Chapter 21

The Spirits of the Mountain

"How the heck did we end up here?" Danny frowned at his friends as they roamed the open area nearby the foot of Mount Mekapu. A white moon gate stood by the path leading to the top of volcano. Behind the entrance is an old altar house, the surface inside it covered in melted wax. The twins pulled out a package hidden by the gate, revealing a collection of candles in various shapes and colors. Yellow, blue, red, black, you name it; there's even a candle in a shape of a dragon in there.

"Beee-cause, you would need a guide to help you walk to the top of the volcano!" the two scolded, each taking out an identical candle before handing the package to the others.

Oto and Jin grabbed the package, and pulled a red and yellow candle each before tossing the package toward Ari. "Mount Mekapu is a sacred place. There are rituals that you must do before you actually climbed the mountain." Ari explained, taking a white candle out.

"Rituals? What kind?" Sam asked, curious.

"From the stories of the past, this mountain is where the evil spirits lives. We don't know if they still lived here since there aren't any incidents since thousands of years but we still keep the tradition." With that, Ari walked through the moon gate. Danny could've sworn he saw a small ripple in the air but dismissed it as a trick of the light. Lighting the candle up, a brilliant blue flame was born from its tips and Ari slowly placed it in one of the altar. She gestured for the others to follow her. The others squeezed in front of the altar, aligning their own candles while Sam and Danny just stood in front of the entrance with a confused expression. Well, more Danny is confused and Sam is a little excited.

"Of all thing considered, why a candle? Why not a torch?" Sam asked, watching the candle aligned in a diamond shape pattern inside the altar.

"For you to find your way back home. If you don't, you will be swallowed inside the mountain forever." Ari turned to Sam, "And bringing a torch inside the mountain is dangerous, we might start up a fire."

"Can that even happen?" Danny asked, why all the hassle of putting a home base point in the form of a candle for you to go back? If it was him, he could always fly out through the sky, right?

Ari shrugged. "Better safe than sorry, the other side has some strange rules." Danny cringed, there's no doubt, and the spirit world of this world filled with benders does have some strange and unfair rules. He didn't even know how or why he kept getting thrown back into the past!

"Come on! Light up your own candle! Oh, and you must light up your own candle yourself, you can't ask a firebender to light it up for you." Oto spoke when Sam reached out to help Danny light up his candle, Sam pulled back, pouting.

"How come?"

"Your candle represents your own life."

Sam paused, looked at Danny and lighted up her white flame with her palm. "Wanna swap with each other?" She crossed her elbow with her boyfriend, smirking.

"I thought you never ask." Danny linked back, lighting an ecto-blast in his palm. Both held their own candle as the other hand brimming with energy lighted up the others. Flame burst out of the tip of the candles, a combination of green, blue and white lighted up their surroundings and for some reason, it was suddenly brighter and Danny felt a litle happier.

The children gaped at the sight, and Otto happily exclaimed "They're married! I knew it!"

"WH…! No we're not!" The two spluttered in embarrassment with their arm still linked. "…" they turned their faces from each other, hiding their faces.

"It definitely looked like a proposal to each other there." Ari smirked, "I never thought I could see one by a volcano."

"It's so romantic…" Eli sighed. "It will only be complete if you have a Panda Lily with you. It really matches the White Spirit."

"Panda Lily?" The two asked, placing their candles side-by-side in the middle of the altar. The children face brightened.

"We'll show you! Come on!" And they started running towards the path leading to the top of the mountain.

-Disisamagicallinebreak-

Back in town.

"I can't believe all these saps!" Sokka shouted out, Aang behind him. Sokka was angry with Katara running right back into Aunt Wu's house wanting another prediction on her life. "Someone needs to slap some sense into her, and them!" he pointed out to the villagers.

Aang glanced towards the passing villagers, "They seem happy, Sokka."

"Not for long! I'm going to prove that Aunt Wu predictions are nonsense!" He spotted a man wearing a tacky red shoe and pulled him near. "Hey you! I bet Aunt Wu told you to wear those red shoes didn't she?"

"Yeah. She said I'd be wearing these red shoes when I met my true love." the man answered.

"Uh...huh... And how many times have you worn these shoes since she made that prediction?"

The man smiled sheepishly, "Everyday."

"Then of course it's going to come true!" Sokka kicked a stone. It bounced back and hit a group of turkey ducks, who crowded around him. He tried to ward the birds away with no success.

"You think so? Oh I'm so excited!" The man walked away, a happy expression on his face.

With Katara.

Aunt Wu rubbed her temple as the water tribe girl grinned greedily at her. Her helpers had gotten irritated at constantly being summoned, and now only a few of them is left. How she wished that the great White Spirit was with her right now. Her sources told her that he would be arriving by today, but with this water tribe girl constantly asking for her fortune to be told, she can't get out and search and meet the White spirit herself.

She knows that the Spirit is already here in the village, she can feel him, especially at the annual gathering. He's somewhere in the crowds, probably watching her very moves.

Out of the window, the sign looked like it was slowly speeding away, the definitive meaning that the Spirit would soon leave, and she must find him before he did.

Or the village will be again, destroyed by the volcano.

Am I a fool at believing it? Will the Spirit even consider… doing it again? Are we… truly doomed?

She stared back at the girl's palm, sighing, "You're going to have three children, and..."

The mountains.

"This is a panda lily, and they're very rare so don't go off plucking them. Some stupid people like to come up here to pick up these flowers for a blessing in their relationship until they're almost extinct years ago." Emma glared at her twin, fixing up the base of the plant bush as she spoke.

"But it's a flower, and it's romantic to give flowers to the one you love." Her twin, Eli sighed. Clearly these twin had a different opinion with each other.

"Nu-uh!" Emma shouted back.

Eli butted her head to her sister, "Uh-huh!"

Emma pushed her back, "Nah-ah!"

Eli wasn't going to give up, "Yeah-ah!"

"Alright! That's enough! But I'm with you there Emma." Sam butted in, pulling the twin from each other. She caught sight of the flower, and kneeled in front of it. "That's a Panda Lily? You're right! It does look like Danny!" Sam said excitedly. Danny frowned back in response.

"Seriously?" he muttered.

"You should be honored! A flower with the same color theme as you! It has black and white petal, and green stem! Now kids! Try and see the similarities between the two of them!" Sam pulled Danny nearer to the flower, the similarities were undeniable, except one is a flower and another is a...uh... half ghost. The children giggled, Ari was trying to hide her amusement.

"... I'm more disturbed at the thought of people using them as an offering to their…" he glanced towards Sam, "…girlfriends. What happened to roses?" Danny muttered, uncomfortable at his so called look-alike plant.

The children gasped. Danny just gave back a What? Look.

Sam shook her head, "Roses, lilies and carnation are usually given to honor the dead. A symbol of birth, life, death and rebirth. Don't tell me you forgot what I told you about these things already?"

"Sorry..." He muttered, turning his gaze towards the rim of volcano. It was surprisingly calm, no quakes, no lava. Just... a crater with it's surrounding covered with snow. The boys ran around, burying themselves in the snow, ignoring Emma protest that they might crush the Panda Lilies underneath.

Sam stood beside the half-ghost, joining him watching the insides of the crater. "Hard to believe this is the same mountain that killed those people all those years ago?" she asked, and Danny glanced up to her.

"Yeah... I'm worried that the same thing might happen again. Aunt Wu is just one person, even if she was right, what will happen if the villagers becomes lazy, and neglected to check up this volcano when she's gone in the future? Maybe it's not today, but what about tomorrow?"

Sam was silent, sure she didn't agree with how the villagers acted either, they're depending too much on Aunt Wu prediction. "She is doing a good job at making them happy though. Not that I like all the happiness floating around though, it need more rage, angst and destruction." she cackled, enjoying the image that manifested themselves in her imagination.

Danny gave her a flat stare, "Please don't jinx it Sam. I don't want a volcano exploding in my face."

Sam only laughed in reply.

"So! What are you going to give to each other?" Ari suddenly appeared in the middle, her face curious.

"Excuse me?"

The girl sighed, "Your proposal items! You must have something to give to each other, right? Rings, necklace, etc. etc."

Danny blushed, and Sam jaw dropped. "Whaaa…! I'm telling you! We're not…!"

"Uhh… I do have something though…" Danny rubbed the back of his neck. Sam whipped her head towards him, astonished.

"What…? Y-you do?" Beside her, the children silently cheered.

"Yeah… I figured that… you know… that... uhh… You know what? Here!" Danny pushed the silver metallic casing object to Sam. I seemed to be a casing of a sword but short. Longer than a dagger, but also shorter than a long sword case. It was also thinner than a bamboo stalk, and around two feet long, carefully wrapped with a twisting layer of black cloth. Beautifully crafted, silver with purple roses accented the lower half.

Sam slowly put her fingers around the handle that seamlessly blended with the lower case. With a soft click, the handle slowly pulled out. A blade slid out of the case and Sam gasped at the short sword, which she recognized as a Kodachi, marveling at how the surface reflected her astonished face. "How… when did you made this?"

Danny rubbed his finger together, "I used the material from the forest we stopped by a few weeks ago for the case and handle, and for the blade, well… I used my core power."

"You mean… This is… ice?" Sam ran her fingers through the blade, jerking back in shock at how cool and sharp it is to the touch, and she's not even touching the sharpened edge! "But… won't it melt? I use fire based attack you know."

"Try it out." Danny gestured with a smile.

Skeptical, Sam lighted the hand that was holding the Kodachi blade with her flame. The blade glowed a bright blue, with white aura surrounding it. It's not melting, in fact, it seemed to get sharper. On it's surface, a string of words glowed. Sam read the short sentence.

You are the reason that I exist.

While the goth was speechless, Danny quickly pulled her in for a kiss, turning himself human for the first time in front of the children.

"This is amazing! We're bridesmaids!" Eli squeal-whispered, while Emma, just face palmed.

None of them noticed a crack forming in the middle of the crater.

Back with Sokka and Aang.

"I don't care what Aunt Wu said! You got to take a bath sometimes!" Sokka yelled to a middle-aged man, covered from head to toe with grime and dirt. He shrugs and walks off smiling.

Aang decided that it was the best time to ask him before he kicks off another group of turkey-ducks. "So, Sokka, you know some stuff about the ladies, right?"

Well, he was desperate, and Sokka does have experience with girls, from warrior girls to street girls and a spirit girlfriend (Danny's, of course). Unlike Aang, Sokka had been in contact with a lot of girls and it's not like he could ask Danny for advice right now, not with him scowling at everything at the moment.

Sokka quickly became pleased and wrapped his arm around the monk shoulders, "You've come to the right place! What can I do for you?"

'Just don't ask me about Sam, she will incinerate me into nothingness.' He shuddered.

"Well, there's this girl..." Aang rubbed his wrists. Sokka turned towards him, and noticed a moving pink figure behind a barrel far back behind. Meng came into view, giggling.

Sokka smirked, "I think I know who you're talking about." he answered, glancing at the girl...

"You do? And you're okay with it?" Aang was surprised, why isn't Sokka a little bit disturbed or even angry at him having an intimate feeling to his sister, Katara?

"Of course I am. And to tell you the truth, I've been picking a subtle vibe that she likes you too."

"She does?" Aang stared at Sokka wide eyed, while Meng was trying her best to catch his attention behind.

"Oh yeah." Sokka had his eyebrow raised, witnessing Meng mimicking a fountain complete with water coming out of her mouth, even balancing on her toes right on top of the real water fountain. "She's craaazy about you. All you have to do now is to not mess it up."

"Well... How do I do that?" Aang was totally oblivious to Meng antics behind him.

"The number one mistake guys like you always make:" Sokka paused, and poked Aang on his forehead, "Being too nice."

Aang stared back, confused, "You can be too nice?"

"Yep. If you want to keep her interested, you have to act aloof, like you don't really care one way or another."

"Act aloof...Okay..." The airbender cupped his chin.

Meng shyly approached Aang from behind, "Hey Aang... I was wondering..."

"See you later!" And was brushed off by Aang with a wave of his hand. Meng's hair dropped, devastated as the airbender walked away.

"Wow, that kid is good." Sokka commented, totally misunderstanding who Aang was thinking about.

Two blocks away, Katara was forcefully being shoved out from a certain fortune-teller house.

"...And you'll be fine as long as you have a scarf. Bye-bye now." Aunt Wu snapped, all her helpers had abandoned her, and she is tired. All she wanted right now was the girl to be away from her, so that she could finally find that white spirit before the sign disappears, or the village destroyed.

"Okay, okay, but one more thing." Katara turned back to the fortune teller.

The tired fortune teller stared at her, horrified before sighing in defeat. "Alright.. what is it?"

Katara put her hand on her chin, "Should I eat mango or papaya for breakfast tomorrow?"

"Papaya!" She angrily slams the door on her face.

Katara kicks the ground, sending up a small cloud of dust. "Oh... But I hate papaya..."

"Oh, hey Katara. I didn't see you there." Aang casually slumped against a wall, trying to act aloof on Sokka's advice.

"Hey Aang." Katara replied, and walks away.

Trying to act like he was minding his own business, "That's okay, I'm busy with my own stuff,"

A turkey-duck landed beside him, quacking.

"... This is harder than I thought..." The Airbender sighed.

Back in the mountain.

"This is nice!" Sam commented, fastening the sword to her waist. It lay horizontally along the belt behind her back, the handle facing her right arm. She tried a few flicks and twists with the sword, sheathing and unsheathing it to test her reflexes.

Danny just sat on a rock, watching her trying out his gift.

"Did you hear? The barrier is weakening…" A whisper-like voice echoed in the air.

He turned his head towards the forest, but there was nothing there. Behind him Sam playfully did a double flip in the air, pulling her sword in the middle of the jump and gracefully landed on the ground with the tip pointed upwards.

"Yes, they are stupid, and the one that lived in the village are too generous."

"Yes.. Yess...They never told the medium what will happen if they exhausted the energy surrounding that blasted village."

Another chuckle, "No...no.. they're too proud to admit their weakness, they never told each other, never actually seen each other actually. Loners, they are."

"Imagine their faces when they finally wake up to see their ground burned!"

"We must thank that water girl for helping us weaken the stupid barrier surounding the village!"

"It has been years... How weve have waited for fresh souls!"

"What are you talking about? What's Katara had to do with a barrier? Show yourself!" Danny yelled at what seemed to be a ripple in the air. The others tensed, shocked at the sudden action.

"What do we have here...?" The voices suddenly sneered, and Danny felt his surrounding become dark and clammy. He unconsciously summoned his ghost-half to protect himself from the uncomfortable feeling.

"How exotic, we have never seen such a soul..."

A heavy pressure suddenly came over him. His surroundings became dark, and the voices of his environment muffled. Whispers brushed against him, children, men, and women screamed. Danny knew these voices, he had heard them before, they're the voices of the villagers that had fell victim from the volcano, the people that he couldn't save, and among the screams, he heard laughter.

Outside, Sam and the others panicked at what seemed to be an unconscious boy.

"Danny? Danny!" Sam shook his shoulders, but he didn't respond. Not even the mighty slap from her could wake up the halfa. "What's wrong with him?" tears had started streaking her cheek..

"It's the spirits of the mountain..." Ari whispered, the others turned their head towards her, pleading for an explanation, "T-they are are the evil spirits of the mountain, trapped in the volcano . The reason you light up a candle is to have the guardian cloak you from the sight of the evil spirits, so that you can't be seen or heard by them."

Sam glared, her hand gestured to the unconscious Danny, "Then what happened to Danny?"

"I don't know! I didn't realize a spirit also follows the same rule! I didn't know how he managed to talk back to them! They aren't even supposed to be able to take him! They're supposed to be trapped, in the volcano! The only way for them to escape, is with the volcano active."

RUUMMMBLE

The crater suddenly sank, revealing what seemed to be red hot molten lava. Smoke hissed from cracks in on the ground.

"Oh no..."

"WHAT AN EXOTIC SOUL..." A voice cackled, and this time, all of the humans can hear them. A blob rose up from the lava, forming a humanoid shape, it's eyes focused on Danny's.

"MORE..." It's hands reached towards him. "..NEED... MORE..."

"...!" The monster roared when it's arm got sliced by Sam's sword, ice started to form on the stub before the lava monster detached the frozen stub and regrow a new limb from it. "WHO DARES!... DISTURB...!" It blindly slashed around it's surrounding, not able to see where the attack are coming from.

"You say that it can't hear us?" Sam turned her gaze to Ari as she pushed the twins down from their immediate doom from a falling tree.

"Yeah. Unless we spoke to them, they can't see or hear us." Ari sidestepped to evade a steam hole that suddenly appeared underneath her legs, "But it's won't stop them from killing us!"

Sam glared at the humanoid monster of the volcano. It appeared to be blasting everything in it's sight, but Sam noticed that even with them being right in front of it, like how it's arm punched the area nearby Otto and Mel, how it seemed to not hear the screaming twins, it doesn't seem to be hitting any of them at all. Instead, it's more focused on trying to grab Danny, and throwing everything it had, everywhere.

"This is gonna be hard..." Sam gritted her teeth, she was used at taunting the enemy, but right now, a simple 'You!' or 'Hey!' would grant her oblivion. She turned towards Danny, his face seemed pale, his eyes blank, not a sign of life can be seen in them, but he still breathed and that assured Sam that Danny had only retreated into his psyche to protect himself from being pulled, or eaten, claimed... by these... these... demons!

Sam pulled Danny onto her shoulder, jumping a few fet to her side avoiding a mass of fireballs thrown at her.

"SURRENDER THE SOUL TO US!" It bellowed, turning it's misshapen head around to far away to her right.

Wait... Sam frowned.

The monster had stopped attacking, grunted, and scrutinized the area around it. The twins huddled together near a tree, both holding the other mouth to keep themselves quiet. Otto and Jin quickly ran around the flames, trying to reach the twins before one of them decided to throw out insults towards the monster. They nodded to her, and pulled the twins away toward the forest. Ari appeared beside her.

"I told them to get to safety." She slowly gestured Sam to walk around the monster to hide behind one of the boulder quite far from the monster reach, "It can't see you two." her voice small, trying to assure herself that everything would be fine.

Sam turned towards her, "Why?"

"I guess, it's because of the ritual you did at the bottom of the mountain. Now, as long as you're holding him, and you did not talk back to them, they won't be able to see either one of you."

The monster made a motion that looked like it was sniffing the air, suddenly, it retreated itself into the crater. Sam and Ari looked at each other, confused.

"But my heart is telling me to get this flower." A voice came from behind one of the boulder. "And Aunt Wu said if I trusted in my heart, I will be with the one I love."

Another voice spoke back, irritated, "What? Don't tell me you believe in that stuff, too. Katara must've been running the lady dry already."

"Well, Aunt Wu hasn't been wrong yet. Why should she be wrong about love? There! On the rim!" The voice shouted enthusiastically, ignoring the other commented on how it looked like there had just been a battle happened.

Ari and Sam took a peek out, and there, stood Aang and Sokka.

"What are they doing here?" Ari hissed. Outsiders aren't welcomed in the mountain! There must be at least someone from the village to guide you or..!

The lava slowly moved towards the two boys. Ari gasped, "They didn't do the ritual..."

"What?" Sam turned toward her.

"The evil spirits can see them! They didn't do the ritual!"

The ritual? Wait... The candles! Sam tensed, and turned towards the boys, her mouth opened to shout out.

"Those people think they're safe! We got to warn them! Grab on!" Aang suddenly opens up his glider and flew towards the village, grabbing Sokka in the process, unaware of a stream of lava that angrily smacked where the airbender was previously on the rim of the crater. So you can escape their sight if you're fast enough... Sam bitterly thought.

The monster rose up again, staring at the dissapearing glider. Sam quickly grab hold od Danny and hid herself behind the boulder."THEY ESCAPED..." a smirk can be seen on it's head, ""HE STUPID HUMANS! THEY JUST SHOWED US THE WAY! THE BARRIER IS ALREADY WEAK, AND WE CAN JUST DESTROY IT! WORRY NOT BRETHREN, WE WILL SOON... HAVE A FEAST!" It laughed, and disappeared into the pit.

"No... Nononononono!" Ari muttered. "This isn't supposed to happen! They aren't supposed to escape! Now they know the location of the village, we'll be doomed and the village will be destroyed!"

"Ari! There must be a way to stop them!" Sam snapped at her while making sure she was still holding Danny, who knows what will happen if she let go of him.

"We don't know how to stop them!"

"Calm Down!" Sam grabbed Ari's head with her free hand, ignoring her hiss of pain as Sam was actually grabbing her hair more than her head...

"We're going to make sure the volcano doesn't destroy the village. You say that the evil spirits is the one that make this volcano explode?" Ari nodded, "And there's a barrier that keeps these idiots away?" She nodded again, "A barrier must have a central point, where is it?"

Ari pushed away from her grip, "Why do you want to know where the central point is? Didn't you hear it? They say it's already weak and they could easily destroy it!"

"A weakened barrier doesn't meant that there's no barrier. We can strengthen it, but unless the central pillar is destroyed, there's still hope for the barrier. So where is it?" Sam demanded.

Ari took a moment to remember, "It's in the middle of the town."

Sam glowered above her, "And where is this 'the middle of the town' ?"

Ari stammered, right now she felt that she rather face the evil spirits than facing the angry Sam, "I-it's Aunt Wu's house."

Sam was furious. "Why that …cotton-pickin' piece of...! So that's why! That lady must be using the barrier energy to do some of her fortune telling, and from what I heard, Katara actually run her dry! Aren't Aunt Wu supposed to know about this?"

"I didn't realize that... The central point was important... Aunt Wu said that the middle point is the best spot to do her fortune telling, even the original memorial Statue of the..." Ari paused.

"Original Statue of what?"

Ari brushed her hand on Danny forehead, "...The Protector... the original memorial statue of the Protector lies in there. I had once snuck in, and I saw it. It must have been the mark of the center of the barrier!"

"Good. Now we just need to enforce it, make sure the village doesn't get roasted, and make sure the damn demons can' do it again!"

"How?"

Sam pointed to the unconscious Danny.

"And how are we supposed to wake him up?" Ari deadpanned.

"We'll think about it later. Now come on! We need to run!" Sam hoisted Danny onto her back, stumbling as the ground shook.

"We have a few hundreds meters to cross to the village! How are we supposed to make it in time?"

"I think I can help you with that?" Sam and Ari turned to the voice, Sam grinned at the newcomer.

-Funkylinebreakanyone?-

In the Village.

Aunt Wu is wrong about the volcano!" Sokka yelled to his sister face.

Irked, Katara raised her finger to Sokka, "Sokka, you tried to convince me that she was wrong before, it's going to take an awful lot to change my mind..." Her eyes widened in surprise as she suddleny stumbled when the volcano rumbles suddenly. They turned to look at the volcano, huge smokes emitting from the peak of the mountain.

"Oh no."

Sokka climbed to one of the roofs, "Everyone! The volcano is about to blow any second! Aunt Wu was wrong!"

A village woman scoffed, "Yeah, yeah, we know that you don't believe in Aunt Wu, Mr Science and reason lover.

Katara stepped forward, "If you won't listen to them, they maybe you will listen to me. I wan't to believe Aunt Wu and her prediction as much as you do but my brother nad Aang saw the condition with their own eyes!"

"Well, I heard Aunt Wu prediction with my own ears." One of the man spoke, his voice calm.

"Please listen to us!" Aang leaped to the awning of a nearby building. "You're all in danger! And we have to get out of here! You can't rely on Aunt Wu predictions!" The villagers attention turned to him. " You have to take fate into your own hands!"

I should've listened to Danny... He thought as he stared to the villagers.

A rumble was heard from the volcano. The villagers seemed alarmed.

"Look!" Sokka pointed to the volcano. "Can your fortune telling explain that?"

The volcano looked like it was ready to erupt, smoked piling up in great plumes. The villageres was mildly alarmed, but Aang eyes flocused toward the distance, What was that? He thought. Something was speeding towards the village at great speed, and it's... white?

The man with the red shoes got an amused look on his face, "Can your science explain why it rains?" he sneered.

"Why yes! Yes it can!" Sokka yelld angrilly.

The villagers scoffed, and began to walk away. But before any of them took more than three steps, a huge boulder slammed to the center of the courtyard, white flame bellowing from the back.

"WHOA! THAT IS THE BEST JET SLIDE I'VE EVER FELT IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!" Ari shouted from on top of the huge rock slade, grinning like a maniac.

"Not the best time for this Ari!" Sam appeared from a corner, panting in exhaustion as she had just used most of her energy blasting the back of the slate for extra boost. Danny groaned beside her, confused at the sudden change of scenery, mumbling a 'What's goin on' while Sam tiredly patted his shoulder.

"Oh yeah! Gather round, troops!" Ari shouted to Eli, Emma, Otto and Jin who had hitched a ride with her in the middle of their slide. "Scour the city and locate the four memorial statue of The White Spirit! Put the flare up when you reach them. We'll take care of the big one!" She grinned at the last sentence.

"Aye aye Cape-tain!" The kids saluted, and zoomed off with speed that could rival a hawk on the rooftop.

"Wh... What do you think you're doing!" The villagers shouted, horrified at their beautiful city suddenly got destroyed by the huge slate of rock.

"Listen up everyone!" A girl with long orange hair shouted out, her aqua blue eyes scowling. "Now I know that this is a little rough, but..." she inhaled.

"THE DAMN DEMONS OF THE VOLCANO THAT JUST HURT MY FRIEND JUST DECIDED THAT YOU'RE NEXT IN THEIR MEAL AND GOING TO TRIGGER THE VOLCANO TO EAT YOU!", she brushed herselft off.

"Kapish?" the girl, Jazz Fenton finished, and jumped to the ground, helping Sam hoist Danny to his feet. Danny froze for a second, his face instantly brightened when he realized that the girl in front of him is not an illusion, "Jazz! When did you get here?"

Jazz laughed, "Yesterday, and you got to stop throwing yourself into dangers like that! You almost got eaten, E.A.T.E.N alive little brother! And you owe me a hug!" She suddenly grabbed Danny and hugged him like there was no tomorrow. "C'mere Sam." She beckoned to the goth.

"Uh... no, too- EEP!" Jazz suddenly summoned a boulder that launched Sam into the air, and right into her hug, "Crushing! Not Breathing!" Sam gasped, how was she not able to see that move! Oh right, she still trying to get a grasp that Jazz can actually controls earth now. Danny eyes widened, making Jazz laugh even more.

The villagers was stunned, and suddenly they turned to each other, panicked.

"Do you think it's true?" One of the villagers asked.

"Aunt Wu said the volcano isn't going to erupt!"

"By itself! She never said that they are not trigged by outside forces! Maybe Aunt Wu aren't reading the prediction fully! We did rush her to make that prediction!"

"Yeah, she does look kinda tired these days, maybe we asked too much out of her..."

"But we didn't ask that much, she still can predict splendidly."

"Unlike that water tribe girl who seemed fixated on getting her prediction, I never seen anyone that greedy since my last husband, and I dumped him."

Katara hid behind Aang, ashamed.

"Wait, isnt't that the White Spirit?" One of the villagers pointed to the white haired halfa still in Jazz hug. He instantly scuffled away, giving the villagers a small, awkward wave.

'They are going to think that I caused the eruption of the volcano.' He thought bitterly.

"Tell us!" The villagers suddenly clinged to him, Danny stared back in shock.

"Is the volcano truly going to erupt?" They turned towards him. Danny was speechless, what is he going to say to them?

"It is, going to erupt." Aunt Wu suddenly appeared beside him, placing her hand on his shoulder. The villagers gasped, and started throwing questions towards the fortune teller. The elder woman beckoned the boy to follow her, "Come, I've been waiting for you." ignoring the questions form the villagers.

Jazz expertly built a barrier around the house of the fortune teller, tall enough so that they couldn't climb in, but also low enough so that they could still see the flare from the four memorial statues. They would need the location to make a new pillar from the center point, and Danny would be the one rebuilding the barrier.

Aunt Wu assistants, one being the calm man and the other, Meng herself opened a large wooden door in the mansion, revealing a beautiful Zen garden. In the middle, stood a perfect replica statue of Danny, kneeling to what seemed to be a little girl with a smile on his face.

"This is the very same spot where the White Spirit dissapeared, and I would guess that Spirit was you. Why you doesn't seem to age, made me wonder." Aunt Wu studied Danny's face.

Sokka stomped towards her." Hey Lady! What with the turn of character? You said that the volcano won't erupt!"

"Did I really said that? Oh hohohoho." She chuckled, making the children stare of her, some in anger, and others just in plain confusion. "But what I said was..."

"The village will not be destroyed by the volcano this year."

Aunt Wu tutted while making her way towards the monument. Meng following guiltily behind. She was given a task of searching for the spirit, but she totally forgotten because Aunt Wu prediction about her love life. Come to think of it, she did kinda like Aang, but still... she had forgotten her task... And Aunt Wu can be ruthless in punishing, when she felt like it...

"She did say that..." Katara nodded, remembering the gathering that happened that afternoon. "Wait! Does it mean, the village can still be saved from the volcano?"

The lady nodded, "Seeing how this young lady handled her little friends, I assumed that you had already known how to counter the deadly force of the volcano?"

Jazz stepped forward. "Yes. Danny can turn back the deadly force of the volcano into the energy of the barrier. Absorbing the energy, and turning them into a protective barrier surrounding the village, and thus, weakening the power of the demons that resides in the mountain."

"He can do what?" Sam shouted, her hand quickly grabbed Danny's not wanting him to go anywhere, "Absorb the energy from the volcano and turn it into a barrier? That move almost kills him back then!"

"Not to worry." Aunt Wu assured her. "This girl." she gestured toward the statue, "Arianna knows this, that's why she constructed a four point barrier around the town, and with this very spot as the central pillar. Her quick thinking keeps the energy that the White Spirit dispersed around town stays in side of it. I'm not sure what was her original intention, keeping a reminder, or trapping the essense of the White Spirit contained..." The elder looked towards Danny, "I'm pretty sure it was the latter... She must've wanted to keep you from going away."

"That must've been why I felt angry for some reason... Part of me tells me that..." Danny nodded, "But I kinda understand, part of me wantd to keep the village safe too."

"What so special about the four corners and the central pillar?" Sokka asked.

"Are you an idiot?" Katara scolded him,"North is earth, East is air, South is fire, and West is water! It's the basic structure of our very world!"

"The combination of all these four held the barrier of our village, and now with the Avater beside you, you can counter the forces better." Aunt Wu looked to the airbender, smiling. "By the way, How was your quest?" Aang only blushed back.

"The flares up! And the volcano is going to erupt!" Ari ran towards them. "How are you going to see the four corners with the roof?" She frowned, looking at the delicately sculpted roof on top of them. Sunlight still seeped through, but the design of it could make any people gape in awe.

"Oh no worries." Aunt Wu assured them. Meng and El each pulled out a switch, a huge grin on their faces. A huge red button on the switch gleamed in the sunlight.

"Hey isn't that?"

BEEP!

The dynamited that was installed exploded, taking the roof with it. Sokka, Katara,Aang, Jazz and Ari gaped at Aunt Wu willingness at destroying a magnificent piece of art, even if it was only a roof. Sam however, was smirking and jumping like a manic.

"Now this is what I called great entertainment!" She cackled.

Danny sighed, his hand up, maintaining a shield to make sure none of the debris will come crashing down on any of them, protecting Aunt Wu and her assistant, and his friends from any kind of damage. Screams could be heard from the villagers. They must've thought that they're committing a suicide or something.

"Would you be a dear and calm the villagers down? Make sure they didn't run out of the range of the barrier." Aunt Wu waved her hand.

"On it!" Jazz ran out, pulling Katara and Sokka with her. Sam and Ari followed after her.

"Wait! What it it didn't wooorrrrk!" Katara wailed, unble to break away from Jazz grip.

"You should put more faith in your friends. Now, are you two ready?"

Aang and Danny nodded.

"Allright, take your position right on top of this monument. You should be able to feel the barrier!" Aunt Wu shouted up, as Danny and Aang had already taken their position, facing the volcano. Danny took a deep breath, and closed his eyes.

It was faint, but he can clearly feel the weak barrier pulsing. But the it's hold towards the four corner seemed to be vanishing. Opening his eyes, he glanced around, making the position of the flares where the four barrier stone should be positioned at.

"Danny! The volcano!" Aang shouted. The half-ghost turned his head towards the volcano. Red hot lava rushed towards them like an angry wave. This looks different, He thought. The last time it was all in one blow, but this one seemed like it wanted to drown the village, slowly, and painfully.

"SOOOUUULLLSSSSS!" It roared with hunger.

Danny cringed at the voices, and steeled himself. Gathering as much energy he could... He could see earth barrier being put up, and trenches being dug around the village.. His breath hitched at the thought that Jazz could be killed in the path, that thought worried him.

Determined, the half ghost spread his arm wide, trying to summon as much energy into himself to face the wrath of the volcano, There is no way he's letting anyone die today!

Aang shuddered, the temprature suddenly dropped, and what seemed to be ice pillarsl is forming right around Danny. What was he supposed to do? Danny seemed to be doing a good job himself. Aang glanced towards the volcano, some of the lave had already filled the front trenches. He glanced back to Danny, energy seemed to be gathering at the tip of his hands, his face full of concentration.

Aang glanced back to the village gate. Lava burns and destroys it, nearby, they passed through the cemetery, destroying headstones as it flows. The lava reaches the trench and begins to fill rapidly, its progress temporarily Katara shouted out, "It's too much! It's gonna overflow!

"Aang! Gather yourself!" Danny suddenly shouted from beside him.

Snapping out of his thought, Aang rushed forward with a furious face. He propels himself into the air and begins to airbend. As the lava begins to overflow, Aang blows the lava straight up, not allowing it to advance on the village.

"HOW DARE YOOUUU!" a voice yells, and Aang steeped back in shock. The lave evaded his attacks and began to rise up, crackling with flames.

"Hey big and ugly!" Danny suddenly teleported right in front of it, stopping it in it's track. The creature eyes focused on the halfa. Aang blinked, and looked back towards the center of the village. Danny is still floating there, his face scowling and a huge amount of energy seemed to surround him. But if Danny was there the who is...?

He took notice of the western rock that stood between the village and the monster, the Danny in front of him seemed to take energy from that rock. And on the other three points, stood another Danny, each guarding a point.

"YOU NEED TO COOL DOWN!" All of the Phantom shouted, their echo like voces roared in the air. The Danny in front of them blasted the creature with what seemd to be blue energy. Freezing the monster, his blast was powerful, as it also covered the mountain behind it with a layer of snow. Jazz build an earth barrier surrounding the creature, Sam ran around the barrier putting off stray flames with her new Kodachi, and Katara cooling down the edge of the lava with controlled whips of water from a nearby river.

The creature roared in pain, Danny was struggling to maintain the creature in and turned to Aang. "I got all of them trapped! Aang! It's your turn!"

Not knowing what else to do, Aang draws in a mighty intake of breath and expels it, airbending it as it exits, cooling the lava creature to stone. The creature reached it's arm out towards the volcano, frozen. With it's flame was put out, without it's connection to the volacno, it can't move anymore. Beside them, the barrier slowly went up, surrounding the village. A small barrier also went up around the frozen lava monster, since Danny had collected wayy too much energy from the volcano, and Aang actually helped. He doesn't feel so tired like before, in fact, he felt restless.

He also put in a few ice pillars around the frozen creature for extra measures, and astetics. It might not keep people from coming in to inspect it, or it coming out to claim more people... He frowned at that, maybe Aunt Wu had a solution on how to make sure the creature doesn't come to bother the villagers anymore?

Aunt Wu waved from below. Jazz stood beside her, waving a thermos in her left hand.

Danny slapped his head, "Of course..." he muttered.

Soon, the demon was sucked inside the thermos. Although, the frozen lava statue of the monster still stood tall.

"I thought it would crumble when we sucked in the creature..." Danny commented, refeering to the frozen monument. It was kneeling with his hand towards the volcano, a swirl of earth surrounded it, a pool of water from a nearby river had flooded it, and the ice pillars surrounded it, reflecting the sunlight towards it.

Jazz cupped her chin, thinking, "It was using the element to help itself attack the village... I guess the most similar is Skulker. You take out the ghost, and all that left is a shell."

"So this is just a shell?" Sokka tapped on the monument surface. It was hard as a rock, no pun intended since it is just a rock now.

"Basically, yeah."

-Soon that evening.-

The teens huddled in a corner along with Ari's silently high-fiving each other and telling their experiences to another. Sam couldn't help cackling, and it creeped Sokka out. His eyes darted toward Sam new accessory, a short sword tucked at her waist horizontally. Sam wouldn't have a problem pointing that to him.

"Aunt Wu was right! The village didn't get destroyed!" one of the villagers sighed in relief. The teens broke from their huddle, wanting to hear the villagers thoughts.

A village woman shouted out, "But the volcano still erupted! Aunt Wu! Why is this?"

The fortune teller calmly spoke back, "It's a secret." and chuckled. The villagers groaned. "Anyway, I decided to retire from fortune telling."

She was responded back with a Whaaatt?

"It's been such a long time, and the reason I did fortune telling is to meet this two extraordinary young man." Aunt Wu gestured to Aang and Danny. Both blushed in embarrassment.

"But what about the predictions? We can't live without them! And this village tourism depends on them!" The man with the red shoes whined.

Aunt Wu cupped her chin in thought. "Hmm... what about this? I will still do the predictions, only if you agree to do something for me." The villagers groaned, "Now, now, don't be lazy. We need to rebuild this village." she pointed to the area ruined by the volcano, and the ruined state of the village caused by the panicked villagers.

"Aww... it would take weeks!" the dirty man whined.

Aunt Wu looked at him, and sniffed in disgust, "Oh, take a bath, will you?"

The man saluted to her, "Right away Aunt Wu!" before jumping into the river, washing himself. Puddle of mud started floating downstream. Making the teen mutter an Ew! at it.

"How come he listened to you?" Sokka whined. The others laughed.

(AN) Okay y'all, if there are any mistake I apologize. I'm doing this on an iPad, floor the first time, and I think I am going to die.

Well… that is if you don't kill me! I AM SOOO SOORRYY FOR THE LATENESS! Anyway,I have settled on full-length, just so it can make up for the lengths and stuff. Besides,thou shouldn't kill me. This chapter was over 7K, so that should make up for it, right? *people raise pitchforks* Ha ha… Imgoing to run now…

Right after these few shutouts…

1) Thank you seantriana for making this. I just gave her a few ideas and she turned itwit into a masterpiece!

2) Cimorelli, a band of five sisters, has been nominated for TCA. They are really good — if you don't believe me search them on YT— and give them a vote. I love their music… so… yah…

3) And third… I may be taking a hiatus in a while. Okay, I WILL be taking a hiatus. I am visiting my grandparents in another state near the end of July, for a whole week, and won't be able to get on my account. I can still read the reviews, but I can't reply or post chapters.

4) Reviews. Yes, I am very sad. How many reviewshave I been getting? Not many. So, I might make it so I won't post a new chapter of this until I have a decent amount of reviews. I won't promise, seeing as you might get four chapters in a row or one a month, but if I don't get a good amount, say ta-taa to updates. That's all. Have a nice day and review!