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edenfallingHere is another Avatar/Enchanted Forest crossover snippet. This is set two years before the story proper (which starts with Aang meeting Katara and Sokka, as per canon), but is useful in establishing some of the changes this world has made to the Avatar characters and situations.
Toph and Mai (and background Zuko), completely gen. 650 words.
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The War of Secret Flames: The Two Secretive Princesses
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There was something weird about Princess May of Veritand. (Aside from the way she prefered to spell her name Mai, ostensibly as "a sign of solidarity with our Cathayan immigrant population," but really just because her friends thought it looked cooler.)
There was something weird about all the visitors from Veritand, actually, but Toph had figured the other three out within two days. Lady Ty Lee was not really a noble at all, but the daughter of Veritand's court jester. She was also a witch of some sort, since so far as Toph knew, only witches and magicians could see magical auras. Lord Zuko and Lady Azula were definitely fire witches, though they were trying to hide it -- and at least in Zuko's case, failing spectacularly. (On the other foot, nobody but Toph and the overly-territorial goose had been in the garden at the time, so she should probably cut Zuko a little slack.) Azula was also prone to nasty laughter and Zuko was a dork, but anybody could figure that out, so Toph didn't count those as secrets.
Mai though, she couldn't figure out at all. Toph knew in her feet and her bones that the other princess had some kind of secret. She heard it in Mai's voice, felt it in her footsteps, sensed it in her careful silences. But Mai hid whatever it was as closely and carefully as Toph hid her own secrets -- not even her own parents knew she could turn to stone, after all, though they'd figured out pretty early on that being blind didn't mean she couldn't see -- and not knowing was driving Toph mad.
She sulked through the formal dinner that marked the first week of Princess Mai's state visit, occasionally flicking drops of soup across the table into Zuko's face and feeling him grit his teeth and count to ten over and over and over. (Another day or two of that, and she might get him angry enough to burst into flames in the middle of court. That would be the best joke ever.)
Afterward, Toph cornered Mai in one of the back staircases. "What's your secret?" she asked. "I know you have one."
"If it's a secret, what makes you think I'd tell anyone who didn't already know?" Mai asked, her voice even dryer than usual. Her heart didn't speed up so much as half a second. Not fair! Toph had thought she was the best secret-keeper ever, but she still got nervous when people realized she was hiding things.
Toph scowled and kicked her heel against the banister. "But I want to know! I know Ty Lee's not a lady, and Azula and Zuko are fire witches, and I think their dad is running Veritand even though your dad's the king, but I can't figure you out. Tell me!"
Mai laughed.
"...You're a guest in Toure-on-Marsh," Toph said, switching tactics. "You're supposed to be polite to me."
"And you're supposed to be polite in return," Mai pointed out. "Stop asking nosy questions." She began walking up the stairs, her long skirts swishing around her ankles and against the stones.
Toph considered asking the banister posts to uproot themselves and block Mai's path, but that would give away one of her own secrets. "It's not fair," she grumbled.
On the second-floor landing, Mai turned. "Life isn't fair. But you're not boring, so I'll make a deal: if, on your sixteenth birthday, you still don't know my secrets, you can ask and I'll tell you. But the offer's only good on that day, and you'll have to ask in person. What do you say?"
"Oh, whatever," Toph said, and stomped off to the gardens. Maybe she could hide in a bush and throw things at Zuko until he set his hair on fire again.
Six years later, of course, she didn't have to ask. She knew perfectly well Mai was a ninja.
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This is like crack, I swear. And really not what I need to be writing. First I need to write my Yuletide fic. (For which I now, at least, have a firm idea. Yay progress?) Then I need to finish the untitled Star Trek thing. Then I need to get back to "Secrets" and make the damn story end sometime before I turn twenty-eight. *headdesk*
Toph and Mai (and background Zuko), completely gen. 650 words.
---------------------------------------------
The War of Secret Flames: The Two Secretive Princesses
---------------------------------------------
There was something weird about Princess May of Veritand. (Aside from the way she prefered to spell her name Mai, ostensibly as "a sign of solidarity with our Cathayan immigrant population," but really just because her friends thought it looked cooler.)
There was something weird about all the visitors from Veritand, actually, but Toph had figured the other three out within two days. Lady Ty Lee was not really a noble at all, but the daughter of Veritand's court jester. She was also a witch of some sort, since so far as Toph knew, only witches and magicians could see magical auras. Lord Zuko and Lady Azula were definitely fire witches, though they were trying to hide it -- and at least in Zuko's case, failing spectacularly. (On the other foot, nobody but Toph and the overly-territorial goose had been in the garden at the time, so she should probably cut Zuko a little slack.) Azula was also prone to nasty laughter and Zuko was a dork, but anybody could figure that out, so Toph didn't count those as secrets.
Mai though, she couldn't figure out at all. Toph knew in her feet and her bones that the other princess had some kind of secret. She heard it in Mai's voice, felt it in her footsteps, sensed it in her careful silences. But Mai hid whatever it was as closely and carefully as Toph hid her own secrets -- not even her own parents knew she could turn to stone, after all, though they'd figured out pretty early on that being blind didn't mean she couldn't see -- and not knowing was driving Toph mad.
She sulked through the formal dinner that marked the first week of Princess Mai's state visit, occasionally flicking drops of soup across the table into Zuko's face and feeling him grit his teeth and count to ten over and over and over. (Another day or two of that, and she might get him angry enough to burst into flames in the middle of court. That would be the best joke ever.)
Afterward, Toph cornered Mai in one of the back staircases. "What's your secret?" she asked. "I know you have one."
"If it's a secret, what makes you think I'd tell anyone who didn't already know?" Mai asked, her voice even dryer than usual. Her heart didn't speed up so much as half a second. Not fair! Toph had thought she was the best secret-keeper ever, but she still got nervous when people realized she was hiding things.
Toph scowled and kicked her heel against the banister. "But I want to know! I know Ty Lee's not a lady, and Azula and Zuko are fire witches, and I think their dad is running Veritand even though your dad's the king, but I can't figure you out. Tell me!"
Mai laughed.
"...You're a guest in Toure-on-Marsh," Toph said, switching tactics. "You're supposed to be polite to me."
"And you're supposed to be polite in return," Mai pointed out. "Stop asking nosy questions." She began walking up the stairs, her long skirts swishing around her ankles and against the stones.
Toph considered asking the banister posts to uproot themselves and block Mai's path, but that would give away one of her own secrets. "It's not fair," she grumbled.
On the second-floor landing, Mai turned. "Life isn't fair. But you're not boring, so I'll make a deal: if, on your sixteenth birthday, you still don't know my secrets, you can ask and I'll tell you. But the offer's only good on that day, and you'll have to ask in person. What do you say?"
"Oh, whatever," Toph said, and stomped off to the gardens. Maybe she could hide in a bush and throw things at Zuko until he set his hair on fire again.
Six years later, of course, she didn't have to ask. She knew perfectly well Mai was a ninja.
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This is like crack, I swear. And really not what I need to be writing. First I need to write my Yuletide fic. (For which I now, at least, have a firm idea. Yay progress?) Then I need to finish the untitled Star Trek thing. Then I need to get back to "Secrets" and make the damn story end sometime before I turn twenty-eight. *headdesk*
(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-10 10:16 am (UTC)I love bratty little Toph here. X3
(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-10 09:38 pm (UTC)Toph is very fun to write.