TGA 03

The Greatest Avalanche 03

Lost and Found

If I was more impulsive, or closer to my body’s actual age rather than having years of experience, I may have done something impulsive like run away at the revelation that my own father was sabotaging me. Instead, I sought confirmation and to test my hypothesis like any proper scientist.

While we didn’t eat every single meal together as Father was often occupied with business dealings or away, we did usually have dinner as a family in the ‘real’ dining room, not the showy one with smooth floors and expensive decor. The real dining room was small, a lot cozier, and was just fitted for the three of us. Dinner itself was roasted turtleduck served in its shell with herbs and peppercorn, roasted vegetables in a sweet and sour sauce with great heaping helpings of white rice.

Every meal had white rice. I think my parents would be horrified at the prospect of a meal without it. It also was something I found bland as Hell, but evidently I was the only one to think so. Even Lan Lan sounded jealous when we ate together and I got a bowl of the stuff, although lately I’d been sharing what I could with her.

I waited for a lull between conversations and before dessert, likely something fried and sweet.

“Father? I don’t want to learn with Master Yu anymore,” I said, ripping the Band-Aid off right off the back and waiting for his response.

I heard a choking sound, followed by rustling cloth. “Toph! Why don’t you want to learn with him? He’s renowned. If it’s hard, I’m sure—”

“He had me lay on the ground and breath for two hours while he read poetry from his book. I don’t think he knows what he’s talking about,” I said.

“Now Toph,” Mother began. “I’m sure it’s just early stages. Give it time.”

“Indeed. Nothing worthwhile is learned in a single afternoon. Give Yu a chance and you will be rewarded,” Father said, settling into his ‘kindly reassuring but firm tone’. It was similar to the one I’d heard him use on an uncertain subordinate tasked with making a major sale in a far off city for spices.

“We’ve done the exact same breath training four times in a row. Master Yu also keeps pausing training to make me listen to his poetry,” I said. I paused a moment further, and added, “It sucks.” It really did. Different languages made comparisons fuzzier, but his poetry came off like what a thirteen-year-old thought mature and serious sounding poetry should sound like. I hoped he wouldn’t reproduce.

There was a longer pause after that. I heard clicking cutlery and rustling cloth from my mother.

“Husband? Maybe you should sit in on one of the sessions, just to listen?” Mother ventured, to my surprise. She usually instantly sided with him.

“Nonsense. Master Yu has hundreds, literally, hundreds of acclaimed reviews and recommendations. He knows precisely what he is doing. Just give it time, daughter, and you will be a fine earth bender in no time. Let us speak of this no further. Now, for dessert!” he said cheerfully, torpedoing any further discussion.

My heart sank like lead.

There was nothing giving him away, precisely, in his tone. No stammering, no clear tonal shift or anything. His siding with Master Yu could be normal dismissal of children, and even against Mother. Thing was, the Earth Kingdom as I’d experienced it, limited though it might be, felt distinctly like medieval China, so her concern might be dismissed. Went double for me given familial piety and I was a girl in this life.

Yet, the entire conversation did nothing to disprove my theory he was intentionally sabotaging me. And even if he wasn’t, even if he legitimately, full heartedly believed Yu was the best earth bender to ever live, what difference would it make?

All paths led to stagnation.

Which grated.

Earth bending was magic. This world had magic. There was no ifs, and’s, or buts about it. The ability to move earth with some sort of mystical force innate to benders was real here. They talked about it casually with construction. Hell, Father hired some earth benders to renovate a part of the guest room’s stone foundations and had them raise the garden gazebo while they were at it.

I wanted to learn to do this myself. Sucked I couldn’t see, but it’d be something  to make up for being blind in this life. Maybe… maybe with it I’d even be able to feel or sense more. I’d fucking love to know what was fifteen feet in front of me at all times.

And Father was stopping me learning anything.

Silence followed as servants brought in a dessert of sweet, fried dumplings with a sweet plum sauce.

…

At least dessert was nice.

~~~~

I escaped two weeks later and it was a culmination of careful planning, subterfuge, and raw luck.

I think I just snapped at the thought of hearing a part-two to Master Yu’s ‘epic’ love poem, Love across the Heavens and Earth. The guy had no fucking skill with rhyme, rhythm, or characterization. Plus, doing one more breath exercise might make me bite a motherfucker.

The escape was simple yet triumphant.

Lan Lan was away visiting her aunt, which was good. She normally guided me to my ‘lessons’, but I didn’t want her in trouble. Instead, my escort today was the maid Xin Xin. She was a bitch who’d bad-mouthed Lan Lan with a guard when she thought I wasn’t listening. If she got canned for what I was going to do, I really didn’t care.

“Can you get me a cup of juice?” I’d asked, midway to Master Yu’s training and by a garden wall. I knew this as there was a family of bluejays with a nest in a nearby tree.

“Huh? Sure, I guess, but then we go to Master Yu for your lesson,” Xin Xin said, departing quickly.

Then? While she was gone, I climbed the bluejay tree, got atop the wall, and rolled over the side.

That single maneuver was the result of a lot of time spent poking at the tree, getting a shoulder ride with Lan Lan, and confirming that yes, it was, indeed, right by the wall and overhanging.  I’m pretty sure Lan Lan knew I’d been testing it as an escape, but she hadn’t said anything.

Climbing blind was difficult, as expected, but I’d already scouted handholds, plus I’d been an avid tree climber as a kid in my old life up to my teens, so it came back to me.

Still, it kinda pounded in how much work it took. With eyes, I could have just… climbed the tree. Instead, I needed prep, weeks ‘playing’ around the tree, and questioning Lan Lan to pull this off.

I really, really fucking wished I could see.

Dusting myself off out of habit more than anything else, I took off a cautious walk, only intending to be gone long enough to avoid Master Yu’s shitty lesson.

~~~~

My walk was a horrible, stupid, insane idea. Oh yes, I plotted out how to get out, but I had done jack shit for actually going beyond that as I was beyond lost.

How did I know I was hopelessly lost? Why, I’d fallen in a fucking hole, that’s how.

I was lucky I hadn’t broken anything in the tumble from my ‘walk’ listening to the birds singing and the occasional arguments of ferretsquirrels in in the nearby woodland and only occasionally bumping into trees. Holding my hands out had clearly not been enough as, at some point, I just fell. There was one moment the gentle spring breeze and sounds of Nature, and the next I was rubbing my butt sitting in some place cold and surrounded by compacted earth.

I did the obvious thing and called out for help. When that brought jack shit, I settled down to wait until someone came and found me. I thought I hadn’t gone too far out, so surely my parents would panic and send out the entire staff to find me.

Except, that didn’t happen.

What happened is the air slowly grew colder. I couldn’t see the light, but I could feel it, and gradually the spot I’d lingered at where I’d fallen grew colder until I was shivering a bit. That, combined with the sound of crickets, let me know it’d been hours.

At that point, concern was morphing into a fair bit of fear. But I persevered, and stayed there, eventually managing to get to sleep. The earth was surprisingly comfy, although being an earth bender, maybe that was just innate.

…

Yeah, I woke up the next morning to chirping more and still had no sign of being spotted. I was also getting very hungry and thirsty. I don’t think I’d gone without a routine meal in this life for more than half an hour, if that.

Given I’d died once, I’d rather not repeat the process. Particularly this early, and especially without saying goodbye to Lan Lan.

Thus, I walked and explored the cave I’d found myself in. For once, being blind was actually helpful here as I was sure the cave lacked any light being underground, but I was used to that. I still had to feel along the wall, carefully stepping to make sure I didn’t trip.

The tunnel was smooth, and the soil compacted. I thought at first I could maybe claw my way through it and dig my way out, but one attempt saw any attempt would probably see me break before I made any progress. The soil was compact to the point it was almost like stone, more like the dirt you’d walk on in a busy flea market, stamped flat by hundreds of passersby.

Gradually, and to my increasing concern, I felt the tunnel shift from compacted soil to stone and realized this cave was much bigger than I’d thought. I’d already thought it was odd in how tall it was. I wasn’t that big yet given I was five, but I could jump up and still not touch the ceiling. Yet, it just kept going, and going, and going.

That’s when I got lost.

I’m not even sure when it happened. I thought I was following one wall, then there was a space, and I continued onward only to backtrack later and find two tunnels where I’d thought there was one.

“Not good,” I muttered,  not sure where to go or familiar with either. But did it really matter? I was lost down here either way.

Then, I felt it. It was so, unbelievably faint I thought I imagined it, but down here with nothing but my own breathing, it was almost jarring.

A breeze. I even licked my thumb and held it out and felt cooler on one side and knew I was right.

“Please be a way out,” I muttered, following the tunnel and only falling once.

Gradually, the breeze grew more substantial, and I grew more hopeful. Maybe—

Rustle

I froze.

Besides my own steps, the tunnel had been silent. Yet, now, I heard movement. Above me.

Straining my ears, I slowly heard breath, small movements, and came to realize either there was a giant centipede above me, or a whole lot of smaller things. Small, high-pitched growls told me it was the latter.

I gulped and tried to back up.

Instead, I tripped over a bump and screamed in fright.

What happened next was as confusing as it was terrifying.

A whole lot of whatever was above me screamed like the damned in response. I heard wings, growls, and the entire tunnel filled with noise. Then?

Deep, deep beneath me, I felt something. I’m not even sure what it was, but it felt vaguely like the sparks of something I felt when I really focused on rocks, just like that time with the blocks.

Something massive crashed through the cavern floor, sending out tremors. The things above clearly panicked and took off, but I heard jaws snap around one. Its cries were cut short with a wet snap.

Me? I was petrified, and my only thought was holding still and hoping it wouldn’t notice me and would pay more attention to the bat thing it killed.

Unfortunately, no, that did not happen. It sniffed the air, loud, the flare of its breath through its nostrils clear. It rumbled, deep, and then it walked toward me.

“Please, no,” I whispered, trying and failing to stay calm as I hyper ventilated.

At the last second, I tried to run. Just rolled away and ran the opposite direction.

This did not work as I slammed into something fuzzy.  Thoroughly convinced I was going to die, I cowered, and despite the illogic of the move, shut my eyes tightly and waited for my second death.

Instead, I heard the same, deep rumbling, although at a slightly different pitch, more base. Then something licked my face.

I was so confused I failed to respond as I was picked up by the back of my dress and carried off to a fate unknown deeper into the tunnels.

~~~~

AN:

HiddenMaster: Lo and behold, chapter 3. Technically, there was a thought to start the fic here, but I like my set up, and wanted to show a bit of this Toph SI’s thoughts on their new life and family.

Once again, writing a blind character is a new experience for me, so do let me know how I’m doing here.

Now, if you would like to commission me for a story of your own, or perhaps support me so I can keep writing wonderful words, then please check out my carrd below for my supports like Patreon and KoFi.

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