Bella [AANGXOC]

Chapter 103: The Innkeeper

The fire was crackling loudly in front of me but all I could hear was Sokka's scary voice.

Sokka's stories are never particularly frightening in any way. But nevertheless, I hate when they do this.

"...Suddenly, they heard something down the hall in the dark. It came into the torchlight... and they knew... the blade of Wing Fung was haunted!" Sokka drew his sword, stood, and screamed at us dramatically.

Aang was laid back in the grass, obviously unamused, "I think I like 'The Man with a Sword for a Hand' better."

"Water Tribe slumber parties must stink," Toph said.

Not when Katara tells—

"No wait, I've got one," Katara sat up, "And this is a true Water Tribe story."

Sokka groaned, "Is this one of those 'a friend of my cousin knew some guy that this happened to' stories?"

Katara immediately dawned an emotionless face, "No, it happened to Mom."

We all stiffened and waited.

"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."

There's something about the way Katara can tell a story that convinces me it's not Katara speaking anymore. It's like the terror she recalls reaches forwards and recites the words for her.

"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."

I gripped onto the grass below me.

Why was this something we had to do?

"Where'd she go?" Sokka asked

"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."

Alright. Ok.

Why don't we just get back on Appa and fly the rest of the way to the Black Cliffs. It's not that far. We don't need sleep anyways. We don't have to ever sleep again.

I ripped a clump of grass from the ground when Toph suddenly stood up and gasped, "Wait, guys! Did you hear that? I hear people under the mountain, and they're screaming."

Aang, Katara and I clumped together and started shaking.

Sokka snorted, "Pft, nice try, Toph."

"No, I'm serious. I hear something."