Accidental Avatar 3.5: The Burn Book

When ya gotta go

They arrived at the village, nothing more than a collection of houses built into a steep slope, with an old house at the top being their destination.

Once they were all seated around a square table, the old woman poured hot water into each of their cups. As she was pouring Katara's, the girl smiled brightly to the old woman, unaffected by the unease with which the group's older members seemed to be affected.

Mangetsu's face maintained a stony blankness, though his actions were stiff. He, too, seemed uncomfortable with their predicament.

"Thanks for letting us stay here tonight," Katara said brightly. "You have a lovely inn."

"Aren't you sweet," Hama chuckled. "You know, you should be careful. People have been disappearing in those woods you were camping in."

"What do you mean, disappearing?" Sokka questioned anxiously.

"When the moon turns full, people walk in, and they don't come out," she said ominously when a switch seemed to go off, and she suddenly asked cheerfully, "who wants more tea?"

While Aang, Sokka, Toph, and Katara all stared in terror at the old woman, the rest looked somewhat sceptical.

"Honestly, I think Katara's story was scarier," Mogui muttered to Muteki, who nodded in agreement.

"Might explain the screaming Toph heard, though," Mangetsu suggested in a soft aside to Mogui.

"Hmm, something to think about," Mogui shrugged.

Meanwhile, Hama, who hadn't noticed the little conversation between the boys, smiled kindly to the scared members of the group.

"Don't worry; you'll all be completely safe here," she said gently. "Why don't I show you to your rooms, and you can get a good night's rest?"

💤

"Have you ever heard of Hotel California?" Mogui asked.

"Good song," Muteki smiled and nodded. "Creepy lyrics, but a good song."

"Yeah, I don't remember it, but this place reminds me of that," Mogui pulled off his boots and sat on his bed.

"I'm getting a kind of a 'World Fair Hotel' vibe myself," Muteki agreed.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Mangetsu had sat in the middle of his bed looking like he was meditating.

"Serial killers," Muteki grinned, starting out the door. "Hopefully, see you in the morning."

"Where are you going?" Mogui asked.

Muteki waggled his eyebrows.

"Have a good pee," Mangetsu mumbled, getting up to leave.

"WHERE ARE YOU GOING?" Mogui demanded.

"I said, "I gotta go pee"," he responded. "If you absolutely have to know."

"Uh... not really," Mogui scrunched his nose.

"Don't get eaten," Muteki called after the blonde, turning the other way down the hall.

"Don't leave me alone," Mogui whispered to the nothingness around him.

He curled up into a ball on his bed and tried not to think of being alone.