Chapter 16: Locked Up

Misty's eyes slowly opened. She moaned, blinking her eyes. Bad dream, she said to herself. Her eyes then opened more, and she gasped. Not a dream.
She darted to her paws in alarm, but then flinched as her head hit something. "Ow!" she hissed. She looked around - Misty seemed to be surrounded by some sort of square black net. What is this? she thought, worry washing over her. Misty pushed at the side, and found there was no way out of it. I'm stuck! she thought in alarm. "H-Hello? Somebody?" she called.
Misty perked her ears, hearing voices. "Wh-Who's there?"
"Misty?" a voice called back - a voice Misty recognized.
"Lephos!" Misty cried. "Hey! Is Sidew there?" she asked. If Sidew wasn't with Lephos, Misty knew that'd make the border collie feel terrible.
"Huh? Oh, he's here," Lephos assured her.
"This place is dark, stinky and creepy," growled Sidew's voice.
"Is anyone else in here?" Misty demanded. Adele? Campbell? she wondered.
"Uh...yeah!" Lephos exclaimed. "Adele's right next to us. She's awake."
Relief washed over Misty, knowing her sister was there.
But was her sister in a net as well?
"Do you guys have a net, too?" Misty asked.
"A what?" Lephos replied.
"A net," Misty repeated.
"Oh, these square black things? Yeah, Sidew and I are in the same one," Lephos reported.
"I'm trapped in my own one," Misty announced, pushing at the net.
"Seems more like a cage, rather than a net," Lephos said.
"Net, cage, whatever," Sidew snarled. "I stayed behind for you, and look what I got into!"
"Sorry," whimpered Lephos.
Sidew sighed, seeming regretful. "Maybe we'll get out of this..."
"We've got to," Misty insisted. "I'm certainly not staying in a...cage for the rest of my life."
"Sheesh! Where am I?!" someone exclaimed.
"Campbell?!" Misty exclaimed, recognizing the grumpy voice.
"Hey Misty," muttered Campbell's voice.
"I wonder if they know we're gone yet," murmured Lephos. Misty at first didn't know what he was talking about, but then realized he meant The Bending Tower. This added to Misty's anxiety. What did her mother think of this? Her father? Charlotte? Dust?
"The Bending Tower? Well, maybe they think we died," snorted Sidew.
Lephos must've had a bad reaction, because Misty then heard Sidew quickly say, "Just joking, just joking...but they're quick to assume."
"Probably think we got lost, like Tiggerpaka," Misty suggested.
"Speaking of which, d'you think he ended up in here?" Lephos wondered.
"You guys are loud!" protested a voice. "Pipe down, will you?"
Something shifting in the shadows caught Misty's eyes. She got as close to it as she could - she couldn't really, being in a cage - and the figure seemed to be sitting there, pressing its head against the wall. "Tiggerpaka...?" Misty murmured, looking at the figure.
"Yo, meerkat!" Sidew snapped.
The figure quickly got to its feet and strutted into the very small source of light, coming from a small opening by the ceiling. Indeed, Tiggerpaka was the figure. He had his hands on his hips, a smirk on his face - his usual pose. "Ah! I see you have found the enemy's base I had infiltrated to gather reconnaissance."
Sidew snorted.
"A what?" Misty frowned.
"'Enemy's base'?" Campbell said.
"Amateurs," Tiggerpaka sniffed.
"You might hurt your neck from looking down on us all the time," Lephos grumbled.
"What was that, Leafus?" Tiggerpaka said.
"Lephos," Lephos corrected him. "And nothing."
"Alright, Lephos-and-nothing," Tiggerpaka sniffed.
Lephos scowled.
"Why were you pressed against the wall?" asked Misty.
"Duh, listening for the sounds of the enemy!" Tiggerpaka snorted, as if it were obvious.
"...And what's the enemy doing?" snorted Campbell.
"I don't know. With all of you making a ruckus, I can't hear!" Tiggerpaka protested.
Suddenly, Misty heard a bang. She flinched. "What was that?"
"Sidew trying to Earthbend his way out of here," snorted Lephos. "Not a very good Bender yet."
"Shut up," Sidew snapped.
Misty watched as Tiggerpaka left the light, strutting over towards Sidew and Lephos's cage. "Weak," he observed.
Misty heard Sidew snarl.
"It's not like you can do any Bending yourself," pointed out Campbell. "What Bender are you, if at all?"
"A truth bender!" Tiggerpaka announced proudly.
There was an awkward silence.
"A what?" Lephos said after a while.
"Truth bender!" Tiggerpaka repeated.
"Ain't that the truth," snorted Campbell.
"Guys?" came a new voice. "Wh-Where are we?"
"Another one?!" Tiggerpaka moaned. "I'll never get my mission done with you idiots around me!"
"Who's that?" Campbell called.
"Rhett," yawned the voice. "Man...something hit me..."
"Something," mumbled another voice. Misty nearly jumped as she realized it was Koro. "Knocked us out."
"You don't say?" growled Sidew.
Suddenly, light began pouring into the room. Two silhouettes appeared in the light.
Help, Misty thought frantically.

Author's Note:
Susssspeeeennnnseee~

Chapter 15: Strange Intruders

"So, Misty, where'd you send Tiggerpaka off?" asked Crystal, as the patrol trekked through the territory, looking for any signs that the meerkat was anywhere nearby - they hadn't found a scent trail or any clues, however, and were still searching.
"Um, into the mentors' territory," Misty recalled.
"He's gotta be somewhere," Koro pointed out. "Guy'd probably get killed not far off."
"Agreed," muttered Lephos.
Nzuri padded up to them. "I'mma scout ahead," she announced, and with that she ran off, weaving through bushes, and Campbell trotted up to Misty. "Tell me again why we're searching for a useless meerkat who's no help to The Bending Tower?" she hissed.
"Well, he could be dead. And it'd be my fault," Misty said, feeling guilty.
Campbell snorted. "You'd be doing us a favor."
"We should all split up, be easier," Crystal nodded. "But try to stay somewhat close, 'kay?"
"Alright," Lephos muttered. Misty watched the young Border Collie run off. Misty headed off in a different direction, and she heard pawsteps behind her. She turned to see Campbell coming up to her.
"I'll follow you," Campbell said.
"M'kay," Misty shrugged.
The two padded along in silence for a while as they searched. Then Campbell spoke.
"What's with the earthquakes, anyway?" she asked.
"Don't expect me to know," Misty shrugged. "Maybe earthquakes occur often around here."
"Doubt it. Or else the rest of The Bending Tower wouldn't be freaking out as much," Campbell pointed out.
"True," Misty muttered.
"Do you have any clue where the meerkat may be?" Campbell wondered.
"Hmm...If I were Tiggerpaka, what would I do?" Misty whispered.
"Go and track down invisible or dead enemies, that's what," Campbell giggled.
"That's actually not a bad idea," Misty nodded. "Where do you think Tiggerpaka would assume enemies would be hiding?"
"I was joking," Campbell insisted. "But...I dunno. By the river? Maybe?"
Suddenly, there was the sound of pawsteps.
"Tiggerpaka?" Misty called.
Campbell sniffed the air. "That's not Tiggerpaka."
"Well? Who is it?" Misty asked.
"I think it's your deaf sister," Campbell replied.
Misty gasped, feeling fear wash over her. "Crap!" she exclaimed, running in the direction she heard the movement.
"What's so bad about this?!" Campbell yelled, following.
"The forest is dangerous for Adele!" Misty called, stopping to sniff the air. "If she's deaf, she can't hear danger." Misty turned, heading for Adele's scent. "That's why Adele isn't an apprentice yet, nor is she allowed outside the yard."
"Oh. That's bad," Campbell frowned.
"Adele!" Misty yelled, but then stopped herself. Bug-brain! She can't hear you!
"You know she can't--"
"I know she can't hear me," Misty snapped, full of worry for her sister.
Misty ran, and then stopped - there was her sister, wings extended, standing in the middle of the clearing. "Okay. She's safe," Misty hissed to Campbell.
"Why are we whispering?" Campbell exclaimed. "One, there's nothing to hide from. And two, Adele can't hear--"
Suddenly, there was a screeching-like sound - something Misty had never heard in her life. "What's that?" she asked.
"Whatever it is, Adele certainly doesn't know," Campbell snorted.
And then...something burst into the clearing. Misty wasn't quite sure what it was...its eyes were white and orange, and they were low, on either side of it. Its paws were huge, round and pitch-black, with strange markings on it. The creature was light brown, with a dark brown top. It came to a screeching halt and stopped in front of Adele, who stopped and merely stared at it.
"She needs to get out of there!" Misty yelled.
"She must have no sense of danger!" Campbell pointed out, "she's never had her life at stake...so she has no clue she can die, get captured, be eaten by whatever that--"
Misty then gasped as the sides of the creature moved, and wing-like things popped out from the sides. Then out came two incredibly ugly creatures.
They were tall, and had no fur. One had something black hooking from their ears to in front of his eyes, and a tan thing on top of his head. He had a tan pelt on him, that covered his shoulders and his bottom body - then another strange green pelt below the top one, and something covering his bottom paws. The other animal had the same things.
Both the animals gasped at Adele, then said something to each other rapidly - something Misty couldn't understand, like a totally separate language. But they looked eager.
"What...are...those things?!"  Campbell cried, frozen in shock.
Misty then turned back and yelled out as she saw one take a long stick from behind him and pointed it in Adele's direction, who cocked her head. He then pulled something and there was a pow, as something flew at Adele's head. She then tripped over her paws and fell forward.
"She's...d-dead?" Misty hissed, as one of them picked Adele up and headed back for the black-pawed creature. "Adele!" Misty cried, jumping out of the bushes.
"Misty!" Campbell yelled, jumping after her friend.
The other guy yelled out and quickly took out a stick of his own and pointed it at Misty, firing the same thing at her.
Darkenss overtook Misty and she fell to the ground.

Author's Note:
Can't wait to write the next chapteeerrrrr. .3.

Chapter 14: The Lost Meerkat

This particular earthquake seemed stronger than the last ones Misty had been through. The earth swayed and everything shook. Misty dug her paws into the ground, trying not to fall as the area shook tremendously. I'm gonna die! Misty thought in alarm. A tree fell near Misty, and, heart pounding, she shot away from it in fear, only to have another tree fall her way. Misty screamed as a branch whipped at her head, and she ducked down, covering her head with her paws. Help! Someone! she pleaded silently.
Something hit Misty in the head - it felt like a large rock. Misty's vision went blurry and she felt herself stumbled, but tried staying awake. Don't get knocked out, she instructed herself, fighting to stay on her paws. I gotta find a place to hide...
Misty kept blinking, trying to clear her vision as the earth around her felt to be breaking in half. Of all the times to get hit with a rock! she thought angrily.
Then, something pushed Misty down onto the ground. Misty heard a screeching sound above the quake and heard a voice hiss "DIE!" Misty fought to open her eyes, wondering what it was, but she then heard a pow and whatever it was, must've gone away.
Misty then blacked out.


"Should I Waterbend something onto her face?"
"No, Rhett! That'd be stupid."
"C'mon Koro, it'd be funny."
Misty's eyes shot open and she found herself in the yard, Rhett and Koro standing over her. Koro had concern on his face, and Rhett had a teasing grin on his - as usual. Misty looked around. "Wh-What happened?"
"After the earthquake, Capture the Prey was called off. I found you knocked out in the middle of two fallen trees," Koro answered. Misty noticed he had a cut on his forehead. "You okay?"
"Uh..." Misty said. "Y-Yeah."
Koro gave a slight smile, and Misty felt a bit nervous. "That's nice. Nightgale and Eclipse helped you. You had a terrible cut bye your eye."
Misty started to get to her paws. "Is everyone else okay?" she asked.
"Um...Well, Tiggerpaka's missing," Koro shrugged.
"But who cares?" laughed Rhett.
Immediately Misty felt a rush of guilt. "Oh no..." she murmured. It was her fault - she's the one who sent Tiggerpaka on the little "mission".
"What?" Rhett asked.
"I...think it's my fault Tiggerpaka's gone," Misty gulped.
"Thank you. You got rid of a very annoying pest," Rhett chuckled.
Koro flashed Rhett a look, then turned to Misty. "I'm sure he's fine. That one's a survivor."
"How?" Rhett demanded.
"If he survived through the Firebender fight, I think he can survive anything," Koro observed.
"You gotta point," Rhett frowned. "It's a miracle he's still alive...but then again, he could be dead right now."
This made Misty feel worse. "Wh-Where's my dad?"
"Ash? He's talking to Raoul, over there," Koro responded, nodding to behind Misty. Misty turned to see, indeed, that her father was talking to his deputy. Misty got up and trotted for her father, hearing their conversation as she got closer to them.
"...Except one, which you know is Tiggerpaka," Raoul was saying. "No one knows where he is."
"Hmm. What do you think we should do?" Ash frowned.
Misty hesitated, listening, not wanting to interrupt.
"Probably leave him," Raoul snorted. "He can be a nuisance."
"Yeah, but really, I don't think we should let him wander. It feels wrong," Ash insisted.
"Ash, I'm sure he's having some made-up adventure he thinks is real--"
"Uh...dad?"
Ash and Raoul looked at Misty. "Oh, hello Misty," Ash approached his daughter. "Feeling better?"
"Yes," Misty replied. "Um...I-I think I may be the cause of Tiggerpaka being lost..."
"What happened?" Ash asked calmly.
"He wanted to help in...Capture the Prey," Misty said, finding it hard to meet her father's eyes. "And I sent him off."
"Misty," Raoul said, "never let Tiggerpaka help you with stuff."
Ash looked at Raoul. "That may be true, but let's just deal with finding him first, instead of giving advice," Ash suggested. He turned to Misty. "You can help us track him, if you want."
"Okay," Misty murmured. She didn't feel like doing a tracking job, but it was her responsibility.
"Benders! Gather!" Ash called.
The animals of The Bending Tower came up to Ash, and Misty joined them, sitting next to Lephos and Sidew.
"As you know," Ash began, "Tiggerpaka is missing."
Some animals laughed with delight, but a look from Ash made them stop.
"So we got to find him," Ash insisted.
"Come on!" moaned Akumu, "we did the same thing for Tiggerkat moons ago!"
"Yeah! And we found her in a hot spring!" roared Rusty furiously.
"Tiggerpaka would most likely be found fighting a bush," Raoul pointed out.
"Can't argue with that," muttered Dust's voice.
"Nonetheless, no matter what he find him doing, we got to find him. If another earthquake starts, Tiggerpaka would probably die," Ash insisted. "We'll have three tracking parties - the first will consist of Crystal, Lephos, Misty, Koro, Campbell and Nzuri. Patrol two will have Rhett, Ekaj, Dell, Mkia and Leafy. Patrol three will have Darner, Firefly, Bracken, Twister and Liberty. Any questions?"
"Ooh!" exclaimed a voice - Misty realized it belonged to Wyki."Can I search too? I'm a great tracker!"
"No Wyki," came Flare's voice. "You're too young."
"Aw! I could really help!" cried Wyki. "Please dad?"
"Dad, don't let him," snorted Sirius. "Wyki will trip over his own paws, over and over."
"Oh, will not!" Wyki insisted.
"Start the search!" Ash said, cutting their conversation off. "Meeting over."

Author's Note:
And the great search for Tiggerpaka begins. ouo 

Chapter 13: Guard Duty

Tiggerpaka scampered downhill, panting. He ran faster and faster. Tiredblade shall never catch me! he thought determinedly. The meerkat then looked over his shoulder to see if his nemesis was pursuing. No--
Suddenly, Tiggerpaka tripped over his own feet. With a yell, Tiggerpaka fell down and flipped over, hitting his head on a rock. He kept rolling, yelling "OW!" every time he got hit by something (which was pretty much every time he rolled over). Tiggerpaka then fell into some mud and slowly rose his head. "Try and...beat me now...Tiredblade..." Tiggerpaka gasped, mud covering his face and thorns stuck in him. With a moan, he faceplanted into the mud.


Misty crashed through the bushes and into the clearing where Liberty, Lephos and Sidew were patrolling. "How many mentors have slipped by?!" she demanded, walking over to Liberty - she was looking onto the other side of the border from Kabu's Boulder.
Liberty looked at Misty. "What?" she demanded. Liberty growled and jumped off the boulder. "Lephos! Sidew!" Liberty yelled.
The two border collies obediently came running over. "Yeah? What's up?" Lephos asked.
"How many mentors did you let over?!" Liberty snarled.
Lephos flinched. "Uh...R-Rhett and Koro ran over and we gave chase, and w-we couldn't catch up...Th-Then Light came over the border and we fought...fought her but she...uh..."
Misty noticed Liberty looked like she was about to explode with anger. "I knew I couldn't trust the two of you!" Liberty roared. "Even with a task as simple as this!"
Lephos flinched, and Sidew growled back at Liberty. "It's not our fault! They're mentors!"
"We're supposed to win!" Liberty exclaimed. "If you don't want to win, don't play!"
"Sorry, Liberty," Lephos mumbled.
"Liberty--" Sidew began, looking mad.
Liberty sighed. "Here. We've been playing defense, right? You two, go into enemy territory and try to get their prey."
"Okay!" Lephos and Sidew said eagerly.
The brothers then ran off, into the mentors' side.
"Then who's gonna guard?" Misty asked.
"Misty, welcome to guard duty," Liberty replied, walking off.
"...Alright then," Misty muttered.
Misty trotted along the border, looking around for any signs of intruders - but none. They're probably all in our territory, Misty thought grumpily. She did not want to lose this game, but at the moment things weren't looking to be in her favor. I'll hear Rhett rubbing his  victory in my face for moons!
Misty sniffed the air. No one was nearby. She could only smell the fresh scent of Liberty. Misty then perked her ears. No birds were singing...no twigs snapping...the scene seemed eerily quiet.
Too quiet.
And then, another earthquake struck.

Author's Note:
Verrrrrrry late [and short] chapter. Ended it on a cliffhanger. ;D
Check my new rad awesome story too, please. ;u; It's got sign-ups, music and everything.