During the chilly autumn of Year 99 AG, Toph suddenly brought up a topic she'd overheard from one of the staff.
"Earth Rumble... you mean that underground fight club?" I asked, caught off guard by the abrupt question. Searching through my memory, I recalled the servants gossiping about it often. It was one of Gaoling's more exclusive forms of entertainment. Illegal, somewhat brutal, and wildly popular among certain circles.
"Yeah! Sign me up, Ren; I wanna fight in that tournament!" Rubbing her palms together, she grinned as she excitedly threw a few punches. "Oh yeah, just thinking about it is making my blood boil in excitement!"
I don't know who, how, or when it happened... But at the age of 11, my lady has turned into a rebellious tomboy!
Cough, not that she was ever obedient to begin with. Though she silently follows along with Lord Beifong's every demand, after realizing that verbally fighting was a losing battle that didn't work in her favor, she still expresses her distaste with her restrictive freedom by channeling everything into the one thing that no one knew she could do—other than me—her Earth Bending.
And the results speak for themselves. This may be a biased opinion, but she truly is a prodigy when it comes to Earth Bending. Her unusually fast speed, incredible spatial awareness, bottomless Chi reserves, and even her precise control over the earth were leagues above the normal Earth Bender.
At this point, it was safe to say that she was at the upper echelons of Earth Benders. At such a young age, too, nonetheless.
The only reason why I won six out of ten spars we had was simply due to my abnormal strength and endurance with my Chi Enhancement boosting my physical abilities. Spirits bless my younger self for creating such a useful technique. Oh, and I was surprisingly good when it came to decisions in the midst of fighting—It's called "combat IQ," as Zero's vocabulary so helpfully labeled it.
Even so...
"I… don't think that's a good idea, my lady."
"What?" She froze, then frowned. "You think my Bending isn't good enough?"
Before I could respond, she jabbed a finger into my side. I quickly raised my hands in surrender.
"That's not what I meant," I said, choosing my words carefully. "It's just—uh—during our spars… you know I don't really hit you properly, right? I usually incapacitate you by grappling you to the ground."
I swallowed. She tapped her feet in wait.
"Since you have servants tending to you at all times... I can't exactly land hits where bruises would show. Just the thought of Lord and Madam Beifong's expressions when they find out is horrifying, so I've been—how do I say this?—pulling my punches."
"... So you've been holding back against me?"
Her head tilted slightly in my direction, her voice dropping dangerous low.
"... Yes?" Spirits, despite being several years younger, she was just as intimidating. Like parent, like daughter, I mused as a cold sweat dripped down my back.
A second passed before she huffed. "Well, I can see your point. Father would scramble to find out why there are bruises on my face and body if you go all out." She then clicked her tongue with a scrunched face. "Protective bunch. Just because I'm blind and a girl doesn't mean I need this much protection."
"And a noble, too."
"Yeah, and that. Tsk."
Phew, ladies and gentlemen, we are safe. I dodged a bullet; thankfully my lady was an understanding person.
"But—"
Uh oh.
"You'll have to do something for me then, Ren. Don't worry, it's not that difficult."
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"WELCOOOOME, ladies and gentlemen, to this month's EAAARTH RUUUMBLEEEEE!"
The emcee's voice boomed through his megaphone, echoing across the underground arena as the crowd erupted into thunderous cheers. The coliseum made of stone and earth shook with stomping feet and roars of excitement, dust drifting with every single pulse of noise.
"My lady," I muttered under my breath, tugging on the edge of my disguise. "This is your definition of 'not that difficult'...?"
Beside me, Toph simply grinned as she pat my back.
"Oh, don't be such a sucker; this'll be fun! You promised to scout out the competition for me, after all!"
"Entry cost 10 silver! I'm taking that off your allowance next month."
"Bleh, you cheapskate! You have loads saved up for some weird thing!"
Across the arena floor, fighters of all shapes and sizes stood. Some stretched, others sizing up their competition. Most, however, knew each other by their greetings. They were frequent challengers for the title, by the looks of it.
"And do we have contenders for you this month!" The emcee continued, pacing along the edge of the ring. "But first! Let me introduce, with GREAT pleasure, the reigning champion of last month's Earth Rumble!"
A drumbeat echoed.
"Strong as the mountains! Tough as solid stone! The man who crushed all opposition beneath his feet—!"
A figure stepped into the arena covered in a large towel. With a grip on the edge, the figure pulled it off their body, revealing his true identity.
"Give it up for THE BOOOOOOULDEEEER!"
The arena exploded as The Boulder flexed his muscles for the crowd. Cheers roared as he raised his arms, basking in the adoration with a satisfied smirk on his face.
"Pssh, I can take him," She whispered, munching on a snack she bought for the show. I rolled my eyes as I adjusted the hood around her head. The last thing we needed was someone recognizing the heir of the Beifong family sitting among a crowd like this.
Not that ordinary people knew what she looked like. But still, paranoia was a great friend.
"As always, the tournament will be a free-for-all! Last man standing wins the chance to go up against the reigning champion! And for the victor of the Earth Rumble..."
The emcee dragged out the words, milking the suspense from the crowd before snapping his fingers. From his side, a striking woman in revealing attire stepped into the light, arms lifting as she presented a heavy pouch. The metallic clink echoed even over the crowd's murmurs.
"—gets to leave the arena with 250 silver coins!"
"I will not fail you, my lady," I said with the most serious face I could muster. Fist clenched, I stared at the sack of coins with a burning determination. "Those coins are mine!"
She giggled at my sudden shift in attitude. "That's the spirit, Ren!"
"As if a scrawny kid like you could win against us! Hahahaha!"
Abruptly, someone from behind us voiced their jeer before laughing. Turning slightly, a group of muscular men strode past, walking forward to the arena. One of them glanced my way, lips curling into an amused smirk before his shoulder slammed into mine as he passed.
I staggered half a step back in surprise before steadying myself, sighing as their laughter trailed after them toward the arena. While I didn't mind the harassment—I've had worse over the years as a Fire Nation descendant in the Earth Kingdom—Toph was livid, glaring in their general direction with a growl.
"If it weren't for the fact that I'm not in the tournament, I'd be beating the stuffing out of them."
"Relax, my lady, it's just intimidation tactics." I laughed it off as a staff member began calling for the contestants. "And that's my queue. Keep safe, don't take off your hood, smack anyone who approaches, and scream if you need something."
Walking into the tunnel that led to the arena, she stood abruptly, snatching a paper megaphone straight out of some poor spectator's hands without a hint of shame as I trailed behind the tournament official.
"HEY!" She shouted through the flimsy cone. "YOU BETTER WIN THIS, RENJI! I WANT TO SEE THAT BELT AROUND YOUR WAIST WHEN I SEE YOU NEARBY AGAIN!"
Without turning around, I raised a fist in response, grinning as I followed the tournament official toward the arena floor.
"That your friend?" One of the contestants beside me jerked his thumb back toward the stands at Toph, who was arguing with the person she stole from.
I couldn't help but chuckle.
"… Yeah. That's my friend over there."
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NEXT UPDATE: 7 May, Thursday
A/N: Sorry for the wait; one of my lecturers decided to move up one of my assignment deadlines to last week Friday, which caused me to take a one-week break to focus on that instead of uploading.
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