Chapter 1

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Chapter 1 My name is Toph Beifong. I'm an Earthbender. A pretty good one, too. But what really stinks is that I have to hide that part of who I am. See, my parents are very rich and power-ful. I come from one of the most important families in the Earth Kingdom, the Beifongs. Just saying my last name has always opened doors. People rush to help me just because my family is wealthy, and I really can't stand that. I live on a huge estate in a giant mansion, with servants attending to my every whim. I hate that, too. I don't want to be treated as royalty or anyone special. And I most definitely do not want to be treated as if I have a handicap. Oh, yeah, I guess I should mention that I'm blind. But before you start feeling sorry for me or start thinking I'm helpless, let me explain something. I see with my feet. I know it sounds weird, but believe me, it's true. More accurately, I see using Earthbending. I feel the vibrations in the earth and they help me figure out where everything is. I can sense the slightest movement—in other people, in tree branches swaying in the wind, even in the tiniest ants crawling on the ground.

I've never felt sorry for myself for one second, but my parents don't understand me. They always treat me like I'm helpless. They think I'm just a beginning-level Earthbending student, and they take comfort in that. If I ever showed them what I'm really capable of, they'd ground me for the next twenty years! Sometimes I get so frustrated from hiding who I really am, not being able to use my Earthbending skills to their full capacity around my mom and dad, I feel like screaming! So, that's why I've adopted a kind of secret identity. I sneak out of my house at night, when my parents are asleep, and I compete in Earthbending tournaments. If my folks ever found out about it, I'd be grounded for the rest of my life! At the competitions I'm known as "the Blind Bandit." It's kind of silly, I know. But I didn't even make up the name. This guy named Xin Fu, who runs the tournaments, started calling me that. Competing lets me cut loose with my Earthbending abilities—a chance I never get as Toph Beifong, poor, weak, blind girl, obedient daughter of the oh-so-important Beifong family. But as the Blind Bandit, I fight—and win, by the way. In fact, I'M the reigning champion! Tonight is Earth Rumble Six. The arena is packed. After a particularly boring day "studying" with my

Earthbending teacher, Master Yu, "learning" how to move tiny pebbles, I'm ready to kick some Earthbending butt. As the champ, I get to sit back and watch a bunch of chumps compete until they narrow the challengers down. My opponent tonight is this big, muscle-bound guy who calls himself "the Boulder." I think he got the name because he moves as slowly and stomps as heavily as one, not because he Earthbends them well. Okay, here it goes. …I love it when the crowd cheers like this! "The Boulder feels conflicted about fighting a young, blind girl!" he said aloud. What a fool! He's going down—hard! "Whenever you're ready, 'Pebble'!" The crowd loves this stuff. And I have to admit I get a kick out of stirring them up. Right now I'm laughing loudly. You know, to make the Boulder even madder than he already is. The angrier an opponent, the less subtle his attack, the easier it is for me to follow his moves and stop him. "It's on!" the Boulder cried. Finally! Okay, Toph, focus on his movements. Block out the sound of the crowd, just feel the ground under your feet. There he is—he's charging forward

—but not for long! The Boulder went down quickly. He took a big clumsy step toward me, then lifted his other foot. Before it could hit the ground, I flexed my ankle, driving my heel into the earth, sending a narrow shockwave racing toward him. So as his foot came down, a ripple of rock from my shockwave shoved his foot to the side, causing him to land in a painful split. He moaned and groaned as he scrambled back to his feet. Ha! Take that! Maybe one of these days they'll bring me some serious competition. In fact, maybe I'll just finish him off right now—for kicks. BAM! I extended my arms, Earthbending three jagged poles of rock, which burst up from the ground, slammed into the Boulder, and sent him flying into the far wall. Match over. Yawn! This is so boring—Whoa, did I just hear that right? Xin Fu's offering a sack of gold to anyone who can beat me. Finally, some real competition. What, no takers? Wait a minute, who's this little guy? He feels tiny… small enough to crush with my bare hands—without even using Earthbending! What'd he just say to me? He doesn't want to fight, he just wants to talk to me? I'm not here for conversation, kid. I'm here to defend my title, so bring it on!