𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝||𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞 𝐱 𝐀𝐓𝐋𝐀

5||Melancholy Air

Toph didn't know how, but she ended up on a large ship. According to Marco, it was one of the 'Red Force' or something like that. Wherever she was, the air was heavy and solemn. Unlike the battlefield, she could sense only a few dozen—maybe forty—aboard this ship alone, but her seismic sensing was thrown off because of the constant sloshing of the waves hitting the sides of the ship, but she was sure she had an accurate head count.

There was food decorating the long tables of the mess hall, but no one was eating.

Well, everyone except Toph. She dug into a plate of food with her bare hands, one leg dangling off the side of the chair and swinging lazily about and the other on the leg of the chair to still be able to sense those around her.

The other occupants of the mess hall talked in hushed whispers, but by the way Toph could feel them turning their heads, they were talking about her.

Murmurs went around about the strange child sitting at their table and eating like a glutton after a devastating war with so many losses, especially on their end.

There was a war and she was not mourning the deaths of those lost or even respecting the mourning of others aboard the ship by staying silent. She gobbled the rest of her food without a care in the world before grabbing more.

It reminded the crew of someone similar, and they found it both frustrating and devastating at the same time.

"Captain...why is there a kid on our ship?"

Benn couldn't handle the audacity of the small girl in front of him devouring mountains of food, oblivious to the heavy silence among them in silence anymore. There was a war and she's not even respecting the mourning of others on board.

Toph turned her head up from her abundant plate of food towered up nearly as tall as herself from where she sat on the floor of the deck, mouth still chewing. "I'm not a kid." She said as small pieces of food flew out of her mouth, angered expression not dimming. The deck grimaced at her demeanor before going back to eating their food in a deafeningly awkward silence.

Benn should've cringed at the act, but after sailing with Shanks for so many years, it doesn't bother him as much as it should. He blinked slowly, his expression not giving away any of his thoughts, but Toph could practically feel him intensely thinking as she shifted in her seat into a position that seemed more relaxed at first glance, but in reality it was a precaution in case she had to dash.

"Okay kid," the First Mate emphasized the moniker just to irritate her, which he succeeded in doing when it earned him a bird flipped in his general direction. Their interaction was starting to get the attention of the others on deck. "Why the hell are you on our ship?"

"Your 'captain' invited me." Toph scoffed before shoving another spoonful of fried rice into her mouth. "Besides, you should be honoring me, giving me praise 'n stuff. I kind of saved that kid you guys were all trying to rescue." Man, nobody here seems to know her as Toph Beifong:the Runaway, Blind Bandit, legendary Earthbender, member of team Avatar. Geez, where's the fame and glory? She misses the love.

"First of all, we don't give respect to people who demand it like an imbecile," Benn growled. "Second of all, Ace isn't–wasn't," he grimaced at the the tense  of the words before starting again. "He wasn't some kid. You're a kid."

"Mhm." She rolled her blind eyes. "And I'm not visually impaired."

Her frown deepened when she felt the man shift his weight as if he were going to walk towards her. She didn't have much to bend. She only had her space bracelet, maybe the glass cups, dirt on the soles of everyone's feet, and the metal screws and door-hinges and pulleys available to bend. Oh, and maybe their weapons too.