brother into a hug.
"The whole time I was in that hole, not knowing if I would live or die, it makes a man really think about what's really important," Sokka said, his words filled with a sense of wisdom, "I realized-"
"Hey, Katara, look what I can do," Aang shouted, making all of us divert our attention to him. He then used earthbending to cut a rock in half, sending the top half rolling off of the bottom.
"You did it!" Katara exclaimed happily, "I knew you would,"
"You tried the positive reinforcement, didn't you?" She asked Toph, lowering her tone to a whisper.
"I wouldn't call what she did positive…" I thought.
"Yup," Toph replied untruthfully, "It worked wonders," Suddenly, Appa growled, making me pick my head up to look at him.
"Appa, Appa, I can earthbend now!" Aang said excitedly, running up to the bison, "The key is being completely rooted, physically and mentally unmovable," Appa then licked him, causing him to fall over. Everybody began laughing, our amusement ringing through the air.
"Totally unmovable," I repeated sarcastically.
