castleinthemist | 03 | Gem of Amarra

Harth was stunned.

The sun was bright and brilliant, gleaming off of his glasses. Even as a human he had seen so little of it under the blanket of smog over Haddyn. You had to give it to whoever was in charge, creating the universe, be it god, demon, powers that be, they had a particular poetic ism when it came to beauty. The sun gave life, life that sustained even those who were no longer living.

He walked through the courtyard, clumsily climbing onto a stone slab that seemed to have served a purpose at one point, but no longer. He sits there, enjoying the sun on his face warming his otherwise room temperature skin.

It was so warm.

But that warmth only served as a reminder about how much he yearned to have a decent meal. He he was starved, and no amount of birds or rats would satiate him. He needed a meal. Human. The problem was finding someone naive enough and gullible enough to follow him.

What he'd give to have that witch in his clutches, just now. Watch her scream into his hand before he bit her. Bonus? He wouldn't have to deal with her exposing him. But that would be too easy.

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"It seems easy enough to access from up here. I could just make stairs for the way down," she told him, standing on the edge of the break in the dome and the walkway.

Almost as easily as she'd formed the walk, she worked on the stairs. Her back was turned to him as she did so, and it wasn't until she'd pulled stone from the dome itself to form a door and an outcropping, did she turn to face him.

"There. How's that? It's not repaired, but it's certainly improved!"

She moved through the door and began tip toeing down the stairs.

"Geeze. Roomy in here, isn't it? What would we use it for?"

"If you say so." Harth replied slowly, stepping fully into the domed room, moving, climbing down awkwardly into the room proper.

"A secondary shelter? A check point?" What did he know about exploring? Not that much, but it made sense to him.

He stumbled again once he was on the ground. This boy was not sure footed at all.

At least he seemed that way. She concentrated on his movements for a moment before turning her head back to the rest of the room.

Something still didn't sit well with her, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Without something substantial to solidify her fears, she simply pushed it to the back of her mind and moved into the darker corners.

"Those work, I guess. It depends on how thick the monsters are around here. If it's not that bad, maybe I'll call it mine!" She grinned to herself and tossed herself to the ground against the wall, relaxing in a mound of hay. ... molding hay.

"Ew."

Harth moved over to her, standing then crouching beside her. He took a piece of the hay and examined it. Still plenty for a small offering. For a small spell. Good idea.

In another language, one he used deliberately, he seemed to recite a short little poem over her, turning his hand upwards as the hay dissolved in his hand. With what was left, he sprinkled the dust over Toph. A very simple sleeping spell.

"Very ew." He concurred, retreating from her and moving around.

"It's not too bad. Just dry old strings of hay and straw. We don't even have any thing close to this in haddyn."

She froze when she noticed his nearness. His words caught her attention too, more because she couldn't understand them than she actually heard them. She didn't pay it too much mind- he was from another world, after all, maybe it was another language. Still, it interested her.

"... what was that, a nursery rhyme-" she asked, pausing to sneeze at the dust come over her. "What?! Ew! Harth!" she quickly stood, but didn't bother brushing herself off. She was used to being covered in dirt and dust. "And what was THAT?!"

That was ANNOYING, that's what! Ah, but maybe after all her pranking and jokes, she deserved it. The kid probably wasn't much of a clever prankster and couldn't think of anything else.

She summoned a small whirlwind of dust and threw it at him, a smirk on her face. She was almost proud of him, but that didn't mean she wouldn't keep striking back. She would have thrown a small stone or something, but... Oosh, maybe all that exploring was getting to her.

Harth was chuckling. A clever joke it was, though she'll never understand it. He stood back away from her, though allowing himself to get hit by the dust cloud, coughing just for his own amusement and practice keeping himself in character. Once the dust cloud dissipated he looked back down at her.

"Feeling tired?"

"No," she protested, though she fell back onto a stony chair, laying back into it rather than leaning forward as she usually did. "Why? Are you? Let's take a break. It seems safe enough, then-" she couldn't hold back a yawn. "- then we can continue."

Darn. She was tired.

"C'mon, take a rest," she offered, pulling up an identical chair for him just in front of hers. Probably bad placement, but she didn't care too badly. She was... actually kind of too tired to worry about the proximity.

He took the seat, but kept his eyes scanning the room. For both shadows and anyone else who might decide to explore this new little area with the stairs leading down to it. It wouldn't take long for any of this, but then he also had to deal with the story he'd tell anyone who had questions. As far as he knew, she was taken by the shadows.

So he just watched, her, arms crossed. "Yes. We can rest a bit, I don't mind a bit."

She felt herself relax and drift off for nearly half a second before she remembered where she was. She jolted awake with a silent start.

Something was wrong. Very wrong.

"... maybe we need to get back to safety," she insisted. "Come on, let's go. Now!"

Was that fear in her voice? ... yes, actually. She... she felt like she shouldn't, and she didn't know why or how... and it was a bad thing in this horrible environment where monsters could eat them at any given moment. She was worried for herself, and her friend.

She turned away from him and took a few steps, only to fall to her knees and arms, trying to hold herself up, staying awake by the few thin threads of sheer hardheadedness and determination, and she clenched everything from her fists to her teeth, thinking that some how if she relaxed even a little, she'd be out.

Something was definitely wrong.

Harth let her insist, push him backwards and he stepped aside to let her push past him and fall to her knees. He stood up over her, standing next to her.

"Toph?" He asked, reaching down to her to try and rouse her. See how effective the spell is, it sure was taking a while.

Just sleep now, little one. It will be over soon.

No. That was it for the tiny Earthbender. Her elbows gave out and she fell the rest of the way to the dusty ground.

She was asleep before she hit.

Although her eyes were still open, she was out like a light. She was breathing deep and slow, a very unresponsive little girl.

Good night, world. Good night, Toph.

And Harth pulled her up into his arms, checking her response. None. She was out, unconcious. A painless end for her. How merciful was he. He couldn't have her screaming, could he? No. Not with such tight knit networks.

He didn't hesitate after that, not a moment longer did he allow his face to stay the same. His changed, face distorting to that of the beast, the demon inside. He bared his fangs, turning Toph's head to access her neck before taking a bite, and he drank. And drank. And drank until he felt her heart slow to a crawl, and then not moments later, til it stopped. Until her heart was done, her veins tight and empty.

Toph the Earthbender was no more.

03 | Gem of Amarra | OTA

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