Hello readers, I have chosen to update every other week just like with The Runaway in Jump. However I would have preferred to update tomorrow, but a friend is coming over and I didn't want to wast any of my time with her. So here is the chapter a day early, so you can all thank Ash for that ;)
Now on to some good news, the Gaang is in here! YAY! So without further interruption, here is the next chapter of Howl of a Phantom.
~Ned
Chapter 4- One Last Glimpse
Maddie paces around the largest living room she has ever probably been in for what seemed like forever, but had yet to come up with an answer. She had to admit, Vlad was very generous in his offer to move both her and Jazz into the Fire Nation Capital to live with him, well until they got back on their feet at least that least. However Maddie felt that if she took the offer she would be betraying Jack, and for some strange reason Danny.
Jazz had already given her fairly strong opinion on the matter; she wanted to go with General Masters. Maddie let out an exhausted sigh and looked out the window of Vlad's house, or was it a manor (?). The view was spectacular; the manor lied on top of a rather large hill and Maddie could see the large green forest that seemed to be the symbol of health. Even though it was the middle of summer every leaf in the distance seemed green and rich, as if the strong rays of the sun chose to give the leaves some sort of special treatment while it burned everything else until it turned a sickly yellow-brown.
Maddie and Jack had always suspected it was the work of a spirit. However no matter how often they went inside and practically begged to see the spirit that resided there, they saw nothing, just a luscious green paradise. Then again, that never seemed to damper Jack's spirit, he always did have a strong will and stubborn attitude that never seemed to want to give in.
New found tears worked their way into Maddie's eyes at the memories of her deceased husband. Of course Vlad had put together a small group of soldiers to look for the rogue ones that killed her husband and son. Nonetheless Maddie still felt like crying for her lost family, but she forced herself to push the memories and her tears away, not wanting to show Jazz how weak she was. Someone had to be strong, to show Jazz that things would eventually get better.
"Morning Maddie, the view is lovely, isn't it?" Vlad Masters asked as he found his way next to Maddie in the window.
"Very," Maddie stated while still looking out to the forest and trying to avoid eye contact with the General. After all, she was still not sure about his offer, despite Jazz's thoughts in the matter.
When Maddie was younger she and Vlad used to be a dear friend, but after she found Jack and they got engaged Vlad then decided to put his firebending to good use and joined the army. Maddie has not seen him for twenty years and had barely recognized him when he arrived a month or two ago when he was stationed here. He was not much older than Maddie, but that did not stop his usually black hair from turning totally grey. He wore his hair in a tight bun that all the high ranking men in either the army or society wore. He also had a silver beard to go with his hair.
Vlad looked over at Maddie, sympathy on his face. "I deeply apologize for last night." He then sighed. "I guess my concern for you got the better of my common sense. I should have considered your situation before blurting out suck preposterous ideas such as you moving to the Capital with me."
Maddie looked over at Vlad in shock. An apology was the last thing she expected out of him. "Oh, no Vlad, your offer was very generous. It's just… everything is happening too fast, I just need some time to process everything, that's all."
Vlad then shook his head, "Take all the time you need, the Fire Lord does not need me back for quite some time." A smile then stretched across his face. "I'm sure that whatever you decide will be for the best, for both your and Jasmine's future."
'C'mon Danny,' Said boy heard Sam say through the darkness that was his dream, 'we still have a lot to go over; you can't sleep all day!'
"Five more minutes," Danny mumbled back as he rolled over, ignoring his dream figures advice.
'Do I look like your mother? When I say get up I mean get up!' Danny was about to comment, but before he could he felt something hit his back and before he knew it he found himself face down in water.
"Ahh!" Danny gasped as he stood up to save himself from drowning. When his mind finally cleared of sleep and water he found himself waist deep in a small spring, but as far as Danny could tell he was soaked to the bone. "What was that for?" Danny asked as he looked up to find Sam looking down at him in aggravation.
"You fell asleep in the middle of practice last night, so now we are behind schedule!" Sam yelled irritation clear on her face. "The Fire Nation could attack at any moment and all you know how to do is move frozen water!"
"Hey, I would consider that an accomplishment since I have never bended a single element in my life!" Danny argued while climbing out of the stream. 'Sam was right,' He began to think as he stared back at the spring, 'it is pretty small.'
"That may be, but now we have more to cover than I originally thought!" Sam argued, eyeing Danny with narrowed eyes.
"What do you mean, did you think of more stuff we could do last night?" Danny asked, his heart jumping with excitement.
"It's more like I realized something." Sam said as she walked towards him. Then out of nowhere she hit the top of his head.
"Ouch, what was that for!?" Danny yelled in protest as he shielded his head in case she decided that one hit was not enough.
"For making our situation more complicated!" Sam yelled, as she opened her arms in a gesture towards him. "I mean… look at yourself!"
Danny gave Sam a confused look, but complied and was shocked to see that his clothes and tattoos had changed since last night. Instead of his old water tribe clothes they now looked like they belonged in the Fire Nation again; and his tattoos were now red. Plus, Danny was now not glowing at all like he was last night. "W-what happened!?" He asked as he pulled his hair in front of his face and found that it was now back to his usual raven black shade.
"You happened! You gave me some of my energy back, turning you into only half spirit; a Halfa!" Sam clarified, but only ended up confusing Danny more.
"Halfa… Gave you back your energy…? Wait a second, I didn't even know I was receiving your spiritual energy, how could I have given it back?!"
"How would I know, all I know is that you did! So now I have to get you back into your spirit form and I don't even know where to start!" Sam yelled as she walked away from Danny in aggravation. "The only person I know of that would know is Koh, but I would never turn to him for advice even if my life depended on it! That no good…two faced… stealing fiend!" Sam practically growled that last part out, and judging on her temper Danny decided not to ask who Koh was.
"So what do you suggest we do now since I can't turn back?" Danny asked, not sure how to calm his new friend down.
"I guess I could still try to teach you my icebending since you will require a spiritual body to do a majority of what I plan on teaching you."
"Let's get to it!" Danny exclaimed.
"Alright, first we need to go over the basics, you remember those, right?" Sam asked a smile appearing on her face from Danny's enthusiasm,
"Of course," Danny said as he walked over to the stream and tried to bend it like he learned yesterday. However as soon as he tried nothing happened, so he tried again, and again, but got nothing. "Are you serious?!" He yelled, as he tried once more with the same affect.
"Just go through the motions there is no need to think it through." Sam said in encouragement.
Danny took a deep breath, allowing his mind to clear, but he only got the same exact affect. "This is ridicules! I'm just as useful in this form as I was yesterday!"
Sam let out a sigh, "I guess we have no choice but to find out how to change you back to your spirit form then."
Danny let out a low growl. "This is pathetic!" He yelled. "Not only am I stuck like this, but I'm also useless, what next?!"
"My lady!" A voice said and Danny looked to see a small fire ferret standing up on his two hind legs next to Sam. "Firebenders are coming from the south side of the forest!"
Danny rolled his eyes, "Of course they are." 'That is where my village is, and where Vlad is most likely trying to make out with my mother.' Danny could not help but let out a shiver as he almost gaged at the thought.
Sam looked over at Danny, worry clear on her face, but she quickly looked back at the ferret. "Go tell Casper." She simply said and the ferret hurriedly nodded and left, not even pausing to wonder why Sam would ask him to get the platypus bear.
"What about me?" Danny asked stepping up so that they were next to each other.
"You will stay here and try to turn back into your spirit self." Sam quickly stated as she let a bright light swallow her and then reveal a black and white wolf when it was gone. "I'm going to get rid of the intruders." She growled as she then flew towards the south, her feet barely even touching the ground as she ran.
Danny stared at the direction she went, totally shocked by her course of action. "W-wait a second," He began to yell, "you said you were weak!" then, without even beginning to think any of it through, Danny raced after her.
While Danny ran he was amazed by his endurance. Before today he could barely run from school and back without getting winded. Now he could run three times that distance and feel perfectly fine. So when he got to the area that the firebenders were he felt perfectly exercised and was ready to face anything they threw at him, well besides maybe fire. Danny was still not sure if being half spirit meant he was immune to third degree burns.
When Danny actually saw the half dozen benders he swiftly hid behind a tree, waiting for any sigh of fire or Sam. "Danny, what are you doing?" a whispered growl asked from next to him.
'Speak of the devil and she shall appear,' Danny thought with a sly smile as he turned around to face Wolf Sam. "I'm here to help, I may not be an icebender at the moment, but I can still fight."
"I told you to learn to turn back to a spirit, not come fight firebenders as a human." Sam argued.
"That may be, but I decided to ignore that command. After all you said you could only do so much in your current state, so I'm lending a helping hand. You know both you and Casper need it."
An all too apparent scowl appeared on Sam's furry wolf face, and Danny simply smiled deviously at it. He did not know where all this courage came from, but he did not regret its presence. "Fine, but try to avoid getting too deep into their ranks," Sam said in defeat, "or you will be surrounded."
"Yes maim!" Danny said quietly as he gave her an army solute before he looked back at the Fire Nation soldiers that walked through the forest. They seemed to be looking around, like they were trying to locate a missing item or pet.
"This is stupid." One man said as he walked in front of the rest of the group. "General Masters had already sent those soldiers all the way to Ba Sing Se; they are probably half way there already!"
"That may be, but we have our orders, look around the best we can and then report back." Another commented as he searched the bushes.
"This is still ridicules!" The same man yelled. Danny fidgeted slightly at how close he was getting to his and Sam's hiding spot. "I mean, sending a dozen soldiers to kill one man and steal his wife! We are soldiers, not puppets that Masters can use as he pleases!"
Danny smiled, liking the guy a little bit more than the rest of his party, especially after he referred to Vlad as 'Masters' and not 'General Masters.' "Shut it, you want to end up like Rong?!" The soldier stated as he stopped looking at the bush and stared at his friend instead. "He talked bad about Master and was never seen or heard of again!"
The man that was now only one foot step away from seeing Danny and Sam stopped abruptly and looked back at his comrades with rolled his eyes. "That is just some stupid story to scare us into behaving. I'm sure that Rong is perfectly fine and on another Fire Nation ship."
"Fine, but when you disappear, I just want you to know that I told you so."
The man rolled his eyes once again before as he turned back towards Danny's hiding spot and took the last step that would reveal his and Sam's position. 'Alright here it goes.' Danny thought to himself as he quickly stood up and grabbed the soldier's chest plate and pulled him into the hiding spot. He then landed on quick blow to the man's temple, successfully knocking him out.
"M-Mang?" One soldier asked, Danny guessed they were looking for the man that was now lying unconsciously in between Danny and Sam.
"NOW!" Sam yelled and Danny heard a loud growl as Sam and Casper jumped out of their hiding spots and each pounced onto one of them men.
Danny quickly followed and immediately found himself having to avoid a fire blast. "Whoa!" He yelled as the fire almost singed his eyebrows, 'Alright, so I might not be immune to fire.' Danny guessed as the fame licked his face. Once he got over his shock he quickly landed a punch into a firebender's gut.
However another fire blast came at him and he quickly side stepped and tried to land a blow at the bender, but unfortunately the man was farther than Danny originally thought, so his punch missed by a few feet. The one good news was that something happened that Danny did not expect to happen, but had always hoped would ever since he saw his sister do it when she was four. For the first time in his life; Danny finally firebended.
Shock and excitement filled Danny's veins, however only one showed on his face. A large thrilled smile stretched from ear to ear as he tried to shoot another stream of fire out of his fist. Of course the blast was not as perfect as his sister's, but that did not put a damper on Danny's enthusiasm.
He watched with interest as the two firebenders he just blasted were sent back and knocked unconscious as they hit two very strong trees. Then with that the few firebenders were all knocked out, Casper and Sam looked at Danny with interest.
"So that form is not so useless after all." Sam stated with an all knowing smile, not at all phased that Danny had just shot fire out of his hands.
Danny's smile grew, "I guess not."
Sam then stalked over to Danny, "I don't mind the use of it, as long as you leave my forest in tacked." Sam stated bluntly, and Danny nodded in understanding. "Good, now what do you two want to do with the soldiers?" Sam asked while looking around.
"I say we eat them!" Casper shouted out, Danny had to suppress a shiver and a gag.
"How about we not," Danny said while shaking his head. He then looked around at all the unconscious men and spotted the one that he had knocked out first. A devious smile then touched his lips. "I have another idea."
Danny looked at his Water Tribe clothes with excitement. "I did it!" He yelled as he formed an ice crystal in his hand, loving the feeling it gave him to bend something so effortlessly. When he bended fire he did not feel as confident as he did when he bended ice, but then again he had a teacher for his ice bending. His firebending was another story since Sam did not know how to firebend and was not willing to allow Danny to go out looking for one just yet.
However now that he was back to his spirit form he felt totally at ease, and not at all freaked that he might accidentally burn something down. He could also not help but notice the subtle differences in between his two forms.
His spiritual form seemed to feel colder and more light, while his human form seemed warm, warmer than he last remembered it being, and rather heavy. He hoped that he had not gained any unneeded weight when Sam transferred her spiritual energy to him.
Then there was the fact that his human side looked practically the same as he did before he met Sam, well except for the hair and tattoos that is. He could tell that if he walked into town now people would actually recognize him, well once they got over the weird changes that is.
"Good work Phantom." Sam said with a wolfish smile, literally.
"What did you call me?" Danny asked looking at Sam in confusion, not sure if he heard her correctly.
"Phantom, I think it fits your new look don't you?" Sam asked, "After all you gave me a nick name, so now I'm giving you one also."
Danny beamed at the name, "I like it; Danny Phantom." He said, as he stroked a pose, Sam simply laughed at his maturity level.
"Well that's good to hear, because you'll probably need it for him." She said as she looked over to the unconscious firebender they had kept.
"Oh, right." Danny said as he rubbed his head and let out a nervous laugh. For the last hour or so they had Casper keep watch over the soldier, to make sure he did not gain consciousness before Danny could turn back into Phantom, otherwise their plan would be ruined. "Well I guess we should wake him up then?" Danny asked looking over to Sam, hoping to get some sort of support.
Sam gave him a raised eyebrow. "Why are you looking at me, this was your plan?" She stated and Danny's heart sank.
"Alright," Danny sighed as he loved over at the ice-crystal in his hand and allowed it to melt over the firebender's head.
"Wha-What the!" The man yelled as he saw Danny, Sam, and Casper. "Who, or what are you!" He yelled and Danny could not help but scowl.
"My name is Phantom, and you have trespassed onto privet property." Danny stated, allowing his scowl to grow, just to give him a threatening affect.
"Pr-privet property?" The man started, but then he must have noticed either Danny's and/or Sam's unearthly glow because he suddenly shouted. "You are spirits, b-but you were supposed to be myths!"
"Myth?!" Danny asked with a disbelieving eyebrow raised. "Did you not listen to the Fentons findings?" He asked, not sure how anyone could believe that spirits where a myth when there was proof all around him that they were real, even the Avatar was proof of that!
"Th-the Fentons?" The man asked in disbelief, but it was not because he did not know them, but more like he did not know they were right!
"Yes, but that is not why you are here, are you?" Danny asked, "You are here to look for those soldiers who killed the two men of the Fenton family. Well, I hate to say this," 'oh so very much,' "but they are not here anymore, but you already knew that, now didn't you?" Danny asked with a knowing smile, remembering the soldier's past conversation with his comrades.
The man seemed to be in a stupor because he then absentmindedly nodded, answering Danny's rhetorical question.
"So why is it exactly that you are here?"
"M-Masters has a thing for Maddie Fenton. He has been trying to win her affection by sending us here, to show her he did what he could for the other Fentons' murder."
A deep scowl appeared on Danny's face, 'So Vlad was doing this to get my mom. Well let's see how much she'll stay with him after she hears this.' "Well I want you to go back to this Masters, tell him that he will send no one else into the forest unless he wants my friend here to eat them." Danny said while jabbing a thumb at Casper, who smiled gleefully. The man seemed to have paled by the sight of the platypus bear and nodded. "Alright, now keep this name in mind, 'Phantom.' That is the spirit that will defend this forest with his life," 'if spirits even have lives to lose,' "and will not stop doing so unless you all leave it alone. Do you understand?" Danny asked, and the man nodded once again. "Good," Danny said as he let a smile touch his face, "then you may go."
The man then shot out of the forest like an arrow, eager to be free of Danny and his new found friend Casper. "So do I really get to eat the soldiers?" Casper asked his voice eager.
Danny sighed, "Maybe, and no, the other five we fought are not on the menu." Danny said sternly.
"Fine," Casper growled, "but if those do come back I call dibs."
"Well," Sam said, breaking through the conversation before Danny could argue with Casper further, "let's get back to training shall we, I still need to show you how to get to one side of the forest to another, and in only one short second." Sam said as she started to run. Danny let out a cocky smile and raced after her, anticipating all the things he would soon learn.
"What do you mean you were ambushed; by whom?!" Vlad yelled at the only man that survived the journey into the forest in the 'search' for the 'rogue' soldiers.
"I-I don't know General, all I got out of them was a spirit named 'Phantom!" The solder stuttered, although it was not out of fear for Vlad, but simply because he was having issues remembering the whole thing. During the ambush he thought he saw a kid dressing in Fire Nation Garb with dark raven hair, but the whole event was a blur he could have simple imagined the kid.
Vlad's eyes narrowed and the flames on the candles around the room intensified. "Are your trying so say that you encountered a Spirit, and that it ambushed you alone?!" He snarled.
"I don't know sir, when I woke up I found two spirits and a platypus bear standing over me! If I could guess what happened I would say that they were the three that attacked us, or maybe it was them, or a group of people who want to save the forest, or maybe it was just that one spirit sir."
Vlad let one last frustrated growl out before he yelled, "Well, it does not matter now! Just get out!"
The soldier quickly bowed and walked to the door. Right when he walked out a woman with chestnut colored hair and dazzling purple eyes walked past and the solder's face turned into a sneer as soon as she was out of sight. 'Still as self-centered as always, General Masters.'
"What was that about Vlad?" Maddie asked as she walked into his office, confused by the loud shouts.
"Oh, Maddie, I did not hear you approach!" Vlad said as a stressed smile spread across his face. "It is wonderful to see you here, but unfortunately I bring bad news." Vlad started, his smile deflating. "The soldiers I sent to look for Daniel's killers were attacked, and unfortunately only one has come back."
"Oh, that is terrible! Do you think the rogue soldiers did it?" Maddie asked scared for the other soldiers Vlad sent into the forest.
"I highly doubt it. The soldier that came back said he remembered seeing a platypus bear. As it may seem, an animal attacked my men, although I am shocked that it was able to take them all out."
Despite the false note in Vlad's voice, Maddie's mind immediately went into spirit explorer mode. 'The spirit of the forest; it is finally fighting back along with the animals!' She thought, excitement rose in her chest, however it was quickly extinguished as she remembered something Danny said, "However our familyneeds plenty, like two parents who need to realize that getting to the spirit world it an impossibility... it is a futile dream that I refuse to be a part of anymore!" Maddie's heart started to ache once more at the memories. She looked out of Vlad's window, wishing she could go into the forest it one last time, but then she thought of Jazz, and her needs. 'I'm sure that whatever you decide will be for the best, for both you and Jasmine's future.'
"Vlad…" Maddie started as he eyes prickled at the sight of the forest in front of her, "I would like to take you up on your offer." She finished as she swallowed back here tears, 'I guess this will be my one last glimpse.' Maddie thought as Vlad stepping into her line of sight of the forest with the widest smile in the world. After exclaiming his happiness she soon led her out of his office, ushering her to tell Jazz of the good news.
~About a month later~
Katara looked back at the small town she and the rest of her group had saved from the Fire Nation's terrible influence. However when she looked back, instead of seeing the small pier of a town, she saw a woman floating a few inches above the ground with an elegant dress flowing in the nonexistent breeze. She had red face pain decorating the delicate curves of her face and arms; she also had a large white straw hat with a long white veil coming out of it. However Katara was not shocked by the sight, she had seen a lot stranger things during her times with Aang and this one was not even in the top ten of that list.
The woman in front of her was a familiar sight, one that she remembered seeing in the village in the middle of the lake. Katara smiled at the woman she knew to be the spirit of said lake, the Painted Lady. Katara had impersonated the spirit to help the town and not give away her waterbending abilities to the village, or let her brother, Sokka, know that she was helping, however at the end the plan backfire and everyone found out, even the villagers.
The Painted Lady held a warm smile. "Thank you." She simply said as she took one of Katara's hands. Then, like mist, she disappeared, like she was never there to begin with. The only thing that gave the spirit's existence away was the single note that was left in Katara's hand.
She looked at the small piece of paper in shocked, but quickly opened it curious as to why the spirit left it behind. As soon as she read the last line a pleased look crossed her face. "Guys, you have to see this!" She yelled as she turned around to jog over to her group of friends.
"What is it Katara?" Aang asked, a concerned and questioning look on his face.
"I got a note. It's from the Painted Lady!" Katara exclaimed as she shoved the note into Aang's hand.
"C'mon, not this again." Sokka groaned.
Aang's eyes widened as he read the note, "Are you serious?!" He yelled as he looked up at Katara with a smile on his face.
"What does it say?!" Toph asked, an excited look on her face, clearly getting that the note brought them good news.
"It says 'Go to the forest near the village to the north of here and seek out Schim to receive an ally!'" Aang said reading over the note once again for Toph and Sokka.
"Oh no!" Sokka yelled, "We wasted enough time here, we don't need to go looking for some stranger; that will only waste more time that we cannot afford to lose!"
"Oh, common Sokka, you have to admit, that finding an ally in the Fire Nation could be beneficial. They might know firebending and be able to teach Aang, or know their weaknesses, or maybe know of the Fire Lord's plans!" Katara defended.
Sokka opened his mouth to argue, but Toph quickly cut him off. "I say we go, after all Twinkle Toes here will need all the help he could get in fighting the Fire Lord." She said while jabbing a thumb into Aang's direction who simply blushed and looked down as he messed with his fingers.
"Alright, it's unanimous, we're going!" Katara said as she walked passed Sokka and towards Appa, Aang and Toph quickly followed.
"But… you- ick- AH!" Sokka yelled in aggravation as he followed the group, mumbling and growling the entire way.
There you all have it, this is where I start integrating Danny into the Avatar story, and make a few changes of my own ;)
So what did you all think about what I did to Danny? Only giving him one bending per form?
I actually did it because I didn't want to make him too powerful, although a few of you through out your opinions on me actually making Danny a bending prodigy, but I couldn't do it. I figured the world already had a supper powerful character, it didn't need another added to the mix.
So that is my opinion, you are all free to give me yours as long as it is not flat out cursing me out and telling me you will never read my story again, because I had someone who did that and I was not a happy camper.
So I'll take any opinions that you all give that will help either me, my stories, or my idea flow. Because as a lot of people have experienced when they said negative things about something I did, I do take them seriously and do my best to advance.
So bring on the non-cursing flame!
~Ned