Chapter 21: Protesting

Everyone lay panting on the ground as they finished their fifteen laps. Ash was among the last to finish. Raoul, Max and Miguel were tired too but they looked like they had been having a lot of fun.  Rusty lay fainted on the ground, Dust next to him, both twins knocked out. Ash felt like he may faint himself. When a swift breeze blew by, everyone sighed in relief.

Twister looked tired herself; she was talking to Akumu, who looked much more tired than anyone else. Ash knew that Akumu was pretty small, so it must have been very hard for her. Ash still couldn't quite figure out why the senior Benders had him working so hard... Rusty and Dust had said that this wasn't usual, so why something new all of the sudden?

"Alright, now!" Kabu yowled.

Please be done. Please be done, Ash prayed silently.

"Next, we'll be doing-"

Kabu was interrupted by sighs, moans, groans and whimpers.

"What's with the protesting?" Kabu growled.

"We're tired!" Windows moaned.

Everyone murmured agreement. Ash didn't dare to protest; he knew Kabu'd probably get angrier and make them work harder.

As Kabu revealed his sharp teeth, everyone looked at him in fear. Ash could tell they were now regretting their complaints. Everyone, including Ash himself, backed up slowly. Even the senior Benders looked a tiny bit frightened, but not as much as the young Benders and apprentices.

"You dare protest? Wimps! This makes you STRONGER, you'd better LOVE IT!" Kabu snarled.

"B-But... But why do we need t-to do this?" Akumu dared to ask. Ash grew wide-eyed, waiting to see Kabu's response.

"NO QUESTIONS!" Kabu snarled. Ash saw Mistletoe jump in alarm at Kabu's snapping. 

"Hello?"
Ash turned around, followed by everyone else. Eclipse was standing there.

"Ah, Eclipse. Is there anything you need?" Kabu asked, now acting noble again.

"Um... Feather sent me out here to join you?" Eclipse shrugged.

"No! Eclipse! Run... Away, it's horrible!" Rusty gasped. Eclipse was glued to the spot, however, as she examined all of the tired faces of everyone. 

"Eclipse, you may join us. I'm sure Feather decided wisely."

Author's Note:
Welcome, Eclipse, to the exercises of torture.  

Chapter 20: The Run

Still tired, Ash found himself in a line, Dell in front of him and Max behind him. There were four lines, and many animals in each line. Everyone was already panting from the hole-digging; Ash could see all the big holes in the ground some yard away.
"Alright!" Kabu said, on top of a boulder, "You're all running fifteen laps around the territory. The seniors will be following to make sure you do so!"
"I swear when this is over with I'll kill that lion," Rusty murmured, who was on Ash's left.
"If you don't run fifteen, laps, I'll have you digging holes again and right afterward running fifteen laps again! So run! Ready... Set... GO!"
Twister sprinted off, running ahead of everyone else. Ash decided to start out slowly. He trotted forward, and Dell was running, trying to get ahead. Max passed Ash and sprinted past Dell, past Spots, and ended up side-by-side with Miguel.
Raoul, who was put in the back, had sprinted past everyone and was going ahead of Max and Miguel. Laughing, they sprinted to catch up with Raoul, all of them were apparently having a good time.
How can they be having fun?? This is hard work for nothing! Ash thought angrily.
"ASH! FASTER!" snarled River. Ash quickly picked up the pace, running past Dell, but not going quite as fast as Raoul, Miguel and Max.
Ash was panting now. Rusty sprinted ahead of Ash, and then slowed down, and Ash could tell Rusty was having troubles too. Rusty began to walk.
"Keep running, Rusty! No breaks!" Diamond ordered. Rusty nodded weakly and kept running.
Ash felt like collapsing. His sides were in pain from running, but if he'd slow down then he'd get in trouble. He looked behind him, and saw that Dust was getting tired too. Charlotte was now kind of limping, obviously her sides were hurting too from all of the running they were doing.
"Charlotte! Dust! KEEP MOVING! GET YOUR LEGS INTO GEAR!" snapped Stone. Charlotte quickly went back to running. Dust gave a gasp and fell to the ground, fainted.
Ash noticed that Stone was getting irritated. She walked over to Dust and bit him. He quickly jumped to his paws, yelping.
"Keep running!" Stone ordered. Dust nodded and ran faster.
Raoul, Max and Miguel still didn't look tired. They were all laughing about something, and then Raoul sprinted ahead of them. "Race you guys!"
"Right on!" Max exclaimed, and began running fast. Miguel sprinted after his friends. Ash was amazed that they were able to run faster; and were very fast at that.
Soon, after a long time, Ash came back to where he started.
One... Down... Even Ash's thoughts were tired, f-fourteen to go...!

Author's Note:
Wow, harsh. Poor Dust. What do you think is up with this hard training? Imagine running fifteen laps around the territory - the territory is more than a mile! :O Seriously, during gym I had to run a mile and my sides were hurting. Running a mile is harder than it sounds.

Chapter 19: Hard Work

Ash was laying down, panting. Others around him were laying down, but some were still trying to dig, and they looked tired. Why are they making us work so hard? Ash thought, panting hard.
"Hey!" River, Rusty and Dust's father, was growling. "Why are you all laying down?"
"We're taking a rest, we're tired!" Ash protested.
"That's no excuse!" River snapped, "Start digging again! NOW! FAST!"
Ash and the others resting quickly got to their paws and began digging again. His hole was only about five inches, but he kept digging. It slowly got deeper, but very slowly.
After a minute, Ash began getting tired again. He started digging slower.
"Faster! NOW!" Stone snarled. Ash got faster, still digging. He felt like he'd pass out.
He saw to his left, Rusty was panting, and looked more tired than Ash. Rusty's hole was smaller than Ash's, and kept working.
To Ash's right, Raoul was working, and Ash was shocked to notice he looked as if he was enjoying it. Raoul had a happy expression on his face as he kept digging harder.
Then, Ash realized both Max and Miguel looked happy as well as they were digging their very deep holes. They were sweating but didn't seem to mind as the kept digging with a smile on their faces.
River walked over to Raoul, Miguel and Max. "Nice job, guys, you can take a break."
What?! Lucky! Ash thought, Well... Maybe they're looking enthusiastic because they were almost done.
"No! No! I wanna dig more!" Raoul insisted, and kept digging.
"Me too!" Max insisted, and resumed digging. Miguel kept doing it too.
River looked at them. "Er... As you wish," and he walked over to yell at Windows, who was digging rather slowly.
"Why do you guys want to keep working?" Rusty shouted, "This is horrible!" Then, Rusty quickly shut up as Kabu was walking past.
"This is fun!" Raoul insisted, his tail wagging rapidly.
"It'll be fun when the Firebenders come to the good side!" Ash growled, as he kept digging his still-small hole.
Dell was digging rapidly and looked very exhausted, and she flopped to the ground. But, to her misfortune, Creature was coming. "No breaks! Keep digging!"
Dell quickly got to her feet and resumed digging, despite she looked like she didn't feel like doing it.
Ash noticed that Akumu was wiped out, she seemed to have fainted from working too hard. But, River quickly walked over to her and poked her. Akumu slowly woke up.
"Lose your prey, she-wolf? KEEP AT IT! Dig some more!" River snarled. Akumu, looking weak still, nodded and kept digging.
"Geez, they're being so strict!" Ash whispered to Rusty. Rusty nodded his agreement.
After a long time, everyone was still digging. Ash felt like he wanted to fake passing out to have a little bit of time to rest, but suddenly, there was a yowl.
"Stop!"
Grateful, Ash flopped to the ground. He noticed Tiggerkat was sitting on a boulder.
"Tiggerkat?" Rusty panted, "Why... Why... Aren't... You digging?"
Tiggerkat looked at her paws, then turned to Rusty. "And get all dirty? No thanks. Why are you digging?"
An angry look spread across Rusty's face. "We're being FORCED to!"
Then, Kabu started talking again. "Alright now. Next you're all running twelve laps around the territory! LET'S GO!"

Author's Note:
TFEOB Military style, eh? xD Anyways, I made a new story blog about dogs. Click here to see it!
What do you think about this tough training? It's new, and remember, they said that no one ever did this type of training before...

Chapter 18: Morning Training

Ash woke up. He saw in the apprentices' den. As usual, the sun wasn't up yet. He yawned, and stretched, and noticed that his right paw didn't hurt.
Rusty and Dust woke up. "Oh, hi Ash!" Dust said cheerfully.
"Hey," Ash nodded, "Why am I not in the healers' den?"
"Oh... Long story," Rusty and Dust exchanged looks that made Ash suspicious.
"Er... Anyways, what are we doing today?" Ash asked.
"I dunno," Dust shrugged, "Hopefully something fun."
Windows slowly awoken. "Oh... Hi."
Ash nodded greeting, then headed out of the den. He went outside, where everyone was gathered for the morning meeting. Ash sat next to Raoul, who was sitting next to Max. On the other side of Max was Miguel. Dell sat on Miguel's left.
"Alright now, Benders," Goldwing said as Windows, Rusty and Dust came out, "Today we will all do some important training. All the apprentices, and the young Benders will train today. The senior Benders will be the trainers. Airwing and I shall remain here. Everyone is going out to the woods."
Murmurs rippled through the crowd.
"What's happening?" Ash asked Raoul.
"I dunno," Raoul admitted.
"We don't usually do that kind of training," Rusty stated, "Why are we doing it now? All of use, including full Benders are training?"
Kabu stepped forward. A breeze ruffled his mane. "Apprentices, Benders, follow me."
Then, Kabu trotted for the forest. The senior Benders, young Benders and apprentices padded after him. Ash was curious, but didn't ask.
Finally, they all made it to the center of the territory. Kabu jumped up onto the highest rock, and looked down at everyone.
"Now, you're probably all confused as to what's going on," Kabu started.
That's not true, Ash thought. The senior Benders looked confident, as if they knew what was happening. But they didn't seem to be sharing it with the apprentices, nor the young full Benders.
"So today we are doing training." Kabu nodded.
"But I finished my training!" stated Spots.
Kabu looked at Spots, "Yes, you did, but we need the young Benders to practice too. This is important. Now, first we'll be digging holes."
"Digging holes?" Rusty echoed.
Kabu whipped around to Rusty. "Yes, digging holes." Ash saw that Kabu was getting impatient. "Split up!"
Everyone quickly split up on Kabu's command. The senior Benders, however, all got into a group and stood beside the rock Kabu was on.
"Start digging!" Kabu yowled.

Author's Note:
I left you all on a cliffhanger. C:< Why do you thing Kabu's making them dig holes, and why are the senior Benders all know what's going on? :P It shall remain a mystery until Chapter 19. >8D

Chapter 17: A Surprise

Rusty and Dust dashed into the healers' den, panting. Feather looked up from her mixed herbs. "Well?"
"We couldn't find any!" Dust wailed.
"Searched every bush!" Rusty complained.
"And you were given two hours," Feather reminded them.
Dust sighed. "I know. We slacked off."
Eclipse was studying Ash. He was sleeping steadily, looking very weak. Sad, Eclipse looked up. "We only have two minutes left."
Rusty held back a wail of sadness. "We tried! I know we tried! I just... Just-"
"Hey, Feather. I heard Ash was infected, I wanted to come see him!"
Rusty turned around. Surprised, he saw Tiggerkat standing there. He looked closer, and his stomach gave a lurch as he saw what was around Tiggerkat's neck. No way...
Feather noticed it too. "Tiggerkat! What on earth have you got around your neck??"
"Oh! I found this cool bell by the bushes near the pond! So I made a necklace out of it!" Tiggerkat smiled.
Rusty saw Feather was impatient; which was never good. "You...! You...! YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT THAT IS?" Feather roared.
"Nope! But it's pretty neat, eh?" Tiggerkat poked the bell.
"WE NEED THAT TO HEAL ASH!" Feather shouted.
Tiggerkat pulled out from behind her back a second necklace. "You want one, too?"
Grumbling, Feather snatched the necklace and broke it. She took the bell, and put the powder in Ash's mouth, and he swallowed it.
Tiggerkat looked at Ash. "You can eat it?"
"Yes," Eclipse nodded, whom had more patience than Feather did, "But only if you have a bad infection. Tiggerkat, why not go play with Tiggytiger? She looked quite bored."
"Okay!" Tiggerkat nodded eagerly, and hopped away.
Rusty felt relief. "So... Ash is going to live?"
"Yes, he will." Feather replied, studying Ash's sleeping body.
"YAY!" Rusty howled. Dust howled along with them, and they both, laughing, ran out of the healers' den.

Author's Note:
Wow, that must've been frustrating. TIGGERKAT MADE A NECKLACE OUT OF THE HERB. xD But Ash is gonna LIVE! 8D w00t!

Chapter 16: Fifteen Minutes Left

Dust was standing in a tree, looking down on Rusty. Rusty laughed, "You're like a squirrel!"

"I'm not as weak as one though!" Dust shot back, jumping onto Rusty, dry mud in his fur. Rusty laughed and kicked Dust away.

"That's what I learned from you!" he exclaimed.

Dust snorted. "Oh, really?"
"Yeah, really!" Rusty playfully growled.

Suddenly, the bushes rustled. Out stepped Spots, Max, Stone and Raoul. They both eyed Rusty and Dust curiously.

"Found the herb yet?" Spots asked.

"Nope, we're still looking," Dust shrugged.

"Well, hurry up!" Stone snapped, "You only have fifteen minutes left!"
Rusty rolled his eyes. We'll find the herbs by then! "Chillax, Stone, we'll be done in time!"

"But we won't be if you keep stalling!" Dust insisted.

"Oh, look who's talking," Max snorted, "You sent two hours down the drain, and now you have fifteen minutes. Fourteen maybe, now."
"See!" Dust growled, "You wasted a whole minute lecturing us! Scram! Shoo!"

Stone snarled and revealed her fangs, and trotted away. Spots, Max and Raoul ran after her.

"What idiots!" Dust grumbled. He trotted away. Rusty quickly followed his brother.

After a while of silent walking, they made it to a river. Rusty sniffed the air. We must be close to finding the herb, he told himself, and studied the bushes.

Dust didn't hesitate to jump into the river and get the mud off his pelt. Rusty turned to look at his brother. "Is the water nice?"
"Cold!" Dust exclaimed. Rusty looked away to try and find the herbs. He began searching. Feather hadn't told him what the herb scented like. Rusty looked at one bush, then the next, and the next, trying to find the herb.

"Ugh, I can't find it!" Rusty wailed. Then, some cold water hit his pelt like hail. Rusty turned to see that Dust was out, his pelt now soaked with water. 

"Did you look at every bush?" Dust asked, trotting up to his brother.

"Yes!" Rusty insisted. He noticed that Dust had a look of panic on him; they didn't have much time left until Ash would join the Peacebenders.

Dust searched every bush. "I can't find the herb either!"
Rusty grew wide-eyed. "Quick! We got to run to The Bending Tower and ask Feather for help!"
Desperate and scared, the two brothers darted off, side by side.

Author's Note:
No Ash! Don't die on us! D8>

Chapter 15: Wasting Time

Dust trotted out of the yard and towards the forest, excited and nervous about finding the herb to save Ash's life. He sniffed the air to see if anything was around. Dust could smell the strong scent of Rusty...
"Hey! Dust!"
Dust turned around. "What?" he asked, padding off into the forest, his brother following.
"You darted off too quickly and didn't get to hear what the herb looks like! Feather told me it is blue and looks like a bell. Inside is a type of nectar that can heal horrible infections, like what Ash has!" Rusty explained. "We got two hours."
Dust snorted, "We'll find this herb in two hours, I'm sure of it!"
"Well, this will delay our time," Rusty smiled.
Before Dust could ask what his brother meant, Rusty kicked Dust into some mud. Rusty laughed, and Dust coughed and spit, trying to get the mud out of his mouth. He shook his pelt. "Hey! That wasn't funny!"
"Uh... It kind of was," Rusty snickered.
"See if this is funny, scrub!" Dust yowled and pounced. He pinned Rusty to the ground, his muddy paws getting on Rusty's smooth orange fur.
Rusty kicked Dust back into the mud. "That's a move I learned from my mentor!" he laughed.
"Now I'm even more muddy!" Dust snarled.
"Oh, don't fret, as soon as we find that river you can jump in," Rusty shrugged, looking at the mud spots on his chest.
Growling, Dust shook his pelt. "Great. I hope Charlotte doesn't come along to see this."
"Oh, you and Charlotte, you know she likes Ash," Rusty snorted.
"And Ash likes Airia. So I think I'm safe," Dust rolled his eyes.
"Wait, what did you say?" Rusty perked his ears.
"I think I'm safe."
"No, before that!"
"Ash likes Airia."
"Say what?"
Dust sighed, "Ash... Likes... Airia!"
"But Airia hates him, doesn't she?"
"No, not anymore."
Rusty shook his head. "Well, I hope Airia doesn't start hating him again. I'm glad Crystal doesn't like anyone else, so I should have no trouble!"
"But what about Slice?" Dust snorted.
"What about her?"
"I see how you look at Slice," Dust sneered, "You like two she-wolfs!"
"Listen, can I help that Lifebreeze made both of them look... Cool." Rusty said, embarrassed.
Dust kept walking, Rusty following, "Slice likes you back and Crystal doesn't. She's clueless, buddy."
"Look, do we have to talk about this? We still got like, ninety more moons!" Rusty shouted.
"Fine, subject change. What do you think about Windows?" Dust asked.
"Why Windows?" Rusty cocked his head.
"He's River's apprentice, duh!" Dust rolled his eyes.
"Why are you so serious now? You used to be all fun!" Rusty protested.
"Okay, you want more fun?" Dust laughed, and he jumped on top of a boulder. "I'm the leader of The Bending Tower! Obey my every command!"
Rusty rolled his eyes and snorted, "Yes, O great one, what news is there?"
"Okay. So, Ash, Raoul and Windows went on patrol and they both jumped off a cliff, grew wings and flew back. Apparently, we're all the toughest Benders around," Dust pretended to report.
Rusty laughed, "Grew wings? Are you mad?"
"Ironfang is coming with an army of mice to go and steal all of Slice's snails, and we must keep them at bay! Slice's snails are much too important!"
"NOOOOOO! NOT SLICE'S SNAILS!" Rusty yowled, apparently taking to too seriously.
Dust didn't realize Rusty was taking his speech seriously, and continued, "The butterflies will swoop in and steal the snails. Slice is going to be devastated, so we must guard the snails to keep Slice happy!"
"NOOOOOO! MAKE IT STOP!" Rusty shouted.
"Rusty, I'm just foolin'," Dust snorted.
"Oh." Rusty looked very embarrassed. He then stood on the second-tallest rock. "I'm the leader of The Tribe of Flying Birds!"
Dust narrowed his eyes playfully, "You're too grumpy! Get away!"
Rusty pretended to ignore his brother. "As always, we are the grumpiest group of wolves to ever exist! We will rule the world, and everyone will learn from our grumpy ways! The whole world will be grumpy, just the way we like it!"
Dust laughed, and shook his head. "C'mon, we need to get moving again."

Author's Note:
STOP. WASTING. TIME. RUSTY. AND. DUST!!

Chapter 14: The Horrifying Problem

Eclipse stretched and scratched her ear. She yawned, bored. Nothing much was happening. She saw Ash was asleep, and Feather was busy sorting the herbs again. There wasn't many injuries.
"Feather, since there's nothing much to do, can we play 'Herb Quiz'?" Eclipse asked.
"Not now, Eclipse, I'm busy," Feather replied, eyes still on the herbs.
Sighing, Eclipse turned to Ash. He was waking up, and wide-eyed.
Worried, Eclipse padded over to him. "Feeling alright?"
"Oh, yeah..." Ash responded with a whisper, "Look... Pretty butterflies..." he fainted.
Eclipse felt dizzy. "Uh-Oh! That's not a good sign!"
"What isn't?" Feather asked, turning around to look at Eclipse.
"Ash claimed to see 'pretty butterflies', and then he fainted!"
Feather grew wide-eyed, "He could die! For this, we need a rare herb that can only be found in certain areas..."
"I'll go get them," Eclipse offered.
"No, Eclipse, you and I must guard Ash and make sure he stays alive. We need some volunteers to get the herbs. I wonder who'll take the job...?" Feather wondered.

"Rusty and Dust! Two leaders of The Bending Tower!" Rusty yowled out into the forest.
"There can't be two leaders! It's either you or me," Dust insisted.
"It's me then!" Rusty shouted.
"I'd be better!" Dust did a playful growl and bowled into Rusty. They rolled into The Bending Tower yard, laughing.
Goldwing looked at them, "Rusty! Dust! We're holding a meeting!"
"Oh..." Rusty's pelt grew hot with embarassment, and he sat down next to Spots. Dust sat down on the other side of Rusty.
"Okay now..." Goldwing continued, "I have some... Bad news... Ash is close to death."
Many gasps and yowls and conversations spread throughout the crowd. Rusty was shocked. "What?!"
"Yes... And, Feather says they need a very rare herb to heal Ash. Are there any volunteers to find this medicine?" Goldwing asked.
Charlotte opened her mouth, but Rusty and Dust beat her to it. "We'll do it!" they shouted in unison.
Stone rolled her eyes. "With those two doing it, Ash is as good as dead!"
Goldwing ignored Stone. "Alright, Rusty and Dust. Go tell Feather you will retrieve the herb.
Both of them nodded, and Rusty and Dust pelted into the Tower and up the stairs. They skidded into the healers' den, where Ash was awake and looking sick and dizzy.
"Hey Ash, we're going to find the herb to save your life!" Rusty announced.
Feather flew forward. "Don't speak to him, he's very sick and could die. This herb is found near lakes and rivers, so I advise that is where you look."
Rusty and Dust nodded.
"Don't worry Ash," Dust smiled, "Your life is in our paws now."
Ash gave Dust a look of fear.

Author's Note:
Never trust Rusty and Dust to go on a mission to save your life. XO

Chapter 13: Two New Apprentices

Shooken from the dream, Ash crawled out to the yard, his legs shaking from fear. He kept wondering what the dream could've possibly meant, or if the dream would happen again. I sure don't want it to, it still burns my pelt! Ash thought to himself.
As Ash entered the yard, someone bumped into him. He fell to the ground with a grunt, and got up, dazed.
A yellow-orange border collie rose to his paws. "Watch where you're walking," he shook his pelt, and walked away.
Ash rolled his eyed. Watch where you're running! When Ash turned around, he saw a female pangolin. "Hi!"
"Oh... Hi. Who are you?" Ash asked.
"My name's Dell! I'm the newest apprentice here, learning to Earthbend!" she stated proudly. "I saw there's a male pangolin here, too?"
"Er... Yeah, his name's Windows..." Ash said cautiously.
Dell perked up. "Oh yes, I just saw him. Well, I'll be seeing you!" she ran away.
Sighing, Ash left to take a walk.

Author's Note:
Sorry this is short, and that I haven't posted in a while! D8 Dell is my character, ALSO based off my computer... The yellow-orange border collie belongs to Ming, his name is Miguel! :D