Chapter 8: Apprentice Ceremony

Ash woke up the next morning. He heard pawsteps in the hall. He poked his head out of the healers' den to see Raoul padding through the hallway, being escorted by Kabu. Another border collie was by Raoul's side; the animal was purple-black. They looked a bit anxious as the big lion walked with them down the hall; Ash knew they were heading for the yard.
When the animals were out of sight, Ash limped after them, following. He was still a bit sleepy, but worked on blinking the sleep from his eyes. He limped out to the yard, where Goldwing was having a meeting. Raoul and the purple-black dog stood in front of Goldwing. Kabu stood by Goldwing's side.
Next to Raoul and the purple-black dog, was some sort of anteater. It sat next to Raoul, looking at Goldwing. Ash didn't know what animal it was. When he looked at it, it flashed a glare at him, and Ash quickly went and sat in between Rusty and Dust.
"What's happening?" Ash asked them.
"Apprentice ceremony for Raoul, Max and Windows," Rusty replied.
"Windows?" Ash echoed, "Strange name."
"We have three apprentices to name," Goldwing called out, "Raoul, Max and Windows. All of them will become apprentices to one of the Benders. Now, Raoul, which Bender do you want to be?"
"Earthbender!" Raoul replied instantly.
"Okay. Raoul, your mentor will be..." Goldwing looked around, then his eyes rested on someone in the crowd. Ash followed the leaders' gaze. "Stone."
Stone walked forward and nodded respectfully to Goldwing. Raoul looked very happy. Ash knew Stone probably wouldn't return the favor. Good luck, Raoul, you're gonna need it, Ash thought.
As Raoul and Stone touched noses to show each other respect, Goldwing continued. "Max, what do you want to learn?"
"Airbending," Max replied calmly.
"Good choice," whispered Charlotte, who was sitting on Dust's right side.
Goldwing studied the crowd. He finally spoke, "Max, your mentor will be Spots."
Ash turned to look at Spots. Spots nodded, and he was wagging his tail rapidly. He padded forward to touch noses with Max, and they both looked at each other respectfully.
"Finally, Windows," Goldwing looked at the animal. "Which do you want to be?"
"Earthbender," said Windows.
Goldwing nodded, and looked around. "River, you will be Windows's mentor."
Ash noticed Rusty was beaming as a strong, tall orange male wolf with a few scars stepped out of the crowd. It touched noses with Windows.
"That's my father," Rusty whispered to Ash.
"You mean, our father?" Dust snorted.
"He looks like a strong warrior," Charlotte commented, looking at River.
Now, Dust was beaming more than Rusty was.
"Raoul, Max, Windows, your first assignment will be to spend the day touring the territory, Tower, and you will learn a bit about The Bending Tower," Goldwing said.
The three new apprentices nodded.

Author's Note:
LOL. Dust seemed to be happy of Charlotte's comment. Anyway, you know Raoul belongs to Ming132, and so does Max. Windows is Spino11's new main TFEOB character. Thanks for your awesome characters, guys! c: