Ashes and Dust-Halloween Special

[Danno]

Layla stood alone in the dark. The old town of Tachi Dai lay before her, the smoke from the endless fires hung thick in the cold air. Trees surrounded the clearing, their branches washed in an eerie, flickering glow. She wrinkled her nose as the foul smell of sulfur wafted to the tree line where she had paused.

"This is so not worth it."

Layla turned toward the path that led back to the city when a sound caused her to hesitate. She faced the town again and cocked her head, straining to catch the faint rustle.

"Hello?" The nervousness in her voice betrayed her. Layla cleared her throat and called out in a louder voice,
"Is anyone out there?"

The woods quieted, Layla's heart pounded in her ears. Her breath came in quick, faltering spurts. She quickly turned to the forest again, and ran right into a shadowy figure in black. A scream erupted from her lips as her eyes widened in shock. She took a step back as the figure slowly moved towards her. Layla's foot caught a stray root and she fell onto her back, her mouth opened in a silent scream as a ghostly hand reached for her.

"Layla are you okay?"
The monster's black hood pulled back to reveal the worried face Xingyao.

The terror quickly turned to anger as Layla jumped up, her expression one of pure fury.

"What is your problem, Xingyao? Don't you have anything better to do than be a first-class jerk?

Xingyao's face broke out into a grin, his head rolled back as he guffawed.

"You think this is funny? I could have died! If you think I am going with you into that creepy town now, you can forget it!" Layla began to walk angrily down the path.

Xingyao wiped the tears from his eyes as he caught his breath. He called out after the disappearing figure of Layla.

"C'mon babe, it was just a joke!"

Silence enclosed him as the last of Layla's footsteps faded into the distance. Xingyao shrugged and headed into the town.

****************************************************************

Xingyao kicked over an old bucket. He wandered aimlessly through the abandoned town before sitting on the roof of an old building. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to scare Layla off like that. Xingyao resolved to make it up to her when he got back. Shadows flickered on the buildings. Xingyao exhaled, trying not to breathe too deeply. The smell was so bad, he couldn't even remember why he had decided to take the bet about going into Tachi Dai. His clothes were going to smell for weeks.

Xingyao suddenly turned his head. He could have sworn he saw something moving among the small shacks below. Again, there was a flicker of movement in his peripherals. He closed his eyes and shook his head. This town was starting to get to him. Xingyao carefully climbed down from the roof.

As he was nearing the road, the window sill his hand was grasping gave way, causing Xingyao to fall the remaining ten feet. He landed on his right leg, feeling a loud pop in his ankle, before rolling to the side. Xingyao sat up, nursing his hurt ankle. He inhaled instinctively, immediately regretting it as the fumes coated the inside of his throat. He got to his feet, testing out the injury. It seemed to only be a minor sprain.

"Great, just my luck. Layla is going to get a kick out of this"

Disorientated and in pain, Xingyao shuffled through the streets. The sound of his shuffling echoed from the walls. Soon he noticed the sound of a soft skittering. He wheeled around to find nothing but an empty street. The shadows danced on the walls, mocking him.

"Man, this place is really creepy."

He picked up his pace, limping up and down the maze of dirty streets. Finally he spotted the town's gate in the distance. He moved as fast as he could, now breathing heavily, ignoring both the smell and his pain. The large archway loomed before him and he entered the gate's shadows obscuring him from the moon's light. The path to the forest came into view as he neared the end of the gate. He slowed to take one last look behind him when a dark form dropped from above, enveloping him and his fading scream.

[Zan Yu]

For miles the motorcycle engine embraced her in a serenade. Like a charging lancer, her machine threatened the darkness to part before them, for a moment, before flanking and giving chase. From New Tachi Dai to here, Old Tachi Dai, Zan Yu balanced over a single stretch of road this night on a thrill seeker's whim.

Her and the towns belonging to the United Republic of Nations, she knew the history of the abandoned, decaying ghost town. As well as the nearby town built to honor and continue its namesake. But it wasn't until she was requested to visit New Tachi Dai, assisting a burgeoning Equalist branch there, that she bothered to give the old town her undivided attention. She already knew it to be a hive of insurgents and traitors aligned against the Fire Nation during the Hundred Year War. Some mining town that lit itself ablaze like blasting jelly rather than surrender. And now what was left of it was a ruined husk with a writhing, eternal inferno underneath it with seeping smoke and sinkholes stalking the land.

Since the war's end it became an unwanted and hazardous tourist attraction. And that reputation only increased as locals in the area hexed the old town with rumors of it now being populated by ghosts and spirits. Even that its underground mines led to the spirit world.

'A load of foxox dung that even half of it is true,' Zan Yu told herself. But it would be no less incredible to finally see an actual ghost or even a spirit. Not like the Avatar who could look like any regular Lee, or Tui and La in the North Pole (Fish?! Travel to the arctic? Surrounded by Water Tribe people? No, just, no.) but some ephemeral or incorporeal being. The sort of spooks you can only read about nowadays but people outside the cities talk about as if they still exist.

That's what she wanted tonight, clenching her teeth to clamp down her desire as she swung the motorcycle to a halt. Sliding the square goggles down her face, Zan Yu crinkled her nose as the air changed around her. For miles it tasted nothing but trees and the cold rush of air. Now it wanted to wretch at the scent of ash and sulfur from the town.

'And the haunts choose to inhabit a dung pile like this?' Killing her vehicle she settled it outside the ruin mess of the town's old wall. Plunging forward, she tried not to inhale crisp night air fouled by the rotting town. She wretched upon doing it anyway, for a moment covering herself with the sleeve of her leather jacket, a bright gold and cropped short to stop above her belly. This was gonna be a frustrating night if she couldn't get use to the smell, maybe more so if she had to ride back to New Tachi Dai with the reek of the old town on her.

But just as annoyed by the notion she nonchalantly soldiered downhill towards the town hole in the town's wall. No doubt left by the Fire Nation assault before the rebels decided to set the town alight rather than have the Fire Nation do it for them. Once she had made it to the rubble amassed before the break in the town's wall, Zan Yu began to stalk over it on all fours like a wary cat as she crept inside Old Tachi Dai.

[Danno]

The dust hung heavy in the air. An old lantern was the room’s only source of light, a dull haze swirled around a crouching figure in the center of the room. Danno shifted his weight to stave off the inevitable stiffening in his knees. His breath was muffled behind the cloth tied around his face. A shovel and trowel lay by his side, the metal freshly scraped and dirtied. A hand reached into the freshly dug hole brushing a small wooden box rested half buried.

The wood was smooth, hardened and blackened through fire. Danno grabbed the nearby trowel and carefully removed the dirt from around the find. With slow deliberate movements, the box came fully into view. Danno quickly replaced the trowel with a small brush. He cleaned the top of the wooden artifact with care. Grooves in the dirt were exposed and amplified, finally revealing a small inscription. He carefully removed the box from it’s resting place, bringing it into the light. The cover of the box was inscribed with a single name below a depiction of a rising sun over a tower. Danno looked over the small box for a latch or seam but was unable to find one. The cold wood, still smelling of earth and smoke, would not give up it’s secrets just yet.

A gust of wind blustered through a hole in the roof, whistling a low, soulful tune. Danno looked in surprise at the stars in the night sky, time had gotten away from him again. He put the wooden box into his satchel. The shovel and other equipment would be safe in the deserted town. Still, he should not make it any easier for a bold scavenger, he hid the tools in an adjoining closet. Danno stepped out into the night air, making sure to keep his mouth covered.

Wisps of smoke still hung in the air and the smell left a bitter taste in his throat. He sighed, it was a long walk back to town. The sound of a motorcycle’s engine growled out over the quiet night air. He made a note to himself to look into hiring a taxi for his next trip out to the town of Old Tachi Dai. With the lantern before him, Danno carefully made his way down rickety steps, the frame bending with his weight. The low growl turned to a roar as the rider drew near. The night went quiet again as the engine died out. Danno walked toward the large hole in the wall, eyes scanning the shadows. His traveling experiences had led to a cautious nature. He slowed as a shadow appeared at the entrance to his exit. Too late to duck away, Danno strolled toward the stranger. He smiled in greeting and tried to call out a friendly word but his voice was dampened by the scarf around his face. He pulled it down, taking a tentative breath before again offering a greeting.

[Zan Yu]

"An to you too ya =!" Spitting a curse at the stranger from back down the rubble pile.

"Stupid pranking = =!" Rolling backwards onto her feet to stand. Highly unamused, Zan Yu recalled the stone still clenched in the palm of her fingerless, black-and-white checkered glove before she fell backwards down the entrance at the stranger's appearance.

A sharp snap of the elbow and the stone whizzed by the man. Her word of caution to him.

"So you get yer kicks hanging around this dump and scaring folks while you smell likea hogmonkey or sumthing?" Growling at him while she dusted herself off. "= waste of time botherin wit this = here and yer dum cheap thrill hobo ass," she turned around and stormed off, for a moment. Then Zan Yu's path to her motorcycle crooked away from it as she decided to instead walk around the town walls to find another way inside.

So long as she didn't have to put up with the would-be prankster, or her own embarrassment, this night wasn't going to be a total waste for her.

[Danno]

The small stone whistled past him, clattering against the walls as it bounced to a stop. The stranger disappeared down the rubble, a low curse drifted across the foul breeze. Danno ignored the rock's warning and started up the rubble.

"Sorry about that, didn't mean to frighten you."

He paused on the ledge of one of the larger pieces of the fallen wall.

"Are you all right?" He called to the fading shadow of the town's unexpected guest.

Danno chided himself on his recklessness. Stepping out of the shadows on some poor, unsuspecting traveler was no way to introduce oneself. He patted the box in his satchel. Having reassured himself of it's safety, he eased himself down to the road below. The lantern's light flashed along the walls.

[Zan Yu]

"Course I'm right ya twit. Ya didn't frighten me," Zan Yu countered. "Jus found me off guard," waving him off from behind her back.

She continued to tromp off along the town's ruined wall, almost ignoring the presence of him following after her. The light of his lantern hugging the wall casting shadows of the both of them before her began to place Zan Yu on her guard once more.

"Ya alone trying to scare some friends too?" She bellowed, trying to listen to the area around her beyond their voices and the forest for any more people. Yet there was little more than whatever was prowling and singing in the forest tonight, as far as she could tell. "Or you just out here trying to frighten anyones to get your giggles?"

Zan Yu half turned back towards him as she finally stopped in her search. "And since ya been hidin here--tell where the damn front gate is!"

[Danno]

Not one to be left in the dust, he quickly made his way to her side. Turning to catch a better look at the late night intruder. A cursory glance revealed a guarded character, a woman. He smiled slightly as he recognized the guarded, but curios look of a fellow adventurer. No doubt interested in the tall tales of the dark and ruined town.


He raised his free hand in the direction of the skeleton of a long dead tree, nestled along the curve of the decaying wall. It's branches reached towards the heavens in an empty embrace of the night sky.

"Just follow the road and you should run into it."

His eyes darted to the dancing shadows, jarring and mesmerizing, on the wall. The night was late but he did not feel the dulling caress of sleepiness. Might as well spend the time working.

"I'm headed back in, if you would like the company."

[Zan Yu]

Zan Yu's eyes rolled into a side-eyed glare as a lantern's light crept from behind her. It seemed the prankster decided to tag along and follow her at a jaunty pace.

"Just follow the road and you should run into it," he told her as they followed along the curve of the town wall. Almost eighty years of neglect but still much of the town's wall stood as it continued to decay. Pockmarks of burn, damage and rubble from the battle that ended its existence. The creep of living and dead vegetation continuing their own siege to reclaim this place for the forest.

"I'm headed back in, if you would like the company..." he offered from somewhere behind her as they neared one of the town's gates.

Zan Yu snorted in contempt at his offer, but was deciding to accept it anyway. He had a lantern after all. A good item to have it she was gonna trapeze about in a rotting town in the dark still falling apart with unknown pitfalls and sudden sinkholes.

Of course the light was all she needed, not him. If there wasn't the liklihood of this prankster having already inside or coming to join him.. she'd likely would have clocked him over the head and take the lantern for herself.

"Alright then," she agreed as the view of the stewn, demolished, decaying wreck of a gate came across the edge of the lantern's light.

She reached behind her to knab the man about his arm. Quickly realized she couldn't reach her hand across his bicep, not even half of it, as she tried to swing him around in front of her.

"Since ya have the lantern, take the lead for a lady will ya."

[Danno]

Danno stepped deftly in the lead at the beckoning of the woman. He entered the city once more, the smell becoming even stronger. The short reprieve only made the stench more noticeable as he raised his scarf to his nose and mouth. He plunged deeper into the darkness, his lantern seemed to dim in the thick air.

He resisted the urge to play tour guide, only making passing remarks as they passed buildings and fixtures. Danno's destination was the center of the town. A large tower, it's height formidable despite a large section that had been destroyed in a Fire Nation attack, would serve as a perfect lookout point.

Not too far away on a decrepit scaffold from a long forgotten construction site, a menacing figure watched the two intruders in silence. It's eyes glowed in the dark light, the rest of it's body obscured by shadows. A breeze swept through the night air, causing a tired old gate to swing on it's rusted hinges. The spectre let out a putrid rasp, it's eyes rolling back as it leapt from the building's height into the town below.

Danno continued onward, winding between broken carts and crumbled walls. He glanced back at the woman before facing the night again. He raised his voice and said,

"So what brings you to Old Tachi Dai? And don't tell me it's for the view."

[Zan Yu]

Popping the collar of her leather jacket, Zan Yu tried to squeeze herself inside the jacket like a turtledove into its shell. For a moment a moment she assumed that her eager guide purposely broke a gagging wind before her--one more reason he'd deserved a good mauling.

The smell of this town was even worse once you were inside, she told herself and planned to just drop tonight's plan altogether. Why did no one tell her about the nauseating smell of this place beforehand? The spooks must be grateful they haven't a clue how this town they're dwelling in smells.

And why am I even going further into this reek pile, questioning herself as she followed after Danno's lantern, her attention to his remarks and observations of the dead town.

"With the reek of dis joint," she gave a muffled reply to him from under the collar of her jacket, "I'm rethinking using that for my answer."

"And what about Mr. Lantern? Taking a dirtnap or shopping?" Her question accusatory striking an accusatory lint. With him holding the only lantern between them, she could make out patches of dirt or mud (hard to be certain in the dark) on his clothing.

Of course, she thought, most of this town was still intact and was a hazard--so why shouldn't there have been valuables still left behind after all these years?

[Danno]

Danno chuckled at the sarcastic answer. This woman had an interesting sense of humor, maybe this night wouldn't be disappointing after all. Biting back another question, Danno continued the trek. He would spare her the extra breath of another answer. His ears picked up the sound of a forgotten gate in the distance, it's lonely creak accented by the night's wind.

The street had opened up into a ruined market square. Broken stalls were slowly collapsing throughout the area. Small buildings closed in around, marking off the square. Townhouses stood in watchful silence, their frames sagging in resignation. The shops were boarded up, the wood blackened and ragged from the dirty air.

Danno slowed to imagine what the market must have been like when the town was occupied. Ghostly imaginings began to flicker around him. Children were playing a game of keep away. They almost trip a large man carrying a cauldron of fresh broth. A young couple walk the aisles, their hands clasped. Vendors called out the day's specials. A baker pulled out fresh loaves of bread. Danno involuntarily took a breath and found himself back in the realm of reality. He glanced back at the woman in realization.

Fishing in his satchel, Danno closed his hand around a long piece of cloth, remnant of his visit to the nearby town. He slowed and stretched out his hand to her.

"Here, this will help with the smell."

[Zan Yu]

Zan Yu cautiously reached over to Danno, cautiously sliding the strip of cloth from his hand. She held her gaze on him and slowly brought the cloth up to her nose then gingerly sniffed it. Flowery. Perfumed? Vying with the scent of dirt and soil too. She was still awake, so surely it could be safe.

Begrudgedly she began tying the offered cloth around her face. Turning about in place, Zan Yu too a few whiffs of the surrounding air through the cloth. It was an improvement she admitted. It didn’t completely block out the smell of the town, but it was an improvement still.

“Better,” she told him with her voice a bit muffled under the cloth. “But that still doesn’t answer my question, y'know. Or you jus being funny by bringing me to the market.” She scanned about the pathetic and dilapidated area. "But I guess if you are looking for whatever valuables are left, might as well start here, yeah?"

[Danno]

Danno nodded his head slowly, the movement causing his lantern to rock slightly. He hung the light from a hook on a support beam of a nearby stall. His search of the town had not reached the market yet, so he was grateful for the excuse to explore. This night might not be a waste after all.

He wasn't sure how much he could trust this woman, but he had little choice. The night was reaching it's zenith and Danno knew he was due back in Republic City at midday. He moved slowly into a stall, the light of his lantern reaching faintly through to the interior. He could hear the woman moving around outside, but the sounds faded as he focused on his search. He moved throughout the small area, his eyes sweeping the floor and short walls with piercing eyes. He froze as he saw a marking that struck a familiar chord. A crude scratching of a tower and rising sun was barely noticeable in the light.

He lowered himself to inspect the wall upon which the emblem was inscribed. His fingers traced the etching delicately, the rough wood registering on his fingertips. He leaned back, taking in the area. No sign of a latch or markings on the ground. He pressed his hand back on the etching. Hesitantly, he began applying pressure in different combinations. His movements stopped as he felt the sun give way slightly. Breathing out slowly he placed his forefinger on the sun, depressing the hidden switch. A small panel opened to his right.

Dust and cobwebs ringed a small, dark wooden block. He picked it up gingerly, it's weight light as air in his hand. If he closed his eyes, he would be unaware of the small block's presence. A sharp crack brought his mind back to his surroundings.

He stepped outside. A shadow moving just out of his field of vision. What was it? An animal? He had seen no signs of life since his entry into this ruined city, other than his newfound friend. The thought fired through his mind. Where was she? He rushed to his lantern, grabbing the life giving light. He looked around for his companion.

[Zan Yu]

"Broken... broken...--a seed?---garbage...dead ratroach... useless," Zan Yu took a mumbling inventory of the what was once a market stall, next to the one she assumed Mr. Lantern--Danno--was picking through. It was easy to scrounge her area from their single lantern light, in fact. Mainly due her stall being nothing but an empty square space as the original structure had fallen clear over to one side ages ago.

Standing, Zan Yu spied Danno's figure scavenging through his chosen stall before turning away, deciding to not bother him yet as to whether or not he had found anything of any value.

Not just jewels, she thought to herself, it has almost been a century so even some old pottery or painting or book or scroll could have some value. And afterall, this was a marketplace--why not some money left behind. Some old currencies are probably worth more now than they were back then. "I just have to find it," telling herself as she strode to the stall on the other side of Danno.

This one seemed to be in a better state of decay; the awning eaten with holes from weather and buttermoths, and the wood showing slow signs of rotting. A swift kick proved that it wouldn't fall atop her, yet. And a firm palm press against the wooden stall's counter seemed to hold most of her weight. Long enough for her to vault over the counter and into the stall.

After a few minutes Zan Yu began to decide this stall was a bust as well. A soup ladle--felt like brass, a spilled pile of green and brown chopsticks--copper, stir fry pans--iron--nothing but cheap cookware! "Well..." she thought for a moment, I can still sell it for scrap! Maybe there's a bag or satchel nearby, being a market square afterall, she could toss this cheap loot in.

And suddenly a survival ripple poured over her. Whether she had earned it from her thug days on the streets of Republic City, in the state penitentiary, or now as one of Amon's thugs was not a concern right now. Just the tingle that uncomfortably slithered up her spine and back down again to her crack. Like a reflex one hand clenched a copper chopstick while another swiped a brass fork. By the time there was a snap she had scuttled like a roach to one of the darkened corners of her stall. Away from the light in Danno's stall.

Friend of yours, Mr. Lantern? She sneered in his direction. And held her breath. Unable to see what was out there. Not wanting to be caught in the light. Just hiding and holding her breath.

The light moved. He took the lantern. The light was scanning about their section of the square. But she only heard his footsteps. His breath. She slinked over the side of her stall, away from the light. Circled around, utensil in hand. He was big. Tall too, especially compared to her height. But she had stealth. And weapons--or kitchen cutlery. The arm holding the chopsticks, a crook around his neck. The fork, a his throat. Her legs, clamped about his arms and waist. Zan Yu had done it far to many times not to screw it up.

No more games! She pounced.

[Danno]

Another disturbance in the night, Danno could feel the still air shift as an unknown being moved in the darkness. He saw a shadow, black against the night sky leap from the tower. The unexpected phantom turned his attention enough to recognize a startling new threat. Even as the soft light brought the darkened figure into focus, Danno shifted his weight. He had been on enough sites with hostile locals to never leave his guard down.

He reached out a large hand, grasping a half-rotted support beam. With a quick twist, he wrenched it free, causing the decaying roof to slowly tumble forward. 'The uptight professors at the university would have had a stroke if they saw his blatant destruction of the archaeological site,' Danno thought as he tensed. With less than a second to spare, he dove free from his attacker's reach. The light revealed the woman in midair. He almost smiled at the sight of the fork and chopsticks. Very resourceful.

So she had decided to play the traitor. The revelation didn't faze him. He had seen it happen before, as it would undoubtedly happen again. Danno had what he had come for. Best now to retreat. He knew the small roof would pose no threat to her, it's weight long been worn down. A small distraction at the most. Her friend out in the shadows was a different matter. Danno's eyebrows furrowed at the thought of having to face an unknown assailant.