02-11-2017: Now I bring you chapter fourteen. I honestly put this off for a bit before forcing myself to write it so that I could get ahead of the plot if that makes any sense. This chapter takes place sometime between the Fortuneteller and Bato of the Water Tribe.

13-02-2019: Another day, another edited chapter. I like having this time to write during my break, since I don't have enough time to write a full chapter but I have enough time to edit this story. Here's the polished version of chapter fourteen.

What Lies Beneath

Abi's time with Osamu was well and truly short. As soon as the storm had calmed down, she was quick to leave the mans house. He'd found out more about her than she'd ever let anyone else know and that was something that Abi didn't like. If she had stayed any longer, he could've found out even more about her and there were just some things about herself that Abi didn't want people finding out.

After leaving the small village in the middle of the night, Abi's plan was to continue heading north through the Earth Kingdom. She hoped that maybe somewhere along the way she could catch a rid since she couldn't travel on foot forever. Abi had the stamina to reach the North Pole, but she wasn't sure in what time. After all, there were some things that you just couldn't predict.

As luck would have it, Abi hadn't encountered any problems since her run-in with those Earth Kingdom swine in that forest and she didn't plan on having any anytime soon. So long as Zuko and Zhao stayed out of her way, Abi should be fine. She'd put all of her focus on tracking down the Avatar, choosing to forget about the confrontation that she'd had with Osamu.

It had only been a few minutes that Abi had known Osamu before he was able to read her like an open book more than anyone ever had. Abi refused to let something like that happen ever again. The next someone offered her their help, Abi would refuse it. She saw no purpose in companionship and attachments since they only brought trouble. Abi would always remain the same, heartless bitch that she'd always been. A few meaningless words weren't going to change who she was. Nothing would.

One thing that Abi still had was her Black Widow alias. It was something that she'd only ever use if I couldn't do something myself, like when she stole those documents from the Pohuai Stronghold. The Black Widow has made numerous appearances over the years. The first few times she was merely doing what she had to do for her own advantage. Abi only wore the black cloak to blend into the darkness of the night since that was when she'd make her appearances and she wore the mask to hide her face. Eventually, they'd called her alias the Black Widow, which she felt was an appropriate title. Almost as if the universe was waiting for the Black Widow to make an appearance, a perfect opportunity presented itself to her.

Wondering through a forest through the north-eastern side of the Earth Kingdom lead Abi to a large bulletin near the forest. Abi examined the board, looking to see if there was anything worth seeing. She caught sight of the Avatar's wanted poster and even a poster that she'd come across before; the Blue Spirit's. There were multiple rumours about the Blue Spirit that had reached Abi. Reports stated that he was an expert in dual swordsmanship and hand-to-hand combat. According to the rumours, his latest appearance was at the Pohuai Stronghold where he'd freed the Avatar from Zhao's prison. The Blue Spirit was considered an enemy to the Fire Nation and there was a high reward at almost ten thousand gold pieces for his capture.

Those weren't the only posters that caught Abi's eyes, though.

Right below the wanted poster for the Blue Spirit, was a poster for her. Well, not necessarily her, but the Black Widow. Abi read the writing on her poster, word for word.

Wanted: the Black Widow. This criminal has made a resurgence once again and most recently stole top-secret documents from the Pohuai Stronghold. She's a criminal and must be disposed of immediately. Her exact identity is unknown but ignore the rumours that she is a spirit or a ghost. She is a skilled swordsman and proficient in hand-to-hand combat as well as other methods of fighting. If you encounter her, waste no time in bringing her to justice. Hunters be cautious!

It seemed as though Zhao had realised that Abi did still his precious documents, which had to have pissed him off. Abi figured that it wouldn't take him too long to realise that they'd been stolen and that he'd most likely do something about it, which he did. Abi guessed that she's officially made it if she had her own wanted poster. That's something that she never thought she'd achieve but hey, go figure.

Ignoring the rest of the details written on the bulletin, Abi continued heading in her intended direction. She assumed that there must be some town nearby since they didn't normally put bulletins in the middle of nowhere. Abi continued her journey until she caught sight of a Fire Nation campsite near a river. If she remembered correctly, there was a town nearby and she figured that they must've been preparing themselves to invade it.

They seemed to be preparing their defences and readying themselves for a fight. Abi also took notice of the numerous supplies that they had including weapons, explosives and even some clothes. She smirked to herself as an idea began to form in her head, and she disappeared from the tree that she was standing near and headed back into the forest, waiting for darkness to fall.

~*•°•*~

When night arrived, Abi was quick to execute her plan. It was rather simple, really. All she was going to do was ambush their site and take as many of their supplies as she could get. What Abi was doing was perfectly reasonable. Abi didn't always come across a market or shops on her travels so there were times when she had to resort to stealing and this was one of those times.

Abi was quick to descend down the rocky cliff that stood over the site. Once she reached the bottom, Abi used the stones in the small stream to get herself to the other side. As she got closer to their site, she noticed that there were hardly any soldiers around which would work perfectly to her advantage.

Entering their campsite had been easy enough, but she did catch the soldiers who were awake by surprise. Their faces immediately turned to fear upon seeing that it was her who was there.

"It's the Black Widow!" one of them yelled.

"Let's fight her!" another yelled.

Good plan, genius. Anyone who tried to get in her way would be quickly expunged. And they were quick to learn that the hard way. Multiple soldiers came after Abi with their weapons and their fire daggers while she easily dodged their attacks. It was a small army of about twenty men and Abi took them on like they were nothing. They really stood no chance against her, even with their firebending and she had them all down in minutes.

Abi immediately gathered as many supplies as she could, even destroying some of their weapons to prevent them from coming after her. She ended up wiping out their whole campsite, sending almost all of their supplies down the river before disappearing once again like she always did.

~*•°•*~

After Abi had invaded the Fire Nation troops and their supplies, she continued heading in the direction that she'd been heading in before her little pit stop. As Abi continued walking, she caught the sight of a small village in the distance and feeling the need for a quick delay, she headed towards the village.

The closer Abi got to the village, the more defining features that she could make out. Abi took notice of the volcano in the distance and she figured that it must've erupted earlier since the ground was covered in rock lava. Maybe that meant that the village was abandoned. But Abi was quick to dismiss that thought as she noticed how the village was encased by a large rock that also had the look of lava. Other than that, everything seemed perfectly fine to her.

Abi's curiosity once again got the better of her and she decided to see this village for herself and find out how this phenomenon happened because it's not everyday that you see a rock like that covering a village. She walked into the village, noticing how it's inhabitants appeared to be fine despite the environment that surrounded them. One of the villages took notice of her arrival and headed towards her. Instinctively, Abi grasped her sword in case she needed to use it.

"Nice day, isn't it?" he asked calmly.

"Um, I guess," Abi said.

"It's a beautiful sight," he said, pointing to the rock that covered the village.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did that actually happen?" Abi asked.

"It was rather incredible. A few days ago, the Avatar showed up at our village," he began.

"The Avatar?" Abi interrupted. If the Avatar had showed up at this village only a few days ago, then that meant that she was heading in the right direction.

He nodded, "Yes. His scientific friend was against our way of life, bashing our system and the way we lived. His other friend, though, was in love with the way our village worked and became a frequent visitor to Aunt Wu."

"Aunt who?" Abi asked, confused.

"Aunt Wu, she's the fortuneteller of our village. Every year we'd have the tradition of going up to Mt Makapu to see if the volcano would remain dormant or not. But when Aunt Wu came to the village, we abandoned that tactic and relied solely on her fortune telling," he explained.

"Fortune telling? Seriously?" Abi asked.

"Yes. She would predict if whether or not the village would be destroyed by the volcano. When she did the cloud reading a few days ago, she predicted that it would not be destroyed but the Avatar and his friends were adamant that the volcano would erupt. The lava came flooding down to our village and almost destroyed the place, but the Avatar used his airbending to cool down the lava, saving our village," he explained.

"So, I guess you're fortuneteller was wrong," Abi said.

He shook his head, "Aunt Wu said that the village wouldn't be destroyed by the volcano and it wasn't. She was right after all."

Was this guy serious? Did these people really put all of their faith into that garbage known as fortune telling? How pathetic. Abi thought.

"You really trusted some crazy lady with your lives? Even after she was proven to be wrong?" Abi asked.

"She's not crazy. Aunt Wu has never been wrong before. You should see her and get your fortune," he suggested.

Abi laughed, "I don't believe in that nonsense. You shouldn't either. It almost got you killed!"

"Just like you said, almost. Not entirely. Good day, miss," he said before walking off.

Abi glared at the man as he walked off, annoyed by his ignorance towards his villages stupid beliefs. One thing she couldn't understand was why these imbeciles put so much faith into something as barbaric as fortune telling. In her opinion, it was a load of bullshit. She suddenly heard footsteps from behind her and she turned around to see an old lady walking towards her. The lady's hair was done in the most unusual fashion, making her almost look like a skunk.

"I've been expecting you," she said.

Abi rolled her eyes. "You must be that crazy Aunt Wu."

"That would be correct. Care for a reading, my dear?" Aunt Wu asked.

Abi shook her head. "I'm not wasting my time here anymore. If you'll excuse me, I must be heading off now."

And with that, Abi turned around and walked away but clearly this Aunt Wu lady couldn't take a hint because she didn't stop there.

"Up until this point, your life has been full of struggle, yet you remain fiercely determined even in the ultimate danger. You strive for perfection to be happy, only to feel lost and empty on the inside," Aunt Wu said.

Abi's eyes almost bulged out of my head and she immediately turned to look at the woman, narrowing her eyes. "What makes you say that, Aunt Skunk?"

"I can see your past in not only your eyes, but your face as well. You've been hurt but it's only made you stronger. You've been misguided but soon you will face the truth and an inner conflict where you will be faced with a momentous decision that will dictate the rest of your life. Whichever path you take will have consequences for not only you, but everyone who you've ever encountered. My best advice for you, young firebender is to embrace the truth when it comes and to not over-calculate your decisions," Aunt Wu said.

This was easily the most bizarre encounter that Abi had ever had, even more bizarre than the one with Osamu. He had acted like he knew who she was, but this woman was acting like she knew her entire future.

"Do what you think is best, not what others think is best. In order for you to bring peace and tranquillity to the world, you must first find it within yourself. The road ahead of you is challenging but it will only give you the power and the knowledge when you need it the most. I will leave you with one final word of advice, when things seem bleak and you think you're at your wits end, don't lose sight of your inner strength because it will get you through those times of darkness. I wish you luck, young firebender and may you be blessed with the fortune of Agni in your travels. Farewell, young one," Aunt Wu finished before leaving Abi by herself.

Once Abi was left alone, she could still hear Aunt Wu's words echoing in her mind. She was then quick to leave that ludicrous village behind her, wanting to keep moving so that she could eventually catch up to the Avatar. As she walked, Abi couldn't help but ponder Aunt Wu's words. What had she meant by a momentous decision? How did she even knew that Abi was a firebender? More importantly, how on earth did she know all of that stuff about her?

Abi always thought that fortune telling was the most ridiculous thing ever but after her encounter with Aunt Wu, she couldn't help but think that maybe it's not as far off as she once thought. For all Abi knew, there could well and truly be some truth behind Aunt Wu's words and her future might be about to change for the better or worse. Abi knew that it was pointless to worry about her future now when that's exactly what it was, the future. This was the present and she was who she was then. As for Aunt Wu's predictions, Abi would just have to see for herself if whether or not they come true and if they did, it looked like Abi had some important decisions to make.

02-11-2017: Another longish chapter. I feel like most of the time I end up writing more than I intend to but it's all for the purpose of the story. This might seem like a filler chapter and it is, but it isn't since Abby does get some guidance from an unexpected source that will surely stay with her for a while. According to the Avatar Extras for the Fortuneteller, some of the villages in Makapu called Aunt Wu Aunt Skunk because of her hair which is where that name came from. A little hint on what's to come: more conflict and confrontations but not like what you've seen before.

13-02-2019: I'm surprised by how little is being changed in these chapters, since when I first wanted to edit this story I planned on making a few changes here and there but I haven't really done that yet. That means nothing was really changed in this chapter apart from a few word choices.