Under the pale light of the moon, the Gaang were camped out in a forest while Appa lay asleep in a nearby cave with Ember perched sleeping on his horn. Gathered around a fire, Sokka told them a ghost story.
"Suddenly, they heard something down the hall in the dark. Oooh ... It came into the torchlight ... and they knew the blade of Wing Fun was haunted!" Sokka stood up, drawing his sword and pointed it at the fire, yelling dramatically.
The Gaang didn't look all that impressed. Aang and Zira were lying down with Momo sleeping beside them, Katara was hunched over in a sitting position and Toph and Shai were sitting casually.
" I think I like "the man with a sword for a hand" better," Aang said and Zira yawned
"Yeah, not your best one, Sokka" Shai added
"Water Tribe slumber parties must stink," Toph grumbled, bored
"No, wait! I've got one! And this is a true Southern Water Tribe story." Katara spoke up
"Is this one of those "a friend of my cousin knew some guy that this happened to" stories?" Sokka rolled his eyes sitting down again.
"No...It happened to Mom"
Upon hearing this, Sokka stiffened and the others looked up, listening intently.
"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. 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!"
Sokka stiffened in fear.
" 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 "
Aang used Momo's ears to cover his face. Zira covered her eyes with her hands as Sokka hide behind a gnarled tree stump.
"Where'd she go?" Shai asked as Sokka peered up from behind the stump.
"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." Katara said and Zira gulped nervously.
Suddenly, Toph straightened up and placed her hands on the ground.
"Wait! Guys, did you hear that?" She gasped and the others quickly clung to each other tightly, too stiff to move, while Toph stood up alertly
" I hear people under the mountain. And they're screaming."
"Pfft! Nice try." Sokka scoffed, realising his grip
"Yeah, very funny, Toph" Shai added
" No, I'm serious. I hear something."
"You're probably just jumpy from the ghost stories ..." Katara explained
"It just ... stopped," Toph said, her eyes wide.
"All right, now I'm getting scared," Aang muttered, still clinging to Zira, who hid her face in his shoulder.
"Hello, children" A voice rang out behind them making the Gaang scream in terror and scrambled from the ground. Shai pointed his sword out threateningly as an elderly woman emerged from the shadows.
"Who are you?" He demanded, standing in front of the others protectively.
"Sorry to frighten you. My name is Hama" The old woman introduced, unfazed by the sword pointed at her "You children shouldn't be out in the forest by yourselves at night. I have an inn nearby. Why don't you come back there for some spiced tea and warm beds? "
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Inner Fire - ATLA fanfic
Fanfiction. The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all Disclaimer- I do NOT own Avatar the Last Airbender. It is not mine. I only own my original charact...
