Binas: I have to say, I have been itching to write this chapter... I mean, who wouldn't want to see a Naruto character react to Bloodbending? But sorry if it seems choppy, I am trying to now change the narrative a bit.
Also, I decided to change up Bloodbending a tad to fit the darkness I had planned for this one. I mainly did it based off of the days where the moon looks full but it's not in the real world.
Review time!
ultima-owner: He's cool in his own way. Not one of my favorite villains but he is one of the very interesting ones. As for being hit in the head, I didn't come up with that.
Cyber Orteck: They are indeed. They actually look more flashy, in a good way, than most. Though he is on par with the amusing explosions that the Mythbusters do in my mind, which is a BIG compliment.
Guest 1, August 21: I might. It all depends. I am not so good at romance sometimes. I am kinda nervous that I would get him wrong in a romantic situation.
JaDe In NighT: Indeed it is.
Guest L, Chapter 11, August 28: Thanks for your support. Nice to see you here. I might check it out, but no promises. I already got a few Animes to finish at the moment.
Trivia/Did you know:
* That Ebola is both Airborne and travels by bodily fluid? Yeah, the major health organizations just finally admitted it.
* That Takikomi Gohan is the Japanese version of Mixed rice/Pilaf?
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Ghost stories. The horror stories told while camping to see who could go the longest without their brown pants. That, or to taunt the chickens of the camp into doing something reckless. Deidara would have never thought such folklore and myths could get THIS boring. He had to give Sokka credit for trying though, but remove points for the fact no one was wetting their pants.
"-And they knew that the sword of Wing Fung was haunted!", Sokka finished, causing Momo to fall to the ground in slumber.
Everyone gave bored looks to the warrior. A few yawns here and there. No one seemed frightened by the poorly made suspense.
"I think I liked the guy who 'had the sword for an arm' better.", Aang said.
"The old fart can tell better horror stories than that.", Deidara said as he propped his head up with his arms on a log.
Little did the others know, Onoki, the old fart, never told horror stories.
"Water Tribe sleepovers must suck!", Toph said.
"I bet I can do better than you, hm.", Deidara said, wanting to see how many people he can scare the pee out of.
"Knock yourself out.", Sokka said as he sat down, intrigued at what Deidara would bring.
Let's just say, Deidara should stick with clay and bombs and leave the stories to the next guy. He wound up telling a horror story that was so bad, it was hilarious. Deidara was blinking at at the sight of everyone on the ground laughing their guts out. Maybe he should have left out the shark infested tornado.
"I never thought a gory story like that could be so hilarious!", Toph said.
"I win!", Sokka said.
Deidara frowned as he pouted on the log that once had his resting head on. It was a creative story at least in his mind. Katara stopped laughing as an idea sparked in her.
"Oh wait! I got one! It's a true Southern Water Tribe story.", Katara said, grabbing everyone's attention.
"This isn't another one of those 'I know some guy who knew this one guy' kind of stories or is it on the freakishly hilarious level of the one that Deidara just told?", Sokka asked.
Deidara shoot a stormy glare at Sokka, causing the latter to yelp and jumped back.
"One more word, and I will be the one to decided how you die.", Deidara warned.
"Okay! Okay! My mouth is shut.", Sokka said as he held his hands up in defeat.
"Guys, I think Sugar Queen here wants to start her story now.", Toph said.
"No. This is something that happened to mom.", Katara said.
That's when every gathered around. The mood around Katara changed drastically. It was a sure sign, she was going to deliver the one story that would wet everyone else's pants.
"It began one winter when mom was a little girl. There had been a terrible blizzard that buried the entire village for weeks. One month later, mom noticed that her friend Nini had disappeared since the storm. So mom and the other tribesmen went to go check on Nini's family.", Katara said as a chilled wind began to nip at everyone, "Once they got there, they saw that no one was home. Just a lit fireplace. While the others went to go search, mom stayed behind. Once she was alone in the house, she heard someone. 'It's so cold, and I can't get warm!' Mom turned around to find Nini. She was blue, as if she were frozen. Mom ran to go get help, but when they returned, Nini was gone."
Everyone around Katara, Toph, and Deidara had spooked looks on their faces. Aang was seeking shelter behind Momo's ears while Sokka dove behind the log he was sitting on. Deidara was slightly shaken, but not enough to show it like the others did. They could only tell since his teeth were slightly clenched as he slightly strained to keep himself composed. Toph held a neutral look on her face, so it was hard to tell if she was spooked in any way.
"Where did Nini go?", Sokka trembled, wishing he could hide behind Momo with Aang.
"No one knows. To this day the house remains empty, however, sometimes people see smoke coming out of the chimney, as if little Nini is still trying to get warm.", Katara said.
Toph quickly shifted on her log. She obviously started by something and it was a little late for her to be spooked by the story.
"Did you hear that? I think I heard some people screaming under the mountain!", Toph said.
Everyone but Deidara screamed in fright. Aang, Katara, and Sokka latched onto each other as they shook in fright. After a few seconds of recovering, Sokka seems to be the first to recover. Deidara was a bit to busy try to get out of the constricting group huddle that formed around him. He managed to and went to a new log to sit on.
"Nice try Toph!", Sokka said, assuming what Toph said was a trick.
"I am serious, Sokka! I heard something!", Toph argued.
"You are probably a little shaken by the ghost stories.", Katara suggested with slight fear evident in her voice.
"It just stopped...", Toph said, bewildered by the strangeness going on.
Deidara then smirked. Maybe he could do something...
"Something is scratching my back, hm.", Deidara said.
That got everyone's attention. They all looked eager yet nervous about finding out what was scratching the blonde bomber.
"What is it?", Aang asked nervously.
"It feels like a hand. I think-", Deidara began then fell over, letting out a scream as he hid behind the log with a crap eating grin on his face.
Aang, Katara, and Sokka screamed, thinking Deidara was just snatched away. Toph rolled her eyes, knowing Deidara was just faking it.
"Deidara, that's the oldest trick in the book. Get your butt-", Toph said just to get cut off by more screams.
"HE IS MELTING!", Sokka screamed in horror.
Sitting on the log was a very disfigured and mutilated Deidara. By no means was this cliche. This was Deidara's own special way of scaring people, using a clay clone that was horribly disfigured to the point it looked like he himself got mutilated by something. Behind the log, Deidara was trying not to laugh his head off. He might not be able to make a super scary ghost story, but he could still scare the crap out of anyone who doubted his potential.
"Okay, now that's original.", Toph said, blinking as she felt the clay dummy's presence appear on the log.
Deidara came out from behind the log, laughing to the point he needed to breath. He hadn't had such a good laugh in a long time.
"You fell for that, hm!", Deidara said with a smug smirk, "You should see the look on your faces!"
Toph had to admit, Deidara maybe a bit unorthodox, but that made him better than most people. She let out a few small chuckles at the thought.
Aang and Katara recovered from their fright. Sokka on the other hand looked a bit ticked off at the cruel prank.
"That was pretty messed up...", Aang said, still a bit shaken by the cruel prank.
"What's wrong with you!? That was the sickest joke I have ever seen!", Sokka yelled.
"Not my fault you nearly wet your pants. That's your problem, not mine, hm.", Deidara said with his cat smirk still plastered in place, "Next time, bring some spares."
Sokka fumed at Deidara's insolent behavior. As he was about the butt heads with Deidara, Katara got between them via Waterbending snowballs in their faces.
"Let's just drop it, Sokka. We all had enough scare for one night.", Katara said.
Aang nodded rapidly, showing that he has also had enough.
However, those wishes didn't seem to go to the universe's ears. Another scare lurked in the shadows. It came without any preparations or warning.
"Hello, children..."
"AAAAHHHHHHH!", Team Avatar screamed, shooting up from their places.
Deidara jumped and crashed into Toph, and they began uncharacteristically hugging each other for dear life. If the situation wasn't as frightening as it was now, everyone else would be laughing and commenting how out of character they looked. The male version of Toph with a few personality traits bumped up to eleven, had just shown tonight, even he gets scared.
Out of the shadows, emerged an elderly woman. She wore Fire Nation robes with hues of red that complimented her grayish-white hair. Her face was littered with several wrinkles, and had a few liver spots. For some reason, this all made her more creepy than younger.
"Sorry to frighten you. My name is Hama.", The woman said, "You children shouldn't be camping out in the forest by yourselves in the forest. I own an inn that is nearby. Why don't you all come back with me for some spiced tea and warm beds?"
Due to the shaken up atmosphere and being scared out of their wits, everyone nodded eagerly. Even for once, Deidara was not complaining or griping about something like this. He was actually taking the offer. How peculiar.
Once Team Avatar and Hama were in the inn, everyone was back to themselves. Deidara recovered from the fright the fastest out of them all, knowing that his slight fear was a set back and he needed to work keeping his more negative qualities, in his opinion, in check. He was not going to let some old lady scare him again. Never ever.
"Thanks for letting us stay here. You have a nice inn.", Katara said.
"Aren't you sweet?", Hama said as she began serving tea to everyone via Waterbending.
Pretty much everyone gasped with a exception of a certain few. Katara was most impressed.
"Whoa!", Aang shouted.
"You're a Waterbender!", Katara said.
"I am, child. Not just any though. I am also from the Southern Water Tribe, just like you.", Hama said.
"How did you know?", Aang asked.
"I over heard your stories and recognized them.", Hama said.
"I never meet another Waterbender from our tribe!", Katara said.
"That's because the Fire Nation either killed or kidnapped them all. I was one of those captured.", Hama said and began her long story of what happened during the raids.
It got to a point where Hama broke down to tears. Katara got up and hugged Hama. Hama accepted it.
"Sokka and I lost our mother to a Fire Nation raid.", Katara said.
"That must have been really hard on you. If you want Katara, after tomorrow's shopping, I can show you all the techniques I know.", Hama said.
"That would be wonderful!", Katara said, "I have always wanted to know more about my own culture!"
"Can we cut the soap opera short, hm?", Deidara asked with a nonchalant look.
Everyone gave Deidara questioning looks. He seemed unfazed by them for the most part.
"What? It's true.", Deidara said.
Now that Deidara got his two cents in, Sokka decided to steer the conversion as well.
"So why did you offer us to come back here?", Sokka asked.
"It's because many people have been spirited away in that forest you were camping in. I didn't want you children to suffer the same fate.", Hama said.
"Spirited away?", Sokka asked.
Deidara's eyes narrowed, intrigued by the question brought up.
"Tell us more.", That phrase was pretty much said by everyone who was interested.
"People go into the forest, but never come out...", Hama said darkly before piping up with the tea kettle in her hands, "Who want's more tea?"
Everyone looked at Hama like she grew a second head. Deidara sweat dropped at the vague answer.
"What kind of information was THAT, hm?", Deidara asked.
"I don't want to frighten you more than I have already. But don't worry, you all will be safe here.", Hama said, "I will show you to your rooms."
'That was just a lucky shot. I won't be THAT easy to scare again.', Deidara thought, 'Never ever.'
Deidara laid in his bed, pondering. This all seemed too good to be true. Was this like some of those fairytales that his mom used to tell him when he was very small?
'No that's silly. How could a bunch of children's stuff relate to what's going on now?', Deidara thought as he shifted in the bed.
His mind then wandered to several things. Was he considered dead at home now? How many Bingo Books has he been scratched out of? And this all lead back to his previously asked questions. These thoughts made sleeping a drag. More so than ever. They kept his brain going when he wanted it to slow down so he could go to sleep. It took until midnight until he finally was able to welcome the sleepiness that began washing over him.
However, that didn't mean his dreams were peaceful. Sure, they always involved him discovering new ways to beat his hate club to oblivion and blowing up a bunch of his bombs to protect his only friends. Well, it was more likely the former that he was dreaming about. Tonight however, he was plagued by dreams of having no control over his own body. It was disturbing. The way his insides sloshed as he was forced into weird positions and to do movements that were filled with nausea fuel. Deidara felt like he was going to barf himself awake.
At that moment, that's what happened. He awoke to himself barfing as he laid on the floor. And where did that barf end up? In front of Katara's feet, who was hovering over him. She was clearly grossed out. Her eyebrow twitched in disgust. She moaned with repulsion at the green mess in front of her.
"Deidara, are you okay? Do feel sick?", Katara asked.
"Do I look sick, hm?", Deidara asked with an insolent tone.
Katara frowned at Deidara's attitude. He was definitely not a morning person.
"Hurry up and get dressed, we are going shopping. You are coming since you obviously seem well enough to be a smart aleck.", Katara said.
Deidara groaned in annoyance. He was not up for this at all.
Deidara was lucky he managed to break away from the shopping trip. Nobody would notice that he replaced himself with a clone. He smirked to himself as he walked the streets, disguised as a random teenager with details like hair style still the same for the sole purpose of mocking everyone. He chuckled inwardly at the fact no one has caught him yet with the disguise. It was so simple!
'Obviously the Fire Nation is filled with idiots. I could walk around with a bruise and no one would recognize me!', Deidara thought, feeling his sense of pride rise.
As he chuckled to himself, he couldn't help but over hear some of the conversations. Most were about the mysterious disappearances and the fact the full moon was closing in. It didn't help that some were saying more people disappear on the full moon more than any other night. Several people were stocking up on wood and nails as if a nasty storm was coming. It was weird. Deidara took a small breath and walked up to one of the men who just bought a carriage full of wood.
"Hey! Sir! You know anything about the disappearances?", Deidara said to the man.
The man gave Deidara a strange look before clearing his throat.
"I only know people go missing on the full moon. There's only one person who ever came close to being spirited away and lived.", The man said.
"Who is this person, hm?", Deidara asked.
"The man is Old Man Ding.", The man said and proceeded to give Deidara the directions.
After getting the information he needed, Deidara rushed off, NOT hoping to find Old Man Ding quickly. How helpful could a guy with that name be?
While Deidara was busy getting information, little did Team Avatar realize, Deidara left a clone behind. The clone was not amused that he had to be left 'babysitting'.
The clone helped put the groceries away. During this, Sokka showed suspicion that could rival Deidara's curiosity. It was like Sokka knew something wasn't right at all.
"Hama may seem nice, but she is too weird. It's like she is hiding something.", Sokka said.
"Don't be ridiculous. She's a nice woman who took us in and gave us a place to stay. She reminds me off Gran-Gran.", Katara said as she finished putting away her portion of the groceries, "Well, I got to go meet up with Hama. Try to behave Sokka."
Sokka huffed a bit. He was really determined. Katara walked up to Deidara's clone.
"Please don't make me regret this, but you are in charge. Make sure Sokka stays out of trouble.", Katara said.
"What do I look like? A babysitter, hm?", The clone asked as Aang snickered in the background.
"Just do it.", Katara said placing a hand on his shoulder, "Please, for us."
The clone blinked in confusion. What the heck had Deidara gotten himself into? Looks like a few bits of information were left out. The clone blushed in embarrassment and flinched away from the awkwardly placed hand. Was Deidara in a relationship with Katara? Aang began to look slightly jealous. He obviously wanted some of Katara's attention too.
'No that can't be it. She seems more friendly than romantic.', The clone thought.
Katara sighed in slight annoyance that 'Deidara' was being hard to deal with. She hoped that the inn would be in once piece by day's end. She walked out the door, bidding a 'see you later' to everyone.
Sokka then crept towards the stairs. He would have made it if it weren't for the fact that the clone got in Sokka's way. The clone glared, making Sokka glare in return. This was going to be a long afternoon...
With the real Deidara...
Dusk was nearing its end as Deidara staked out in the forest. Sokka maybe on to something, however they needed to be as subtle as possible. With the new information his clone sent via a small clay bird, he began to formulate what he would need. There was only one problem, there were distracting things in the letter like the clone asking if he was in a relationship with Katara. Deidara sweat dropped.
'What the HECK is going through that clone's mind?!', Deidara thought as his eye twitched in annoyance, 'Why would the clone ask that?! He should know what I know!'
Deidara tore off the relationship part of the letter and chucked it at a Badger Cat. The Badger Cat hissed with fury as the letter hit it in the skull. Deidara rolled his eyes at the Badger Cat's rage.
"I don't care if you are in a bad mood. Just scram and deal with it, hm.", Deidara said.
The Badger Cat launched at Deidara's face. Deidara dodged casually, causing the Badger Cat to face plant into the tree that was behind Deidara. The Badger Cat fell to the ground, disoriented. Deidara walked up to the Badger Cat and kicked it off a ledge. He smirked when he heard the Badger Cat yowl. He knew it got a few scrapes, but he didn't care. Pain is pain just like art is cool and fleeting.
By that time, dusk had ended and night had begun. The fullish looking moon loomed over head. Owls began to hoot as crickets chirped. Fog began to flow and spread as the temperatures dropped enough for it to form. A wolf howled in the distance.
Deidara began to keep himself on high alert. He quickly transformed into an older version of himself to keep his identity secret from anyone who may interfere. The fun part had just begun. He drew a kunai for safety measures. He listened carefully to his environment. Nothing but the nature's eerie nighttime music in the background.
When he thought the area was clear, he felt his heart sink. Something was not right. A few still minutes passed before it happened. He felt his arm being twisted by an unknown force. It wasn't strong as it was in his nightmare, but it kept him bound. He couldn't break away nor get away from this. It was just like in his nightmare. He was being controlled in the sickest way possible. It nauseated him how he now had to live through the sick nightmare. He yelped as he was forced into another weird position. The position was so uncomfortable. He saw his clay bird hiding. He gave a signal to it before his head was also controlled. The clay bird spread its wings and flew off rapidly.
Deidara then felt lightheaded as he felt his blood flow abnormally in his head. This caused his vision to blur and darken a bit. That's when he began walking under the unknown's will. He hated this. It was sick and against everything he believed in. He managed to break free for small seconds every time he felt the control weakening. However, just as he became free, he became rebound by the sick forces that forced themselves onto him.
"LET ME GO, HM!", Deidara screamed and managed to break control for one second.
That once second was all he needed to see his attacker. It was a woman. She smirked from the distance. Deidara felt the mouth on his face being shut forcefully. This was a living nightmare as the woman forced Deidara to walk into a cave. The woman laughed darkly as she walked the poor bomber deeper and deeper. Deidara fought and fought, but every freedom was taken from him every time he grasped it. It was like fate laughed at his misery, taunting him by waving freedom right in front of his face and snatching it away from him.
The woman opened a metal door at the end of the tunnel as she kept Deidara under her control. She opened the door to reveal several civilians bound up by iron shackles. Hama locked Deidara in shackles, not once giving him the opportunity to escape. Once the woman left the poorly lit room, he felt control over himself come back into his hands. It was relieving but it didn't solve the problem he was in.
"Mark my words, witch. I. Will. KILL. YOU!", Deidara said darkly as his bangs shadowed his face.
Back at the inn, next morning... With the clone...
The clone woke up, drenched in sweat. What the real Deidara experienced was his nightmare. As complicated it may seem, it was handy. Some parts were inconveniently cut out like the attacker. He couldn't blame his boss because that would be stupid. That would be like blaming himself.
The clone got out of bed and slipped on his sandals. He had a smirk plastered on his face like normally. He was going to find the attacker his way.
Once down stairs for breakfast, he saw the rest of Team Avatar eating breakfast. Hama came back tot he table with tea. She looked up and looked briefly surprised.
"You're... Up early.", Hama said.
"And their not, hm?", The clone asked gesturing to Aang, Toph, Katara, and Sokka.
"What's wrong with being up early?", Aang asked.
"Don't look at me, Sugar Queen dragged me out of bed.", Toph said.
"Oh never mind, it must be my age.", Hama said with a smile and began serving tea to everyone, "Anyways, I am making a Southern Water Tribe meal for lunch, I hope you don't mind Ocean Kumquats. They are just like Sea Prunes if cooked just right."
Aang gagged at the words 'Sea Prunes' with pure disgust.
"Great...", Aang muttered.
"I never had them.", The clone said.
"Oh, then it will be a wonderful experience for you.", Hama said with a delightful grin.
Aang's face clearly said 'not'. He must really hate Sea Prunes.
Lunch time rolled around. There right in front of Aang, the Deidara clone, and Toph laid the green seaweed with bulbs known as Ocean Kumquats. It was a rather unusual dish to look at. The clone reached out a hand to sample an Ocean Kumquat. Aang frantically gestured 'no' as his eyes widened at the sight of 'Deidara' trying one of the Ocean Kumquats.
The clone moved the Ocean Kumquat around in his mouth. It had an odd acquired taste to it. The clone's eyes then twitched as the weird taste intensified. It was absolutely disgusting. He ducked under the table and spat it out when Hama wasn't looking.
'That tasted worse than Takikomi Gohan!', The clone thought.
"I told you so.", Aang whispered.
The clone narrowed his eyes in annoyance. Curiosity had just killed his taste buds with the foul Ocean Kumquats.
"No need to rub it in, hm.", The clone whispered.
"Who want's five flavored soup?", Hama asked.
Everyone raised their hands. The clones hoped that the soup didn't taste as bad as the Ocean Kumquats.
Hama served the soup with Waterbending with a smile. Everyone tried the soup. Once more it had a weird taste, but it was way better than the Ocean Kumquats/Sea Prunes in both Aang and the clone's opinions.
Out of the blue, something began to peck at the clone's feet. The clone pretended to drop his utensils and dove under the table. Under the table, the clone found the clay bird that he and his boss had been using to relay messages. It was behaving frantically, signifying something bad happened to his boss. He saw no note with the bird, so that could only mean one thing, something serious happened.
The clone placed the clay bird in his shirt to hide it. He then picked up his dropped utensils and crawled back into his seat. Sokka raised an eyebrow at the clone's sudden behavior. The clone just rolled his eyes and flicked an Ocean Kumquat into Sokka's mouth. Sokka glared at the clone, who was now snickering at the look on Sokka's face.
"Nice aim. Now if only you could do it from a further distance.", Toph said.
The clone elbowed Toph, leading to the two to laugh.
After lunch...
The clone dashed through the forest, following the clay bird's lead. Finding his boss was priority right now. The bird's lead ended in the middle of a forest area. No scorch marks, so Deidara couldn't have had time to fight. There was no sign of a battle at all. It was like his boss just vanished. After a bit more investigating, the clone found footprints. His boss's footprints. They seemed at ease at first, but then got ragged and became less and less like footprints. So some form of struggle did happen. The weird part, no other trails of footprints to help out.
"Let's follow these tracks. Maybe it will help us find our boss.", The clone suggested.
At that moment, the clay bird fell over lifeless. The clones blinked at the figurine.
"Just lovely...", The clone said sarcastically, "It ran out of Chakra... I better hurry, before I run out too, un."
The clone had two options, risk running out of Chakra before finding his boss, or warning the others that his boss went missing. He knew it was a long shot if he tried to find his boss on his own, mainly because he could run out anytime searching. But if he got Aang, Sokka, Katara, and Toph to help, then he wouldn't have to worry.
The clone pulled out a piece of cloth and bit his thumb. He wrote a message on it before tying the cloth to a large branch. With all his strength, the clone jammed the makeshift flag into the soil. After that was all done, he went rushing into town, ready to go find his boss's friends.
In town at dusk of the new moon...
Aang, Sokka, and Toph continued to explore the town, looking for clues on the strange disappearances. So far their search was fruitless. No real concrete facts and information was found.
"This has to be the closest to nature place in the Fire Nation. I don't see anything here that would make a spirit angry.", Aang said.
"Maybe the Moon Spirit turned evil.", Toph said nonchalantly.
That struck one of Sokka's nerves. His face turned sour as those words went through his ears.
"THE MOON SPIRIT IS A LOVING, KIND, GENEROUS LADY! SHE RULES THE NIGHT SKY WITH HER COMPASSION AND LUNAR LOVE!", Sokka screamed.
"Oh sorry.", Toph said sarcastically, "Didn't mean to make fun of your ex-girlfriend."
Sokka groaned in irritation.
"You have been listening to Deidara way too much!", Sokka snapped.
"Can't help that he actually is easier to tolerate.", Toph said.
"I swear, you two will run off and get married one day!", Sokka said, "When you do, keep your oogies away from me!"
Toph at the moment shoved a hand full of dirt into Sokka's mouth. He spat it out in disgust and gagged on the few remaining particles. He licked his own shirt to get rid of the nasty substance. Toph smirked in amusement at Sokka's antics.
"Is that? Deidara?", Aang asked, seeing 'Deidara' rushing towards them.
"I thought he went looking around for somewhere to play with his clay.", Sokka said.
"From his heart rate, something must have happened.", Toph said.
Sokka snorted.
"Deidara running? Are you crazy or something? We practically have to drag him away from battles we can't win!", Sokka said.
"If he's running, then it has to be something very serious.", Aang said.
'Deidara' finally came to a stop in front of them. Toph was the first to approach him.
"What's wrong? Running away because you almost got your butt handed to you?", Toph asked.
"You wish, un...", 'Deidara' said between breaths.
"If it's not that, then spit it out.", Toph said.
"My boss was captured.", 'Deidara' said.
That confused Aang, Toph, and Sokka a bit. Sokka frowned at 'Deidara'.
"Care to elaborate what you mean by 'boss'?", Sokka asked.
"I'm a clone of his. I was pretty much used to make sure no one would suspect the real me would be somewhere else.", 'Deidara' said.
Sokka and Aang's jaw dropped in utter shock. Toph snickered at their expressions, but was just as equally surprised.
"First he can walk on walls, he can make explosives with his hand mouths, and now he create copies of himself. I am not saying it's not cool or something, but he should have told us-", Sokka ranted.
The clone slapped a piece of clay onto Sokka's mouth to shut it. Sokka frowned as the others laughed.
"No time for explaining. Boss got captured like I said. I would go try finding him myself, but I am going to run out of Chakra soon.", The clone said, "I left a flag in the center of the forest. It is where my boss disappeared and should be easy to spot."
At that moment, the clone dissipated, leaving Aang, Sokka, and Toph speechless.
In the clearing...
Aang, Sokka, and Toph finally arrived in the clearing. In the center, there they found the clone's flag standing in the breeze. It read 'The boss was here'. Sokka did a double take at the sign.
"Is- Is that MY UNDERWEAR?!", Sokka shouted in shock, "He stole my UNDERWEAR!?"
"One of our friend's life is at stake, and you choose now to worry about your underwear? You are so stupid...", Toph said in an unimpressed tone.
"At least we know where to start.", Aang said, "Now what should we look for?"
"Let's look for footprints, some form of trail.", Sokka said, "Maybe he was kind enough to leave us some."
"The day he turns kind is the day I become a perfect little good girl.", Toph laughed.
"I think I found some tracks!", Aang said from behind a bush.
Sokka took a look at the tracks. It took a few moments for him to process it.
"These are his alright. And it looks like he started out calm, then tensed up all of the sudden. After that, there seemed to be some form of struggle. I can't tell what kind because no other foot prints are around. What else I can gather, he didn't have time to locate and fight his attacker.", Sokka said and then looked to the north, "He went that way."
"That leads to the mountain.", Aang said, "Why would he go to the mountain?"
Toph's eyes widened in shock.
"I heard screams under that mountain a few nights ago. That could have been the captured villagers. And Deidara's captor could have been the one who captured those villagers.", Toph said.
"Let's hurry.", Sokka said.
As the trio ran, dusk became night once more. The full moon was now here.
In the cave...
Deidara struggled against his chains. He hated being tied up to one spot like this. It was even worse since he got his backside captured for not being cautious enough.
'Dang it! There has to be away out of these.', Deidara thought.
With some careful precision, Deidara did a back flip and stuck his feet to the pillar he was chained to with Chakra. After a bit of awkward moving and squatting, he managed to get one of his hands into one of his pouches. He smirked when he got to his first prize, his clay. He carefully let a small chunk of clay go into one of his palm mouths, and let it work. He knew this would be rather reckless of him, but these chains were a bit rusty. Surely they wouldn't hold against his explosive clay. He twisted his hand a bit until it was over the lock. The palm mouth spat the clay into the keyhole.
"KATSU!"
With now burnt hands, he managed to finally get out of the chains that held him back. At least it was something Katara could fix. He smirked at his victory, and that smirk became a chuckle.
"And that witch thought that would hold me, un.", Deidara said.
"Can you get us out too?"
Deidara looked at his fellow inmates. After a few seconds, he turned around.
"Nah, it doesn't suit me to so it. Besides, wouldn't want you guys to get hurt in the process. Or worse, killed.", Deidara said coyly.
Many of the inmates groaned in annoyance at this remark. They glared daggers at him. Burnt hands were obviously the least of their worries.
At that moment, the metal door broke down right in front of Deidara and his surrounding inmates. Aang, Toph, and Sokka had arrived.
"We're saved.", One of the inmates said.
"That cocky kid with the weird hair was going to bust himself out.", Another said.
Sokka face palmed and pinched the bridge of his nose at what he heard. He muttered incoherently under his breath.
Toph began to lock pick the cuffs that bound the other inmates. Deidara scoffed at Sokka's muttering.
"I didn't know that spirits made dungeons like this.", Aang said, taking in the sight.
That was when the inmates began talking.
"It was not a spirit."
"It was a blood using witch!"
"She may seem old and nice, but she controls you like a dark puppetmaster."
"She disguises herself as an innkeeper to lure her victims!"
That was all Sokka needed. His face turned into a snarl.
"Hama...!", Sokka spat venomously.
"That's the one!"
"I knew something fishy was about her!", Sokka said.
"Wait... I got captured BY AN OLD LADY!?", Deidara asked in shock, felling his ego bruised a bit.
"We need to stop Hama!", Aang said.
"You guys go, I will continue freeing the others.", Toph said.
With that, Deidara, Aang, and Sokka dashed out of the cave. Toph continued to pick the locks that held the other imprisoned villagers.
The trio dashed through the woods. They took no stops in their running. Aang and Sokka's biggest concern was Katara. She had left with Hama to learn from her earlier. This made Katara a more likely target for Hama to strike after next. In Deidara's case, he wanted to give Hama a piece of his mind for making him look bad and hurting his pride as a ninja.
Soon they heard Katara's cries and a cruel and evil laugh. This encouraged the trio to move faster. Once they got there, Hama was drenched and getting up. Katara was furious with Hama. Deidara slowed his pace a little. He knew as long as he had the surprise advantage, he could strike Hama. Sokka and Aang continued heading for Hama, ready to strike.
"We know what you're hiding Hama!", Sokka shouted, drawing his sword.
"Give up, we have you outnumbered!", Aang shouted as he got into an Earthbending stance.
Hama was completely up now. She raised her hands a bit.
"You've just outnumbered yourselves!", Hama spat, and began to Bloodbend Aang and Sokka.
Aang and Sokka were frightened by the sudden turn of events. They now understood why Deidara decided to hang back a bit. The two boys were launched at Katara. Sokka was forced to draw his sword at Katara.
"WATCH OUT KATARA!", Sokka screamed, "MY MIND HAS A MIND OF IT'S OWN I CAN'T STOP!"
Katara pinned Sokka's sword and arm to a tree by Waterbending some ice to act as the pin. Aang was being forced at her quickly. He was just as scared as Sokka.
"This feels really weird!", Aang shouted.
Katara made a large wave of water from the water in the plants and froze Aang to another tree. This gave the opening Deidara was looking for. He ripped his gloves off and jumped out of the tree he was hiding in. He filled both hand mouths with clay. He glared an icy storm at Hama. His left hand had a grasshopper ready for use. He threw it at Hama. Hama was completely caught off guard by Deidara's presence.
The grasshopper landed near Hama, exploding on impact. Hama was knocked back by the blast. She got up and began to Bloodbend Deidara. The sickening forces of Bloodbending once more claimed Deidara. He struggled against the hold, but found no weakness within the grasp this time. Nothing he could exploit.
"Don't hurt your friends Katara, and don't let them hurt themselves!", Hama said cruelly and with her Bloodbending, caused Sokka and Aang to be released from their icy bonds, and launched at Deidara.
Deidara quickly let clay seep out of his right palm mouth and form two large blobs to act as protection from the incoming danger. At that moment, Katara screamed. The scream was followed by the feeling of being Bloodbended subsiding. Deidara sighed in relief as he let his unused clay got back into his pouches. Aang, Sokka, and Deidara looked at Hama. She was stiff as a board with her eyes bulging out of their sockets. Katara was Bloodbending Hama. Katara forced Hama to the ground slowly, with a sad look in her eyes.
At that moment, Toph arrived with the villagers. The villagers began to chain up Hama. Deidara managed to slip a few clay spiders and clay grasshoppers into Hama's possession as he kept Hama still. The best part in Deidara's mind, by the time Hama noticed the clay bugs, it would be too late.
"You are going to be in jail for a long time, Hama.", One villager said.
"Don't worry. My job is already done.", Hama said as she was being lead away.
Hama looked back at Katara. Katara was visibly slightly shaken and distressed. No one needed to be a detective to see that she was disturbed by the fact she was forced to use such a dark form of bending.
"Congratulations, Katara. You're a Bloodbender.", Hama said darkly as she chuckled into the night.
Katara broke down to the ground and sobbed. This was their darkest week yet, with more darker ones to come. Sokka and Aang comfort Katara as Toph and Deidara looked at them for the side lines, not wanting to be part of the guilty train.