~~~dream~~~~

Cheza awoke not on a cold stony surface, but rather on a hard grassy expanse. She sat up soaking in her surroundings. The sky was a lit in swirls of green and blue, resembling an aurora borealis. The sound of a flute flooded her ears, she looked to see a moon like creature playing its soothing melody. Her attention averted to the sky as something whizzed by like a bat out of hell. She scrambled to her feet awaiting for whatever she had seen to make its appearance. Sure enough, It did. "Cheza! Over here!" Kuronue whispered pulling her into the shadows. The two now stood behind an ancient colossal tree that was at least 10ft in width.

"Where are we! Are we still in the pendant! Whats going on! Cheza asked bombarding Kuronue will a million questions at once. "it's a warning…" he said staring over at the strange moon-like creature. "a warning? What is that thing?" Kuronue's wings came to his side, "the soul collector has been after me for quite some time..it cannot rest until it has my soul."

"That's the soul collector?"Cheza asked, "it looks harmless to me". "Anything but, but that is not the soul collector..it is its kin the soul piper(from Inuyasha)." Cheza's eyes followed the strange creature as it continued to play its serene melody. "

"why hasn't it attacked you?" Kuronue crossed his arms, " it only collects children souls"

"then why is it here?" Kuronue leaned his back against the tree, "the soul collector cannot get to me..my pendant is similar to an impenetrable barrier..the soul piper can enter dreams however..so it has come here to warn me that the soul collector will not let my soul slip through its fingers again."

"I know im asking like a million questions…but..umm…how could it possibly know that were planning to bring you back!" Kuronue shrugged, "who knows". "One last question…where exactly are we!"

"It is impossible for me to leave the pendant…so we must still be inside it"

After awhile the soul piper's flute became more and more faint, it had left to take the poor souls it had collected to their resting spot. Kuronue and Cheza were left to their thoughts. "I don't think you should worry about this "soul collector" Kurama has a mirror to ward it off." Kuronue laid in the grass outstretching his wings, "I'm worried about him..about you, if either one of you get touched by it you'll instantly die"

"Just..dont worry about it" Cheza laid down next to Kuronue staring up at the sky, "the sky looks really pretty tonight!"Kuronue didn't respond, the two just laid in silence until Cheza was roused from her sleep.

Cheza awoke to find Yoko staring down at her. "we have to get moving kitten, we have a long day ahead of us" Cheza groaned pulling the ivory sheets over her head. Yoko sighed, "our rides are waiting". "what are you talking about?" Cheza asked between yawns while throwing the sheets aside. "we will not be able to bring Kuronue back in time if we go on foot..we must be at the sprite forest by nightfall" "Sprite forest?" Yoko's golden orbs followed Cheza as she got out of bed and walked into the bathroom

" the forest is full of sprites, faeries, nymphs, elves, and such..I will need the assistance of a particular sprite"

"what exactly is a sprite?" "They are very ancient and filled with spiritual wisdom." Cheza sighed staring into the mirror, her piercing blue eyes staring back at her. More and more bombshells..she had thought she would be back home by now.. that she wouldn't have to travel miles upon miles!

"WHAT ARE THOSE! You cant expect me to ride one of tho…" Yoko picked Cheza up placing her on what looked like a camel, "its just a camel demon..it will not harm you". The camel turned its head staring stupidly at Cheza, it didn't look evil. Its eyes were a strange maroon like color, but it did appear harmless. "we are going to be entering dangerous territory so ride close beside me" Yoko warned while getting onto his own camel demon.

An hour had passed, the scenery had not altered. Any direction they looked all that could be seen was sand. Yoko signaled the camels to come to a halt, "be very quiet." Cheza nodded scanning the area around her, she noticed what looked like antlion pits in the sand. Yoko tossed a gold coin into one, it instantly disappeared beneath the surface, the sand there was like quicksand. A strange screech like noise echoed through their ears, Cheza looked over at Yoko as he pulled a seed from his hair. "whats going on..what was that? Don't tell me theres demon antlions!" The inhabitants of the peculiar holes made their presence known. An enormous pair of sicklelike jaws emerged first from the hole Yoko had tossed the coin in, 3 other pairs soon emerged from the other holes. The creatures were soon visable, "Of course..what a stupid question to ask." Cheza exclaimed. Four antlion demons stood lined up in front of her and Yoko. "they are nothing by nuisances!" Yoko growled. The four antlions went on the offense only to be obliterated into a million tiny pieces. "lets get going" Yoko said acting as if nothing had happened. The camels exchanged glances before taking off once again through the baron landscape.

6 gigantic vultures flew off in separate directions as the camels paraded pass them. They had been picking away at a dead carcass, possibly a lizard demon. "we will have to walk on foot once we reach the cave." Yoko stated. Cheza had noticed a cave off in the distance, so she figured that must be where he was talking about.

Cheza now stood at the mouth of the cave alongside Yoko, the camel demons knew their way around and were making their way back to civilization. The two entered tentatively, the cave was pitch black inside. Yoko held onto Chezas wrist guiding her through the darkness. "why don't you make one of those flower thingys to light the cave up." "You don't want to see whats in here kitten" Cheza had a puzzled look on her face, but Yoko couldn't see it. She wondered what he meant by that, maybe it was best to trust his judgment. They walked in silence for awhile, Cheza felt like something had been following them the whole time, "Is..there someone following us?" . "It wont attack us" Cheza stiffened a bit, what wouldn't attack them? She decided she rather not know. Cheza caught a glimpse of something glowing a faint pink off in the distance, "whats that glowy thingy?" "Our way out" Yoko responded. As they walked closer and closer she realized it was a giant mushroom, about the size of her head. "Many demons come through here but few ever make it out alive..they search for a way out for years…but are unaware the only way out is through this mushroom". Cheza was quite confused, but before she could ask what he meant Yoko had placed his hand on the strange mushroom. A strong wind began to pick up , the light from the mushroom grew brighter and brighter, in a blink of an eye the light vanished and the room of the cave went back to normal.

Cheza looked around, everything appeared to be exactly the same. "Yoko! Its been quite some time! You want out of the cave right? Which direction you heading?" Cheza looked around but saw no one. She noticed Yoko was staring down at the mushroom, so she did the same. An ancient looking knome with a red hat on its head stood on it, a staff in hand. "sprite forest". "Sure thing! Close your eyes!" she watched as the knome hit the top of the mushroom with the staff 3 times, "make sure your eyes are closed!" Hesitantly she closed her eyes, in an instant she felt like she was falling. Her whole body went numb, soon enough it subsided and she felt a strange tingling all over.

"open your eyes kitten" Her heart was racing in her chest, her eyes snapped open to find herself standing at the entrance of a forest. A faerie in a red dress whizzed past her, she tried to follow it with her eyes but it was to fast. The sky was no longer red, but rather a pale green color. The trees were of purples, pinks, and greens. Toadstools were scattered all around, little knomes peeping out of them. "This is sprite forest?" Cheza asked in awe. Yoko nodded, "come on we have to find Nyx."

She nodded following Yoko into the forest, she could here whispers all around her. As they passed a pond, she saw a beautiful looking faerie sitting on a lillypad. Her wings were shining brightly, she wore no clothing, but her long curly red hair covered her breasts. She looked like what Cheza though an angel should look like. Soon after, she passed but another faerie. He had short fiery red hair and chiseled abs, a loin cloth was the only clothing he had on. This one actually spoke to them, "what business do you have here?" he demanded. "how is that any of YOUR business" Yoko retorted. The faerie knew better than to pick a fight with Yoko, "word is your looking for Nyx?" "Word must travel fast through here" Yoko replied. The faerie nodded, "I can take you to him" Yoko remained silent for a moment, Cheza figured he was contemplating rather or not he should trust the little guy. " take me then" he finally responded. In an instant the faerie was out of site, "come on this way!" Cheza got onto Yoko's back and they took off full speed after the faerie.

Eventually they reached their destination, Yoko and Cheza now stood in front of a large yellow flower, in the center sat a male sprite, a golden crown atop its head. "Nyx these two are here to see you." The sprite known as Nyx looked up at the two, a green mist began to engulf its body. Soon enough it faded and there stood Nyx, human sized. Cheza couldn't help but blush, the sprite man was extremely handsome. He stood at the same height as Yoko, he had gorgeous blue eyes and a body any man would die for. His short messy brown hair appeared to be glowing along with his wings, " Why is it you have come all this way to speak to me?"

"I hear you're the one to come to when it comes to bringing the dead back to life"

"Who is it you wish to bring back?" Nyx questioned. "an old friend"

"you have acquired all the materials needed to materialize this friend's body?". Yoko nodded. "The inhabitants of this forest fear the one known as the soul collector, I assume you are aware the creature will come for your friends soul?" Again Yoko nodded, " I have found a way to keep the soul collector at bay". "I don't believe my assistance is required, you will however need to know where the temple of the faerie gods is located, that is where your friend must be resurrected." Nyx stared up at the rapidly darkening sky, "night fall is near…you must be on your way..Kalen will show you to the temple." The faerie that had lead them to Nyx nodded, "Come on guys!"

Cheza looked up at the full moon in awe, it was a bright orange color. The two were standing in the garden temple, Yoko had already began the process of materializing Kuronue's body. He had emptied the jars they had gotten at the bar into what looked like a cauldron. Cheza walked back over to Yoko peeping into the cauldron, a black goo was bubbling inside. Yoko tossed the Phenoix feather into it, as soon as it touched the goo it changed to a red color. Cheza thought it looked just like blood. Yoko propped the spirit turkey up against the stone wall of the temple and picked up the two way mirror, "the pendant". Cheza pulled the pendant from her pocket, "on the count of three…" Yoko said staring at Cheza. "1…2…..3!" Cheza took a deep breath before throwing the pendant with all her might into the stone wall of the temple. The sound of glass shattering echoed around them, soon after a white orb emerged. Yoko looked around, "keep an eye out for the soul collector". Cheza nodded as Yoko stared into the mirror. "Kuronue…" he muttered. Kuronue's familiar indigo orbs stared at Yoko through the mirror, "Kuronue I need you to enter the spirit turkey" The orb of light went around in a circle before heading straight for the turkey. "KURAMA!" Yoko quickly looked up to see the soul collector hovering about a foot away from Cheza. "Damn it!" he looked back at the orb just in time to see it enter the turkey. An ear piercing screech caused Cheza to fall to her knees, she quickly covered her ears. Yoko winced in pain, his ears are of course a lot more sensitive. Cheza uncovered her ears as the screeching stopped, the soul collector was now heading straight for them. Yoko quickly moved in front of Cheza, holding the mirror up in front of him. The creepy creature stopped abruptly and made a strange hissing noise. "16 more minutes and Kuronue's body will be materialized, until then we will have to keep the soul collector away". They both knew this was easier said than done…