Avatar: The Last Airbender

Part 19 (Bitter Work) [Book 2]

You were awoken but a weight suddenly landing atop you......again. Your eyes shot open, seeing Sokka on top of you, still in his sleeping bag.

"This keeps happening." You muttered, voice groggy. Sokka leapt up, still in his sleeping bag, and hopped over to Aang, mumbling something about "running around". He hopped over to Toph, muttering something about "making noises". Frankly, it was incoherent. Sokka hopped away, still muttering to himself. Aang jumped, landing next to Toph.

"So, what move are you going to teach me first?" He asked. "Rockalanche? The trembler? Ooh! Maybe I can learn to make a whirlpool out of land!" Aang exclaimed, doing hand motions for each move. Toph held an arm out, signaling for him to stop.

"Let's start with......move a rock." She suggested. The Avatar clapped.

"Sounds good. Sounds good!"

Toph led him away, going somewhere where you presumed it would be easier to earthbend. Katara followed, interested. You on the other hand, were more interested in getting more sleep. That whole instance with Azula a few nights ago was still taking its toll on you. You were still exhausted.

You heard a shout and sat up, seeing Aang had crashed into Appa. A small chuckle was heard moments later. You turned, seeing Sokka still in his sleeping bag, leaning up against the wall as the sleeping bag came over his head.

"Ha! Rock beats airbender." He joked quietly.

"I don't understand what went wrong. He did it exactly like you did." Katara voiced.

"Maybe if I come at it from a different angle..." Aang wondered, beginning to move around the boulder. Toph grabbed his sleeve.

"No. That's the problem. You need to stop thinking like an airbender." She told him, hitting his forehead lightly. "There's no different angle, no clever solution, no trickity-trick that's going to move that rock." She told him, pushing him over. "You've got to face it head on. And when I say head on, I mean like this!"

Toph jumped into the air, head-butting the boulder. It smashed into pieces. Your jaw dropped as your eyes widened in terror.

"Uh.....I don't think I can do that." Aang admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

"You need to be blunt. You have to show the rock that you're the boss, and you're not afraid." Toph told him. "And actually, that gives me an idea. Wait here." She instructed. You watched as Toph used earthbending to get up the side of the cliff. She did a few hand and feet movements, creating a sort of slide in the mountain. She created a boulder, sitting it at the top before sliding down. She approached Aang. "This time we're going to try something a little different." Toph informed. "Instead of moving a rock, you're going to stop a rock." She spun around, facing him. "Get in your horse stance!" She demanded. Aang quickly widened his stance, getting lower. "I'm going to roll that boulder down at you." She told him. "If you have the attitude of an earthbender, you'll stay in your stance and stop the rock."

You could see the look of terror settling on Aang's face as he looked up at the massive boulder. "Oh boy." You muttered, placing your head in your hands.

"Like, this." Toph demonstrated.

"Sorry, Toph. But are you sure this is really the best way to teach Aang earthbending?" Katara asked, stepping forward.

"I'm glad you said something. Actually, there is a better way." Toph grabbed Aang's cloth around his waist, pulling it off and tying it around his eyes. "This way you'll really have to sense the vibrations of the boulder to stop it."