4012/Friends of Different Sizes

Friends of Different Sizes
Date of Scene:	15 April 2016
Location:	Avatar World <AW>
Synopsis:	Toph drags two of her friends along to meet a new batch of badgermole babies.
Cast of Characters:	20, Ziggy Grover, 923

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Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    It had been something that Toph had been quite ecstatic about, really. And she wouldn?t shut up about it. Springtime in Gaoling. When the whole area began smelling better, with flowers, green and the ground turning just right. But what she was the most excited about was of course the badgermoles and how they usually had cubs this time of year. Of course she had to go visit them this year as well, and since Ziggy was a house guest at the Stark house nowadays... he was being dragged along for it.

    The hills that Toph had lead them up were slightly steep, giving a view over the massive valley and the town of Gaoling that they had just visited. Before setting out Toph had been adamant about stopping by a store to buy food, and she has brought it with her in her bag as they trudge on. It certainly is green in this area, even when they near the cliffsides and what looks like a series of caves there.

    "Okay," Toph begins, speaking in a calm tone. "There are some rules you gotta follow." Here she holds up her hand, raising her index finger. "One, you gotta follow my lead down there. The badgermoles know me and trust me." Her middle finger raises as well. "Two, don?t make a lot of noise and sudden movement, they don?t like that. And three, let the baby badgermoles come to you. I brought Goldie here once to see the baby badgermoles, and there wasn?t a single problem, so you?ll be fine. Now turn on your flashlight!" With that said Toph tosses a large flashlight over to Ziggy, one that can be fastened around your head and leave the hands free. And the earthbender seems to be waiting as she gives him another instruction. "Stick close to me!"

Ziggy Grover has posed:
"Badgermoles still sounds like a badger and a mole got mushed together like peanut butter and jelly, or Chillax, or cosplay, or even metrosexuals," Ziggy complains, trudging along, before holding the flashlight out. Oh wait. this was supposed to go on -somewhere-...?

Trying the strap out, Ziggy glances up. "Don't I even get a hard hat? I feel like it's just silly to wear a flashlight with a strap on, it's like one of those old cartoons with the funny rabbit. Eh, what's up, doc...?"

Pausing for a moment to hold his hand up and make a very large shadow puppet of a -giant- shark, Ziggy imitates, "It comes from the depths..."

Oh wait, he -wasn't- exactly sticking too closely, seemingly more interested in doing some stupid thigns with his hands, apparently.

Nasrin (923) has posed:
    Stupid things with hands. Sounds familiar.

    Nasrin had agreed to come, but had made her own way, she draws down the side of the mountain, and drops down behind Ziggy, trying to be silent and unintrusive -- until he started with the shadow puppets.

    "I would pay attention." she states, softly, drawing down the hood of her Assassin robes, her lips pursed and not making any attempt to hide the scars on her chin, unlike the night of the party. "If these creatures are half as dangerous as Toph, you might get in trouble." she states, and she gives a smile to the young Beifong, and gives a nod of her head. "Thank you for the invitation.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    "To me a badger and a mole sounds like halfassed creatures," Toph counters. Sheesh, when will people get used to the animals in her world? She's gotten used to so many weird animals herself when in the multiverse. "And you don't need a hardhat in a badgermole tunnel, dunderhead. It's completely safe, I've been going here since I was six years old!" Man, it feels like ages ago...

    And there Nasrin comes sliding in. "Heya Stabby girl," she grins, clearly not surprised at her arriving. "And I'm sure your shadow puppets look nifty, but as I mentioned before... the badgermoles are blind. Which is why you can use whatever kind of flashlight you want, so might as well use a decent one that lights it up so you don't trip. Now, follow me!" With that Toph slides down the slope into the tunnel, heading into the darkness. And once Ziggy and Nasrin follow they will notice that the tunnels are nice and dry, with a slightly cool temperature. And that there is some rumbling going on...

Ziggy Grover has posed:
"ACK!" Ziggy startles. "Where did -you- come from?" the civvie Ranger asks, the shadow shark dying a quick fwooping shark as what remains against the wall is a single solitary minnow, before it fades into nothing. "I -was- paying attention! Uh... to what?"

Oh, right, follow along. The tunnels being nice and dry and smooth seems pretty surprising, actually. Not freshly made, were those?

Nasrin (923) has posed:
    "Hello, Toph." Stabby replies, but she's clearly more pleased that she startled Ziggy. "I finished a job early; decided to come and enjoy the environment, feed the turtleducks at the pond." she replies, giving a smile to Ziggy as she turns on her own flashlyght, but then affixes it to her shoulder so that it's not on her head and causing a headache.

    "... if I recall, the badgermole is the founder of Earthbending, right?" she asks Toph "... does this mean that other creatures can, or just the badgermoles?"

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Luckily for the two seeing people Toph is waiting for them down the slope, not about to wander off without them. And Nasrin's comment earns a nod from Toph as she begins leading the way into the darkness. "Indeed, they are the original earthbenders. And the ones who taught me when I was a kid. And no other creature can earthbend. Sure, some might dig through the earth, but it's not earthbending. Air bisons are the original airbenders, the dragons are the original firebenders, and the moon is the waterbender source."

    Even as she explains matters, the rumbling increases... and then there's a deep and loud murring sound coming from behind them, in a nearby tunnel. And if Ziggy and Nasrin turn to look, they will see a giant head right behind them. Toph meanwhile turns her head slightly, then beams. "Stinky!"

Ziggy Grover has posed:
"I still can't picture learning from a bunch of badgermoles," Ziggy responds. "I mean, I know people learn martial arts from animals, like tiger knuckles, or eagle roaring, or even bearhugs, but ... I've never seen Toph -wade- around like a digger, you know...?"

Stabby gets a strange look at 'turtleduck'. "These turtleduck things... do they look like platypuses or something?"

The emergency of Stinky is met with a wrinkle of his nose. "What makes him Stinky...?" Smells like earth, really... unless, uh. there's something else that shows up a bit later.

Nasrin (923) has posed:
    "What's a platypus?" Nasrin inquires, gancing back to Ziggy. She's not had reason to visit Australia yet. She wouldn't know, but she could sense something behind her, and she turns, slowly, to look up at the giant head. Her eyes go up... and up... and her head tilts.

    So, that is a badgermole.

    "Probably the same thing that makes me 'Stabby'... Toph likes monikers." she suggests. "... very intimidating."

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
yAs Toph walks she can't help but snicker. "If you want I can always get down on all fours and move like a badgermole. But since you have eyes, you probably have seen some of the moves I have in my bending. It's my own variation of how the badgermoles move when they bend. Big, sweeping and quick motions. More natural than the way most earthbenders do it. They use their feet more than I do, but I prefer to keep my feet more on the ground so I can see better," Toph explains. "As for turtleducks... they are like ducks, but they have shells on their backs. They are NOT like platypus bears."

    The meaning behind Stinky's name however...? "You really don't want to know."

    More of the large creatures can be seen in the darkness of the tunnels as they head on, and the badgermoles do appear curious about the humans in their tunnels, sniffing the air and following behind them. But they aren't growling, nor do they appear hostile. Some of them even get all close to Toph as she passes by them, and she makes sure to pat them on the snout. "Just keep on following me and don't make too much noise, they are protective of their babies."

    Speaking of which... suddenly there is a larger cave next to the tunnel, and inside there is one gigantic badgermole with scars on his face. At the appearance of the people there he rises, and he lets out a warning sound, standing his ground.

    In return Toph walks up to him and rolls her eyes slightly. "Oh, stop being so dramatic, Boss...!" And while she is busy scratching him underneath the chin, Ziggy and Nasrin should be able to see another adult badgermole behind Boss, along with a heap of baby badgermoles. That are nearly as big as Toph is. Their tails are short, their claws are clearly not that sharp, and they lack the white and black markings of the adults. All in all there seems to be only four cubs this year.

Ziggy Grover has posed:
"I'm afraid to ask what made -this- one Stinky then," Ziggy responds, backing away from said badgermole, nearly into Nasrin. He doesn't get a good view of the babies, at least not till Nasrin moves out of the way, but he -will- end up crowding around to look at it, making sure to keep the assassin between him and 'Stinky'. "Hey, they're cute. Uh, lemme see if I can figure out how to take pictures. Hold on, I got a phone here, lemme get a selfie..."

Nasrin (923) has posed:
    Nas wasn't concerned too much with the darkness -- she trusted Toph would keep them safe -- or at least give them warning. She neatly stepped out of Ziggy's way, nimble feet keeping so she's just close enough without touching him. She glances to ZIggy with a curious expression, and then kneels down, drawing one of her sidepouches forward. She takes some dried figs from a pocket, and offers one to a badgemole as a peace offering, pulling one apart so that they can easily smell the sweet dried fruit.

    "... they're... adorable."

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    When Ziggy draws closer to the badgermole cubs the large badgermole near them, presumably the mother, lifts her head and lets out a deep sound as she sniffs the air. And Toph raises her voice slightly, though she's still talking a calm tone. "Remember, let them come to you, like Nasrin is doing!" Not to mention the blind girl looks rather pleased when the assassin calls them 'adorable'. "If you really want to see something neat... then sing to them or play a song on your radio. Nothing noisy, though." Indeed, Toph will keep them safe. And for now she seems intent on making sure the pack leader is appeased and reassured that the cubs are safe.

    Upon smelling the fig one of the badgermole cubs sniffs curiously, then ventures carefully towards Nasrin.

Ziggy Grover has posed:
Ziggy freezes up, the phone in place. Aiming at the baby and himself in the tiny bottom left corner, leaving only his nose anf eyes (and hair) visible, Ziggy quietly hums a little tune which was -most- assuredly not Farmer in the Dell, seeing as he'd lost his taste for -that- one for some reason.

"Okay, Papa's gonna buy you a mockingbird..."

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    As Ziggy begins humming, the badgermole nearest to him lets out a curious chirp... then begins crawling over to him, leaning up to snuffle at the back of his pants.

Nasrin (923) has posed:
    Nasrin takes out a small knife, and slices the fragrant fig into a few more pieces, and purses her lips a moment, drawing down to both knees to make herself seem smaller as she reaches out, holding a bit of fig in the flat of her hand.

    And when Nasrin sings, it's a very different sound from her speaking voice. While her speaking voice is tough and boyish, she has a melodic sounding singing voice -- probably one of the best things about being a copy-cat. "Nasrin elhinda'a, sha'ra aswad we mna'a. Willi yehibbek bibusek, willi baghadek shu bitla'a o/~" (Nasrin, the smart, her hair is neat and tidy, whoever loves you will kiss you, whoever hates you will have problems o/~)

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    The singing is indeed something that rouses the attention of the badgermoles, and even Boss narrows his eyes in clear contentment. The badgermole mama too seems to settle down, resting comfortably, and the baby badgermoles all get to their feet and crawl towards the two singing humans. And they seem to get two each that are crowding them.

    Toph smiles, giving Boss one last scritch before she calmly walks over to Ziggy and Nasrin. "Seems you got some friends here... wanna name two each?"

Nasrin (923) has posed:
    "Name them?" Nasrin purses her lips a moment, sitting down on the ground now and hand-feeding them fig bits, and she considers. "Bustani <Gardener>, one who digs in the Earth, and Zilzal -- which means 'earthquake'. Fitting names. Not Stinky, but not bad." she replies quietly, reaching up, and scritching her gloved fingers over the badgermoles with a smile.

Ziggy Grover has posed:
Ziggy clicks, humming quietly, heedless of what Nasrin's own lullaby meant. At least having a mockingbird worked, and if not, well, there wouldbe something else, if he could only remember what else there was to get.

Asked to come up with a name, Ziggy starts, before eyeing one. "Flynn," is his first thought. Why? Don't ask.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    That sounds like some decent names there, and Toph nods her head in approval. "Bustani and Zilzal. They work." Though Ziggy's suggestion... "Flynn? Isn't that one of your fellow Rangers?" Toph asks, arching an eyebrow. "What would he think if you named one after him?"

Ziggy Grover has posed:
"Flattered I was thinking of him," Ziggy responds, maybe a bit too glibly.