"We need to be careful," Keia said. "I've read about the FoxWoods… Here, the plant-life produces its own illusions to lure us away from the fox spirits… It's a sort of self-defense to protect its inhabitants. It won't be easy to find the fox spirits' dwellings."

I nodded. Vegance held up Rona's faceplate once again. "If it's Rona we seek, maybe the Woods will be kind to us," she said. When Vegance held up the faceplate, however, I felt a strange feeling inside my head. Suddenly, a burst of pain shot through my head. I threw my hands to my head and screamed. I dropped to my knees.

'You who seeks my help… I know why you are here… I know who you are… I've known you before you even came to be. If you want my help, call to me,' a voice said inside my head. I struggled to get up, but only stumbled and fell back down. The pain… So much… I could hear Keia calling my name as I fell to the ground… The last thing I remember, I looked up at her, her eyes full of worry… And then nothing.

When I opened my eyes again, I had not moved a bit. I sat up and looked around. Ceae, Keia, and Vegance were nowhere to be seen. Had they gone off without me? I struggled to my feet and fought to maintain balance. Grabbing a nearby tree, I looked around again. I had no idea what time it was; the trees blocked out the sun here. I continued to search around… My vision was fuzzy. As things became clearer, I could make out a couple of glowing red dots from behind a nearby cluster of bushes. I had nowhere else to go, so I drew my sword and approached the dots.

I was fairly close to the dots now… I reached out my hand and grabbed at them. They disappeared in an instant! From behind the bushes, a black figure leapt at me with a sword in hand. I raised my sword to block his. The shock of the blow knocked me backwards. I fell to the ground, but quickly got back up. Already, the black figure was in my face again. I raised my sword up again, and our swords locked in front of us. The figure leaned in so I could see its face better: his eyes shined blood red, and what I thought was black skin was actually black fur. It was tall and had long antennae-like ears coming from an elongated head. Its arms were ended by long claws, and I could clearly see a bushy tail waving behind it. Then, it spoke to me.

"I know why you're here." The voice was somewhat deep and sounded much like a guy's.

"You talk?" I asked.

"Of course… It's not like I can't… I know why you're here… You seek my help," he said.

"You're Rona?"

"Not exactly. What you see is only a dream… But, you must prove to me that you are worthy. Show me that you deserve my help…"

"How so?" I was knocked backwards as Rona pulled his blade away and jumped away from me.

"Fight me. Show me that your heart is pure," Rona said.

"You know you're stronger than me… You'll murder me!" I pleaded.

"You can't die in a dream…" Rona raised his sword. "Fight me," he repeated. I could feel his glare burning a hole through me.

"If it's the only way, so be it." I raised my sword up. I thought I saw Rona smile before charging me. He delivered the first three strikes in succession with such speed! I was amazed that I could block them… He backed up a bit. Then, I tried to attack. My sword whistled through the air. When I finished, I noticed that Rona had disappeared. "Rona?" I felt a blow to the back of my head. I fell forward and rolled back onto my feet.

"Watch your back," Rona taunted. I turned around and swung at him again. Again, he disappeared. He knocked me in the back with the hilt of his sword. I stopped to catch my breath. I turned around and raised my sword quickly to block two more blows from Rona. He leapt back quickly. "Let's see how you do without your weapon…" Rona stuck out his hand.

"Hey!" I felt my sword get ripped from my hand. It flew behind me and stuck itself into a tree.

"Show me some magic," Rona said. I held out my hand and launched a chunk of ice at him. He split it in two while running at me. Just before he got to me, I put up my ice wall. He ran right into it. Rona stumbled backwards and shook his head. He looked back at me and slashed through the wall as though it were nothing! I saw him leap into the air and disappear. I was tripped from behind and Rona held his sword to my throat while I was on the ground. His eyes stopped glowing, revealing a pair of blood red eyes.

"No matter how many times I come at you… You keep fighting. I feel your fighting spirit… You keep fighting for what is right… I see you have potential," Rona said. He picked up his sword and started to walk away.

"Rona, wait!" I shouted.

Rona turned back around. "I feel you are worthy… Seek me out in the Woods ahead. I'll be waiting…" He continued to leave. I saw him disappear into the foliage.

"Rona!" Everything started to fade…

"Cryos? Cryos!" I started to come to. I could hear Keia screaming my name. She was trying to shake me awake. "Cryos… Please…"

"Huh?" I opened my eyes. "Err…" I put my hand on my head and started to sit up. "Keia, what happened?"

"I don't know! You just suddenly fell over! I heard you mumble some weird stuff… Are you alright?"

"I just had the most realistic dream ever… Rona was there."

Vegance gasped. "You did? Where is he? What does he look like?"

"I don't know where he is… I just know what he looks like. He's tall, muscular… Black fur, blood red eyes… An elongated snout with these strange ears," I explained while putting my hands on my head. "And a big, bushy tail."

"Well, that sounds like any fox spirit," Keia said.

"Believe me, I'll know him when I see him… He beat the crap outta me in my dream… It was amazing. I, uh, think he said he'd be waiting for me…"

"'Beat the crap out of you?' Cryos, that's bad… Something tells me he's prepared," Keia said.

"Yeah? Well, he knows my intentions are pure… We'll find him." I got up and looked around. "The Woods should lead us… Let's just walk." I took the lead, followed by Vegance, Ceae, and Keia.