View source for Closer and Closer (Toph Beifong)

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|Date of Scene=2013/08/04
|Location=
|Synopsis=Toph tries to escape an unimaginable horror.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=20
|Tinyplot=
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        It is dark in here, but that never bothered Toph at all. For her, the world had always been dark. So why should she fear it? No, the blind earthbender knows there are far worse things to fear. Which is why she came here in the first place.

        Outside, she 'sees' them walking. Shuffling steps, often in groups. Now and then they get closer and closer to her hiding place, and she finds herself holding her breath. Oh, they don't hear as well as she does, but it's still instinct. No excessive noise, else they might find her. And when they do...
        No, she doesn't want to think about it, she can't. That's not going to solve anything! Perhaps she can wait until nightfall. But when it that? She has no way of telling that in here. She is all alone, and what if they decide to increase the search? Her options are clear: wait here and eventually be discovered, or find her way outside to freedom. To wait and listen is fine, but... this is an emergency. And her injuries still ache.

        Even if this house isn't all earth and rock based, there are still parts of it, parts she can 'see' through. And with the way they're moaning and shuffling around, even her half-deaf great aunt Lin would have heard them! Nice old lady, but man was she hard of hearing! Okay, here she goes...!

        Pushing the sliding door open, the girl listens intently, as if scared that the minimal sound she makes is enough to alert them. But with her hand firmly on the floor, she can tell that they are not coming towards her direction just yet.
        It's easy enough to hurry down the hallway when they are looking and heading another way. And as she feels them approaching, the little earthbender quickly makes her way behind a safe wall, holding her breath until they pass, hearing them roar out to one another.

        It does take her several minutes of waiting and sneaking, but finally she's down the stairs... and there it is. The floor down here is wooden, and only parts of the building here is made of earthbased materials. So she listens. They are still on the floors above from what she can. Two sets of foot steps to the east, but she is most likely not in sight of them. Can she make it? Man, the fresh air is too tempting, the longing to feel the sun on her skin, solid earth underneath her feet again.

        So she runs.

        A roar from her left, and Toph swallows, willing herself to go faster. Even as the thundering sound of them closing in on her from behind! They got longer legs than her, and she is still injured! Just a few more yards, and she is safe! There's earth there! EARTH! She stretches out one shaky hand, eyes wide as she summons up her concentration, about to will the earth to aid her, to save her...

        Then she is grabbed, and she screams! Hands grip onto her, lifting her up and away. In desperation Toph tries to bend whatever she can reach out to, but those hands hold her even tighter, and she finds herself carried away, still screaming as loudly as she can.

        The smell assaults her nose, and she can feel the heat. "No...!" This can't be happening! Fueled by her fear, the blind girl struggles even harder, even as she feels them tearing at her clothes, gripping her arms and legs tightly. There's more and more struggle... and then it happens. Toph lets out an ear-piercing shriek as they push her down into the scalding hot water, coughing and struggling even as the hands do not relent.

        "Okay, you scrub her back! Mary, get the shampoo and I'll start on her hair," one of them says, then lets out an exasperated sigh. "Seriously, Miss Beifong! Your wounds will get infected if you don't wash on a regular basis! I thought I told you about that last week after your previous fight. There's no need that we should go through this every time, now is there? The other nurses are complaining!"

        Grumbling and putting up a sour look, Toph narrows her eyes even as the rough washcloth burns against her skin. There's the taste of soap in her mouth too. The soap is too heavily perfumed, it practically reeks! The water is too hot. The nurses babble too much.

        Hospitals /suck/.