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