Rise Of The Deathbreaker (Deathbender Book 2)

14

"This is where she lives." Chiyuri said as we all peered over the wall of a rich person's backyard. 

"Why are we sneaking in if you're friends?" I asked. 

Chiyuri gave me a mischievous smile. "Her parents don't exactly know about her earth bending. So they don't know about me. Don't worry, this is how I would go see her all the time." 

So all six of us jumped over the wall as one and darted behind some bushes for cover. But that didn't last long as the earth underneath us threw us into the air, landing us hard in some conveniently placed bushed. Except Sokka. 

"What are you doing here twinkle toes?" Toph, the blind bandit said, standing over Aang. 

"How'd you know it was me?" Aang asked. 

Sokka scowled. "Don't answer to "Twinkle toes" it's not manly!" 

"Don't worry Toph, they're with me." Chiyuri said, stepping forward. Her cloak from yesterday was gone and she wore earth nation colors. 

"Chiyuri?" Toph said, spinning around to somehow face Chiyuri perfectly. 

"I'm back!" Chiyuri said with a sort of jokingly false enthusiasm. 

"What are you doing back in town?" Toph asked, punching her in the arm. Chiyuri took the hit without flinching and delivered a lighter one of her own. "I though you ran off to master all the elements." 

"And I did." Chiyuri responded. "Well, I'm still working on air bending, since it wasn't exactly easy to find a teacher." 

"And one of your friends here is an airbender?" 

"Three of them, apparently. Aang, the avatar, Kila, Aang's sister, and Jia. Katara and Sokka are water benders." Chiyuri paused. "Toph, Kila and Jia have powers like my brother." 

"Alright, it's clear we need to talk." Toph stood still for a second, as if listening for people. "Come on, our cave's still hidden." 

We followed Toph and Chiyuri though the large backyard until Toph used her bending to open up a cave entrance in a hill at the edge of the property. 

"Well, yeah, it's easy to keep something hidden if only you can make it appear." Sokka said sarcastically. 

"We used to hang out in here all the time." Chiyuri said. "Back when Toph was teaching me earth bending. I'm still nowhere as good as her, but she taught me more then a few tricks." She paused to light some torches on the wall with her fire bending. "Nice match yesterday, by the way." 

"You came?" Toph asked. "I didn't recognize you." 

"Air bending habits." Chiyuri said dismissively. "They make your footsteps lighter, as you no doubt noticed in Aang and Kila." 

"Hold up." I said, entering the conversation. "I hate to interrupt the reunion and everything, but we've got a lot of ground to cover." 

"Kila's right." Aang said. "See, I need to learn earthbending by the end of the summer and a crazy king told me to find someone who listens to the earth and I had a vision in a magic swamp-" 

I put a hand over his mouth. "You too." I told him. I turned to Toph. "First, explain blind earth bending." 

"When I was little, I ran away from home." Toph began. "I ran into a cave where I met some badger moles. They were blind too, so we got along well. They use earth bending by sensing movement through the earth, and taught me to do the same. It's a bit different from what they'd teach you in a 1st class school, but it's better. I can sense the vibrations in the earth to see."