Book 1: AIR
CHAPTER 15:
THE RED WITCH
The sky was getting darker again as Alpha gave another groan and flicked his tail up. It had been four days since their last stop on the volcano island. They had made a decision to stay close to the shore as they traveled to the west. "We landing anytime soon?" Long-hin asked as he crawled over to Aer, who was starting to snooze on Alpha's head.
"I don't know." Aer said as she drowsily looked back at Long-hin. She could see that Bakiko had already fallen asleep with Ran-fo barely awake. Jip was sleeping with her head on Kan's chest, Kan paying no mind to it. She turned around. "What do you say Alpha? Feel like landing for the night?"
Alpha moaned and shook his head slowly. He began to descend through the clouds with a small groan. "Thanks, boy." Aer said as she patted him on the head.
A flaming ball came from below, nearly hitting them. Alpha reared his head and rose higher up quickly. The group was jostled. Aer threw and air shield around them as another cannon blasted. The ball was caught in the shield's rotation and hurled back down, causing a ship below to burst into flames.
"What's going on?" Bakiko asked as he looked around. "What's happening?"
Three flaming rocks now rose around them, and another barrage of six after those. Alpha shifted around again, missing the projectiles.
Zhong lowered his hand again, signaling for the next volley to fire. His eyes were scanning the sky above him. "Fire!" He shouted as the volley came late. He turned to his men as they rolled another boulder covered in sea prune juice onto a catapult. "Do I need to give another demonstration of the signals or are we going to do them right this time?" Zhong asked as he stomped around the deck.
"No, sir." The men answered, stopping to salute him as part of the new rules he made after getting back from his audience.
"Then fire if you please." Zhong fumed as he turned back to the sky. The volley was let loose into the air, and quickly returned to them. Zhong ducked to the side as the flaming rock flew towards him. It shattered into the ship. Zhong reached down and withdrew his bow and arrow from beneath the deck and took aim.
Alpha descended below the clouds as sleep began to overtake him. "I have you now." Zhong said as he knocked and arrow and drew back.
Long-hin saw this and whipped out his bow quickly and knocked his arrow. He took aim and let it fly with a burst or airbending, speeding it straight into the shaft of Zhong's bow and cutting clean through the arrow.
Zhong dropped it and narrowly avoided the collision course with the projectile. He stared up at them as Long-hin gave a mock wave. Zhong clenched his fists and stormed into his cabin, muttering un mentionable words beneath his breath. He slammed the door shut and the ship rocked violently as men continued to try to put out the fires that had grown on the ship.
Technicians were already laying new planks on the bottom of the ship to try and close the hole the rock had made from smashing through the puny ship. The Captain stood on deck, yelling out orders on how to go about repairing the ship's damage. A soldier walked up to him, throwing a bucket of salt water onto the blaze.
"I think we can handle this sir. But just in case, there is another one of our fleet not too far behind us." The soldier turned and saluted to the Captain.
"Yes I know, but spirits forbid Zhong's ship be the one to take damage." The Captain said quietly to him. "He's been awfully wound up since he got back from his audience with the Master."
"Yeah, we've noticed." The soldier said as the ship rocked from Zhong's pounding. "Wonder how it went?"
"Who's wondering. It must have been bad. Notice how the General is starting to sink into…I don't know, mental instability?"
"What do you mean by that? I think he's as mad as ever."
The Captain checked around himself to make sure no one else was listening. "Ever see the General just standing on the deck. Looking into the sky? He paces more now and his hands twitch and he starts to sweat whenever we talk about plans for the benders. He's losing it, I think. I think the Master got to him."
"And something tells me, it's going to hurt us more than him." The soldier said as he looked warily towards Zhong's cabin.
Alpha landed down in a hill area somewhere in shore now, to avoid the general and his fleet at all costs. "I guess this is where we're stopping." Aer said as she looked around her. She turned to Long-hin, who was struggling to tie his bow back onto his pack. "Thanks for that cover back there." Aer said.
"Don't mention it." Long-hin said as he jumped down.
"And I thought you were just the guy with the lame jokes." Bakiko said as he sat down on a rock and tried to stretch out his back.
"Nope, just lame jokes and courage." Long-hin said as he pounded his chest.
"Courage? You call that courage?" Kan said as he turned abruptly to Long-hin. "If you really had courage, you would have jumped down onto that ship and fought the guy face to face. You just made a lucky shot."
"Lucky? That had a lot of Aer's little bending in it!" Long-hin said as he pointed to Aer as if accusing her of something. "I used my bending. Blame your little girlfriend for the 'lack of courage'."
"Hey! I didn't say that it was bad. I'm glad you used airbending, even if it was for violent reasons." Aer said as she jumped off of Alpha's head. "And I didn't make it. I learned it from the bison." Alpha gave a large groan and licked Aer. "Anything I did was from them."
Long-hin walked away from Kan. "See, take any of your problems up with the five ton animal if you really want to." Kan groaned and walked away in a huff and small burst of fire. "Okay, that's six times you've burnt my blanket!" Long-hin called as he jumped out from under his blanket and tried to put out the flames. Kan left with a small smirk on his face.
Jip walked over to Aer. "So, are we going to be on our way soon?" Jip asked as she hugged her doll. Aer smiled.
"Not for a while. Just give everyone some time to rest before we start jetting away. Aren't you tired?" Aer asked as she looked her over. She opened the food sack and gave the last apple to Alpha. He grabbed it in his tongue and ate it.
"I am tired, but I'm just thinking of the guys that attacked us. I just don't want to be attacked by them again is all."
"Oh, Jip. We're inland enough to avoid them." Aer gave a small laugh as Jip turned around. "But I'll be sound-bending just in case."
Jip gave her a small nod as she walked over to her mat and went to sleep. She looked at the picture of her parents before finally falling into sweet dreams. Aer looked around at the sleeping pack and got to her feet. She walked over to Kan, she knew he wouldn't be fast asleep yet.
"Hey, Kan." She bent down and shook him gently. He turned to her quickly.
"What is it?" he asked.
"We're almost out of food. Could you use that energybending thing where you sense the location?"
"What happened to your precious sound-bending?" Kan asked as he sat up and turned to her. She gave a small look to him. "Sorry. Why do you need to know?"
"I want to know if there's a town or something around where we can get food."
"Okay, but only because I want breakfast tomorrow." Kan bent down and touched the ground with the palm of his hand. He lifted it up and then slammed it down while sliding his left legs forward slightly.
He closed his eyes and listened to the energy. "There is one. A little ways…" Kan closed his eyes tighter and lifted a finger into the air. "that way." Kan flicked it down towards the west.
"Thanks." Aer said as she checked a small pouch on her person and got up and started walking. Kan watched her leave.
"Hey, where are you going?" Kan asked. "It's the middle of the night. No one is going to be selling anything. Aren't you supposed to be the smart one of this little group?"
"I know no one will be up, Kan." Aer said back to him. "I just need to go and get us some food. I have enough money. I'll leave some for them when they get up."
"Well, then I'm coming." Kan said as he grabbed his dagger and ran to Aer's side. She stopped in her tracks.
"What?" Aer asked.
"I'm coming. An airbender like yourself is going to need protection."
"Just because I am sticking to airbending does not mean that I'm pathetic!" Aer shot at him.
"You're right. It only makes you a little more inept." Kan said as he strolled past her. "This way." He shouted to her. Aer rolled her eyes and sighed. She turned to Alpha.
"I'm going. You're in charge." She said as she walked away. Alpha moaned and licked his lips and lowered his eyelids.
They reached the town when the moon was full in the sky above. Kan picked a lock and opened a store. There were barrels and barrels of food. "There, get what you need." Aer walked past him with the sack and began to riffle through the goods. "What is it?" Kan asked. "I thought this would be quick."
"I'm just making sure that I can afford all of this." Aer said as she compared two heads of lettuce. Kan smacked his head.
"Aer, we just broke into the place." Kan said angrily. "I don't think, hey they didn't pay the right amount is going to be the first thing on their minds."
Aer shot him a look and picked the one in her left hand and added it to the bag. Kan stole away to a back side of the store, where a giant block of ice was resting.
A red flash illuminated the shop from the shuttered window. Aer stopped and ran to the window. "What do you suppose…?" she began as she pulled aside one of the wooden flats. A red, glowing figure was floating in the middle of the street. It wore a wide brimmed hat and had a glistening red cloak draped around her. She was gliding above the street, not moving an inch of her body.
A feral cat stopped ead in its tracks and sprinted into a dark alley nearby. "Kan, I think we should go." Aer said as she stood at the window. The figure had stopped and her head began to move upwards. It looked left, right, and then did a 360. Its head stopped at the shop and the face turned into a wicked grin. It gave a shriek and flew at the shop. "Kan, hide!" Aer shouted as she ran away from the window. She grabbed Kan and looked around, there was nowhere to go. The red glow grew and Aer looked esperately at a crate. It was full of food, which she began to toss out as fast as she could. She heard a fire ignite somewhere behind her.
"Kan, I don't think you can fight a spirit." Aer said without looking back to see Kan's fire fist. "This is ridiculous." Aer said. She gave a heave with her arms and spun around. She thrust out and airbending lifted the vegetables into the air and scattering around the shop.
"What are you doing?" Kan asked as he was hit with a watermelon and a small peach.
"Trying to hide." Aer said as she ran over to him. The shop was now completely red. "Come on. We got to…" The door burst off of its hinges in an array of red sparks. The Red Witch glided in and did another head spin. Her gleeful smile faded.
The shop was empty save for the large amount of food lying smashed on the ground. She turned to the crate. She blinked and saw a trail of energy leading into it. She lifted a finger and muttered some odd language under her breath. The crate exploded and the energy reading faded. But there were no body parts.
The kids must be here somewhere. "No one trespasses in my town." The Witch cried. She gave a burst of red energy and flew from the shop to scour the village over.
Aer and Kan reappeared in the corner of the room, near the block of ice. Kan took deep breaths as he leaned on the ice block. "What was that?" he asked as he turned to Aer. "We were in plain sight! Luck must be on our side." Kan said as he straightened up.
"Not luck, bending." Aer reprimanded him.
"Huh?" Kan asked. "What bending?"
"Air bending." Aer told him. "A new technique I made. It's kind of like sound-bending." She made another quick look outside and then conjured a small whirlwind of air near her ear. Kan noticed a ripple move through the night in the street.
"She's pretty far away. We can probably run for it." Aer remarked as she slung the bag over her shoulder and moved out the door. She did a look to her right and then ran to her left. Kan followed close behind.
"So we're just going to run away?" Kan asked Aer as they sped towards the gate at the end of the village.
"Yes. I don't know about you, but I don't feel like angering a Spirit, especially one that blows things up by pointing a finger."
"Come on! I can do that too." Kan said. He pointed a finger to a nearby tree to demonstrate. He flicked a finger and the tree burst into flames. "See? Not that hard."
"Put it out before she sees." Aer hissed as she turned around. Kan bent a water ball onto the blazing tree and doused the flames. The familiar red glow began to grow as the Witch appeared at the end of the street.
"Ha! I have found the intruders." She said as she gave another high pitched laugh. Aer bent a shield around them and dragged Kan away.
"Just let me fight for once." Kan pleaded as Aer pulled him away from the conflict.
"It's a spirit! Haven't you caught on yet?" Aer asked as she turned back to him. She sped down the street and reached the gate. A red wall flew up in front of them, preventing their escape.
"I don't take kindly to those that enter my village without my permission. I rule this town with an iron fist. All those that live here obey by my rules and do whatever I command. If you enter here, you must follow the same protocol." The Red Witch cackled and threw a long whip of red sparks at them.
Kan threw an earth wall up in front of them. "No offense, but why is she all uptight about making sure we don't leave?" Kan asked. "I told you not to steal any of the food." Aer's mouth dropped.
"You picked the lock! I also left the right amount of money for it. I didn't do anything!" Aer walked up close to Kan and punched jabbed him in the chest.
"Yeah, well she thinks differently." Kan said as he nodded towards the Witch, who was throwing something at the wall Kan was maintaining.
"I think it has something to do with the town." Aer said as she scratched her head. "Her power must come from her control of the town. If people were to leave against her will, it might give her powers as small decrease." Aer surmised out loud.
"Great, so we leave the city and we get to live free." Kan said. The wall shattered and Kan threw up another one. "Now how do we escape? She's blocked the exit."
Aer grabbed Kan's shirt and made a motion for him to be quiet. "Just let the wall fall. I'll take it from there."
The wall fell and the Red Witch flew forward. "Now, you too shall fall under my spell. You…"
There was no one there. She did a 360 with her head and scanned the area. "They cannot have escaped." The Witch guessed. She blinked and tried to summon an energy reading from the two people. There was none.
She heard something moving from beyond the gate. "No! It cannot be!" She lowered her red wall and looked out into the night.
A rabb-a-roo hopped by and stopped to stare at the Witch. It twitched its nose slightly and then hopped away. The Witch turned around and saw something ove in the shadows. She flew closer.
A large blast of air sent her flying into the wall of a house. She rose up and cast down an even brighter glow of red. She was flicked further down the street and slammed into a barrel of water.
Aer and Kan reappeared and sprinted out of the gate and into the woods. The village instantly lit up in a large ball of red light. The Witch was screaming, her power fading. "Just keep running." Kan said to Aer. They made it back to camp and bent over, wheezing from the long run.
"Thanks for coming with me." Aer said as she turned to Kan.
"Don't mention it. You'd have been dead back there if it wasn't for me." Kan said.
"Yeah, but next time, try not to throw the villains into barrels of water. I doubt they'll melt." Aer said as she turned back to the sleeping group.
"Wait. What was it you did back there?" Kan asked her.
"What?"
"That thing you said. Why the Red Witch couldn't see us."
"Oh, that thing." Aer made sure no one else was around as she walked back to Kan. "It's a new sub group of Air-bending I invented."
"I thought sound-bending was." Kan said.
"That's just an expansion of air-bending, not a sub-group. No.
It's Pigment Bending."
"What bending?" Kan asked as he cleared his ears.
"Pigment bending. I take the pigments in the air and bend them to whatever I want. I bent the pigments to make us invisible to her."
"You made that?" Kan asked skeptically.
"Yes, just another way to avoid the fight." Aer walked away, her hair flowing in the wind. Kan walked closely behind her, shaking his head at her peaceful ways.
"Another way to avoid death."