Chapter 69: Ash's Past

When Ash awoke, he found he was in a den. But what den am I in? Ash wondered. He looked around; there was an entrance guarded by brambles that let light come into the room. Ash then looked to see a younger Midnight sitting there, chuckling, looking at three tiny wolf pups. Two of them, one pure white and the other black-and-gray with green eyes, were wrestling each other. That's Hazen and Widow, Ash realized. He looked around. Widow and Hazen were on the other side of the den, studying their pup-selves. Treebranch was next to Ash, looking at what was going on in the den as well. Where am I? He then spotted his pup-self laying against his mother, looking at his siblings with a look of longing. Why aren't I playing with them? Ash asked himself.
"Come on, Stormpup, play with us!" Hazen-pup pleaded.
"I-I don't know. What if I get hurt?" Ash-pup squeaked.
Just then, a bigger pup who looked exactly like Treebranch approached Ash - Stormpup at the time - and smiled. "It's okay, Stormpup. How about we divide up into teams and play patrol? Stormpup and I against Rippup and Fernpup?"
"You're on! Ha, Fernpup and I will shred you!" Hazen growled.
Ash watched them getting into position.
"Why wasn't I so confident?" Ash murmured.
"Because," said spirit-Midnight, standing beside Ash, "you one time almost got stomped on by Hazen during a fight and had been afraid of him and Fern--um, Widow, ever since. Treebranch - Treepup then - always made an effort to include you in all the games you guys would play. My name was Midnightshine at this time..."
"Okay," Treepup said, "begin!"
Rippup - Hazen now - lunged at Treepup, pinning her down. Despite Treepup was older, Rippup easily pinned her down. He seemed to have more muscle than she did. "Got you! Whatcha gonna do now?"
"Get off me!" Treepup exclaimed.
Stormpup - Ash - let out a small whimper, seeing Treepup so easily defeated. He turned to Fernpup, who was getting into a pouncing position. "I got you now, Stormpup!"
"Hey," said a voice at the entrance. Ash looked to see a gray wolf, and recognized it to be a much younger, smaller Flyingbird. "My mentor says you need me to watch the pups?"
"Oh yes," Midnightshine nodded. Ash studied her, and saw her expression showed uneasiness. "Thank you, Flying...don't worry, I'll be back soon." Midnightshine then looked at her pups. "I'm going to be gone for a while, you three."
"Are you coming back?" asked Fernpup, who suddenly pounced onto Stormpup, making him wail out.
"Of course," Midnightshine smiled. Flyingbird - Flying at the time - sat down to watch the pups.
"You could have asked me to watch the pups," pointed out another female in the den, about the same age as Midnightshine - Ash guessed she was Treepup's mother. "I'd be fine, honestly."
"I think those four together would be too much," Midnight chuckled. "Thank you, Flying." With that, Midnightshine left.
"Treepup, don't let Ripppup pin you down!" Flying exclaimed, "kick him in the stomach, it'll get him off you."
"Come," Midnight-spirit said, "I want to show you where I went."
"This is me as a pup?" whispered Widow.
"Yes," Midnight nodded. "Follow me."
Ash was reluctant to leave his past-self, but followed his mother anyways. Hazen and Widow followed as well, and Treebranch trotted after.
The Tribe of Flying Birds camp was like how Ash had seen it as an apprentice. It was a large clearing surrounded by bushes and brambles as walls. The den they had just come out of was large and made of brambles. On the other side of the clearing was a huge boulder that an older wolf was standing on - apparently leader at the time - and a younger-looking Leafclaw was standing next to him, both deep in conversation.
They exited the camp through a large hole in the bramble wall and came out into the forest. Ash kept padding after Midnight, who trotted along with ease. They walked through the forest in silence. After a while the ground went downhill, and Ash looked down below where there was a river passing through, and Midnightshine pacing by it, looking worried.
Midnight stopped and looked at the group. "I met my mate up here," she said.
"You had a mate outside the Tribe?" gasped Treebranch. "That's against the law!"
"I know," Midnight whispered. "That was in the back of my head all along..."
"I can't believe you'd break the law though. I mean, everyone talked about how loyal--" Treebranch began.
"Midnightshine!" exclaimed a voice.
Ash turned to where Midnightshine was. He saw a gray male wolf run up to her. "How are you? Are the pups okay?"
"They're fine, Lightning," Midnightshine said. "They're okay. You said you wanted to see me."
"Yes!" Lightning gasped. "Ironfang is on the move."
Ash stiffened. "You knew about Ironfang?" he asked Midnightshine.
"Who's Ironfang?" asked Midnightshine.
"Leader of the Fireben--um, I mean, Tribe of Fire," Lightning said.
"Should I be concerned?" Midnightshine asked.
"Yes!" Lightning gasped. "Look...Ironfang is storming through the lands. There's a prophecy that he is going to be defeated by a pup who is just born, and he's having the Firebenders go to every place to kill the pups and offspring...even your Tribe!"
Midnightshine looked terrified. "Wh-What do I do?"
"Warn your Tribe. And hide the pups," Lightning whispered. "Ironfang musn't find them or they're all dead..."
The world dissolved around Ash once more, and when it got back to its original state, he was inside the pup den, but outside of the den was filled with yowling and yelping. Ash could hear fire crackling and fire being thrown...the Firebenders were invading.
"Treepup - Tree at the time - and her mother managed to escape the camp with the help of her mother's mate," Midnight explained, looking full of sorrow, "Tree had only just been apprenticed so she couldn't fight well. I ended up having to fight my way out, and--well, I'll let the flashback tell you guys..." Midnight trailed off, looking too upset to continue.
Ash poked his head out of the den and saw many of the Tribe wolves viciously fighting the Firebenders, trying to dodge the fire. Poisonfang was lunging at a wolf, who yelped out in fear, and she sunk her fangs into the wolf, and the wolf screamed; but so did another voice.
"Cinderstripe!" yelled out the voice who screamed along with the bitten wolf; Ash looked to see it was Midnightshine, pounding quickly on her paws over to the dying she-wolf. Poisonfang slithered away to find another victim, but Midnightshine stood over Cinderstripe. "Please! My sister, don't leave me! You'll be fine, I-I'm sure we can heal--"
"I-It feels like I'm on fire!" Cinderstripe cried.
"Cinderstripe!"
Just then, a muscular, young black wolf charged over to Cinderstripe. "What happened?!"
"That snake k-killed me!" Cinderstripe yelled out.
"No, no...we can still save you...!" the black wolf insisted.
"He's my deputy..." Treebranch whispered into Ash's ear. "His name is Nightfire."
Just then, Leafclaw trotted over. "What happened--? Oh, oh...this is bad."
"She can be healed, right?" Nightfire demanded.
Leafclaw shook his head. "She can't...she's dying..."
"No!" Nightfire howled.
"Duck!" yelled Midnightshine, as a fireball came overhead. Nightfire, Midnightshine and Leafclaw ducked down just in time to avoid it.
"We can't grieve when there's a battle going on," Leafclaw stated. A wolf - who looked like a very young Fang - was approaching Leafclaw from behind, but Leafclaw kicked his hind legs out without looking at Fang, making him fall back.
"Goodbye..." Cinderstripe whispered. "I love you Nightfire, and you too, Midnightshine." She then closed her eyes.
"No...!" Nightfire said, gaping.
"I must find Warriormoon, we need to discuss a plan of escape..." Leafclaw bounded off; Ash recalled that Warriormoon was Leafclaw's deputy before Treebranch took over.
"I'm going to find that snake..." growled Nightfire, beginning to walk away.
"Nightfire, no!" Midnightshine exclaimed, "Poisonfang will kill you!"
Even though Ash knew this was just a flashback, and that he never remembered it, but grief crashed over him, as if he could feel his mother's pain. He looked at Midnight. She looked close to wailing. This must be a tough memory to see again, Ash decided.
"Then I'll be with Cinderstripe," Nightfire said.
"Cinderstripe would want you to go on living! She'd want you to live. And I should know. She was my sister!" Midnightshine exclaimed.
Nightfire sighed. "You're right...I only have my pups left as my family..." he then gritted his teeth. "For their sake, and for Cinderstripe's sake, I must stay alive..."
This all made Ash remember Rainbow's determination to survive after her mate Amur died; how during the storm, she seemed double-alert to live so she could protect her kits.
Nightfire ran off, leaving Midnightshine alone. She ducked as a fireball hissed over her head, and ran for the den Ash and the others were in. Inside, Ash noticed for the first time that Stormpup, Rippup and Fernpup were all huddling in the corner, trying to stay hidden. Ash noticed he, Stormpup, looked scared most of all, pretty much shaking in fear, huddling against Rippup.
Midnightshine came in. "You three, you must come with me!"
"Wh-Where to?" Fernpup asked.
"Away from here," Midnightshine rasped. She picked up the three of them in her muzzle and ran out of the den, towards the camp exit. They began crying out in alarm, seeing all the destruction.
"Let's follow," Midnight whispered, and padded after her past-self. Ash followed, shaking at all of the torturing and death happening in the camp. Treebranch quickly followed Ash, looking absolutely terrified, and Widow and Hazen ran after.
"I remember this. It was terrible," Treebranch murmured. "It's a bit of a blur, I was an apprentice, but still..."
The yelling and howling still reached Ash's ears even though he didn't want to hear it. The rest of the forest was beginning to catch fire, making Ash pick up the pace, forgetting he was only in a flashback. He kept following Midnight, and he could see a little ahead of Midnight that Midnightshine was running through the forest, Fernpup and Rippup clinging onto her back as she carried Stormpup in her jaw.
She stopped at the same place she had met Lightning - by the stream. Rippup and Fernpup were yelling a bunch of overlapping questions, and Ash noticed Stormpup was whimpering and looked too scared to speak.
"What happened to us?" Hazen whispered.
"...You'll see," Midnight whispered, looking down to avoid seeing the scene.
Lightning ran up to Midnightshine. "The Firebenders attacked?"
"Yes!" Midnight gasped.
Lightning then looked at the pups. "...They're looking for wolf pups...Any and all wolf pups are to be killed. Midnightshine, I don't think it's safe in your Tribe."
"I can't just leave them!" Midnightshine cried. "My sister's pups will need me!"
"You can be a loner," Lightning went on. "You'll be fine. Raising the pups as loners can make them protected. When Ironfang discovers some pups survived, he'll be after them most of all. Unless you want the pups to die a painful death and not to go on living, you must stay out here."
"Won't Ironfang give up once he finds all the places to destroy the pups?" Midnightshine demanded.
"No. I...It's complicated. But if you live out here you'll never have to worry about Firebenders again," Lightning insisted.
"There's no need to act like this!" Midnightshine suddenly snapped, making Lightning flinch. "I am not becoming a loner when my Tribe needs me! I am a loyal Tribe member! I don't care if you have no problem with leaving from where you came from, but I have a little more sense!"
"How could I not leave? You'll suffer along with your Tribe if you stay with them!" Lightning exclaimed.
"Good! Because I'm not betraying them!" Midnightshine snarled.
"Look, if you're going to leave, leave. I don't care. But give me the pups--" Lightning began.
"No," Midnightshine growled. "They can't live out here!"
"Mom, when are we going back?" Fernpup asked. Ash could tell the pups weren't getting any of this.
Midnightshine ignored her pup. "After this fight is over I am taking them back."
Lightning sighed. "Fine. But hide them out here until the fight is over. They can't be killed."
Midnightshine grumbled and turned around. Lightning followed her, as the two searched for a spot to hide the pups.
Ash turned to Midnight, who looked heartbroken. "Are you okay?"
"I'll be fine..." Midnight sighed. "Let's follow them..."
Midnight lead the way, going in the direction Midnightshine and Lightning went. Ash padded along. He felt like he didn't want to see more of his parents arguing, but his curiosity was peaked.
They found Midnightshine and Lightning by some brambles. Midnightshine tucked her pups into there, and they wailed protest.
"Mom? What's going on?" cried Rippup.
"You'll be okay," Midnightshine whispered. "We're playing spy. You cannot let anyone see you."
"Ooh, okay!" Fernpup squeaked in exictement.
"Shh!" Lightning hissed, "be quiet about it."
"Mom, who is that?" Stormpup whispered, nodding sideways to Lightning.
"...Your father," Midnightshine murmured.
"He's our dad?" Fernpup hissed, "But I was told our dad is Thornscar!"
Midnightshine perked her ears. "Someone's coming..."
Stormpup pressed further to the ground, but Rippup and Fernpup raised their heads slightly. Lightning dug a hole very quickly trying not to make a sound. "You three, climb into here. It'll help you hide." He nudged the pups into the hole, and it did indeed work; Ash, who was watching the scene unfold right next to Lightning, couldn't see the pups at all.
Just then, young Fang and Graves came out. They sniffed the air. "Some of them could've gotten away," Fang growled; he still had a scratchy, rough voice despite being younger. "I saw a few leave the camp, but I wasn't bothered to fight them, I was busy killing the leader."
"They killed my father?" gasped Midnightshine. "I..."
Lightning sighed. "You still have your pups, Midnightshine, and your sister..."
Midnightshine opened her mouth to reply but Graves cut her off.
"Hey...someone's out here," growled Graves.
"I'll hold them off," Lightning whispered.
"No, you'll die!" Midnightshine cried.
"Don't be so sure," Lightning said, stepping out from the brambles. "Why are you invading this Tribe?"
Fang and Graves quickly turned to look at Lightning. "Well, well..." Graves sneered.
"What are you doing here?" Fang growled.
"I could ask you the same question," Lightning retorted.
"Doing our duty," Fang lashed his tail. "Unlike some animals."
"What does Fang mean?" Widow whispered.
"Just watch," Midnight replied.
Graves approached. "You, come with us."
"No," Lightning insisted. "Leave this area."
"Like heck we are," Fang snarled, clawing Lightning's face. Lightning fell back, and blood spattered onto the ground.
Graves put a paw on top of Lightning. "Thought you were pretty good, huh?" He bit down on Lightning's neck, killing him.
"Lightning!" yelled Midnightshine.
"Oh, a hider," Fang smirked. Fire appeared in the air. Ash gasped. How could Fang do that?
"They could make fire out of thin air," Midnight said, as if reading Ash's mind, "Because Ironfang helped. Whenever there's an important mission for the Firebenders, Ironfang helps them make fire out of thin air; otherwise they need a resource."
Then, the bushes caught on fire. Ash heard Midnightshine's yelp, then an eerie silence.
Once again, the world began to disappear around Ash.
Ash expected to be back in the woods when he woke up, but instead he found himself at the same place Midnightshine was killed.
Midnight stood in front of the group. "Rippup - that's you, Hazen - was found by a Firebender and picked up, taken to the Fire Nation. Fernpup - Widow - ventured away, and found the desert. Lucky for her, an Earthbender found her and took her to the Earth Kingdom."
"What happened to me?" Ash blurted out.
Midnight looked at Ash. "You managed to somehow miraculously survive on your own, Ash. You ate any dead animals you could find, and kept walking along, not knowing where you were going. I don't know how, but you found The Bending Tower's territory, and Airia found you."
Midnight was saying some other things, but Ash just kept thinking. Midnight and Lightning were both murdered by Firebenders, all because Ironfang wanted to kill Ash...Ash was separated from his siblings because of his parents' death. A growl rose in his throat as he realized...
All of this was Ironfang's fault.

Author's Note:
Long chapter is long. ouo