Cat the writer (cat_mcdougall) wrote in gen_challenge, @ 2008-05-07 06:26:00 |
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Current mood: | accomplished |
May 7 Prompt
No Title
Fandom: Avatar the Last Airbender
Disclaimer: Not mine at all.
Prompt: May 7 -Avatar: The Last Airbender, Toph & Katara, 'blind leading the blind'
Rating: G
Notes: This idea hit as soon as I read the prompt. I hope the prompt writer likes it.
The fire.
It still burned behind closed eyelids. She could still feel it searing into her exposed eyes as she'd tried to fight it off. Before she'd found Aang buried in that iceburg, the only fires she'd ever seen had been the small ones, used for cooking over the spare fuel that the Southern Water Tribe could find.
Now, she'd seen conflagrations that in their beauty had been terrible to behold. Now, she might never see again.
The wooden floor that she had been lying on for the last week vibrated slightly. A visitor? It couldn't be Aang. He was still in the Fire Nation, being Avatar. Sokka had gone with Suki to visit her island.
That only left one person.
Katara curled on her side, away from where she could feel the fresh air coming in from the open door.
“So,” the sardonic drawl started. “Here you are. Feelin' sorry for yourself, Katara?” The biting sarcasm marked her, even if the sound of bare feet hadn't been a clue. “Poor Katara. Stuck here, her eyes all taped shut.”
Katara ignored the taunt. She knew what Toph was trying to do. And it wouldn't work. It wouldn't! She wasn't going to let the bare-footed Earth Bender badger her into leaving this place. Everything was fine here. Once she'd recovered some more, she'd simply Bend the water to heal her eyes. It'd be simple.
“Oh now we're going for mature.” Toph's voice hadn't gotten any closer.
Katara ignored her some more. Maybe she'd just go away. Katara would then go back to sleep, knowing that sleep was the best thing for her.
“Alright boys, drag her out.” Toph's words made Katara move a bandage covered face toward the door.
“Wha--” The word was broken off in a yelp as strong, callused hands lifted her off her pallet and carried her into the fresh sunlight. Even though she couldn't see it, Katara flinched away from the light, knowing that it should be hurting her eyes, after so long in the dim house.
Instinctive response. She knew what should be, but that wasn't what was any more.
“Hold your breath, sweet cheeks.” Toph's voice broke into Katara's thoughts. She barely had time to comply before she was dropped, unceremoniously, into the large fountain in the garden that she'd been able to hear.
“TOPH!” The outraged cry was weaker than it should have been. Katara sat up in the cool water, able to feel her skin drinking in the moisture. She'd missed water. Even the water that was always close at hand for her to drink hadn't been this refreshing.
Toph was utterly silent, and Katara turned her head, trying desperately to find her friend. “Toph, I'm going to throttle you,” Katara stood carefully, almost unable to find her balance. The healers had said she'd have to relearn things.
“Ha!” Toph's voice made Katara's head jerk around. “Gotta find me first.” The other Bender taunted. “Can't do that, lying in a bed feeling sorry for yourself.”
Katara was absolutely not going to admit the girl had a point. Absolutely not.
“What's the matter, sweet cheeks? Scared?” The last word was sneered, a challenge.
Her body remembered the moves, not needing her eyes to guide it. She slid easily into the form, whipping the water around her hands and toward the sound of the voice. She was rewarded with a harsh crunch and then a splash.
“Not bad,” Toph complimented. Another harsh crack and Katara felt herself overbalancing to splash in the water of the fountain. “But I'm still better.”
Katara didn't need her eyes to know that there was a feral grin on Toph's face. She'd seen it before, during fights, during training, during their time travelling around the world as friends to the Avatar. “Oh yeah?” Katara snapped.
“Yeah!” Toph taunted back.
Water is my element. It's everywhere. In the earth, in the sky, even in my body. She remembered the Blood Bender, of the utterly despicable lessons she'd learned. The knowledge wasn't evil. It just was. The use to which it was put decided which side of the spectrum it fell upon.
An old familiar smirk grew on Katara's face. She didn't need to see to feel. A deep breath. Bird song filled the air. The sounds of Ba Sing Se fluttered in over the wall of the garden. The fountain burbled merrily around her, the cool water slapping against the light trousers she wore. And... there. There was the Earth Bender, sweat beading her brow in the hot summer sun.
Gotcha.
“You're slacking, Katara.” Toph taunted. The familiar shifting of the earth under her feet and --
It was met with a wall of ice.
Katara cautiously waded forward to the edge of the fountain. She sat down on the edge, and swung her legs out. Soaked sandals slapped against the warm flagstones of the garden path. “I'm just beginning, Toph.” Katara said, grinning.
She may not have her eyes, but she still had her Bending and all the knowledge that came with it. Settling into position, she faced where she could feel Toph. “Ready?” She asked, sounding more alive than she had since the fire.
“I thought you'd never ask.” Toph said.