A/N: Hey guys! So, I, Lord Sasha Of the L, am being wed upon the new year. Chapters might end up being even slower, but with Amaya on the case, there will still be chapters being uploaded. Worry not, my little readers, we shan't forget you ;) Merry Christmas, as this will be the last one before Christmas, but there should be another before the new year!
The old woman ducked as the sword almost severed her head again, lashing out with icicles. A disembodied chuckle haunted the air as Hama spun to see where the boy was hiding. Katara drew water from the plants, standing to face the old woman.
"We both get our power from the moon," the girl said. "Your technique is useless on us. You can't beat us."
"You can't fight what you can't see," Mangetsu's voice drifted through the mist.
"Then I will just have to get rid of this mist," the old lady cackled as she whipped her arms around, drawing water from the air.
The mist didn't fade, though. Hama looked at the tiny icicles that had formed over her fingers. "What kind of monster are you?" worry tainted her voice.
"I am Mangetsu Hozuki, Shinobi of the Hidden Mist Village," he appeared again, his blade cutting her clothes but barely avoiding her. "And I am not a monster!"
"You're the monster," Katara launched her water at the old woman.
Hama seized control of the water, bringing it around her body and exploding it into the mist. Tiny icicles shredded the trees like shrapnel. Then she jumped, narrowly avoiding her own icicles as they pounded the ground where she stood.
"It's going to take more than that to get me," the boy whispered from the darkness.
Fear wrapped itself around Hama's heart. She couldn't breathe. Her bending was useless, dwarfed by these children. And the boy was taunting her. Playing with her the way a cat plays with a mouse.
Hama landed heavily, losing her balance and stumbling. Katara stepped forward, water ready to shoot. Mangetsu dropped the mist while arming himself with a large ice spear.
"There you are!" Mogui shouted, charging up to them. "Hold it right there, Hama!"
"We know what you've been doing!" Sokka called, panting.
"Give up," Aang demanded. "You're outnumbered."
"No," Hama grinned. "You've outnumbered yourselves!"
Hama raised her hands, bending the blood in the boys' bodies. Mogui became rigid, just like the other two. As Sokka started swinging towards Katara, Mogui found his arm still locked straight. He focused his energy, concentrating on the point of his fingers. A fireball emerging and surging forward. Hama had to drop him to jump out of the way, but she returned with a vengeance. His body twisted unnaturally before being flung through the trees, right into Mangetsu.
Meanwhile, Katara was on the defensive. She sprayed Aang into a tree, freezing him in place.
"I'm sorry, Aang," she called.
"It's ok," he replied.
Hama bloodbent Sokka to attack again. The witch swung Sokka's sword at his sister. The boy's face was full of fear. Katara quickly yanked the water from a sapling and flung it at Sokka's sword arm. He was sent flying back to hit a tree. Katara froze the water and pinned him there.
Mogui's body was being battered from being used as a bludgeon. His limbs were bent at awkward angles. Hama was using one hand to fling him around the forest after Mangetsu. He ricocheted off trees as he chased the boy.
Suddenly, as if something inside him snapped, and the mist returned, obscuring Mogui and Mangetsu. Mangetsu had used his sword to pin Mogui to a tree by his sleeves when it parted again.
"Don't hurt your friends, children," Hama said. "And don't let them hurt each other!"
Suddenly, Aang and Sokka were pulled from the trees and sent flying towards each other with Sokka's sword aimed right for Aang's heart. The boys screamed in terror, Mogui's yell cutting over Katara's cry of "no!" when the two stopped short, the sword mere inches from Aang's chest before the sword dropped out of Sokka's hand and they realized they had control again.
They turned to Hama, who stiffened and twitched, her expression fearful. Turning, they saw Katara staring at the woman with a confused expression, but it wasn't her bending when she looked at her hands.
Hama fell to her knees, and Mangetsu was seen standing behind her with a blank expression, bloodbending her. She struggled to move, only to have her arms wrapped close to her body and her head forced down.
She was able to look back as Toph and Muteki arrived with the prisoners, who immediately shackled the woman.
Mangetsu stood a little apart from the group, staring blankly at the ground.
"You're going to be locked away forever," a prisoner declared as she was pushed to walk back towards the village.
"My work here is done," the old woman cackled. "Congratulations, Mangetsu... you're a blood bender."
Katara reached out towards the boy, who slapped away her hand, and disappeared into the trees, leaving the group watching after him with concerned expressions as Hama's evil laugh filled the night.