Avatar: The Last Airbender

Part 35 (The Puppetmaster) [Book 3]

"Suddenly they heard something down the hall in the dark." Sokka whispered. He made small, ghost noises. "It came into the torchlight. And they knew. The blade of Wing Fan was haunted!" He stood, holding his sword out, pointing it at the fire. He made a loud noise for dramatic effect.

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

You chuckled, shaking your head. "Sokka, I love you, but you're not a scary-story teller." You told him, as he sat down, resting his head in his hands.

"Watertribe summer parties must stink." Toph mused.

"No, wait! I've got one." Katara piped up. "And this is a true Southern Watertribe story."

You smiled. "I've never heard any stories from the Southern Watertribe."

"Is this one of those 'a friend of my cousin knew some guy that this happened to' stories?" Sokka asked, sticking his sword in the ground.

"No. It happened to Mom."

Sokka became serious suddenly, sitting up straight.

Aang sat up as well, frowning.

"One winter, when Mom was a girl, a snowstorm buried the whole village for weeks." Katara began. "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." She pitched her voice slightly higher. "It's so cold. And I can't get warm."

Sokka hugged his knees closer to his chest.

Your eyes were wide.

"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."

Aang grabbed Momo's ears, wrapping them around his head for comfort.

"Where'd she go?" Sokka asked timidly from his hiding spot behind a tree root.

"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."

"Wait. Guys, did you hear that?" Toph asked after a few moments of tense silence.

Everyone but Toph grabbed onto each other.

"I hear people under the mountain. And they're screaming."

Sokka pulled away. "Pfft. Nice try."

"No, I'm serious." Toph insisted. "I hear something."

"You're probably just jumpy from the ghost stories." Katara tried to reason.

"It just stopped."

"Alright. Now I'm getting scared." Aang murmured.

"Hello, children." An unfamiliar voice spoke.

You all yelled, rushing on the other side of the fire to hug Toph.

A figure stepped into the firelight, revealing an elderly woman. "I'm sorry to frighten you." She spoke. "My name is Hama. You children shouldn't be out in the forest by yourselves at night. I have an inn nearby. Why don't you come back there for some spice tea and warm beds?"