Wandering Prince
Avatar the Last Airbender, Zuko SI
20
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“Wish me luck!”
“I don’t need to. I know you’ll win,” I sent Yue a smile and the girl stuck out her tongue, before darting in and giving me a peck on the lips. Turning away, she pulled down her veil and hurried off to where the other people participating were waiting.
“You two make my teeth itch,” Toph complained from beside me, where she was carrying one of the two boxes we had with us. Hers contained all of her saved winnings from her time as the Blind Bandit. The one in my own hands contained an equal amount, pulled from the treasure on the boat.
“Jealous?” I teased, reaching down with my free hand to brush some dust off of my uniform—the same one the Beifong family’s guards wore—and adjust my sword at my side, to sell the look.
To my surprise, Toph nodded. “A little. Every other man I’ve met either treats me like glass because of my eyes, or they’re so obvious about wanting to marry me for my family’s money that it’s embarrassing.”
I reached out and patted her on the shoulder. “Well, cheer up. It could be worse. At least your parents aren’t still trying to marry you off.”
Toph considered for a moment before smiling brightly. “You’re right.”
“How are they taking it? Still upset?”
“Tch. Yeah,” Toph grunted. “They’re not sure how to act around me now. That place is starting to feel less and less like home…” Toph trailed off and shook her head. “But with any luck, they’ll see I can take care of myself with more than just my bending after tonight. Come on, this way. Bookies are over here.”
Following the girl’s lead, we made our way towards where people were placing bets. After only a minute or two, we made it to the front of one of several lines, where one of the bookmakers there wearing a China dress in bright green and gold looked up and smiled brightly at me, before her eyes fell to Toph and her smile fell off. Without preamble, she asked, “…We weren’t notified you would be fighting today, Ms. Bandit?”
“I’m not! I’m just here to watch,” Toph grinned, and I rolled my eyes as the woman glanced at Toph’s eyes briefly, before making a face.
“Yeees. I see.”
“I’m glad you do,” the little shit stirrer needled the woman again.
The bookie recovered quickly however and got down to business. “Very well then. You’ve come to place a bet?”
Toph thumped the small chest she was carrying down on the table. I put my own box down beside hers. “One thousand gold pieces in this one,” she tapped her box, “Another thousand in this one.”
“My apologies, but it is company policy that bets in excess of eight hundred gold will need to be weighted by an approved Official of Scales and—”
Toph’s hand slapped a stamp down on the table’s stone surface. “How about now?”
The bookie paused in her droning as she caught sight of what was on the stamp: an emblem of a winged pig. The same winged pig emblem recognized, honored and even enshrined by every institution in the whole region of Gaoling. She paled, glancing back at Toph. For just a moment, her mouth fell open and she stared.
“What are you eyeballing me for?” Toph crossed her arms, “If you think I’m not good for my gold, then feel free to count it if you like. You can even send that stamp along with the chest, but just keep in mind that I’m gonna want it back.”
“There’s no need, Ms. Beifong! No need at all!” the woman laughed nervously as she bowed at the waist, low enough to almost knock her head on the table. “So, which bets would you like to place?”
The rumors of the Blind Bandit’s identity had indeed spread, but having Toph actually own it was a bit unexpected. This wasn’t actually an uncommon reaction. Apparently, Toph’s former teacher, one Master Yu had spread the knowledge around town and we’d seen more than one person approach her in the street just to tell her how much they loved her alter ego. And so, despite being blind, Toph actually glanced up at me, likely just to show off her shit-eating grin.
“Told ya we wouldn't have trouble making huge bets.”
“Show off.”
“Yup,” she smirked, before turning back to the bookie. Humming, Toph pretended to think about it. “Zuko, what was the name of that new talent we heard about? The rumored waterbender?”
“The Lady of the Lake,” I answered with a straight face. In the end, it had become a group effort to think of Yue’s stage name. Toph wanted something fierce sounding. Yue wanted something elegant and pretty. I split the difference and suggested something that would imply social status without giving away anything about her identity.
The bookie perked up. “Oh yes. She will be in the second match, against the winner of the first match. The Headhunter is in the first match against Fire Nation Man. If you would like, I have a scroll detailing the odds for each successive match…” She blinked, then quickly added, “I can read it for you.”
“Zuko?”
I held out my hand and took the scroll. “First match, Headhunter vs Fire Nation Man. Two to one odds favoring Headhunter. Second match, Lady of the Lake versus either of them. Odds are one point five to one against her for Fire Nation Man, three to one against for Headhunter. If she moves to the next match, it’s against Gecko. Odds are three to one against. Next would be Gopher, four to one against. Then Hippo—”
“You mean Big Bad Hippo—”
“I’m not saying that,” I shot the woman at the table a grin before turning back to Toph. “Eight to one against for Hippo. Boulder last, ten to one odds against.”
Toph nodded, then sent a smile towards the older woman. “All of it on Lady of the Lake, and let it ride.”
“Are… are you sure, Ms. Beifong? I know you’re familiar with our other competitors, but this is the Lady’s debut. She’s a complete unknown. A dark horse.”
I sighed, playing up the act of the beleaguered bodyguard putting up with the noble brat. “Boss, you shouldn’t just throw your money away like this. There are better things you could use it for.”
“Gotta spend my allowance somewhere, right?” Toph laughed, a very fake sounding—at least to my ears—ojou-sama style ‘ooohhh ho ho ho~,’ drawing quiet murmurs of discontent from those around and behind us. “I’m sure! It’s just pocket change. I won’t miss it if I lose it. And hey, with those odds and two thousand gold coins on the line, you’d have to be an idiot not to bet against me.”
The bookie sighed, before marking something down on a scroll and handing Toph back her stamp. “Very well, Ms. Beifong. Two thousand on the Lady, to ride. Please enjoy your night. If you like, the VIP booth still has seating available.”
“Psh, no thanks. I want to be down close to where the action is, so I can feel it in my bones,” Toph waved her off and I followed as we moved through the crowd towards the entrance to the stadium.
“Snacks! Snacks here! Get your rock candy! Get your carameled corn! We’ve even got fire flakes!”
Toph paused, then turned a smile at me. “Hey Zuko…”
“You want snacks?” I asked, and she nodded.
“I want snacks. Never been here as a spectator before. Well, not officially.” Tilting her head slightly, she tilted her head off to the side and added, “And uh, some of that fizzy water stuff. You know, the fruity kind.”
“Alright,” I agreed, and we got in line to wait for concessions. Quietly, I asked, “Did they buy it?”
“Oh yeah,” she nodded. “They’re just throwing money at every fight against Yue.”
“Excellent,” I chuckled, stepping forward with the line. “There’s a sucker born every minute.”
We got concessions and made our way into the stadium. I directed Toph to a nice set of seats somewhat near to the front where no one was sitting—right in the splash zone where she wanted and far away enough from other people that we could talk with some privacy. Toph immediately began stuffing her face and I shook my head as she made quiet, happy noises as she tried a little of everything we’d gotten—which was one of everything they had. The ‘fizzy water’ was, to my surprise, some kind of carbonated water mixed with various fruit flavors. Toph had gone with cherry, while I’d found one that tasted kind of like cream soda.
Going to have to ask for or steal the recipe before we leave, and figure out where they’re sourcing their carbonated water. Or see if Yue can make it. It’d be nice to have something different once in a while. Tea gets old.
Eventually, the announcer made his appearance and began warming the crowd up. The place thrummed with the sounds of shouting and stomping. Then, the first fighters came out, to the sounds of boos for Fire Nation Man. Beside me, Toph wore an ear to ear grin.
“These guys are total clowns. They’re just here to get everyone in the mood for the main event. Kinda surprised they have the Boulder coming in so late though. Usually, they bring him in early and let him work his way through the others. He’s the fan favorite. The star.”
“Yeah?” I asked, and she nodded.
“Yeah. It’s not fake, but it is kinda scripted. Fire Nation Man,” she gestured vaguely towards the arena, where the man in question was dodging rocks thrown his way, “is the Evil Foreigner. You can’t use someone from one of the other Earth Kingdoms, but everyone hates the Fire Nation, so…”
“I get it. So he’s there to lose.”
“Oh yeah. He’s there to throw the fight and make the crowd feel good. He does win sometimes, just to turn up the drama and keep the betting pools from getting stale, but it’s rare. Then there’s the acrobats. We call ‘em ‘high flyers.’ Middle weight guys who are all fast and like to use a lot of acrobatics in their acts. The Star is supposed to work his way through those first, then go up against the Big Guy, someone even bigger than him. Usually, that’s it, unless a returning Champ shows up. That’s me and a couple of old timers. We don’t do that often though, because it screws with the bets. That’s why I was kinda sorta banned for the last two years.”
“So, what do you call Yue?”
Toph hummed. “The New Guy or a Sweeper. Depends on if they’re good or not. If she cleans the floor with them, she’s a Sweeper.”
Toph held up her hand and I looked back to the ring, where Fire Nation Man was being thrown out on a boulder. “Looks like she’s up.”
The girl beside me brought a mouthful of caramel corn to her lips and grinned. “This is gonna be good. She is gonna drag it out, right?”
“She’ll stick to the plan,” I confirmed as the announcer roared Yue’s introduction. “It’s Yue. She’s not exactly a hothead. It’ll be fine.”
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Yue’s heart pounded in her chest as the announcer called her name. Taking a breath, she stepped out of the waiting area and started walking towards the stage.
Zuko and Toph both said I should make an entrance. So something flashy. So…
Releasing the bending water from her water skin, she jumped and used it to launch her into the air, drawing it with her and shifting it into mist as she flew through the air. Mist exploded out from around her as she landed, before swirling back around her body and condensing into a stream of water, waiting for her to use it as the crowd went wild.
Yue ignored them as she reached out to the water below her. As part of their preparations for this event to help their friend, they had done some scouting in the days ahead of the fight. There was an underground river that ran below the mountains and, between Toph and Yue, they had redirected it a bit to run directly under the mountain where the Earth Rumble was held. Yue could feel it moving, just below the surface, waiting for her to call on it. So she did—several little streamers reaching up from below, starting to cut their way through the rock between the underground river and the stage.
Yue was pulled from her focus on the water below her by the man in front of her. He had been saying something rude but, per Toph’s instructions, she had ignored it. They had worked on her ‘character’ for this together. It was kind of exciting, actually. The entire thing was one part play acting show, one part bending fight. They had decided that it would be best if Yue’s ‘Lady of the Lake’ character remained aloof and detached, above the petty taunts of the other fighter, to lean into the air of mystery and nobility around her character.
And Yue was perfectly fine with that because the truth was… she was terrible at witty banter. Embarrassingly so. The one time she and Toph had practiced, Yue had nearly broken down into tears because she took the insults, the ‘shit talk’ as Toph and Zuko called it, too personally. Worse yet, she felt bad saying anything negative back and the few attempts she made had just left her blushing as the other two fought not to laugh at her. So, silent mysterious lady it was.
Stolen novel; please report.
Oh, he’s leaping, Yue blinked, as the bare-chested, masked man with wild brown hair before her—the announcer had called him The Headhunter—launched himself into the air with a rock pillar, taking a boulder the size of his head with him in one hand as he wound up like he was planning to smash Yue with it. A small frown pulled at her lips as she took in his arc and estimated that he would land pretty much right on top of her. Something seemed off, however, and it took her a moment to figure it out as he hit the top of his arc and began to fall.
He’s so… slow.
Reacting instinctively, she shifted backwards one step, left arm coming up as the water circling her shifted and reached out into a whip. If it were Zuko, he would have dodged. If it had been Toph, she would have heard the counter coming and used whatever rock she took up with herself to either launch herself away, or throw it at Yue. The Headhunter did neither. Beneath his mask, his face shifted into an expression of bewilderment as Yue’s water whip caught him around the midsection.
Another step and Yue pulled, turning the falling man’s momentum against him and directing it, adding a bit of force of her own. The water connecting them whipped forward and down and she let go as she completed one full rotation with a final step. The Headhunter yelled as he flew out of the ring, landing in among the first row of seating with a crash that sounded painful even from where Yue stood.
For a moment, the arena was dead silent. Then, it erupted into a wave of sound that Yue felt in her chest. A smile pulled at her lips as she turned around to take in the crowd, her eyes shifted over those gathered, until she found Zuko and Toph sitting almost directly to her right from where she’d started, right up front. Toph was cheering, both hands in the air as she stomped her feet. Zuko… Zuko wore that look of exasperation she had grown to enjoy bringing out in him during their time together.
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Seven seconds. Less time than it takes to ride a bull.
I sighed as Toph cheered loudly at my side. “Well, there goes that plan.”
“Screw the plan, that was awesome! That chump didn’t even see it coming!”
Soon enough, the announcer called the next match. The Gecko lasted a bit longer… but only because Yue let him land, only to create an ice slick beneath him and kick him towards the edge. The ice behind him rolled up into a small wave of water that carried him the rest of the way and the Gecko shot off the side of the ring like he’d been greased.
Frowning, I squinted a bit as I studied the announcer’s face while the crowd laughed. “Didn’t you say the announcer was also the owner?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. Xin Fu. He was in the Rumble himself years back, apparently,” Toph nodded.
“He looks pissed.”
“Heh. Yeah, I can hear it,” she laughed. “He’s watching his money evaporate in front of him. The house takes a cut of all winnings, but he probably had his own bets lined up. He knows his guys. He doesn’t have to try to play the odds when he can pretty much guess who’s gonna win each round, if they haven’t agreed to have someone take a dive. He just bets on the one most likely to win. It’s not a huge return, but it’s stable. And now, Yue’s shaking that up and he’s losing money.” The girl leered. “Sucks to suck!”
The next fight against the Gopher saw the man diving underground, only to come up spluttering and covered in mud, as water began to pour out of the holes he’d made in the arena. “Shit,” I grumbled. “Looks like he found the surprise.”
A gesture from Yue had the coughing, mud-covered man crashing out of the ring in a torrent of water. Another gesture had the water spreading across the ring’s surface.
He knows he’s lost control now, I mused, listening to the announcer call in the next contestant. Hippo leapt onto the stage with a rumble that shook the floor through my boots. Lifting his foot, he stomped the ring and it began to rock from one side to the other. Water swirled around Yue’s feet, holding her in place as the stage quickly began to climb closer to a ninety degree angle with every step Hippo took. And then the wet ground under his feet iced over on the next stomp, sending him careening off the edge as the stage tilted one last time before settling back into place—not quite level again.
“These guys kind of suck.”
Toph snorted quietly. “They’re idiots. Rock heads. They’re good at what they do, but you can tell they’ve never faced another kind of bender.”
I raised an eyebrow skeptically, then remembered she couldn’t see it. “You didn’t have that problem.”
“I don’t suck,” she shrugged, wearing a cocky little grin. “Oh, here comes that asshole, Boulder!”
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They’re really… not good at this, are they?
Yue only had a moment to contemplate that before someone jumped in from the entrance. She raised a tentacle from octopus form to snag him, only for the big man to chop his hand down and tear through it, leaving Yue to skip away from him as he landed with a much smaller quake than the Hippo had.
“You’ve done good to make it this far little girl, but now you face THE BOULDER!” the man roared as he… took a moment to stand and pose, flexing to show off his enormous muscles.
Don’t really see the appeal of stacking muscles like boulders, Yue mused, giving the man a moment to showboat as she focused her attention below. He’d crush me, and not in a fun way.
Toph and Zuko both had insisted that she end everything with a big finish, so that was what she was going to do. Reaching down, she pulled on the water below, drawing it to the surface. A geyser erupted out of the floor, from the holes the Gopher had made, rising several feet in the air and pouring over the surface of the ring.
“You won’t roll the Boulder with a little water!” the man across from her roared, before stomping down and closing the holes in the arena floor with earthbending.
Yue smiled and shifted, tapping her foot on the floor. Three more water spouts sprang up across the ring. An instant later, the Boulder stomped again, closing them up and raising his namesake from the ground, before launching it at her. Yue shifted, sliding to the side on a thin layer of water as the boulder passed her by, making more water spouts rise up across the ring.
Just a little more. Focus on the ring, not the floor…
They traded blows back and forth, the Boulder sending waves of rock and tossing stones at her, Yue dodging, then countering with waves of water or ice. Until finally, a rumble and a loud crack sounded and brought the match to a pause as water erupted in the floor space between the ring and the seats. Waterspouts rose several feet in the air, one after another as more and more stone broke under the pressure of the underground river, following the paths Yue had made for it. Water quickly began to fill the area outside the ring and as she watched, the Boulder’s eyes went wide.
Yue twirled and the water around them swirled, frothing as it began to spin with a roar that drowned out the sound of the crowd. She thrust her hands forward and a huge wave swelled over the ring. The Boulder dropped to his knees, slamming a fist against the ground and raising a barrier of stone around himself as water crashed down around him.
Another gesture, a thought, and water dug into every crack and imperfection in his barrier… then shattered as it shifted to ice. Stone cracked as water expanded into ice. Ice shifted back to water, allowing more water to fill the gaps, before it expanded again with a louder crack. Then again, and again, until finally the barrier gave way and the Boulder screamed as he was swept away in the tide, thrown into the stands and stuck in place by a wave of water that froze around him.
The crowd erupted. It was pandemonium. People cheered, jeered, screamed, stomped, threw things—at her and at each other. Multiple fights broke out in the stands.
The announcer dropped down into the ring beside her, carrying a large bag and wearing a sour look. Quietly, so quietly only she could hear, he glared at her and growled, “Take your earnings and leave. Don’t come back.”
He handed Yue the bag, then lifted her hand. “YOUR WINNER! THE LADY OF THE LAAAKE!!!”
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“Come on, let’s go collect before they try to welch on the bets!” Toph laughed, popping to her feet. I followed as we made our way out, sticking close as we avoided the brawling crowd. “Oh man, that was great! We should do stuff like this more often.”
“It was fun to watch,” I nodded. Yue had done great. The problem was, well… it wasn’t exactly sporting. These people were fighters. Little more than professional wrestlers with some bending moves. They were here to put on a show. Yue, on the other hand, was a waterbending prodigy (at least, once she had been allowed to learn anything other than healing) and I was turning that prodigy into a warrior. Even if she lacked the mentality for it, she had the skills and the power. It wasn’t fair to drop her in on them like that.
We weren’t here to play fair though, we were here to rake in cash. And if I was doing the math right, then they owed us a lot.
“I’m here to collect my winnings,” Toph leered, slapping the table of the same bookie she’d placed the bets with.
The woman in question was looking awfully pale—a bit green around the gills, in fact. “I, uh, that is, Ms. Beifong… The um, the amount. It’s—”
“I know,” Toph grinned. “I can do math. Five point seven million gold coins that the house owes me. The Beifong family can back that amount up easily and would have, if needed, had I lost. But I didn’t lose. You did. So. Where’s my money? You can pay, right?”
“I.. I need to speak with the owner!” the woman yelped, before turning and running away, only pausing to speak quietly with another woman before she fled.
“I think you scared ‘em.”
“No shit,” Toph chuckled. “It’s great!”
“It’s kind of awesome,” I nodded, before pointing out the obvious. “They don’t have the money.”
Toph scoffed. “Not a chance. We knew that going in. Just didn’t expect the odds to be that good.”
We fell silent as another woman approached. “Ms. Beifong, if you would please come with me. We have a room prepared where you may wait. Can I offer you or your bodyguard any refreshments?”
“Sure! We’ll take whatever you’ve got,” Toph nodded.
“No alcohol,” I clarified as we followed the other woman up a set of stairs, to a room near what felt like the back of the place. “Those fizzy fruit drinks they had at the concessions were good though.”
“Of course, sir. We’ll bring everything right up,” the woman bowed as she left us.
Looking around, I whistled as I took in the waiting room. “Nice place. Very fancy.”
Toph shrugged and sat on the overstuffed couch, keeping one foot on the ground as she made herself comfortable. “They’re trying too hard. It even smells like money in here. And something else.” She wrinkled her nose. “Booze and… something.”
Looking around, I spotted a large hookah in the back of the room. “Drugs, probably. They’ve got a hookah.”
“A what?”
“Water pipe.”
Toph made a face. “Of course they do.”
I dropped down onto the couch beside her and she turned her head slightly to face me. “So, how do we want to play this? I didn’t think they’d be stupid enough to take the bet, if they knew how much they stood to lose.”
“I told you they were stupid. We stick to the plan. Take ‘em for everything they have,” the girl grinned, shifting and planting one of her feet in my lap after pushing off the sandal covering it. Thankfully, the foot in question wasn’t dirty. According to her, when we got the story out of her, apparently Toph had hated shoes and had gone barefoot for years, until she’d finally stepped in a pile of manure in the street. After that, she began fashioning her own sandals made of stone and leather straps.
Reaching down, I took the foot in my hands. Squeezing her foot, I asked, “Is there something you want here?”
Toph grinned. “You kidding? I’ve heard the sounds Yue makes when you rub her feet. Either she’s faking it or you’re that go—oood~! Mmf!”
“I’m that good,” I chuckled, digging my thumbs into her foot and squeezing.
Toph closed her eyes and went limp beside me, letting out a quiet, throaty little groan. “Unf~. Maybe you are. That is so not fair.”
I shrugged and kept working on her foot. After some time, the woman who brought us up returned with a tray of food and drinks, before quickly leaving. Toph very blatantly turned her head towards the plate, then back towards me, then back to the plate again. Finally, she wiggled her toes. “That smells good, but I don’t wanna get up.”
“What am I, your manservant?”
The girl stuck out her tongue. “If you’re lucky.”
Rolling my eyes, I picked up the tray and sat it on her stomach. Picking up a dumpling, I dipped it in the available sauce and leaned in. “Open.”
Toph opened her mouth, rolling her tongue on the way out in a way that caught my eye and had to be intentional. Shaking my head, I waited for her to finish with her bite before dipping it again and popping the rest into my mouth. “They’re pretty good.”
“Mm. Yeah, but most places don’t serve dumplings with a complementary foot massage. Gotta say, the service here is excellent,” she chuckled.
“Brat.”
Eventually, we finished the food and returned the tray to the table, then it was more waiting. Getting bored, I decided to see just how far up I could go with this little massage before Toph said anything—if she would at all. I was nearly up to her knee, with Toph twitching and trying very hard not to react, before she finally jerked her foot away and shifted upright, slipping her sandal back on. “They’re coming.”
“Damn, and it was just getting interesting,” I said, standing and taking my place to her side and just in front of the couch, one hand resting on my sword hilt.
“Tell me about it,” Toph sighed. “You think Yue would mind if I borrowed you for the other one later?”
“Probably not, but ask her first.”
The girl nodded and we fell silent. A few moments later, I heard footfalls approaching and then, the announcer and owner—Xin Fu—strolled in, with the Boulder just behind him. “Ms. Beifong—” he paused, then frowned. “So, it’s true. You are the Blind Bandit.”
“The Boulder thinks—”
“You can think?” Toph cut in, earning a growl from the man. “D’ya have my money or not, Xin Fu?”
Xin Fu crossed his arms over his chest. “I think you cheated me, somehow.”
“Prove it,” Toph shrugged. “Oh wait, you can’t, or we wouldn’t be having this discussion.”
“Nn. I have no proof, yet.”
“And you’re not gonna find any,” Toph smirked.
The Boulder smashed his fist into his palm. “Just say the word and the Boulder will beat it out of her!”
A click of metal on metal caused the room to fall silent. Slowly, two sets of eyes turned to where I’d just thumbed the first inch of my swords loose from their sheath and had moved my other hand into a drawing position. I didn’t need to say anything as I met the eyes of both men. Xin Fu took a small step back and the Boulder lowered his hands to his sides.
“I really don’t think that’d end well. For you,” Toph chuckled. “So, let’s just skip the bullshit. You owe me a lot of money. Like, a lot by my standards.”
Xin Fu made a quiet, annoyed noise, before nodding. “Yes. It’s a ruinous sum. Obviously, I don’t have the gold to cover it all right now. It would take years. Decades. Even if you seized my assets and sent me to debtor’s prison, you would never see it all. At most, you would see a tenth of the total.”
The girl nodded. “Oh, I’m aware. I probably have a better idea of how much you’re worth than you do. You’d be surprised what sort of information the Beifong family name can get me. But that’s fine! I don’t want your money. The only money I’ll be walking out of here with today is what I came in with.”
“Then,” Xin Fu frowned, studying Toph as a confused look spread over his face, “what do you want?”
“I want the Earth Rumble. This place. And you. Him, too,” she pointed to the Boulder with a grin. “You’re gonna sign this place over to me. I’ll own it. I can’t be fucked to run the day to day operations or manage fighters, so you’ll be doing that. I get ten percent off the top of whatever we make from sales. You take an eight percent cut. Keep the fighters’ pay whatever it is now. The rest goes back into the business.
“…But I was taking forty before—”
“And that’s why it was failing, dipshit!” Toph shook her head. Sitting forward, she sighed. “Listen, you’ve got the beginnings of a good thing here, but you don’t see the bigger picture.” Toph chuckled derisively. “Funny, the blind girl sees it better than you apes.”
Xin Fu didn’t look happy, but he did look interested. Stepping forward, he made a chair of stone in front of Toph and sat down. “What ‘bigger picture’ do you see, then?”
Instead of answering, she asked, “Did you hear that crowd tonight? They were louder even than when I came last week, weren’t they?”
Slowly, Xin Fu nodded. “They were…”
“And why d’ya think that was?”
“Something new,” the man answered, and Toph nodded.
“That’s right. So, here’s what we’re gonna do. We’re rebranding. We’re gonna dump a bunch of money into advertising and putting up a big pot. Then, we’re gonna hold a Professional Bending Tournament. All benders of all styles welcome.”
Stroking his beard, Xin Fu hummed. “Even firebenders?”
“Especially firebenders. Because we don’t get them around here.”
“What about the war?”
Toph shook her head. “We’re at war with the Fire Nation, not all firebenders.” She shifted her head to look at the Boulder. “Oi, rock-for-brains. You got a problem with that?”
The big man crossed his arms over his chest and hummed. “Gonna need more healers.”
“So offer to pay for them,” Toph shrugged, before shifting her attention back to Xin Fu. “Well? We got a deal, or are you gonna be stupid and make us take this to the local Earth King?”
The man considered for a moment before nodding. “We have a deal.”
“Great,” Toph popped up out of her seat. “I’ll have my people draw up the paperwork and we can get everything signed over in the next couple of days. Keep a lid on this until we’re ready to push the ad campaign.”
I set my sword back in place and followed Toph out of the room. The girl was practically dancing on air as we left the mountain. Yue joined us not far away from the exit.
“Well? How did it go?”
Toph grinned, putting her hands behind her head. “Made out like a bandit.”