-the whispering woods-
Annika and Ivy with Melog following them walked through the forest, trying to find Clara who they called every now and then.
After a few minutes Ivy seemed to get uncomfortable and tried to start a conversation with Annika.
"So... You said something about issues with your temper because of your... transformation?" she asked, her hands behind her back and looking at Annika innocently.
"I wouldn't call them issues... but it seems to really bother Clara. You see, she always was the one who lit up the room with her upbeat attitude. I used to find that pretty annoying, but now... I'd give anything to get that Clara back." Annika told the princess with plant powers honest with her feelings.
"You seem to really care about each other. I wish I had a best friend I could share everything with. Someone who always knows what I think and who thinks exactly like me." Ivy dreamed about the perfect person for being her friend.
"Well, we don't always get along. Sometimes we fight. But no matter if it's because of which path gets us to Plumeria faster or who eats the last piece of pie from the royal kitchen, we'll always be... Together." Annika slowly began to smile while telling Ivy about her best friend and her cat ears got into a calm position.
Ivy suddenly smirked at Annika and seemed to read too much into what the girl just said.
" Wait, what's that smile supposed to mean? Are you-" Annika began blushing but was interrupted by a scream that sounded a lot like Clara.
"Clara!" the two girls screamed and ran towards the direction the cry for help came from. Melog followed them as their mane became red.
They arrived on top of a small hill and saw Clara and the strange creature threatening the princess with their paws. It had the shape of a bear and their eyes lit up furiously.
Clara tried to defend herself by shooting arrows with her magic bow in the direction of the dangerous creature and took multiple steps back.
Annika didn't hesitate for a second and quickly ran down the hill to help her friend.
"Annika, no! It's going to tear both of you apart!" Ivy tried to stop Annika by grabbing her arm but she just freed herself from the princess's grip and continued to run towards her friend.
Before Ivy could even react to that situation, Melog ran past her and turned into a bigger shape while Ivy stood on the hill speechless.
As Annika entered the fight between the human and the alien her claws showed and she hissed at the creature.
"Get away from her!" she shouted protective while Clara was surprised but happy to see her friend.
The creature raised their paw and was about to hit both of the girls when suddenly Melog jumped onto the other alien from the side and brought it down.
That made the creature weak for a while and so they struggled to get up.
Meanwhile, Melog and Annika locked eyes and the girls looked at the cat alien relieved.
"Thank you, Melog!" Clara gasped slightly laughing.
"What happened here?" Annika asked the princess of Bright Moon while she still watched the creature.
"I was about to come back to you and Ivy when suddenly the creature showed up and attacked me. Even though I gave them all my food from Dryl!" Clara explained and looked angrily at the creature.
"You should have never ran away on your own. How are we supposed to protect each other if we can't even stay together?" Annika shouted at her friend concerned.
"Oh, but you can run off whenever you want? Remember, you were the one who wanted to do this yourself!" Clara reminded Annika and crossed her arms.
"That's not... I wasn't... You know that is something different! I can protect myself!" Annika yelled back and didn't pay attention to the creature on the ground anymore.
"I had the situation under control! You just helped to do it faster!" Clara shouted back as she turned away from her friend and Melog who suddenly meowed as if they wanted to warn the girls.
"I don't think so! And just so you know-" Annika wanted to continue the argument but Melogs meowing kept getting louder and louder and made the girls pretty annoyed.
"Would you please be quiet, Melog? You did great, but right now I need to tell my best friend how worried I am that she might die if she keeps doing these wreckless things!" Annika yelled honest which she didn't realize at first.
"Yeah! And I need to tell my best friend to stop trying to do things on her own and realize that we're all here to help her!" Clara replied with an honest comment.
After that sentence there was a pause as the two girls realized what the other one just said. Then they began to smile.
All of a sudden a huge vine grew out of the ground next to them, flew past them and held the strange creature who just got back up on the ground.
The best friends looked over to Ivy who seemed to be the one who saved them. She had her arms lifted up in the air and a bit of sweat dripping from her forehead.
Then the princess of Plumeria climbed down the hill and walked towards the creature who was caught under the vines.
"What do we do with it now?" Ivy asked caring.
Annika looked down at Melog who suddenly seemed to have a softer look and watched the creature curiously. Then she looked back to the other alien who suddenly transformed.
They slowly became smaller and shaped a form that was very similar to Melog's. Then they opened their purple eyes and for the first time the girls actually got to see the creature in its normal form.
"You were right, Annika. It is the same species as Melog." Clara gasped.
"I guess..." Annika replied as she suddenly noticed something on the side of the alien's back. It was the arrow Clara shot when they first met the creature.
"Oh no. Clara, your arrow is still inside the flesh." Annika showed her friends and pointed at the wound.
"We have to get it out. If it stays in there it could be threatening for the creature's life." Ivy explained concerned and tried to walk closer to the alien but they just hissed at the human.
"We have to convince this creature that we want to help..." Annika stated, looked at Melog and nodded.
Melog understood Annika's idea and slowly went closer to the creature. At first they hissed at Melog but after looking into Melog's eyes they suddenly started to calm down.
Melog came closer and closer until they sat down right next to the creature who was still trapped under the vines.
Annika gave Ivy a sign and the princess took a few steps towards the wound. She still was in sight of the hurt alien so they wouldn't panic all of a sudden.
Melog layed down next to the other alien without loosing the eye contact. The pupils of both alien cats expanded as they kept looking at each other.
Ivy almost arrived at the two aliens and prepared herself for any attacks of the hurt creature incase they suddenly panicked.
Thanks to Melog the creature stayed calm until they saw Ivy from the side. At first it growled but after a friendly purr of Melog they at least tried to stay still.
"Good... alien... cat. Okay, I'm doing this to help so please don't freak out." Ivy explained nervously as she placed her hands on the arrow.
The princess hesitated and looked back at Annika and Clara, searching help.
"What are you doing? Just pull it out. " Annika whispered slightly angry.
"I can't... Should I pull the arrow out at once or slowly? I don't know if the creature will stay calm." Ivy slowly began to panic.
"Just pull it out. It's not that hard, you-" Annika's eyes turned into cat-like eyes again but before she could get more angry Clara held her back by placing her hand on Annika's shoulder.
"Try to stay calm, both of you. Remember? The yoga exercises?" Clara tried to make both Ivy and Annika calm again.
"These exercises didn't calm me at all." Annika hissed.
"Okay, uh, forget the yoga exercises... Think of... I don't know... Training fighting with your mothers." Clara suggested.
"Fighting is so not calming. How could you say that?" Ivy whispered scared, still holding on to the arrow.
Suddenly Melog who was just laying next to the hurt creature began to stand up and looked around worried.
The girls didn't notice at first but then the alien next to Melog also began to look afraid and tried to stand up.
That scared Ivy so much she threw her hands in the air and stood up. Unfortunately her hands were still holding the arrow so it got pulled out all of a sudden.
The alien cat roared a roar of pain and freed themselves from the vines so it could run around and shaking their head.
The girls tried to make it stay in the area of the forest but it escaped through the woods. Melog quickly ran after the alien and left Annika, Clara and Ivy to themselves.
"At least we got the arrow out of the wound." Clara tried to brighten up the mood which didn't work at all.
"Why didn't you pull it out slowlier? Now we have no idea where they are headed!" Annika shouted at Ivy furiously and was now in her full cat form.
"Wha- I'm sorry. You didn't say I should..." Ivy stuttered. It was clear that she was afraid of Annika's anger.
"Annika, calm down. Ivy couldn't have done anything else. You can't blame her for what just happened!" Clara defended the princess.
"What side are you on right now!?" Annika yelled back at her friends.
"This isn't about sides Annika! It's about how we get Melog, the other alien and you back to normal!" Clara replied in a now louder voice.
"No, it so is! You don't trust me anymore, do you? Just because I am more like my mom! What, are you scared I might try to betray you just like mom did to mommy!?" Annika shouted without thinking.
"I'm not scared of you! I'm worried about you!" Clara yelled back while Ivy stood in the back terrified of the fight between the others.
"No, you are! You all are! You think I'm stupid? You think I'm a monster just because I look different and am more honest?!" Annika yelled without any thought of empathy anymore.
"Please, Annika, stop this. We need to-" Ivy tried to hold Annika back.
"Oh sure, let's leave it to miss sunshine over here to help! Because that worked so well the first time with Melog! Do you even know anything about animals or do you just like cuddling with bunnies?!" Annika responded hissing and started walking towards Ivy threatening.
"Leave Ivy out of this!" Clara grabbed Annika's wrist to stop her.
"Don't touch me!" Annika tried to free herself from Clara's grip and accidentally took her claws out and pulled her hand out of Clara's hand which led to Annika scratching Clara on the arm.
"Ahh!" Clara yelled and backed of to hold her wound with her other hand. Ivy immediately ran to the hurt princess to help her.
Annika was frozen and looked shocked about what she just did. Then she looked down at her hand which still had claws on it.
Now Annika had a look on her face that made it seem like she was scared of herself. She slowly stumbled back.
"I'm - I'm sorry, Clara. I didn't mean to hurt you." Annika tried to apologize and fell down on her knees devastated.
Clara looked at her best friend whos eyes slowly began to look like human eyes again.
Then she walked towards Annika and knelt down in front of her. Before Annika could say anything else Clara hugged her empathetic.
Annika was suprised but still hugged her back. She even had a few tears on her cheeks.
When they parted Clara gave her friend an understanding smile.
"Are you yourself again?" she asked caring.
"I-I think so..." Annika replied still a bit traumatized from her sudden anger.
"Good. Now, where did Melog and their friend go?" Clara asked Ivy as she stood up from the grass.
"I don't know. They went that way, but there's a long river so they most likely went... Back to Plumeria!" Ivy figured out and went back to panicking.
"Hey, calm down. If we hurry we can still make it before they get there. You know this forest, right? Do you also know a shortcut or something. An underground waterslide to Plumeria?" Clara asked and got a little too carried away with her ideas.
"Hm... There is an underground tunnel we use in case of emergencies. But I've never used it before." Ivy remembered uncertainty.
"Then let's go through there. I need-... We need to save everyone." Annika answered, sounding more confident than before.
-Plumeria-
After a short while the three girls arrived in Plumeria. The first thing they saw was a destroyed yoga camp.
"Oh no, we're too late. Where are Melog and-" Annika began, searching for Melog but when she found them she and her friends were more than suprised.
Melog and the other alien cat were laying on the ground and pet by Scorpia and Perfuma.
"What... Is going on here?" Ivy asked confused as she and her new friends walked closer to the creatures.
"Oh, you're here! You could have told us that Melog has a partner now." Scorpia greeted the kids as she gave Melog bellyrubs.
"What's their name?" Perfuma asked her daughter while being overwhelmed with cuteness.
"I... Don't know... But what about the destroyed yoga camp? Was that not them?" Ivy reminded her mothers.
"Oh, they did destroy it. But then all of a sudden, Melog was calm again and that made the other creature calm too. So they just sat down and were peaceful again." Perfuma explained to the girls before turning back to the two aliens.
"Okay, then... Maybe it has to do something with you, Annika." Ivy speculated.
"What?" Annika said, not understanding what Ivy was referring to.
"Well, when you were a bit... Angry...Melog also was mad. But when you calmed down Melog was calm too. Maybe because Melog's connection with Catra is not there because she's so far away so they just connected with your emotions." the princess of Plumeria continued her theory.
" That... Actually makes a lot of sense." Clara agreed with Ivy while Annika still felt bad for her outrage earlier.
"So what is their name now?" Scorpia reminded Annika.
"Hm... Maybe I can ask Melog." Annika suggested and walked towards the aliens. Then suddenly Melog seemed to talk to Annika. Just not in words.
"Their name is Lolonyo." Annika told everyone else who didn't understand Melog.
"Beautiful!" Ivy cheered and offered Melog her hand which Melog licked trusting. That led to Ivy having an unbelievably big smile on her face.
"So... About our offer earlier today..." Clara said to Ivy who rolled her eyes sweetly.
"Of course I'll join you two! I can't wait to make new friends in Bright Moon!" she responded cheerfully.
"Great!" Annika and Clara both said at the same time.
When Ivy joined her mother's and the alien cats Annika took the chance to talk to Clara.
"Hey, I don't know what I am going through right now and I understand that it's hard but... Could you... please be patient with me? I really don't want to hurt you or anyone again." she mumbled embarrassed and looked to the ground.
Clara smiled and put her arm around Annika's shoulder. "It's alright. At least now I have a cool scar on my arm. But... I should probably have something to cover it by the time we get back to Bright Moon or my parents will start to worry." she joked around.
While the two of them were laughing together the sword on Annika's arm began to light up in a green light.