Author note: Hi, everyone. This is going to be my first multi-chapter fic, I'm pretty excited to share it with you! My goal is to keep as close to the canon as I can and to make it past the birth of Suyin- so we've got a little ways to go. You don't need to have read The Promise and The Rift, but it helps. This is taking place six years after the battle with Ozai, which makes Toph 18, Sokka 22, etc.

This is a bit of an intro chapter, so it's shorter than the others! I hope you enjoy it, please leave a review if you have the time. Thanks!

"Please," she begged softly, "my friend and I are lost and just trying to find the way to our inn."

"Yeah, we don't want any trouble!"

The tall, lean man who stood out in front of his cronies, obviously the leader of the little gang, laughed shrilly. The six others chuckled along with him.

"Ladies, ladies, you have the wrong idea about us," the leader crooned smoothly. "We don't want any trouble either. We just happened upon two young ladies who require some assistance…" he smirked, adjusting the hat that covered his left eye. "And we love to help damsels in distress, right, fellas?"

The pack of men agreed boisterously, nodding and pumping fists in the air. Some cried out, "yeah!" and "you got it, boss!"

"Please, sir…if it's money you want, we'll give it to you. Just don't hurt us."

Some of the men in the group rolled their eyes while others continued chuckling.

"…and I'm blind," she admitted quietly.

This peaked the leader's interest, who waved his arm at his men to quiet them.

"And how about you?" he asked the younger girl, taking another step forward.

"I'm her friend…I help her get around since she can't see," she explained.

"Well, considering you're both lost and alone in a dark alley in the middle of Gaoling, I would venture to say that you aren't doing a very good job," he said, quirking an eyebrow. There was more laughter.

"Here, take it, we just want to be on our way!" the blind girl cried out, tossing her coin purse in the direction of the men. It landed with a rattle; it was heavy with coins. A few glimmered through the opening of the bag.

The group eyed their leader to see what he would decide to do.

"Oh, girls…" the boss shook his head and sighed softly, as if exasperated with their naivety. "You both know it's not going to be that easy." He glanced over his shoulder and raised his chin, urging his lackeys forward. "We want to have a little fun, too."

The blind girl, who was clinging to her friend's arm, suddenly stood straight. She spread her feet out into a stable stance and brought her arms forward, the palms of her hands facing her.

"Reaaaaaally?" she smirked. "You boys wanna have some fun?"

Her friend stepped forward and mimicked her stance, expression solemn.

The blind girl's smirk turned into a grin. She took their silence for agreement.

"Good, because I love to have fun."

Before the men could raise their weapons, metallic chink sounds filled the air, and little pieces of metal were flying at them. The coins left the purse with lightning speed, smacking the men in their faces, their knees, their eyes, their crotches. One man after the other, the gang fell to the ground, not even realizing what had happened to them.

"Wh-what?!" the boss shrieked.

He stood alone, his cronies in a heap behind him, and his jaw dropped in shock as he stared at the two young women. They were just girls! How had they taken his men out?!

"Metalbenders?!"

"You got that right, you lousy punk!"

The boss fell to his knees, raised his clasped hands above his head, and cried, "Please, don't hurt me!"

"Wow, doesn't that sound familiar, Penga?"

"It sure does, Sifu Toph."

Toph stepped forward and leaned down, putting her hands on her knees. Her face was inches away from the cowering leader's.

"Oh man," she sighed, the air lifting her bangs away from her face briefly. "You know it's not going to be that easy…"

With a flick of her wrist, a thin, metal chain slipped out of her sleeve and whipped forward, knocking his hat off his head.

"You wanna know why?" she teasingly asked, her breath tickling his face.

Tears were forming in his eyes. He wasn't sure he'd ever felt this afraid before in his entire life.

"Wh-why?" he managed to sputter out, trying to maintain control of his bladder.

The blind girl rose once more, and the two girls gently flung their metal chains out of their sleeves. The moonlight glinted off of their weapons menacingly.

"Because we want to have a little fun, too."