Chapter 18: The Ambush

Misty awoke the next day, feeling quite rested after all that she had been through the other day. She scanned the camp; Tiggerpaka was leaned against a log, sleeping, with his stick laid across his chest. Lilypaka was curled up on the ground nearby, also asleep. Sidew and Lephos were resting side-by-side, eyes closed and their sides heaving with each breath - the only time they weren't exchanging stupid jokes. Bracken was curled up, a few feet away from Koro, who wasn't too far from Campbell. Next to Misty, she saw Adele was awake with her muzzle rested on her paws.
Ophir was sleeping by himself by some bushes, and Rhett was awake, standing guard over him, looking lost in thought. Is Ophir still even considered a prisoner? Misty wondered. It felt like a lifetime ago since Ophir had joined them. She remembered Campbell's suspicions about him. But what is he still here for? she asked herself. Was he not brave enough to try and escape? Or did he have purpose here? Misty pushed the thought away. Of course not. He barely knows us. Misty made herself a mental note to find more about Ophir later. Now that she gave it more thought, the gray wolf made her curious.
Nearby the loner Moonshadow was sitting up, scanning the area. He glanced at Misty as he saw her looking at him. "Oh. Hi," he said in a shy tone. "Who're you?"
"Misty," she responded.
"Nice. I'm Moonshadow. But, uh...you probably already know my name," he admitted.
"Where're you from?" Misty asked.
"Oh...nowhere in particular," said Moonshadow. "I just lived with my parents. We set up a home in the forest, far from here."
"Why aren't you with them anymore?"
Moonshadow tensed up, as if it were a touchy subject. "...I don't like to talk about it."
Curiosity filled Misty and she was tempted to press, but decided not to; she didn't like talking about her home much either, it made her homesick. "Oh. Okay. I respect that."
There was an awkward silence for quite a while in which Misty attempted to fill by pretending to be really interested in a bug crawling along the grass.
A while later the bug was suddenly snatched up and Misty looked to see Tiggerpaka had eaten it. "Morning, Mistake!" he greeted her as he chewed the bug. Misty fully sat up as the meerkat continued. "Another day to kick some tail, eh? Who're we going to fight today?"
"No one, hopefully," Misty said.
"'Hopefully'?" Tiggerpaka echoed. "Mistake, we must go forth and conquer! We cannot just sit here!"
"I think we might be," Misty nodded. "We need to rest."
"Bah! Morons, the lot of you," said Tiggerpaka, rolling his eyes. "I am the true warrior here."
"You're small though," frowned Moonshadow.
"Size does not matter, it's the heart that counts," sniffed Tiggerpaka. "And identify yourself, minion!"
"I'm, uh, not a minion," Moonshadow insisted.
"Well you are now! You shall be my grub-retriever. Now go find me some!" Tiggerpaka ordered.
Moonshadow shuffled his paws nervously. "I, uh..."
"Now means now, minion! Go!" Tiggerpaka exclaimed.
"Be quiet," said Lilypaka, coming over to her brother. "Moonshadow's just got here and you're pushing him around. You don't even know him."
"I know everyone! So of course I knew Mooch-oh over here," Tiggerpaka snorted.
"It's Moonshadow," Moonshadow said, giving the meerkat a look.
"That's what I said, Mooch-oh!"
"Uh, no, you didn't."
"Are you deaf, minion! No wonder you're a mere grub-retriever. You'd be horrible in the front--"
"Tiggerpaka," Lilypaka scolded. "Stop."
"Sheesh, you're starting to sound like our mother," Tiggerpaka muttered.
Moonshadow looked at Misty. "Is he always like that?"
"Yep," Misty said.
"So is he like...your leader?"
"Heck no," spoke up Sidew, who was just now sitting up next to Lephos, who was also awake. "If he was we'd be dead by now."
"Shut up, Sidew the Wimp! I'm the whole reason this journey of ours started!" Tiggerpaka exclaimed.
"Yeah, and we never wanted it to," glared Lephos.
Not long later - after a lot of conversation and a few arguments breaking out - everyone was awake and eventually were having breakfast together after Koro had sent Campbell, Rhett and Lephos hunting, who had come back with a good amount of game. Misty was eating a rabbit, sitting with Adele and Bracken.
"I wonder what we're doing today," ventured Bracken as he took a bite of the mole he was eating.
"Hopefully resting here," insisted Misty, looking up at the cloud-covered sky. It looked like it might rain soon; but it was awfully cold, so perhaps it'd be snow instead. "I think we all need it."
"But that'd be kinda boring. And besides, we need to get to Yin and Yang. Who knows how much longer we got," Bracken said.
"Speaking of which, we haven't had an earthquake in a while," Misty noted. "Does that mean their fight is stopping?"
"I doubt it. If it was stopping, the Peacebenders would probably tell us," Bracken nodded. "Maybe the earthquakes only happen in specific areas."
"Maybe," echoed Misty in agreement.
That was when Koro spoke up. "We need to get moving soon," he remarked.
Various groans rose from the group.
"Why?" Rhett asked. "I mean c'mon, we need some rest."
"The sooner we get moving, the better," Koro said. "Who knows if the Amorache Tribe is looking for us?"
"The what?" Moonshadow said.
"It's nothing," insisted Lephos.
"Also, the place we're looking for," Koro added with a wary glance at Moonshadow, "may still be very far away."
"It is," said Ophir. "Still quite a while of walking."
"What if you're still taking us the wrong way?" Campbell demanded.
"I'm all you got," Ophir smirked. "I'm the only one in this group who's been there before, aren't I? Plus, I'm not stupid enough to try and betray your trust. You guys all outnumber me."
"I'm confused," Moonshadow announced.
"Again, it's nothing," Lephos said.
"I hope you're not," Koro said to Ophir. "But let's get moving."
"Yes," Tiggerpaka said. "And I say we go this way." He pointed in a direction.
"Tiggerpaka, that's the way back to the Amorache Tribe," Sidew said.
"Duh! That's why I pointed this way!" Tiggerpaka snorted, pointing the opposite way.
They all got up - leaving any uneaten prey behind - and began walking again, heading where Ophir lead them towards, Misty walking by Adele and Bracken/
"I still don't trust him," commented Campbell from next to Misty, eyeing Ophir.
"Why not?" Misty asked.
"Well duh, he just showed up. Plus, why is he sticking around? He seems like the type who wouldn't help out unless it was to his advantage," Campbell muttered.
"Maybe he's just being nice," offered Bracken.
"Ha!" laughed Campbell. "Right. And I suppose Misty's gonna grow two heads."
"So Ophir was born in Yin and Yang," Misty commented. "Why is he here now I wonder...?"
"Exactly," Campbell nodded.
For once, Misty thought Campbell might be onto something.
"And while we're on the topic of odd things, what's this whole 'seek safety' thing?" Campbell wondered.
Misty tried not to stiffen at the thought. "Seek safety". She knew she'd think of Tsovo every time she heard the words, which wasn't something she was looking forward to. Misty had decided not to share with the group that Tsovo knew about that. "I don't know," Misty said, looking at Campbell.
"If we're supposed to stop Yin and Yang or something, why does it sound like that old tortoise was asking us to hide from them?" Campbell wondered.
"You think that's what it means?" Misty said.
"What else? If you 'seek safety', you're looking for a place to be safe. He must mean we're supposed to be safe from Yin and Yang, but we're going towards them to stop them," Campbell pointed out.
"This is messing up my head," Bracken blurted out. "Everything's so confusing."
"We'll figure it out," Misty insisted. "Besides, we've got Lilypaka. If anyone in this group will figure this all out eventually, it's her."
"Hopefully," added Campbell. "All of this is just a big mess..."
Misty sighed, silently agreeing with Campbell's words. She kept walking along but suddenly, she felt her right paw step on something and then a net was engulfed around her and she - along with Campbell, Bracken, Adele, Lephos and Lilypaka - who were both unfortunate enough to be standing nearby - were yanked into the air, all of them yelling in alarm as they were pulled.
"What the--?!" yelped Lephos.
"LEPH!" Sidew yelled.
"Who set this?!" Campbell demanded with a growl.
"What's going on?" Lilypaka wondered aloud.
Annoyance pricked at Misty. Obviously they must've been in someone's territory. Great, she thought bitterly. We can't even go a full day without wandering into trouble!
"What happened?" asked Koro.
"How are we supposed to know? We didn't set this!" Campbell snarled at him.
Ophir chuckled. "Someone's in a bad mood."
"You'd be too if you were--"
"Never fear!" Tiggerpaka declared, running forward with a new stick. "I shall--"
Tiggerpaka then stepped on a smooth rock and then he, Ophir, Koro, Rhett, Moonshadow and Sidew were all caught in another net and were yanked into the air next to Misty, Campbell, Bracken and Lilypaka.
"Way to go, Tiggerpaka!" Sidew growled.
Tiggerpaka snorted. "This is obviously a part of my plan, Wimp! I shall get us free."
That was when there were victorious yells and laughs, and then a bunch of boy wolves - all of which obviously weren't full-grown yet - ran into the clearing, revealing to be the ones who were hollering.
"We got 'em!" laughed one who looked to be around Misty's age, who had a dusty brown pelt. "We got 'em!"
"Ha!" sneered a light brown boy from nearby the dusty one. "You guys had that one coming!"
"It worked!" exclaimed a gray wolf. "It worked!"
"What's going on?" growled Sidew.
"Yeah? Who are you guys?" Lephos demanded.
"The prisoners are trying to order us around!" snickered a smaller black wolf, and the boys burst into laughter as if it was the funniest thing they'd heard all day.
"I'm asking politely," Misty spoke up. "Who are you guys?"
"It's a girl!" shouted the dusty brown wolf, and all the others gasped.
"Ew! Girls!" yelped the light brown.
"We don't talk to girls!" added the gray wolf.
"Oh, you're so above another gender, huh?" growled Campbell. "You guys are all very mature."
"Who are you guys, though?" Bracken asked.
"We," said the dusty wolf, "are the Tribe of Awesomeness!"
"The Tribe of Awesomeness?" said Campbell, nose wrinkled in disgust.
"Yep! We're really awesome!" grinned the light brown.
"We need to take them to Ricochet!" exclaimed the smaller wolf.
All the others began murmuring to each other in agreement.
"Wait," Koro said. "Who's Ricochet?"
"Our leader!" said the white wolf. "He'd be happy to know we got some prisoners!"

Author's Note:
I've been wanting to write about these guys for a while now actually. OuO

Chapter 17: Redmoon Flowers

Liberty ran further and further into the forest until she saw the old lioness sitting by her stream, looking at the flowing water in a rather content matter. Liberty slowed to a stop as she looked at Shell, who was quiet and umoving, laying down by her stream with her head raised up, the only sound breaking the silence of the area being the stream itself flowing. How could she just sit there? Liberty wondered as she padded towards the elder.
"Shell," she said loudly, knowing the lioness's hearing wasn't at its best these days.
Upon hearing her name Shell turned and looked at Liberty, a smile spreading onto her face. "Oh, hello! How nice it is to receive a young visitor. What is your name?"
"Liberty," Liberty responded. She must be really old, if she can't remember names. Liberty then had to remind herself of why Shell was this way: she talked about her life as a Protector in her youth, how she used to live and train at the Land of Yin and Yang. Shell's punishment for that was to slowly begin to forget everything she knew until she was near death, and at that point to have completely forgotten anything - like time was going backwards for the old lioness. The thought was actually kind of sad. "Shell, I need your help."
"You have such a lovely name," Shell smiled.
"Thank you. Now look, Starlight was bitten by a Shadow Tracker. I don't know what's happening to her. But I need your help," Liberty insisted. "She keeps screaming and I'm worried she might d--"
"The sun's been covered by clouds," Shell murmured.
Immediately Liberty was confused and taken by surprise at Shell's remark. "Wha--?" she began, looking up at the sky. It was nighttime, the stars were dotting the sky and there was definitely no sun or clouds. In fact it was pretty dark out. "Shell, there is no sun ou--"
"You can't let the clouds cover the sun," Shell said in a very serious and worried tone, enough to make Liberty believe that it was somehow important to take the clouds off of the sun somehow. But she snapped out of it. That's ridiculous. This is ridiculous. "Don't let the clouds cover the sun," she said, looking Liberty in the eyes.
"Shell, there are no clouds. There is no sun. Calm down," Liberty said, but deep inside she was beginning to worry.
"The sun will fade if the clouds don't go away!" Shell exclaimed, with so much worry in her voice that Liberty took a few steps back, wondering if Shell was truly beginning to lose it. If the lioness was going crazy, that couldn't be good; not only was Shell a well-known member of The Bending Tower and an honored veteran Bender, she was also Liberty's only good source to inside information of all of this Yin and Yang business. "The only way to get the clouds away is to find a redmoon. The redmoon can cure it..." Shell continued.
"What in Lifebreeze's name is a redmoon?" Liberty demanded.
"It's a flower," Shell said, actually replying to Liberty this time. "A red flower. And you need it to take the clouds away. Don't let the sun get covered up!"
"The sun isn't covered up!" Liberty shouted, a mixture of fear and anger taking over. "Stop talking about the sun and clouds! They're fine! Neither of them are in the sky right now! And I don't know what a stupid flower has to do with taking clouds away! That's freakin'..."
"Please. Don't let the sun get covered," Shell said pleadingly. "Find the redmoon!"
"I'm not finding any redmoons!" Liberty growled. "Because I don't need that, I need to find a cure for Starlight's injury!"
"Find the redmoon!" Shell repeated.
"For the last time, I don't--!" Liberty began, but she stopped mid-sentence as realization clicked, and she understood what Shell was trying to say. What with the lioness's dementia she probably couldn't say it outright, but all this time Shell had actually been trying to tell Liberty the cure to Starlight's bite. "Oh..."
"Take away the clouds," Shell murmured.
"I will," said Liberty, and Shell's face seemed to light up with relief. "I'll, uh...take the clouds off of the sun, Shell. The sun will be okay."
The lioness gave a weak smile. "Save the sun, Liberty."
Liberty nodded before turning and running off deeper into The Bending Tower territory.


Charlotte had told stories about the rebellion that Ash had lead, moons before Liberty was born. She told Liberty about how, when they set off, after going through the woods of The Bending Tower their first stop was in a field of flowers. If there was any place nearby that might have that 'redmoon' Shell was talking about, Liberty figured it had to be the flower field. But how am I supposed to know which flower is the redmoon? Liberty realized. There's probably tons of red flowers! She considered going back for Shell but then decided against it almost as quickly. Who knows how much time Starlight has left. And in Shell's state...she may not be able to tell me. Or at least not in a way that could save Starlight's life quickly.
By that time Liberty had approached Ice River. She looked at the cold waters that moved rapidly through the area. She figured it wasn't named "Ice River" for nothing, because it looked very cold; it was probably one of the last things Liberty wanted to fall into.
All the time when she was little, older Benders would always tell Liberty to not ever, under any circumstance, cross Ice River. That if for some reason someone had to, the senior Benders would take care of it, and Liberty was not to go.
But this time the rules were out of the question. This was Starlight's life on the line, and Liberty wasn't going to risk her friend's life by running all the way back to The Bending Tower to tell a senior Bender to do something for her.
Besides, that sounded cowardly. Liberty didn't ever wanted to be known as a coward. A coward would run back and get someone else to cross out of Bending Tower territory. Taking the risk of the consequences of breaking that rule was obviously the better choice.
After telling herself that, Liberty took a few steps back and then leaped across Ice River, and only just made it to the other side. She got to her paws and looked back at The Bending Tower territory as she realized this was the furthest from home she'd ever been.
Liberty turned to look forward and kept running through the woods, jumping over logs and clearing through bushes, veering out of the way of briars. She kept telling herself not to slow down, not to start walking. She didn't know how much time Starlight had left, but it was best to assume there was little, as that would keep Liberty going. Starlight was one of the only animals Liberty cared for, and she didn't want to lose her.
After a while the woods finally began to get thinner, and up ahead Liberty saw a field. She ran faster despite the pain that jabbed at her ribs, until she came crashing into the field, only to find that the few flowers there were dead.
She took in what she saw before collapsing to the ground in a defeated way. She felt like clawing herself for being such an idiot. It was white-earth. The coldest season. No way flowers could be growing during this; in fact, there was already little prey out to hunt. Why would there be flowers?
For the first time, Liberty actually felt a lump in her throat and tears beginning to well up in her eyes, and she didn't realize how much sadness and fear for Starlight she'd been keeping locked up inside her. But now that her friend may as well be dead, Liberty let the tears flow, glad no one was around to see as sobs choked her.
Starlight was dead.
Soon she'd be nothing more than a memory.
Liberty squeezed her eyes tight, ashamed of letting such emotions grip her, but deep down she wanted to let it all out. She began to recall memories of her and Starlight; their first time going into the forest together, as Liberty commented on how boring it was, Starlight chuckling and telling her to quit being so negative.
Then she was remembering Starlight taking her to visit the elders, Liberty a pup and Starlight an apprentice. Creature had told them the story of the beginning of Bending.  That was the day Liberty had decided to be a Waterbender, after Creature had told Liberty about the first Waterbender and how he was one as well.
She also recalled Starlight and Liberty sharing a meal together, talking about the unfairness of them not being allowed to have night training yet because they were too young to stay up late. Starlight had told Liberty about how interesting night training seemed, and it made Liberty wanting more to go out during the night.
Then her memories were shattered by the one of Starlight screaming in pain with the black liquid oozing from where she had been bitten from the Shadow Tracker, and Liberty gritted her teeth at the memory.
"Hell-oooo!"
Liberty's eyes shot open as she saw Tiggerkat hopping over to her, wearing a crown around her head made of flowers, a necklace as well. Liberty blinked the remnants of tears from her eyes and swallowed down any more that could've been coming, determined not to let her sadness show; especially to Tiggerkat, who'd probably talk about it to the whole Tower. "What're you doing out here?" Liberty asked, forcing her voice to sound strong.
"Picking the last of the flowers!" hummed Tiggerkat, a smile on her face. Did she know about Starlight being bitten? Liberty doubted it. And even if Tiggerkat had, she'd probably forgotten about it by now. In some ways the reese-cup loving animal was as bad as Shell. "They're so pretty. Most of them are dying though. I came to get some of the last alive ones so I could make these." She looked at her crown and necklace.
"Mm-hmm," Liberty nodded, looking at the flowers. "Why'd you leave Bending Tower territory?"
"Because there's flowers out here!" Tiggerkat exclaimed. "This is my favorite place to be. I love flowers."
"I can tell," Liberty muttered.
"It's a shame they're dying though," Tiggerkat sighed. "But luckily they'll be back one day! Nature always grows back. 'Circle of life', I hear they call it. Not sure why though. Why a circle? Why isn't it a square? Or a rectangle! Ooh! Perhaps a hexago--"
"A what?" Liberty frowned.
"Anyway, so like I was saying, the flowers'll be back. Then I'll pick some more. Maybe I'll make you a flower necklace!" Tiggerkat grinned.
Liberty began to think. Tiggerkat picked the only alive flowers...realization dawned on Liberty that if there was a redmoon anywhere, Tiggerkat had it.
"Tiggerkat!" Liberty said. "Do you know types of flowers?"
"Of course!" Tiggerkat smiled. "I'm an expert! On that, and reese cups."
"Do you have a 'redmoon'?" Liberty asked.
Tiggerkat looked up at the sky. "No, the moon's pretty bright tonight. White-ish color. Definitely not red."
"No!" Liberty snapped. "A type of flower! It's called a redmoon!"
Tiggerkat took the crown off her head and examined it. "Sure do! Two of 'em!" Tiggerkat grinned. She placed the crown on Liberty's head. "I'll let you have it!"
"Thanks," Liberty responded before zipping off into the woods again.
As she ran back through the trees and back towards her familiar territory, she considered stopping to hold the crown in her jaws. No, she realized. It may rip the flowers. Better safe than sorry.
Then Liberty realized she'd be wearing a flower crown back into The Bending Tower and embarrassment spread over her. Oh, great...


She scurried back into The Bending Tower yard, which was actually quite busy. Liberty wondered if it was because of what had happened to Starlight; maybe animals couldn't sleep over it or they were anxious to know what'd be going on. Liberty ignored the animals of The Bending Tower as she raced towards the building, mind set on going to find Nightgale.
"Liberty!" a voice exclaimed.
Liberty turned to see Bracken coming up. Or Fake-Bracken, actually. After seeing what this new Bracken was like, Liberty knew there was no way it was the actual one. "What?" she said through gritted teeth.
"Nice crown," he sneered.
"Thanks," Liberty growled.
"Where'd you get it?" he asked with a smirk.
"From Tiggerkat," replied Liberty, feeling no need to hide the information. "Now is that all you needed to say or do you have more stupid remarks?"
Fake-Bracken scowled. "Do not call me stupid. I could have you kicked out of here, y'know."
"Ooh, I'm so scared," Liberty growled. "You can't be more than the size of a fox, and you're going to get me kicked out of my own home."
"Say that again," Fake-Bracken growled.
"Hate to say it, but I don't have the time. Got places to be," Liberty retorted, running inside The Bending Tower before Fake-Bracken could object.
She raced up the stairs and headed down the hallway, a loud scream reaching her ears. Nausea entered her stomach as she recognized it as Starlight's. Oh, Lifebreeze...
Liberty entered the Healers' den to see Airia and Max holding Starlight down, who was screaming at the top of her lungs. Liberty looked at Starlight to see that somehow the liquid on her shoulder had spread to half of her chest and some of her right flank. She could also see herbs scattered across the room, and Liberty assumed it was from Starlight.
"Oh great," Comet growled, glaring at Liberty. "What do you want?"
Confusion swept over Liberty. "What do you mean?"
"Don't play dumb," Comet retorted. "Glad to see you finally came back to face the consequences. Why'd you do this?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Liberty said, a growl rising in her throat.
"What's with the crown?" Max asked.
"That doesn't matter," Airia retorted. "Liberty, what you did was very rude."
"What did I do?!" Liberty demanded. "That's what I'd like to know?"
"How could you not?" Comet demanded. "You destroyed our herb storage! And what with white-earth getting colder, we're not going to find more! In fact Nightgale's out right now, trying to find herbs, but there's obviously not going to be any. You've pretty much doomed us to illness and injury!"
"'Doomed' is a strong word, Comet," Airia pointed out. She then gave Liberty a harsh look. "But he's right. What you did was unacceptable."
Anger was filling Liberty's chest, as well as confusion and desperation to know what everyone was talking about. "I didn't do anything! I've been out with Shell the whole time!" She decided to leave out the part about leaving The Bending Tower's territory.
"And now you're lying!" Comet snarled. "What makes you think we could believe you when you clearly came in here and destroyed our remaining supply of herbs?"
"But I didn't!" Liberty yelled. What with all the arguing, for a while she was actually able to block out Starlight's screaming, but it didn't fail to fill her ears again.
"Yes you did!" Airia exclaimed.
"Why're you trying to act like you didn't? I mean, it was pretty obvious..." said Max, trailing off. But he obviously didn't want to be part of the conversation. In fact, he was absent in most discussions, always as if he was lost in thought. What he was lost in, Liberty didn't know, nor cared to find out.
"I don't know what you guys are talking about!" Liberty growled. "I'm here to try and help with Starlight."
"You've 'helped' enough," Comet retorted.
"Shut up about that!" Liberty snarled. "Whatever 'that' is. But I found out what can cure Starlight. It's something called a redmoon." She shook the crown off her head and looked at the only two red flowers in the crown, with yellow centers and thin - but many - petals.
"Why should we accept your help after you destroying our herbs!?" Comet growled.
"Oh, let's not forget what else she said," Airia snarled. "Why do you all of a sudden want to help Starlight?"
"What do you mean?!" Liberty demanded.
"So now you didn't say anything?" Airia growled. She hit Starlight in the head with a rock, effectively stopping the screaming and Starlight's struggling. Airia let go of the wolf and turned to face Liberty. "We heard you, Liberty. You said you hoped Starlight would die."
Liberty took a few steps back in shock. "Why would I...?"
"That's what I'd like to know," said Comet through narrowed eyes.
Shock was filling Liberty, but she quickly replaced it with anger, growling. "Fine, if you don't want me in here. But keep the stupid flower crown. The red flowers there can heal Starlight."
"How?" Comet demanded. "You don't know anything about medicine! If you did you wouldn't have--"
"It's not like you have anything else!" Liberty snarled. "And besides, you'll find a way. If you wanna heal Starlight, you will." She then spun around and stormed out of the healers' den, full of confusion, anger and shock.
What was Comet and Airia talking about?

Author's Note:
Sorry for the lack of posts! Hopefully this makes up for it. ouo
For some reason now I'm expecting Comet to be shipped with his medical supply oh dear lord
But yeah, for valentines' day I had made some TFEOB cards. Click here to see 'em. :P

QOTD: Would you date any character in TFEOB? (im asking this bc the question was quite popular for some stories on deviantART)

Chapter 16: Setting up Camp

They kept waking along, as Koro insisted putting as much distance between them and the Amorache Tribe as possible. Luckily it was only the early evening, so they wouldn't have to stop and set up camp for a while.

Misty was still a bit in shock. She hadn't told the others - and they hadn't heard - but Tsovo had told Misty the same thing Achak had told her before the tortoise's death.

"Seek safety."

How did Tsovo know? Did he spy during Achak and Misty's conversation? That had to be the only way he could find out. Misty decided not to think on it too much; she was never going to see Tsovo again. Or Adonael, she added. Or Ferrum, or Ebony...or any of those Tribe members. 

She pushed the thoughts away. No; those were the animals who tried to have her imprisoned. She couldn't feel sad about never seeing them again. We're going to run into plenty more animals, she told herself, and you won't see them again, either. You can't grow attached to anyone not in The Bending Tower.
The thought of home made her nearly stop in her tracks. Home. The Bending Tower felt like lifetimes ago. In fact, it seemed to distant that Misty was beginning to think they'd never come home. Would they? We've got to, she insisted to herself. But she knew she was clinging onto false hope.
"Why do you look so depressed?" asked Campbell, falling back to walk beside Misty.
Misty sighed. "We're never gonna go home."
Campbell looked at the distance - which was still a bunch of trees, as they weren't out of the woods yet - and seemed to be considering Misty's words. "Maybe. Maybe not."
"How can you be so laid-back about it? Our family, our old friends..." Misty murmured. "Gone."
"Because there's a lot of things I'm not laid-back about," Campbell muttered. "Like the fact that I feel like I'm not appreciated."
"You are. You're my best friend," Misty insisted.
"I know. I feel like I'm not, though. It always seems like..." she then sighed. "All my life, Misty, whenever something needed to be done, animals always seemed to want to turn to my sister rather than me. And in this group, no one seems to want to turn to me either...I mean, Koro's a leader who keeps everyone together, Rhett's a good fighter, Lilypaka's a genius, Ophir's fast, Bracken's always super-happy, everyone loves Adele, you tend to keep everyone straight when we get confused...and heck, Lephos and Sidew break any tension we ever have with their jokes. And then there's me," she added, head drooped slightly. "I'm useless, and I'm positive you're the only one in this group who may actually like me."
Misty felt taken aback, not too sure how to respond. "Yeah but...you're someone. I honestly think that's all that matters." She looked up at the night sky. "Before we...left...my mother used to tell me that all animals were put on this world for a reason. She said that we all have purposes, no matter how small or insignificant we may seem." She studied stars sparkling in the sky, the moon that was illuminating the area. "Come to think of it...I think my mother just was trying to keep me from ever thinking the opposite. Because there are a lot of great animals at The Bending Tower. It's easy to feel alone and worthless when you're there."
There was silence between the two before Campbell spoke up again. "Do you think they miss us?"
"Who? The Bending Tower?" Misty said.
Campbell glanced at Misty and gave a slight nod in confirmation.
"Of course they are," Misty insisted. "Everyone at The Bending Tower probably does. They're all family."
"I...always like to think," Campbell began, "that they're still searching for me...for us. That they haven't moved on, hadn't lost hope. It's one of the only things that keep me going. And if we do manage to get back, I think they'd be really happy. Like, crying-level happy. Or at least...I hope so," she sighed. "Maybe they've been too busy training Liberty to be an amazing Bender to even think about me. Or us."
"I want to go back," said Misty in agreement. "I can't stand to think that we may never return." She considered her own words. What if they never would? How far away was Yin and Yang? Would Misty be old and dying by the time they got there? It seemed so distant.
"There are some animals I miss," Campbell admitted, "but they never seemed to care for me anyway. I hope they do. But maybe not returning won't be so bad. I mean, for me, anyway. I don't think I'd fit in if I'd stay there. What with having an amazing sister like Liberty..."
"I've never heard you so willing to talk about problems like this before," remarked Misty.
"Well, I'm tired. You act all weird when you're tired," Campbell pointed out.
They were quiet for not much more longer before Koro spoke up. "We'll rest here."
"Oh, thank Lifebreeze! I thought we'd be walking forever!" shouted Rhett.
"Who's Lifebreeze?" Ophir frowned.
"Leader of the Peacebenders," Rhett explained.
"The what?" Ophir frowned.
Tiggerpaka chuckled. "There there, naive Offer. I shall inform you of what these Peacebenders are that my minion Rat speaks of."
"No, you won't," Lilypaka insisted.
"Look, the Peacebenders are what's believed to be the spirits of dead animals," said Koro to Ophir. "Where animals - Benders, anyway - go when they die. It's what most of our place where we came from believes in."
"Benders. What's that?" Ophir asked.
"You have got to be the slowest animal I've ever met," snorted Campbell, back to her cranky self.
"That's not what you said...'Ophir's fast. I'm just useless'," he said in a high-pitched voice.
"You were eavesdropping?" Campbell snarled, about to storm up to him, but Misty bit lightly on her tail.
"Don't attack him. Not worth it," Misty insisted when Campbell turned to look at her.
"He was listening in on our--!"
"Anyway, Benders are animals who can control either the earth, air, fire or water," spoke up Koro, casting wary glances at Campbell. "All of us are Benders."
"Lemme see," Ophir insisted.
"I'll demonstrate," Sidew said. He started to move his paw but when he did, he collapsed.
"Sidew!" Lephos yelped, running over to his brother.
"What happened?" Lilypaka demanded.
"Starvation, thirst, who knows?" snorted Tiggerpaka as he grabbed a grub out of a hole in a nearby tree, obviously not at all worried about the situation. "Or cares?"
"I do!" snarled Lephos.
"Lephos-and-nothing, I do believe you need to calm down. You mustn't be yelling at your leader, or you'll get demoted to 'basic minion'," Tiggerpaka said, popping the grub in his mouth.
Lephos jumped at Tiggerpaka but was quickly knocked aside by Rhett. "Calm down!" he exclaimed.
"Get off of me!" Lephos yelled, kicking Rhett off. "My brother might be dead!"
"Hey!" Lilypaka spoke up. "He still has a pulse! He's fine."
"Ya happy now?" Rhett growled.
"See? This is why we get nothing accomplished! We fight among ourselves every day!" Bracken protested. "We need to stop!"
"What do you know? You're one of the tiniest ones here!" Campbell growled.
"And you're very mean!" Bracken exclaimed. "Why do you hate me?"
"She hates everyone Bracken," Ophir snorted. "Don't feel like you're the only one."
"Someone wake my brother up!" Lephos insisted. "Get him up, do something!"
"He's alive! That's all you need!" Rhett growled.
"I don't wanna see him looking like he's dead!" Lephos snarled.
"He has to wake up in his own time!" Lilypaka protested. "I learned that in--"
"Oh, Lilypaka, thinking you're so smart," Tiggerpaka said with the roll of his eyes. He grabbed a stick. "I say we stab him until he wakes up!" He started towards the knocked out Collie.
"No!" Lilypaka yelped, pushing on her brother.
Practically everyone in the group was bickering and growling at each other, the tension getting higher and higher. Misty glanced at her sister, Adele, who was laying down among the fallen leaves. She brushed her ear with her left paw, and Misty understood right away.
Get them to stop fighting.
She didn't even have time to feel excited about the fact that her sister had - kind of - spoken to her for the first time. "Hey!" Misty shouted. "STOP IT!"
Everyone fell silent. "Thank you! You're upsetting my sister," Misty glared.
"How can we upset her? She's deaf!" Rhett pointed out.
Misty growled. "She can still have feelings, bug-brain!"
"How could you tell if she can't speak?" Koro asked.
Misty turned to look at her mentor. "Siblings can sometimes feel things about each other if they're close enough. I can feel things about my sister. And she was asking me to get you guys to shut up." She glanced at Adele, who merely blinked back in response.
"Wha' happ'ned?" asked a voice.
Sidew was awake.
"You fainted, that's what!" Lephos exclaimed. "Are you okay?"
Sidew got to his paws. "Of course I'm okay. What happened?" he repeated.
"You tried to do this 'Bending', and fainted," Lilypaka explained, "before you got the chance to."
"I could try again," Sidew said. Before anyone could stop him, he tried to do the same motion as before but collapsed again.
"Idiot!" Lephos shouted, despite Sidew definitely couldn't hear him.
"Does it happen to everyone?" Rhett wondered aloud. He tried moving his own paws in attempts to do Bending but collapsed as well.
There was silence in the group for a bit.
"What's going on then?" Bracken asked.
"I don't know," spoke up Koro, "but I don't think we should try Bending again anytime soon. Just in case, and at least until we figure out what's going on."
More silence. Misty kept expecting for Rhett to make a sarcastic remark - as he always seemed to do when his brother carried out orders - but she had to remind herself that he was passed out on the ground.
"Alright then...so let's set up camp for the night. Lephos, Bracken and Campbell, I want you guys hunting," Koro ordered.
"Not without Si," growled Lephos.
"He'll be fine here," Koro insisted. "You can leave him for a little bit. The rest of us can get settled, but we're not going to sleep until the prey comes back and we have something to eat."
The hunting patrol left the area, and Misty sat down next to Adele and looked down at her. Can you say anything else to me? Misty wondered.
Adele looked at Misty but didn't do anything more. She must not have anything to say, Misty concluded.
"Wake up, minions!" Tiggerpaka shouted to Rhett and Sidew, who were still passed out with Lilypaka sitting in between them.
"Tiggerpaka! You can't force them awake!" Lilypaka protested.
"Ha! Watch me," Tiggerpaka insisted, grabbing a stick and poking Sidew in the eye.
Immediately Sidew shot up. "Dang it, it happened again!" he exclaimed, knocking Tiggerpaka away as he stood up, making the meerkat go tumbling.
Misty couldn't help but chuckle and she glanced at Adele, who smiled and brushed her paw against her muzzle.
Excitement filled Misty and she grinned at her sister. "Yeah, it is pretty funny," she said aloud, but then immediately felt stupid for trying to respond to her.
"Where's Leph?" Sidew asked.
"Went hunting," Koro replied. "We're setting up camp for the night."
"Ah. Okay," Sidew said.
Rhett then got up. "Bending's not working," he commented.
"We figured that out, genius," Sidew snorted.
Campbell sat next to Misty. "So you can somehow communicate with your sister."
"Yeah," Misty nodded.
"Ophir's gotten to be really annoying," commented Campbell. "He's an arrogant jerk."
"Yeah," Misty repeated. "I don't even know why he's with us."
"Agreed," Campbell snorted.
She kept talking, but Misty was looking at Koro. He was sitting with Rhett, who was talking and Koro was nodding every once in a while, listening to him. From what Misty could hear, Rhett was telling something about the Amorache Tribe.
"You like Koro, don't you?"
Misty turned to see Campbell had spoken up. "No," he said right away.
"Oh yeah. And rabbits fly," Campbell sneered.
"You tell anyone and I'll start spreading rumors about you liking Lephos," Misty retorted.
"Don't do that!" Campbell protested.
"Then don't tell anyone," Misty insisted.
"I won't," Campbell promised.
"Someone's coming!" exclaimed Sidew.
Misty looked around and sniffed the air. Indeed, a new scent was heading in their direction. "But who is it?" she wondered aloud.
"Ha! I shall take care of them!" Tiggerpaka declared, grabbing his stick.
That was when a dark wolf came into their camp. "Oh! Sorry. I wasn't aware this was someone's territory," he apologized. "I'll...I'll leave--"
"Who are you?" Koro asked.
Misty looked at the newcomer. He had dark fur with sky blue eyes, and white paws. "I'm Moonshadow. I'm a loner, I just kinda...y'know...wander...around. Yeah. But...I'll leave, I don't wanna--"
"We're loners too," Rhett spoke up. "Well...kind of. I guess."
"Oh," Moonshadow echoed.
"You look pretty beat up. You can stay here if you'd like," said Koro.
"Thank you," Moonshadow said, sounding grateful.
"Um...we don't know this guy. Should we let him stay here?" Rhett asked.
"What's he gonna do? We outnumber him," Koro pointed out.
"Oh boy. Wonder if he's gonna end up coming along with us too," Campbell muttered. "By the time this journey ends we'll have the equivalent of the Firebender army..."

Author's Note:
Sorry for not posting all week! D: Stuff happened and...yeah.
Have a long chapter to make up for it. :^)
Moonshadow was made by A01315. Thanks for the character!