Fic: Into the Swamp (1/1)
Jul. 26th, 2008 03:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
soc_puppetHey, remember how I said I would be posting the prompt responses at least two at a time? Well, I lied. This is mostly because I realized my first attempt at a couple of said prompts sucked eggs, so I decided to write them again, only better. And I did!
Fandom: Avatar/The Princess bride
Prompt:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
dagronrat requested Zuko and Toph finding Sokka's [spoiler] that he lost in the finale. Only, where I said "Avatar fandom only! (crossovers acceptable)", she replied with, "As you wish," and, well, I have a one-track mind.
Fic:
Into the Swamp
"There!" Toph cried, pointing over Appa's shoulder. "It's right below us!"
Zuko glanced over his shoulder at her. "There? You sure?" he hedged.
Toph's head snapped in his direction, a scowl firmly affixed to her face. "You know some other metalbender you can ask? Trust me, it's down there."
"Okay." Zuko turned his attention back to Appa. "Give me a minute or two and I'll find a place to land."
Toph frowned. "Why can't we land here?"
"Well, for one thing, we're flying over a swamp right now." Zuko risked another glance at Toph. "You can still find it from the ground, right?"
----
Toph squished mud between her toes. "Huh. It really is a swamp."
"I did say it was. It's not going to be a problem for you, is it?"
"No, I can still see. It's a little blurry at the edges, but it's all there." Toph demonstrated by kicking a trail of earth over to the nearest tree.
Zuko nodded. "Good enough. Which way?"
Toph pulled her meteorite dust armband off again and focused. The dust polarized, then shifted past polarization, resonating above her palm; a ways away, she felt the dust still remaining in Sokka's missing sword start to hum in tandem. She sensed where it was the strongest, then jabbed a finger in that direction. "That way." Toph had just stuck her foot out forward to walk when she heard a faint popping noise ahead of her.
Zuko slammed into her side, knocking her to the ground. To her right, almost exactly where she would've stepped, there was a rushing noise and a whoosh of heat.
"This must be one of the Earth Kingdom's fire swamps," Zuko observed. "I heard there were a few on the continent's western side."
Toph spat out a lump of mud. "You don't say," she replied mildly, then promptly and without ceremony tossed Zuko off her into the muck.
----
"So, anything else we should be watching out for in a fire swamp, oh learn-ed one?" Toph inquired.
Zuko didn't seem to catch the sarcasm. "There are generally three things to watch for in a fire swamp: the flame spurts, which we know about already; the lightning sand--" Zuko cut off abruptly.
Toph frowned. "What's so special about the sand here? Hey, Zuko, you gonna tell me about lighning sand or what?" Toph put her foot down on a patch of ground that felt nearly insubstantial as air; she jerked the limb quickly back before she put any weight on it. "Zuko?" He'd been right in front of her a minute ago...
...Oh. Bending quickly, Toph pulled a gasping Zuko from the sand pit in front of her and deposited him on somewhat more solid ground. "So. Lightning sand, huh?"
Zuko coughed a bit and panted harshly. "Yup."
----
"There it is!" Zuko exclaimed, spotting the sword at last. He jogged ahead into the clearing, attentive for patches of lightning sand or the clicking noise that signaled flame spurts. Reaching Sokka's sword, he put his hands under the grip and the flat of the blade and lifted it from the mud; it was still relatively undamaged.
"By the way," Toph said, coming up from behind him, "what was that other thing we were supposed to watch out for? There was the sand and the fire, but you said there were three."
"Elephant-rats," Zuko told her distractedly, "but I hardly think this environment can sustain them."
A trumpeting squeak sounded right in front of him, and Zuko at last looked up from the sword. He stared into the mouth of a man-sized rodent, and Toph said, "You sure about that?"
----
"Needless to say," Toph recounted later to a rapt audience of Sokka, Suki, Katara, Aang and Mai, her feet resting casually on a table in the Jasmine Dragon beside Sokka's (still filthy) sword, "we had to fight our way out of the elephant-rat nest to get back here. Believe me, it wasn't easy. Especially when that one elephant-rat baby thought Zuko was its mommy."
"In any case," Zuko added, in the tone of one who is changing the subject right now, "don't any of you go losing things in a fire swamp again."
Mai smiled in a way that could easily be mistaken for a smirk by those who didn't know her and leaned into Zuko's shoulder. She murmured in his ear, "As you wish." Zuko turned bright red.
Sokka regarded his space sword reverently. "You guys really didn't have to do this," he said.
Toph shrugged, the corners of her lips turning up. "What else is family for?"
--Fin--
I am an awful thing of horribleness and also I am terrible. And obsessed with The Princess Bride, but we knew that already.
In more plot-related notes, I am totally of the mind that Toph and Zuko consulted Teo for the math re: where the sword might have fallen. He is totally a rocket-scientist-to-be in my brain.
Edit: Added just another couple sentences on the end, for schmoop factor, just because.
Later edit: Ablist language removed from commentary. I'm getting better, really!
Others coming soon-ish.
Fandom: Avatar/The Princess bride
Prompt:
dagronrat requested Zuko and Toph finding Sokka's [spoiler] that he lost in the finale. Only, where I said "Avatar fandom only! (crossovers acceptable)", she replied with, "As you wish," and, well, I have a one-track mind.Fic:
Into the Swamp
"There!" Toph cried, pointing over Appa's shoulder. "It's right below us!"
Zuko glanced over his shoulder at her. "There? You sure?" he hedged.
Toph's head snapped in his direction, a scowl firmly affixed to her face. "You know some other metalbender you can ask? Trust me, it's down there."
"Okay." Zuko turned his attention back to Appa. "Give me a minute or two and I'll find a place to land."
Toph frowned. "Why can't we land here?"
"Well, for one thing, we're flying over a swamp right now." Zuko risked another glance at Toph. "You can still find it from the ground, right?"
----
Toph squished mud between her toes. "Huh. It really is a swamp."
"I did say it was. It's not going to be a problem for you, is it?"
"No, I can still see. It's a little blurry at the edges, but it's all there." Toph demonstrated by kicking a trail of earth over to the nearest tree.
Zuko nodded. "Good enough. Which way?"
Toph pulled her meteorite dust armband off again and focused. The dust polarized, then shifted past polarization, resonating above her palm; a ways away, she felt the dust still remaining in Sokka's missing sword start to hum in tandem. She sensed where it was the strongest, then jabbed a finger in that direction. "That way." Toph had just stuck her foot out forward to walk when she heard a faint popping noise ahead of her.
Zuko slammed into her side, knocking her to the ground. To her right, almost exactly where she would've stepped, there was a rushing noise and a whoosh of heat.
"This must be one of the Earth Kingdom's fire swamps," Zuko observed. "I heard there were a few on the continent's western side."
Toph spat out a lump of mud. "You don't say," she replied mildly, then promptly and without ceremony tossed Zuko off her into the muck.
----
"So, anything else we should be watching out for in a fire swamp, oh learn-ed one?" Toph inquired.
Zuko didn't seem to catch the sarcasm. "There are generally three things to watch for in a fire swamp: the flame spurts, which we know about already; the lightning sand--" Zuko cut off abruptly.
Toph frowned. "What's so special about the sand here? Hey, Zuko, you gonna tell me about lighning sand or what?" Toph put her foot down on a patch of ground that felt nearly insubstantial as air; she jerked the limb quickly back before she put any weight on it. "Zuko?" He'd been right in front of her a minute ago...
...Oh. Bending quickly, Toph pulled a gasping Zuko from the sand pit in front of her and deposited him on somewhat more solid ground. "So. Lightning sand, huh?"
Zuko coughed a bit and panted harshly. "Yup."
----
"There it is!" Zuko exclaimed, spotting the sword at last. He jogged ahead into the clearing, attentive for patches of lightning sand or the clicking noise that signaled flame spurts. Reaching Sokka's sword, he put his hands under the grip and the flat of the blade and lifted it from the mud; it was still relatively undamaged.
"By the way," Toph said, coming up from behind him, "what was that other thing we were supposed to watch out for? There was the sand and the fire, but you said there were three."
"Elephant-rats," Zuko told her distractedly, "but I hardly think this environment can sustain them."
A trumpeting squeak sounded right in front of him, and Zuko at last looked up from the sword. He stared into the mouth of a man-sized rodent, and Toph said, "You sure about that?"
----
"Needless to say," Toph recounted later to a rapt audience of Sokka, Suki, Katara, Aang and Mai, her feet resting casually on a table in the Jasmine Dragon beside Sokka's (still filthy) sword, "we had to fight our way out of the elephant-rat nest to get back here. Believe me, it wasn't easy. Especially when that one elephant-rat baby thought Zuko was its mommy."
"In any case," Zuko added, in the tone of one who is changing the subject right now, "don't any of you go losing things in a fire swamp again."
Mai smiled in a way that could easily be mistaken for a smirk by those who didn't know her and leaned into Zuko's shoulder. She murmured in his ear, "As you wish." Zuko turned bright red.
Sokka regarded his space sword reverently. "You guys really didn't have to do this," he said.
Toph shrugged, the corners of her lips turning up. "What else is family for?"
--Fin--
I am an awful thing of horribleness and also I am terrible. And obsessed with The Princess Bride, but we knew that already.
In more plot-related notes, I am totally of the mind that Toph and Zuko consulted Teo for the math re: where the sword might have fallen. He is totally a rocket-scientist-to-be in my brain.
Edit: Added just another couple sentences on the end, for schmoop factor, just because.
Later edit: Ablist language removed from commentary. I'm getting better, really!
Others coming soon-ish.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-07-28 01:11 pm (UTC)*satisfied elephant-rat here* *shot*
I admit I am not familiar with Princess Bride, but Mommy!Zuko and Toph&Zuko saving each other from stuff is fun. :D
... Also. Wordless Sokka. Amazing. X3
no subject
Date: 2008-07-30 01:26 am (UTC)So, um. For the record, the fireswamp was a (single) location in The Princess Bride (both book and movie versions, both of which I highly reccommend, and will see towards getting to you somehow if you cannot find either legal or bootleg copies somewhere), and while the flame spurts and lightning sand retained their names, elephant-rats were originally R.O.U.S.s, or, Rodents Of Unusual Size. The Dashing Hero, Westley, claimed he did not believe ROUSes existed right before being attacked by one, though he did not have any sort of run-in with baby ROUSes. The first chapter of the book/part of the movie also has Our Heroine, Buttercup, ordering Westley around, to which he always responded, "As you wish," by which it was later revealed that he meant, "I love you." And that's about all I took from it.
I figured that flame spurts and lighning-fast quicksand would be right up their respective alleys for detectable dangers ;) Also, Toph was all for brining the baby elephant-rat home with them, but Zuko vetoed it.
I just forgot to give him more diologueI mean, I'm sure that Toph told him to shut up or she'd make him shut up early on in the story-telling? Ah-heh ^.^;no subject
Date: 2008-07-31 02:21 pm (UTC)I thought it was done on purpose. Am I wrong to think he'd be gobsmacked to see his space-sword again? And hear of the dangers his mates went to to get it back?Ouuuh, I'll look around for the book version methinks, since
the bootlegmy internets are going to be unavailable for a bit. Sounds fun. X3Did Toph give it a name? :D
no subject
Date: 2008-07-31 08:04 pm (UTC)...Works for me! XD We'll use that as my excuse if anyone questions.Sounds good :3b Oh, and be sure to read the author's introduction, as it contributes greatly to the story. Or at least to everywhere he interrupts the writing for author's notes, a feat which I have never seen pulled off well elsewhere X3
Probably "Stinky", if anything ;)