"My cousin asked you to marry you?" Azula asked mildly. "You really do have him wrapped around your finger, Ty Lee." She
smiled but the little gymnast was not so foolish as to mistake it as a sign of happiness. "You accepted, of course?"
"I could hardly refuse Azulon's grandson," the younger girl pointed out. "Not to mention..."
Azula waved her hand dismissively, "Yes yes," she agreed impatiently. "It wouldn't do to create a rift in your
relationship with Lu Ten at this point. I suggest you enjoy the courtship because the honeymoon is unlikely to be memorable." She leant on the balcony
rail - progress in the negotiations with Long Feng could almost be measured by the incremental improvements in habitation for the Fire Nation embassy - and
looked out over Ba Sing Se. "Did he let anything slip?"
"If your brother is really collaberating with the Avatar, I don't think he'll be taken alive," Ty Lee confided. "One
part protection of the royal family's reputation, one part sentiment for your lady mother and perhaps some rebellious urges towards the Fire
Lord."
"Rebellious?" Azula's eyebrows arched. "Really? Interesting choice of words there. Are you suggesting that he might be
inclined to hurry the succession along?" She privately considered the pros and cons of Zuko's survival for a moment and then dismissed them.
Delivering him dead wouldn't really hurt Lu Ten's credibility in Ozai's eyes and Azula was honest enough about her father to admit that.
Ty Lee pressed her fingers together. "He's still studying accounts of the Battle of the Three Dragons," she explained.
"Not that I give him time when we're together, but he has three new scrolls on the subject since I last saw him. Two of them from the Earth
Kingdom." Which was frowned upon, though not illegal, in the FIre Nation's military. Of course, as a Prince, Lu Ten was unlikely to be brought to task
for such a trivial matter.
Azula's lips tightened. "Let me guess, he's still chasing that ridiculous theory of treachery at Serpent's Pass? Even if he
was right, there would hardly be evidence in some scroll somewhere. There was only one survivor and if father did decide to settle the succession after Kanna
was dead, he would hardly have left a written confession of it."
"Did he? Decide the succession, I mean."
"I haven't a clue," Azula responded. "What would it matter? Well, to anyone without a sentimental connection to Uncle
Iroh?"
"I guess," Ty Lee agreed. "So, what do you want me to do now?"
"I'm surprised that you have the energy to do anything, from what I hear about your recent activities," smirked Azula.
"Were you going for a record? Most exercise ever carried out in bed?"
Lu Ten's fiancee smiled back. "Oh we weren't just in bed, " she clarified.
"So you weren't just doing...?" Azula asked, sounding a bit disappointed.
"Well we were, but we didn't restrict ourselves to bed," explained Ty Lee. "You'd barely left before he threw me up
against the wall of the map room and -"
"Stop!" commanded the princess. "I'm sorry I asked," she added under her breath. "I want you to open him up for
an assassin, not to kill him yourself through exertion. Granted, he'd die with a smile on his face and no one would ever suspect foul
play..."
.oOo.
When she heard the shout of outrage Mai was just leaving the store where she had parted with almost a third of their remaining money in
return for what she hoped would be enough food for the next leg of their journey along the chain of islands that extended north-east from the heart of the Fire
Nation. Fire Fountain City, with its famous fire-breathing statues of the Fire Lords Azulon, Iroh and Ozai, was their second stop since they had left the
Southern Fire Nation.
It wasn't until the second cry, once she was clear of the door entirely that Mai could make out the words: "Stop! Cheat!" It
didn't surprise her to find out that Toph was not dutifully waiting outside for her to come back with the food. Looking around didn't betray what might
have distracted her little sister, but then, Toph wasn't limited to line of sight for that sort of thing and the cries were coming from a tangle of side
streets.
Toph did not run out of the streets but a scrawny man with a headband and an ugly looking mustache ran out, looking around angrily.
"You, young lady! Did you see a girl in a green dress run out here? She had milky eyes, like she was blind."
Mai gave him a long look and then jerked her head back towards the store, glad that she was wearing her old red and black pants suit, not the
Kyoshi dress. "I just came out, I haven't seen anyone," she said honestly. "Besides, I think you'd hear a blind girl running - every
person she collided with would complain."
"I don't think she's really blind," the man said, looking around at the crowded street. "She scammed me in a game,
cost me a pretty penny too!"
"You were playing a game, for money, against a little girl that you thought was blind?" Mai asked him. "That doesn't seem
very fair."
"I told you, she wasn't blind," he told her. "Besides, it's supposed to be luck. No reason a blind girl couldn't
get lucky."
Mai frowned. "I don't see anyone in a green dress," she told him. "And how could she have 'scammed' you in a game
of chance?"
"Ah! Now I've figured that out," he said triumphantly. "She made like she was blind, see, so she had to check which shell
the stone was under by hand. She musta shuffled another stone in to them without my seeing. Slick."
More likely she was winning even after you thought you'd shuffled the stone out from any of the shells, Mai thought. "I'm not
familiar with the game," she lied, knowing that the conversation could only reach one destination at that point unless the man was very shrewd about
picking his marks. Wait, he'd gambled with Toph. Couldn't be all that bright.
On no more encouragement than Mai's monosyllablic responses the man set up a little table - not much more than a tray - on top of two
convenient barrels and explained in a well-practised patter how the game worked. Given that he was offering a two to one return on a one to two chance, odds
were that an honest game would break even in the long run, which made Mai wonder why anyone would believe that someone running the games as a living would be
honest.
"I see what you mean about luck," she said, sounding dubiously, "But it doesn't seem to be a very exciting
game."
"Oh, it's at least a thousand times more interesting when money's involved, young lady," the gambler assured her. "But
I couldn't ask a proper young lady like yourself to..." Mai produced a silver coin. "...well, if you insist."
Having introduced Mai's coin to his own pair of silvers, the man placed a humble fleck of stone under one of the bowl-sized shells and
started moving them quickly back and forth through an energetic and confusing pattern. Mai didn't bother to watch his hands - any half-competent grifter
would be used to hiding movements of his hands. Instead she watched his eyes, something that seemed to discomfit him somewhat.
"So, young lady, pick yourself a shell," he suggested.
If he was a poor swindler, he'd have removed the pebble and go for the win now. If he was a clever man though, he would ensure her win
now to hook her in for a larger wager. Hmm. In either case... "The centre," Mai said, and before the gambler could lift the shell she reached over
and flipped the two side shells over revealing that there were pebbles under both of them.
"Wha!" he exclaimed.
"Very deft," Mai told him drily. "I see that you are well versed in deft cheating at this. A pebble in each to let me win at
first, and then remove all the pebbles."
The man swallowed nervously as Mai started to delicately pick a tiny speck of dirt out from under one fingernail with a throwing knife that
seemed to appear magically in her fingers. "What is it worth to you that I should forget all about this conversation?" she asked blandly.
.oOo.
Toph was repacking M Bison's saddle when Mai returned to their secluded campsite outside of Fire Fountain City. It was a sheltered beach
far enough from the city that it was unlikely that they would be stumbled over by chance, not as comfortable as Mai would have preferred, but not so unpleasent
that it was unmanageable for a few days. She did not miss the substantial bag of coin that lay on the ground next to their other belongings.
"A productive day?" Mai asked casually.
"Hustled some guy who was scamming the locals," Toph confirmed calmly. "I don't think he'll make trouble, but it's
not like we were planning to hang around anyway."
Mai threw her own coinbag down next to Toph's. It was noticably larger and heavier and the look on Toph's face was clear evidence
that she was aware of that. "Hustled some fool who got cheated by a blind girl," she explained, pulling the straps of her food basket off her
shoulders and setting it down. She stretched to relieve the ache of her muscles. "We should probably pick up some fresh clothes in the next town we visit.
Kyoshi Island greens are a touch visible on a Fire Nation street."
Toph waved her hand in front of her face. "I'll take your word for it. What town is it likely to be?"
"Shu Jing," Mai said, eyeing the water. "I'm going to get cleaned up before we go. It's another long leg up
there."
Toph kept loading as Mai stripped down to her underwear and only a handful of her most essential weapons. The older girl plunged into the
warm waters - this late in the day, even river water wasn't cold enough to shock, particularly after experiencing the bitter cold at the South Pole - and
started efficiently scouring at herself with a rag. She had to duck her head to get soak her hair - long hair was a tremendous bother when travelling but if
her little sister could manage then Mai would too (she was unaware that Toph refrained from cutting her own long hair in self-concious imitation of
her).
"So what's special about Shu Jing?"
Looking up, Mai saw that Toph had efficiently tidied the campsite away, leaving only Mai's green dress and her weapons for her to change
into after her bath. "Nothing particular, it's just a convienient town to use as a jumping off point for the flight to where Zuko told us the
Sunwarriors came from."
"Just a name on a map?" Toph asked, sounding slightly disappointed.
Mai racked her mind for any other facts about the town. "I believe it's home to the swordmaster Piandao," she said at
last.
"Oh?" Toph sat down on the riverbank, water rippling below her in response to a casual movement of her hands. "Does he make
swords or use them?"
"Both," explained Mai. "He was a famous swordsman and commander in the army before he retired, but his swords are considered
works of art. Wealthy patrons pay huge sums for them. My father commissioned one after my brother was born, so that Tom-Tom will have a Piandao sword when
he's old enough to join the army, but there are so many orders for them that we only had word that it was delivered to our family home in the capital after
we were in Omashu."
"Sounds like he does well for himself. Is he a great firebender."
"Actually, he isn't a firebender at all," Mai revealed. "It's the only reason he managed to leave the army - the Fire
Lord can't look so weak as to merely request a non-bender to rejoin the army, and the last time someone demanded that Piandao return to the
banners they took a hundred soldiers with them. He defeated them all."
"Neat! Maybe we'll meet him when we're in Shu Jing," Toph suggested. "I've never met a swordmaster before. I
wonder how he moves."
Mai shook her head. "It would be better to avoid him. Even if he did leave the army, that might not mean that he'd turn a blind eye
to you. Remember, if Zhao survived to make a report there's probably at least a decent description of you in the hands of anyone important in the Fire
Nation." She finished washing herself down and waded up onto the beach. "Would you mind?"
Toph swept one arm up and around, the water on Mai streaming obediently off her body and into a long trail towards the young girl's hand.
She shaped it into something resembling a sword and slashed at the air inexpertly, the way that Mai had seen boys too young for war training play with toy
swords. Of course, this sword was as sharp as Toph's will so even a poorly delivered cut might be fatal.
M Bison mooed irritably, shrugging at the saddle. Bored, probably, Mai concluded as she fastened her dress and started picking up her
weapons. Hard to blame him, with nothing to do here but graze. "Alright, let's go. We can get a good distance before the sunlight
fades."
.oOo.
Shopping for clothes was something that Toph had laughably little experience of. The only clothes she had ever bought for herself were for
her fighting identity in the Earth Rumble tournaments and she had found that enough of a struggle not to get conned or look like a clown at the end of it.
"Whatever you get, get me the same for my size. We're the same colour and what-not, right?"
"You'll still need to be here so that you can be measured for them," Mai told her patiently, reviewing what was on the racks of
the tailor's shop now that she knew she was buying for both of them. While there were some differences in their colouring, Toph was right that they
weren't all that great. Of course, the 'what-not' covered the considerable difference in shape imposed by the four year age gap - althoug Toph was
probably more developed than Mai had been at that age. Still, wearing the same style would make some degree of sense - it wouldn't be unreasonable to
assume that a younger sister would have clothes that her elder sister had outgrown.
"Why don't you pick out some hairpieces," she suggested, pointing towards the table at the back of the store where the
storekeeper's wife could keep an eagle eye on the relatively valuable merchandise.
Toph nodded agreeably and wandered in that direction, holding her arms extended so that she could touch each garment on the racks she was
between as she walked. A flash of colour caught Mai's eye as the clothes swayed back into position and she took a few steps to examine the wine-red dress.
Plain and shoulderless, reaching only mid-calf, it would be more comfortable than heavier fabrics in the warmth of the Fire Nation.
Still, as it was, it wasn't quite suitable for someone of Toph's age and it would be... eye-catching on a young woman of Mai's
age. While the latter might be flattering, it wouldn't be very practical under these circumstances. She started looking through the tops to find something
complimentary.
"So who are you buying for?" she heard the middle-aged woman ask indulgently.
"For me and Mai, of course," Toph replied bluntly, running her finger around one of the hairpieces.
The woman gasped, not angrily. "Oh my, you won't want one of those then. Those are for men, dear. Here, let me show you something
more feminine."
"Does that mean delicate?" Toph asked diplomatically. "I'm not so good with that. Blind, you see."
"Oh, goodness," the woman said in a shocked voice. "I really couldn;t tell, dear. You manage very well."
Toph picked up one of the head-pieces, a plain but rather nicely worked cuff of bronze two finger-widths across, with two dragon wings
jutting upwards. Mai thought that it must be a concious imitation of the traditional headpiece of the crown prince - lost for centuries - but far less fine of
course. "This is rather nice, do you have another like it?"
"Well it would certainly be sturdy," the shopkeeper's wife agreed reluctantly, running her eyes across her merchandise. "I
don't have another of those, but perhaps you'll like these?" She lifted the hairpiece out of Toph's hand and replaced it with another, this
one with silvery trim and more elaborate side pieces wrought in the shape of rearing dragons.
Toph made a disgusted noise as she turned it over in her hand. "This just isn't sturdy enough," she said dismissively.
"And there's something about the metal... is that silver? It must cost twice as much."
"You've caught me," the motherly woman admitted shamelessly. "But really, you have such lovely hair. It deserves
silver."
The blind girl laughed bluntly. "What would I care about what it looks like? Something more like the first one, please."
Mai shook her head and then picked out tunic like top, open at the sides but hanging long at front and back. It was the wrong colour, but it
would cover up their shoulders.
.oOo.
The storekeeper's wife was more than happy for the two girls to change their clothes in a small cubicle set aside for that purpose and in
exchange for a small additional payment made some minor alterations to the fit - more for Mai than for Toph, who could be expected to grow into her new
garments. And when they walked out of the store, they both had their hair pulled back into loose ponytails secured by simple brass hair-pieces, engraved such
that dragons snaked around the circumference. Only their bangs were left unsecured, Mai's neat fringe and Toph's less regular eye-obscuring locks of
hair.
"So, where next?" Toph asked curiously.
Mai glanced along the street. "A weapon shop. I want to replace a few lost knives, and the Water Tribe didn't have any metal
suitable for them, even if there was a sufficiently skilled weaponsmith there."
"Weapons?" Toph's smile broadened. "Nice. Do you think I should get something?"
"Well, a lady can never have enough knives," counselled the older girl as they walked down the street. "But it's important
to find weapons that work for you."
The weapons shop - a veritable temple to the regrettable brevity of life and the tools that could further abbreviate it - was not busy. The
proprietor, a grey haired man with shoulders that suggested he might well be the smith responsible for making some the various deadly implements, was
conversing quietly with a lean, well-dressed man.
Mai made her way directly over to the trays of knives stored at the back, with Toph lagging behind and stamping her feet - now in fashionable
thin soled moccasins that she had been assured were intended for dancing - every few paces to make absolutely certain she wasn't about to walk into
something with sharp edges. The earthbender stopped at a rack of swords and ran her hands very carefully over them before selecting a dao and giving it a
tentative swing, the rings set along the back edge clinking as she did so.
The awkward move caught the attention of the man speaking to the storekeeper and he half-turned towards Toph, who was partly obscured from
his sight by the weapon rack. "Let me guess. you've come hundreds of miles from your little village where you're the best swordsman in town and
you think you deserve to learn from Master Piandao?"
Toph returned the weapon to its place on the rack. "That's amazing! You got every single little detail wrong! How did you manage
it?"
The man blinked and then smiled ruefully as he took a step sideways to get a clearer line of sight towards her. "It's a knack,"
he admitted. "My apologies for the remark, young lady. It was rude of me."
"Whatever," Toph lifted another sword, a straight jian and then replaced it immediately. The light weapon was not to her taste.
"You hear that story a lot?"
"Oh, quite often," he admitted. "You're looking for a sword?"
"I dunno," Toph replied shortly. "A girl has to defend her honor sometimes, but I've never tried using a sword
before." She grinned. "I've never seen a sword after all."
"Never?" the man asked in surprise, walking around the rack to look at her. "Ah, I see." He walked like a fighter:
purposeful, controlled. "You manage well - I could tell immediately that you are a fighter, but not that you are blind."
Toph grinned. "Thanks. My sister taught me everything she knows."
"Not even close," Mai observed from where she was examining a throwing knife. The storekeeper moved in her direction, more
interested in a propsective paying customer than in the Toph's conversation partner.
"I see," the warrior said, lifting the jian and essaying a few thrusts before returning it neatly to its place. "Well, I
don't think that this would be your sort of weapon. A sword is a little more involved than merely being a knife writ large."
"Do you have any suggestions?
He frowned and rubbed at his beard. "Well, you've not really got the reach for a pole arm. Have you ever used a hook
sword?"
"What's a hook sword?" Toph asked.
"Jet used two," Mai told her, not looking up from the knife she was weighing in her hand.
"Jet?" asked the man. "A friend of yours?"
Toph made a face. "Not hardly. He was a real creep, but I know what you mean now. Are there any here?"
"I believe so." He reached higher up the rack and brought down a pair of swords.
When Toph took them, she could tell that the points curved back on themselves. Thinking back, she tried to move them the way Jet had, all
those months ago when he fought against her and Zuko outside of Omashu. Her impaired earthsense had only shown him to her when he was close thought, and she
quickly realised she was degenerating into random fumbling. "I don't think so."
"I think you could be quite good with practise," her advisor observed, "But I agree, you aren't too deft with them at the
moment. Still, you seem to have some experience in wielding paired weapons."
"You're pretty good at this," Toph admitted. "Yeah, I learned to fight a bit with metal fans a while back. It was some
sort of traditional women's weapon where we were living."
"Well let's see if we can find any here. It might be better to build on what you already know." The man set off into one of the
back corners of the shop. "I believe I saw something of the kind here on my last visit."
"How come you're so good at matching people with weapons? Are you a shopkeeper too?"
He laughed. "In a sense, I suppose I am. I suppose I should introduce myself: my name is Piandao."
"Oh." Toph could hear Mai's heart start to beat faster at the revelation that this was the famous swordmaster. "I'm
Toph."
"I'm pleased to meet you, Lady Toph. Saddened that so young a lady needs to defend herself, but it is a sad world at times."
Piandao pulled a fan out from a crate in the corner, snapped it open and held it in a menacing position where it would be effectively useless and then frowned.
"No, that's not right." He offered it to Toph. "Only one of them, unfortunately. Why don't you show me how it's
done?"
She accepted the weapon and fell back on her lessons from Kyoshi Island, moving through a kata designed for use with a single fan - although
the Kyoshi Warriors were issued them in pairs, it wasn't uncommon for one to be lost. It surprised her for a moment how rusty she was, but then, she
hadn't really practised since her injury at Chin Village. "I used to be better at this," Toph grumbled. "I guess I'd really better buy
this and get back into practise."
"Practise is usually a good idea," Piandao agreed amiably. "And I'll just undermine my old friend's bargaining power
by pointing out that it was in the discards box."
D for Drakensis
You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.
smiled but the little gymnast was not so foolish as to mistake it as a sign of happiness. "You accepted, of course?"
"I could hardly refuse Azulon's grandson," the younger girl pointed out. "Not to mention..."
Azula waved her hand dismissively, "Yes yes," she agreed impatiently. "It wouldn't do to create a rift in your
relationship with Lu Ten at this point. I suggest you enjoy the courtship because the honeymoon is unlikely to be memorable." She leant on the balcony
rail - progress in the negotiations with Long Feng could almost be measured by the incremental improvements in habitation for the Fire Nation embassy - and
looked out over Ba Sing Se. "Did he let anything slip?"
"If your brother is really collaberating with the Avatar, I don't think he'll be taken alive," Ty Lee confided. "One
part protection of the royal family's reputation, one part sentiment for your lady mother and perhaps some rebellious urges towards the Fire
Lord."
"Rebellious?" Azula's eyebrows arched. "Really? Interesting choice of words there. Are you suggesting that he might be
inclined to hurry the succession along?" She privately considered the pros and cons of Zuko's survival for a moment and then dismissed them.
Delivering him dead wouldn't really hurt Lu Ten's credibility in Ozai's eyes and Azula was honest enough about her father to admit that.
Ty Lee pressed her fingers together. "He's still studying accounts of the Battle of the Three Dragons," she explained.
"Not that I give him time when we're together, but he has three new scrolls on the subject since I last saw him. Two of them from the Earth
Kingdom." Which was frowned upon, though not illegal, in the FIre Nation's military. Of course, as a Prince, Lu Ten was unlikely to be brought to task
for such a trivial matter.
Azula's lips tightened. "Let me guess, he's still chasing that ridiculous theory of treachery at Serpent's Pass? Even if he
was right, there would hardly be evidence in some scroll somewhere. There was only one survivor and if father did decide to settle the succession after Kanna
was dead, he would hardly have left a written confession of it."
"Did he? Decide the succession, I mean."
"I haven't a clue," Azula responded. "What would it matter? Well, to anyone without a sentimental connection to Uncle
Iroh?"
"I guess," Ty Lee agreed. "So, what do you want me to do now?"
"I'm surprised that you have the energy to do anything, from what I hear about your recent activities," smirked Azula.
"Were you going for a record? Most exercise ever carried out in bed?"
Lu Ten's fiancee smiled back. "Oh we weren't just in bed, " she clarified.
"So you weren't just doing...?" Azula asked, sounding a bit disappointed.
"Well we were, but we didn't restrict ourselves to bed," explained Ty Lee. "You'd barely left before he threw me up
against the wall of the map room and -"
"Stop!" commanded the princess. "I'm sorry I asked," she added under her breath. "I want you to open him up for
an assassin, not to kill him yourself through exertion. Granted, he'd die with a smile on his face and no one would ever suspect foul
play..."
.oOo.
When she heard the shout of outrage Mai was just leaving the store where she had parted with almost a third of their remaining money in
return for what she hoped would be enough food for the next leg of their journey along the chain of islands that extended north-east from the heart of the Fire
Nation. Fire Fountain City, with its famous fire-breathing statues of the Fire Lords Azulon, Iroh and Ozai, was their second stop since they had left the
Southern Fire Nation.
It wasn't until the second cry, once she was clear of the door entirely that Mai could make out the words: "Stop! Cheat!" It
didn't surprise her to find out that Toph was not dutifully waiting outside for her to come back with the food. Looking around didn't betray what might
have distracted her little sister, but then, Toph wasn't limited to line of sight for that sort of thing and the cries were coming from a tangle of side
streets.
Toph did not run out of the streets but a scrawny man with a headband and an ugly looking mustache ran out, looking around angrily.
"You, young lady! Did you see a girl in a green dress run out here? She had milky eyes, like she was blind."
Mai gave him a long look and then jerked her head back towards the store, glad that she was wearing her old red and black pants suit, not the
Kyoshi dress. "I just came out, I haven't seen anyone," she said honestly. "Besides, I think you'd hear a blind girl running - every
person she collided with would complain."
"I don't think she's really blind," the man said, looking around at the crowded street. "She scammed me in a game,
cost me a pretty penny too!"
"You were playing a game, for money, against a little girl that you thought was blind?" Mai asked him. "That doesn't seem
very fair."
"I told you, she wasn't blind," he told her. "Besides, it's supposed to be luck. No reason a blind girl couldn't
get lucky."
Mai frowned. "I don't see anyone in a green dress," she told him. "And how could she have 'scammed' you in a game
of chance?"
"Ah! Now I've figured that out," he said triumphantly. "She made like she was blind, see, so she had to check which shell
the stone was under by hand. She musta shuffled another stone in to them without my seeing. Slick."
More likely she was winning even after you thought you'd shuffled the stone out from any of the shells, Mai thought. "I'm not
familiar with the game," she lied, knowing that the conversation could only reach one destination at that point unless the man was very shrewd about
picking his marks. Wait, he'd gambled with Toph. Couldn't be all that bright.
On no more encouragement than Mai's monosyllablic responses the man set up a little table - not much more than a tray - on top of two
convenient barrels and explained in a well-practised patter how the game worked. Given that he was offering a two to one return on a one to two chance, odds
were that an honest game would break even in the long run, which made Mai wonder why anyone would believe that someone running the games as a living would be
honest.
"I see what you mean about luck," she said, sounding dubiously, "But it doesn't seem to be a very exciting
game."
"Oh, it's at least a thousand times more interesting when money's involved, young lady," the gambler assured her. "But
I couldn't ask a proper young lady like yourself to..." Mai produced a silver coin. "...well, if you insist."
Having introduced Mai's coin to his own pair of silvers, the man placed a humble fleck of stone under one of the bowl-sized shells and
started moving them quickly back and forth through an energetic and confusing pattern. Mai didn't bother to watch his hands - any half-competent grifter
would be used to hiding movements of his hands. Instead she watched his eyes, something that seemed to discomfit him somewhat.
"So, young lady, pick yourself a shell," he suggested.
If he was a poor swindler, he'd have removed the pebble and go for the win now. If he was a clever man though, he would ensure her win
now to hook her in for a larger wager. Hmm. In either case... "The centre," Mai said, and before the gambler could lift the shell she reached over
and flipped the two side shells over revealing that there were pebbles under both of them.
"Wha!" he exclaimed.
"Very deft," Mai told him drily. "I see that you are well versed in deft cheating at this. A pebble in each to let me win at
first, and then remove all the pebbles."
The man swallowed nervously as Mai started to delicately pick a tiny speck of dirt out from under one fingernail with a throwing knife that
seemed to appear magically in her fingers. "What is it worth to you that I should forget all about this conversation?" she asked blandly.
.oOo.
Toph was repacking M Bison's saddle when Mai returned to their secluded campsite outside of Fire Fountain City. It was a sheltered beach
far enough from the city that it was unlikely that they would be stumbled over by chance, not as comfortable as Mai would have preferred, but not so unpleasent
that it was unmanageable for a few days. She did not miss the substantial bag of coin that lay on the ground next to their other belongings.
"A productive day?" Mai asked casually.
"Hustled some guy who was scamming the locals," Toph confirmed calmly. "I don't think he'll make trouble, but it's
not like we were planning to hang around anyway."
Mai threw her own coinbag down next to Toph's. It was noticably larger and heavier and the look on Toph's face was clear evidence
that she was aware of that. "Hustled some fool who got cheated by a blind girl," she explained, pulling the straps of her food basket off her
shoulders and setting it down. She stretched to relieve the ache of her muscles. "We should probably pick up some fresh clothes in the next town we visit.
Kyoshi Island greens are a touch visible on a Fire Nation street."
Toph waved her hand in front of her face. "I'll take your word for it. What town is it likely to be?"
"Shu Jing," Mai said, eyeing the water. "I'm going to get cleaned up before we go. It's another long leg up
there."
Toph kept loading as Mai stripped down to her underwear and only a handful of her most essential weapons. The older girl plunged into the
warm waters - this late in the day, even river water wasn't cold enough to shock, particularly after experiencing the bitter cold at the South Pole - and
started efficiently scouring at herself with a rag. She had to duck her head to get soak her hair - long hair was a tremendous bother when travelling but if
her little sister could manage then Mai would too (she was unaware that Toph refrained from cutting her own long hair in self-concious imitation of
her).
"So what's special about Shu Jing?"
Looking up, Mai saw that Toph had efficiently tidied the campsite away, leaving only Mai's green dress and her weapons for her to change
into after her bath. "Nothing particular, it's just a convienient town to use as a jumping off point for the flight to where Zuko told us the
Sunwarriors came from."
"Just a name on a map?" Toph asked, sounding slightly disappointed.
Mai racked her mind for any other facts about the town. "I believe it's home to the swordmaster Piandao," she said at
last.
"Oh?" Toph sat down on the riverbank, water rippling below her in response to a casual movement of her hands. "Does he make
swords or use them?"
"Both," explained Mai. "He was a famous swordsman and commander in the army before he retired, but his swords are considered
works of art. Wealthy patrons pay huge sums for them. My father commissioned one after my brother was born, so that Tom-Tom will have a Piandao sword when
he's old enough to join the army, but there are so many orders for them that we only had word that it was delivered to our family home in the capital after
we were in Omashu."
"Sounds like he does well for himself. Is he a great firebender."
"Actually, he isn't a firebender at all," Mai revealed. "It's the only reason he managed to leave the army - the Fire
Lord can't look so weak as to merely request a non-bender to rejoin the army, and the last time someone demanded that Piandao return to the
banners they took a hundred soldiers with them. He defeated them all."
"Neat! Maybe we'll meet him when we're in Shu Jing," Toph suggested. "I've never met a swordmaster before. I
wonder how he moves."
Mai shook her head. "It would be better to avoid him. Even if he did leave the army, that might not mean that he'd turn a blind eye
to you. Remember, if Zhao survived to make a report there's probably at least a decent description of you in the hands of anyone important in the Fire
Nation." She finished washing herself down and waded up onto the beach. "Would you mind?"
Toph swept one arm up and around, the water on Mai streaming obediently off her body and into a long trail towards the young girl's hand.
She shaped it into something resembling a sword and slashed at the air inexpertly, the way that Mai had seen boys too young for war training play with toy
swords. Of course, this sword was as sharp as Toph's will so even a poorly delivered cut might be fatal.
M Bison mooed irritably, shrugging at the saddle. Bored, probably, Mai concluded as she fastened her dress and started picking up her
weapons. Hard to blame him, with nothing to do here but graze. "Alright, let's go. We can get a good distance before the sunlight
fades."
.oOo.
Shopping for clothes was something that Toph had laughably little experience of. The only clothes she had ever bought for herself were for
her fighting identity in the Earth Rumble tournaments and she had found that enough of a struggle not to get conned or look like a clown at the end of it.
"Whatever you get, get me the same for my size. We're the same colour and what-not, right?"
"You'll still need to be here so that you can be measured for them," Mai told her patiently, reviewing what was on the racks of
the tailor's shop now that she knew she was buying for both of them. While there were some differences in their colouring, Toph was right that they
weren't all that great. Of course, the 'what-not' covered the considerable difference in shape imposed by the four year age gap - althoug Toph was
probably more developed than Mai had been at that age. Still, wearing the same style would make some degree of sense - it wouldn't be unreasonable to
assume that a younger sister would have clothes that her elder sister had outgrown.
"Why don't you pick out some hairpieces," she suggested, pointing towards the table at the back of the store where the
storekeeper's wife could keep an eagle eye on the relatively valuable merchandise.
Toph nodded agreeably and wandered in that direction, holding her arms extended so that she could touch each garment on the racks she was
between as she walked. A flash of colour caught Mai's eye as the clothes swayed back into position and she took a few steps to examine the wine-red dress.
Plain and shoulderless, reaching only mid-calf, it would be more comfortable than heavier fabrics in the warmth of the Fire Nation.
Still, as it was, it wasn't quite suitable for someone of Toph's age and it would be... eye-catching on a young woman of Mai's
age. While the latter might be flattering, it wouldn't be very practical under these circumstances. She started looking through the tops to find something
complimentary.
"So who are you buying for?" she heard the middle-aged woman ask indulgently.
"For me and Mai, of course," Toph replied bluntly, running her finger around one of the hairpieces.
The woman gasped, not angrily. "Oh my, you won't want one of those then. Those are for men, dear. Here, let me show you something
more feminine."
"Does that mean delicate?" Toph asked diplomatically. "I'm not so good with that. Blind, you see."
"Oh, goodness," the woman said in a shocked voice. "I really couldn;t tell, dear. You manage very well."
Toph picked up one of the head-pieces, a plain but rather nicely worked cuff of bronze two finger-widths across, with two dragon wings
jutting upwards. Mai thought that it must be a concious imitation of the traditional headpiece of the crown prince - lost for centuries - but far less fine of
course. "This is rather nice, do you have another like it?"
"Well it would certainly be sturdy," the shopkeeper's wife agreed reluctantly, running her eyes across her merchandise. "I
don't have another of those, but perhaps you'll like these?" She lifted the hairpiece out of Toph's hand and replaced it with another, this
one with silvery trim and more elaborate side pieces wrought in the shape of rearing dragons.
Toph made a disgusted noise as she turned it over in her hand. "This just isn't sturdy enough," she said dismissively.
"And there's something about the metal... is that silver? It must cost twice as much."
"You've caught me," the motherly woman admitted shamelessly. "But really, you have such lovely hair. It deserves
silver."
The blind girl laughed bluntly. "What would I care about what it looks like? Something more like the first one, please."
Mai shook her head and then picked out tunic like top, open at the sides but hanging long at front and back. It was the wrong colour, but it
would cover up their shoulders.
.oOo.
The storekeeper's wife was more than happy for the two girls to change their clothes in a small cubicle set aside for that purpose and in
exchange for a small additional payment made some minor alterations to the fit - more for Mai than for Toph, who could be expected to grow into her new
garments. And when they walked out of the store, they both had their hair pulled back into loose ponytails secured by simple brass hair-pieces, engraved such
that dragons snaked around the circumference. Only their bangs were left unsecured, Mai's neat fringe and Toph's less regular eye-obscuring locks of
hair.
"So, where next?" Toph asked curiously.
Mai glanced along the street. "A weapon shop. I want to replace a few lost knives, and the Water Tribe didn't have any metal
suitable for them, even if there was a sufficiently skilled weaponsmith there."
"Weapons?" Toph's smile broadened. "Nice. Do you think I should get something?"
"Well, a lady can never have enough knives," counselled the older girl as they walked down the street. "But it's important
to find weapons that work for you."
The weapons shop - a veritable temple to the regrettable brevity of life and the tools that could further abbreviate it - was not busy. The
proprietor, a grey haired man with shoulders that suggested he might well be the smith responsible for making some the various deadly implements, was
conversing quietly with a lean, well-dressed man.
Mai made her way directly over to the trays of knives stored at the back, with Toph lagging behind and stamping her feet - now in fashionable
thin soled moccasins that she had been assured were intended for dancing - every few paces to make absolutely certain she wasn't about to walk into
something with sharp edges. The earthbender stopped at a rack of swords and ran her hands very carefully over them before selecting a dao and giving it a
tentative swing, the rings set along the back edge clinking as she did so.
The awkward move caught the attention of the man speaking to the storekeeper and he half-turned towards Toph, who was partly obscured from
his sight by the weapon rack. "Let me guess. you've come hundreds of miles from your little village where you're the best swordsman in town and
you think you deserve to learn from Master Piandao?"
Toph returned the weapon to its place on the rack. "That's amazing! You got every single little detail wrong! How did you manage
it?"
The man blinked and then smiled ruefully as he took a step sideways to get a clearer line of sight towards her. "It's a knack,"
he admitted. "My apologies for the remark, young lady. It was rude of me."
"Whatever," Toph lifted another sword, a straight jian and then replaced it immediately. The light weapon was not to her taste.
"You hear that story a lot?"
"Oh, quite often," he admitted. "You're looking for a sword?"
"I dunno," Toph replied shortly. "A girl has to defend her honor sometimes, but I've never tried using a sword
before." She grinned. "I've never seen a sword after all."
"Never?" the man asked in surprise, walking around the rack to look at her. "Ah, I see." He walked like a fighter:
purposeful, controlled. "You manage well - I could tell immediately that you are a fighter, but not that you are blind."
Toph grinned. "Thanks. My sister taught me everything she knows."
"Not even close," Mai observed from where she was examining a throwing knife. The storekeeper moved in her direction, more
interested in a propsective paying customer than in the Toph's conversation partner.
"I see," the warrior said, lifting the jian and essaying a few thrusts before returning it neatly to its place. "Well, I
don't think that this would be your sort of weapon. A sword is a little more involved than merely being a knife writ large."
"Do you have any suggestions?
He frowned and rubbed at his beard. "Well, you've not really got the reach for a pole arm. Have you ever used a hook
sword?"
"What's a hook sword?" Toph asked.
"Jet used two," Mai told her, not looking up from the knife she was weighing in her hand.
"Jet?" asked the man. "A friend of yours?"
Toph made a face. "Not hardly. He was a real creep, but I know what you mean now. Are there any here?"
"I believe so." He reached higher up the rack and brought down a pair of swords.
When Toph took them, she could tell that the points curved back on themselves. Thinking back, she tried to move them the way Jet had, all
those months ago when he fought against her and Zuko outside of Omashu. Her impaired earthsense had only shown him to her when he was close thought, and she
quickly realised she was degenerating into random fumbling. "I don't think so."
"I think you could be quite good with practise," her advisor observed, "But I agree, you aren't too deft with them at the
moment. Still, you seem to have some experience in wielding paired weapons."
"You're pretty good at this," Toph admitted. "Yeah, I learned to fight a bit with metal fans a while back. It was some
sort of traditional women's weapon where we were living."
"Well let's see if we can find any here. It might be better to build on what you already know." The man set off into one of the
back corners of the shop. "I believe I saw something of the kind here on my last visit."
"How come you're so good at matching people with weapons? Are you a shopkeeper too?"
He laughed. "In a sense, I suppose I am. I suppose I should introduce myself: my name is Piandao."
"Oh." Toph could hear Mai's heart start to beat faster at the revelation that this was the famous swordmaster. "I'm
Toph."
"I'm pleased to meet you, Lady Toph. Saddened that so young a lady needs to defend herself, but it is a sad world at times."
Piandao pulled a fan out from a crate in the corner, snapped it open and held it in a menacing position where it would be effectively useless and then frowned.
"No, that's not right." He offered it to Toph. "Only one of them, unfortunately. Why don't you show me how it's
done?"
She accepted the weapon and fell back on her lessons from Kyoshi Island, moving through a kata designed for use with a single fan - although
the Kyoshi Warriors were issued them in pairs, it wasn't uncommon for one to be lost. It surprised her for a moment how rusty she was, but then, she
hadn't really practised since her injury at Chin Village. "I used to be better at this," Toph grumbled. "I guess I'd really better buy
this and get back into practise."
"Practise is usually a good idea," Piandao agreed amiably. "And I'll just undermine my old friend's bargaining power
by pointing out that it was in the discards box."
D for Drakensis
You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.