The DragonBorn

Chapter 44

Several days after their brush with the bounty hunter, the group settled in a forest that wasn't too far away from a small town. They sat around the fire telling scary stories to pass the time, but Zeraphina thought about the bounty hunter. She couldn't help but wonder if it was really Zuko who sent the hunter after them, or maybe he even ordered for her to be placed in the Cooler as a precautionary measure.

"Suddenly, they heard something down in the hall, in the dark." Sokka told his story, "It came into the torchlight. And they knew the Blade of Wing-Fun was haunted!" He unsheathed his sword and screamed as if he were a horrifying ghost. Though it was an interesting tale, it didn't scare the others much.

"I think I liked "the man with a sword for a hand" better." Aang said.

"Water Tribe slumber parties must stink." Toph stated.

"The nights in the Fire Nation are much more dull, Toph. This is an improvement compared to them." Zeraphina compared.

"No, wait, I've got one." Katara said, "And this is a true Southern Water Tribe story."

"Is this one of those "a friend of my cousin knew some guy that this happened to" story?" Sokka asked as he sat down.

"No, this happened to mom." Sokka sat up straight, wanting to hear more about this story.

"One winter, when mom was a girl, a snowstorm buried the whole village for weeks. A month later, mom realized she hadn't seen her friend Nini since the storm. So mom and some others went to check on Nini's family. When they got there, no one was home. Just a fire flickering in the fireplace. While the men went out to search mom stayed in the house. When she was alone, she heard a voice. "It's so cold, and I can't get warm". Mom turned and saw Nini standing by the fire. She was blue, like she was frozen. Mom ran outside for help, but when everyone came back, Nini was gone."

Everyone besides Toph and Zeraphina looked scared by the story, hiding behind a large tree root and behind Momo's large ears.

"Where'd she go?" Sokka hesitantly asked.

"No one knows. Nini's house stands empty to this day. But sometimes, people see smoke coming up from the chimney. Like little Nini is still trying to get warm."

They all stayed silent, but Zeraphina thought of another story that was just as scary as Katara's. And this one she knew by heart.

"That kind of reminds me of something that I experienced." Zeraphina said.

"You have a story like that, too?" Toph asked.

"Yeah. This one actually happened to me when I was a little girl." Zeraphina sighed and began her story, "I was nine years old, and I had been in the Fire Nation for several years. I heard my share of stories and legends, but there was one that always stuck in my mind, and it happened to me. It was late in the night, the night was only half full and I wasn't able to sleep since I felt someone watching me. I sat up in bed and looked around the room, seeing nothing more than shadows in every corner. But then, I heard someone speaking behind me. It wasn't a voice I was familiar with. All it was "Po... Po Po..." It repeated that single phrase until I finally jumped out of bed and turned to see who it was."

"Who was it?" Katara asked, her voice shaking.

"It was a woman dressed in a white gown, her hair was long and black flowing in straight waves. Her skin was paler than snow and her eyes were as bright red as blood. She grinned at me sinisterly, repeating the phrase over and over again as she got closer and closer to me. I was frozen as she grabbed my face and opened her large mouth, showing off her sharp teeth. She was about to eat me, when someone shouted from outside my room. The woman backed away and disappeared into the night out the window. Guards came in and searched the room, but she was no where in sight. To this day, I can still remember her chilling voice, and sometimes, I think that she's still looking for me."