Avatar fic
May. 4th, 2009 04:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eastofthemoonWrote another drabble, but an Avatar one this time. ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
secondlina asked me if I could write a Toph centric one for her and it gave me this little plot bunny. I love writing Toph.
Although, while writing it a crack idea did come to mind. Would Zelgadis be scared of earthbenders, especially Toph? Think about it. If I had skin that was made of rock and found out there were people that could bend it, I thought I would be a bit nervous. Plus, I can so see Toph constantly mocking him with this threat. (And yes this is similar to my Toph vs Transformers idea a while back. XP )
Series: Avatar The Last Airbender
Characters: Toph and Zuko
Rating: G
It was impossible to resist. Zuko was there sitting in the room alone and not uttering a sound. Whatever he was up to, he was so focused on it he didn’t even notice Toph entering. She was amused by this. Normally, Zuko was good at detecting a new presence. It was funny to hear the screams Sokka made when he tried to sneak up on Zuko, only to find himself being grabbed and flipped into the summer house’s small pond.
Zuko apologized immediately, blaming it on instinct, but Toph and Aang couldn’t stop laughing for a long while. However, Sokka was an amateur, while Toph was a professional. It was just like earthbending. She knew that if she waited long enough, a perfect opportunity would arrive and here it was.
Quietly, Toph stalked forward. She held her breath, until she felt the back of the chair. Grinning evilly, Toph took a deep breath an yelled.
“BOO!!!”
Zuko jumped ten feet in the air like a startled cat. She heard a hard object drop from his hands. “Toph!” he hissed. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!”
Toph fell over laughing. “You made it too easy! Ha, ha! Wait until I tell Sokka.”
Zuko grumbled as he sat back down. “Can’t a guy read in peace?”
“That’s what you were doing?” Toph leaned against the back of his chair. “What could be so interesting about a dumb book that makes you drop your guard?”
“I didn’t think I had to keep my guard up around you guys,” Zuko muttered. “It’s The Legend of the Sun Bird. I haven’t read it since I was a kid, so I was just going down memory lane.”
Toph wrinkled her nose. “Never heard of it.”
Zuko dropped the book again. “You never heard of it? How?”
“Last time I checked, it wasn’t a priority for citizens of the Earth Kingdom to learn about Fire Nation legends.”
“But it isn’t just a Fire Nation story. It’s been told across the four nations. In fact, the story is so old; no one is even sure which nation it originated from.” Zuko dropped his hands into his lap. “How could you have never read it?”
“Well, it’s rather hard to read when you can’t see the letters.”
There was an awkward pause. “Oh, sorry,” Zuko muttered.
Toph scoffed. It didn’t bother her that she couldn’t read. Why did people have to make a big deal about it? Sure, it might be useful to look up information, but she could just get by just fine by actually asking a living breathing person than looking in some dumb scroll or book.
“But still,” Zuko muttered. “Did no one ever read it to you?”
Toph folded her arms. “Does the story involve a lot of gore and death?”
Zuko pondered. “Actually, yes it does.”
Toph sighed. “That would be why. My parents never read me any good bedtime stories. They only wanted to read me stupid stories about airhead princess being rescued by equally airheaded heroes that I could beat to a pulp instantly.” Toph slumped to the floor. “It would be nice if I could read some good stories, but I can’t do that with earth bending.” She shrugged. “So, it’s not worth worrying over.”
She heard Zuko open his book again. “Yeah, it’s too bad you can’t read with rocks.”
As he spoke the words, an idea popped into her head. “Wait…maybe…” She jumped grinning from ear to ear. “Hey! Maybe I can!” Toph seized a started Zuko by the wrist. “You’re coming with me!”
“Why?” he asked, suspiciously.
“Because it’s your idea!”
She dragged the firebender to the yard on the other side of the house. There were a lot of large rocks in the area, so it was perfect for earth bending practice. Toph picked the largest rock, one that went up past her shoulders, and dragged Zuko to the spot.
“With this rock,” she said pointing. “You’re going to teach me to read.”
There was a long silence from Zuko. “Dare I ask how I’m supposed to do that?”
“Simple,” Toph placed her forefinger against the rock. “I can cut into the rock with my earthbending, but you’re going to guide my hand so I can write the letters.” She glanced back. “This way I can feel the shape of the letters with my fingers and this way I can read.”
Zuko tapped his foot. “It’s not a bad idea, but you’re going to have to be precise. You need very smooth strokes and I’m not sure you can do that with this.”
Toph grabbed his hand. “Then we’ll do it until I get it right.”
Later that afternoon, Zuko bit his lip for the thirty-eighth time. “Toph that line is too long. You need to make it shorter.”
Toph cursed, growled loudly and then collapsed onto the ground. “I give up!” She laid her hands over her head. “This was a bad idea. Learning to read shouldn’t be this hard.”
Zuko laid down next to her, sounding equally tired. “You know Toph, there’s no reason why any of us couldn’t read to you. It’s not a problem. And even if you did figure out how to do this properly, it’s not like you’ll be able to do it often. People don’t normally write or read on rock.”
Toph nodded, sighing. “I know, I know. I just like the idea of being able to do it myself.” Toph closed her eyes. “I was able to be independent in everything else. It just annoys me that there’s still this one thing I can’t find a way around. Even if I couldn’t use it on a regular basis, I’d be happy know that I found some way around it.”
Zuko sat up, drumming his fingers on his knee. “Maybe we’re going about this the wrong way.” He placed his palm against the rock. “Instead of me teaching you to read, maybe you should make up your own language.”
Toph sat up, feeling some of her energy come back. “How do I do that?”
The firebender took Toph’s hand and placed it against a rock. “Well, one line straight down could mean a man, and a line and a dot could mean a woman.”
Toph ran her fingers over the marks she made. “Hey, yeah, and maybe an circle could stand for ‘rock’.” She smiled. “And with that said, we’ll say that that a line and a circle means ‘Sokka’.”
“How does that mean Sokka?” Zuko asked confused.
“Because he has rocks for brains.”
Zuko held back a laugh. “That could work.” He tapped his fingers against the rock. “I know this isn’t the same as reading a book-“
“Naw, it works.” Toph replied making more marks. “It’s just my style of writing, just like I have my own way of seeing.”
“Later, do you want me to read you that story?”
Toph tilted her head. “Does it have blood?”
“Three men get their heads chopped off.”
“Then, yes,” she replied as she made more lines. “But first I want to try writing my own story. It will be about Toph the greatest earthbender ever and her sidekick Zuko.”
Zuko coughed. “Why am I a sidekick?”
“Because you still owe me for burning my feet.”
“…Fine.”
secondlina asked me if I could write a Toph centric one for her and it gave me this little plot bunny. I love writing Toph.Although, while writing it a crack idea did come to mind. Would Zelgadis be scared of earthbenders, especially Toph? Think about it. If I had skin that was made of rock and found out there were people that could bend it, I thought I would be a bit nervous. Plus, I can so see Toph constantly mocking him with this threat. (And yes this is similar to my Toph vs Transformers idea a while back. XP )
Series: Avatar The Last Airbender
Characters: Toph and Zuko
Rating: G
It was impossible to resist. Zuko was there sitting in the room alone and not uttering a sound. Whatever he was up to, he was so focused on it he didn’t even notice Toph entering. She was amused by this. Normally, Zuko was good at detecting a new presence. It was funny to hear the screams Sokka made when he tried to sneak up on Zuko, only to find himself being grabbed and flipped into the summer house’s small pond.
Zuko apologized immediately, blaming it on instinct, but Toph and Aang couldn’t stop laughing for a long while. However, Sokka was an amateur, while Toph was a professional. It was just like earthbending. She knew that if she waited long enough, a perfect opportunity would arrive and here it was.
Quietly, Toph stalked forward. She held her breath, until she felt the back of the chair. Grinning evilly, Toph took a deep breath an yelled.
“BOO!!!”
Zuko jumped ten feet in the air like a startled cat. She heard a hard object drop from his hands. “Toph!” he hissed. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!”
Toph fell over laughing. “You made it too easy! Ha, ha! Wait until I tell Sokka.”
Zuko grumbled as he sat back down. “Can’t a guy read in peace?”
“That’s what you were doing?” Toph leaned against the back of his chair. “What could be so interesting about a dumb book that makes you drop your guard?”
“I didn’t think I had to keep my guard up around you guys,” Zuko muttered. “It’s The Legend of the Sun Bird. I haven’t read it since I was a kid, so I was just going down memory lane.”
Toph wrinkled her nose. “Never heard of it.”
Zuko dropped the book again. “You never heard of it? How?”
“Last time I checked, it wasn’t a priority for citizens of the Earth Kingdom to learn about Fire Nation legends.”
“But it isn’t just a Fire Nation story. It’s been told across the four nations. In fact, the story is so old; no one is even sure which nation it originated from.” Zuko dropped his hands into his lap. “How could you have never read it?”
“Well, it’s rather hard to read when you can’t see the letters.”
There was an awkward pause. “Oh, sorry,” Zuko muttered.
Toph scoffed. It didn’t bother her that she couldn’t read. Why did people have to make a big deal about it? Sure, it might be useful to look up information, but she could just get by just fine by actually asking a living breathing person than looking in some dumb scroll or book.
“But still,” Zuko muttered. “Did no one ever read it to you?”
Toph folded her arms. “Does the story involve a lot of gore and death?”
Zuko pondered. “Actually, yes it does.”
Toph sighed. “That would be why. My parents never read me any good bedtime stories. They only wanted to read me stupid stories about airhead princess being rescued by equally airheaded heroes that I could beat to a pulp instantly.” Toph slumped to the floor. “It would be nice if I could read some good stories, but I can’t do that with earth bending.” She shrugged. “So, it’s not worth worrying over.”
She heard Zuko open his book again. “Yeah, it’s too bad you can’t read with rocks.”
As he spoke the words, an idea popped into her head. “Wait…maybe…” She jumped grinning from ear to ear. “Hey! Maybe I can!” Toph seized a started Zuko by the wrist. “You’re coming with me!”
“Why?” he asked, suspiciously.
“Because it’s your idea!”
She dragged the firebender to the yard on the other side of the house. There were a lot of large rocks in the area, so it was perfect for earth bending practice. Toph picked the largest rock, one that went up past her shoulders, and dragged Zuko to the spot.
“With this rock,” she said pointing. “You’re going to teach me to read.”
There was a long silence from Zuko. “Dare I ask how I’m supposed to do that?”
“Simple,” Toph placed her forefinger against the rock. “I can cut into the rock with my earthbending, but you’re going to guide my hand so I can write the letters.” She glanced back. “This way I can feel the shape of the letters with my fingers and this way I can read.”
Zuko tapped his foot. “It’s not a bad idea, but you’re going to have to be precise. You need very smooth strokes and I’m not sure you can do that with this.”
Toph grabbed his hand. “Then we’ll do it until I get it right.”
Later that afternoon, Zuko bit his lip for the thirty-eighth time. “Toph that line is too long. You need to make it shorter.”
Toph cursed, growled loudly and then collapsed onto the ground. “I give up!” She laid her hands over her head. “This was a bad idea. Learning to read shouldn’t be this hard.”
Zuko laid down next to her, sounding equally tired. “You know Toph, there’s no reason why any of us couldn’t read to you. It’s not a problem. And even if you did figure out how to do this properly, it’s not like you’ll be able to do it often. People don’t normally write or read on rock.”
Toph nodded, sighing. “I know, I know. I just like the idea of being able to do it myself.” Toph closed her eyes. “I was able to be independent in everything else. It just annoys me that there’s still this one thing I can’t find a way around. Even if I couldn’t use it on a regular basis, I’d be happy know that I found some way around it.”
Zuko sat up, drumming his fingers on his knee. “Maybe we’re going about this the wrong way.” He placed his palm against the rock. “Instead of me teaching you to read, maybe you should make up your own language.”
Toph sat up, feeling some of her energy come back. “How do I do that?”
The firebender took Toph’s hand and placed it against a rock. “Well, one line straight down could mean a man, and a line and a dot could mean a woman.”
Toph ran her fingers over the marks she made. “Hey, yeah, and maybe an circle could stand for ‘rock’.” She smiled. “And with that said, we’ll say that that a line and a circle means ‘Sokka’.”
“How does that mean Sokka?” Zuko asked confused.
“Because he has rocks for brains.”
Zuko held back a laugh. “That could work.” He tapped his fingers against the rock. “I know this isn’t the same as reading a book-“
“Naw, it works.” Toph replied making more marks. “It’s just my style of writing, just like I have my own way of seeing.”
“Later, do you want me to read you that story?”
Toph tilted her head. “Does it have blood?”
“Three men get their heads chopped off.”
“Then, yes,” she replied as she made more lines. “But first I want to try writing my own story. It will be about Toph the greatest earthbender ever and her sidekick Zuko.”
Zuko coughed. “Why am I a sidekick?”
“Because you still owe me for burning my feet.”
“…Fine.”
