The Lies of the Phoenix

Chapter 3

~Zuko's Perspective~

What was with that girl? Why was she so annoyed? It wasn't like I had done anything to her! I had literally just come here. So why was she so against me? Well, sure, I had kind of told her that my scar was none of her business, but still! It wasn't! And she didn't need to know anything about it!

I sighed and walked down the sidewalk, scrolling down through my phone absentmindedly when I heard shouting coming from somewhere nearby. I stuffed my phone into my satchel and glanced around to try and figure out where it was coming from. I didn't have to look far. Two boys, maybe in around ninth or tenth grade, were shoving a younger girl against the wall.

"What's the matter?" one of them said to her. "Can't hold your own without help from your rich daddy?"

His friend laughed. "Come on. See if she's got anything on her."

I watched as the scene unfolded debating whether or not to intervene. I could probably take those guys in a fight.

Mainly, I was watching the girl. There was something off about her. Her eyes were completely vacant, as if she wasn't really seeing what was going on... Wait! That was it! She wasn't seeing what was going on! She was blind!

I saw the girl move her feet wide and ball her hands into fists, before drawing herself to her full height... which still wasn't that much. I felt my eyes widen as I realized what she was doing.

The girl was a bender.

"Hey!" I shouted. "Leave her alone!"

One of the boys turned to look at me, shock written all over his face when he caught sight of my scar. After a couple of seconds, he regained his bravado. "What happened to you? Have an issue ironing your clothes?"

I walked towards him, until I was close enough to smell his breath. Then I grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him face to face with me. "I said, leave her alone," I whispered. I saw him flinch and smirked, before releasing him. He turned around and ran off, glancing behind him every couple of seconds. His friend wasn't as scared.

He walked up to me cockily. "Who do you think you are to try to tell me what to do? Don't forget that you're new here. You have no right to t--" I cut him off by punching him squarely in the face. He staggered backward a couple paces before glancing at me in surprise and running off to join his friend.

I kneeled down to face the girl. "Hey, you okay?" I asked.

She nodded. "I'm fine. But... thanks."

I smiled at her. "No problem. I'm Zuko. I- I saw what you did there," I said, before lowering my voice to a whisper. "Or, rather, what you were about to do. You... You're a earthbender, aren't you?"

She smiled. "Yeah. The name's Toph."