Accidental Avatar 3.5: The Burn Book

That be bad...

A/N: Hello! A whole week of no updates, I know. We got really busy all of a sudden, AND we're working on a little project on the side, so chapter writing has slowed right down. There SHOULD be at least one chapter every week, so we might go back to one update every Monday until things slow down enough for us to have more time to write chapters. Comment, share, vote!

We ran as hard as we could up the mountain. My legs hurt, and so did my lungs.

"They're this way!" Toph called out.

"I hear them too," Muteki confirmed.

Mogui just grunted. I don't think long-distance running is his strong point.

The two Earthbenders arrived at the mouth of a cave and stopped dead. I nearly ran straight into the huge wall of muscle. He deftly caught me and set me next to him, his arm lingering around my waist.

"I can't see anything down there," Sokka complained.

"Two light creators and two people who can see through the EARTH, and you're scared of the dark?" Mogui wheezed as he teased.

"That's why you have me," Toph agreed.

"I'm not sure if it's safe," Muteki whispered. "What if the beast is still in there?"

"That's why I'm coming in," I joked. "I'll be your damsel in shining armour."

"I've got your back," he confirmed. "No matter what comes through that hole."

I laid a kiss on his cheek and lit a fire in my fist.

"C'mon, Vamanos!" Mogui sang, skipping into the darkness. "Er'body Lesgo!"

We eventually hit a dead end in the cave. It ended in a solid metal door, which Toph grabbed and tossed like a boy she was getting out of her life. Mogui sent a fireball into the cavern ceiling.

We all stopped dead. People, tied up as far as we could see. Granted, we couldn't see very far, but still. Dozens of them were shackled to the walls.

"We're saved!" a man called out.

Muteki grabbed one of the chains and crushed it, breaking the bands holding an old man.

Mogui and I got to work blowtorching the chains from the wall while Toph was unlocking them with her armband.

"I didn't know spirits made prisons like this," Aang looked worried. "Who brought you here?"

"It was no spirit," a lady flinched under my blowtorch.

"It was a witch," groaned a man Mogui was fiddling with.

"What do you mean, 'A witch'?" the boy grilled him.

"She seems like a normal old woman," the old man said. "But she controls people like some dark puppetmaster."

"Hama!" Sokka gasped.

"Yes, the innkeeper," someone else called out.

"I knew there was something creepy about her," Sokka exclaimed.

"Forget creepy," Mogui called out, dropping the chains he was working on. "She's dangerous. And the girls are with her!"

"The waterbenders," Muteki corrected. "Mangetsu isn't a chick, dude."

"Getsu looks like a really girly, though," Mogui shrugged nonchalantly and panicky at the same time. "But regardless, they are in trouble!" He started towards the cave mouth.

"We have to stop, Hama!" Aang agreed.

"Muteki and I will get these people out of here," Toph commanded. "You go."

"I'll stay and help," I suggested as the others darted off. "I can at least provide light."

The three boys ran off into the darkness together.