May catch-all

[seismometrics]

Characters: Open to all!
Date: May
Location: Keelai
Warnings/Rating: N/A -- will change if necessary. Shenanigans?

A. OTA - No matter the day, even if it's raining, Toph can likely be found somewhere on the Turtle, training in one of the disciplines: earthbending, metalbending, sandbending, or blind combat. Interruptions or onlookers are not a problem; she's more than happy to have an audience -- and will even have the tendency to show off if she discovers someone watching.

B. OTA - During her previous visit to the Turtle, the kedan gang activity was of interest to Toph -- something to keep at least a halfway decent idea of during her tenure, if only for her own interests. The new Keelai is different, though . . . and something that needs to be re-explored and understood, especially in light of people running around stealing soul gems. Feel free to run into Toph at nearly any hour (even wee hours of the morning) in some of the more dangerous sections of the city, poking around and possibly getting herself into shenanigans. (Hey, I did promise shenanigans up above.)


C. Closed to Katara - The shopping had been Katara's idea. It certainly hadn't been Toph's -- would never have been Toph's, who didn't put nearly as much stock in her appearance, and for whom window shopping was a meaningless term.

But even so, Katara had gotten her out with only a minor amount of whining and sarcasm. Partly this might have been because they really hadn't spent much time together outside of Toph's re-arrival, and though fractious as the two could be sometimes, Katara was still family -- something Toph had had precious little of in previous months. Connection was still something Toph craved, even if shopping wasn't the most ideal of circumstances. Additionally, there were still things she wanted to understand -- still holes in her piecing together of the last couple of years.

So Toph went shopping, contenting herself with drifting her hands across fabrics for the varying textures, doing her best to resist any goads into trying something new (not always winning), and getting in wisecracks when she could.

Maybe Katara had taken pity on her, because the next suggestion the older girl made was far more appealing:

Mud.

With the influx of spring rains, some enterprising kedan had set up their own miniature day spa, inviting all to enjoy a mud bath with mud "carted from the far side of the turtle, in a location left pristine and untouched."

That might have been true, or it might have been hogwash (literally), but mud was mud as far as Toph was concerned, and you couldn't go wrong with a good wallowing. So it was with great aplomb that Toph squished into the mud pool -- a large, open bath of it occupied only by a couple of other kedan on the far side. The muck squished upward between her toes, prompting a full-fledged grin.

D. Closed to Mike - Just because she'd agreed to this didn't mean she was happy about it.

In fact, one could probably count Toph as full-blown wary as she made her way to the alleyway that had been described.

. . . After all, the request had come from the one turtle ninja she had beef with.

She wasn't looking forward to the meeting with Mike, but the request also wasn't one she could easily refuse -- a request to help find Leonardo's sword . . . a sword that had disappeared during the year that everyone apparently had gotten stuck in the Dreaming, commandeered by the kedan in their game of "finders-keepers." She owed Leo this, as far as she was concerned; the sword belonged in the hands of people who knew him, not some priss-nosed little kedan with a stick up his butt.

For that reason, Toph had agreed to circumvent her misgivings and meet Mike in the alley. Arms sliding into a cross, she leaned up against the stone of the nearby wall. Waiting.

E. Closed to Jackie - "Heads up!" The voice came as a snap not far from Jackie's elbow as its owner barreled past -- near enough to brush Jackie's clothing on the way by. The owner, from the glimpse he might catch, was a tiny girl with a mass of thick, dark hair, bare feet nearly soundless on the earth in spite of her speed. "Move it."

Just barely avoiding Jackie, she sprinted off towards the alley on the opposite side of the street, heading towards its shadows.

Jackie might have avoided collision once, but he or anyone with him might not be so lucky with what came after her. With little more than a breath, two kedan tore after her, so intent on their prize that they couldn't quite manage the tight twist it took to avoid, heading for impact.


F. Want to rp something else? Come to me! PM or find me on Plurk -- I'm glad to talk and set something up. <3

Comments

A

[whitelotustile]

Iroh didn't need to be showed off to. He respected Toph's skill, but he also knew that it was important to her to not just be competent but for everyone to know she was. So, he was waiting, with a basket of snacks and some tea, for her to take a break.

[seismometrics]

Iroh might not need to be showed off to, but surprising the older man was something enjoyable. He was an appreciative audience, with warmth and enthusiasm that was more like a parent's than the sharp fascination of a new onlooker. He was nice to show off to.

So sensing he was there, Toph worked at yanking a particularly large bit of metal towards her -- a scrap piece over twice as big as herself. It quivered, trembled, reacting to her demanding hand like the pull of a magnet.

In the end, though, the boast was too big; she just couldn't hold it. With a sharp exhale of breath, Toph released, letting the stubborn metal flop back to the earth with a clang. Rolling her shoulders, she headed for the older man, her nose wrinkled in irritation.

"Hey."

[whitelotustile]

"ready for a break?" Iroh asked. "You were working hard out there."

[seismometrics]

"I guess." She flopped to the ground, assuming where they were was as good a place as any. "Trying the whole hands-off metalbending thing. Sometimes it goes well, and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes I think metal's even more stubborn than earth -- and that's saying something."

A

[inkulcation]

The bending is what catches China's attention, mostly because there's no reasonable equivalent in her world. Earth doesn't do that, for the most part. Most elementals have two options with earth: stone, and not stone. This is a bit of an anomaly. She's heard of the benders, of course, there's a few of them, but this is the first time she's had cause to see one in action.

So she stops to watch the girl, not bothering to hide her interest though she stays out of the way. Her plans for the rest of the day can wait; when the girl stops, China has every intention of striking up a conversation.

[seismometrics]

Focused Toph is focused. She's gotten hold of a decent-sized piece of scrap metal about the length of her arm and is working at it, tearing at it with her bare hands. The metal shrills angrily, shrieking as she rends it, creating a rent that's a good two inches in.

Obviously she could go farther, but she doesn't, plugging the end of the metal into the ground so that the pole of it stands upright in the earth. Shifting her hands, she lets them follow much the same movement as before -- but now not touching the metal at all.

For a long moment, the metal doesn't pay much attention. The most it does is wiggle about in the ground -- proof that some kind of force is on it -- wriggling until it looks about to snap out entirely . . . until the earth visibly hardens to absolute rock around it, holding it fast.

For another long moment, nothing seems to happen . . . and then the metal shrieks again, keens, and gives way, the entire bar tearing through at the previous damage point. The force on it must have been fantastic, however, because the half not anchored to the ground whips through the air, hurling towards China's direction.


((ooc: I'm sorry this took so long. I kept trying to think of the right scenario, and then got sidetracked. I definitely wasn't ignoring it!))

no worries! and thank you c:

[inkulcation]

China's something approaching fascinated by the work with metal, honestly, and she keeps watching Toph with a force of attention that grown men wouldn't know what to do with. It's almost enough to make her wish she was an Elemental, if only so the finer points of whatever the girl's doing with the earth wouldn't be lost on her.

Skulduggery, she considers, would have a field day.

Partway through turning over possible things she can gain from this encounter, China catches the shrieking of metal and the sudden new projectile, and it's just enough warning for her to slam her forearms together before her. The tattoos there line up and energize, and a domed force field materializes around her just in time to block the impact. China's still pushed backward a bit, and she grimaces when the metal finally drops to the ground, but she's unharmed.

When she's sure nothing more is incoming, she drops her arms and straightens. Raises her voice. "Are you always so incautious within city limits?"

[seismometrics]

It isn't just China's force field that stops the metal in the end. (Though if she could have seen the way the woman handled it rather than simply felt the force, Toph would have likely been pretty impressed.) As the metal drops and China lowers her arms, she'll find Toph's hand raised too, fingers extended. After a moment the metal trembles, wiggles, skitters along the ground . . . and goes flying back to its mistress.

"Sorry." To her credit, the apology does sound genuine, though wry. "Actually, it shouldn't have happened that way. . . . That was pretty good, though -- whatever you did."

E

[jinzhong]

Jackie's head snapped up, looking around - and then down, as he saw a short girl barrel past him, knocking him a little off balance. He'd been about to let it lie - just someone in a rush - when a couple kedan smacked right into him, knocking him down. He growled, getting back to his feet, and chased after the kedan, and the girl.

"Hey!"

[seismometrics]

. . . Well, you didn't expect her to stop just because of that, did you, Jackie? The girl didn't even spare a glance over her shoulder as she darted into the alley -- didn't even slow a step.

The two kedan, though, were another story. Running into Jackie messed up their trajectories a bit, and one stumbled, not quite regaining his balance, slamming into the wall to one side of the alley, going down hard. The glaze of his eyes said he probably wouldn't be moving much for a while.

The other bounced off one of the inner walls with a curse that probably could have melted ears, barely recovering as he did his best to regain pursuit.

[jinzhong]

Jackie stumbled after the girl and the kedan. One of the pursuers was down for the count, but the other...well, there was definitely a chase afoot. And he thought he'd seen the girl around - a Foreigner? Either way...he thought about his duties as a Snake, to keep the peace, such as it was, and decided to go after them.

What could possibly go wrong?

They both had a bit of a lead on him as they darted down the alley, and he struggled to catch up.

[seismometrics]

Never ask what could possibly go wrong. That's like inviting the universe to come smite you.

The chase twisted through alleys and streets, complex as a maze, until the number of kedan dwindled, nearly died out entirely.

And that was when, in the confines of an alley, the kedan in front of him suddenly went down with a yelp, doubled in half by a brick to the gut.

If Jackie's reflexes weren't good, he might soon find one following with his name on it.

B!

[stubbornlittleshit]

It's late at night, or very early in the morning, and Arno's been blending into the shadows across the city, keeping an eye to things, trying his best to get in good with one of the gangs, preferably the snakes so that he, at least, can have protection while he works out what to do.

He's about to attempt chatting up a Snake woman when he notices someone else, smaller, just a girl really, who seems to have an eye to things. Arno's curiosity gets the better of him as he approaches her. "What are we looking for?" he asks, by way of a greeting as he steps out of the shadows.

[seismometrics]

At some point night and morning are pretty much the same thing. Six of one, half dozen of another. For this particular girl, in more ways than one.

She sparks a smile as he approaches -- purely innocent. She's small and thin and dirt-layered, though her pale eyes veritably gleam in the dim light of the remaining lanterns. There's also something . . . off about them. They don't quite focus, remaining straight ahead even as she obviously responds to his voice and presence.

"In case you couldn't tell, looking's not exactly in my vocabulary." To emphasize the point, she waves a hand in front of her face. The reply is cheerful, though, idle and offhand. Her fingers toy with something -- pebbles? -- in her palm. "Making a bet, for those who want it."

[stubbornlittleshit]

Arno's seen enough of the blur between the two that he'd have to agree with that up to a point. As long as it's harder for guards, or paid thugs, or gang members here, he'd suppose, that's true. When it comes to the other kinds of morning, well, he couldn't quite identify them in the same way,no.

The innocent smile is something to be seen as potentially worrying, he knows. Just a girl is one thing in terms of size and age, but not for anything else. Still, for the moment, she's safe enough, and he doesn't sense anyone else around who'll be an active threat. He's debating slipping into his other sight but for now, it feels safe enough, and then a glance at her eyes, when they catch the light, says rather a lot right there.

"Ah that I didn't quite notice. Trust putting down my guard." He's chiding himself at the same time, though his tone is light enough for now. "I do like bets, once I know what's being wagered."

[seismometrics]

"What've you got?" Honestly, mostly she's interested in information. That's the primary role of all of this. People tend to let their guard down around a little girl, especially one who's blind -- as though she can't hear any more than she can see. Even kedan, who have a natural suspicion about Foreigners, tend to be a little more loose-tongued under those circumstances.

She's not adverse to collecting juulan or trinkets or other bits, though. She can always find a use for those. And this guy, she's not sure if he's kedan or Foreigner yet, but she'll work it out. Meanwhile, she's winging it -- and enjoying it.

Her palm opens, revealing three pebbles. "The game is pretty simple. I'm blind, but I'll bet you I can find any one of these if you hide it somewhere on yourself." Her eyebrows shift up. "Nowhere you wouldn't want your grandma to find it, though."

C- OBVIOUSLY :D

[oceanblue]

So admittedly, Toph wasn't the best shopping buddy Katara could have found. More than once, her suggestions were scoffed at, and opinions were limited. However, she wanted nothing more than to spend time with her friend-- they hadn't had nearly enough time to catch up in the time Toph had been back, especially with everything going on.

When her shopping adventure began to fail--though really, had it even had a chance?-- Katara made the only suggestion she knew would be a sure fire win-- spa day. Toph had seemed to enjoy it the last time they had tried it... and it would give them plenty of time to catch up.

And she had a few questions.

So she watched as her friend joined her in the mud, sinking into the thick gunk. The smile across her face prompted one of her own; this, at least, was normal, or as close to it as they could get.

"There. That's better, right?"

What?? Not D??

[seismometrics]

"Hold on."

Toph plopped down into the mud, sending spatters of it everywhere (and probably some onto Katara), wriggling down into it until a good layer surged up and over her body.

"Totally better." She was grinning still. "Should have started with this."

Way better than Katara trying to get her into some kind of dress.

In good humor, she squelched some of the mud in her fist, sending it spurting in Katara's direction. "No one even trying to kill my feet this time."

[oceanblue]

Though she leaned away and scowled at the mud that spattered her cheek, it didn't stop the contentment from settling over her. Toph's presence for now was definitely taking a lot of the strain from her shoulders. It had been a long few weeks.

"Aw, but then shopping wouldn't have been nearly/i> as fun," she teased, retorting to Toph's mud flinging with a quick flick of her hand. The water from a nearby waterbottle would suddenly be relocated atop Toph's head.

B

[theideaguy]

Shenanigans.

Well, it's not like Sokka isn't up to his own shenanigans. In fact, he's up to his own independent shenanigans. And how in the world he and Toph were tracking the same group of people simultaneously without knowing it is pretty crazy. But that's the circumstances involved in this one. Sokka's following up on a lead to some dodgy kedan, thinking that this might help track down the soul gem thieves. And right around the corner is Toph. Except Sokka doesn't know it.

In fact, he thinks it's kedan.

And so with a practical flourish, he jumps out into the open and immediately throws a boomerang into the air. Except it misses Toph by a good measure because she's so short. "Ah ha! Gotch...— ya?"

[seismometrics]

. . . This entire thing was a setup for a short joke, wasn't it.

The gust of air from the boomerang ruffles Toph's hair as it passes. Her expression beneath it is . . . less than amused.

"Did you just throw your boomerang at me?" Absolute deadpan. Right there.

It's about to get worse for Sokka, though, because there's an indignant cry as Boomerang hits a very . . . large female kedan in the stomach.

[theideaguy]

Thankfully, Sokka's boomerang defies physics just a little bit and will turn round despite having hit an obstacle... well, at least some of the distance. But there's a comical cringe on Sokka's face as his eyes follow the boomerang, watching it as it sails past where he thought it was supposed to go, strike a target, skitter off the side of a building, and then stutter its way back.

"Uhm... well, technically speaking," he says with a hint of dubiousness, "I didn't know it was you?"

It's then when Sokka makes a mad dash to grab the boomerang before the kedan lady figures out what happened and starts chasing after him. If only he could be so lucky.

D

[michaeljangelo]

She's not waiting long before the silent reverberations of the stone wall to her back announce Mike's arrival. Silent to all senses save hers, Mike slides down the wall and lands a Respectful Distance from where she's leaning.

"Um...uh. Hey. How's it going?"
His voice is less nervous than it is awkward, and the smile he's forcing is damn near audible.

He's still not entirely sure what to make of Toph.

[seismometrics]

Toph, unfortunately, is still sure of what to make of Mike. First impressions are hard to change, and Toph is nothing else if not stubborn. While she's not afraid of him by any means, he still hasn't left the category of "probably creepy dim bulb."

Respectful Distance™ is therefore good. And advisable.

"So do you actually have a lead?" Her response is Toph-direct, not worrying about the fripperies of social convention. "Because if you don't, that's going to make this a whole lot harder."

And longer.

[michaeljangelo]

He blinks a couple of times at her bluntness.
So she is like this all the time. If Mike ever wondered why the Bookends took such a shine to her, he doesn't know. Leos will always be drawn to Raphs, even if those Raphs are in the form of small blind girls.

Of course, Mikes are always drawn to Raphs too, for similar reasons.

"...er...define leads."