Life changes at an alarming rate. Most people brush it off and act like nothing has happened. It's always been interesting to see how most of us are afraid of change and the unknown, yet every day is different than the last. I remember my days in college, back when I blew most things off. They didn't matter at the time. "I'll get to it later." When later would come, I would quietly wonder to myself where 'now' had gone. I used to always explore the idea of alternate world to go to. In fact, I had never cared whether or not the world was better than my own—I only wanted to see something different than what was already here. Anyone that I told my idea to always brought up the fact that I would miss my friends. But, the truth is, I wouldn't miss anything about this world. As I got older, my imaginative mind shut down. I had too much work to tend to: taxes, bills, mortgage, etc. Everything I had ever found interesting slowly slipped away from my mind.

I took a deep breath as I placed my hands behind my head. The grass felt incredibly relaxing underneath my back. Astra and Blair were off doing their own thing. We did this every so often, stopping to relax. We seem to travel non-stop. It's been more than enough of a challenge to locate this "wise being". But, no matter how much energy we expend in search of the being, we come no closer to finding him. It's as though all of this was useless.

I've been getting to know Astra better. She's a lot like me. Her voice is relatively soft, and she is never overly aggressive about anything. In general she is much more laid back than Blair. I don't think I've ever got into anything past a minor dispute. We talk to each other often—about most things, too. Some days we will talk about the environment around us. But, most of the time, we talk about the stars. That really seemed to make her happy. It only makes sense—her kind are the only ones to express interest in the night sky, and she was exiled from them, so she hasn't been able to talk to anyone like she had before.

One day, however, we got some kind of help. We were talking to the locals (as we always do), when someone had a light idea of what we were talking about. He was a Ninetales, and he had heard of an incredibly smart being in his travels. Most of the Pokemon around him had no clue what he was talking about. He pointed us in it's general direction (apparently north). He told us to that he was over a large obstacle—a mountain range. I squinted my eyes and peered into the distance, and sure enough, there was a rocky formation. We gathered up all of our stuff and began moving towards our destination.

"So, how have you girls been?" I asked Blair and Astra.

"I've been pretty good." Astra replied.

Blair said, "Same as always, just getting bored of walking towards this freaking mountain."

"I don't blame you."

Astra chimed in, "Don't worry! All of this traveling is finally going to pay off!"

At the thought, I drew a blank. I'm not exactly sure how I feel about the traveling being over. What will happen when I do talk to him? Will I go home? God, I hope not. That would be quite the disappointment. The mere thought depresses me. I pushed the thought to the back of my mind and moved onward towards the mountains, not sure what lies on the other side.

Soon enough, we were at its base. The bright green of the plants had turned to a more dull gray. The overall air temperature had lowered quite a bit—at least twenty degrees colder; it only got colder as we approached the mountain. I looked back to the sun. It was almost setting, so we started a fire and huddled around it. The air temperature was dropping rapidly.

"Well, at least we have a nice fire. Plus, the temperature should help keep our fruits preserved." I told the others.

"You're probably right, but still, I don't necessarily like this weather." Astra responded.

Blair spoke to us sleepily, "Neither do I."

I looked up at the sky wearily. It was a vast sea of dark clouds. "I agree, if this overcast doesn't pass, there will be a lot of trouble trying to get over this mountain."

"What makes you say that?" Astra looked at me curiously.

I responded statistically, "Well, if it goes on into the day tomorrow, the temperature will not rise at all. Plus, it will get colder as we proceed up the mountain. Also, the higher parts of the mountain..." I pointed to the area I was referring to, "... will be completely covered in snow. More like a blizzard, due to the intense winds at those heights."

"Oh, I see."

"So, we all better get enough sleep to be able to head over the mountain tomorrow. Goodnight girls."

"Good night, Drew."

Blair grunted in response, as she was already half-asleep. Before I lied in bed, I took one more look at the mountain. It was large, intimidating, and seemingly impassible. Tomorrow would be a long day.

EDT: As always, leave reviews! That will be all. Thank you.