Open to all! Dated before the barrier goes funny.

[dustonmyfeet]

The girl making her way through the city probably wasn't anyone's image of Toph Bei Fong, and certainly not the image of the statue standing near the police station. She was small, verging on scrawny (an effect compounded by oversized clothing), face marked with at least a couple of layers of dirt. In that clothing, her features obscured, she might even have been taken for a boy -- were it not for the heavy braid trailing down her back.

Frankly, Toph didn't mind the whole arrangement. The makeshift disguise let her explore the city pretty much as she pleased -- or at least the parts she was currently interested in seeing. No one paid much attention to a street urchin, and there were some benefits to being blind; it tended to make others look away, and by the time they thought something of a blind girl wandering around the city by herself, Toph was gone.

So far, she had a good thing going, except for the lack of idol worship.


((ooc: Pick a setting option. Feel free to pose in with whatever your character is doing in that area, and I'll pose back off of you with whatever Toph is up to. Glad to work out anything in advance -- just PM me or poke me on Plurk!))

A. Toph is in the less well-off parts of town, taking stock of the area and probably noting the triads with interest. You might even catch her at a scam. (Hey, new place, money is necessary, and she has to test the limits.)

B. Up near the bending arena. Maybe it's just a practice day; maybe there's a game going on. She's just as likely to come either time. It's enough like Earth Rumble that she'll be interested.

C. Taking a break somewhere in the city (though likely not in the upper class districts). The satomobile vibrations are still a little rough on her, and a girl's gotta eat.

D. Wildcard -- have an idea? Poke me on PM or Plurk!

Comments

[dustonmyfeet]

[Toph is definitely lingering that day, yes, camping out to catch some of the practice bouts. She sits on the floor, legs tucked up underneath her, hands in the hollow between her legs. She sits straight up, alert, though her eyes never move from some fixed point off near where the bouts are going on. There's no twitch of surprise at the sudden voice, as though she's known Opal was there all along.]

Kinda. [Her shoulders lift.] A little rule-y for me, but interesting.

[Unlike in normal conversation, her eyes have never moved towards Opal. They still aren't quite focused, staying where they are.]

Do you play?

[airyopalescent]

[A light, sheepish laugh rises up from the teenager.]

Not at the moment. Airbenders aren't part of the games just yet unfortunately.

[She muses there, almost to herself.]

I don't know about sparring practices though. I haven't really gotten to watch a lot of them.

[It somehow didn't seem right if she couldn't play the actual game itself.]

[dustonmyfeet]

[Toph's head jerks up a little at that.] You're an airbender?

[Honestly, that's pretty strange for her. After all, in her time, there's only one, and has been only one for a hundred years. Though she's heard what happened at this point . . . it's still strange, and Opal is still the first one she's met.]

[She gives a small, slow smirk which broadens into a flash of teeth.] If you wait for them to make the rules and let you in, you'll be an old lady. I'll take you on if you want. I'm just learning myself, but I think I've got the idea of it now.

[airyopalescent]

That's right.

[It's then that she picks up on the fact that the girl hadn't even looked over at her yet. Typically her status is pretty obvious by her uniform, at least to those used to the new trickle of airbending students coming into the city.

It doesn't take much for Opal to pick up on why the girl hasn't glanced over now though. The unfocused eyes are familiar enough to her and Opal moves on after the realization, a faint flush rising up on her cheeks at the offer.]

Really? Well...

[She glances back to where all the sparring is going on, then back to the girl. And then she smiles a little mischievously.]

If you promise not to gloat too much if you beat me, I may.

[Her tone of voice is clearly jovial and joking. She hasn't had that much fighting experience against other benders just yet and so doubts her winning ability in that regard. The idea though regardless of winning or losing sounds ... well, exciting.]

[dustonmyfeet]

[The smirk increases.] Hard bargain. [She pushes herself to feet.] But I guess I can try.

Earthbender, by the way.

[airyopalescent]

Well then we've got something in common. Most of my family are earthbenders. I'm the 'odd man out', you could say.

[dustonmyfeet]

[That makes Toph pause, if only for a flicker of an instant -- because in the end, she can probably relate. But again, it's only for a moment, and she heads towards empty area, putting space between the two of them and the other benders. Her feet are sure; she seems to know exactly where she's going.]

Guess you kind of got lucky, then.

[airyopalescent]

I wonder. I didn't mind not being a bender really but I am enjoying the opportunity of being one now.

[And against her assured stance is Opal's own newer and somewhat inexperienced one. Like one would expect of an airbender though her stance is light and her footsteps the same.]

[dustonmyfeet]

[For her turn, Toph couldn't imagine not being one. Bending is life; it's structured and shaped her being in ways that she couldn't even account for. Being born without it . . . it would have condemned her to a life she tries to not even consider. She would have been exactly all that her parents demanded. Very likely she would have succumbed, drowned in the wake of their will.]

[No. Better to be a bender. And fight your way out.]

[The stance that she slides into in turn is lower, weighted and deliberate.]

Okay, so there's not exactly any rules on this. Any you want to set?

[While on the surface this seems like an nicety, it's not quite. In spite of having worked with Aang -- or maybe because of having worked with Aang -- Toph isn't completely convinced that airbending will be be able to turn back earthbending. It will keep the airbender safe, but will it be able to be offensive enough for this game rather than evasive?]

[She's interested to find out.]

[airyopalescent]

[Opal considers the question a moment. Despite breaking up the fight between her Aunt Lin and her mother, it wasn't really a fight against other benders. This would be her first and though she knew about earthbending on principal, she had never been an earthbender and so couldn't say she knew about the practice of it beyond what she could learn as a non-bender.

Maybe she ought to make time in her studies to learn other bender's strengths and weaknesses? She sat aside the thought to mull on later.]

How about no shots near each other's heads? Most probenders do this with padded helmets along with other protection so it might be better to avoid anything too harmful.

[This was probably a given considering it was sparring and not an all out fight but it seems a logical stipulation to Opal.]

[dustonmyfeet]

[Toph's shoulders lift.] Fair enough, I guess.

[Not exactly as interesting, but fair. And probably more in-line with probending standards.]

First one to drive the other back to the wall wins. Let's see what you've got.

[And her stance goes low, still -- the silence of waiting.]

[airyopalescent]

[Not as interesting maybe but hey, keeping one's head intact is pretty nice too. Opal grins at the reply.]

Alright then, I can handle that.

[Opal's own stance remains light, her footsteps faint and soft like most airbenders. She starts off simply, a light punch that sends a breeze of compressed air the blind girl's way. It's followed quickly with a kick, a bit heavier gust of air behind it.]

[dustonmyfeet]

[Thankfully, after working with Aang so long, Toph isn't anywhere as unprepared as she was the first time that she encountered earthbending. A couple of puffs of air aren't going to knock her out of this match.]

[If this were Earth Rumble, it would be easy: Find the easiest way to trip the opponent up from a nearly limitless array of moves. Now? Find the easiest way using a series of heavy, stone disks.]

[. . . Not nearly as creative, but it would have to do. With a twist and a yank, the disk slices through both of Opal's gusts of air, shattering in a shower of shards and dust. But that's just getting started, because there's not even time to breathe as two more head Opal's way, bounced from the walls and slingshot in opposing directions.]

[airyopalescent]

[At least she had expected the first disks, given she was facing them head on. The second were more of a surprise as they didn't seem to head for her directly - at first anyhow.

Given airbending is a primarily defensive art, that's just what Opal has to do now. She's at least reasonably quick on her feet, the first disk near grazing her in her surprise but left shattered with a quick punch of air. The second is dealt with a swipe through the air, cutting it in half as well.

Of course, both endeavors have left her speckled with earth. She fans it all off of herself in a brief hand wave but she's going to walk out of this looking like a statue regardless, isn't she.]