Toji narrowed his eyes as he rode on Iron's back, glancing back at the monk that sat behind him. Glancing over at where Nyla was walking, he smirked as Sokka was tense while June leaned back into him.
The Water Tribe man looked over to him with a pleading stare that made Toji snicker as he shook his head, watching as he let out a subtle groan. Then, he raised an eyebrow when Sokka stiffened, catching June's waist shifting as she looked over at Toji and smirked.
'Oh, she's definitely getting him back for losing her money.'
"So, may I ask what your relationship is with the Avatar and his group?" Pathik asked from behind him and Toji turned his head to stare at the man before shaking his head.
"We were not friendly at first, but now we're semi-acquaintances."
"A curious choice of words. You care for them yet deny friendships," Pathik replied, folding his hands in his lap with a peaceful smile.
"I don't deny it," Tony responded with a shrug. "I just don't force it. They either stay or they don't."
"And yet, here you are, helping them cross nations and risking your life to help them be victorious."
"Well, my girlfriend, or at least I think we're supposed to be in a relationship, is the Avatar's Earthbending teacher."
"Is that so? May I ask then why you decided to procure the relics of the past Avatars?"
"Oh, there's no reason. I just did it to see if I could," Toji replied, smirking as the man's calm smile broke for a moment to show a look of bewilderment.
"That's...that's it?"
"That's it. Well, that and if they belonged to the past Avatars, then that meant that they would be worth a pretty penny."
"Ah, so you did do it for monetary value," Pathik spoke with a look of understanding and Toji scoffed at his words.
"Hell no. Like I said, it was just to see if I could and now I know that I can and did."
"So there was no spiritual intent behind it?"
"Nope."
"No long-term goal for their use?'
"Not unless they can stop a rampaging princess with a whole lot of mental problems...which they did so I suppose that could be a long term goal."
"...You understand that many have treated these artifacts with nothing but reverence."
"Hooray for them. They're weapons that I can use," Toji replied with a grin, snickering as he saw June shifting her hips with a smirk.
"Stop...doing...that..." Sokka hissed and he cackled as June just hummed with an innocent smile.
"Why? You losing focus, sweetheart?"
"Water boy, blink twice if you want some pointers," Sokka tried to shoot him a glare, but he grinned when June deliberately bounced once more and watched Sokka's soul leave his body.
"They have...quite the dynamic."
"Eh, it's just her playing with him...or not. I've never gotten used to her antics," Toji murmured, looking forward once more to stare at the mountain that was slowly growing larger.
At the very peak, he could see the temple, raising an eyebrow at it before turning to Pathik as he felt the man shuffle.
"Well, I shall await you at the top. See you there," Before he could ask, Toji raised an eyebrow as Pathik leapt. The monk landed with a roll before he took off, running with a speed that was more fitting for someone a quarter his age and twice his stature.
"Anybody just see the monk run off?"
"Yep, though it's slow compared to you."
"Everyone's slow compared to you. Also, Sokka, you can run away now."
"I don't think he will, right Sokka?" June asked, turning her head as Sokka glared at her.
"I-I think I'm good."
"...She's making you suffer through this as her payment, isn't she?"
"I wouldn't call it suffering. He's enjoying every second of it."
"I am not!"
"Then tell me to stop," June replied, lifting one leg over his head and making Sokka's eyes widen as she turned in her seat to where they were face to face.
Deciding to leave that mess on its own, Toji and Iron rode off, shaking his head as he saw Nyla walking patiently while June leaned forward with a teasing smile.
Yeah, he already knew how this one was going to end, with Sokka frustrated as hell and June feeling satisfied with her vengeance.
"Hey, Iron. If Toph did that, you'd let me kick her off, right?" Toji asked, raising an eyebrow as his komodo rhino stayed silent for a moment. His eyes then widened as the rhino snorted and shook his head.
"Seriously? Her over me?" he asked, rolling his eyes when the rhino nodded with a snort. "Man, you think you know a guy. Oi, June! Let's go!"
"In a minute!" she shouted back, but Sokka just looked up at the sky with closed eyes so as to get away from the hell in front of him. "Eyes on me, lover boy."
"I fear that I may develop an attachment to you if I look at you while you do that."
"Do what? Say it."
"June, leave him be."
"Fine~" She grumbled as she turned with a swift spin, facing forward once more while Sokka immediately hopped off and raced over to Toji.
He didn't get far as a whip wrapped around his leg, spinning just in time to see June pulling him back with a grin.
"Where are you going?"
"Toji!" Run, I'll stop her," Toji joked with a smirk, but as he watched Sokka immediately race past him, he held up a hand to stop June from pursuing.
"That's harassment now. Let him go."
"Fine, never let me have any fun."
"Considering how confused the guy is right now, I'd say it's needed," Toji replied, shaking his head as she giggled before they looked forward at the mountain.
"So, what's the plan once we get up there?"
"See what this Grand Dragon wants...and then beat the shit out of everyone if they try to stop us from leaving," he replied and she blinked at that before nodding with a grin.
"I like that plan."
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"I welcome you all to the Eastern Air Temple," Guru Pathik spoke with a smile as he bowed his head, Toji ignoring the monk while gazing at the interior of the air temple.
Some parts of it were similar to the Western Air Temple he visited before like the wide stone platforms it sat on as well as the decorated pillars and wind chimes clinking gently in the breeze.
There was a few difference such as the fact that this one was actually on the mountain and not built upside down under a cliff. Along with that, it had a more comforting atmosphere compared to the Western Air Temple's stale air.
Another were the three men standing behind Pathik.
One was a black-haired man with a goatee, looking to be of the Fire Nation as Toji caught glimpses of Fire Nation clothing under the indigo-coloured outfit with white details that he wore.
The second was a man with unruly grey hair as well as a wispy moustache and long chin beard combo, dressed in the same white garb that the first man wore.
The third made him smirk as Iroh looked back, raising an eyebrow at him while dressed in the same outfit with the added addition of armour in a similar colour around his upper body as well as a robe under all the pieces.
They all had a white lotus insignia engraved on the front of their clothing and Toji narrowed his eyes as Iroh bowed his head in greeting.
"Toji."
"Iron. I'm guessing you're the Grand Dragon of the White Lotus?"
"That is correct, yes."
"... Zuko know?"
"Yes," Toji raised an eyebrow at that, staring at the smiling firebender before he turned to Sokka as the Water Tribe man spoke up.
"Master Jeong Jeong, is that you?"
"It is I, yes. How goes the Avatar's training?" The man with the white hair asked, shaking his head as Sokka gave a nervous chuckle.
"Well, so far, it's been good, but he's still a ways away from mastering Earthbending and Waterbending. However-"
"You are looking for me so that I may teach him firebending?" Jeong Jeong asked, but the knowing look in his eyes made Sokka grimace before he nodded. "Like I have told him many times, I will not until he has mastered the other three."
"Well, that's going to be tough to do in the short time we have left."
"What does that mean?" the last of the three men finally spoke up, Toji smirking as he saw the sheathed jian at the man's side.
"Huh, didn't expect the great Piandao to be in cahoots with Iroh and whatever this is. Then again, you are a man who left the Fire nation army for...whatever it is you left it for."
"Enlightenment," Piandao replied with a calm gaze, to which Toji stared at the man before letting out a scoff.
"Sure, that or cowardice, but I'll leave that to you. So, Iroh, what did you want?" Toji asked, ignoring Piandao's narrowed eyes as Iroh looked at him with a stone-faced expression.
"Toji Fushiguro, I wish to purchase the artifacts from you."
"Which ones?"
"All of them," Iroh replied and Toji pushed his greed down as he shook his head.
"Nah, you can have the egg for a price. The others are mine."
"What of the ring?"
"Aren't you suppose to be in Ba Sing Se, actually? How the hell are you here?" Toji asked, diverting the subject as Iroh's eyes narrowed.
"I was, but since we've already captured it, I decided to go out on my own journey," Iroh replied, continuing when he saw that Toji was paying attention. "Zuko knows, which is why he and his sister returned to the Fire Nation to hold a celebration for doing something I could not."
"Of course. Well, I gave you guys many times to buy them and you always tried to take them so I'm not selling Szeto's ring anymore. The Sun Warriors' golden egg is still up for sale."
"You don't even know what it is, do you?"
"A petrified Dragon Egg dipped in gold so as to make sure that it was protected from the elements and time," Toji replied, Sokka and June's eyes snapping to him in surprise as the mercenary stared Iroh down. "I also know that it is still alive and that the Sun Warriors have a way to revive it. Why the hell would I give you a dragon for free?"
"Out of the goodness of your heart?"
"Only one person has the goodness of my heart and last I checked, you're not blind, a woman or short."
"She's gonna be pissed at you for calling her short," Sokka whispered, snickering as Toji just waved him away dismissively. Keeping his gaze on Iroh, he watched as the Dragon of the West glanced at Piandao, who nodded.
"What of a wager, then?"
"That why you looked at Piandao? I'm guessing it's a quick fight of sorts?"
"More of a challenge. I will show you a move and I want you to replicate it. If you can do so perfectly, we will leave you be. If not, we wish for the egg. In return, we shall give you a quarter of the price you offered."
"...Or I could just not do it?"
"Of course, you can just not do it. Just didn't expect for the great Phantom Menace to be a coward," Piandao replied calmly, making Toji blink once before he grinned.
"Oh, that's adorable," he replied, leaning his head back with a mocking smile. "I didn't know the White Lotus was made out of comedians. Tell me, did he pay you extra for trying to talk shit?"
"It is not 'talking shit' as you so crassly put it. I am simply stating a truth. If you cannot replicate a simple technique, then you have no right holding something as precious as a dragon's last hope."
"I'm unworthy?"
"That is correct yes," Piandao nodded and Toji responded by climbing off of Iron and letting Wormy crawl out from his cloak. The sight of it made Pathik recoil as well as made the three White Lotus men grimace as it gagged out Toji's trusted jian that he swung with a smirk.
"What...is that?"
"This is Wormy, a curse spirit."
"Then why have you not tried to cleanse its soul?" Iroh asked and Toji looked at Wormy who looked back.
"...Never tried to. Anyway, show me the move," Piandao just shook his head at the man's idiocy, stepping out to the middle of the platform while everyone else stood back.
Immediately, the air echoed as Piandao's posture shifted, Sokka's eyes widening as the swordsman drew his jian and did one single slash.
It was swift, graceful and silent, so smooth the air itself seemed to hesitate before it followed the path of his swing.
With a hum, the man flicked his blade before sheathing it with a smooth flourish, turning around as a stone pillar twenty feet away slowly fell in two.
"...What?" Sokka murmured, stunned at what just happened while Toji raised an eyebrow.
"Replicate that," Toji didn't say anything as he stared at the stone, back at Piandao and back at the stone.
"...That's it?" he asked with a blink of his eyes, Piandao tilting his head with a raised eyebrow.
"Are you implying it is easy?"
"Yes," Toji replied, easily replicating the man's swing with a bored frown. Without needing to take a stance, the air shook as a razor-sharp shockwave flew past the swordmaster and cleaved the pillar behind him in two.
That was not all as a jagged line was carved into the ground behind the pillar, continuing on until it was halfway across the platform.
"...WHAT?!" Sokka exclaimed, Piandao himself standing with his eyes wide as Jeong Jeong blinked before turning to a laughing Iroh.
"You knew that would happen, didn't you?"
"Of course I did, though even I did not expect that much destruction. You may have overachieved, Toji."
"Overachieved?" Piandao muttered, staring at the destruction that Toji's attack had left behind. "Where was his stance? He didn't even take his stance."
"Stances waste too much time."
"That was not the agreement nor the move I demonstrated," Piandao replied with a sharp tone. "That was-"
"Better."
"The ground is still opening up," Jeong Jeong added with a sigh, everyone staring at the crack that was slowly growing before Toji pointed at it as it stopped.
"Nope, see? All's good, right?"
"Well that is true. As agreed, the wager has been met and the technique was emphatically improved upon even."
"That's not-!" Piandao paused as he saw Iroh's gentle but firm gaze, one that made him grimace before he nodded.
"Good! Also, I was always going to give you the egg since I know you guys wouldn't leave me be."
"For free?"
"For double the price," Toji replied, grinning widely as Iroh smirked. The man then walked off to the side behind a pillar before picking up the treasure chest right behind it with a grunt.
"Here you are. Double the fee."
'I was going to cut that pillar,' Toji thought with a nervous smile that he quickly removed as Wormy gagged and spat out a golden egg the size of a volleyball.
A good thing he didn't, huh?
"Here you go. One bedazzled dragon egg."
"And here's the twenty thousand gold for it," Iroh spoke with a pleased smile, taking the egg as Toji let Wormy eat the gold. "How much do you have stored in that spirit?"
"This and that," Toji replied cryptically, making Iroh chuckle before the two stared at each other.
"...What would you say-"
"Let me stop you right there. No to everything you're about to offer," Toji cut off Iroh with a raised hand, making the man blink at the abrupt interruption before he smiled.
"Well, then we shall bid you farewell," Iroh replied, the three men of the White Lotus bowing their heads in greeting before walking into the Air Temple.
"Let me guess, secret passage?" Toji asked, looking at Pathik as the monk just smiled in response. "June?"
"Nyla's got their scents recognized," she replied, rubbing her shirshu's head as Sokka let out a groan.
"He was right here. Why did you just take him by force?"
"My job was to find June. I did. Job done."
"Urgh, I'm telling Toph."
"Just for that, you're riding back with June. Pathik, we'll deliver that thing you wanted to Aang."
"Thank you."
"W-Wait, Toji. I was just playing, man. Please, no," Sokka pleaded, Toji staring at him before scoffing as he hopped onto Iron and grinned.
"Nah, I think you can ride with June. That and I don't want to worry about her giving me laxatives again," he replied, the Water Tribe man turning his head to see the female mercenary already waiting with a sultry smile.
"Come, come, Sokka. You and I are going to be well-acquainted when we get to your friends."
A/N: And we end it off here~! A meeting with the White Lotus, June and Sokka maybe? Who knows? Also, Toji showing off and next chapter, we're going on our own adventures...again.
Like always, you can go to my Pat-reon-.-com-/-KingCrimsonNova to read ahead on this as well as many other stories & even some that haven't been released out to this site yet. If you want to, you are free to, but if you don't want, all's good as I will still be uploading here. This is just me trying to get some extra cash.
Anyway, as always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one…
Ba-Bye~!