Chat Noir and Ladybug had experienced quite the eventful time in New York, not so long ago. They had been joined by other heroes, and had experienced the fast paced draw of the American city. Marinette had been fascinated by the fashion world, and couldn't help being excited to see the Statue of Liberty, which had originally been a gift from France.
Adrien, had been to New York multiple times, with his father's company for modeling and fashion shows. Although most of his time had been scheduled with back to back obligations. As Chat Noir he had the chance to experience more of the city in one trip than he had on dozens as Adrien.
Both of them hoped that maybe the American Miraculous Trials would return them to New York…and when they pictured the United States, they pictured the tall skyscrapers, yellow taxies, bustling subways, time square, and Central Park.
When they stepped through Kalaki's portal, they were sure they had ended up in the wrong place. This was certainly not New York.
They were left standing in a narrow slot canyon with curvaceous corners and angles, which intertwined like a complex dance. It went up to splintered openings that filtered in dusty sunlight. Thin lines ran parallel through the settlement within the grain of the rock. The lines created an optical illusion before them, making it feel as if the walls had been frozen in the midst of moment.
"You must find and follow the Colorado River to reach the base of the Grand Canyon of Arizona," Ember instructed. Once you find the River I will join you again, but for now I must remain within my miraculous. Good luck," Ember instructed dissolving into the quill with a spark.
Through an opening they spotted a tan coyote, with inquisitive eyes watching them. It had clearly seen, and was interested in the disappearance of the fiery Phoenix.
"We've come…" Ladybug started to say, but at the sound of her voice, the coyote turned tail, and trotted off.
"Real coyote or kwami?" Ladybug asked Chat Noir.
"Either way, follow him," Chat Noir answered, "he is bound to know the way out of here."
They pursued the coyote, but the dessert landscape did not allow for any footprints. As soon as they were imprinted in the sand, the wind whisked them away. Like waves in the sand, the sand crested into rows of soft ridges. It was interrupted only by rocks or dry clumps of grass. They came to a circular opening, that led out among a natural rocky fortress. Echoing within the walls was the sound of someone playing an acoustic guitar. The sound interlaced together, and wound itself through the halls. It reminded Ladybug of Spanish guitar she had heard Luca showing her a few times during Kitty Section practices. It was somehow strangely fitting for the surroundings.
They rounded the corner, and found the source of the music. A Navajo guide, with raven hair and a neatly trimmed mustache leaned up against his truck with a tarp pulled over top of it. He casually strummed his guitar, playing out his strong, but almost lamenting song. He looked up startled to see them, and paused midway through a note. "Ahh, you're not supposed to be in canyon X without a guide," he said. "How'd you get in anyway? I've been waiting for the next tours all morning!"
"Sorry, we didn't know! This is going to sound strange, but we kiddna came using magic," Ladybug apologized, trying to find a believable way to explain. "Actually, we could use your guidance, if you can!" she added.
"Magic hmm?" he asked looking them up and down. Then his eyes widened. "You are the Ladybug and the Cat's children!"
"Well, not really children," mumbled Chat Noir.
"I can't believe this!" the man threw his guitar over his shoulder, adjusting the strap. "We don't normally show tourists this part of the canyon, but I think you need to see this!" He took off, and they could think of nothing but to follow him through the twists and turns ahead. He shimmied under a rocky cravas, careful not to scratch his guitar, under the low-hanging rock. "I first saw this as a child with my shicheii," he told them. Upon seeing their faces still confused, he clarified, "my grandfather. He always used to tell me stories of the 'first ones 'and our tribe's legends…well at least I always thought they were just stories."
He pointed to the stone face above them. In the thin sliver of light petro glyphs became visible in the sunlight. Chat Noir and Ladybug looked back at each other. They absolutely recognized the creatures depicted. It was Tiki and Plagg. Beneath them were two humanistic figures…perhaps the first weilders?! There were other markings they could not interpret, but there was a larger scene involving a Eagle with its wings spread wide over two wavy lines (maybe some form of water), and underneath was a dog-like creature…or maybe…a coyote!
The face of just such a 'coyote' peaked in at them, staring them down from under the space between the rock and ground, they had just slipped through. It had them trapped.
"To Neinilii, we don't want trouble Altse hashke!" the Navajo man spoke boldly to the coyote, almost scolding it.
If at all possible the coyote seemed to roll his eyes at the man, and shake his fury head. His yellow eyes flickered between Ladybug's and Chat Noir's. Then it slunk back, and trotted southwest.
Chat Noir and Ladybug scrambled out in pursuit of the coyote once more. It was clear he meant for them to follow him. The Navajo man grabbed Chat Noir's arm, and warned, "You're not following him are you!"
Chat Noir and Ladybug looked from each other to the guide, "Well it might be him we are meant to find," Ladybug explained.
The man vehemently shook his head. "The trickster, Altse hashke, can't be trusted! The coyote has always been an omen that misfortune rests in your future. You should turn back now, before it is too late!"
"Where we come from people often say that about black cats too," Chat Noir said confidently. "Double trouble cancels it out! We've got Ladyluck here to turn fate in our favor," he smiled back at Ladybug.
"But do you think he is what we think he is? " Ladybug tried to ask, without giving too much away.
"You saw that cave drawing. If we follow him, Ember will confirm if he is one of the ones we were sent to find."
They got out of the cave, and looked out across the edges of the Painted Desert. In the atmospheric heat haze, that slightly blurred his form, the coyote continued to trail further and further at a surprising pace. We'll have to make up some ground to catch him now." Ladybug noted.
"I believe that everything happens for a reason," the guide regarded them. "Perhaps your mission is ill-fated, blindly trailing the Shiriki coyote…but maybe it was fate that I should meet you." He pulled up the side of the tarp on his truck, and wheeled out a dirt bike. "Even if I can't come along with you, maybe I can help you out," he pushed two helmets into Chat Noir's hands. Take my bike. If you can't make it back here by nightfall, park it at the dessert entrance of the Grand Canyon parking lot. I'm going to be headed that way later this afternoon anyway."
"But we're total strangers," Ladybug said perplexed by his generosity, "you don't even think we should be doing this, and yet you loan us your own bike?"
"You are not strangers, at least not entirely. A piece of you was once part of this land. My grandfather once said that the Ladybug and Black Cat spirit had different names, but my family called the spirits 'Dakota'; friend."
Everyone calls me Teau, but I was named after my grandfather, whose name was Askuwheteau; The name of a watcher or gatekeeper. Even though it is a small thing, I think it would have pleased him."
"It is no small gesture Teau, thank you for your help!" Chat shook his hand, and put on one of the helmets, passing the other to Ladybug.
"I hope you find what you are looking for," he said. Then he tossed them the keys, which Ladybug intercepted. He took his guitar from over his shoulder once more, walking back to the waved canyons. From behind them they heard the faint diminishing notes of his guitar. The few words they could hear were a ballad of 'Dakota' bending the waters through the land."
Ladybug put on her helmet, and jumped to the front of the bike. "I'll drive Kitty!" She said.
"You've driven a dirt bike before?" Chat Noir questioned.
"Please!" She responded turning the key and revving the engine, "practically as soon as I could walk my grandma was having me drive her motor bike with her."
Well you get my engine going," Chat Noir quipped.
"Aahh, Chat, even with your visor down I can still tell you've smirking. Get on already before I leave you in a cloud of desert dust!"
Chat Noir tucked his tail into the loop of his belt and sat up behind her, holding onto her waist.
"Don't you go getting ideas either," Ladybug warned.
"Whatever do you mean Bugaboo," he fanned shock.
"Without engaging him further, she throttled forward, and they sped ahead in the direction they had last seen the coyote headed.
Like a mirage the coyote always seemed one step ahead of them, but they never quite lost him. Just outside Page at Horseshoe canyon. The canyon had sheer cliffs that dove down in a 'U' shape (just like the name….a horseshoe), down to the gushing Colorado River.
"Well, horseshoes are supposed to be lucky right?" Chat Noir looked to Ladybug for confirmation.
"Let's hope this one is," she replied.
"Over there," called Chat Noir pointing downstream at the end of the canyon. "There he is! How did that blasted coyote get down there?!"
"Ember Light," Ladybug spoke, and Ember joined them in a flourish of flame. "What should we do now? Each time we nearly catch up to the coyote, he is somehow able to be even further ahead of us!"
"Keep following the river, and park the bike downstream. Then we can backtrack to find him," Ember advised, perching on Chat Noir's shoulder, as they jumped back on the dirt bike, and sped forward.
It took a couple of hours in the dry desert heat of the morning to reach the edge of the Grand Canyon park. They parked the dirt bike as promised for Teau, and leaned over the ridge to try to find a way down.
"No way!" Ladybug sucked in her breath abruptly. "Look over there by the river! You're not going to believe who is waiting for us!"
Sure enough far far below, so small in the distance by the river of the expansive Grand Canyon wonder was the coyote. "How did you 'spot' him Bugaboo?!" Chat Noir squinted in the direction she had pointed. "He blends in with the rock, and it must be miles and miles down there!" Even at such a distance they could tell the coyote was staring right at them…it was almost as if he wanted to be found.
"Well at least we won't have to back track too far," Ladybug said evaluating the drop, "but how do we get down there?"
"A ways down I see a possible trail," Chat pointed a bit to the left. "It is a bit of a stretch, but if you can repel us toward it, I should be able to use my baton to get us the rest of the way down."
"Sounds like an inventive idea!" Ladybug agreed, and found a solid rock to latch her yoyo to, and Chat Noir came along side her, grabbing onto her waist, and the yoyo string himself. Working as one, they stretched out their legs, leaning backwards over the towering sheer cliff face. Pushing off, they were able to kick off from the side of the rock, and descend fairly quickly. Just as they were left hanging at the end of Ladybug's yoyo string, Ladybug grabbed tightly onto Chat Noir, and he helicoptered them down to the path. It was by no means the most graceful of landings, but they made it without smashing themselves into the rough terrain. At least they were on a path now.
They followed the trail down switchbacks, and steep ledges. Ember guided them around some of the twists and turns, and cautioned them about the loose rock in certain areas. They could hear the roar of the river getting louder and louder as they drew steadily closer. It took hours, and they were both exhausted and overheated by the time they reached the base. They thankfully splashed their faces in the spray of the rushing water, not realizing their quarry had come up behind them.
"You sought me, yet I find you!" The coyote finally spoke watching them with calculating eyes.
They turned around hastily, and stood up before him. "We have come to complete the miraculous trial," Ladybug said intrepidly, straightening her shoulders.
"But of course," the coyote nodded, "you are on the path of the Creativity Miraculous trials, and my test happens to be innovation."
"You mean ours," a voice from above clarified in a commanding voice. A female bald eagle circled them, before landing beside the coyote, with a bit of a glare.
"You finally made it," the coyote smiled at its partner.
"After these past millennia, you think I don't know you," the eagle berated him. "Seriously, trying to throw me off, so you could evaluate them yourself?!"
"You're so suspicious. I was just making sure they didn't get lost. You're here aren't you?!" The coyote said casually, scratch his sandy fur with his hind leg.
"Greetings once again Phoenix," the eagle greeted the kwami of wisdom formally. "It has been too long." Then the eagle finally ignored the coyote to focus on the weilders. "So coyote has told you of your trial then?"
"Well, only that it involves an element of creativity…innovation," Chat Noir responded.
"I'm sure over the years you have already come to realize that not only the weilder of creation (the eagle nodded toward Ladybug) needs to be creative in the heat of battle or in making quick decisions. Sometimes things do not go according to plan, or your original strategies fail…you have to be innovative to think of new solutions," the eagle said solemnly with her head turned upward, and her eyes closed. "Once you complete your task you must meet at the top crest of the canyon to await our final decision. Ember will wait for you there." Ember nodded to his two charges, and ascended up into the cliffs.
"We've had to think on the fly for years!" Chat Noir said confidently, "We have a seamless strategy that never fails. I protect Ladybug with my cataclysm, so she can sort everything out with her luckycharm! No matter what, we've got this!"
"I do so enjoy the confidence of youth!" the coyote mused, turning to the bald eagle with a nod. "It makes it all that much more entertaining when they find themselves out of their depth."
In a split second the great bird snatched Ladybug's yo yo and the coyote grabbed Chat's baton. Simultaneously, they cast them into the quick flowing Colorado River, sending them floating swiftly downstream.
Ladybug let out a short shriek in protest, and Chat Noir's mouth popped open in surprise.
"I can't use my Lucky Charm without my yo yo…and we can't transform without them either."
"Alright, we've got to get them back! We will head down that way, and they are bound to get washed up on shore or get caught up further down the rapids," Chat Noir said decidedly leaning over a rock above the foaming water, and trying to see further downstream.
"Let's make this more interesting," the coyote said, and without any other warning gave Chat Noir a swift kick with his hind legs, making him fall forward with a shout. He landed in the river, which swept his feet out from under him, and sent him sputtering along with the current.
"Chat!" Yelled Ladybug rushing to the rock he had just been standing on. Then with fury in her eyes she demanded of the coyote kwami, "Why would you?!"
"We have got to get this trial moving. You both are too used to your typical strategy. Your boxed in rolls. This will shake you up a bit," he replied cheerfully.
Ladybug balled up her hand into a fist, muttering curses toward the reckless kwamis, and spun on her heel to chase down her partner.
Chat Noir gasped for air as he broke through the spray of ragged water. He tried to swim for the edge, but the current fought him, and plunged him back down. All he could do was keep kicking to capture a brief chance at air. He was swept further downstream, being thrashed against the unforgiving rock.
Ladybug ran alongside the Colorado river, swiftly picking her way across the uneven rocks. If only she still held her yo yo or Chat Noir, his baton, she could have saved him in seconds. Now suddenly she had to figure out a different way to get him out. Even with his suit absorbing the majority of the impact, he was still not immune to the danger of the river's turbulent rage. There had certainly been others that the river had taken, who had not escaped its grasp.
Ladybug spotted a group of rocks that created enough of a peninsula that she thought she might be able to reach Chat Noir. She made it there just in time to meet him. She shot out her hand towards him, stretching out as far as she could. He reached out to her, but although his fingertips brushed hers, he slipped though her fingers and was yanked back into the rapids.
Ladybug looked around frantically for something she could use. She grabbed a long dry branch that she was able to pry loose. She ran ahead of him, and stretched it out towards him. When he grabbed hold of it, she tried to pull him in towards the shore. But the buildup of pressure snapped the wood, and Chat Noir was torn away from her.
Chat Noir, through his battle with the river, had a moment of hopelessness. He had always trusted his lady to save him, but what if this time she wasn't able to get him out of this. No, he pushed the despair away from his mind. She would never give up on him, and he wouldn't either.
Chat Noir got an idea. He was able to wrap his belt around his arm. Then he detached it from around his waist. This created a makeshift whip of sorts. He lodged it at some over reaching trees. His first attempts missed, and the rapids fought him, tossing him to the side, and thrashing him against the rocks. Finally he channeled his depleting energy, and the belt latched, and caught against a tree.
Ladybug did not waste the opportunity and launched herself at the belt. She grabbed it as it started to detach. Chat Noir's body barricaded the weight of the water, and the longer he resisted against its desire to move forward, the stronger the pressure grew. It was trying to remove him as an obstacle. The belt and Ladybug sprang forward toward the spray of the water. She hooked her leg around the tree trunk. The rest of her was thrust forward. She wrapped the other end of Chat Noir's belt around her own arm. Her wrists strained. Chat Noir became an anchor, pulling her toward the upheaval of water, dragging her down with him.
"Lady.." he gasped, "I'm gonna pull you in too," His head submerged, and he was pinned to the side of a rock. His sudden decent pulled Ladybug further toward the water. Her face was getting soaked by the vicious spray, colliding with the jagged rocks. She hooked her ankles into the groove of the branch and trunk. She was now stretched out parallel to the river attached to Chat Noir by his belt.
Chat Noir kicked his feet against the rock to come get a breathe to the surface. You need to let go or we are both going to get carried away!" He sputtered desperately.
"I won't let you go!" She yelled over the roar of the turmoil. "I won't ever let you go!"
Their eyes locked through the spray of water. Ladybug's gaze flickered back toward the branch she had wedged her ankle onto. She realized he had to make a choice soon, or Chat Noir would be smashed against the rock and dragged under, and her with him. She quickly used her momentum and rolled herself over the thick branch which hung over the rapid. Her weight dropping over the other side of the branch, acted like a pulley, to raise Chat Noir further out of the reach of the water. He was now hanging out of it on one side. His belt was looped over the branch, still attached to both him and Ladybug's arm. She however, was now submerged, and at the mercy of the river which callously tried to pull her further downstream.
Swinging himself to the underside of the branch, Chat Noir grabbed hold of it and pulled himself down to the trunk. The further he managed to inch himself forward, the higher Ladybug was raised. He was finally again get her close enough, she could cling to the tree. He rushed to her, and grabbed her firmly under her arms, drawing her up into his arms.
They slid down the trunk to safety o the dry rocky shoreline. It was only then Chat Noir allowed himself to collapse with Ladybug on his lap. He held her tightly, as they both shuttered with the subsiding adrenaline, exhaustion, and cold.
"You could have been drowned, pulling a stunt like that!" She scolded softly.
"It was either that or see you go under again she mumbled with chattering teeth. "I sure couldn't let that happen," she said sincerely.
He huddled his body around her, trying to warm her up. He said with his chin on top of her head. Thank you for never giving up on me.."
She gripped his arm, closer to her, trying to get him warmed up as well.
Luckily, the extreme cold of the river was as stark contrast to the dry and heat of the canyon floor. Even thought it was only spring the heat from the sun, baking the rock helped them to start to dry off a bit.
Even when their bodies returned to more normal temperature, and the joints from their knuckles didn't ache from the cold. They still stayed there on the canyon floor, holding each other. "Maybe we shouldn't be here," Chat Noir whispered, "Maybe we should go."
"Oh sorry, I was just..LB said flustered and springing up from his lap…."Yes, we better keep going to finish up the trail ."
That is not what I mean," Chat Noir said, taking her hand, and drawing her back down. "I mean…maybe we should go home, and forget about the trials."
Forget about them, but we have just started, we have to…."Ladybug fumbled.
"I have our miraculous. Our super powers and we have each other," Chat Noir tried to explain. They have been so far, maybe we don't need to enhance them…not if it means risking everything….not if it means nearly loosing you."
Ladybug put her hands tenderly on Chat Noir's cheek. "Oh Kitty, we risk everything each day. It doesn't mean we should give up."
"I don't want to give up. It is just maybe we have already given enough."
"She moved her hand to his.
You've always been the one to give me the difference to on when I find myself falling into my own self doubt. Now let me do the same thing for you." Chat Noir we are unstoppable. If these tests were meant to the quality of the wielder, I know without a doubt you will overcome any challenge because there is no one more worthy to wild a miraculous than you.
Except purrhaps the present company," Chat Noir beamed, rasping her hand and laying a kiss on her knuckles.
She did not pull away, but smiled at him. "So this means you still want to keep going?" She asked.
"Lead the way Mi'lady," Chat Noir said with renewed determination. "We've got wild kwami to find…if only to get them back for throwing me into the river."
Ladybug and Chat Noir kept following the river downstream till they eventually found their baton and you which had washed ashore, caught up on the rocks.
They now had the arduous task of climbing up the steep and uneven Grand Canyon trail to the ridge. Taking one step at a time they muscled their way upward, stopping only now and then to catch their breath. Leaving the river bank, they left the only source of water. Chat Noir joked that he had already swallowed enough of the river to last him a lifetime, but Ladybug knew that they had to pace themselves to avoid the threat of dehydration.
Up ahead Chat Noir's enhanced hearing picked up a soft jingle, and shuffling sound. When they rounded the next corner on a switchback, they encountered a mule train with guides and a few tourists. The woman on the head black mule, stopped and dismounted when she saw them. When they had explained about their near miss with the river, the tourists gaped, while their guide nodded seriously. "It is important to take caution around the river, as well as other parts of the canyon," she said. "Every year there are a few who lose their lives. It is a stunning, but hostile landscape out here."
She looked them over, and dug into one of her packs. After rooting around, she handed them a couple of water canteens and a handful of protein bars. "Here," she said, "This should be enough to at least get you to the rim." They shook hands and thanked her for the help. She gave them a few more pieces of advice about the challenging trail their faced on their way, up and then the mules were on their way again to the base camp before their lost their light.
Even though they were both conditioned from years of strengthening themselves physically, and empowered by the magic of the miraculous pulsing through them, the demands of the trail were no joke. They were certainly thankful for the water. After a few hours of ascending they poured out the last drop onto their parched tongues.
They were even more thankful when they reached the top. They scrambled the last meters in leaps and bounds. Ladybug flopped herself to the dusty ground. Climbing up beside her, Chat Noir laid his head on her stomach, looking up at the clear wide open sky.
"We made it Kitty," she sighed, absentmindedly scratching his shaggy blonde hair, just behind his cat ears.
Chat Noir closed his eyes and his whole self melted under her touch. He moaned in protest, when he felt her stop, and start to rise.
"Chat, you've got to look at this!" Ladybug shook him gently.
Chat Noir opened his eyes from the top of their climb, and his breath was literally taken away.
Stretching out beneath their feet was the Grand Canyon. The 360 view was so much more overwhelming than any photograph they had ever seen. The colors of the rock emphasized the dramatic twists and turns. The sheer size of it was incomprehensible. To think that something like this existed on their planet was astounding. As the sun set, innumerable colors within the rock made the whole scene come alive. The vivid reds, yellows, oranges, and pinks of the sky could not have possibly been captured on a post card. They had been within it the whole time, but their focus had just been on their immediate surroundings…which, while very impressive...had not given them the vantage point to register the scale of the natural monument.
"Quite the view, huh?!" A voice said from above them.
They shielded their eyes with their hands against the sinking sun, turning towards the voice. The bald eagle spiraled down towards them, and perched beside them.
Ember flew close behind and hovered over Ladybug's shoulder. The eagle took it's natural form, and the wild kwami's face peered back at them.
The coyote slunk up the trail behind them, and sat panting, eyeing them closely. He too took his kwami form.
"If you weren't immortal I would kill you right now!" Chat Noir growled at the coyote.
"Understandable. Mortal danger is hard for us kwamis to understand," he acknowledged, "But I assume our little test made you feel a little distressed."
"Yeah, just a little," Chat said sarcastically, crossing his arms. "I will tell you one thing, I learned to not turn my back on a wild kwami, that's for sure."
"Hmmm…probably also a wise lesson," nodded the coyote with a coy grin.
"You were both creative in the way you improvised, after the loss of your miraculous tools. We acknowledge your completion of this leg of the journey." The bald eagle crossed her wings in front of herself, pulling out two small pebbles of turquoise.
Each accepted their tokens, and put them away securely.
Ember lowered himself onto Ladybugs shoulder, and announced, "No time to lay around! Next stop, Seattle, Washington!"
Ladybug roused Kalaki, and put on the glasses. "Kalaki, full gallop," she called and created the portal.
"Careful," Ember cautioned before they walked through.
"Now what? More rapids? A conniving crocodile? Perhaps a pit of quicksand just for fun?" Chat Noir rambled.
Ember shook his head with his eyes twinkling. "No not because there is any danger to you when we walk through to our destination…more likely you could cause the damage."
Ladybug and Chat Noir stared at him questionably.
"They are fragile," Ember said over his shoulder as he flew through the portal.
Ladybug and Chat Noir still didn't know what to expect, but followed him anyway into a garden of glass.
Thank you to everyone who has been reading and following this fan fic! It has been so fun to learn more about the countries you have suggested, and I hope to get some more to give Chat Noir and Ladybug some amazing new destinations to visit! A special shout out and thank you to Mirami03 who gave me the idea to have them visit the USA, and KoalaWho for the suggestion to visit Seattle, Washington, USA!
Please follow/like so you let me know you're interested in seeing me continuing this story and if you'd like them to visit your home country/city or a place you've traveled, let me know in reviews or pm! Thanks again for the encouragement!