Chapter 51: Chief and His Son

The Amorache Tribe's camp was huge and packed with animals. Misty took everything in: cheetahs, bears, wolves, lions and lots more. The dens were all made up of sticks, brambles and all of them were huge, and Misty knew that the dens must have housed lots of animals in each of them. "Wow," Bracken examined the camp. Misty looked to see his mouth was open as he looked around at the place. "This is so awesome!"
"Like it?" said Adonael, who had her three cubs clinging to her back. "This camp is home to many animals."
"Who's this?" demanded a voice. Misty turned from the mother bear to see a black bear - looking not to be full grown or a young cub - coming towards them, an angry expression on her face.
"Ebony, these are some animals who were on our territory," Adonael responded. She turned to the group. "This is Ebony, my oldest daughter."
"Hey," Misty and Bracken were the only ones to greet her; the rest just examined the bear.
"You guys look like you're dying," Ebony commented.
"We've looked better," grumbled Sidew.
"Why'd you bring them in here, anyway? You know loners cause trouble," Ebony said to Adonael.
"Ebony, be nice," scolded Adonael. Ebony muttered to herself under her breath, something Misty couldn't quite catch. "Anyways, I should probably take you all to the Chief. He'll want to know if we're housing loners in our Tribe." Adonael turned to the cubs on her back. "Go to the nursery, cubs. I got to speak to Chief." The cubs scrambled off her back and bounded away.
"Is the Chief nice?" Bracken asked as they padded along with Adonael, Ebony joining them.
"Sometimes," replied Adonael.
"Yeah. On his good days, he usually only just bites your head off," Ebony smirked, obviously sensing Bracken's anxiety about visiting the Chief.
A fearful look overcame Bracken's face. "Ebony!" snapped Adonael.
"I'm only stating the truth," Ebony insisted.
"Don't worry, dear," Adonael turned to Bracken. "Ebony tends to exaggerate the truth. Chief won't hurt you."
Bracken seemed to relax a little.
At the end of the path they walked on that had cut through camp, there was a den much bigger than the others. A lion and a lioness sat at the front of the entrance. "State your business," said the lion. His voice was very deep, and it kind of intimidated Misty.
"These loners want to stay here," Adonael said.
"Enter," the lion nodded.
"I think you're supposed to bow," sniffed Tiggerpaka's voice.
"Shut up!" hissed Lilypaka's voice. Judging by the direction of the meerkat's voices they were both behind Misty. "If you act stupid they'll kick us out."
"They shall not. For I am a great warrior! No one can deny me entrance to--OW!" Misty turned to see Tiggerpaka rubbing his face. "How dare you slap me!"
"Cut it out, you two!" snapped Lephos.
They entered the den. At the top of a dirt hill sat an old-looking wolf, his pelt scarred. "Adonael. What is it you need?" He murmured. His voice seemed tired and scratchy, and he looked as though he hadn't gotten any sleep. Misty wondered why he appeared this way.
"Chief," Adonael dipped her head respectfully, "I found these animals on our territory and they're weak. We need to keep them here."
"Of course, it wouldn't hurt to kick them out," grumbled Ebony.
"Hush," scolded Adonael.
Chief then slowly looked down to the right side of his hill. "Nahuel?"
Something shifted in the shadows, and Misty realized it was a leopard, and this leopard looked to be older than Chief, if possible. The leopard drew to his paws, sitting up, and then yawned. "Yes, Chief," he murmured. His voice was raspy with age.
Nahuel spun his paws in front of him and said something that Misty knew had to be in another language, as she didn't quite understand it. She then gasped as a blue spirit appeared out of thin air in front of Nahuel. It was an eagle, pure blue, transparent with light blue eyes. Nahuel continued to speak in the other language, and the eagle screeched in response every once in a while. They were having a conversation.
Finally, the eagle spirit disappeared and Nahuel turned to Chief. "They can stay."
"Alright," Chief then turned to look at Adonael. "Adonael, take them to the visitors' den."
"Yes, Chief," Adonael dipped her head again and turned around. "Come along now, dears."
"Stupid eagle spirit," hissed Ebony, following her mother. The rest of the group trotted after.
"What was that?" asked Lilypaka, running up to Adonael to walk alongside the mother bear.
"Whenever Chief wants to make a decision, he gets Nahuel to talk to the Eagle. Nahuel is the only one who can talk to Eagle, or if he trains an animal in the art of communicating with Eagle," Adonael explained.
Misty turned from Adonael and jumped back as she realized a brown wolf was in front of her. He had brown eyes and black-and-white feathers dangling from his left ear. He studied Misty. "Thought you were in a tree," he remarked.
"A tree--wait," Misty froze as she recalled what had happened when she had woken up. "What do you know about it?"
"I put you there," replied the brown wolf. He wore an expressionless look, his face looking rather bored.
"Why?" Misty demanded.
"Wait, what happened?" Campbell came up to Misty's side.
The brown wolf's ear twitched and he looked to his right. "I must go now. I will be seeing you all around." He then ran out of the camp. Misty and Campbell watched him run off.
"Who's that?" Campbell asked.
"Tsovo. He's the only son of Chief. The others died," explained Adonael. "He doesn't hang around here much though. He prefers to go off more on his own. That's why Chief and everyone is concerned - if he becomes the new Chief, we don't know if he'd be willing to stay in camp long enough to help out the Tribe."
"Did anyone try to do anything about it?" asked Misty.
"Chief himself and a few concerned Tribe animals attempted to tell him about how he needs to take on responsibilities, but Tsovo doesn't listen to them. Poor dear probably has a lot of weight on his shoulders," Adonael remarked.
"He doesn't really talk a lot," commented Ebony. "And why he talked to you, I don't know."
"Well, we're here," said Adonael. Misty looked at the den. It was rather small, and uninhabited. "Make yourselves at home, dears. I'll be in the nursery if you all need me."

Author's Note:
Tsovo will grow more important to the plot as the story goes on.
And be sure to check out the new "Write a Chapter" page! I'd love to have you guys comment on it! 8)

QOTD: Who is your favorite character in the Tribe so far?

Chapter 50: Exploring

"We have a new loner staying here," Ash announced at a meeting that was after lunch. Liberty was sitting near some other apprentices near the front of the animals listening to Ash. Adamu was standing next to Ash, looking at the crowd with confidence. "His name is Adamu, and he's a Thompson's Gazelle."
"Who's Thompson?" asked Wyki. Liberty saw Mirage shrug in response.
"I expect for everyone to treat him with respect," Ash glanced at Stone, "while he's here."
"What're you looking at me for?" growled Stone.
Ash sighed and shook his head. "Anyways, yeah, you get my point I guess--"
"Can you still do Bending here?" asked Adamu, turning to Ash.
"What do you mean?" Ash frowned.
"Duh. Anytime my friends or I attempted to do Bending, we'd pass out."
The crowd broke out into rushed murmurs and talking. "Hey!" Ash yelled, and everyone fell silent and turned back to their leader. Ash turned to Adamu. "What do you know of this?"
"Nothing, except that Bending won't work," Adamu replied.
"Yeah it will!" exclaimed a voice. Everyone turned to look at Rusty. "Watch." He then moved his paws forward, but stiffened and collapsed, falling over, knocked out.
This sent everyone into a storm of conversation. Voices overwhelmed Liberty, as they steadily got louder and louder. She ducked down, covering her ears. For the love of Lifebreeze, can't anyone around here be quiet?
"Quiet down!" yelled Ash. Immediately everyone stopped, turning back to Ash. "Thank you. It appears as though Adamu was right--"
"Unless Rusty was dehydrated because he forgot to drink at all today!" spoke up Light. "It's happened before!"
"Oh yeah, that's a likely coincidence," said Nzuri sarcastically.
"--so," Ash raised his voice as he continued, "apparently we can't use Bending. So no Bending training."
"Rusty's okay," announced Nightgale, who Liberty saw was with Comet by Rusty's unconscious body. "He's not dead, his heart rate is find...he just needs to wake up is all."
"So that's what happened to me," commented Starlight. Liberty turned to look at her friend. "I tried to do Bending and I fell over, remember?" Liberty nodded in understanding.
"You did?" said a voice. Liberty and Starlight turned to see Malroy standing there.
"Yeah! It was really weird," Starlight turned to look at him.
"Well, hopefully it won't happen to you - or anyone - again," commented Malroy.
Starlight smiled. "Or to you."
"I'm starting to feel like the third front paw here," Liberty said loudly.
"Oh," Starlight turned to Liberty. "Uh--"
"I'd better get going. Ekaj and I are going hunting." He smiled. "See you later, Starlight."
"Bye," replied Starlight as Malroy trotted off.
"Sorry about that," Starlight turned to Liberty. "I was--"
"You like him."
"Wha--? No, I don't, I swea--"
"And I have two heads."
"Liberty, I don't!" Starlight protested. "I don't like him, I-I only...only see him as a friend, okay?"
"That's a load of crap," muttered Liberty. "Do you like, not trust me?"
"I do!"
"Then tell me the truth, Starlight. I want to know."
Starlight sighed. "Okay, fine...yeah, I like him, but so what?"
Liberty just looked at her friend blankly. "Why?"
Before Starlight could respond, Audrey ran over. "Starlight! Liberty!" she exclaimed, panting.
"What is it?" asked Starlight. Liberty couldn't help noticing Starlight looked relieved.
"Ryker and Sirius found something. Come on!" Audrey insisted. She ran for The Bending Tower. Curious, Liberty and Starlight sped after.
They entered the main room, and Audrey ran over to something behind the staircase. Liberty frowned as she saw a chest, with Ryker and Sirius standing next to it. "There you are," Ryker said to Audrey.
"What's this?" asked Starlight.
"We heard some thumping around below this chest," Sirius explained. "We wanted to move it back, but we needed some animals we trusted to help."
"Yeah. If we got the senior Benders to help, they wouldn't let us investigate," pointed out Ryker.
"C'mon," Sirius gripped on the chest and began to pull it back. Ryker helped, and Starlight moved on the other side of the chest to push, and she was joined by Audrey. Liberty just watched, wondering why they were all going to the trouble of just moving some chest.
Finally, the chest was moved. Liberty grew wide-eyed as a trapdoor was revealed. Sirius pulled it open with her muzzle, revealing a passageway. There were only a few steps, but then it was too dark to see the rest of them. "Let's check it out!" exclaimed Sirius eagerly, running down the steps.
"Sirius!" yelled Ryker, running after her. "You're gonna fall if you run too fast!"
"Oh, no, oh no," murmured Audrey as she followed her brother, "this is gonna end badly..."
"Let's go," Starlight turned to Liberty, before padding after the others. Liberty followed.
Liberty couldn't see at all in front of her. She could hear Sirius and Ryker talking near the front though, and Audrey muttering nervously to herself. "Where does this lead to?" asked Starlight.
"We don't know," Sirius responded.
"So you took us down to a place you've never been before, nor knows where it goes," Liberty said.
"Yeah," confirmed Ryker.
"Go figure," muttered Liberty.
"Why are we going here anyways?" asked Starlight.
"We told you, we heard something," replied Sirius's voice.
As Liberty walked along she felt the path swerve so she went with it.
And ahead, the group saw some light.
"Where are we?" murmured Liberty.

Author's Note:
Supsennnnse~
If you read the first book ever of TFEOB you might remember the passageway. ;)

QOTD: What do you think will happen next? :3 Comment predictions below!

Chapter 49: Bears

"Just face it, Koro. We're lost."
"No we're not. Ophir said it's this way."
"Why should we even trust him in the first place? He doesn't owe us or anything."
"Ophir's all we got. He's the only animal here who knows how to get to our destination."
Misty watched as Koro and Rhett argued back and forth. It had been days since they'd left the Meerkat Clan, and they were getting nowhere, even with Ophir trying to direct them. It just seemed to be endless forest. Misty was wondering if they were just going in circles.
"Allow me to take the lead!" insisted Tiggerpaka importantly. "You maggots are getting us lost. I will get us to the Land of Yang and Yin with ease."
"Oh, right!" growled Sidew, whipping around to face the meerkat. "You have been nothing but trouble this whole journey. What are you going to do?"
"You are obviously too ignorant to recognize my greatness," Tiggerpaka scoffed.
"You arrogant little--!" Sidew began in a snarl, and tackled the meerkat.
"HEY!" exclaimed Lilypaka, rushing over to help. She was quickly followed by Lephos.
Misty watched the fight but then turned as she heard shouting. Campbell was yelling at Ophir. "You're the one getting us lost. Tell us the right way!" she snarled.
"I am taking you the right way," Ophir insisted calmly.
"No you're not!" growled Campbell.
"Aw, you're cute when you're upset," sneered Ophir.
"ENOUGH!" shouted Misty, making everyone stop talking. "Look. It's getting dark," Misty went on. "I suggest we take a break. We're tired, and we're also hungry. We should attempt to hunt. This is why we're all so irritated."
Everyone was silent, until Bracken spoke up. "Misty's right. We really shouldn't be fighting. It's not good if we don't cooperate."
"I agree," Koro nodded. "We all need to rest up."
"But what about Ophir?" Campbell demanded. "He's just going to slip away while we all sleep."
"What, looking for an excuse to stay with me all night?" Ophir said.
"No, shut up," growled Campbell.
"We'll take turns being guards," Koro said. "I'll be guard first."
"Thank Lifebreeze. I'm going to sleep," Sidew yawned.
"Is anyone willing to go hunting?" Koro asked.
"I will!" Bracken exclaimed eagerly.
"Sure, I'll go," Lephos volunteered.
"Me too," Sidew piped up - Misty guessed he volunteered because his brother did.
"Alright. You three head out. The rest of you, just set up for sleep," Koro said.
Lephos, Sidew and Bracken headed off at once. Misty lay down on the ground, and her sister Adele wandered over and plopped down next to Misty. Misty turned to her. "Hey," she greeted her deaf sibling. Despite knowing Adele couldn't possibly hear her, somehow Misty felt comfort in talking to her.
Adele looked at Misty blankly before settling her head on her front paws. With a sigh, Misty did the same.
However, Misty wasn't feeling terribly tired, so for a while she just lay there. The others began to settle down and go to sleep as well.
Eventually, Misty finally closed her eyes, falling asleep before Lephos, Sidew and Bracken returned.


When Misty woke up, the first thing to greet her were birds chirping. She yawned and blinked a few timed, waking up. She then took in her surroundings and froze in fear as she realized: this was not the place she had fallen asleep in when the group settled down for the night.
In fact, Misty was up in the branch of a tree. Was I sleepwalking? she wondered. But she shook that off - she couldn't have climbed a tree in the process of sleepwalking. Someone must of put her up here. But it doesn't make sense, Misty told herself. Who would?
Grateful that she spent time attempting to climb trees back home, Misty edged her way down the tree, gripping onto branches for support, praying to the Peacebenders that she wouldn't fall and break a bone or get an injury.
Misty managed to make it to the ground and she sniffed the air. It wasn't far off that she scented someone strikingly familiar: Campbell. Thank Lifebreeze I'm not too far, she thought gratefully, trotting off in the direction of her friend's scent.
Misty made it to the clearing to find everyone as asleep, except for Campbell, who was awake and guarding Ophir, who appeared to be fast asleep. Campbell, who looked exhausted, turned to Misty. "Misty?" she yawned. "Wha...What are you..."
"I woke up in a tree," Misty responded in a whisper, hoping not to wake the others. "I dunno why. How long have you been up?"
"Since Koro put me here," Campbell murmured sleepily.
"Since Kor--?" Misty began in shock. "Why didn't you wake somebody up?"
"Because I could only trust myself to keep an eye on Ophir," Campbell failed to stifle a big yawn. "If...If anyone else here tried t' guard 'im, he'd...he'd slip away."
"He really looks like he's trying to get away," said Misty sarcastically, seeing Ophir was out cold.
Campbell must've been very exhausted, as she didn't pick up on Misty's sarcasm. "Misty, I...I watched the sun rise," she murmured. "The sun rise. Do you know what that...tha' looks 'ike?" Campbell yawned again. "The...the whole world 'round 'ou, jus' ge'ing brigh'er and brigh'er--"
"Uh, Campbell," Misty interrupted, noticing Campbell's voice sounding ridiculously tired, "how about you let me guard Ophir? You can trust me."
"But--"
"Campbell. Get some rest," Misty insisted.
"Al'ight," Campbell yawned, padding over and plopping down next to where Tiggerpaka was curled up and sleeping. "Bu'...if you have any trouble, just call me..."
"Will do," Misty assured her friend, sitting next to Ophir.
Misty watched as Campbell's eyes closed, and it wasn't terribly long before her body moved up and down in a rhythm that suggested she was fast asleep, resting peacefully. The only time she isn't complaining, Misty told herself.


It wasn't long until everyone had woken up. Rhett, Campbell and Lephos had all gone out to go hunting, while everyone else stayed behind and got ready for more traveling. "You should all allow me to become leader," announced Tiggerpaka importantly. "If I were your leader, we'd never get lost."
"No, you'd get us more lost," insisted Sidew.
Rhett, Campbell and Lephos walked into the camp. Rhett was holding a fox in his jaws, Campbell had a rabbit, and Lephos was holding a rabbit as well. "Only three prey?" said Lilypaka in disbelief.
"Couldn't find much," Lephos said as he dropped his rabbit into the small prey pile they had made. "We don't know why, though."
"Well, white-earth is approaching," Koro pointed out. "Maybe they're all hiding underground?"
"From what?" growled Rhett. "It's not freezing out yet. They have nothing to hide from."
"Then who gets to eat?" asked Misty. "I mean, we only have five pieces of prey."
Everyone looked at Koro. "I think we could share. But if there's not enough, the hungriest should eat first," the wolf-husky said.
"How do we determine that?" Lephos asked.
"I'm hoping some of you will be selfless enough to give up your food. We can tell who's hungriest by how desperate they act."
"I'm hungry!" exclaimed Sidew, quickly taking one of the rabbits.
"Can I share that with you?" Lephos asked.
"Fine," mumbled Sidew, and the two brothers dug into the prey.
Campbell quickly snatched up the fox Rhett had caught, and Ophir walked over to her. "I think I should eat some of that."
"In your dreams," Campbell retorted.
They then began bickering back and forth. Rhett and Koro began sharing a rabbit. Misty quickly took a beaver from the pile and brought it over to Adele, nudging it towards her. "You eat it," Misty insisted. Adele looked at the beaver before taking a bite. Misty decided Adele should take it; she wasn't all that hungry, anyway.
After most of the group had gotten done their eating, Koro got up. "We gotta keep moving." He turned to Ophir. "Same direction?"
"Duh," muttered Ophir in response.
Reluctantly, Misty got to her paws. Adele got up as well, and she and her sister walked off with the rest of the group.
They walked along uneventfully for a while until Bracken spoke up. "Someone's up ahead!"
The group stopped in their tracks. Misty smelled the air; she could scent the presence of someone ahead, indeed.
"Let's just go to them," Koro insisted. "We should outnumber them if they do decide to attack, and besides, maybe they could help out."
The group headed for the scent, until they walked up to behind a line of bushes and came across who was there.
There was a rather large bear sitting down with fish in front of her. Two bear cubs rolled around, laughing as they play-fought, and a third laughed along with them as he watched his siblings batting their paws at each other and playfully nipping at each others' ears. "I'll talk to her," Koro spoke up.
As he went to walk out, Rhett yanked his sibling back. "No!" he exclaimed. "You remember mom's tales of mother bears. They're fierce! That thing will rip your body in half!"
"Only if I mess with her cubs. Which I won't," Koro insisted, walking through the bush line.
Oh Lifebreeze, protect him, Misty prayed silently. Koro being slain by a bear was one of the last things she wanted.
"Hello?" said Koro to the bear.
The bear turned and looked at Koro. "Hello, dear," she replied in a motherly tone. "Can I help you?"
"Who are you?" asked Koro.
"I'm Adonael, of the Amorache Tribe," the bear returned. "You?"
"Koro, of The Bending Tower," responded Koro politely. "Where are we?"
"This is Amorache ground," replied Adonael.
"Shouldn't you be with your, um, Tribe?" Koro's head tilted in curiosity.
"In my Tribe, we're not confined to a camp like others, no. We may leave and return as we please," Adonael said. "You look hungry, dear. Would you like some food?"
"Thank you. And, um, I have some friends with me. We're all hungry, we barely had anything to eat for breakfast. Can they eat, too?" Koro asked.
"Of course. There's plenty to go around."
Koro looked at the bushes and swept with his tail to indicate it was alright to come out. The group came out from the bush line. "Rather large group!" Adonael remarked with amusement. "Why are all of you out here alone? You don't all look to be adults!"
"Long story," mumbled Campbell.
"So we can really eat some food?" asked Sidew eagerly.
"Of course. Help yourselves."
It wasn't in too long that Misty found herself trying salmon. It was good enough to eat, yet she preferred rabbit or beaver meat to that of a salmon's. "Hey!" Misty turned at the voice to see that one of the bear cubs was sitting by Tiggerpaka. "Who're you?"
"Me?" Tiggerpaka said importantly. He puffed out his chest. "I am Tiggerpaka. Adventurer and warrior, slayer of Tiredblade."
"Wow!" the cub said eagerly. "You're a warrior?"
"That's right," smirked Tiggerpaka.
"Uh," Lilypaka spoke up. "Actually, he--"
"Quiet, Lilypaka," Tiggerpaka turned to his sister. "Now is not the time for you to start blabbing on about who-knows-what. I am teaching this cub of my greatness!"
"I think that means 'poisoning his mind'," muttered Campbell.
"Tell me about your adventures!" exclaimed the cub.
"Oh, Citlali, these poor animals are tired, let them rest," Adonael insisted.
"It is fine, let me tell my tales!" Tiggerpaka insisted.
"Don't let him," said Sidew quickly. "He won't shut up until next moon if you do."
After a while, Adonael spoke up. "How about you come to the Amorache Tribe? You all can rest there until your strength builds up again."
"We will," Koro agreed.

Author's Note:
If you haven't used up all your sign ups (the limit is 2) then you can sign up for the Amorache Tribe! Or if your character isn't in yet, you can change their location to this Tribe.

QOTD: What do you think of the bears?

Chapter 48: Adamu

One week later...

River's death seemed to be a great loss to The Bending Tower. Almost every animal living there seemed upset about it, except for some of the younger ones (like Liberty), who didn't actually know River all that well. The animal most upset, though, was none other than River's own mate, Diamond. She had been so grief-stricken that she felt as though she couldn't carry on and retired to the elders.
Although Liberty was sure Ash only did it to distract The Bending Tower from River's death, Wyki, Mirage and Sirius were made apprentices. As all of the young always appeared to be, they were extremely excited about it but all went their separate ways with choosing what Bending skill they desired. Mirage took on Earthbending training, Sirius chose Waterbending, and Wyki decided to try out Airbending.
And, much to Liberty's annoyance, Bracken was still acting strange. This was confusing everyone greatly, yet Bracken was allowed to stick around. But every time someone asked about the group's whereabouts, Bracken would either try to hurt them, or say something unintelligible. Because of this, everyone gave up trying to talk to the young bobcat.
Today, Liberty was heading out into the forest with Twister, Sirius, Darner, Twig, Ryker, Stone and Ekaj. Twister hadn't been specific about what'd they'd be doing for training, so Liberty wasn't quite sure as to what was going on.
"Is your tail feeling better?" Ekaj asked as the group walked through the forest.
"Sorta," responded Liberty.
Ekaj examined Liberty's tail. "When is the cast coming off?"
"Dunno."
They kept walking until Darner - the leader of the patrol - stopped and turned to face all of them. "I apologize, but you probably won't get much action today."
"Unless there's another earthquake," Ryker pointed out.
"Oh Lifebreeze, there'd better not be," muttered Twig.
"We need to educate you on the land around you. If we don't, how can we expect you to be able to hold a conversation? Because if some animal brings up the Earth Kingdom or the Peacebenders, you can't respond properly if you don't know about them," Darner explained.
"Wait, so passing our apprentice test relies on us knowing everything there is to know?" Sirius blurted out.
"Yep," Stone mumbled. "Rather stupid, but there is a point to it."
"I wanted to learn how to do Bending. Or fighting," Sirius insisted.
"You will eventually," Darner promised the young wolf. "Now first I'll explain to you the locations of the land we live on."
Ryker yawned purposefully.
"Aren't you polite," sniffed Sirius.
"Hey, this is boring," insisted Ryker.
"To the north of The Bending Tower, the first group of animals you'll stumble across," began Darner, "is the Tribe of Flying Birds. They're wolves who don't know Bending, and they don't like to mingle with Benders either. They, however, hate the Fire Nation, and refer to them as the Tribe of Fire. Because of this they assisted us in the fight against the Firebenders."
"Can't we cover the Fire Nation fight instead?" protested Ryker.
"That's another time," Darner replied. "So their current leader is a she-wolf named Treebranch. She was mates with Flyingbird, who ran off to join the Fire Nation. However, from what I understand, Treebranch became angry at her mate's betrayal and killed him."
"Wow," said Sirius.
"Anyways, further from the Tribe of Flying Birds is none other than the Water Tribe, also known as the place I was born and raised. I can tell you a lot about that place. It's in an icy climate, and right next to Mt. Upepo. Their leader was a hawk named Waterstreak. Very kind and intelligent bird. However, when the Firebenders took over his nephew, Firetalon, attempted to kill him. Waterstreak was under so much stress and fear that it kind of took over his mind and he refused to talk. Waterstreak died of starvation, and his second-in-command, Bluefall, took over the position as leader. They came along late to help the Fire Nation and they managed to help us take down the Firebenders. They were also the first place to be conquered by the Firebenders in the beginnings of the Fire Nation's control," Darner said.
Liberty's head was buzzing with new information. They expect us to memorize this? she thought to herself in frustration.
"At the very edge of the land, surrounded by foliage despite being next to a desert, is the Earth Kingdom," Darner continued. "The Earth Kingdom is the most populated place in the land, next to the Fire Nation. The Fire Nation kept most of their control over it and plenty of animals grew loyal to them, including their leader, a cougar named Dusk. Dusk however, died when the Earth Kingdom fled the Firebenders in an earthquake." The raccoon then turned to Ryker. "Your mother can tell you all about the Earth Kingdom. She was raised there."
"Yeah," Ryker nodded.
"Now, to the..." Darner thought for a moment, then said, "east of the Earth Kingdom is the Air Temples. The Air Temples are full of - you guessed it - Airbenders. But they're quite unlike us. The Airbenders there refuse to fight and instead spend their day meditating."
"Laaaame," sang Ryker.
"Hey, that's their way of life," Sirius insisted.
"A lame way of life," retorted Ryker.
"Continue, Darner," growled Stone, glaring at Ryker.
"Their leader is a fox named Meteor. Since the Air Temples are kind of...cut off, I guess, from the rest of us, we don't know much about them currently. As far as I know, Meteor is still their leader," Darner nodded. "Now, the Fire--"
Suddenly, the bushes rustled. Everyone turned towards them and Liberty watched as a deer-like creature came through. He had black horns and dark, creamy fur, with a white underbelly and muzzle. "You gotta help me," he insisted. "These earthquakes, and the Bending--"
"Tell me who you are right now. I won't hesitate to kill you," promised Stone with a growl.
"Peace, Stone," insisted Darner. He turned towards the ungulate. "Who are you?"
"Adamu," the ungulate replied. "I've been traveling ever since I can remember, but it's difficult these days. What with all these problems with the world. So I need you to take me in."
"Why do loners always seek us out?" hissed Stone in frustration.
"I thought you Bending Tower types were supposed to take in loners gratefully," sniffed Adamu.
"Not all of the time," Stone replied through gritted teeth.
"Of course we'll take you in," Darner stepped up to his mate's side, throwing her a look. "We have a travelers' room and everything."
"Well, can you still do Bending here? I hope so."
As Adamu walked off for The Bending Tower, the group exchanged looks. What does he mean? Liberty wondered.

Author's Note:
Short and lame chapter, I know. ^^;
Please check out my new stories if you haven't already. Thank chu. :3

QOTD: What is your favorite place in the land?
AOTD: I personally loved the Earth Kingdom.

Chapter 47: The New Wolf

"Okay, so I told the Council of the Highest about our leaving," Koro explained to the group as he came back into the room. "It took a lot of talking, but I managed to convince them to take Tiggerpaka with us."
"Wait," Misty frowned, looking at her mentor. "If the Council hates Tiggerpaka anyway, why'd it take a while for them to give him to us?"
"Something about bringing him to justice," Koro shrugged in response.
"Hey," Bracken spoke up. The group turned to look at him. "Where's Campbell? She was here a little while ago..."
"Oh, she went hunting," Misty responded. "She said something about being hungry. But she should be back momentarily."


In the woods nearby the field of the Meerkat Clan, Campbell lurked, weaving through leaves and bushes and sniffing the air, trying to detect any prey nearby. Maybe an animal in the group can appreciate my hunting skills if I catch something, Campbell thought. But I haven't hunted much...
Suddenly, something in the bushes rustled. That's gotta be something I can catch, Campbell realized. She got into her hunting position and prowled  towards the bushes, which kept rustling as if something were near it. Go! she exclaimed to herself, and leaped.
Just as she expected, Campbell pounced onto an animal and pinned it to the ground. But just as she pulled back to deliver a killing bite, she was interrupted.
"Hey, hey, hey! Don't kill me!"
Campbell clamped her mouth shut, realizing she hadn't pounced onto prey, but another wolf. He was gray, with green eyes and darker gray markings on his face. A smirk came across him. "'Ey."
With a growl, Campbell scampered off him, letting him to his paws. He sat up, and as he did Campbell saw that he was skinny, but taller than Campbell. "Who are you?" she demanded to the wolf.
"Ophir, how 'bout you?" replied the wolf.
"None of your business. What are you doing here?" Campbell asked.
"None of your business," insisted Ophir in a mocking tone.
Campbell growled. "It is my business if you're near where my friends and I are located."
"Friends, eh? You live around here?" Ophir asked, sounding curious.
"No, I'm visiting," Campbell said. "And you still didn't answer my question - why. Are. You. Here?"
"Why do you want to know so bad?" Ophir said.
"Because you could be a threat," Campbell retorted.
"What, me by myself? How am I a threat?" Ophir smirked in a way that let Campbell know he thought he was being pretty convincing. Something about him makes me sure he's not as friendly as he may insist, Campbell thought angrily. "Anyways," continued Ophir, "do you happen to know where the Earth Guardian is?"
"The what?" replied Campbell, confused.
Ophir chuckled. "Ah, never mind. I'll be on my way."
He went to keep walking, but Campbell stopped him by walking in front of him. "I don't think I can just let you go."
"Come again?"
"You're acting like a threat, Ophir, I'm gonna find out more about you."


"Hey," Lilypaka ran into the room.
"Uh, hi Lilypaka," Misty greeted her friend as the group all turned to look at Tiggerpaka's sister scurrying in. "Whatcha need?"
"You're journeying to the Land of Yin and Yang?" said Lilypaka, sounding amazed.
"How'd you find that out?" demanded Rhett. The group had all promised themselves that they wouldn't tell the Meerkat Clan where exactly they were going in case word spread. Koro had insisted someone may come out to stop them, no matter how many times Rhett replied no one would want to "stop them from saving the world".
"Overheard," Lilypaka replied. "I've heard tales of Yin and Yang, and they sound so interesting! I really want to learn more about it and the land they live in. Plus, the Meerkat Clan doesn't appreciate me, and it's boring here. Please let me come!"
"I'm okay with her coming," Lephos piped up. "She's one of the few bearable meerkats around this place."
"Yeah, sure, you can come," said Koro.
"Thank you!" Lilypaka beamed.
Then, Tiggerpaka scurried into the room. "Hello, my minions. I have escaped from that horrid prison and am now ready to set off to save the world," smirked the meerkat.
"More like endanger the world," grumbled Sidew.
"You're coming, too?" said Lilypaka in surprise.
Worry came across Tiggerpaka's face. "What does she mean...?"
"Lilypaka's coming with us!" exclaimed Bracken happily. "So your sister gets to go on the journey with you."
Tiggerpaka moaned angrily. "Aw, NO! Not her! She's pathetic, she'll just slow us down!"
Misty turned to Lilypaka, expecting for her to look offended, but she just rolled her eyes. "Well then," muttered Misty, "this journey's bound to be rather interesting."
Just then, Campbell burst into the room. Misty looked and was rather surprised to see she had a much skinnier wolf next to her - but the wolf was about a head taller than Campbell. He was gray with green eyes, and dark gray markings on his face. Campbell was looking rather grumpy - but that wasn't really new - and the wolf she was with had an arrogant smirk on his face. "I found this guy looking for someone called the Earth Guardian, and he was in the woods by the field," Campbell explained with a growl.
"And?" said Lephos, rolling his eyes.
"And I don't believe he should be trusted here. He's been acting suspicious," Campbell insisted.
"I'm doing a job for someone, can't a guy just do what he needs to do without being questioned?" muttered Ophir.
"Campbell, I really don't think we need this guy here," Koro said. "We should release him."
"Thank you," nodded Ophir.
"But--!" Campbell began to protest.
"What? Want me to stick around?" Ophir smirked.
Campbell growled. "I don't trust you."
"And you shouldn't," chuckled Ophir.
"Just shut up, stupid minions!" Tiggerpaka shouted. "We--I, I mean--must go save the world and head off to the Land of Yang and Yin to save everyone's pathetic hides!"
"Tiggerpaka!" roared Rhett, pinning Tiggerpaka to the ground in anger.
"What?!" demanded Tiggerpaka, glaring at Rhett.
"You just gave it away!" snapped Campbell. "You idiot!"
Suddenly, everyone began yelling at Tiggerpaka. Misty glanced at Ophir; she knew that everyone was mad at Tiggerpaka for mentioning Yin and Yang in front of an animal they didn't know. Misty then looked back at the fight; Tiggerpaka was back on his feet, yelling back at everyone, and the rest of the group was shouting at Tiggerpaka. But there were so many shouts that it was too much for Misty to hear exactly what anyone was saying.
"Hey!" Lilypaka shouted. But no one heard the meerkat. She then took a breath and shrieked, "HEY!"
The group fell silent.
"Look," Lilypaka went over to her fuming brother. "I know that my brother may be a bit of a screw-up..." She then looked around the room and whispered to the group, "he was actually dropped on the head as a kit...ten times!" Lilypaka glanced at her brother before adding in a hiss, "and I don't know if all of them were actually on accident!"
"Why am I not surprised," muttered Campbell.
"But look...Tiggerpaka isn't all that bad," Lilypaka insisted. "He can be...nice..."
"As much as I'm shocked, my sister speaks the truth," Tiggerpaka puffed out his chest.
"Yeah, right!" growled Campbell. "And mice fly."
"Well, he did some nice things," Misty insisted. "He, like, uh...busted us out of those cages."
"And nearly got us killed in the process," added Rhett.
"Yeah, you're right," muttered Misty defeatedly.
"I have done a multitude of great things!" declared Tiggerpaka. "I can't count the number of times on my paws! You all are just too simple-minded to recognize my greatness!" He then smiled at Campbell patronizingly as he said the last part.
"You're the simple-minded one here," hissed Campbell.
Tiggerpaka walked up to Campbell and reached up and patted Campbell on the muzzle. "Tut, tut, my jealous child. One day you'll realize how grateful you should be that you got to bask in my greatness."
"So," Ophir spoke up, and everyone looked at him. "You're all going to the Land of Yin and Yang?"
"No," said Sidew quickly.
"What use is there in denying it?" hissed Lephos. He turned to Ophir, lifting his chin. "Yes, why do you care?"
"I know...quite a bit about that land," Ophir gave a slight smile.
"Oh?" Campbell looked at Ophir. "In that case, you're coming with us."
"Why is he?" asked Bracken, looking confused.
"Duh," Campbell rolled her eyes. "Because he should know how to get there."
"Good idea," Koro nodded. Campbell looked honored.
"Alright, I'll come," Ophir smirked. "I'll be happy to assist you."
This bothered Misty. Why is he so willing to tag along? she wondered.

Author's Note:
Maybe, Misty, because he has a thing for CAMPBELL
nah that's not the real reason :P he just wants to murder them and shiz, you'll understand if you read "The Assassin and the Stones" chapter.
Oh and please check out my new blog, "The OC Mission!" it's a collab between two of my close friends, and I can't wait to start writing on it 8D

QOTD: What do you think of Ophir?
AOTD: He's an arrogant character, and yeah he's cool with me.

Chapter 46: Racing Through the Forest

"Why do I have to come out here?" demanded Liberty the next day. "My tail's broken. I can't do training with a broken tail."
"Yes you can," Twister growled in response. "You just gotta try. Ignore the pain."
"I can't ignore the pain," Liberty shot back, "it hurts."
"Others in The Bending Tower have been through worst pain than you have," Twister retorted. "Just ask Crystal. She was lucky enough to get tortured by the Firebender named Flamingclaws and forced to be part of the act of killing Feather."
Liberty didn't know who Feather or Flamingclaws were, but she just grumbled to herself and didn't respond. If my mentor thinks it's easy walking with a broken tail, she's wrong. I don't care about what happened in the past, anyway...
Liberty was walking awkwardly along other Benders: Nyla, Sparky, Twig, Ryker and River, who was the leader of the group. She had heard other animals going on about how strong a warrior River was, but this was the first time Liberty actually had anything close of an interaction with River.
"We're working on navigating through the forest," said River, turning to the group. "If something's to happen, you got to be able to run through this territory - not only run, but run without hitting anything. This was an exercise my sons didn't quite master...well, who wants to go first? We'll need two volunteers."
No one spoke up.
"Liberty will go," Twister said.
"What?" Liberty demanded. "I got a broken tail!"
"It's best that your tail gets used to being hurt," Twister insisted. "Then it'll be less uncomfortable."
Please let Twister die sometime soon, Liberty growled angrily.
"I'll go too," Sparky spoke up.
"Better hope you didn't inherit your father's abilities, or you'll end up with Nightgale patching you up," snorted Twig sarcastically.
"Quiet, Twig, we don't know how good or bad he is yet," growled River.
Twig fell silent.
"You'll race," suggested Twister. "First one across Ice River wins."
"Across Ice River?" said Nyla nervously. "That's not our territory."
"Please. They'll be fine. It's not going to be for too long," Twister growled in response.
"But--"
"I'm with Twister on this," Ryker spoke up. "It'll only be for a little bit, mom."
"Alright, when I say 'go', you two take off," nodded River. "Get ready...go!"
Sparky shot off into the forest. Liberty too off after him, but immediately froze and grimaced. Agh! she thought in alarm as her tail protested with pain.
Liberty urged herself to push forward. She kept running, but awkwardly as she tried to keep her tail from hitting anything. Sparky was way ahead of her. I gotta catch up. I am not losing to a wolf who looks like he can't even run in the first place.
Fighting to keep up, Liberty jumped over logs and ducked under low branches. She looked behind her. She had been running for a while and the mentors were no longer visible behind her.
Suddenly, Liberty slammed into something and she screeched. Her vision blackened and she became dizzy, stumbling. Wha-- Liberty began. She fought to keep her vision, and looked to see she had run into a tree while she had been distracted. Liberty found herself sinking to her knees. Ugh, SCREW the freaking race, I'm resting here.
"Liberty!" someone yelled.
Liberty realized the voice belonged to Sparky as the huge orange apprentice ran over. "Are you okay...?"
"Fine," Liberty managed.
"You look weakened. I'll take you back to the mentors," Sparky nodded.
"I'm--" Liberty began, but suddenly the earth began shaking. "NOT NOW!" she shrieked in frustration at the ground. Why do we keep having these earthquakes?!
This earthquake was particularly loud though. Liberty gasped as she turned around and saw the ground moving for her and Sparky.
The quake was making a hole in the earth.
"RUN!" Sparky shrieked, pushing Liberty to her paws.
Fear overcame Liberty and she started darting off after Sparky. She kept blinking her eyes, trying to make her vision return fully. She saw dirt flying alongside her, and some trees falling down. Is this how Sparky and I die? she wondered.
"Faster!" Sparky yelped, as a huge oak tree came flying down towards them.
Liberty darted forward faster, just avoiding the tree from hitting her.
She and Sparky kept running, avoiding falling branches, the earth swaying beneath them. But then, the earthquake stopped.
As soon as it did, Liberty and Sparky stood there, panting. "We need to get back to our mentors," Sparky said, breaking the silence.
Still panting, the two walked back rather tiredly towards where they had left their mentors. Trees had fallen down, some split in half, leaves were everywhere, and the area was totally silent except for the sound of Liberty and Sparky's paws swishing through the debris.
"Whoa," murmured Sparky.
Liberty looked at what he was looking at. There was a huge hole in front of them. Liberty peeked over the side of it. The ground was now far, far below - far enough that, Liberty knew, would mean death to anyone unlucky enough to fall down there.
The hole stretched pretty far. "We got to walk around it," Liberty murmured. "Safest way." She could see its ending, but it would take a while to reach it.
In silence, she and Sparky walked around the rather large hole, both looking at it the whole way around. Liberty drew her attention away from it and sniffed at the air. Where could our mentors be? she wondered. She looked around the area, but then saw someone familiar rushing their way. "Hey!"
"Ryker?" Sparky yelled in response.
Ryker ran up to the other side of the hole and froze. "Whoa," he murmured, looking down. He then shook his head and looked at Liberty and Sparky. "Are you guys okay?"
"Liberty had hit her head, but she's fine now," Sparky responded.
"I got a headache, though," growled Liberty.
"Well, look," Ryker panted. "We were all running when we heard the earthquake, heading towards you guys, trying to find you. We got separated because of all these trees collapsing. We managed to regroup, but..." Ryker sighed. "We can't find River."
"Can't find him?" Sparky echoed. "But..."
"I'm sorry, Sparky, but we're pretty sure. If he hasn't made his way back by now, he's dead," Ryker insisted.
Sparky whimpered. "My grandfather..."

Author's Note:
Kinda sad chapter. I honestly liked River. :/
Check out my new story please. I'd appreciate it! ^-^

QOTD: Which character were you okay with dying?
AOTD: For me, pretty much all of them (I normally kill off characters I'm not that attached to) except Spots. That sucked.