Chapter 44: A Visit from Ironfang

"So, you think you can defeat me?" laughed the icy voice.
Ash shivered. He was trapped in a pitch-black area. He had no idea what was happening; was he in the Fire Nation? Did Ironfang somehow transport him to the Fire Nation? Was this just a nightmare? Ash looked around wildly; there seemed to be no one there, but the voice had to belong to someone.
Suddenly, red glowing eyes came out of the darkness. "What a coward you are," spat the voice. "Just like your old leader, Goldwing! It'll be easy to defeat you, Ash..." the voice laughed, and the red eyes turned around and disappeared.
Then, Ash yelled out in alarm as the red eyes appeared right in front of him. "You're simply leading all of your Benders to their doom, Ash. They're going to all die because of you. We're invincible. The Firebenders are destined to rule the land. It is the will of the Darkbenders themselves. Be wise and join us, Ash..."
"No!" Ash exclaimed, "we-we will defeat you!"
"Is that a hint of fear?" Ironfang growled, "I am more powerful than you assume, Ash. You may have escaped my grasp when you were a pup...but I am the one who made that huge storm that killed Willow, Mystery, Fan and Amur. I hoped to kill more...but I guess the Peacebenders were actually off their lazy tails at the moment. I also captured a beast unlike any other who will demolish you..." Ironfang dug his claws into Ash's paw, making blood spill like a river from it. Ash screamed. "There's nothing you can do! Surrender, Ash!"
"No! Please, no!" Ash pleaded, "D-Dad! M-Mom! Any of the Peacebenders, end this nightmare!"
"Your parents are dead, Ash," spat Ironfang, "I killed them! Your father--"
Suddenly, white filled the area, and Ironfang disappeared.
"Do not be afraid," said a voice, "trust in us, Ash. Trust in the Peacebenders."
"Who-?" Ash began, but the voice interrupted.
"Don't lose faith," the voice whispered. "Don't lose faith...don't lose faith..."
"Ash?" a voice was coming into focus of Ash's ears. "Ash? Ash!"
Then, Ash jerked awake, yelling out. "No!" he exclaimed. He then looked around. Airia was looking at him, concerned. Charlotte was there too, looking at him with more concern. Rusty and Eclipse were also looking at him.
"Ash? What happened?" Eclipse asked.
"Uh..." Ash began, but a cough cut him off.
"Oh. We should probably let you recover," Eclipse nodded. "Pressure, the heat...must've been too much for you."
"But-But I'm not weak! I'm fine!" Ash insisted.
Eclipse ignored him, though. She turned to Rusty, nodded, and looked at Charlotte and Airia. Rusty walked off, and Charlotte quickly followed, but gave a hesitant look at Ash. Airia, however, stayed, but Ash felt too shaken from the nightmare to care who was with him.
"What happened?" Airia blurted out. "Why did you faint? Why did you shout 'no'?"
"Um...I...I..." Ash looked at Airia, but couldn't find any words to say to her.
"Eclipse must be right. The heat's weakening you," Airia shrugged.
"Is not!" Ash protested. He sighed. "I dunno if I should tell or not."
"Come on, you can trust me. I know your secrets already," she giggled.
Ash sighed. "Fine, I guess so. Look...Ironfang visited me in a nightmare. I was hearing voices when Cora got killed. It was Ironfang talking to me. He then forced me to pass out and visited me, telling me to give in and I'll never win...h-he also said that I escaped his grasp when I was a pup. And that he killed my parents. I don't know anything about my history, but I really want to know now...but Ironfang was interrupted by a holy voice. It told me not to worry, not to lose faith. Then I woke up."
Airia perked her ears. "Um...d-did Ironfang mention anything about...er..." she shuffled her paws nervously. "...A Bender not being a real animal? Or...something about G-Goldwing or his family?" She looked at him, face full of anxiety.
"...No..." Ash eyed her suspiciously. "The only thing he mentioned about Goldwing was that he was a coward. Why do you ask?"
"No reason," Airia said quickly.
"Tell me. You know plenty of my secrets," Ash said.
Airia's eyes darted around nervously. "Look...I can't say."
"It can't be that bad..." Ash said.
Airia then put her wing around Ash. "Hey, why don't you go resume your leader duties, okay?" she then licked his forehead kindly and darted off. Ash stared after her. I do not understand... There was a mixture of emotions in him: love, confusion and nervousness.
Rusty and Charlotte then walked over. "What happened? Why do you look slightly happy?" Rusty asked. "Oh, why am I even asking? I saw what she did. Why did she do that, anyway?" Rusty cocked his head.
"I was trying to get her to tell me something, that's all," Ash shrugged.
"Ah. She was distracting you so she could leave," Rusty laughed.
"...Wh-What were you two talking about...?" Charlotte asked. A hint of jealousy was in her tone, making Ash recoil. Even her expression shown that she was jealous. She looked at Ash, looking curious. Ash felt a bit bad.
"Er...nothing," Ash muttered.
"...Okay then," Charlotte said, and walked away.
"Why's she so upset?" Ash asked Rusty when Charlotte was well out of earshot.
"Oh, you know girls. They're mysterious," Rusty said. "And have more emotions than you can count."
"You should know more, though. You have a mate," Ash shrugged.
"Well, I'm not very smart, and I'm no expert. But Charlotte probably suspects you and Airia are mates. So, obviously, she's jealous. See? Not too hard to figure out," Rusty chuckled. "Charlotte's liked you ever since you joined The Bending Tower."
"Really?" Ash said.
"Duh, everyone knows," Rusty snorted.
Ash shook his head. "Whatever...we need to get back to travelling."
"Yeah. This talk is getting weird," Rusty nodded.
Ash walked over go The Bending Tower group. "I'm fine, everyone. No need to panic at all. We'll continue our journey."
"What happened?" Comet called out.
"Don't worry about it," Ash responded. "Let's go..."

Author's Note:
Working on the TFEOB book.
PLEASE enter the cover contest, barely ANYONE is doing it! D:
Plus, there's a new post on Misitu's Art Central.