Chapter 1: A Day at The Bending Tower

Leaves swished on the ground as a black-and-white wolf pup trotted through the forest. She smiled up at the treetops; sunlight was shining brightly through the beautiful orange and yellow leaves. Birds tweeted too; it looked like a beautiful day.
"Misty!"
The pup turned and smiled as a gray female pup trotted up to her.
"Hey Campbell," the pup greeted the other.
"Going for a walk?" the gray pup asked.
"Uh-huh," Misty nodded. She kept walking, Campbell at her side. "What were you doing at the Tower?"
"Nothing, really," Campbell shrugged. "Except watching Liberty. She was--"
"Alright," Misty giggled. "No need to go on one of your rants."
"But it's just...I don't know why everyone likes Liberty so much," Campbell growled.
"She's your sister, Campbell, don't be angry at her," Misty replied.
"Why is everyone so impressed about her though?" Campbell demanded.
"Um..." Misty didn't quite know what to say; Liberty, Campbell's sister, was a hot-tempered she-wolf, and a brilliant fighter. She'd play-fight with everyone and always win, even against the guys, which was pretty impressive since the boys were pretty tough. The full Benders even respected her for her skills. "Maybe because she's a nice--?"
"No she's not. She snaps at the smallest things!" Campbell protested.
"Well then, I don't know," Misty muttered.
They walked along in silence until they approached Ice River. Misty stiffened. "Let's go back."
"Why?" Campbell asked.
"We can't go any further," Misty shrugged.
Campbell snorted. "Please. Look, we can cross if we want to. It can't be that dangerous."
"But my father said--"
Her tail up to indicate for Misty to stop talking, Campbell interrupted her. "Yeah, yeah, your father...you know, just because he's leader of The Bending Tower, it doesn't mean you need to demonstrate how to suck up to him, alright?"
Misty felt taken aback. "Campbell, we can't--"
"Fine, I'll show you," Campbell insisted. She then jumped over the river. "Okay. You come now!"
Misty looked at the river hesitantly. I can't let Campbell be over there by herself... Misty bunched her legs together, prepared to make a leap...
"Misty! Campbell!"
Full of relief, Misty turned to see Max trotting up, followed closely by his apprentice, Spot, a black-and-white Dalmatian. "What are you two doing?" Max demanded. "You know you two can't cross Ice River, it's not our territory!"
"We're sorry, Max," Campbell apologized, all of the sudden looking innocent.
Max narrowed his eyes. "Campbell, you need to learn to start following the rules." He then looked at Misty. "And Misty, I wouldn't expect something like this from you."
Misty shrank back. "S-Sorry, Max."
The purple-black collie studied Misty for a bit, but then sighed. "I guess you two could have done something worse...come on, I'm going to take you back to the Tower. Your mothers will be wanting you for lunch now, anyway."
"What about our training?" Spot asked.
"After I take these pups back," Max replied.
The four of them began to walk by in silence, until Campbell finally whispered, "See, when you're not an apprentice you can get away with anything. They don't expect you to break the rules, and when you do they excuse it, thinking you're too little to understand."
"But that doesn't mean we can go breaking rules!" Misty hissed.
"Yeah, but dad always told me: when you have an advantage, use it," Campbell replied.
Misty wanted to say that she didn't think that's what he meant, but they had arrived at the gates that were being guarded by Crystal, her apprentice Lephos, and Streak, and his apprentice, Sidew.
"Hello," Crystal nodded in greeting.
"I found these two by Ice River," Max said, giving Misty a look. Luckily, he didn't say further more.
"You can come in," Crystal replied. The gates opened, and they walked into a room with apprentices training their Bending skills and fighting.
"Go find your mothers," Max ordered. He then turned to Spot. "Let's go."
The two of them then left.
"Geez. What's with Max, being so strict?" Campbell asked.
"Well, he is a full Bender," Misty pointed out. "We need to listen to him."
The two of them then walked out to the yard.
Misty noticed Campbell narrowing her eyes. Following her gaze, Misty saw who she was looking at: Bracken, who was busy talking to his mentor Firefly, eagerly. "Ugh. Bracken," Campbell muttered.
"What's wrong?" Misty cocked her head.
"I just don't like him," Campbell grumbled.
Misty looked at her friend in disbelief. "Why not...?"
"Don't you know who his father is?" Campbell exclaimed, "Ironfang."
"So?" Misty shrugged.
"So, I heard that Ironfang was a cold-blooded murderer!" Campbell hissed.
"But...That doesn't mean Bracken is," Misty insisted.
"Oh, yeah? Well, do you think that maybe Bracken may have inherited some of Ironfang's traits? And guess what else?" Campbell dropped her voice to a whisper. "Ironfang tried to kill your father!"
Misty stiffened. "B-But that's in the past. Besides, Bracken's okay..."
Just then, Misty noticed Bracken making his way over to her. She felt sympathy for the young bobcat though; whenever he walked by, animals seemed to grimace and move away from him, flinching at his every move as if they expected him to explode. Sure enough, as he walked by, animals were jumping away from him as usual. Bracken seemed used to it enough, though, that it didn't bother him.
"Hi Misty!" he beamed, walking up to her.
"Hello, Bracken!" Misty greeted him.
"Hey," Campbell grumbled, not very enthusiastically.
"What were you guys talking about?" Bracken smiled.
Misty cringed. "Er...Just...What Bender we wanted to be," she lied.
"Oh? Cool!" Bracken grinned. "Waterbending is fun, actually. You should choose that."
"I think I'm going to stick to Airbending, thanks," Campbell said coldly.
"Okay then," Bracken shrugged. "I guess I'll see you guys later, then." He then trotted off.
"How can he be so naive?" Campbell demanded, as soon as Bracken was well out of earshot. "I mean, he doesn't even notice that no one seems to like him. He didn't even pick up on my sarcasm. He's just always so bright and happy..."
"And what's wrong with that?" Misty shot back. "I like him. He's my best friend."
"You mean you'd pick him over me?" Campbell narrowed her eyes.
"I didn't say that!" Misty protested. "He was just my friend before yo--"
"Fine," Campbell growled. "I'm going to find my mother, and get lunch..."
As Campbell trotted away, Misty called after her, "See you later!"
"Hey, kid."
Misty turned to see a small meerkat standing there, eating a bug. "How are you?"
"Hi Tiggerpaka!" Misty exclaimed, trotting up to him. "Can you tell me about the battle with the Firebenders?" she asked. The Firebender battle was one of Misty's favorite stories; when Tiggerpaka told it, he explained it greatly and always made it interesting.
"Again? Well, I suppose I have some free time..." Tiggerpaka shrugged. He then launched into the story.
"We were surrounded by Firebenders," the meerkat began. "They were everywhere. Reeking of rotting food, their sharp fangs glistening in the flashes of lightning...everyone was overwhelmed. The Bending Tower thought they were doomed, done for. But..." he smirked. "I then grabbed my stick and jumped at the Firebenders. I hit them all in the heads at once. They were quick, but I was much quicker. They didn't even have time to yell out before they fell over, killed by me."
"Cool!" Misty said enthusiastically.
"The Bending Tower applauded me, and I became one of their best fighters. The end," Tiggerpaka finished.
"But...my mother tells it so differently..." Misty said.
Tiggerpaka flinched. "Er...she got a bit of memory loss at the end of the battle, kid."
"She did...?" Misty cocked her head. "But it didn't seem..."
"Hey! Why don't you get lunch with your, er...lovely mother like you said you would? I...have some grubs to catch." With that, Tiggerpaka quickly scurried away, out of the yard and towards the forest.
Misty looked after the meerkat for a bit before turning to trot away, looking for her winged mother. She scanned the yard - everyone was sitting around and talking, finishing their lunch before going out to do their afternoon training and hunting. Misty then spotted her mother in the corner, talking to Charlotte; the two of them were close friends, as they both became mothers at around the same time.
"Hi mom!" Misty called.
"There you are!" Misty's mother exclaimed; Misty had heard others address her as "Airia" before. Misty always thought it was a beautiful name. "I was looking for you. Adele already ate her lunch, you still need to have yours."
Misty looked at her sister; she was slightly smaller than Misty, and had wings like her mother. But she never spoke a word in her life; Misty knew it was because Adele was deaf, and Airia explained that Adele would never be able to talk since she couldn't hear. For this reason, Adele also couldn't fly or do Bending.
"Um...hi," Misty greeted her. Adele just stared at her.
I wish my sister was normal, Misty thought with a sigh.
"What would you like for lunch, dear?" Charlotte asked. Charlotte was like a mother to Misty; she always seemed to care quite a bit for Misty, always bringing her a treat, like the time Charlotte found some honey and gave it to Misty, who had eaten it gratefully. Misty figured Charlotte liked Misty so much because Charlotte and Airia were close friends.
"I don't know," Misty admitted. She then thought for a bit. "I...Guess a mouse sounds good right now. I'm not too hungry."
"I'll go get it," Charlotte nodded, trotting off.
Misty sat down by Adele, who simply looked at her. "Um..."
"How has your day been, Misty?" Airia asked.
Misty turned from Adele to look at her mother. "Good. I...went to Ice River with Campbell, but Max brought us back, insisting on us eating lunch." She decided not to bring up that Campbell had crossed the river; it'd get her friend into trouble.
"Sounds good," Airia nodded.
"It was," Misty agreed, as Charlotte trotted up with a mouse in her jaws.
I wish I could be a part of the young forever, Misty thought, I'm much more carefree than the apprentices and Benders.

Author's Note:
Eeeee, this chapter was fun to write. :D
Who's your favorite character, so far? c: