Chapter 27

The Witch

Katara ignored the burning, stinging sensation in her arm as she ducked under another swipe of Hama's clawed hand. She was surprised by the speed with which her body reacted without so much as a thought. Though she dodged well, Katara was being pushed hard. Suki stood frozen at her back and moving from her current position would put her friend in danger.

A slight misstep took Katara off balance. As Hama's nails came down from above, Katara was relieved to see Suki's extended leg stop the blow. Hama leaped back and smiled wickedly at the two of them.

"Are you okay?" Katara asked without taking her eyes off of their opponent. "What happened?"

"I don't know," Suki admitted. "I just suddenly couldn't move. It was like my whole body turned heavy."

Katara and Hama's eyes locked. One set filled with amusement and murderous intent, the other with conviction and determination. Whatever this old woman had done to Suki, its affect was clearly temporary. It was not much to work with for now, but at least they knew if they watched each other's backs that it was not a death sentence.

Before Katara could come up with any kind of strategy based off of this new information, Suki was already on the move. She charged Hama without fear and struck at the old witch with a volley of quick strikes. Hama, to her credit, redirected the strikes with little effort and that wicked grin unwavering during the entire exchange. As Katara moved in to help her friend, a foreboding sensation shot through her body. She increased her speed and joined the fight.

Now having to deal with two opponents, Hama's grin faded into a grimace of mild annoyance. She kept turning her gaze to Katara and swiping at her face when she got the chance, but the young woman was too quick to strike easily. The fight would not prove to be quite so obnoxious if she could just get her hands on that pretty little face. That task would be so much easier if the other girl would stop being such a distraction!

Katara barely noticed it out of her peripheral vision, but saw the instant that Suki froze mid swing. Katara once again threw herself between her friend and foe and tried to defend against the attacks that came. All the while that dreadful feeling from earlier hung in the air around her. The majority of Hama's more vicious attacks were easy enough to defend against, however they were leaving Katara open to smaller strikes that were slowly tearing away at her flesh. Fresh cuts were opening on both of her arms and a few on her face before Suki managed to get her body moving and into the fight again.

"I think I may have figured it out, Katara," Suki said as they put some distance between themselves and their opponent.

"What have you got?"

"Whatever it is that she's doing, she's doing it through eye contact," Suki told her. "Don't make direct eye contact with her."

"That can't be right," Katara replied. "I've stared her in the eyes already and I haven't frozen up."

"Maybe she just didn't use it on you. I'm not completely positive, but I can't think of anything else either."

Katara chanced a quick glance to Aang's prone form. She had to get to him and soon. She had no way of determining how bad his condition was without getting a closer look, and she could not help him at all if she could not get to him. A shadow danced across Katara's vision and she swayed back only just in time for Hama's nails to miss her eyes and barely graze her cheek.

"You're loyalty and concern for your friends is going to get you killed, little girl," Hama laughed wickedly.

"Keep moving around like that and your brittle old bones will snap, witch," Suki retorted.

"That is quite enough out of you!" Hama leered.

Suki stood rooted in place once again, strain evident on her face. Her eyes darted over to Katara with a clear expression of panic.

"Let her go!" Katara yelled.

"You children today have no spirit," Hama smiled.

"How's this for spirit?"

Katara charged forward and for the first time in her life allowed her fists to do the talking. With each attack came a block and counter from Hama. With each counter from Hama, Katara gave a reprisal of her own. The two warriors stood head to head striking, dodging and moving to their own rhythms trying to force the other to match their own flow.

"I will stop you!" Katara announced as the fight continued.

"Stop me?" Hama laughed as she forced Katara back a few paces. "You can barely keep up with me! You and your friends are weak willed and have no true conviction. You can't even stop yourself from worrying over that pathetic boy on the ground over there. Let me ease your mind: he's already dead."

"No!" Katara yelled. "He's not dead! I will protect Suki and I will save Aang! And nothing you say or do can stop me!"

The bleak atmosphere around Katara began to grow lighter as she said this. The heavy foreboding began to fade as Hama's eye twitch with annoyance and anger. What she began to feel she could not describe, but it felt incredible. In the midst of this battle she was discovering a part of herself she never knew she had. This feeling also came with a revelation.

"You are a fool!" Hama raged. "You're living a fantasy if you think you could ever defeat me!"

"If you're so powerful, then why haven't you stopped me yet?" Katara asked. "You've managed to overpower even masters with whatever spell or trick it is that you use, but it doesn't work on me. That's why you haven't frozen me yet. It's because you can't. I'm stronger than you."

"You think you're will is stronger than mine?" Hama screamed. "You are nothing but an insignificant insect compared to me! A mere child could never match my will!"

"I can," Katara said evenly. "I will never lose to someone like you."

Katara stood ready, waiting for Hama to speak or move in to attack. The oppressive atmosphere had faded completely and Katara knew that she could not be defeated by this witch. Hama's face contorted as she strained against something Katara could not see, but the old woman roared with a madness that appeared to be brewing and churning for longer than Katara had been alive. As the old witch finally began to move forward she was suddenly stuck down by a fierce blow to the side of the head from Suki. Katara blinked in astonishment as Suki stood breathing heavily over Hama's unconscious body.

"Whatever you did sure did the trick, Katara," Suki said between breaths. "She couldn't hold me anymore."

"Are you alright?"

"Couldn't breathe that time," Suki shuddered. "I'll be fine. Go check on Aang."