No One's POV
(Y/N) stood in front of the Beifong palace as he began to look around, "If Zuko and uncle have come by here then I'm sure these people would know." He checked the large gate in the front for it to be locked. With that he walked around the palace walls to end up on the right side near the back, as he saw a few holes in the wall that he could use to climb up. He pet Rody to calm the animal, "I'll be right back. Just stay here and yell if you run into any trouble." The ostrich horse laid down understanding (Y/N), so the boy began to climb. He made his way to the top to look inside and see a large garden covering the entire backyard behind the palace. He scanned the area to barely see any guards on patrol, but none of them were close so he jumped on in, "Lousy patrol."
The ground beneath him then shook a little, so the boy jumped back to stab the wall with his knife to hang from there. Where he used to stand were rocks that came up slanted in a way that would of trapped him. He looked around to see nobody in sight until he heard a little girl's voice, "We don't have much patrol because most people aren't dumb enough to not sneak in." (Y/N) looked at where the voice came from to look at a tree. Before he could do anything a piece of the wall to come out and hit the boy knocking him to the ground on his back where rocks came up to trap his arms and feet.
He struggled to get out, but it was no use as a short little girl with black hair, pale skin, and blank white eyes came out from behind the tree to walk up to him and look down at him, "So what makes you so dumb to sneak in?" (Y/N) stopped struggling to look at her, "I wanted to ask if anyone has seen a guy with a scar on his left eye along with an old guy." The girl raised her foot, "Haven't seen em'." She then stomped down to have the earth beneath (Y/N) come up and knock him into the air over the wall. The prince landed with a thud on his face. He stood up as he grunted in pain for Rody to lick his face. (Y/N) lightly pushed him back, "I'm fine Rody."
(Y/N) walked back up to the wall to begin climbing, but a piece came out of it to knock him back on the ground as he heard the girl, "Stay out!" (Y/N) got back up to rub his head as he grabbed Rody's reins, "Come on boy. Let's see anyone else has seen anything." With that (Y/N) began asking around the village asking anyone he passed by on the streets if they saw Zuko or Iroh. Every time he asked he would always get a head shake or a no. A few hours passed for (Y/N) to begin losing hope as he passed by a small building. When he passed by a man stopped him by quickly walking in front of him with a poster in hand, "Hey young man you look like you've got a lot on your mind. Why don't you try out a massage to calm your nerves." (Y/N) began to walk by, "No thanks." The man took a step to be in front of him again, "Tell ya what. I'll give you a half off deal, but only this once. So you are gonna wanna take this offer." (Y/N) looked at the man and then the building to sigh, "Fine." "Great, now just head inside and say that the man outside sent ya."
(Y/N) left Rody outside as he headed in to see that it was an inside a woman at the front desk. He told her that the man outside sent him in and side that he could get a half off deal. Afterwards he was sent to a room where he took off his shirt and laid down on a bed as there were two other people who were on other beds. A minute later a woman came in to begin giving (Y/N) his massage. The woman seemed to focus on his shoulders, "You have very tight knots here." "Really?" "Yes, it is quite unusual for a boy your age." After half an hour it was over (Y/N) sat up for the man next to him to look at him, "What is a boy your age doing with so much stress?
(Y/N) looked at him, "We're you eavesdropping?" The man slowly waved his hand in front of him, "I couldn't help it." "Well you got anything to help with he stress?" "Maybe tell someone your problems it always helps me." (Y/N) thought about it for a bit to decide to try the man's advice. He left out the fact that they were all related to the fire lord. "Well I've been trying to find my brother and uncle fore a few months and I think I've lost their trail. So I'm afraid that I won't see them again." "That is something you shouldn't be worrying about at your age."
The man held his chin with his fore finger and thumb, "What do they look like?" (Y/N) told the man what Zuko and Iroh looked like for the woman to continue, "Oh I've seen them." (Y/N) shot up, "What?! Where did you see them?" "It's hard to remember." The man then smirked, "Maybe a coin or two could help me remember." (Y/N) frowned as, "Are you serious?" "Hey that's cheap around here. We all need to make money when we can." (Y/N) groaned, "Fine." The man was paid for is information, "I went to visit family in the nearby village and I saw two people who look like what you described heading north east towards Ba Sing Se."
After learning this (Y/N) got up to leave. (Y/N) walked out of the building to untie Rody's reins. He then went to s shop to buy some food for the road, but when the owner asked for the amount of money (Y/N) owed, the boy realized that he gave that man what he had left when he checked his pouch. The boy gave a smile, "Hey maybe I-" The owner kicked him out of the store, "No money, no goods." (Y/N) got up to go check Rody's saddle, to soon hang his head and sigh, "Looks like we don't have enough food for the trip." (Y/N) looked around, "What to do for money?" A few hours passed for (Y/N) to walk down the streets with Rody looking for a way to get the tiniest amount of money, just so that they could have food for their trip, which was getting back on track towards Ba Sing Se.
It was getting dark so (Y/N) made plans to spend the night in the nearby forest. As he walked he noticed a poster on a brick wall fall and land in front of him. (Y/N) picked the piece of paper up to see that it was an advertisement for an underground fight club that anyone could participate in. He noticed the amount of money a participant receives if they win. (Y/N) continued walking, "Two matches would be enough to get us food and to last until Ba Sing Se. I just wonder if I could beat whoever I'm put up against." The boy and Rody soon made it in the forest and walk for about ten more minutes, "Alright let's make camp around here. Maybe we can find a one day job tomorrow, and if not then fighting is an option." When they stopped (Y/N) began to gather a few sticks for a fire to hear a twig snap behind him to his left. He pulled out his bow pulled an arrow back on the string and fire. It went past some bushes for the boy to soon hear a thud, so he walked past the bushes to see the arrow in a tree trunk. The boy pulled it out, "Must of been a a critter." He then heard someone to his, so he took aim to see the girl he met earlier, "You have really bad aim." (Y/N) quickly pointed at her, "Hey your the one who threw me over the wall." The girl clapped, "Wow so you can remember past fifteen minutes. Good job."
(Y/N) put his bow on his back, "What is a girl from royalty doing out here in the forest by herself?" "It's none of your business." (Y/N) then looked to his left as he heard two people walking towards them. They looked at (Y/N), "Young boy have you seen a little girl around here?" (Y/N) pointed to where the girl was, "Yeah right here." The guards looked at where he was pointing to look back at (Y/N), "We don't have time for games child." They walked off leaving (Y/N) confused to look at where the girl used to be as she was gone, but he noticed the that was beneath her was cracked open showing that she had gone underground. He did not see her again, so (Y/N) made a fire, set out his blanket, and went to bed. But something was on his mind, "Why wouldn't she want to be found? And how can she know where I am while blind?"
The Next Day
(Y/N) had found his way to the underground fight club as he was currently being laughed at. A man who seemed to control the fights was the one who was laughing, "You?! You wanna fight?!" (Y/N) raised an eyebrow, "Yeah. The flyer says that anyone can fight." The man contained himself, "Let's go over this again, you can't bend right?" (Y/N) avoided eye contact, "Yep, no bending at all." "Well if you can't bend you need to at least weigh over two hundred pounds. I don't want anyone coming after me for a kid getting hurt because they wanna show how tough they are." "But I know how to figh-" (Y/N) was cut off by the man turning around and slamming a door in his face, "Go (Y/N) got mad as he nearly blew a fuse, but he left to avoid making a scene. He left for (Y/N) to begin walking down the streets, "There goes that chance for money." The sad boy walked to soon stop as he was near the palace once again.
He looked ahead of him to see the girl from yesterday sneaking away. She seemed to not of noticed him as she ran into the forest. (Y/N) watched her go for him to think of something, so he looked at Rody, "Stay here." (Y/N) began to follow her by jumping in the trees. He was far enough the it became a little hard to see her, but it seemed that she still never noticed him. As he jumped between trees he got a little closer, but when he got closer and landed on a branch the girl stopped to look directly at him. She brought a piece of rock out of the ground and threw it at him. (Y/N) jumped back and to his left to where she was no longer looking at him. (Y/N) closely watched her, 'So whatever she uses to see has a limit.' He was soon proven wrong as the girl raised her right foot and slammed it down for nothing to happen. (Y/N) looked confused; until the girl stuck her arm in front of her, closed her fist, and brought her fist towards her. With this a rock hit (Y/N) in the back knocking him down. When he hit the ground he was trapped by rocks covering his arms and legs, "This is already annoying." The girl put her foot on the back of (Y/N)'s head, "And you're already annoying tree hugger. Why do you keep following me?" "I'm not- I haven't been following you." "Then what were you just doing?" "Well ok I was following just now, but I have a good reason." "I'm all ears."
(Y/N) began to explain himself, "I know that you sneak out of your palace and avoid any guards coming after you. So I thought that maybe it's because you don't like being what people see you as, which is like a princess. So the forest is where you can be free." The girl raised an eyebrow, "What are you getting at already?" (Y/N) gave her the answer straight forward, "There is an underground fight club and I need you to fight in matches because I need money to go to Ba Sing Se." The rocks disappeared off of (Y/N), for a rock to come up and make (Y/N) stand up as the girl crossed his arms, "Go on." (Y/N) told the girl everything about why he needed to go to Ba Sing Se, and why he could not fight in the underground matches. The girl was silent when he was done for her to speak, "I'm surprised you didn't just ask me for money. Everyone does it all the time." "Well do you have any money?" "My parents don't trust me with any money."
It was silent between the two for the girl to look annoyed as she stuck her arms to the side, "Well lead me to the fight club already!" (Y/N) jumped a little from her outburst, "All right jeez. you never said that you wanted to go with the plan." "Well I am now!" With that (Y/N) led the girl to the underground fights for (Y/N) to look at his companion, "So, what's your name?" "You really don't know?" "Nope." "I'm Toph, Beifong. How about you?" "I am Haruki." "You're lying." "Wh- What? No I'm n-" "Your heartbeat got faster and some of your muscles tensed up signifying that you are lying. So what is your name?" (Y/N) hesitated, "(Y/N)." "See, was it so hard to tell the truth." (Y/N) let out a breathe of relief as Toph had no idea who he was.
They eventually arrived for the man who laughed at (Y/N) before to notice them. He sighed, "Listen kid, you can't fight." (Y/N) shook his head, "Oh no not me." Toph then waved a little, "I wanna fight." The man looked at her to pinch the bridge of his nose, "Kids these days. Look little girl only pro benders can-" Toph raised her foot to slam the ground making the ground come up next to her, "But I can bend." The man sighed, "I don't have time for this. I'll put you up for an easy match, just be here when it's time. What's your fighting name?" Toph drew a blank, "What?" "A fighting name. Everyone has a nickname when they fight. What's yours?" "Uhhh." (Y/N) was quick to respond, "The Blind Bandit." The man looked at him, "The Blind Bandit?" Toph thought for a few seconds, "Uhhh, yeah. That's it." The man began to walk away, "Be here in twenty minutes."
With that Toph pulled on (Y/N)'s sleeve, "Come on. Let's go see a fight." (Y/N) followed her as he thought that now would be good to ask how she can see when she is blind, "So how exactly do you know what is happening around you?" Toph looked away from the fight at him, "I can feel the vibrations of the ground using my earth bending. But I need to be barefoot." "How did you learn to do that?" Toph looked at him, "I fell into a tunnel and I met some badger moles. They taught me how to use my earth bending to see." "That is fascinating." The two sat in the stands as a match started. (Y/N) looked around, "Why is no one else sitting this close?" A small boulder then flew through the air and land next to the two making (Y/N) jump a little, "Ah, that's why." As the two watched (Y/N) looked at Toph to see her smiling as she seemed pumped about the match.
Two matches then passed for Toph to be up next. Toph walked onto the arena for everyone to begin laughing. Even her opponent laughed for (Y/N) to begin doubting this idea. The match started for Toph's opponent to bend bring a chunk of the ground and bring it up into the air. As he got ready to throw it at Toph the little girl brought her right foot forward to quickly bring her right hand in front of her with her palm up. Earth came up from the man's side hitting him in the side. This made him fall for the rock he brought out to fall on him. Toph then made the rock surround the guy and connect to the ground. With this the man could no longer move for Toph to stare blankly in front of her, "Is it over already?" Everyone was silent for (Y/N)'s doubt to disappear. The next match started for Toph and (Y/N) to arrange for Toph to fight again tomorrow.
Afterwards they were given the money reward for (Y/N) to count only six copper pieces and a silver piece, "Hey there is only half of what was said we could win." The man looked at (Y/N), "That's because half of what you win we keep. This is a business after all, we need to keep it running." Toph raised an eyebrow, "That doesn't sound like much sense." The man looked down at the two, "Well if you don't like it then you can just stop fighting." (Y/N) pocketed the money, "There's no need for that we understand. We will see you in two days." "Good. Now leave, I have more important things to take care of."
With that the two children left for (Y/N) to look at Toph, "You wouldn't happen to have a few gold pieces in your name would ya?" Toph kept looking in front of her, "No, my parents don't let me handle any money or keep any. They think I'll just use it." (Y/N) tilted his head to the side, closed his eyes, and sighed, "That makes sense." Toph then punched his arm, "But I'll keep fighting and give you the money." (Y/N) looked down at her, "So did you have fun fighting today." "Yeah, if you could even of called that a fight." "Maybe they'll get harder the more you win." "I hope so." They soon arrived at Toph's palace for Toph to wave bye, "See ya tree hugger." "See ya." Toph earth bended to go into the ground and get in her room by going under the palace. When she got out f sight (Y/N) squinted his eyes, "Tree hugger?"
A Few Weeks Later
(Y/N) was sitting in the stands again as he was waiting for Toph's match to start. Meanwhile outside of the entrance was a very excited teenage boy running inside, "Come on guys hurry up!" A girl that looked around the same age and seemed related to him shouted at him, "Slow down Sokka the matches aren't going anywhere!"