Chapter 41: Who Will Survive?

Ash landed on the ground, the wind knocked out of him. As he struggled to recover, he began breathing fast, only to be thrown again, and hit the tree. The wind was once again knocked out of his body, and his bones ached. Lightning then hit the tree nearby, and Ash yowled and backed away quickly, wanting to escape the madness.
"Ash!" yowled Charlotte, and she fell to the ground, being thrown by the earthquake as well. She got to her paws and ran towards him, only to be thrown again, landing next to Ash. She got up again, "What's happening?!"
"I don't know!" Ash exclaimed, "Stay calm, it'll--" he stopped as lightning hit the ground nearby, and he whimpered and jumped in fear, backing up slowly.
Ash heard a yowl. Willow was looking around desperately, trying to dodge the lightning that kept occurring  As she ran, two trees got struck by lightning and collapsed on top of her, and her howl of fear was cut off, and she was nowhere to be seen, buried under the fallen tree logs.
"Willow!" Ash howled, and ran as another tree collapsed near him. Another jolt from the earth sent him flying and he hit a tree, and it fell from some lightning, and he fell onto the tree. He felt like a helpless mouse, being tossed around by a young animal for fun. Now he knew how the mouse felt: helpless, in pain.
Some thing in the sky was flying. Airia and Goldwing were carrying some of the young, obviously trying to keep them from getting harmed. Zapada and Nyx were helping out, too. A lightning bolt came hurdling towards Airia, and Ash yowled in fear. Luckily, Airia dodged it, and Ash let out a sigh of relief: Airia was still alive.
Goldwing was talking to Airia, but Ash couldn't hear him over the sounds of thunder and the earthquake. Suddenly, something hit Ash. Raoul had fallen into him, yowling in a mixture of fear and pain. Raoul scampered off Ash. "Sor-" he began, and another earthquake bursted under him and he yowled, his paw getting hit. Ash was thrown away again, and lightning came for him, but it hit a tree, leaving a mark on it.
A giant thunder clap came, piercing Ash's eardrums. With that, a huge lightning bolt came down, the speed of light, and Ash heard a scream. The lightning had hit Fan, and she fell to the ground, dead.
"Fan!" yowled Stone, bearing a scar over her right eye. She ran for the peahen, and a lightning bolt hit the place she had just been standing. Darner followed, yelling Stone's name.
"Stone! Be careful!" he kept running after her, and the earthquake caused him to be thrown into her.
An earsplitting screech came across the clearing. Ash, hiding under a fallen tree, had barely enough energy to turn his head to look at what it was because he was so injured. He then became wide-eyed as he saw a monkey laying there, blood coming out of her neck, her eyes closed. Ash suddenly recognized who it was: Mystery, the she-monkey who had been one of the first Benders he had met.
"No, Mystery!" screamed Amur, but his cry was cut off as a tree fell down on top of him, killing him.
"Amur!" screamed Rainbow, who now had a ripped ear. She looked heartbroken, and didn't notice the tree falling next to her, but then realized it and ran out of the way, looking determined to survive. She's a mother... Ash thought, her kits need someone to be with her... I can't hide like this. I need to make sure there are survivors! He climbed out from under the log, despite his bones were screaming protest. He scanned the area, ignoring the screams of pain and terror and the thunder and lightning. The earth trembled beneath him, and he braced himself for the pain coming as he was thrown across the clearing, and landed int the river, which was strangely faster than usual. It was pushing him towards the waterfall, wanting to give him the same fate as Spots...
As a tremor came again, Ash closed his eyes. However, the coldness of water left him, and now the breeze of the air came. Am I dead?
Ash opened his eyes, and was wide-eyed as he realized he was above the ground. Confused Ash looked above him, and saw Airia carrying him. "We lost Spots already," she said, "We can't lose someone again in the same way."
"Why did you save me?" Ash asked, then he said something he had been wanting to say since they returned to The Bending Tower after the patrol left the Water Tribe, "I thought you hated me."
Airia shook her head, "No, Ash, I know now that you're loyal to The Bending Tower... I'd never want to watch you die."
Ash smiled.

Author's Note:
Yes, very touching, but HELLO, there's animals DYING? Yes, I killed some characters whose owners didn't comment... But on the bright side they can sign-up a new character. xD Very scary chapter. owo