Zuko's Baby Sister

Chapter Twenty-Eight

       "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 draws his sword, stands up and points it toward the fire. "Ooh-aaah!" Aang is lying down me next to him, 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."

    "Water Tribe slumber parties must stink."

    "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. Aang sits up to listen intently, he pulls me with him and I tensed slightly. "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 my hair to cover his face in fear. Sokka is hiding behind a gnarled tree stump.

    "Where'd she go?" I yawned in boredom.

    "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?" Aang's arms tighten on my waist as Katara, and Sokka 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."

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

    "It just ... stopped."

    "All right, now I'm getting scared."

      "Hello, children." We all scream 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 noticed her looking at me with a hatred in her eyes and tensed.

    "Yes, please." Sokka said inquickly collected some water and put out the fire catching Hama by surprise.  Hama smiles and begins walking away.

       We were sat inside the Inn at the kitchen table, where tea is being poured into a teacup.

    "Thanks for letting us stay here tonight. You have a lovely inn." I said smiling softly.

    "Aren't you sweet?" Hama walks over to her seat and sits down. "You know you should be careful. People have been disappearing in those woods you were camping in."

    "What do you mean "disappearing"?"

    "When the moon turns full, people walk in and they don't come out." Hama stands up and holds up her teapot. "Who wants more tea?" Everyone has now fallen completely silent, "Don't worry, you'll all be completely safe here. Why don't I show you to your rooms and you can get a good night's rest?"!