I was somewhere cold. Dark. The wind was biting, and even the moon was shining in this eerie white glow. I shivered."Hello?" I called out. "No! Leave us be or I will make you regret this!" A fierce voice rippled through the night. It was just beyond the snowbanks surrounding me, so I, with nowhere to go anyways, stumbled towards the sound. A girl with pure black hair was kneeling on the ground behind a girl in blue clothes. Her lustrous brown hair was in a side braid, a silvery blue headband was wrapped around her head. Her sharp blue eyes shone dangerously in the misty night. They were trapped, a group of dark figures blocking every possible escape route. "Stand back!"

"What're you-" And then I felt it. An invisible hand, clawing at my insides, forcing me to kneel. It was a terrifying feeling, like my body wasn't even mine anymore. I was merely a puppet, whether I burned or drowned, it was all up to the puppetmaster.

"H-help! I don't- I can't-"

The grasp on my throat had loosened.

Silence.

Then, peace was broken by a huge roar.

A wave of black water crashed down onto me, locking me in its freezing and mortifying embrace.

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"AAAAHHHH!" I awoke to find myself flailing in the water. No, not the black variety but of the swampy, stinky kind.

"Heehee. You know, you talk when you sleep. When are you gonna start singing?" Came the same old squeaky voice. I sighed while looking up, expecting to see the yellow bird His Annoyingness Uruz, but instead I saw a man with short tousled hazel hair and mischievous golden eyes wearing a yellow/orange  robe, alongside an even more infuriating smirk on his pale face. He looked about my age.

"Heh, heh."

I paused, then realized that it was Uruz's voice coming from the man's mouth. Uruz turned into a human? Well, you learn something new every day.

"Okaaaaaayyyy... That's new. So birds can now shapeshift. What's next? Dragon-riding Vikings?" I asked.

Uruz paused.

"What? That's it? No 'What? Who are you?', or even a scream? You don't even have the decency to be confused by my awesome new appearance?" He pulled at his hair looking extremely frustrated.

I guess I felt sorry for him, so I said, "AAAAHHH! Who are you?" In my best oh-I'm-so-scared voice.

Uruz groaned. "Oh sure, mock the bird."

"Sorry. Just trying to make you feel better, birdbrain."

"Shut up, sleeptalker."

"Thank you, Commander comeback."

"You're welcome, Sargent Sarcasm."

We both stopped, and smiled at each other.

Uruz started walking to a dry patch of ground while I thought about my strange dream. "Gas." Uruz said, looking at me. "Huh?" I asked, scratching my head.

"The swamp gas does that to you at times like these. Sometimes it tells you nonsense, or shows someone from your past. Sometimes it gives you glimpses of the future. The gas here, it's funny." He shrugged, looking thoughtful.

"So, this girl... It's someone that I will meet?"

He just shrugged again. Really, what is with this guy and shrugging?

"Eh, beats me. I'm not He-Who-Knows-One-Thousand-Things."

"Helpful. Real helpful, Uruz." I muttered. 

"Well, see-" He began.

Sploosh.

"Shut up! I hear  a splash!" I grabbed at his shirt.

"Splash? Oh. You mean 'sploosh'."

He turned around to the source of the splashy(Oh sorry, splooshy.) sound, staring straight into the hollow eyes of a wooden mask on a swamp monster of green marsh grass. The thing was easily a few meters high, and mad. Really mad. It grabbed Uruz and swallowed him.

"No, Uruz!" I yelled, making a flee for my life. 

Which lasted for about thirty seconds.

Then I was caught by the collar and dragged off into the deeper part of the Swamp.

"Let go of me!" I tried using my fire to break free, then remembered that fire that doesn't burn anything can't really be of any use while battling a very hyper (and smelly) swamp monster.

"Ugh! stupid yellow fire!" I yelped. I tried throwing some socks from my carry-on bag. No use. You can't fight smelly with smellier. No, sir, not when you're in the swamp.

I then made an attempt to sucker-punch the monster, but its slimy fingers slipped and I fell back into the water.

The horrendous green thing stopped in its tracks and came closer, its creepy wooden face looming at me, scrutinizing me with its hollow eyes.

"Uruz...... I'm so sorry...." I blinked. Tears were on the edge of falling. I couldn't even help him....

I closed my eyes and allowed myself to be captured.

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I opened my eyes. I was somewhere inside the swamp, but this place wasn't natural. Tents stuck out in odd angles here. The entire place was mouldy, grassy and most important of all, dry. It was quite dark, with only the afternoon sun glimpsing out of holes between leaves. I stared at the dark green ground,watching the sunlight dance around and silhouettes of  birds passing by.

A copper pot filled to the brim with some kind of stew was cooking over a fire.

"RRRAAAAAAHHHHH!!!! BRAAAIIIINNNSSSSS! BRAAIIINNSSS!" A voice thundered, scaring the socks off me. I yelped and grabbed onto a rock. The swamp monster was back, and now it wanted brains?

I gulped, staring at the copper pot then swallowed. Brain-stew?

Was I chased around by zombies?

"Alright, alright. You guys can stop now. Dagny, you can calm down." came Uruz's disoriented voice from inside the swamp monster's belly.

Oh no. The monster was using Uruz to get to me! What to do?

"Sure?" An unfamiliar voice came through the swamp monster's chest. The monster had stopped moving and I was forced to listen to their odd conversation. So was Uruz's ghost trying to persuade the monster into not eating my brains?

"Yup."

The beast then turned and collapsed into the world's biggest plate of salad. Uruz came out, not one scratch on him, and laughed. "Your face! You thought I was dead, didn't you!"

"Uruz! You're okay? You're not hurt?" I ran forth and hugged him. He tensed up but hugged me back. I could smell a faint ginger scent through the swampy smell.

"Um, sure! Uh, who do you think you're talking to, Ki- Er, Dagny?"

Ki?

I pulled back. "Who the heck is Ki? What a strange name!" He looked really uncomfortable.

"No one!" He squaked.

"Wait... Is she the one before me? The Chosen? And her name was Ki?"

"What, no? Her name was definetely not Ki!" 

"Well sorry! I had no idea!" I huffed. I stopped short and punched him square in the shoulder.

"Stop freaking me out, okay?"

Uruz looked at me warily,as if i'd turn into this Ki person he so bluntly mentioned any minute.

Then he nodded and morphed back into the yellow bird he was.

"So... only bird and human forms?" I asked, gesturing at him.

He nodded. "Been that way since forever. I'd love to go with 'zombie', but, meh......"

The mound of swampgrass stated groaning and swishing, splattering drops of emerald on my crimson tunic.

I grimaced and wiped them off with a single swish. This swamp obviously hated my wardrobe choice, since it kept on ruining my clothes. Dam swamp.

"So. Are you gonna introduce us, Uruz?" The fellow in the swampgrass asked. He was a peculiar little fellow, his grey hair sticking out at every angle possible, and he was only wearing a white loincloth speckled with forest green. 

Uruz cleared his throat. "As I was going to do, Dagny, Huu." He gestured at the chubby man before me.

"Who?"

"Huu. Nice to meetcha!" He said cheerfully.

"Who?"

"Yeah, Huu." He smiled.

"WHO??"

"Yup, Huu." He nodded, albeit a bit confused.

Uruz nudged me. "His name is Huu. As in 'Huu'."

"Yeah. Great help." I muttered. "Hello.... Huu. May I ask what you're doing in this weird place?"

Huu raised his sweaty brows and his grey eyes glittered in the sunlight. He looked absolutely spiritual.

Well, as spiritual as a dumpster hippie could get anyways.

"May I ask what you're doing here then?" Huu smiled. I looked around and saw Uruz whistling on a tree branch. I pointed straight at Uruz, who'd shifted back to his bird form. "Him."

"Eh? Uruz. You never said that another Keeper has appeared?" He questioned, rubbing his belly.

"Oh. Must've slipped my mind then. Huu, meet the new Keeper, Dagny Rei Huo."

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"So, you guys live in a swamp." I said, for the billionth time. The sun had gone down and we were just chillaxing in a circle around the blazing campfire that sent out waves of swampy-smelling smoke. As for dinner, we were in for a real treat! 

For the appetizer, we have barbecued swampgrass wrapped in flaky fly wings, served with a pinch of salt.

As for the salad, we have swampy swampgrass marinated in swampwater.

For soup, hot salty swampwater bee soup.

The main course? Ah, you'd be pleased. An all-you-can-eat giant bug buffet! Yay.

For dessert, you can either have chopped swamp plants with a side of swampwater ice, or you can choose to pass this one.

I chose pass.

These people should really consider opening a gourmet restaurant.

NOT!

I snarfed down the appetizer with barely a grimace, silently congratulating myself for not gagging.

"Geez, how do you even live with this? I mean, swampgrass, swampwater, even the ice is made out of swampwater! And you actually swallow those powdery monstrosities with barely a choke or a frown!" I couldn't take it. It was just too fascinating! These people must have a will of steel or something. Maybe they've gone through some intense training.

"Hmmm? Oh, the swampy taste is because you forgot to boil tha' water of yers!" Said a man with a lanky frame and loincloth made of unknown leaves.

.....Or maybe it's because I forgot to boil it. Uruz chuckled beside me, his eyes glinting with a strange light.  Well, can't blame me for not being able to boil water with my useless yellow fire.

I reached over to the campfire and started heating up my cup of water.

"Yer a firebendee with all dem fancy schmancy shinamagigs, right? You should be able to boil water with yer bendin', shouldn't ye?"

I shrugged, setting aside my un-boiled water and stretched out an arm. Palms up, I summoned a flickering yellow flame that danced in my hands.

The waterbenders around me 'Oooh'ed and 'ah' ed.

The man grinned. "See? Though yer bendin's a tad bit strange, with tha' odd color of yer's, you can still summon fire!"

I shook my head and proceeded to place my hand on a pile of lumber strewn carelessly across the floor. The man cried out in alarm. "Careful, you'll set the entire-" Uruz placed his hand on the man's shoulder and shushed him.

When I took my hand away from the wood, it was unscathed, good as new.

"-Swamp on fire." The man blinked. "Wait, what? Didn't you just put yer fire-filled hand on that thing?" The others chorused in agreement, some eyeing me with weary glances.

"Oh. Well, you see..." I began.