step one

[bolder]

Who: Toph and YOU!
Broadcast: Everyone ever
Action: That too-- Hospitality Deck!
When: Before the 6/14 shuffle

[ACTION AND VIDEO]

[For whatever reason, it's eerily quiet, and the sound of two bare feet hitting the metal floor of the hospitality deck can be heard. (it's really for dramatic effect, who are we kidding) The owner, a small girl of fourteen, stares into space (ha!) as she takes a few slow, deliberate steps. After a moment, she crouches down and places her hand on the floor, pauses, then speaks. Or yells. Whatever.]

Hey!! Someone tell me what's going on! This isn't another weirdo spirit thing is it? I'd hit my quota for the month already!

[She huffs in annoyance, straightening up. Now she's quieter, talking more to herself.] What's with this weird place?

Comments

[summerschild]

You're being rude.

[Tell her something she doesn't know, Bran.]

We've both been captured, we're on the same side.

[bolder]

No, you'd know if I was being rude. And if we're on the same side, why did you start things?

[summerschild]

You're the one who stomped in here and woke me up!

[bolder]

I didn't stomp anywhere! [Now she's getting annoyed. Toph stands up, facing the general direction of Bran's voice.] I woke up here with no idea what happened, and then I have this kid whining at me! You'll know when I'm stomping!

[summerschild]

[He immediately comes up with several retorts, ranging from "I'm not a kid!" to "I wasn't whining!", but he bites them back. Arguing isn't going to solve anything, and there's no telling how long they're going to be in this situation. Bran takes a deep breath, trying to sit tall and channel his brothers.]

... What's your name?

[bolder]

[She makes a hmph sound.] Why do you want to know? Gonna whine some more?

[summerschild]

We're stuck here together. I thought I'd at least ask.

[Be a lord, Bran. You're a lord. Don't argue.]

[bolder]

[The not arguing pays off! Toph pauses, then sighs.]

Toph Beifong. You?

[summerschild]

Bran Stark.

[He pauses for a moment, suddenly awkward in the lack of aggression.]

Where are you from?

[bolder]

Gaoling, in the Earth Kingdom. [So very matter of factly.]

[summerschild]

I've never heard of the Earth Kingdom.

[He's starting to get over the disappointment of people not being from his world, trying instead to think of the excitement.]

I'm from a place called Westeros.

[bolder]

No, since it's apparently in a different world or whatever.

[For no real reason whatsoever, Toph stands, and walks towards Bran's voice, only stopping once she reaches the bed, and sits on the floor again, still facing away from him.]

Is it to the west of something?

[summerschild]

[He watches her curiously, but doesn't ask any questions. She's strange, he's already established this. But she seems alright.]

Yes, it's the farthest continent to the west. Essos is to the east.

[Okay, this is good. Just a couple of noble kids having polite conversation.]

... Why aren't you wearing shoes?

[bolder]

Next is Northeros and Southos, right?

[He can't see her from the current angle, but she mocks a silent sigh. People and their expectation for shoes.]

Because I want to be able to see. Duh.

[summerschild]

... Sothoyros.

[He has to smile a bit. They are silly names, when you think about it.]

What do your feet have to do with seeing?

[bolder]

Ha! [Really, the reaction was inevitable. She turns to face him and... does this.]

I feel vibrations with my feet, so shoes on me is like a blindfold on you.

[summerschild]

[Aaaand he finally notices.]

I'm sorry, I didn't realize that you were...

[He doesn't want to be rude, and he's a bit unsure of how to act in this situation.]

How does it work?

[bolder]

[A scoff is the only response he gets to that as she waves her hand in dismissal.]

Exactly like I said. I'm an earthbender. [Pause.] I can move rocks and earth and things. So I feel the vibrations in the earth with my feet, and it gives me a pretty good picture of what's around me.

[summerschild]

You can move them? [He's trying to picture this.] With magic?

[bolder]

[Another scoff! You're good at earning those, Bran.] No, it's bending. I'd show you, but there's no dirt or rocks here. Guess we're going with metal.

[Toph reaches over and takes hold of the metal corner of the bed, easily twisting it in her hand.] See?

[summerschild]

[Bran scrabbles backwards when she touches the bed, surprised, but gasps in awe rather than fear.]

That's... bending? And it isn't magic?

[bolder]

No, it's not magic. [She gives an exasperated sigh.] Other friends of mine can bend water, air, and fire.

[summerschild]

[It sure sounds like magic to him, but he's got the point.]

Can everyone in your world bend?

[bolder]

Not everyone, but a lot can. It's something you're born being able to do, so you just need a master to teach you.

[summerschild]

[That... sounds oddly familiar?]

We have things like that in Westeros, too. Gifts, passed down from the children of the forest. Before I came here, I was on my way to learn how to use them.