What do we say to the god of Death?

What do we say to the god of Death?
Lin felt so distractingly aware of everything around her as she watched the airships come closer. She felt the harsh whip of the air on her face, the way it tossed her hair around and screamed in her ears. Under the thin sliding pads built in her boots, her feet saw every contraction of Oogi's body as he soared through the sky, swerving to lose the tails. But what Lin felt the most, despite every clashing factor around her, was the sting of eyes on her.
The airbending kids all looked up at her, terror and core shaking dependency in their brown orbs as they all huddled close. Lin met each of their gazes, her green eyes sending signals no words could describe. She saw Tenzin in all of them, and it didn't help the knotting feeling of bitterness rising in her like bile as her gaze shifted to Pema and the newborn in her arms.
So easily could this situation be turned: she could be in Pema's place, holding beautiful children and worrying for Tenzin like only a devoted wife could. She bit her tongue until she could taste blood and looked away.
That was the past, and it would be naïve to hope anything different could have happened.
A new kind of rush sprang up and out into her and got her heart beating like a hummingbird's wings as she opened her eyes and faced the airships. They had gotten closer in her time spent simmering in the thoughts racing through her mind and it was becoming morbidly clear what she needed to do.
"Whatever happens to me…" it was like trying to swallow fire speaking the words she had to say. "Don't turn back!"
One more deep breath, one more look at the man she could have had, and she was ready.
"Lin!"
It was too late, she was already running off Oogi's tale, her body was already tensed and ready to jump. As easily as it was to breathe, Lin bent the metal cables in her arm guards and they shot out at the nearest airship, latching on as she repelled upwards.
"What do we say to the God of Death, Lin?" her mother's smooth voice rolled into Lin's ears as she stood lazily on the concrete tile platform Toph had made as a training station for the young girl.
Puzzled at the peculiar question, Lin fixed her body's unconscious way of tilting her head in confusion and settled for crossing her arms across her chest.
"The who?"
"The God of Death, Lin. Do you know what to tell him when he comes for you?"
Toph remained still, her face a strange mold of gravity as she blindly stared somewhere near her daughter's face, waiting for the child to answer.
"Erm, howdy?"
In a motion only Toph could pull off, she leaned over and flicked Lin in the forehead, the girl reeling slightly from the unexpected force from her mother's legendary strength.
"Wha – ow! Ma!"
"I'm serious Lin!"
Lin was getting ready to swing herself up onto the top of the steel airship; she could already smell the rust and exhaust. As the cables pulled her closer and the air around her settled in a way of acceptance, her arms flexed their strong muscles and sent her up high and over towards the top of the airship.
"It's not an actual thing Lin, but it's always there and it's terrifying. It shows up when you're on the verge of giving up and makes you want to slump over and die like a Lily-livered pile of dung."
"It's that bump in the night or that obstacle that constantly tells you it's over."
Toph had now kneeled until she was at Lin's level, her calloused hands on her daughter's shoulders and gripping her lightly.
"You're a Bei Fong. That means you're more fierce than dragons and stronger than Badger-Moles, and us Bei Fong's have a saying for the God of Death."
Toph stood to her full height and walked behind Lin, hands still on her shoulders. Swiftly, Toph spread her daughter's feet out wide with her own and grabbed her elbows, molding her little girl into a strong fighting stance. Lin's arms were bent into L's and her hands in fists as she bent her knees at her mother's instruction and cemented her chin.
"Stomp your foot."
Being a good daughter, Lin obeyed.
When her small foot came down, the platform shattered under it and a shockwave sped outwards, splintering the concrete for a long nine feet away from the source. Lin looked up, amazed at the new record she had set in a matter of seconds. She picked up her foot and stepped away from the crater she left and over to her mother's side.
"You see," Toph started, bringing her daughter closer into her side as she motioned towards the small ravine her ten year-old had made. "When you stand like that the God of Death doesn't have a chance, you'll blow through him like Lemon Curd pie."
Lin landed on the thick metal top of the airship, tucking and rolling across it until she came to a stop. She jumped up, tucked her elbows into her sides and bent her knees and dug into the metal beneath her. The corpulent sheet metal wrinkled under her feet as she came to a stop and held herself firm. Looking around for Equalists, she stood and looked down at the metal beneath her.
Lin smiled as Toph side-hugged her and rubbed the side of her arm in pride.
"And when you've got him under your feet, Lin,"
Lin could see the Equalists running up to get her, and so with the limited time she had, she raised her arms and spread her hands wide and took a deep breath, every cell in her body exploding with adrenaline as they revved into action.
With a graceful lift of her foot, Lin let her breath out through her nose and brought her foot down with all the force she could muster. The metal sprayed outwards and peeled back like the skin of an orange. It made an enormous crater and Lin jumped to the side to avoid falling in. Her hands balled into fists while still raised straight before her, and with a violent jerk she shot them back under her armpits and the metal folded back in the same direction and peeled away even farther. The ship started to rock and swerved off course, and that was when Lin allowed herself the split second glance back at the flying Bison carrying the last Airbenders, the family that could have easily been hers.
"Begging you not to squash him with boulders, you gotta tell him:"
She tore her eyes away and pulled up a sheet of metal, the force between her and the molecules of earth embedded in the sheet acting in a strength no other bender possessed and she started sprinting across the roof of the airship, subsequently ripping it apart. Lin ran so fast, she dug her feet into the ship to go farther and even faster as she came close to ripping the top off.
"You tell the god of Death – "
Lin heard cables whirring towards her and she knew she had done more than enough damage, but her heart kept beating at the speed of a hummingbird's wings and she took it as a sign that they were Gods of Death in disguise. In a split second, Lin turned and brought up a sheet of metal and the electric cables bounced off it and slipped off the side of the ship.
"Not today!" Lin roared and met the two Equalists head on in a blaze of glory, using everything from her fists to her teeth to keep them off her. It was a spectacular sight, even after falling to the searing electricity Lin kept on, growling and cursing shock after shock.
Because she knew behind those masks, there were demons.
And because Lin was such a wonderful daughter, she remembered her loving mother's words that had kept her alive through the thick and thin.
"What do we say to the God of Death, Lin?"
"Not today."
"Atta girl."