faheezy
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« Reply #1 on: Jul 18, 2006 01:49 am » |
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NOTE TO READER: This story takes place shortly after the episode "The Chase", so the character of Toph is based on pre-"Fury of Aang".
Enjoy. And leave replies if you like.
Chapter 2: Midnight Falls
"Hmm. The scenery looks oddly familiar."
"That's because you've been leading us in a big circle. We've past this tree at least three times now."
"Well Zuko, since we've been walking for a while let's take rest under the shade of these trees. It is almost midday, and walking in this heat can play tricks on the mind. Ahh, yes," replied Iroh as he slowly gathered himself under the leaves of a large maple-greenwood.
"Uncle, we need to keep moving. This is the direction Azula chased the Avatar. We may be able to reach him by sundown..."
"Patience Zuko, even Azula needs her rest. Now, why don't you gather some food for our little break. I believe I spotted some tea bushes not too far from here. Tea would be very nice. It would do well in bringing me back to full strength. And it is good for the mind." Zuko looked forward into the range of maple-redwood trees and then back down at his uncle. Slowly he said, "The avatar can wait." Zuko backtracked in the direction of the tea bushes, leaving his uncle beneath the leaves of the giant maple-redwood.
A cool breeze blew through the encircling forest as water thundered down from the cliffs above. From the air, the waterfall had seemed an island of stone in a sea of emerald green. From the ground, it was a tower of blue and gray, with a watery trail leading to it and an apex that pointed to a cloudless sky. It was a place that, even if it were in a world that lacked magic, could make a person believe in things beyond the material.
"Woo-eee, boy does Appa need a bath. And what better place than an 'enchanted' waterfall."
"It's not enchanted, Sokka," replied Aang, "Ever since my friends and I used to come here I had always had a strong feeling as if someone was watching me. I didn't know I was the avatar back then, so now I guess it's just all the spirit energy that surrounds this place."
"Enchanted... spirit... same thing."
"So you don't know the history of this place?" asked Katara.
"Nope... but there is this cool cave right behind the falls. That's where we would jump.
"There must be something more to this place, right?" asked Katara.
Sokka began to scrub between Appa's toes. The giant flying bison let out a yawn and then flipped into the large stream, belly-up.
"Obviously we wait until something magical appears at midnight, fruitcakes."
"You know what? That actually makes sense," noted Sokka as he moved from one paw to the next. Katara looked over at Aang, asking her question without a word passing between them.
"What? Am I the only one that can connect the dots here? And I can't even see...and speaking of fruit - did you unload the food before throwing that cow into the water?"
Sokka stopped brushing and his eye widened as he glanced to his left and watched all their supplies floating down the stream.
"I did not throw Appa into the water. He got in on his own."
"Great. There goes all the food. Well, you know what, I'm feeling mighty nice today," said Toph. Sokka gave Toph a look of disbelief, "I can take the bison and get some supplies. We passed over a market a few hours away. And all this hocus pocus is giving me a head-ache."
"Toph, are you sure you can go..." Katara said before realizing what she was about to say and instead suggested, "You should really wait until Appa finishes his bath. He gets really cranky if he flies wet".
"I'll wait then. I wouldn't want to make him cranky," she said.
"Nope 'cus then he'll just drop you while you're flying." His hands motioning a falling bird falling down to its death. "Wheeeeeee...splat. Ehh, Toph luck." Scoffed Sokka.
"Ready for your next waterbending lesson?" asked Katara.
"Of course.... sifu Katara," replied Aang. Katara blushed, and Aang followed her to the banks of the waterfall.
"Ah. Much better," Sokka said to himself as he began to sniff Appa, although the look on his face said otherwise. "Well, at least it's better than before. He's all yours." Wiping his hands together and giving Toph a smug grin, Sokka took a step back to watch the show. She climbed aboard, sat down, and called out, "Ok. Ready, fly!"
Sokka snickered.
"Ahem, I think the words you're looking for are 'pooh-pooh'."
Agitated and losing her patience, Toph commanded the bison, "Pooh-pooh!". Sokka clasped his hands over his mouth to try and conceal his laughter, but it was really too much. His histerical laughter was followed by the crushing sounds of rocks. Three giant triangular stones had enclosed Sokka as the sharp corners nearly pierced his skin. His grin faded and all he could say was "Yip, yip." And the bison took off.
"Hey what about me!" Sokka called out from his tiny playpen, but Toph was too far to notice. Katara and Aang looked back and laughed. Sokka turned his head as far as he could, a mighty fifteen degrees to the right and asked, "A little help here would be convenient."
Katara and Aang together threw their hands in the air forming a large wave and splashed it against the rocks. Although Sokka was now completely covered in mud, he easily squeezed his way out of his pen and rinses himself under the falls as Aang and Katara continued their lesson.
Sokka examined the sides of the rocky waterfall. "Say Aang, how again did you get to that cave?"
"I jumped."
"He... jumped?" Stated Sokka blankly as he stared vertically upward at the towering cliff, "Well, why don't I try jumping too..." he mumbled to himself as he began to scale the treacherous slope.
As they were practicing some basic warm up skills, Aang said, "Maybe I should tell him there's a pathway around the falls?"
"I think he'll be able to find it himself," replied Katara. "Good job, Aang. Now that you know most of the major techniques, I want to try something different today. I want to duel."
"Duel? Me? I... don't think that's a very good idea," Aang made a short pause and finished, "Sifu Katara." Katara unlaced her shoes and undid her blouse. She waded into the water, turned to Aang and smiled.
"Are you ready?" Aang's lower jaw unhinged from his mouth as soon as those lips spread into that smile. She looks so...
"Aang, are you ready?" Katara said as Aang threw off his shirt and hopped in. "Don't go easy on me now."
"I won't," replied Aang smiling back at her. Both duelists knew who had the clear advantage: one a waterbending master and the other the most powerful bender alive, the Avatar. But from the bank, onlookers would argue differently. Both benders were matched in speed and technique. When one tried sending a flurry of frozen discs the other built an ice blockade, sending the discs ricocheting in all directions. And I mean all directions. Sokka had just reached the edge of cliff, when a frozen disc hit the rocks just above his hand. "Oh no..NOOOoooo.." his voice trailed as he plummeted into the now icy water.
"I'm OK, don't worry about Sokka. He's fine," Sokka stated shivering but neither bender heard a word. It was then that Sokka decided a different approach was needed. He began to walk around the falls hoping to find another way up.
"You're holding back!" Katara amusingly exclaimed.
"No, I'm not. The one who's holding back is you," replied Aang. "Hmm. I wonder, what it will take for you to unleash that master bending?" questioned Aang. "Maybe we should bring Toph out here to show you how it's done?"
She smirked. Haha, cute, but not good enough, Aang.
"Or we can call Zuko out here..."
Katara gritted her teeth and barked, "He paid dearly for what he did to you; I made sure of it," And what he said to me! She added, mentally. Katara's movements became more vigorous now.
"Yea, I guess Zuko's just too easy for you. He might call the whole Fire Nation for backup," laughed Aang. Katara froze. Images of black fire nation brigades raiding her home flooded her mind. The sounds of screaming children, the loss of her community...the death of her mother flashed before her eyes. Tears began to crawl down her cheeks. Katara was now looking down at her own reflection disgusted that she could do nothing to stop the madness.
"Katara, I'm so sorry, I..." But it was far too late. Katara's bottled up hatred had taken on a life of its own. A thick fog began to rise between the two. "Katara, what's happening?" questioned Aang frantically. He looked about and saw, rising above the fog, Katara in the center of a whirling water tornado. She clasped her hands together and the water surrounding Aang froze. He couldn't move. In an effort to protect himself, Aang motioned his arms over his head forming an igloo by bending the ice into a semi-sphere. The water tornado froze into a tower of ice with Katara at the top. She threw her hands upward and then down at Aang with all her fingers pointing at the little igloo house. Two tidal waves rose out of the steady stream matching the height of the icey tower. The new towers froze and then dismantled into an array of ice arrows. The little igloo home could not withstand the speeds. It wasn't until Katara began to see shades of pink on the walls of the little igloo that she realized what she had just done.
"Strange, the lizards have led to this market but no Avatar," noted Azula.
"You stop!" She commanded. The local cabbage vender halted. Azula revealed a scroll with the faces of Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph.
"Have you seen any of these people before?" Just as the vender was about to reply, he was interrupted,
"Look, up in the sky..." shouted TyLee.
The vender replied, "I can't see well; it's much too bright out here. Is it a bird?"
"No, it's a bison!" replied TyLee.
Mai looked up and confirmed, "Yea, she's right this time. It's a bison."
The vender looked at the three girls, glanced over his left and right shoulder, picked up his cart, and slowly but swiftly ran away. "Crazy, lunatics...flying bisons, bah!"
"Hmm. But no Avatar," whispered Azula.
"Maybe it's a different bison?" suggested TyLee.
"No this is the one. We'll wait and then we'll follow."
As the sun began to set, Toph and Appa were nearly half-way to the falls as they followed the direction up the stream, when Appa began descending.
"Yip, Yip," Toph barked, "Yip, Yip". Appa only moaned.
"What's wrong with you?" she asked as Appa landed on the bank of the stream and placed practically his entire head into the water. Toph got off and stood next to the bison. She laughed as the water level diminished exponentially and patted the furry bison. Something wasn't right, however. She kept petting the bison while keeping her head away from the disturbance. Yes, she had sensed six pairs of legs slowing down to a complete halt just a hundred meters from where she stood. From the pace, it has to be lizards, she thought. That could only mean one thing.
"Ok Appa, time's up. We need to get moving big fella'." Quietly she added, "We're being followed by some fire lovers and I know they're not too friendly, so going home is a definite no. They want a chase; we'll give them one. Yip yip." As Appa, ascended into the air, TyLee began to move forward, when Azula stopped her.
"She has been following this river for quite some time, but she suddenly changes course after she ...clever. No, we will not be following the bison any longer." Excited with her recent discovery, even Azula failed to notice the lone figure, which stood in the distance. "No, Azula, the avatar is mine," he whispered.
"Well, he could've told me there was a path," Sokka muttered as he climbed the path. Scared of falling down again, he stayed close to the sides and he walked behind the water curtain and into the safe cave. He half expected it to be pitch dark, yet there were holes in the walls allowing for stray moonlight to enter. He walked further in until, "Ow! What the heck is this?" he exclaimed, but he knew what it was as soon as the last words left his lips. It was a dial placed in the center of the cave. On one end of the dial an arrow pointed to the ceiling to a whole which light had not yet passed through. And on the other end of the dial, another arrow pointed in the opposite direction, where Sokka saw, in the dim light, what seemed to be an arch. As he stepped closer, his foot fell into a dip in the ground. He looked down and saw two holes roughly the size and shape of a man's foot situated between the dial and the "arch". Suddenly, a gust of wind forced its way through the water curtain, knocking Sokka off balance and causing him to stumble such that his feet wound up situated in the shapes on the floor.
Must have dozed off for a couple of hours thought Iroh to himself. He slowly got up, turned around and stretched. What is taking Zuko so long? Maybe he can't find a cup. Iroh's gaze stopped over a patch of shrubs behind where he was napping. Well what do you know; the tealeaves were behind me the whole time! The sun was playing tricks on my mind. He went to get a closer look.
As the final rays of light disappeared, Toph felt the time to attack was now or never. "Okay, Appa, this is far enough," she said. Appa landed and Toph hopped out prepared to encounter the three devils. But the only thing she could sense was the pacing of two lonely feet a few meters from her. To her it looked like an old fellow smelling a bush. "Hey, you over there. What are you doing?"
The old man kept his back facing the young girl and replied, "Examining tea leaves. It's a very selective process. When I'm done, though, you are more than welcome to stay. I enjoy the company of strangers as long as there is tea."
"You're the old man who offered me the tea, before?" At these words Iroh froze. He stood up and turned around to see the very same earthbender he had shared teatime with only a few days before and thought, Oh no. Zuko.
The ice that had surrounded Aang was now melted, leaving Aang floating on top of the water. His face scarred from slashes, and his cheeks and arms red from blood. "Aang! AANG! Oh no." Katara swam over to the little airbender and held him in her arms. The tears returned but in greater volume this time.
"I'm sorry Katara," he squeaked. Wading through the water, Katara placed one arm around him to support him. She placed her right hand on his arms to heal the slashes. Speechless, she brought her hand to the scratches on his neck.
"Katara, I shouldn't have..." Aang said as his eyes filled up with tears.
"It's all my faul--" She put a finger over his lips and pressed him closer to her, even as he shivered in her arms. She was still sobbing as she brought her hand to his bloody cheeks; even though he was healed, Aang looked miserable. He blinked, and the first tears trickled down his face. Aang could not stand to see her like that, and shivering, he took both his hands and placed them on her cheeks even with her shaking her head. Cupping her cheeks in the palms of his hands, he wiped away the fresh tears with his thumbs. Her hand moved down his face and around his neck pulling him close to her. His hands gently followed down her cheeks and around her neck. Katara could see the bright white moon's light in his eyes. The water was still, the wind unmoving, and they moved in unison. Like two magnets brought too close, their lips locked under the light of a full moon. Neither was shocked at the occurrence, if not only because shock was not among the emotions the two of them felt. Her arms did not withdraw from around his neck nor did his own from hers. The tears which fell from their eyes were no longer just tears of sorrow and pain but now of comfort and longing. What onlookers would say lasted only a moment, lasted a lifetime for them. Time was simply tossed aside.
Sadly, time resents such gestures, and is always quick to assert its presence.
"Well, well, well. Out for a midnight swim are we?" asked Azula.
"Kissy, kissy. Muah," added TyLee as she blew a kiss to Aang.
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