Chapter 19: Thoughts and Discussions

"Who do you think the new deputy will be?"
"No doubt, it's going to be Creature."
"Really? Because I was thinking it'd be Airia. After all, she's Goldwing's daughter."
"Fff, that'd be like choosing favorites!"
Ash was sitting in the healers' den, checking up on Firefly and Max. Max was fine, but Firefly was still asleep. Max had been talking to Twig, who was awake. Ash had been surprised to see how well they got along. It could be that they both have a bit of a temper. But, Twig can be more angrier than Max gets, Ash thought.
"It's going to be Creature," Twig stated, "pure and simple. I wish I could go see the meeting, but I'm confined to the healers' den for the rest of the moon. Anyway, it'd be too expected for Goldwing to pick Airia. That's because they're family."
"I don't think Creature is good enough for it," Max said, "and if Airia's not picked, I think Stone will be picked. Hey, she's as grumpy as a snake that's lost its venom, but she's still rebellious to the Firebenders, and wouldn't back down easily. If anyone, Stone'll be the deputy."
Well, she's a former Firebender, Ash thought. It was revealed back at the Water Tribe, but Ash didn't tell anyone. Except the Firebenders probably knew about it.
Eclipse then walked in. "Max, you're free to go now," she said.
"Aw," Max complained, "back to letting the Firebenders pick on me? Well...on the bright side, this means I won't miss the meeting of who becomes the new deputy." With that, Max exited the room. Ash followed, done his business in the healers' den. He trotted out to the yard to see everyone busy, as usual.
Ash could hear many voices abuzz with word and rumors about the deputy meeting as he walked through the crowd.
"I can't believe Poisonfang would do that!"
"Smart snake, she is."
"It's going to be River, for sure! He's a loyal Bender."
"Nah, Goldwing's not going to pick Stone!"
"Who do you think it's gonna be?"
"I swear, I'mma kill Poisonfang for insulting Kabu!"
But when Ash got around the Firebenders, the word was more stuff like this.
"Heh, Goldwing's such an idiot!"
"He's never going to pick a good deputy!"
"If Goldwing doesn't pick a deputy, Poisonfang might make me deputy."
"We'll have so much power after this!"
Ash tried his best to ignore the talking of the Firebenders. He then slipped out into the forest to give himself time to think. I'll catch some prey, Ash figured, then the Firebenders will think I've been hunting. Ash then sniffed the air and snuck off into the forest, detecting a rabbit. He then remembered to look out for the deer. If I happen to detect it, I'll walk away from it, Ash thought.
Suddenly, there was a blow of the wind and Ash flinched as Airia landed in front of him. "Hey, Ash, whatcha up to?"
"Uh...er..." Ash struggled to find some words, "just...hunting...?"
Airia chuckled. "Oh, I saw you sneak out of The Bending Tower. Anyway, so how are you dealing with this new deputy stuff?"
"Well, Max thinks you should be deputy..." Ash shrugged.
"Heh. I'd never be good enough," Airia smiled, "I actually think you would be a good deputy, Ash. Think about it. You're loyal, friendly, smart..."
All of these compliments made Ash grin. He tried pushing it back, but he couldn't. "I'd never make it! I'm too young. Besides, I think River should be deputy. He's been here longer than me. Plus, he's very strong and everyone likes him."
"Hi Ash!"
Ash turned around to see Streak bounding towards him, a smile on his face. "Streak! What are you doing here? Get back to the young's den." Ash ordered.
"Relax, Ash! With you two protecting me, I'm fine!" Streak smiled bigger. "So...are you two, like, walking together out of love or something?"
"What? No!" Ash exclaimed, fur bristling. Airia just giggled, looking at Ash. "She just--I--we--never mind that! I happened to be out here, she joined me. Okay? What are you doing here, anyway?"
"Oh, I was bored. So, Goldwing's electing a new deputy, eh? I think it should be you, Ash!" Streak beamed. "Because, you know, you're destined to..." he looked at Airia. "Can I say it with her here?"
"Go ahead, she already knows," Ash muttered.
"To defeat Ironfang!" Streak finished.
Airia shrugged. "Well, Streak's right. If the Peacebenders think you're good enough to do that, you'd probably be good enough to become deputy for us."
"I am too young!" Ash protested, "River's better. Trust me."
"No, you're better!" Streak said.
Ash sighed. "Anyway, Streak, are you just out here to hang out?"
"I guess," Streak shrugged.
Ash shook his head. "Look, Streak--"
"Oh, was I spoiling something?" Streak asked, a teasing grin on his face.
"No!" Ash exclaimed.
"Wow, you seem so insistent," Streak grinned.
"Just...please, just go get something to eat!" Ash exclaimed.
"Alright!" Streak smirked, trotting off.
"Why was he so teasing about that?" Airia asked.
"Er...I...I dunno," Ash lied.
"Mm-hm," Airia nodded slowly. Huh? Ash thought wide-eyed, does she not believe me or something? "Well," Airia continued, "I suppose all we can do until Goldwing announces the new deputy is wait and worry. I, on the other paw, am going to go flying. Bye," Airia bolted up into the air.
Ash slowly let out a big breath. Phew, that was close, Ash thought.

Author's Note:
Pointless chapter is pointless. .3.
But, I got a new story blog. Check my profile to find it! :D NOW.
Plus, check Misitu's Art Central (my main blog) often, because its posts aren't showing up on people's dashboards. :c

Chapter 18: An Announcement

When Ash went to sleep that night, he was having nightmares about blood, screaming, and a huge deer with big antlers and glowing red eyes, the cause of the deaths. Ash could hear his own voice begging the deer for mercy, but it was mad, out of control.
Ash woke, startled, bolting right to his paws. He began breathing heavy, with relief, as he realized he had only been dreaming. Sighing, Ash shook his pelt, and trotted through the sleeping heap of animals and trotted out into the yard. It was empty, and the moon was already high in the sky. Ash wasn't quite ready to go back to sleep. Especially because he was worried of having yet another nightmare.
"Trust me," came a voice, making Ash jump. He whipped around to see Miguel and a fox coming out of The Bending Tower. Quickly, Ash dove into the shadows so he wouldn't be spotted. He stayed frozen to the spot as Miguel and the fox came out into the open, making them more visible. "With this new plan we have, it should show Goldwing's Benders that we're more powerful than they think."
"You sure, Miguel?" the fox said, "because some of those Benders have been pulling some pretty witty stunts. Ash spying on the meeting, Mistletoe acting all in love with Hazen to try and get him onto their side, that stupid meerkat taunting Fireblade, Airia tricking Firebenders into giving them extra prey, and a lot more than we can count."
"I talked with Poisonfang, Vitaly," Miguel responded, "she believes this plan is fullproof. And if I think our deputy is sure the plan is going to go well, we should believe that." Miguel looked up at the moon. "By morning, the whole Bending Tower will be freaked out because of our plan."
Vitaly smiled. "Miguel, I don't know why you even considered joining The Bending Tower. You're great as a Firebender. Why'd you leave the Fire Nation anyway?"
"I was foolish," Miguel said, "I thought the Fire Nation was a horrible place. I had fled in search of a new home and ended up here. But when you took over, I saw how powerful you were. I realized why you were so ambitious; you wanted the island to be a better place for all the Benders under your control. So I joined to help the cause."
To help the cause?! Ash thought angrily. Why would Miguel figure the Firebenders would be better rulers for the land? Ash could recall Miguel explaining to his best friends Raoul and Max how horrible the Fire Nation was and how glad he was that he fled. Why had he suddenly turned to believe the Firebenders were noble?
"I'm glad you came to your senses, Miguel," Vitaly smiled, "if only the rest of The Bending Tower would realize that..."
Feeling like he had seen enough to give him new nightmares, Ash trotted through the shadows and snuck into The Bending Tower, taking in everything he had learned. A bit nervous about tomorrow morning, Ash went into the Waterbenders' den and drifted off to sleep.

"Hey, you! Bug-brain!"
Ash slowly woke up and realized the voice was addressing him. I swear I am going to-- he began to growl, but stopped as he saw it was Miguel who was waking him up. "Yeah, you! You slept in, there's a meeting happening, and everyone needs to be to it!"
Stifling a groan of annoyance, Ash got to his paws quickly. Oh yeah. The Firebenders are trying to scare us today, Ash thought. He began walking down the hall, Miguel behind him, trying his best to ignore him, but failing because his instincts told him someone was behind him. Ash went out into the yard and Miguel walked over to the Firebender-audience side, and Ash took his spot among the Bending Tower-audience side, sitting down in between Nightgale and Snakeseye.
Ash looked to see that, up front, Poisonfang, Hachiko, and a dark orange male wolf. By them was Goldwing, Airwing and Kabu. "Ah, so glad you all could join us today," Poisonfang said in her sweet voice. The Firebenders all had evil looks upon their faces, but the animals from The Bending Tower all had expressions that said, "whatever it is you want, get it over with so we can get back with our lives".
"Something has to be done today," Poisonfang smiled, "and in the end you all will be grateful for it."
"Yeah we will, because in the end the Firebenders will have hopefully died of old age," muttered Rusty, who was in front of Ash. Ash heard Crystal and Flare snickering at Rusty's joke.
"So," Poisonfang continued, "you all know your deputy, Kabu...?"
Everyone turned to look at Kabu, who looked a bit confused. Oh great, I hope Poisonfang isn't gonna kill him! Ash thought nervously. It was highly possible, because Miguel had told Vitaly the whole Bending Tower would be in fear by the next day.
"Get on with it," Goldwing grumbled.
"Yes. Hasn't anyone noticed he's a bit too old for his position? A deputy should be young, ready to fight and noble. Kabu, however, looks like all he could fight is a mouse," Poisonfang smirked.
The Firebenders burst into laughter, but The Bending Tower animals all glared at them angrily. Oh, they'll pay someday, Ash thought, growling.
"I have a feeling most of us agree with that statement," Poisonfang nodded, "so, as the leaders of the land, and the conquerors of this Tower, we are hereby making Kabu retire to the elders."
Growls and hisses of outrage came from The Bending Tower side. From the Firebenders, however, came no sounds.
"Idiots!" snarled Nightgale, low so they wouldn't hear her, "who do they think they are, telling us what ranks we can have? I swear, when--"
"Shh!" Snakeseye hissed, nodding at Ash then looking back to Nightgale. Wide-eyed, Nightgale nodded back and turned to look back at Goldwing. What? Ash thought, wondering why Snakeseye hushed her an acted like she shouldn't be saying something in front of him. Ash fought back to strong desire to ask Nightgale what she was about to say.
"You can't do that," Goldwing said, getting to his paws, "I am the leader of The Bending Tower, and it is me who decides the ranks. You, however, do not decide when someone is to retire and who my deputy shall be."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Poisonfang said with a fake, wide-eyed shocked expression, "I thought we had defeated The Bending Tower a couple of moons ago! That's why we're here now, aren't we? Besides, you should be grateful that I'm not sending that good-for-nothing lion into exile!"
"Excuse me," Kabu snarled, "but I have had the nerve to actually fetch you prey. Call me 'good-for-nothing'? With all of you Firebenders just lousing around watching us do the dirty work for you, I find that really ironic!"
"Ooooooh," Rusty giggled.
"I can always kill you right here and right now," Poisonfang said simply.
"And we can always just squash you with a boulder. After all, you're the size of a squirrel!" Kabu growled.
"I don't think this is going to end well," Nightgale muttered.
"Alright, you two, cut it out," Airwing said.
"Goldwing," Poisonfang turned to look at the leader, "you have until tomorrow morning until you choose a new deputy. And if you don't, I will. And it won't be one of your Benders..." she smirked.

Author's Note:
Stunning, much?

Chapter 17: A Battle Lost

Ash yowled out, "Firefly, Max! We gotta kill this thing, it's dangerous!" Ash jumped away as the deer ran at him. It missed, and got its antlers stuck in the tree. The deer quickly pulled its antlers out of the tree and turned around, glaring and snorting at Ash.
Max skidded in and lunged at the deer, landing on its back and digging his claws into the deer's side, biting down. It didn't do much affect; all it did was make the deer more angry. It bucked and kicked, making Max fall hard on the ground. Max scurried away as the deer almost stepped on him.
Firefly jumped over the deer, scratching the deer's back as he went over, then landing on the deer's other side. Usually, it'd make the deer bleed, but because of how tough the deer was, it did nothing. The deer whipped around and charged at Firefly, scoring an injury on Firefly's shoulder as its antlers scraped him there. Firefly yowled and fainted; he was bleeding out.
"Oh, great Lifebreeze!" Ash growled, "stupid deer! Max, we gotta get Firefly to Eclipse. We'll finish up this deer later!" Ash ran over to Firefly, dodging the deer's charge. He picked up Firefly, and Max ran after Ash, covering him despite he had a bit of a head injury.

Ash, panting, entered the healers' den. He laid Firefly down, who was moaning and knocked out. Max looked up at the cut on his head. "Eclipse?" Max said. Ash looked to see that Eclipse was standing over Twig, who was asleep with some injuries. Rusty was in there with some leaves over his shoulder, and Ash could see blood stains on it. Dust was laying down, head on his paws.
Eclipse turned around, and gasped. "Firefly!" she exclaimed, running over to him. "Firefly, are you okay?" She nudged him, and all Firefly did was moan, move his head a bit, and fell back to sleep again. "Oh no, what happened?" She asked, taking Firefly over to a moss bed.
"Oh yeah. Thanks for taking a look at my injury," Max snorted.
Eclipse looked slightly embarrassed and nodded to Max. "Lay down in a moss bed, Max, I'll get to you in a moment."
"What happened to Rusty, Dust and Twig?" Ash asked, trotting up to Rusty and Dust, who were both awake.
"They--" Nightgale began, but Rusty cut her off.
"I'll...tell you what happened," Rusty growled, "a...huge deer almost killed us! Twig is going to be in the healers' den for a moon, but Dust and I are getting out today. What happened to Firefly and Max?"
"We got attacked by the deer, too!" Ash exclaimed, "it almost killed Firefly when he tried attacking it. Max got slammed into the ground when he attacked it. And you know what? All the attacks we did inflicted no damage whatsoever! And when I was an apprentice, a deer just like the one that attacked today harmed me! It was supposed to be dead!"
Eclipse shook her head. "I don't know, Ash. Perhaps they couldn't kill it." She got a leaf and some weeds, and used Medicine Bending to levitate it onto Max's forehead. It placed down and wrapped around it. "Max, now you need to take it easy for the rest of the day. Stay in the healers' den." Max nodded, and Eclipse quickly ran over to Firefly.
Suddenly, Stella, Airia and Slice appeared in the door. "Geez, what happened?" Stella asked, "what, did a rabbit decide to murder you guys before it could murder you?" she snorted.
"No, Stella," Max snorted, giving a small glare, "a deer tried to murder us, thank you, and we only just got out alive. Now, it'd be nice if instead of teasing us, you could show us a bit of sympathy and compassion!"
Stella had sadness for them sparkle in her eyes, but it quickly went away, and the teasing, playful glint returned to her eyes. "Oh, you expect a Firebender to give sympathy and compassion?" she laughed. "Right..."
Max growled, "you're the one who said you're a nice Firebender! If you are nice, you should be sympathetic, shouldn't you?" Max turned away and went to go lay down next to the still-knocked-out Firefly in the corner of the room.
Stella rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Come on, Airia, Slice, we need to report to Hachiko that I was a cruel leader," she said, turning to leave.
Airia shrugged. "Sure." She followed Stella, and Slice followed after Airia.
"So, how long are they gonna be in here?" Ash asked Eclipse, hoping she wasn't still mad at him.
"Max will be out of the healers' den tomorrow. Firefly, however, will be released when Twig is released," Eclipse explained.
Ash nodded, and turned to leave. It was good that Eclipse wasn't still mad at him. But, Ash couldn't help wondering: what convinced her to be kind again?

Author's Note:
We gotta solve that mystery~

Chapter 16: The Deer Strikes Back

After Ash and Cinder returned from training, Ash wasn't too surprised that when he walked in he saw Fireblade growling at him. "Hey, you! We've been looking all over for you," Fireblade snarled, "you're supposed to be on a hunting patrol with Stella, Slice, Airia, Firefly and Max!"
Ash stifled a sigh. He was not in the mood for hunting with Airia, not after all of the things they've been through. Reluctantly, Ash scanned the yard and headed over to the patrol, who were all waiting impatiently for him. Ash looked to see Stella looking up at her mentor Hachiko. "Now," Hachiko was saying, "this is your first time going on a patrol on your own. You are to show no mercy to these Benders, and don't take it easy on them. We're going to see how well you can do. Got it?" Hachiko growled.
Stella nodded, and Hachiko padded off. Stella then looked at Ash. "Where've you been?" she asked, no edge to her voice at all.
"Never mind that, I'm here now," Ash muttered, not daring to look at Airia. "Let's go."
With that, Stella nodded and lead them out into the forest. Ash followed, walking alongside Firefly, who was examining the forest absentmindedly. Max was sniffing the ground, apparently detecting something. Slice was padding by herself, looking lost in her thoughts. Airia's expression was blank as she looked ahead.
Stella looked at them. "Look, I'm not the meanest, toughest Firebender around, so...for this one time, I suppose you can enjoy yourselves. But you gotta hunt some. And here's the deal. Since I am treating you nicely, you have to make it seem like I gave you an incredibly hard time. If Hachiko finds out I was friendly, I'll be punished."
"I dunno, I think I'd rather see someone who doesn't live at The Bending Tower suffer a bit," Max muttered, glaring at Stella. Ash could tell he wasn't buying the whole "I'm-a-friendly-Firebender" thing, but Ash, on the other paw, truly believed Stella wasn't an evil Firebender.
"Look, this is in exchanged for a bit of fun for you guys," Stella said in a sweet voice, "so unless you want me to give you a hard time, because I do have the guts, then you're going to have to help me out a bit here." Stella gave Max a small smile, and he snorted, but looked frustrated.
"Oh, fine. Happy?" Max said.
"Yes, yes I am," Stella smirked.
Ash sniffed the air. "Oh, it seems there's a deer not too far off. That'll do us some good."
"I'll come with you," Firefly nodded, "you're going to need more than one animal to take down a deer, they can be kind of wild sometimes, y'know."
"I'm coming too," Max said quickly. Ash could tell he wanted to get away from Stella, since she seemed to be teasing him slightly, and apparently Max took it as an insult.
Ash shrugged. "Sure, why not?"
The three trotted through the forest, leaving Stella, Slice and Airia behind. Boys working together and girls working together. I suppose that works, Ash figured. He needed a break from thinking about Slice's depression over Miguel and about Airia, anyway.
Ash looked around and sniffed the air. "The deer's close!" Ash hissed. He stepped over a stick, and sniffed the air again, but stopped. He trotted in a different direction and saw an oddly stacked pile of leaves. He brushed them off, and jumped as he saw Tiggerpaka standing there on the rock, frozen into place. Wow, he took my claim really seriously, Ash thought. "Tiggerpaka?"
Tiggerpaka looked at Ash. "What? Can't you see that I'm busy?!"
"Um, Tiggerpaka...the job is done. You can move now," Ash said.
"Good! Another good deed done!" Tiggerpaka exclaimed triumphantly. He looked from Ash to Firefly to Max. "So, what're y'all up to? I can help out for sure!"
"Um, we're hunting," Firefly said, "but we're fine, Tiggerpaka, we...we don't need any..." his voice trailed off. As usual, Firefly was being shy.
"Nonsense, nonsense, my boy! I can help any cause. You don't need to insist that you don't need my great assistance." Tiggerpaka then jumped on Max's head, who glared up at him in frustration. "Now, let's track down this measly animal we're hunting and kill it! Ya, ya!" he hit Max in the head, making him growl.
Ash then sniffed the air. "The deer has moved to the clearing with the fallen trees. Let's go find it," Ash said. He trotted in the direction of the clearing, Max following behind him, Tiggerpaka still riding on his head. Firefly followed by Ash's side, sniffing the air occasionally to make sure the deer was still there.
They eventually made it to the clearing. Ash spotted the deer behind a mass of logs; its head was down but Ash could slightly see its back. "There he is," Ash whispered, "or she." He turned to Firefly and Max. "Alright. I'll get it from the front. Max, you sneak around and try to get it from its backside. Firefly, you get to where its head should be. Any questions?" he said.
"Yes! What do I do?" Tiggerpaka asked.
"Um...You go sit in a tree and if anyone gets hurt or something you can swoop in and try to save us," Ash muttered. Besides, we're not gonna get harmed anyway, Ash thought.
Firefly and Max headed in separate directions, hiding so the deer couldn't detect them. Ash crawled among the ground, heading slowly for the deer. Its head was still down, Ash could tell it was eating food. Alright, deer, you're mine, Ash thought, stifling his instinctual growl.
Suddenly, the deer rose its head. Ash grew wide-eyed and took steps back as he saw how huge it was. He took steps back as the deer spotted it and climbed over the logs, glaring at Ash, looking as if it was about to attack. Ash gasped as he realized who he was facing.
Memories of when he was an apprentice suddenly flashed before Ash's eyes. A deer had charged into him, leaving a bleeding cut on his side. Eclipse had healed him, but the deer was deadly. He remembered a voice saying: "...they went to go kill it..."
Ash startled back to reality and dodged to the side as the deer charged at him, and the deer missed. The deer was still alive, and it was back.
Ash prepared for a fight for survival.

Author's Note:
Does the chapter title remind you of Star Wars, much? xD
...I'm considering StellaXMax...

Chapter 15: Training Cinder

Ash awoke the next day and stretched. He weaved between the sleeping bodies in the Waterbenders' den and trotted towards the apprentice den, wanting to train Cinder with some fighting and Bending before the Firebenders would send them off to do hunting or something. Ash peeked in to see many sleeping apprentices. Ash trotted up to Cinder and prodded her with his paw. Cinder slowly woke up. "We're going to get some fighting training done," Ash whispered. Cinder nodded eagerly and got to her paws, following Ash out of the den.
Ash and Cinder trotted past Firefly and Max, who were both whispering to each other. As Ash and Cinder passed them, they stopped talking and looked at Ash as he passed. Ash examined them curiously and kept walking, Cinder at his heels. As they got further away, Firefly and Max began talking again. Secrets, secrets everywhere, Ash thought, shaking his hanging head.
Out in the yard, as expected, there were Firebenders everywhere. Ash kept low to the ground and slipped through them, Cinder doing the same as she followed him. Luckily, they managed to go unnoticed, and they got to their paws and trotted away from The Bending Tower. Ash trotted towards the clearing with the fallen trees. Ash stood on top of a fallen tree. "Alright then, Cinder," Ash said, "we're going to go over some fighting moves. You can't always rely on Bending, so it's good to have backup. You can be pretty fierce with just hunting. And chances are, you're not going to be in an empty clearing. So we'll practice fight here."
Cinder nodded. "So you're the 'Firebender', and I'm the good guy?" Cinder said.
"Right," Ash confirmed. He then lunged at her, and was surprised as he missed, seeing Cinder scurry quickly away and into the heap of fallen trees. Ash jumped in after her, weaving through the fallen trees, looking for his apprentice. It was hard, because they were in a big mass of skinny trees, not the clearing with a lot of big fallen trees. Because of his size, Ash got stuck in the middle of two of the trees, but squeezed through. He sniffed the air and followed Cinder's scent. He crawled through and saw the tail-tip of Cinder's tail slipping through the branches. Ash crawled out of the pile of trees and saw Cinder darting for a bigger fallen tree and crawling through a hole in it. Ash jumped down and followed. He walked up to the tree and looked in the hole.
Ash was about to give up, when he stopped. I'm supposed to be a Firebender, Firebenders don't give up just because their opponent is unreachable! Ash then got an idea, and, hoping it wouldn't hurt Cinder, bended some water into the hole, and he heard Cinder shriek in surprise and leap out of the hole. Ash then tackled her and had her pinned to the ground. "Haha! Now what do you do?" Ash asked.
Cinder bit Ash's paw, making him flinch, letting go of Cinder. Cinder got to her paws and lunged at Ash, jumping on top of his head. "If I had my claws out right now, I'd be digging into your head and hanging on! But since we're practicing, I'll show a bit of mercy," Cinder giggled.
"Mercy?" Ash echoed, and swung his head around, making Cinder fall off and land hard on the log. "You'll have no mercy coming from me!" he said playfully, lunging at Cinder and pushing her off the log. He gently put his mouth around her neck, careful not to bite down. "Okay, a Firebender has you by the neck, what do you do?"
Cinder swiped at Ash's muzzle and eyes, her claws luckily not unsheathed. Ash pretended he got hit by her claws and backed up. It was then that Cinder slid under Ash's belly, pretending to claw at him. Ash fake-collapsed onto the ground, and Cinder jumped onto his back. "Yes! If I were fighting a real Firebender I would've bitten their neck and have them go off running."
Ash stood up and Cinder jumped off of him. "Yes, your size does give you an advantage. Use that to be able to slip around your enemy, and if you move fast enough you'll be harder to strike. So now, we'll practice Waterbending. This is the top fighting skill you should use. Fighting without Waterbending comes as backup, remember that. So, to do Waterbending, you must imagine water hitting something. Like so," Ash explained, and moved his paws around. A water ball floated into the area, then zoomed and hit a fallen tree. "The faster you imagine it, the quicker it goes, and moving in a motion can do certain things to the water depending on what you do. But for now, focus on getting the water into the area. To Waterbend though, you need a water resource. And Ice River is nearby. Just close your eyes and picture a water ball coming and hitting a tree. Don't expect to get it first try."
Cinder nodded and closed her eyes, and Ash could see her face moving in concentration. She opened her eyes, and looked at Ash. "Nothing happened."
"You probably didn't focus enough," Ash shrugged, "try again."
Cinder closed her eyes again, and it took a while for her to open them. "Still nothing?"
"Still nothing," Ash confirmed.
Cinder sighed. "Third times a charm," she murmured, closing her eyes. Ash watches as a very, very small water ball slowly came into the area, and hit a nearby rock. Cinder opened her eyes. "Well?"
"Third time was a charm," Ash smiled. Cinder looked happy. "Keep practicing with your eyes closed. I'm going to go get us some food to eat while we train."

Author's Note:
Whadda you think Firefly and Max are talking about? :o And I got a new story blog, just head on over to my profile to see it. ;)

Chapter 14: Goldwing and Airwing's Meeting

Goldwing lifted his head off his paws as he saw his grandfather enter the den. "Airwing," he said, getting to his paws, "what brings you here?" Goldwing trotted over to Airwing and sat down, wondering what could be troubling his mind. That, or Airwing was there for a chat or visit. Or perhaps more guidance as being leader of a place that was under the control of the Firebenders. Whatever it was, it was most likely important.
"Goldwing," Airwing began, looking at him, "the Firebenders have gone a bit too far. They're rulers, as you know, and it is up to us to begin to put a stop to it. I know that the Peacebenders want it to be The Bending Tower to be the one to step up to them. Eclipse has told me she wishes to start a rebellion too, and that's just what we'll do. In fact, I also happen to know who it is who will put a stop to Ironfang."
Goldwing perked his ears. "Who?" Goldwing's family all loathed Ironfang very much; he chased Airwing out of The Bending Tower when Ironfang lived there, yet Goldwing managed to avenge Airwing and chase Ironfang away, which was when he became leader. And, the Firebenders had killed Goldwing's son, which the whole Bending Tower grieved about. Goldwing deeply believed it was time for Ironfang to be stopped. Knowing who would stop Ironfang would help very much.
"It is Ash," Airwing murmured. "Ash is the one who will defeat Ironfang and restore peace to the land once more. Yes, Goldwing, we aren't just going to kill Ironfang, but I think Ash could do even more and exile the Firebenders from the land. I have a plan, Goldwing, and it must not fail. All most go well. I've thought for days, and I got my plan put together, which we will guide Ash to fulfill the mission."
Goldwing grew wide-eyed. "Go on," he urged. At the same time he felt full of wonder; Ash, who he had taken in when he was a loner, who cared deeply for his daughter, who was very brave and courageous and loyal, was the one to defeat the Firebenders' leader. Goldwing felt a sense of pride.
"When we recover and get stronger," Airwing began, "we must overthrow the Firebenders. You'll notice the whole Fire Nation doesn't come here, only some of them. That said, it should be more easy than going against all of them. Right afterwards, as soon as possible, we must leave The Bending Tower. Word travels quickly across the land, and perhaps soon we will be stopped. We have to go on a long journey, all of us, and not a single animal must be left behind. Even the young should go. First, we need to go to the Water Tribe. There, we will save them from the Firebenders and get them to join us on our journey. Next we need to go to the Earth Kingdom and help them out. They will join us also. Finally, we will travel to the Air Temple and have them join our forces. That should be enough to match the Firebenders' power. That is when we will overthrow the whole Fire Nation."
"Brilliant plan," Goldwing acknowledged. "But how will we help Ash in the middle of all of that? He's going to need guidance, you know. He's our savior. We must pay close attention to him. But someone may overhear us, and things could go wrong. So what do we do?"
"I've thought that through," Airwing nodded, "the Peacebenders guide us through harsh times. They're the ones who come through for us in our times of need. They tell us prophecies and give us omens to help us out. We must do that, Goldwing. And how do we act like a Peacebender? We join the Peacebenders. I plan for, in our rebellion, for both of us to die in the process."
Goldwing's eyes widened. "Die? Airwing, if we die, everyone might go into chaos! The Bending Tower's leader and wisest shaman will be gone. What will they do then? Especially if we're leading a whole rebellion and The Bending Tower is leading it, with The Bending Tower's leader being the one in charge, what will happen?"
"Simple! We get a new leader," Airwing said, "and Ash must be the one to be our leader. It can't be Kabu. His time may come near, too. It will, I think by the time we begin the rebellion he will be retired or dead. Goldwing, you got to live long enough to make Ash deputy. That must be your final task before you die. I can die anytime now."
Goldwing nodded. "Alright, so we overthrow the Firebenders, get a new deputy, start the rebellion, die, watch Ash over from the clouds and guide him in his thoughts and dreams, and defeat the Fire Nation."
Airwing smiled. "Perfect, youngster, you got it down right."

Author's Note:
I'm so excited about writing TFEOB chapters now. .3.

Chapter 13: Return of the Deer

Twig poked her head out of the bushes and scanned the area. She stepped out from the bushes and sniffed the air. Her whiskers twitched and she whipped around, growling slightly. "Enough, guys! You're not going to be killed by the Firebenders." She then snorted and murmured, "yet."
Rusty and Dust both bowled out from the bushes and looked around with wide, round eyes. "Are you sure?" Rusty whimpered, slowly getting to his feet. Behind the twins came Twister and Akumu, followed by two barn owls, one big and one little. Rusty jumped, hitting Dust as the two owls came through.
The owls exchanged glances, and the bigger one looked at the others. "Are you hunting or not? Get to work," she snapped.
"Um...what's your name again?" Dust asked.
"Nyra," growled the owl, "must I repeat myself?"
"Apparently yes," muttered Twig, low so Nyra wouldn't hear.
Rusty sighed and got to his paws. He trotted away, and Dust ran after him, looking nervously back at Nyra and the other owl before following. Twister trotted after them. "So what are we hunting?" she sniffed the air. "There's not much around...but there is two rabbits together over in the bushes." She nodded toward some bushes.
"I got it," Rusty and Dust both said at the same time. They looked at each other, shrugged, then slowly crept towards the bushes. They peered through it, seeing the two rabbits. Twister was right; they were both there. Rusty and Dust both pounced at the same time, bowling into the rabbits and quickly biting them, killing them. They carried their prey back to Twister. "Done," Rusty said through his mouthful of rabbit.
"Alright then," Twister nodded, "let's--" she froze and sniffed the air. "There's a deer nearby!" She looked to the right. "It's by Ice River. If we catch it, the Firebenders might reward us by letting us eat something!" She turned to Rusty and Dust.  "Let's go get it!"
The three wolves trotted towards Ice River. They stopped behind the bushes nearby, and indeed, there was a male deer there. It was laying down by the river, looking around. Its head was down low, so the antlers weren't visible. Rusty snorted, "That thing looks so small! This should be easy!" he stepped through the bushes, and flinched as the deer perked his ears and began to rise his head.
"Oh snap," Rusty whispered. The deer had at least thirty antlers. It got to its hooves and gave Rusty a glare. Boy, if looks could kill... Rusty thought, taking steps back. The deer snorted, and on its feet it looked bigger than Goldwing himself. The deer then grunted and put its head down and charged for Rusty. "RETREAT!" Rusty yowled, and turned around and crashed through the bushes. Dust and Twister both gave one look at the deer and both at the same time turned around and darted after Rusty. Twister, being much faster than both of them put together, easily darted ahead.
"Get back here! Don't leave us!" Dust snapped, moving faster as he felt the deer gaining on them. He watched as Twister fell back and began running alongside them again, a bit more slowly.
"Sorry! I forgot you two were slow," Twister apologized, jumping over a fallen tree.
"Hey!" Rusty said, and the three all crashed through the bushes and made it into the clearing, where Akumu and Twig were both carrying rabbits. They looked at the three, who were all panting. "The deer must be trying to get through the fallen trees," Rusty whispered.
"You two look like you were running down Mt. Upepo!" Twig snorted. "Why are you so out of breath?"
Rusty was about to speak, but just then the deer crashed through the bushes, and snorted at them again, aggressively pointing his antlers at them. Rusty, wide-eyed, yelped in fear. "What do we do?!" he said, turning to Dust and Twister, who were giving the deer horrified looks. It charged, and all three of them dodged to the side. Akumu and Twig were frozen in fear, looking at the deer with wide eyes.
"Attack it!" yowled Twig, dropping her rabbit and lunging at the deer. Despite she was a small cat, she seemed determined to take the deer down.
"Twig! You're gonna get yourself kill-- ugh!" Akumu grumbled, lunging at the deer and sinking her claws in. The deer snorted alarm and began bucking all over the place, making Twig fall off and get slammed into the earth. Rusty heard her moan and she closed her eyes. Akumu fell on top of Twig and looked at her. She put her ear next to Twig's heart. "She's alive," Akumu murmured, jumping as the deer charged at her but missed, putting his antlers into the tree nearby.
Rusty and Dust both lunged themselves onto the deer at the same time, biting down. The deer roared in surprise and hit the tree with his back, crushing Dust. Dust slipped off the deer's back and moaned. "Ohhh..." Dust shook his head. "Guys, we need to retreat..."
Rusty nodded agreement, blood coming from his shoulder. "We can't take on this deer alone. Forget the prey, we need to go back to The Bending Tower and let Eclipse look at our wounds." He began to run back to The Bending Tower. Dust followed, not running very fast, and had Twister by his side to help him run. Akumu picked up Twig and darted off. The deer however, kept rampaging and running around, not noticing the others slip off.

Back at The Bending Tower, Twig, Rusty and Dust were laying in the healers' room. Dust was asleep, and so was Twig. Rusty was sitting by Eclipse, and she was putting a leaf on his injury. "Rusty, I want you to lay down and just take it easy," Eclipse nodded. Rusty nodded back and laid down next to his brother. He sighed; Twig had a concussion, and Dust had a headache, and Eclipse had simply said Dust needed rest. Twig, however, would be in the healers' den for quite a while.
Akumu was lucky, and escaped without injuries; same with Twister. They were both standing by Eclipse, looking down at them. "Are they going to be okay?" Twister asked, exchanging worried looks with Akumu.
"They'll be fine," Nightgale assured, who was walking over to Twig and putting an herb by her. "They just need some rest, and won't be able to perform their duties for a while. Except Rusty, though. He'll be back on his paws soon."
Dang it, Rusty thought, knowing he'd be embracing the Firebenders treating him as a slave while Dust got to sleep for the rest of the day and Twig resting for the rest of the moon. Rusty checked his injury. He could see blood stains on the leaf. "So, you were chased by a deer?" Nightgale asked, giggling. "You must be pretty weak to be chased by a deer."
"Nightgale, that was Ironfang in hooves," Rusty narrowed his eyes, "it was like the leader of the Darkbenders in a deer's body! It had at least thirty antlers, and it was big and scary!" Rusty looked at Eclipse. "I'm frankly surprised we have survived!"
Eclipse looked confused. "Hm. I remember back when we were apprentices Ash was harmed by a deer that sounds quite a lot like this one. Except when he was knocked out, some animals in our patrol went out to kill the deer. That deer is supposed to be dead. Were they not successful?"

Author's Note:
The return of the deer... o3o

Chapter 12: A Friendly Firebender

Ash walked into the yard and put a dead beaver and fox down on the large pile of prey. His stomach growled as he caught scent of the dead prey. His mouth watered, and it took all of his self-control to not grab one and gulp it down. He looked around nervously at the Firebenders around. Ash felt like they were all glaring at him. Quickly, Ash ran back into the forest, acting like he had more prey to fetch, and he sniffed the air, detecting a rabbit not far off. That could feed one of the young...or a small Firebender, Ash rolled his eyes. He began to trot along, but jerked his head up as he saw Firebenders walking by, looking like...they were leaving.
"Why are they leaving The Bending Tower?" Ash murmured, shaking his head. He turned around to head off, but jumped as he saw a gray she-wolf standing there. Ash took a few steps back in surprise, realizing she was a Firebender. Oh great, Ash thought frustratedly, bracing for her to start yelling at him.
"Because," the she-wolf said, and Ash widened his eyes in surprise, noticing how gentle and calm her voice was, "the Firebenders have conquered more than just The Bending Tower; the Earth Kingdom, some of the Tribe of Flying Birds, and the Water Tribe. So we have to patrol the land to keep animals in place--"
"What!" Ash yowled, not believing his ears as he heard the she-wolf say they conquered the Water Tribe. When he was an apprentice, Ash had been a part of the patrol who saved them from the Firebenders; now it felt like it was done for nothing. "But we saved them a while back!"
Ash expected the she-wolf to comment that it was a horrible save and talk about how horrible The Bending Tower was, but instead the she-wolf looked at Ash with her calm, blue eyes. "And you were brave to do that. But right now, the Firebenders are in power." Ash stifled an eye-roll as the she-wolf smiled. "My last station was the Earth Kingdom. My name is Stella, I'm a Firebender apprentice! You?"
Ash felt suspicious of how kind this "Stella" was, but he replied anyway. "Er, Ash, full Waterbender--" However, he quickly stopped talking as a blood-red dog with white paws walked up to Stella and Ash, throwing a glare at Ash.
"Stella, if you ever talk to one of Goldwing's Benders, you will be ordering them to fetch you prey, not to mingle with them!" the dog snarled. "Stella, you need to learn, you are too soft! See, if you ever spot an animal under our control not working, you must bite them, strike them down, and show no mercy!" With that, the dog sliced his claws across Ash's chest, making Ash yowl in surprise. Luckily, Ash didn't start bleeding. Ash struggled to his paws, and the dog ran off.
Stella sighed. "Sorry. That's my mentor, Hachiko. He isn't exactly the friendliest Bender in the--"
Suddenly, Tiggerpaka jumped down in front of Ash, making him flinch. He looked up at Ash with a smirk. "Greetings, Mash!"
"It's Ash," Ash muttered.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Tiggerpaka said, acting like he didn't hear him, "and your friend here, Tella, who is in league with Tiredblade!" Tiggerpaka narrowed his eyes at Stella, who looked from Ash to Tiggerpaka, confused.
"Um, it's Stella, and I don't know a 'Tiredblade', but I know a Fireblade--" Stella began.
"No, my dear, it is Tiredblade. You uneducated wolves get confused much too easily," Tiggerpaka snorted. "Anyway, I must find Tiredblade, he owes me grubs! Tella, tell me where he is! You must be good at telling, it's in your name, right?"
"Er...Fireblade is in the Water Tribe--" Stella began, but Ash cut her off.
"Tiggerpaka," Ash said, having an idea, and the meerkat turned to him. "Since you're such a great animal, an experienced explorer, we need you to do an extremely important job that is very deadly, yet the most important job in the world! You gotta accept it. What you need to do, is stand-" Ash pointed with his tail to a rock covered in moss "-right here! And you mustn't move!"
Tiggerpaka threw his paws into the air. "Finally!" Tiggerpaka exclaimed, "someone recognized my talents! My true meaning in life! To do the impossible, to master the deadly jobs!" Tiggerpaka hopped onto the moss rock and stood stil. Ash stifled a snicker, and looked at Stella.
"That takes care of that," Ash smiled.

Author's Note:
Guess who made Stella! :3