Chapter Text
Toph knew they had entered the outer wall by the way a chill ran down her spine at the shift in the air. She had heard about the infamous city of walls of Ba Sing Se and its nature of housing every society rule and etiquette she detested. It’s been hours of this sitting and enduring of carriage rattling that did nothing but make this miserable situation worse. She had suffered enough back in Gaoling, but this carriage ride just told her that it was the start of a long line for more.
Housed by her sandals, her toes clenched harder every passing minute. It’s the only way to cope with this nightmare without being noticed by her mother, sitting across from her, who scolds her for every unrefined movement on her body. She hated this. She hated everything and everyone, including herself. It’s been 18 years of this life full of nothing but her parents breathing down her neck every moment of her life. She’s so mad and desperate. In fact, she couldn’t remember the last time she wasn’t. Maybe during the highs of her fights in the Earth Rumble, but no, she always is.
She wanted to escape from the whole lot of it. She did, escape that is, multiple times in fact. All of which resulted in her back at home, her parents’ house, with more guards to surround her than the number of dumbos she fought in the Earth Rumble for years. Not that it had gotten harder to escape everything—the guards are easy to evade thanks to her earthbending experience. It’s what comes after escaping, where she struggled on. Sure, she can easily protect herself from any external danger. Money won’t be a problem as she has some savings and can easily just scam those scammers for more with her bending. Beyond that, she had long realized that the person holding her up is not her parents, never the guards or her tutors, but herself.
Her first escape at age four was phenomenal. It was the first time she felt free from the claws of her parents' protection, or rather, scrutiny. The most exhilarating part of the escape was when she met her true masters, the badger-moles, which prompted her to manifest her earthbending. Everything about the whole experience was so great, except for the end. When she was found, unconscious in the deep part of the cave. She stayed there for three days with no food nor water, just the moles and earthbending. This took a huge toll on her body, causing her recovery to last for weeks. But it was all worth it.
The following escape attempts were similar. Most of her childhood attempts are spent on further developing her learned seismic sense and, of course, the art of earthbending. But she was quickly bouldered by the harsh reality: her inability to sustain her survival.
Cons of being raised as the most pampered noble lady, I guess.
She can’t really rely on towns–her parents' connections have proved their failure and the disappointment of people's greed multiple times. So her best chances are through the wild. Her various attempts have taught her some skills in foraging and a little bit of hunting, which all just led to her developing health conditions that were too dreadful to experience again. Poisoning, allergy, broken bones, scars, you name it. It’s a miracle she didn’t become any more disabled than her blindness. Her poor attempts at inducing fire, her failure to sustain it, and the burns it left just embody the whole journey. Consequently, not all of her attempts led to her recapture; some of which were a deliberate surrender to her reality with seemingly infinite hope that she could do better next time.
At one of her attempts when she was a pre-teen, she discovered the earth rumble. There, she managed to improve her bending with an opponent for the first time. It was one of her well-kept secrets she hid for almost a decade. She did everything to keep it well under her parents’ noses. So if she ever got caught again, it’ll be from everywhere but the Earth Rumble. Well, it’s not a matter of if, it’s when. Hence, her current situation.
The discovery had one of the worst consequences to date. It was a lot of screaming and crying. How she never learned that her attempts were never fruitful, when the irony is that she had learned the best lessons, not from her tutors or the hired masters, but when she was free. Her parents, especially her father, were so livid that he finally snapped. Lao seemed to be adamant that the only solution to fix her and finally tame her is by finding her a husband, in Ba Sing Se, at that.
Toph could only scoff at the idea. At this point, nothing and no one can stop her anymore but herself. Yet she knew, even from what she learned from earthbending, that patience is the key. She didn’t endure the 18 years of suffering just to give up now, just because her cage changed shape. All she has to do now is to wait, listen, and play her cards right. Besides, the change may not be too much of a disadvantage as she thought it would be. It may even be her greatest chance.
The blind bender had to maintain her body stiff from jerking forward as she felt the carriage halt. It prompted her to awake from her trance. She might have been more nervous than she can admit, so she didn’t notice the passage of time. Toph heard someone from outside had announced that they had arrived. Then a creak resounded; she felt through her fingertips that the carriage door opened. She sensed her father standing up across from her and went out, followed by her mother, who beckoned with a whisper. She followed soon after, feeling a guard's grip on her forearm to assist her down the carriage.
As she settled her feet on the city’s soil, her heightened senses soon followed. She can’t map out the area just yet due to her sandals, but she can already imagine what it’s like. Toph sighed and just muted out the pleasantries exchanged by the Ba Sing Se delegate and her father. She figured that she’s too tired from all the travel to deal with all the bullshit, so she opted to auto-pilot instead. Next thing she knew, she was left alone in her new room.
“Haaa, finally.” The earthbender sighed for the nth time that day, draping herself on her canopy bed. “My ass fell asleep from sitting for so long, ugh.”
Her legs wiggled out on the side, freeing her feet from her sandals. With a mastered thud, she replanted her bare feet on the ground, finally feeling up the vibrations she had missed for hours. Instantaneously, she saw everything, reaching through miles of Ba Sing Se. On her quick assessment, she noticed how this estate was slightly smaller than the one in Gaoling. The main house was quite similar, but the yard was limited. She also learned that her room was located right in the middle of the estate. Toph smirked at the discovery.
Hours passed from her rest, and she woke up to the feeling of the temperature dropping, telling her that it was already evening. Like clockwork, she was called on by one of the maids as they assisted her for a quick cleanup for supper. She proceeded to enter the dining hall, sensing that both of her parents had already settled into their seats. With a quick greeting, she took her usual spot with someone behind her pushing her chair. The meals were served and eaten wordlessly. But Toph knew better than to expect the silence would last.
The earthbender heard the clanking of chopsticks on the table, and just as she anticipated, it was followed by Lao’s voice. “I advise you not to proceed with any funny idea you have in mind, young lady. I expect you to be on your best behavior during our stay here.”
Toph exhaled silently with her practiced smile, “Of course, father.”
“I have received an invitation from the Earth King. We are to attend a formal banquet in the palace tomorrow night.” Lao continued, dapping a napkin on his mouth. “This will serve as your official debut to high society. It’s time for you to grow up and accept your faith as a noblewoman. None of this earthbending nonsense.”
The earthbender couldn’t help but purse her lips, trying to contain her emotions. Her mother seemed to notice it as she sighed defeatedly, reaching out for her hand, “Please try to understand, my dear. We’re only doing this for your own sake.”
YOU never tried to understand me either, so why can’t I return the favor? Toph scoffed in her mind.
She placed down her chopsticks with a clunk, “I wish to be excused as I want to rest now. Please enjoy the rest of the evening, father, mother.” Toph pushed out her chair and walked back into her room; her maids trailed behind her.
The moment she stepped into the room, she immediately dismissed all of her servants, citing that she wanted to be alone. Taking a deep breath, she swiftly crossed her room with long strides to the pile of luggage. She quickly found one particular piece of luggage that contained her disguise garments. She had it tucked underneath her bed cushions as she made a silent stump to rescan the whole estate. Guards and servants alike were scattered around the estate. As expected, the area right around her room was heavily guarded.
After going through her nightly routine, Toph settled on her bed. She lay down in silence, waiting till the servants had scampered out of her room. Moments passed as everyone settled down through the night except for one calm heartbeat. It was the calm before the storm, well, more like an earthquake.
The quiet was soon interrupted by a loud explosion in the backyard as the soil rumbled. The guards quickly reacted to the situation as some approached it to investigate. But they had gotten smarter, as this distraction tactic had been played before. Toph knew that better than anyone else.
As expected, guards burst into her room, only to find a huge hole in the ground. The fools have proceeded to search around the area as one announced the young lady’s escape, again.
Toph could only chuckle at the scene from above. It was a huge mistake to house her under fired clay roof tiles. After reshaping the tiles back to their original forms, the earthbender had used the commotion to finally sneak out of the estate.
After crossing the quiet streets of the noble district, she headed towards the town square district, where common folks were scattered. She figured she'd only have a few hours of freedom before the guards tracked her down. Well, it's more than enough for her to familiarize herself with her new cage.
Toph didn't waste time on the marketplace as she knew staying there would only increase the chances of her being caught. She followed through the vibration of the constant rumbling of the earth. She was led into an underground stadium where a bunch of jittering folks had gathered. Toph smiled at the familiar environment.
Earth Rumbles are common in each Earth Kingdom city. Toph figured it's only right to be credited for the fact that the Gaoling’s earth rumble had become the biggest and most famous throughout the years of her fighting. The Blind Bandit™ was so notorious that different earthbenders from all over the Earth Kingdom have visited Gaoling just to stand for a few seconds on the earth ring with her.
Tugging down the hood of her cloak, the earthbender squeezed herself through the crowds to find that the show had just started. Cheers and shouts echo the huge stadium with every crunch of rocks, boulders, and crumbs alike. Grunts from one of the contenders were heard, followed by a loud thud from the ditch, signaling the end of the brawl. The cheers were at their peak as the announcer proclaimed the defending champion as the winner. Toph didn't bother to listen to the name as she approached the ring.
“Who else dares to challenge our defending champion for ten thousand silver pieces??!” The announcer challenged the crowd.
“Make that one thousand gold pieces.” Toph challenged, throwing over the sack of gold coins on the ground. At the same time, she ripped off her cloak, revealing herself standing across the defending champion in the ring.
“Green tunics, half-tied hair and a blindfold… I-Is that the undefeated Blind Bandit of Gaoling?!” One of the audience members incredulously gasped. The moment of silence didn't last for a beat as cheers boomed in the stadium. Toph felt her chest full with pride as she herself witnessed her reputation precede her.
As usual, the match didn't last long enough for her to even break a sweat. Match after match against the bold, arrogant, and self-absorbed dumbos of Ba Sing Se, every moment felt like a breeze of fresh air for Toph. She remained undefeated by the end of the night, and her sack of coins had never been heavier.
To celebrate her wins, Toph covered the tab of a whole bar filled with contenders, fans, and patrons of Earth Rumble. With liquor being no stranger to her, she was quick to make acquaintance with the people who sang praises of her by the bar counter. She eventually had enough of it and decided to check out of the conversation anyway, just nodding along with whatever was said. She made rhythmic taps on the wooden counter out of boredom when a new group of men entered the bar.
“Tis’ bwlu, blue spirit again, aye? Acting so heroic, who’in hell think he’s?!” One man slurred, swaying his way to a table. His voice was loud enough for the whole bar to hear as he snapped at the waiter for a drink. Toph couldn’t help but raise an inquisitive brow, silently watching the drama unfold.
“Wait till I catch that bastard, I’ll make sure to give his nonbending ass a lesson and finally rip that stupid mask off his stupid face.” Another man declared, chugging his drink in one gulp. “His broadswords got no say on these muscles anyway—Ow!”
“Oi, leave the guy alone. He did nothing but good in this town.” The bartender, whom Toph discovered to be a woman, rebuked as she sent a flying wooden muddler over the said men’s way.
That seemed to be the end of the drama—Toph thought it fell short to her liking. She shrugged, taking one last gulp from her beer before slamming her glass on the counter. She then waved a hand to the approaching bartender, gesturing that she had had enough of the drink. As much as it felt invigorating, the Blind Bandit never allowed the alcohol to sever her ties to earth. She knew she couldn't trust anyone more than herself. And throughout the years of exposure, she built herself the tolerance, practicing through her father's own stash of liquor.
It turned out her decision was correct. Despite being a bit tipsy, her idling soles can clearly sense the familiar strides of her father's guards a few feet away from the establishment. She quickly resigned herself to the night, bidding her new friends goodbye.
Toph knew there was no point in being stealthy when she was already recognized and tracked. As soon as she left the bar, she sprinted away. Throughout the years of her escapades, the guards have long adjusted to her every trick. But they could never seem to outsmart her. Their catches were always her surrender, not because they defeated her, but she couldn't defeat herself just yet.
She skipped through the crowds, making sharp turns through alleyways between the houses. She never bothered fighting them back with their pathetic attempts to catch her through earthbending. The pursuit felt nothing more than just a high-stakes match for her.
Just as she knew she'd be losing them, Toph suddenly felt an arm scooping her up to a high elevation.