Avatar TLA: Masks
Title: Masks
Rating: Gen
Characters: Toph and Zuko
Words: 1300
Summary: The Blind Bandit enlists the Blue Spirit.
The occupying forces run her town. They’ve taken her fortune, which means there’s no money. They’re suppressing crime, which means that the Rumbles have gone so far underground that even Toph’s feet couldn’t find them, so that cash prize is out of her reach. Things are so tight that they would have died if some random stranger hadn't started and helped her with an (admittedly awesome and daring) robbery and left her with all the cash. But it was still too close. Can’t they go back to the way things were, now? She’s proved to her parents she’s not fragile and it’s not fun anymore.
Then Toph overhears a pair of the soldiers talking about ‘The Blue Spirit and the Blind Bandit’ and the actions of last week combine with her brewing discontent into a new, wonderful idea, and this time she’s going to make sure her title is the one in front.
And she’s pretty sure she knows where he is. After all, the best person to rob a place is one who works there, right?
-
“You there!” Toph yells, uncaring if she’s a beggar girl and this is the middle of The Fire Residence her home. There are no guards around, and if she keeps the guy off-balance he won't call for them: she’s found that an effective tactic in this situation is to ignore the rules and let the rest of the world scramble to catch up.
“Lady Bei Fong.” The Spirit says evenly, turning to face her. He feels different here, with more weight on his feet and no swords clinking at his side, but he’s definitely the same person. Even if he hides the voice, he still pronounces her surname as two separate words. “How did you get in here?”
“What are you talking about? A poor little blind girl could never get past your guards. They all know that.” Toph smirks. It’s amazing how useful her disability has turned out to be when she doesn't want to be noticed. People will go out of their way to not see her. And the Spirit’s not called for the guards, which means the fool’s given her the momentum. She stamps forwards. “ I've come to pay my debts, Twinkletoes.”
“I-Twinkletoes?” He stutters, line of thought disrupted. Round one to the Bandit!
“Sure. ‘Cause of how soft on your feet you were last week and how you got all stealthy-like.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” His heart stutters, an utter lie. He’s shown weakness in the ring, a definite no-no. The Bandit presses her advantage.
“Really? Because I think that there are a bunch of people here who’d be interested to know just who it was that was kicking them in the face last week. I think they’d love the chance.”
“Says the Bandit.” His voice goes low. The Spirit gives ground, but strikes back!
Oh, but it’ll take more than that to hurt her. “I’ve got less to lose than you, Twinkletoes. Whatever cushy job you have in this place, they won’t be giving it to a thief. You wanna risk it?”
“My word against yours? I think I do.” He said. “I’m going to call for the guards in ten seconds. Go.”
Uh-oh. Looks like the Spirit had some good fight in him after all. Toph changed tactics, listening to what the lay of the ground was telling her. “Okay, I can see now that you got what it takes. I had to check.” She bluffs. “ But you’ve shown me you’ve got, y'know, the rocks. So how about we make a business proposition? There’s gotta be something that you and I can both steal and we both want.”
He hesitates; Toph can feel it through her feet. This is her chance to close the deal, but like a Beifong and not a rumble fighter. She spurs on. “Think on it, Twinkletoes. This way you get much less hassle and something that you want. What’s not to like? There’s plenty of things you can’t do in this world without a mask on.” From the shifting of his weight she feels that she has him. “And you’ll get to work with charming old me.”
There’s a bubble of laughter from the Spirit, and a considering pause. “Do you know a man called Zhao?” He asked. “He’s got a high position in the Fire-“
“Hate him already.”
“Good. He’s got a large amount of pilfered Earth treasures in his house, not far from here. That’s what you’ll be wanting. What I’ll be after is the papers in his office. Not telling.” He adds as she opens her mouth to ask why.
“Aw. But will there be a lot of security?”
“Uh, probably.”
“And will it be difficult, dark and dangerous?”
“Um, certainly.”
“Awesome. Let’s rock.” Toph pauses, feeling something new in her garden. The vibrations have taken some time to travel to her, muffled as they are by water. She spends a moment working them out. “Hey, what did you guys do to my pond?”
There’s a stupefied silence, and then the voice blankly replies “Turtleducks.”
Toph taps her foot against the ground again. Yep, he’s holding some bread. Feeding turtleducks doesn’t… feel very Fire, somehow. “Whose garden is this?” she demands. “Who changed my house?”
“Erm…the…prince…and…princesses’?”
Sure, she'd already wanted to kill those two callous bastards who had conquered her home and took her family fortune, but now they'd went an put turtleducks in her pond. Screw the rest. That pond had been her one place she’d liked in her home, where her parents had never gone, and they’d went and changed it. They were dead. Deader. “I’m so gonna kill them." She says. "Kill them more.”
“I can honestly say I think that would be a very bad idea.” The Spirit says, grabbing her arm. She’s still fuming enough to let him. “How about you go before A-the princess comes here? She won’t be lenient to trespassers.”
“She needs a rock to the face.”
“True.” Toph smirks. It’s good to see that all Fire - or at least, this Fire boy - don't have the fawning admiration of their royalty she’d heard they have. There’s something nicely honest about the way he says their titles, as if he knows they’re a load of junk. “But I still think you should be going.”
“Yeah, yeah.” She yanks her arm back. “But I do it my way.” She readies her stance when a thought strikes. “Y’know, you know who I am and helped me out and all, but I still haven’t got your name. Who are you?”
Toph feels the shifting in the air, like something dangerous is at risk of being released. She holds her breath and prepares for a fight, confident at least that he hasn’t got his swords. And then the Blue Spirit shifts, and holds his body together into a courtly pose, and bows. “My honor demands that I answer honestly,” he says, completely straight-laced. “My name is Prince Zuko, son of Ursa and Ozai, nephew to the Firelord and Heir to the Dragon Throne.”
Toph stares for a long long while, trying to find any sign of a lie, and then guffaws. “Whoa, you’re good, Twinkletoes!” she says. “Your heart didn't even miss a beat! Where’d you learn to lie like that?”
“I didn't.”
“Sure, don’t tell me.” She grins at ‘Zuko’. “You know, despite being Fire, you’re not half bad.”
“The same to you, Earth.”
“Hah!” Last round to the Spirit. She’s still won, but she’ll give him this one. “Best be going yourself, ‘prince’. I wouldn't want the real deals to catch you snooping around their garden. I need you for the heist.” She calls the earth up.
"Oh, right.” Are the last words Toph hears before she submerges herself. “Trespassing.”
Rating: Gen
Characters: Toph and Zuko
Words: 1300
Summary: The Blind Bandit enlists the Blue Spirit.
The occupying forces run her town. They’ve taken her fortune, which means there’s no money. They’re suppressing crime, which means that the Rumbles have gone so far underground that even Toph’s feet couldn’t find them, so that cash prize is out of her reach. Things are so tight that they would have died if some random stranger hadn't started and helped her with an (admittedly awesome and daring) robbery and left her with all the cash. But it was still too close. Can’t they go back to the way things were, now? She’s proved to her parents she’s not fragile and it’s not fun anymore.
Then Toph overhears a pair of the soldiers talking about ‘The Blue Spirit and the Blind Bandit’ and the actions of last week combine with her brewing discontent into a new, wonderful idea, and this time she’s going to make sure her title is the one in front.
And she’s pretty sure she knows where he is. After all, the best person to rob a place is one who works there, right?
-
“You there!” Toph yells, uncaring if she’s a beggar girl and this is the middle of The Fire Residence her home. There are no guards around, and if she keeps the guy off-balance he won't call for them: she’s found that an effective tactic in this situation is to ignore the rules and let the rest of the world scramble to catch up.
“Lady Bei Fong.” The Spirit says evenly, turning to face her. He feels different here, with more weight on his feet and no swords clinking at his side, but he’s definitely the same person. Even if he hides the voice, he still pronounces her surname as two separate words. “How did you get in here?”
“What are you talking about? A poor little blind girl could never get past your guards. They all know that.” Toph smirks. It’s amazing how useful her disability has turned out to be when she doesn't want to be noticed. People will go out of their way to not see her. And the Spirit’s not called for the guards, which means the fool’s given her the momentum. She stamps forwards. “ I've come to pay my debts, Twinkletoes.”
“I-Twinkletoes?” He stutters, line of thought disrupted. Round one to the Bandit!
“Sure. ‘Cause of how soft on your feet you were last week and how you got all stealthy-like.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” His heart stutters, an utter lie. He’s shown weakness in the ring, a definite no-no. The Bandit presses her advantage.
“Really? Because I think that there are a bunch of people here who’d be interested to know just who it was that was kicking them in the face last week. I think they’d love the chance.”
“Says the Bandit.” His voice goes low. The Spirit gives ground, but strikes back!
Oh, but it’ll take more than that to hurt her. “I’ve got less to lose than you, Twinkletoes. Whatever cushy job you have in this place, they won’t be giving it to a thief. You wanna risk it?”
“My word against yours? I think I do.” He said. “I’m going to call for the guards in ten seconds. Go.”
Uh-oh. Looks like the Spirit had some good fight in him after all. Toph changed tactics, listening to what the lay of the ground was telling her. “Okay, I can see now that you got what it takes. I had to check.” She bluffs. “ But you’ve shown me you’ve got, y'know, the rocks. So how about we make a business proposition? There’s gotta be something that you and I can both steal and we both want.”
He hesitates; Toph can feel it through her feet. This is her chance to close the deal, but like a Beifong and not a rumble fighter. She spurs on. “Think on it, Twinkletoes. This way you get much less hassle and something that you want. What’s not to like? There’s plenty of things you can’t do in this world without a mask on.” From the shifting of his weight she feels that she has him. “And you’ll get to work with charming old me.”
There’s a bubble of laughter from the Spirit, and a considering pause. “Do you know a man called Zhao?” He asked. “He’s got a high position in the Fire-“
“Hate him already.”
“Good. He’s got a large amount of pilfered Earth treasures in his house, not far from here. That’s what you’ll be wanting. What I’ll be after is the papers in his office. Not telling.” He adds as she opens her mouth to ask why.
“Aw. But will there be a lot of security?”
“Uh, probably.”
“And will it be difficult, dark and dangerous?”
“Um, certainly.”
“Awesome. Let’s rock.” Toph pauses, feeling something new in her garden. The vibrations have taken some time to travel to her, muffled as they are by water. She spends a moment working them out. “Hey, what did you guys do to my pond?”
There’s a stupefied silence, and then the voice blankly replies “Turtleducks.”
Toph taps her foot against the ground again. Yep, he’s holding some bread. Feeding turtleducks doesn’t… feel very Fire, somehow. “Whose garden is this?” she demands. “Who changed my house?”
“Erm…the…prince…and…princesses’?”
Sure, she'd already wanted to kill those two callous bastards who had conquered her home and took her family fortune, but now they'd went an put turtleducks in her pond. Screw the rest. That pond had been her one place she’d liked in her home, where her parents had never gone, and they’d went and changed it. They were dead. Deader. “I’m so gonna kill them." She says. "Kill them more.”
“I can honestly say I think that would be a very bad idea.” The Spirit says, grabbing her arm. She’s still fuming enough to let him. “How about you go before A-the princess comes here? She won’t be lenient to trespassers.”
“She needs a rock to the face.”
“True.” Toph smirks. It’s good to see that all Fire - or at least, this Fire boy - don't have the fawning admiration of their royalty she’d heard they have. There’s something nicely honest about the way he says their titles, as if he knows they’re a load of junk. “But I still think you should be going.”
“Yeah, yeah.” She yanks her arm back. “But I do it my way.” She readies her stance when a thought strikes. “Y’know, you know who I am and helped me out and all, but I still haven’t got your name. Who are you?”
Toph feels the shifting in the air, like something dangerous is at risk of being released. She holds her breath and prepares for a fight, confident at least that he hasn’t got his swords. And then the Blue Spirit shifts, and holds his body together into a courtly pose, and bows. “My honor demands that I answer honestly,” he says, completely straight-laced. “My name is Prince Zuko, son of Ursa and Ozai, nephew to the Firelord and Heir to the Dragon Throne.”
Toph stares for a long long while, trying to find any sign of a lie, and then guffaws. “Whoa, you’re good, Twinkletoes!” she says. “Your heart didn't even miss a beat! Where’d you learn to lie like that?”
“I didn't.”
“Sure, don’t tell me.” She grins at ‘Zuko’. “You know, despite being Fire, you’re not half bad.”
“The same to you, Earth.”
“Hah!” Last round to the Spirit. She’s still won, but she’ll give him this one. “Best be going yourself, ‘prince’. I wouldn't want the real deals to catch you snooping around their garden. I need you for the heist.” She calls the earth up.
"Oh, right.” Are the last words Toph hears before she submerges herself. “Trespassing.”