Chapter 3: Arrival

The unnatural silence of the night kept me up. The air was cold, but my face was still too warm and my stomach churned like the waves of a sea. There was something very wrong with this night. I sat up and looked around. There were ten bundles, each rising and falling in their own steady patterns. A few of the kids were shivering under their thin blankets, but I could fix that relatively quickly. All of the night sounds had disappeared, which was worrisome. The night was quiet enough that I thought I could hear the stars snickering. This wasn't good, the last time the stars laughed at me, Azida had been caught by the police.

"Hestia?" a timid voice asked. I didn't turn around, it was getting close to one o'clock and Kane's night terrors always set in at one.

"Is it Kane again?" I whispered.

"Yeah...it's a bad one tonight."

"Have you tried waking him up?" I asked. I pushed the blanket down to my knees and slowly stood up.

"Oh he's awake, but it's still there and I can't snap him out of it."

"You think you can go back to sleep?" Zana shook her head and grabbed my hand. The night was cold, but the small hand was colder. Despite her fear, Zana's eyes were steady and her breath was even. "Alright let's go," I said. I started walking around the sleeping children. Zana was behind me and her footsteps were soft enough that I couldn't hear them over the sounds of the sleepers. Kane and Zana slept near the opposite side of the roof from me, so that if anyone attacked, they would have to go through me before they got to the younger kids. I could see Kane sitting on top of his blanket, knees to his chest and his head bowed low. Zana let go of my hand and sat down next to where Leena was sleeping. I continued to Kane and sat behind him. The boy was shaking, but I let him cry without interruption. After a few minutes, he leaned back onto my chest and I put my arms around his skinny frame. His arms had a little muscle on them, but he still suffered from missing meals while he was alone.

We stayed like that until Kane cried himself back to sleep, his body finally relaxing against mine. Kane's dark hair was soaked with sweat from the nightmare, but his face held no pain. I bent my head and pressed the lightest of kisses onto his forehead before I wrapped the blanket around him and placed him back on the roof. Then I moved to where Zana had fallen asleep next to Leena. I picked her up and tucked her in her blanket next to Kane. All of the children had fallen asleep around the long dead fire. I wasn't going to fall asleep for a while anyway, so I created a smaller flame and set it in the fireplace. A cricket-mouse chirped in the distance; it was the first animal to make a noise all night. The wind blew and goosebumps covered my arms.

The wind picked up as the night continued. The starlight pulsed in time with the wind's howls. One by one, each of the children woke up and huddled around the fire. I kept the flame going despite the wind and the children who were using my legs as pillows. Both Azida and Daazi were in the same position that I was in, with two kids on each of their legs. Leena sat in my lap, and Kane, who was curled against Zana, jumped in their sleep as the wind screeched around us.

"Hestia?" a hesitant voice asked.

"Yeah, Azida?" The younger children had fallen asleep, and Daazi was dozing against his brother's back.

"Something's gonna happen."

"Yeah, I can feel it too. Don't worry too much, whatever happens, happens." The twins had lived on their own for a long enough time that they developed a sort of sixth sense. They always knew when trouble was waiting in the mouth of a dark alley. Azida played with Zin's long, brown hair. He was always fidgeting and something had drawn him to Zin's quiet resolution. She was one of the only kids who fully accepted her situation and decided to make the best of it. Zin was the best thief in this town, not even Raz could beat her record of never being caught.

The wind blew a little stronger, but most of the kids had reached a deep enough level of sleep that they didn't wake up. I looked up at the moon, it was full, but the stars were brighter. As I gazed at the sky, a large, dark shadow crossed over the moon. The shape was huge and had the tail of a platypus- bear, but much larger. I followed the huge, flying creature as it arched through the sky and landed in the direction of Mr. Zano's farm.

"Daazi!" I whispered, the boy opened his eyes and looked at me, "I heard a noise, I'll be back by morning. If I'm not...well, make something up for the kids." Daazi nodded. He watched as I placed Leena, Lizz, and Raz's heads gently on the roof and stood up. The kids moved until they were cuddling around each other. I couldn't stop the smile from creeping across my face when Raz put a protective arm around Leena and drew her closer to him. I stepped around Azida and made my way to the ladder. Daazi watched until I reached the only way off of this building. He nodded at me and turned away right before I climbed out of view.

"Oh, man, am I tired," a boy's voice rang out. The speaker's voice was high, and it sounded like he was trying to keep his voice from cracking.

"Well, if you were so tired, why did you insist on giving directions!" This time is was a girl who spoke.

"Katara, calm down. I know that we're all tired and upset, but we're here now and we should try to rest for as long as we can." This voice sounded younger.

"Toph and I are going to make camp for the night," the first voice said. I held back a giggle when it cracked. I peeked around the tree that I had been hiding behind. There were four people walking around the clearing and one huge animal I had never seen before lying in the middle of the clearing. I looked to the left, where the cornfields of the farm were. Mr. Zano's house was up on a hill that overlooked the field; thankfully, the lights in his house were off. I turned back to the clearing, only too see a white creature with long ears hanging upside down in front of me. The creature cocked its head to the side and stared.

"Momo?" the third voice called. I watched as the creature turned to the clearing and launched itself into the air. It glided back to one of the smaller figures in the clearing, chattering incessantly as it crossed the distance.

I watched as the smallest figure stomped one foot on the ground and extended its arms in the air. A small tent of earth rose out of the ground. "Nice one, Toph!" the voice cracked again, "now you just have to bend the rest of us some tents and we'll be set for the night."

"Wait, there's some on there," the smallest figure, Toph, said. There was a determination in the smallest figure's voice that reminded me of Lizz and her own silent but deadly nature.

"Show yourself!" The girl, Katara, said.

I stepped around the tree and stood at the edge of the clearing. "You do know that mosquito-flys are attracted to freshly overturned dirt, don't you?" I had camped out in this clearing before; the insects swarmed at daybreak and it was a deadly mistake to stay in this spot when that happened. A few mosquito-flys weren't a problem, but a swarm of thousands of hungry insects could be deadly. I couldn't let these people's deaths be on me. The figures wiped the surprise from their faces and sank into fighting stances.

A/N: Heck yeah I'm leaving you all with a cliffhanger! I know that these can be super annoying, but they are way too much fun! Seriously, try them in your own stories, it's great. Anyway, thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. A special thanks to NatNicole for reviewing, I completely agree with you that the show's don't spend enough time on this side of society, but that's what fanfiction is for! Have a great week everybody

-Ananimous