[Day 210] open action | everything changed when the fire nation attacked

[tophgirl]

Who: Toph & you
Open: Open
When: 210
Where: By the onsen, near the bridge to the Skyway
What: Toph makes her way from the Skyway and to the Bastion.
Format: Prefer action, but I'll match.
Warnings: TBD

[Then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked.

That's the first thought to cross Toph's mind when she wakes up to find the world different. Wrong. She can feel earth beneath her feet, but it doesn't feel anchored. She can feel where it ends, which shouldn't be possible. Yeah, she's the greatest earthbender in the history of ever, but even she can't feel all the way to the inside of the world.

Everything around her feels barren and broken, like the earth had when she'd gone to see where Ozai had fought Aang. Maybe His Royal Loserness broke out of prison and rallied the Fire Nation malcontents against Zuko. There had been a lot of people not happy with her promise of peace & harmony.

She wishes for a moment that she'd gone to the palace after running away from home again — or better yet, she wishes she'd never gone home in the first place. If something's happened to Zuko, then Aang and Katara are probably in trouble too. Not to mention Iroh. If Sokka remained in the South Pole, he's probably fine, but what if —

No time for what if's. Standing around with your head up your butt is what diplomats and advisors do. Nobody ever saved the world by standing around and thinking about it. She should know; she helped save the world. If she wants to help her friends, then first she's got to find them.

She makes her way carefully across increasingly unfamiliar terrain... terrain which doesn't behave like earth should, and that's probably the most frightening thing of all. She's always been able to rely on earth. Reliability is the essence of dirt. She finally comes to a bridge and, when she crosses, she feels civilization.]

People are a good start.

Comments

[daughterofursa]

[Zuko's already experienced a bit of home today, having spent much of the morning with her new ostrich horses. After two months on her own, little things like that are as much as she was expecting to ever have. There is still a part of her that entertains hopes of other survivors out there, on their own like that group of Ura they ran into, but it's no longer anything she really believes in.

So she did not expect to turn around and spot a familiar face, just like that. Even at a distance, Zuko can tell there's something different about her--she definitely looks less tiny--but the figure waltzing in from the Skyway is still unmistakeably...]

Toph?

[She's not standing still either, but striding across the field to meet her, because she needs to be absolutely sure.]

[tophgirl]

Sparky? [Wow, that was a lot easier than Toph had expected! She grins and breaks into a jog.] Boy am I glad to see you!

[Seriously. Toph has enjoyed her year of traveling all by herself, but in a crisis, it's great to have a friend around.]

What happened here? I went to bed outside Taku Village, and then I woke up in this weird place.

[daughterofursa]

It's really you.

[Someone from her world, and not only that, someone she actually knows and considers a friend. Sorry, Toph, but explanations will have to wait a second, because while Zuko is not normally very affectionate, she thought you were dead, so you are getting hugged.

Zuko hasn't quite registered what she just said, but one thing is becoming especially obvious.]

When did you get taller?

[tophgirl]

[The sudden hug is both surprising and not; Toph feels a little guilty about not stopping at all to see her friends after leaving home.]

That's the funny thing about teenagers — we tend to grow. [She frowns.] Two years and you haven't changed a bit.

[daughterofursa]

Two years? But it's only been...

[She stops herself, because looking at Toph, it would be pretty stupid not to acknowledge that that time has passed for her. She's older. And not just two months older. She wasn't even a teenager before.

Is this another one of those time travel things like she's heard about from a few people?]

...I'm not sure how, but it hasn't been two years for me.

[tophgirl]

You're not kidding. [Toph's frown deepens, not because of the timey whimey shenanigans, but because something else feels off. Something she can't put her finger on just yet —

And then a thought occurs to her.]

How old are you?

[Because if she's older, that would be so cool.]

[daughterofursa]

[Zuko of course assumes she's just asking for clarification.]

Sixteen. The war had just ended.

[But if Toph is older, then that means she's seen after the war, doesn't it? She's seen the things that Zuko wanted to make happen, assuming she had any success.

Maybe she'd rather not know about it, if she's just screwing up.]

[bedheadstyle]

[New arrivals are totally meant to be physically bumped in to, right?

Totally.

Not that Haruka meant to. Having just finished a nice soak at the Onsen, towel around his shoulders, the tall skinny teenager had been leaving the changing house connected to it when a bottle had dropped out of the bag he was carrying. It rolled away while he yelped and attempted to chase after it, clearly not paying attention to whoever might have been coming off the Skyway right then.

The entire endeavor sent Haruka plowing in to Toph, grunting as he went toppling backwards on to his rear in the most ungraceful fashion possible.]

Omf--! A-ah! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!

[tophgirl]

[Totally. That this their sole and only purpose in life.

Under most circumstances, Toph would have seen him coming. Not with her eyes, but something even more reliable — her bending. The Skyway bridge — indeed, this entire place — has her feeling a little seasick, and she doesn't register the fact that a person is hurtling towards her until the poor guy is sprawled on the ground. Toph, of course, is fine — her instinct is always to root herself in the ground; it would take a much stronger force than him to send her toppling over.

That doesn't make her any more sweet-tempered.]

Hey! Watch where you're going!

[bedheadstyle]

[It doesn't help that Haruka is a bit clumsy in his own right. Running in to anything rooted was likely to have him on the ground because he's just that much of a klutz.

Being yelled at for his mistake was expected, though, and he quickly puts himself in a position to apologize like he's begging for his life.]

I'm sorry! You're right, I wasn't watching where I was going! Please forgive me!

[Calm down, Haruka, you're not going to get murdered for bumping in to some one geez...]

[tophgirl]

[Wow. Okay. That was unexpected. While Toph is definitely the kind of person who would kick a guy while he's down if it suited her, right now it doesn't. (Besides, it really is more fun when they fight back.)]

Fine, whatever, I forgive you. Just get up and tell me where this place is.

[bedheadstyle]

[Yeaaaah not gonna get Haruka fighting back. He's kind of a pansy in that regard.

But that gets him back on his feet, dusting his pants off with his hands and putting his things back in the bag he'd been carrying.]

Oh, well. Uhm. It's called The Bastion. "Where"... some one else could probably answer that better than I can.

[tophgirl]

The Bastion. That sounds ominous. [She tries to figure out the best way to phrase her question.]

Why does the earth feel weird? [Okay, that probably makes zero sense to someone who isn't an earthbender, but there's seriously no other way she can think to describe it.]

[findsrisks]

[The fun thing about living in the Bastion is that you get nifty little tools to help you survive out on the Skyway. Like the amulets, which help stabilize the ground around them, and form the Skyway into little paths that can be used to get around.

Nanaki sees Toph from a distance, as she is returning from the Skyway, so at first her path isn't connected to the bit of land Toph is on. But as Nanaki moves closer, the land is forcibly moved around, with new chunks of floating land being brought up to form a bridge of sorts. By the time it connects, Nanaki is already calling out to Toph, trying to get her attention.]

Hey! Hey you, over there!

[tophgirl]

[Toph can hear what sounds like an earthquake or an avalanche — the unmistakable sound of earth crushing together. Yet she can feel nothing, and that is deeply, fundamentally disturbing. When she hears a person shouting, she immediately shifts into a fighting stance.]

Who's there?

[findsrisks]

Um-

[By the time Nanaki speaks again, she has stopped running towards Toph, leaving some space between them. Her breathing is also a bit labored, she had just been running for a while before she came across Toph.]

I don't think we've met before, at least I don't recognize you. But I'm Nanaki.

[tophgirl]

[It sounds like a girl, but Toph can't see anything. This "Nanaki" person could be anything. During her travels, she's met people who could fake all kinds of voices, and she's heard of spirits who could do even more. She's not about to let down her guard.]

Where are we?

[findsrisks]

Right now we're out on the Skyway- er, that's what we call...

[Not realizing that Toph is blind, she just gestures to the floating lands around them.]

...all of this. It's not normally a safe place, there's tons of monsters out here, but it's been quiet for the last week or so.

[tophgirl]

The Skyway? I've never heard of that. Is this an old Air Nomad place? [That would explain a lot about why this place feels so weird.]

[wayofvoice]

[The sound of enormous wings flapping through the air probably does little to calm Toph's nerves- something in the air is something unseeable, after all, and something large doesn't usually bring good news.]

[Fortunately, this particular creature is both not a threat and soon landing. The earth shudders from the weight of both it and its burden. It's a mammoth, no longer living, and on top of it, adjusting itself- Paarthurnax.]

[His head is turned in the young woman's direction, looking over her. Deep in his chest, a heart the size of a boulder beats a steady and calm rhythm.]

[He speaks soon enough, voice low and deep.]

Drem yol lok. You are new to this Bastion, then. It is good you have arrived safely.

[tophgirl]

[Yeah, the sound of wings flapping in the air? Pretty much the worst sound ever. The only good winged thing was a dead winged thing. On your plate.

She shifts quickly into a defensive stance, ready to call up a protective wall of earth or send boulders flying, whichever seems more effective. Nor does she relax any when the creature talks. That's just all kinds of wrong there.]

Who are you?

[She refuses to be frightened of something so much bigger than her. She's always fought against opponents two or three times her size. Size means nothing.

...though the Boulder didn't have a mouth big enough to swallow her whole.]

[wayofvoice]

[There's no admonishment or any attempt to tell her to be at ease. Sometimes, words are not enough on their own, not at first.]

I am Paarthurnax... But I have been called Wuth Gein by my kin or 'Paar' by those who gather here.

Would I know your name in turn?

[tophgirl]

That's a lot of names. [Then again, when you're that big, maybe you need that any names.]

You can call me Toph.

[wayofvoice]

[A low rumbling noise makes its way out of him.]

I suppose it is.

You have just arrived and must have many questions- I will answer what I can if you wish to ask them of me.

[tophgirl]

Uh, my first question is — what are you?