fire & lightning

chapter thirty

       "Suddenly, they heard something down the hall in the dark." Sokka muttered quietly, followed by an attempted howl to try and spook us as he told his scary tale. "It came into the torch light, and they knew the blade of wing-fun was haunted!"

"You failed." I smirked once Sokka finished. We were all huddled around a fire and decided to tell each other scary stories, something Sokka isn't very good at.

"Watertribe slumber parties must stink." Toph guessed, and i nodded.

"No, i've got a true Southern Watertribe story." Katara lifted her head up, gaining our attention.

"Who did it happen to?" I wondered as i rubbed Hawky's tummy, who was cradled in my arms.

"It happened to my mother."

We all went silent for a minute, then Katara spoke up again.

"One winter, when mom was a little girl, a snowstorm buried the whole village for weeks. A month later, mom realized 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. When she was alone, she heard a voice."

I began to shake, and my imagination started to picture how terrifying it must've been for Katara's mother in that situation.

"It's so cold, and i can't get warm!" Katara mimicked Nini, making Sokka jump.

"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."

Sokka was hiding behind a nearby tree, Toph had no emotion on her face, and Aang cuddled into me while using Momo's long ears to cover his eyes. I just sat there, waiting to here what happened next. It was scary, but i was also fascinated.

"...Where did she go?" Sokka came out, realizing Katara wasn't continuing the story.

"No one knows. Nini's house stands empty to this day."

"Wow, that is-." I opened my mouth, but was interrupted by Katara.

"But sometimes, people see smoke coming up from the chimney, like little Nini is still trying to get warm."

"Wait! Guys, did you hear that?" Toph jumped.

"That's not funny, Toph!" I scolded her.

"No, I hear people under the mountain, and they're screaming!" She proceeded, and her eyes widened.

Sokka, Aang, Katara and Momo all rushed to me, hugging me and squeezing me unti i could barely breathe. Hawky began to freak out at them and flapped his wings wildly. I didn't want to admit it, but i was just as frightened as they were.

"It stopped." Toph relaxed, and so did we.

"Nice try!" Sokka yowled.

"You're just jumpy from the scary story." Katara concluded.

"I'm still scared." Aang confessed as he continued to hold me.

"Hello, children."

We all screamed in unison, standing up and backing away from where the voice was coming from. An old woman suddenly popped out of the shadows. She had long grey hair and very wrinkly skin. To top it off, she was wearing an old fashioned kimono.

"Sorry to frighten you. My name is Hama." She smiled at us. "You children shouldn't be out in the forest by yourselves at night.

"Yeah, good point. So strangers like you wouldn't creep up on us like that." I took a step back, feeling uncomfortable.