Avatar The Last Airbender Fan Fiction ❯ One Hundred Hopes ❯ Tokka-013-Ice ( Chapter 2 )

I'm so sorry I forgot to add these. Here's two to accept my apologies.

 

Word #13: Ice

 

Toph had walked many places. With her friends she had stepped on the firm soil of the Earth Kingdoms, learning every different type of dirt to make it more malleable in her hands. She had discovered sand and its endless shifting, the wind moving it like the tides of the sea. She'd been pulled underwater, realizing for the fist time how helpless and little she was in even the calmest waters. She had stepped on Fire Nation soil and felt the heat of it, how easy it was to turn the nation they prided into their own enemy, and she had touched metal and felt it move at her will.

 

But never before had she touched ice.

 

It never got cold enough in the Earth Kingdoms for her to feel it. She was not there when they had traveled to the water tribes. Katara had bent the water into ice, but Toph never stepped on it (once, in a situation where she had no choice but to run and hope for the best and even then it had cracked beneath her.) Never before had she been on a country made of it.

 

Katara and Sokka were ecstatic to return home. Their excited chatter filled the air, and Toph wondered what it was like to live somewhere where nothing was solid. She sat with them, listening to their stories, but never really understanding, trying to decide what to do when they arrived.

 

And they arrived.

 

The cold was everywhere. It wasn't just cold; it was an entity within itself. Soon she felt herself wrapped in the warm furs of the siblings' nation (even allowing the heavy boots thanks to the warnings that the ice and the snow might freeze away her toes) and she felt Appa land, giving her a flash of what the land might look like. Katara was already o the ground (Aang not far behind her), and slowly Toph struggled to find sure footing on the slick ground. The snow waws awkward—like sand except thicker. She could see, almost, except for holes and blurred patches. Appa beside her was the most solid thing she could find.

 

Toph took a step and left her foot fall through. She panicked, reaching for Appa's fur to grab onto, missing, and falling straight into the snow. It was dry, she noted quietly as she picked herself off the ground, until it hit her skin. It melted as soon as it touched.

 

“You okay?”

 

Toph turned to face whomever was talking, found the patch she fell in, and fell again. Once more she flailed for something to hold onto. She found Sokka.

 

Sokka was surprisingly solid. She could actually see every part of him: the features on his face and the goose bumps on his skin from the cold. He had caught her by the arms, letting the rest of her hang above the ground. Carefully she picked herself up, brushing herself off.

 

“Thanks,” she said. He let go of her, and again she saw only the endless landscape. She instantly missed his arms. “Are we going?”

 

She could feel his critical gaze. “Are you sure you're okay?”

 

She shrugged. “Whatever. Katara and Aang are way ahead of us. We should probably catch up.”

 

She felt him come closer, and quite surprisingly he grabbed her hand. The gloves were warm from his body heat, and she felt a small bit of gratitude for that.

 

There was a moment's pause, as if he were waiting for her okay, and she yanked him slightly, allowing him to lead the way.