Benders of the Oracle's Dagger

Paths Found.

Lapis still wasn't talking the following morning as he served breakfast. In fact, he wouldn't even eat with them, if he even ate at all. Sage sighed before he called out.

"Lapis..." The waterbender didn't respond as he gathered some things up and left. Sage sighed again. "Lovely." Scarlet sighed as she finished and grabbed her bag. Cedar put his and her dishes in the sink before joining her.

"Well... see you guys whenever." The two nodded as they left. Sage grabbed a small bucket before he paused.

"Midnight, do you want to come meet Fearow properly?" Midnight quickly finished his food before he nodded. They went out as Lapis moved past them, the clear neglect burning off of him. Sage whistled a little before the bird-like creature went over. "Come here..."

???

Seeing Fearow finally start to spread its wings after weeks of trying was a miracle. Of course Lapis didn't seem too thrilled. Then again, he didn't face them until Midnight came back from his first little quest. He had made it to Fall City and met Sage's twin, who had given him a message to give to the airbender. He bursted into the house as Lapis worked on something in the kitchen.

"I'm home!" Lapis gave no reply while Sage went over.

"Hey. Did you make it to Fall City?" Midnight nodded before giving him the letter.

"I also met up with your twin, who gave me that for you!" He smiled as he gently put the letter in his pocket. Midnight glanced over as Lapis kept his attention on his task at hand. "Nothing?" Sage sighed.

"No... I don't know what's wrong..." He smiled. "I got a spot in the army. So I'll be heading out for Fall City once more. Take care of him."

"Ok!"

???

Lapis was clearly up to something the one day Midnight went to talk to Lady Remali. Because of his return.

He was lucky to return with the other three, so they all decided to surprise him. But when they got to the house, it gave another message.

"What the..."

Seeing the house almost in ruins raised many red flags. Midnight opened the door carefully to not do more damage. His eyes scanned the area, noting the lack of stuff in the area, before something caught his eye.

A letter.

He picked it up with extreme gentleness before going over to the others. Cedar took it before reading it.

"Dear those that find this,

If you are the group I took under my wing, don't come looking for me. Go live your new lives and leave me alone.

If you're not, wrong place. Go find one of the others and get an answer from them.

There. Now go.

~Lapis"

Midnight felt heartbroken. Was Lapis planning this since their conversation about leaving home? He was quiet as Scarlet grabbed her mouth.

"He..." She couldn't finish as Sage lowered his head. Cedar spoke in a soft voice.

"We need to find him... But if our words did get to him the first time, what can we do?" Scarlet looked at the house before she paused.

"Let's find somewhere and talk. That might be better."

???

"Wow!"

It was interesting after being able to learn what the others were doing.

Sage had gotten a special rank in the army and was one of the few Flight Rangers. His new uniform looked good alongside Fearow's uniform.

Scarlet had joined a group of firebenders called Phoenix Fade; a group that worked in the arts of fire. She was in her relaxing uniform and it looked great.

Cedar had discovered that he was a Covenant and joined the Aloje Coven. He had the uniform on, which made him seem a lot more unique.

Midnight had found a spot with Lady Remali as a protector of the sector. He had designed his own uniform, so it looked adorable and amazing at the same time.

Scarlet sighed as her eyes drifted to the house. It hurt to not be able to tell Lapis all this. He always seemed so invested in their tales. Sage paused.

"We'll find him, Scarlet. He went somewhere. There's not a lot of places for a waterbender to go." She nodded softly at the thought.

"Well... the house doesn't seem to be a good place to go to meet up anymore. So now what?" They paused as they turned to the house.

"I'm sure we'll find something. Right now, let's get going back."