"Okay, what's the most important thing to you on the battlefield?", Toji began as he walked around Toph in the sparring circle, the girl narrowing her eyes while her parents and a few of their guards looked on.
"How skilled I am?"
"No."
"My strength?"
"No."
"Tenacity?", Poppy chimed in and Toji smiled, making the woman beam before her smile dropped as he shook his head.
"No, but nice try there, Poppy."
"Okay, then what?"
"Your life."
"…Well, that's a given. I want to continue living so I have to win."
"What if your honour's on the line? Will you throw it away to survive? Will you cower in fear to make your enemy drop his guard so that you can land that stealthy blow? Will you hit your enemy in the balls, gouge out their eyes and stick your fingers in every hole that you can to disorient them and give yourself a disadvantage?"
"That sounds dishonourable."
"And just like that, your life is no longer the most important thing on the battlefield to you. Your honour is. You see, if you're in a duel to protect your family name or your own pride, then you can be honourable by all means.
However, when it comes to the battlefield, no one cares if you were honourable. All that matters is that you survive. To the enemy that you've killed, you're a dishonourable bastard, but to your allies who lived, you're the most honourable of heroes.
Lao, if you found yourself making a business deal with your political enemies and they make a foolish mistake that makes it far more profitable for you than for them in the long run, do you correct them because your honour says so?"
"No. If it's a mistake they made and they can't see it, it's no problem of mine as it's their own fault."
"And what if you make the mistake, but they can't see it? Do you follow your honour then?"
"No. Like you said, they are my political enemies and by the time they figure out the mistake, it will be far too late," Lao answered with an intrigued smile, Toji nodding before turning to Toph who frowned at their discussion.
"So, what you're saying is fight honourably in a duel…but use everything I can on the battlefield and the business table to make sure I live and profit respectively, right?"
"Precisely that and what I'm going to teach you doesn't have katas or fighting styles or anything like that. It's called the art of fucking someone up so bad they shit themselves whenever they see you and that's if they live to see another day."
"No swearing. Be more polite as you're a guard of House Beifong now," Toji heard Poppy speak and rolled his eyes as Toph snickered.
"Right, sorry about that. It's called the art of dirty fighting."
"…Could you not have said that first?"
"Eh, it wouldn't have the same effect as-"
"Ahem," Poppy cleared her throat, Toji turning his head to see the woman's raised eyebrow before nodding and turning back to the smug Toph with a frown.
"Back to the training. I want you to fight me like you would normally and I'll show you what's wrong, okay?"
"You want me to go easy or are you capable of keeping up?", Toji rolled his eyes at Toph's confident look as he took off his jian and crossbow, placing them both on the ground before kicking up a pebble with a smile.
"Oh, don't you worry. Now, be-", Before he could even finish his sentence, Toji threw the pebble and Toph looked surprised as she stomped on the ground, raising a stone wall that blocked it even as Toji stomped on the ground and knocked more pebbles upwards.
With a flurry of punches, the pebbles ricochet off of each other and helped two get around the walls, Toph gasping in pain as they snapped into her sides and knocked the wind out of her.
Not stopping his attack, Toji ran at the walls right as Toph recovered, hopping up with both feet before surprising everyone as he did a double-stomp and sent it flying in shattered rocks at her.
The girl hissed as she tried her best to raise stone walls to block the attack before her eyes widened as she twisted her leg and spun the ground as Toji landed.
A flick of her wrists sent a rock pillar into his back and he grunted as he felt the pain before he grabbed onto the edge of the pillar and pulled himself upwards.
Rolling to his feet before hopping off, Toji rolled and pushed off the ground, watching as rock spikes formed where his hands were before landing and rushing at her.
"Good! Keep that up! Try to injure any part that you can!", Toji shouted with a grin as he rocketed towards her, zigzagging from side to side to dodge the rock spikes that shot from the ground to try and get him.
Hopping with a barrel-roll to dodge the rock walls trying to crush him, Toji rolled and landed in front of her, side-flipping over her kick and landing behind her with a smirk.
Standing back to back with her, Toji smirked at the rock spikes barely halfway to his head, keeping his back to hers and holding the sharp rock in his hand to the side of her neck.
"And like that, you're dead."
"You would have died with it."
"Yes or I could have dodged while slicing your throat as well. There are many things that could have happened, but what we do know for certain…is that you're dead," Toji spoke with a grin as he dropped the rock, Toph pulling her rocks back into the ground while he turned to where her parents and their guards looked surprised.
Toph realized as well what just happened as she spun, grimacing as Toji tapped his foot and let her 'feel' their shock before turning to Toji with a glare as he chuckled.
"And just like that, your entire act was pulled away."
"You bastard."
"Thank you for the compliment. Now then! Guards, I want you to come down here and stand in a circle around us. While Toph and I are sparring, you will stab at us with the blunt training spears over there."
"I…I don't think that would be wise, Toji."
"Oh, it is not, but it is a way to learn how to dodge instinctively. Now then, Lao, do I have your permission to do so or not?", Toji asked Lao, who continued to keep his gaze on a nervous Toph and was not surprised when the man signalled for his guards to stay put while staring at them with a frown.
"Leave us," The lord ordered, the guards quickly shuffling away while Poppy looked concerned as Toji helped Toph ascend the stairs.
"How long?", Lao began and Toji stood off the side with a look of anticipation as Toph frowned before answering.
"Since I was six, when I ran away to the mountains."
"And where is the girl that I knew? The quiet, young girl that I raised?"
"She never existed," Toph answered with a shrug, Toji hiding his smirk as Lao frowned before Poppy spoke up.
"Dear, you have to understand that we're both shocked and worried. You've been hiding this from us for so long and we simply wish to know why."
"Because you two wouldn't let me be myself. Instead of confident, rough Toph, I was always told to be the perfect blind princess, someone fragile, polite and petite. That's not me and it never was, but it's what you wanted to see so I let you see it."
"And you…you expect us to accept this sudden change?", Lao asked, Poppy staying quiet as Toph narrowed her blind gaze at her father.
"You never listened. You never believed I could be anything more than you wanted me to be so I made you believe what you wanted while I became what I needed."
"That is now how you are. You are polite, you are frail and you are disciplined. You are blind and can become victim to the many dangers out there. It is simply my duty as a father to make sure that you are safe."
"And that means making me into your little plaything that you can stick in this prison you call a manor and never let me out?"
"Hate to break it to you, but I can say-"
"You will say nothing! This is none of your concern," Lao snapped at Toji, making the boy raise an eyebrow before he pushed off the railing and walked up to the man. Lao realized his mistake and sat back in his seat when Toji stopped in front of him, standing eye to eye with the man before smirking eerily.
"Repeat what you just said."
"I said…it's none of your concern," Lao spoke lowly, but his previous sharp tone was gone and Toji raised his hand before patting the man's cheek with a smile.
"Do not forget that you paid me to protect your daughter from any and all threats. I would be so sad if one appears in front of me."
"Toji, enough," Toph spoke up and the boy glanced back at her to see her frown, shrugging before pushing off the chair with a groan and cracked his back.
"Don't worry, little princess. It's simply a joke."
"Right~", The girl spoke with a roll of her eyes, making the boy chuckle before she turned back to her father who adjusted himself.
"I know what you're going to say, but I'm not going anywhere and I'm also not going to pretend anymore. You either accept that and actually see me for the girl that I am, Dad, or you can keep being blind."
"Dear, perhaps it's better to let her be for now," Toji heard Poppy whisper, watching as the man looked at his wife before turning back to Toph and exhaling slowly.
"We'll…discuss further in private. For now, you can return to your…training."
"Really?", Toph asked with a raised eyebrow, Toji walking back down the steps as the lord grimaced and nodded.
"Go before I decide to have you locked up for the rest of the day," Toph gave a sharp nod as she turned to Toji, glaring at him while the two walked back to the sparring circle.
"I should have figured this is why you wanted to train."
"Yes, but you've at least cracked the wall. Now, you just need to keep hammering at it until it falls."
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"Keep moving! Don't stop!", Toji barked as he walked around the sparring circle, watching as Toph turned herself in a slow circle, slipping from side to side to dodge the rapid stabs from the guardsmen who attacked in a random pattern.
The twelve year old girl was dancing and spinning in between their attacks, every motion as swift and fluid as the last before she stood still, stomping on the ground and raising up stone walls that blocked off the simultaneous attacks.
"Good! Again!"
"We've been doing this for the past three hours, dickhead! I'm getting tired!"
"You'll rest when I say you rest, dipshit! Now, again!", Toji barked, Toph letting out a groan as she dropped her walls and began her circular dance again.
The dance itself was inspired from a combination of waterbending and airbending that Toji had Toph procured from the few merchants and 'traders' with black flags that passed. They then implemented the two types of bending katas into those of earthbending and with that, Top had created her own unique of earthbending.
It was still her usual style focused on neutral jing, but instead of her staying in one place to counter the attack, he had forced her to stay on the move with the movements of airbending while using the fluidity of waterbending to defend and then counter using the rigidity of earthbending.
He had hoped to get a firebending scroll so that she could learn how to incorporate its ferocity into her bending, but three out of the four was enough to get her to where he actually had to try now to tag.
Unfortunately for Toph, his chi grew with every passing day as he grew and with puberty having hit his sixteen year old body, his physical power just shot up with it.
While he was just barely on par with his speed and power in his past life, his skills with the weapons more than made up for it and since he still had room to grow, Toji could only hope that he found a match for himself before he died of old age.
Turning his gaze back to Toph, he smirked as he saw her dipping under a spear, standing back up and twirling around another before stepping back to dodge the third.
"Move like the wind!"
"Strike like the mountain!", Toph finished the quote as one of the guards lunged in too soon, shifting her footing and tripping the man with a flick of earth.
"Oi, stay on your damn feet, idiot! And you keep it going!"
"Can I bury you under rocks when we're done?!", Toph growled as she leaned under a spear thrust before standing up straight and slamming her heel into the ground, sending out a shockwave that staggered two of the guards.
"I'd like to see you try. And you! This isn't a dance recital! Stab like you mean it!", Toji shouted at the one guard who hesitated too long, making the man flinch and the teenager palm his face as he got a rock to the chest for his trouble.
"And stop!", He ordered, the guards stopping in their position while Toph took deep gulps of air from where she was doing a sideways split on the ground with her fists about to hit the dirt.
"Rock spikes?"
"Rock pillars…A lot more effective," The girl spoke as she relaxed, pulling her legs under her before thanking Toji as he held out a hand and picked her up.
"It took you only a month this time, but you managed to do it."
"The fuck are you doing about? It took me four years to figure out how to combine the styles. It's a lot harder than you think."
"Eh, it was easier in my head."
"Go jump in a lake."
"Young lady, I will hear no such foul language," Poppy spoke with a frown as she descended the stairs, the guards and Toji bowing their heads in greeting while Toph rolled her eyes as the teenager beside her placed a towel on her head.
"Go take a wash. Tomorrow's a rest day."
"We just had one yesterday."
"We also had an eight hour session today from four in the morning. Go wash and sleep. Believe me, you'll need it tomorrow," Toph rolled her eyes as she washed up the stairs, Poppy stopping her daughter for a brief moment to kiss her forehead before letting her walk on.
"…She still hasn't figured it out?"
"Nope, it's quite easy to keep secrets from her than I was expecting."
"And you're sure you're okay with it?"
"Poppy, I've killed people because they bothered me. Getting paid to take them out brings me nothing but joy. Now, I'm guessing Lao send you here", Toji asked, not surprised when the woman took out a scroll and handed it to her.
That was the man's method of talking to either Toph or him now after that incident that happened four years ago and the discussion Toph and her father had after, resulting in him not even trying to communicate with them.
Instead, the man resorted to scrolls, letters or if it's truly urgent, telling Poppy what to say to them and in exchange, he completely ignored both him and Toph and their training to try and preserve the image of her fragile persona in his mind.
Honestly, if the man wasn't the reason he's gotten so rich in the past four years, Toji would have gone over to him and killed him just for his money, but unfortunately, he may have developed a slight liking to Toph's snarky attitude.
It reminded him of…of her.
'Oh, how long has it been since I thought of Hana,' Toji thought with a subtle frown before shaking his head, deciding to open the scroll and read its contents before his mind ravelled to thoughts he did not want to deal with.
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Shen Guan is currently under siege by Fire Nation forces. Take out the Fire Nation Commanders and get rid of their army.
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"Same payment?"
"Quintuple the amount if you can get rid of the leading commander," Poppy answered and Toji nodded, rolling the scroll back up and handing it over to her.
"Got it. Tell Toph I'll be out to the Misty Palms until tomorrow."
"You can finish it in that time?", Poppy asked with a raised eyebrow and Toji snorted as he threw his towel over his shoulder and nodded.
"This job? It won't even take me a day to finish it."
'And hopefully, I'll be back in time to finish the plan I've been making.'
A/N: And we're ending it here~! Just a quick slice of life chapter with some turmoil between Toph and her father, but next chapter, we move on to the next arc of his life and a new journey.
What that is, we'll have to wait and see~
Anyway, check out my Pat-reon-.-com-/-KingCrimsonNova to read ahead on this as well as many other stories that may peak your interest. If you want to, you are free to, but if you don't want, all's good as I will still be uploading here. This is just me trying to get some extra cash.
As always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one...
Ba-Bye~!