Chapter 42: Aftermath

Airia shook her head, "Ash, I can't carry you much longer," she said through the bundle of fur in her mouth, "I need to protect Rainbow's kits."
"Drop me on the Earth below!" Ash yowled, trying to make himself heard over the rumbling thunder and lightning. "I'll be fine."
"I'm scared!" mewled one of the kits.
"You'll be fine," Airia said, and dropped Ash onto the ground, and flew off into the distance, followed by Goldwing and the others, obviously trying to get to a place without thunder and lightning to be safe from the dangerous storm.
Another rumble came, piercing Ash's eardrum. Suddenly, everyone was howling and yowling alarm, looking up at the sky. Ash looked, and gasped as he saw a huge ball of lightning, growing bigger and bigger. Lightning came out of all of it, and a strong wind swept the land, making Ash's fur ruffle.
Suddenly, the ball of lightning disappeared, and the clouds departed quickly, leaving the area, revealing the sun and a cloudless blue sky. Birds came into the area and Ash could hear them singing. It was like a land with peace.
But the destruction around him made Ash not forget what just occurred.
Kabu, a scar running over his back, fresh and bleeding, hopped on top of a rock. "Where is Feather?"
"Here!" Feather flew up to Kabu, her tail feather ripped. However, she didn't look too badly injured, not like the rest of them. Which is good, thought Ash, if we had an injured healer it wouldn't be too good.
"Feather, I need you to attend to any and all injuries. Those without serious injuries, I need you to investigate those we lost," Kabu ordered.
"Where did Goldwing go?" asked Flare.
"He went with Airia and the others who could fly to get the young to a safe place," responded Kabu, as Eclipse came over to him to stop the bleeding on his back.
Rainbow wailed. "My kits! Are they okay?"
"Should be," nodded Darner, "don't worry, even though your mate is dead, your kits will be fine, as they still have you."
"But they don't have their father," said Rainbow.
"Rainbow, we'll guard your kits with our life," nodded Crash, a huge tom-cat.
Feather flew over to Rainbow, examining her ripped ear. She put a leaf onto it, "This should stop it. Eat this berry," she pushed a berry to Rainbow, with her talons. "It'll stop the pain."
Rainbow slowly ate the berry, while Crash and Darner began discussing something. Ash walked up to Kabu. "Can... Can I help in any way?"
"Look at the dead animals, I want you to get them together so we can hold a funeral," Kabu ordered. Ash nodded and ran to Fan, definitely dead. He sniffed her, and she had a dead scent. Sighing, Ash bit on Fan's neck and dragged Fan to the middle of the area. "You were a great Bender," Ash nodded, "I'll never forget how great you were."
Ash then headed for the collapsed trees where Willow had been buried. He climbed up the trees, digging his claws in so he wouldn't lose his grip. Ash got to the top and squeezed down a gap, going into the darkness. He could scent Willow, and the dead scent lingered with it. "I think you'd have been great while battling with the Firebenders. Too bad we lost a good Bender..." he grabbed Willow, and jumped out of the gap. He realized he was stronger, because Willow was quite heavy. He took her over to Fan, laying her next to the dead peahen. Already Benders were gathering around, staring at the dead bodies, sadness on their faces.
Alright now... Mystery, thought Ash, and he ran over to the dead monkey, who bared a terrible scar on her neck, bleeding. Wow, something hit her in the neck, that must've been bad, Ash told himself, and he took her to the group of dead animals. "Mystery, you were a great Bender," Ash said, and with that, he went to retrieve Amur, and noticed the white loner wolf. He stopped in his tracks and looked at him. Blood was on his paws.
"Um... Hello," Ash trotted up to him.
"Hello," whispered the white wolf, his voice strange. A shiver ran down Ash's spine. Something about the white wolf made him creeped out, but couldn't find what.
"Are... Are you a loner?" Ash asked.
"I... Guess you could say that..." said the white wolf, examining the beautiful sky. He looked at Ash. "Remarkable Bender you are, yes..."
"Er, thank you...?" Ash said cautiously. "Where do you come from?"
"Ash, sometimes there are questions you'd not like to know the answers to," responded the white wolf calmly. "My name is Hazen, just to let you know... Thought you'd ask something like that." He walked away.
Hmm, strange wolf... thought Ash. He jolted, wait, how did he know my name?!

Author's Note:
Creepy wolf... o3o