SWNOVELXO Chapter 3: toph
After my initial joy subsided, I created a seat out of ice and began practicing various constructs with my remaining arm. I waited patiently for feeling to return to my other arm. After what felt like an hour, sensation began to creep back, and I stood up, eager to try something new.
I had learned lightning bending, but my earlier experiments made it clear I couldn't risk the lightning backfiring on me again. I needed another approach. As I contemplated my next move, a few memories surfaced in my mind. The first was of Wan redirecting a large fireball from firebenders. The second was of Fire Lord Sozin absorbing smoke and heat from a volcanic eruption. That last memory gave me an idea for a new bending art—but that would have to wait.
After more reflection, I devised a training method to lay the foundation for my technique. I created a stream of fire and sent it toward a wall. Before it could make contact, I concentrated and redirected the stream to curve back toward me. I released the stream but allowed it to continue advancing toward me.
When the fire was a few feet away, I extended two fingers and attempted to absorb it. To my surprise, it worked. I directed the energy from my arm to my stomach and then back to my hand, hoping to convert it into lightning. But all that came out was my usual fire.
"Okay... not what I was expecting," I muttered, staring at my hand in frustration. Despite my overactive imagination, which had allowed me to master fire and ice bending with ease, lightning bending remained elusive. My extensive knowledge of anime, video games, and countless hours of research on superpower mechanics seemed to offer little help here.
I conjured another ice chair and replayed what went wrong in my mind. I recalled Iroh's teachings to Zuko about firebending fundamentals, especially lightning generation. The Fire Nation's firebending was fueled by emotion—determination and willpower. However, lightning bending required a calm, emotionless state.
"Hmm... I guess I forgot that when I release firebending, my emotions are integrated into the flames. But this failure isn't all bad," I said to myself. "It makes sense now—removing emotion from the absorbed fire is crucial. Easier said than done, though."
And so began my grueling training session.
(Timeskip)
Three exhausting hours later, I was still failing and drained of energy, with only one more attempt in me.
"Alright, Jinx. Last shot. Remember—remove all emotion from the fire before releasing it," I said, hyping myself up.
I created a stream of fire and sent it toward a wall, curving it back to me at the last moment. Detaching myself from the stream, I took a deep breath and calmed my mind. The fire closed in, now mere inches away. I extended my index and middle fingers, absorbing the flames. This time, as I redirected the energy to my stomach, I focused on separating my Yin and Yang energy. The moment I felt the separation, I allowed the energy to dissolve into my body, which surprisingly made me feel less tired.
I directed the neutral energy to my fingertips and repeated the movements, removing any lingering emotion from the fire. This time, when I released the energy, a dark purple lightning bolt crackled forth, obliterating a large chunk of the pillar it struck.
I smirked at my success, then collapsed onto the ground, utterly drained. After cooking some saber-tooth moose lion I'd hunted earlier (ensuring it wasn't the mother and child Aang encountered), I rested and began refining the technique.
(Timeskip: Three Days Later)
After three days of training, I had mastered the technique to the point where I could use it five times consecutively, though it consumed a significant amount of energy. I also discovered that my body could endure two sleepless days without issue, a fact I'd somehow overlooked until now.
On the morning of the third day, I left the quarry, leaving my mark by carving my name into the stone with a dense fire blade. I then headed east, toward the rising sun.
(Five Days Later)
After days of walking, I arrived at a mountainous region. From a distance, I spotted a group of people heading toward a suspicious-looking mountain. My curiosity piqued, I leaped off the nearby cliff and used firebending to slow my descent, blending into the crowd and sneaking past the guards.
Inside, I discovered an underground arena hosting fights. A memory struck me—this was the same event where Aang met Toph, the Blind Bandit. Intrigued, I took a seat in the shadows and watched. The matches were unimpressive until familiar competitors, like Boulder, Hippo, and Gopher, entered the fray. Finally, Toph appeared in the championship round, effortlessly defeating her opponent.
Xin Fu, the announcer, called out, "Our champion remains undefeated! But I'll allow one of you to face her. However, even if you win, you won't receive the champion title!"
I stood up, creating ice stairs as I walked to the ring.
"Hmm... it seems we have a young challenger. May I know your name?" Xin Fu asked.
"The name's Jinx Fuyu," I said confidently, then turned to Toph. "Blind Bandit, I have a question for you: Ice or fire?"
Confusion crossed her face, but she quickly masked it. "I guess fire... but your question doesn't make sense."
"Perhaps we can discuss it after I win," I replied with a smirk.
Toph laughed at my confidence but quickly sobered as I sent an arc of fire toward her. She raised an earth wall to block it, but I used fire propulsion to leap over the wall. I made the mistake of landing on the ground, giving her the opportunity to send a pillar of earth toward me. Reacting instinctively, I created an ice wall, surprising her and the crowd.
"What's going on here? Are you the Avatar or something?" Toph asked.
"Nope," I replied with a grin. "But we can chat after I beat you."
The fight continued, with me mixing fire and ice techniques against her formidable earthbending. When she forced me to unleash my lightning, I made sure to aim it away from her, obliterating a section of the arena instead.
"That's enough for now. Find me if you want," I said, leaving the arena and heading to a nearby cliff for a nap.
(Timeskip)
I was jolted awake by something hitting my face. Groaning, I cracked one eye open to see Toph standing there with a handful of stones, a mischievous grin on her face. I couldn't help but smirk at her antics. As a little payback, I trapped her feet in ice—not enough to hurt her or cause frostbite, but enough to block her seismic vision.
"Hey! That's not fair! And how do you even know I can see through my feet?" Toph demanded, her tone equal parts annoyance and curiosity.
I chuckled, melting the ice as I stood up. "I noticed how you react every time I take a step. Since you're blind, you'd need some way to navigate, and being an Earthbender, it wasn't hard to figure out. You listen to the vibrations in the ground."
Toph tilted her head, considering my words. "Hmm, okay, smart guy. Anyway, I wanted to ask—why didn't you aim your last attack at me?"
I conjured a pair of ice chairs and gestured for her to sit. Once we were settled, I explained, "First off, you don't seem like a bad person. Second, you managed to keep up with me so well that I had to use both ice bending and fire bending together, even pulling out my strongest move. If that doesn't scream 'master Earthbender,' I don't know what does."
A smile spread across her face at the compliment, but I could tell she had another question brewing. Sure enough, after a moment, she asked, "I've been wondering—how can you bend two elements? Are you the Avatar or something?"
"No," I replied. "I'm not the Avatar. If the rumors are true, the Avatar's still alive, an Airbender. So if you ever meet someone who can glide through the air and walks lightly, you've found him."
"That still doesn't explain how you can bend both water and fire," she pressed.
"First off," I corrected, "I'm an Icebender—a true one. Unlike others who rely on fast water manipulation, I can create ice from almost anything around me, even the air. Second, I don't remember much about myself from before three months ago. I just woke up on an island one day, discovered I could bend two elements, and decided to head to the North Pole to learn waterbending from the original masters."
"Well," Toph said, "I learned my Earthbending from the original Earthbenders—the badgermoles. It was easy since we're both blind, but I don't know if that helps you. Your path seems...different."
"You might be right," I admitted. "But it doesn't hurt to try. By the way, I never caught your name. I'm Jinx Fuyu."
Toph hesitated before answering, "...Toph Beifong."
I noticed the flicker of fear in her expression, probably expecting me to use her family name against her. Instead, I burst out laughing. "Relax. Honestly, if I needed anything from them, I'd probably just rob them and split the loot with you. Way faster. And really, who's going to stop me?"
Toph smirked at that, her confidence returning. But as we chatted, a memory surfaced—my time in the Void, and Death's cryptic parting words. He mentioned gaining another power when I met Toph, but only after mastering firebending. If I knew anything about deals like that, there had to be a catch. True mastery probably meant finding the original firebenders and learning from them, which would mean heading to the Fire Nation. That wasn't part of my immediate plans, especially since I intended to visit Wan Shi Tong's Library for techniques.
Still, my top priority was the North Pole. Meeting Tui and La, the original waterbenders, was the key to unlocking the coldest depths of waterbending. If Aang was there too, I could learn from Appa and potentially discover cold windbending. With that, I'd be a match for the Avatar, wielding the essence of all four elements.
Toph leaned back in her ice chair, still looking skeptical but intrigued. "So, you're heading to the North Pole to meet some big fish spirits? Sounds like a long trip for something you're not even sure will work."
"Yeah, but it's the best lead I've got," I replied, shrugging. "Besides, I've got a knack for finding ways to make things work."
"Well, if you're sticking around for a bit, you might as well show me some of your fancy bending. I mean, you've already seen how I work. Fair's fair, right?"
I grinned at her challenge. "Fair enough, but don't cry when I make you look bad."
Toph snorted. "Please. I could bury you in a rockslide before you even raise an ice wall."
Her cocky attitude was infectious, and we spent the rest of the day sparring and sharing techniques. Toph demonstrated her incredible seismic sense in action, dodging my ice projectiles with ease and retaliating with precision strikes. She even managed to catch me off guard a few times, laughing whenever I slipped up.
Meanwhile, I showed her the versatility of ice bending. I created weapons, barriers, and even an intricate ice sculpture of a badgermole, much to her amusement. "Okay, I'll admit," she said, running her hand over the icy figure, "that's pretty cool. Pun intended."
By nightfall, we were both exhausted but exhilarated. I conjured a small fire to keep us warm, and we sat in companionable silence for a while, watching the flames dance. Eventually, Toph broke the silence. "You know, you're not so bad for someone who showed up out of nowhere and froze my feet."
"Thanks, I think?" I replied with a chuckle. "You're not bad yourself, for someone who woke me up by pelting me with rocks."
She smirked, and we both laughed.
The next morning, Toph wasted no time dragging me back into training. "Alright, ice boy, let's see if you can keep up today," she teased.
I wasn't about to back down. We spent hours pushing each other to our limits, testing new techniques, and even combining our skills in a few experiments. One particularly impressive moment came when I froze a section of ground while Toph reshaped it into a slick ice ramp. She slid down it with glee, declaring it "the most fun she'd had in ages."
Between training sessions, we talked about our pasts—or, in my case, the lack of one. Toph shared stories of her childhood, her overprotective parents, and her determination to prove herself as a master Earthbender. I couldn't help but admire her resilience and spirit.
In turn, I told her about waking up on that desolate island, my journey so far, and my plans for the future. "It's weird," I admitted. "Sometimes it feels like I'm just drifting, trying to find something that makes sense."
"Maybe that's the point," Toph said thoughtfully. "You're not stuck in one place. You've got the whole world to figure out who you are."
I considered her words and nodded. "Maybe you're right."
By the second evening, we had developed an unspoken camaraderie. As we sat around the fire again, Toph turned to me with a rare seriousness. "You know, I think you're going to do big things, Jinx. You've got the power, but more than that, you've got the drive."
"Coming from you, that means a lot," I said. "And for what it's worth, I think you're going to leave your mark too. People are going to remember the name Toph Beifong."
She grinned. "Darn right they will."
The next morning, it was time for me to leave. As much as I enjoyed Toph's company, the North Pole was calling, and I couldn't afford to delay any longer. I packed my things while Toph pretended not to care. "Don't let the door hit you on the way out," she said, though her tone was softer than usual.
"Take care of yourself, Toph," I said, extending a hand.
She hesitated for a moment before shaking it. "You too, Jinx. And don't forget—if you ever need someone to kick your butt back into shape, you know where to find me."
I laughed. "I'll keep that in mind."
As I walked away, I couldn't help but glance back one last time. Toph stood there, arms crossed, watching me go with a faint smile. I had a feeling our paths would cross again someday, and when they did, we'd both be stronger for it.
For now, though, the journey continued.