After a few days of travelling, the animals finally made it to the Air Temples. The Earth Kingdom had joined among the ranks of the group, and they still travelled in the same way; because of this, Quake was now up front with Raven, whom Ash had tried to ignore the whole way, because Raven didn't seem to like Ash one bit. The Earth Kingdom's Healers also joined: Barr, a snake, and Cherry, a badger.
"So we have to climb the mountain then?" Ash murmured to Quake.
"Yep," Quake nodded.
They could see the temple high up on top of the mountain in front of them, revealing that it'd take a while of hiking. Ash's paws were already hurting from their long travel, but it had to be done. He sighed. "Let's go, then." He grabbed onto the side of the mountain and tried climbing up, but fell down again. Raven snickered, much to Ash's annoyance.
"I don't think it's going to be easy to climb," Quake shrugged. "Here." He then smashed the ground with his fists, then raised his fists in the air. The earth below the animals began to tremble.
"What's an earthquake gonna help us with?!" Ash demanded.
As Quake was about to respond, the earth under The Bending Tower and Earth Kingdom animals shot up, making them rise higher and higher, going towards the Air Temples. Oh, I see what he's doing, Ash thought.
Quake then hit the ground again and the ground stopped. "Okay everyone, go onto that pillar," Quake nodded towards a skinny pillar made out of rocks and all, that had a rope bridge connected to it that lead to the Air Temples. Everyone walked onto the pillar and the ground that took them up fell back down into place. Ash looked down on it; it looked like it hadn't moved at all.
"So we cross the bridge now," Ash nodded. He stepped his paw on the rope bridge, and it actually held steady and didn't creak, unlike the bridge that lead to the Water Tribe. Ash walked onto it with ease, and Quake followed, also followed by Raven. The rest of the animals piled on.
Ash looked at the Air Temples ahead; it was like a big castle, and a giant gate was at the front. He looked around, and didn't see any other buildings like it. Why is it called the Air 'Temples' when there's only one of them? Ash wondered.
They arrived at the entrance. Ash looked at it. He trotted forward and up to the gate, which was unoccupied. Ash turned to Quake. "Why don't they bother to guard their gates?" he asked.
"Well, they don't usually get visitors, and like I said, they're civilians," Quake responded.
Ash sighed and tapped his muzzle to the gate. Like the Earth Kingdom, the gates then began to slowly creak open. Ash then turned to Quake. "Shouldn't we only bring a few animals in, and have the rest wait out here? All of us in there will be a bit too packed I think..."
Quake nodded agreement, and turned to the animals. "We'll only have the leaders - me and Ash - and their deputies - Rusty and Raven - come inside. The rest of you can wait out here."
Everyone nodded, but Ash heard Streak and Nzuri protesting.
"That's not fair!" Streak insisted.
"Yeah! Streak even got to see the Earth Kingdom, I haven't seen anything!" Nzuri protested.
Rainbow then hushed her kits. "Apprentices do not disrespect their leaders," she pointed out.
That made Streak and Nzuri go silent.
"Okay, let's go," Ash nodded.
The four of them walked into the Air Temples, and the gates closed behind them. Ash looked around; they were in a circular room, and there were several open entrances leading to different hallways. There was also a staircase at the back of the room. Ash looked up; the roof was high up, and there was a skylight that let the sun come shine down into the room.
"Where do we go?" Ash asked.
"Up the staircase, I believe their leader likes to be up high to talk to the Peacebenders," Quake shrugged.
"Why is this place empty?" Raven said, looking around.
"They're probably meditating," Quake replied.
Raven snorted. "Why meditate? They should be practicing Bending and fighting skills! Meditating is worthless."
"Raven, we cannot judge what another Bender does for practice," Quake said.
"And he made Raven deputy, why?" Rusty whispered into Ash's ear. Ash nodded agreement.
They walked up the stairs and onto a circular spot overlooking the floor. There was a big window in the wall, and right by it was another staircase. They walked up that staircase and into a room, where a red fox was sitting, looking out the window showing a beautiful view of a valley and the mountains.
The fox didn't say a word, but his left ear twitched and then he spoke. "Who is it?"
"Meteor, I am Quake, leader of the Earth Kingdom," said Quake.
The fox turned around. "I thought Dusk was leader," he remarked.
"She's dead," Quake shook his head. "And besides that, she went slightly...insane."
"It was her fate," the fox sighed. "The Peacebenders told me...too bad, though. She was a great leader."
"And these are my friends," Quake said, not acknowledging Meteor's last remark, "Ash, leader of The Bending Tower, and his deputy Rusty. And this is Raven, my deputy." Quake nodded to them.
"Ash!" Meteor's eyes lit up. "Ah, you're the one who made this all possible, yes?"
"You know what we're here for?" Rusty cocked his head.
"Indeed!" Meteor nodded. "I foretold about this rebellion."
"Um...so you're in?" Rusty asked.
Meteor sighed and shook his head. "We do not fight."
"Come on!" Raven growled. "Why don't you ever fight? You need to!"
Meteor looked at Raven calmly. "There is no need for violence or war. Bloodshed is not to be enthusiastic about. Staying civilian is what we do, and we spend our time with the prophecies and mysteries of the land. Knowledge can be more powerful than the strongest Bender sometimes."
"So you don't have anything worth fighting for?" Raven retorted.
"Raven," Quake said sternly, "I expect you to be more mature. You are not an apprentice anymore."
Raven looked like he was gonna reply, but quickly went quiet.
"The young one has passion," nodded Meteor. "An attribute he will prize."
Rusty snorted. "More like get him in trouble," he muttered.
"So you're not coming?" Ash demanded, trying to get things back on track.
Meteor shook his head. "Nope."
"Come on! We need your help!" Ash pleaded. "You're the smartest Benders in the land!"
Meteor sighed. "You really need us...? Well, I'll let you take along Windfur."
"Windfur?" Rusty echoed.
"One of our smartest Benders," Meteor nodded. "Tiggerpaka!"
Just then, Tiggerpaka walked into the room. "Eh, whatcha need?"
"Tiggerpaka?" Rusty exclaimed, "What are you doing here?!"
"Well, after the Earth Kingdom came tumbling down, I ran out, miraculously unharmed. Apparently, the spirits are pleased with me," Tiggerpaka smirked. "So then I heard you all rambling about these Air Temples, and I figured my wisdom was needed there. So I came along."
"Tiggerpaka, go get Windfur for me," Meteor ordered.
"With a price," Tiggerpaka demanded.
Meteor smiled slightly. "One grub?"
"Precisely, my friend," Tiggerpaka nodded, running out the door.
"Why'd you let him in here?" Raven asked, not looking impressed.
"We must take in any loners. So I took him in, and I helped to provide food for him and in return he helped me out with some things so I wouldn't have to leave my meditating to go do what I needed to."
"I'm surprised you even got him to come in," Rusty snorted.
Tiggerpaka then returned with a fox by his side; she looked bright-eyed and happy. She was black with a white tail-tip, and looked as though she didn't have a care in the world. "Hi!" she grinned. "Hey Meteor, you'll never guess what just happened, Kodi said the funniest thing!"
"Not now, Windfur," Meteor shook his head. "We need you."
"And I need my grub," Tiggerpaka insisted.
"In a moment," Meteor nodded. "Windfur, these animals could use your wisdom for a journey to stop the Firebenders."
"Ooh! We're stopping the Firebenders? Yay!" Windfur cheered, grinning from ear to ear.
"This is your smartest animal?" Raven grumbled.
"Yes, she is," Meteor nodded. "Oh, and Windfur, you should bring Kodi along, too."
"What about Akiki?" Windfur asked. "My apprentice?"
"Akiki still needs learning. She will stay here," Meteor said.
"Ah, okay. I'll go get Kodi." A breeze swept by and Windfur flew out of the room.
"I can't believe we're making a whole journey with her," muttered Raven.
"Guess what, Raven? It's not going to kill you!" Rusty exclaimed in mock cheerfulness.
Raven growled at Rusty. "Watch yourself, airhead."
"Break it up," Ash ordered.
About as quickly as Windfur left, she flew back in, and a male husky followed. "Sup," he nodded to Ash and the others. "You need me, Meteor?"
"Yes. You and Windfur are to go on a mission to help stop the Firebenders," Meteor explained.
"Seems legit," Kodi smiled.
"I know! Isn't it exciting?!" Windfur squealed.
"Kodi is a great Airbender," Meteor nodded. "He's not among the wise, but he's pretty smart and will be able to help you get to the Alpha Ruins."
"Alpha Ruins?" Raven echoed.
"Yes. The Alpha Ruins, you'll need to travel there for information before continuing your journey. The Peacebenders have granted Ash permission to visit them," Meteor confirmed.
"They gave me permission?" Ash whispered. From what he was told, it was rare - and a great honor - to receive permission to go into the Alpha Ruins.
"Ooh, goodie for you!" Windfur exclaimed, not in a hurtful way, "you're so lucky!"
"Shall we go now?" Kodi suggested.
"Yes," Meteor nodded. "Good luck, and may the Peacebenders walk with you."
"Can I go with them?" Tiggerpaka asked. "They need my skills."
"Of course," Meteor nodded, as a grub came flying through the window. Meteor rolled the grub with his paw to Tiggerpaka, and Tiggerpaka picked it up and ate it.
With that, Ash, Rusty, Quake, Raven, Windfur and Kodi left, Tiggerpaka scurrying after.
Author's Note:
Thanks to E.Orr for Windfur! I made Kodi myself, I actually based Kodi off of one of my real life friends who I never really get to see much.
I just finished watching The Lion King 1 1/2 - great movie - so I couldn't resist bringing Tiggerpaka in.
And if you follow my two new stories I'll give you a cookie! c:
"So we have to climb the mountain then?" Ash murmured to Quake.
"Yep," Quake nodded.
They could see the temple high up on top of the mountain in front of them, revealing that it'd take a while of hiking. Ash's paws were already hurting from their long travel, but it had to be done. He sighed. "Let's go, then." He grabbed onto the side of the mountain and tried climbing up, but fell down again. Raven snickered, much to Ash's annoyance.
"I don't think it's going to be easy to climb," Quake shrugged. "Here." He then smashed the ground with his fists, then raised his fists in the air. The earth below the animals began to tremble.
"What's an earthquake gonna help us with?!" Ash demanded.
As Quake was about to respond, the earth under The Bending Tower and Earth Kingdom animals shot up, making them rise higher and higher, going towards the Air Temples. Oh, I see what he's doing, Ash thought.
Quake then hit the ground again and the ground stopped. "Okay everyone, go onto that pillar," Quake nodded towards a skinny pillar made out of rocks and all, that had a rope bridge connected to it that lead to the Air Temples. Everyone walked onto the pillar and the ground that took them up fell back down into place. Ash looked down on it; it looked like it hadn't moved at all.
"So we cross the bridge now," Ash nodded. He stepped his paw on the rope bridge, and it actually held steady and didn't creak, unlike the bridge that lead to the Water Tribe. Ash walked onto it with ease, and Quake followed, also followed by Raven. The rest of the animals piled on.
Ash looked at the Air Temples ahead; it was like a big castle, and a giant gate was at the front. He looked around, and didn't see any other buildings like it. Why is it called the Air 'Temples' when there's only one of them? Ash wondered.
They arrived at the entrance. Ash looked at it. He trotted forward and up to the gate, which was unoccupied. Ash turned to Quake. "Why don't they bother to guard their gates?" he asked.
"Well, they don't usually get visitors, and like I said, they're civilians," Quake responded.
Ash sighed and tapped his muzzle to the gate. Like the Earth Kingdom, the gates then began to slowly creak open. Ash then turned to Quake. "Shouldn't we only bring a few animals in, and have the rest wait out here? All of us in there will be a bit too packed I think..."
Quake nodded agreement, and turned to the animals. "We'll only have the leaders - me and Ash - and their deputies - Rusty and Raven - come inside. The rest of you can wait out here."
Everyone nodded, but Ash heard Streak and Nzuri protesting.
"That's not fair!" Streak insisted.
"Yeah! Streak even got to see the Earth Kingdom, I haven't seen anything!" Nzuri protested.
Rainbow then hushed her kits. "Apprentices do not disrespect their leaders," she pointed out.
That made Streak and Nzuri go silent.
"Okay, let's go," Ash nodded.
The four of them walked into the Air Temples, and the gates closed behind them. Ash looked around; they were in a circular room, and there were several open entrances leading to different hallways. There was also a staircase at the back of the room. Ash looked up; the roof was high up, and there was a skylight that let the sun come shine down into the room.
"Where do we go?" Ash asked.
"Up the staircase, I believe their leader likes to be up high to talk to the Peacebenders," Quake shrugged.
"Why is this place empty?" Raven said, looking around.
"They're probably meditating," Quake replied.
Raven snorted. "Why meditate? They should be practicing Bending and fighting skills! Meditating is worthless."
"Raven, we cannot judge what another Bender does for practice," Quake said.
"And he made Raven deputy, why?" Rusty whispered into Ash's ear. Ash nodded agreement.
They walked up the stairs and onto a circular spot overlooking the floor. There was a big window in the wall, and right by it was another staircase. They walked up that staircase and into a room, where a red fox was sitting, looking out the window showing a beautiful view of a valley and the mountains.
The fox didn't say a word, but his left ear twitched and then he spoke. "Who is it?"
"Meteor, I am Quake, leader of the Earth Kingdom," said Quake.
The fox turned around. "I thought Dusk was leader," he remarked.
"She's dead," Quake shook his head. "And besides that, she went slightly...insane."
"It was her fate," the fox sighed. "The Peacebenders told me...too bad, though. She was a great leader."
"And these are my friends," Quake said, not acknowledging Meteor's last remark, "Ash, leader of The Bending Tower, and his deputy Rusty. And this is Raven, my deputy." Quake nodded to them.
"Ash!" Meteor's eyes lit up. "Ah, you're the one who made this all possible, yes?"
"You know what we're here for?" Rusty cocked his head.
"Indeed!" Meteor nodded. "I foretold about this rebellion."
"Um...so you're in?" Rusty asked.
Meteor sighed and shook his head. "We do not fight."
"Come on!" Raven growled. "Why don't you ever fight? You need to!"
Meteor looked at Raven calmly. "There is no need for violence or war. Bloodshed is not to be enthusiastic about. Staying civilian is what we do, and we spend our time with the prophecies and mysteries of the land. Knowledge can be more powerful than the strongest Bender sometimes."
"So you don't have anything worth fighting for?" Raven retorted.
"Raven," Quake said sternly, "I expect you to be more mature. You are not an apprentice anymore."
Raven looked like he was gonna reply, but quickly went quiet.
"The young one has passion," nodded Meteor. "An attribute he will prize."
Rusty snorted. "More like get him in trouble," he muttered.
"So you're not coming?" Ash demanded, trying to get things back on track.
Meteor shook his head. "Nope."
"Come on! We need your help!" Ash pleaded. "You're the smartest Benders in the land!"
Meteor sighed. "You really need us...? Well, I'll let you take along Windfur."
"Windfur?" Rusty echoed.
"One of our smartest Benders," Meteor nodded. "Tiggerpaka!"
Just then, Tiggerpaka walked into the room. "Eh, whatcha need?"
"Tiggerpaka?" Rusty exclaimed, "What are you doing here?!"
"Well, after the Earth Kingdom came tumbling down, I ran out, miraculously unharmed. Apparently, the spirits are pleased with me," Tiggerpaka smirked. "So then I heard you all rambling about these Air Temples, and I figured my wisdom was needed there. So I came along."
"Tiggerpaka, go get Windfur for me," Meteor ordered.
"With a price," Tiggerpaka demanded.
Meteor smiled slightly. "One grub?"
"Precisely, my friend," Tiggerpaka nodded, running out the door.
"Why'd you let him in here?" Raven asked, not looking impressed.
"We must take in any loners. So I took him in, and I helped to provide food for him and in return he helped me out with some things so I wouldn't have to leave my meditating to go do what I needed to."
"I'm surprised you even got him to come in," Rusty snorted.
Tiggerpaka then returned with a fox by his side; she looked bright-eyed and happy. She was black with a white tail-tip, and looked as though she didn't have a care in the world. "Hi!" she grinned. "Hey Meteor, you'll never guess what just happened, Kodi said the funniest thing!"
"Not now, Windfur," Meteor shook his head. "We need you."
"And I need my grub," Tiggerpaka insisted.
"In a moment," Meteor nodded. "Windfur, these animals could use your wisdom for a journey to stop the Firebenders."
"Ooh! We're stopping the Firebenders? Yay!" Windfur cheered, grinning from ear to ear.
"This is your smartest animal?" Raven grumbled.
"Yes, she is," Meteor nodded. "Oh, and Windfur, you should bring Kodi along, too."
"What about Akiki?" Windfur asked. "My apprentice?"
"Akiki still needs learning. She will stay here," Meteor said.
"Ah, okay. I'll go get Kodi." A breeze swept by and Windfur flew out of the room.
"I can't believe we're making a whole journey with her," muttered Raven.
"Guess what, Raven? It's not going to kill you!" Rusty exclaimed in mock cheerfulness.
Raven growled at Rusty. "Watch yourself, airhead."
"Break it up," Ash ordered.
About as quickly as Windfur left, she flew back in, and a male husky followed. "Sup," he nodded to Ash and the others. "You need me, Meteor?"
"Yes. You and Windfur are to go on a mission to help stop the Firebenders," Meteor explained.
"Seems legit," Kodi smiled.
"I know! Isn't it exciting?!" Windfur squealed.
"Kodi is a great Airbender," Meteor nodded. "He's not among the wise, but he's pretty smart and will be able to help you get to the Alpha Ruins."
"Alpha Ruins?" Raven echoed.
"Yes. The Alpha Ruins, you'll need to travel there for information before continuing your journey. The Peacebenders have granted Ash permission to visit them," Meteor confirmed.
"They gave me permission?" Ash whispered. From what he was told, it was rare - and a great honor - to receive permission to go into the Alpha Ruins.
"Ooh, goodie for you!" Windfur exclaimed, not in a hurtful way, "you're so lucky!"
"Shall we go now?" Kodi suggested.
"Yes," Meteor nodded. "Good luck, and may the Peacebenders walk with you."
"Can I go with them?" Tiggerpaka asked. "They need my skills."
"Of course," Meteor nodded, as a grub came flying through the window. Meteor rolled the grub with his paw to Tiggerpaka, and Tiggerpaka picked it up and ate it.
With that, Ash, Rusty, Quake, Raven, Windfur and Kodi left, Tiggerpaka scurrying after.
Author's Note:
Thanks to E.Orr for Windfur! I made Kodi myself, I actually based Kodi off of one of my real life friends who I never really get to see much.
I just finished watching The Lion King 1 1/2 - great movie - so I couldn't resist bringing Tiggerpaka in.
And if you follow my two new stories I'll give you a cookie! c:
*Follows* Now where's my cookie? >:U
ReplyDelete-perry4464
Yay the story continues
ReplyDelete-Eeveelord-
YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY GIMME MY COOKIE OR ELSE I SHALL BE MAD * SCREEN DOES CRAZY STUFF WHILE SHOWING a picture of wind fur cross eyed * meow
ReplyDeleteI do not like Raven e.e
ReplyDeleteBUT WOOHOO ALPHA RUINS~