Chapter 29: New Ranks

All the Benders of The Bending Tower gathered around, as Ash stepped in front of them. "Before we leave, I have an announcement to make. A new deputy is needed."

This sent murmurs rippling throughout the crowd of animals, and Ash waited for them to be silent. Of course tensions were high, because Ash had been made deputy not too long ago before a new deputy was to be appointed. When everyone was silent, Ash continued. He had already decided who the deputy would be: the third animal of the prophecy.

"Rusty is the new deputy," Ash announced.

"What?!" Rusty and Dust yelled at the same time.

The crowd was first silent, but then they all began talking at once. Ash nodded at Rusty to come up, and he did so, trembling. Once he made his way through the crowd, he went up to Ash. "You got to be mistaken. I'm not a v-very good Bender..."

"I'll tell you later why I chose you," Ash whispered. He then rose his voice. "I chose Rusty because despite he has a lack in wits, and may not seem like a hero, I know Rusty would be loyal  to us to the end, never to betray The Bending Tower."

The crowd yowled in celebration, and for the first time Ash realized what it was like to be leader. I made it all this way. I was a former loner, and now...now I'm the leader of The Bending Tower. This is amazing. He looked at Rusty, who seemed excited. Maybe he'll get to know this feeling one day, too.

"Now, I wish to speak to Rusty and Eclipse," Ash nodded. "We'll be leaving here shortly. Dust, since Rusty will be talking with me, get some animals hunting." 

Dust nodded at Ash and leapt away. Ash felt satisfaction. I'm getting good at this.

Ash trotted off into the forest, and Eclipse followed, Rusty behind. He went through the forest, making sure they'd be far enough so no one could hear them. Ash stopped and perked his ears and sniffed the air. The only living souls in the area were Ash, Eclipse, Rusty, and the prey.

"Okay. Eclipse, you already know this," Ash said, "but Rusty...Cloudsky, Feather's mate, once told me in a dream that I needed two others that would help me to defeat Ironfang. He told me one was Eclipse. But the third, my...my father told me the prophecy, saying the third was an autumn-colored animal, mistaken for someone who wasn't a hero. That's you, Rusty."

Rusty was wide-eyed. "Really? Are you sure? I-I...I mean, me? Couldn't it be Firefly? Or anyone else? I'm not destined for something that big, I'm sure. How do you know it's me?"

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life," Ash nodded.

"I believe it could be you, too, Rusty," Eclipse agreed.

Rusty looked at both of them. "How am I supposed to help?"

"That, we don't know yet. But keep this a secret," Ash told him.

Rusty looked anxious. "Thank you for making me deputy," seemed to be all he could say.

Ash nodded, and the three made their way back to The Bending Tower animals. Ash stood on the rock he had been standing on for making announcements. Everyone naturally gathered around. "Okay. After we eat, we shall embark on our journey--"

"Hello."

Ash turned to see Miguel was behind him. He was scanning the animals. At his sight, everyone growled at Miguel, and he looked at them with round eyes. "Wh-Where's Goldwing and Airwing?"

"Dead," growled Dust, "but you should be happy about that, shouldn't you?"

Ash saw that Slice had a look of fear on her face, and she slowly backed up to hide in the crowd. Miguel looked a bit frightened. "I...I...Who's leader now?"

"Ash is," Charlotte glared, "and you'll kill him over my dead body."

Everyone was growling at Miguel. Miguel slowly backed up. He was probably scared because he didn't have any Firebenders to back him up. "Miguel," Ash said, "we will kill you if you're here to do any harm to us. The Fire Nation are no longer our rulers."

"But..." Miguel stammered, "I wanted to talk to Goldwing...!"

"Right!" Dust snorted.

"...Because I'm not evil. I was a spy!"

At this, everyone fell silent.

"What?" came Slice's voice as she padded through the crowd.

Miguel looked nervous. "I was spying for you guys. Goldwing and Airwing told me I could spy on the Fire Nation and that it'd help you out. So I did. I miss you all, too. I miss Max and Raoul..." he glanced at the two Border Collies, who were glaring at him, probably not buying his story. "I miss training...Heck, I even miss Rusty. Most of all, I miss Slice."

Slice looked happy at these words, but Rusty was growling at Miguel, and some Benders looked like they didn't trust him. Most of the Benders, however, seemed to understand and believe Miguel's story. Ash had t admit, he kind of believed Miguel.

"What if you're lying?" Rusty demanded

"I'm not!" Miguel insisted, "If I'm lying, may Lifebreeze strike me with lightning."

However, most Benders began to agree with Rusty's statement. Ash couldn't blame them. Goldwing and Airwing were dead, so they weren't here to defend their case to say if Miguel was lying or not. Miguel could have possibly teamed up with Hachiko so Hachiko could kill Goldwing and Airwing, and Miguel could try to convince everyone he was good and spy on them. 

Slice, however, seemed to believe him. "Miguel, I can't believe you're back!" she exclaimed.

"Don't believe him!" Rusty insisted, "Slice, I don't want anything bad to happen to you."

"Why do you care? You're already with Crystal," Slice snapped, and Rusty flinched. Ash recoiled. He had forgotten that Slice also happened to like Rusty. Ash looked at Crystal, and she seemed puzzled. Rusty ran over to Crystal to talk to her, probably explain some things. Slice trotted over to Miguel, who seemed particularly satisfied.

Everyone began talking, and Ash yowled out. "Everyone!" with this, the animals fell silent. "I will talk with Miguel later. But for now, I have some apprentices I want to make full Benders before we leave. These are quite a few, so it should clear out the apprentices' den," Ash added with a smile. "They've been in training for a while now...Raoul, Max, Twig, Windows, Dell and Slice."

All six of them looked up at Ash.

Ash struggled to remember the words to say, and they finally arrived in his head. "Um..." he stammered, but then continued in as clear of a voice as he could. "Peacebenders, hear my words as I make Raoul, Max, Twig, Windows, Dell and Slice into full Benders. They have worked hard to understand Bending, and are ready to take their turns to become full Benders. Raoul, do you agree that you are ready to be an Airbender, and that you can take on all of these responsibilities?"

"Yes!" Raoul exclaimed, wagging his tail rapidly.

"Max?"

"Yes," Max said seriously.

"Twig?"

"Yeah."

"Windows?"

"Yes!"

"Dell?"

"Uh-huh!"

"Slice?"

"I do."

"Then with the help of the Peacebenders, you may all get your wish. When I tap your head, the Peacebenders' powers will make you stronger, faster, and a better Bender." Ash said. Please, Peacebenders, make this work. He then stepped forward and tapped Raoul's head with his muzzle, then Ash tapped Max's head, then Twig's, then Windows's, then Dell's, then Slice's."

"Raoul, Max, Twig, Windows, Dell, Slice. You are now officially full Benders. Welcome." Ash nodded.

There were howls of pleasure and cheers erupting from the Benders. Ash felt satisfied that it turned out well, and as the new Benders made their way to join the others, a very familiar voice arose from the crowd.

"Congratulations!"

Author's Note:
Who could it be? :o

Do you believe that Miguel is actually good?
Also, I'm considering making a blog that's a guide to the TFEOB characters. It'll sort of be like the Warriors Wiki I suppose, which you can see here [link].

Speaking of Wikipedia, my friend Conchitah, creator of Eclipse made a TFEOB Wiki a while back. She's still working on it, but it's coming along well! :D Check it out here!