1. Chapter 1

It was dark. Ha, that was funny, thought Toph Beifong as she walked tentatively down the slums of Gaoling. It was dark all the time for her, being blind and all, but this night it felt dark. Beneath her feet, she felt the vibrations and body movements of the rats. Suddenly, she heard a movement between one of the washing lines. Swiftly, she turned in the direction of the sound. Nothing. No vibrations, no movement...nothing. Her senses relaxed. Her visit to Gaoling had been beneficial: not only had she recruited new troops for her metalbending academy, but she had been able to have a true 'holiday' whilst also paying homage to her deceased...

Out of nowhere, a shuriken came flying out of nowhere, narrowly missing its target by a millimetre. Toph gasped in shock, stunned out of sanity, before she felt the thudding vibrations of several pairs of feet thundering towards her. Hastily, she counted one...two...three...four...no, five pairs of feet coming towards her! They stopped. Where were they, where were they... Above her! She reacted too slowly. A palm stuck into her shoulder, and an all too familiar sensation kindled her collarbone. Frantically, she created an earthen pillar and smiled deviously as it made contact. A twitching movement. One of them had fired bo shuriken in her direction. Toph stomped on the earth, ordering it to obey her call. A pair of boulders warped out of the ground, breaking the attack. Conveniently, two pairs of feet were heading her way, poised for attack. Toph calmly directed her boulders towards them and heard the satisfying crunch as they met their targets. Suddenly, she felt a pair of fingertip lightly brush her right arm. She ducked. Too slow! Her attacker tapped the chi code into her right arm and Toph winced in agony as numbness enveloped it. Brain confused and shocked, she sent a volley of earth pillars in random directions. A Bo shuriken suddenly whizzed past her face, slicing into her arm. For a moment, she stumbled blindly, clutching her arm which grew warm with blood. A sudden strike from beneath knocked Toph off her feet. She used an earthen pillar to regain posture only to realise that the strike had hit her weak spot. Unsure, and with her connection to the earth severely severed, Toph quickly succumbed to her wounds. Within moments, the chi blockers had made quick work of her.

Toph lay there on the cobbled earth, stones grazing her face and scratching her arms and legs. Above her, she could feel the scorching presence of her attackers, burning into her skin. Soundlessly, the chi blockers stripped Toph of all her belongings. Her gold hair clasp, a necklace which had been her mother's before her death, her money pouch which contained a generous donation to the metalbending academy. Drat! Why had she had these things with her in the first place? More importantly, why had she let herself get beat by a group of unproffesional thieves? Shame on her. Eventually, the searching stopped. A feeling of loneliness settled in as she heard their footsteps slowly recede and eventually fade into nothingness. She was alone. Alone and truly blind. Suddenly, lightning crashed overheard and it began to rain. Cruel fate. Water trickled between her toes, scorching her soles, whilst rain droplets seeped through her clothes to her clammy skin. Great. Paralysed and with her connection to the earth extremely damaged, Toph felt weak. Weak and vulnerable like a helpless babe.

Toph detested babies.

Tears of self-pity embedded her eyelids and she tried to blink them away, but to no avail. They mingled with the salty rain, and her loose locks which covered half her face. Slowly, her strength began to fade as the the storm took it and washed it into the streets.

Then all was silent.


	2. Chapter 2

Warmth. Toph awoke slowly, only able to feel the suffocating warmth on her neck. Mint tea. She awoke, only able to smell the sweet aroma of mint tea. However, it was only when she heard a sizzling sound somewhere outside that she realised: she was not in her mother's house! Groaning, she wearily pushed herself up. Suddenly, a creaking noise erupted around her. In her shock, she collapsed back onto her bed.

"Oh good, you're awake." It was a voice, a male voice that had uttered those words. Of course, Toph couldn't tell where it came from; without her connection to the earth, she was truly blind. She sighed inwardly. Suddenly, a hand touched her forehead, burning into her skin. Toph yelped in surprise and the hand drew back quickly, as though burned.

"Sorry, sorry! I-I didn't realise t-that you were awake! I-I mean, I did, but I..." He trailed away nervously and there was silence.

After a minute of hearing absolutely nothing, Toph decided it was safe to try and get up. She had pushed herself up a few inches, when a sudden case of weariness overtook her bones and she collapsed back onto the bed.

"Where am I?" she mumbled weakly, breakng the silence.

"You're in my home. Ny name is Guo." the man

Toph decided it was safe to try and get up. She had pushed herself up a few inches, when a sudden case of weariness overtook her bones and she collapsed back onto the bed.

"Oh, d-don't stress yourself! Y-You're still recovering from a fever!"

Toph frowned, confused.

"A fever? What happened that I should have a fever?" A feeble voice croaked out and Toph was shamed to find that it was hers.

"Yes, a-a fever. I-I found you in the rain three days ago and...wait, you don't remember what happened?"

She began to shake her head, but stopped as it all came flowing back to her in graphic certainty. The painful feel of the shuriken, the numbness of the chi, the cold of the rain. Suddenly, she collapsed back unto her bed.

"Um, are you...okay?" asked Guo worriedly.

Toph placed her palm over her face in disgust at her weakness.

"I'm fine. I just can't believe I lost to a group of _chi_ blockers. How humiliating."

"Well, chi blockers are pretty much invincible, not to mention the fact that you're bl-"

Guo stopped mid-word as Toph spun to the direction of his voice and gave him a ferocious glare. He gulped then decided to disappear there and then.

"Um, n-never mind! I-I'll go and see if the noodles have finished boiling!"

However, Toph had not been paying attention to a word he had just been saying. She remained still as she heard a pair of feet scurry in the opposite direction. In amazement, she stared up at the metal bracelet which hung from her wrist. It had just twitched. Slowly, she turned her head towards the direction of the door. Was it possible that he was... a metal bender?!


End file.
