Burn My Dread FES
By Iain R. Lewis
Disclaimer: Characters and concepts belong to Nickelodeon, some of the concepts are similarly inspired by Persona 3 and Persona 4, property of ATLUS games.
"As I get older, see things slower, my enemies looking like kids and I'm the grown up"
- Mass Destruction FES
Lotus Juice
Chapter 16: The Wolves
The labyrinth, still and quiet as a tomb, spiraled on into the blackest reaches on the horizon. The darkness was alive, it breathed in deep the musty, stale air, devouring the dust as it fell through the beams of light coming from the azure flamed braziers held aloft by monstrous sculptures.
"I swear, I heard something."
The Bending Club walked through this endless maze, bickering amongst themselves.
"You're delusional, Sokka."
And though the darkness was alive, it slept, stirring only slightly as their footsteps caught on the passing shadows under the firelight. They were not alone with the darkness. Something moved, keeping low, disturbing nothing but the darkness that lurked underfoot.
"Do I tell you you're delusional, Toph?"
"I'll tell you when I see pink platypus-bears."
"You do that."
No one wanted to say anything. It was funny how things fell back into routine even in these alien settings. The only noises they heard were the slamming sound of stone on stone as the living labyrinth moved.
"I wish that noise would just stop," Yue complained, holding her hand to her breast as the echo of the slamming stones dies to a quiet din. "That one was quite close."
"I hate to point out the obvious," Azula added. She pointed at the statue to their left, "We've been going around in circles." They just stared at the statue for a minute before realizing Azula'd already continued down the corridor.
"But that's impossible!"
"Deal with it, Sokka," Azula sniped, not even turning her head, "This maze has led us in circles."
"It doesn't make any sense!"
"Shall I recap for you the events that have transpired today? The one where I apparently came back from the dead, entered a maze that apparently got built in your basement while you weren't looking, found a garden, a desert, and an old water reservoir, and fought out of control evil versions of some of our companions all while finding the time for some time travel? I think we left sense a long way behind."
"Game set and match," Sokka moaned. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked down the corridor, "Haven't we been down this way before?"
"Perhaps, it's hard to tell. All these corridors look alike."
"What's wrong, Sokka?" It's Katara, attempting to be the voice of reason. Sokka doesn't respond immediately, instead he focused on the shadows that ebbed and flowed in rhythm to the crackling of the flames.
Finally he spoke, his tone uncertain. "There's just something strange about this hallway, that's all."
He didn't know how else to describe it. The shadows seemed to have prints in them, like the kind the tundra wolves left back in the South Pole. However, it wasn't on the stone at all, the print was left on the shadows themselves, leaving behind an absense of darkness.
"Guys, I really have a bad feeling about this. Yue, you sure you don't sense anything."
"If I did, you would be the first to know, Sokka."
"He's gone nuts, I swear," Toph butted in, throwing her hands into the air.
"I just don't want us to be caught off guard. Remember last time, that weird monster that trapped us in the zombie school?"
"They weren't zombies!"
"They were close enough, Zuko! And before that, we had that weird shadow monster that we all ran away from as fast as we could. We're rushing along all without thinking about a plan and I think we should stop and be careful about it."
"Again, noted, but we don't know what we're about to encounter. Relax, Sokka," Azula frowned, putting her hands on her hips, "I have things under control." She turned back to walk further down the corridor only to find it stopped suddenly. She uttered with a perfectly level and reasonable voice, "Why must this maze continue to undermine my authority?"
"Okay, we're fine," Katara said, "Let's just stay positive. It probably just closed on us while we were talking. It's nothing to worry about."
Before she could say anymore, the baying cry of a wolf that found its meal echoed down the corridor. The human-shaped mask on its wolf-like snout seemed out of place on the sleek, sable spirit, its monstrous maw with hundreds of sharp canines dripping with slobber. The only thing that made it stand out amongst the dark were two long, blue stripes on either side.
"I knew it! Pessimism one, optimism el zilcho. And I got a feeling that pessimism's going to end up on top!"
"Is that optimism or pessimism."
Sokka's face fell, "I don't know."
"I don't think we can get past it," Azula observed. The spirit prowled across the width of the corridor, watching them without eyes, its jaw snapping huingrily. "Yue, do you have any ideas?"
"It certainly seems hungry."
"Not especially helpful," Azula commented, "We need to fight."
"Finally!" Toph shouted. "Time for the world to know that Toph Bei Fong is back in action!"
"Be careful, we don't know what it can do." Sokka stood ready to fight, but Toph pushed him aside "Hey!"
"I've got this, okay?" Toph spread her legs into a wide stance and grinned, "I've been waiting forever to really get into a real brawl."
"Don't underestimate it, Toph."
"I agree with Sokka, Toph. You're out of practice, and a dire wolf is a dreadful thing to fight," Yue urged.
"We'll be your back-up," Katara said, "Just in case."
Toph rubbed her nose, and grinned, "Like I'll need it, but thanks, Sweetness." She moved with as much speed as she could muster, tearing the stone of the maze asunder as the earth beneath it jutted out like massive spikes.
The wolf spirit leapt atop one and over to another, charging at Toph. Its jaw opened wide and it flew into the barrage of stone that Toph throw at it, crushing a stone brick in two with a snap. It stopped on the ground, falling backwards a step and shaking its head.
It snarled as the ground shuddered again, parts of the floor collapsing underfoot. Toph slammed her feet into the ground, twisting them slightly as she did. The wolf spirit steadied its footing as the ground underneath him fell, and then leapt for the wall, leaping off of it and down behind Toph.
He ignored the others, focusing on the only one it deemed a threat at the time. It left is flank wide open, and Sokka's hands reached for his sword. A lone wolf wouldn't last very long against a team of hunters.
It lunged at Toph, and Toph reached out to punch at it, covering her fists in stone as they flew up. The two collided in air. The wolf spirit tore at the stone-covered hands with its jaw but found itself slammed into the wall.
"Take that!" she shouted, throwing it aside. It lets out a weak howl before it fades into the darkness.
Sokka did not relax. While everyone else seemed to grow less tense, Sokka couldn't shake off the feeling that it was all too easy. One wolf wasn't much of a threat to a properly trained human. Only a very desperate or very stupid wolf would do that.
The baying howl echoed again. Wolves hunt in packs, after all. "We need to run. Now!"
Azula turned to Yue. Her eyes were glowing brightly and they widened slowly, "Far too many. At least twenty! More are approaching!"
"This is very, very bad!" Sokka urged, "Run!"
"I'm going to agree with Sokka on this. We need to hurry!" The sound of the coming pack echoed ominously down the corridors as the maze itself stretched out physically in front of them, the nearest wall moving thirty meters away in a matter of seconds.
Their shadows played off of the wall, mixing with the darkness that permeated every inch of the labynrinth.
Running away from something in a maze is not simple, however, and they turn around a corner only to see more shadows playing off the distant walls, growing long as they prowl across the corner. "Which way do we even run to?" Azula asked, "Any suggestions, Sokka?"
"What are you looking at me for?"
"We need to fight," Zuko grunted, "We won't get far if we keep jumping at shadows."
"It's kept us alive pretty great so far, buddy."
"They're closing in!" Yue said, "They're blocking off all paths."
"So, we either fight our way past, or we get surrounded," Zuko muttered, "I say we take the fight to them."
"There's got to be a safer way to do this, Zuko."
"He who dares, wins," Zuko retorted.
"He who fights and runs away lives to fight another day, Zuko!"
"Would both of you stop!" Azula shouted, "Yue, points us towards the weakest group of these things. We'll push our way through that way."
"I'm not sure," she answered, searching down each passageway, "Each seems to have quite a few, and they're very, very powerful."
"Pick a way, then," Azula answered, "We're fighting through."
"Azula, this is a bad idea. My instinct's telling me we shouldn't --"
"Your idea seems to be praying for a miracle, Sokka,"
"It's not putting us right into a pack of wolves and hoping we come out okay!"
"Guys," Katara's voice seemed quiet compared to the shouting, "Just stay calm. I'm sure it'll work out okay."
Then came the low rumble, like a dull roar under the floor. It grew and grew until it seemed like an earthquake. Everyone immediately turned ot Toph. "What?" she asked, "You think this is me?"
"If it's not you," Sokka stuttered, "Then who is it? Oh please, oh please don't be the wolves."
Charging through the corridors, the wolves seemed to pour out of every passageway, slobbering and snarling as ravenous and dire as the first, "This is bad," Azula observed, idly. "What to do about it."
"You've got an idea?"
"Working on it, Katara," Azula looked over at each pack, counting. One jumped to the fore, prowling slowly over. "Find the path with least resistance and make a dash for it."
"Easier said than done," Zuko muttered. "Get ready. Here they --" The wall suddenly jolted outwards, slamming the alpha wolf into the wall with a sickening crack. As it disintegrated into shimmering blackness, the rest of its pack fell into disarray. The rumbling grew louder. Parts of the earth below shot up like arrowheads, tearing some of the pack into two shadowy blobs.
The floor gave way under the shaking, the Bending Club plunging along with stone and bricks, statues turning to dust as they crashed against the remains of the floor. The wolves snapped afterwards, but the walls closed in around them.
The fall seemed to last much longer than it must have been, Azula reasoned, as she barely felt like she fell at all. The only pain she felt was the slight aching of her sides. Besides the rubble around them, they landed in a corridor almost identical to the one they fell from.
"What happened?" Toph grumbled.
Yue dusted off her white gown with a dazed look on her face, as she tried to process what happened. She muttered, "Did someone just save us?" as she finally stood up. "Is everyone all right?"
"Just a little dizzy," Katara answered, pulling herself up from the rubble, "Does anyone need me to --"
"Nah, we're good," Sokka said, staring at the ceiling, "Not even a hole."
"Oh, get up!" Katara huffed, kicking at Sokka's sides.
"Ow!"
"I didn't hit you that hard, you big baby."
"But you hurt my feelings, sis." He stretched out along the floor, "Really, though, there's no hole in the ceiling. Either this place has some awesome repair guys on staff, or the maze really is alive. Creepy."
"It's like the Tower," Katara answered, shivering, "It'd always change, remember? I saw it change once. it was like it turned from a building into a living creature for a minute. I'd rather not get trapped inside a place like that again."
"Too bad," Azula muttered.
"Hey, quiet!" Toph put her hands to the ground, "Yeah, someone's definitely here."
"Do you have any idea who?"
"If I knew that I would have said, Snowflake. Come on!"
"You just want to rush right in?" Yue looked about flustered, "Toph, I think we should take this a little bit more carefully."
"Hey, she who dares, wins, right, Zuzu?"
"Don't call me that."
"Whatever, come on!" She took off like a bolt down the corridor, and the others had no choice but to follow her. The hall was covered with statues of monstrous or corrupt looking human beings, transformed and disfigured.
"How far away is this person?" Sokka wondered.
"Not far, come on! They're getting away!"
"Okay, okay, no time to admire the creepy statues, I guess."
"Yep," Toph said, turning around a corner. "There!"
Toph pointed ahead at the lonesome, shadowy figure that walked down the long corridor, approaching a large and obscured statue. It turned its head to stare at them with blue, shimmering eyes.
"Aang?" Azula found herself short of breath. Him again, so close that she could almost reach out and touch him.
"Aang, wait! What's going on?" Katara asked, approaching him. But even as she approached him, he somehow kept himself in front of her, moving far faster than her sprint at a leisurely strolling pace. "Aang!"
He stopped and looked at her.
"What is it?"
He didn't speak, but his eyes seemed to bore through her to her core. She squirmed uncomfortably under the scrutiny. Azula, tempted to run up to them, found her feet planted by some alien compulsion in her head.
"Aang, are you trying to lead us somewhere?"
The shadowy figure paused, and then slowly turned around. It was almost as though he was inviting them to follow him deeper into the maze. As he walked, Azula felt her legs finally obeyed her and she dashed after him. "Aang, wait. I -- I have things I need you to answer," she said, weakly, "I need to know."
He didn't even pause, nor turn his face to look at her.
"Azula," Katara looked at the girl with a commiserating glance. "We need to follow him."
"Yes, of course," she said, her voice level and free of disappointment. "Let's go."
The baying howl of wolves echoed in the distance. Sokka's face turned white, "Why is it everytime we run into him, spirits decide to show up? If I didn't know any better I'd say he was leading them right to us."
Zuko rubbed his chin and uttered a low hum, but said nothing.
"So we follow him faster," Toph insisted. "Come on!"
The darkness of the maze grew in strength the further they walked down the corridor, the statues turning more and more grotesque, their faces barely containing even the slightest shreds of humanity in them.
Aang disappeared around a corner and when they turned to follow him, all they found was pitch darkness. Only a slight crack of light pierced through.
The wolves cries grew closer. "Hurry!" Sokka cried but Toph grabbed him. "What? What did I do?"
"You almost fell into a pit," she said. "This whole hallway's a mess. Follow me, slowly." She started down the far edge of the wall, and shimmied across it. The others watched her, carefully. "You guys coming?"
"I don't see any pits," Katara said, leaning down and feeling the ground. Solid, cold ground greeted her as she patted the ground until suddenly, as she went to pat the ground, her hand just continued to go down. She nearly screamed.
"See now?" Toph said from the other side. "Come on!"
So with no other choice left, they shimmied after Toph, one after the other. Sokka curled his toes in distrust of what he was told, but when his toes didn't exactly touch anything, he quietly acted as though his yelp of surprise didn't happen.
Azula moved across last, letting the others move ahead of her. She looked impatient as Yue crossed. The wolves were getting closer by the minute. Once Yue'd finally crossed she followed, shimmying across as quickly as she could.
The wolves burst into the corrider, sliding across the ground as they turned. While before the pack was massive, now, only a few remained. Desperate, angry, and hungry, they turned their attention onto the group, slobbering as their tongues hung out, black on black in the dark corridor. "Azula," Katara hissed, "Hurry."
Their attention turned to Azula, who clung to the wall as they chose between their prey.
The lead wolf leapt across, snarling at the others and snapping its jaw. "Azula!" Sokka shouted. He drew his blade and swung at the wolf. It yelped as an inky substance oozed from the cut, and then howled at the others.
They snarled, backing down only momentarily until one bounded across, baring its fangs at Sokka, letting them gleam hungrily.
"Uh oh, guess they didn't like that."
"So what!" Toph said, slamming her feet to the ground, "I'm all for a little more exercise! Come on Katara!"
"Right!"
The wolves leapt across the chasm, their feet landing firmly on icy ground. Katara grinned, letting the momentum of their landing carry them across the platform. They snapped and barked angrily until their hind legs didn't stand on anything any longer.
One of them fell, its howl echoing up the chasm as it descended, but the other, moving quicker, pushed off the ice and leapt onto the wall of the pit and leaping back up, only to feel the ground underfoot shudder.
"Buh-bye," Toph said, shifting her feet slightly. The wolf's pathetic yip came seconds before the earth slammed it upwards and into the pit. "Ha! How was that, Katara?"
"Don't get cocky, that's only two of them."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever,' she muttered.
In this confusion, Azula scrambled onto the platform and regained her composure. It was more of an annoyance than outright fear, but she was just a little shaken up. The wolves were bouncing about, nearly invisible in the blackness, if not for the gleam of blue across their sides or the small masks on their faces.
So she reasoned she had every right to have enough adrenaline pumping through her to kick her survival instincts into overdrive. She steadied herself, and grinned, she'd just have to pay them back for the inconvenience.
The remaining three circled around, their haunches tensed and raised, all looking about ready to snap at any second.
"They don't seem very happy," Yue observed. "How dreadful."
"Let them come," Azula said, bringing her hands up into a loose stance, "If they dare."
Outnumbered, the pack looked to each other and with an imperceptible communication, they moved as one to strike. Toph repelled the first with ease, but the second pounced on Katara, pinning her to the ground, its jaws snapping close enough that she could smell the rot on its breath.
The last one struck at Sokka, its claws colliding with Sokka's sword, sending it flying from his hand. "No!"
He reached to grab it, but the wolf picked it up in its jaw and leapt away, passing closer to the sliver of light. "Give me that back!" Sokka shouted after it.
"Help!" Katara squeaked as the wolf snapped its jaw angrily at it.
"Katara!" Sokka fumbled for his boomerang helplessly, but as soon as he grabbed it, Zuko was already there, throwing the wolf off with his bare hands. "Thanks Zuko, I owe you."
Zuko nodded. "You okay?"
"Fine," Katara said, "He just got the jump on me."
"We need to go after that, that thief! He took my sword!"
"I think we should be worrying about the other one, Sokka," Katara suggested, and turned around. Azula and Toph were already attacking it. The worlf's yelps of surprise at the assault were made only more comical by its realization that it hadn't anywhere else to run to.
It snarled and lunged desperately at Azula, who drew her gun from its holster and shut as soon as it approached. Point blank, burning gunpowder on its muzzle, and a bullet through the mask -- the wolf fell to the ground, dissolving into the darkness.
"Okay, never mind," Katara's shoulders sagged.
"Okay, I got to admit, that was pretty cool, Azula."
"Thank you, Toph. Excellent work on predicting its movements. It made cornering it that much simpler," she said, placing the gun back into its holster. "Wasn't there one more?"
"It ran off with my sword!"
"Borrow one of Zuko's, then."
"Hey! Don't volunteer people for things like that!" Zuko shouted.
"You don't have to act so picky about it," Azula shrugged. "Let's move. Toph, lead the way. We have a felonious wolf to track."
"Well at least following its track is easy," Katara said, pointing to the paw prints made in the shadows.
"Except for the giant pit right in front of us. This way," Toph started off down a way, "Careful, this thing's about as narrow as it comes." She placed one foot in front of the other, walking the passageway as if she were walking on thin air.
"I must admit I don't think I'd make a very good tightrope star," Yue said as she stared at her feet, crossing, "Are you certain this is the only way?"
"One-hundred percent. We're almost there, guys, come on!"
She urged them across and despite Yue's cries of surprise at every step, they made it across with no real danger. And there, across the way, at the end of the sliver of light, was a door. "Figures," Azula smirked, "Another door."
"Wonder whose this one belongs to?" Yue mused. "It's door number one."
"Funny how these doors are all out of order. Eighteen, two, six, now one." Azula tapped her chin ponderously, "Yes, I think there's a reason for this."
"We need to find my sword first."
"Please stop going on about your sword, Sokka," Azula said, "It's not proper."
He was about to protest when the meaning came across. "You're a very bad person, Azula. Very, very bad."
"There's nowhere else that wolf could have gone, anyway, Snoozles. Chill about the sword for a sec," Toph muttered. "So, we just whip out the key and then away we go, huh?"
"Away we go, indeed," Azula said, producing the key from her bag. "Well, are we ready for whatever we might find."
"After what we've seen, nothing's going to surprise me," Sokka said. "I just want to get my hands on that thieving mutt!"
"In due time, Sokka," Azula said. She placed the key to the door and watched the room light up. The pits, the statues, everything was bathed in light, their monstrous visages staring at them expectantly, their mouths twisted into malicious smiles.
"This is a not-good hallway," Sokka said.
"Well, let's get out of it, then," Azula said. She opened the door, the light within blinding.
"Here goes nothing." Sokka steadied himself and stepped through the door. And then all he felt was --
"What the --"
The old man said to Sokka, "SOKKA my boy, there you are." Though, in all honesty, Sokka couldn't actually say he said any of that. It was more like words being thrown into his head and processed like he were reading them.
Add to it the fact that the old man looked very, well, very generic was the best word for it. He could see someone who looked exactly like the old man walking in the distance. It was -- it was uncanny.
It was also weird that there were people here.
It was also weird that here was apparently made up of a lot of blocks of very similar colors. Shadows weren't exactly all that dynamic, either, most of them being big black circles underfoot, like his own. A big black circle underneath a dork in a green costume.
Which was another thing. He didn't remember changing his clothes. Why was he in this ridiculous green number, anyway? The tunic was okay, but the hat was a disaster.
"Uh, sorry, do I know you?"
"Your friend was just asking about you. You should probably go see her. What was her name? The pretty girl with the anger issues."
"Azula?"
"That's her name, AZULA."
"You want me to go find Azula?"
"She said she'd meet you at the usual spot."
"I don't even know what you're talking about. Who are you? Why do I feel like I"m having a one-sided conversation."
"Also, your sister told you to be back by supper. Oh, what was her name --"
"Are you going senile? What about Katara?"
"KATARA, that was it."
"Why do you shout everyone's name like that. It's really kind of obtrusive."
"Well, I won't keep you any longer, my boy. Go get 'er."
"First off, yuck, second off, I keep asking you questions and you keep ignoring me. What is with you?" The old man didn't respond. Sokka decided to get his attention. "Hey! I'm talking to you!"
"Well, I won't keep you any longer, my boy. Go get 'er."
"I'm going to get the same response no matter what I do, aren't I?"
"Well, I won't keep you any longer, my boy. Go get 'er."
"Brilliant." Well, with no other choices, he headed further into the strange, pixelated town. Everything was very blocky, especially the buildings, all of which were built in a peculiarly plotted manner. The distance between them was great, and some of them were lacking any doors whatsoever.
"Great. Well, what is our usual spot, anyway?"
"Looking for AZULA again? She's down by the old ruins, like usual. Be careful, though, I hear they're haunted."
"Who are you? How did you know I was looking for Azula --"
"Looking for AZULA again?"
"Stop that!" Unfortunately, it didn't look like this woman was going to give him any directions. He came to that conclusion after she continued blabbering in his head about that even after he walked away. The disturbing ramifications of these strange idiosynchrosies were already welling up in his head.
"I'm just going to guess it's this way and see where it leads me," he announced to no one in particular, hoping that no one was going to suddenly start telling him how tough times are, or how particularly evil some great villain from the past who was totally dead forever was.
Oh he did not like where this was going.
It wasn't that Azula disliked dresses. She knew how to use her looks to her advantage, and she would be the first to admit that she had a soft spot for the more glamorous appeal they provided. It was just that she didn't find dresses particularly, well, particularly practical for running around a damp, mysterious dungeon.
Which was why she was puzzled as to why she found herself sitting in front of said damp, mysterious dungeon wearing a red dress and with her hair in a ponytail, if whatever travesty of fashion her hair was put up into could be called a ponytail.
She wasn't going to scream out in rage at the situation.
She wanted to explore, but for some reason she found herself tethered to the rock that she was now resting on top of. She couldn't get more than three feet away from it, and she tried. She really did. Moreover, she didn't even know where here was. Or why all the trees looked the same or why a forest had so many trees that looked like they were painted onto a flat surface.
Blocky, and ugly green trees.
She knew exactly who to blame for this. She knew it in her heart of hearts.
"Sokka, when I find you --"
"You find me what?"
"This is all your fault!"
"Sorry -- what happened to your hair. It's all -- complicated."
"Thank you for observing that. I came to that conclusion by the time I saw that my hair suddenly grew ten feet and had braided itself into a ludicrously complicated pattern. What are you wearing."
"Heroing gear. For heroing in."
"Fantastic."
"I know what you're thinking, and --"
"Oh, I'm sure you do."
"I just want to apologize in advance. How was I supposed to know my subconscious was a video game?"
"Anyone who has ever met you knows that. Except you, of course," she muttered, putting her head in her hands, "I couldn't move from this spot. Let me guess, I'm going to be a 'party member' and you're going to be the leader. This could not get any worse."
"Well, I mean --"
"Don't even think it." She looked at her clothes again, "How did we end up like this?"
"I don't know, don't look at me!"
Azula frowned. The darkness inside the labyrinth must be getting stronger. Peculiar. She didn't want to imagine what it could do if it get any stronger. "Sokka, we need to find everyone and get to the bottom of this."
"You're telling me! Katara's in town, apparently I'm supposed to be back by supper. According to some weird old guy. Come on."
He started off and Azula watched him for a minute. A video game, why did it have to be a video game. Steeling herself, she dashed after him, only to find her entire body lurch back. "Sokka! Don't leave me behind! You idiot!"
Do you want to save?
To be continued....