Chapter Text
“She still hasn’t changed back?” Toph asked as she entered the room.
“Nope - how can you tell it’s a ‘girl’?”
She inhaled sharply before turning around to set her glazy sights on their captive, “I can smell her. She gives off a different scent; it's familiar, but I can’t seem to pinpoint why.”
Nodding in understanding, Sokka turned back to his laptop and once again began typing, surfing the web for any news regarding supernatural beings or their missing friend. Toph, noticing his focus had shifted entirely, decided to give her full attention to their captive. Sitting a few feet away from Sokka, was a battered and bruised wolf. Toph took notice of the wolf’s appearance: dark brown fur with grayish-white streaks running down her head to her back, dark blue, menacing eyes, dagger-sharp claws and teeth. It took deep breaths as it lay trapped within a cage - the wolf was chained down, seeing as it possessed strength akin to supernatural beings, which led Sokka, herself and the rest of their clan to believe this wolf was in fact a werewolf.
Tapping her foot, Toph walked up to the cage - she was dangerously close, was what Katara would say if she wasn’t too busy swapping spit with her boyfriend. Kneeling down, Toph met the wolf’s deadly gaze, a clear warning and challenge was present within her sapphire depths: ‘ come a little closer so I can rip your throat out,’ was the message Toph interpreted.
She chuckled, “So, you wanna kill me, do you?” When she received no response, Toph tried to push a bit further, “Listen, if you wanna kill me that bad… then how about I let you out… after you turn back into a human.” She grinned devilishly when the dark brown beast growled, “You know, so we can settle this: women to women.”
“Do you really think you should be doing that?” A voice came from behind her. Without needing to turn around, Toph rolled her eyes as she already knew what was coming next. “The last thing we need is a pissed off wolf - who already wants to kill us - rampaging around this unstable place, all because you couldn’t help but antagonize her.”
“Oh relax, Sugarqueen,” Toph stood straight and walked around the cage, eventually ending up behind the wolf. There she stood, lingering above her tail, still grinning evilly, “I’m just tryna provide our dear guest here the hospitality she so rightfully deserves.” Without a moment’s hesitation, Toph raised her leg and stomped on the wolf’s tail, thus causing it to whimper and growl in pain and anger.
“That’s enough, Toph! Stop!” Yelled Katara, causing the younger girl to groan in annoyance and defeat.
“You’re no fun,” she pouted, crossing her arms across her chest as she strolled out of the room in surrender, leaving only Katara and Sokka to guard the wolf.
Shaking her head at her friend, Katara turned her attention back to the previously growling wolf, who had suddenly become suspectedly quiet. Similar to Sokka and Toph, Katara too believed this was a werewolf as it was just as strong as them, and was much larger than regular wolves, just like them. Katara also noticed that the wolf definitely understood what Toph was saying as it reacted whenever the younger girl antagonized it. All the signs were pointing to it being a werewolf - the only problem was that she hadn’t turned. For some unknown reason, despite her clearly exhausted state, the wolf had prevented and refrained itself from reverting to its human form. ‘ Maybe she doesn’t want her identity revealed…’ Katara hypothesized. She knew she likely wouldn’t get anywhere with this approach, ‘ but still, I have to try.’
“Why did you attack us? And why haven’t you turned back yet?” She began softly, trying to coax the wolf to comply. “Do you not want us to see your real face?” She asked, conjuring a reassuring smile as she kneeled to meet the wolf’s gaze. “I promise that Toph - nor anyone else here - will hurt you anymore. I just… we need your help.” Pleading with her eyes, Katara continued, “you see, our friend has been missing for months now… the others think he may be dead - but I know he’s alive. He has to be…” she trailed off, losing herself in her own thoughts - images of goofy grins, contagious laughter and stormy gray eyes engulfed her vision, until their captive guest growled. Regaining her sense of self, Katara too growled as she matched the wolf’s glare while standing to her full height. “I know you’re a part of Azula’s crew. I know you’re protecting them. And I know you know - or, at the very least, you have an idea of where Aang may be.” Ignoring the way her brother was gazing at her questioningly from the side, Katara continued with her threat. “I’ve lost too many friends and family members to your kind. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t hesitate to rip your throat out. But you’re the only lead we’ve got to finding our friend. So, either you transform back into human form and start talking, or you can rot here until all your energy is zapped, in which case, you’ll have no choice but to turn back. So, the choice is yours - but no matter what you do, we’ve already wo-”
An earth shattering explosion interrupted her mid sentence. Alarmed, Katara and Sokka both turned towards the origins of said explosion and saw smoke rampaging through the hallway of their bunker, raging fires following behind shortly.
“What’s going on?” Katara asked Sokka, who simply shook his head in disbelief - both of them missing the devilish grin the dark brown wolf had donned.
“We’re being attacked.”
“By who?” Katara exclaimed, even though the answer was pretty obvious.
“Let’s find out,” Sokka stated, grabbing his dual handguns from the table he was seated at before rushing towards the entrance along with his sister.
As they exited the bunker, the siblings were surrounded by raging fires, slowly consuming the green, snowy mountain range. Toph, his girlfriend: Suki, and Katara’s boyfriend: Zuko were already present outside. The three of them appeared to be glaring at something in the distance. The mountain they’d built their bunker on previously used to be a popular tourist site. However, after a mass murder occurred, and rumours of a supernatural creature known as the Wendigo inhabiting these alpines spread, the mountain slowly lost its popularity and was abandoned by humans out of fear. Due to this, many believed that the gondolas attaching the mountains to the abandoned skiing center below were either dysfunctional or completely broken, thus allowing this group of supernatural beings easy access to their bunker. Now, however, it seemed that they were compromised; standing atop one of the gondolas, static mid-air - a fair distance away, was Azula, Zuko’s sick and twisted, vampire sister.
“Azula,” gritted out Katara as she growled, already feeling herself beginning to morph due to her sheer anger towards the vampire.
“Ahhh, if it isn’t my brother’s dimwitted, short-tempered, naive little girlfriend!” Shouted Azula from the gondola. “Honestly, Zuzu… you could do way better! Why on earth would you want this tramp as your girlfriend?!”
“Azula!” Zuko cried in outburst, placing a hand on his girlfriend’s shoulder in an attempt to restrain her from doing something stupid as he’d noticed her anger had risen. Azula was still standing atop the gondola, which, even thought it was stationary, was still a great distance away; if Katara transformed and tried to leap across, she wouldn’t be able to make it - the jump from their vantage point to the gondola seemed to be at least twenty feet. No vampire or werewolf alive could hope to make a jump like that.
“What do you want, Azula?!” Asked Zuko, clenching his fists as his fangs sharpened and eyes turned black in anger - the veins around his eyes now noticeable, indicating he was prepared for battle. Knowing Azula, there likely would be one.
“Me?!” Azula asked innocently, “I’m just here to say hello! What?! Is it a crime for a sister to greet her brother and his friends?!”
“You’re here for the wolf, aren’t you?!” Sokka hollered, pointing his handguns towards Azula - he had a sharp eye, but even he wouldn’t be able to accurately target Azula from this distance. “Well, forget it! There’s no way you can win! We outnumber you five to one! Even if Jet is hiding here somewhere, there’s no way the two of you can beat the five of us!”
Toph and Katara growled in agreement, and Zuko hissed while Suki nodded - neither one of the five backing down, and neither realizing that Azula was just the distraction.
“Why don’t you get your but down here so I can kick your ass?!” Shouted Toph, grinning cockily, showing off her growing fangs and claws as she threatened to transform. “I still owe you for last time, don’t I?! You bitch!”
Azula sighed in fake surrender as she shook her head, “Normally, for a comment like that… I’d kill you! You cocky, stuck-up, little whore! But…” she grinned as she yelled at the top of her lungs, “I’m pressed for time! And we really need to get going! So, without further adieu, let me introduce a new friend of mine!” Suddenly, another explosion occurred, except this time, it was from within the bunker itself. It sounded deep, so that meant it could possibly be near the wolf they’d captured. Realizing Azula’s plan, Sokka, Suki and Zuko turned around to begin rushing into the cave, however, yet another sound interrupted them. Although, this one was a howl, much louder and deeper and hair-raisingly alerting than any normal wolf… or werewolf. Fearing the unknown, Sokka, Suki and Zuko slowly took steps back, joining Katara and Toph who were both also facing the cave - Azula’s voice boomed from behind. “Standing nine feet tall!” Among the raging fires burning from within the bunker appeared a shadow, slowly emerging and growing as the sounds of deep growling and dagger-sharp claws marking the floor intensified. “From a bloodline of pure breeds!” Azula’s voice continued to boom from behind them as the shadow continued to enlarge, outlines of large ears, lengthy arms, and a pointy snout being revealed to their gazes. “I introduce to you: the miracle child! The first ever… werewolf and vampire hybrid!” All five of their eyes widened in fear, amazement and shock as the shadow took form, the impossibility behind Azula’s words losing it’s deniability as the embodiment of their nightmares was completely revealed to them.
Before them was a wolf triple their size, growling on all fours. Immediately Toph transformed into a wolf, as did Katara. Zuko prepared himself for an attack while Suki and Sokka analyzed this new mystery. The wolf didn’t seem ordinary in the slightest; it was immensely larger than all of them combined, it was gray haired with black streaks running from its head down its back. The wolf’s claws were much larger and sharper than any they’d ever seen, and its fangs were the size of an ancient sabertooth tiger’s. However, their biggest surprise came when the werewolf completely exited the cave and… rose to its feet. It’s legs had morphed more so compared to a regular werewolf, almost seeming humanoid, and suddenly, it seemed much larger than simply nine feet as it stood at full height. The five friends found themselves flinching in fear when the werewol- no… when the beast howled. They felt every spec of hair on their body raise in alertness to the beast’s presence, and despite the fear coursing through their veins, Katara and Toph growled as they prepared for an attack. The beast, ending its howl, growled as it dropped to all fours, except this time it stood at full height; its arms also seemed humanoid and extremely long, thus allowing it to stand six feet tall on all fours while the other wolves stood at four feet tall. Its paws were more akin to hands, and its claws were as large and long as ever. In that moment, Sokka realized, it would take a miracle for them to make it out of this alive; here was an enemy whom they knew nothing about, and on top of that, it seemed to be more powerful than all of them combined. ‘ This wolf must be centuries old. How else would it grow to be of this size and stature?’ He hypothesized.
Having had enough of the growling, Toph decided to strike first as she leapt towards the werewolf, extending her arms and paws in an attempt to pin and claw at the beast. The larger wolf however, once again stood on two legs at full length and swiped its arm right before Toph would’ve made contact. Thus, Toph was launched to the side and collided against the trunk of a rather large tree beside the cliff. The impact left Toph whimpering in pain as she struggled to get back up. Seeing this, Sokka rushed towards her while Katara and Zuko began circling the beast, attempting to find a weakness or blindspot. During this, neither of them noticed a certain dark brown haired wolf with white streaks limping its way towards the cliff, no one except Suki.
“She’s getting away!” Yelled Suki as she leapt into action, taking a defensive stance as she blocked the wolf’s intended pathway.
Growling in annoyance, the wolf simply howled towards the much larger beast behind it, likely asking for assistance. Realizing that they were planning to escape, Katara took her opportunity to leap towards the beast while it was distracted. She caught it’s forearm in her mouth, her teeth sinking into its skin as it yelled slightly in pain. As the beast attempted to yank Katara off it, Zuko took a chance and climbed the beast’s back with increased speed. Without a moment’s hesitation, his eyes darkened as he released his fangs, sinking his teeth into the beast’s neck as it growled in anger. Roaring again, the beast stood tall on two feet and raised its arm, thus also carrying a dangling Katara as she refused to release her hold on him. Using his free hand, the beast clenched its fist and striked Katara, connecting with her midsection with such force that it sent her tumbling several feet away. With both its arms free now, the beast turned its attention to Zuko. Realizing he had to let go if he was to slow it down, Zuko attempted to create some distance between them using his much faster vampire speed and reflexes, however, the beast seemed to be just as quick as him. It caught him mid air, and with both its large hands gripping onto him, it slammed the vampire on his back while roaring in his face. Although slightly dazed, Zuko caught a glimpse of the beast’s eyes and it made his own darkened orbs widen and thoughts run rampant.
Growling in emergency, the beast, now on all fours, jumped towards the dark brown, injured wolf and gathered her in its arms. Roaring at Suki’s defiance, the beast instead chose to leap over her as it continued to run towards the cliff. With the dark brown wolf still in its arms, the beast began picking up speed as it ran faster through the snow, apparently preparing itself for something. Sokka and Suki watched on in disbelief, thinking the beast surely couldn’t make a jump like that. However, much to their amazement and fear, as soon as it arrived at the edge of the cliff, the dark gray beast took the leap of faith. Time seemed to slow itself for Sokka, Suki and all the others as they watched the beast in mid air - it had already made it three quarters of the way to the gondola when it began losing altitude. In the blink of an eye, the beast was standing atop the gondola, peering over at the five pairs of eyes watching it intently. Azula had already retreated inside the gondola as she ordered Jet, who was stationed at the abandoned skiing center awaiting them, to bring them back.
“Well, it's been fun! But we’ve got more important things to do than waste our time on you, Zuzu!” Shouted Azula as she waved mockingly, “Till next time! Losers!”
Gathering themselves, Sokka, Suki and an injured and dazed Toph, Zuko and Katara made their way over to the cliff to watch the three retreating figures. Toph and Katara had torn their clothes due to their transformation, and even though they’d gotten used to it, Sokka and Zuko still offered them their jackets to keep their naked forms hidden. As she slowly reverted back to her human form, Katara thanked her boyfriend while gritting her teeth; the pain caused by the blow delivered by the beast still lingering around her abdomen. Seething, Zuko turned his attention from his girlfriend back to the retreating figures. Soon, all five pairs of eyes widened as the two wolves: the beast and the dark brown wolf, began transforming. The beast fell on all fours as it whimpered and roared, the transition from wolf back to human seeming more painful than anything they themselves had experienced. Once they’d fully reverted, no one could identify the identity of their attackers; they both had their naked backs to them. However, not long after, in the distance, Sokka and Katara caught sight of white hair swaying along with the breeze. Their eyes widened as Sokka gasped.
“Yue?” He questioned no one in particular, watching with complete shock as the white haired and dark skinned vixen turned her nude form around and grinned at the five of them from atop the gondola. A million thoughts ran through his mind, however, before he could say anything, his sister also gasped. Looking over, he noticed the look of utter shock and horror overcome her facial features - nothing that could be caused by Yue. So, he completely understood the reasoning behind her reaction when he turned his attention back towards their two attackers and saw another familiar face.
“Aang?” Katara asked in bewilderment as the teenager grinned and winked at her from the lengthening distance.
As the distance grew between them, Katara watched how the injured Yue gathered Aang in her arms and cradled his head. Their eyes met for a brief moment, blue clashing against blue, until Yue turned back to Aang, leaned in, and kissed him. Katara gasped in surprise at the sight, though her shock and confusion only heightened when she witnessed no hesitation from Aang when he deepened it, kissing her back and fusing their naked bodies together as he winded his arms around her. They didn’t seem to be beginners or amateurs by the looks of it.
‘ Why was Aang with Azula? Why had Yue betrayed them? Why had Aang? Did they just pretend to be their friends? Or did something happen? Has Azula manipulated them? Is she holding something over their heads? Is she threatening them? And… why is Aang so powerful? Hold on, since when was he a werewolf? Since when was he a vampire? Since when was he a hybrid? Was he always like this, or did Zhao do this to him when he was captured? Is this… is this our fault? Is it mine? Did I not pay enough attention to him? I thought he had a crush on me, so why is he suddenly kissing Yue? Is he trying to get back at me because I chose to be with Zuko instead? Why is he doing this?’
Among all these questions, only one stood out in Katara’s head.
‘ Will he ever come back to me?’