Alex sighed to himself, but he felt his grip on the Disney Blade beginning to weaken. Suddenly his hand gave out! But as he was about to fall, someone grabbed his wrist. It was Jack! Tied to his feet was a rope, holding the rope was Stitch! Jack and Stitch pulled Alex up as he grabbed the Disney Blade out from the side of the mountain. As Jack pulled him back up, Ariel ran over and hugged him. "I'M SO GLAD YOUR OKAY!" Alex sighed again. "Something wrong Alex?" Stitch asked. "I feel kinda responsible for Shan-Yu's death; he didn't let me help him…" Alex groaned. "It's not your fault, it was his decision" Jack said. "C'mon, the army and Mulan left already, let's follow them." Alex nodded; the team went to follow the army.
Chapter 26: The Great Forest
The army led them out of the mountain, and thru the countryside. Heading for the Imperial city, Alex was just thinking to himself. "Alex?" Jack asked. "OH! Um, yeah?" Alex said snapping out of his thoughts. "Last night at the lake, what were thinking about? Truly?" Jack asked. "Honestly, I was thinking about my home" Alex said. "And the life I did not have." "Oh yeah! Didn't you once say you had no parents?" Jack asked. Ariel punched Jack in the arm. "JACK! Show some respect!" Ariel snapped. "It's okay Ariel" Alex said. "So, what happened mate?" Jack asked. Alex sighed. "My mother died of an illness. But after her funeral, my dad just disappeared." Ariel hugged him. "Well, we're here for you Alex." "I lost my mother a long time ago mate." Jack said. "I know the feeling." Alex grinned. "Thanks guys…" Alex smiled. Alex suddenly noticed they were at an archway, past it was a huge lush forest. They saw Captain Shang approach them. "Ping had told me you were trying to find this place" Shang said. "We figured we could thank you by escorting you guys here." Alex smiled. 'Thanks" Alex said.
They all thanked them and headed for the forest. But not before Mulan came up to them. "Guys wait!" she yelled. Alex and his friends stopped and turned to Mulan. "I wanted to wish you guys luck!" Mulan smiled. "Thanks Mulan, I'll miss having another girl around to keep these two in order." Ariel said while Jack and Alex glared. "And what's THAT supposed to mean?" Jack and Alex asked in unison. Mulan laughed and hugged Alex. "I'll miss you two idiots! But if you start peeping on Ariel again, I'm coming after you!" "Lucky kid…" Jack thought. Alex pulled away from Mulan. "Thanks, OH! And it looks like your army left without you!" Alex said pointing behind Mulan.
The army had indeed left her. Mulan ran after them while waving. "OH! And keep an eye out for the guardian of the forest!" Mulan yelled to our heroes. Alex and his friends waved goodbye, before heading into the Great Forest. "Here we are guys! The Great Forest!" Alex said. "After this is Bald Mountain and King Mickey!" Ariel thought for a second. "Hey Alex, what are you planning to do after this quest?" Ariel asked. Alex stopped for a second. "Hmmm, I never thought of that…" Alex said. "I'm not sure I really WANT to go home, after meeting you guys…." "Think about it when it comes up, savvy?" Jack asked. Alex nodded. "Yeah, I'll worry about it when it comes up." With that, the team continued on their way. The trees were absolutely beautiful.
After an hour of walking, the team began to get a bit hungry. "Boy, this is taking awhile…." Alex said rubbing his stomach. "It could be another 2 hours before we find this Bald Mountain." Jack said. Stitch groaned and his ears drooped. He looked up and saw an apple tree. "OH! KANTAKA! KANTAKA!" Stitch yelled pointing to the Apple tree. Alex looked up and saw the Apple tree. "FOOD!" Alex shouted. "But its way to high up! Even if we stack up again!" Ariel groaned until she looked at Stitch. "Stitch, can you climb up there and get us some apples?" Ariel asked. Stitch nodded and began to climb up, but halfway up he lost his grip and fell into Ariel hands. Stitch tried again but he couldn't even grab onto it. "I can't grip it!" Stitch said. Alex went over and felt the tree. "Odd, the bark is smooth, even for a tree…" Alex said. Suddenly Alex felt someone grab him. Before he could turn he felt himself being lifted high into the air, up to the Apples. Alex didn't bother to look at who lifted him, he just picked the apples. And the person let him back down onto the ground.
Alex just stared straight ahead until he turned to see who lifted him. He came face to face with the grinning face of a woman, but she was all green, he flowing green hair flowed out for 10 feet. Each strand of her hair was lined with flowers and other plant life. "Um? Jack?" Alex asked as the women stared at him. "You guess is as good as mine mate…" The green women leaned in really close to Alex's face, staring into his eyes. The women then flew into the air and circled above them. "Who is this?" Alex asked. "I guess this is the Guardian of the Forest Mulan mentioned" Ariel replied. "Then why was she staring at me?" Alex asked. "Maybe she likes you" Jack smirked. Alex glared while Ariel couldn't help but laugh. "The Forest Sprite" Alex suddenly said out of the blue. All eyes fell on him. "You know her?" Ariel asked. "No, the name just came to me…" Alex said scratching his head. The Forest Sprite then flew back down to Alex and wrapped her arms around his waist and took to the sky.
The view was spectacular. "This is amazing!" Alex said in awe. The Forest Sprite let out a small giggle. Alex thought for a moment. "Forest Sprite, did you happen to know someone by the name of Xela?" Alex asked. The Forest Sprite blushed before nodding. "The Disney Blade must hold all of Xela's memories; I guess that explains why I know her name" Alex thought to himself. "Then would you know where Bald Mountain is?" Alex asked. The Forest Sprite shuttered and pointed at a massive mountain in the distance, larger than the one they were at before. "There it is, but we need to go back and get my friends!" Alex said. The Sprite nodded and turned around and headed back to his team. When they returned, the Forest Sprite let go of him. "Guys! I saw Bald Mountain! It's straight ahead!" Alex said, "Then let's go!" Stitch said eating his apple.
They all nodded and headed in the general direction with the Forest Sprite following them. Suddenly they came to a clearing. They saw what looked like a huge hill; Alex could make out a figure standing up top. "MALEFICENT!" Alex cried running toward the hill with his sword in hand. Jack and his friends followed him. But the Forest Sprite was reluctant to follow them.
They saw that the hill had a huge crater in the middle, they slid on down into the carter, only to see a statue of a giant bird made out of hardened lava. "What the heck is that?" Alex asked. "Your demise" A voice said. They all turned to see Maleficent. "MALEFICENT! It's time to pay for your evil crimes!" Alex yelled as he charged at her. But was blasted backwards by a gust of wind. "Actually it's time to put an end to your annoyance!" Maleficent said as she held her staff in the air. The forest Sprite cowered behind Alex. "Lord of air and flame! Death by thy name!" Maleficent chanted. Suddenly it began to get hotter. "Is it me, or is it getting hotter?" Jack asked. "Fiery demon unleash thy wrath! Destroy all good within thy path!" Maleficent continued. A rumble was heard. "Guy's I got a bad feeling about this…" Alex said. Stitch began to point at the Statue; it was moving, and two red eyes appeared on it. "Come forth and unleash thy might! Firebird take flight!" Maleficent finished as she disappeared. A loud screeching noise was heard and the Statue shattered, revealing a giant flaming bird, It's skin was molten lava, it's wings pure fire and it's eyes, was the incarnate of evil itself. The Forest Sprite fled the area, but left Alex and his friends behind! And for a brief second, Alex's heart stopped, in both Awe, and fear.