Noein

"Chapter 1- Objective: Reach the Summit"

"Haruka" A voice whispers. "Come to me, Haruka…!" The voice gets hoarse and sounds desperate. Haruka screams awake to see Karasu beside her bed with a worried look.

"Haruka….did you see…him…?" He asked her. Haruka sat up in her bed and nodded her head.

"He wants me…to come to him, Karasu…I'm scared…." Haruka whispered and held back her raising fear. Karasu hugged her gently as Yū came in.

"I heard a scream, are you okay, Haruka?" Yū asks and stands beside Karasu.

"Yes, I'm fine, thank-you…..just another awful dream…" She explained again and smiled.

Yū nodded in understanding and looked at her alarm clock.

"We better get going or we'll never get the rest of the gang up before sunrise." Yū said and stood up, smiling at Haruka. "It'll all be fine, Haruka. This will all be over soon."

Haruka nodded and also got up, yawning. Karasu left to prepare for their coming journey.

Finally, the three set off into the early day, but they had to sneak Haruka out of the house without waking her mother, and that took precious minutes of their time. Yū yawned loudly and stretched as they walked along the side walks to their first friend's house.

"I'm sorry you had to sleep on the couch…I wish I had another bed you could have used…." Haruka said softly.

Yū smiled. "Its okay, the couch was fine, I just couldn't get to sleep…I had too much on my mind." He told her as he rubbed the black bags under his eyes.

"It looks as if you haven't slept in days..." She continued.

"I haven't…" He stated and turned the corner.

"Nor have I…then again, me and Yū are connected…..maybe it was me who was keeping him up." Karasu added to their conversation.

"Don't blame yourself, Karasu; it's not your fault." Yū sighed then stopped in front of their first friend's house. He was already outside waiting for them on his porch.

"It's about time! Sheesh! You could have at least told me if you were coming late I could 'of slept for another twenty minutes…" Isami complains, huffing and puffing about how tired he was and how it was too early.

"You'll get over it, Isami. We have things we need to do, you know that." Yū said angrily.

Haruka smiled at him. "Thanks for coming along, Isami….it means a lot to me." She told him. Isami held his tongue, then and walked with them to get the rest of the group.

"So, what's this about, anyways?" Isami asked finally. "I mean, why are we doing this?"

Haruka fell silent and Yū cleared his dry throat. "It seems Noein isn't gone…..he still messes with Haruka in her dreams." Yū explained.

"Geez, doesn't that guy ever sleep? He's pretty weird…I mean, he looks just like Karasu and is also an older Yū …" Isami was trailed off by Yū's evil glance.

"Keep your mouth closed, Isami! Haruka is freaked out enough." Yū snapped.

"It's alright, Yū. I'm fine." Haruka said softly and looked up to see Ai, Miho, and Atori.

"Haruka!! Are you okay? Is Yū being mean to you?" Miho asked as she hugged her.

"Yeah, what the heck is up, I was having a nice dream…"Ai yawned.

"We'll explain on the way. We have to get to the summit before sun up." Karasu said.

Atori patted Miho's head. "Just calm down, Miho. Everything's fine." He said. She held his arm. "If you say so….but she worries me." Miho sighed.

Yū looked at Haruka and then held her hand. "As long as we're all together, we'll be fine…" He told her. Haruka smiled at him and nodded, encouraged by his words.

On the way to their destination, Ai and Isami stopped at a store to grab breakfast for them all, then they were on their way again. In order to get to the summit, they have to cut through the national park. It was the fastest way, and clearly, they didn't have much time. They had to jump the fence, since the park only opened at ten, and it was still about 5 A.M. Half way there, Haruka had to be carried by Karasu because she sprained her ankle. Yū was clearly jealous. Hours passed and it was seven. They were finely at the top of the parks summit. The sun was just rising since in was about spring and the winter sun was still slow.

"We made it!!" Isami cheered and high fived Yū. Ai and Miho were out of breath from the long hick and everyone else seemed fine. Atori and Karasu walked to the center of the flat top and gazed at the rising sun.

"Ready?" Atori asked.

Karasu looked down at Haruka in his strong arms. She nodded then was put down to stand on her own. Karasu backed up, as did Atori. Everyone fell quite and watched, Yū especially.

As the sun was high enough to glitter on the sea in front of them, the dragon torque shimmered around her neck and Haruka closed her eyes. As that happened, Atori and Karasu held their hands up and summoned the power within them to open the other world, the world of Shangri'la. Yū went wide-eyed as did the rest of the group.

"Wait! I thought Shangri'la was destroyed!" Isami said, utterly surprised.

"No, have you not listened at all, boy?" Atori sighed." This is why Haruka is still being tormented by Noein…. Shangri'la is still here…."He told them.

Haruka opened her eyes and was in a different place, surrounded by a warp hole. Along with her were Karasu and Atori. They held onto her to make sure they'd get to the other universe together.

"Hey!! Don't leave us!" Yū yelled and jumped into the worm hole. The rest of the gang followed with nervous looks.

The worm hole is also called the ouroboros…..created by the dragon torque which is held within Haruka…..

Haruka looked back to see her friends following.

"No, guys! Go back! I don't want you guys to get hurt!" She said.

"Listen, Haruka!" Ai yelled at her. "We're obviously gonna be with you until the end, so don't wave us away now! We want to be by you're side all the time!"

"She's right! We can't stay behind and wait forever!" Miho piped in.

Yū nodded to agree and Isami gave her a thumbs up.

"….Thank-you…" She smiled. Her gaze turned ahead of her as they reached the end of the ouroboros and into a new demention… Shangri'la. The once beautiful place, now a partially destroyed wasteland.