(Char): Since when did we get up to seven chapters already?

Since I wrote seven chapters and posted them all...

(Dew): ...he's got a point.

(Char): Quiet, you. I have a brick.

(Dew): (cowers)

I'm scared of that brick.

(Dew): Y'remember the good old days when we used to beat on you, instead?

...I didn't like those days.

(Dew): Diamond Berg I did.

Ackpth! That's cold!

(Dew): Hehehe... yeah.

(Char): I'm satisfied.

(Dew): Me, too. The reviews, then?

(sneezes)

Review Responses:

Caster of Chaos: Somehow, yes it did. And trust me, you'll like them more after this chapter. Mwaha.

Akachi: This counts as soon, yes? Three months ago? Wonderful.

Taiga: That name made me laugh. It was well chosen.

Midnight C: You'd have thought he'd have died from crashing into the sea, wouldn't you? And don't give me ideas, it's all too easy to make the island capsize or something...

Jupiter Sprite: Ack! It's the March of the OBHL Brigade! And leave the tundra wolves out of this!

-

"Picard!" Mia cried out, watching him plummet over the edge. She threw herself to the edge and reached out with her Clothos Distaff, trying to reach him so he could grab on. Picard was falling too fast, though, and he flailed, uselessly grabbing toward the staff unsuccessfully as he tumbled ever-downward. Jenna snapped her fingers, an idea reflected in her eyes.

"Grab something!" Jenna yelled, and Picard twisted himself just within arm's reach of the island, just close enough to grab one of the water-deprived roots to save himself. Picard dangled on the underside of the island, nearly out of sight of the others (they could just barely see his swinging body), but still able to hear them quite well.

"Uhh... help!" they heard his voice carried up to them. Mia stood up and brushed herself off.

"What are we going to do?" she asked quickly, trying to keep the group calm, but her own voice was starting to betray her, shaky and fearful.

"We might need a better suggestion than 'Grab something,'" Garet pointed out. Undeterred, Jenna hit him.

"We need a way to pull him up," Felix thought out loud. "Did we bring rope, or something like rope?" Garet shook his head.

"It never seemed really necessary. Lash was always good enough," Garet commented, shaking his head. "How about using the Catch Beads?"

"I think Ivan has those..." Jenna mumbled.

"...bloody useless," Felix muttered.

"What if we-" Jenna started, but stopped herself when she felt movement from her hair. Cliff, though still small enough to fit into her palm, was as courageous as his owner. He leapt off his comfortable perch and (now much more familiar with the air) flew over to the edge and dived along the side. He clamped onto Picard's headscarf with his teeth and started struggling to fly upward. The motion did little more than flap the headscarf a little.

"It's so cute..." Mia said, becoming totally distracted from the peril at hand. Jenna was almost squealing with delight over the whole situation. She hopped from one foot to the other.

"It's adorable," she managed to say, before Picard started yelling at them.

"Do you want more than my headscarf back, or not!" he burst, very un-Picardlike. "Help!"

"All right, all right!" Felix cried. "Hold on, I've got an idea!"

"Hold on!" Picard cried up sarcastically, howling over the wind. "Thanks!"

"Garet!" Felix called urgently. "Call up Forge... quickly! That should give Picard enough strength to climb the roots the rest of the way up!" Garet nodded his understanding, and stood as close to the edge as he dared.

"Unleash Forge!" he cried swinging his arm out to direct the Mars Djinni toward Picard. A crimson aura covered him from head to toe, and his physical strength started increasing. Slowly, but surely, Picard started grasping vine after vine, hauling himself up the side of the island. There were a few scary points where the others didn't think he had any more roots to grab, or was about to fall, but thankfully he was able to get himself about with some incredible feats of strength. Finally, he managed to barely heave himself over the edge. Panting heavily, he collapsed on the ground, with Cliff, wracked with exhaustion, curled up on his chest. Jenna scooped up the baby gently in one hand, and smacked Picard full force with the other.

"How dare you make us worry like that?" she exclaimed furiously. Felix chuckled.

"That means she was exceptionally concerned," he smirked. Picard chortled and rose slowly, letting his body readjust to moving without the additional Djinni bonuses. Mia extended a hand to help him to his feet, and he rose sorely. Garet took a breath as he felt Forge re-set to him, and then moved over to look at the shrine itself.

The building was cylindrical, and Garet noted that it was shorter than the Elemental Lighthouses of Weyard. The front was shiny and attractive, red and yellow stones blending perfectly to give off a beautiful shade, not quite orange but yet the deepest orange he'd ever seen (if that didn't make sense, bear in mind that neither does Garet, half of the time). The door was sealed with a Psynergy Barrier, red and yellow in colour, mixed beautifully.

"It's red," Garet announced. "So... Mars?" Felix nodded silently.

"Looks like Venus, too," he figured. "So, it's the heat of Mars and the aridness of Venus."

"The Shrine to Dryness," Mia explained. "A Mars Adept and a Venus Adept have to open the way." Jenna stepped forward, handing Cliff off to Mia.

"Shall we?" she asked of Felix, standing beside him and gathering her Psynergy. Felix nodded.

"Let's. Hit the door, but try not to overkill it."

Garet backed off as the two gathered their energies, rings of Psynergy, red for Jenna and yellow for Felix, visible around their hands. Finally, they cast their spells simultaneously.

"Ragnarok!"

"Pyroclasm!"

The magical sword of light swung through the fiery blaze, scattering the embers but superheating the phantasmal blade, forcing it to glow scarlet with heat. The burning sword pierced the barrier, and, after a few moments of straining, caused it to crack and shatter, the pieces fading out of sight. The door was open.

"Well, then," Mia said, passing the pegasus back to Jenna as she passed her, "we've a beacon to light. Onward?"

-

"Thank you for everything," Feizhi said politely, a curt bow to their temporary companions before she turned toward the door. The winds had died down and it was morning, so the mountains were significantly warmer, and certainly warm enough that they could travel much more safely. Ivan took a firm grip on his Clothos Distaff and led Sheba and Feizhi outside, with a thankful and courteous wave to Corianna and Marc.

Ivan's first thought, upon getting outside once the door clicked shut behind them, was that the temperature was significantly higher. It wasn't frigid cold anymore; in fact, there was only a slight chill in the air, but other than a cool breeze, it was downright pleasant. Even Sheba, though born in a desert she was, felt quite comfortable.

"You know," Sheba mentioned off-handedly, "even though I was born in a desert, I feel quite comfortable now."

"Yeah, that'll happen when it's not colder than a Lunpean's heart out here," Ivan joked. Sheba stifled a laugh.

The trail was still snow-covered, but the winds weren't blowing, so there were no snowdrifts, and it was bright out, so they could see where they were going perfectly. It wasn't long before Feizhi noticed that there were a couple of caves that led deeper into the mountain.

"I wonder where they lead?" she wondered. Ivan stood at the entrance and peered into the depths.

"Hello-o-o-o!" he cried into it, the echo bouncing back at them every few seconds. Sheba moved quickly to cover his mouth before he said anything.

"Be quiet!" she snapped. "The last thing we need is an avalanche to start, forcing us into the caverns and pinning us there!"

Prophetic or not, they heard a low rumbling soon after she spoke. Thankfully, nothing else came of it, and Feizhi breathed deeply.

"False alarm," she sighed. "Should we explore? It seems that there's always something in a cave worth gathering."

"That's true," Ivan agreed. "But we might want to walk on and catch up to Mia and the others. If they passed through here, they might have gone on."

"Or they might have explored this cave," Sheba pointed out. Ivan frowned and crossed his arms.

"The question should be," Feizhi said slowly, "what do we have to lose by exploring it?"

"What do we have to gain?" Ivan countered. "Incidentally, Feizhi, if you wanted an answer, time." Sheba sighed. Ivan shook his head. "I just don't think it's a really good idea right now." He took a step outward from the cave, but suddenly heard a faint noise echoing across the mountains and stopped.

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

Rumble.

The rumble he was unsure of, but the crunch was definitely footsteps in snow. He scanned his eyes around the paths he could see, and his heart sank into his throat and very nearly kept him from breathing. In the distance, a few hills away but closing fast, was a unit of Keunam Fighters, coming in fast. Ivan turned on his heel, and ran toward the opening, ushering in Sheba and Feizhi as gentlemanly but as urgently as possible.

"This idea is sounding better with every passing second..." he muttered. "Move!"

"What?" Sheba asked.

"Fighters," he replied ominously.

"...oh."

Rumble.

-

The three of them progressed deeper and deeper into the cave, all the while the tunnel growing darker and darker, but their vision adjusting so it was just in balance, and they could just barely see.

"I can't believe it," Ivan muttered. "A situation where Garet would be useful."

"Stop complaining and go deeper," Sheba muttered, feeling her way along the wall to get deeper without needing her eyes too much. The cave suddenly shook with another loud rumble.

"That's starting to worry me... what is it?" Feizhi asked.

"Probably not too much, right?" Ivan said wishfully. Another rumble. Sheba trembled slightly, probably from the shaking that accompanied the rumble.

"This is getting less and less good," Sheba muttered. "I am not liking this at all." Feizhi nodded, but no one could really see her. Ivan cocked an eyebrow.

"Less and less 'good?' Is that engli-ow," he exclaimed, as she nudged him perhaps a little harder than necessary in the ribs. "At any rate, I'd be happy if I could see a little more- oomph!" he grunted. Sheba and Feizhi heard a thud, like something being hit by something else, and then a collision as though something hit the wall.

"Ivan?" Sheba called out cautiously.

"I'm here!" Ivan groaned, getting up slowly, leaning against the wall for support. "Be careful... there's something here!"

"Something like what?" Feizhi asked nervously.

"You know those rumbles?" Ivan asked.

"Yeah."

"I don't think they're rumbles."

"Then what are they?"

"Really, really big growls."

"...uh-oh."

-

Next chapter is battle time! And it'll be nice and long, too, I know this was annoying short filler, but you've gotta get though that to get to the fun stuff, right?

(Dew): About time! Killing stuff!

(Char): What about the shrine?

Who said we can't do both scenes?

(Dew): And give you a chance to mini-cliff as you jump between groups?

Yeah. Isn't life awesome?

And it's even more awesome as you review! So why not?

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