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!!