⊕ 07: Quartz

[got-the-stones.livejournal.com]

[Toph appears on the Plane followed quickly by very creepy background music in a proper, evil-sounding minor key. Toph looks supremely annoyed.]

First those freaky ghost things and now this music. What the heck is going on?

[The music suddenly reaches a crescendo and several wispy, vaguely person-shaped ghosts appear, surrounding Toph. She falls into a fighting stance, though the nearest patch of earth is several yards away.]

Ugh, not again. Darn it, someone turn off the stupid music!

[ooc: the ghosts aren't sentient. They aren't even really ghosts--think of them as phosphorescent, wispy, born-from-fear-and-memories type things. Or something :|]

Comments

[grand-gaia.livejournal.com]

Are you being haunted too?

[firedprince.livejournal.com]

[... Wtf? She might need help... or something.]

Duck!

[No, not the fluffy, turtly kind. He sends a few fireballs in the direction of the ghosty things.]

[got-the-stones.livejournal.com]

Just a little bit! [Launches a stone from her patch of earth to a wisp-thing and it passes right through. The disturbance of air blows the thing apart momentarily.]

[got-the-stones.livejournal.com]

Whoa! [Ducks! The fireballs hit two of the wisps, blowing them apart. They rematerialize soon after.]

[grand-gaia.livejournal.com]

[:(] I think Mia can get rid of hauntings, but....

[firedprince.livejournal.com]

[Oh, bitch. Zuko slides in closer to shield Toph-- damn the consequences-- and is beginning to discover the uselessness of martial arts on ghosts.]

[got-the-stones.livejournal.com]

Well, that's the problem. The only way to get rid of these things is to blow them apart a few times.

[ram-of-gold.livejournal.com]

[Okay, the music and the shadow things are going to freak him out now] What in Athena's name..?

[got-the-stones.livejournal.com]

Hit 'em a bunch and they'll disappear eventually!

[Thrusts her hands out, backward and to the side, slides a foot forward and makes a dragging motion with her hands. Rocks the size of cannonballs shoot out from her patch of earth and hit a few of the wisps, dematerializing them. She's too caught up in the fight to notice she's fighting alongside an enemy.]

[firedprince.livejournal.com]

Got it!

[Zuko draws his swords instead and goes after the wisps at her back, a veritable whirlwind of steel. Take that, wispy things!]

[got-the-stones.livejournal.com]

[Two of the wisps vanish completely! One of them will be trying to wrap itself around Zuko's face in an attempt to suffocate him now :| Toph tries to shoot a rock at it, but three other wisps come at her and she is forced to deal with them.]

[got-the-stones.livejournal.com]

I don't know! I have no idea what's going on! [One of the wisps makes a dive for her, so she shoots it with a rock. The thing disappears momentarily and then reappears.]

[firedprince.livejournal.com]

Mphm!! [Fuckfuckfuck. He gains a little distance between himself and Toph, then practically coats himself in flames-- much like when he stood up against the soldiers in that backwater Earth Kingdom village. It's a dangerous dance, but he's doing it.]

[got-the-stones.livejournal.com]

[Lol that wisp is gone permanently. Toph, on the other hand, is having quite a bit of trouble with her own wisps. It's much harder to "see" them when they're moving. At least before she could hear them materialize. One of them gets her around the ankle and yanks her to the ground. She destroys it with a stone, but now the other two are on her.]

[firedprince.livejournal.com]

Stay down! [Zuko does not approve. In a flash, he's practically on top of Toph too, though less... on fire. He saves that for his blades, which carry it quite nicely. They move as if an extension of him, seeking to slice the wisps like a fine ham. Probably only inches from the Earthbender.

At least he knows what he's doing.]

[got-the-stones.livejournal.com]

[Holy freaking crap. Toph stays perfectly still. The other two wisps disappear permanently. There are now only two left. Toph slaps a hand against the Plane floor and fires a few rocks at them, but they miss--the wisps are moving.]

[firedprince.livejournal.com]

[Zuko frees her as soon as he's able, turning his hell-scorched blades on the other wisps. If they're made of fear, then he's made of fire. It's almost like he's a different person.]

[got-the-stones.livejournal.com]

[Toph figures there isn't much else she can do at this point, though she hates to admit it. She pulls herself to her feet, watching as Zuko defeats the last of the wisps.]

[grand-gaia.livejournal.com]

Well that I can do. [Pulls out his sword in one hand, and holds the scabbard in the other, then goes to take a swing at the nearest ghost-thing]

[firedprince.livejournal.com]

[Zuko stands there for a moment after they're gone, then sheaths his swords. The flames die away as quickly as they came.]

You're not hurt, are you?

[He can't quite bring himself to look at her.]

[sifud.livejournal.com]

Toph!

[Katara sends a streamer of water slicing through the ghosts, which re-form in the water's wake.]

Wh--are you all right?!

[got-the-stones.livejournal.com]

[The wisps don't dodge very well, so the thing is cut in half and fades temporarily. But now two more are heading toward him rather quickly. Toph blasts a few rocks at the ones that haven't moved, since she can still "see" those ones.]

[got-the-stones.livejournal.com]

I'm fine. [A beat, then,] You?

[grand-gaia.livejournal.com]

[Spins and slashes at them, the sword seeming to howl as he does so]

[got-the-stones.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm fine, just got a bunch of what might as well be clouds trying to attack me! I can barely see them!

[got-the-stones.livejournal.com]

[He manages to blast two of the wisps apart permanently. Toph gets one down before they're coming at her and she can no longer see them.]

Oh no...

[firedprince.livejournal.com]

Fine.

[... Yeah, this is awkward. Rather than impose on Toph any further, he starts to walk away.]

[got-the-stones.livejournal.com]

[She lets him for a moment or so, but then she speaks again.] Why? Why'd you help me?

[firedprince.livejournal.com]

[Zuko pauses... and doesn't say anything for a long, tense moment.]

... Because I could.

[grand-gaia.livejournal.com]

[Until there are hunks of rock the size of heads hurtling through the air towards them!] Get down!

[got-the-stones.livejournal.com]

[THAT ISN'T AN ANSWER, ZUKO. Toph frowns a little. It's a long time before she responds.]

Thanks.

[got-the-stones.livejournal.com]

[Toph felt that! She drops, narrowly missing the rocks.]

[grand-gaia.livejournal.com]

[So they go blasting through the wisps instead of Toph's head!]

[firedprince.livejournal.com]

[IT IS TO HIM. Freedom is a touchy thing. And the consequences of it...]

Don't mention it.

[No, really, don't. Because Katara will kill him anyway. He keeps walking.]

[got-the-stones.livejournal.com]

[The wisps all disappear permanently. Once Toph is sure things are safe, she gets back to her feet, dusting herself off. She flashes a grin at Isaac.]

Nicely done.

[sifud.livejournal.com]

[Swipes her hands into the air and her water separates into a series of whips.] Hold still!

[ATTACKS.]

[got-the-stones.livejournal.com]

Holding still...

[sifud.livejournal.com]

[Slashes through them and stares as they re-form yet again.] What are they?

[got-the-stones.livejournal.com]

I don't know...they were all over the place back home. Them and the stupid music. I thought they were spirits, but somehow I don't think so.