In Soviet Meatship, Rock Beats Toph! [Closed for now]

[metalbent.livejournal.com]

Lately, Toph had been feeling pretty... avoidant. She wasn't certain as to exactly why, but since returning from her 're-education', she had simply sought solitude.

Plenty had happened when she spent time with the Crazy Cake Lady, and she hadn't really talked about exactly what had gone on. Mostly because she wasn't certain if it had actually happened or not.

She was clinking her way around one of the sensoriums, which portrayed a rocky landscape not terribly unlike the one where she'd taught Aang how to Earthbend. She'd been pacing for a couple of hours.

Kaylee had asked if the ship was full of good crazy or bad crazy, and Toph had taken this as food for thought.

"How crazy is this place?" she wondered out loud.

She sure could have used a friend; but they'd all been so busy with this or that, running off to save lives and whatever else Stacy told them to do. It'd been awhile since she'd had a good, uninterrupted chat with one of them, after all...

Comments

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Katara had noticed. No matter what had been going on in her mind lately, Katara had missed the Avatar crew, and that included the girl that would become as close to her as a sister. It bothered her that the last time she'd spoken to Toph had been when Meluly was over, atime she was sure might have been a bit confusing. She was actually bothered that she hadn't had the time to talk with Toph, show her everything. For now, she was just trying to track the younger girl down.

"Toph!" Katara called out, glad for the familiarity of the place. It was where she had taught Aang earthbending, and she'd observed that happening. That, and it was a good to see a reminder of the world that the both of them had left behind.

"Hey, its Katara! I missed you, we haven't spoken in awhile. I was wondering if you wanted to sit and talk for awhile."

[metalbent.livejournal.com]

"Oh. Hey."

Toph totally wanted to go over and give Katara a big hug, but there was no way she would actually do it.

"Yeah. I think we could sit down and gab. As long as it's not about boys or something stupid like that."

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

"Hey yourself," Katara said, smiling and receiving the obligatory punch to her shoulder from Toph, their usual sign of greeting. "Ow."

But Katara wo9uld be the one to give Toph a hug. Toph naturally knew her to be the more affectionate anyway, so it wasn't that big a deal.

"Please!" Katara said, waving her hand in the air. "If anything, my problems are more with girls, not boys. Meluly, Sheeana, Asuka." She said the last name with a definite tone of malice. "All different, all with different stories and ways they're connected to me."

She looked a little awkward. "Feel like hearing anything like that?"

[metalbent.livejournal.com]

Toph remembered that awkward moment in the room, and decided that explanations would be a good idea.

"Sure," she said, sitting down on the ground. A cloud of fake dust sprang up around her. "I'm all ears."

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Right. The first girl she was going to have to explain would be Meluly, and this was by far a conversations he only hoped she'd have with Toph and Carol and no one else. As far as she was concerned, it wasn't anyone else's business.

"Meluly is a woman I met a few weeks back," Katara explained. "It was through her I learned a little about null gravity and the sizes of star class ships. Her and I are good friends, and where she's from, sometimes friends can be affectionate with each other. Now I wouldn't let anyone else touch me Toph,, I'm waiting for Aang, and he's the only one I want. But with Meluly its...its like she knows I want someone to be around with, lie next to. I can feel that the person she cares about is hesitant, and she needs to show her affection that way. She knows who I want, and I know who she wants. We're just...friendly with each other."

[metalbent.livejournal.com]

Okay, that explanation worked for Toph.

But...

She grimaced, the facial expression downright comical.

"I don't want to hear about how you're waiting for Twinkle Toes. And as long as I don't get involved in the cuddlefest, I'm totally cool with it."

Cuddling was ... weird. But boys - and the things that Toph knew you eventually ended up doing with the ones you liked most - were just ... ew.

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Katara couldn't help but sigh. Though it was something a lot of other people wouldn't have understood, Toph just really didn't care about the details. Honestly, that was so like her, enough that it made her laugh.

"Fine, I'll leave that part out!" She said, grinning. "But that leads me to the other girl, the one I do want to tell you about: Sheeana. Sheeana is my new teacher, and is descended from a line of a Sister tribe, think of them as the Kyoshi warriors. They are known as the Bene Gesserit's, but far more attuned in the way they fight: what would take you a second, they would move in half of that. Sokka thinks I'm getting in over my head when it comes to certain things there. I understand why, but he also thinks I disrespect my waterbending by learning these new ways."

She paused. "What would you think? Would you learn something new, if you thought they would help your abilities?"

[metalbent.livejournal.com]

"Sure," Toph said. "If I could become a better Earthbender by using other techniques, why not? Look at Zuko's uncle. He learned things from waterbenders."

She shrugged. "Your brother's just... like that, though. And I guess since you're the last one left..."

No, we're not thinking about that today, Toph.

"Anyway. It's your ability, you can work on it however you see fit. Just tell Sokka to come and find me. I'll punch sense into him."

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

"That's what I was thinking," Katara said, "But I also had to tell him about a certain thing the Bene Gesserit's use: the spice melange. It's probably not something Sheeana has much of , but it can prolong life, let one see through the normal dimensions of human consciousness, that sort of stuff. Sokka thinks I'm going to take it and get all addicted and act differently. Obviously I'm not."

She sighed. "He's so overprotective sometimes its crazy. He seems to think that without him I'm doomed to make the wrong decision!"

Katara looked at her friend. "But you must have had to deal with Zuko and Mai being protective, or at least knowing you right?"

[metalbent.livejournal.com]

Toph shook her head. "I saw them once. Maybe twice before I got sent away with the Crazy Cake Lady."

The earthbender's normally unflappable demeanor broke for a split second, and she shivered.

"Which was not very nice."

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Katara shook her head. "Really, something has to be done about that troublesome AI! All she does is cause trouble all the time! And making you chase after this cake, its just wrong!"

Katara put her arm around Toph. "What happened there?"

[metalbent.livejournal.com]

"It was weird," Toph said. "It felt like I was running in a maze or something. But I didn't go anywhere at all. When I told GLaDOS - that's her name, in case you didn't know - that I thought this was all a waste of time, she started to get... Well, not mad, but... sad. She made me feel guilty and said that I don't care; that I was breaking her heart."

She shrugged. "It's hard to explain."

See now, THAT icon doesn't make sense

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

"Running a maze?" Katara was getting more and more furious by the moment, especially when she realized that GLADOS was trying to get her to feel guilty about leaving the maze, even going so far as to say she was breaking her heart.

She was fairly sure that GLADOS used that as a tactic.

"She doesn't have a heart, she's artificial," Katara said. "She was lying to you. Its how she gets her kicks. Hal wasn't the only AI who has a mean side to him."

And that's why I used it :D

[metalbent.livejournal.com]

"That's what I thought at first, too. But... she can make you believe it. I did. Sort of. And then all of a sudden I was back out, hanging out with you guys again. I still don't really understand."

Time for a change of subject.

"I heard that there's a team of butt-kickers on the ship. I was thinking about asking if I could join that team..."

Re: And that's why I used it :D

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

"No one should be making you believe things like that if you don't want to," Katara said, but her hostility softened considerably. "I know its pretty sudden and takes some getting used to, us being together again. To be honest, I'm pretty surprised at your attitude: you seem a little more gentle than when we were last in our world. It's nice, but surprising."

Now this was a subject Katara knew about. "Well, there's the magical team, but I don't know if what we do you'd call magic. They could use you though. Looking at all the other groups, I think you'd best fit in with The Outsiders. It's the team I'm on right now."

Re: And that's why I used it :D

[metalbent.livejournal.com]

"I'm not scared, if that's what you mean."

She was scared.

"Yeah. That's the one. Someone mentioned it off-hand to me... but I can't remember, thanks to Crazy Cake Lady, who it was."

She perked when she heard that Katara was also on this team. "Any more room? Who's in charge?"

Re: And that's why I used it :D

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

"If you say so," Katara said, and decided to leave it at that. Toph might have been able to tell when she was lying through her vibrations, but she was able to tell when Toph was lying simply by listening to her.

Katara giggled. "I ought to know actually, I know the people who started the tea personally. Unlike some of the other teams though, they won't turn you away because they think you're too young or something stupid like that. If you want to join, you'll want to put out a call to talk to Static. Static is pretty much the leader...if you can't reach him try Slobo."

Re: And that's why I used it :D

[metalbent.livejournal.com]

"Cool!" Toph jumped to her feet. "I think it's time that I started whipping some butts."

She looked more excited at the prospect of violence than one would expect a twelve-year-old to be.

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Katara giggled a little, happy with Toph's all too familiar enthusiasm. "I think its time you did too. I'd like to see how well you've kept up with your earthbending here. We have to start training with each other again!"

She paused. "Toph, have you heard of the Nightmare King?"

[metalbent.livejournal.com]

"Is he related to the Melon Lord?"

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

As much as Katara was tempted to laugh at that (she hadn't heard about the Melon lord in AGES)she looked serious.

"No Toph. The Nightmare King is real, and he's going to be invading people's dreams, trying to get out of his prison. Aang is actually keeping him kept back, but he needs our help. If you can get some meditation training, please do. I don;t want any of my friends, ESPECIALLY you, getting messed with."

[metalbent.livejournal.com]

Toph only looked vaguely worried about this. "I can probably do that. How'd you figure all of this out? And where is Twinkle Toes, anyway?"

Last she'd heard, nobody knew where Aang was.

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

"I talk to people. While you were gone Toph, and I got on this ship, I've talked and gotten information from anyone I could. Specifically, I talked to a Seer a few weeks ago, and I got the warning from him, as well finding out Aang was the one who was holding him back. I've found out quite a bit about Aang while here too. I don't know where Aang is though. I'm hoping we find him when we fight against the Nightmare King."

There was an air of desperation in her voice here though, and her heart is skipping a beat a little here.

[metalbent.livejournal.com]

"Okay. So where is this Nightmare King Guy? We train, we go in, we defeat him."

Then Toph paused. If it were that simple, Katara wouldn't be fretting this way.

"...Not that easy, is it?"

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

"It isn't, no," Katara said. "He isn't someone we can go and punch in the face and be done with it. He's a god, I guess, and his attacks aren't physical, they're mental. And that means anything we don't like about ourselves, any fear that we keep at the bottom in our hearts, he'll use. That's not something we can fight with our bending."

She put her hand on Toph's shoulder.

"Please, promise me you'll get prepared. I'll help you myself if you need it. I just don't want him to get to you."

[metalbent.livejournal.com]

"Uh, yeah. If I'm gonna fight this guy, I'm gonna get ready. So... what should I think about working on?"

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Cool, Toph didn't brush her off for the arm thing. Hugs, well, she wouldn't push it.

"The magical team will be fighting him Toph, we just have to make sure we don't make him any stronger by letting him mess with our thoughts. Like i said, I can help you meditate, give you a clear mind. That, and I learned this mantra from the Bene Gesserits that might help."