Chapter 29: The Debate

Liberty was pacing the halls of The Bending Tower when she glanced at the Healers' den and noticed Starlight's eyes were open, and she was laying down in the corner. Her heart lurched in joy and she ran into the den. "You're okay!" she said with relief.

"Hey, back off," Comet growled.

Liberty's joy left and was replaced by anger. "My best friend just woke up from being knocked out. Shut up."

Comet narrowed his eyes. "I will have you leave if you violate her."

Liberty growled in response and approached Starlight. "How are you?"

Starlight was staring off, seeming dazed.

Liberty sat down across from her. "Did you...hear rumors?" she murmured.

"She hasn't spoken at all since she woke up," said a voice.

Liberty turned to see Mistletoe there, with two pups nestled into her, both with white pelts, but one with a red and green stripe on its chest, much like Mistletoe's on her side.

"Who's that?" Liberty asked. She want particularly interested in newborns, but was curious. They were her new kin after all.

"Ridge and Rose," said Mistletoe warily. Liberty felt a pang of annoyance. Does she not trust me? she demanded to herself. 

Liberty just nodded and turned back to Starlight, examining her. She seems okay, she thought. Is she? 

Starlight turned to look right back at Liberty, and then started shaking slightly.

Liberty studied her, wondering what was going on, and then Starlight let out an ear-splitting screech, making Liberty flinch, and Ridge and Rose start wailing.

"Hold her down hold her down hold her down!" Comet shouted, and Nightgale and him darted over and tackled Starlight down.
"What's going on?!" Liberty yelled, taking a few steps back as Nightgale and Comet pinned Starlight to the ground, and the screeching continued.
As if to answer her question, Starlight seemed to be changing and, if possible, the screeching became even louder. She suddenly began getting black and seemed to waver form, and her eyes began to grow white, her ears growing longer and getting sharper like horns, and a long purple tongue coming from her changing muzzle.
She was turning into a Shadow Tracker.
"She's been doing this on and off!" Nightgale shouted, struggling to keep Starlight down. "She transforms back but she turns into this monster!"
"Get out of here!" Comet snarled to Liberty. "We need to handle this ourselves!"
Liberty snarled back but left the den.


As she was heading down the halls of The Bending Tower, Spot ran up to her. "Liberty!" he exclaimed.
"What?" she muttered.
"There's a meeting. Ash wanted me to make sure you were there," Spot explained.
Liberty was puzzled. "Why?"
"I don't know. He just asked me to get you," the Dalmatian shrugged.
This just confused Liberty further, but she gave in. "Alright. Let's go then."
She followed Spot down the hall, and a silence settled between the two as he took the lead and Liberty walked slightly behind him.
Sure enough, in the yard the whole Bending Tower was gathered, all murmuring and talking among themselves. Fake-Ash wasn't currently present. "What's the meeting for?" Liberty asked Spot. No one in the crowd had taken notice of their arrival.
"It's about Starlight, since she's been transforming," Spot explained.
"You mean everyone knows about it?" Liberty said, fearful.
"Of course they do. News travels quickly around here," he remarked matter-of-factly. "Now c'mon, Ash said we're to be at the front with him."
"Why?" Liberty frowned.
Spot shrugged. "I didn't question it."
She then followed Spot to the front where the leader would normally be. Up front was Eclipse - Liberty assumed she'd be speaking for what happened in the Healers' den - Raoul, the deputy, and Sparky, Wyki and Nzuri. Why are they up here? Liberty asked herself as she took a seat in between Spot and Nzuri.
Not much longer, Fake-Ash came out into the yard, and made his way to the front, standing in between Liberty and Nzuri, and Liberty couldn't help but feel discomfort knowing she was next to the opposite. "Benders!" Fake-Ash shouted, and the animals all fell silent. "Thank you for joining us in this debate."
"'Debate'?" Liberty echoed in a whisper.
"He's going to ask the Bending Tower members to help decide," Spot explained, also in a whisper.
Liberty nodded, and she found herself catching Sirius's eye. The she-wolf glared at Liberty, and somehow Liberty could tell what was going through her mind: you're right by the impostor Ash. The enemy. She couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt, although it went away just as quickly. I'm not on his side, she told herself.
Ripping her gaze from Sirius, she tuned back in to the debate. "...has been transforming into a strange creature, as was reported by Max and Slice," Fake-Ash was saying. "It was unlike anything ever seen before. The creature was described as being black as night, with white eyes, ears that were more like horns, long purple tongues and fire coming off the back rather than a tail."
This set off yells and gasps among the crowd, but they were silenced by Raoul, who let out a bark to quiet them down. Fake-Ash nodded at his deputy before continuing. "And we must decide on the fate of young Starlight. We have three options here: kill her, exile her, or keep her and try to save her."
More yells and animals attempting to get word in, but it all overlapped so nothing was heard at all. "Silence!" Fake-Ash barked. Once again the crowd grew quiet. "Now, I would like to ask for opinions from my associates here: Eclipse, Nzuri, Sparky, Liberty, Spot and Raoul. Once they state what they believe, I will ask for what the rest of you think." He turned to Raoul. "My deputy shall start."
Raoul nodded at him in acknowledgement before speaking. "I know what it's like to lose a child," he said, and it became incredibly quiet at that remark. Way to start it off, thought Liberty in annoyance as the Collie continued. "I wouldn't wish that upon anyone, especially an animal I know. If we kill or exile Starlight, it would be like ripping the hearts out of the parents, Rusty adnd Crystal. And not only that, Starlight cannot help what has become of her. I say we try to heal her. And if we can't, and she proves to be a danger..." he hesitated before speaking again. "We exile her," he said hurriedly. This made some animals begin to murmur, but Raoul added, "only as a last resort."
Liberty expected more talking, but strangely, everyone was silent.
"Nzuri goes next," Fake-Ash said.
The she-cat took a few steps forward. "Slice explained what happened when Starlight underwent transformation. She explained that she witnessed it the first time it occurred. Once Starlight had turned, she had practically thrown herself at Mistletoe, who had only just given birth to her pups. In fact, Slice said it was almost as if Starlight was trying to kill them."
Whispers rippled through the crowd as Nzuri continued. "She's already proven to be dangerous. I say we kill her."
The whispers quickly escalated into yells, and Nzuri had to shout over it to continue. "If we exile her, she'll just come back! We need to kill her!"
Now the yells turned into roars that Raoul silenced with a deafening bark. "Thank you Nzuri," Fake-Ash nodded. "Eclipse."
"All animals in this Tower deserve to live," Eclipse said immediately, her blind eyes seeming to scan the crowd. "Especially an animal like Starlight, who has done nothing to deserve death, let alone what is happening to her. You can very well assume what I believe: Starlight lives."
"Spot," Fake-Ash said after a while of silence from the crowd.
"Like Eclipse said. Starlight shouldn't die," Spot said. Liberty looked at him as she talked. "But at the same time, she has proven to be dangerous. We exile her."
Liberty looked at the crowd, and found her gaze landing on Ekaj. He was looking directly at her with a sadness in his eyes. Liberty held his gaze for a while before lifting her chin and turning back as Fake-Ash asked for Sparky to speak.
"Starlight is my sister," he began, his voice shaky. Liberty began to grow worried that he may grow murderous - as he had when he found Liberty in the woods - but she shook it off. That was his opposite, she told herself.
But she casted Sparky a nervous glance. Was this his opposite right now?
"I've known her since we were born," he continued, his voice only slightly louder than a murmur - but what with the silence he was definitely able to be heard. "We did practically everything together. A lot of memories of mine have her in it. She was one of my best friends."
More silence in which Sparky began to tremble. "And it's not her fault she was turned into a monster!" he yelled. "She deserved nothing but good, and she only became a freak!" he was now practically roaring. "Starlight was a kind, loving animal! She's never done bad! We can't exile her. We can't kill her. She shouldn't get that."
He then slowly turned to look at Fake-Ash, pure anger in his eyes. "If she gets exiled or gets killed...so do I."
There was a silence in the crowd, and Liberty couldn't help but feel fearful of Sparky's words. What would The Bending Tower say to that? She turned to look at the crowd, and everyone looked either shocked or confused. Liberty looked at Rusty and Crystal, who were sitting side-by-side, and they looked horrified.
Fake-Ash merely gave a nod. "Liberty."
All eyes were now trained on Liberty. She never liked speaking in front of animals, but now she was speaking for Starlight's life - so she had to make it good.
"I've also known Starlight for a while," Liberty said. "We...were pretty close." She gathered her thoughts for a bit before continuing. "I'm with Sparky. She was a kind animal. And she's not fully a monster. I was in there with her. I know there's still some Starlight left. She's not the freak that you all are probably believing her to be right now." She scanned the crowd once more. "And because of this, I say we spare her of exile and killing."
A few murmurs spread through the animals, and Fake-Ash spoke up again. "You've heard their thoughts. Now anyone may speak their opinion now, but in an orderly manner."
"Don't kill her," spoke up Rusty right away. "She's my own daughter. And I don't want to lose both of my children because of something the one can't control. And I know my mate will say the same." He glanced at Crystal, who nodded solemnly in confirmation.
"The majority wants Starlight spared and kept here," Eclipse remarked.
"I'm with my brother. Starlight is kept here," Dust said.
"I agree," said Leafy. "Starlight's a good pup."
"I think she should be exiled," spoke up Crash. "She doesn't deserve to die, but for our own safety, she should leave. I'm thinking of the majority here."
With a feeling of annoyance, Liberty realized the tom was right.
"I agree," Light said. "For all of our safety, we exile her."
"She stays here, alive," demanded Malroy. "I'm in agreement with Sparky, Liberty, everyone else who said it: Starlight doesn't deserve exile or death."
"I...also agree," said Audrey nervously.
"We exile her," Stone insisted. "She may be good, and she may not be controlling what's happening to her, but she's still a threat. Exiling her balances out the point of each side."
"I agree with Stone," nodded Darner.
"So do I," Hazen said. "Death was often in the Fire Nation. I don't want to see it happen here, especially to an innocent."
"Agreed," Slice nodded.
There was silence in the crowd. "Would anyone else like to add anything?" Fake-Ash asked calmly.
More silence, but after a while Twister spoke up. "I would."
Everyone turned to face the white she-wolf, who looked at everyone with her usual cold look. "I have seen these monsters before," Twister said, and everyone looked at her in surprise. "They're ruthless killers. Nevermind that it's Starlight; once these creatures fully turn, the only thing on their mind is carrying out orders - and the only orders they're used for is killing. We can't risk everyone's life in The Bending Tower, just for the life of one animal."
She locked eyes with Fake-Ash. "For this reason, I say we kill her."
This set off a lot of yelling and gasps and murmurs, and Liberty couldn't help but notice Fake-Ash's calm expression waver.
Twister had seen Shadow Trackers before - did this make Fake-Ash believe her to be a threat?

Author's Note:
Sorry for not posting; school. But luckily, summer break is soon. :D
Hope this makes up for it. :)
Also, tonight I'm going to a sleepover - I've never been to one before since when I was little, I didn't really have any girl friends. Wish me luck, since I'm not too sure how sleepovers work. ^^;
Oh, another announcement - I had this new story idea, called "To Glory". I made it into a story blog, and would appreciate if you guys gave the blog a follow! You'll learn more about the plot later, I promise~
Click here to see it!