Pillars of Sand Chapter 3 (Patreon)

A/N: A big thanks to Jeffrey Gassenheimer for the edits. And to SoaringJe, KokuenDG, mayordomoGoliat, and the rest of my Discord for helping me plan that chapter, It's been to long since I've seen ATLA

Chapter 3

“How have you not heard of the Avatar?”

The girl in blue robes stared at me incredulously. Well, to be fair, everyone in the room was staring rather aggressively in my direction, including the blind girl.

“Wow, you really are from the middle of the desert,” Toph said. We’d introduced ourselves right before the ‘Avatar’ and his entourage came in.

Certainly less of a mouthful than “The BLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIND BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANDIT’ in my option, but I’d been named Skitter in my last life, so what did I know.

“What gave me away?” I raised an eyebrow. “And sorry my education isn’t up to your standards.” An ironic statement if there ever was one. “I was a little busy trying not to starve to death, you know, on a regular basis.”

“Ah well, the Avatar is…” The boy looked down, wringing his straw hat in his hands. “I’m the person who’s supposed to bring balance to things. Oh and I can also bend all four elements, or at least, I’ll be able to… which is why I need one of you to be my teacher!”

Toph tilted her head. “Yeah not interested.” She pointed to me. “I’m gonna be busy learning sand bending, so unless you can do that, Mr. Avatar, I’ll pass.”

“Oh. Uh.”

“So how do I even know you’re this Avatar again?” I said. “If someone is supposed to be this famous symbol of peace or whatever, what proves you’re the one.” Him?

“I’m an Airbender.” The boy said. “I’m the Last Airbender.”

I blinked, on the edge of asking ‘what happened to all the others,’ but that sounded like something else that everyone was supposed to know.

“Yeah, sure you are!” The Blind Bandit to my rescue. “The Fire Nation killed them all off a hundred years ago.”

“M-maybe not all of them!” He leaned forward. “I managed to—I mean, I’m here. So many other people survived a hundred years ago.”

“They killed…” all of them?

The very same fire nation that was going to war to take over the Earth Kingdom? What were they planning on doing to all the Earthbenders when they were finished?

“Huh, whazzat?” The boy in blue, with the undercut and ponytail, glanced over at me.

I shook my head, a frown growing on my face. “It’s nothing.”

“Well if you’re so special mr. I’m the Avatar, why don’t you do some Air Bending, huh?” Toph folded her hands behind her head. “It’s okay if you can’t, I’ll wait if—”

The boy threw out his hands, a gust of hair blasting across the room before immediately quieting.

“Uh.”

I patted my clothes. “Well, he got all the sand out of my scarf, so that’s something.”

“That’s me…” He rubbed the back of his head with an awkward smile. “Airbender and scarf cleaner extraordinaire.”

I glanced over at Toph. “It looks like he’s an airbender to me.”

“I’ll take your word for it, you know…”

“Because you’re blind?”

“Yeah, that.” Toph snorted. “For all I know they just brought in a giant paper fan.”

I chuckled. “Acting like you wouldn’t notice the fan.”

Toph gave me a cheeky grin.

“So, yeah. I’m Aang,” the Avatar said.

“Toph, I guess.”

I smiled. “I’m Taylor.”

The girl in blue cocked her head. “Tay La?”

“Close enough.” I rocked on my heels. “You can call me Tay if you want.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” The girl gave me a guarded smile. It was good to see that she wasn’t as trusting as Aang. Especially if there was an entire country after his head. I was assuming that there was a reason the Fire Nation wanted all the Airbenders dead, and they wouldn’t be happy to see one running around.

Genocidal empires tended to be like that, sometimes.

“I’m Katara.” The girl grabbed the other boy on the shoulder. “And this is my brother, Sokka.”

“Nice to me’cha!” He made finger guns at me. Apparently that was a thing here.

I raised an eyebrow. “Charmed, I’m sure.”

“Please don’t be too hard on him.” Katara sighed. “He’s a dork, but he’s my brother.”

“Uh, anyway, about you being my teacher… I think it’s supposed to be you Toph.”

“Yeah, like I said, pass.” She turned to me. “I want to go talk about Earth Bending right now. So, wanna ditch these nerds?”

“Nerds?” Katara crossed her arms. “That’s rich coming from the child.”

Toph laughed. “Yeah, I’m a kid that could kick all of your butts.” She elbowed me in the side. “You shoulda just folded if you were going to cancel the audience matches.”

“You took a lot out of me.” Usually, I’d been told, the winner of the Earth Rumble would do a few exhibition matches after the tournament itself was completed. I’d signaled to the announcer that I wouldn’t be able to put on a good show.

An unfortunate consequence of the fact that I still had very little stamina for bending, and also that Toph was much better than me, despite her age. I took some solace in the fact that she’d probably been bending for far longer than I had.

“I’m more interested in hearing about… what you’re planning to do about the war.” I crossed my arms. “If the Fire Nation is really as bad as you say.”

Aang looked down. “I’m just one person. The spirits keep telling me to look for teachers, but either way, until I complete my training I don’t think I’ll be much use against an entire army.”

“Well, you’re sensible at least.”

“Booring!” Toph snagged my sleeve, yanking on it. “C’mon let’s go.” She smirked. “Or maybe I’ll just put you in a block and drag you along.”

“Won’t you just hear us out?” Katara scowled. “He’s the realAvatar! Surely you have to give us a chance to convince you.”

“I don’t have to give anyone anything.”

I sighed, of course it fell to me to play peacemaker. “How about we—”

Of course, that was the moment my stomach chose to growl. The sound practically seemed to echo off the walls of the room, and once again everyone turned to look at me, even the blind girl.

Especially the blind girl.

I coughed. “Sorry. I haven’t eaten in…” I did some quick mental math. “Wow, I guess it’s been a bit over a day now.” I shrugged. “How about we all get something to eat, my treat. Just let me pick up my winnings first.”

“Wow if that’s how good you bend half starved, I can’t wait to see you when you aren’t falling over.” Toph grinned. “Maybe you’ll actually be able to put up a fight when I’m not just playing by the rules.”

I reached out and ruffled her hair, the girl flinched back, hands going up to her head protectively. “I think you’d find me a harder opponent out of the arena.” I said. “But if you want, after we get some food, we can go out into the desert and see how well you fair on my turf.”

“Oh you’re on!” Toph turned, stomping on the floor, the door to the exit opened. “Let’s go! Last one there is a naked badgermole!”

“She changes gears quickly,” I murmured as Toph bounded up the stairs. I cast a glance back over my shoulder. “Shall we go? I doubt you’ll get a better chance than that.”

“Yeah.” Aang nodded. “I think it’s supposed to be her.”

I tilted my head. “Why.”

“I heard her laugh, in a vision.”

I hummed, brushing off the vision bit. If people in this world (myself currently included) could bend the classical elements via interpretive dance, who’s to say we couldn’t also get visions of the future.

“I still think Miss La would be a better teacher,” Katara said.

“Please, call me Tay.” I quirked my lip in amusement. “Miss La was my mother. And that girl is a much better Earthbender than me.”

“Huh, but you won?” Sokka waved his arms. “You were all, bang and boom! Kicking her out of the ring before she even knew what was happening!”

I chuckled. “I’m just good at making do with what I have?.” I jerked my head. “Now, let’s go? Unless you want to be a naked badgermole, of course.”

“I didn’t even know there were naked ones.” Aang hopped forward, walking up the stairs, and the rest of us followed close behind. On the way to the ‘offices,’ or maybe Prize Booth was a better word, I caught sight of The Boulder.

He thumped his chest once, before holding his hand out. “The Boulder recognizes a worth foe.”

I smiled, bumping his fist with my own. “Likewise. May we clash again, one warrior to another.”

“The BOULDER agrees!”

“Oh my god!” Sokka practically jumped forward. “Mr. Boulder! Can I have your autograph?”

I snorted, moving to pick up my winnings as the Boulder continued to impress his fans. I shared a nod with the announcer as well as my agent. “Shall we see you in Earth Rumble VII?” The long haired man grinned. “You were phenomenal out there, a real fan favorite.”

“I’ll try.”

Though, in reality… I glanced back over my shoulder again, taking in the three kids getting autographs from the magic pro-wrestler before they went back to trying to save the world.

I sighed again, me and my damn hero complex.

“Who knows where the sands of time will take us,” I said.

The man laughed again. “Of course you would see things like that.” He clasped my hand. “The rest of us, we’re like stone, eager to stay in one place. But you fight like you live, huh?”

I smiled. “Free as the sand on wind?” It had a nice ring to it. “Well, either that or scattered as the dunes of the desert.”

“Either way, I hope you find your destination.”

“You too.” I gave a small smile. Were it just so easy to get back where I wanted to go. “You too.”

I met up with the kids again at the entrance of the arena, shading my eyes as I stepped out into the setting sun. “Looks like we finished a bit early, because there were no show matches.” My presence cut off the brewing argument between Toph and Katara. Both of them huffed, looking away.

Katara was still keeping an eye on me, I noticed. Apparently, she liked me better than Toph… but only a little bit.

“Come on!” Aang grinned. “There was a really great restaurant this way! I wanted to go last time.”

We walked down the dirt road. Around us, the other people who came to the Earth Rumble were just exciting the arena as well. I got a few nods (and even an autograph request of my own), from the other villagers.

Most of the people from the Earth Kingdom were shorter than me. Of course, I absolutely towered over the four kids I was walking with, Toph barely came up to my waist. But I was taller that Mr. The Boulder as well. Perhaps it was an effect of the mostly agrarian society this world still seemed to be in? I’d seen bits and pieces that looked like the front of an oncoming industrial revolution but…

I shook my head. I should be glad this world still hadn’t discovered the steel mill and the musket line, magical element powers or not.

“Wait.” Toph’s voice cut through my thoughts. “Where are we going again?”

“This restaurant, it’s close by.”

“Mmmmaybe we should go somewhere else.” She took a step back, bowing her head slightly. “I don’t think we should go over here. How about we get something closer to the arena.”

“But we’re already here.” Katara spread her arms. “Why did you say something earlier?”

“Because you were being a pain in my butt, mopey mouth.” Toph turned around. “Now I’m heading back this way, before—”

“M-m-miss Beifong!?”

AS one we turned, and not to stare at me this time. Instead, we all looked at an older man who was already moving quickly in our direction. He was dressed in expensive silks, his long hair in a topknot that I’d come to associate with the upper classes in the town of Gaoling.

“Ah crudbuckets.”

“Miss Beifong, it is you.” The man came to a stop in front of us, dual expressions of surprise and anger warring on his features. “I have no idea why you are in this part of town, and with such…” his eyes tracked over the rest of us, “company no less. But I insist you come with me this instant back to your estate!” He turned to me and Aang Gang. “If I found that you scoundrels harmed a hair on Lady Beifong’s head…”

I turned to look at the Lady Beifong in question. “Toph?”

She shrugged. “Look, this is you guys’ fault. So, you all can fix it.” She rolled her eyes. “After all, lifting a finger would be beneath my station.”