it's.the JOURNEY ]]open[[

[Verbena Nightshade]

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Verbena had finally made it to Sapphis Castle, the heart of the City of Venus...the heart of Terre de Conte. This was where her search had brought her. She hoped that this was where she would find her answers. It was the land of promise, after all. A land where anything could happen, where even two women could rule side-by-side.

She shook her head at the thought.

Before her stood the looming hedges, snow-covered green, marking the labyrinthine pass to the gazebo. Or so the rumors said. She wondered just how true the rumors were. It felt as though she was uncovering the truth of something more than just the rumor. Maybe the answers she sought would be in the center of the maze, with that mysterious gazebo.

Maybe that's where she would find herself.

Or maybe she would find herself along the way. She enjoyed mazes, she enjoyed long walks without destination. It gave her time to think and reflect. Curious and oddly cheerful, Verbena went on her way, looking forward to getting lost as she glided across the thin layer of snow along the ground.

[Toph Bei Fong]

The hedge maze was for good training.

Toph's earthsight was useless against wood and plants. She could tell you where a tree was based on where its root busied themselves into the earth she had such a oneness with. But she could not tell you how wide it was or how tall it went. They were her blind spots. Blind spots were a vulnerability, a weakness. She had learned that in war. The hard way.

She shook her head. Why was the war on her mind so much lately? She had not thought about it once for over two years, yet ever since she got back from her most recent, and ill-fated, hunt for the princess --

Distracted by her thoughts, Toph walked right into a hedge wall. She yelped once in surprise, than backed out again. Pay attention Toph! she scolded herself. She took a deep breath, and padded at the ground with her bo staff, whcih today had been shortened into a cane.

That was not the only difference today. Gone was the heavy travel worn coat and pants and the disheveled hair. Toph was dressed in a shimmering emerald sari, the tail of which trialed over one bare shoulder. Over that she wore a heavy cloak, fur-lined and of the deepest green. The sigil of her family, a flying boar, was engraved on the brooch that held the cloak together at her neck. The hood was down and her hair shone with shine and body, pulled free from her face and into a elegant high ponytail.

It had all been way too much work ad far as the earthbender was concerned, but as long as she was going to stay in the castle, she figured she'd blend in better this way.

The worse part where the shoes. Sandals really, but they were bad enough. She was truly blind now... but that been the point. The training. How to get a sense of her surrounding without using her earthsight. Once she mastered that and coupled it with her mastery of the 'sight, she'd be unstoppable. No one else would ever have to pay for her --

Agh! The war again! Toph buried the thought

So she listened, she waved the stick out before her, close to the ground to look for holes or other hazards. But all she could hear was the whistle of the wind in the bushes. All she could feel was the even stone path. It was maddening. She wasn't getting any better at all!

So it should be no surprise to anyone when Toph came around a blind corner, swinging her cane low before her, and struck Verbena solidly on her shin.

[Verbena Nightshade]

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Something hit her in the shin - hard. Verbena's leg buckled underneath her and she collapsed onto the snow-covered ground. Well, it had been a nice walk until that moment. It wasn't that she minded the company. The pain was the only thing that was unwelcome.

She fell without a sound, without a pained cry. Only the expression of a wince beneath her decorated mask. "Ah, I'm sorry. I hope I wasn't in your way," she said simply as she slowly pulled herself off the ground, leaning her weight on the uninjured leg and testing the other.

It seemed alright. Despite the sharp pain, it did not seem as though she was injured. She let a sigh of relief escape.

Her sharp gray eyes looked over the intruder. She was met with unfocused, milky eyes. Verbena wasn't so oblivious as to not be able to pull the pieces together: the stranger was blind. The priestess, however, did not perceive this as a handicap. When one lost something, something else was always gained. Just as Verbena had lost her face, she had gained her faith and the ability to heal.

"Are you searching for something?" she asked curiously, finally placing weight on both feet.

[Toph Bei Fong]

"Oh, shale!" Toph let loose with a Gaia Kingdom curse when her staff made the connection and she realized it was with a person. She winces as she heard them fall. The way her luck had been running lately, she probably just took out the Empress herself. Or worse.

It didn't help that she was still blind without her earthsight. She was ready to tear the damn sandals off her feet when the other persons rose, the spoke, their voice soft and feminine.

"You're sorry?" Toph sputtered. "I'm the one that nearly snapped your leg in half." Slight exageration, but Toph was a powerful woman, she had not exactly been pulling her cane's swings.

But the other woman didn't complain or rail, or even hiss her teeth from pain. Then went on to ask her if she needed help with something. Toph gave a little laugh that was practical a snort.

"Yeah, I'm looking for a clue," she said bitterly. "Seen any of those around lately? Look, are you sure you're okay? I hit you pretty hard..."

[Verbena Nightshade]

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Nearly snapped her leg in half. Well, that was a slight exaggeration. It had been painful, incredibly so, and she was not going to deny the other woman's unexpected strength. But her leg had no been snapped in half. In fact, it was in one, excruciatingly pained piece.

But Verbena had made it this far into the maze. She felt sure that something waited for her if she just continued walking. She was sure that she was come to some sort of answer. She just needed to keep walking. That aside, she could not allow the other woman to be concerned.

She frowned slightly, a look of confusion crossing her face - why was this stranger laughing? She couldn't find the priestess's injury entertaining, could she? No, that was impossible.... The expression was quickly replaced with a small, gentle smile which she was sure her companion would not be able to see. "I heal quickly," she said reassuringly.

And it was true, somewhat. She healed quickly for the average person. Not quickly enough to negate the effects of the injury for at least an entire day. Thankfully, by this time tomorrow, she would not be sore in the slightest. It was the little things....

"I am looking for something similar.... Perhaps we could search together? If we are both looking, it should be more difficult to overlook...." Although thinking alone as Verbena had planned had its benefits, talking with someone else had its benefits as well. She felt sure that there was a reason for everything. She would not have come to meet this strange woman had Estolia not had some reason for it. Of this, the young priestess was certain.

[Toph Bei Fong]

Toph arched an eyebrow. She wished that she could tell if the other woman was lying, but these damn sandals!

"Your funeral," she said at last. She reached out with her cane, careful to point it in a direction away from where the soft, kind voice was coming from, and continued her blind trek, listening for the other woman's footsteps to catch up. "Not sure how good I'll be with the 'looking' part. I'm more of a feeler."

Her cane clacking the area before her every few steps, Toph nevertheless led the way. She figured it would be safer that way, less chance of taking out the woman's other leg. "I'm Toph." she said after they had proceeded a few feet down the latest turn in the path. She wrinkled her nose, rolled her eyes, then amended. "I mean 'Baroness Toph Bei Fong'. Gaia, that sounds so pretentious... but when in Venus, do as the Venusians do, and all that. And I'm not usually this clumsy. I'm... sort of trying something new here, and it isn't working. Really should out to get on the road were I belong and bring that waywad princess back home... but even I need some down time.

"What about you? What brings you out here today?"

[Verbena Nightshade]

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She waited for the other woman to walk past before following, feet shuffling rapidly for a few moments until she caught up. And once again, she fell into her smooth, even pace.

"What I hope to find doesn't require sight," Verbena responded simply. In fact, she decided, Estolia had probably fated this meeting so as to help the priestess find her answers. She would discover something valuable today that she wouldn't have been able to discover on her own, of this she was sure.

And, in fact, she was learning a great deal.

Toph Bei Fong, baronness. A woman without sight who was seeking something precious on her own. Someone who was trying to find Terre de Conte's missing princess. It seemed everyone hoped for something from the princess, everyone had ulterior motive. But Verbena supposed that was the sort of thing that happened when one sent out such an invitation.

For a moment, she felt a pang in her chest. The princess wanted to find love. Those courting her had their own selfish purposes. She wondered whether or not the princess would be able to find someone who truly loved her amongst these self-motivated maidens. But she had no right to say anything. She was there for her own reasons as well, after all. She had no intentions of falling in love.

"It is nice to meet you, Toph," she said, stopping barely long enough to lower her head in respect. Quickly catching up again, she continued speaking: "I am Verbena Nightshade, priestess of Estolia. I'm simply searching for something. The weather is pleasant and I had hoped that a walk would help me find some answers.... May I ask why you want to find the princess?"

[Toph Bei Fong]

"For the gold, of course," Toph replied off-handily. She paused in her stride, and tapped at the stone path, tilting her head to the side. The sound that reached her ears was different somehow... she reached out with her cane in front of her, and smiled when she felt it stab into a hedge wall. "So," she mumbled under her breath, "It sounds different when I came to a wall... good to know."

Remembering where she was, she paused to look in the general direction of where he heard Verbena voice last. "I probably don't look like it," she explained, "but I'm a damn good sell sword. My latest job is to find the missing Princess and to drag her back to her adoring suitors, intact and unhurt." Toph smirked. "Is 'suitor' the right word when the people in question are all women?" she shrugged. "Not my problem either way."

Toph resumed her trek through the maze, and was pleased to discover she could more readily tell where was was by hearing alone. "Never heard of Estolia." she admitted. "What is the faith all about?"

[Verbena Nightshade]

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Of course. As though traveling to a distant land in search of a princess in hopes of attaining money was entirely expected. Especially with women being called from across the globe. Then again, perhaps that wasn't quite as uncommon a reason as Verbena would have liked to believe.

Verbena watched silently as the other woman knocked the cane against the hedges. It seemed to her untrained eyes as though Toph was unaccustomed to using a cane. She wondered how this strange woman usually managed to find her way around. Although she was curious, she would not bring herself to ask. If someone had something they wished to say, they would say it without her prying.

"I don't see how being female would make the word any less useful in the current situation," she thought aloud. Estolia had led her to an interesting person. In fact, she was meeting quite a few interesting people lately. "I take it you have no romantic interest in the princess then? What need has a young baroness such as yourself have for so much money?" The title generally implied at least relative wealth.

However, there were those who had fallen from grace. And from the other woman's clothes, it was clear that she had come a long way for this. She bowed her head apologetically, "I should not have asked."

Many people hadn't heard of Estolia, especially outside of Celestia. So the young priestess wasn't surprised that her current companion was unfamiliar with their beliefs as well. Her lips curled into a gentle smile, eyes glittering happily. "It's about love..." she responded. "But shouldn't love be the basis of all faith?"

[Toph Bei Fong]

Jan 26, 2010 19:42:07 GMT -5 Verbena Nightshade said:

"I take it you have no romantic interest in the princess then? What need has a young baroness such as yourself have for so much money?" The title generally implied at least relative wealth.

However, there were those who had fallen from grace. And from the other woman's clothes, it was clear that she had come a long way for this. She bowed her head apologetically, "I should not have asked."

Toph, meanwhile was straining her ears for other auditory clues. Footsteps and their voices were the only thing she could hear, along with the tapping of her cane. The sound seemed to run in all directions and only to stop as they neared a hedge. But in the direction of the path that was clear... the sound kept going.

Going to have to pay closer attention to that, she thought.

Aloud she replied. "I get that question a lot, so don't worry about it. No, I'm not looking for Anactoria's hand. Gaia, the whole idea of two women... where I come from, its just not done. Its considered personality flaw like immaturity at best... or a mental illness at worse. And ever since the war --"

Stop thinking about the war! Toph screamed in her head

She cleared her throat. "Coming here... where everyone is okay with it... Well, never knew I could be culture-shocked, but here I am. As for why I need the money, well that's my business. Lets just say new lives are expensive at leave it that, 'kay, Angel?" Toph finished, assigning the priestess a nickname. It was a habit of hers. She found it funny.

Many people hadn't heard of Estolia, especially outside of Celestia. So the young priestess wasn't surprised that her current companion was unfamiliar with their beliefs as well. Her lips curled into a gentle smile, eyes glittering happily. "It's about love..." she responded. "But shouldn't love be the basis of all faith?"

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Toph shoulders tensed at that, and her cane's prodding at the path stated to come a little faster and a little harder.

"If you say so," she said , her voice suddenly sharp. "Love is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature. Nor do the people of the world as a whole experience it. But faith itself is superstition, so I guess they do go hand in hand."

That wasn't fair. Toph regretted saying it at once. Yeah she was in a crappy mood, but that was no reason to take it on this woman. Especially after busting her shin like she did.

Feeling her face grow hot, she mumbled out a quick, "Sorry," as she they turned another corner of the maze. Toph froze. The tapping of her cane wasn't reporting any more hedge walls or turns. The area they were in felt more...open somehow.

Unable to see or sense the vast open area in the center of the maze, complete with its picturesque gazebo, Toph could only ask, stupidly, "Where...are we?"

[Verbena Nightshade]

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Verbena was taken aback. She had heard religion referred to as a superstition...faith.... That was a connection she could understand. Faith and superstition had quite a bit in common.

Love, however...?

That feeling in one's heart that one is not alone? Friendship, family, the knowledge that there are others out there and that each person is capable of loving another, of showing kindness. However, her heart didn't sink at the statement, it swelled.

Such a strange person walked in front of her. Such a young body and athletic frame held such sad beliefs. The priestess's heart reached out to the baroness.

"Faith and superstition have a great deal in common," the teenager responded gently, smiling warmly. "They both ask for whole-hearted belief. Those who believe and those who don't believe are both stubbornly set in their ways, whether or not they have seen proof to the contrary."

But Verbena had seen proof. She was proof. That was all that a priestess was: a lowly being who had been shown love, an example that Estolia could love any sort of creature, however capable of sin. Despite all her flaws, the dark-haired priestess was comforted knowing that she was still loved by someone.

"Love, however...I refuse to believe as a superstition."

It was perhaps the most forcefully she could recall ever speaking.

The two stopped as the elegant white gazebo lay serenely ahead. It stood in the center of a clearing, hedges opening paths from all sides. So, there had been other ways to arrive there, as well. Verbena would be sure to look into them at another time. She smiled at the delicate white building set against the thin layer of fresh snow.

"We have found the gazebo..." and perhaps Verbena had found something about herself along the way. "Shall we rest for a few moments?" it was far too lovely a day to pass up, the sort of day Verbena could sit and watch as it passed her by.

[Toph Bei Fong]

Toph didn't reply for a few moments, merely stood in the snow of the clearing.

Love? Pshaw. The greatest superstition of them all. A line people fed one another when they wanted something. Obedience. A favor. Sex. The word was currency with varying worth. Toph preferred gold. It was far more permanent and consistent.

And yet...

The echo of a cave, the slope of a warm shoulder, a tickling of hair. Hands on maimed feet, rubbing soothing balm on the burns...

Flashes of a dream rushed back to her with such force that she gasped once, then shook her head to clear it. She tried to pass the gasp off as a yawn. "Whatever," she said with mock indifference. "Do as you like."

For her part, Toph slid off her shoes and placed her bare feet on the cold, snow covered ground. The covering was not too thick, and three inches at the very most, and her feet reached the ground and she could final 'see' all the details of the clearing, as well as her poor victim. She was slender, and moved with a natural grace most people had to train to obtain.

There was a dead spot in her 'sight' in the middle of the clearing. That must have been the gazebo. Stupid wooden thing.

"Then what would you call it?" she asked finally. "Love, I mean," she clarified, her full attention on Verbena ready for the faintest hint of deception.

[Verbena Nightshade]

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And she did just as she liked. The woman strode, her steps light and almost gliding across the thin layer of snow, to the gazebo and perched herself inside, tucking the skirt of the long dark dress beneath her. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ears and held out a hand, although she was sure her companion wouldn't be able to see. "Would you like to join me?" she asked.

Verbena also noted that the other woman took off her shoes, despite the snow. "Doesn't that make you cold?" she asked curiously. Now, why do something like that? She wondered exactly what sort of baroness this Toph was. The simple answer was strange, but it wasn't the priestess's place to judge without knowing at least a little more.

And that was exactly what she hoped. She felt much calmer hoping to find more about someone else than about herself. It was a much more inviting task.

"I would call it a truth," she said with strange confidence. "It is warmth, and caring...and the feeling of not being alone..." She paused, a faint frown over her masked features. "It is one of the hardest things to put into words," she laughed gently. That wasn't true, it was perhaps impossible to put into words.

Love itself was nothing. It was a label. But it was the feeling that was important, the feeling that the label hoped to describe. And there was, unfortunately, no other word that could come close to explaining it properly, to enveloping the scope of the feeling. But that was the best explanation that she could come up with. "Do you believe that friendship and camaraderie are superstitions as well?" she asked, wondering if perhaps this would lead to a better example.

[Toph Bei Fong]

"No, I don't," Toph replied simply. "But, then I've experienced those things. I know them to be real. I've witnessed them save lives. They've saved mine. Love? Not so much. Everyone who ever claimed to love me has only wanted something from me. And when I couldn't give it... they were gone."

Toph kicked at the snow. Gaia, she was in such a mood today! She tried to change the subject.

"I feel the cold if that's what your asking. But it would have to be marching in tundra during a blizzard before the cold would actually hurt me. I'm..special like that. Besides... this is how I see."

She stamped once at the ground, sending out fresh vibrations. A few pillars of earth leaped into into the air around her, before falling back into place. The only sign that they had been disturbed was that snow had been knocked off of them.

"I'm an earthbender," she explained. "I can detect the tiniest vibrations in earth and rock, and I use that to sense my surroundings. But I need skin contact for it to work. So... no shoes."

[Verbena Nightshade]

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Verbena smiled softly. "Those things are a form of love...affection, caring..." Perhaps that was the best way to describe it. Love wasn't confined to romance. That was her explanation of it. Pure and simple. She should have said that from the start. "By what you say, I could consider myself as not having been loved..."

But the thing was that she knew that she had been loved. She knew that she was still loved. She knew that she had Estolia. That was enough to save her from potential despair.

Well, one thing was certain: Toph was resilient. The teenager could not claim to be warm, but neither could she claim to be cold. She was on the verge of discomfort, and that was with shoes. But that was how the baroness 'saw'? That was interesting. Although all that stuff about being an 'earthbender' or whatever was somewhat beyond the scope of Verbena's comprehension.

She had never heard of such a thing. She wanted to ask, but another thought made its way from her lips first.

"Ah, so that's why you were having trouble with the cane..." she thought aloud. And suddenly, she glanced awkwardly at the wooded floor of the gazebo. "Ah, my apologies. Would you mind explaining to me what an 'earthbender' is?" she asked tentatively, hoping that she hadn't offended her new companion.