Chapter 36: Creature's Brother

Ash kept falling and falling. The cold air rushed through his pelt. The bridge above disappeared, and he was going so fast he couldn't hear any voices from the animals up above. The canyon on both sides of him were rushing by fast and they became a blur. Ash's eyes began to get water in them from the air. I wish I had wings...wait, Airia!
"AIRIA!" Ash howled out, hoping she could hear him. Although he realized how awkward it'd be if she had to save him, at this point Ash didn't care much; all he wanted was to stay alive. He observed the area in the air around him, and turned his head to the ground, wondering how much time he had left before he'd slam against the ground. Ash flinched to see the ground had came into clear view - it was a fast-moving creek, and, by the looks of it, it was very cold. Ash was about to land in it when...
The air rushed by Ash's ears and he began flying rapidly away from the icy water. Airia was holding his scruff and shooting up towards the bridge. It made Ash feel small since Airia could hold him so easily. And the fact that Airia was bigger than him didn't help. "How can you carry me so easily?" he asked.
"What? Er...I dunno," Airia replied.
Ash was about to ask why when Airia put him back on the bridge. "Just continue walking. I'll meet you all on the other side," she said, and took off.
Ash turned to see Rusty looking guilty and horror-struck. Dust looked angered with his brother. Eclipse looked relieved, and Nightgale looked frozen with shock. Ash sighed. "Well, I'm fine, I guess. I'm still alive. Let's just keep moving along then."
Dust growled, and rounded on Rusty. "Idiot! It really is a mystery why you're deputy! You almost killed Ash, bug-brain!" He glared at him, "I've never seen anything so stupid! I can't believe even you were dumb enough to kick Ash off the bridge!"
Rusty gave him a sad look. "I...It was an accident...I--"
"Yeah, an accident that could've cost us our leader!"
Ash flinched; he had never seen Dust so angry, especially at his own brother.
Rusty looked angry now. "I wouldn't have if someone didn't distract me!"
Dust glared, "At least I'm not a total IDIOT like you are!"
Ash noticed Rusty looked hurt, but then his hurt was quickly replaced with anger. "Oh YEAH? Well, at least I'm braver than you! You haven't even TRIED talking to Charlotte!" Rusty then grew wide-eyed, realizing he shouldn't have said that, and half of The Bending Tower was watching.
Ash looked around; luckily, Charlotte wasn't there to see what was going on.
Rusty then turned to Ash. "Come on, let's continue," he mumbled.
As they started off again, Ash turned to Eclipse and Nightgale. "Okay, now I'm worried," he murmured, so Rusty wouldn't hear, "if those two are fighting, that isn't good."
"It could be worse," Eclipse said.
"How?" Ash asked.
"Well...they could be killing each other," Eclipse suggested.
"They just need time to cool. They're best friends, Ash, and you know it. Best friends don't hold grudges against each other," Nightgale smiled.
Everyone kept moving on. Ash didn't care about how eerie the bridge was. With all that just happened, he was too distracted. They kept moving through the mist, and a cold breeze that swept through made everyone shiver. Ash looked up; the clouds were covering the sky.
Suddenly, a silhouette formed in front of Ash. He saw it was a crocodile.
"GET IT!" came Rusty's voice, obviously seeing it too. Despite the bridge was narrow, Rusty lunged at the crocodile, and he was joined by Crash, Charlotte and Diamond. A growl came from the crocodile, and soon the four silhouettes had pinned the crocodile one. Ash trotted forward and saw who it was.
"Creature?" Ash said, unable to hid his confusion.
"I'm not Creature!" spat the crocodile, "my name's Cumulus."
Rusty snickered. "Nice name."
Cumulus growled. "Be quiet!"
Creature came through the crowd, and looked shocked. "Cumulus?"
"Hello, brother," sneered Cumulus.
"Wha-?" Ash turned to Creature.
Creature sighed. "Cumulus...is my Firebender brother."
"Ha! I told you I scented a Firebender!" Streak boasted.
"What do we do with him?" Crash asked Ash.
Ash thought for a while, then decided. "We'll take him prisoner."

Author's Note:
Thanks to Topaz (aka the creator of Creature) for Cumulus! ^-^
Also, I created a Maximum Ride fanfiction, go to my profile to see it.