exsiliumlogs | [OPEN] earth rumble yeaaaaa

Entry tags:

[OPEN] earth rumble yeaaaaa

Date & Time: Monday, March 18, 2:00 pm
Location: a small open area wedged between buildings just outside the Hold.
Characters: Toph Beifong (

barefootbender) and you!
Summary: There was quite a lot of interest in Toph's earthbending, and she isn't going to pass up a chance to show off to everyone! Toph puts out a message to the network telling people where to go if they want to see (or if they wanna challenge her!), and everyone is invited. Snarkiness, blind jokes and amazing earthkaratemagic ensue. (Either prose or brackets are fine.)
Warnings: none anticipated

[Around lunchtime on March 18, the following video message is posted to the network:]

HELLO, fellow Transports! Today's your lucky day! I, Toph Beifong, greatest earthbending master who ever lived, teacher of Avatar Aang, have decided to take out some time to display my talent for the curious. I know some of you that I talked to a coupla weeks ago wanted to see, so here's your chance.

And more specifically... I'm gonna take some challengers! So if you think you can take me on, let's go! I'd like to see you try.

[The camera swings away from her face and down at the floor, where there's an incredibly intricate and detailed model of the streets outside of the hold, that appears to be made out of rock. A little stone figure of Toph is standing in an open area about 5 minutes away from the apartments.]

I found a little bit of space, so come to this spot. I'll be ready at about 2 pm.

A.

Toph told everyone 2 pm because she wanted a little time to get this area ready. It's actually pretty small, so it's really not ideal for the kind of enormous show she'd like to put on for everyone, but it'll do. As far as she can tell through her feet, this city stretches on for miles and miles and miles. It's amazing, really - even bigger than Ba Sing Se, and Ba Sing Se was enormous - and unlike Ba Sing Se, the earth below is almost entirely covered in rock and metal over that entire expanse of city. It's pretty crazy, this future stuff.

If you get there early enough, or maybe if you just happen to come across her, you'll find her lounging on the ground eating instant ramen out of a styrofoam cup, or squashing back down her "map," or clearing out chunks of broken asphalt and cinder block by sending them to the tops of the surrounding buildings with a swipe of her fist. She seems pretty focused on these little tasks.

B.

At 2 pm, whether people are there or not, she's ready. It's time for some exercise after sitting around for two weeks. She stretches, does some push ups and sit ups, and finally plants her feet flat on the ground. Thrusting her arms forward, a sheet of rock suddenly sprouts from the ground, and she turns about 30 degrees and does it again, until there's a ring around her.

Whether you just want her to show you some tricks, or you want to challenge her, it's best to just walk up and announce yourself!

...Otherwise you might get a sidelong, suspicious glance from her as she waits for you to say something, especially if you're a stranger or someone she's never met in person.

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"I am," Hermione confirmed, her voice matching Toph's enthusiasm. "Please go on. I'll be watching close by."

"Well, what do you wanna see? I can do a lot with earthbending, you know."

She took a few steps back, still smiling the whole time. "I guess the most basic thing is throwing rocks." As a demonstration, she entered a basic stance and sent a chunk of broken cinder block up into the air with a feigned uppercut. It rose several yards into the air and then fell to the ground again, breaking into smaller pieces.

In truth Hermione would've been happy to see anything, even the basic stuff. She took a few steps back so Toph would have plenty of room for her bending. The demonstration was amazing, of course, and Hermione let out a gasp seeing it.

"Could anyone in your world learn to do that?" she wondered, "or is it a skill you're born with?"

"Well, you're born with the potential to learn it, I guess..." As she spoke, Toph lifted both her palms again, and the smaller broken pieces lifted into the air again. This time, they stayed there, floating. "But you have to practice to get good. I guess for most people lessons can teach you a lot, too."

"I see." Hermione took out her commonplace notebook so she could write this down. Her eyes briefly darted to watch Toph, impressed that the girl could maintain control while having a conversation. "But only the Avatar can master all four elements, correct?"

"Yep. And there's only one Avatar around at a time..."

With another swift movement, the rocks zoomed back to the floor and smashed into even tinier chunks and a cloud of dust. Toph paused.

"Ah... right... I think you mentioned that you met Korra already." Toph had become so used to having to explain these things that it's suddenly weird to have someone half-know what she's talking about.

"More heard about her than actually met her," Hermione corrected the girl. "And the previous Avatar, Aang." One would think that in a closed environment like the castle, she would've gotten to know everybody. But that was why it was so handy for her to go back and read all the past entries.

"This is my first experience watching someone bend."

"Oh yeah? What do you think?" Toph flashed her a grin. "I can do even more fancy stuff than just that. Check this out."

Entering an open stance, she suddenly rolls forward onto the ground, and as she does, a layer of cement lifts underneath her and curls up around her body like tin foil. When she rises to her feet again, she's got a impromptu set of rock armor snugly fit around herself.

Hermione patiently waited while Toph did her thing. In her time she saw so many people do amazing things, but it never failed to impress her. And Toph's abilities were very impressive.

"Brilliant!" was all she could say.

"Heh! Thanks."

The quickest way to Toph's heart is compliments. Just as smoothly, the armor crumbles around her and turns into a pile of rocks hiding her feet. She steps out of it like it's nothing.

"That one's useful when you're dealing with firebenders or airbenders. Waterbenders not so much. Y'know, the whole sinking thing."

"Makes sense," Hermione conceded. "Are there other benders here, then, besides yourself?" If so, she missed them speaking through the network.

"Uh-huh, a few more of my friends came over with me," she said. "There's Katara, who's a waterbender. She can be a little stuffy sometimes but I bet you'd like her. And then there's Zuko, the prince of the fire nation. So, he's a firebender, of course."

"I remember them," Hermione confirmed. "I never met them, but I remember reading their names a few times. But you have people you know here... That always makes things easier."

"Hm... I guess it would. There are people here all alone, right?" Toph paused. Oh... "Er - are you here alone?"

"No, no," she assured the other girl quickly. "There's a boy I know from school here." Luckily she was used to having previously-dead friends around her, but it was still odd seeing Cedric again after so many years.

"Oh, okay." That's good, awkward averted. "I'm sure there are a lot who are, though. That's gotta suck."

"It does," Hermione agreed heavily, knowing the feeling too well. Her voice brightened as she added, "But it's a good opportunity to make new friends."

"Yeah!" Toph agreed. Smiling, she threw a few more rocks into the air and juggled them with slow, precise movements.

"Say... why're you so interested in bending, anyway?" she asked as she juggled. Hermione seemed like a pretty normal person, and while some curiosity seemed normal, she had been writing things down earlier.

"It's fascinating," Hermione said, as if that explained everything. "I heard so much about it and read about it, but never got to see it before now. It's like when I learned I was a witch... I wanted to know everything I could about it." Strange how admitting she's a witch came so easily to her these days.

She took her wand out of her sleeve and held out out. "This is my wand. You can hold onto it if you like." She was curious to see if Toph would be able to feel the magical energy. "It's made from ivy with a core of dragon heartstring. Each wand is unique to the wizard who owns it."

Whoa, a witch...?? The rocks clop back down onto the ground as Toph blinks and turns back towards Hermione, her interest kindled.

Although Toph can't quite tell that she's holding something out to her, she assumes so from her words and walks back over with a hand outstretched and finds it with her fingers.

"Dragon heartstring? Like from an actual dragon?"

"Each wand has one of three possible cores," Hermione explained. Naturally she learned a lot about wandlore after learning about the Deathly Hallows. "Phoenix feather, unicorn hair and dragon heartstring. They say that the wand chooses the wizard. I'm not sure why this wand chose me, but I do know it's served me well for years. I've used other wizards' wands before but... it just doesn't feel the same."

She thought Harry was being silly at first when he showed discomfort at using a different wand, but now she knew better.

"Er, are you a witch, or are you a wizard?"

Toph feels the outside of the wand with her hands curiously. It's just a... stick, as far as she can tell. No magical affinity here - just earthbending.

"Actually... I guess I have no idea what the difference is between the two. Haha."

"A witch is a female wizard in my world. It's like distinguishing people as 'male' and 'female'. There's no real difference apart from that." She didn't feel the need to give out a full lesson on wizardry. That wasn't really what she came for.

"You were kind enough to show me earthbending. I can try to show you some of my magic, if you like."

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[OPEN] earth rumble yeaaaaa

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