Aurora and Akiko had walked for quite a while, but it seemed the mountain was not getting any closer. It might have been their exhaustion or frustration, but every step they took felt like an hour. But despite it all, Aurora was not gonna stop, for she knew she had to get the staff from the mysterious beast of the mountain in order to save her friends. The only thing was that she wasn't completely sure of how she was going to get it away from whatever the beast was. It probably wasn't anything like Belle's beast, so it very well couldn't be reasoned with, so in a case like this, she would have to use her brains.
"How long before we reach that mountain?!" Aurora asked to Akiko in frustrated breath.
"I couldn't tell you. I've never been to the mountain, so I can't tell how long it actually takes to get up there," said Akiko.
"Well I have to get there now so I can get that staff and save my friends," said Aurora.
"And how exactly are you gonna deal with the beast?" asked Akiko.
Aurora assured her that she would handle the monster, though secretly she had her doubts. She had never really dealt with a monster before. The only other time was when Maleficent transformed into a dragon and she was asleep during that time.
Though armies of Golett's creatures had overrun the Magic Kingdom, they had not managed to make it to the Mysterious Tower. There, Mickey, along with Minnie, Goofy, Donald, Daisy, and a few other non-captured citizens had taken refuge under the watch of Mickey's old master, Yen Sid, who placed a magical barrier around the tower so Golett's forces couldn't get to them. For the time being, this was the only place in the Magic Kingdom where anyone could be safe.
With the usual stoic look in his eyes, Yen Sid used his magic to see the chaos that had befallen the kingdom. As he saw the Shadow Goblins under the command of Golett and the Evil Empire enslaving all living things, he let out a small, weary sigh. Suddenly, he heard a knock at his door.
"Come in," he said.
Mickey opened the door and approached him with Goofy, Donald, Minnie, and Daisy accompanying him. "Master Yen Sid, it's been three weeks since the villains have taken over," he said.
"Nearly everyone's been captured and enslaved," said Minnie.
"And the Bulldogs are ranked eighth in the north division!" said Goofy.
Donald, out of annoyance, knocked him on the back of his head.
"I know the situation right now appears to be at its grimmest, but you must all have faith that the good fairies and the princesses will return and save the kingdom, just as the prophecy has foretold," said Yen Sid.
Just then, Peter Pan, along with the Lost Boys burst in.
"Prophecy shmophecy! I say we should go and take down those uglies and take back our kingdom!" said Peter.
The Lost Boys riled up in agreement.
"No, Golett's forces are too powerful. The only chance we have is for the princesses to return with the scepters. Only with them do we have a chance," said Yen Sid.
"But that's been like...eleventy-thirty days or...something! Who knows when they'll be back!" said Lost Boy Cubby.
"Yeah, he's right!" said the twins.
More residents of the kingdom, overhearing the conversation, came to join in. Specifically, the Gummi Bears, Bonkers and Miranda, Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable, and the gargoyles.
Gummi Bear Cubby jumped onto Yen Sid's desk, flailing his wooden sword around. "I'm them, I say we charge in and show those goblins who's boss!" he said.
"Now, now, Cubby dear, it's not our fight," said Grammy.
"Wait, there are two Cubbys?" said Slightly.
"They look almost alike, said the twins.
"No we don't!" said Cubby and Cubby.
"Zummi, don't you have any magic spells that could make the goblins go away?" Sunny asked.
"Uh, sorry, Sunny, but no pagic motions-I mean magic potions I have could drive away these creatures," said Zummi.
"Yen Sid is right, it's best for all of us if we just stay put," said Gruffy.
"Eh...staying put's not really my thing," said Bonkers, putting an arm around Gruffy. "I prefer to be up and down and all around!"
Bonkers wildly ran around the tower room until he was stopped by Miranda. "This isn't the time, Bonkers, this is serious," she said.
"Yeah, like mega, ultra, serious!" exclaimed Ron. "It's Meg-ul-erious!"
"Meg-ul-erious?" asked Kim.
"Ooh, I like that," said Bonkers, giving Ron a high five.
Kim and Miranda just face palmed.
Ron's 'clever' wordplay aside, Yen Sid assured them that the princesses would come back, but for right now, they all had to stay safe with him in the tower. He admittedly had his doubts, but he concealed them, so none of them could see.
While the majority left Yen Sid's room, Mickey stayed behind, aware of his former master's weariness. "Are you sure they can do this?" he asked.
"Yes, but it is up to them to complete the quest," said Yen Sid as he looked out the window of his tower again.
Finally, after much trekking, Aurora and Akiko had made it to the foot of Savage Mountain. Like a massive giant, it towered over the princess and her friend; its wide frame nearly blocking out the sun. As they looked up at the jagged rocks that encompassed its face, a feeling of uncertainty shivered in their bodies, for they knew that if either one of them, for even one second, made one wrong move, it would not be merciful upon them. Although Akiko herself had never been to the mountain, her instinct told her not to take the situation likely. And the fact that what was waiting for them was a mysterious beast did not matters any better.
But here they were, the end of their journey. The only thing left for them to do now was to climb the mountain and take back the staff. But they knew that getting it away from the creature would not be easy. But after coming this far, Aurora knew she couldn't turn back now.
Taking a deep breath and gulping as much as she could down her throat, Aurora, along with Akiko, began their ascent up the mountain.
With every step she took, every inch she climbed further from the ground, Aurora's heart beat a little faster. She knew one wrong step could mean the end. Simple it was for Akiko, but not so much for a princess like herself. Nonetheless, she was determined to get to the top. But her ascent proved difficult as she froze in fear after her foot caused a small rock to fall down the face of the mountain.
"Are you alright?" asked Akiko.
"Yeah...I'm fine..." said Aurora.
She kept telling herself that she could do it as she continued climbing.
After about 20 minutes, the two found themselves at the edge of a cliff. Akiko was the first to make, then Aurora, after much struggling, made it herself, rejecting an offer of a hand from Akiko.
Upon a through investigation, Akiko realized that she and Aurora were partially halfway up the mountain. There was also a wide array of trees and bushes on both sides of were they were standing.
"I don't believe it. All that climbing and were not even close to the top," said Aurora in frustration.
"Well maybe we don't need to climb all the way to the top,' Akiko suggested. "If we're able to walk on solid ground like this, there's probably a cave somewhere around here. Maybe we can find it if we look."
Aurora nodded in agreement. Seeing that there were two different pathways, the two decided the best thing to do would be to split up. Aurora went to the left while Akiko went to the right.
During Aurora's search, she grew hungry from all the climbing, but discovered she had all but a little food left. Taking a seat near a shrub, she only took a small portion of food, placing the rest in front of the shrub. As she began eating, her thought went back to her friends, more specifically, Snow White. She practically forced herself to eat, thinking about how much worse Snow White was getting. This caused her to eat faster so she could get on her way.
Suddenly, Aurora noticed the box containing her food was suddenly moving on its own for some reason. Not wanting to lose the rest of her food, she quickly grabbed the box and tugged away. Something was grabbing the box and grabbing it hard. Eventually, Aurora managed to get the box back, breathing a sigh of relief as she sat back down to check if any of the food had been taken. Fortunately, nothing had been taken, but matters got strangers for Aurora as the same thing that had grabbed the box grabbed a hold of her hair, tugging her into the shrub. She pulled forward, struggling to keep her hair, but eventually was dragged into the shrub. However, she soon emerged from it as well as the head of a small mountain goat that was chewing on her hair. After a light smack on the head from Aurora, the goat released its grip.
"My hair is not made of straw, you know. Silly goat. Heheh, I wish Rapunzel was here, you'd have a great time with her," Aurora said with a giggle.
Just then, Akiko called out to the princess who informed her that she had found the entrance to a cave. With no time to spare, she and Akiko rushed over to the location.
"It was a little hard to find with all these bushes, but I found it," Akiko said, parting a wall of bushes, showing the cave entrance.
With a gulp, Aurora, along with her friend, went into the cave. As soon as they walked it was near impossible for either of them to see their hands in front of their faces. Luckily, Aurora had the idea to use a couple of rocks to light a fire on some stick. Akiko grabbed a couple of branches off of one of the bushes while Aurora took to tiny pebbles and scratched them together to try and light it. Seeing her struggle, Akiko offered her help, but Aurora refused, insisted that she could do it herself and eventually, she was able to light the stick.
The dozens upon dozens of stalactites that hovered over the heads of the two princesses did well to prepare them for the mysterious beast they would soon face, for they all felt like sharp teeth closing in on them. Not a sound was heard through the wide cave except the sound of both their beating hearts as they walked further inside, coming across a long, thin bridge that overlooked a small pond below.
After making it across, Akiko stopped Aurora, sniffing around the cave.
"What is it?" asked Aurora.
"I'm picking up a scent," Akiko answered, much to Aurora's confusion.
It was a technique unique to Akiko's people. They were able to pick up the scents of different animals within a certain radius. But this was a different scent from anything she had smelled before, for it wasn't just one animal, it was multiple ones, and they were all in the same place. It could've been the beast, but it was now possible that there could be more than one, so they had to be careful for they were getting close.
As they traveled deeper into the cave, the scent coming from what appeared to be multiple creatures all together was getting stronger as Akiko followed it. But then, the scent started moving around in different directions. Akiko could just barely keep up with it, but eventually, she tracked it to the right side of the cave.
"Are you sure it's this way? asked Aurora.
"Our people's sense of smell has never failed us before," said Akiko.
Aurora wasn't too sure. Getting Akiko's father's staff from one beast would be hard enough, but now there was the possibility of tangling with multiple beasts. But the young princess's worries were soon brought down only by the slightest margin. There was in fact one beast and there it stood before her and Akiko; it's mighty roar filling the walls of the cave.
Aurora had never seen Maleficent turn into a dragon, so suffice to say, the presence of this monster was the most terrifying thing she had ever seen.
The head, body, and mane of a lion, the horns of a wildebeest, and the spots of a jaguar; never before had Aurora seen a creature like this.
Akiko pulled out her spear as the creature slowly paced around her and Aurora, the both of them keeping their guard up.
"My, my, it's not often I have visitors, let alone two lovely ones," the creature hissed.
"We're here for my father's staff!" said Akiko.
"Yes, give it back...and we won't have to hurt you...," Aurora said nervously.
"Your father? Ah yes, the chief, the mighty hunter. You know quite honestly, I expected him to put up more of a challenge, but it was so easy to take the staff from him. Obviously, he feels he can't take his precious staff back by himself, so he sends his little daughter and a...*sniff*...fair maiden to get it from me," the creature said.
"Well actually, he sent me, she just came along," said Aurora.
"Either way, do you think it'll make any difference?" the creature asked as it continued circling around the two.
Akiko was rather curious as to how the creature could talk and why it looked the way it did.
The creature explained that years ago, the Wukawoobi tribe's witchdoctor created him by fusing different animals together with a potion. Akiko's father had order him to create the creature as a means of having a new challenge to hunt. But, her father was not able to best the creature and in his victory, he took the staff. As a result of his creation, the creature had been born with a sense of challenge himself, which was why he decided to let Akiko's father live after he took the staff, hoping that one day, he would come back for it.
"So, do you think either of you can succeed where your Sualili failed?" the creature asked.
"Listen, I really don't wanna harm you, but I have to get that staff back to help my friends, so please just hand it over and we don't have to fight," said Aurora.
"Haha! But what fun would that be? I mean after coming all this way, I think it would only be proper for you to earn it," said the creature.
"If that is what I have to do, then so be it," said Aurora.
A sly smirk came across the creature's face as he backed up from the two princesses who braced themselves.
"Let's begin, shall we?" the creature said before he charged forward.
Quickly, Aurora reached into her bag and threw some powder into the creature's face, temporarily blinding it. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Aurora told Akiko to keep the creature busy as she fled to the outside of the cave.
While Akiko dueled the beast with her spear, Aurora made it to the outside and ran towards the shrub, seeing a nearby boulder, she got an idea.
Meanwhile, Akiko did her best to repel the creature, fighting it back with her spear. But eventually, his strength proved to be too much as he was able to break the spear in half and tackle her to the ground.
As he was about to finish her off, the creature noticed a trail of the same powder that Aurora had used earlier leading outside the cave and upon realizing that the princess had left a trail behind, followed it outside to the shrub where he saw what looked like Aurora's head sticking out of it from her blond hair.
"Oh, princess, how sloppy," said the creature before he lunged at the shrub.
However, he soon discovered the blond hair in the shrub with a decoy combined with the boulder.
While the creature pondered this, Aurora, who snuck around the cave, reentered to meet up with Akiko.
"Are you alright?" Aurora asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine, but where's the creature?" Akiko asked.
"He'll be back, but I've got a plan," said Aurora.
The beast returned to his cave, figuring Aurora must've come back in, only to find both of them gone. However, made sure to keep his eyes open for he knew they could be sneaking around anywhere. But to his surprise, there she suddenly stood in front of her carrying a torch.
"Rather droll, wouldn't you say?" the creature said.
But Aurora ignored him, instead waving the torch around and backing away.
The creature sighed and decided to humor her and follow her through the narrow corridor anyway.
However, when her turned a corner, he found Aurora missing again. He looked around, but found no sign of her until she appeared again and threw the torch in his face. Disoriented, the creature was unable to see and walked right into a rope trip.
"Ha! I got you!" Aurora proclaimed.
"Not quite," the creature said before he used one of his claws to cut through the rope, releasing himself.
As the beast was about to after her, Aurora reached into her bag again and laid a bed of thorns on the ground, temporarily slowing him down while she fled.
As he pursued her, the creature admitted to admiring her spunk, but spunk would only get her so far. He stopped and looked around, but couldn't find her. Suddenly, he began to hear a slight rumbling; then he turned to see a pile of boulders rolling towards him. He tried to get away, but strangely could not. Then he looked at his feet to find himself stuck by sticky tar. Helpless, he could only brace himself as the rocks piled on him, nearly crushing him.
While she was conflicted seeing any kind of creature in a helpless position like this, Aurora breathed a sigh of relief for she knew she had the creature incapacitated. However, this was only temporary as he used all his strength to escape from the rubble and charged at her.
Luckily, Aurora used her quick thinking to grab a boulder and place it in the monster's mouth, running away while he was preoccupied.
Aurora knew the beast wouldn't be stopped for long, she had to think of something else and quick. Suddenly, she spotted giant hole in the ground and got another idea.
After spitting the boulder out of his mouth, the creature began to grow impatient. "OK, little princess. It's been fun, but now the fun is over," he said.
"I don't think so," said Aurora as she stood in front of the creature holding a white cloth.
The young princess stood her ground as the creature charged at her. Nervous as she was, she held her ground until the creature got oh so close to her. Finally, she pull back the cloth, sending him into a slippery slick, sliding him into the hole.
It was finally over. Aurora had captured him. Now all that was left to do was to get Akiko, find the staff, and go back to Sualili to save her friends. But as she turned to look for her, the creature jumped out of the hole and pounced her to the ground.
"I have to give you credit. You're pretty smart for a princess. But now it's time to end our little game," said the creature.
Aurora just laid there, helpless on the ground over the beast as he opened his mouth and his sharp teeth closed in on her. So this was it. After everything she had gone through, this was the end. She was out of options and out of plans. There was nothing else she could do. As the creature let out a growl, she trembled in fear, awaiting her fate.
As her life flashed before her eyes, she recalled many things; her childhood spent away from her parents, the time that felt like forever that she spent in the darkness of her sleep, but one thought in particular came to her mind; her last discussion with Snow White.
"Everyone needs help from time to time."
"We all have a part to play here."
And it was at that moment Aurora realized what she needed to do.
"Akiko! Help!" she shouted.
And with that, Akiko emerged from the shadows and jumped on top of the creature, enabling Aurora to escape from him. While Akiko kept the monster busy, Aurora reached into her bag and grabbed some rope and proceeded to tie the creature's legs together. Akiko then wrapped him up in a net and hung him by one of the stalactites.
Try as he might, the creature just could not break free. "I concede. You win," he finally said.
Both princesses gave a huge sigh of relief.
As part of their word, the creature told them of the staff's location at the far end of the cave.
At said location, Akiko and Aurora split up to find the staff.
"Aurora! I found it!" Akiko shouted.
Aurora rushed over to Akiko, who held the staff in her hand and was shocked when she got a good look at it. "That's...a crystal scepter!" she said.
Indeed it was, colored in pink crystal and all.
"You mean this is one of those scepter you told me about? Well I know it belongs to my father, but you worked so hard for it, maybe you should have it," said Akiko.
Aurora reached out for the scepter, but midway through, she stopped. "Thanks, Akiko, but I think we should go back and return this to your father first," she said.
Both princesses nodded in agreement and headed for the cave exit.
However, before that, Aurora noticed the creature still trapped. Taking a sharp rock out of her bag, she cut the net open and freed him.
"Aurora, what are you doing?!" Akiko exclaimed.
Aurora assured Akiko that she knew what she was doing.
"You released me? Why?" asked the creature.
"I can't stand to see any creature trapped, not even you. Besides, you kept your word, so I felt it would only be fair to repay you. By the way, do you have a name?" asked Aurora.
The creature had never really gone by any name. He never needed to. He only knew to hunt. Not even the witchdoctor thought to actually name him. But this was the first time he had ever been asked about it.
"I've never actually gone by any name, but I think I can be called...Kadeem," said the creature.
"Nice name," said Aurora.
Suddenly, the young princess realized that the three days were almost up. Even though they had gotten the scepter, there was no way they could get back in time.
Meanwhile Sualili and his men were prepared to cook the rest of the gang.
Sualili looked up at the night sky. Upon seeing the bright moon, it was clear that the princess' time was up. "Your friend has failed and now, it is time for you to suffer the consequences," he said.
The warriors lifted the gang up over the pot with Feemer along with them; sweat pouring from their faces from the hot fumes.
"I never thought my life would end this way; broiled as someone's dinner," said Feemer.
"Man! You're an immortal inside of a rock! What are you talkin' about?!" said Tiana.
But as they were being lowered, Sualili and his entire tribe stopped cold when Kadeem the beast stood before them with his daughter, Akiko, and Aurora riding on him; as well as the scepter.
"Aurora? Akiko?! What are you doing with this beast?! And you have brought back the staff as well?!" Sualili said with surprise.
"Yes, father, we both did it, together," said Akiko.
"You tamed the beast?! Both of you?!" said Sualili.
"Yes, and his name is Kadeem! Well, at least, that's what he calls himself now, because before he didn't have a name, but you know what I mean," said Akiko.
Aurora dismounted off of Kadeem and approached Sualili with the scepter. "I couldn't have done it without your daughter's help. The truth is when first left, I wanted to prove that I could do it by myself, on my own, and without anyone's help. And when Akiko offered it many times, I wouldn't take it. But this journey has taught me that sometimes, it's OK to ask for a little help now and again. It's true that you shouldn't always depend on other people to fight your battles for you, but making yourself an island is not the best solution either. So I am proud to say that thanks to your daughter, I was able to get your staff back," she said as she handed the scepter over to Sualili.
The tribe leader was shocked and surprised at Aurora's words. He had always thought the women in his tribe were always meant for healing duties and yet, here his daughter stood, riding on a beast that no one, not even him, had been able to capture. And not just her, but this other princess as well.
After he took it, the scepter began to glow. Sualili and the tribe, along with the other princesses, Feemer, and the good fairies, looked on in shock as the scepter floated back towards Aurora and into her hands.
"The scepter has chosen her!" said Flora.
"Indeed, it has," said Sualili.
"Well done, Aurora!" said Fauna.
"This means that it finds you worthy of it. It obviously has been waiting for someone like you for a long time and now it's wait is over," said Sualili.
Seeing all this, the tribe leader declared that Aurora's friends were free to go. And most importantly to him, he had realized just what kind of daughter he had. There was more to her than he thought or even cared to think.
Aurora walked up to her now freed fellow princesses who gathered around her with glee.
"Way to go, girl!" said Tiana.
"You did it!" said Jasmine.
"You're really one tough lass," said Merida as she punched Aurora on the shoulder.
"Without a doubt," said Cinderella.
Aurora smiled at the appreciation given to her.
The next day, the gang had gathered near the ship with Sualili, Akiko, Kadeem, and the tribe to see them off, including a newly healed Snow White. This was thanks to a healing remedy provided by Akiko which they supplied a large amount to the gang to take with them on their journey.
Because of her efforts, Akiko was made the leader of the female members of the tribe and was in charge of training them to be warriors.
As for Kadeem, Akiko decided to take him in as a pet and fellow guardian of the tribe.
Also, Aurora packed some traps supplies so she and the gang be prepared for anything else they would most likely encounter.
"My tribe and I would like to apologize for the way we treated you and we wish you luck on your quest. And thank you, Aurora, for making me see a new side of my daughter," said Sualili.
With the stuff packed on the ship, the gang headed on board.
Before Aurora headed on, she was tapped on the shoulder by Akiko.
"Stay strong, princess," said Aurora.
"If I can handle a vicious monster like Kadeem-no offense-I think I can handle anything," said Aurora.
The two friends shared a hug before Aurora went onboard the ship.
The tribe waved goodbye as the ship departed off the island.
Aurora looked out to the ocean, holding the scepter in her hand and contemplating her recent journey. When she came to Zulu, she wasn't really sure of herself, but through her journey, she discovered a side of herself, she never even thought existed. And as a result, she was more sure of herself as a princess.
Snow White joined her, gleeful smile and all. "Thank you, Aurora," she said.
"I'm just glad I was able to help you, though honestly, I really didn't think I could at first. I blamed myself so much for what happened to you and I felt like such a waste. But I know now that isn't true," said Aurora.
"I always knew you could do it. I never lost faith in you," said Snow White.
"I thought I could do it by myself; I wanted to prove mostly to myself that I could do it, but then I remembered what you said to me. And now I know that having help doesn't make you helpless. I'm the one who should thank you," Aurora said before she hugged Snow White.
With her renewed confidence, Aurora was as determined as ever to get back to the Magic Kingdom and save her beloved Phillip as well as the other princes and the rest of the inhabitants of the kingdom.