Overconfidence (OPEN)

[Toph Bei Fong]

In winter, the foothills of the Sanguine Mountain were picturesque. Snow capped the peaks, icicles hung off every overhang and outcropping of rock. The rare mountain lion not hibernating pausing to take a sip out of a half-frozen river . There was snow on the ground, but it was only an inch or two. Pretty mild for this season actaully. Mostly though, it was nice and quiet.

That all changed with a sudden explosion of rock on neighboring cliff face. The body of small ogre had suddenly burst free of the side of the mountain, and was sent hurtling toward the stream. He fell just short, with a impact that dazed even him.

As he struggled to get his bearings, another figure emerged from the hole he had left. Dressed in heavy fur-lined coat and equally bulky pants, the perosn made large, pinwheeling gesture with her arms, and jumped...

... to land a platform of rock just below the hole. With a rumbling like rolling thunder, the platform side down the mountain with the person on it, their arms again in motion, rowing at empty air as if the outcropping of rock was a simple canoe.

The ogre was struggling to rise but by that time the rock rider had arrived. They deftly jumped off their ride, which sank back into the Earth at once, like two drops of water merging into one. Their bare feet sank straight through the two inches of snow, and they finished their approach on foot.

"No, no," the perosn said in a feminine voice. "No need to get up." Her next step turned into a stamp on the ground. A loop of rock suddenly leaped up around the ogre's ankles, then both his wrists, pinning him.

The woman walked casually towards him, her face obscured by the hood she wore. She reached to under the sleeve on her right arm, and pulled free her bracer...which then instantly began to lengthen and straighten into a silvery metal metal bo staff... then the staff changed further until the point it was quite sharp.

She pressed this tip against the pinned ogre's throat while she reached into her coat with her free hand, removing a roll of parchment. "Now lets try this again, short, dumb, and ugly. Have you seen this woman?" She unrolled the parchment with a flick of her wrists where he could see it.

"Ughhhhh..." the ogre replied hesitatingly.

An exasperated sigh from within the hood. "Its backwards, isn't it?" she asked. Working the edge of the sheet between her fingers, she manged to get it turned around so the ogre could see the portrait of Anactoria IV.

There was low grumble, before the ogre finally replied. "No have seen! Not seen at all!" he replied in broken English.

Toph hissed her teeth. The creature was telling the truth. Another dead end.

"Now wasn't that easy?" Toph asked the orger. "Why couldn't you all just say so the frist time, instead of attacking me? Its too nice day out for all this killing. But since you insisted...."

Toph felt the monsters heart skip a beat as realization dawned on him. Then she drove the point of her staff through the creature fat neck, and withdrew it.

Turing away from the now dying creature, Toph rolled up her portrait and tucked it away under her clothes, then dismissed the rock loops on the ogre with a casual flick over her shoulder. She dipped her staff in the lake to rinse it off, the flattened the end of it with a wave. She pulled her hood off to get some air on her face, and her unruly hair tumbled free of it. Her eyes looked forward, but saw nothing.

"This Anactoria is one clever minx, I'll give her that," she mused aloud. Still, the adrenaline of the moment was wearing off, and Toph was starting to feel the fatigue and the cold. "Better head back to Venus and call it a day."

She sensed the ogre's movement a second to late. Her hands went up to summon a wall of rock, but he manged to reach his belt and dagger just hair faster. The rock wall went up, but the thrown dagger glanced off the top, and it went spinning, slicing through her her jacket at her shoulder and managing to break the skin in a deep cut before flying past her and falling to the ground.

Toph went down with a cry, her fist in the air. The very earth opened beneath the ogre, and he fell just as it slammed back into place. That was the end for him.

But what about her? The wound was bleeding, but didn't look too bad. If those damn ogres hadn't taken her supplies earlier, she could just bandaged it up. Now it would have to wait till she got back to town...

That was really stupid, Toph! Stupid, stupid thing to do, tuning your back before he died! But she wasn't going to get anywhere blaming herself.

She tried to stand a felt wozzy at once. Poison! she realized. Great. Her earthsight began to blur, and world spun underneath her feet.

She had to get back. Fast. And find an apothecary... or maybe...

The thought died half-made as Toph landed face first in the snow, unconscious.

[iphigenia]

Snow and cold. That's all it was around here. Snow and cold. better than mud, anything was better than mud. She sniffed and kept on walking. She didn't feel the cold like most people would, it barely affected her anymore, but the slick ice on the rocks and pathways certainly made the careful trekking necessary. She wanted to just appear there. It would be easier if those stuck up men back at the temple would have just teleported her there. It would certainly have been faster. Instead she had to walk. They didn't even give her a book to read, it was just walking. Boring, useless walking. The only interesting bit had been the ambush. It wasn't even all that interesting. They had just taken off when she pulled the tree out of the ground.

So she walked, the ground was starting to level out but a few outcroppings of rock were still sticking out along the path. Every once in awhile she would slip under one and rest for awhile. Just because she never slept didn't mean she never got tired after all. One of the unexplained bits of her life. As she traveled along she came to a small stream and stopped for a quick drink. The water was cold and refreshing, though why it hadn't frozen over was a mystery to Iphie. She never paid attention to such things and much preferred an exciting historical tale.

A little further down the trail she saw a large wall. Curiosity drew her toward it. Arriving at the back end of it, she noticed it seemed to have grown out of the ground. It didn't have a single seam, though the reason someone might build a wall here was beyond her. She walked around the wall, looking it over before almost tripping on a pile of rags. On a closer inspection, the bundle of rags was a woman, one that seemed completely soaked by the snow and river. She knelt down beside the girl and checked for any sign of life. There was the faintest pulse.

Iphie picked her up with no effort and carried her back to one of the small rock outcroppings, pausing only to break down a small tree to drag along with her. Once situated she tried to remember what she had been taught in the way of first aid. Pulling out her travel kit, she lit a fire using the wood of the tree and some tinder. She moved her to the fire, but not too close in case she had frostbite and couldn't feel the heat. She remembered that it was important to make sure there was no chance of freezing after thawing the subject, but it wasn't as if this was a town or anything so she had to take the chance. Hopefully it was just hypothermia and not frostbite. She removed all of the woman's wet clothes and set set them aside to dry.
Massaging the warmth back in would only cause more harm so she figured she had done all she could for the moment, aside from lying with her. She examined her body and saw the green tinged knife wound in the shoulder and smiled. This was something she could handle. Laying her hands on the wounded shoulder she lightly stroked the wound with a single finger. She focused on it and felt the poison that was flowing through her veins. A simple thing, virtually harmless except that through negligence and miscare, whatever had caused the wound was full of bacteria. She stroked it again and the would split open again. As she continued stroking she could feel the diseased blood run through the skin and she drew the disease from it, allowing it to enter her body. It rebelled but was quickly dealt with. It was a simple disease and it only managed to keep the woman down because of the effect of the cold. Still, it might prove useful so she trapped and stored it inside her. Pulling out a few ingredients from her pack she made a poultice and applied it to the wound. She was quite pleased with herself, there wouldn't even be a scar this time.

[Toph Bei Fong]

With the poison out of her system, the secondary infection with it, and situated next to the fire in her underclothes, it wasn't long before Toph began to stir.

"Ughhhh," she moaned, long and low. She felt like she was pulling her conscious back up a long vertical tunnel line entirely with cotton. Or worse, wood. Her earthsight swam in her mind's eye, and she was unable to pick up any details or her surroundings. But she could feel the fire at least. Felt like a damn good one too. She didn't remember stating one, but who knew what the affects of the poison might have had on her short-term memory.

Toph rolled on to her slide, toward the fire, completely unaware of the woman next to her. "First thing I'm goin' to do when I get back," she mumbled to herself, used to thinking aloud after her years on the road. "Is find me a necromancer. Then I'll drag him out here and bring that damn ogre back to life," she paused to catch her breath, still not 100% yet. "Then I'll kill it again. Five or six more times should make me fell better. Seven, tops."

Toph opened her pale green-grey eyes, and final manged to half lift, half roll herself into a sitting position. Her back now facing her unknown benefactor, she raised one hand toward the wound on her shoulder.

The fact that it seemed closed and treated was actually the secondary surprise. The primary one was that her jacket and shirt now appeared to be missing. "What th--?" she sputtered. Her hands were suddenly a blur of motion, running up and down her body as her unseeing eyes looked straight ahead toward the fire. Save for her underwear and chest wrappings, there was not a stitch of clothing on her.

More confused than panicked, Toph forced herself to focus, and her poisoned addled mind tried its best to cooperate. She then slammed one hand down on the ground, palm frist. The vibrations went out for her Earthsight, which was finally beginning to work right again.

She found the person behind her right away. A woman, if the slight swell Toph sensed at her chest was any indication. She also found her clothes stretched out nearby, and surprising amount if dead space in the direction of the fire, indicating that the logs at the center of it must have been huge, and the outcropping they were all shelters by. That puzzled her; she didn't feel any metal nearby that would have been used to cut such massive logs.

Figuring that the woman must have been the one to help her out, Toph decided it would pay to be polite. This time.

"Well, normally a guy has to buy me a drink or ten before I get naked," she said over her shoulder with a slight smirk. "But since you probably saved my life and all, and also not a guy, I'll make an exception just this once."

Toph turned in place..slowly, careful to keep her feet and hands in contact with the ground as much as possible. She wnated to give her rescuer the courtesy of looking them in the face...a s much as she able to anyway. "So are you?" Toph went on. "The one who saved my life, I mean."

[iphigenia]

"Yeah I am." She watched the woman carefully, evaluating each movement and word carefully. "You weren't in the best of spots, glad to see you've recovered." She glanced outside where the snow had picked up, She was glad she had managed to move the strange rock wall to block most of the wind. "You're not completely well though, so you might want to wait before heading out again. Worse thing to do when recovering from hypothermia is to allow the skin to freeze again." She quoted. "Also, don't go too close to the fire. Your senses are dulled and you might not realize it if you light yourself on fire, let alone burn yourself." She looked up at the ceiling of the makeshift cave, pausing for a moment. "You some kind of magician? I only ask because that rock that was near you was not natural."

[Toph Bei Fong]

"Technically no," Toph replied to the last question "I'm what you call an earthbender. Has more to do with chi manipulation than mana. It also cant be taught like magic... you're either born an earthbender, or you're not. But if you are, you can be taught how to be better." A smug smirk crossed her face. "I'm one of the best..." the smirk faded. "For all the good it did me today."

Trying to change the subject form her own failure, Toph went on. "I don't feel hypothermic. Just drugged. I was poisoned... but you must have figured that out already. Fast acting stuff. Didn't help that my heart was still racing from the fight, or that I've been up for days chasing leads for the whereabouts of that stupid princess..."

Toph trialed off. She hadn't felt a reaction in the other girl, but he sense were still diluted. "Oh crap. I didn't just insult you crown princess, did I? Tell me you're not from around here." Then figuring she was being rude, she added. "I'm Toph. Originally form the Gaia Kingdom, just in town for 'business', I guess you could say."

[iphigenia]

"The princess is missing?" Iphie cursed. "I came all this way and the girl runs off. What am I supposed to do now?" She began muttering to herself more than anything. Suddenly she stopped and looked back at the woman. "Wait, so you're some sort of bounty hunter or something? I suppose that makes sense. I don't know much about your kingdom, my masters haven't gained enough support to travel there yet." She stopped, wondering if she said to much. She assumed she had and bit her lip.

[Toph Bei Fong]

Toph arced a singe eyebrow at the girls mention of having 'masters', and could feel her increased tension screaming at her through the earth. Okay Earthsight getting better. I'll be back on my feet in no time.

She flipped stray lock of hair out of her face. "So... you're here for Anactoria IV, huh?" Toph asked carefully. She had run into a few of the suitors since coming to the City of Venus. She suddenly felt a little less comfortable being half naked in front of the other woman. "Good luck with that, the competition is starting to stack up."

Toph crossed her arms over her chest in what she hoped was a casual way. "Well, sooner or later I'll find her. Or someone else will. Actually, I expect that she'll show up all on her lonesome now that daddy finally caved and is willing to let her marry a woman. That would really suck for me; the posted reward for her safe return... you could swim in that much gold, but you'd never find a pool big enough."

Now it was Toph's turn to shut up. The last thing she needed right now was to invite competition. The wind seemed to pick up then, blowing through the few gaps around the rock wall. Toph shivered. "Hey, is it snowing outside?" she asked, again changing the subject. "It wouldn't be a good thing to be stuck here all night... damn ogres stealing my supplies..."

[iphigenia]

"If you're feeling so self conscious, your clothes are probably dry by now. Besides, hiding it now isn't changing the fact I've already seen it." She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, the weather's getting worse. That wall of yours sure came in handy. And if it helps, I have some supplies I can share, I already saved your life from the cold, can't exactly let you starve." She looked at the wall, picturing what it might look like outside. Her mind returned to Toph's movement to hide her chest. It annoyed her. It wasn't her idea to go after the princess' hand in marriage but because of it she was being judged again. She sighed and popped her neck.

[Toph Bei Fong]

Busted, Toph thought as he felt her rescuer tense as she spoke. But she still felt her way over to her clothes anyway. The shirt and coat were dry enough, but her pants were still damp enough to be a bad idea to wear. She pulled on the shirt and settled for draping the coat over her legs, both our of self consciousness and the fact that, hey, it was still cold out there.

"Look," she said. "Sorry if i offend you or something. Where I come from..." she trailed off. "Women who..." again she let the sentence die. Mincing words was never her strong suit, she said what she felt. But this was special case, this woman saved her life. She ought to be polite with her.

"Its just not done," she finished lamely. "So, I got no coping skills in regards to that."

Toph shook her head. "Look, I can close us up in this outcropping and keep the wind out But there be no exhaust or air for the fire, so it would have to go as well. So unless you got a damn good sleeping bag it going get frosty in here."

After a second or so of silence, Toph grunted once and reached out with one hand to grasp Iphie's. She looked toward where she could sense the woman's face and hoped she was making eye contact. It was tricky thing to do when you couldn't see.

"Thank you for saving my life, madam." Toph said in her best, official Lady Bei Fong voice. "If, in the future, you have need of assistance from myself or my house, it will be given to you without question. May I please know the name of my rescuer?"

[iphigenia]

"Iphigenia Carrow." She said, slightly surprised at the sudden contact. Then the first part of what Toph had said caught up with her mind. "Wait a second, I'm not a-" She paused. You're playing one. She told herself. What you want or don't want doesn't matter. You have to play the part so you can free yourself. "Look, I'm just after the princess ok, don't take it the wrong way but I'm not interested in you. One of the instructions for warming up hypothermic person is sharing body heat, I didn't do that then so just try and trust me ok?" She took a deep breath and remembered to blink again. "The fire has got to stay for you, I've got an extra change of clothes and if you want you can use the ones I have on now. They won't fit you right but they should help a bit. The cold doesn't bother me so much." She pulled out her pack and set it on her lap. "It's up to you."

[Toph Bei Fong]

Ah, there it was.

That simple half-second flutter of the heartbeat, the purely physiological response that accompanied a lie. No one could hide it. A person could have no other tells at all, but the heart always knows. Well, there was that one woman... but she had been a complete sociopath. Fact was, in the here and now, Iphigenia was lying to her.

But which part? The part about not being attracted to Toph? The part about body heat? The part about being there for the princesses' hand?

Moreover, was it any of Toph's business?

If the 'evil lesbian' had wnated to take advantage of her, she surely had her chance when she was unconscious. And she could have easily left her to die in the snow. So, let her join the long line of sad, lonely women throwing themselves and the attention-glutton wearing the crown. What was it to her?

"It's the eyes, isn't it," Toph joked in an attempt to break the tension. Her tone was more normal as she let Iphie's hand drop. "They creep people out. 'S okay, I get that all the time. Something to cover my legs would be nice though, thanks. When we get back to Venus, I'll be sure to make this up to you. A Bei Fong always pays her debts."

[iphigenia]

"You mean eyes? Is there something wrong with them?" Iphigenia suddenly blinked several times fast, an unconscious attempt at trying to catch themselves up to the rest of her. She mentally cursed herself for saying something stupid. Especially anything that might draw attention to her own eyes.

[Toph Bei Fong]

Being unable to see the other woman's eyes, Top was confused by her scrambling and increased tension. It was a wonder the girl didn't snap in half, she was wound so tight.

"Um, I meant my eyes," Top confessed, puzzled. "Cause they're all milky and grey... or so I've been told. It was just a joke. You know to break the tension? You said you weren't interested in me, and I just suggested it was because my eyes look creepy... you know what? Forget I said anything."

Awkward!Toph thought.

[iphigenia]

"Oh. I guess it just didn't register with me." They sat in silence for a few minutes as Iphie tried to figure out what to say next. "So umm...Did you want the clothes?"

[Toph Bei Fong]

Toph nodded, thankful that Iphie had not caught her slip. She had said 'or so I've been told' implying that she had never see her own eye color herself. Well, if Iphie hadn't figured out she was blind by now, there was no need to advertise the fact.

"My shirt and coat are fine. If you have some kind of leggings I can borrow, that would help a lot.

Toph's stomach chose that moment to start grumbling. "And some food would great too...' she added.