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

[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."

[inkulcation]

China watches the metal go, absently curling and uncurling her fingers. To anyone who knows her, it's the equivalent of resting one's hand on the hilt of a blade, but the gesture will be entirely lost on Toph.

At least the apology is genuine, which goes a way. "A shield," she says finally, which is the short answer. "I did assume uncontrolled chunks of metal were not precisely your intent. What was, then?"

[seismometrics]

The gesture is lost on Toph, yes -- though she may be able to catch agitation in an increased heart or breath rate, if either are present.

Even if she does, though, her response will be the same; other people's emotions are pretty much their business, and her own tendency is to be genuine no matter what's going on on the other side.

The metal wriggles back along the ground like a bird that can't manage to fly . . . and only in the last moment flicks upward to Toph's hand. "In my world, I invented metalbending." The words are casual, but the pride is there all the same, laced into her tone. Toph loves what she's been capable of doing, and it's obvious. "I'm pretty good when I'm touching it, but not touching it . . . kind of still working out the kinks."

She moves her hands to either end of the remaining scrap. "Like this." The metal twists easily in her hands, rather like she's tearing a bit of paper, and with a last protest, gives way, breaking into two in her hands. "Easy, as long as I've got contact. When I don't . . ."

Her shoulders lift, because the result is already obvious.

"Like I said, though, pretty good shield. You're fast."

[inkulcation]

"It's obvious you can, however." And the girl looks young, too. Improbable, but not impossible. She'll have time for mastery, even if she is mortal.

China would just hope it isn't within city limits. That kind of chaos is bad for business. "Hence the practice," she adds, thoughtfully. Her weight shifts, to a little more relaxed stance. "No Elementals I know of have that talent. Impressive."

And she really does mean it.

"I've had a lot of practice," she adds by way of explanation. "Fast is also alive."

[seismometrics]

"Oh, yeah, I can." No lack of confidence there. Toph is absolutely certain that she'll conquer this; it's just a matter of time. Very little has proven to be too much for her before, and this seems like very small beans compared to what has. A grin, appreciative of the admiration. "Just going to take some more metal."

A light knock of her heel against the ground, and the embedded half of the bar jumps upward into her hand. "So people do this kind of stuff where you're from? And what do you do, then, with the shield stuff?"

[inkulcation]

"I don't think you're at a loss for metal here," China says, quite dryly. The force applied is disproportionate to the way in which the metal jumps upward. The physical then acts as a conduit for the magical, perhaps?

She paces a little closer now that the present danger of flying metal is more or less gone, aiming to get a better look at the girl. "Some sorcerers, in my world, are Elementals," she explains. Information for information. "They manipulate all four elements, but earth is widely considered a defensive technique. Usually of last resort. Metal hardly factors into it at all. And as for me..."

A pause. She smiles. "I suppose you could say I'm a linguist. A collector. China Sorrows."

[seismometrics]

"With just the scraps, things should be okay for now," Toph agrees, testing the end of the bar she just unearthed with her fingers, examining the edge. "Hopefully it stays that way. The problem with being on a turtle, though, instead of on land? You can't just head off somewhere and dig up a new supply when things run low. All the dirt and the rock came from somewhere else -- and all the metal too. Haven't really learned how possessive the metalworkers are here, either."

Her head tilts slightly at China's explanation, letting the woman approach without any sign of unease. "Only defensive? No offense, but that's completely limiting. And kind of lacking imagination on their part."

Her eyebrows rise -- though it's more in curiosity at the strange answer than skepticism. "And a linguist?"

Offered in return: "I'm Toph."

[inkulcation]

"Possessive," China provides, helpfully. "Especially as you happen to be a Foreigner. Unless you are willing to make your skills of use to them in exchange." And Zanru has not been in the best of moods... well, ever, to be quite honest.

At the comment about Elemental magic, China just laughs, and it's more melodious than laughter really has a right to be. "It is, isn't it? The user most often turns themselves to stone. Much more difficult to kill, you'll agree, but impossible to control when it wears off." Earth's an unfortunately double-edged sword.

Toph. No family name? Interesting. And certainly no more strange than most sorcerers. "A linguist," China confirms, amused. "I've studied the language of magic since I was very young."