Chapter 51: The Patrol's Guard

All the animals in  The Bending Tower were all hiding among the foliage. There was a group of trees that they were hiding in. All was well so far, and even a bit of prey was found. Ash was eating a rabbit that Mistletoe had found. It tasted good, and the rest of The Bending Tower was no longer hungry or thirsty. This is going well so far, Ash thought happily.

"Intruder!" exclaimed Darner.

Ash perked his ears. Someone was walking by! "Quick, everyone duck down and try to blend in!" he hissed. He pressed himself low to the grass, which was very soft and was just like bedding. He looked around for who was coming by.

"Where is the intruder?" Dust wondered.

"There!" Rusty said. "Wow..."

Ash spotted the wolf as well. The wolf looked exactly like Ash himself - dark gray with darker gray flecks. Whoa... he thought. Ash studied the wolf. The only difference between them was that this passerby had green eyes. Ash had blue eyes.

"Ash! Are you in two places at once?" Rusty demanded.

"No..." Ash murmured, still looking at the wolf's hypnotizing green eyes.

"She looks just like you," Dust commented. "Is that even possible?"

"Who is she?" Rusty wondered.

Suddenly, a voice called. "Widow! What are you doing?"
Then, a black male wolf white paws and a tail-tip trotted up to the she-wolf. He was slightly smaller than her.

"Hi Raven," Widow responded. "I'm getting berries for our Healer."

"I'll help!" Raven responded eagerly, beaming at her.

"Then come on," Widow nodded, and the two darted off.

"They're gone," Rusty confirmed.

Ash, however, was still distracted by having seen Widow.

Raoul paced around in the cell, bored. He had tried talking to Caput and Nota some more, but they had gone to sleep and said they didn't want to be disturbed. Raoul, however, was excited for when they'd wake up again; he was in the same room as some of the greatest warriors. Raoul's paws tingled with excitement at the thought of it. He then sat down, hoping the warriors would wake up soon.

"Hello?" came a gentle voice.

Raoul perked his ears. A silhouette moved in the shadows. The rest of the patrol was asleep, so Raoul was the only one who knew this animal was coming in. What if it wants to hurt us? he thought with a jolt. Raoul growled. "Who are you, and what do you want?" he demanded, trying his best to sound brave.

As the animal stepped closer, Raoul realized what it was: a beautiful female Border Collie. "Hi."
"H-Hi," Raoul responded nervously, forgetting to sound threatening.

"I've been sent here to guard you," she said. Raoul didn't quite understand why, though, that she didn't sound angry at them. She sounded soothing and shy. I'll bet most Earthbenders who guard us won't be as nice as this one sounds, Raoul thought.

"Who are you?" the collie asked.

"Raoul," Raoul quickly responded, then flinched, realizing he shouldn't have used his real name.

The collie eyed him. "Okay...and who are your friends there?"
"Wh-Who?" Raoul said.

"Your friends...the ones in the cell with you," she responded.

Oh. "Um...Never mind that," he said quickly.

"Where do you come from?" the collie asked, looking curious.

Reminding himself to be cautious about what he said, Raoul replied, "We're travellers," trying to make his voice sound steady.

"Okay then. My name's Nyla," the collie nodded.

"Nyla..." Raoul murmured. Pretty name.

"You're probably hungry," Nyla shrugged. "I'll get you some food."

Nyla turned and walked away. Raoul smiled. Yes! Finally, some food.

Nyla then returned with a rabbit in her jaws. "Since you're the only one awake, I'll give it to you." Nyla then opened the cell door to put the rabbit in.

Raoul jolted. The door was open! He'd be able to get out, and if he was quick enough, maybe he could run free and go get The Bending Tower for help since they were imprisoned! Seizing the opportunity, Raoul darted out of the cell door.

But it turned out Nyla was really fast, too. She easily pounced on him and pinned him to the ground. "And where do you think you're going?" she said in her sweet voice. Raoul was surprised; Nyla was almost as fast as he was. And I'm one of the fastest animals at The Bending Tower! Raoul thought.

"Um...Uh..." Raoul struggled to find an excuse. "Well, duh, I want to leave."

"Really?" Nyla said, "No surprise there. But as long as I'm guard, no one will be escaping the cell. And if you do, I will catch you and have you punished. And that's a promise," Nyla growled. She then pushed Raoul into the cell, and he yelped out. She threw the rabbit in after him. "You should be grateful I'm even giving you food after that little incident." She then slammed the cell door and turned around, standing guard.

Raoul's jaw dropped. The Border Collie he thought was sweet and harmless turned out to have a harsh side.

Author's Note:

Raoul got pwned.

And what do you think about Ash's look-alike? :o