The Avatars Ai (ATLA)

Chapter 34: Blood Bending and Nightmare pt 1

"Suddenly, they heard something down the hall in the dark. Oooh ... It came into the torchlight ... and they knew the blade of Wing Fung was haunted!" Sokka sraws sword, stands up and points it toward the fire; yells dramatically. "Ooh-aaah!" The entire group sitting around the campfire. Aang is lying down holding me, Talen is asleep on Alana, Katara is hunched over in a sitting position and Toph sits casually, all three looking unamused.

    "I think I like "the man with a sword for a hand" better." Aang said and I continued playing with his hair humming in agreement.

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

    "No, wait! I've got one! 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" stories?"

    "No, it happened to Mom." Upon hearing this, Sokka stiffens. Cuts to Aang, who sits up pulling me to him to listen intently. "One winter when Mom was a girl, a snowstorm buried the whole village for weeks. A month later, Mom noticed 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." Aang uses Momo's ears to cover his face in fear. Sokka hiding behind a gnarled tree stump.

    "Where'd she go?" Sokka said as I moved my hands and laid on Aangs chest playing with a little black fire.

    "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." Suddenly, Toph straightens up and places her hands on the ground.

    "Wait! Guys, did you hear that?" We all clutch each other tightly, too stiff to move, with Toph standing alertly. "I hear people under the mountain. And they're screaming." Sokka, assuming Toph is joking, relaxes his grip.

    "Pft! Nice try, Toph."

    "No, I'm serious. I hear something." I put my hand on the ground as my gold hair shines brighter.

    "You're probably just jumpy from the ghost stories ..."

    "It just ... stopped."

    "All right, now I'm getting scared." Aang said I giggle and turn towards Talen.

"Get away from him!" I said blowing a strong gust of air at the strange women by my dragon and son.

    "Hello." Everyone screams in terror upon hearing the strange woman's voice and scrambles from the ground. An elderly woman emerges from the shadows. "Sorry to frighten you. 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 spiced tea and warm beds?" I go over to my son and pick him up. I lightly rub Alana's nose still weary of the women.

    "Yes, please."

"Why were you near my son?" I growled out looking at the women.

"I was looking at your dragon, I'm sorry for disturbing your child." I tensed and gave Talen to Aang before I turned around, grabbing my cloak and the women behind me gasped at my wings. "The Ai."

As we began walking to her Inn I noticed Alana growl lowly at the women. She looked down at me then shook her head. I nodded in understanding and rubbed her side. Then I walked in sitting beside Aang as he holds our boy.