A cold chill came over me, and I shivered, awakened from my comfortable sleep and blinking my eyes open groggily. Why was it so cold..?

I lifted my head and peered over at Snowflake who slept at my side, but she wasn't what was making me feel so cold. It was still the middle of the night, and everyone else was still sleeping. The chill came again and I realized it was wind, coming from the open window. I frowned, confused. Who would've opened it? I climbed to my feet and stumbled over to it, intent on closing it and quickly returning to bed.

As I raised my paws to reach for the window, something suddenly jumped into my vision and I flinched away. Despite the punitive light cast my the moon, I could see the figure of the creature surprisingly easy. It was like it was glowly slightly as it climbed its way through the window and slunk down past me into the room. I gaped at it, so shocked that I found myself frozen in place.

It seemed almost transparent, and it moved like thin fabric being billowed by the wind. Cold air wisped through the room in its wake, flowing over me and chilling me to the bone. It exuded a strange energy, one that seemed to shake the air around me as it made its way towards Mesprit, who was still sleeping curled up on Snowflakes bed. "Ah- wait-!" I gasped weakly.

At the sound of my voice the strange figure suddenly turned around with a cry of surprise. It blinked at me with barely discernible eyes, and in the next moment it phased out of existence. My eyes were wide. In that last moment, it almost looked like... Mesprit? But how was that possible...

I looked around the room. Silence descended upon the room, nothing besides the soft breaths of my friends and the gentle breeze outside the open window. That was... strange. Had I just hallucinated that? I thought I was past having hallucinations at the point, but what in the world could that have been? A spirit? Did those exist in this world? I supposed I wouldn't be surprised at this point.

'I'm sorry if I scared you,' a soft voice suddenly spoke up from inside my mind. I jumped with a yelp and looked back at Mesprit to see she had somehow sat up without my noticing, staring at me with those piercing amber eyes, trying not to laugh at my reaction. 'I have the ability to send my spirit out of my body. I had to check on my home, to make sure it was still safe.' She explained simply.

'Huh,' I thought back, walking up to her and sitting down next to the bed, smiling across at her, 'that's... cool. I'm still not used to talking with telepathy, though, it's just really weird.' She giggled softly into the back of her hand.

'But it will keep us from awaking your friends.' she raised her hand away from her mouth to pat me on the head. 'You'll get used to talking this way in no time!' I shrugged my head away from her hand and huffed jokingly, crossing my arms. I may look like one now, but I'm no pet.

We sat quietly together for a moment. Mesprit's strange spirit power made me want to ask more about it, or her, or something. This was all too weird to just drop it and go back to sleep. I pondered what to say. 'Do you have... a family? You were all alone at that castle, how did you end up there?'

Mesprit peered sadly at me, and for a moment I was afraid that I upset her. But then I realized she was actually looking quite... sympathetic. She was pitying me? But why... then I felt a harsh twist in my heart. I didn't remember my family, if I even had one.

Did they miss me? Would I ever be able to go back? Did I... even want to go back? I had made friends here, friends that I could remember, friends that made me feel safe, made me brave... they were my family now, weren't they? So why did my chest hurt so much?

Mesprit looked away, frowning to herself. She must've known what I was thinking, as she answered my question softly. 'I do have a family- two siblings. We were triplets, and we always used to be together...' she shook her head, 'but then we got our missions, as guardians. Nowadays, we don't get to see each other very often.' She sighed, crossing her arms weakly. Tears suddenly sprung up in her eyes, 'I really miss them sometimes... We can still talk with telepathy but its not the same.'

I nodded gently, reaching out and putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. I felt bad for asking her about this, I had no idea how to make her feel better. 'Don't worry,' I said awkwardly, 'I'm sure you'll see them again.' I felt kind of stupid, but at my words she peered back at me and wiped at her eyes, a soft smile drifting onto her face. "Thanks," she mumbled- out loud- and I chuckled softly in surprise. I removed my hand and she recollected herself, a little amused, or perhaps embarrassed, by her emotional reaction.

'I'd like to ask more about them. Is that okay?' I asked cautiously. She nodded, so I continued with a bit more confidence. 'What are they like?'

Mesprit smiled again, losing herself in her memories for a moment. "Hmm..." she hummed aloud, 'Uxie is the smart one of the three of us, hee-hee!' she giggled, 'He's kinda shy- and he doesn't like fighting. That is, unless you tick him off!' Mesprit giggled again, clearly remembering some times where she must've intentionally riled him up. I grinned a little to myself.

'Then there's Azelf. He's the opposite of Uxie, he always acts before thinking. It leads to some misunderstandings, and he gets himself into trouble sometimes.' she hummed thoughtfully, 'he's really protective of the things he cares about though. He takes his job as guardian very seriously- maybe a little too seriously. He's really friendly and sweet when you get to know him.'

She then peered at me thoughtfully, before a sly grin twitched at her lips, 'I think the two of you would get along.'

I blinked in surprise, and huffed, unsure if that was supposed to be a compliment or not. 'Hey!' I frowned playfully. She giggled into the back of her hand. 'Anyway, enough about me, what about you? let's talk about your friends!'

I blinked in surprise. Was she really interested? I fiddled with my hands nervously. 'Well... I don't know what I could tell you.'

'You've all been so kind to me. You and your friends are such amazing pokemon. I'm glad you all found me when I was hurt.' Mesprit said, a bright genuine smile on her face. I flushed in embarrassment, but attempted to smile shyly. 'I'm glad we found you, too...'

Mesprit giggled mischievously at my shyness. I huffed, she probably just liked making me embarrassed. 'Kubo is especially nice, don't you think?' Mesprit asked with a conspiratory grin.

I blinked, and nodded, my confusion at his behaviour coming back to me. 'I don't understand why he's so determined to impress you. What's up with him, do you think? Is he sick?'

Mesprit laughed, 'more like love-sick! He's clearly infatuated, I can feel that his emotions get all confused when he's around me. I don't think he's ever had a crush before so he doesn't know how to deal with it. Honestly it's kind of cute,' she scratched at the back of her head and averted her eyes, 'I never thought anyone could like me that way.' I frowned thoughtfully at that, and she sighed, flushing a little as she stared at the ground, unable to return my gaze. 'I wish he'd just act normal around me though. All his bravado is cute and all but... I wanna know what he's really like.'

I hummed, wondering what to say. I hadn't realized that that's what had been ailing Kubo. He liked Mesprit? How odd, I never even considered it... She was a legendary, so it never even occurred to me.. Perhaps that's why she never thought anyone could like her. I felt guilty at my own thoughts. 'Hey, Kubo is a great guy. And, uh, he must have great taste, because you're really nice, and- um- pretty.'

Mesprit smiled appreciatively, giggling a little. I hoped she believed me. But then suddenly her grin became mischievous again, and she leaned forwards to poke me on my nose. She winked, 'I think that little Vulpix of yours is a bit prettier in your eyes than I am, am I right?'

I gaped at her. What was she talking about? Snowflake was just... a good friend. Sure, she was beautiful and amazing, but- Wait. What? I scrunched up my face in confusion, my cheeks flushing in embarrassment. Mesprit didn't stop grinning, and only nodded smugly to herself, before leaning back and crossing her arms.

Her ability to sense emotions was so unfair, she could tease everyone so easily. I huffed in disgruntled amusement; Kubo was really gonna be in over his head with this one. He sure knew how to pick 'em.

The next morning I awoke to someone shaking me by my shoulder. I groaned and blinked my eyes open- sorely regretting having such a long chat with Mesprit last night- and looked up to find Kubo standing over me impatiently. "Uhg... What's wrong, dude?" I asked.

"It's time to get up, sleeping beauty!" He stood up tall and crossed his arms, tapping his foot. "We have to go buy medicine again, since last time we did it was stolen," he frowned bitterly for a moment, but shook his head and sighed. "Anyway, Snowflake is already outside. You better keep up!" He said seriously before turning and walking out of the room. I blinked after him, surprised at his lingering grumpiness. Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed, I thought with a small grin. Letting that Zorua go clearly still bothered him.

I yawned and climbed out of bed, peering over at Mesprit. She was still sleeping soundly, and I had no intentions of awaking her. I softly crept out of the room and found Kubo leaning on the wall outside the door, waiting for me. Sakura was nowhere to be found, so I assumed she was still asleep in her room. I envied her, how come she got to sleep in? Kubo nodded at me wordlessly as I arrived and we both made our way to the front gates of the guild, finding Snowflake indeed waiting there for us, speaking with Lycanroc.

I blinked in surprise at the sight of her. I had never noticed before, but seeing her standing there in the light of the early sun, her white fur sparkled in the light like freshly fallen snow. I paused for a moment, taken aback by how stunning it looked. It was as if her very fur was made of ice...

Kubo seemed annoyed by my suddenly slower pace and he looped his arm around my elbow and tugged me along after him, breaking me from my trance. I shook my head, blinking owlishly at Snowflake as she turned to greet us. "There you two are," she said, yawning, "Kubo why must we get up so early for this? This is ridiculous." Lycanroc snickered, "I didn't even get the chance to wake you guys, myself! How disappointing!"

Kubo huffed in annoyance, "it's because the Pharmacy closes earlier today, that's why! So let's hurry!" He started forwards, continuing to lug me around after him. I yelped in surprise and Snowflake followed closely behind, shaking her head with a grin. Some things never changed it seemed.

To my surprise, a lot more pokemon were up and about this morning than yesterday. The village had a surprisingly merry atmosphere, with many pokemon spending their time outside in the warm shining sun, talking with each other, play fighting, and playing music. I was intrigued to find some pokemon were even setting up a few small shop stands, turning the area that we passed through into a kind of makeshift marketplace. I hung off Kubo's arm and gaped at all the commotion. I had half a mind to hang around here all day, I could train with the battling pokemon, and I was sure there would be interesting things to buy...

"you think we could find any useful medicine here?" Snowflake asked from behind us, prompting Kubo to turn and scoff at her. "Mesprit deserves only the best!" He said pompously. Snowflake rolled her eyes, "right."

Suddenly, something rammed into my side, throwing me onto Kubo as the two of us collapsed onto the ground. "Oof!" I gasped, holding the back of my head as it pounded painfully. I shook my head a little, trying to steady my spinning vision and see what it was that had bodied me and Kubo to the ground.

"Ah! It's you!" A familiar voice cried out, and I blinked blearily up at the Zorua we had let go yesterday, who was still collapsed over me. He jumped to his feet with a panic in his voice, "please help me!" Kubo jumped to his feet angrily, "you-!" but before he could chew him out, the Zorua quickly scampered to hide behind his back fearfully.

Snowflake helped me to my feet and the three of us looked around for whatever threat the dark-type seemed to be afraid of. What trouble could he have possibly got himself into so quickly?

"Come back here! Thief!" Struggling through the crowd of playful pokemon, a furious Granbull made his way into view. The fairy-type was huge, and he looked pretty tough. I paled.

Snowflake tugged the Zorua to look at her and snarled at him, "seriously?! What makes you think we'll help you when you already broke your promise!"

"I didn't! I swear! Please help me!" He barked fearfully, clearly a bit too panicked to argue. The Granbull then seemed to spot us, and quickly began making his way towards us. "uhm, Snowflake?" Kubo mumbled, a bit afraid himself. I couldn't help but share the sentiment. What if the Granbull thought we were the Zoruas accomplices...

Snowflake sighed tiredly and shook her head, stepping forwards to get the Granbulls attention. He stopped before her and glared down at her. "You know that thief?" he grumbled angrily. The Zorua squeaked at being acknowledged and hid himself behind me instead.

Snowflake bowed her head, "I'm sure we can compensate you for whatever he took-"

"I didn't!" he shouted, suddenly angry, "I didn't do anything to him!"

"Maybe so!" Granbull huffed, crossing his arms and growling under his breath, "but we know your face around here, Hunter- and I'm not going to let you go around stealing from these good-meaning pokemon!" I blinked in surprise. So he didn't steal anything after all...?

Snowflake seemed equally surprised, but collected herself easily. "Well, he's not done anything to you now, and we've been keeping an eye on him. He won't be stealing from anyone anymore." I was surprised at her lie, but the Granbull seemed to accept it, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"Well, as long as he's under control. You better not let him go off on his own again." And with that, he turned and made his way back to the food stand he had been previously operating. Kubo and I both let out a sigh of relief. Snowflake handled that a lot better than either of us would've.

She turned back to frown at Hunter, who had peeked his head out from behind me, looking around to make sure the threat was gone. "You're a real mess you know that?" She started to criticize him, But her words seemed to startle him out of his thoughts and instead of responding, he turned tail and ran off. "Wait!" I yelped after him. Snowflake and I exchanged a quick look, wordlessly agreeing to follow him. We hurried off in pursuit, leaving Kubo blinking after us.

"Guys, wait! What about-! Uhg!" He growled in frustration when he realized we weren't listening, and quickly made off after us.

Instead of running down into the darker parts of the town, we chased Hunter up the mountain and into the lush floral parts of town. I found myself struggling up the hill a bit better this time, but only barely. I could hardly believe he was managing to run for so long. I gasped and stumbled the entire way, but finally Hunter began to tire, and with a final burst of energy, Kubo sped by me and Snowflake and tackled the Zorua to the ground.

"Gah-!" Hunter gasped, face-planting into the ground. He struggled under Kubo's weight, but Kubo kept him pinned to the ground. Snowflake and I stopped behind them, and I leaned over onto my knees, panting in exhaustion. "What's your angle, thief!?" Kubo interrogated him, but I zoned the others out as I peered around the area. I realized suddenly that we weren't in the village anymore, instead we were in the middle of the forest somewhere. Hunter had been following some dirt path, so I supposed finding the way back would be easy, but...

"I wasn't doing anything wrong! Why did you chase me!?" Hunter gasped, making me zone back into the situation. The Zorua was still struggling to escape from Kubo's grasp. Snowflake sighed heavily to catch her breath, "if you were doing nothing wrong, why did you run? We helped you!"

Hunter huffed, turning his head around to glare at us, "what, and that means I have to associate with you? I'm not letting you think you can just 'babysit' me!"

"Babysit?" Kubo rasped incredulously, "Snowflake was lying to get you out of that scrape! We don't want anything to do with you!"

Hunter growled viciously, "then why did you chase me!?"

Before any of us could respond, there was a sudden blast from behind me, exploding in a burst of dust and dirt. "Aagh!" I gasped and covered my face with my arms, but I was unable to say much more, because something suddenly bashed into my head. I collapsed bodily onto the ground, out cold.

"Uugghh..." I groaned, blinking my eyes open. My head spun horribly, and for a brief moment I feared that my head injury from before would return- I had finally started to feel healthy again!- but the pain slowly began to fade as I pushed myself up into a sitting position.

"Moss! You're awake!" Snowflake's voice cut through the dizzy haze of my mind, and then I felt something bodily run into me, almost throwing me back on the ground. "Aah!" I gasped, shaking my head and my eyes finally clearing. To my surprise, Snowflake had wrapped her front paws around my neck in an attempt to give me a hug. I blushed in surprise and lifted my shaky arms to hug her back.

"Snowflake... what happened? Where are we...?" I peered around from over her shoulder. We appeared to be trapped within some kind of cage. It was shaped like a large birdcage, but the bars were a thick iron. Through the bars above us, I could see a huge Beast carrying the cage. It seemed to be made of blue metal, with two rocket blasters that propelled us through the air at a frightening speed. We were high above the ground, the horizon stretching far around us.

Across from me and Snowflake, I could see Kubo karate chopping the bars in an attempt to break them, and- to my surprise- Hunter was here as well. Though he was still knocked out, lying on the floor not far from me.

Snowflake pulled away from me with a tired gasp, "we were so foolish- to chase Hunter out of town left us totally defenseless," she shook her head, "I don't know where this thing is taking us- but it can be nowhere good. We still don't know what these monsters want from you..." She bit her lip nervously.

"Doesn't matter!" Kubo shouted, and I jumped in surprise, not realizing that he had been listening in.

Snowflake turned and glared at him. "What do you mean it doesn't matter!?"

"We're going to escape, of course!" Kubo huffed, crossing his arms in an attempt to hide the clear bruises on them. "So it doesn't matter what they want with Moss." Snowflake groaned in irritation, but she decided to drop it. I wasn't sure how we were supposed to escape, we were so high above the ground, but...

My eyes were drawn to Hunter. I couldn't help but pity him for getting tangled up in all of this. We really had messed up good this time. Snowflake helped me struggle to my feet, and I stumbled over to Hunter. I shook him by his shoulder, "hey, Hunter..? You okay?" I asked softly.

He groaned softly and gently blinked his eyes open. For a moment he seemed to not see anything, his eyes staring into nothingness, before he shook his head and peered back up at me. His eyes went wide. "Wh-... what..?" He pushed himself into a sitting position and I sat down beside him. I watched silently as he took in our situation, peering around with wide, confused eyes. "What's going on...?"

"You've heard of all the beasts that have been sighted lately, right?" Snowflake asked softly. Hunter turned to her with sudden panic in his eyes, "You- you don't mean we're- that we-" He leapt to his feet and spun around, frantically looking for a way out. "We're trapped!"

"Duh," Kubo quipped from his place leaning against the bars.

Hunter ignored him. He spun back on me, and I was shocked to find his eyes were suddenly watery as he glared furiously at me. "This is all your fault! If you had never chased after me I wouldn't- I-" He bit his lip, struggling to not burst into tears. I deflated a little, my heart clenching. He was right- had we not followed him, we wouldn't have left town, and...

"Now's not the time to point fingers," Snowflake stepped a little in front of me as if to defend me from Hunter, and glowered at him, "it's in the past now. It happened. What we need to do now is find out how to get out of here."

Hunter bared his teeth, but said nothing. I looked away. What could we do? Perhaps if the four of us attacked one of the bars at the same time, we could do some damage... but we were so high up in the air, there was nowhere we could escape to...

"Can you fly when you transform into flying pokemon?" I suddenly asked, peering up at Hunter. The Zorua pouted at me. "I don't transform- it's just an illusion! I don't get any new powers." I groaned, looking away with a frown. He watched me curiously as I struggled to come up with a plan.

"Hey guys, we're going down!" Kubo spoke up suddenly. I peered up, and then jumped onto my feet upon realizing that he was right. The beast was beginning to descend, it was slowing down too, though I still couldn't see where exactly we were going. If we were getting close to their destination though, there was no way I was going to let us get past the point of no return. We had to escape soon, or else we may not get the chance!

"Okay guys, I know what to do," I said, nodding to my friends. Hunter frowned, but listened in as well. "We're going to attack the cage all on the same spot. Hopefully it'll break, and when the beast brings us low enough to the ground, we all jump out, okay?"

Hunter's eyes went wide with fear, "are you insane!? We're still way too high up-"

"We don't have any other choice!" Kubo snapped at him, a serious look on his face that I wasn't used to seeing. Kubo turned to me and nodded sternly. "We're gonna get out of here," he said, breaking into a confident smirk. I grinned back. There's the Kubo I knew.

"Alright everyone, get ready to attack!" Snowflake announced, pointing towards the side of the cage. We all arranged ourselves in a semi-circle around the intended point, me and Snowflake in the center with Kubo at my side and Hunter at hers. On the count of three, the four of us attacked; shadow ball, ice beam, pin missile, and water gun. The moves busted one of the bars, with a loud steel crash.

When the smoke cleared, I blinked over to find one that the gap we had broken off would be just enough space for us to squeeze through. The beasts seemed not to notice our struggle and continued to descend into a deep, lush forest. "Now's our chance," I gasped as we lowered far enough to be flying amongst the trees. All we had to do was jump and grab hold of some branches...

We all clambered out together, with Hunter the most hasty to leave, so he leapt out first. I needed to grab a hold of his tail to not have him leave the rest of us behind, and the four of us all leapt into the trees together, my hand gripping Kubo's tightly as he held onto Snowflakes paw. The landing was rough and I was sure to have a few splinters, but we were free.

"Yes! We made it!" Hunter gasped with relief. I peered around for the beast, and saw it flying off in the same direction. It was still just as huge as ever, and it was slowing down even more, so following it would be easy. "Let's get out of here!" Hunter's frantic words made me blink out of my thoughts.

"We can't just leave! We should follow it!" I announced, which only made Hunter gape at me.

"Are you insane?! We just got kidnapped by that thing. We should be running away!" He moved as if to start leaving, but Snowflake raised a paw for him to stop.

"Wait, Moss has a point. We're free now, but we also have a good lead as to what the beasts want with us. We could just take a look around and see what's up." She smiled softly at me. I hesitantly smiled back.

"Well I don't want no part in it!" Hunter huffed, puffing out his cheeks. Kubo snickered at him, "Well have fun finding your way back home without us. We're an exploration team, so we're the only ones who can help you get back." Hunter's face flushed at that, and Kubo grinned, crossing his arms behind his head. "So you'll have to stick with us, no matter the... detours."

"Fine," Hunter grumbled, "but I hate you guys so much."

"Duly noted," Kubo hummed, standing up on the branches and grinning at him. "Now lets go."

As we followed the smoke trail left by the beast, I found that I could feel some sort of strange, unfamiliar energy growing stronger and stronger. It seemed we were growing closer to something... important.

We came to a hill, which rose up and up towards some strange ruins. It seemed to have been torn apart, almost as viciously as the castle we had found Mesprit in. It wasn't a castle this time though, more like a shrine of some kind. It was overgrown with ivy and bushes, and even through all the destruction I could see intricate details carved into the stone walls. The strange energy seemed to be pouring out of the ruins, more intense here than anywhere else.

"This place is creepy," Hunter mumbled from behind me.

"Is this where the beast was taking us?" Kubo asked, his eyes wide and curious. I peered at him and saw no fear in his eyes. He was purely enthralled by the mystic beauty of the place.

I nodded, "I can't see why it wouldn't be. Do you think we can go inside?"

"Of course!" Kubo waved a hand carelessly, and began climbing the steps to reach the door, which seemed to have been blown open. We all followed after him cautiously, peering around for any sign of the beast. If this truly was its destination, then where was it? Where had it disappeared to...?

we entered a huge hall, which would have had huge towering ceilings had they not been crushed into. Large sculpted boulders had crumbled to the floor and clambering over them was difficult. most importantly though, was the large shimmering blue vortex which swirled from the far back of the room, illuminating the area with a harsh light and filling the area with a powerful energy. There were some strange runes written on the walls around it, but I had no idea what they could say.

"Woah... what in the world is that...?" Snowflake breathed, blinking in awe at the strange vortex.

We all slowly crept closer to it, until I noticed something strange lying on the ground in front of it. It was a stone statue, collapsed on its back with its arms held out wide to its sides as if trying to protect something. It had a huge mohawk on its head and strange armour-like shells attached to its arms. It's face was set in fearless determination. I tilted my head at it. something about it was... spooky.

"Guys, this place is giving me the creeps. I think we've seen enough, right? We can go home now?" Hunter stuttered from somewhere behind me. I was too focused on the strange statue to hear Kubo's response, but his voice was still as light and humorous as always.

'Moss? Where have you been?' Mesprits voice suddenly spoke up in my mind and I jumped up violently with a gasp.

"What's wrong, Moss?" Snowflake called over to me. I took a deep breath and grinned at her, waving it off.

'Sakura and I have been waiting for you to return from your shopping trip for hours. Is everything okay?' Mesprit continued, her voice laced with worry. I sat down on some rubble and continued to peer down at the strange statue. It was completely unharmed, not a single notch in its pristine carving...

'We're alright, we just... got caught up in something.' I responded hesitantly. 'Mesprit... do you know what a big blue vortex means?'

Mesprit paused. 'What... where are you right now?' Her voice sounded a little frightened, which did nothing but put me more on edge.

'We got kidnapped by a beast, but we escaped and followed it in secret. It lead us to this strange ruin with a glowing vortex in it.' I said, which only made Mesprit let out an anxious gasp.

'Where's the Tapu? Is there a pokemon there? The portal should have a guardian...'

I blinked, my eyes going wide as I peered back down at the statue. Could that be... 'Does this "Tapu" have a mohawk and weird shells on its claw hands?' I asked.

'Yes, that's Tapu Koko! Is he there? Is he okay?' Mesprit sounded almost frantic now, which made me hastily respond.

'Well, either he's not here- and this is just a statue- or... he's been turned to stone?' Following my words came nothing but silence for a long moment, and I couldn't help but rub my arms nervously and look around.

My friends were all still searching around the place, I had no idea what they were looking for but they seemed to be leaving this statue and the strange portal to me. Hunter was sitting near the exit, his tail twitching nervously as he watched my friends dig through the rubble. It occurred to me that perhaps they were searching for injured pokemon, in case someone was hurt like Mesprit was. Perhaps this 'Tapu Koko' was buried somewhere...

I turned and peered back down at the statue, with its perfectly clean condition and its intricate details. My stomach twisted. There was something painfully lifelike about it, and I couldn't stop the feeling that he had indeed, somehow... been turned to stone.

'Moss, listen...' Mesprit suddenly spoke up in my mind again, 'I don't know how they could turn him to stone, but... that must be what happened. The four Tapu's guard special portals, which connect our world to another- that must be where the beasts came from. And it's likely... where they took Cosmog.'

I felt my mouth slowly drop open as she spoke. So... my friend, she was...

I peered up into the portal, watching as it swirled and shimmered brilliantly. It seemed even more ominous to me now. Cosmog was in there. They had taken her to another world.. they were from another dimension perhaps, just like me. They had wanted to take me there as well, and as far as we knew, there was no way back.

I clenched my fists, and stood up from the ground. 'Tell Sakura what's happening, she'll need to explain everything to the guild. I don't know when we'll be back, but... We'll be fine, I promise.' Mesprit hastily agreed, but I wasn't really listening anymore. Cosmog... We were going to save her if it's the last thing I do!

I turned to my friends, and they peered up at me, seeing the fire in my eyes. Snowflake smiled softly, and Kubo grinned. They didn't know my plan, and yet they were still willing to support me through anything, and it made my heart clench with joy. They really were the best...

Hunter wilted fearfully, "we're not gonna go home now, are we?"

Kubo answered for me with a tired, yet smug grin. "Nope."