~The Blind Water Bender~

Chapter Twenty Eight

"suddenly, they heard something down the hall, in the dark" Sokka gentle said with a spark of fear added to his voice, the gaang were currently sat around a camp fire and someone had the idea to tell scary stories "ooh" he dragged out

"it came into the torchlight, and they knew the blade of wing-fun was haunted!" he then stood up and pointed his sword to the other "ah-oh!" he yelled dramatically, for the others to not react "I think I liked the man with a sword for a hand better" Aang said tiredly.

"water tribe slumber parties must stink" Toph commented as she gently played with Cara's long brown hair, stroking it every now and then, practically sending the girl to sleep "no, wait I've got one, and this is a true southern tribe story" Katara stated and Sokka sat down with one knee in the air "is this one of those a friend of my cousin knew some guy that this happend to, story?" Katara shook her head "no, it happend to mom" she bluntly said, earning a sigh from Sokka.

"one winter-" she started but Cara laughed a little "isn't it always winter in the South Pole" she chuckled but got no response other then a slight goan from Katara and a slight chuckle from her girlfriend "sorry, continue" Cara yawned a little as she snuggled herself into Toph's neck.

"as I was saying, one winter, when mom was a girl a snowstorm buried the whole village for weeks, a month later, mom realised 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" Katara paused as the camp fire flickered in the wind, adding to the dramatic effect "just a fire flickering in the fire place, while the men went out to look, mom stayed in the house, when she was alone, she heard a voice 'it's so cold, and I can't warm up'." Katara put on a spooky voice acting like a ghost, which scared Sokka a little.

"mom turned and saw Nini standing by the fire, she was blue like she was frozen, mom ran outside for help, but when every one came back, Nini was gone" by now Aang and Sokka were hiding behind a big tree root while Toph and Cara stayed in place.

"where'd she go?" Sokka asked terrified "no one knows, Nini's house still stands empty to this day, but sometimes, people see smoke coming from the chimney, like little Nini is still trying to get warm" Katara finished, suddenly both the blind girls gasped as they placed their hands on the grass "guys do you here that?" Toph asked the other as Aang and Sokka grabbed onto Katara "I hear it too, people are screaming under the mountain" Cara says and Sokka scoffed lightly "nice try" he laughed slightly.

"no we're serious, we hear something" Toph said

"you're both probably just jumpy from the ghost stories" Katara said coming to the conclusion of the atmosphere the group had created in this scary forest "it just stopped" Cara says making Anag shake more "all right, now I'm getting scared"

"hello, children" a loud feminine voice came from the bush's making the group scream and crowd next to each other, they looked to see an old woman as she emerged from the trees "sorry to frighten you, my name is Hama" the woman introduced herself with a smile as the children still clung to each other.

"you children shouldn't be out in the forest by yourselves at night, I have an in May by why don't you come back there for some spiced tea and warm beds?" Hama offered as the children became less tense "yes, please" Sokka said with a high pitched voice, Hama smiled as they made the journey towards Hama's Inn.

Once they got there Hama began making some tea as the children sat at the table "thanks for letting us stay here tonight, you have a lovely Inn" Katara complimented Hama who smiled once again "aren't you sweet" she said putting the kettle back on the stove.

"you know, you should be careful" she says whole sitting in a chair at the table "people have been disappearing in those Woods you were camping in"

Sokka leaned forward "what do you mean, disappearing?" he asked "not being seen again type of disappearing, or are there two types of that?" Cara sighed sarcastically at Sokka.

"when the moon turns full, people walk in and they don't come out" she said solemnly before smiling and standing up "who wants more tea?" she looked around the table to see 3 scared faces, she shook her head with a small smile "don't worry, you'll all be completely safe here" she reassured the children as she put her hands together "why don't I show you to your rooms, and can you get a good night's rest?"

Once they were shown to their rooms, Toph and Cara shared a room at the permission of Hama who gladly agreed, so once they got into bed, the two snuggled into each other.

"Cara" Toph quivered a little as the wood around them creaked, Cara hummed lightly indicating for Toph to go on "do you think this place is scary?" Toph asked, a little fear in her voice "a little but as long as I'm with you I'm not scared at all" Cara kissed Toph's forehead making the earth bender hum lightly in content as she snuggled into the girls neck, taking in the water benders sent, which drifted her off to sleep.