I never thought I’d have the inspiration for this story back, but I’m kinda feelin it tonight :D

I present to you Vyntresser – The Airbender’s Love Book 3 – Sidkah’s Eclipse

Aang heaved a long sigh and shivered a little. He tugged his parka up his neck a little further as the freezing winter air bit at his warm flesh; his gaze locked down on the ice underneath him. His face softly wrinkled with a frown and sorrowful eyes. He knew leaving Katara and Sokka so suddenly would risk their lives, as well as his, but he felt he had a duty to fulfill. He knew Katara was back in the cave struggling in pain and agony, dying possibly of who knows what… A curse put upon her that no one but she will fully understand. Aang felt as if his duty were to find a cure for her, help her through this tough time… He wanted to be the man she always needed and looked to for support.

Aang softly licked his lips but immediately winced afterwards; the freezing winds have basically chapped his lips to the point of scarring and peeling. Aang groaned in agony and continued to lick his lips until they were moist. His feet ached and shot sharp pains through his legs with every single step he took, and he knew sooner or later, he’d collapse. Aang slowed to a stop and kept his grey gaze down on the ice and snow underneath him. The cold, unforgiving element whirled near his feet and danced in a winter sort of flurry, the silence in his ears ringing louder than his jumbled, distressed thoughts.

As his eyes met the morning sun on the horizon, he heaved a long sigh, the air before him fogging and drifting away. He then suddenly locked his eyes on something not to far away from him. A downward slope leading into a long, dark cavern just before him. Aang’s eyes widened as he saw a small spark of a fire inside; he inhaled sharply and quickly began to stride towards the cave in hopes of finding someone, anyone…

Aang’s long strides quickly began to become clumsy and of balance as the white snow rapidly began to slope downwards further into the Earth; he quickly began to descend into the cavern. Aang hollered as he slipped onto his back and slid further into the cave until he came to a soft halt. He groaned softly and slowly got to his feet but as he stood, not too far off in the long cavern was that flicker of a fire, as if someone had built it, but there was no one to be found. Aang glanced around.

“H-hello? Anyone here?” he hollered softly as his voice echoed forever off the hard ice and snow surrounding, “Anyone at all?”

To his dismay, no one answered. He sighed and began to head towards the oh so welcoming fire that flickered and basically drew him to it like a moth to light. He eagerly jogged to it in hopes of basically unthawing. Aang quickly skid to his knees and threw his arms and hands before the fire, his facial expressions eager and desperate for warmth. Little did he know he’d fallen into a trap. There was suddenly a deep, unfamiliar voice within his presence.

“I’ve been waiting for you, young Avatar…”

“Lehlan, this isn’t working…” Katara grumbled as young Lehlan softly lapped and licked at her cheek. Lehlan closed his eyes in disbelief and flattened his furry ears as Katara attempted to get a good look at him from the strange angle.

“That storm did no good for your skin, Katara… Your face is all cut up from ice shards…” Sokka reminded as he sharpened his boomerang with a sharp rock. Katara rolled her eyes quickly before gently pulling her face away from Lehlan followed by an impatient sigh. She glared out to the morning horizon, thankful to see the warm sun.

“This isn’t fair, Lehlan… Why can’t we go out to look for Aang? It’s as clear as day out there,” Katara complained, she had looked a little better than what her state looked earlier that morning. Lehlan took a close seat next to her and licked his nose once.

“Things will all fall into place, if one is patient Katara. The night sky brings fear, darkness and clouded judgement,” Lehlan said softly before gently turning Katara’s face away from him and to the scenery before them, “but the night also brings promise of a new day, a new awakening and a new hope for lifes struggles.”

Katara fell silent and frowned out to the horizon. She sighed long and hard as she hugged her knees to her chest; her rebellious side yelled at her to spring forward and run after Aang, follow his footsteps and run into his warm embrace, but her logical and thinking side disagreed, and was winning her thought fight.

“How long do we have to wait here… We’ll go hungry, we have no food,” Katara reminded Lehlan as well as Sokka. Lehlan rested his gaze on Katara before averting it back to the horizon.

“This situation will play itself out… My gut feeling says to wait for Aang to return,” Lehlan said raspily, but this time, with not as much hope as his last statement. Katara frowned at this but didn’t argue or move. She stayed still and gazed down at her lap, tears stinging her eyes.

“You know you sound hilarious talking to that dog,” Sokka chuckled as he gazed down at his boomerang. Katara shot him a glare.

“He’s a wolf, Sokka,” Katara said shortly.

“Whatever, I still think it’s funny,” Sokka smiled up at her. Katara stopped her death glare and softened her gaze a little. She almost felt her heart skip as she saw Sokka’s warm smile, she almost felt at peace. Knowing Sokka was smiling, still keeping things light and warm made her seem so at peace. She knew even though her brother annoyed her sometimes, he was always a comfort to have around. Katara turned around and softly gripped her stomach. She heaved a long, shakey sigh and let her eyes close a little. Her prayers filled her thoughts and she dreamed of Aang returning to her, Sokka and Lehlan…

“Whose there?” Aang said sharply as he immediately stood. He gasped softly and hugged his arms closer to him as he gazed past the blazing fire. His heart basically wrenched and fell to the pit of his stomach once he saw what was in front of him.

“H-Hinadi?” Aang hesitated.

“Looks can be deceiving…” Said the large shirlakoi a good few yards away from him.

“I-I, thought Hinadi was the last of her kind,” Aang said, half to himself.

The large shirlakoi before Aang looked almost exactly like Hinadi, yet he was a lot bigger. His white fur was tinted a soft blue and his markings, as well as his wings, were black. His face was very unfriendly and his large ears were laid flat. Aang felt compelled to make a run for it, but his legs remained still and frozen in their spot. Aang trembled and gazed straight into the eyes of the large shirlakoi.

“Her and I are the only remaining shirlakoi on Earth,” He said shortly and in an angry tone.

“How do you know Hinadi?” Aang questioned as he began to make his way around the large fire to get a better look at who he was talking to, “Who are you?”

Aang’s movements seemed to upset the large shirlakoi; the enormous creature tensed and slowly spread his wings as if to seem bigger than what he really is. He grit his razor sharp teeth and growled a deep growl from the back of his throat. Aang froze once around the fire and gazed wide eyed at the creature before him.

“C-can, you please just tell me how to get to the Southern Watertribe? My friends are hurt and—“

“I know…” The large creature interrupted. Aang jumped a little at the sound of his loud bellowing voice.

“You, know?” Aang almost whimpered.

“I’ve been following you, Aang…” He said deeply as he began to circle Aang, his long, furry dragon like tail softly curling around the young monk as well. Aang stood still, and tried to be as fearless as possible.

“What do you want from me?” Aang yelled as he whirled around to face the beast curling near him. The large creature snarled loudly in Aang’s face, causing Aang to fall onto his rump on the ice. Aang gazed wide eyed up at the large shirlakoi who was now basically hovered over Aang.

“I would say I’m here to help you, but you wouldn’t believe me,” He said darkly, his eyes seemingly full of evil and hatred; so dark and lonely his eyes looked, yet he seemed so alive, so ready to fight.

“How… Who are you?” Aang uttered softly.

“…My name is Sidkah, and you don’t have much time Aang… Your girlfriend is dying,” Sidkah uttered softly, yet in a non-caring tone. His ears flattened, as if Aang was failing a duty. Aang frowned hard and gazed up at Sidkah before getting to his feet, feeling furious.

“Don’t you tell me what’s going on and what’s not, I walked all night in the freezing cold trying to find the Southern Water tribe,” Aang said loudly, sticking up for himself. Sidkah chuckled and rolled his eyes as he lifted his large horse like head and neck, his ears perked with amusment.

“Too bad the direction you’re heading in is North,” Sidkah laughed and made fun of Aang. Aang glowered and glared hard before quickly pushing past Sidkah, not wanting to be near him for any longer.

“I don’t need this. I can find the Southern Water tribe on my own,” Aang said angrily as he began to push his way past the warm fire and up the sloping snow back to the outside lands. He could still hear Sidkah behind him, chuckling maniacly and teasingly, he could picture Sidkah’s ears flat, his eyes dark and clever.

“Well, you’ll need a better sense of sight and smell to get anywhere in this snow,” Sidkah called after Aang. Aang rolled his eyes and didn’t stop for one second.

Just before Aang stepped out of the large cave, he could feel the ice beneath him suddenly yank and shift, crackle and break. Aang gasped and gazed down towards his feet before quickly whirling around to catch a glimpse of Sidkah. His head was still held up to look at Aang, the look in his eyes almost desperate and helping, yet still dark and unappreciative, cold and lonely. Aang glared at him and could almost feel his inner Avatar being sparked.

“You won’t help me, I know your type,” Aang hollered angrily.

“And what is, my type,” Sidkah replied, his ears flat and his expression disgruntled.

“You’re trying to trick me, so my girlfriend and her brother don’t get any help, just stay away from me! I’m leaving,” Aang hollered before turning to head out of the cave.

“Not without your parting gift,” Sidkah almost chuckled as he gazed back at Aang, his expression a little more loose and open.

Aang suddenly gasped and fell down to the ground. He widened his eyes and gazed down at the snow, his heart racing; Aang gripped his stomach and felt as if that was the only thing he could do right now. Aang hollered out a few indecipherable things before softly plopping down into the snow. He coughed and hacked a few times as his vision quickly became blurry, yet the cold was suddenly the least of his worried. He was warm, it encompassed him and slightly eased his troubles. He moaned a long, exasperated sigh for help and let his eye lids slowly close, the last thing visable to him was Sidkah’s large tiger like paws, stepping closer to him in a menacing way. Aang was, shortly after that, gone.

A/N: AH! I feel so much better- sorry for the long wait guys!! I hope you enjoyed this! Cause I actually feel back in the swing of things! :D YAYYYY Sorry for all the spelling errors! I'm lazy tonight x.x

Okay so I’m very excited for this book. Please be on the lookout for more chapters! There’s only going to be 19 more chapters after this, and then it’s DONE! D: LOL

Thanks for reading! Next chapter coming soon! – waves –

Kristi AKA Vyntresser Drake\

http:// www . vyntresserdrake1991 . deviantart . com