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]

[Just a few days in the city helps remind Toph why she hates cities. No matter how open they are, how big and rambling, there's something about them that always feels constrictive, makes her chest feel tight, as though breathing is somehow at more of a premium. All the rumbling satomobiles definitely aren't helping, either, and even though she's improved over the last few days, especially when she's tired, all the noise pouring in through both ears and seismic sense overwhelms like a dizziness she can't quite escape.]

[So the vines, while completely unexpected, are very welcome. Clambering up onto one, straddling it, the girl sighs and surrenders to welcome blindness, giving the tumble of her sensory input a much-needed rest.]

[Not for long, though, as the sudden voice punctures the solitude. There doesn't seem to be any irritation in the other's voice, though -- just curiosity. So her shoulders lift.]

Actually, just taking a break. Is this your place?

[raavashing]

[Wan gets a better look at her once he's closer and realizes that despite lifting her shoulders and shifting where her head was, she didn't actually look at him. She was definitely paying attention to him, just not... looking at him.

He frowned and knelt down, shifting his center of gravity to try and get a better look at her face and when he did, he was surprised.]

You're blind.

[A beat.]

Sorry. I wasn't expecting that. And, uh, no. I mean, I am staying here, but it's not really my place. It's the edge of the Spirit Wilds. It belongs to everyone.

[dustonmyfeet]

[An eyebrow rises, just visible beyond the semi-obscuring mass of dark hair.] Yep, blind. Usually the first thing people remind me of, just in case I forget.

[But there's no irritation or condemnation in her voice. It happens often enough that Toph is merely wry about it, treating it as a point of dry humor -- and a way to poke at other people who comment on it. She adjusts her seat on the vine, settling in.]

Belongs to everyone . . . but there's pretty much no one around here, from what I can tell. Except you.

If it belongs to everyone, doesn't seem like they like it much.

Also seems like it's eating a building.

[raavashing]

The spirits like it.

[He shrugged and moved closer, purposely making more noise as he walked along the vine so she could hear his approach now that he knew she couldn't see him. He stopped at about arm's length from her and sat down, making it obvious that's what he was doing. He could usually just sink down in a single, silent motion, but he wanted her to be comfortable. To know where he was so she could keep her distance or close it as she saw fit.]

They're a part of 'everyone' and they're very happy with it. And yeah, the wilds have taken over a lot of buildings.

[A beat.]

How did you know they're swallowing a building?

[dustonmyfeet]

[She can guess at what he's doing, and why -- especially in contrast to how lightly he came initially. This time, with a heavier dose of wryness,]

You don't have to be all lead feet about it. I'm blind, not deaf. I can tell where you are.

[Her shoulders lift again.]

It doesn't really take a genius to figure the building thing out. I can tell by touching it -- like how the vines are coming out of the stone.

But I'm also an earthbender. I can pretty much "see" stuff through my feet -- by the way the stones respond to vibration. I can probably see stuff that way that most other people can't, including things that are underground or probably not in most people's eyesight. [She flashes a grin.] I'm pretty hard to sneak up on, actually.

[She'll be coming back to the spirit stuff. Wan hasn't escaped yet.]

[raavashing]

Sorry. I was just trying to help.

[Wan was appropriately chastised by her calling him out on how careful he was being.]

But what you can do? That's pretty amazing. I'm an Earthbender, too, but I've never heard of anything like that. I mean... I can feel the earth. Just not like that.

[dustonmyfeet]

[Even dryer:] Yeah, I get a lot of that.

[That comment, apparently, touched something a little deeper, and for a minute it's visible in the lines of her face. But for the moment, point made, and Toph moves on.]

What do you mean, what can I do? How do you feel the earth?

[raavashing]

The same way I feel my hands or feet, I guess.

[He shrugged out of habit rather then anything else.]

I can tell where it is if I need it and it's always sort of just... there, but it's not something I feel other things through.

[Wan went to brush his fingers through his hair and stopped, realizing something.]

Actually, it's more like my hair than my hands or feet. Since I can't feel anything through my hair, but I can feel my hair and move it. I'm aware of the earth in the same way I am my hair.

[dustonmyfeet]

[Toph nods; the analogy is apt enough for her.]

Yeah. But for me, there's more. I feel about everything -- the people in houses, where trees are . . . but also smaller things. Insects. Heartbeats. To the point where I can usually tell kind of what people are feeling. If they're shaking with fear, or anger. If they're telling the truth.

[Her feet kick lightly in the air.] This city is just making that hard. And kind of annoying. All the people and those satomobile-things going through the streets . . . they're making a lot of vibrations that wouldn't even be there. It's kind of hard to keep track of everything, and honestly, it's making my head hurt.

So. Like I said: Taking a break.

[There doesn't seem to be any concern in her in telling a stranger these things.]

[raavashing]

That sounds amazing.

[Wan replied with no small amount of awe. And here he had thought he was pretty connected to the world when really, he was nothing compared to all that.]

Is that something you learned or were you born with that kind of connection to the element?

[dustonmyfeet]

[Oh, he hits a good spot there, as evidenced by Toph's immediate smirk.] Not going to lie; it is pretty amazing.

[Toph's ego. It's a profound thing.]

As far as learning or being born with it, though . . . I guess it's a little bit of both. I can't ever remember not having it, even when I was little. But I can use it better now than I could then. I couldn't make the same kind of sense of things, and my range wasn't as good, so while I could tell some stuff, it was fragments. It was still pretty much like being blind.

[raavashing]

I've never been blind, but before I learned to use the power of Earth, I never felt a connection to it.

[He wasn't lying, but he was stretching the truth. Good thing they were on vines where heartbeats were harder to rate.]

It would be nice to learn how to be that connected. I'd like to be better with the power of earth. I'm actually hoping to find a teacher here in the city.

[dustonmyfeet]

I guess I could teach you. [Another shrug.] If you're asking.

[Not like she hasn't taught before. And it'll keep her busy . . . something familiar, concrete to do in this extremely unfamiliar place. If she doesn't find a few things, she'll probably lose it quickly.]

Maybe you can clear up a few things for me, too.

[raavashing]

I wasn't going to. But I wouldn't mind it.

[Which was the truth. He hadn't actually been thinking to ask her. He probably would have gotten there eventually, but that wasn't the intention when he'd said it.]

What do you need cleared up?