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Chapter 8 – The New Animal Guide

I wonder how much fun it is to ride the Unagi, Keisha thought to herself. As she heads down to the beach, she formulates a plan to get her stuff back and to see if she can ride the big ugly brute. Upon arriving at the beach, she thinks of the perfect idea. She walks into the water then as she gets deeper, she starts surfing around in a circle. "Come on out you big ugly sea monster, I know you're there and I know you can hear me," she yells.

Then she feels the water tremble a little and knows its coming. Then it pops out of the water and heads towards her. "Oh no you don't," she says then freezes it both under water and above water, leaving only its head unfrozen. With that, she surfs over to its head.

"Okay you, I want to talk to you, I think my father took the wrong approach of just grabbing on to you and riding. I'm going to ask kindly if I can ride you, so can I ride you? Now I'm going to let you go, if you say that I can ride you, then please approach slowly. If you think it's a bad idea, you can leave; I'll grab my stuff and leave you alone. Deal?" asks Keisha.

When the Unagi blinks, she takes that as a yes, she lets it go and, Keisha didn't actually expect this to happen, it swims slowly towards her. It lowers its head letting her know she can get on. She gets on and it slowly raises its head. "Thank-you friend, I promise I won't hurt you, I'm not that kind of person. I'm sorry that I call you all those names, it's just to cover the fact that I think you're a beautiful creature no matter what other people say about you. You're a gentle thing aren't you; people just don't understand that, so you act all scary to drive them off. Am I right?"

It blinks again, Keisha realises that this is its way of saying yes. "Do you want people to know your true nature or do you want to be left alone, wait I should give you a yes or no question. Do you want everyone to know your true nature?" asks Keisha.

It blinks twice, Keisha realises that's its way of saying no. "Then why did you let me see it I wonder? Do you like me knowing about it?"

It blinks once, yes. "Are you my friend?" asks Keisha. It blinks once, again.

"Do you think since you can understand me, I might be able to understand you?" asks Keisha, she is answered with a blink.

"That would be cool, I suppose I should be able to since you are a water creature and I am naturally a water-bender. I have an idea, you don't have to if you don't want to, but how would you like to be my Animal Guide, do you?" asks Keisha hopefully.

It looks at her than blinks… once. "Thank-you my friend, you don't have to follow me everywhere I go if you don't want, you can stay at home where you feel good, but if you want you can be my transportation to the mainland. I could get there faster. Do you want to stay here?" Keisha asks.

It blinks twice; no, it doesn't want to stay here. "Do you want to be like a normal Animal Guide and travel with me?"

It blinks once. "You're the best Animal Guide, you do realise you won't be able to follow me to Ba Sing Se, don't you?" asks Keisha apologetically.

It blinks once then starts moving a little faster. "I know how about we stay with the Kyoshi Warriors until we reach the mainland and then they go through it, we go around it. We can stay together as much as possible until I need to go into Ba Sing Se. How about it?" suggests Keisha.

It blinks once and she swears she sees a smile on its lips. She smiles to as she asks a question that's been bugging her since she first saw this creature many years ago. "I was wondering if you were male or female, so are you male?" Keisha asks curiously.

It blinks twice. "So you're female?"

It blinks once. "That's so cool, oh another question that has been bugging me, I was wondering if Unagi was your species or you name, but now that I think about it, the people on Kyoshi wouldn't know your name would they. But I'll ask the question anyway, is Unagi your species?" asks Keisha.

She blinks once; yes, Unagi is her species. "Do you have an actual name?"

She blinks twice. "Oh, are you the only one of your kind?" asks Keisha.

She blinks once sadly. "I'm sorry, is that why you don't have a name and why you're called the Unagi?" asks Keisha sadly.

She blinks once. "I truly am sorry, I'd tell you I know how you feel, but I don't. Dad when he was the last Airbender might have known how you feel, but he's gone," says a sad Keisha, then she looks up and realises that they are headed back for Kyoshi. She looks up at the sky and realises its getting dark.

"I suppose I should go in, and get my stuff, he he." The Unagi blinks once. "Can I give you a name?" asks Keisha.

The Unagi looks in the distance as though actually think about it, blinks once in acknowledgment. "Okay, I'll think about it tonight and ask you if you like it tomorrow. Better yet, I'll think of a few names and see which one you like the best. If you don't like any of them, I don't mind thinking of some more. Is that okay with you?" asks Keisha.

The Unagi blinks once and lowers her head to let Keisha off. "I'll see you tomorrow then, bye," she says as the Unagi turns and goes back under the water. Keisha looks around to see her stuff washed up onto shore. She gathers her things and dries them out with her air-bending.

Then she walks back to the village only for Milly to come running at her with a relieved look on her face. "Where have you been, you were gone so long, I started to get worried about you. Not only would your mother get angry at me if something happened to you, but your aunt would to," remarks Milly anxiously.

"I was only getting my stuff from the beach, and recruiting an Animal Guide," says Keisha matter-of-factly.

"Oh, thank god… wait an Animal Guide, who is your Animal Guide?" asks Milly.

"The Unagi, she's very gentle if you're kind to her and reassure her you're not going to hurt her," Keisha erasures her older friend.

"The Unagi? What do you mean her?" yelled Milly.

"Geez Milly, not so load, yes the Unagi and 'she' because the Unagi is female," says Keisha.

"How do you know that?" asks Milly.

"Because I asked her a bunch of yes or no questions, she blinked once for yes and twice for no. Over the night, I'm going to think of a name for her since she doesn't have one. I asked her if she wanted to be my Animal Guide and she said yes. She and I are going to go with you to the mainland, but you guys are going through it while she and I go around. We'll meet you on the part of mainland that Ba Sing Se is on and she'll just stay in the water while we go to Ba Sing Se. Then of course, she'll come with us to the Fire Nation, thank god the palace there is close to the beach unlike Ba Sing Se, I won't be able to visit her daily," mutters Keisha.

"Are you sure that you want the Unagi as your Animal Guide?" asks Milly unsure of what to make of it.

"Yes, I'm sure about it, now lets go have dinner."

I know that it's kind of weird that the Unagi is going to be her Animal Guide, but it is never mentioned what creature is the original water bender and I think Keisha needs an Animal Guide just like Aang. Plus I think that the Unagi just might be a misunderstood sea creature. No I'm not a greenie, or part of PETER, or any of those things, I just love animals, even the ones like the Unagi.

Anyway, please review. I couldn't think of a name for the Unagi just yet, nut just like Keisha, I'll think of it throughout tonight. I already have an idea of how the Unagi will communicate with Keisha, but I'm not going to tell you. I think I should make it that she has to get to know the Unagi better before she can understand it. So yeah.