[Fic]: Earth Rumble 4
Title: Earth Rumble 4
Characters: Li Zhao, Li Shang (OC), Bei Fong Toph
Rating: G/K
Word Count: 683
Summary: Zhao attends a Professional Earthbending tournament in Gaoling and meets a strong-willed young girl.
Notes: Originally written for atlaland's Mystery Fic Challenge, where it tied for third place.
When Captain Zhao ran into his cousin Shang outside of Gaoling, the first thing he did was demand, "What the hell are you doing in the Army? You're fourteen."
Private Shang stood tall, keeping his eyes forward. "I enlisted, sir."
Well, at least he could keep to basic military discipline, which was more than Zhao could say for some men twice his age. Even if he was a smartass.
"We will discuss this later," he informed the boy. "What brings you to me now?"
"A few of us snuck into the town earlier," Shang reported. "We'd overheard some locals talking about some kind of Rumble, and we wanted to see what it was about."
Zhao refrained from rolling his eyes. Children. "And?"
"It turned out to be an earthbending competition. Mostly staged, I'm pretty sure, but you can still get a good idea of how skilled the earthbenders are." Shang took a deep breath. "Everyone was talking about last year's champion -- a little girl."
Zhao raised an eyebrow. "They let children compete?"
"I'm not sure there was any 'let' about it," Shang admitted. "She came in out of the audience and called herself the Blind Bandit. And took down the previous champion in about five seconds flat. They got her to go through the elimination rounds this year."
Suddenly interested, he gestured for his cousin to sit. "Tell me more."
As soon as the Earth Rumble had finished, Zhao forced his way through the milling crowd. Shang had more than earned his silence on the subject of early enlistment, Zhao decided. Whether or not the so-called Blind Bandit was actually blind, she had power in spades. If the Earth Kingdom realised what it was they had...
But they did not, and Zhao did. He fully intended to take advantage of that, one way or another.
Had he tried to follow the girl himself, he knew he never would have been able to reach her. However, he had come prepared. As he made his way outside, he noted that Shang had taken her aside and was talking cheerfully to her.
"...amazing!" he was saying as Zhao approached them. "You do so much with so little movement!"
"Well, yeah," she said. "Only an idiot would grandstand while she's bending."
"Sometimes it makes your opponent underestimate you," Zhao put in smoothly.
She neither jumped in shock nor turned to face him. "I don't need help with that."
He smiled. "Not yet, anyway."
Now she turned to him, and Zhao realised she really was blind. "They think I'm helpless," she said hotly.
"The more fools they," he replied. "Who is your master?"
The Blind Bandit snorted rudely. "That nancy-man? He's had me doing the same baby stuff for four years."
Zhao heard the frustration beneath her dismissive tone, and made his decision quickly. "That's too bad," he said. "I have need of a master so skilled as to turn out a student of your caliber."
"Why?" she asked. "You're not an earthbender, and neither is Cupcake over there."
Zhao grinned at the expression on his cousin's face. "That's true. However, my best friend recently adopted three children, the youngest of whom is an untrained earthbender."
That caught her attention, as he'd intended. "How can he be untrained? I'm blind and they're still training me. Sort of."
"Before their adoption, the children were afraid," Zhao explained. "People assume that they're mixed." Those two statments were unrelated, but he had truthbending down to a fine art. "He asked me to keep an eye out for someone willing to train the boy."
The Blind Bandit considered this. Finally, she said, "I learned from the best teachers around. I'll take care of him."
"Who did you learn from?" Shang, silent until now, asked.
She grinned broadly. "I learned from the first earthbenders."
Badgermoles. She had learned from Badgermoles.
Zhao smiled cruelly. If the Earth Kingdom had only known what a treasure they had... "My name is Zhao," he said. "Will you need time to pack?"
She waved her hand dismissively. "Nah, I'm good with what I've got. My name's Toph."
Characters: Li Zhao, Li Shang (OC), Bei Fong Toph
Rating: G/K
Word Count: 683
Summary: Zhao attends a Professional Earthbending tournament in Gaoling and meets a strong-willed young girl.
Notes: Originally written for atlaland's Mystery Fic Challenge, where it tied for third place.
When Captain Zhao ran into his cousin Shang outside of Gaoling, the first thing he did was demand, "What the hell are you doing in the Army? You're fourteen."
Private Shang stood tall, keeping his eyes forward. "I enlisted, sir."
Well, at least he could keep to basic military discipline, which was more than Zhao could say for some men twice his age. Even if he was a smartass.
"We will discuss this later," he informed the boy. "What brings you to me now?"
"A few of us snuck into the town earlier," Shang reported. "We'd overheard some locals talking about some kind of Rumble, and we wanted to see what it was about."
Zhao refrained from rolling his eyes. Children. "And?"
"It turned out to be an earthbending competition. Mostly staged, I'm pretty sure, but you can still get a good idea of how skilled the earthbenders are." Shang took a deep breath. "Everyone was talking about last year's champion -- a little girl."
Zhao raised an eyebrow. "They let children compete?"
"I'm not sure there was any 'let' about it," Shang admitted. "She came in out of the audience and called herself the Blind Bandit. And took down the previous champion in about five seconds flat. They got her to go through the elimination rounds this year."
Suddenly interested, he gestured for his cousin to sit. "Tell me more."
As soon as the Earth Rumble had finished, Zhao forced his way through the milling crowd. Shang had more than earned his silence on the subject of early enlistment, Zhao decided. Whether or not the so-called Blind Bandit was actually blind, she had power in spades. If the Earth Kingdom realised what it was they had...
But they did not, and Zhao did. He fully intended to take advantage of that, one way or another.
Had he tried to follow the girl himself, he knew he never would have been able to reach her. However, he had come prepared. As he made his way outside, he noted that Shang had taken her aside and was talking cheerfully to her.
"...amazing!" he was saying as Zhao approached them. "You do so much with so little movement!"
"Well, yeah," she said. "Only an idiot would grandstand while she's bending."
"Sometimes it makes your opponent underestimate you," Zhao put in smoothly.
She neither jumped in shock nor turned to face him. "I don't need help with that."
He smiled. "Not yet, anyway."
Now she turned to him, and Zhao realised she really was blind. "They think I'm helpless," she said hotly.
"The more fools they," he replied. "Who is your master?"
The Blind Bandit snorted rudely. "That nancy-man? He's had me doing the same baby stuff for four years."
Zhao heard the frustration beneath her dismissive tone, and made his decision quickly. "That's too bad," he said. "I have need of a master so skilled as to turn out a student of your caliber."
"Why?" she asked. "You're not an earthbender, and neither is Cupcake over there."
Zhao grinned at the expression on his cousin's face. "That's true. However, my best friend recently adopted three children, the youngest of whom is an untrained earthbender."
That caught her attention, as he'd intended. "How can he be untrained? I'm blind and they're still training me. Sort of."
"Before their adoption, the children were afraid," Zhao explained. "People assume that they're mixed." Those two statments were unrelated, but he had truthbending down to a fine art. "He asked me to keep an eye out for someone willing to train the boy."
The Blind Bandit considered this. Finally, she said, "I learned from the best teachers around. I'll take care of him."
"Who did you learn from?" Shang, silent until now, asked.
She grinned broadly. "I learned from the first earthbenders."
Badgermoles. She had learned from Badgermoles.
Zhao smiled cruelly. If the Earth Kingdom had only known what a treasure they had... "My name is Zhao," he said. "Will you need time to pack?"
She waved her hand dismissively. "Nah, I'm good with what I've got. My name's Toph."