Chapter 48: A Hard Day's Work

The wind buffeted Ash's fur as he trudged through the snow that was weighing him down. He sniffed the air. What prey would be out in this weather? Ash asked himself, trying to detect any prey nearby.

"Hazen, do you know how to hunt?" Sun asked the white wolf. They were hunting, trying to see what Hazen was capable of. Goldwing had told Ash to tag along, to try and find more prey just in case. But it wasn't much hope; it was definitely likely the prey had went to hide.

Hazen shook his head, not answering, almost like he was being shy. 

"That's fine," Sun nodded, "We'll teach you how."
"If there's any prey to practice on," snorted Stone, sniffing the air. "Nothing. All the prey has gone into hiding. Goldwing must be out of his mind if he thinks we'll find some good prey out here." She turned on Raoul, her apprentice, "Did you find anything yourself?"

"Um, no," Raoul responded, sniffing the air. "Not so far, anyway..." He shook his pelt as snow clung onto it and began padding away, apparently trying to find a scent trail. "Most of the prey is probably underground," he shrugged, jumping over a fallen tree.
Hazen shook his pelt. "I've never hunted before. Where... I came from, they didn't have me hunt. They had me fight." He sniffed the air and looked around.
"So you know some good fighting moves?" asked Mistletoe, who had joined the patrol, along with Flare.
Hazen nodded and walked off, leaving pawprints behind as he left the area. Sun followed him. Ash figured that Hazen must've been following a scent trail. Ash sniffed the air and could smell the faint scent of a beaver. He followed the scent trail, which lead him to the river. He spotted the beaver swimming down the river. Ash walked after it slowly. He then crouched and jumped at the beaver, bowling into it. The beaver screeched and bit on Ash, and he yowled and aimed a bite at the beaver's neck. Ash bit down and the beaver's screeches soon ended.
His paw beginning to bleed, Ash picked up the beaver and began heading back to the patrol before the bleeding got bad. Ash put the beaver down once he met up with the patrol. "Got one," he said, looking up.
"Why's your paw bleeding?" Mistletoe asked.
"It bit me," Ash shrugged, and Hazen returned with Sun; Hazen was carrying a rabbit and Sun was carrying a bass. The bass's scent was powerful, and Ash recoiled in alarm as Sun set it on the small prey pile, right under Ash's nose.
"Okay, we should return with our catches," Sun nodded. She looked at Ash's paw, "You might need to see Feather or Eclipse about that before it gets too bad." Sun picked up her bass and began walking. Hazen walked after her with his rabbit, and Ash picked up his beaver. Just then, Raoul returned with two rabbits, and with that the patrol returned to The Bending Tower.
Once inside, Ash headed for the healers' den. He was still bleeding, although Ash figured it wouldn't be a serious injury. "Hey, Feather," he said as he approached the she-hawk.
"Hello Ash, what is it?" she asked, sorting some herbs into place. They were all scattered everywhere; Ash assumed that one of the young had run through and knocked all of it down. Feather seemed very concentrated on her work.
"Um, I was hunting and a beaver bit me," Ash shrugged, and held his paw out for Feather to examine. She did so, and nodded. Feather then grabbed a large leaf-like herb and a grass-like herb and put them down next to Ash's paw.
"Hey Eclipse," Feather called to her apprentice, who was over in the corner, lost in thought. Eclipse snapped to attention when Feather called her. "Come over here," Feather nodded, "We need to stop the bleeding on Ash's paw."
"Oh, um... Right," Eclipse nodded, still looking dazed from whatever she was daydreaming about. Eclipse came over and wrapped the leaf around Ash's paw. Feather grabbed the grass with her talons and wrapped it around the leaf to hold it in place.
"After a while you can take it off, Ash, the bleeding should end soon," Feather said. "That's not your broken paw, right?"
"No, my right paw is my broken paw," Ash responded, "thank you." With that, Ash left the medicine den and  trotted down the hall. It was nearing nighttime; Ash was tired, but didn't want to go to sleep since the dream he had. He passed Mistletoe and Hazen, who were talking to each other.
"So you're training to be an Earthbender," Mistletoe nodded. "That's cool. How'd you like hunting for the first time?" Ash stopped and watched their conversation: Mistletoe seemed to be trying to be kind towards Hazen, like she noticed he was unsociable and that she wanted to make sure he didn't feel like he had no friends. Ash knew that Hazen would be the type who was okay without friends, however. But Hazen does need a friend, Ash shrugged, no one seems to want to talk to him.
"Oh, well... It was okay, I guess," Hazen nodded slowly. "I prefer the fighting though... Well, I'm going to go see if maybe Sun wants me..." He got to his paws to get ready to leave.
"I don't think she does, it's almost time to go to sleep," Mistletoe shrugged. "Wanna walk 'round The Bending Tower? I can show you around, you'd probably like that."
"Okay," Hazen replied, and Mistletoe got up and began walking, Hazen by her side, and they both passed Ash. Ash stared after them, and could tell that Hazen was possibly in love with Mistletoe.

Author's Note:
Well, at least Hazen has a friend, right? x)