[open] Day 215 - outside the Forge

[tophgirl]

Who: Toph & you!
Open: Open
When: 215, afternoon
Where: Outside the Forge
What: With her bending limited, Toph is looking for another way to fight.
Format: Will match!
Warnings: Excessive levels of awesome from Toph...err...I mean... none.


It's taken Toph a few days to come to terms with the fact that there are ridiculous limitations on her bending. She's tested and retested them, trying to see where she can push it, but everything leads to the same inevitable conclusion. Her bending is limited.

So what's she going to do about it? No way is she going to accept just sitting around and helping out with little odds and ends in this place. She wants to be out on that Skyway, kicking ass and maybe finding Aang, Katara, and Sokka. She needs to find some way of fighting that plays to her strengths without relying on her bending...which probably means learning to fight with a weapon. If Sokka could do it, it can't be that hard.

The question then is — what kind of weapon should she get? Which is how she ends up outside the Forge that afternoon, examining weapons and trying to determine what would work best for her.

Comments

[daughterofursa]

Zuko is leaving the distillery when she spots Toph in a rather unexpected place. Of course she'd never expect the younger girl to sit out of a fight, and she knows her earthbending is limited just like her own firebending, but she hasn't reached the logical conclusion that Toph would need another way to fight.

Actually, the sight of Toph inspecting weapons is a little alarming. Did someone piss her off? Zuko tries to think of anything she might have done as she approaches.

"What are you doing?"

[tophgirl]

Toph would be delighted to know that Zuko is a little nervous about her checking out weapons. Being intimidating, even to her friends, is a good boost for her ego.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" she asks as she picks up a heavy axe. She can sense the metal of the axehead, but she doesn't like the way the wooden handle feels. She wants to be able to see her entire weapon.

[daughterofursa]

"...preparing to murder someone," Zuko answers honestly. Toph may notice she's staying out of range of the axe, even if she knows there's no real way to stay out of range of her earthbending.

[tophgirl]

Oooooh, good answer. Toph grins with a horrifying kind of delight. "Like I would need an axe to kill someone," she snorts. "Come on, give me a little credit."

[daughterofursa]

"I know that." That grin is not remotely reassuring, but Zuko steps closer anyway.

"So what are you looking at weapons for?"

[tophgirl]

"What do you think, smarty pants?" Toph asks. "So I can go fight on that Skyway thing. Can't let you dorks have all the fun."

[daughterofursa]

"Oh. Because of the bending limits." Zuko finally puts two and two together. She's sure Toph isn't terribly impressed by how long that took her. "I guess that is a good idea..."

[tophgirl]

"Of course it is. I came up with it, didn't I?" The non-axe-wielding hand slugs the other girl on the shoulder. "You fight with swords. What do you think?"

[daughterofursa]

She's glad that was Toph's empty hand but still, ow. "Have you considered hand-to-hand?" she wonders, rubbing her arm.

"If you're going to fight with a weapon, it should be something you can think of as an extension of your body. I've seen other earthbenders use hammers. I don't know if that fits with your style."

[freedom_engineer]

"What'cha looking for?" Colin asks.

He's been keeping to himself quite a bit recently, but the forge is practically next door to his workshop, and he HASN'T been just sitting on his hands this whole time. There's still work to be done, and for that, he needs metalwork from the forge. Running into Toph here isn't much of a surprise in that case.

[tophgirl]

She sees Colin coming, of course, but Toph's a little surprised he talks to her. It doesn't seem like he works here, and she's been doing her level best to be as cantankerous and unapproachable as possible.

"A weapon," she says gruffly, after a moment's hesitation.

[freedom_engineer]

"Well, you came to the right place," Colin says, his tone friendly. "Stewart's a genius at the forge. Couldn't do half my work without him."

He pauses, and he looks her over curiously. "Haven't decided what you want, yet?" he asks.

[tophgirl]

"What work is that, jewelry-making?" What's she saying, Colin, is that she's not impressed with your physique. But she makes the sassy remark under her breath, easy enough to miss.

"I haven't found a good fit yet," she continues, speaking up enough to actually answer his question this time. "I'm not really a weapons kinda person."

[freedom_engineer]

"Nope, that's dad," Colin says, laughing. Sorry Toph, but he's got great ears. "Me, I'm the best engineer you'll ever meet. If you can imagine it, I can build it."

He smirks at her, looking her over a little more critically now. "Haven't trained with one, or just don't like 'em?" he asks. "If the former, there's a couple of good teachers here. Duke, Zuko, probably Yukio. Ippo, if you prefer your fists. If it's the latter, I'll save you the time. Don't fight with what you don't like. Weapons are nothing if you can't feel comfortable with them. Any weapon has to be an extension of your body, and if you can't make it so, then you're better off sticking with what you know."

He pounds his fist into his palm in emphasis of the point.

[tophgirl]

"Never needed to train with one," Toph answers. "I've always been my own weapon." The best weapon in the entire world, thank you very much. "But with that stupid power restriction thing, I figured it couldn't hurt to pick up a few extra skills. Beats sitting around, twiddling my thumbs."

[freedom_engineer]

"Do you WANT to train with a weapon?" Colin asks, continuing to study her. "Or do you want to keep being your own weapon? Either one is both doable, and worthwhile."

He's infuriating, but he is also from a military culture. His wife's family are all trained in various forms of combat, as are all of his sisters and his mother. To say that he's experienced with combat is something of an understatement, even if he's not especially skilled with it personally.

[tophgirl]

Toph studies him right back, though it might not seem that way since she doesn't "look" at him. She herself is a prime example of you can't judge someone's level of badass by what they look like, but as far as her bending can tell, he's not a secret badass in a wuss' form. He is, however, extremely confident in what he's saying. Even if he can't kick ass, he might know what he's talking about. It's worth a listen, anyway.

"I want to fight on the Skyway," she says. "I don't really care how I do it, as long as I can." And then become the very best at it, because Toph is nothing if not competitive.

[windgod]

[Now that he was back and adjusted to his life in the Bastion proper, Ippo had gotten back to his rhythm and was at present doing a few quick laps around the area when he saw a new face in front of the forge going through the weapons on display. It was enough to get him to stop if only out of curiosity; he wasn't much of a weapon person, but it couldn't hurt to say hello at least.]

Oh, hello there! I haven't seen you around before, are you new to the Bastion?

[tophgirl]

[Man, people really are friendly around this place, aren't they?]

New enough. Who're you?

[windgod]

[Oh yeah, people usually introduced themselves before talking to new people. Ippo gave a nod and his usual formal hand to the sides bow as he got to actually doing that.]

Oh, right, I'm sorry. My name is Ippo Makunouchi, it's a pleasure to meet you!

[tophgirl]

Yeah, I'm a real joy. [A joy who doesn't care enough about social niceties to return her name without being prompted.] Do you fight, Ippo? [She's guessing not, but she could be surprised.]

[windgod]

Fight...?

[The suddenness of the question through Ippo off guard, but only for a few moments.]

Well,yes. I was a professional boxer before I came to the Bastion and really...nothing much has changed seeing how often we have to deal with things on the Skyway.

[tophgirl]

Boxer... what's that?

[windgod]

[Oh yeah...it might behoove him to remember that not everyone came from the same world as him.]

Oh, uh...think of it like...hand to hand fighting where all you can do is punch and dodge.

[To emphasize his point, Ippo hopped up onto the balls of his feet and threw a few jabs; each one lashing out fast enough to cause an audible snap in the air.]

[tophgirl]

[Good strength. Terrible form for earthbending, but the way he's moving on his feet reminds her a little of Aang. As does the mention of dodging.]

That's not fighting. That's dancing.