I blew some flames onto the fire pit I had constructed, and the fire instantly burst into being, lighting our darkened surroundings with a bright flash before settling down. We all huddled around the fire, our faces bathed in pale blue light. The others took in the warmth of the flame, but I had no need of it. As a Firebender, my internal body temperature was considerably greater than that of the average person, so I could stay warm in almost any environment.
Beside me, Takara took my arm and rested her head against my shoulder. I glanced down at the Kyoshi Warrior and smiled before returning my gaze to the flickering fire. The last few days had been very eventful, as we had encountered a singular Firebending assassin of unparalleled ability. I had never seen someone who could fire explosions through sheer force of will, and we had just barely managed to evade him each time we crossed paths. Also, I was still reeling from Aang's revelation of how the war began and of the fates of Fire Lord Sozin and Avatar Roku. I had, of course, been taught their histories as a child, but the lessons of my instructors had been completely off the mark, showing just how much my people edited history.
Suddenly, I was broken out of my reverie by the sound of Sokka's voice. I realized that the Water Tribe boy was regaling us with a scary tale. "Suddenly, they heard something down the hall, in the dark".
"This ought to be good" Takara whispered in my ear, and I smirked.
Sokka made a spooky, ghost-like noise before continuing with his tale. "It came into the torchlight". He purposefully made eye-contact with each of us before ominously declaring "And they knew the blade of Wing-Fun was haunted!" He then drew his meteor sword and pointed it at the fire whilst making a dramatic screeching noise.
None of us were scared from the tale, and Aang said "I think I liked 'The man with a sword for a hand' better".
"Water Tribe slumber parties must stink" Toph dryly commented, causing me to smirk.
"I grew up on an island next to a giant sea monster" Takara added. "I think that I can easily best any scary story you Water Tribe people have".
"No, wait, I've got one!" Katara said. "And this is a true Southern Water Tribe story".
"Then by all means, feel free to regale us" I told the Waterbender.
"Is this one of those 'a friend of my cousin knew some guy that this happened to' story?"
"No, it happened to mom" Katara replied. We all gazed at her intently as she began her tale, the pale blue light only serving to add to the chilling night air. "One winter, when mom was a girl, a snowstorm buried the whole village for weeks. A month later, mom realized she hadn't seen her friend Nini since the storm. So mom and some others went to check on Nini's family. When they got there, no one was home. Just a fire flickering in the fireplace. While the men went out to search mom stayed in the house. When she was alone, she heard a voice. 'It's so cold, and I can't get warm'".
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Sokka hugging his knees against his chest, while Takara gripped my arm just a little tighter.
"Mom turned and saw Nini standing by the fire" Katara continued. "She was blue, like she was frozen. Mom ran outside for help, but when everyone came back, Nini was gone". Sitting on either side of Toph, Jin and Li wrapped their arms around her shoulders, enveloping her as they shivered lightly. The blind girl roughly shook their arms off, and I smiled warmly to the boys.
"Where'd she go?" Sokka asked shakily from behind a tree root.
"No one knows" Katara replied. "Nini's house stands empty to this day. But sometimes, people see smoke coming up from the chimney, like little Nini is still trying to get warm".
Everyone was visibly disturbed from the story, and I smiled marginally. While the story was certainly very visceral, it paled in comparison with the things I had seen during my tenure as a soldier. I had seen things that would remain with me until the end of my days, and no simple story would ever be able to compare to those experiences. "Hey, Shan We, do you have any scary stories from the Fire Nation?" Aang asked.
I glanced up at the starry sky as I scratched my chin in thought. "Well, there is one… but I don't think you children are ready for it". The others voiced their eagerness to hear it anyway, and I couldn't help but smirk. "My father told me this story when I was six years old. His father was an Imperial Firebender under Fire Lord Azulon, and he served with distinction for decades. One day, about thirty years ago, the Fire Lord's wife died in her sleep. She was the picture of health, so her passing shocked the palace. She was given a royal funeral and honoured by the people of the Fire Nation. A few days later, my grandfather started hearing strange noises as he walked through the halls of the palace. At first, he thought someone had broken in, but after investigating, he found that there had been no intrusion".
"What… what was it?" Sokka asked, still shaken by Katara's story.
"No one knew" I replied. "My grandfather returned to his duties, but the next day, he heard the strange noises again. He investigated, and found that Fire Lord Azulon's portrait had been slashed, almost as if something with claws had raked it. His fellow Imperial Firebenders suspected that it was the work of some criminal or upstart, but he wasn't so sure. They replaced the portrait, and everything seemed to return to normal. The following week, my grandfather was found dead in his bed, the walls of his room slashed just like the Fire Lord's portrait had been. The Firebenders who had found him heard something, and when they turned around…"
"Wait!" Toph suddenly cried.
Sokka, who looked just about ready to shake himself to pieces at this point, leaped into the air and shrieked in terror, piercing our ears with the shrill sound.
"Guys, did you hear that?" Toph asked, placing her hand against the ground. Jin and Li joined Aang, Sokka, and Katara in huddling together out of fear as the blind girl said "I hear people under the mountain, and they're screaming".
Sokka scoffed, trying to come across as unafraid. "Nice try".
"No, I'm serious" the blind girl defended. "I hear something".
"You're probably just paranoid from all the ghost stories" Takara offered in explanation. She glanced around our surroundings, and I could see her gripping the handles of her twin swords tightly.
After a moment, the blind girl said "It just stopped".
"All right, now I'm getting scared" Aang said.
"Hello, children" a voice greeted from the darkness. The others screamed in terror before huddling on the other side of the fire as an old woman stepped into the light. She had long, grey hair, and her face was covered in wrinkles, while her long, thin fingers ended in pointed fingernails. The pale blue light of the fire made her seem incredibly terrifying, and my muscles tensed a little as Takara and I stood up. "Sorry to frighten you", the old woman apologized. "My name is Hama. You shouldn't be out in the forest by yourselves at night. I have an inn nearby. Why don't you come back there for some spiced tea and warm beds?"
"Thank you for your kind offer" I said, bowing to the woman. "The tea would be most appreciated".
We proceeded to follow her through the forest to a small village. Hama led us to her inn, a moderately-sized structure with a very homey feel to it. Once we were inside, I offered to help her brew some tea. As we poured it into everyone's cups, Takara said "Thank you for letting us stay here tonight. This is a lovely inn".
"Aren't you sweet?" Hama replied. "You know, you should be careful. People have been disappearing in those woods you were camping in".
"What do you mean, disappearing?" Sokka asked after taking a sip of tea.
"When the moon turns full, people walk in and they don't come out. Who wants more tea?" We all stared at her, and I could sense that the others were still a little unsettled from our story-telling session in the woods. After a moment, Hama said "Don't worry, you'll all be completely safe here. Why don't I show you to your rooms, and you can get a good night's rest?" She proceeded to lead us up the stairs and into a hallway with four doors on either side. "I hope you'll find the rooms accommodating" the old woman said. "The one on the far left is mine, so you two will have to stay in the same room. But that shouldn't be a problem".
I belatedly realized that she was referring to Takara and myself. Glancing over at the Kyoshi Warrior, I saw her blush a little. Looking back at Hama, I said "No, it won't be a problem". She then smiled and headed into her room, leaving the rest of us to prepare for the night. I crouched down and kissed Jin and Li on the forehead before saying "I'll see you two in the morning". The twin Earthbenders smiled before heading into their room, and the others followed suit. After holding the door open for Takara, I stepped inside our room for the night. It was of a decent size, with a single bed against the far wall and a window that offered a view of the surrounding countryside.
Takara and I exchanged a glance, and I gave her a smile before I walked over to the wall opposite the window. I started to get down on the floor, but the Kyoshi Warrior asked "What are you doing?"
I looked up at her and replied "I will be sleeping on the floor".
"Don't be ridiculous" she said. "There's a perfectly good bed right here".
I stood straight and clasped my hands behind my back. "I don't want to do anything that would make you uncomfortable".
"So you'd rather sleep on a cold and dusty floor than sleep on a bed?" she asked, arching an eyebrow. I found myself drawn in by her green and blue eyes, as I always had been, and no force on earth would have been able to tear my gaze from them.
"I've slept in worse places, believe me" I assured her. My mind flashed back to the weeks I had been traveling with Iroh and Zuko, when we had been refugees with no home and nowhere to go. That, combined with my career in the military, gave me an extensive knowledge base of terrible places to sleep.
I then started to get back down, but Takara took a reactionary step forward and said "Please". I froze before looking back at her enchanting eyes. "I don't want to sleep alone tonight. I can't". I could see the fear in her eyes; fear of being plagued by endless nightmares and waking up feeling out of breath, fear of having to remember what it was like when she had been a prisoner.
She was afraid of being alone again.
Standing up straight, I nodded, and I could see her muscles relaxing a little. We both proceeded to get under the covers, both of us facing the same direction. From where I was, I stared at Takara's lustrous black hair, and she smelled of freshly-crushed leaves and a fine spring wind. I felt myself unconsciously pressing against her back, and in that moment, everything felt right. I wrapped my left arm around her stomach, and she instantly gripped onto it for dear life. So long as we were together, I would never let anyone hurt her ever again.
The following morning, we found ourselves in the town market, gathering food and supplies. As we went about our task, we overheard several people nervously discussing the upcoming full moon, which was fast approaching, and Sokka suggested that a spirit may have been responsible for the disappearances. "Why don't you all take those things back to the inn?" Hama suggested once we were all done. "I just have to run a couple more errands. I'll be back in a little while".
"This is a mysterious little town you have here" Sokka said as he walked up to the old woman.
Hama gave him a smile, although it appeared very frightening on her withered face. "Mysterious town for mysterious children" she replied before walking off. Takara and I exchanged a glance, and we both shrugged.
Eventually, once we were back at the inn, the Water Tribe boy said "That Hama seems a little strange. Like she knows something, or she's hiding something".
"Now I know you're just paranoid" Takara said as she set down a basket of fruit.
"You're being ridiculous" Katara added. "She's a nice woman who took us in and gave us a place to stay. She kind of reminds me of Gran-Gran".
"But what did she mean by that comment 'mysterious children'?"
"You're worried over nothing" I said, turning to look at the boy. "Takara and I give you kids a legitimate cover story, a story that would hold up under questioning. Otherwise, you'd be six kids traveling alone through the countryside. You don't think that would be suspicious?" Sokka scowled a little, and I could see that he knew I was right. Picking up my basket, I said "Now, I'm going to take these to our rooms".
I watched as Shan We headed upstairs with a basket of supplies. He was right, of course; Hama couldn't have suspected anything, seeing as we presented an image of a normal family and not just a group of kids traveling alone through the wilderness. Still, the old woman did seem a little suspicious. I knew that it was probably nothing. After all, everyone was welcome to their privacy, and everyone had secrets to keep.
Sokka held his chin in thought for a few moments before saying "I'm gonna take a look around". My eyes opened in slight surprise as the Water Tribe boy started walking up the stairs.
"Sokka, Sokka, what are you doing?" Katara demanded, clearly taken aback. "You can't just snoop through someone's house".
"It'll be fine" he replied, waving off his sister's concerns like they were nothing. "I'm just gonna take a little peek around this place and see if Hama is everything she says she is".
He then continued walking up the stairs, and I took a step forward and said "Wait". He stopped, and I felt the others' eyes on me. I glanced at each of them, and after a moment of internal deliberation, I said "Let me lead. I remember where the floor is the creakiest, and we don't want to alert anyone, especially a certain tea-loving, well-muscled Firebender". Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Toph and the twins trying to stifle a chuckle. "What?" I asked somewhat irritably.
The blind girl giggled slightly before replying "Oh, nothing. We were just noting how you focused on your boyfriend's muscles as opposed to anything else".
"He's not my…" I instinctively started to say, but stopped when Toph only giggled further. I narrowed my eyes at her and said "You can be pretty mean sometimes, you know that?" Snorting in slight irritation, I started to walk past Sokka on the stairs, using the training Master Piandao had given me in order to remember which floorboards made the most noise.
"We shouldn't be doing this" Katara hissed at us. "This isn't polite".
"What's the harm in just taking a look?" Sokka asked, but the comment only earned him a glare from his Waterbending sister.
We passed the rooms we had been given, especially careful to tiptoe past mine and Shan We's room. The Firebender surely possessed extremely honed senses from his years of training, but I was hoping that my instruction at the hands of the greatest non-Bender in the world would be equal to the task. We made it to the end of the hallway, where there was a closet opposite stairs that led to the inn's top level.
Sokka gripped the closet handles tightly, utilizing what strength he had in order to pry them open. He clenched his teeth, and after a few moments, asked "Could someone give me a hand?" After a few glances were exchanged, Aang elected to aid him. The two pulled with all their might, and the closet doors suddenly burst open, causing Aang and Sokka to fall onto their butts on the floor. The doors opened, and something fell out of them, surprising us. The others all shrieked in surprise, while I reacted with instinct and drew my twin meteor swords. Sokka did the same, albeit more clumsily due to slight fear.
"Okay, that's pretty creepy" Aang said. I agreed: inside the closet were a series of carved wooden puppets, each unique in its appearance and level of creepiness.
"What is?" a familiar voice asked from nearby. This time, I joined the others in screaming as I turned to face the voice's point of origin. I lowered my swords upon realizing who it was. "Oh, well, we were just…" I started to explain.
"Just what?" Shan We asked with an arched eyebrow. He was clearly not happy with us. "Sneaking around the home of someone who offered you shelter and disrespecting her hospitality?"
"We had a good reason!" Sokka replied, standing up and sheathing his sword as I did the same with mine.
"Really?" the Firebender asked dryly. "I would love to hear this reason".
The Water Tribe boy tugged at his shirt collar. "Uh, you see… we…" Suddenly, he pointed to me and said "She did it! She's the one who started nosing!"
"Oh come on!" I said somewhat indignantly. "It was your idea! I was just taking the lead so we wouldn't get caught". I immediately knew how pathetic my response was, and I sighed before looking guiltily at Shan We. "We just wanted to know if Hama was telling the truth about who she is".
"Well, I hope you all learned not to snoop in other people's homes" Katara said self-righteously as she crossed her arms.
I silently glared over at the girl as Shan We admonished "You don't get to be so smug, young lady. After all, you failed to stop these two from snooping in the first place". Katara opened her mouth as if to protest, but the Firebender gave her a look that prevented any protest from coming out. I suppose his years of raising the twins had given him an impressive toolbox of fatherly reprimands.
I noticed a flutter of motion beside me as Sokka said "I just have to check the attic!"
Shan We turned to look at the fleeing boy and said "Sokka, you get back here this instant! I mean it, young man!" But it was too late. Sokka was already up the stairs before any of us could catch him. We all followed him up the stairs and found him trying to pry a door open.
"Just an ordinary, puppet-loving innkeeper, huh?" he asked. "Then why does she have a locked door up here?"
"Gee, I don't know" Toph replied sarcastically. "Maybe to keep nosies like you out of her private stuff?"
"We'll see" Sokka said determinedly as he looked through the door's keyhole. "It's empty except for a little chest".
The tiny blind Earthbender gasped in excitement and suggested "Maybe it's treasure!"
That only served to spur Sokka on, as he drew his black meteor sword and poked the tip of the blade into the keyhole. "Stop what you're doing right now!" Shan We said firmly. "You're breaking into a room that belongs to someone else!"
"I have to see what's in there" Sokka offered in explanation. A moment later, and the door slowly creaked open, revealing the otherwise empty room inside. Like he'd said, there was a single chest in the centre of the floor, but nothing else, leading me to the conclusion that there was something valuable inside.
"We shouldn't be doing this" Aang said warily as we all entered.
Sokka ignored him and picked up the chest. "Maybe there's a key here somewhere".
I saw Jin tapping Toph on the shoulder, and the blind girl said "Oh, hand it over". Sokka handed the small chest over to the blind girl, who then handed it over to Jin. The Earthbending boy held it in one hand while he retrieved the small piece of meteor Sokka had given him, which was currently in the form of a ring. He held out the palm of his hand, and the piece liquefied before forming into a key. Jin inserted the key into the lock, and he wiggled it around in an attempt to open it.
"Jin, stop that right now" Shan We said firmly. The Earthbending boy flinched, looking up at his father with a guilty look on his face. He then glanced over at me before returning to the task of opening the chest. The Firebender would have none of it, however, and he took the chest from the boy's hands. Removing the key, he said "This has gone on far enough. We are putting this back and going downstairs. You can just imagine for yourselves what's inside here".
"I'll tell you what's in the box" a familiar voice suddenly said from behind us. All of us except Shan We shrieked in slight surprise. How in Kyoshi's name did Hama sneak around like that?
"Please forgive us" Shan We said apologetically. "My family sometimes do foolish things once their minds are set. It was rude of us to impede on your privacy".
"Your apology is accepted" Hama said, bowing her head. She then held out her hand, and Shan We gave her the chest. She proceeded to open it, and I felt my eyes widening more and more as we all waited expectantly for whatever the chest contained. A myriad of thoughts ran through my head in an instant, and I could practically feel myself floating with anticipation as Hama pulled out… a comb.
"An old comb?" Sokka asked despondently. My shoulders slumped in disappointment along with my Water Tribe companion's.
"It's my greatest treasure" Hama explained. "It's the last thing I owned from growing up in the Southern Water Tribe". My eyes nearly popped out of my skull, and I glanced over at Shan We to see his mouth slightly agape.
"You're from the Southern Water Tribe?" Katara asked incredulously.
The old woman smiled as she returned the comb to the chest. "Just like you" she replied.
"How did you know?"
"I heard you talking around your campfire". Shan We and I exchanged a nervous glance; if she'd overheard Katara's and Sokka's stories, then she'd most likely heard the Firebender's as well. I only hoped that she would be agreeable to his presence.
"But why didn't you tell us?" Sokka asked.
"Truth be told, I wasn't sure if I could trust you at first" she replied. Looking over at Shan We, she said "After all, this one talked about having family in the Fire Nation military and the Imperial Firebenders".
He smiled marginally. "You have nothing to fear from me" he assured.
"Well, in that case", Hama said after a moment, "let's eat. I bought all this food today so I could fix you a big, Water Tribe dinner. Of course, I can't get all the ingredients I need here, but ocean kumquats are a lot like sea prunes, if you stew them long enough". Aang made gagging noises, and I knew that sea prunes weren't his favourite dish.
"Great" Katara said, somewhat excitedly. "I knew I felt a bond with you right away".
"And I knew you were keeping a secret, so I guess we're both right" Sokka added, looking at his sister with a smug grin on his face. Katara proceeded to punch him in the shoulder, and he grunted before looking back at Hama. "But I'm sorry we were sneaking around".
She smiled before turning to walk back down. "Now let's get cooking".
Once dinner was prepared, we all sat down at the table. I had sampled Water Tribe cuisine a scant few times in my travels, but that had always been a few samplings from military camps. This was a full meal, prepared in the comfort of a home, and I was looking forward to experiencing what my two companions ate back in their homeland. Sitting across from me, Jin motioned over to the small portion of meteor that I held within a pouch on my belt. "You get this back tomorrow" I told him. "That's your punishment for trying to pry into someone else's chest". His shoulders slumped, and Li patted his back comfortingly.
"Who wants five-flavour soup?" Hama asked, setting the bowl on the table. We all raised our hands, and she held her hand above the soup before lifting it up, bringing some soup with it. My eyes widened slightly in shock as she thrust her hand forward, causing the soup floating in the air to fill all of our bowls.
"You're a Waterbender!" Katara exclaimed. I turned and exchanged an incredulous glance with Takara. I, like the rest of the world, had believed that all of the Southern Waterbenders had died out. It was one of my people's many atrocities that I was ashamed of, but it looked like at least one had survived the raids which had lasted over the last several decades. "I've never met another Waterbender from our tribe" Katara added, drawing my attention back to her.
"That's because the Fire Nation wiped them all out" Hama said bitterly. "I was the last one". Naturally, all eyes turned to me, and I looked down at the table in shame. While I had never been part of the Southern raids, I still felt a degree of guilt. After all, my father and I had operated in the Southern seas for many years, and we had had many dealings with the Southern Raiders.
"So how did you end up out here?" Sokka asked.
Hama glanced over at me, and I couldn't help but feel a little venom coming from her gaze. Takara took my hand in hers, and I tightly interlocked my fingers with hers, silently grateful for the support. The old woman returned her gaze to the others and said "I was stolen from my home. It was over sixty years ago when the raids started. I can remember it like it was yesterday: soot rained down from the sky, and soon flaming fireballs came crashing down, destroying homes and our walls. They came again and again, each time rounding up more of our Waterbenders and taking them captive. We did our best to hold them off, but our numbers dwindled as the raids continued. Finally, I, too, was captured".
"How awful" Takara said breathlessly, and I could only cringe at how my people had been responsible for almost completely exterminating an entire way of life.
"I was led away in chains" Hama continued, a weary expression on her face. "The last Waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe". As she spoke, Katara walked over and placed comforting hands on the old woman's shoulders. "They put us in terrible prisons here in the Fire Nation. I was the only one who managed to escape".
"How did you get away?" I asked her. "Prisons built especially for Waterbenders have no moisture. There was no way you should have been able to escape".
"And why did you stay in the Fire Nation?" Takara asked. "Didn't you want to go home?"
Hama didn't speak for a moment, and her eyes began to well up with tears. "I'm sorry" she choked. "It's too painful to talk about anymore".
"We completely understand" Katara said.
"Yes, of course. Our apologies" I added.
"We lost our mother in a raid".
"Oh, you poor things" Hama said, placing a wrinkled hand on top of Katara's. I saw the young Waterbender smile a little, and I knew that meeting the old woman was a good thing for her. This meant that the Southern Waterbending style wasn't completely gone, and it had a chance of coming back. The atrocities committed by my people in the past could be undone.
"I can't tell you what it means to meet you" Katara said. "It's an honour. You're a hero".
"I never thought I'd meet another Southern Waterbender. I'd like to teach you what I know so you can carry on the Southern tradition when I'm gone".
Katara practically hit the ceiling. "Yes! Yes, of course!" she said excitedly. "To learn about my heritage… it would mean everything to me".
While Katara went off with Hama to train, the rest of us made it our mission to discover what was making people disappear around these parts. Aang saw nothing done to the environment that would make a spirit angry, and I agreed with him. After exploring the nearby forest for some time, and by questioning some of the villagers, we discovered that only one man had been taken during a full moon and survived, so we made our way to where he lived.
He was an old man, with wrinkled skin and a receding hairline, and he stood hunched over, making him almost as short as Aang and the twins. He was currently in the process of hammering nails into a board, and once we were close enough, the Airbender asked "Old Man Ding?" The old man turned to us just as he struck with the hammer. The tool hit not the nail, but his thumb, and it instantly turned red as his face scrunched up with pain.
"Ah, dag blame it!" he exclaimed, holding his injured thumb. He then turned to us and asked irritably "What? Can't you see I'm busy? Got a full moon rising. And why does everyone call me that? I'm not that old". He then proceeded to attempt to lift a small plank which was on the ground. We were treated to a slightly amusing and sad sight of the old man groaning with effort at a simple task. After a moment, he said "Well, I'm young at heart".
"Here, let me help you with that" I said as I crouched down. I then helped him to lift the board and hold it up against the door.
"Not ready to get snapped up by some moon monster, yet, at least".
"We wanted to ask you about that" Sokka said as he picked up the hammer.
"Did you get a good look at the spirit that took you?" Aang asked as the Water Tribe boy started hammering in the nails.
"Didn't see no spirit" Old Man Ding replied. "Just felt something come over me, like I was possessed. Forced me to start walking toward the mountain". He pointed up to the nearby mountain before clenching his fists. "I tried to fight it, but I couldn't control my own limbs. It just about had me into a cave up there. And I looked up at the moon for what I thought would be my last glimpse of light". As he told his haunting tale, the children standing beside us were as pale as ghosts, and they looked about ready to faint. I placed comforting hands on Jin and Li's shoulders, and the twin Earthbenders took them in a death grip. "But then the sun started to rise", the old man continued, "and I got control of myself again. I just high-tailed it away from that mountain as quick as I could".
After a moment, Takara asked "Why would a spirit want to take people into a mountain?"
"Oh, no!" Toph suddenly exclaimed, causing the other four children to flinch in surprise. "I did hear people screaming under the mountain. The missing villagers must still be there". We all looked up at the mountain, which stood an imposing monolith draped in the dark cloak of night. I led the way as we left the village and ran towards the mountain. If the villagers were still alive, then there was a good chance that we would be able to save them. Toph and the twins stopped and crouched down, placing their hands to the ground as the blind girl said "I can hear them; they're this way".
We then continued our run, and Takara turned to me and asked "Do you think we'll be in time to save those people?"
"We can only hope" I replied. Soon enough, we reached the mouth of a cave which descended deep into the mountain.
"I can't see anything down there" Sokka said.
I lit a blue flame in my hand and replied "Good thing you have a Firebender on hand. Come on, let's go". We then leaped down into the cave, my flame lighting our way. The cave started to branch off into several different tunnels as we went further along, so I relied on the Earthbenders' sixth sense to guide our way. Eventually, we came to a sealed metal door. Jin made quick work of it, and once we were through, we found ourselves in a large chamber filled with people chained to the walls.
"The villagers!" Takara exclaimed. The people in front of us appeared very haggard and fatigued, as if they had been there for some time.
"We're saved!" one of the villagers happily cried out.
"I didn't know that spirits made prisons like this" Aang said. "Who brought you here?"
"It was no spirit" a woman said bitterly.
"It was a witch" another added. As they spoke, we began to unlock their shackles.
"A witch?" Sokka asked. "What do you mean?"
"She seems like a normal old woman, but she controls people like some dark puppetmaster".
Takara and I exchanged shocked expressions, not quite believing what we had just heard. "Hama!" Sokka growled angrily. "She was lying to us the whole time!"
"Yes, the innkeeper" one of the villagers affirmed.
"We have to stop her!" Aang said.
"We'll get these people out of here" Toph said, referring to herself and the twins. "You guys go". Beside her, Jin and Li nodded their agreement.
"But…" I said, my resolve suddenly wavering in that moment. Every fibre of my being wanted to stay with the twins; I had lost them twice before, and it had nearly destroyed me. "I won't let us be separated! Boys, you're coming with me!"
"There's no time!" Takara countered, placing a hand on my shoulder. I turned and stared into her enchanting blue and green eyes, letting them pierce into my very soul. After a moment, my gaze returned to the twins, and my mouth opened, but no noise came out. I eventually closed it, and with a reluctant nod, I followed Aang, Sokka, and Takara out of the chamber, but not before gazing at my sons one last time.
The four of us raced through the forest, and I felt the cold night air rushing past me as we went along while the full moon bathed us in pale white light. Eventually, we stopped in our tracks as we heard a malicious cackle coming from nearby. Heading towards the sound, we entered a clearing where we found Hama standing with her arms extended forward. Her wrinkled face was contorted into a wide grin, and in the pale light, she appeared to be a spectre of terror. Standing in front of her was Katara, who appeared like she was frozen in place.
"Katara!" Aang cried out. The old woman's attention was turned on us, and I reflexively flinched at the sight of her. Sokka and the Airbender charged forward, and Hama responded by thrusting her one arm towards them, and they suddenly froze. Their bodies contorted in various ways, as if they were being controlled by some other force, and they grunted as they fought to regain control. Hama swept her hand to the right, and the two slid over to where Katara was standing.
She then turned her gaze towards me, and I could practically feel her hateful gaze boring through me. "Firebender" she hissed, sounding more like a serpent than an old woman. The pure venom in her statement chilled me to my very core; she said it with so much hate that I wondered if there were any other emotions left in her.
Steeling myself, I charged, thrusting my arm forward in order to strike. Suddenly, before I had the chance to cast any flames, my entire body seized up, and I felt like something else had reached into my very being and was now manipulating my actions. My arm was bent towards my face, and I grunted in pain. My legs then twisted back and forth, left to right, and I was slowly brought to my knees as I scrunched my face with the effort of trying to fight this otherworldly force.
"Your people tried to wipe mine from this world" Hama accused, staring directly into my amber eyes. "You don't deserve any mercy or kindness, only cruelty and pain, just as you showed us!"
"I wasn't involved in any of the Southern Raids!" I said through clenched teeth. "I've never taken any of your countrymen!"
"Lies!" she spat. "All Firebenders lie when they are forced to face the truth. All you understand is death and misery! You left us to rot in prison! The world will be a better place if you are not in it!" She then twisted her hand around, and my arms contorted in various ways, and I cried out in pain. As a soldier, I had felt all kinds of pain, but this was something different entirely. My back started to bend backwards, and I cried out once more, feeling my entire body radiate with pain.
"Wait!" Takara suddenly cried, drawing Hama's gaze and temporarily ending my torment. "Please, just let him go" the Kyoshi Warrior told the other woman.
Hama appeared as if her family name had been spit on. "You! You would choose this… Firebender? This monster? This murderer?"
"Yes" Takara replied with absolute certainty. Even though my body wasn't being bent in unnatural angles, I was still trapped in Hama's grip, which meant that I couldn't turn and look at the woman I had grown to care about.
"Why?" the old woman demanded.
A moment passed, and I figured that Takara was working up to voicing her reply. "Because… I love him". My eyes opened wide, as well as Hama's, and everything suddenly fell away as I felt the breath instantly sucked out of me, leaving only the two of us. For a long time now, my feelings towards Takara had grown to the point where I ached when we were apart, and I had long suspected that, after everything we had been through, I loved her, as well.
Suddenly, I heard a sound coming from behind Hama, and my eyes darted over to where my other three companions were being held. Katara, having been on her knees throughout the exchange, slowly stood up, her face chiseled into an expression of determination. "You're not the only one who draws power from the moon" she told the old woman. "My Bending is more powerful than yours, Hama. Your technique is useless on me".
The two proceeded to engage in a fierce Waterbending duel, drawing water from the grass and surrounding trees. I suddenly felt the otherworldly force controlling me slip away, and I gasped as I fell onto my back, proceeding to groan slightly as my tortured muscles started aching. I heard footsteps racing towards me, and I heard Takara calling out "Shan We!" She then crouched down beside me, and I rested my head against the grass as I stared into her green and blue eyes. "Are you hurt?"
"Yes", I replied as I slowly stood up, "but it will take far more than that to take me down". We stared into each other's eyes for what seemed like an eternity before Hama's scream drew our attention. We turned and saw the old woman on the ground, having been bested by Katara. As she shakily stood up, Aang and Sokka entered into fighting stances, while Takara and I did the same. "Surrender, Hama" I told her as my hands became wreathed in blue flames. "You're outnumbered. You can't possibly win".
"No!" the old woman cried out angrily. "I will never be taken prisoner by another Firebender! I will die first!" She then raised her hands in the air, and I felt the otherworldly force controlling me again. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that the others were similarly affected, and I suddenly found myself being hurled towards the young Waterbender.
I crashed against a tree, and my body flashed with more pain as I fell onto the grass. As I groaned from the pain, I heard Sokka crying "Katara, look out!" along with the sound of his meteor sword being drawn. There were then various sounds of his sword cutting through air, and he said "It's like my brain has a mind of its own! Stop it, arm, stop it!"
A few moments later, Hama mockingly said "Don't hurt your friends, Katara. And don't let them hurt each other". I was suddenly hoisted to my feet, and I saw that Takara was standing stiffly a few feet away, her twin swords drawn. Both of our eyes widened with realization, and I clenched my teeth as I fought to regain control. I could see the Kyoshi Warrior shedding a tear, and before I knew it, we were shooting towards each other. This was it; this was how I was to meet my end. I closed my eyes and pictured the faces of everyone I loved, taking comfort in their memory.
"NO!" Katara cried, and we all stopped moving just as the tips of Takara's swords came within mere inches of my belly. I felt myself regain control, and I flexed the fingers of my hands just to make sure. My eyes were drawn to movement coming from my left, and I turned to see Hama standing stiffly, just as we had been. She grunted with effort, and I turned to my right to see Katara motioning with her hands in the same manner Hama had been doing. It appeared that the student had surpassed the master.
Suddenly, Toph, the twins, and the imprisoned villagers joined us in the clearing. I smiled at Jin and Li and moved to embrace them, wrapping my arms tightly around their shoulders. One of the villagers told Hama as she was chained "You're going to be locked away forever".
The old woman didn't appear to be too distraught, and she almost smiled as she was led away. "My work is done" she said satisfactorily. She then turned her withered face over to Katara and said "Congratulations, Katara. You're a Bloodbender". She then started cackling manically as she was led away, and the young Waterbender fell to her knees and sobbed. As Aang and Sokka moved to comfort her, I shifted my gaze over to Takara, and our eyes locked as the moon continued to bathe us in its pale light.
Dun dun duuuun! That was certainly an interesting chapter, wasn't it?
Well, we finally have a declaration of love! That was the primary reason I chose to write this chapter; otherwise, I probably wouldn't have done it. The second reason was for the first appearance of Bloodbending, which, as we all know, makes a big comeback in Legend of Korra.
Please let me know what you think! Reviews are always welcome!
Also, Happy Canada Day!
