Chapter 53: Tribe Members

Misty awoke the next morning in the den she and her friends had been assigned to. She sat up and looked around; everyone else was asleep, curled up and their bodies heaving up and down in a rhythmic way. Outside, the world was dark, but Misty could tell it was early morning.
Not feeling like she wanted to go back to sleep, Misty stretched and trotted out of the den. Much to her surprise, the camp was quite alive, animals moving to and fro yet quietly. Misty examined the animals: leopards, bears, dogs, wolves, cats and other animals Misty didn't recognize.
"Hello," said a voice, making Misty jump in alarm. She turned around to see Tsovo standing there.
"How'd you sneak up on me?" Misty demanded. "I didn't even hear you!"
"I'm rather stealthy," said Tsovo. "Rather fast, too. Anyways, what brings you and your friends here?"
"Answer my question first - how and why did you put me in a tree?" Misty asked, acting rather annoyed.
Tsovo's bored expression returned to his face. "I don't believe you can threaten the son of Chief and get away with it," he remarked.
"I'm not threatening you," Misty forced her voice to sound calmer than it had been when she had asked him the question. "I am just asking."
"You should answer my question first," insisted Tsovo. "I'm the higher-ranking one here. As long as you're in this Tribe, you're supposed to obey me."
"Fine," sighed Misty. He's rather persistent, she remarked to herself. "My friends and I are searching for a place. We thought we'd rest here, since Adonael so kindly invited us in."
"Where are you going to?" asked Tsovo.
"I don't think I should tell you that," said Misty.
"I'm Chief's son. I should know what's going on in the Tribe."
"From what I've been told, you don't even do anything Chief-related. You leave camp all the time."
"That still doesn't change my relatives."
"Look, I already told you. I'm not telling," insisted Misty stubbornly. "Good-bye."
As she trotted off, Tsovo called, "Where are you even going to go?"
"Anywhere else!" snapped Misty in response as she trotted through camp.
"Hey, youngster," said an elderly voice before Misty got too far. She turned to see a big, wrinkled-up tortoise from over by one of the dens. "Come over here. I want to talk to you."
Misty had been taught not to disrespect elders, so she obediently trotted over to the old tortoise.
"How are you?" he asked.
"Um...good," she said, sitting down next to the tortoise. "Who are you?"
"I'm Achak. You?"
"Misty."
"Of?"
"'Of'?" Misty echoed with a frown.
"Where you come from," Achak insisted. "I know you're not from this Tribe; I see everything that goes on in this camp. Because I never leave." He looked at the shell on his back. "This being on my back, I tend to be a bit slow."
"Oh. that makes sense," Misty remarked. "And I'm from a place that I'm pretty sure is far away from here. I don't know if I should say it by name though..."
"I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to," said Achak.
Somehow Misty felt as though she could trust this old tortoise. "Okay. I'm from a place called The Bending Tower."
"Never heard of it," frowned Achak. He looked at Misty. "Tell me about it."
"It's a large tower, in the middle of the woods. There are a lot of animals there. Our leader, who is my father, is named Ash. He's a good leader, and I'm not just saying that 'cause he's my kin," said Misty. "They call it 'The Bending Tower' because three different types of Benders live there: Earth, Water and Air. I'm an Earthbender."
"Ah. There are some Benders in this Tribe. Not many, but some," nodded Achak rather slowly.
"There's not much more to tell," murmured Misty, feeling a bit homesick. "So I'll be on my way, unless you want something else?"
"Well, if you're not at this 'The Bending Tower'," said Achak, "then who will be the next leader?"
"Huh? Oh, at The Bending Tower no one really inherits the leadership. The leader chooses someone from the Tower to take their place. Our deputy is this Border Collie named Raoul. If Ash dies or retires, Raoul will take over and then choose someone new as deputy," Misty explained.
"Ah," Achak nodded. "Well, you're dismissed, youngster. If you ever need someone to talk to, you know where to find me. Like I said, I don't leave camp."
Misty smiled. "See you around, Achak," she said, walking away from the elderly tortoise.
She walked down the trail, but didn't make it far before she heard a voice say, "Hey, black wolf!"
Upon hearing her pelt-color mentioned, Misty turned to see a group of animals - a bobcat, Ebony, and a spotted canine-looking animal. She trotted over to them. "Um..hey?"
"Hi. Who are you?" asked the feline.
"I'm Misty," she replied.
"Ferum," nodded the feline. "And no, I'm not a bobcat. I'm a lynx," she said as if she had rehearsed it a lot. Misty frowned, trying to see if there were any differences between this "lynx" and Bracken, since he was a bobcat. "This is Ebony--"
"We already met," said Ebony dryly.
"Alright," growled Ferum in response. "And this," she turned to the canine, "is Askook."
"What are you?" Misty asked, looking at Askook. He had a spotted pelt and circular ears - definitely not a wolf or coyote.
"Hyena," Askook said, grinning. "How do you not know that?"
"There are no...um, 'hyenas' where I come from," said Misty.
Suddenly, Askook burst into rather loud laughter, causing Misty to flinch from the loud noise. "What other animals don't you have?!"
"Lynxes," Misty slowly nodded, looking at Ferum. "Tortoises..."
"Askook, you really need to control your laughter," scolded Ferum, glaring at the hyena. "It's going to make us all deaf one day."
"Hello, minions!"
Tiggerpaka swooped down onto Ebony's head, causing the bear to growl up at the meerkat. "Misty, why are you socializing with these lowlifes? They are supposed to be serving us," he insisted, puffing out his chest.
Ebony snarled. "Say that again, runt."
Tiggerpaka scampered off of Ebony, standing on the ground and facing her. "Aren't you grouchy," he commented.
"Who is this?" demanded Ferum.
"Uh--" Misty began, but Tiggerpaka beat her to it.
"I am Tiggerpaka, the slayer of the wretched Tiredblade, and the emperor of the land. You?"
Ferum snorted. "You expect me to believe that?"
"You'd better believe it, or I'll get my minions to attack you."
"Listen, short guy," Ferum pushed Tiggerpaka with her paw, making him stumble back, "I don't know who you think you are, but no one in this Tribe serves you. You're the visitor, you obey us because you owe us. And I find it incredibly hard to believe that you slayed anything or rule anything, so I'd watch your mouth if I were you."
"You just wish you were me," snorted Tiggerpaka, making Askook burst into laughter again. Tiggerpaka then turned to Misty. "Come on Misty, we must go awake the others." He then scurried off.
"Who is that?" Ferum asked, looking disgusted.
"Uh...well, he's a meerkat in my group of friends," said Misty.
"Why is he with you guys in the first place?" Ebony grumbled. "Seems like a waste of space to me."
"Well--" Misty began, but was interrupted when she heard Tiggerpaka call her name. "I should get going..."
With that, Misty ran off to find Tiggerpaka.

Author's Note:
Hey, so I got a really cool story idea. I'm posting it on my Wattpad account, which you can see here [link]. And if you download the Wattpad app, you can read stories on your mobile device, so that means you can check out my profile and read the stories I post there on the go. I'd really appreciate it if you'd check it out! <3
I also have a new main blog called "Megan's Musings", go follow that. Link in my profile. =P
And sorry for the late update, haha. Been busy. ^^;

QOTD: Favorite Tribe member?