Element Gang: Axel and the Wonderbeasts, Book 1: Beast War

by Element Writer

What would happen if some humans chose to stay and fight the Wonderbeasts and managed to make peace with them? What if there was a resistance against Scarlemagne? Well, here is what that situation would like if that did happen.

4. Chapter 2: Wolf the Lone Warrior

Chapter 2: Wolf the Lone Warrior

With the morning sun shining through the window, I got out of bed and went on to do my daily chores. I got dressed in my morning clothes, brushed my teeth, and got to preparing breakfast. Usually, I would be cleaning the laundry as my little bro left the house already for training. I even found another note from him saying that he took an orange for breakfast today. Yes, Axel wakes up earlier than me. About around 5 AM, according to Uncle Donnie. With how times are now, I guess it makes sense that he would want to be ready as soon as possible. With how things were back then in the ancient past, I bet none of our ancestors were like this and chose the easier path to training, like not waking up at 5 in the morning. The reason I was cooking was because there was a guest in the house and I want her to have a good breakfast before doing anything. Speaking of which, as I was just preparing her plate, I heard a yawn and looked to see Kipo waking up as she stretched her arms and sat up on the couch. I cannot lie and say that I didn't giggle a bit at her bedhead-messy hair.

"Good morning, Kipo." I said to her with a bright smile, the Burrow girl rubbing her eyes before she looked at me.

"Oh, morning, Miwa." Kipo said before she took a whiff at the air, no doubt smelling her breakfast. "What's that smell?"

"Your breakfast." I said to her before I brought her plate and a fork over. "Scrambled Mega Eggs. Enjoy!"

She was a little hesitant at first. I wouldn't blame her for that. Burrow people never usually go onto the surface, so they don't get much of the kind of food we have on the surface. After a moment, she then used the fork and ate some of it. After she did, I saw her beginning to enjoy her meal.

"Wow!" She said before she swallowed the eggs in her mouth. "This is really good! Thanks, Miwa!"

"My pleasure." I said as the little girl continued eating, going back to the kitchen to get my own plate. "It's always best to start the day with a good breakfast." When I got back, I saw that Kipo was already finished with her eggs and was surprised that she ate the pile of food I put on her plate. "Wow! You licked your plate clean."

"Well, I hadn't eaten such good food except for my dad's." Kipo said to me.

"I'm glad that Mr. Oak was able to keep you well-fed." I smiled at her before I put my plate down. "I suppose you would be wanting another plate full, huh?"

"Yeah, if you don't mind, of course."

"Not at all. I'll get you a second helping in a jiffy." I then took Kipo's plate and went back to the kitchen, preparing seconds for her.

After we finished breakfast, I took her to the bathroom to show her how to get ready for the day.

"Okay, there are four easy steps to brushing your teeth on the surface." I then grabbed my toothbrush and began showing her the steps on how a lady of the Tribe brushes her teeth, having two glasses of water, two Petri dishes of baking soda, and some peppermint set on the counter with the spitting bucket hanging from it and the mirror on the wall beside the counter and bucket. I did each step as I spoke. "Step 1, add some peppermint to the baking soda and mix them. This will help freshen your breath while making your teeth clean. Step 2, dip your toothbrush in some water. Don't dip it to where drops of water are dripping from it. Step 3, dip your wet brush into the baking soda. With the help of the water, this turns the baking soda into a special application that can be used to clean teeth." I then stopped as I reached the last step. "And Step 4, put the brush in your mouth and start brushing your teeth. Make sure you get every tooth. Got all that?"

"Yeah, though I kind of already knew how to brush my teeth." Kipo said to me. "Thanks for showing me how you do it on the surface though."

"No problem." I then got to brushing my teeth and watched as Kipo repeated the steps. Though I did smile a bit, I soon realized that Kipo didn't have her own toothbrush and was worried about what she might be using. After rinsing my mouth and spitting in the bucket, I then spoke to Kipo. "Um… Kipo?" When she turned to me, I saw she was using a blue toothbrush. "What exactly are you using to brush your teeth?" She then stopped brushing and spoke to me with the brush still in her mouth.

"Nothing. Just this brush I found sitting in that cup over there." She pointed to the cup over in the corner, the one me and my brother use to hold our toothbrushes when we weren't using them. Right there, I was shocked as my suspicion was true. "Why? Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing is wrong." As I was refilling the cup I used to rinse my mouth with water, I was finding difficulty in telling her what had me worried. "It's just… That brush you're using?" Right there, I then decided to go right ahead and tell her, turning my head away. "That's Axel's."

After a moment, I then heard her spit as she no doubt took the brush out of her mouth and saw Axel's name on the handle.

"Oh, my god!" Kipo then started to panic. "I just used Axel's toothbrush!"

"It's fine, Kipo. You didn't know." I tried to calm her down as I wiped her face clean with a hand towel. "We're just lucky my little brother isn't here. He'd freak if he found out a girl used his toothbrush." I then grabbed the hairbrush and got ready to brush her hair. "Now let's get rid of the bedhead you got there."

"Wait, you mean he's not here?" She stopped me with that question. "Where is he?"

"Oh, he's out, doing training with the others. Now, face the mirror." She did as I said as I then got behind her and got to work on brushing her hair down.

"Training? What training?"

"Combat training." There, I then started explaining to her what Axel does in the morning. "You see, when he was little, Axel wanted to be on the frontline in the Beast War and be a part of the Guardian Order."

"Guardian Order?"

"Yes. They are the resistance force against Scarlemagne."

"You guys have a resistance?" Kipo smiled with surprise.

"Yes. How else do you think the Tribe is still standing? It's not only because we have a guardian watching over us, but the soldiers of the Guardian Order fighting in the war for us. Only the best fighters in the Tribe can join them." Seeing she got it all, I then got back on topic. "Anyway, my little bro wanted to join the Order. Even though my brother is a good fighter and willing to take up the fight, I wasn't going to let him because he's too young to be going out there."

"Too young?"

"Yes. The Beast War is just too dangerous for him at the moment. So I made a promise to him, that I would only let him join the Order once he is 15. Our ancestors had managed to hold their own the best at that age, so it'll be better once he's that old."

"Oh. So how old is he now?"

"13. He'll be turning 14 soon." Kipo then giggled a bit as I looked down at her, still brushing her hair.

"Sorry. Don't mean to be rude, but it seems like you don't have much time before he goes to war."

"I know. But it seems like more than that to him, especially with the job of collecting stuff needed for the Tribe. You know, like building materials."

"So he doesn't like doing that?"

"No, not really. But, besides training, it's basically the only thing he can do right now while he waits for the day he gets to go out into battle. But, if I didn't make him wait, then we wouldn't have found you."

"Yeah, I guess not." Kipo took a moment before she spoke to me again. "So you said he was doing combat training?"

"Yes, with our cousins and his little friends. They all being trained by Uncle Donnie in the art of ninjitsu."

"Ninjitsu? What's ninjitsu?"

"Ninjitsu is a great and ancient battle art that utilizes speed, strength, and stealth. Uncle Donnie is the only ninjitsu master alive who can teach it. Seeing how my brother was eager to fight, he decided to teach him how to fight like that. He had the other kids join as he needed a class for Axel to become better and to teach them how to protect themselves if they ever come across any danger. He even hand-crafted weapons and protection out of wood for them to use in practice."

"Wow! That's pretty cool!"

"Yes. Well, it is essential in our family." When I saw I had gotten done combing down Kipo's hair, I stopped and stepped back with a proud smile. "There. All done!" Just when I said that, parts of Kipo's hair stuck up, surprising me. "What the…?" I then brushed it down again only for it to happen again. "Okay, let's try this again." I brushed it down and the same result happened. From there, I decided to give up with a sigh of defeat. "Sorry, Kipo. Looks like your hair got its own thing going on."

"It's fine." Kipo smiled as she looked herself in the mirror. "It looks great. Thanks."

"No problem, Kipo." I then remember her hairband and started walking to my room to get it. "Wait right here. I'll be right back." After a moment of searching, I managed to find the band and came back to the bathroom. "Okay, now… Kipo?" When I looked into the bathroom, Kipo was gone.

"Whoa!" I heard Kipo, her voice coming from Axel's room. I went in there and saw her glamor at the room. "Look at all these instruments and these posters!"

"I see you found my brother's room." I watched as she turned to me.

"Wait, this is Axel's room?" Kipo asked, surprised by this.

"Yep. This is my little bro's room. Some of the things you see are stuff he found on scavenging missions." I then looked to a poster that said "How to Train Your Dra", that was all that it said as it had faded a bit with the last letters unreadable. "When he finds stuff that he likes, he brings it back her. He thinks of it as sort of a relic collection."

"Hey, what's this?" I looked back at her as I saw she had Axel's journal.

"Oh, that's his Wonderbeast journal." As I explained, Kipo opened it up and looked at the pages. "It's filled with all kinds of stuff about Wonderbeasts and Mega Mutants. He even adds the ones that he has seen if they aren't already in there."

"Hey! A squirrel with eight tails!" Kipo said with a smile. "I knew they were real!"

"Yeah. Axel loves learning everything he can about Wonderbeasts. It's one of the things that makes him happy." I then looked over and joined Kipo as we read the journal, the girl just being amazed by all it had.

---

With the sun rising closer to the peak, the others and I kept on sparring with each other. We were all wearing special black martial arts gi with wooden protection gear, and each of us was split into groups of two (well, most of us), all of us with wooden training weapons. For me, I was paired up with Gordy as we sparred each other with bo staffs, Aisha and Brandon going at each other with sling weapons, Stella and Hotaru in a bo staff spar of their own, Caldwell and Musa clashing shields while using hand-to-hand attacks, Thora and Hikari swinging their nunchucks at each other, Brook using his boomerangs against Riku's si, Kylo's batons versus Sora's swords, and Aurico and Nabu going hand-to-hand. We were all going at it pretty strong and it seemed like it would end until…

"Yame!" Uncle Donnie said as he made us stop, saying the Japanese word for "stop". We all stood straight as we looked to him, holding our weapons in respect. "That is all for today. You've all done great. Now, go home and prepare for the journey. We'll leave as soon as everyone is ready."

"Hai, sensei." The others and I said, bowing to him in respect.

After that, we all then walked off to our homes to get ready with Hotaru walking with Uncle Donnie. What we were getting ready for was for the journey in helping Kipo get back to her Burrow. Yeah, Uncle Donnie thought it would be better if we would go as a group as it would both serve as extended ninja training along with providing great protection for Kipo until she is safely back home. Uncle Donnie would be accompanying us as both our teacher and our guardian. I just hope our first step isn't gonna get as hairy as the last encounter I had with the only warrior I know that's not a member of the Tribe.

---

"Wow! This is amazing!" Kipo said as we finished reading the journal. "Thanks for letting me read this, Miwa."

"No problem, Kipo." I said as I then took the journal and put it back where she found it. "Looks like I found someone who's into Wonderbeasts as much as Axel."

"Hey, what's this supposed to be?" Hearing Kipo's question, I turned to look and saw Kipo had Axel's Walkman.

"Oh, I see you found Axel's Walkman." I said to her.

"Walkman? I never heard of it." Kipo then started examining it.

"I'm not surprised. It is a relic from the past." I then started explaining to her how it worked. "You see, back in the old days, people would use these to play and listen to music. My little brother always haves it playing music when he's out scavenging. He even haves some headphones he wears so that he only listens to the music he haves."

"Wait, he listens to music on this?" Kipo was surprised by this.

"Yeah." I then took the music player from her and saw that Axel had put in a music tape. "Looks like he already haves a tape in it." With that, I then got an idea. "Would you like to hear the song he picked?"

"Well, yeah. But is Axel gonna be okay with it?"

"Eh, he's at practice. He won't know." I shrugged my shoulders, not really seeing anything wrong with the idea. "Besides, I'm sure he wouldn't mind if we listen to one song." With that, I then pressed play and we were greeted by the sound of a guitar playing.

No where to turn,

No where to hide.

Between a rock and a hard place

Someone to find,

I know that times are tough, just down and out.

Putting my faith in tomorrow.

I'm ready to go,

But I don't know where to start.

Each and every road,

Seems to be calling to me.

Pulled in every which way,

So I made my own path.

A deep breath and my best foot forward.

One small step from zero,

I'm not afraid.

'Cause the world that we want,

Is right here for us to make.

Just taking one small step to hero,

I'll take the chance.

And when I do,

I'll be thinking of the same thing I always do.

It's always you.

We try to find… the passion inside,

A flame that will never burn out.

Something that's mine.

I did it on my own,

No looking back.

Wishing for my time to shine.

No way to know,

So I'll just follow my heart.

Each and every road seems to be calling to me.

I'll keep moving on,

So there's no looking back.

A deep breath and my best foot forward!

One small step from zero,

To start again!

If we want to be strong,

Have to believe that we can!

Just taking one small step to hero,

To make a change!

And start brand new!

I'll be wishing for the same thing I always do!

It's always you.

All the hope we have,

Is right here in our hands.

The future's left unseen,

Just a blank page!

All the strength I need,

Is right here in me!

Just need one small step,

To carry on!

Just taking one small step from zero,

I'm not afraid!

'Cause the world we want,

Is right here for us!

Just taking one small step to hero,

I'll take the chance!

And when I do,

I'll be thinking of the same thing I always do!

It's always you.

"Wow…" Kipo said as the song finished, blown away by the song.

"What are you two doing?" We looked to the doorway and saw Axel standing there with his arms crossed, scaring the crap out of us and nearly making me drop his Walkman.

"Oh, Axel!" I said to him, one hand on my chest and the music player in the other as I calmed myself. "Don't sneak up on us like that!"

"Uh, uh… nothing!" Kipo quickly said to him, grabbing and putting the Walkman behind her.

"Kipo, give me my Walkman." He said as he put his arms down, walking over to the girl and seeing through her act. From there, Kipo then nervously gave my little bro his Walkman. "What were you girls doing with my Walkman?"

"I was just playing some music for Kipo to listen to." I told him, trying to calm him down for I thought he was mad.

"Playing some music? For Kipo?" he raised a brow at me before he then turned to Kipo. "You wanted to hear the song I picked?"

"Um…" Kipo was having trouble coming up with an answer, no doubt worried that Axel would be mad at her. "Maybe?"

It was only a moment for I was met with a surprise as he sooner started laughing. It lasts for about 3 or 4 minutes before he spoke again.

"Kipo, there's nothing to be nervous about. I'm not mad." He said to her. "This song is what I play every time I wake up. It's a good song to kick off the morning. I get why my sis would play it for you, but why'd you decide to listen?"

"I woke up early and Miwa was showing something things." She answered. "We went into your room and then I found your Walkman and Miwa was showing me how it worked."

"What did you think of the song?"

"I think I liked it." Kipo admitted before I spoke up.

"So, little bro, who was the singer this time?" I asked him with a curious smile.

"Lillian Weinberg, a famous American songstress." He told me. "From what I heard, this was one of her greatest songs, One Small Step."

"We also looked at your journal. It's pretty cool." Kipo got his attention as she motioned to the journal, speaking normally. "It has all kinds of info on Wonderbeasts. Did you draw those yourself?"

"No. My mom drew most of them. A few of them are mine." Axel said before he got a sad look on his face. "It was hers. I'm sorry, it's just…"

"There, there, Axel. I miss her too." I said as I comforted my brother before I explained to Kipo. "Our mother passed away while he was still a baby. That journal is all we have left of her."

"Oh, sorry." Kipo said to us. "I totally get it. I lost my mom too."

"Oh." That made my brother look up at her as I saw he was feeling sorry for her. "I'm sorry to hear that. So it's just been you and your dad?"

"Yep." Kipo then got a sad look herself. "He's the only family I got left."

After a short moment of silence, me and my bro went over to comfort her.

"Don't worry." Axel put a hand on her shoulder, smiling at the girl as she looked up at him. "We'll find him."

"Thanks." Kipo returned the smile. "Hey, if you don't mind me asking, but what's that book you have made from?"

"Not at all." Axel raised a brow and I was just as confused. "But why are you asking that question?"

"Well, it's because I've never felt one like it before. It doesn't feel like paper."

"Oh, that's because it's not made out of paper." Axel answered as he got the journal and held it. "The pages are made from the skin of an aquatic Mega Mutant, a Mega Mutant that lived underwater, and the cover is made from the scales."

"Wait, you mean that's made from a Mega Mutant?" Kipo was surprised by this. "How did…"

"Our dad made it for our mom." Axel quickly answered.

"Oh, that's cool." Kipo said with an impressed smile. "So where do we start heading out?"

"Pretty soon, but first I'm gonna pack." Right then, Axel then looked to me. "Are my clothes dry yet?"

"Oh, shit! I forgot to do the laundry!" I said as I realized I didn't do that.

"Seriously?" Axel was shocked by this. "Sis, my morning clothes were in that pile! I might have my pajamas covered, but what am I supposed to do for fresh clothes in the morning?"

I took a moment to think before I then got the perfect idea.

"Wait right here!" I then rushed out of the room, heading to my room. It was there that I found some old clothes I've been keeping for a while. Hoping they would fit, it took the two piles of clothes and brought them back to Axel's room. "Ta-da!" I then gave the pile of clothes in my right arm to Axel. "Here you go!"

"Miwa, what are these?" he asked.

"Oh, just some of Yoshi's old clothes when he was your age." I told him.

"Yoshi wore these?" Axel was surprised by this.

"Yep. And you can take some for your backup morning clothes."

"Wow! Thanks, sis!"

"Who's Yoshi?" Kipo asked.

"Yoshi was our big brother, the oldest of us." I said to her before changing the subject, giving her the other pile of clothes. "Anyway, I got some of my old clothes for you to wear too."

"Why do I need some new clothes?" She asked.

"Well, you can't go walking around in PJs all day, right?" I told her. "Plus, it's nice to have a change of clothes once in a while."

"Yeah, speaking of change of clothes, would you girls mind leaving for a bit?" Axel said to us. "I really need to get dressed."

"Oh, not at all. Come on, Kipo." I then grabbed Kipo and got us both out of Axel's room for him to get changed, bring us to my room. "Okay, try them on and pick the one you like."

As Kipo started searching through the clothes, I stepped out into the hallway and wait for the two to pop out of their rooms to show me what they picked.

"Haha!" Kipo comes out wearing my old safari clothes which I shook my head "no" as it didn't seem right, making the girl go back into my room.

"Well?" I turned and saw Axel wearing some Yoshi's flying cap, parachute pants, and bomber jacket. I shook my head at this too and he went back into his room to change.

Axel and Kipo came back and wore now wearing bright clothing, Kipo wearing some jeans and my old Christmas sweater and Axel wearing Yoshi's old bohemian pants and shirt. They both looked at themselves and before they looked at me and saw the answer on my face.

"No." With that exchange of looks to each other, the two went back to change.

They had gotten through a few choices of style. Kipo tried my old ballerina suit with the shoes and everything. She even did a little pose that put a smile on my face. Axel wore Yoshi's Funk Man clothes, doing the moonwalk, spun around, and striking his own pose which made me and Kipo laugh. With the next two, they went with me and Yoshi's old matching style clothes. The first ones were the mechanic clothes, which they both hummed in thought of. The second ones were just some white shirts, some pants, and colorful jackets. The one Kipo wore was pink, green, and yellow from top to bottom and the one Axel had was blue on the right and red on the left. As Kipo was wearing my old, round, purple sunglasses, she handed my old, green, square pair to Axel. She and I both smirked as Axel held up his hands like he was shooting a gun while wearing the sunglasses. Then Kipo tried my clothes from my tomboy phase as a teen while Axel tried the clothes from Yoshi's ninja teen phase with the black gi and funny fox mask. Me and Kipo sure had a laugh with that. After that, Axel tried on Yoshi's old prom tux, doing a pose like that guy in one of his posters, with his hand up like a gun. Kipo even played along with my old prom dress. It seemed like none of those old clothes would fit them until…

"Okay, I think this is the one." Kipo said until she walked out of my room and I looked at her. "What do you think?"

With her hair tied up back into that ponytail of hers, she was now wearing an off-shoulder gray shirt featuring a small planet graphic of a pale cyan with a purple ring layered over a dark indigo tank top, dark purple jeans, and a pair of my old amaranth high tops. She also had some bracelets of green, cyan, orange, and black on her right wrist. She was actually right, this was the one.

"It looks… perfect!" I said to her.

"Thanks. Feels like I've been wearing it my whole life." Kipo said, nodding in approval of her new wardrobe.

"Not too bad, Kipo." Axel said as he peeked from the doorway of his room. "I don't think I look too half bad myself." He then walked out and revealing his new clothes. He was wearing a white hoodie with a black zipper, four-plated arm sleeves of red, yellow, blue, and green, a pair of white pants, and blue sneakers. Those pants had this pouched which he was using to hold his Walkman. With his hood on, I also saw that the hood had two different animal designs with yellow outline and green eyes on the sides: a red, fire-breathing dragon on the left and a blue tiger on right. "Eh? What do you girls think?"

"You look great, Axel." I said to him. "It really suits you."

"Yeah, it's pretty neat." Kipo said to him. "What's that thing on your hood?"

"Which one?" he asked.

"The red one." She pointed out. "What's that supposed to be?"

"Oh, that? It's a dragon." He answered.

"What's a dragon?" she asked.

"A dragon is this large lizard that flies around and breathes fire." I explained to her. "It's from an ancient study called mythology."

"Oh. Cool." Kipo was impressed by this.

"Boy! You Burrow people don't know much about your cultures, do you?" Axel chuckled.

"Axel!" I said to him, telling him he was being rude.

"It's okay." Kipo said, showing no offense to it. "You guys have been on the surface longer than I have, so you know more than I do."

"You'll get the hang of it." Axel said to her with a smile as we watched Kipo enjoy the feeling of new clothing. "So do you get options when it comes to clothes down in the Burrow?"

"We do, but there's not a big selection like you guys got."

"So basically, half the time, you wear whatever you had on?"

"Yeah. Everyone else has clothes just like that too."

"So that old jumpsuit is all you have to wear from your Burrow?" I asked her.

"Pretty much." She answered, surprising me.

"Wow." That's when I realized that I really need to start on that wash. But I first needed to get these kids ready for the journey ahead of them. "Okay, let's get you kids ready for travel."

With this, I then grabbed two blankets and placed on the floor before I then put some essentials for them: a towel (two for Kipo) to dry themselves off with if they have a chance to take a bath, some canteens of water, pillows and extra blankets to use for bedding, and some food from the garden. Axel placed his journal, headphones, PJs, and bag of mixtapes on one of the blankets, making me place Kipo's PJs on the other one. With that, I then tied the blankets around the stuff, turning them into furoshiki bags for the two before placing them on them.

"There you go. Now you got everything for your trip to the Burrow." I said to them.

"Thanks, sis." My little brother said to me with a smile before he looked to Kipo. "Come on, Kipo. Let's go see the others to see if they're ready. I can show you around the Tribe."

"Sounds good to me." Kipo said before the two started heading out to the rest of their little group. "See you later, Miwa!"

"Later, Kipo!" I said to her as the two left before I started my way to do the laundry. "Well, at least now I can start washing those clothes of theirs."

---

After leaving the house, I watched as Kipo looked in awe around the Tribe. I had a thought she would be surprised by this. The Tribe was filled with different housing structures and different kinds of residents from human, Yokai, and Wonderbeasts alike. There were all kinds of Wonderbeasts: a few bison, foxes, moose, there were even a few snakes.

"Oh! Look at all the Wonderbeasts!" Kipo said to me as we walked through the Tribe.

"Yeah, we have quite a few." I said to her with a smile. "For the last few decades, the Tribe has managed to keep itself standing thanks to all of us working together in harmony. It also helps when you have some Yokai on your side. Their mystic abilities do help speed up progress for everyone." There, I then pointed out to a group of Yokai helping some of their fellow Tribe members with construction, the mystic beings using their powers to do so.

"Wow!" Kipo was impressed by this. "I wish we had guys like them in the Burrow."

"Let me show you around." I then started showing her all the things that are part of the Tribe. "Over there, we have the crop storage, where we hold the Tribe's food; over there, we have the water distributors, those we sent out to collect water and make sure everyone gets a fair share; over there is the main hut, where the Tribe having meetings for special announcements or emergencies or for when we need to put a court order; then we got ourselves the school, which is mostly used for history classes; and right there, we have the material warehouse, where we hold up all the materials we can use for building that Scavengers have collected. Scavengers like me."

"Wow. Seems like you got everything all set up for yourselves."

"Well, as we say up here, it's all part of the Tribe life."

"Yo, Tiger! What up, man?" A young male Yokai named Mike said as we walked by each other.

"Hey, Mike." I said to him before I was greeted by other members of the Tribe.

"Morning, Tiger."

"Hey, Tiger! Looking good!"

"Sup, Tiger!"

"Um… Axel?" Kipo asked me as I looked to her. "Why is everybody calling you 'Tiger'?"

"Oh, it's a nickname people gave me." I explained to her, pulling down my hood. "You know, because of these tiger stripes of mine."

"Oh. That makes sense." She said to me as we kept on walking.

"Hey!" Aurico said as he ran over to us, dressed in a yellow short-sleeve shirt with a silver vest over it, baggy, silver pants with a cyan belt, and silver, western ankle harness boots with golden yellow straps. The vest was open with a blue stripe going around the middle and he also had a pair of silver goggles with two different colored lens with the left one being yellow and the other being blue. "Wassup, cuz?"

"Hey, Rico." I said to him before I noticed the backpack on him. "I see you're already to go."

"Yeah, my folks went all out with my bag." He said with an exasperated look on his face. "They even packed in a robe for me if I end up au natural at some point."

"Yeah, speaking of which, mind if I see your bag?" I asked him and he started getting defensive.

"Uh… yeah?" He said with a nervous smile. "I told you that my parents put everything I need for the trip."

"Okay." Seeing through him, I then decided to see if he added anything extra to his bag. "Hey, there's a pretty girl giving you the eye back there."

"Where?" Aurico said as he turned himself around with an excited smile before I then started digging in his bag. "Aah! Hey!"

"Ah-ha!" I then pulled out one of those magazines Aurico had in his… collection. I held it up in front of him as he turned back and gave me that nervous smile. "Really, Rico? That's disgusting."

"What? I'm a guy!"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you have to take such inappropriate stuff with us." I rolled up the magazine before I smacked him in the head with it. "Idiot!"

"Um… am I missing something here?" Kipo asked, confused by this.

"Trust me, Kipo." I said to her, glaring at my cousin as he rubbed his head in pain. "It's best you don't know."

A moment after that, we head over to the Sloan House and I gave my aunt and uncle the magazine Aurico tried to sneak with him, my cousin receiving a good scolding from his father.

"I promise you guys I will make sure Rico doesn't do anything inappropriate while we are going and at the Burrow." I said to them.

"Thank you, Axel." Aunt Jewel said to me before the three of us left, Aurico glaring at me as he slouched.

"You know, 3," he said to me, "sometimes you're a real asshole, you know that?

"Well, maybe if you weren't such a pervert, I wouldn't have to be so strict with you." I said to him, returning the glare. "And you better behave. We might be there for a little while, but we will still be an example of how the Tribe is. We need to give the best impression to Kipo's Burrow."

"Alright, I'll behave." Aurico said to me before we moved on to the other homes.

To give you a picture on how they live, Gordy, Aisha, Stella, Nabu, Sora, Riku, Hikari, and Hotaru lived in teepees and Thora, Caldwell, Brook, Kylo, Musa, and Brandon lived in houses like me and Aurico. When we got to each of them, they each had their own bags filled with stuff provided by their parents for the journey to Kipo's Burrow. Gordy and Riku had gym bags and Stella and Kylo had carrier bags with special satchels, Sora had a single strap backpack, and Nabu, Thora, Caldwell, Brook, Musa, Brandon, and Hikari had backpacks like Aurico. Hotaru wasn't with us because she and Uncle Donnie were waiting for us at the front entrance. After each of them said goodbye to their folks, we all headed down to the entrance to meet up with Hotaru and Uncle Donnie. Each of them was wearing casual attire. Caldwell was dressed in a sleeveless white ao dai with gold straps along the side of the chest towards the back, a blue high collar, and a yellow zipper coming from the middle of the torso to the collar, a black long sleeve shirt underneath, blue, baggy pants with black pouch strapped to his right thigh, and black, open-toed boots; Thora wore a black, short skirt cheongsam with yellow lineage, white knee socks, and black boots with yellow shafts; Gordy wore a black, long-sleeve shirt with a short-sleeve, green, military jacket over it, and black pants, along with a beige waist belt with matching shoulder straps and arm straps and combat boots of the same color; Kylo wore a black crop top with an open, orange jacket over it that had a black belt (Which had some of its strap handing around the side over it by the waist, black, baggy pants, and orange boots with black toes; Brook wore a grey, long-sleeved dress shirt, brown pants with a black belt, and black boots; and Musa was wearing what Uncle Donnie said was a Victorian age outfit with a white dress shirt, a black torso vest with yellow lineage over the shirt, a small brown robe that only covered her shoulders, navy blue pants, a satchel bag around her hip, and ballet slippers that matched her pants.

Stella wore a black tank top with a pink jacket over it, white shorts with black leggings, and white boots with pink lineage around them with the bottoms of them being completely pink; Brandon wore a grey shirt with a red vest over it, black pants, and black boots with grey shafts and brown straps; Sora wore a short-sleeved black shirt, black, fingerless gloves, beige pants with an orange belt (which possessed a pouch attached to it), and black boots, a blue cloak over it all; Riku wore a black tank top with a red jacket that had a gold buckle instead of a zipper, gold flaps, and gold cuffs, black gloves, black pants, and black combat boots; and Hikari wore a black dress shirt with back straps, a pair of green, baggy pants, and orange, heeled boots with white lining and bottoms, all with an open, orange kimono. Walking to the entrance, everybody was excited that we were going outside of the Tribe and not as Scavengers for a change.

"Oooh! This so awesome!" Hikari squealed excitedly as we walked. "We're finally going to see all of Las Vistas!"

"This is gonna be really, really fun!" Thora exclaimed, just as excited as my cousin.

"This sure beats sitting around or just collecting old scrap, right, cuz?" Gordy said to Riku.

"Yeah." Riku said, putting his hands behind his head. "Still wish I could be out there kicking some ass."

"God, I can't wait to get to the Burrow!" Brook said as he and Aurico walked side by side. "Sure hope they got some chicks like Kipo."

"Hey, if there's one, there's gotta be more." Aurico said to him. "I can see it now, a large swarm of babes just out there waiting for us!"

"Rico, what did I say?" I said to him, reminding him what I said to him about his behavior toward Kipo's people.

"Yeah, yeah." Aurico said to me, nonchalantly. "Don't worry, cuz. We'll be good."

"Oh, darling, I cannot wait to see how you Burrow people live!" Kylo said to Kipo with a smile on her face.

"Really, Kylo?" I asked my cousin as she looked at me. "I didn't think you would be so interested in a cave, considering you don't like getting yourself dirty."

"Well, though we don't know what to expect from a Burrow," she said to me. "I would have to expect that they would do a wondrous job in making the perfect living environment."

"Yeah! Wait until you see it!" Kipo said to us. "It's totally perfect!"

With that, we finally made it over to the entrance and saw Hotaru and Uncle Donnie standing there. Looking at my cousin, I saw Hotaru in her usual attire. The way she haves herself dressed is similar to that of a kunoichi, a female ninja. Her outfit consisted of a purple sleeveless kimono-style blouse that only had one shoulder strap, a black belt with a pouch attached to it around her waist, purple arm sleeves that went up to her elbows with black straps on them, a pair of black shorts, black knee socks, and purple boots. On her back, she had a material case on her back. Uncle Donnie also had something with him: in his right arm was what looked like a red rug. As we walked over to the two, I wondered why Uncle Donnie had that.

"Hey, Hotaru! Uncle Donnie!" I said as me and the group walked over to them, getting the two's attention.

"Hey, everyone!" Hotaru said to us as we all stood at the entrance. "Is everyone ready?"

"All packed up and ready to go!" I said to her.

"Great!" She said. "But, before we go, Grandfather Donatello haves something important to give us. Grandfather?"

"Thank you, Hotaru." Uncle Donnie said as he then walked over and stood in front of us, all of us giving him his attention. "Listen well, all of you. Today, we'll be traveling through Las Vistas to help Kipo return to her Burrow. I don't know how long it will take, so be on your best guard. With the Beast War still raging on, we must be prepared for anything as for the dangers that exist both within and outside of the battle. We must all make sure that Scarlemagne doesn't find the Burrow in order to protect the people until Kipo is safely returned to them. So remember to look out for her, yourselves, and for each other. Do you understand?"

"Hai, sensei!" All of us (except Kipo) said to Uncle Donnie.

"Good. Now then," Uncle Donnie said as he then placed the rug on the ground, "let us ensure that you will be equipped with the tools that will help you on your journey. Hotaru, Sora, Riku, Hikari, Aisha, Nabu, please step forward." With that, the five he called for instantly did as he said and walked up to stand in front of him and the rug in line. "I was saving these for you all come of age, but you are going to need them in order to complete this task." With that, he then rolled out the rug and we were all shocked and amazed to find it containing five ninja weapons, each with their own wearable holster in black. "I had made these for each of you in case we ran into any sort of trouble. For each weapon I made, I didn't make these specific weapons because these are the ones you're familiar with, but, as Master Splinter told me and my brothers, these weapons chose you as much as you chose them." He then began giving the five their weapons, starting with Sora. "The katana, a royal samurai weapon for those with courage and keen skill."

"Hai, sensei." Sora bowed in respect before he then put on the holster holding the twin katana.

"The si, for a fierce and fearless warrior who will always fight the hardest for his family."

"Thank you, sensei." Riku said, taking the si before putting the holster belt on.

"The bo staff, for a thoughtful soul and a peaceful heart."

"Really? A stick?" Hotaru said, not really liking the weapon she got.

"I understand that you might think it isn't the best weapon." Uncle Donnie said to her. "I thought so too. But you will see that a weapon as simple as this can prove to be quite useful." With that, he then moved on to Hikari. "The nunchucku, better known as the nunchucks, for the free-spirited who have the potential to carve their own path and help those in need." The girl hugged the nunchucks before she put the holster belt on. "The katar, for the proud warrior that strikes without fear and stands for those who cannot defend themselves." Uncle Donnie then handed the dagger weapon to Nabu.

"Thank you, sensei." Nabu said to him before putting the holster belt on.

"The stave sling because… Um…" Uncle Donnie held out the staff sling in front of him as he tried to come up with some meaning to the weapon for Aisha before just giving it to her. "It is perfect for you."

"You're right." Aisha said as she put the holster on. "Thanks, sensei."

"Hey, Uncle Donnie!" Aurico said, getting the ninja master's attention. "What about the rest of us?"

"Oh, don't worry. We have something for you eight." Uncle Donnie said. "Something very special." It was only a moment until he looked behind us. "Hello, Miwa. Excellent timing."

"Well, I'm not gonna let my little brother or my cousins go out there without a way to defend themselves." Miwa said as she came over with a black briefcase.

"Miwa, what are you doing here?" I asked my sister as she stood in front of me, Kipo, Brandon, and my fellow elementals.

"To see you all off." Miwa answered. "Also, seeing as you will be traveling beyond the Tribe, I'm also here to give you something that will help protect yourselves and help you protect Kipo." She then held up the briefcase and opened it, making me gasp in shock as I saw twelve small, golden, octagonal boxes with the Element Gang insignia on it. The reason I was shocked was that I knew exactly what these boxes are and what was inside them.

"Sis, are these…?" I asked as I couldn't believe my eyes.

"Yes, little bro. They are." Miwa said to me with a gentle smile before she took out of the boxes and held it out to me. "Axel Frank the 3rd, to help you along your journey, you are hereby the new wielder of the great family heirloom: the Butterfly Miraculous, which will give you the power of Transmission."

With this, I then slowly took the box from her and looked at it for a moment before looking back at her. Seeing her nod of approval, I then went ahead and opened the box. After I did, I watched as a ball of violet appeared. The light swirled around me for a moment before returning to float in front of me. After it did, the light faded away and revealed a small, light purple creature about four inches tall curled up into a ball. It had little butterfly wings with one long tail at the ending tip of one of two lower wings and a spiral of a little darker purple color on it. Later on, I found out this little guy also had that same spiral on the lower part of the backside of the wings. Seeing the little one open its purple eyes, I smiled as I was in awe from seeing Nooroo, the great kwami of the Butterfly Miraculous appear in front of me.

"Hello, Axel." Nooroo said to me with a friendly smile, uncurling himself out of that ball.

"Nooroo!" I said to him as I couldn't believe he was actually here. "I can't believe it! It's really you!"

"Yes. It's been a long time. Look how much you've grown." Nooroo said as Kipo, Brandon, and my fellow elementals gathered around us. "How much you've all grown."

"Oh, what an adorable little thing!" Kipo gushed as she looked at Nooroo with awe.

"Kipo?" Nooroo said to her with surprise.

"You know who I am?" Kipo asked with surprise, snapping out of trance.

"Well, it doesn't surprise me." I said as I got the girl's attention. "Nooroo was with my dad for when he was my age. Knowing that our dads were friends, it makes sense he met him as well. Right, Nooroo?"

"That is correct." Nooroo said with a smile before he looked back at Kipo. "My, have you grown. The last time I saw you, you were just a baby."

"Okay, now I'm confused." Kipo said, trying to wrap her head around this.

"I think I can help clear things up." I then began to tell Kipo of the situation we were in. "Kipo, this is Nooroo, the kwami of Butterfly Miraculous."

"Kwami? Butterfly Miraculous?"

"Kwamis are this kind of ancient spirits that have special mystic power." There, I then took the Butterfly Miraculous (which was a brooch encrusted with a purple jewel) out of its box and held it up. "Powers that one can use with the help of one of these: a Miraculous, a great mystic jewel that all kwamis are bound to."

"Oooh! Pretty." Kipo looked at the brooch in awe as I close the box and place it in my bag.

"Yeah, it's both stylish and functional." I then unzipped my hoodie a bit so I could put the brooch on, revealing the navy blue tank top I had underneath. "It's been in my family for over 52 centuries, passed from one generation of Fire Dragons to the next, from parent to child." After getting the brooch on, I then zipped up my hoodie. "To think that I'm now gonna wear it is phenomenal."

"And it will be great to accompany you, Axel." Nooroo said to me with a bow.

"Well, I was gonna wait until you were 15 before letting Nooroo go anywhere with you," Miwa said, getting everyone's attention back, "but, seeing as to how you will be going into danger right now, you'll need the Miraculous to get through this. Now, let's move on to the rest. Gordy, Kylo, Brook, Thora, Caldwell, come up." With that, the five then walked up and stood in front of my sister in a single file line. "For you five, you will be given five of the Elemental Miraculous, jewels that were bound to kwamis born with great mystic power over the elements and ones that correspond with your elemental powers." One by one, my sister grabbed a box from the case and gave it to each of the five elementals before her. "Gordy Triggs, this is the Miraculous of Dual Bear, which will give you the power over ice and fire."

"Fire and ice. Awesome!" Gordy said, clenching his fist in excitement.

"Caldwell Verity, you will use the Miraculous of the Tempest Tortoise, which will give you the power of wind."

"Thank you." Caldwell thanked as my sister moved on.

"Kylo Labelle, this one is the Miraculous of the Natura Owl, which will give you the power of nature."

"Power of nature." Kylo said with a look of interest. "What a fabulous element."

"Thora Toivonen, you shall use the Miraculous of the Storm Tiger, which will give you the power of thunder." Thora squealed in excitement as she held the box holding her Miraculous, jumping up and down as Miwa moved on to Brook. "And Brook Gentile, this is the Miraculous of the Iron Swordfish, which will give you the power of metal."

"Iron Swordfish." Brook said with a smile towards the box. "Sounds badass."

"Go ahead." My sis said in encouragement. "Open them up and meet your kwamis."

With this, the five of them each opened their boxes and were met with different colored lights. Gordy's light was orange and cyan with the orange parts of the light emanating like a flame and the cyan light sprinkling down underneath like a snowfall; Caldwell's light was violet with a white line spiraling around it as a gentle breeze came from it; Kylo's light was green with a pink aura around it; Thora's light was yellow with rings of electric blue pulsing from the center of the front; and Brook's light was blue. After those lights swirled around each of the five, they went back to floating over the open boxes for a moment before fading away, five different, curled up kwamis taking their place and opening their eyes a few seconds after they are visible. The kwami in front of Gordy looked like the bear version of Nooroo with the stub tail and round ears and minus the spiral markings and wings. The kwami was actually split-colored with the two halves of its body possessing one color with curved markings of another color. The right side of it was black with orange markings and the left side was white with cyan markings. It also had green eyes with rings of two different colors around the irises: the left one having a cyan ring and the right one possessing an orange ring. The kwami with Caldwell looked like a white turtle (or tortoise, I guess), seeing how it got a circular and dome-shaped shell and violet line-markings and that short pointed tail. It also had a backward curved horn on top of it. Its eyes were orange iris with violet rings and blue sclera. Kylo's kwami resembled a green owl with a small yellow beak, a pink, heart-shaped ring around its face, pink feet, arms with pink-hued feathers, tail feathers with the same hue that resembled flower petals in shape, and pink definitions to the feathers on the torso. Its eyes were pink with green rings.

The kwami that Thora got resembled an electric blue tiger with yellow stripes long whiskers, a yellow spot with three stripes surrounding it (two of them being part of rows that went up the ears), yellow-tipped cat ears, and a pure electric blue tail with a patch of yellow at the end. With Brook, his kwami resembled a blue swordfish with a small pointed nose with silver vertical lining, a white stomach, a fishtail with a silver flap, a blue dorsal fin with the same colored flap, and silver-hued, blue arms. It had white eyes with blue rings. Within that moment, the kwamis straightened themselves out as they floated in front of their Miraculous' new wielders.

"Awesome!" Gordy said, smiling at his kwami as the spirit crossed its arms and gave an emotionless expression. "What's up, kwami dude?"

"Oh, not this again." The kwami said as it rolled its eyes, speaking in a deep male voice. "The name is Bruun, kid. Only call me that until I say otherwise."

"What?" Gordy said, confused by this.

"Don't mind him." I heard Nooroo whisper to my cousin after he flew over to him. "Bruun doesn't really give much trust to people, especially to new wielders. He's the serious type of kwami. Just roll with it until he warms up to you."

"Oh. Okay." Gordy said to him before speaking to his kwami. "It's great to meet you, dude—I mean, Bruun. I'm Gordy."

"Um… hello." Caldwell said as his kwami bowed to him with a kind smile, feeling a little discomfort.

"I think I better explain. Caldwell, this is Breez." Nooroo said to Caldwell as his fellow kwami straightened up. "He doesn't talk much. A man of a few words, as they say. He is honored to meet you, right, Breez?" With that, the kwami known as Breez nodded his head.

"Oh. Well, it's nice to meet you too, Breez." Caldwell said, returning the bow while making sure not to flip the box holding his Miraculous.

"Greetings. Allow me to introduce myself." Kylo's kwami greeted, speaking with an elegant and feminine tone. "I am Bloom. It truly is a pleasure to meet you."

"It is a pleasure to me as well, Miss Bloom." Kylo said to her. "My name is Kylo Labelle. And might I add that your feathers are ravishing."

"Why, thank you, Lady Kylo." Bloom said to her, accepting the compliment.

"Oh, my god!" Thora said as she held her kwami in one hand, nuzzling the little tiger-like spirit. "You are the cutest little kitty-witty!"

"Miss, pleasestop!" the kwami said with a high-pitched voice, speaking so rapidly that it was hard to understand what the kwami was saying. "Iknowyourehappytoseemebutthisisreally-makingmeuncomfortableandweneedtoknoweachothersnamesifwearegoingtoworktogetherand…"

"Whoa! What's up with the little chatterbox over there?" Gordy said as Thora's kwami continued to speak.

"Oh, this is just a habit of Forss'." Bloom said as we all watched Thora nuzzle her kwami as Forss kept on talking. "She tends to ramble whenever she gets nervous."

"And when she gets excited or happy." Bruun added, Breez nodding in agreement.

"And when she gets scared." Nooroo said with a nervous smile. "But that's just how she is."

"Thora, darling," Kylo said, getting the girl's attention. "I do believe your kwami haves something to say. Would be rude to not hear the poor dear out, don't you think?"

"Oh, right." Thora said as she let Forss go, giving the kwami sitting in her hand an embarrassed smile. "Sorry!"

"Itsquitealright. Iunderstandwhyyouwerelikethat. Nowthen," Forss said before she cleared her throat and began speaking at a normal pace, "my name is Forss. It's really nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, Forss." Thora said to the kwami, her smile of embarrassment being replaced with one of joy. "I'm Thora!"

"Greetings and salutations!" hearing a male voice, we all turned to see it coming from Brook's kwami who was speaking to the water elemental with a proud smile and the tone belonging to a regal knight. "I am the noble Kwami of Metal, Sir Steel! And who would you might be, my young fellow?"

"Um… Brook Gentile?" Brook said to his kwami, feeling a little uneasy at this.

"Brook Gentile, eh?" Steel rubbed his chin for a moment before speaking profoundly. "Well, young Brook, I must say that I'm truly honored to meet the descendant of Sir Jay. As such, I will gladly lend you my blade so that you can carve your own path and begin a new chapter of your family lineage of heroes!"

It was only a moment before Brook said "O-kay."

"Um…Nooroo?" I asked my kwami before he flew over to me. "What's up with Brook's kwami?"

"Oh, this is just how Steel normally is." Nooroo answered. "He's a man of chivalry, not much unlike that of a medieval knight."

"Huh." I said as I had gotten a good idea of how things were gonna be like between Brook and his kwami for a while in this journey. "I bet it'll take Brook a while to get used to that." I then watched as each of the five took their Miraculous out of the boxes they were holding and spoke out to them. "Guys, keep those boxes with you. We'll need to give these Miraculous back after we help Kipo."

With that, the five then closed the boxes and placed them in their bags as I did before putting on their Miraculous, which were all in camouflage mode. The Twin Bear Miraculous was a gray bracelet with a silver, oval-shaped charm which he wore on his left arm; The Tempest Tortoise Miraculous was a necklace with a black string and a golden tortoise charm; The Natura Owl Miraculous were hair clips shaped like gray owl wings that Kylo wore on the side of her head; The Storm Tiger Miraculous was black choker necklace with a silver charm; and the Iron Swordfish Miraculous was a black pin that was shaped like the tail fin of a fish, which Brook wore on the left side of his shirt. After they did, they then walked away to join me and Kipo and allow my sis to continue giving Miraculous, their kwamis following them.

"Brandon, Rico, you're next." My sister said and our two cousins went up to her, standing before her as she gave them boxes containing Miraculous. "Aurico Sloan, within this box contains one of the Constellation Miraculous known as the Lupus Miraculous. It will give you the power of the Lunar Wolf."

"Oh, come to papa!" Aurico said, taking the box that contained his ancestor's Miraculous.

"Brandon Tideus, here is the Bee Miraculous, which will grant you the power of subjection and allow you to immobilize your opponents."

"The Bee Miraculous?" Brandon said as he held the box he was given. "Wait, I know this one. Didn't this belong to superheroine?"

"Well, yes." My sister explained. "But there had been times when it would be used by a guy such as yourself. It would seem fitting you would get this Miraculous as you can be able to use it in helping your friends as much as the legendary heroine Queen Bee helped hers."

"Oh, okay. Guess I can work with this." Brandon said before he and Aurico opened the boxes, being met with shining lights.

The one with Aurico was silver while Brandon's was yellow. The two lights circled them before returning to floating above the boxes. When the lights faded away, the kwamis were revealed as they opened their eyes and uncurled themselves in front of my cousins. Aurico's kwami resembled a silver wolf with golden-hued arms and feet. It also had a wolf tail with a white tip, a white mouth, a black nose, and a little white fang protruding from the left corner of its mouth. It had blue eyes with yellow sclera. Brandon's kwami resembled a bee with three curved stripes wrapped around its head (each stripe becoming smaller than the one before as they ascend up to its forehead) and a small, visible, striped stinger at the rear. It also had arms, feet, and two antennae in black, a small, light yellow tuft around its neck below its head (some of it reaching the stomach). It had black eyelashes with golden eyes and blue sclera.

"Hello, my king." Brandon's kwami said with a courteous bow, speaking with a feminine voice.

"Oh, hi. You must be Pollen." Brandon said to the little kwami. "I'm Brandon. Nice to meet you."

"Awesome!" Aurico said as his kwami crossed its arms. "You must be Lobbo! Great to finally meet ya! I'm Aurico Sloan, but my friends call me 'Rico'."

"Yes, it's nice to meet you as well, Sloan." The kwami known as Lobbo said, speaking in a serious tone of a male voice. "Hopefully, you're not as reckless as one certain Miraculous I know."

"Hey, come on." Aurico said as he put on took the Miraculous (which was a necklace with a disk-shaped pendant that had a silver ring with the area inside the ring black) out of the box, closed the box, and put said box into his bag. "Don't need to be all serious about this. Just call me 'Rico'."

"Fine, if that's what suits you." Lobbo said as Aurico put on the Miraculous.

"And you don't have to be so formal with me, Pollen." Brandon said to his kwami, doing the same actions as Aurico and holding the Bee Miraculous (which was a gray hair comb). "Just call me 'Brandon'."

"As you wish." Pollen said as Brandon put the Miraculous in his hair, the comb being visible at top of his head amongst his black hair.

"And now, last but not least," My sister said as Brandon and Aurico along their kwamis joined me and the others, leaving room for the last members of our group to be called up, "Stella and Musa." With that, the other cousins amongst the cousins my sister and I had present in the group then walked up and stood in front of my sister. "Girls, hold out your hands. Both of them." They did as she asked and she placed the last four boxes in their hands, one in each of the four hands.

"Wait, two of them?" Stella said with surprise, looking at the two boxes with widened eyes.

"Hold on." Musa said with an excited smile upon her face. "Are you gonna let us wield two Miraculous?"

"What? No." Miwa chuckled before she explained. "Sorry, girls, but it is too dangerous two use two Miraculous at the same time, especially two of the four in those boxes. You'll each be only wielding one."

"Then why would you give us two of them if we're only getting one Miraculous?" Stella asked.

"Because I'm letting you choose your Miraculous." My sister answered, confusing the girls.

"Choose our Miraculous?" they both asked.

"Yes. There are three reasons for this." Miwa explained. "First, as you know, you two are descended from great Miraculous Warriors. The ones I gave you belong to these four legendary heroes: Ladybug, Cat Noir, Lady Rouge, and Carapace. For the last few centuries, these Miraculous have been used by your ancestors countless times. Stella, your family carries on the legacy of Ladybug and Cat Noir; and Musa, your family continues the legend of Lady Rouge and Carapace. With what Uncle Donnie had told me about your training, us and your parents have come to believe that you come to match with both of the two Miraculous that had been passed down in each of your families."

"Whoa, dude!" Musa said as she and Stella were in awe.

"And what're the other reasons?" Stella asked.

"Well…" Miwa then gained an embarrassed smile on her face. "The second reason is that your parents had left me in charge in making the decision for you and, because both powers and the costumes of the two Miraculous you're getting would look great with you, I couldn't really decide which one of the two would be best for you."

"Seriously?!" Musa said as Stella groan in exasperation.

"But the third reason is because this also decides what to give your partners." Miwa then changed her embarrassed smile into a friendly one.

"Our partners?" Musa asked.

"What are you talking about?" Stella said, just as confused as Musa. It was with that Miwa began to explain.

"You see, girls, for the last few centuries, the Miraculous have always been passed down with your families, being from parent to child. But, when it comes to there being only one child to pass on the Miraculous of two Miraculous Warriors, they are given the choice to choose the one they want to wield. The Miraculous they don't chose will be given to someone else, someone who they trust to work alongside them as their partner. For you, Stella, you will be needing a partner in the future."

"Really?" Stella asked in surprise.

"Yes, but don't spend your time looking for the perfect partner." Miwa said to her. "As your ancestors have done before, you and your partner will find each other in your own time."

"Okay. Phew!" Stella sighed in relief. "Was kind of nervous there."

"Understandable." Miwa said before she changed to speak to both of our cousins. "Now let us move on. Stella Hillard, in your right hand is the Ladybug Miraculous which will give you the power of creation and, to your opposite, is the Cat Miraculous which holds the power of destruction. Musa Stewart, in your left is the Miraculous of the Fox which grants the power of illusion and, in your right, is the Miraculous of the Turtle which grants the power of protection. Choose the Miraculous you believe to best suited to help you on your journey and place the other back inside the case."

Within a moment of silence, Stella and Musa looked at the boxes in their hands and briefly at each other as they thought about which Miraculous to choose. When they have made their decision, they looked at Miwa with serious expressions of certainty before they each placed one box back in the case. The two boxes that were placed back in the case were the ones holding Ladybug and Fox Miraculous.

"The Cat and the Turtle. And are you sure these are the Miraculous you want?" my sister asked, both girls nodding in agreement. "Very well. Girls, open the boxes and accept your Miraculous."

After my sister closes the case and holds it by the handle to her side, Stella before she and Musa then opened the boxes, being met with small lights. The one in front of Musa was pure green and Stella's light was of a lighter green. While the one with Musa circled the girl, Stella's light just floated there above the opened box. After the pure green light returned to floating above its box, both lights faded away and revealed the kwami. Stella's kwami (who yawned as it uncurled and stretched as if it had been asleep) resembled a black cat with the cat ears, tail, two, small cat incisors protruding from the corners of its mouth, green, slit eyes, and a single, dark blue whisker on each cheek. It oddly also had a single whisker on the top of its head. When it yawn, I saw the insides of its mouth were some shade of purple. Musa's kwami actually resembled a light green turtle with a slightly darker green turtle shell on its back and a pointed tail. It also had an antenna on its head and green eyes with yellow sclera.

"Hello, my name is Wayzz." The turtle kwami said to Musa, speaking in a polite, male tone of voice.

"Hey, little guy! I'm Musa!" Musa said to the kwami known as Wayzz. "So you're my kwami, huh?"

"That is correct." Wayzz said before they both looked toward Stella as she squealed in excitement.

"You are soooo cute!" Stella said as she held her kwami in an open palm with a bright smile on her face, the kwami holding his ears down as she was speaking too loud for him.

"Geez! Not so loud!" the kwami said as it slowly uncovered its ears, speaking in a casual, male voice. "Got some really sensitive ears here."

"Oh, sorry." Stella said to the kwami as it (or I guess he) got out of her palm and floated in front of the girl. "I got a little excited there."

"Yeah, I got that." The kwami said to her. "So you're the new Miraculous Warrior of the Cat, huh? Plagg, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, Plagg." Stella kindly said to him. "I'm Stella."

"Okay, now that we got that out of the way," Plagg said as he began looking around, "got anything to eat? I'm starving."

"I think I got something." Stella then pulled out an apple from her bag and held it up to Plagg. "Here!"

"An apple? Blech!" Plagg groaned in disgust. "I can't eat that!"

"Well, you're gonna have to, Plagg." Lobbo said to the cat kwami. "After 200 years, I'm pretty sure Camembert has gone extinct."

"I'm afraid he's right, Plagg." Nooroo said, speaking to his fellow kwami. "For the time being, the Tribe has no cheese of any kind. That's all the food they have. We'll get you some cheese if we ever come across some. Until then, just eat what we have for now."

"Ugh! Fine." Plagg said as he took the apple and started eating it, not looking very pleased about it.

"Okay, now that you all have your Miraculous," Miwa said as Stella and Musa took their Miraculous and put their boxes in their bags before putting the Miraculous on with Stella's Miraculous being a silver ring (which she put on her right finger) and Musa's being bracelet with black turtle charm with five, white triangular carvings and a black string tied through the holes in the turtle head and tail of the charm to make a loop, "I will tell you of the rules. One, as Axel said, this is only temporary as you all are not yet 15. You will return the Miraculous as soon as you return to the Tribe. Two, only use the Miraculous powers to transform in times of emergency. Three, if you ever transform, use the powers you're given wisely. Because you are still young, the failsafe will be active, meaning you will only have five minutes until you turn back to normal after using the power once. Four, after you transform back, you need to have some food for your kwami in order for them to regain their energy. And five, never under any circumstances use your powers to harm others or take one's life. Only use your powers to protect each other and those in need. Is that understood?"

"Yes, ma'am." My fellow Miraculous Warriors and I said to my sister.

"Good. And, kwamis," Miwa got the attention of all the kwamis as she spoke to them, "please watch over these kids and make sure they come back safe."

"Don't worry, Miwa." Nooroo said to her, his fellow kwamis nodding in agreement. "We'll make sure nothing bad happens to them."

"Thank you." My sister then looked to me as she walked over.

"Well, I guess this is it." I said to her.

"Yeah. I thought I would have a little more time with you before we went out into this crazy world. Axel," Miwa said to me before she kneeled down and put a hand on my shoulder, "for the journey you're about to take, you must be ready for anything. There are lots of dangers out there, more than just what is inside the Beast War. For that, you need to be strong and you must be brave, no matter what comes your way."

"Don't worry, sis. I will."

"I know you will. And let us hope we will find the answers we seek." Miwa said as tears began to fill her eyes before she pulled me into a hug. "I love you, little bro." It was only a brief moment before I smiled and hugged her back.

"Love you too, big sis." After another moment, we broke the hug before Miwa stood up and walked over to Kipo.

"Kipo," Miwa then wiped away the tears and recomposed herself before she started petting Kipo's head, "tell your dad I said 'hi'."

"Don't worry, I will." Kipo said as Miwa stopped petting her.

After that, me, Kipo, my cousins, the kwamis, and the friends and robotic escort accompanied us all gathered at the front entrance. As soon as we did, we all watched as everyone in the tribe gathered around, joining Miwa in wishing us goodbye before we left the Tribe. With all of us nodding to each other, we all waved goodbye as I spoke for all of us.

"Goodbye, everyone!" I said as we all waved. "We'll see ya when we get back!"

With everyone waving back and saying their own farewells to us, me and the rest of the group began walking our way. But, after we crossed through the entrance, we stopped as we were met by a small feline that appeared in front of us in a blue light, standing ready to attack while giving a serious glare. The creature had golden-yellow fur, blue patches on its ears, top of its head, and back, a bushy tail with a blue top, a jagged, red stripe on its head, a red nose, red rings around its eyes, reddish-brown eyes, and two tusks jagging out of the top of its mouth. Me and the group were shocked as we knew who this creature. Well… all but one of us.

"Awww!" Kipo cooed at the little creature before us, trying to get closer to him. "Who's this little guy?"

"Kipo, don't!" I quietly said to her, stopping the Burrow girl in her tracks. "That's there is the Yokai cat Mayhem, the Tribe's guardian."

"This is the guardian of your Tribe Miwa told me about?" Kipo asked, surprised by this.

"Don't let his cute appearance fool ya." I explained to her. "Mayhem has been the guardian of the Tribe for the last 200 years. He might not seem like it, but that little guy is as tough as hell."

Within a moment of silence, we all stood there as Mayhem continued glaring at us as we wondered what Mayhem would do as he would possibly prevent us from leaving. Just when we thought he would attack, he jumped and disappeared in a flash of blue light, reappearing beside us with a calm expression on his face. We all calmed down as we were surprised by the guardian letting us go by.

"Huh. Guess Mayhem thinks we can be able to go." Uncle Donnie said, sounding just as surprised as the rest of us.

"Okay." I said with a smile. "Then let's get going!"

"Yeah! Whoo-hoo!" Aurico cheered out as we started walking toward the ruins. "Let's get this show on the road!"

---

After getting to the ruins, we made our way down the street, walking beside massive footprints that were left by a Mega Mutant. As we did, I couldn't help but notice Kipo was very nervous about the surroundings.

"What's up with Kipo?" Aurico said to me, noticing Kipo's behavior too. "She looks like a Mega Panther is gonna pounce her."

"Well, can you blame her?" I said to my cousin. "She's been raised underground most of her life. Coming up to the surface with practically no idea what to expect, who wouldn't be afraid?"

"I guess you're right." he said to me. "Guess it's the same with you with being underground, huh?"

"Yeah, kinda." Thinking about it, I guess I would be afraid to be underground… if I was forced to.

After hearing a creaking, we all stopped as Kipo quickly got behind me, more nervous than before.

"Kipo, relax." I told her, calming her down. "It's just these old buildings settling. We're fine."

With that, we then kept on walking. But, as we did, I couldn't help but get the feeling we were being watched. With the slight sound of hooves clapping, I stopped and looked behind to see if there was anything behind us. Seeing nothing there, I shrugged it off and rejoined the others as we kept on walking.

"Hey, guys, look!" Thora excitedly said as we saw a bunch of bloom flowers beside us.

"Flowers." Kipo said with a look of surprise. "A lot bigger than they are in books."

"Yeah. After being exposed to mutagen, vegetation like this underwent a transformation which led to the alteration of the entire landscape, such as growing beyond their normal size." Uncle Donnie said before we heard what sounded to be some sort of music coming from the inside of one of those flowers, a few lights shining out as if a party was going on inside.

"Huh. Look at that." Aurico commented as we looked at the flower. "Morning rave."

"Kipo, get away from that flower!" I said as I saw Kipo walking over to the flower.

"3's right!" Aurico said, just as concerned as I was. "I would leave that plant if I were you."

"Why?" Kipo asked as she looked at the flower. "What's in there?"

"Nothing. Just bees." I answered her. "Just not the kind you see in books."

Looking at her, I saw Kipo's curiosity got the best of her as she poked her head into the flower and, just what we were worried about, she accidentally crashed the party of the two Dubstep Bees inside. The Dubstep Bees are one of the Wonderbeast packs Uncle Donnie mentioned. Among the smallest species of Wonderbeast, the Dubstep Bees are a group of insect type Wonderbeasts that love music and dancing, especially at parties. They are yellow, have a bushy, white patch of fuzz on their chest, and neon glowing eyes and stripes that change color according to their mood. Nobody is exactly what mood they are in when these colors appear as each Dubstep Bee haves a unique emotional spectrum, having a different specific color represent each of their moods. Moving on, the clothing they wear consists of all-black attire with boots, gloves, and fitted jackets in that color. Seeing Kipo back away a bit as the Dubstep Bees flew into view, I saw the Dubstep Bees were mad at her for crashing their party. Acting quickly, I grabbed Kipo and got her away as Uncle Donnie stepped in and spoke to the Dubstep Bees in their own language. The way these guys communicate with each other is with a mixture of the lights they show, expressive gestures, and electronic emissions, something Uncle Donnie called similar to electronic beats and synthetic musical effects. Uncle Donnie only spoke to them with the last part of the mix. After he did, the two Dubstep Bees then headed back into their flower and continued their party, Uncle Donnie coming over to us.

"They said they will leave us alone and not saying about seeing humans or me as long as we don't interrupt their party again." Uncle Donnie said before speaking to Kipo. "Next time, I suggest you ask us before trying to go near something that catches your eye here on the surface."

"Yeah. Next time, I'll make sure I get the okay from the experts." Kipo said to him. "Man, that was…"

"Weird?" I said to her, guessing the word she was gonna use.

"Yeah." She said to me.

"Just wait until we get to the other side of the woods. It gets weirder there."

"Hey, guys! Check it out!" Musa said as we all looked to her, the girl motioning to a nearby music store. After seeing her run inside, me, Kipo, and the rest of the group followed in after her. Getting inside, we saw her glamor in awe at all the instruments in there. "Wow! Look at all these sweet instruments! I wonder if you can still play them."

"Well, maybe." Uncle Donnie said to her. "If they aren't too damaged after two centuries."

"Um… is she okay?" Kipo questioned.

"She's fine." I said as we watch my cousin search around the place. "She just a big fan of music. She never misses a chance to find an instrument in perfect condition." A moment later, I heard Kipo gasp and looked to see her find an acoustic guitar behind an old drum set. Raising an eyebrow, I was interested in this. "An acoustic guitar. Do you know how to play it?"

"Yeah, my dad taught me." She answered, causing Musa to drop an old drum she had in shock.

"You know how to play guitar?" Musa asked.

"Yeah. Me and my dad used to do it all the time." Kipo nodded, causing Musa to squeal in excitement.

"This I got to hear!" Musa said as she grabbed Kipo by the wrist.

With that, Musa dragged her away, find her a corner in the store with a large leaf in it.

"Here!" Musa said as she brought her over to the leaf, the rest of us joining her around Kipo. "Go on! Play it!"

"Okay, okay." Kipo chuckled before sitting down on a leaf and crossing her legs.

After playing a few strings, Kipo began to adjust it until it reached the right tune. With the right tune, she then began playing the guitar, singing as she did.

Up on top.

On my own.

A human girl,

So far from home.

The flowers are big.

The bees are…weird.

It's dangerous,

Just like I feared.

On the surface world…

Before she could finish that verse, all of the sudden, a Wonderbeast parakeet poked its head right through the hole where Kipo was playing, scaring her and bit the guitar in two. As the bird tried to get in, Hotaru rushed forward, taking out her bo staff.

"Get out of her, you crazy bird!" she said as she bashed its head with her bo staff. Upon impact, the bird screeched in pain before flying away. "Phew! That was close." Chris turns around to look at Kipo hiding behind the counter.

"Kipo, the bird's gone. You can come out now." I informed the Burrow girl, who popped out from behind the counter.

"Oh, great." She said with relief before looking to Hotaru with a grateful smile. "Thank you, Hotaru."

"No problem." Hotaru said to her, putting the bo staff back on her back.

"That's my girl." Uncle Donnie proudly said to her.

"Man, I'm still angry at that bird." I said. "Makes me wish I had a chance at giving that thing a piece of my mind."

"How come?" Caldwell asked.

"Because it ruined the show." I said before speaking to Kipo. "Kipo, that was great. You have a nice voice."

"Really?" Kipo asked with surprise, a slight blush on her face.

"Hmm-hm." I nodded to her.

"Wow, thanks." Kipo said, rubbing her arm in embarrassment. "I'm not really used to singing to anybody except my dad."

"Well, you should sing to people more often." I said to her. "I bet everybody would love to hear you sing."

"Ah-hem!" Uncle Donnie cleared his throat, getting our attention. "While I enjoy this good moment, I believe we should get back to returning Kipo home. Which leads me to a question I wanted to ask." He then looked to the Burrow girl. "Kipo, do you remember what happened after you left your Burrow? What happened in the flood that brought you here?

"Yeah, I think so." Kipo said as she took a stick and started drawing lines in the sand. "Let's see… The current took me left, then right." After she drew those lines, things got a little confusing. "And then there was the long part. A-a-and-and the short part! And then the loopy-de-doo. And then I went way over here…" She finished by drawing an X at the end. "So my home must be in this direction!" I only had a good idea of what she went through and was just lost at the directions that flood took her from her Burrow. Everyone else was just as confused as me.

"What?" Stella asked.

"Loopy-de-doo?" Aurico said, not knowing what she meant.

"Kipo, that path doesn't sound right." I said to her Kipo then began to doubt her sense of direction.

"Or maybe was it left then loopy-de-doo? Or loopy-de-doo then left?" Kipo said as she traced some more lines, doubting her sense of direction. Groaning in frustration, she wiped away the directions she made in the sand.

"Kipo, calm down." I said to her, hoping to cheer her up. "It's alright. You went through a lot yesterday, but that's why we need to know the right place to look."

"Hey, what the hell is that?" Gordy asked as we all looked to see some small creature looking at us through the store window.

"Oh, look at that." I said as we walked over to the window, making sure we don't scare the creature. "I don't think I've seen this kind of Wonderbeast before."

"Hello there, little one." Kipo asked as she smiled at the creature. "Oh, you're adorable." After a brief moment of watching it, we were all surprised when the small creature raised its head up, revealing it had four eyes which spooked the little Wonderbeast who went to hide behind a pile of rocks. With all of us going outside, we watched as Kipo tried to calm down the Wonderbeast. "Oh, sorry. I just didn't expect you to come with an extra set of eyes."

"Yeah, I don't think any of us did." Brook said as we watched Kipo kneel down.

"It's okay. I'm a friend." Kipo calmly said, making the little creature poke its head out for a moment before walking out behind the rock, revealing it entirely as this little blue pig with four eyes and six legs, making Kipo stand up. "Oh! You come with an extra pair of everything!" Looking carefully at the pig, I was starting to get a sense of familiarity with it. "I only have two legs. So boring."

"Wait a minute. Four eyes, six legs…" I said as I finally clicked and I got out my journal, opening it and flipping the pages until I found what I was looking for that proved my assumption. "Ah-ha! It's a Wonderbeast Boar, one of the Wonderbeast subspecies!"

"Wonderbeast subspecies?" Kipo asked me, wondering what I meant. "What's that?"

"They're a group of Wonderbeasts that gone through mutation like the usual Wonderbeast, but only through physical change." I explained, using a new page to draw a picture of the little Wonderbeast before us. "Their intelligence is the same as what normal animals were before the virus. Another name we use for them is 'Sub-beasts'. I've never seen a Wonderbeast Boar before."

"Oh, finally!" Lobbo said after I was finished with the sketch, looking at the Sub-beast with a hungry look in his eye. "Fresh meat."

"Lobbo, don't you dare!" I said to the kwami, stopping him from trying to turn that little Wonderbeast into lunch. "You can't eat that boar!"

"Why not?" Lobbo asked me.

"Well, look at it!" I then began to point out the reason, flipping back to the Wonderbeast Boar page in the journal and using its information to support the reason. "According to the journal, Wonderbeast Boars are supposed to be four times the size of this little one and they have large tusks. Seeing at how small it is and that it doesn't have tusks, I think it's just a piglet, a baby."

"A baby?" Aurico asked, surprised by this. "What's it doing out here all by itself?"

"Must have gotten separated from its singular." I then closed the journal and put it away as we all looked at the little Wonderbeast, who looked at us with curiosity.

"Awww!" the girls of the cooed as they looked at the baby boar.

"Lobbo, how could you eat such an adorable little thing?" Stella said to the kwami, keeping her gaze on the little one.

"Oh, I can't take it anymore!" Kipo said as she slowly walked up to the small Wonderbeast. "I have to pet you."

"Kipo, wait! Sub-beasts aren't…" I said before she kneeled down and spooked the boar, the Wonderbeast scurrying off at a fast pace. "Use to humans."

"Wait! Come back!" Kipo yelled but the boar was out already out of sight.

"Wow! For something so small, it sure can run." Aurico said as we all walked over to Kipo, Gordy whistling as he was just as impressed.

"Yeah, it's gonna be a while before we see that boar again." I said as Kipo stood up.

"That pig can run. But I find it. And I will pet it." Kipo said in a determined tone, making me have a little chuckle. "What's so funny?"

"It's just the way you said that." I said to her. "Do you have a weakness for cute things or something?"

"Yeah, why?" She answered without hesitation. "Wouldn't you?"

"Eh." I shrugged my shoulders. "Depends on what it is. Though something tells me you and Stella are gonna get along pretty well."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Our cousin there has a thing for cute things too." Aurico said as we continued moving. "She can't help but cuddle with any cute Wonderbeast she sees."

"Oh." Kipo said before she realized she was lagging behind. "Hey, wait up!" After she caught up with us, she then spoke to me. "So, Axel, you said you know somebody who can find my Burrow?"

"Yep. She's the only person I've met who had been living on the surface by herself." I said to her. "She's a great tracker. If anyone can find your Burrow, it's her. We just need to get over to the other side of these ruins. That was the last place we saw her."

Kipo paused before she then pointed forward and said "What is that?

Looking forward, we saw it was an orange Wonderbeast snail using an old purple car for its shell.

"Oh, that's just a Wonderbeast Snail." I said as I explained. "They use the old bodies of cars as shells."

"Yeah, sometimes we hitch a ride of them when we get the chance." Aurico said before we both smiled at each other, getting the same idea. "Cuz, you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Well, my feet are getting a little tired." I said to him before we looked at Kipo. "Kipo, want to hop on the snail?

"Yes!" She eagerly answered.

---

After getting on there, Kipo, Aurico, and I sat in the seats of the car as the snail continued slinking away with me and Kipo in the front seats and Aurico laying in the back, everyone else following us from the sides.

"Ahhh! This is great." I stretched as the three of us rode Wonderbeast Snail. "It ain't fast, but sure beats walking."

"Seriously? How come I'm stuck here in the back?" Aurico complained.

"Hey, Kipo beat us both to the driver's seat and I called shotgun." I said to him. "Don't blame me if you were too slow to call." Hearing a squeal, we all looked to see the baby boar from before run into a school.

"Piggy!" Kipo said as she left the snail and ran after the boar, not wanting to lose her chance to pet it.

"Kipo, wait!" Uncle Donnie said before Thora and Stella ran after her.

"Whoa! Hey, hold up!" Plagg said, trying to get his Miraculous Warrior to stop as he and Forss were dragged to the girls by the magic keeping them close to them.

"Hey, wait for us!" Stella called out, not listening to Plagg at all.

"I want to pet the little piggy too!" Thora yelled out.

"We'll go get them! You guys keep going!" I said as I left the snail. "We'll meet up with you in the forest! Come on, Nooroo!" With that, my kwami and I then ran after the trio chasing the boar. "Kipo, Thora, Stella, get back here!"

After a few minutes of running, Nooroo and I managed to find them and ran up to them.

"Girls, there you are!" I said before they shushed me.

Kipo then pointed forward and I looked to see they found the boar, who was trying to get a bag of chips from a perfectly good vending machine with glass keeping the little pig away from the food.

"I can help you with that." Kipo said taking the pig by surprise and scaring it. "We have vending machines like this back in my burrow. I know all the tricks. There's a wire… if I can just get to it!" She was straining as she was trying and move it over.

"Move over. I got this." Plagg said and I then saw what he was gonna do. "Cata…"

"Plagg, no!" I said as I stopped him, knowing what would happen if he used his powers from the stories I heard. "Do you want to bring this entire building down on top of us?" With that, Plagg canceled out his power. "Let me handle this." I then looked to Kipo. "Kipo, finding a wire isn't really gonna work in this, especially since this thing doesn't have power. Better just to do this." I then grabbed the vending machine from the back and, using my super strength, pushed it forward, sending it crashing to floor and breaking the glass.

"That works too." Kipo admitted as I then used my metalbending, stretching the metal of my tail spikes over my hand and creating a golden tentacle to flip over and grab the bag in the machine, giving it to Kipo. "Whoa! Wait, I thought you were a fire elemental."

"Oh, I am." I said to her, canceling out my metalbending, returning my tail spike to normal. "It's just one of my natural abilities."

"Oh." Kipo said before she opened the bag and held out a cheese puff.

The four of us sat down and the kwamis floated in the air as we all watched the boar come out of hiding and come a little closer, feeling hesitant before jumping right forward and eating the puff out Kipo's hand.

"Whoa! You were hungry, weren't you?" Kipo said before she passed the bag to the pig and the small Wonderbeast just ate the bag entirely.

"Sheesh! That pig doesn't waste anything, does it?" I said in surprise.

"Ohhh! You are so cute!" Stella said as she snatched up the boar and nuzzled it, which surprised the baby Wonderbeast a little.

"Hey, Stella, mind if I see the boar for a minute?" I said before Stella then gave the little piglet to me. "Now, easy, little piglet. I'm just gonna check something." With that, I then held it up with its rear facing me. After a moment of inspecting, my question about it was answered. Or should I say her. "Okay. That's all I needed to know." I then put the little boar down and petted her. "Good girl."

"That thing's a girl?" Plagg asked with surprise.

"Plagg!" Stella glared at her kwami.

"The girl is right, Plagg." Forss said to her fellow kwami. "It's not right to judge a girl by her looks."

"How'd you know it was girl?" Kipo asked me.

"Basic biology." I answered her. "Miwa taught me what she learned from our mom."

"Oh, cool." Kipo said before she got a smile. "Hey, you guys wanna try something fun?"

A while later, we were at the top of a flight of stairs with some metal trays. What Kipo wanted to do was use those trays to slide down the stairs. Kipo was up first, sitting on her tray with boar with her.

"You ready?" Kipo asked the little Wonderbeast who looked up at the girl with her upper set of eyes to see the girl's smile before shaking her head frantically. Though Kipo didn't listen and went ahead, sliding down the stairs. "Yeeeeaaah!" Good thing we did it with a small flight of stairs. After the two came to a stop, Kipo looked back at me and the others. "You guys coming?"

Looking to Thora and Stella, they were on their tray with Stella in front of Thora and their respective kwamis on their shoulders.

"You know, I'm starting to like this girl." Plagg said as he sat on Stella's shoulder.

"You ready?" Thora asked her fellow riders with an excited smile.

"Um… I don't know." Stella said with a nervous look on her face. "Maybe I should…"

"Here we go!" Thora said, pushing them down the stairs, the lightning elemental cheering as Stella screamed in fright.

After they stopped beside Kipo, Thora and Plagg laughed while Forss and Stella looked forward with wide eyes.

"That was fun!" Thora said before she looked to her kwami. "Wasn't that fun, Forss?"

"Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod!" Forss shivered with fright before she slid off Thora's shoulder and laid on the floor.

"Well, Stella, what ya think?" Plagg asked his Miraculous wielder.

"You know what?" Stella answered before she gained a smile. "That wasn't so bad."

"Hey, 3! Get down here!" Thora said before I got to sliding down with Nooroo.

"Whoo-hoo!" I said before I came down, but saw I was going too fast. "Oh, boy! Coming in hot! Whoa!"

With that, I then crashed into the girls, the two kwamis floating into the air to avoid it. After we recovered, we all looked at each other for a moment before laughing. As we all sat up, I looked behind me and found a picture frame on the shelf behind us.

"Hey, what's this?" I said as I grabbed the frame and wiped the dust off the glass, all of us were surprised to find it with a picture of a group composed of kids about our age with one of them in a rabbit costume.

"Oh, so that's what humans from the old world look." Stella said, just as amazed as the rest of us.

"Hey, what's that thing behind them?" Thora asked, pointing to the banner in the background.

"It's a banner." I said as I recognized it. "In the old world, people used to hang them up for celebrations. It says 'Class of 2019'. I think this is a school photo."

"So that's what this placed was." Kipo said, looking around. "It used to be a school."

"Ugh! School?" Plagg groan in displeasure. "The one place I didn't want to be at."

"Hey, we went to school!" Stella said as she and Thora glared at him.

"I go to school too." Kipo said, surprising all of us.

"Really?" I asked her. "They have school down in Burrows?"

"Yeah, underground with lots of other kids." She answered quickly. "No windows though."

"I can see how that is." I said to her. "So you have teachers?"

"Yeah. My dad teaches there." Kipo said.

"Your dad's a teacher there?" Stella asked.

"Yeah. I'm actually a part of his class." Kipo then started doing a one-girl act, switching between her normal voice and a deep one. "'Kipo, how many light-years are in a parsec?' It's 3.26156."

"Light-years in a parsec?" I said before the four of us had a little laugh. "Man, you were taught differently than I was."

"Oh, right." Thora said to me in realization. "I forgot you were homeschooled most of the time."

"You were homeschooled, Axel?" Kipo asked me.

"In a way, I guess." I said to her. "My dad taught me some math and science. My sister taught me the rest of what I know. When she was my age, our mom played the role of the teacher. From what Miwa told me about her, she was smart too aside from her appearance and her personality."

"Personality?"

"Miwa said she cursed a lot."

"Oh. At least you get a good education." Kipo said to me with a smile. "But some good what I was taught was what you guys taught me up here." We all had a good chuckle with that.

"Looks like someone's taking a liking to you, Kipo." I said, pointing down to the boar snuggling against the Burrow girl.

"You know, my whole life, they taught us that the surface was this horrible place." Kipo said as she held the piglet. "But yet you're all here."

"Well, I wouldn't blame them for your people telling you that." I said as leaned against the shelf. "Besides the Beast War and the Mega Mutants, they're still scared of Wonderbeasts from what happened in the past. Once this Beast War is over, I hope that one day the Tribe can be able to show those in the Burrows that there is nothing to fear. That they can finally come out of hiding and live in the world we all share."

"That sounds like a great dream, Axel." Kipo said to me.

"Thanks, Kipo." I smiled at her before I sat up and spoke about the boar. "Well, seeing as how this piglet will no doubt being traveling with us, you have a name for her?"

"A name? Let's see…" Kipo then looked down at the boar as she looked up at her. "Huh. She looks just like these dumplings my dad makes."

"Dumplings?" Thora said with interest.

"Yeah. They're called 'Mandu'." Kipo then gasped as she smiled before looking at the boar. "That's it! I'm gonna call you Mandu." She then nuzzles her nose against the piglet's snout. "Num-num-num!" Then, after jumping out of Kipo's arms, Mandu began to kneel down and wiggle her tail, showing that she wanted to play. "I'm gonna get you!" Kipo then began to chase our new piglet companion. "I'm gonna get you, Mandu!"

It was with that me, Stella, and Thora got up and followed her with our kwamis following behind. After following the two through a door, we all stopped and looked to find what I had to guess was an empty pool filled with grass. Seeing something rustling in there, we all watched until what was hiding in the grass popped out. It was a large bunny with five sets of ears and eight legs, staring at us with big adorable eyes. The sight of it had Kipo gasp in surprise. For what this creature is, I knew it as a Mega Bunny and it was a baby one at that.

"3, is that…?" Thora asked as the Mega Mutant walked a little closer to us, giving off little chirps.

"Yep. That's a baby Mega Bunny." I answered her.

"Okay, I have to pet this bunny." Kipo said as she got to the ladder only for the pig to bite on her sleeve telling her not to go in. "It's gonna be okay." After gently pushing Mandu off, Kipo climbed down and walked over to the Mega Bunny, beginning to pet it. "Hi, there. Aren't you fluffy?" As she giggled, I looked behind the Mega Mutant and saw that there were more Mega Bunnies down there. "Oh, you like that, huh?" she then gasped as she noticed the other Mega Bunnies. "There's another one!" I then watched as Kipo was soon surrounded by Mega Bunnies.

"Huh. Well, now we know where Rabbecka relocated her babies." I said before Stella squealed in excitement.

"Baby Mega Bunnies!" Stella yelled out before she ran and jumped right into the grass, miraculously not getting seriously injured before she then started snuggling with one of the babies. "Oh, hello there, you adorable cotton ball!"

"I see the new Lady Noir haves Marinette's attraction to cuteness." Plagg said in exasperation.

"Plagg, I can tell you stories." I said to him before something went past us, surprising us.

Looking above the pool, we saw Thora flying down to Mega Bunnies, her legs turned into an electric tail. They turned back to normal as soon as she was close to the grass, making sure she didn't set it on fire.

"Oh, they're so cute and fluffy!" Thora said as she went over and began snuggling with a baby Mega Bunny in front of her, some electricity coming off her and causing the hare's hair to stick up.

"Whoa! Watch your electrical currents, Thora!" I told the lightning elemental as she and the other girls were surrounded by the babies. "You're making their hair stick up!"

When I felt something tugging at my leg, I looked down to see Mandu pulling me by the pants with her mouth, trying to tell me to leave. I soon found out why when I heard rumbling and looked to see… an adult Mega Bunny coming toward us. Along with the large size, what makes the adults different from the babies is that they had six rows of ears instead of five. I knew this Mega Bunny as Rabbecka. Thinking quickly, I grabbed Mandu and ran out as quickly as I could with Nooroo following behind.

"And that must be the mother." I heard Kipo say before Rabbecka sat right on top of them, smothering her babies along with the girls along with Plagg and Forss (who couldn't escape as they had to be close to their Miraculous Warriors).

Seeing Rabbecka sleeping with her babies snuggled underneath her, I chuckled before I put Mandu down and silently walked around the sleeping mother to look for any signs of girls and the other kwamis. Luckily, he found the five squeezing through the bunnies. After managing to escape, they soon saw they accidentally woke up Rabbecka. Seeing this, we all went into hiding as we all knew that Rabbecka would not take to strangers being around her babies to kindly. A moment later with one of the babies yawning, Rabbecka yawned before she went back to sleep, patting one of her large paws on the ground and making it shake.

"Done with your fun yet?" I said to Kipo with a playful smirk, making her glare at me before I helped her up. She then helped me get Thora and Stella back to their feet. "Come on. Let's get out of here before she wakes up."

We were lucky that we managed to escape Rabbecka and made it to the other side of the ruins to the forest and meet up with the others, Mandu following us.

---

Getting to the forest, we managed to find Uncle Donnie and the others waiting for us.

"There you guys are!" Aurico said as we came up to him and the group. "What took you guys?"

"Well, let's just say things got a little 'hare-y'." I said as I looked down and saw Mandu standing next to me, gaining a smile as I motioned to the little piglet. "Though we just got our new little travel buddy."

"Hey, you got the boar!" Gordy said, seeing Mandu.

"Yep." Kipo said as she walked up. "Her name is Mandu."

"Mandu, eh?" Uncle Donnie said. "Weird name for a boar, but I guess it's okay."

"Well, we're in the forest." Kipo said to me. "So when are we gonna find this person who can help us get me home?"

"Oh, we will." I said to her.

"Yeah, girl's not hard to miss." Aurico said to her. "Hell, it's more likely she'll find us."

Hearing a familiar squealing, we all looked ahead to see Mandu eating some leaves from a nearby bush. When we walked a bit closer to her, something came in and snatched her.

"Oh, speak of the devil." Aurico said as he and I both knew who that mysterious figure was.

"Mandu!" Kipo said as the one person we were looking for ran off.

"Come on, let's follow her!" I said as we chased after the pig snatcher.

---

It was only a few minutes later that we found the perpetrator who took Mandu underneath a bridge, holding the pig in a net over a small pile of wood. Seeing her while being concealed, it turned out my suspicions were right. The one who took Mandu was the one person we were looking for. For how she looked, she was this short human girl who is obviously younger than me and the rest of the group with dark brown skin, light brown eyes, and black, curly hair. Her attire consisted of cuffed, gray jeans, a black t-shirt, two pieces of some black fabric tied around her wrists, and this Wonderbeast Wolf-skin cloak to which was part of the reason she went by the name Wolf. We all kept a safe distance while Kipo was inside a car nearby the two as we all watched the events transpire.

"Can you talk, beast?" Wolf asked Mandu, giving the piglet a stoic expression. "I'm no barbarian. If a Wonderbeast can talk, it's not chow." She poked the Sub-beast's snout for emphasis. "All I'm waiting to hear is one little 'yes'." Though, because she was a Sub-beast, Mandu could only snort in response.

"Another human?" I heard Kipo say as she was defiantly surprised to see this, which I couldn't blame her for thinking Wolf would be something else. I began to worry upon seeing Wolf light a match.

"Sorry, but a girl's gotta eat." She said throwing the match into a pile of wood that was underneath the pig.

"Wait!" Kipo said, pushing the car door and making it fall off. After she landed on her stomach, Kipo was met with a red scorpion stinger right in her face, said stinger being held by Wolf from a metal pole.

"I was wondering when you were gonna come out of there." Wolf said to Kipo in an intimidating tone.

"You're human! On the surface." She said in amazement.

"You don't miss a thing do you?" The girl questioned as Mandu was struggling to get out of the net.

"Wait, you can't eat my…" Kipo was soon rolled into the air by the girl who used her staff.

"If you want a bacon sandwich, go catch your own pig." She said, putting the blunt end of the stinger right in Kipo's cheek. "I already called dibs on this one."

"Mandu is no sandwich!"

"She's about to be."

It was with that moment that Aurico and Brook rushed over with ninja stealth, my cousin using his claws cut a hole in the net holding Mandu with some help from Lobbo and Steel and Brook putting out the fire with his powers. When Wolf was about to turn around, Kipo managed to derive the girl's attention back to her by grabbing the stinger without accidentally stinging herself.

"Say… your staff is so pointy." Kipo said to Wolf, trying to buy Aurico, Brook, and the kwamis some time while they tried to free Mandu. "Where'd you get it from?"

"Off a giant scorpion. It was trespassing in my camp." Wolf simply said before she heard the net snap and looked behind to see Aurico holding Mandu as he, the kwamis, and Brook looked at her with shock. "Hey!"

"Run!" Aurico said as the four of them dashed off, taking Mandu with them.

"Get back here with that pig!" Wolf tried to use the stinger on them, but Kipo managed to pull on her cloak, slowing the young warrior down.

Wolf stopped once the rest of the group and I came out of hiding and stood between her and our friends.

"Hold it right there, little girl!" Uncle Donnie said, readying his staff for a fight.

"Oh… It's you." Wolf said to me with a hint of annoyance.

"Nice to see you two, Wolf." I greeted her before tossing her a bag of cheese puffs. "Here. This should make up for your meal." She looked at the bag in her hand for a moment before looking at me. "Sorry, I know you might be hungry, but this little pig is not food."

"Eat or be eaten. That's how it works out here." Wolf said to me.

"How can you eat her?" Kipo questioned in disbelief. "She's adorable!"

"I've eaten plenty of adorable." Wolf replied as Kipo got up and dusted herself off. "And there's lots more adorable who's tried to eat me."

"Yeah, well this is the kind of adorable you can't eat and won't eat you!" Aurico said to her.

"Do you have any hand sanitizer by any chance?" Kipo questioned, making the girl glance at her.

"You're not from around here are you?" She asked before she spun her staff and pointed the stinger at Kipo. "Are you one of those mole people?" From there, I rushed over and got Kipo behind me, taking her place in front of the stinger.

"Easy there, Wolf." I said as I pushed aside the stinger. "Yeah, she's from a Burrow and she's not a mole, now is she?"

"Wait, you know her, Axel?" Kipo asked me with surprise.

"Yep. Kipo, meet Wolf, the only human outside of the Tribe that has managed to strive here on the surface." I said as Wolf put her staff down and held the bag of cheese puffs in both hands. "Me and Rico ran into her about a year ago."

"Still think this is a bad idea that we went out looking for her!" Aurico shouted as we all looked to him.

"Oh, come on, Rico!" I said to my cousin. "You're not still upset about what happened last time, are you?"

"3, are you kidding me? She poisoned me!" he retorted. "I had to spend a week of being a total klutz like Stella before I got that anti-venom treatment!"

"Hey!" Stella shouted, taking offense in that.

"Oh, and you know somebody else we can turn to besides her?" I said to him, making my cousin turn his glare to the ground. "That's what I thought." Wolf then opened the bag before she began ravaging the contents of it. "Okay, Wolf, I bet you're wondering why we're here. Well, it's because I'm here to call in…" I was cut off after Wolf mashed the bag into a ball and threw it into my face. "A favor." Wolf then picked up her staff and looked at me, listening to what I have to say. "Wolf, I believe you have become acquainted with Kipo."

"Hi. It's nice to meet you." Kipo said to her. "Look, there was a huge Mute Quake, a lot of people I care about could be hurt. I really need to get home."

"Well, good luck with that." Wolf said before walked off into the forest.

"Wolf, wait!" I said as we all followed her.

"You're not gone?" Wolf said to us. "You know, that's really annoying." She then grabbed a thorn off a nearby root and used it as a toothpick.

"Wolf, listen, we wondering if you can help us get Kipo home." I said to the little warrior.

"Not my problem." Wolf said as she threw away the thorn before I got in front of her and stopped her, gaining my own stoic expression. "Get out of my way, Tribe boy."

"Sorry, Wolf, but you owe me one, remember?" I said to her. "I helped you with something not too long ago and I said that I'd come finding you and ask you to return the favor. You still owe me that and today is the day I'm asking for that favor."

"Why do want my help?" Wolf questioned me. "You know this area real well yourself and you have a whole group to help you."

"Because we don't know everything. I might have some knowledge, but most of our group only know as much as I do. You have your own." I replied, causing Wolf to turn to the side, not looking at me. "Come on, Wolf. You're the only person I know who knows their way around Las Vistas. We really need your help." Seeing as she wasn't much convinced, I then decided to make her a deal. "Look, if you do me this favor, then we'll be even and all of us will leave you alone, okay?"

With a growl of frustration, Wolf then said "Fine. I'll help you. But, once she's back, I'm out and we're even. Up here, I work alone. Got it?"

"Got it." I said as I gave a smile.

"Oh, thank you!" Kipo said, about to give Wolf a hug before she was sent rolling into the air and landed on the ground again.

"No hugging!" Wolf said, pinning Kipo with her staff.

"I knew you were a good person." Kipo said in a rather positive tone as Wolf walked off.

After I helped Kipo to her feet, I looked to the rest of our group as they began walking, starting to follow Wolf one-by-one. Looking to Brook as he stood there, I saw there was a spider web behind him and it wasn't vacant.

"Hey, Brook!" I said, getting the water elemental's attention as Kipo and I looked to him.

"What?" Brook asked.

"Spider." I answered as he turned around and saw the large spider behind him and the arachnid hissed at him.

"Aah! Wait for me!" Brook yelped in fright before he ran off to join the others.

"Whoa!" Hearing Aurico, Kipo and I looked to see him using his metalbending to get Thora away from a bush that had Wonderbeast bodies in it. "Thora, you got to be careful. You nearly walked into Death Ivy." After he said that, they both watched as a Wonderbeast Butterfly landed on the bush before collapsing on it, dying from the immense poison.

"You guys wouldn't last five minutes without me." Wolf said as I turned to see she had stopped to see what was going on before she started walking again. "You all better keep up." With that, we all then started following Wolf as she led the way.

---

When it got close to sunset, we decided to make camp for the night. Though we told Wolf we had some food, she still went out and brought back a spider, saying that we needed meat just as much as the produce we had with us. Lobbo was glad about that as he was finally gonna eat some meat. I had heard stories about him, which all said that he preferred to eat meat. Later that night, we had a fire started to keep us warm and to cook the spider. Luckily it was a Sub-beast, so there wasn't much guilt right there. As it was cooking, the group and I (except for Uncle Donnie, Wolf, and the kwamis) decided to change into our night time attire. Though me and Aurico did it in a snap, the others went off to change out, dividing into two groups by gender. For what the rest of the group was wearing (besides me and Kipo as you already know what we're wearing), Aurico was wearing these gray plaid pajama pants with sky blue t-shirt that had gray wolf on it, Kylo was wearing a blue night gown, Gordy was wearing a white, short-sleeve t-shirt with a black collar and sleeves and a bear's head on the front and red pajama pants, Thora was wearing a pink, sleeveless night shirt with yellow and sky blue spots and matching shorts, Caldwell and Brook were wearing pajama shirts and pants with Caldwell being violet with blue spots and Brook's being green with white horizontal stripes, Sora was wearing this blue robe with his boxers underneath, Hotaru was wearing these purple and white vertical striped, button-up pajamas, Riku was wearing a white tank top and red shorts, Hikaru was wearing these pajamas with fruit patterned on them, Nabu was wearing white pajamas with green cuffs at the legs and sleeves and green stripes going down the legs and sleeves, and Aisha wearing some magenta pajamas with a gold star on the front of the shirt. When the spider was done cooking, we all got to eating. Though Lobbo and Wolf were able to eat it, the rest of us thought of it as… a required taste. This made Uncle Donnie glad he didn't need to eat right now. For the rest of the kwamis, they decided to just eat some of the produce we had, Plagg actually being glad to be eating it over a cooked spider. As we all ate, Kipo told Wolf everything that had happened with that speed-through pace of hers.

"At first, we thought it was just a Mute passing overhead. I mean, that happens all the time, right? We learned a long time ago to hang onto all furniture. But this one was, like, an earthquake! I can't imagine how big it was. It made an entire cliff fall! While I was on it! And then I landed in the water near drowned."

"Sounds like Tuesday." Wolf commented. "Listen, Kipo, was it? Lesson 2 of the surface, don't tell anyone that story. It can be very dangerous if people know if you're from a Burrow."

"Yeah." Aurico said to Kipo. "If word gets out that a Burrow girl is on the surface, getting you back home will be Hell. It's much as lesson 1 as to not yell, especially at night. That's ringing the dinner bell for predators."

"And lesson 3 of the surface: up here, you never pass up a meal." Wolf said as I broke a leg off the spider.

"She isn't wrong." I said to Kipo, passing the leg to her.

"Yeah." Lobbo said in agreement. "The world we live in is now the wild. In the wild, it's eat or be eaten."

"Crispy on the outside, chewy in the center." Kipo said after she took a bite out of the leg.

"And that is the wonder of meat, little girl." Lobbo said to her.

"What the—what the hell? How are you halfway done with that spider leg?" Aurico asked, surprised to find the little kwami had eaten half the leg he had.

"I've been stuck in my Miraculous for a while, Rico." Lobbo answered him, eating the leg. "I've hadn't had the taste of meat for a decade."

"Kipo, can you tell me anything about your burrow that might help us find it?" Wolf questioned as Kipo swallowed the leg in her mouth.

"Well, there's the underground irrigation system." Kipo answered.

"But that's underground." Aisha noted.

"Kipo, we can't see through the dirt." Nabu said to her.

"Is there anything we can spot on the surface that can show us where your Burrow is?" I said before she gasped in realization.

"Oh, wait! The Clover! How can I forget the Clover?" Kipo said.

"Clover?" I asked her.

"Yeah, we live underneath this barrier called 'The Great Clover'. I've never actually seen it, but we use it as our city emblem." She said as she used the leg to draw a familiar symbol on the ground.

"That's the symbol that was on your jumpsuit!" I said, remembering what was on the clothes she was wearing when Musa, Aurico, and I found her. "The clover must be on the surface."

"So we're looking for something that's shaped like a clover." Uncle Donnie said as we all saw that was the best clue in finding the Burrow.

"Wolf, have you seen this before?" Aurico questioned, making the girl hum in thought.

"I may know what that is." Wolf replied back before standing up. "We'll make camp here for the night."

"Camp?" Kipo questioned, getting nervous. "Out here?"

"Relax, Kipo. We'll be fine." I told her as I used my thumb to point to Aurico, Kylo, and Brook, who got up to help Wolf set up a perimeter with empty cans as alarm systems. "Wolf's got her own little security plan. If anything is coming, we'll know."

"Mandu, don't eat that can. We need it." Aurico said as I turned to see him keeping the piglet from eating one of the cans before all of us, except for Wolf, were surprised by a roar. "Seriously, we need these cans."

After that, while Wolf wrapped herself in her cloak, my fellow teenagers and I got our pillows and blankets out and were ready to sleep with Mandu joining Kipo.

"So many sparkles!" Kipo said as I turned to see her staring into the night sky in awe.

"Those are stars, Kipo." I said to her, explaining to her what she was seeing. "On the surface, you sometimes get to see the sky full of them at night." I then looked and saw the moon rising. "And see that big, weird ball of light up there? That's the moon. Unlike the sun, you can actually look at it. One of the many wonders to see in the night,"

"Wow! I was not prepared for this." Kipo said, impressed by this. "Why would humans stay underground when every night they can look up and see this?"

"I know what you mean." I said with a sigh of pleasure. "It's amazing living up here."

"Yeah." Wolf said sarcastically. "It's a real paradise."

"Hey, it's not all bad." Aurico said. "There's a lot a great stuff up here."

"Doesn't seem great to me." Wolf coldly said. "Kipo, this place might seem all fun, but it's not. The sooner you accept that, the better."

"Oh, lay off her, Wolf." I said to the little warrior. "She hadn't gone through things the way you did. Things would be different if you were raised underground, wouldn't it?"

"I doubt it." She bitterly replied.

"Wolf…" I said before Aurico stopped me.

"Save your breath, cuz." He said. "You tried this before. Face it. Nothing's gonna change her mind about the surface or make her go to the Tribe any time soon."

"Axel, what's he talking about?" Kipo asked me, causing me to sigh before telling her my history with Wolf.

"I tried to get Wolf to come live in the Tribe."

"Really?" Kipo was surprised by this.

"Yeah, I offered her the choice to join the Tribe, a place to stay. But she refused."

"Why? It seems perfect."

"That? Not really sure. She said that she doesn't want to be around other humans. She also doesn't like being around Wonderbeasts, which is odd considering she was raised by them."

"She was raised by Wonderbeasts?"

"Yeah, a pack of wolves. Managed to figure that out after being around her for a while."

"But, if she was raised by a wolf pack, why doesn't she like Wonderbeasts?"

"I have no idea. My guess is that something happened back at that time that made her keep herself away from Wonderbeasts as possible. I've tried talking to her about it, but I soon gave up as I saw it was a sensitive subject." I then turned to look at the sky. "Something I could relate with."

"Yeah. I guess that makes sense." Kipo then turned herself to do the same. There was a moment of silence before she spoke again. "Hey, look! That must be the Big Dipper! It's part of Ursa Major. Ooh! And that bright one? That's Polaris!"

"The north star." I was actually impressed she recognized that star. "The only star that ever faces true north." When I saw her look at me, I knew she was surprised by this. "My dad was a stargazer. My brother learned from him and taught me about astronomy. Stargazing was one of the things we did as brothers." I then raised a brow at Kipo. "You seem to know a lot about stars."

"Well, I'm kind of an astronomy buff."

I had a little chuckle at that. "Wait. So you're an astronomer that lives underground, but has never seen the night sky until now?" I raised a brow at Kipo, gaining a small smile. "That's weird."

"You know what else is weird?" Wolf said. "It's not quiet!"

"Sorry, Wolf." I said to her before speaking the Kipo. "We better get some sleep. Good night, Kipo." Though I was comfortable and was about to go to sleep, Kipo seemed to be having a hard time doing so.

"Oooh! Aries!" Kipo gasped in awe. "That's my birth sign! I've always wanted to see it!"

"Aries, huh?" Uncle Donnie said, interested in what she said. "So you were born in March."

"Yep." Kipo said to me. "It's supposed to be a ram if you connected the dots. I guess you can kinda see it if you…"

"Kipo!" Wolf, the rest of our group, and I all said to her at the same time, wanting to get some sleep.

"Oh, right." With that done, we all drifted off to sleep under the night sky with a full moon accompanied by dozens of stars.

The first night outside of the Tribe. Now with our first clue on what to look for and having two new members of our group, we are well underway in finding Kipo's Burrow. To what else is in store for us, only time will tell as our journey continued.

---

Author's Note: Hey, guys! Sorry it took me so long. I hoped you liked the chapter. For those who are fans of my Miraculous story, sorry for the little spoiler there about some certain kwamis and Miraculous. Though I like to give a special thanks to FoxyKhai for helping me set those guys up and getting the casual attire of the descendants put together. Now the group has started their journey and some old friends from the past have returned. Don't worry, you'll get to see the Miraculous in action (or back in action) as the story progresses. That's all I got for now. Don't forget to leave a comment to tell me how you think of it. See ya in the next chapter!