Chapter 23: Searching for Humans

The next morning Liberty made her way downstairs and into the yard to get her breakfast. Twister had told her they'd be joining other Benders to look to see if any humans had been through the territory, so she'd have to eat quickly.

Nearby the prey pile, Liberty saw Ekaj and Malroy talking. She ignored them, and headed for the prey pile. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Malroy whisper something to Ekaj, who then grew wide-eyed and quickly shook his head. Malroy was now laughing, and he pushed Ekaj in Liberty's direction. Liberty jumped back in alarm and Ekaj stopped himself so he wouldn't collide into her. "Oh! H-Hey Liberty."
"...Hi," Liberty replied hesitantly.

"So...uh, sorry about almost...y'know smashing you," Ekaj said nervously.

"It's...okay," Liberty said slowly.

"Alright, n-nice," Ekaj seemed to not be able to meet Liberty's eyes. "Malroy pushed me."
"I saw," Liberty confirmed.

"Oh. You did?" Ekaj then turned to look at Malroy, who seemed to be laughing. "You didn't hear...our conversation, did you...?"
"No," Liberty said.

"Oh thank goodness," Ekaj sighed with relief, mostly to himself. "Anyway..." he snapped his attention back to Liberty. "Uh...I think we're on the same patrol..."
"That's nice," Liberty grabbed a rabbit from the pile. 

"Along with Dell, Hazen, Mistletoe and Audrey...a-and of course, your mentor. Twister..." Ekaj said.

"Alright," Liberty mumbled, picking up the rabbit.

"I suppose you're leaving now? O-Okay...nice talking to you...right?" Ekaj said.

Is he hoping I'll say that it was nice talking to him? Liberty wondered, aware of his tone. "Uh, yeah. Sure."

Ekaj immediately had happiness written on his face, but quickly hid it. "Nice," he replied quickly. Liberty watched him go back over to his brother and push him. Malroy bursted into laughter and said something. Curious as to what was going on, Liberty crept closer.

"...a wimp!" Malroy was saying, still laughing. "Your tone was so nervous, dude! What was up with that?"

"Because I was nervous! Did you have to push me into her?!" Ekaj demanded.

"No, but it made everything a lot more entertaining," Malroy smirked.

"If I wouldn't get in trouble...boy would I pound you!" Ekaj growled.

"Ha! Sure," Malroy snorted. "C'mon, let's go find Ryker."

With that, the brothers walked off.

Frowning, Liberty wondered what that was all about. She decided that maybe Ekaj thought she was going to beat him up or something. Whenever she was around Wyki now, he seemed to avoid her for beating him in a fight. Perhaps Ekaj was doing the same. Despite we never fought, Liberty added.

Twister then came over to Liberty, with Max and Spot. "We gotta go now, Liberty."
"I didn't get to eat breakfast," Liberty insisted.

"Eat it later. Since the humans are a big threat, Ash told us to add Max and Spots to the patrol," Twister explained. It was the longest sentence Liberty had ever heard come out of her mentor's mouth. She had been told by Akumu, one of Twister's closer friends, that ever since the fight between the Firebenders and Bending Tower she had become a lot more quiet.
Liberty followed her mentor. Max and Spot walked alongside. Liberty looked at Max. As usual, he had a serious, sad-looking expression on his face. Liberty wondered where he got that sadness from. And if Spot would get the sadness from his mentor. She hoped not.
Once they exited the yard, Liberty spotted Hazen and Mistletoe, standing a few feet away from each other but not talking, strangely.  Audrey was with Mistletoe, looking anxious as usual, darting her head around as if expecting a human to kidnap her any second. "Oh! There you are," Mistletoe said. Liberty couldn't help but notice her aunt looked relieved. "I think Ekaj and Dell are coming."
"Okay," Max said.
They sat in an awkward silence. Twister wasn't a talker, and Max wasn't much either. Spot was making an effort to talk to Audrey, but she seemed to be growing more and more anxious to the point where she seemed to be blocking Spot out. He gave up and laid down, as the group waited for Ekaj and Dell.
Finally, Ekaj and Dell arrived.
"You're very late," Twister commented coldly.
"Sorry. I wanted Ekaj to get some fuel into him," Dell replied in her usual calm and soothing voice. "He was hungry."
"Doesn't matter. Let's go," Hazen said.
They then walked off into the territory. Liberty was walking at the back of the patrol, until Ekaj fell back and started trotting alongside her. "Hey," he greeted her.
"'Ey," Liberty replied.
Silence came to them as they kept walking. Finally Ekaj blurted out, "Why do you barely talk?"
"Excuse me?" Liberty said.
"You heard me," Ekaj replied. "You never really talk. And when you do, it's five words at the most."
"Um...I'm not sure how to respond to that," Liberty muttered.
"And not only that, it's always in a muttery voice. Why?" Ekaj demanded.
Liberty glared, wondering why he was so up-tight about this. "Well, if you don't want to hear me talk, or not talk, then don't start a conversation with me!"
Ekaj pulled back a bit, looking hurt. "...Alright," he murmured, trotting ahead to walk alongside Spot.
"That was nice," Twister commented.
"Oh I don't see why you're talking. If Ekaj is right, then we both talk about the same amount," Liberty snorted.
Twister fell silent, but Liberty swore she saw a smile trying to force its way onto Twister's face.
"I think we should specifically try to go to the place where Nzuri saw the humans kidnap Misty, Adele and the others. If I recall correctly..." Hazen frowned, as if trying to remember. "Ah yes. The patrol Misty was on went somewhere that way." Hazen pointed to the west and trotted that direction. The rest of the patrol followed.
Hazen stopped at a spot, and the rest of the patrol halted with him. "Around here," Hazen commented. "We should split up. Max...and Dell, Liberty and Ekaj, Audrey and Twister, and..." he then stopped, looking at Mistletoe, and hesitantly added, "...Mistletoe and me."
Liberty searched Mistletoe's face. At first there seemed to be a mixture of fear and reluctance. But then she sighed and said, "Alright then," with her chin lifted.
"Spot, I want you to stay here," Hazen quickly turned to the Dalmatian, "in case the human returns. Find one of us if you see them."
"Alright," Spot nodded.
They all split up. Ekaj followed Liberty, who was ignoring him; she still didn't know what to do with him after his remarks of her silence. She lead the wolf-dog through the forest, who padded behind her but didn't make any comments. Liberty perked her ears, trying to see if she could hear anything. But nothing.
"Do you know what that whole Hazen-and-Mistletoe thing is about?" Ekaj said.
"Nope. I was barely paying attention," Liberty lied.
"Oh. Well, things have been awkward between them. From what I heard, Hazen wanted to be Mistletoe's mate, but Mistletoe said no. According to my father, when Hazen joined The Bending Tower he and Mistletoe always hung out. Apparently they really liked each other," Ekaj explained. "But then Hazen turned out to be a Firebender spy and betrayed The Bending Tower. He came back though, and things have been weird between the two ever since."
"Mm." Liberty mumbled.
"And, uh...sorry. If, y'know, my comments offended you. I didn't mean to."
"Comments about what?" Liberty asked.
"You know what I mean. About...you not talking, and all," Ekaj said.
"It's...alright," Liberty replied.
"...Friends?" Ekaj asked.
Liberty hesitated. She didn't even consider Ekaj her acquaintance.
But Liberty decided to just go ahead and like Ekaj.
"Friends," she confirmed.

Author's Note:
Ahh, Liberty/Ekaj is beautiful, isn't it. :'D
I'm going to open a fan art page soon, but I don't have a lot of art for this series. Any art is appreciated! ^-^
Oh, and I added some music to the blog. I put in Book #2's theme and Book #3's theme. :)
Sorry for not updating! My internet and computer is incredibly crappy. And not only that, I've been busy studying and trying to get good grades. Because if I don't, things get taken away from me. Like my iPod, Xbox, etc. ene