WOHO! I updated! Finally right ;) well hopefully I'll be updating every other week like last time, especially since I already have a majority of the next chapter written :3 So hopefully no long waits this time.

Now, normally I would be explaining my sudden absence, but I already did that in my latest chapter of The Runaway In Jump, so if you really want to hear it (which I doubt you all do) go to chapter 22 Author's Notes, it's all there.

Now time for a short summery since it's just been that long since I updated: Danny's parents have spent a majority of their lives investigating the Spirit World until General Vlad orders his men to kill Jack Fenton in order to obtain his lost love Maddie. He succeeded, but Danny was caught in the crossfire and was left in the woods where Schim (AKA Sam), the spirit of the forest, found him and unintentionally turned him into a Halfa, half human, half spirit.

He had spent only a week in the Forest (after his mother and sister fell into Vlad's trap and moved to the Capital with him) when he meets Valerie, then after a month or so he meets the Gaang... and now we start the story after Danny realizes he is to leave with them to stop the Fire Nation.


Chapter 6- Worries

"Whoa, you live here?!" Katara asked as she stared at the large bundle of trees in the middle of a small clearing. The trees were just another example that being a half spirit made Danny different. Just like Sam, he could shape the plants in the forest like she did when they met, and the tree house in front of them was an example of that. Danny and Sam formed the house together by shaping the bundle of trees to their liking. It turned out beautifully in their opinions, and apparently their guests thought so as well.

"Yeah, Sam made it when I came about a month ago." Danny explained, trying his hardest to skip over 'minor' details.

"What do you mean she made it?" Katara asked looking back at Danny in shock.

"She has the ability to mold the forest as she pleases; after all, it is hers." He clarified, "The first time I saw her do it she morph a part of a tree to make shovels, it was pretty mystifying to say the least."

"What did you need shovels for?" Toph asked. Her voice still had a line of uncertainly that put Danny on edge, although he could not explain why.

However his heart sank as he thought about what happened only a month ago. Danny looked across the small field that was in front of his home and found his father's grave. "To dig." Was all he could make himself say at that moment, he did not want to talk about his father to four people he just met. "But we don't need to worry about that, let's go check out your hotel rooms shall we?" Danny said in an attempt to lighten the mood, it did not work.

Obviously curious as to what Danny was staring at, Sokka started to walk towards the area where his father was buried. Danny's heart immediately lodged itself into his throat as he realized what the boy was doing.

"H-hey!" He choked out as he rushed after Sokka, the other three following closely behind.

"Sokka…" Toph started; she had not even taken two steps towards the grave before she stopped dead in her tracks. She held a dreadful look on her face, that made Danny think that maybe she seen a ghost, but knew it was very unlikely.

Everyone stopped as well, even Sokka, all looking at the somewhat horrified looking girl. "What is it Toph?" Sokka inquired irritably, and Danny's eye twitched at the boy's impatient tone. It was like he was hell bent on taking a look at his deceased father, or was it just that he wanted Danny to sick Casper on him.

"Maybe we should go take that tour." Toph pushed, and Danny looked at the girl a little shocked, not sure why she would want to go away from the grave when everyone else seemed to want to go towards it.

Sokka looked shocked too, but then a questioning look crossed his face. "What did you feel?" He asked and Danny looked back and forth between the two, not sure what exactly was going on.

"That what it over there is none of our concern." Toph answered smoothly, and Danny felt his heart jump once again.

"How… How did you…?" He started, but he was not sure how exactly to word what he wanted to say.

Toph's look turned sympathetic, but she was not the one that answered. "Toph can see using her earthbending." Katara answered, as she apparently connected some of the dots. "She can even see some things that are underground if enough vibrations pass through it."

"I saw who you buried," Toph said looking down, "I'm sorry."

Understanding replaced the shock Danny had felt, and a defeated sigh forced its way through his lips. "It's alright, come here." He said, deciding that since one of them knew about his father, it would probably be best to show the rest as well. After all, rumors always got worse with every person that it was told to. When they reached the grave Danny let a small smile play on his lips. "Well, everyone, this is my father, Jack Fenton!"

Everyone stared at the grave in shock, well except Toph of course. "'A Great Father, Husband, and Legend in the Making.'" Katara spoke out loud what was written in the ice block that Sam had made for him, with the promise that it would never melt. Katara then looked over to Danny, "What happened to him?"

If Danny was to be totally honest, he was not all that thrilled about thinking back to the day his father died, including why it happened in the first place. However he knew that if he was going to be traveling with the group he might as well share his story, to release some of the tension they might have towards him being a part of the Fire Nation.

"My father was a great man," Danny started, "he was such a stubborn believer in his theories, all of which seem outlandish to the Fire nation. But my father never really did learn how to back down from what he believed in, and a lot of people would say that was what killed him, but that's not the whole truth. What really killed him was a man's jealousy." Danny then looked up at the sky, like the tale he was telling was etched into the clouds. "A General by the name of Vlad Masters had fallen in love with my mother, Maddie Fenton, way before I was born. He is a very powerful man with a lot of influence, it was because of that power that a group of soldiers got together under one order; kill Jack Fenton. It was only a month ago that they burned down my house and I was forced to live here with Sam."

When he was done everyone looked at him with sympathy, even Sokka. "I'm sorry," Katara said as he put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "my mother was killed by the Fire Nation too."

A small smile formed on Danny's lips, "Thanks, but this really isn't the time for this. Nigh fall is coming soon and I really should get you guys into your rooms before Sam bites my head off about poor manners towards guests."

When they got to the front doors of the tree house Danny felt a rough pull on the back of his shirt that almost made him fall backwards. "Can we talk?" Toph asked with an iron grip on Danny's shirt. The worry and uncertainty that was in her voice had returned tenfold.

Danny looked back at the house, unsure, but decided that maybe it was for the best if it meant finding out why Toph seemed to act so strange around him. "Sure." He said, and then he was pulled once again, but this time it was a little less forceful. When she stopped pulling they were a good distance away from the house and Danny could not help but feel somewhat vulnerable, not that he would say that out loud. "So what did you want to talk about?" Danny asked, shaking off his uncertainty and focusing on the topic at hand.

"Your heart," Toph started, but Danny only became confused, wondering where this was going, "what is wrong with it?" She finished, and Danny's confusion did not go down in the slightest.

"What…what do you mean; what's wrong with it?" Danny asked, now truly concerned as he felt his chest, worried that something had gone horribly wrong.

Toph's eyebrow rose in both confusion, and disbelief. "You mean you don't know?"

"Know what?!" Danny asked, slowly becoming hysteric.

"Your heart rate is low, lower than I have ever felt on anyone before… are you alright?" Toph asked with a hint of worry in her voice and all traces of uncertainty now gone.

It then clicked in his head, 'Crap, this is one of the side effects of being a Halfa!' Danny then face palmed, feeling stupid for not checking this earlier. "I'm fine." Danny said; his voice now sounding irritated.

Toph's eyebrow rose a little bit more, "Wow, you're taking this well."

Danny let out a sigh, "Well, once you live with a spirit," 'or become half of one,' "there is nothing that will surprise you."

"So you're not worried about it?"

"Nope, ever since I met Sam a lot has happened, a low heart rate is literally the least of my problems."

Toph looked at Danny, skeptical, but seemed to push her worried behind her. "Alright, so where will I be staying?" She asked as she grabbed Danny's shirt and started to drag him back towards the house.


Jazz was practically beaming as she ran home, her chest full of pride. "Mother!" She yelled throughout the large house that could easily be called a small palace.

"I'm up stairs honey." Maddie called, Jazz simple smiled as she almost tripped up the stairs to share her good news with her mother.

"Mom, you will not believe this!" The girl exclaimed as she put down the small piece of paper she was holding onto her mother's desk, wanting her to read what was on the paper for herself.

Maddie looked over the piece of paper and a shocked look soon crossed her face, but then sorrow quickly replaced it, "Are you sure about this sweetie?" She asked as she looked up at her daughter, her eyes downcast.

"Of course mom, this could be my chance to help, to make a difference!" Jazz said excitedly, wanting her mother to see her point of view. "I might even be able to capture the men who killed Danny and dad!"

"Jazz… are you sure that joining the Fire Nation army is the best way?" Maddie questioned as worry etched itself onto her face. "Do you know how much danger these people face?"

"But mom, Vlad said that I am a natural firebender and would be perfect for the war efforts, plus, there is next to nothing in our way. The Avatar died only a few weeks ago and the Earth Kingdom, Ba Sing Se, has fallen, so there is only the rebel earthbenders to stand up against us!"

Maddie flinched at her daughter's words, and feeling guilt weigh down her heart. 'I knew Vlad would be a horrible influence on her.' She thought, but it was not like she had much of a choice on where to go after what happened to their house. "Jazz, think about what you are saying, the Avatar is needed, especially now."

Jazz's excitement deflated and disappointment took its place. "Mother, I got accepted into the army, I thought you would be excited that I decided to make a difference."

Maddie's heart ached by her daughter's look. She knew that allowing her daughter to join the Fire Nation army would be the worst thing she could do as a parent, but the pain on her daughter's face was too much for her. She had disappointed Danny the night he died, she did not know if she could do the same to Jazz, not now after only a month to cope with half of her family's death. "Alright Jazz… but don't go yet, wait a few more weeks… please…"


The next morning Danny was way too exhausted to do much of anything. He had spent a majority of the night kicking out yet another Fire Nation raid that threatened to burn down the forest. Then after that he tried to go to sleep, but ended up staying up all night worrying about a multitude of stuff. One being what Sam would do about the raids without him; another was trying to figure out how to tell Valerie he was leaving. So when the sun finally came over the horizon he realized that sleep was officially lost on him.

"Wow, you look awful," Valerie said as she looked him over once he got to their meeting place. Ever since their first meeting a few weeks back they had met practically every morning.

"Tell me about it." Danny said as he let out a yawn.

Val let out a soft chuckle, "Why don't you tell me?"

Danny shook his head, "I didn't get any sleep last night."

"Why?" She asked a confused look on her face.

Danny looked up at her and immediately felt guilty, "Because I'm leaving." He said in a low whisper, not sure if his voice would go up any higher.

"Leaving… where are you going?" Val asked, her voice pained, but her face masked with worry.

"I don't know, but a couple friends of mine are going to be traveling around the Fire Nation and are insisting that I come with."

Val looked down, her eyes now covered in shadows, "So… this will be our last meeting?" She whispered.

Danny's heart sank, and the guilt inside of it tripled, "I don't know…"

Val looked up again and the guilt became overwhelming. During the past couple weeks that they have known each other Valerie has probably become one of Danny's few friends.

Although Danny knew next to nothing about Valerie she was the only person he could talk to, and by person, that means human, 100% non-furry, non-glowing, and firebending-less human. However one of the things that he did know about her was that he was her only friend also. Around the same time Danny's regular life ended was the same time Val's life went right downhill.

Valerie came from a wealthy family of firebenders, though she is not one herself thanks to her mother's side of the family. She was forced to move from the Fire Nation capitol to the village west of the forest when her father lost his rank in the Fire Nation army. However she never told Danny how he lost it, or what general fired him, he only knew how it affected Valerie afterwards.

Once her father lost his job, he lost all his credibility and became an outcast and Valerie herself was not too far behind. When word got around about her father she lost all of her friends when they turned on her. She even lost her boyfriend Kwan, and her best friend Paulina.

Danny then looked up at Valerie, thinking of all the things he could say to make the hurt look on her face go away. "I'll be back." He started, "I don't know when, but I promise we'll meet again." He then forced a smile and Valerie did the same.

"Alright… just make it soon, alright?"

"Alright." Danny said and before he could turn to leave he was instantly tackled by a hug. He stared at the girl that was clinging to him, that he was now sure was Valerie, but he that did not help him come up with a response to the sudden contact. So after a few seconds he did the only thing that seemed reasonable, he wrapped his arms around her and comforted her.


Danny let out a sigh as he walked back to his tree house, he honestly did not know what to think about everything. He had so many reasons to stay in the forest, there was Sam's weakened state that was steadily getting stronger, but just barely. There was also the fact that he had practically made a life here, how could he leave it when he had grown so attacked to it? There were also the Fire Nation raids to worry about; Danny honestly did not know if Sam was strong enough to stop any of them from attacking yet.

Then there was Valerie, the first human friend he had ever made that never judged him. How could he bring himself to leave her when she needed him just as much as he needed her?

However he also had so many reasons for going with the Avatar. If he left he could learn how to firebend properly instead of only guessing what he was supposed to do. He could also stop the Fire Nation's advancement upon his forest by stopping the Fire Lord once and for all. However the major reason that Danny wanted to leave was probably because of his Mother and Jazz. Because if there was one thing he knew for sure, it was that he had to find them!

He had not seen Jazz or his mother since they rushed off to live with Vlad in the Fire Nation capitol the night after his father died. A small part of Danny did not want to blame his mother for leaving, but the larger part could not help but feel irritated that she had played right into Vlad's hands. He did not know that he could hate that man more than he did the night of the accident, but the moment they left, Danny wanted nothing more than to ring that man's calculating, scheming, and mischievous neck.

However once he got to the clearing in front of his tree house he found the most magnificent sight that made him totally forget about his troubles. In front of his house was a large white animal with brown markings, one of which was an arrow that went over its head. Danny could not believe his eyes, in front of him was an animal he thought was extinct, an Air Bison!

Danny's body acted on his most childlike tendencies that he had not felt since his parents took him to the Zoo for the first time when he was six. So in a flash, he was rushing towards the magnificent creature, excitement pumping through his veins. When he finally reached the bison he did the next thing his tendency told him to do, he hugged the animal.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT, IT'S A REAL AIR BISON!" Danny yelled as he hugged the shocked beast tighter. "I never thought I'd ever live to see the day!" He continued with less enthusiasm as an overjoyed tear escaped his eye.

"Ummm… are you alright?" Danny heard Katara ask from behind him.

Shocked, and a little embarrassed, Danny let go of the bison, turned to face the girl, while scooting away from the animal. "Yeah, I'm perfectly fine." He said while he rubbed his head in embarrassment. "Why would you think otherwise?" He finished as he let out a nervous laugh.

Katara smiled at Danny, most likely from amusement. "No reason, his name's Appa by the way, he's Aang's."

Danny looked up at the air bison once again, that was staring at him with curiosity, and anticipation. Danny smiled at Appa, knowing all too well that eventually the air bison would sense his spiritual energy that Sam gave him. He learned a long time ago that the energy he had would send a weird sensation to the animals around him, however since it was so low, they need to be near him for a while to actually sense it. Danny also noticed that once they realize his energy they start to talk to him, which he has grown to accept.

"I figured he was Aang's since he is the last Airbender, and Appa is probably the last air bison." He stated as he started to pet Appa's head. "I think he actually came to my home village about a month ago, but those could have just been rumors."

"What do you mean?" Katara asked, her face becoming less amused and more interested.

"Well before my home was burned down, a circus came to town. A lot of people said that an air bison was going to be in it; even my sister believed it. However I refused to go, for multiple reasons."

Katara looked at Danny in shock, "Wait, Appa was in a circus?"

Danny looked Katara over, confused by her words, "I don't know, I usually don't believe in most of the rumors I hear." He then looked back at Appa, who was starting to relax, "Where they true?"

Katara let out a sigh, "I don't know either, but a little over a month ago we did loose Appa to some sandbenders who sold him. They said they sold him to someone in Ba Sing Se, but he could have ended up anywhere."

Shock overwhelmed Danny, "S- so you did lose him… wow…"

"You said you didn't go to the circus… what where your reasons?" Katara asked.

Danny let out a chuckle as he remembered all the books he read about air bisons, "Because I know how loyal an airbender is to their bison, and vice versa. I figured that if the air bison really was the Avatar's the circus would end in flames. And as it would turn out, it did. The next day everyone was talking about how the air bison escaped and almost set the tent on fire."

"The man with the fire whip started it." Appa argued. Danny could not suppress a laugh as the bison finally talked.

"But that was just what I heard, I also heard about the Avatar's death, it was only because of Sam that I knew they were not true." Danny finished.

Katara looked at Danny in confusion, "Why do you call Schim Sam, and how did she know about Aang?"

"Well to answer your first question, I call her Sam because that's what her name sounded when she introduced herself to me. I was in a lot of pain from the Fire Nation's assault on my home and my senses where not exactly reliable, that and because Sam never corrected me, so the name stuck." Danny added the last part with a shrug. "But to answer your second question; it's because Aang is the bridge between the real world and the spirit world. If he dies, every spirit would know. Sam even knew when he was frozen in that iceberg and when he got out, however she never knew how either happened."

Katara seemed to accept this information with a nod, but she still had a curious look on her face. "You have lived in the Fire Nation all your life right?" She asked.

Danny nodded, "Yeah, my mom's family was actually from the capitol, but since she and her father never got along she moved here with my father and older sister."

"So… Do you know firebending?"

Danny instantly froze, not sure how he should answer. Katara herself said that her mother was killed by firebenders, so… what would she think if she knew he could? "Well…" He started but was quickly cut off.

"Oh there you are!" Sokka yelled as he came out of the house.

"He-here I am." Danny stuttered as he gestured to himself, a little relieved to be off the subject. "Where you looking for me?"

"Yeah, you missed the meeting." Sokka exclaimed.

"What meeting?" Danny asked confused as to why they would hold one.

"The meeting where we discussed when we were going to start heading out, which is soon, so you better get packing." Sokka stated and Danny scowled at the boy.

"What if I'm not ready?" He asked, his voice a low growl.

"Then we'll leave without you."

"Sokka!" Katara yelled, and Danny's breathing began to heave in anger.

"What? We're on a tight schedule. We only have a limited amount of time to get the capitol before the eclipse, so we can't afford to miss any more time!"

'Eclipse?' Danny thought, his anger soon diverted, 'Does he mean the solar or lunar eclipse?'

'Probably solar,' Sam stated in his head, 'it would be the perfect time to attack the Fire Nation Capitol since all firebending will be offline.'

"Wait, you plan on attacking the Fire Lord during a solar eclipse." Danny started, a devious smile forming on his face. "That's brilliant!"

Sokka's face turned horrified, like he just said something that could ultimately backfire on him. "What, of course not! You are just hearing things." Sokka explained with a wave of his hand, "I mean common, a solar eclipse! Those are rare and highly unlikely to appear in our lifetime."

Danny rolled his eyes, but decided to play along, "Alright, so about my time limit, when exactly is it?"

"It's soon," Sokka exclaimed, "and coming closer."

"Well in that case I don't have much time to waste." Sam, in her wolf form once again, said as she came out of another tree. "Danny can you come over here, we need to talk."

"What about?" Danny asked as he started to walk towards her. However it was at a very slow pace due to the fact that he did not want to get too far away from Appa.

'It's about what we're going to do about the raids.' Sam stated mentally.

Danny let out a sigh and nodded, "I'll talk to you guys later." He stated back to Katara, Appa, and Sokka as he started to walk towards Sam at a faster pace than before. "So where are we going Sam?" Danny asked once they got a good distance away. However he was starting to regret following her when he looked back at where the bison sat and saw nothing but trees blocking his sight.

"To talk." She answered flatly.

"Couldn't we have done that next to the bison?"

Sam rolled her eyes, "You'll have plenty of time to get to now Appa, but we only have a limited amount of time to talk and I can't risk the rest of them hearing us, unless you want to tell them about Phantom."

"I'd like to save that for later." Danny stated nervously, "So what is it that you want to talk about?" he asked, now focused, well somewhat, his sleep deprivation was still not totally gone.

Sam then stopped walking and Danny did a double take on the group's energy and felt that they were all still near the house. However he also felt a single human energy in the forest, but since it was a little while away, not doing any damage to the forest, and would most likely not come towards them anytime soon, he chose to ignore it.

"I talked to the Painted Lady last night." Sam started, however Danny was shocked to hear her voice full of joy instead of the usual aggravation he had grown accustomed to hearing whenever Sam brought up spirits.

"What about?" Danny asked, not entirely sure if what Sam was smiling about would harm him or not, since most of her plans tend to in some way.

"She told me something that could help both you and my forest while you are traveling the world with the Avatar."

Danny's eyes opened wide with excitement, "Really, how?!"

"Laydown." Sam said and Danny's enthusiasm deflated.

"Is this going to be like the time you told me to stand up and ended up kissing me?" He had to ask.

Sam rolled her eyes. "No, the Painted Lady said you had to sleep, so go to sleep!"

Danny looked at her skeptically, but reluctantly lied down, and before he knew it, he felt himself drift off into his dreams.

'Good,' He heard Sam echo through his mind, but she sounded distant, almost like she was talking through water, 'the Painted Lady then said to reach towards my voice.'

Danny looked around the darkness of his dream, not entirely sure if what he was hearing was actually Sam, or his active imagination. 'How?' He asked doing a three-sixty.

'Just follow my voice Phantom, trust me. If we can get this to work we won't have to worry about the Fire Nation, and life in my forest will be peaceful again.'

Hope flourished in Danny's chest, though he was not sure why. Of course he cared about the forest, but the way his heart felt, he knew that it was more extreme than just the need to protect it. However he did not question the feeling, he just allowed it to flow through him as his body soared towards Sam's voice. Then, before he knew it, he found himself inside the forest once again with a smiling Sam looking up at him.

"Nice work Phantom."

Danny looked at her confused as to what exactly he did, well until he noticed that he was floating. He looked down and found that he was in his Phantom form. However he could not remember transforming into it to begin with. "Wha-…" He started, but was quickly stopped when Sam's wolf snout gestured towards something behind him.

Danny was still slightly confused, but followed Sam's lead and found himself frozen stiff. In front of him was… him!

Danny's mind when into hyper drive wanting to know why exactly he was looking at a sleeping form of his human half. However that was only half of why Danny was in shock, the other reason was because his human half's tattoos were glowing! He could not help but refer back to his parent's books of when the Avatar went into the Spirit World or the Avatar State his tattoos and eyes would glow.

"WHAT THE HECK?!" Danny yelled in horror, "S-Sam, are we in the Spirit World?!" He asked in a lower voice, though it was still pretty loud.

Danny was surprised when he heard Sam let out a set of chuckles, like the idea was deeply amusing. "No," More laughter, "I did this so that you could still help the forest, and no one could do that through the spirit world."

Danny did not know if he should feel dumb or confused, so he settled with the ladder. "Oh, well… then why am I split?"

"Because the Painted Lady told me that a Halfa's spirit is only allowed to leave your human body when you are either meditating or sleeping. However I can't teach you how to meditate because only the air nomads were ever really good at that, so sleeping was the second best thing." Sam clarified.

"So when I sleep I can come here to help in my spirit form!" Danny yelled in excitement, as he made a mental note to thank the Painted Lady for telling Sam such a helpful trick.

"Exactly, now get back in your body. You still have a lot of work to do before you go touring the nation."

"Right…" Danny said as he turned towards his body, only to paused, not sure as to how he was supposed to do what Sam said. "…Um Sam, what am I supposed to do?"

Sam looked at him shocked, but it was not because she believed him not capable of thinking about it, but because she did not know either. "I don't know, she never told me that part…" Sam started, but paused when they both heard a twig break in the not so far distance.

"Danny," Valerie's worried voice echoed through the forest, "are you alright?"


Oh, I know, you all hate cliffies, but if I didn't have one every once in a while this would be no fun ;) I'm also sure you all were surprised and a little pissed at Jazz and Maddie for their decisions, and I don't blame you, they are too gullible.

Now I know I gave a trivia last chapter, and never owned up to giving you all a sneak peek, well I'll do it this time, so no trivia this week, maybe next time.

And one last note, since I have read and re-read this chapter a thousand times, I didn't have it in me to look over it today, so if you all see anything wrong tell me and if I think it's needed, I'll fix it. So REVIEW! I don't want any more writer's blocks!

~Ned