Blood of the North (Avatar: TLA Fanfic)

Chapter 4e: Ghost Stories

"What are you talking about?"

The boys are looking at each other and Dao looks the way he did when he thought he'd heard a spirit: ghostly. Zéi's face changes with the flicker of the fire, her eyes tunneling into the flames.

"When we first came here as kids, it was with a young couple from our village. When our party of refugees was separated, Xiwang and Ai swore to take care of the three of us. By the time we made it to this forest, Xiwang was heavily pregnant. Since we'd fled our village, Ai had recovered from a terrible burn to his legs and arm, but still walked with a limp. We were making great progress, thinking we would soon reach Ai's cousins on the other side where we could live free from the Fire Nation.

"Instead, we got lost. The woods turned us all around. By dark, there was no sign of the way we'd come or the way needed to go. And back then, there was supposed to be a real road. But if we had traced the cart tracks through the mud with our noses; we would not have found our way through.

"Days passed. We were starving. One night, Xiwang went into labor. We should have already been at the gates of Ai's cousins, but instead we were lost in the depths of an inhospitable forest. There was nothing to do but deliver the baby out there in the open. By some miracle I was able to locate some fresh running water, but everything else was in the hands of fate. She'd always felt barely older than me, even though there were years between. Ai was just a boy, too. Without a midwife, there was never any hope—it was Xiwang or the baby.

"The forest spirit must have heard Xiwang's cries, because she began to speak to something beyond our sight as pleasantly as if she were in the market at home. I told Jiròu to take Dao and hide. Whatever it was, we could only understand her end of it. Things that didn't make sense to me. Ai became convinced she was giving their baby away and he went into a frothing rage. I was afraid he would kill Xiwang. When it became too scary, I struck him in the head with the pot we carried for boiling water.

"By the time he came to, the baby was born alive. But Ai's fears were justified. Xiwang had not simply given her life for the baby. A spirit came in the shape of a white crane that stood as tall as the treetops. It blinded me with its white light feathers and when I could see again, the baby was gone. Xiwang had known she was going to die, so she decided she would keep her promise to our parents. She gave up her baby to the forest spirit for us—for us to survive."

I stared at the three kids in front of me. I had heard of spirits. My father even claimed a spirit had taunted them on the open sea. My mother claimed a spirit had intervened to bring my youngest sister into the world. But an evil forest spirit that stole babies—it was too far-fetched.

"I can't believe all that," I say, keeping my voice low. "You're lying to me, and badly. Why would you ever stay here? The place you were headed is right through those trees! It can't be more than half a day's walk. And you've all just lived out here for years and years?"

All three of them look at each other. Jirùo looks at me and rubs his hands together.

"We can't leave," he says.

I shake my head, on the verge of laughter. They are completely taken in!

"It's not a joke," Jirùo says from where . "The deal with the spirit was a trick. We were spared, but we can't leave the forest as long as we live. We've tried. At times we can even see the smoke of houses over the canopy and glimpse their lights through the trees. But when we go out, we only come back here. This is where..."

"That's impossible," I say. "You two weren't even there and you just believe whatever she says? If you're not in on it—if you've really been here all this time, she's tricking you both!"