AtLA: The Lily Among the Thorns
Title: The Lily Among the Thorns
Fandom: Avatar the Last Airbender
Author: kawaiispinel
Feedback: ...Is loverly.
Word Count: 2256
Rating: PG
Characters: Toph, Xin Fu, Aang, Katara, Sokka
Summary: (AU)The Blind Bandit doesn't throw a fight. Nothing is worth losing on purpose.
Disclaimer: It's still not mine. Really.
Author's Note: You don't want to know how long I've been working on this fic, which is really sad considering how long it is. This is, depending on whether or not the bunnies keep coming, the first part of a longer series detailing how certain events in Season One would have transpired had the GAang picked Toph up in Omashu.
"Make it look good. I want it to last a few rounds- get the tension up."
Toph was barely listening to Xin Fu’s lecture, having had it repeated to her several times over the course of two months. Getting this gig at Omashu was probably the best thing that had (and would ever) happen to him and he intended to milk it for all it was worth. He wanted it to be memorable.
And for that to happen, she had to lose.
The scam was simple enough. Ever since Earth Rumble went on the road, he’d taken great pains to promote her talents, get her a nice little fanbase going, until everyone was coming just to see her (that’s what she got out of it- that and the thrill of being as far away from Gaoling as possible). All of this led up to the final fight in Omashu, where Xin Fu had nudged the wealthier populace who enjoyed a good underground Earthbending tournament every now and then into placing bets in favor of "The Blind Bandit" winning the championship, while simultaneously plotting to make sure that never happened.
His promise of splitting the money with her hadn’t appealed to her in the slightest. After all, if she cared about money, she never would have run away from home in the first place. She was here to win and while her moral ethics weren’t strong enough to raise warning flags about the cheating aspect, her ego was large enough to resent the fact that she was being forced to lose on purpose. He talked about it like it was easy to lose, but that was to be expected. Those who can’t do, teach. Those who were terrible Earthbenders run possibly illegal Earthbending tournaments.
She cracked her knuckles and spat on the ground. "I’m ready," she muttered.
Xin Fu gave her fierce shove, pushing her in the direction of the ring (as if she couldn’t have found it herself- he still didn’t quite get the idea that she wasn’t as blind as she looked, never mind the fact that she was doing things that no average blind person would ever be able to manage), and she stepped inside, grinning as a volley of cheers rang out- all of them for her. She raised her arms and embraced the clamor, baiting the crowd with a few showy Earthbending moves just to get them riled up. It was exactly what she was supposed to do, but she couldn’t have said that she wouldn’t have done it anyway. This was the sort of thing she craved- the sort of thing she needed. You don’t get this sort of thing in Gaoling surrounded by walls and servants and people catering to your every need and offering you condescending praise. This was a rougher crowd, a crowd that cried for blood- her kind of people.
If her parents could see her now, they’d probably die of shock.
Xin Fu did the proper announcements for both her and her opponent, an Earthbender that she had never met, but seemed to have relative fame in the area. (Xin Fu was of the opinion that her fake loss would look better if it was an opponent she had never faced before, but what did he really know.) He didn’t look so tough. All those muscles were just for show and weren’t in any way intimidating to her. When it came down to it, only skill mattered in the ring, but the audience needn’t know that. Most of them probably weren’t even Benders and thus didn’t quite grasp the mechanics of the art. They were just here for the fighting and the sweat and the blood and if watching a little girl beat the snot out of a guy twice her size just happened to be part of it, well... So be it. All the more fun.
That is, until the little girl got the snot beat out of her, because she made a deal with a scam artist to lose on purpose. Then it wasn’t fun for her, obviously.
When the first round started, she carefully plotted every move she made, feeling for weak points, but never striking out in a way that would take her opponent down completely, although she secretly she wanted to. It would have been easy enough- one move here or there and BAM, he’d be down and she’d be the victor. She couldn’t risk ticking of Xin Fu though. He, after all, had saved her from her miserable life- something that he made sure to remind her of at every possible moment. ("Where would you be without me, Toph? That’s right. You’d be back in Gaoling, being the daughter that the Bei Fong family pretends doesn’t exist." He was right about all of it, of course, but she’d never admit it out loud.)
She let her opponent get in a few hits, something that she never would have allowed otherwise, and fell hard on her stomach. She spat out a mouthful of blood and rose to her feet, poised and ready to give it another try. The crowd was starting to grow tense as the fight began to heat up, and she wondered how good she was making this look.
A wicked smile crossed her features. She could make it always make it look a little better. After all, the Blind Bandit never throws a fight... Nothing is worth losing on purpose.
Xin Fu signaled the start of the third round and she made a split-second decision that she knew was going to come back and bite her in the ass later. Her opponent started to lunge at her and she felt the vibrations, feeling out the appropriate way to use his momentum against him, and then....
The crowd went silent as her opponent was thrown out of the ring by a fierce technique that she hoped none of them had ever seen before (as it was her own). She couldn’t see the sea of faces, but she could feel that they all probably had a shared expression of shock and wonder. Smiling, she punched the air victoriously and the crowd suddenly went insane as if a spell had been lifted off of them. They chanted her name (well, her fighting name, but it was good enough) over and over again and she could feel thousands of feet hit the ground as they all leapt up to give her a standing ovation.
And through all the noise and the dozens of sensory stimuli she was receiving, she could almost certainly feel Xin Fu throwing a fit in one corner, and regrettably, she realized she didn’t have much time to sit back and savor her victory. It wasn’t as if she was afraid of him or his lackeys.... She just wasn’t in the mood to fight him off at the moment, and running seemed like a good idea about now.
It was about time her career took a hiatus anyway.
Leaping out of the ring, she tore through the tunnels, vaguely aware that someone was pursuing her. It wasn’t Xin Fu- he wasn’t that light on his feet, so who could have picked up chasing her so quickly?
"Excuse me, uh, Ms. Blind Bandit, can I speak to you?" The voice of a young boy was calling after her.
"Can’t talk now, Twinkletoes," she spat back. She skidded to a stop as she reached a dead end, and slammed her foot on the ground. Part of the stone wall appeared to be swallowed by the ground, allowing her a perfect exit to the outside world. She didn’t know how long she was going to have to keep running- until she reached the city? Xin Fu wouldn’t dare try anything funny there and she could always make up some elaborate lie to keep herself hidden while she waited for him to pack up and move on to somewhere else. Like anyone there was going to refuse the pleading request of a poor, innocent blind girl. Sometimes the irritating way other people instantly treated her before getting to know her had its advantages.
"Excuse me!"
She swore as "Twinkletoes" returned, his voice practically in her ear now. "I’m a little busy here."
"But I just need to talk to you a second." He gasped suddenly. "Watch out!"
She didn’t realize what he was warning her about (having been too preoccupied with him to see where she was going) until she slammed headfirst into something covered in fur and fell backwards onto the ground, somewhat dazed. She groaned and rubbed her head and tried to feel out what she had just run into, but all her senses could pick up was something very large, very furry, and relatively bison-shaped if bisons were normally roughly the size of elephant deer.
"Are you okay?" The boy asked. He put his hand on her shoulder, but she flicked it away with a disagreeable scowl.
"I’m fine," she snapped, crossing her arms over her chest. She felt the ground and nearly panicked when she felt someone running towards her- unfamiliar footsteps, but still footsteps that could easily be attached to some of Xin Fu’s lackeys.
"Hate to run off on you... Well, no, actually I don’t hate it, but anyway, I gotta go," she said before starting to take off. This time she was deterred by the boy grabbing her hand.
"Just listen to me for a second, please," he begged. "My name’s Aang. I’m the Avatar and I have to learn to control all four elements to defeat the Fire Lord, and... I think maybe you’re supposed to be my Earthbending teacher."
"What the hell would have given you that idea?" She snapped, wrenching her hand out of his grasp. The vibrations were getting louder now... If only she could distract that this light-footed little freak long enough to get away!
"The way you fight.... You listen and wait. King Bumi told me I needed an Earthbending teacher who does just that."
"Yeah, right," she rolled her eyes. "Look, I’m not in the best of all possible scenarios right now, so if you don’t mind I’d like to get out of here before those two goons chasing us catch up."
"Those aren’t goons- they’re my friends!" The boy, Aang, protested, and then, apparently just to prove his point, he called out, "Sokka! Katara! Over here!"
"Aang, there you are," a girl’s voice that seemed to be attached to light, graceful footsteps spoke up as she entered the clearing. Her companion was male and had a clunkier, less even step like someone trying to swagger and not quite getting it right. It was a set of footsteps she’d always remember even though she wasn’t quite sure at the time why.
"I see you found The Blind Bandit," the other boy was saying, sounding somewhat amused. "Who, by the way, is definitely my new hero. Did you see her waste that guy?"
"Charmed, really," she grimaced, growing steadily more tense. There were more footsteps pounding their way towards the area and this time she was certain she heard Xin Fu among them. She had to get out of here fast and that pretty much meant doing what she kind of considered unthinkable at this point, but it seemed her best option. "Look, I’ll do whatever you ask, whatever, but you have to do me a favor first. Get me out of here."
"What? You owe someone money?" The other boy offered.
She laughed nervously. "Something like that."
"Get on Appa," Aang told her.
"Uh, what’s an Appa?"
She learned quickly enough when she felt herself being pushed towards the furry behemoth she had slammed into earlier and then up on top of it, away from the ground. She was blind and nervous and quite exasperated with the fact that she had chosen this as being the lesser of two evils, especially when whatever she was top of took flight and she found herself latching onto the nearest person and trying very hard not to scream.
"What’s your name?" Aang asked her. "Your real name, I mean."
"Toph," she muttered. They needn’t know any more than that. They didn’t have to know that she was Toph Bei Fong of Gaoling, heir to Bei Fong estate. All they had to know was that she was a professional fighter having a few issues with her handlers over some financial issues and that was it. Things would be so much simpler that way, and all she’d have to do was teach this weird kid some Earthbending and then be on her merry well to find something else to occupy her time that she wasn’t spending at home.
"Well, I’m Aang, like I said," Aang continued. "This is Katara." He was probably pointing at her as if she could actually see where she was and she rolled her eyes. "Oh and that guy you’re clinging to is Sokka."
Her eyes widened. She’d almost forgotten she’d grabbed someone’s arm when they’d taken flight, but now she was well aware of it. "Oh," she blinked. "Uh... Sorry?"
"That’s okay," Sokka replied. "Wouldn’t want you to fall off or anything."
They were so friendly. They hadn’t even known her for two minutes and already it was like she was a part of their little group. Strange, she thought. But then again, she had never really had real friends before... Maybe this could be the start of something new, something a bit more fulfilling than fighting.
Or maybe she’d fall fifty thousand feet to her death in a flying bison incident because she was stupid enough to trust these freaks. Either way, it got her away from her problems.
Fandom: Avatar the Last Airbender
Author: kawaiispinel
Feedback: ...Is loverly.
Word Count: 2256
Rating: PG
Characters: Toph, Xin Fu, Aang, Katara, Sokka
Summary: (AU)The Blind Bandit doesn't throw a fight. Nothing is worth losing on purpose.
Disclaimer: It's still not mine. Really.
Author's Note: You don't want to know how long I've been working on this fic, which is really sad considering how long it is. This is, depending on whether or not the bunnies keep coming, the first part of a longer series detailing how certain events in Season One would have transpired had the GAang picked Toph up in Omashu.
"Make it look good. I want it to last a few rounds- get the tension up."
Toph was barely listening to Xin Fu’s lecture, having had it repeated to her several times over the course of two months. Getting this gig at Omashu was probably the best thing that had (and would ever) happen to him and he intended to milk it for all it was worth. He wanted it to be memorable.
And for that to happen, she had to lose.
The scam was simple enough. Ever since Earth Rumble went on the road, he’d taken great pains to promote her talents, get her a nice little fanbase going, until everyone was coming just to see her (that’s what she got out of it- that and the thrill of being as far away from Gaoling as possible). All of this led up to the final fight in Omashu, where Xin Fu had nudged the wealthier populace who enjoyed a good underground Earthbending tournament every now and then into placing bets in favor of "The Blind Bandit" winning the championship, while simultaneously plotting to make sure that never happened.
His promise of splitting the money with her hadn’t appealed to her in the slightest. After all, if she cared about money, she never would have run away from home in the first place. She was here to win and while her moral ethics weren’t strong enough to raise warning flags about the cheating aspect, her ego was large enough to resent the fact that she was being forced to lose on purpose. He talked about it like it was easy to lose, but that was to be expected. Those who can’t do, teach. Those who were terrible Earthbenders run possibly illegal Earthbending tournaments.
She cracked her knuckles and spat on the ground. "I’m ready," she muttered.
Xin Fu gave her fierce shove, pushing her in the direction of the ring (as if she couldn’t have found it herself- he still didn’t quite get the idea that she wasn’t as blind as she looked, never mind the fact that she was doing things that no average blind person would ever be able to manage), and she stepped inside, grinning as a volley of cheers rang out- all of them for her. She raised her arms and embraced the clamor, baiting the crowd with a few showy Earthbending moves just to get them riled up. It was exactly what she was supposed to do, but she couldn’t have said that she wouldn’t have done it anyway. This was the sort of thing she craved- the sort of thing she needed. You don’t get this sort of thing in Gaoling surrounded by walls and servants and people catering to your every need and offering you condescending praise. This was a rougher crowd, a crowd that cried for blood- her kind of people.
If her parents could see her now, they’d probably die of shock.
Xin Fu did the proper announcements for both her and her opponent, an Earthbender that she had never met, but seemed to have relative fame in the area. (Xin Fu was of the opinion that her fake loss would look better if it was an opponent she had never faced before, but what did he really know.) He didn’t look so tough. All those muscles were just for show and weren’t in any way intimidating to her. When it came down to it, only skill mattered in the ring, but the audience needn’t know that. Most of them probably weren’t even Benders and thus didn’t quite grasp the mechanics of the art. They were just here for the fighting and the sweat and the blood and if watching a little girl beat the snot out of a guy twice her size just happened to be part of it, well... So be it. All the more fun.
That is, until the little girl got the snot beat out of her, because she made a deal with a scam artist to lose on purpose. Then it wasn’t fun for her, obviously.
When the first round started, she carefully plotted every move she made, feeling for weak points, but never striking out in a way that would take her opponent down completely, although she secretly she wanted to. It would have been easy enough- one move here or there and BAM, he’d be down and she’d be the victor. She couldn’t risk ticking of Xin Fu though. He, after all, had saved her from her miserable life- something that he made sure to remind her of at every possible moment. ("Where would you be without me, Toph? That’s right. You’d be back in Gaoling, being the daughter that the Bei Fong family pretends doesn’t exist." He was right about all of it, of course, but she’d never admit it out loud.)
She let her opponent get in a few hits, something that she never would have allowed otherwise, and fell hard on her stomach. She spat out a mouthful of blood and rose to her feet, poised and ready to give it another try. The crowd was starting to grow tense as the fight began to heat up, and she wondered how good she was making this look.
A wicked smile crossed her features. She could make it always make it look a little better. After all, the Blind Bandit never throws a fight... Nothing is worth losing on purpose.
Xin Fu signaled the start of the third round and she made a split-second decision that she knew was going to come back and bite her in the ass later. Her opponent started to lunge at her and she felt the vibrations, feeling out the appropriate way to use his momentum against him, and then....
The crowd went silent as her opponent was thrown out of the ring by a fierce technique that she hoped none of them had ever seen before (as it was her own). She couldn’t see the sea of faces, but she could feel that they all probably had a shared expression of shock and wonder. Smiling, she punched the air victoriously and the crowd suddenly went insane as if a spell had been lifted off of them. They chanted her name (well, her fighting name, but it was good enough) over and over again and she could feel thousands of feet hit the ground as they all leapt up to give her a standing ovation.
And through all the noise and the dozens of sensory stimuli she was receiving, she could almost certainly feel Xin Fu throwing a fit in one corner, and regrettably, she realized she didn’t have much time to sit back and savor her victory. It wasn’t as if she was afraid of him or his lackeys.... She just wasn’t in the mood to fight him off at the moment, and running seemed like a good idea about now.
It was about time her career took a hiatus anyway.
Leaping out of the ring, she tore through the tunnels, vaguely aware that someone was pursuing her. It wasn’t Xin Fu- he wasn’t that light on his feet, so who could have picked up chasing her so quickly?
"Excuse me, uh, Ms. Blind Bandit, can I speak to you?" The voice of a young boy was calling after her.
"Can’t talk now, Twinkletoes," she spat back. She skidded to a stop as she reached a dead end, and slammed her foot on the ground. Part of the stone wall appeared to be swallowed by the ground, allowing her a perfect exit to the outside world. She didn’t know how long she was going to have to keep running- until she reached the city? Xin Fu wouldn’t dare try anything funny there and she could always make up some elaborate lie to keep herself hidden while she waited for him to pack up and move on to somewhere else. Like anyone there was going to refuse the pleading request of a poor, innocent blind girl. Sometimes the irritating way other people instantly treated her before getting to know her had its advantages.
"Excuse me!"
She swore as "Twinkletoes" returned, his voice practically in her ear now. "I’m a little busy here."
"But I just need to talk to you a second." He gasped suddenly. "Watch out!"
She didn’t realize what he was warning her about (having been too preoccupied with him to see where she was going) until she slammed headfirst into something covered in fur and fell backwards onto the ground, somewhat dazed. She groaned and rubbed her head and tried to feel out what she had just run into, but all her senses could pick up was something very large, very furry, and relatively bison-shaped if bisons were normally roughly the size of elephant deer.
"Are you okay?" The boy asked. He put his hand on her shoulder, but she flicked it away with a disagreeable scowl.
"I’m fine," she snapped, crossing her arms over her chest. She felt the ground and nearly panicked when she felt someone running towards her- unfamiliar footsteps, but still footsteps that could easily be attached to some of Xin Fu’s lackeys.
"Hate to run off on you... Well, no, actually I don’t hate it, but anyway, I gotta go," she said before starting to take off. This time she was deterred by the boy grabbing her hand.
"Just listen to me for a second, please," he begged. "My name’s Aang. I’m the Avatar and I have to learn to control all four elements to defeat the Fire Lord, and... I think maybe you’re supposed to be my Earthbending teacher."
"What the hell would have given you that idea?" She snapped, wrenching her hand out of his grasp. The vibrations were getting louder now... If only she could distract that this light-footed little freak long enough to get away!
"The way you fight.... You listen and wait. King Bumi told me I needed an Earthbending teacher who does just that."
"Yeah, right," she rolled her eyes. "Look, I’m not in the best of all possible scenarios right now, so if you don’t mind I’d like to get out of here before those two goons chasing us catch up."
"Those aren’t goons- they’re my friends!" The boy, Aang, protested, and then, apparently just to prove his point, he called out, "Sokka! Katara! Over here!"
"Aang, there you are," a girl’s voice that seemed to be attached to light, graceful footsteps spoke up as she entered the clearing. Her companion was male and had a clunkier, less even step like someone trying to swagger and not quite getting it right. It was a set of footsteps she’d always remember even though she wasn’t quite sure at the time why.
"I see you found The Blind Bandit," the other boy was saying, sounding somewhat amused. "Who, by the way, is definitely my new hero. Did you see her waste that guy?"
"Charmed, really," she grimaced, growing steadily more tense. There were more footsteps pounding their way towards the area and this time she was certain she heard Xin Fu among them. She had to get out of here fast and that pretty much meant doing what she kind of considered unthinkable at this point, but it seemed her best option. "Look, I’ll do whatever you ask, whatever, but you have to do me a favor first. Get me out of here."
"What? You owe someone money?" The other boy offered.
She laughed nervously. "Something like that."
"Get on Appa," Aang told her.
"Uh, what’s an Appa?"
She learned quickly enough when she felt herself being pushed towards the furry behemoth she had slammed into earlier and then up on top of it, away from the ground. She was blind and nervous and quite exasperated with the fact that she had chosen this as being the lesser of two evils, especially when whatever she was top of took flight and she found herself latching onto the nearest person and trying very hard not to scream.
"What’s your name?" Aang asked her. "Your real name, I mean."
"Toph," she muttered. They needn’t know any more than that. They didn’t have to know that she was Toph Bei Fong of Gaoling, heir to Bei Fong estate. All they had to know was that she was a professional fighter having a few issues with her handlers over some financial issues and that was it. Things would be so much simpler that way, and all she’d have to do was teach this weird kid some Earthbending and then be on her merry well to find something else to occupy her time that she wasn’t spending at home.
"Well, I’m Aang, like I said," Aang continued. "This is Katara." He was probably pointing at her as if she could actually see where she was and she rolled her eyes. "Oh and that guy you’re clinging to is Sokka."
Her eyes widened. She’d almost forgotten she’d grabbed someone’s arm when they’d taken flight, but now she was well aware of it. "Oh," she blinked. "Uh... Sorry?"
"That’s okay," Sokka replied. "Wouldn’t want you to fall off or anything."
They were so friendly. They hadn’t even known her for two minutes and already it was like she was a part of their little group. Strange, she thought. But then again, she had never really had real friends before... Maybe this could be the start of something new, something a bit more fulfilling than fighting.
Or maybe she’d fall fifty thousand feet to her death in a flying bison incident because she was stupid enough to trust these freaks. Either way, it got her away from her problems.