-Oh goodness, it certainly has been a while, hasn't it? I kept thinking on working on this for a while but I was so lost on how to continue the chapter. It was frustrating but I felt guilty for not working on it, and then when I wanted to work on other stories my program just decided that it hated me, so there was that. Still, I finally finished this chapter, so I'm happy. Warning, it is a little odd and it was so very late as I was writing. I read this over so I'm fairly confident that it's alright. =) I hope you enjoy the chapter, and I apologize for taking so long to update this story. I was happy that people were still reading, though, and I wanted to thank iciclefangAJ, fluttered heart, dreamsmadereality, Fantasy-Mania31, Jimworm020, illowKP, SmartOotori, daydreamer0001, TheAlleyCat18, TARDIS-follower, The Black and White Knight, mayfire21, NistyS, Iluvhamster, DarkasDusk, hungergamespettalover, Mizuki-the-dead, TheBlackScaledDragon, lifethroughanotherseyes, Layla347, kuttiepie3, Microtoa, downwiththegames, and Berrygrey for a combination of follows, favorites, and reviews. =) I know that it's been such a long time since I updated, but thank you all for having an interest in the story. It means a lot to me each time I read that someone has been looking at my story and even though I don't update immediately I'm still happy. =) So, thank you all, everyone who has ever read this story, and please enjoy reading. I ramble.- SpiffyPixie1

The Avatar's Disciples: Story of Mayu

Chapter 14

I should have been glad that I had finally found Aang. It was my chance to help him, right?

Yet, as we landed and started setting up camp for the night, I couldn't help but think of Zuko and wonder what he must have been feeling. The guilt tore at me, making me sick, and I had to stumble away from the campsite once I started the fire.

Aang found me huddled behind a tree, heaving the contents of my stomach onto the ground.

"Are you alright?" His voice was concerned and his eyes were wide. I was struck again by how young he was. Comparatively I wasn't that much older, but it was strange.

I nodded my head and kicked dirt over my puke, not wanting to see it. "Yeah, I'm fine, Aang; just not feeling my best."

Aang smiled. "Well, if you need anything I'm here to talk." He tilted his head to the side and frowned a bit. "How did you know my name before?"

Ah, an excellent question. I sighed and leaned against the tree, touching its surface so that the roughness could help me think. "Whenever you go into that weird state of mind, where your powers are surging and everything, the other Disciples and I can see through your eyes. It's like we're there with you in your mind, and we can see and hear what you're experiencing. There was one such moment where that girl, Katara, said your name."

My new friend winced, remembering the moment as well. "Oh. Well, that kinda makes sense, I guess."

I knew what he was thinking and put my hand on his shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. "It's alright, Aang."

He just took my word for it that I wasn't upset. It startled me in a way, how trusting Aang was, but then as we entered the camp once again I saw how untrusting of me Sokka and Katara were.

Strangely, that was comforting.

I sat before the fire as they looked at me expectantly, suspicion deep in their eyes. It made me smile. "I know that neither of you have reason to trust me, given your past experiences with firebenders, but you really don't need to worry. I'm here to help Aang."

"Who are you, then," Sokka asked, arms folded.

I noticed that Katara had her hand always near her water skin, obviously ready to use it if need be. "My name is Mayu Oshiro. If either of you have heard of the old legends, I'm one of the Disciples of the Avatar; the Disciple of Fire. The Disciples of Air, Water, and Earth have met up as far as I know and are traveling together now, but I don't know their names."

There was shock in the eyes of the brother and sister and I waited patiently for their response.

Katara was the first to splutter out, "B-but Gram-gram said the Disciples haven't been seen in years! A hundred years!"

I raised a brow and gestured to Aang. "Neither has the Avatar, yet here he is. The Disciples are connected to Aang by spirit. Even though we are not related by blood, we are siblings in spirit."

Sokka exchanged a look with his sister, but he looked a little less worried. "How do we know you're telling the truth?"

"You don't." This surprised them, sure, but I couldn't force them to trust me. "You don't know me, know my intentions, or know whether or not I'm trustworthy, but I will help Aang regardless. I'm here because I want to be." I was fiddling with my bracelet again, pain lancing through my chest. "I betrayed someone very dear to me because they were going down the wrong path, and I need to protect Aang from them."

An image of Zuko smiling and holding my hand flashed through my head, making the guilt roil in my stomach again. "You can trust that I will protect Aang with my life or I will die." It sounded final, as if I had made a promise that I couldn't take back. Regardless, it was a promise that I wouldn't take back even if I could. I was going to help the world survive, regardless of my pain or wanting.

We settled down to sleep that night with the intentions of going to Omashu at the wish of Aang. He had been there before, before the whole incident happened that had trapped him for 100 years, and he wanted to return there for something.

I laid beside by the fire, watching it, and let the calm beauty lull me to sleep. We would most likely reach Omashu before the other Disciples could get there, but I felt that everything would work out. We'd find them soon. Our place was with the Avatar. It was with him we would fight.

It was with Aang we would stand fast, beating back the enemy that threatened to overtake the world.

It was by his side we would succeed and help him to save the world and restore the balance, or by his side we would fall.

"You want me to cut off your hair?"

Katara was still tired, as we all were, but we needed to get an early start.

I only nodded and pulled my long hair forward. "And I'll need to make an eyepatch. It's possible that people might still recognize me if there are wanted posters of me floating around."

Sokka and Katara were back to looking at me with suspicion. "Why would there be wanted posters of you?"

Aang was distracted by Appa for the moment, so I sighed and just gave them the gist of it. "A couple of years ago I pissed off the princess of the Fire Nation by slapping her, a misunderstanding happened when my mother made a wall of earth appear, and so there was a huge search for me for a while because she made it seem like I was an earthbending spy." I smiled wryly. "It's easy to recognize me because of my eyes, but I think I can pass as a one-eyed Earth Kingdom girl with short hair if I try."

Katara nodded and reached into her pack, then removed a pair of scissors. "I don't usually cut anyone's hair except my own and Sokka's."

I shrugged and sat patiently, not worried. "It's okay. I trust you completely." With a glance at Sokka, though, I added, "But I would rather my hair not look like his."

Aang snorted in laughter as he walked back over to us and Sokka looked offended as his sister set to work on my hair. With each snip of the scissors, my head felt lighter and lighter until it felt as if it would float away.

"Okay," Katara announced, pride in her voice. "I'm finished."

I reached up to feel my hair then froze. It was cut in such a way that it barely fell past my jawline and got shorter around my neck and then even shorter still at the back of my head. Surprisingly, it felt nice, but I knew that I'd have to get used to the change in weight. "It feels great. Thank you."

She had a beaming smile. "You're welcome!"

It relieved me in a way because she had relaxed around me somewhat. I still wasn't 'trustworthy', sure, but she wasn't on the defensive around me.

I hopped on Appa's back and settled into the saddle, refusing to look at my long tresses that were lying on the ground in a pile. They only served to remind me of Zuko running his hand through my hair as we lied down to sleep and thinking of him again just made me feel sick.

Eventually I would have to get over this guilt, but for now it ate at me.

Sokka was already there, glaring at me because of my comment about his hair earlier, and Katara followed soon after, sitting proper and ladylike.

Aang grinned back at us, reigns in his hands. "Everyone ready?"

We all gave him varied versions of 'yes' and he nodded, then gently snapped the reigns and called, "Yip-yip!"

Our journey to Omashu was a short one, but we stopped in Siaw to get food supplies first; both meat and vegetarian.

When we landed in the middle of Siaw we caused quite a stir. No one in the village had ever seen a flying bison like Appa before, nor anything like Momo, so more than a few people screamed in mixed variations of fear and awe.

I looked around for my mother in the crowd of villagers as I hopped off of Appa, but she was nowhere to be seen. I asked Katara to take care of getting the food and searched for Yu.

She, of course, was resting in her tent with the fire burning low, face still set in a permanent mask of distaste. Her one good eye settled on me, searching my face.

My hair was different and I had crafted a makeshift eye patch in an attempt to disguise myself, so I removed the eye patch. "Yu, where's my mom?"

Yu's eyes widened and then narrowed again. "You're alive." Her voice was both disbelieving and relieved. "We were afraid of what might've happened to you."

I kneeled in front of the elderly story teller and leveled my gaze with hers. "Where's mom?" Part of me knew that I wouldn't like the answer, but I needed to know regardless.

"She left the village a few hours after you were taken," Yu whispered. "None of us have seen her since." The old woman tilted her head to the side, curiosity fully alive in her one good eye. "How did you escape from those men?"

Images of my mother being in danger flashed through my mind. "Where did she go?"

"I don't know, Mayu. She just left, saying that she had to help you."

I cursed, earning the dirtiest of looks from Yu. "Why would she leave!? She's wanted by the Fire Nation too!"

"You're her daughter." Yu reached forward and laid a frail hand on my arm. "She only wants to protect you." She asked me again, "How did you escape from those men?"

I held Yu's gaze as steadily as I could and whispered, "I killed them all."

Katara was arguing with Sokka over the price of a large fish, Momo chattering on her shoulder, when I walked over to them and just plopped down a few coins for the vender to take.

I had once again donned the eye patch and was mostly unrecognizable to the villagers. The vender just smiled at me and went about their business.

Sokka eyed me warily. "What's wrong? You look like you're gonna be sick."

I very well might've been just then. "It's fine. Let's just hurry up and head on to Omashu." I looked around, confused. "Where's Aang?"

Katara pointed over to Appa and we watched as Aang sat beside his large furry friend, excitedly telling stories of flying bison to the children of the village who listened with rapt attention.

I smiled and shook my head, heading over to him. "Aang, we need to leave soon."

He only grinned and proceeded to finish his story, earning a laugh from the children.

I recognized Shu and wanted to tell him hi, but I didn't want to let anyone else know I was there. It was better that none of the other villagers recognize me in case they were put in danger.

Shu asked Aang what the arrows on his hands and head were.

"They're the tattoos I earned through deep mediation and study." He held out his hands and arms for the children to see, delighted at their fascination.

Of course they didn't know about airbending tattoos. Even I didn't know much about the airbending nomads, and that was because they were all but extinct now. I looked at my brother and worried about the future, wondering how it would turn out.

Still, Aang turned to me and smiled, oblivious to my fears, and I felt at ease.

He was young, sure, but his heart was pure. Katara was strapping down a pack on Appa's saddle and she called for us, then smacked Sokka's hand when he was reaching for one of the packs.

I was comfortable with these people. They were so . . . calm. I wondered if they were just unaware that danger was coming or if they were confident that they could overcome it. As we took off again toward Omashu, I desperately hoped it was the latter.

We needed to believe that we could beat Ozai.

Still, as I looked at Aang, I worried. He was saddled with the biggest of responsibilities; I hoped the strain wouldn't be too much for him.

We were all standing just outside Omashu when we realized that we'd have to disguise Aang.

I sighed and rummaged through the bags, wondering if we had anything useful for disguises when Aang suddenly pulled out chunks of loose fur from Appa. I gasped and widened my eyes. "What're you doing!?"

In answer, he put the fur on his head and fashioned some sort of silly hair and a beard and mustache.

Katara and I grimaced. "Was that necessary?"

"I can be an old man!" He bent over and used his staff as a walking stick in an attempt to look, well, like an old man.

Sokka raised a brow and folded his arms. "Something doesn't look quite right."

His sister nodded. "You still look too young."

"I can fix that," I said with a grin. I reached down and grabbed a fistful of dirt and got a little water from Katara's pouch. "Hold still, alright?"

It took a couple of minutes, but I had managed to make it so that Aang looked passably like an elder if no one looked too close; or if water didn't get dumped on him.

Sokka looked as if he was struggling not to smile. "You look like you could be Gram-Gram's brother."

Katara smacked his arm but took a deep breath so she wouldn't laugh. "You look fine, Aang." But then she turned to me and grabbed another handful of dirt. "Now you."

I backed away and held up my hands. "I already look like I lost an eye! Besides, I'm not going with you guys."

"Where are you going?" Sokka folded his arms and tilted his head, strangely concerned and confused about me, and I thought it was sweet.

Still, I didn't want to worry them. I bit my lip and looked off in the direction I knew the other Disciples were in. "I want to go get the others; just to make sure that they're safe."

"Others?" Katara was obviously puzzled and I sighed.

"The other Disciples. I . . . figured that I could go get them while you guys were in Omashu and then we could meet up again after you were done." I didn't want to tell them why, didn't want for them to worry, but Aang came to my rescue.

"Alright, Mayu." He smiled at me, trusting my judgment even though he didn't know my reasons. "Just be safe. We'll be fine here."

I almost let out an extremely relieved breath. "I'll be safe, and I'll make sure to bring them all back, safe and sound." I managed a small smile, attempting to seem nonchalant. "You three stay out of trouble. I'll see you soon."

They waved goodbye to me, and Appa seemed to nod in my direction, maybe his own little version of a send-off. I heard Momo make his little chattering noise and saw him finally wake up from his nap and glide to Aang's shoulder, where he held up his tiny little hand and actually waved to me.

The part of me that loved cute and fuzzy little animals made a hellish noise of squealing in my head at the sheer sweetness that was Momo. The little lemur hadn't really taken to me all that well at first and had avoided me, but had decided that it liked me a little when I had previously bonked Sokka on the head for joking again that we eat him when we ran out of food.

I left the presence of my friends quickly and took off after buying an ostrich horse from a man that was selling a few by the road, obviously for those that needed transportation.

He seemed pleasant enough and respectfully kept his eyes away from my eye patch, believing that I must be blind or missing that eye. "Hello, miss. Are you interested in travel this day?"

"Yes," I said quietly, thinking of why and feeling guilty for not telling my friends.

"Well, just pick out whichever one you like," the man told me, gesturing to the five ostrich horses behind him. "They're all strong and healthy, guaranteed to get you where you need to go."

I nodded absentmindedly and scanned the eyes of the creatures, wondering which to pick. I knew that I had to get to the others quickly and I wanted a beast that could handle seeing battle without freaking out and running.

My eyes met the black orbs of the ostrich horse standing off to the side, the one that had been drinking from the makeshift water trough outside the pen. She was plain, though most ostrich horses weren't exactly brilliantly colored; light brown with a darker brown for its mane and tail, and then a random strip of white going down from its forehead to the beginning of its beak.

It wasn't looking at me with fear or aggressiveness; it bowed its head, as if granting permission to me.

That was a good enough answer for me. I needed to get going. "I'll take her," I told the man, pointing to the one with the white streak.

He seemed surprised and attempted to change my mind. "No no, young miss, you don't want that one. She's very skittish and won't let anyone ride her."

I smiled and shrugged. "Well, you did tell me to pick out whichever one I liked, sir, and I like her." Striding past the man, I put a foot on a gap in the pen and used it to propel myself onto the ostrich horse's back.

She just accepted my weight and shook her head, as if ready to go, and I grinned at the man who was staring with wide eyes.

After a moment he sighed and smiled wryly. "Alright then, if that's what you want."

I nodded and dug around in my pouch for the coins that I kept and handed them down to the man, uncomfortable with throwing money in case I missed. "Thank you, sir."

"You too, miss," he said, waving as I had the ostrich horse leave the pen. "Take care."

I waved my free hand in a sort of salute and led my new friend down the road in a brisk trot for a mile or so, then eventually into a gallop.

She seemed calmer than the man had let on, or maybe that was just with me? Still, she seemed very strong and reliable and as we headed in the direction of the other Disciples I wondered silently on a name to give to the ostrich horse.

Diamond? No, that's a little flashy. Maybe . . . Maybe Hope?

"So, are you going to tell Aang and the others why you left in the first place after you go back?"

The voice startled me so bad that I yelped and almost fell off the ostrich horse.

She seemed spooked as well, though probably because of my reaction more than anything, and stamped her feet as I jumped off and turned to face the source of the voice, fire in my hands.

Strangely, it was a young woman that didn't seem threatening at all. She could've been from the Earth Kingdom, with her brown hair and eyes, but her skin was pale, like that of a child of the Fire Nation. Then again, maybe she just didn't go out into the sunlight all that much.

She smiled, a strangely familiar smile that made me feel at ease. "You're absolutely right; I don't."

I squinted at her in confusion and let the fire in my hands die out. "Y-you don't what?"

"I don't go outside when it's sunny; I get sunburnt easily. I mostly like it when it's cloudy or raining."

My jaw dropped. "Are you a mind reader?"

"Of course not," she stated, hopping down from my ostrich horse. "I just know what you're going to say, and I know what you're thinking."

"But how?" It made absolutely no sense to me, and I couldn't for the life of me figure out why I wasn't afraid or alarmed by her.

"Because I'm writing how you feel, if you want the honest answer," she told me softly. "I could write that you're scared and you're thinking of sending fire at me, but you're not a cruel person. That's not the kind of person I wanted you to be." There was a kind smile on her face and pride in her eyes as she looked at me.

"I don't understand." Maybe she was crazy. I slowly backed away, intending to jump back on my ostrich horse and ride away as fast as I could, but then I was already back on the animal with the woman riding another one right beside me.

She smiled apologetically. "Sorry. I know you think I'm nuts, but I also know that you want to hurry up and find the other Disciples." Then she seemed to scoff at herself. "Well, of course you do."

For some reason I didn't stop or go in another direction. I just rode alongside the odd woman, curious. "How did you know about the Disciples?"

"Because I created them, just as I created you, Mayu." Then she grinned and there was happiness in her voice. "My name is Spiffy. Obviously that's not my real name, but that's alright."

"Spiffy?" It sounded a bit silly and I wanted to laugh, but that seemed rude.

"Not rude at all," Spiffy stated. "It is silly. My username is SpiffyPixie1 on this site, like it is for gaming things like Xbox or League of Legends, but I prefer the shortened version 'Spiffy'."

None of what she said made sense to me. A box with an x on it? A league that was legendary? And these were some sort of odd games, I guessed, but none that I'd ever heard of. "I . . . Really, really don't understand, Spiffy."

She laughed and shook her head. "You're not technically supposed to. I could just write it so that you do suddenly know everything about what I'm saying, but it'd be useless information for you." Spiffy shrugged and urged her ostrich horse to go faster so that it would keep up with mine.

It was crazy, everything that she was telling me. None of it made any sense at all. She made me, made the other Disciples? "Are you a god? A spirit?"

"No. I'm a writer." And then she smiled calmly, as if that explained what the hell was going on.

"But I don't understand; you're a writer, so you're writing about me? For what?"

"A story." Her smile fell and she sighed a bit sadly. "A rather sad story in some parts, admittedly, though no one knows it yet."

"And it's mine?" I wasn't sure why anyone would write a story about me. I was just another person.

"It is your story, yes." The smile was back, just her normal upturn at the corner of her mouth. "I love to write, and what I'm writing now is something called a fanfiction; a story based off something already in existence with whatever twist or change that the author feels like adding." She held up a hand, as if asking me to wait before saying anything. "And to a lot of people it seems stupid. Some fanfics can be, and I'm sure that there are people who think this one is idiotic, but I like it well enough. I wanted it to have meaning, and for you to have substance to who you are."

"Substance?" I frowned. "But I am who I am."

We rode on for a while but then we stopped. And what I mean by that is that we were no longer on the road or on the ostrich horses. We were sitting in a strange room and the woman was sitting at a desk with an odd glowing box in front of her.

I almost felt like I had died, but the firm pounding of my heart in my chest assured me that I was, indeed, still alive.

Two small . . . things that resembled dogs jumped up and started pawing at my legs, and I melted at the sight of them.

"Th-they're adorable," I breathed, sitting on the edge of the strange bed with the metal railing so that they could jump up and sit with me.

One dog was larger than the other, and this one was almost entirely white with little brown spots on his ears and then a large brown spot over his right eye that stretched back toward his ear. He looked so sweet and he was wagging his short little tail so hard that his entire backside was wagging as well, making me laugh.

The other dog was quite small, half the first dog's size, and was a sort of light brown with blond coloring around his belly and neck. There was a white stripe going from the back of his neck that then curved on the top of his head and continued down to his little white muzzle. His tail was longer than the other one's had been, and he was still just as cute.

Spiffy swirled around in her chair and smiled at me. "They're my dogs. The white one is Wilson, and the smaller one is Walker. I thought they might help to calm you."

They did, honestly, but then a thought occurred to me. "If you created me, couldn't you have just 'written' that I was calm anyway?"

She shrugged but smiled a bit coyly. "Yeah, but where's the fun in that? I thought I'd just pop you in here to explain a few things to you and the readers."

I looked around suspiciously, not seeing anyone but us and the dogs. "There are people here?"

"No, no," she laughed, taking a seat on the bed and pulling the smaller dog, Walker, into her lap to pet him. "This is a story to others in my world, a story that I am writing, so they'd be reading this, but they're not actually here. They could imagine us and the dogs, create a modern room in their minds that we'd be occupying, but you can't see them."

This information made me uncomfortable and I wasn't even sure why because I didn't fully understand it. It was frustrating. "So there are people reading about us right now?"

"There will be, in the future, but not as I'm writing this." A cup appeared in her hand with a dark drink inside. "Here; it's called soda. Or coke. Or soda pop, depending on a person's preference of what to call it." She drank from another cup and set it down on a square table beside the bed. "I prefer soda, honestly, but only because I like to say it."

This woman was really, really strange, but I liked her in a way. I frowned and bit my lip, wondering that, if what she said was true and I was really just a part of a story she was writing, if she had just written that I liked her. Did I have no say in what I felt?

"You do, Mayu." She smiled and seemed sorry. "For me, in my mind, you are real, even as I'm writing this. It's bringing a character to life in words. You have dreams, ambitions, wants, and wishes, but in a way you do have a say in what you feel." The odd glowing box appeared in her lap and she showed me the words of what was being said and that kept appearing even as I read it-this.

My head was spinning and I was reading that my head was spinning, and I felt overwhelmed. "Spirits," I breathed out, still watching the words appear. It was unnerving.

Then the strange box was gone, back on the desk, and I felt immense relief. "What the hell was that?"

"My laptop," Spiffy answered, taking another sip from her cup. "Let's move on though, shall we? This has probably gone on too long."

I could only nod as I took a careful sip from the cup she had given me. The drink was . . . sweet and unlike anything I had ever tasted before. Little bubbles splashed up every now and then and it served to remind me that I had no clue what the hell was going on. "Spiffy?"

"Yes?"

She had to know what I was about to say, but I asked anyway. "Why're you telling me this? Why did you even bring me here?"

Spiffy shrugged and looked down into her cup. "I was planning this chapter out for a while, unsure of how to move forward with it without making it seem stupid, and then my program stopped working and so I spent an even longer period not working on this story, but it started working again recently and I figured out today that I was ignoring something that you have; your visions."

"My what?" But even as I asked, I remembered. Those times I would dream about something, see something in my mind even as I was awake, and then have it happen later, like when Zuko had been about to set fire to the village on Kyoshi Island.

Spiffy nodded and smiled knowingly. "Before I remembered your visions, I thought about just moving the story along like this, getting you to the other Disciples, but I thought it'd be odd with that alone, like it wouldn't make much sense." She shook her head and swirled the drink around in her cup. "And you had another vision, didn't you?"

Of course she would know, but I nodded anyway. "Yeah," I whispered, thinking of the unsettling dream I had while taking a nap on Appa. "It was when we were on our way to Omashu."

The others were running, obviously scared and unsure of how to get away from their pursuers. There were two boys, neither identical, and a girl that scrambled to keep up with them.

I recognized them instantly even though I had never seen them before.

They said nothing, just kept running toward the direction they knew the Avatar was in.

Crashing was heard behind them, getting closer and closer, and the girl screamed as she fell, tripping over a root.

"Bo! Shan!"

Both boys turned to help her, fear etched on their features.

"Don't worry, Yun," the blue-eyed one said, trying desperately to keep his voice steady.

"Yeah, we've got you," the brown-eyed one stated, picking her up so they could keep running.

A ball of fire came flying at them and they dropped to the ground, narrowly avoiding getting hit.

"We're not gonna get out of here, are we," the brown-eyed one asked, picking Yun up again in their futile attempt at escape.

"Don't say that," the blue-eyed boy scolded, panting and leading the way through the trees. "She's on her way to get us. You can feel it too."

The girl winced in pain; the pace the boys were running at was killing her sprained ankle, but she refused to make noise. She didn't want them to worry. "We just have to stay alive until then. She'll be here soon."

The crashing stopped for a moment and the three kids stopped running, listening and worrying, scared beyond belief, but there was only silence.

The girl sighed and slipped out of the brown-eyed boy's arms, barely putting weight on her hurt ankle. "I think we lost them."

They were relieved, so very relieved and happy that they were safe, and then the blue-eyed boy yelled as a man darted out of the trees and grabbed him roughly, pinning his arms to his sides.

"Bo!" The brown-eyed boy ran to help but was tackled to the ground by another man that proceeded to knock him unconscious and tie him up.

"Got 'im," the man stated, smiling viciously.

"Let them go!" The girl was barely staying on her feet, exhausted and terrified, but her rage kept her upright. She held out her hands, willing the wind to come to her, and knocked the man who held Bo away, allowing him to drop to the ground. Before she could come to Shan's rescue, however, a third man appeared from behind the trees and pinned her to the ground, grinning.

"This one's an airbender, boys!" His voice was ecstatic, completely excited. "Do you know how much money we'd get if we brought her to the Fire Lord?!" He smiled down at Yun, scaring her even more when he touched her face. "We'll be rich!"

The other two men seemed to agree with this idea, but then remembered the two boys. "What should we do with them, then? Are they airbenders too?"

Yun kicked out her legs, too small to put up a proper fight and too scared to summon any wind to her side. "No, they're not!" She didn't want them to be taken to the Fire Lord. "Leave them alone!"

The man holding her down seemed a bit put out by this, but shrugged and made a cutting motion across his neck.

Yun could only watch, her world literally upside down at the moment, as the man who had been holding Bo drew out a knife, slit his throat, and then threw him to the ground carelessly. She was shrieking, unbelieving, not wanting her brother to be dead, and screamed all the more as he yanked Shan's head up next and exposed his throat, ready to kill him as well.

"No! Stopit!"

But her words fell on careless ears. The men only wanted money, and two useless boys who they thought weren't benders wouldn't bring in as high as a price as a young airbending girl.

He cut Shan's throat quickly and let his head drop back down into the dirt, ignoring the cries of the distraught, shrieking child that they intended to sell.

I could feel them dying, feel their blood pour out of their bodies, feel Yun's fear, and my fire raged inside my body. I was still too far away, unable to save them from dying, unable to save Yun from being kidnapped. I should've left Omashu sooner, should've been there to save them, to help them-.

And that was when I had woken up, heart pounding steam rising from my body, evaporating the cold sweat that had formed. I had decided then that I wouldn't go with the others to Omashu, just head toward the other Disciples before anything could happen to them.

I looked at Spiffy, heart pounding again in fear. "Can't you do anything to save them? Couldn't you just bring them here, bring them somewhere safe?"

She was looking at me with sadness in her eyes. "That's not the way the story goes, Mayu. There are some things I can't change in this."

Anger pounded through my veins, fueling the fire in me. "But this is your story! You can just write whatever you like! Are you torturing us on purpose!?"

"I don't put you through pain because it amuses me," she said, sorrow deep in her voice. "This is the way this story goes. A character can overcome their obstacles, change fate in their own way. Even though I'm writing, you decide things on your own in my mind."

"Change it!" I was shouting, desperate for my brothers and sister to not die, to not be hurt. "Save them, let them have all-powerful abilities! You can do that, right!?"

"Of course, but what kind of world do you think I'd be creating with that?" She gripped my arms tightly and I could see that she wasn't happy about this. "I write out your pain, your unhappiness, the bad things that happen in your life, but I'm not happy about it. I do it because it is the way the story plays out in my mind. You will save them, Mayu. You will be there to stop them from dying."

I was crying, scared for my brothers and sister, and I hated crying in front of this woman who was practically a stranger to me, who apparently wrote us into existence and put us through pain for a story. I was sobbing, horribly distraught, and she had the gall to hug me like I was her child.

"It's alright." She was rubbing my back consolingly, which did little to make me feel better. "I know I can change the pain you've been put through, that others have been put through, but it changes too much in a story. A true hero fights, overcomes their demons, and wins despite all that is pitted against them. It's not fair, not at all, but I'm here rooting for you." Then she let me go and looked into my eyes. "Listen now; you and the other Disciples are quite different than what you think you are. You're powerful and have amazing abilities, but you're not benders."

This information startled me and I hiccupped in surprise. "What-?"

"It's late, and this chapter needs to end soon," she told me, a sad smile on her face. "I know you're sad now, but you're not even going to remember this conversation later; you won't remember me."

"Then what's the point," I blurted out, uncaring if it was rude.

Spiffy just snapped her fingers and we were suddenly back on the road and I was sitting atop my ostrich horse which I had yet to name.

"Oreo."

I blinked in confusion, unsure of what to say. "E-excuse me?"

"I thought a cute name for her would be Oreo," Spiffy stated simply, a sheepish smile on her face. "I know you don't know what that is, but just think about the name."

"I thought I wouldn't remember any of this." This woman was confusing, and I had had enough of strangeness today.

She sighed. "Yes, I know, but you will remember the name, and a few other things I told you, even though you won't remember me or having even met me." She stepped back from my ostrich horse and saluted me, a familiar gesture. "Have hope, Mayu, even when you think it's been lost." She started to fade from my view, as if she was disappearing, but one last command escaped her lips.

"And for God's sake, stop feeling guilty about Zuko! He'll understand in time."

I was sitting atop my ostrich horse in the middle of the road, confused about what had made me stop in the first place. Things were rattling around in my head, such as the words 'hope' and 'oreo'.

I had absolutely no idea what the hell an oreo was, but I started to like the name after a while as I thought about it. Patting my ostrich horse's neck, I asked aloud, "Does Oreo sound like a good name?"

She couldn't answer me, of course, but she made a noise which I just assumed was confirmation.

I grinned and nodded. "Alright then, Oreo. Let's go get the others!" I led her into a gallop once more, feeling the presence of the other Disciples draw ever closer.

I wouldn't let my vision come true; I would not let them die, and I would not let the girl be captured and taken to Ozai.

As Oreo and I thundered down the road, I couldn't help but wonder about what we were, about why were we different. A single thought occurred to me. Maybe we're not benders?

It seemed like a stupid idea and I snuffed it quickly, but I knew it would just come back to bug me later. If we weren't benders, then what else could we possibly be?

We traveled for a few hours, inching ever closer to the others, and then I felt fear lance through me; I was close, but someone else had found them first and they were scared.

I practically had Oreo flying down the road and then through the trees and I struggled to control my emotions before my fire exploded from me.

I'm here! I was screaming in my head, desperately hoping that they could feel that I was near. I'm here, don't worry!

But I could still feel their fear, their desperation, and I urged Oreo on, faster and faster; I wasn't going to let them die.

Those men would die first.

-Yep, be prepared for the dark side of Mayu. I technically did write myself into the story and tried to think of what I'd say to console her. In real life, although this is in no way possible, I'd have been sobbing a lot more at the pain I put them all through, and the pain I know I'm going to put them through in the future. I just thought it'd be an interesting take, and it's almost five in the morning as I'm writing this. Wooo! XD I'll have to read this over in the morning and then get to work on chapter 15. (Yes, it's not even started yet. D=) Bad me. Anyway, I'm sorry if anyone hates this, but I wanted to see how it'd turn out. I've seen other authors write themselves into their stories but not exactly in this way. So, Mayu and the other Disciples aren't technically benders, and Mayu has visions, but why? These are the questions, and all will be answered. Not now, but one day. And I am so sorry this took forever; writer's block, not feeling like writing, finally feeling like writing but not on this story because I had no idea where to go with this chapter, and stupid program wanted an update and then stopped working for days so I couldn't work on anything. But it's finally back up and running, and so am I. Leave a review if you like, but I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Have a good day, and I will hopefully have the next chapter up soon. (And yes, I named the ostrich horse Oreo. Because of the coloring on her head. I'm a weirdo. And I'm working on chapter 15. Not finished.)- SpiffyPixie1