Hello once again readers. Here is the second chapter to The Spirit, however I have a few name changes that I wanted your opinions on. There is a poll on my profile that you all can go to and vote on, or even send me a PM of you suggestions. However, just because something got a lot of votes does not mean it will be the new name.
Oh, and I'm finally introducing Sam :D She is so far my favorite character I have ever thought of for this story, so please read and enjoy! :)
~Ned
Chapter 2- A Schim in the Forest
When Danny thought about his death he expected it to be more peaceful, but now that it was actually happening he decided his expectations were just a bunch of crap. All he felt was pain, and a lot of it. He was sure it was from all the burns he had endured from the homicidal soldiers' fire blasts, but he was expecting to have died of shock before he could even feel the flames lick his body, unfortunately, he had felt every excruciating moment of it until he passed out.
"Drop them there." He heard the lieutenant state, and Danny felt his stomach churn with hatred. However not even a second later he heard something hit the ground, and then he quickly followed suit. More pain shot through Danny's body as he hit the ground, but thankfully it was softer than Danny thought was possible, so he let out no grunts of pain to alert the solders. Nonetheless that did not stop him from letting out a mental moan as he realized he was not dead, and was now going to die slowly, painfully, and alone.
"What do you think General Vlad will do when he finds out that we killed the boy?" A soldier asked from above him, fear all too apparent in his voice.
"I don't care, that little twerp deserved what he got." The Lieutenant retorted his voice filled with venom. Danny heard the other man shuffle, but he said nothing. "Let's go, Vlad is expecting us to leave the village before that woman comes to tell him what happened."
"Yes sir." The other man said and then Danny heard them walk off, finally leaving him alone, in who knows where... with who knows what.
All Danny could do was lie on the ground, without a single clue as to as to what he was going to do about his situation. He was sure he had died earlier, and quickly, but now he was officially dying a slow and painful death. He let out a sigh as he opened his eyes, pain shot threw him with the simple motion, but he refused to close his eyes, he had to at least know where he was dying.
Before he could get a good look around a big black form caught his attention. Danny looked at the form in front of him in confusion, until he finally recognized it. If Danny could, he would have jumped in shock, but his body would not allow it. In front of him was the charted corps of his father, luckily for Danny his father's face was not facing him, otherwise he would have been scarred for life, no matter how short it may be at this point.
Tears filled Danny's eyes at the sight. He was not sure if his father could truly see or hear him in the afterlife, but he had to say something. "I'm sorry Dad," Danny started, his vision blurred by the tears that fell from his face, "I shouldn't have snapped like I did… or attempt to runaway afterwards. You had every right to do your research. I'm sure that in the near future your research will be the talk of the century." A sad smile touched his lips, "I can't wait to see you again."
Danny let out a sigh as he closed his eyes again and let his body relax; hoping that his end would come soon. However the moment the thought crossed his mind he heard something walk towards him, and judging by the rhythm the steps made he guessed that it was probably an animal of some sort. Hope flourished in his heart at the sound, figuring that the animals would help his current predicament. However when he remembered his father's corps lying next to him he opened his eyes and his hope turned into horror.
Dismay coursed through Danny, the simple thought of his father's corps being desecrated any more left a foul taste in his mouth. His father died to protect his family, he deserved more than to have his body torn apart by hungry animals. Danny tried to get up, to find some way to protect the body of his father. He figured that burying it would be the best course of action, but after the intense pain that shot through him he realized that with the amount of burns on his body, his mission was probably impossible.
Nonetheless, when he heard that the steps of the animal getting closer Danny could not simply lie there, he knew he had to move, so he did. He pushed past the pain and torture that the task had forced upon him and slowly got to his feet, fully prepared to protect his father the best he could. However, the pain he had gone through had caused his vision to blur and all he could seem to make out were just hazy figures that held no definite shape.
If Danny did not hear the animal come towards him he would have never known where it was, or where it was headed. So when he heard it stop right behind him, Danny knew that the animal was just a few yards away. "Stay back!" Danny croaked through his sore throat as he quickly turned around, ignoring the pain it caused to do so, but what he saw left him confused.
Despite the state his vision was in he could see a bright light in front of him, radiating off of one huge source. Danny looked at the light in shock, he knew the light could not be coming off of a torch or any fire for that matter since the light was a bright light blue, instead of the regular red and orange that Danny had seen all day. So that left one huge question in his head.
But despite his confusion, he still remembered why he was so determined to be standing like he was. There was an animal somewhere in or near that bright light and Danny refused to let it near his father. "I don't want any trouble, so shoo!"
"I am sorry for you loss." Someone spoke through the darkness, and Danny's heart swelled with hope at the sound of an actual person being here. "I promise, you father will come to no harm in this forest." The voice continued, and Danny briefly realized that the person was female.
Relief filled Danny at her words and he let himself drop back onto the floor. But he made sure to stay in a sitting position, not wanting his burned back to touch anything other than the cool night air. "Thank you." He breathed.
"It was no issue. Anyone who is willing to go through as much as you have for someone they love deserves my respect." She said and Danny heard the footsteps again. He was still confused by the sound. He was so sure that it was an animal, even now it still sounded like one was walking towards him, but the bright light in front of him only got brighter as the footsteps got louder.
"What is your name?" Danny had to ask.
"Schim." She said as both the footsteps and the light stopped moving, Danny was sure that they were right in front of him.
"Sam…" Danny said, testing the name, "it is beautiful." he thought out loud with a smile forming on his face.
"Actually it's Sch-… did you just say beautiful?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, I think it fits you perfectly."
"But... H-how are your burns?" Sam stuttered, changing the subject.
Danny could not hold back a chuckle. "Hurts like hell, but worth every second." He said as he closed his eyes, and leaned back to be in a more comfortable possession, which was kind of hard to do. "However I wish I could have gotten one more hit on one of those soldiers' smug faces."
"Why did you fight those people in the first place?" Sam asked in confusion. "As far as I can tell you have no bending to defend yourself with and have next to no practice in the technique of fighting." Sam stated with slight anger in her voice.
If it were any other day at any other time Danny would have asked how she knew so much about him. However Danny refused to think about it too much, he was not going to question the girl's motives, after all she was willing to keep his father safe. "Because I couldn't just sit back and watch those men take everything I love. But at the moment I can barely see anything at all, so it's probably a good guess to say that I probably won't be trying to do anything like that any time soon."
"Are you blind?" Sam asked in horror.
"Not as far as I can tell, "Danny started, remembering how he was able to see only moments ago and the horrid sight that had awaited him, but he pushed the image away, "but my vision is a little blurry. I guess intense pain can do that to a person."
Sam paused for a moment upon hearing Danny's words. "You are very enduring to still be alive after what you have been through."
Danny let out a sad chuckle. "Yeah, just my luck, to spend the last moments of my life in complete pain and almost no way of seeing a thing… I still don't even know where I am."
Sam let out a few chuckles, "You are in the forest north of your village."
"Really?" Danny asked as he let a real smile forming on his face, despite the pain it caused him to do so. "So I'm actually going to die here, my second home of all places."
"Your second home?" Sam asked, clearly confused.
"I spend most of my time here whenever I get the chance. I actually almost ran away from home to live here not too long ago." Danny confessed.
Sam was quiet for a couple moments, as if she was deciding something. "Do you want to see it?" She asked.
At that Danny's eyes shot open to look at where he thought she was, however his vision was still foggy so all he could do was guess that she was in the glowing blue light in front of him. "What do you mean?"
"I can ease some of the pain for you, and help with your eyesight."
Danny paused, thinking about how that was even possible, until he remembered a book he had read, about the northern water tribe. The only reason his parents had it was because of the moon and sea spirits that resided there, but there were some info about the waterbenders abilities, one of which was healing. "Are you a waterbender?" He asked in shock.
Sam paused, but eventually spoke, "Something like that…" she started, but then quickly changed tones, "Do you want your eyesight back or not?" She questioned, it almost sounded like she was irritated.
"Y-yes." Danny stuttered, not sure if he was making the right decision. However when he felt something touch his chest he immediately felt a hundred times better.
The process was slow, but eventually some of his pain had dulled and he could see every tree around him and he could not help but smile in joy. Of course his vision was not one hundred percent better, but he did not complain, being able to see was good enough for him, no matter the quality.
"Thanks Sam." Danny said as he finally looked at where he thought he had last seen her. However what he found caused him to jump in shock. Instead of a regular girl he had been expecting he found something so much more, and it was not in the form of a girl.
In front of him was a fairly large black and white beast with bright purple eyes. To Danny it's body somewhat resembled a wolf bat, but the face had a lot more fur, and had a canine look to it, and there were no leathery wings.
As Danny continued to look he found that the beast was actually the sores of the bright light he had been seeing. The area literally glowed as the animal practically radiated the strange blue light. Danny was not sure as to what, or who he was looking at, but he knew one thing for sure, it was no ordinary animal.
"How is your vision?" Danny heard Sam asked, and the animal's head tilted with curiosity as the words floated through the air.
"I-its good… I think…" Danny said as he slowly leaned towards the beast, which only looked at him with deeper curiosity. Danny then held up a hand to touch it, to at least make sure he was not imagining the whole thing, but only got so far before it started to look at the hand in irritation.
"I am not a common dog that you can pet." He heard Sam say and Danny jumped in fright.
"S-Sam?" He asked in horror, "Wh-who…? What…" He started as he stared at the animal (or was it Sam?) not sure as to what to make of the situation. "Oh, I know what's happening," Danny stated, finally putting two and two together, but he only ended up getting fish, "I'm hallucinating. I ate something bad and now I'm in a horrible nightmare." Danny concluded, finding no other reason as to why he would be talking to a glowing black and white animal in the middle of a forest… 'Unless… No!' Danny yelled in his head as he banished the thought before it could form all the way.
Sam's face then turned sympathetic. "I'm sorry Danny, but you are not in a nightmare nor am I a part of your imagination…" She started but then a worried look crossed her face, like she was trying to find something else to say, without it making Danny jump in fright, again. "I am the spirit of this forest, named Schim. I am just a phantom that lives to protect the forest and all that dwell inside of it."
Danny's heart stopped at one word, one that made the rest of her statement seem meaningless. 'Spirit… I'm talking to a spirit…' He thought, trying to wrap his mind around the situation. However a new question appeared in his head, one he refused to go unanswered. "So how do you know about me?" He asked remembering her past words. "You just said my name when I don't remember giving it, and even stated my poor fighting abilities a little while ago."
A shy smile appeared on the Sam's face, though it looked weird on her canine face. "I already gave you the answer, I protect all that dwell in my forest, and you dwell in here often."
Danny raised a suspicious eyebrow, as he tried to fill in the sketchy areas of her story. "Then why didn't you step in at my house?" Danny almost growled, "You could have stopped the firebenders before they even got a chance to kill my father."
Sam looked down, sorrow in her eyes. "I could not," she stated, "I only have power in my domain, and your village has not been a part of it for some time now."
Danny's eyes opened in disbelief, "My village was made in your forest?" Sam simply nodded, "Then why didn't you fight to protect it?"
"Because I saw no harm in its creation. I accept the need for homes and, like I said before, I protect those that dwell in my forest. I could only watch and hope you leave the rest of my forest in peace."
Danny only looked at Sam in confusion, "Then what will you do when the Fire Nation decides to burn your forest to the ground like all the rest?"
Sam looked up at Danny with anger as a growl escaped from her throat. "They have already tried."
Danny looked over at her with a raised eyebrow, "What did you do?"
"I did all that I could, I made it rain on what they burned. All I can really control is the weather and talk to the animals here. My power had become very limited thanks to all the villages that have colonized inside of my domain, and the soldiers that are trying to burn it to the ground."
Danny looked at Sam with sympathy, as he said the one thing that would probably change his life forever. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
Maddie did not know what to do. The Fire Nation soldier had practically torn her life apart, leaving her with nothing but her daughter. Even the house that she had lived in for years was barley standing. However even if the house was still in living condition she doubted she could ever have a full night of sleep there. It was no longer her home that she had raised her two beautiful children in, it was a house of horrors that would only force her to relive the two worst moments of her life.
Maddie tried to push the two images from her head, but they refused to leave and instead insisted on haunting her, even though she was far from the place it all took place. Whenever she imagined her loving husband, Jack, all that seemed to pop up was the lifeless charted corps that was now far out of her reach thanks to those appalling soldiers that decided to hide the bodies, despite the fact that Maddie had seen it all.
Then there was her youngest child, her baby, Danny. He was not as burned up as Jack was. As a matter of fact, there was barely any dark black patches of charcoal on his body compared to Jack, who was nothing but. But that small fact did not ease her burden, as a matter of fact it only made it ten times worse. His body was so lightly burned compared to her husband Maddie dared to hope that he was still alive.
But she knew it was a ridicules thing to hope for. Danny was taken just like Jack, if he was alive, he would not be for long, and that only made the guilt of the situation worse on Maddie, after all she could do nothing as her loved ones were dragged away, and no matter the amount of fighting she did changed that.
"Mom?" Jazz asked as she walked towards her mother, who was then knocked out of her thoughts thanks to her daughter. "Is everything alright?"
Maddie paused, not sure how to answer her, she knew she should tell her daughter everything. But she just could not bring herself to do it. She did not want her daughter to be miserable or guilty like she was right now.
"Maddie, are you alright, you seem like you have just seen a ghost?" Vlad asked as he jogged away from Jazz's side and towards Maddie's, worry etched into his face.
Then just like that, Maddie finally broke down, tears burst through her eyes as she ran to hug Vlad for comfort, not seeing anyone else she could truly turn to in her time of crises. "J-Jack an- and D-Danny!" She yelled through her sobs.
Vlad stiffened at her words, "Danny?" He asked, "What about him?"
"Mom, what happened to them?" Jazz asked as she finally ran the short distance between them. When she reached her mother's side she immediately put a reassuring hand on her back. "That happened to Dad and Danny, Mom?"
"They're gone!" Maddie yelled as she buried her face deeper into Vlad's clothes, more tears falling from her eyes. "They were both murdered by Fire Nation soldiers!"
Schim stared at the boy in front of her, not sure as to how she should think about his generous offer. There were a multiple of small ways he could help her beloved forest, however with the condition his body was in she doubted he could even stand up without issues, much less help save her forest, and she could only do so much for his pain. However there was one way to remove it, to actually heal him completely, but it was a solution she never actually thought she would be so desperate to do.
Many spirits have heard of this 'solution,' the one that would most likely save Danny from his awaiting fate, and also help her forest. However, despite the knowledge of the 'solution,' very few spirits had actually done it. The only one that Schim herself knew of was probably the best known spirit of them all, even the humans knew about her and her mate, but only a select few have actually seen them.
However what the spirit had done was simply save a child with her spiritual energy. What Schim planed on doing would do so much more. If she pulled it off successfully Danny would be able to not only survive his injuries, but actually help the forest more than Schim herself ever could in her current condition.
However there was one huge risk. Schim's energy was already low from all the destruction the Fire Nation had done to her treasured home. She knew that she was lucky to even give Danny any healing at all. If she miscalculated this in the slightest, she might just perish, and her forest along with it.
Schim looked back at the boy, terrified to try it. If she failed not only would it kill her, but Danny's wounds would not heal all the way and he would still die a slow death, all alone.
"Danny… do you truly want to help in your current condition?" Schim had to ask, even though she knew he could not. All she had done earlier was ease the pain, she had not erased it entirely.
"I won't know unless I try," Danny stated with a shrug off his shoulders, "after all this is all I really have left. Even if I could walk back to the village I'm sure the soldiers would kill me on sight."
Schim growled, 'They won't get the chance,' she thought as the fur on her back stood on end. As much as Schim would hate to admit it, she liked the human boy in front of her, almost as much as she cared for her forest… almost.
"Take it easy Sam." Danny said with a laugh, and Schim was sure that if she could blush in this form, she would have, his laugh was so enchanting. "I have no intention of going back unless it's to retrieve my family and get the hell out."
Schim settled down some, but her fur refused to go down, "You mean you sister and mother?" She asked with curiosity, she did not remember seeing Danny talk to anyone else like he did with them.
"Yeah…" Danny paused, a curious look on his face, "Hey Sam?"
"Yes."
"What animal are you, I don't think I have seen any animal quite like you." He stated.
Schim smiled, not shocked by the question. "I am not an animal, per say, remember I am simply a spirit. But I know what you mean, the form I'm in is called a wolf." She stated looking down at her form a small smile touching her lips. "I have always found this form more interesting and meaningful."
Danny's eyes only grew even more interested, "What do you mean?"
Schim let a wide smile finally spread, but made sure to keep her teeth hidden, knowing how threatening it would look. "Wolves are considered very loyal creatures. They take pride in their pack and will do whatever they can to protect it. I would rather die than let my forest burn…" Schim paused as she caught her words, and then she stared at the boy in front of her again. 'Yes, I would defiantly die for it…' she thought as she let out a sigh. "Danny… will you truly help me protect my forest?"
Danny looked at her in shock, not seeing how the topic came up. "Well yeah, if it really means so much to you…" he started, still confused.
"Then can I put my trust in you… to protect it no matter what. Just like how you were going to protect your father?"
Danny paused as he looked back at the corps that was beside him, sadness touching his face. "I will… but we have to bury him… right here…" Danny said, one single tear falling from one of his eyes.
Schim nodded as she started to stand up on all fours, but as she did so the glow she had radiated started to glow brighter. It got so bright that Schim could not see Danny, who had been practically engulfed in the blinding light. When the light had finally receded, the glow that Schim once radiated was very feint to the point that Danny had to let his eyes adjust before he could see Schim again through the dark moonless night.
"Sam?" He asked in shock, and Schim could not hide her smile.
The light show that Schim had displayed had not been just for the fun if it, no it was to make the task of burying Danny's father simpler. She had changed her form to that of a fourteen year old girl, no older than the boy in front of her. Schim had changed her form only slightly to make Danny feel more comfortable. She had even made sure that the clothes she wore were normal, not at all like the all too elegant moon spirit's dress.
Schim's hair was a dark black and some of the back of it was tied back into a ponytail, but the majority of her hair was still down and reached the curve of her neck. Her eyes were still the same bright purple, just less fur surrounding it, and her clothes were the same style that the Fire Nation wore, just all white instead of different shades of red.
"Yep," Schim said as she held out her hand for Danny to grab, "now hurry up, we don't have all night to waste, we still have to protect my forest."
If you're wondering why I named Sam, Schim, it's because it actually means Phantom in Dutch... Dutch? you ask, well it was the only name I found that sounded like Sam. Sorry, I just really wanted her to keep her name ;) even if Danny was the first person to call her Sam. But I can't blame him for mishearing it, he was in pain and in all honestly I probably would not have even heard her throughout half of the conversation if I had half the burns Danny did. So that was my argument over that topic.
So... What did you all think about the chapter? Sad, interesting, or did you think I messed something up somehow? Please Review and PM me about the story, I want to hear all of your opinions about it.
~Ned