Chapter 10- Human Puppets

"You're from the Southern Water Tribe?" Katara said with shock and excitement. Your eyes widen at the fact someone from the water tribe lives in the Fire nation.
"Just like you," Hama smiled.
"How did you know?" Sokka asked her.
"I heard you talking around your campfire," She confessed.
"But why didn't you tell us?"

"I wanted to surprise you! I bought all this food today so I could fix you a big Water Tribe dinner. Of course, I can't get all the ingredients I need here, but ocean kumquats are a lot like sea prunes if you stew them long enough," Hama explained, which made Aang stick his tongue out in disgust.

"I knew I felt a bond with you right away," Katara smiled brightly as Sokka cleared his throat.
"And I knew you were keeping a secret, so I guess we're both right. But I'm sorry we were sneaking around," That made Sokka get punched in the arm.

"Apology accepted. Now, let's get cooking!"

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Twig stuck his tongue out at the kumquats you offered him, and you shrugged while taking a bite out of it.
"Who wants five flavored soup?" Hama asked, and then started to bend the soup into each bowls.
"You're a waterbender! I've never met another waterbender from our tribe!" Katara said excitedly.

"That's because the Fire Nation wiped them all out. I was the last one," Hama mumbled with sadness.
"So how did you end up out here?" You asked her quietly, not wanting to upset her.
"I was stolen from my home," She admitted.

"It was over sixty years ago when the raids started. They came again and again, each time rounding up more of our waterbenders and taking them captive," She explained as she touched the table softly.
"We did our best to hold them off, but our numbers dwindled as the raids continued. Finally, I too was captured,"

"I was led away in chains. The last waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe," Katara gave Hama a comforting hug as you all looked at with with sympathy.
"They put us in terrible prisons here in the Fire Nation. I was the only one who managed to escape," Hama sighed.

"How did you get away? And why did you stay in the Fire Nation?" Sokka asked her, but Hama shook her head.
"I'm sorry. It's too painful to talk about anymore," She she's a small tear.
"We completely understand. We lost our mother in a raid," Katara comforted her.

"Oh, you poor things," Hama placed a hand on Katara's.
"I can't tell you what it means to meet you. It's an honor. You're a hero," She smiled at the old woman.
"I never thought I'd meet another Southern waterbender. I'd like to teach you what I know so you can carry on the Southern tradition when I'm gone," Hama offered.

"Yes! Yes, of course! To learn about my heritage, it would mean everything to me,"

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"Nothing yet?" You asked Twig as he sniffed the air, but he shook his head for anything outworldly.
"This has got to be the nicest natural setting in the Fire Nation. I don't see anything that would make a spirit mad around here," Aang pondered.

"Maybe the Moon Spirit just turned mean," Toph suggested, which made Sokka turn around angrily and you gasping at her words.
"The Moon Spirit is a gentle, loving lady! She rules the sky with compassion and lunar goodness!" Sokka shouted at her.

"Tophy, I love you, but you can't say such things about the beautiful goddess!" You told her with Twig coo angrily. Just then, a man walked along the road, where Aang caught his attention.
"Excuse me, sir, can you tell us anything about the spirit that's been stealing people?" He asked the man.

"Only one man ever saw it and lived, and that's Old Man Ding," The man told him, where Toph walked up to him.

"Where does Old Man Ding live?

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"Old Man Ding?" You called out the the man, who was hammering wood to his window. He turned his head, and hit his finger with the hammer.
"Ow, dang blame it! What? Can't you see I'm busy? Got a full moon rising. And why does everyone call me that? I'm not that old!" He grumbled and hopped down the ladder.

"Not ready to get snapped up by some moon monster yet at least," Old man Ding huffed out.
"We wanted to ask you about that," Sokka told him.
"Did you get a good look at the spirit that took you?" Aang asked as the man hammered the wood.
"Didn't see no spirit, just felt something come over me, like I was possessed," Old man Ding explained.

"Forced me to start walking toward the mountain. I tried to fight it, but I couldn't control my own limbs. It just about had me into a cave up there," He mimicked a puppet, which made you feel uneasy.

"And I looked up at the moon for what I thought would be my last glimpse of light. But then the sun started to rise and I got control of myself again!"
"I just high-tailed it away from that mountain as quick as I could!" He finished.

"Why would a spirit want to take people to a mountain?" Sokka wondered, and Toph suddenly shouted.
"Oh no! I did hear people screaming under the mountain. The missing villagers must still be there!" She said in a panic.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

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"I can hear them, they're this way!" You four ran through the forest, following Toph as you made it to the mountain, where she sensed the ground and made it to a giant hole inside the mountain.

"This is the place," She said.
"I can't see anything down there," Sokka squinted his eyes.
"That's why you have me. Let's go!" Toph said as you lifted a rock and formed it into lava, providing light so you three could see.

Eventually, you made it to a metal door, but Roph just broke it down and the light revealed people, all chained up and look disheveled.
"We're saved!" A man gasped out.
"I didn't know spirits made prisons like this. Who brought you here?" Aang asked as you all started to break their chains.

"It was no spirit," One man told him.
"It was a witch!" A woman spat out.
"A witch? What do you mean?" You asked them as Twig cooed in fear.

"She seems like a normal old woman, but she controls people like some dark puppetmaster!" Another woman said as her chains broke free.
"Hama!" Sokka growled, and you felt another shock through your body.
"Yes, the innkeeper!" Another man confirmed.

"I knew there was something creepy about her!" Sokka hissed.
"We have to stop Hama!" Aang said with determination.

"I'll get these people out of here. You go!"

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"Over here!" You said to the two boys as Twig picked up Katara's scent, knowing that Hama was with her. A ice shard hit a tree that was near you, so you ran towards Hama and Katara who were fighting.
"Katara!!" You shouted with you three in a battle stance.

"We know what you've been doing, Hama!" Sokka yelled with his sword out.
"Give up! You're outnumbered!" Aang glared with his fists raised up.
"No..." Hama mumbled, and snapped her head to face you.
"You've outnumbered yourselves!!" She grinned sadistically.

Suddenly, you felt your body freeze up, and Twig was thrown to a tree, crying out in pain.
"Twig!!" You shouted, but you couldn't move, you felt like the inside of your body was moving by itself, like someone was pulling on your veins.

You weren't the only one who was controlled as Sokka and Aang were thrown towards Katara, with you being thrown too. Katara swiftly dodged and kept on fighting Hama.
"Watch out!!" Sokka shouted as Hama made him swing his sword at Katara.

"It's like my brain has a mind of its own! Stop it arm, stop it!" He shouted as Katara used her water to throw him aside.
"This feels weird!" Aang yelped as Katara also threw him to a tree, freezing him on the tree.
"Don't hate my water girl!" You yelled as you were thrown towards her, where she pushed you away with her bending, and you groaned in pain.

"Don't hurt your friends, Katara," Hama mocked, lifting her hand up, which made your arm move on its own. She grinned maniacally as she moved your arm to your side, gripping your dagger and pulling it out.

Your eyes widen as your body moved so you're on your knees, looking up in the sky as your arms moved so the dagger is pointing at you.
"K-katara!!" You whimpered as Hama forced you to open your mouth, and tears poured down as she laughed with malice, and threw her hand down to have the dagger plunge into your mouth.

"And don't let them hurt each other!"

"NO!!"

Suddenly, you felt your body again, and you opened your eyes to see the dagger inches from your tongue, so you immediately threw it away, scrambling up as Sokka and Aang broke free from the ice and ran towards you.
"(Y/N)! Are you okay?" Aang said as you shakily nodded.

"I ain't going to loose my tongue again," You breathed out, and you all turned to see Hama, but she wasn't in control of her body.
"Could it be..." You turned to Katara, who had tears in her eyes as she blood bended Hama to the ground. Twig got back up and his scream caused the colony to come after and surrounded Hama, hissing and scowling at her.

Eventually Toph ran to you guys with the missing villagers, where they picked up Hama and placed her in cuffs.
"You're going to be locked away forever," A man hissed, but Hama just grinned.
"My work is done. Congratulations, Katara... you're a bloodbender," She laughed darkly as Katara covered her mouth with tears pouring down.

You hugged Katara tightly as the moon shined down on you all, but most importantly, the dagger that you almost cut your tongue off with again, glistening from the moonlight, with a small drop of blood dripping down from the blade, seeping into the grass.

The drop of your blood, is one step further to your fate.