Chapter 36: Survival of the Fittest

"Revenge?" Twig echoed. She twitched her ears. "Who cares? We can defeat Firebenders easily!"
"No, we can't," Twister said, "Firebenders are no walk through the field."
"She's right," Ash agreed. Twig, when you face your first Firebender, you'll see how strong they are.
Twig rolled her eyes. "How bad can they be?"
Stone sighed, "Anyways... Moonlight, you gonna help or what?" she growled.
Moonlight nodded, ignoring Stone's hostility. "Yes, I can help. I've followed the tiger, but after I heard the bushes rustling... I went to check out what it was. Unfortunately, I didn't know who or what it was."
"Great, another loner?" snorted Twig. "This place is infested with them."
"Well, The Bending Tower territory is the only place we can find peace!" Moonlight protested.
"Really?" Ash perked his ears, a bit shocked. Why is  The Bending Tower the only place for peace?
"Well, what about the Earth Kingdom?" Dust demanded, "They're far away and safe, too!"
"We can't go there! It's--" Moonlight began.
"Now, alright," Darner stepped forward. "Moonlight, where did Tiggerkat go?"
"East," Moonlight replied. "Maybe we should split up?"
"Well, I dunno, that's what we did back with Kabu," Rusty answered.
The bushes rustled. Ash perked his ears and looked at it. "What's that?"
"Something's there," remarked Darner.
"We'll check out what it is!" Dust said bravely, puffing out his chest. "Right, Rusty?"
"Right!" Rusty nodded, and both twins crashed into the bushes.
Ash stared after them. Everyone else did the same, all waiting for the twins to come back. A few minutes went by. Nothing.
Twig finally talked, "Well?! Where are--"
"YA!" came a yowl. Ash turned his head, and something came flying on top of his head. "Down, mighty beast!"
"What?!--" Ash shouted, feeling the animal hitting him with a stick. He jerked his head forward, and the animal fell of, holding onto a vine.
"Um... You do realize that vine is full of poison ivy, right?" Twister said to the animal. Ash looked at it. It was the size of a squirrel, orange-tan with brown stripes on its back. He raised an eyebrow, trying to find out what it was.
The animal let go of the vine. "Of course, you uneducated wolf!"
"Hey!" Twister exclaimed.
"Um, can we help you?" Stone growled.
"No, but I can help you." the animal walked up to stone, looking her right in the eyes. "You're missing someone."
"Geez, does everyone know we're missing an animal?" Akumu snorted.
"No, I just overheard you talking, I'm a spy," said the animal proudly. He turned his back to the group of animals, thinking, then turned around. "You'll find your friend, don't worry."
"Really?" Twister perked her ears.
"Yes, yes!" nodded the animal, and leaned into Twister's face. "In the afterlife."
Twister looked confused. The animal jumped onto a rock and scratched the side of his head, then sat down, looking at the group.
"And exactly what are you?" Darner asked politely.
"Meerkat," replied the animal. "And I'm the strongest, fittest loner in the forest!"
"I can tell," Stone rolled her eyes.
"But... What do you mean by we'll find Tiggerkat in the afterlife?" Ash asked, worried.
"She's going to be tortured, of course she will! There are evil animals around this territory, they can capture her. She's as good as dead. Now, go home," smiled the meerkat. He turned around to walk away.
"We're not leaving," Twister insisted. "We need to find her. Do you know where she is?"
"Yes, I saw her leave," replied the meerkat. "And I can help you if you'd like, but it'd be for nothing."
Twig unsheathed her claws and growled, leaning into the meerkat. "Thanks, but we don't need some pesky prey's help." the she-cat batted him away, "Run along now."
The meerkat looked at the group. "Your choice... Tourists," he snorted, then ran off into the bushes.

Author's Note:
Annoying meerkat is annoying. .3.

Chapter 35: Another Loner

Ash sniffed at the ground. Tiggerkat's scent was not there. He looked up, and saw Ember trotting ahead, leading them. How does he know where she went? Her scent isn't here, Ash thought, walking to keep up with the group.
Ember sniffed at the ground, then looked around. "This way," he ordered. He trotted ahead, and Twig ran to catch up. She sped to his side, and glared at him.
"You know, for a former Firebender, you seem awfully untrustworthy," Twig remarked.
"Nonsense, I'm not here to harm," Ember claimed, "Besides, I'm sure The Bending Tower needs all the help it can get."
"What?" Twig growled, "How do you know we're from The Bending Tower?"
"Scent," Ember replied, and he hopped to the top of a rock. "All of you have that scent. You're from The Bending Tower, it's obvious."
Akumu raised an eyebrow, "What do you know about The Bending Tower?"
"It's huge. You got a winged leader, apparently named Goldwing," Ember looked at Ash, "And apparently, all of your apprentices are 'worthless'."
Ash perked his ears. What does he mean by "worthless"?
Dust growled, "Come down and say that to my face, Firebender!"
"Now, I didn't say I agreed on it. That's what all the Firebenders at the Fire Nation call you: worthless, weak, pain in the tail..." Ember said. Ash turned to Twig, who had unsheathed her claws and dug them into the earth. "That's what every Firebender says. Well, except for those forced to join, they're the silent ones."
"I take it you weren't a silent one," Rusty raised an eyebrow, apparently acknowledging how much Ember was talking.
Ember smiled, "No, I wasn't... But asking a lot of questions can get you information."
"And, it can kill you if you get on one's nerves," Stone growled.
Ember jumped down from the rock. "Almost forgot... There's someone I want you to meet. She's another loner, good friend of mine. She's searching for a home... I think she'd like The Bending Tower."
"Well, we're not exactly fond to taking in--" Stone began.
A black she-wolf stepped through the bushes. "Ember? Who do you have here?"
Ember smiled, "Hello, Moonlight. These are some friends I'm helping."
"Not friends," Twig grumbled.
"Why are you helping them?" Moonlight asked, ignoring Twig.
"Against our will, may I add," Akumu snorted.
"They needed help finding a tiger."
Ash nodded, "Tiggerkat, that's her name. She got lost. And we're grateful for Ember's help."
Twig glared at Ash, "Not all of us."
Moonlight smiled at Ash. "Thank you, Ember loves to help out. Anyway, I did happen to see a two-legged tiger walk by. Ember, you look hungry... Why not go hunting? I'll help these animals out from here."
Ember nodded, "Thanks, Moonlight. I didn't have a mid-day meal yet." With that, the fox hopped away.
Moonlight turned to the group. "C'mon, guys, I can show you where she went, I was up in a tree when I saw her."
"Do all of you loners live in trees?" Twig demanded.
"Well, just us, I don't know about others. We live in trees to keep away from any Firebenders, they might want us for information," Moonlight shrugged.
"Why would there be Firebenders in our territory?" Rusty demanded, "We patrol!"
"Yeah, and don't Firebenders live far away?" Stone snorted.
Moonlight shook her head. "Listen, you may have beat them at the Water Tribe, but from what I know, they want revenge."

Author's Note:
Thanks to Mimi for Moonlight! :3 Firebenders wanting revenge is NOT good... D:

Chapter 34: Encounter With a Loner

As Twister trotted through the forest, Twig lunged at the white wolf, bored, attempting to tackle her. Twig almost made it, but the white wolf dodged it again. Twig then climbed up a tree and lunged for Twister, but missed again and landed on Akumu.
"Hey!" Akumu growled, turning around to bite Twig's paw. Twig yowled and jumped off, then lunged at Akumu, who quickly dodged Twig's attack. Twig slid under Akumu and kicked the wolf in the stomach, although the only affect it did was that it winded the she-wolf. Akumu howled and pinned Twig with her hind leg, and kicked Twig into the tree.
"Enough," Darner said. "We're not going to get anywhere faster with your fighting."
"C'mon Darner, they're good fighters," Rusty said to the raccoon.
"Yes, they are, but we need to keep going," Darner replied.
Ash sighed, bored. He sniffed the air, trying to detect any signs of Tiggerkat. But there were none. As soon as this is over, we can get back to training, Ash told himself, and maybe Tiggerkat will be smart enough to stay.
"Y'know, what if Tiggerkat's dead?" asked Stone.
"Then who cares?" Twig snorted, "She's already an easy target for the Firebenders."
"Well then she'd easily get tortured, and then it's our fault and we'd feel guilty," Twister pointed out.
"I'll admit I'd feel sorry for her if she did," Darner sighed.
"She could be getting hurt right now," Akumu was wide-eyed.
"Then let's hurry--" Twister began, but was cut off.
"Missing, someone, I hear?"
Ash looked in the direction of the voice. A figure was in the tree, surrounded by leaves. It stood in the branches, eyeing them. Ash couldn't make out what it was, but put his guard up, in  case he'd need to fight.
Stone sniffed at it, "Who are you? Do we need to chase you out?" she growled.
Akumu stepped forward. "What do you need to know about it?" the she-wolf demanded. The whole patrol looked ready to fight, even Rusty and Dust.
The animal jumped out of the tree and came around. "I could help," it responded. Finally, Ash could see what it was: a fox.
Stone sniffed him, "You're a Firebender," she growled.
"Indeed, more likely a runaway," responded the fox. He turned his back on them, thinking, then turned his head to look at them. "So you're missing someone?"
"Yes, but we can find them on our own, thanks, we don't need any foxes' help," snarled Twig.
The fox looked unaffected by Twig's harsh words. Darner nodded at the patrol for them to keep going on. They did so there and then, leaving the fox behind. Ash didn't look back at the fox, not very concerned about it. Ash perked his ears, however, when he heard rustling. He looked around, wandering what it could be: the fox, Twig, a Firebender, or something else.
"Ahh!" Ash exclaimed as the fox jumped in front of him.
"I could help you," the fox said, flicking his tail. "I saw a tiger on two feet walking by."
"That's who we're looking for," Twister nodded, "Where'd she go?"
"East," the fox replied. Everyone looked at Dust, who rolled his eyes. "I'll help you. Name's Ember, by the way."
"I dunno, I've just been calling you Firebender," grumbled Stone.
"You can trust me," Ember reassured.
"Yeah, very reassuring," Twig snorted, unsheathing her claws, "But I'll have my eye on you."
Ember smiled, "Good, you'll make a great Bender... Anyway, she went this way."

Author's Note:
Thanks to A01315 for Ember! :3 Too bad there's a lot of grumpy Benders on this patrol... LOL.

Chapter 33: Organizing the Patrols

Ash found himself sitting in between Nightgale and Twig as Goldwing jumped onto Kabu's rock, calling a meeting. "Benders!" he said, "Tiggerkat has gotten herself lost."

"Something we'd all expect her to do," muttered Twig. Nightgale was nodding agreement.

"Because of this, we need to split up and find here," Goldwing ordered.

"But who cares?" Flare called out, "She does nothing around here, maybe she'd be happier where she is."

Everyone began nodding and murmuring agreement. Goldwing and Kabu however, seemed to look as though they disagreed, along with some senior Benders.

"And she'd be defenseless against Firebenders. We can't stand by and let an innocent civilian be harmed," Goldwing pointed out. "So we're going to do some patrols to find her. Since Dust and Rusty have clues as to where she went, they'll be leading the patrols."

"What?" Stone burst out, "Can't you remember those idiots when they tried finding the herb to heal Ash?"

Ash had been told the story many times, despite he didn't quite remember it. But with everyone talking about it, he trusted it was a true story.

"Stone, they'll be full Benders soon. They'll need to get used to patrols," Goldwing remarked. Ash noticed Dust and Rusty exchanging excited looks. "Kabu will organize the patrols. You two tell them where to go."
The twins nodded, apparently not hiding their excitement, and began talking rapidly to each other. Goldwing exchanged some words with Kabu, and left for The Bending Tower. Kabu took his place on the boulder and began talking. "Alright! Diamond, I want you to lead Nightgale, Nyx, Zapada, Flare, Eclipse, Tiggytiger and Raoul for one patrol. River, you will lead Max, Slice, Light, Mistletoe, Charlotte and Firefly. Darner, you will lead Dust, Rusty, Ash, Stone, Twister, Akumu and Twig. Creature, you will lead Fan, Windows, Crash, Maisoon, Chui and Miguel. Willow, you will lead Mystery, Ice, Relkuh, Midnight, Skye and Cora. Amur, you will lead Airia, Snow, Kira, Nakala, Clover, Skyvie and Shell. Everyone else will remain here and train, and I'll send out more if needed."
Everyone got into their groups as Rusty and Dust jumped onto the boulder, both twins whispering to each other. "Alright," Dust stepped forward, chest puffed out as if he were the leader, "Here are the directions you all are going in!..."

Author's Note:
Lots of patrols... :o Did you read them all? xD

Chapter 32: Confronting Goldwing

Ash perked his ears. Diamond was right - where was Tiggerkat? She'd probably be sticking around here, it wouldn't be like her to wander off like that.
Suddenly, Ash heard Twig  whisper, "Someone's in trouble..."
Ash looked at Rusty and Dust. Both held guilty looks, but Dust looked guiltiest. He stuttered. "Uh... Um... Well, you see..."
Diamond turned her attention to Rusty. "Rusty, why are you even here? You're in another group!"
"Yeah, well... Miguel was getting on my nerves," Rusty said.
"Go back to your own group," Diamond ordered. Rusty nodded and ran off into the distance. Diamond turned back to Dust. "Well? Do you know anything about Tiggerkat being gone?"
"She... Ran away," Dust said.
"She did?" Ash asked.
Dust nodded. "East."
"Why?" Diamond demanded.
"I... I told her there were reese cups that direction," Dust replied.
Diamond glared at her son. "Dust! You shouldn't have done that, Tiggerkat could be killed by Firebenders."
"That's because she's not smart enough..." Dust mumbled, and only Ash seemed to hear him.
"Well we're going back to Goldwing, Dust. We have to find Tiggerkat," Diamond ordered.
"But mom...! I don't want to get in trouble with the leader!" Dust whimpered.
"You need to tell Goldwing where Tiggerkat ran off to so we can find her," Diamond snapped.
"Rusty helped me."
Diamond nodded, "He's coming with us."
Ash stepped up. "I'll come with you, if that's okay."
"That's okay," Diamond said. She turned to Twig and Nyx. "Are you two staying here?"
"Obviously..." Twig snorted, "I don't want to see Goldwing yelling at some worthless apprentice."
"You're not a full Bender so stop acting like one," Dust growled.
Diamond looked at Dust and Ash. "Let's go." She began walking through the forest. Ash followed by Dust.
"I don't want to get in trouble with Goldwing. He'll punish me for sure!" Dust squeaked.
"Don't worry. At least Goldwing isn't Leafclaw, or you'd be being exiled," Ash nodded, trying to comfort his friend. But Ash did know that Dust would probably be in a lot of trouble, Rusty too, maybe. But Goldwing wouldn't be too harsh, he was a noble leader.
They then passed Rusty, Miguel, and the others. Rusty was sitting, listening to River, who was talking to them about Bending. He looked at his mate. "Yes, Diamond?"
"I need to have Rusty with me," Diamond nodded.
Rusty looked, confused, at Dust. Dust made a circular motion with his paw. Rusty was now wide-eyed, and nodded. He came over to them.
"Okay, hurry back," River said. "Now, who'd like to demonstrate Waterbending?"
"Me!" Akumu was exclaiming, and she got to her paws.
Finally, they approached The Bending Tower. They entered the yard, where Goldwing and Airwing were in conversation, whispering, despite they had been alone.
Goldwing turned to them. "Diamond? Do you need something?"
Diamond nodded, then looked at Dust. "Dust? Is there something you'd like to tell Goldwing?"

Author's Note:
Don't you just hate getting in trouble?

Chapter 31: Waiting

Dust held up his tail. "Come at me," he said.
Rusty nodded, and took a few steps back. He began running, and kicked a rock at Dust. Dust hit it with his tail, and it landed into a nearby puddle. "Yeah!" Dust exclaimed.
"What are you playing?" Crystal asked.
"Some game we came up with," Rusty responded. "You kick a rock, and then try to hit it into the goal. In this case, it's the puddle."
"So interesting," Twig rolled her eyes. She was laying down, watching the brothers, bored.
Nyx was up in a tree. "Exactly what are we supposed to be doing?"
"I dunno, Diamond and Ash are gone along with Charlotte. Maybe they reported something to Kabu," Dust shrugged.
"You mean to say they're missing?" Twig asked.
"No... They left," Rusty replied, kicking another stone at Dust, who missed it, and it hit Crystal.
"Ow!" Crystal exclaimed.
Rusty recoiled, his ears flattened. "S-S-Sorry!"
Crystal, laying down, put her paw on the place Rusty hit it. "That hurt."
"I know, I'm sorry! I aimed wrong," Rusty whimpered. Dust snickered, and Rusty shot him a glare.
Crystal sighed and got to her paws. "Anyway, shouldn't we go look for--"
"We're back," came a voice. Diamond stepped out from the bushes.
"Hi," Rusty nodded. "Where'd you go?"
Ash followed Diamond. "Um... We had to take a loner to The Bending Tower."
"A loner?" Twig perked her ears. "A Firebender, maybe?"
"No... Not that I know of," Ash said cautiously.
"Well, whoever this loner is, we shouldn't trust him," Twig growled, unsheathing her claws.
Rusty looked at her. "But we defeated the Firebenders at the Water Tribe..."
"Oh yeah! That one beating and they're surrendering right away to our power, Rusty! We're so strong!" Twig said sarcastically.
Rusty growled. "Look, shut your little--"
"No, Rusty, Twig's right," Diamond said.
"What...!" Rusty stared at her. "But she--"
"The Firebenders never give up, Rusty. Don't underestimate them." Diamond perked her ears. "Wait... Where's Tiggerkat?"
Rusty and Diamond looked at each other nervously. Crystal looked at the twins. Twig and Nyx exchanged confused glances.
Twig, however, seemed to be able to tell Rusty and Dust were guilty. "Someone's in trouble..." she whispered.

Author's Note:
Uh-Oh... o3o 

Chapter 30: Escorting the Wolf

Ash entered the yard. The white wolf was still walking, and moved his head at the slightest sound. Something about the wolf seemed familiar, but Ash couldn't put his paw on it. He kept struggling to remember, but every time he did he couldn't think of it. Confused, Ash walked with Diamond up to Goldwing. Charlotte was talking to him.
"See? Here he is," Charlotte nodded to the white wolf.
Goldwing looked at Diamond, "So Ash found a loner?"
"Yes," Diamond nodded. "According to Ash, it attacked him, saying things like 'keep him alive', and to Charlotte he had said 'his friend', and 'death'."
Goldwing looked a bit spooked, but nodded. "Let's take this wolf to Feather. She'll be able to deal with it."
Diamond nodded. She looked at Charlotte. "Charlotte, I want you to go back to training and tell Kabu where we are."
Charlotte nodded and darted off into the forest. Ash walked with Diamond into The Bending Tower, the white wolf close by. He was silent now, staring at everything. Ash kept an eye on him, wanting answers to the questions swarming his mind like termites under a log.
They entered the healers' den. Eclipse was in there, talking to Feather about an herb she had found. They stopped talking as Diamond, Ash and the wolf arrived. "Diamond! Ash! What're you doing here?" Feather asked.
"And who's the white wolf?" Eclipse wondered aloud.
"We found this loner in the forest, it attacked Ash and kept muttering weird things... like 'keep him alive', and when he saw Charlotte he said 'death, and, 'his friend'." Diamond explained, looking at the white wolf. The white wolf looked at Diamond back, the two seemed to be having a stare down.
Eclipse broke it. "Well, what do you want us to do with him?"
"Try to ask him questions, and see if he's sick. The way he's been acting, he seems ill," said Diamond.
Eclipse nodded. "We'll do all we can." She flicked her tail, signaling that Ash and Diamond could leave. They did so, heading back into the forest.

Author's Note:
This white wolf is mysterious, eh? In some of the upcoming chapters I'll be introducing more characters! Be sure to check out my newest story blog. Click here to get to my profile so you can get to the new story!