Chapter 5: Tales of Tiggerpaka

Liberty had graduated the next day alone.
She had expected Fake-Ash to have her and some other apprentices graduate, but it was just her.
"Peacebenders, hear my words as I make Liberty into a full Waterbender." He lacked enthusiasm in his voice, and sounded like this was one of the last things he wanted to do. "She has worked hard to understand Waterbending, and is ready to take her turn to become a full Waterbender. Liberty, do you agree that you are ready to be a Waterbender, and that you can take on all of these responsibilities?"
"Mm," nodded Liberty. She could hear the crowd of animals whispering, all of whom had attended the ceremony.
"Then with the help of the Peacebenders, you may get your wish. Liberty, when I tap your head, the Peacebenders' power will make you stronger, faster, and a better Bender," continued Fake-Ash.
Liberty felt a growl rising in her throat. Fake-Ash touching her was one of the last things she wanted, and other than that, the whole "Peacebenders' power" was stupid. How can I get help from something that doesn't exist? she demanded to herself, annoyance prickling at her pelt.
However, Liberty found her paws taking her forward to meet Fake-Ash, and he tapped her head. She felt nothing.
Fake-Ash then pulled away, and Liberty locked her eyes with his, trying to seem as confident as possible. "Liberty," he said, scrutinizing her with cold eyes. "You are officially a full Waterbender. Welcome, Liberty."
There were yells of approval from the crowd, and although Liberty felt uncomfortable due to the attention, she kept her chin raised high and walked back to where she had been sitting before being called forward, right in between Wyki and Ekaj.
"Why do you get to be a full Bender so early?" whined Wyki.
"Because I'm a good fighter," responded Liberty.
"No lack of confidence in you, huh?" Ekaj chuckled.
"And why were you the only one who graduated? Starlight and Sparky have been training longer than you have," pointed out Wyki.
"I don't know," Liberty lied.
The crowd had then began to break up, all the animals heading in different ways. Wyki left, muttering things under his breath, leaving Liberty and Ekaj by themselves.
"No offense, but Wyki is right," Ekaj said after a little bit. "Why were you made a full Bender before me? I've been training more than you."
Although Liberty was now a full Bender, she certainly didn't feel like it. For one thing, the full Benders were normally bigger than the apprentices (small animals like Streak being an exception, of course), and Ekaj was bigger than Liberty. Also, Liberty was positive she didn't know as much as a full Bender did.
But she had a plan, despite these problems.
"I don't know," Liberty repeated.
"It is awfully strange." Ekaj tilted his head in confusion. "What did Ash want with you when he called you over, anyways?"
"He wanted to congratulate me on my fighting," said Liberty.
"Ah." Ekaj nodded. "So that's why you're a full Bender now."
"I suppose so," agreed Liberty.
"Liberty!" Tiggerkat bounced over. "Congratulations!"
"Um, thanks," said Liberty.
"You should have a reese cup to celebrate! They are great for celebratory occasions. I use them to celebrate a lot. Then again, I just eat them all the time, not necessarily for celebrations. In fact, I eat reese cups on a regular basis. But they're so good!" Tiggerkat exclaimed.
"...Okay," was all Liberty could say in response.
"Have you had any reese cups? If not, I'm surprised, they're actually very good! You should try some," insisted Tiggerkat.
"No, thank you," Liberty said, feeling a bit irritated.
"Well, congratulations anyway," Tiggerkat grinned, giving Liberty a hug, making her extremely uncomfortable. She then hopped away, humming a tune.
"She's a bit...off," commented Ekaj with a frown.
"Mm," Liberty muttered in agreement.
"Anyway, uh--"
"Liberty!" called a voice. Liberty turned to see that her father, Dust, was running over to her. Sometimes it was kind of embarrassing to say Dust was her father, as he and Liberty's uncle, Rusty, were known for being two of the biggest idiots in the Tower. So seeing Dust call her name and running over to her didn't help that much. "Congratulations! I knew you'd be an early graduater. Graduatee?" he frowned.
"Dad..." sighed Liberty.
"What?" Dust gave her a look. He then shook his head. "Anyways, I'm proud of you, y'know. My daughter, a full Bender."
The other daughter will certainly never be one. Liberty bit back the words. "Thanks."
"Anyway, what was I over here for..." Dust frowned, and then smiled. "Oh yeah! Airia sent me. The young are being a pawful, and she's the only one in there. She suggested you help her out."
"Why me?" Liberty blurted out. "Why not someone who's good with the young, like Starlight or him?" Liberty glanced at Ekaj on the word "him".
"Really, I wasn't listening," Dust laughed. "Well, good luck." He then trotted away.
"Do you two ever talk? Because your conversation didn't have much love to it," Ekaj commented.
"Rarely," Liberty responded, getting to her paws.
"You want me to help?" Ekaj offered.
"No," Liberty said automatically, putting more harshness into her voice than she had intended. "Thanks." She then walked away, leaving Ekaj behind.


"Who are you?" asked an orange-and-black wolf pup as soon as Liberty walked in, her green eyes shining with curiosity and blinking innocently.
"Liberty," Liberty responded, taking in how small the pup was.
"I'm Rhonda!" she exclaimed. "That's my sister Cloudie--" she looked at a gray wolf pup with a black tail, "--and Alist--"
"I already met her. She chased off a bear," Alista said.
"Wow! Really?" Rhonda beamed at Liberty.
"No, she didn't," spoke up Airia, looking irritated as Dust had said. "Thank you, Liberty, for agreeing to watching them."
Against my will, Liberty was tempted to add. "No problem, Airia."
"I'll be back in a bit," Airia nodded, leaving the den.
"I'm gonna be an Airbender," Alista announced.
"Nice," said Liberty.
"I'll be a Waterbender!" beamed Rhonda.
"Mm-hm," nodded Liberty in response.
"You're no fun," pouted Alista.
"Why are you so quiet?" Rhonda asked.
"You barely talk," Alista added.
"Are you in a bad mood?" Rhonda said.
"Airia talks more than you do," Alista insisted.
"Yeah. She tells us stories."
"Tell us a story!"
"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" Rhonda jumped up and down.
"I don't know any stories," Liberty said.
"Pleeeaaaase?" Rhonda begged.
"Fine," Liberty muttered. She took a seat in the middle of the room, and Alista and Rhonda practically stepped on each other in attempts to sit in front of Liberty. Cloudie came over and joined them, a lot calmer than her siblings. Liberty tried not to focus on Cloudie's blind eyes too much.
She then spotted a black winged wolf pup in the corner. "Hey, you," she said.
The pup looked up at Liberty, a sad expression on his face.
"Over here," she said.
He quickly shook his head.
"Get over here," Liberty ordered. "I'm not telling stories just for only three pups to hear."
Somewhat reluctantly, the winged pup came over.
"Hi!" Rhonda exclaimed as he sat down next to her.
He finally spoke. "Hey." From what Liberty could hear, his voice was more scratchy, but that may have been nerves; he seemed like an introvert.
"Who are you?" she asked him. She knew it had to be Okerro; she just wanted to hear him say it.
"Okerro," he responded in his scratchy voice.
"Alright then," said Liberty.
"What's your story about?" Alista asked.
Liberty thought for a few moments. The stories she heard the most, came from Tiggerpaka - who was dead now - and it was about his adventures. She doubted they were all real, but decided to tell it anyway. "I will tell the stories of a meerkat named Tiggerpaka."
"Who's that?" Rhonda asked.
"Tiggerpaka was a warrior meerkat who always boasted about his quests," answered Liberty. And they were all fake, she told herself. "He used to live here before you were born, but went missing one day."
"Wow! He lived at The Bending Tower?" said Rhonda.
"Yes," Liberty nodded. "One of the stories he seemed to enjoy telling was when he fought Tiredblade, his nemesis."
"What's a n...neme...sis?" Rhonda frowned as she tried to pronounce the word.
"A bad guy," Liberty replied. "Tiggerpaka and Tiredblade ran into each other more than the other would've liked. Every time, Tiggerpaka defeated him, and Tiredblade would always end up fleeing for his life. One time, Tiggerpaka was going through the woods when he came across Tiredblade, who had apparently been trying to attack The Bending Tower. Tiggerpaka had grabbed his stick and launched onto Tiredblade and stabbed him with the stick. Although it took Tiredblade by surprise, he fought back."
"Was Tiredblade tough?" Alista asked.
"Very," Liberty confirmed. "In the end, Tiggerpaka won, and Tiredblade ran off. Tiggerpaka had saved The Bending Tower."
"That story was short," pouted Alista.
"Well, it's better than no story," Liberty retorted.
"Tell us more about Tiggypaka!" Rhonda begged. "Pleeeeaaaassseeee?"
Liberty was just about to respond when Airia came in. "Were they any trouble?" she asked upon entry.
"No," said Liberty, shaking her head.
"Well thank you for watching them," nodded Airia.
"Liberty told us stories about Tiggypaka!" Rhonda exclaimed.
"She did, did she?" Airia said. She turned to Liberty. "You're dismissed."
Liberty nodded and headed out, grateful to leave.

Author's Note:
Abrupt ending x3
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