Balance | Old Version

Chapter 56

Elua's POV.

We walk down the streets of the Earth Kingdom village, making our way to the Earthbending academy.
"I gotta admit, now I'm really glad I bought this bag. It matches the belt perfectly," Sokka says happily as he looks down at the green bag and belt he was now wearing.
"That is a big relief," Katara says sarcastically as she rolls her eyes.
"If we want to find The Blind Bandit, the Earthbending Academy is a good place to start," I state as we come up to the academy. We enter the gates of the academy, only to see the two boys Katara and I froze to the wall the other day.

"Oh great, you again," The first boy says rolling his eyes at Katara and I. I glare at him as I take a step forward, making him and his friend shrink back in fear.
"Yeah, I didn't think so," I say crossing my arms.
"Nicely done," Sokka says smirking at the two boys.
"Hey, you're the kid who beat The Blind Bandit," The second boy says to Aang in surprise.
"We need to talk to her. Do you guys know where she lives?" Aang asks them in hope.
"The Blind Bandit's a mystery. She shows up to fight, then disappears," The first boy says with a shrug.

"You're not telling us everything," Katara says as she glares at them.
"No no, I swear it's true!" The second boy says as he raises his hands in fear. "No one knows where she goes, or who she really is," He states.
"That's because we're asking about the wrong person," Aang suddenly says. "In my vision, I saw a girl in a white dress with a pet flying boar. Know anybody like that?" He asks them.
"Well, a flying boar is the symbol of the Bei Fong family. They're the richest people in town, probably the whole world," The first boy tells us.
"Yeah, but they don't have a daughter," The other states.

"Flying boar is good enough for me," Aang says with a shrug. "Let's check it out," He says as he turns around and makes his way out of the academy.
"Yeah, you better leave," The first boy whispers as he glares at us.
"Hey, we've got our eyes on you," Katara tells them as she makes an 'I'm watching you' motion with her fingers before we turn to follow Aang.
"Water Tribe," I hear Sokka say behind us as we walk out. We walk for a few minutes until we come across a huge house with the symbol of a bore on the top of the gate, where there were a few guards watching over it.

"That's the flying boar from my vision. Come on," Aang says as we discretely walk over to the wall around the house and climb over it into the courtyard. There are many plants, flowers, and sculptures around the courtyard. We were looking around the beautiful land when suddenly, the ground below us lifts up and sends us flying into some bushes behind us. 
"What are you doing here, twinkle toes?" The girl from the ring, now in a white dress, asks Aang.
"How did you know it was me?" Aang asks her in surprise a he stands up.
"Don't answer to twinkle toes. It's not manly!" Sokka whines as he stands up and holds his hand out to me.

"You're the one whose bag matches his belt," I tell him as I take his hand and he helps me stand.
"It's a manly belt," Sokka tells me.
"Of course," I say sarcastically as I shake my head.
"How did you find me?" The girl asks Aang.
"Well, a crazy king told me I had to find an earthbender who listens to the earth," Aang starts to explain. "And then I had a vision in a magic swamp and-" He stops talking as he is interrupted.
"What Aang is trying to say is, he's the Avatar and Elua is the Nadir. If they don't master earthbending soon they won't be able to defeat the Fire Lord," Katara tells the blind girl.

"Not my problem," The girl says. "Now, get out of here or I'll call the guards," She threatens.
"Look, we all have to do our part to win this war," Sokka says. "And yours is to teach Aang earthbending," He tells her. Which was apparently not a good idea.
"Guards! Guards, help!" She yells in a fake frightened voice. We all quickly rush to hide behind some bushes as the guards come running out. I peek over the bushes and watch as the guards and the girl walk away.
"Now what?" Sokka whispers.
"I have an idea," I tell them as we all climb back over the wall.

A Little Later.

We were now sitting at the Beifong family table, where we were all about to eat some food.
"Avatar Aang, Nadir Elua, it's an honor to have you visit us," Mrs. Beifong says smiling at us.
"In your opinion, how much longer do you think the war will last?" Mr. Beifong asks us.
"We'd like to defeat the Fire Lord by the end of summer," I tell him with a kind smile.
"But we can't do that without finding an earthbending teacher first," Aang says with a hinting tone.
"Well, Master Yu is the finest teacher in the land. He's been teaching Toph since she was little," Mr. Bei Fong says proudly as he motions to the man Aang had gone too the other day.

"Then she must be a great earthbender, probably good enough to teach someone else," Aang says smiling at Toph. "Ow!" Aang suddenly exclaims as he jumps in his seat, I look over to him in confusion but I shake my head and brush it off.
"Toph is still learning the basics," Master Yu states.
"Yes, and sadly because of her blindness, I don't think she will ever become a true master," Mr. Bei Fong says in sadness, making all of us look at him in surprise.
"Oh, I'm sure she's better than you think she is," I tell him as I look over to the young girl seating across from us.

I feel Toph send a small wave of earth at me, but I quickly bend it to a stop. Her expression turns to one of surprise, but she says nothing. Suddenly, Aang fake sneezes and makes the food on the table go flying everywhere.
"What's your problem?" Toph shouts at Aang as she stands up angrily.
"What's your problem?" Aang shouts back as he stands up with the same anger. Everyone looks at them in shock, I sigh as I bring my hand to my forehead.
"Well," Mrs. Beifong says as she brushes away the shock. "Shall we move to the living room for dessert then?"

Later That Night.

We were all in a rather big room where Mr. and Mrs. Beifong had provided for us to sleep for the night. I sigh as I flop down on one of the beds in the room.
"Goodnight buddy," Aang says to Appa from the window in the room. I hear someone walk into the room, I open my eyes and sit up to see Toph standing at the doorway.
"Ahh," Aang shouts in fear as he takes a defensive bending stance.
"Aang, relax," I tell him as I bring my legs up onto the bed and sit in a meditation pose.
"Look, I'm sorry about dinner," Toph says as she leans against the doorway. "Let's call a truce, ok?" She asks Aang, he looks at her unsure for a moment, but he nods. They both decide to go take a walk while the rest of us stay here.