Expanding Horizons

This was the worst journey Raphael had ever experienced.

It wasn't because of the scorching heat - it barely bothered him - or because he was farther from his home than he had ever been.

It wasn't even because of the gnawing worry about Leonardo. That one would have been present no matter where Raphael was, journey or no journey.

No, if it was almost unbearable to Raphael, it was because of the company.

Slash had revealed himself to be as unpleasant a traveling companion as Raphael had feared. And to make matters worse, Bishop took special delight in pairing them together for chores.

Like right now, when they were supposed to take care of the horses of the whole company - eight adults including Bishop plus the two teenagers.

"This is all your fault," Slash muttered for the umpteenth time. "I should be home right now, relaxing with my friends, and instead I'm stuck there with you."

Because you have friends? Raphael thought, rather meanly. Are you sure they're not just scared of you?

"If you had left me alone, none of this would have happened," he said through gritted teeth.

Also for the umpteenth time.

For a while, Slash rubbed down the horses in silence. Raphael knew better than to think it would last.

"I hope they never find him," Slash suddenly said.

Raphael restrained the urge to punch him in the face. He had practiced that a lot in the last nine days.

"Shut up," he said through gritted teeth.

He didn't have news from Leonardo, not that he expected any in the middle of nowhere. His absence was like a nagging injury, not incapacitating but always present.

He wouldn't lose hope, though. Karai had promised to investigate in the oasis, and maybe Raphael's father would be more cooperative when he would come back.

Raphael grimaced at the thought of his father. Their goodbyes hadn't gone very well.

"Or else?" Slash glared at him, clearly challenging him to make a misstep.

But Raphael wasn't going to fall into his trap. He didn't want to give Bishop any reason to be unhappy with him - he thought himself lucky that the caliphe's delegate didn't seem to be annoyed with him after the burning incident.

"Didn't your father teach you not to brag about things you don't understand? It's obvious you have no clue what siblings are," he retorted instead of jumping down his throat.

Leonardo would have been proud of him.

Slash's face darkened and he fell silent again.

Raphael held back a sigh. He was so sick of the guy, he had no idea how anyone could have thought that this little trip would bring them closer.

At the campfire this night, Raphael immediately noticed that Bishop was in a particularly good mood.

Until then, he and his companions hadn't been very talkative. Raphael had tried to get him to talk about what had happened with Leonardo that fateful day -subtly, of course, he wasn't stupid - but Bishop had dodged his questions and Raphael hadn't dared to insist.

Bishop felt Raphael's gaze upon him and smiled. "In two days, we'll cross the border," he said matter-of-factly.

Raphael was taken aback at the news. "What?"

In front of him - the boys sat as further apart as they could in their little circle - Slash was as surprised as he was.

"We'll leave firebender territory and enter earthbender territory," Bishop said slowly. He made a calculated pause to let the teenagers digest the news. "What do you know about geography?"

Raphael tried to remember his lessons. Leonardo had always been more diligent than him in these areas.

"We're in the center of the caliphate," Slash said before Raphael had a chance to answer. "We used to be a huge waypoint for caravans before…" He glanced at the other men.

Bishop tilted his head. "They all know. Go on."

"… Before the Shredder came and tried to steal the oasis from its true owners," Slash went on. "But we fought valiantly and defeated him!"

"I see." Bishop turned to Raphael. "Anything you want to add?"

"No, Sir," Raphael said. "I was told a pretty similar story."

Bishop intertwined his fingers. "I wonder how much embellished it was," he mused. "Anyways. You're wrong to think your oasis is situated in the center of the caliphate. In fact, it's in the south west. We're heading south, towards our border with the Earthbending Empire."

"What are we going to do at the border?" Raphael leaned forwards, fascinated.

"We're going to cross it, of course."

"But…" Slash searched for words. "We can do that?"

Bishop raised an eyebrow. "Of course we can do that. We're not at war, you know? And I have all the necessary passes."

Raphael blinked. "How come we never saw any earthbender in the oasis? It's not that far."

"They don't like the sand and therefore tend to avoid the desert," Bishop answered. "Besides, that part of the Eartbending Empire isn't very populated." He made a calculated pause. "Two hundred years ago, the majority of the travelers didn't come from the south. They came from the West Route, which is now closed."

Raphael frowned. "Closed?"

"More exactly, nobody takes it anymore." Bishop sighed. "It goes through a part of the desert where water sources move constantly. At the time, waterbender guides ensured that travelers crossed it safely, but after the whole Shredder affair, they stopped coming."

"Waterbenders?" Slash almost yelled. "Well, we don't need them! This breed can stay where it is!"

Bishop shook his head. "What did they teach you?" he muttered to himself. "Such ignorance." He waved his hand to rekindle the fire. "Without them, the travelers from across the sea and their treasures were lost to your oasis."

"The sea," Raphael whispered dreamily. He had heard of it; a body of water so vast that you couldn't see its end. He bet Leonardo would love it. "It's hard to imagine."

"Seeing the ocean is impressive," Bishop said. "But crossing it is even more impressive."

"You have?" Slash exclaimed.

"Yes. I've journeyed into each one of the Four Nations. It's more common than you would think."

"We never talk about other benders at home," Raphael said pensively. When he had learned during his initiation that other benders existed, it had been a mind-blowing surprise to him. He would never have thought that this knowledge was so widespread outside the oasis.

"That's because you have a neat reputation of being old-fashioned traditionalists, and that you're not welcoming to other people. Travelers are warned not to talk about it." Bishop gazed into the horizon. "It makes it easier to keep your little secret to yourselves."

"Why are you telling us all that?" After days of almost total silence, Raphael couldn't help feeling suspicious.

"Because we're soon going to meet more people, and I don't want you to look too ignorant." Bishop smiled. "The world is so much bigger than you thought, isn't it?"

The next day, they left the desert for a more frequented area, exactly like Bishop had said. It had vegetation Raphael had never seen, and in the distance he could see a blue ribbon gleaming.

"It's a river," Bishop answered his silent question. "It marks our border with the earthbenders."

However, people stayed away from them, and a child even ran away when they came across him.

"Strange," Bishop whispered.

The explanation for their behavior came in the afternoon, when they met a group of warriors who spoke animatedly with Bishop - sadly out of earshot for Raphael.

When Bishop came back to them, it was obvious that he was upset.

"We'll make a detour," he said simply.

They followed the warriors to a crater that might have been thirty yards wide.

"What is this?" Raphael whispered.

Bishop dismounted. "It used to be a logger's lodge," he said.

At first, Raphael didn't understand. "What?"

"It used to be a logger's lodge," Bishop repeated. "Look."

He pointed at the crater's border, and Raphael saw a half-cut tree and an abandoned axe, both betraying a work interrupted in a hurry.

A few yards farther, clothes lay scattered as if they had been drying under the sun when disaster hit.

But from the lodge itself there was no trace.

"What… What does it mean?" Raphael asked. He felt sick to his stomach.

"If only I knew." Bishop clenched his fists. "It's the third occurrence as far as we know. An isolated home just... vanishes. No one hears anything. We find neither survivors nor corpses."

"Who can do such a thing?" Slash's face was a greenish hue.

"We don't know… yet," Bishop said somberly. "I'd exclude benders, though." He got back on his horse. "But I can guarantee you that whoever did that will regret they ever crossed my path."

Raphael had no doubt it was the truth.

The rest of the journey to the border happened in a moody silence. Raphael kept thinking about the logger's lodge - or more precisely, about its absence. He had no clue what could have happened, but the culprits were without doubt very powerful.

It renewed his worry about Leonardo. Was his brother safe? Had he disappeared in a similar way? But there hadn't been any crater, Raphael was sure of it. They had gone over the oasis and the desert nearby with a fine-tooth comb…

But the sand wouldn't have kept the crater's shape intact… But Leonardo had taken his horse, he wouldn't have done that if someone else had made him disappear… But… But…

Raphael almost groaned. Couldn't his brain stop coming up with worst-case scenarios about his twin? As if he wasn't anxious enough as it was.

Slash's thoughts must have been similarly gloomy, because for once he wasn't pestering Raphael.

When they reached the first border post, Bishop briefly talked to the guards and they were allowed to cross the river. At this time of the year, it wasn't very deep and the horses could wade.

As they reached the other side, Raphael watched the second border post intently. If he believed Bishop, it belonged to earthbenders. Maybe he would witness some earthbending?

He was disappointed. Bishop merely showed his passes to guards in green outfits and they were allowed to enter the Earthbending Empire.

It wasn't long until they came into a forest. Raphael had never seen so many trees gathered in the same place. It completely obstructed the view, and he felt a little on edge because of it. He was used to vaster spaces.

Bishop must have known where to go, though, because he didn't hesitate once and led them to a cliff that they didn't see until the last second.

At its base, a giant rock almost completely hid the entrance of a cave.

Raphael was wondering what they would do next when a voice came from inside the cave.

"Who's there?"

"It's me, Bishop", their leader answered.

The rock moved with a rumble, and Raphael waited in expectation for the owner of the voice to come outside.

There was another rumble, a cloud of yellow dust, and a man in a wheelchair surfaced.

"Long time no see," he said. "Although I haven't met everyone here." He eyed Raphael and Slash. "Didn't we agree about no new faces?"

"Don't worry, they're not going to report you to your former employers," Bishop answered with a smirk.

"Who are you?" Slash asked, rather rudely if you asked Raphael.

Although he was dying to ask the same question.

"Who do you think I am?" the man answered with contempt. He caught Raphael's awkward glance at his legs and shrugged. "Like you see, Earth can be unforgiving. It crushed both my legs one day I wasn't paying it enough attention."

"So you're an earthbender?" Slash came closer to him, fascinated.

The man rolled his eyes. "And what did you expect to find in a cave within the earthbender territory? Of course I'm an earthbender! Now get out of my way!"

Slash didn't immediately move, as if his brain was too busy processing the news to hear the order. With an irritated grumble, the man raised his hands - and the ground under Slash's feet lifted, sending him stumbling backwards.

Raphael hurried to get out of the wheelchair's path.

"So," the man said when he arrived in front of Bishop. "You've finally found what you were looking for and now you need the good old Stockman to dig, am I right?"

Bishop nodded. "You're right."