Chapter 22: Ghost Stories
"Can I talk to you for a sec?"
He looked up.
It was the waterbender girl. Katara.
"Sure, what's up?"
"I'm sorry about the things I said about you… You know, the whole traitor thing…"
Oh, that made sense. This would be the first time they could talk to each other without being on opposite sides.
"Don't worry about it." He smiled kindly. "It's not like I gave you any reason to believe otherwise."
Which was putting it lightly if he was being honest.
"But even then, I'm sorry." She gave him a smile of her own. "You saved Aang. And I'll always be grateful for that."
"Don't mention it. I'm just glad I was able to heal him that quickly, and that was thanks to your spirit water. Besides, I'm sure you would've been just as capable of doing it."
Her eyes widened slightly at his comment. "I-I'm not sure about that…" She then took a deep breath before leveling him with a serious look. "I need to know… how did you end up in the Fire Nation? Zuko only told me that you never betrayed anyone… Does that mean that you've been there from the beginning?"
It seems she managed to connect most of the dots herself. Either way, he owed it to her specifically to be honest.
"My dad was a waterbender from the south…" Katara looked surprised at this. "But he was captured by Fire Nation soldiers when his village was raided, and then sent to a waterbender prison when he was young…"
How young though, he didn't know…
"But he managed to escape… and washed ashore in a Fire Nation Island close to the south."
Katara's eyes narrowed. "My mother was the same… Fire Nation ships raided our village looking for a waterbender… And she sacrificed herself for me…"
Sacrificed? "You mean that…"
"Yes, they killed her." She spat angrily. "I went looking for help and when we returned…"
"It's okay, you don't have to say it." He squeezed her shoulder. "But if that's the case then… I think I know why they didn't take her in…"
She froze at his words, slowly meeting his eyes. "What do you mean?"
"My father escaped his prison by bending a massive wave over the island he was in, sinking it and everyone in it into the bottom of the ocean…" He sighed in sadness. "Although for the Fire Nation, it simply disappeared from the map without explanation…"
"But how is that possible? Sinking an entire island is just…"
"Impossible? Well, yeah it should've been but… he was being empowered by both the full moon and the ocean itself."
"The ocean itself?" Katara turned pensive before gasping in realization. "You don't mean… La, do you?"
"Yeah, he got into some mess with him, and then he wanted to turn him into some kind of weapon to destroy the Fire Nation… Although he ultimately refused. So he switched it up to chase me instead."
"That explains so much… It's why every time I saw you I had visions of a dark moon and a relentless ocean…"
Wait, she saw that too?
"I'm sorry for that…" He said sheepishly. "I didn't even learn about him until he tried to consume my soul when we were crossing a swamp…"
"Consume your soul!?" She looked aghast. "How did you even escape that?!"
"Well, some shiny spirit girl managed to stop him before he managed it… I think he called her his sister at some point…"
Katara remained silent for a few moments before her eyes turned fond. "I see…"
"Old friend I suppose?" He wouldn't be surprised considering she travels with the Avatar.
"Yeah, something like that…"
"In any case, I managed to take care of La right before that whole mess with Long Feng, so he won't bother anyone for a while… If anything, it was because of him that I was strong enough to scare the Dai Li." He shook his head while laughing.
Katara looked confused at him for a few seconds before it hit her. "You mean your… bloodbending?"
"Yeah."
And he still wasn't rid of the feeling even after a whole day.
"Can you… still do that?" She asked with wariness on her eyes.
He knew why though. Ally or enemy, someone that could overpower someone with the flick of a hand would be nothing short of terrifying.
"No… not right now, no."
His gaze dropped to the floor. "But it was so excruciating every time I did it that… I don't think I'll ever do it again."
Her gaze turned concerned. "What do you mean?"
He sighed. "Well, violating someone's own will like that is sickening, and disturbing. And the worst part was that for as much as I hated it, my victim suffered even more… It's not something anyone should be doing. At least not anyone we could trust."
Katara's breath hitched. "B-But you said that you could only do it because of La…" She asked terrified.
"I know but… it felt so similar to what we feel during the full moon that I don't doubt a waterbender with less than good intentions could discover it at some point…"
"But they would have to be a strong as you, right?" She said hopeful, but he simply shook his head.
"You and I aren't as far apart as you think… I'm sure you could reach it if you pushed for it. And I can say with confidence that if you wanted to learn bloodbending, you could easily do it as you are now."
And easily might be an understatement. She might already be able to do it by just having heard about it…
Silence overtook them, as the weight of his words settled in her mind. "So you're saying that… It would only take one evil waterbender for it to be used to hurt others…"
"Or one pushed into a corner…" And he knew exactly what corner. "My father got pushed into one and destroyed his prison…"
Seemingly catching his train of thought, her eyes widened in horror. "You're not saying that…"
"Well, Azula looked into the other waterbender prisons around the Fire Nation and… there are still some operational, but two of them were inexplicably destroyed. But nobody knows exactly what happened to the first one…"
"The first one? So, the one your father destroyed happened after? How was it even destroyed?"
How indeed…
"Okay, it wasn't technically destroyed… Everyone inside simply died, but nobody knew why, so it was covered up by the Fire Lord at the time. It still remains a complete mystery today, but…"
He didn't say it, but he was sure she had picked up on what he was thinking.
"All I'm saying is that we need to be careful. That's it."
She didn't say anything, but eventually fixed him with a serious look and nodded.
He could only hope that their hunch was wrong, and some rogue spirit simply decided to destroy the prison.
Not that THAT wouldn't be any less scary…
"O-Okay but that isn't really a scary story, and more Kaze being paranoid… right?" Sokka said as he was hiding behind one of the larger roots springing up from the ground.
The forest they were currently in was thick and dark, with barely any moonlight shining through the many branches on top of them.
This meant that their only real source of light was the campfire Zuko had lit up for them…
"I don't know guys… Kaze is usually never wrong about stuff…" Ty Lee, who was instead hiding behind a tree, spoke up.
"Yeah, I think I liked your story about your mom a lot better…" Aang's voice came out muffled as he hid his face using Momo's ears. "I mean, this one was more of a warning than anything… And it happened somewhere in the Fire Nation too…"
"But a bloodbender running around in the Fire Nation…" Toph said from her spot near the fire. "Is that even possible? Wouldn't someone have caught on at some point?"
"No. If Kaze's theory is right, then this person indiscriminately murdered an entire prison worth of both waterbenders and Fire Nation soldiers… It's likely that anyone that has encountered them met a similar fate." Zuko's voice sounded neutral, but his expression showed some hidden concern.
"And Ty Lee's right… If we can trust anyone on figuring things out, then it's Kaze…"
Katara sighed. She really didn't want to make things so tense when she told them about her conversation with Kaze.
So much for scary story night in this creepy forest…
"Wait! Did you guys hear that?!" Toph suddenly called out, startling everyone to suddenly grab onto Zuko.
"I'm hearing people under the mountain! And they're screaming!"
For as much as she hoped she was just messing with them, her voice sounded so genuine that she could feel herself break into a cold sweat.
"O-Okay, Toph. Nice try." Sokka tried to sound confident, but his quavering voice proved otherwise.
"No! I'm seriously hearing something!" Toph protested. "…But it just stopped…"
"Couldn't it have been your imagination?" Ty Lee asked as she clung even tighter than before.
"I-I'm not sure… I don't think so." Toph shook her head.
"Okay, this is all getting to creepy…" Aang said as he started looking around their camp.
Yeah, for as fun as it all sounded in the beginning, maybe telling ghost stories in the middle of the night wasn't the greatest idea…
"Hello, children." A voice called out to them.
And then everyone shouted in panic.
"Okay, that should do it…"
He wiped his brow.
Sabotaging the war tanks wasn't exactly difficult. All it took was rusting out the bolts holding the hull together.
The real problem was sneaking his way into the underground storages that were housing them. Just like the royal dragonbone catacombs, it required the use of firebending in order to infiltrate them… And it was also crawling with soldiers from corner to corner.
The storehouses themselves were massive rectangular rooms spanning tanks from end to end. The air was also stale and filled with dust, so he wanted nothing more than to get out of there…
But in the end, it was nothing he couldn't handle. Especially with Azula creating a good enough distraction to let him get in and out quickly.
Now with this done, and Mai taking care of the watch towers around the Royal Plaza, their preparations for the invasion were mostly complete…
But something was still off. It's been basically one month since that time he spoke with La at his hideout… but the warnings were as relentless as ever.
If anything, they felt stronger… Almost desperate. Like something terrible was going to happen and very soon at that.
But now that he thought about it, this wasn't the first time he's felt this way… He felt it once before, and the implications were terrifying if nothing else.
The day after he was born, his father couldn't stop the feeling of impending doom which ultimately lead to both Lady Ursa being taken and him dying at the hands of the villagers from Hira'a…
He had struggled to pinpoint it before, but he was sure now. His friends were in danger, and only he could help them…
"Psst! Kaze!" A voice called out to him. "Are you done yet?"
It was Mai. "We need to get out of here before Azula starts genuinely trying to murder the guards!"
Right, he couldn't let himself get distracted.
He would figure out what to do later.
Running out of the room quietly, he and Mai managed to get out using a hidden tunnel he had the Dai Li carve the moment they found out about the tanks.
"I still don't understand why you had to send all of the Dai Li back to Ba Sing Se. We could've really used their help outside just this dinky little tunnel."
"Yeah, well, I think it's better that they're stationed back in the Earth Kingdom so they're ready whenever Iroh finally decides to reconquer it with his little band of old people."
Although it was concerning that they hadn't heard from him in a while…
Mai scoffed but didn't answer as she just kept walking all the way to the exit, which was hidden underneath one the ponds on the palace gardens.
It wasn't the most convenient of spots, but since he could easily bend the water so that they could get out without making any noise it was really the best possible spot.
Not that Mai didn't complain every time they went through it.
"This better be the last time we ever get on that death trap." She said bitterly.
"Yeah well, if everything goes as planned then it sure will."
But when did things ever go as planned.
Mai grunted in response before going quiet once again.
Not that it was particularly unusual, but he had a feeling that something was bothering her…
"You okay?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be." She replied coldly.
"Well, your aura has been pretty dark these past few days… So I figured that something's going on with you." He shrugged.
"Seriously?" She looked at him unamused. "Who are you, Ty Lee?"
He laughed. "If it convinces you to actually talk to me then sure, why not."
Mai kept glaring at him for a while. But it wasn't her usual killer glare, and it was rather laced with concern and frustration.
She sighed. "I'm just worried about my family…"
Right, that made sense… They were still back at Omashu all the while she's been helping them out.
"Don't get me wrong. I don't really care what my parents think about me. Especially my father. But at least my mother and Tom-Tom don't deserve the shame that they'll receive for having a traitor in their family."
It was hard to notice with the darkness of the night, but he could make out traces of strain in her face.
"And knowing my father, I'm sure he'd rather protect his own reputation than them… I want to do something to help them out but I'm not so sure how to…"
"I see…" He replied as he went over her words in his head.
Getting them out of Omashu would probably their best bet at protecting them… But it wouldn't be any simpler than getting his own family out.
But maybe they could somehow figure something out…
"Don't worry, we'll help them out as well." He said reassuringly.
Mai remained unconvinced but her face looked calmer. "But only if it doesn't affect the mission." She said firmly.
"You got me, and Azula. You have nothing to worry about!" He replied with a confident grin, making Mai roll her eyes.
But she eventually broke into a faint smile. "Thanks."
"You got it—"
But movement caught his eye through the darkness.
It was small, almost insignificant. But he couldn't leave things to chance.
So, he swiftly bent the water nearby and blasted whoever it was that was sneaking around. It was quick and potent, almost reminiscent of that night five years ago, but it seems this time he managed to actually incapacitate whoever infiltrated the palace walls.
"What happened?!" Mai sounded rattled, but her eyes widened as she noticed an unconscious body in the distance. "…Who could that be?"
"I don't know but… We better check it out."
And with a nod between them, they slowly made their way towards the intruder.
But what they saw wasn't anything like he expected.
"It's a Yuyan Archer! But what is he doing sneaking around when he could just walk into the palace without any issue?"
But Mai didn't answer, as she started searching his body. "Wait a second… He has a note!"
From one the hidden pockets inside the man's robes, Mai pulled out a tiny, folded letter… And then her eyes widened as she read the contents.
"What is it?" Whatever managed to affect Mai like this couldn't possibly be good.
But Mai just shook her head and handed him the tiny paper. "It's better that you read it…"
And so, he took the note and started reading.
The Avatar lives. Currently in pursuit.
"Oh no…"
Maybe it was the nerves from last night's scary stories, but Ty Lee couldn't shake off the feeling that something was off about that whole spirit kidnapping people on the full moons…
"I'm telling you, Hama's got to be hiding something." Sokka spoke up as he was placing the basket of groceries on the kitchen counter.
"I agree… her aura is all murky and gray… Something weird is definitely going on in this town…"
But Katara simply shrugged off their concerns.
"That's ridiculous, she's a nice woman that took us in and gave us a place to stay." She then turned towards Zuko who was busy with his own basket filled with vegetables. "What do you think?"
"I think that we can't stay in this town any more than we have to." He sounded frustrated. "For all we know, the Unnamed could be right on our heels."
"But people are actually disappearing… I can't just leave them on their own." Aang added. "I have to figure out what spirit is causing this, and quickly!"
The air was getting tense, and everyone's auras were getting darker...
"Then we do that!" She decided to try and ease the tension. "But we don't take any longer than necessary. So, let's just go back to the forest and talk to some of the people around, and see if we can find out what exactly is going on."
"I still don't like this…" Zuko grumbled. "And the invasion is right around the corner…"
"I know, sweetie." Katara placed a hand on his arm. "But Aang's right, we can't just leave people on their own… Besides, the full moon is just tonight, so this is the perfect chance to find out whatever is happening in this town."
Zuko remained worried, but he still relented with a smile. "I know… We're Team Avatar after all."
She sighed in relief before getting back into her usual cheeriness.
"Great! Then we have no time to lose! Let's go back into town and ask around!"
"But what about Hama? Won't she find it weird that we're suddenly gone from the inn?" Toph voiced out her concerns.
"Then I'll stay!" Sokka said as he started stomping his way upstairs. "I wanted to investigate this place anyway."
"Wait! Sokka you can't just—" Katara tried stop him, but he was already midway up the stairs.
But before she could follow him up, Zuko grabbed her hand and gave her a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on him. You guys go on and help Aang."
Katara's expression still held concern, but eventually returned his smile with her own. "Okay… Just make sure he doesn't cause any trouble for Hama, or anyone for that matter."
Zuko laughed but then gave her a nod.
"We'll try to make it back before dinner, so just keep tight!" Aang called out as he was exiting the house.
And with that, they were off to solve this town's troubles, Avatar style.
Okay, maybe this wasn't going exactly how she expected it.
They talked to so many people, but they either didn't know anything or looked at them suspiciously...
She was sulking.
"I'm sorry guys… I thought we could've found more by asking around but…"
"It's okay—" Aang put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure we'll find something after poking around here in the forest… Though I gotta say, this place has to be the nicest natural sitting in the Fire Nation…"
"Yeah, I don't see how any of this would make a spirit mad…" Katara added.
"Maybe the moon spirit just turned mean." Toph spoke up. "I mean, didn't you say that the ocean spirit was hunting down Kaze all over the Earth Kingdom?"
Hm... That made sense.
But Katara didn't look convinced.
"Hm… I don't think that's possible. Kaze told me that Yue did help him against La… And I don't think La could have anything to do with it either considering he apparently already took care of him…"
That's right. Kaze's aura did turn brighter and calmer right after Ba Sing Se…
If this was the work of a spirit, it could only be of one they didn't know yet. And that was as terrifying to say the least.
She groaned internally. Nothing was making any sense, and at this rate, they won't be able to fix anything.
"Isn't there anything else we can do?" She decided to ask Aang, hoping that his Avatar senses could tell him something.
But he simply shook his head. "I'm not to sure…" He said dejectedly.
But then a series of steps caught their attentions.
It was a man dressed as a traveler.
"Hold on, I'll see if he knows something." He said as he rushed his way towards the man.
"Excuse me sir!" He shouted, startling the man out of his boots. It seemed even travelers were affected by the rumors of the missing people.
"Do you know anything about the spirit that's kidnapping people?"
The man's breath caught in his throat but managed to compose himself enough to answer. "Yes… Actually, I know of only one person managed to live after encountering it, and that was old man Ding."
Great! That's a lead!
"Can you tell us where this old guy lives?" Toph asked as she pulled on the man's sleeve.
The man hesitated but eventually told them.
"He lives on one of the houses in the middle of town... It's the only one boarded up, so you can't miss it."
This was perfect.
Now their next task was locating this old man Ding.
Whatever was happening in this town would be nothing for Team Avatar!
And so, they headed back into town.
"Okay, but I still think my name fits him better, not gonna lie."
"I'm not going to call him Sparky Sparky Boom Man! We cannot take him lightly if we actually want to survive him!"
"But the Unnamed' is so boring… Couldn't have you guys come up with something cooler?"
Zuko sighed. "Listen, can you finish your whole investigation already? Hama will be here any minute."
"Cmon, Zuko! I know you also think something fishy is going on with her…" Sokka put his arm around his shoulder. "…Who knows, maybe she is somehow related to the disappearances…" He whispered.
"It doesn't matter what I think! If she catches us snooping around, it'll only end badly for all of us!" He hissed back. "So, hurry up!"
Though he wasn't about to deny what he said. She definitely did give him the creeps. But that could be simply because she's old and mysterious…
"In any case, this inn is nothing but strange… I mean, there are barely any signs of people ever staying here other than us…" Sokka spoke up as he was opening door after door. "And some of these are just empty…"
"Well, it's not like this is some massive tourist spot… Maybe business is slow." He tried to reason, but he couldn't deny his words once again.
And after being with the group for these past months, he learned that Sokka was deceivingly smart… So he couldn't just dismiss his hunches.
But then a shriek made his heart flip.
"Sokka! What's wrong!" He rushed to him, but the only thing he found was… puppets?
"What even is this…?"
"I don't know! But this is definitely a bad sign!" Sokka stammered through his shock. "We have to keep going."
He shook his head. Puppets hidden behind a locked closet wasn't the most normal thing in the world, but it didn't really mean much…
If they were going to find something that would be in…
"Let's head up then… I happened to find a locked door on the cellar last night. Maybe there's something there."
Sokka dusted his clothes after picking himself off the ground.
"Right, let's go."
And then both of them headed up the last set of stairs.
Unlike both floors below, the cellar was a dusty and cluttered mess of boxes with no decorations… And on the back stood the door he happened to find when he went looking for the bathroom last night.
To say it was creepy was an understatement. There was a single small window, letting only the tiniest amount of light, and every single one of their steps made creaking noises.
"Hey! I can see a chest on the other side!" Sokka called out as he started picking the lock with his sword.
"Wait! Are you sure-"
But he didn't listen to him.
He strained his face as he struggled, making way too much noise, but he eventually got it open.
"Got it!" He beamed as he sheathed his sword. "Cmon!"
Well, might as well see this to the end.
The room itself was better lit than the rest of the cellar, but weirdly enough, the only thing actually stored was a singular ornate chest sitting on some pedestal…
"It's locked!" Sokka groaned after trying to open it.
"Can't you use your sword again?"
"No… the keyhole is too small. Maybe there's a key somewhere."
Would there?
He seriously doubted that...
But maybe he could use that...
"No. That would take too much time… Here I'll melt the lock and then pry it open."
Sokka looked surprised at his suggestion but then nodded and gave him the small box.
"How'd you learn how to do that anyway?"
Hm... When did he exactly?
Oh, that's right.
"Azula used to do it when we were children…" He said with a nostalgic look. "She always liked snooping around the many hidden rooms and tunnels around the palace... Although she always managed to pin the blame on me when they caught her."
It was pretty mean, but at least it was before their father had become as ruthless as he was now… And if thinking about it now, playing around with Azula were one of his better childhood memories.
Even if he barely remembers most of them.
"Ha! Katara did that to me once!" Sokka said with a laugh. "She ate all of dad's seal jerky and blamed it on me. But she felt so bad afterwards that she gave me all of hers for a whole month."
He shared his laugh. "That does sound like her…"
"Guess siblings are the same no matter where they're from…" Sokka added with a fond voice.
He went through his words in his head… Could him and Azula ever be considered normal siblings?
Maybe a long time ago but… ever since mother disappeared, nothing's ever been the same.
But it was nice hearing Sokka say that anyway. Now he could only hope that they would get a chance to make up for all the time they lost once the war was over…
"How's the lock going?"
"It's weirdly heat resistant… But I'm almost there. Just a few more seconds and… There!" He exclaimed as the box opened. "And inside there's a…"
Wait, what is this?
He looked over at Sokka, who was equally as perplexed. "It's just a comb? But…"
But it looked different. It was white and blue, and it seemed to have been carved by something other than wood...
"Wait! Doesn't it look like a water tribe comb?"
Because for as much as the Fire Nation overused the color red, he was sure the Water Tribes did the same with blue.
Sokka's eyes widened in realization. "Yes! That's right! My mom used to have one similar to that!" He said as he ripped the comb out of his hands. "And it's made from whale walrus tusk… There's no doubt, this is from the southern water tribe!"
The southern tribe?! But why would Hama have something like this... Wouldn't that mean—
But that's when he noticed. It had turned dark while they were there and the might of the Full Moon was floating above them, shining through the sole window in front of them.
It was beautiful. So beautiful and blinding that he almost seemed to forget of the creeping realization rising on his chest…
The missing people. The Full Moon. And the water tribe comb all pointed to one thing.
"Zuko what's wrong?" He heard Sokka ask.
But when he tried to answer… No words came out.
He then tried to move towards him… but he couldn't. He couldn't even signal with his hands.
And when he was being slowly turned around by some unknown force, he knew exactly what was going on…
He's never felt it, but he witnessed it once.
He could feel his muscles tense and contort, while his lungs struggled to let air in.
It was excruciating.
"Zuko—! What's happen—" Was the last thing he heard before he was slammed to the ground, turning everything around him black.
Although he did manage to hear one final thing.
A croaking, bloodcurdling laugh.
"I don't like this."
"I know… But something is going on, and they need our help."
Azula looked at him critically, trying to find any other ways to possibly help those guys out, but…
"I'll try to get back as soon as possible." Kaze put a hand on her shoulder. "But the nagging on my head hasn't been any more painful than it is now… I need to go help them out."
"But why now… Judging from that note you intercepted, it seems the Unnamed already managed to track them down once… And that headache of yours didn't really spike then, did it?"
He sighed. "Yeah… And that means that there's a chance that what they're facing right now is something completely different. But I still have to go help them out."
He then smiled at her. "Don't worry, Mai will be with me in case things go south." He said as he pointed behind him were said girl was preparing the small boat they were taking.
This was the worst. She felt completely useless...
"I should be going with you, too…"
"I know. But both of us disappearing for a day would be way harder to cover up to your father, than just me… So just trust me on this one, okay?
Trust... She would always trust him, no matter what...
But she was still unconvinced. She knew deep down that he was right, and that this was the only option… and even then she couldn't stop the concern crawling into her heart.
It was frustrating, but they couldn't let the Avatar and the others fall before the eclipse… Or just at all for that matter.
And so, gathering all her feelings, she crashed her lips against his.
They kissed for what felt like not long enough, reveling in the passionate contact, but eventually pulled apart. Then she leveled him with a pointed glare, but her smile told him all he needed to know.
It was the silent understanding they've developed since that night in the palace gardens.
Kaze returned her smile with a confident look.
"And besides… I already know that if I somehow get myself killed—"
"I'll kill you myself."
They looked at each other for a few seconds before bursting down laughing.
It was such a beautiful night, just her and two of her favorite people alone on this little secluded inlet that Kaze called his hideout.
It was so beautiful that she almost lamented the fact that they had to spend it like this… But in a way, this was just the perfect way for them.
They'd get all the time to relax once the war ended.
"Will you two finish already?" They heard Mai call out from edge of the water. "We need to get out of here as fast as possible."
They shared one last longing look, before he gave her a reassuring nod and rushed towards the boat.
She had to steel herself. She couldn't let Kaze's absence be felt within the palace.
And she had just the perfect way to achieve that.
