A New and Improved Story

Once again I see that Great Scott has left his post and has begun to neglect this blog.  Oh how ye fans must yearn for more!  Where Great Scott leaves you thirsty, allow I, Tiggerpaka the Great, to quench thee.  Where Great Scott leaves you hungry, allow I, Tiggerpaka the Great to fill thee.   Yes, ye fans must go to bed each night wanting, but I, Tiggerpaka the Great shall make you not want!

So, it seems Great Scott has left poor Misty and her crew of misfits trapped in some dungeon somewhere.  But luckily, I, Tiggerpaka the Great is there!  And I, Tiggerpaka the Great have hatched a great plan!    I will set the dungeon on fire and as the bars crumble to ash we will escape!  And if SoSlow tries to stop us, I, Tiggerpaka the Great will slay him with my mighty bare paws!

I, Tiggerpaka the Great will slay all who stand in our way.  (And if Crabbell should accidentally be slayed too, well, collateral damage does happen, I'm sorry to say-----wait---no I'm not!)

And under the leadership of I, Tiggerpaka the Great, we shall.....................

uh-oh

Someone's coming!


Publish!

Publish!

Publish and run!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chapter 10: Majaka's Visit

"Okay, so everyone understand the plan?" Koro asked.
"Yeah," nodded Rhett. "It's a stupid plan, but...it's a plan."
"It's never gonna work," growled Campbell.
"Alright then, let's hear you come up with something better," smirked Ophir.
"I can't off the top of my head," Campbell snarled, whipping around to face him.
Misty closed her eyes and sighed. Today they might possibly be escaping this horrible prison. But then again, we might not, said a voice of doubt in her head.
We will, Misty retorted determinedly. She had a feeling in her gut that they'd escape. They had to. They couldn't just remain locked up in here forever; it was supposedly her and the others' destinies to go save Yin and Yang. They couldn't do this all from the Amorache Tribe jail.
"Will we get hurt?" Bracken murmured.
"We won't," insisted Koro. "We'll get out of this jail."
"Yeah," agreed Lilypaka. "I believe this should work. The flaws in this plan are minuscule. If, of course, we're fast enough."
"I'm fast," smirked Tiggerpaka. "I am the speediest animal in the land! I move at blur! No animal can catch the speedy meerkat--"
"Shut up," Lephos snapped.
Misty turned to look at her sister, Adele. The winged she-wolf looked back at Misty but, as usual, said nothing. Do you understand this? Misty wanted to ask. Do you know that you'll have to run?
Adele blinked once but that was it.
Misty sighed and turned back to the group. "We should start," she said.
"Right," Sidew nodded in agreement.
Bracken stood near the entrance then got down onto the ground and yelped out loudly, as if in pain. "Augh!"
"Hey!" Campbell yelled. "This guy's paw broke!"
"Why's Campbell the 'yeller', anyway?" Misty heard Lephos wonder.
"Because she has a big mouth," Sidew said, and the brothers snickered at this.
Just then, Ferrum the lynx came in. "Bracken!" she gasped. Misty felt a pang of guilt in her stomach; out of all the Amorache Tribe members, Ferrum had probably been the nicest, even if she did have a bit of a temper occasionally. And here they were, about to trick her. This is for your own good, Misty scolded herself. If you don't do this, you won't escape. "Are you okay?"
"My paw..." Bracken grimaced.
Suddenly, someone else walked in. "What's going on?"
It was Tsovo. Misty scowled as the wolf came in to examine what was going on. They had only been expecting one animal to come in. Now they had to deal with two.
"Bracken's hurt," Ferrum said worriedly.
"Looks fine to me," Tsovo muttered.
Misty glanced at Campbell. They locked eyes and Misty nodded, hoping Campbell got the message. Much to Misty's relief, the gray wolf nodded back, understanding what Misty was trying to say.
"Yep, he's a wimp," Tiggerpaka snorted. "I mean, if I twisted my hand, I'd go on fighting! He's not as tough--" he was cut off when Lilypaka slapped a hand over Tiggerpaka's mouth. Despite this, Tiggerpaka kept speaking into his sister's hand, but his voice became muffled.
"Yes, well..." Misty advanced closer to Tsovo, her body overcome with nerves as she anticipated what was going to happen next. At the same time, Campbell crept closer to Ferrum, confirming that she had understood Misty's silent message. "I think you look at Bracken's paw a bit closer..."
Suddenly Misty slammed into Tsovo's side and knocked him onto the ground, holding him down with her forepaws. For once, Tsovo's bored, emotionless expression had been replaced by utter shock. Campbell now had Ferrum pinned down, and as they were held to the ground the others fled out of the entrance at what appeared to be a blur, running on adrenaline from anticipation.
Misty turned to take after but pain shot through her paw. She flinched and yelped as she saw Tsovo had bit down on her, and he kicked her right in the stomach, making her fall back. She scrambled to her paws and Tsovo got to his narrowing his eyes at Misty.
Misty turned to look at Campbell only to see her friend had already fled. Misty growled to herself as Tsovo advanced. "Trying to escape?" he asked coolly.
Gritting her teeth Misty lunged at the wolf, but Tsovo darted to the side at immense speed that took Misty by surprise. She tried to attack again, this time aiming for his paws, but Tsovo took his claws and slashed them across Misty's head. She yelped out in pain and felt blood run down her fur, slowly moving down her nose. She didn't have time to try and wipe it off to prevent herself from being blinded before she felt claws latch onto her back. Misty yelled out and turned to see Ferrum biting down on her back. She howled and bit down on Ferrum's paw, sinking her teeth in and drawing blood. Ferrum screeched and fell off, but landed on her paws in a fighting position. She bared her teeth. "I'm sorry Misty, but I'm doing my job."
"If we were ever the slightest of friends, you wouldn't be attacking me right now," Misty retorted with a growl.
"Tribe before anything else," Ferrum spat, just as Misty was knocked over and pinned to the ground by Tsovo, just as she had attacked and pinned him down not so much earlier.
He dug her claws into her shoulder and blood poured from the spot where he struck, and Misty gritted her teeth to fight back a yelp of pain before taking her own claws and slashing Tsovo's leg.
Tsovo snarled and fiercely slammed his paw onto Misty's head, and she could only just hear her name be called before her vision went black.


When Misty woke up she was no longer at the Amorache  Tribe, but in a forest. It was incredibly bright and full of greenery. It's supposed to be near white-earth, Misty told herself. What's going on...?
She narrowed her eyes as a huge white winged wolf made his way into the clearing, with black markings on his face. Misty recognized him immediately. "Majaka--?"
The huge wolf merely narrowed his eyes at Misty. "What are you thinking...you stupid girl?"
Misty flinched at the remark as her ancestor continued. "You get yourselves captured by that weak-minded Amorache Tribe and put in jail when your time is running out!" he snapped. "Don't you realize that Yin and Yang's fighting is going to get worse and worse before one of them dies? You have a limited amount of time to complete your destiny, or you're going to the Void when the world dies out because you failed to save it."
Anger filled up Misty's chest. "IT'S NOT MY FAULT!" she snarled. "I didn't ask to get put in jail!"
"Well you could have prevented it," Majaka snapped.
"How?" Misty demanded.
"There were so many different ways you could've, grandchild, but your blind eyes couldn't see them," Majaka hissed. "If only you could see all the different things I could see..." He then stopped and seemed to consider what he just said. "...you'd probably go mad," he muttered.
Misty felt too annoyed to care about what he had just said. "Well then, wise dead guy, what am I supposed to do?" she demanded. "Huh? If you're so all-knowing--"
"Respect your elders, girl, didn't anyone teach you?" Majaka growled. "There is a way to get out of your situation. My eyes can see many different versions. What you and your idiotic friends just attempted definitely wasn't one of them." He then looked Misty up and down. "Oh, there's a way out, all right. And the way out is right in front of you, girl."
"What...?" Misty began, but her vision went black again, and the last thing she saw was Majaka spreading his wings and shooting away.


When Misty woke up everything was dark. She first thought she was in another dream, but she recognized the smell of the Chief den. Why am I here? she asked.
"What were you thinking?" asked a voice.
Something shifted in the shadows and Misty realized it was Tsovo. She felt too tired to reply, but attempted anyway. "We wanted to get out," she retorted.
"You could've gotten yourselves killed," Tsovo murmured.
"And you were helping us prevent that, how?" Misty said dryly.
Tsovo didn't respond for a while, which Misty was okay with, but then she heard Tsovo sigh. "You wouldn't get killed, of course," he said, "but I don't think my father would mind killing off your friends."
"Why wouldn't I die?" Misty asked.
"Because I don't want you to," Tsovo replied. "I think my father would respect that. He seems awfully desperate to get me to become Chief. I have him right where I want him."
Confusion filled Misty. Not only had her great-great-great-many-greats-later grandfather yell at her and called her idiotic and stupid, insisting that finding a way out of this was easy, now Tsovo was adding on to the confusion she already had by speaking in riddles, so it seemed. "...Okay," was all Misty responded with.
"Your friends are still alive right now," Tsovo said. "They're back in the prison."
"Then why am I here?" Misty asked.
"You got injured the most. I had to take you to Nahuel," Tsovo explained.
"Well, I want to get back to my friends," Misty insisted.
"Why not stay here?" Tsovo ventured.
Misty felt a pang of annoyance. "Because I am loyal to my friends," Misty growled. "You may say 'Tribe first', but for me, my friends are first. If they're going to be imprisoned, I will too. With that said, I'm now ordering you: take me back."
Immediately she felt stupid for insisting she was ordering Chief's son around, but Tsovo merely replied with, "If that's what you want, then."

Author's Note:
Chapters two days in a row, wow. o:
This chapter was fun to write. ^-^

QOTD: What do you think Majaka's saying?

Chapter 9: Lucky

Starlight carried the kitten in her jaws back to The Bending Tower, Liberty walking beside her. The young followed, asking questions and constantly talking, all of which Starlight herself answered and never Liberty. The kitten had fallen silent with its eyes closed and didn't make a single sound on the whole trip.
They went through the tunnel that lead to the yard rather than taking the main entrance, and upon entering the yard no one looked their way, but Liberty knew it was only a matter of time.
"Oh my Lifebreeze!" gasped Nyla, running through the crowd of Benders to Liberty and the others, stopping in front of Starlight to examine the new-found kitten. "What's this?"
"A kitten we found," Starlight answered, voice muffled by the kitten's fur.
"Where?" asked Mistletoe, coming over to Nyla's side to examine the kitten
"Among the trees," Starlight replied.
"Yeah!" exclaimed Alista. "Starlight said it's been...uh...ban...doned!"
"Poor thing!" cried Crystal, running over.
"What's going on?" Liberty heard Miguel say from a few feet away.
"I dunno, but the girls are all obsessing over something," shrugged Raoul from next to Miguel.
"You need to take that kitten to Eclipse," said Crystal, worry written all over her face.
You don't say? Liberty was tempted to respond with.
"We will," Starlight said assuringly.
"Pups, head back to Airia," Nyla insisted.
"Aww!" Rhonda and Alista harmonized.
"Now," ordered Nyla.
Alista and Rhonda headed off, mumbling to each other as they were followed by Okerro and Cloudie into The Bending Tower, followed by Nyla, which Liberty figured was to make sure they actually made their way back to Airia.
"Go to Eclipse, now," Crystal insisted.
Starlight nodded and trotted towards the Tower, Liberty following. Animals turned heads their way as they passed, but didn't stop them or say anything as they continued to head for the Healers.
Upon heading inside, Liberty saw that Ekaj was in there, with Comet tending to a cut on his paw. "Honestly, Ekaj, watch were you step..."
"It was an accident," Ekaj insisted.
"Well, you should be more--"
"Oh my gosh!" spoke up Nightgale. Liberty looked to see the she-wolf running over to her and Starlight from the corner. "Who is this? What happened?!"
"It's a kitten that Liberty found," Starlight said, voice muffled by the kitten's fur. She sat it down on the floor.
"Poor thing!" Nightgale cried.
"What's going on?" asked Eclipse, walking over to them.
"This kitten was found, and the poor thing looks near dead!" Nightgale yelped. She picked it up. "We got to treat him..."
"Is he going to be alright?" Starlight asked.
"Of course," Nightgale nodded. "But after we treat him, we have to get the poor thing back to its mother." She placed the kitten down and put a leaf down on a cut on his back, putting pressure on the wound.
"His mother must be worried sick!" Eclipse exclaimed. "I know I'd be."
"How did he end up like this, though?" Starlight wondered, making everyone turn to her. "All scratched up?"
"Maybe he got lost," suggested Ekaj with a shrug. "Wandered too far from his mother."
"His mom must be feeling so upset though!" Eclipse said worriedly. "I mean, she probably turned her back on him for one minute and then he was gone...she must be looking everywhere for him!"
"Immediately after he's treated we got to--" Nightgale turned back to where the kitten had been, only to see he was gone. "Where'd he go?!"
Everyone exchanged looks and surveyed the area. Liberty scanned the room and looked behind her, but the kitten was nowhere in sight.
"He must've slipped away somehow," Starlight murmured.
"Well, we've got to find him!" Eclipse exclaimed. "Liberty, Starlight and Ekaj, you all head out together. I'll go with Nightgale. Comet," she turned to the wolf, "you stay here in case someone comes for treatment."
"Alright," Comet nodded.
"Let's go then," Starlight said. "C'mon."
She trotted out of the room and Liberty followed, and she could sense Ekaj close by as they went into the hallway. "Which way do we go?" Starlight wondered.
"We could ask around, if anyone happened to see a kitten run by," Ekaj suggested.
You don't say, Liberty thought to herself.
"Let's go then," Starlight nodded, heading down the hall, Liberty and Ekaj following.
"What's the kitten's name?" Ekaj asked as they walked.
"He never spoke," Liberty answered.
"Probably too young to speak. He's awfully scrawny," Starlight pointed out.
They turned a corner and saw Tiggerkat, humming and popping a reese cup into her mouth. "Hey, Tiggerkat," Starlight said.
"Hello, friends!" Tiggerkat sang, grinning ear-to-ear. "How are you?"
"Fine, thanks," Starlight returned.
"Have you seen a cat go by?" Ekaj wondered. "Black, hazel eyes, white spot on his chest?"
"A cat?" Tiggerkat echoed. "'Cat', as in Tigger'kat'? I saw Tiggerkat in the puddle the other day," she said, rubbing her chin with her paw, "is Tiggerkat missing now?" she gasped, and then ran off. "GUYS! GUYS! TIGGERKAT'S MISSING! WE GOTTA FIND HER!"
"Uh..." Ekaj said as she scampered off.
"That was no help," Liberty grumbled.
They continued down the hall in silence, looking into rooms to see if the kitten happened to be there. Nothing, nothing, Liberty said as she saw no black kitten in the rooms she peered inside of. Noth--wait...
She stopped and could see a clump of black fur in the elders' den, sitting among the elders as they talked. "Excuse me," said Liberty, walking in.
"Hello Liberty," Creature nodded with a smile.
Liberty noticed the kitten looked fearful. She could feel Starlight and Ekaj come in as she continued to speak. "Listen, that's our kitten," she said. "We took him to the Healers but he ran off."
"Oh?" Creature frowned. He turned to the kitten. "What's your name?"
The kitten hesitated before replying in a small, high-pitch voice. "Lucky," he whimpered.
Liberty could feel a sarcastic remark about the kitten's name rising in her, but suppressed it. "And why did you run off, honey?" Sun asked.
"They want to take me back to my mom," Lucky murmured.
"Why's that a bad thing?" Starlight asked.
"My mommy's mean," Lucky whimpered, looking close to crying. "She hurts me everyday. I don't want to be hurt anymore!"

Author's Note:
To be continued... ;)
Also, I made a new page on this blog, it's a survey for you guys to fill out. Check it out if you'd like. :3 (you don't have to, of course!)

Chapter 8: The Rabbit

The next day Misty was still hungry. She had been given some food - a mouse - and it wasn't enough to fill her stomach. As soon as she woke up it was growling.
"You know what I dreamed about?" Sidew was saying when Misty opened her eyes. "I dreamed that I was chasing a rabbit that was singing 'You're hungry, you're hungry, but you can't catch me!' And I never did!" he growled.
"Any more wise advice for us?" Rhett said dryly to Koro.
"We just need to remain calm," Koro shrugged. "We'll find a way out of this."
"'Find a way out', my tail," grumbled Sidew.
"Aren't you positive," muttered Lephos.
"You try to be positive when you're starving!" Sidew snapped.
"Whine, whine, whine," spoke up Tiggerpaka, putting a grub in his mouth. "You pups think you have it so tough. I should tell you about the time I--"
"NO," said Sidew and Lephos at once.
"We're going through enough torture already," growled Sidew.
"My stories are not torture," Tiggerpaka sniffed. "My stories are ecstatic and phenomenal! Your young minds are merely too stupid to figure that out."
"Excuse me?" Campbell growled.
"Tiggerpaka," Lilypaka said quickly to her brother, "listen, why don't you go back to your fort and plan more on how you're going to 'seek safety'?" she suggested.
"I don't need to do that. I already know how!" Tiggerpaka smirked. "For I know everything."
"Yes, of course..." Lilypaka murmured, seeming unwilling to argue with her brother.
Misty sighed and looked out the entrance, where she slept by. Sunlight was filtering in, and Misty could see the brambles that guarded the exit, and Tribe members walking by, free and without troubles. It annoyed Misty, seeing how carefree they were compared to her, Misty, who was stuck in this den,
That was when someone ducked through the entrance. Misty nearly jumped as they came through, but then saw it was Tsovo, with a rabbit in his mouth. Misty scowled to herself. "What do you want?"
"Here." He set the rabbit down in front of her. "You're probably hungry."
Misty's hunger grew as she saw the prey in front of her muzzle, but fought back the urge to eat. "Why are you giving me this?" she demanded.
"Like I said. You're probably hungry," Tsovo repeated.
"I'm not eating while everyone else starves," Misty snapped.
"Hmm. You are hungry," remarked Tsovo.
"Take it back," Misty insisted. "I can't eat and let them starve."
"Suit yourself," shrugged Tsovo, leaving without taking the rabbit with him.
Misty growled to herself and turned to her friends. "Why'd Tsovo bring you that?" Bracken asked, head tilted.
"I don't know," Misty muttered.
"Misty's got a boyfriend," smirked Campbell.
"No," Misty growled.
"What's that?" Bracken asked.
"It's when you spend time with a fellow animal who you like and they like you back, but you're not mates," Lilypaka explained. "Another term is 'girlfriend'."
"Oh," Bracken murmured.
"Tsovo must like you," Rhett chuckled.
"No," Misty insisted.
"Tsovo has a crush on you," Campbell said.
"Well if he does, I'm going to crush him," growled Tiggerpaka.
Everyone fell silent and looked at the meerkat, and immediately Misty felt embarrassed. "Why?" Lephos said.
"Because Ash assigned me as her guard," Tiggerpaka said importantly. "And it is my duty to protect her."
I'm not helpless, Misty growled to herself.
"What a fine job you've been doing of that," said Campbell sarcastically.
Tiggerpaka threw a grub head at Campbell, hitting her forehead. "Hey!" Campbell growled.
"Yeah, you're real tough," Ophir muttered.
"Fight me," Campbell snapped.
"I'm a whole head taller than you and you wanna fight me. That makes sense," Ophir said dryly.
"So what are you going to do with the rabbit?" Bracken asked.
"Throw it out of the den. We can't be fighting over it," Misty insisted, grabbing the rabbit.
"I want it," insisted Sidew.
"No. We'll just fight over it. Like Misty said," Koro insisted. Misty felt satisfaction at his agreement.
"Aww," groaned Sidew as Misty tossed the rabbit out the den.

Author's Note:
Short, pointless chapter.
And I'm not ready for school tomorrow tbh.

Chapter 7: Pup-Sitting

The next day Liberty sat with Starlight at breakfast. "Why are you a full Bender? I'm older than you, and I've been one longer," she pointed out.

"Fake-Ash offered," explained Liberty.

"And you accepted?" Starlight said in disbelief. "Why?!"

"Because, if I gain his trust I can try and figure out why he's here and impersonating Ash," Liberty responded

"Remember his meeting with Bracken? He wants to take over The Bending Tower," Starlight pointed out. "And y'know, that can't be Bracken. It has to be his opposite."

"So we have two opposites at The Bending Tower," commented Liberty.
"Wonder if we have anymore," Liberty said. She then looked down at her food. "I'm full."
"Same," agreed Starlight.
The two got up. "What do you think we're doing today?" Starlight wondered.
Liberty shrugged in response.
"LIBERTY!" snarled a voice. Liberty almost jumped in alarm and turned to see her mother, Charlotte, walking over to her, looking very angry. Some of the talking in the yard dropped when Charlotte shouted, but began to pick back up again. "You didn't finish your breakfast."
"...Yeah," replied Liberty, confused.
"You don't waste food!" Charlotte roared, making Liberty flinch. "Take that prey out of here now!"
Liberty nodded quickly and Charlotte growled and walked off. "Whoa," Starlight murmured. "What was that?"
"I...don't know," Liberty muttered, feeling a bit hurt. Charlotte never yelled like that, especially not for something as petty as that. Every now and then senior Benders would scold them slightly for leaving uneaten prey behind, but they never screamed like that over it.
"Don't feel to bad about it, though," Starlight insisted. "It had to be your mother's opposite. That's all."
My mother's opposite, Liberty echoed to herself. Does that mean my real mom's in trouble...? "Then where's my real mom?"
"I don't know," Starlight admitted. "But I'll bet she's still here. Somewhere."
They both picked up their prey. "We'll go dump this in the pit that the earthquake formed," Starlight said.
Liberty sighed through her rabbit. One time when she and some others were out in the woods, an earthquake had struck and caused a big hole in the earth. It killed River, Liberty's grandfather, but she didn't know him very well, so she wasn't too upset.
Liberty nodded in response, but before they could go, Eclipse walked up. "Liberty, can you do a favor?"
"Depends," spoke Liberty into the rabbit.
"Could you take the young out to explore? They're driving Airia crazy," Eclipse explained.
"Do I have to?" Liberty growled.
"It'd be fun!" Starlight exclaimed. "I'll go with you."
"Fine," muttered Liberty.
"Thank you," said Eclipse, looking relieved. "I feel guilty leaving Airia alone with the pups, but I have medical things to attend to."
"Let's go get the young, then," said Starlight after Eclipse left.
Prey still in their jaws, the two headed for The Bending Tower. Once inside they padded upstairs and down the hallway, into the young den, where Alista was chasing Rhonda around, while Cloudie was sleeping and Okerro was watching. "Airia!" Starlight said.
The winged she-wolf lifted her head off her paws, her face showing annoyance, and then relief. "Are you going to take the pups out?"
"Yes," Starlight confirmed, setting her prey down. Liberty did as well.
"Thank you," Airia said, looking grateful. "Pups!" she yelled, and Alista, Rhonda, Cloudie and Okerro all turned to her. "You're going with Starlight and Liberty."
"Who's Starlight?" Alista asked.
"I am," Starlight spoke up.
"Hi Starlight!" Rhonda exclaimed. "I'm Rhonda!"
"Hello Rhonda," Starlight grinned.
"I like her better than the other one," Alista said.
"That's not very nice," Rhonda insisted.
"Where are we going?" Cloudie asked.
"Anywhere," Liberty muttered. She wasn't offended by Alista's comment; she knew Starlight was better with pups than she was.
"Out into the woods," Starlight explained. "We're going on an adventure!"
"Yay!" exclaimed Alista and Rhonda.
"What's in the woods?" Okerro asked, curiosity in his eyes.
"A lot of trees," Starlight replied. "It's pretty amazing when you first see it. But you have to be careful. There are dangerous things out there."
"Will we die?" Cloudie gasped.
"Not if you step in the right places," Liberty said.
"You won't die," insisted Starlight. "Now let's go."
The pups all scampered to their paws as Liberty and Starlight picked the prey up, and they lead the pups out of the den. "Why do you have those in your mouths?" asked Alista curiously.
"We didn't finish our breakfasts," Starlight explained with a muffled voice. "So we have to throw our leftovers out into the forest."
"Why?" Rhonda asked, head tilted.
"Because if we don't, we're wasting food," Starlight said.
"What's 'wasting food'?" Alista wondered.
"It's when you don't eat food and it goes bad," Starlight replied.
They were now in the yard. Starlight and Liberty lead the pups through the yard and towards the woods, the young scampering after them eagerly.
Once in the woods, the pups all looked around. "Wow," Rhonda whispered.
"What's it like?" Cloudie asked.
"Big," Alista replied. "Bright." She narrowed her eyes at the sunlight.
"Us Benders go out here to practice," Starlight spoke up. "In fact, we go out here often."
"So we'll get to, too?" asked Rhonda eagerly.
"Yep," Starlight nodded.
Then they came across the pit, and Starlight tossed her food down it. Liberty did the same. "What's this?" Alista asked.
Starlight put her tail in front of Cloudie to keep her from walking. "This pit was made during an earthquake," she explained.
"What's an earthquake?" Cloudie asked.
"It's when everything shakes," Starlight said. "It can makes things fall or get destroyed, and it opens up holes in the earth, like this."
"What'd happen if someone went down it?" Alista asked.
"They'd die," Liberty spoke up. "From impact."
Alista and Rhonda whimpered. "Yes, so don't fall down the pit," Starlight said, giving Liberty a look.
"How do we cross?" Okerro asked.
"You have wings, though!" Rhonda protested. "It's easy for you."
"I dunno how to fly yet," Okerro pointed out, opening his small wings. "My mom knows how."
"Well duh, she's a grown-up," said Alista dryly.
"A log was set up here by some of the senior Benders," Starlight explained, "so we can cross it. Be very careful, though."
"I don't wanna die," Cloudie murmured.
"You won't," Starlight assured the pup.
Liberty saw a log a few pawsteps away that went from one side of the pit to the other, acting as a bridge. She headed over to it, and was followed by the others.
"Put your claws into the log to keep yourself from falling," insisted Starlight.
Liberty stepped onto the log and latched her claws in, cautiously making her way across. After a few pawsteps she turned. "It's safe. C'mon."
Alista stepped on the log but flinched, and then slowly eased her forepaw onto it. She scrambled up and got onto the log, and began making her way across, followed by Rhonda.
Liberty stepped off and turned to watch. Okerro was now on, right behind Rhonda. Alista, at the front, was slowly and shakily making her way across.
Suddenly, as Rhonda set a front paw down she slipped and yelped. Liberty was about to run to try and help, when she saw Okerro grab Rhonda by her shoulder with his mouth. Knowing he wouldn't be able to hold on for long, Liberty got onto the log and grabbed Rhonda, lifting her back onto it. "I almost died!" Rhonda cried out.
"You would've if Okerro hadn't caught you," Liberty pointed out, going back off the log.
"Thanks," said Rhonda to Okerro, seeming relieved.
"You're...welcome," Okerro replied.
Alista finally got off the log, sighing with relief as she did, and Starlight got on, carrying Cloudie in her mouth, who didn't seem bothered by this. Rhonda got off the log after a few pawsteps as well, followed by Okerro who landed next to her, and then Starlight stepped off the log and set Cloudie down. "We'll take you guys to the tree-fall place to play," Starlight said.
"What's the tree-fall place?" Alista asked.
"One time before we were all born, a bunch of trees fell during a massive storm," Starlight explained. "So it's a place with a bunch of fallen trees."
"Oh," Alista said.
They kept walking along, Starlight answering question after question from the young - usually from Alista and Rhonda - and they finally arrived at the area with the fallen trees.
"Whoa," murmured Alista.
"That's a lot of fallen trees," Rhonda said.
 "Yep. Go play," Liberty muttered. Upon saying this, Rhonda and Alista dashed down to the clearing, followed more slowly by Cloudie and Okerro.
"You really shouldn't scare them, telling them they could die," Starlight pointed out as soon as the pups were out of earshot.
"It's the truth," Liberty shrugged.
"We should go down there with 'em," Starlight pointed out. "Lifebreeze knows they'll get into some kind of trouble."
Liberty nodded in agreement and followed Starlight down the hill and into the clearing. Rhonda and Alista were jumping over trees and ripping and racing, while Okerro was watching from a distance, and Cloudie examining the fallen leaves with her paw, brushing her forepaws across them.
"Hey, Okerro!" Rhonda called out. "Join our game of tag!"
"Really?" Okerro said.
"Yeah! It's fun!" Rhonda beamed.
"Alright," Okerro said, getting up.
"Alista's 'it'," Rhonda explained.
"Not for long!" Alista shouted as she tackled Rhonda.
"Hey!" Rhonda cried out, as Alista bursted into laughter, getting off her sister.
"Best tag ever!" Alista howled with amusement.
"I can see why they drive Airia crazy," Starlight muttered.
Liberty nodded in agreement, watching as Rhonda tore after Alista. All Okerro had to do was make sure to stay at a distance so as not to get tagged.
Then Alista jumped on top of a group of logs and her tail got stuck in between two. She didn't notice this and kept trying to run, but was slammed back. "Augh!" she yelped.
Rhonda bopped Alista on the forehead. "You're it!" she exclaimed, laughing.
"That's not fair!" Alista protested.
"Yes it is!" Rhonda said, bursting into giggles.
Liberty sighed and walked over to help Alista. "Get me out!" Alista cried.
"That's what I'm about to attempt," Liberty muttered as she approached. She placed her forepaws on the top log and pushed hard onto it. It took a little bit, but the log finally rolled off, and Alista was released. Upon becoming free, she tagged Rhonda.
"YOU'RE 'IT'!" Alista laughed, running away.
"Hey!" Rhonda protested, dashing after.
Liberty turned to walk away, but something reached her ears; a crying sound, not very loud.
What's that? Liberty wondered as it continued. It sounded like it was among the fallen trees. She looked around to try and identify it, but then realized what it was.
A very small lump of black fur was among the trees, the crying sound coming from it. It shifted and Liberty saw that it was a cat. His head was very tiny and his ears were flattened back as he cried out. Liberty looked at how small it was; he was no bigger than the grass. He must've been not too old.
"Who're you?" Liberty asked.
The kitten turned to look at Liberty. He had an injured eye and ruffled fur with a scratch on his left leg, clearly in pain.
"Liberty," Starlight said. "What--" she then gasped. "A kitten!"
"Young, too," Liberty added.
"We need to bring him back to The Bending Tower," Starlight whispered. "Poor thing...!" She picked him up in her jaws. "Let's go."

Author's Note:
The kitten's name is Lucky, and is based after an abandoned cat my family took in a few months ago. :P