Chapter 3: The Healers' Den

Liberty never liked visiting the Healer den. The Healers we okay - Nightgale, Comet and Eclipse - but it always had sick or injured animals in there, and Liberty never liked looking at them. She also never visited the Healers often, and when she had in the past it was because of her broken tail. So she never associated the Healers' den with good news.
Wyki was in there, with Comet looking him over and talking to him. Wyki glanced at Liberty as she and Ekaj entered the room, but quickly looked away and turned back to Comet. Liberty felt a pang of sympathy and regret as she saw his injuries, but it melted away. It's not like he's going to die, she told herself.
The most noticeable thing in the room was the tree. Liberty hadn't gotten to see it, but an earthquake had caused a tree to crash through the roof. It was still there, but the hole would have to be patched up soon; it could let snow and rain in through the den, which wouldn't be good for the sick and injured.
"Oh, dear," said Eclipse upon seeing Liberty and Ekaj. Her swollen stomach had disappeared; she had given birth to three pups a few days ago. Liberty hadn't gotten the chance to meet them because she had been busy, but had to admit that her curiosity about them was peaked. Rumors had been flying around about their names; something about a cloud, a list, and something else. "What is with you three and your injuries?"
"Sparring," replied Ekaj.
Eclipse shook her head. "Honestly, why would the mentors allow this? I'll be with you two in a little bit." She then retreated to the herb storage.
"She's right, though." Ekaj turned to look at Liberty. "Why would our mentors allow this?"
"I don't know," Liberty responded, not looking at Ekaj but instead scrutinizing the herb storage. There were tons of little berries, leaves and other things, all of which Liberty didn't know the name of. Being a Healer must take a lot of intelligence, she commented to herself.
"We'll be okay, though," Ekaj insisted. Liberty wondered if he was trying to convince himself more than her. "I doubt that will ever happen again. And if it does...well, we're not going to kill each other, right?"
Liberty turned to look at Ekaj, focusing on his green eyes. "Of course not."
There was silence between the two for a little bit and then Eclipse came over with the herbs. "Alright then...Liberty, how's your cast doing?"
"Fine," Liberty responded.
"We might get Tiggerkat to look and see how your tail is doing," said Eclipse as she began to treat Ekaj's wounds. Liberty scowled. "Nightgale, can you come look at Liberty's injuries?"
"'Course," said Nightgale, trotting over to Liberty. She picked up a leaf and pressed it to Liberty's muzzle. "This is your worst one, I think," Nightgale remarked. "It may have a scar behind."
"So you guys can't do Bending?" asked Eclipse in effort to make conversation.
"No," Ekaj answered. "Adamu was right about it. No one knows why, but I'm not going to worry about it. Whatever the problem may be, it'll be taken care of, I'm sure."
"Still, what could possibly take Bending away?" Comet asked from over by Wyki. "It's never happened before..."
"Mommy!" exclaimed a high-pitched voice. Suddenly, something flashed by Liberty and pretty soon it was right by Eclipse - a small orange wolf pup with a black tail and bright blue eyes; one of her forepaws were silver, the left one, while her right forepaw was black. "Hi!"
"Hi Alista," said Eclipse. "What are you doing in here? You can't leave your den."
"Well it's boring in there!" Alista protested. "Daddy is busy so he can't play. Rhonda is sleeping, Cloudie can't see, and I don't like Okerro. And Airia keeps scolding us."
Eclipse looked somewhat annoyed. "Cloudie can't help that, Alista. And give Okerro a chance. He--"
"He never talks!" Alista exclaimed in her high-pitch voice. "All he does is look at us and sits by Airia."
"He probably never talks because he's shy," Eclipse retorted. "Now, I am busy. As you can see, some of the apprentices are injured."
Alista looked at Liberty and Ekaj. "What happened?" she gasped.
"Fight with a big bear," Ekaj chuckled. "We managed to kill it and saved the day."
"Wow!" Alista exclaimed, beaming.
"That's not--" Nightgale began, but was cut off by Wyki.
"Yeah! I ripped its fur off!" Wyki said.
"And Liberty, she bit down on its neck. The poor thing didn't stand a chance," Ekaj laughed.
"Ekaj, you're setting a bad example," Eclipse scolded. "Apprentices shouldn't tell lies."
"Sorry," Ekaj said, but his expression still made him seem amused.
"So you didn't fight a bear?" asked Alista.
"No." Ekaj shook his head. "We fought each other, but--"
"Why?!" Alista demanded.
"It was for practice," Ekaj explained as Nightgale pressed down another one of Liberty's wounds. "We'll be fine."
"I wanna be an apprentice!" Alista exclaimed, turning to Eclipse.
"Well not today," Eclipse insisted. "Go back to your den."
Alista sighed, and walked off, grumbling.
"Your pups' names are Alista, Rhonda and Cloudie?" called Wyki.
"Yeah," responded Eclipse, cleaning up blood off of Ekaj. "You just saw Alista. I've always liked that name, so I named her that. She's the second-oldest of my three daughters. Rhonda is the youngest; she has these beautiful green eyes and has orange fur, with black legs,a black tail, and black ears. Cloudie is my oldest. She's named after my adoptive father, Cloudsky. She has gray fur and a black tail, but she's blind. Cloudie is the most similar to me out of my pups."
Liberty remembered Eclipse's blindness; she was so good at getting around and doing things independently, that it was easy to forget that she lacked sight. "How do you know what they look like?" Wyki asked. "Aren't you blind?"
Eclipse gave a weak smile. "Yes, I am. Firefly told me what they look like." She addressed Wyki while still focusing on Ekaj, multi-tasking.
"Why won't Alista play with Okerro?" Nightgale asked, turning to Eclipse.
"Okerro is more of an outsider," Eclipse explained. "For some reason, he doesn't talk much to the others."
Liberty had never been shy of the other young when she was a pup. She'd address them when she wanted, and they never intimidated her. But then again, at a young age she shared a den with Lephos, Sidew, Ryker and Audrey, and they had never been scary. They were all older than Liberty and her sister Campbell, but all four of them became apprentices together. Liberty wasn't sure why though; Lephos and Sidew had always been immature. But then again, maybe Ash thought apprenticeship would give them maturity.
But they're dead now. Liberty had to tell herself this on a regular basis. All the time she'd expect to hear stories of Lephos and Sidew's recent pranks, or hear them laughing and the scolding of a Bender. It never happened, and that was because the two were dead. She tried not to think too much of it; grief was pointless.
Her sister was dead too. Liberty and Campbell never got a long; Campbell hated Liberty, and Liberty didn't know why. But she hated her sister back because of it, and the relationship was just fine with Liberty. But now Campbell was dead. The hate relationship had lasted for all of Campbell's life. Liberty had no reason to be upset about her sister's death though; why grieve over someone who never loved Liberty in the first place?
"I think you two are fine now." Nightgale's voice snapped Liberty back to reality. "But you're done training for the day; Healers' orders. Just take it easy, and it the wound opens up again come to us. Ekaj, you're dismissed. But Liberty, you'll have to stay here."
"Why?" Liberty demanded.
"We're going to call Tiggerkat in to look over your tail," Nightgale responded. "It won't take too long."
"Will you be okay if I leave you?" Ekaj asked, looking at Liberty.
Although Liberty knew Ekaj meant it for being concerned, it only angered Liberty. What, does he think I can't look after myself? I don't need him for anything, of course I'll be okay! "Yes," said Liberty through gritted teeth, not meeting Ekaj's eyes.
He obviously didn't understand that he offended her, as Ekaj merely nodded and left the den.
"I'll go get Tiggerkat," spoke up Comet, leaving the den.
As Nightgale left Liberty to go to the herb storage, Liberty settled down onto one of the nearby moss beds, figuring she may as well get comfortable. "You know he was just concerned," spoke up Eclipse, who had sat down nearby Liberty. She spoke at a murmur, so Liberty knew Nightgale couldn't hear. "He knows you're strong."
"How did you know what I was thinking?" Liberty asked confusedly.
"I could sense your annoyance." Eclipse shrugged. "You'll find out over the moons that guys aren't very good at sensing emotions or knowing how or why they offended you. Do you know how blind Hazen was to Mistletoe? When he revealed he was a spy for the Firebenders, somehow he found out Mistletoe had liked him and asked her to join the Fire Nation like it was no big deal. He didn't quite grasp the depth of the situation."
"Wow," was all Liberty muttered.
"Yeah. Somehow they're mates now, though. Ever since Hazen revealed his purposes for coming to The Bending Tower, Mistletoe had been a bit crept out. She never quite felt the same. Like, I think she still had feelings for them, but it had gotten combined with confusion and distrust - even when Hazen declared loyalty to The Bending Tower. I guess Hazen finally won her over," Eclipse said, shaking her head. "I feel sorry for Mistletoe. I don't think they have a very strong relationship, and Mistletoe had liked Hazen for a while."
"How do you know all this?" Liberty asked in awe.
"When you're a Healer, and get all sorts of animals coming into the Healers' den, you hear a lot of gossip," smiled Eclipse. "I know a lot about the animals here."
"Oh, yes," spoke up Nightgale. "You wouldn't believe all the rumors I've heard floating around about animals here and the news about who-likes-who and whatnot. It's interesting, to be honest, hearing everything that Benders think of one another."
"Yes, but of course, we're good secret keepers," said Eclipse, as Nightgale nodded in agreement. "Some stories are harmless to tell, whereas others...well, we respect Benders' privacy. So you can't really come in here asking us who so-and-so likes or what so-and-so thinks of you."
Liberty nodded in understanding. She didn't care about any of that stuff, anyway. Most girls - like Starlight and Sirius - practically ate that stuff up. Liberty often heard things floating around but usually forgot it, so she doubted she'd come to the Healers to try and find out things like that. She didn't care what others thought of her, and thought that learning about who-liked-who was stupid.
"I'm here!" sang a familiar voice, as Tiggerkat bounced into the room, followed by Comet. "Hel-lo!"
"Hi Tiggerkat," Nightgale greeted her. "We need you to check Liberty's tail."
"Okay!" Tiggerkat bounced over to Liberty, and immediately grimaced in disgust. "The flowers! Ugh!"
"What about them?" asked Comet curiously.
"They're dead." Tiggerkat's nose wrinkled in disgust. "You should've at least came to me earlier. I could've put on fresh ones."
"Does it help with the healing?" asked Liberty.
"No, it'd just look nicer," insisted Tiggerkat, while Liberty muttered words that her mother would probably give her a lecture for saying. "Now let's see your tail."
Liberty tried to stay still as Tiggerkat worked on taking the cast off, but found herself flinching. No. You've been through worse, she told herself. Like the process of the tail becoming broken.
"Done!" Tiggerkat sang. Liberty turned and looked to see that her tail was ruffled from being in the cast so long, and the end of her tail was crooked - Liberty knew it would probably remain that way, too.
"It's healed now?" Comet asked.
"Yep!" Tiggerkat said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have reese cups to eat." She bounced out of the den.
"It'll probably still hurt now and then, Liberty," Eclipse said. "Ash has a broken right paw, and it still hurts him when he hits it against something. So be careful."
"I will," Liberty promised.
"Good. You're dismissed."
Liberty then left the den, her tail feeling rather free now that it didn't have the cast to bind it.

Author's Note:
Hey! Go check out my new story called "Runner". Link in my profile. =P
And Ekajerty is the cutest thing omg ;u;