3.38 Blood curdling

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"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! Aah-ah..." Sokka yells, drawing his sword in an attempt to scare the unimpressed crowd in front of him.  

Currently, the group of six were sitting around a campfire, a waxing moon hovering above them, nearly full. The mountain range, well a single mountain, shadowed behind Sokka, making a sense of serenity settle within the group.

"I think I like 'the man with a sword for a hand' better." Aang yawns, stretching one his arms out behind him-- careful of the content girl, and animals, in his lap. Asha had her head laid on his thigh as Aang laid on his side-- Zulu and Momo in her lap. Beside them, Raiko and Toph sat side by side, the Earth bender laying on Raiko's shoulder, his arm wrapped around her. Katara sat beside her brother, her knees bent to her chest as she watched Sokka put his sword back. 

"Water Tribe slumber parties must stink."  Toph snorts, pushing herself further into Raiko's side. 

"No, wait, I've got one, and this is a true Southern Water Tribe story." Katara readjusts herself so the fire illuminates very little of her face.

"Is this one of those 'a friend of my cousin knew some guy that this happened to' stories?" Sokka groans, sitting back in anticipation. 

"No, it happened to Mom. One winter, when Mom was a 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 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 every one came back, Nini was gone."  The ambience was created and tension hung thick in the air as Katara's eyes dart from person to person. She watches as Toph and Raiko look unimpressed, Aang readjusting his (and consequently Asha's as well) position, moving so she was now completely in his lap. Asha, too, looks unimpressed as she scratches behind Momo's ear.  Sokka hides behind a tree trunk peering over slowly. Water tribe warrior everyone.

"Where'd she go?" 

"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."  

"Wait. Guys, did you hear that? I hear people under the mountain, and they're screaming." Toph furrows a brow, pulling away from Raiko to place a hand on the ground. Raiko gives her an odd look, only to look away at the sound of shuffling; he's met with the sight of an irritated looking Asha, the poor girl being crowded by Sokka, Katara and Aang.  

Sokka is quick to pull away after being spotted, trying to regain his composure. "Pft. Nice try."

"No, I'm serious, I hear something." Toph glares in Sokka's direction, furrowing her brows.

Asha leans forward, placing her own hand on the ground as her eyes close in concentration.  She can feel the shaking from Aang and Sokka behind her, the slight nervous patter of Katara's fingertips on the ground, footsteps from where she doesn't know, and finally very small, blink and you'll miss them, vibrations; much like that of a scream from underground. One covered by pounds of dirt, rock and such. 

"I hear it too." Asha opens her eyes slowly, looking behind her to the terrified trio.

"You two are probably just jumpy from the ghost stories." Katara tries to reason, her fingers continuing to drum. 

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