Another jump through the portal sent them east to Mount Robson, or as the Texqakallt Nation called it "Yuh hai has kun," the Mountain of the Spiral Road. The great bridge between the British Columbia-Alberta borders.
They hiked up the mountain passes through old cedar hemlock forests, that had multicolored moss and lichens like patchwork climbing the trunks of the trees. The ground was so covered in a thick carpet of moss that each step was softly cushioned, like stepping across velvet. The heavy wet earthy smell of snow melting and spring taking hold of the land was all around them. There was the constant sound of trickling water resounding with life.
They came to a still lake, which mirrored the mountain like glass. Ember told them to take a break before continuing; warning them that the next phase of the hike would be a steep increase in elevation. Ember coordinated that he would fly ahead up to the top to connect with the other kwami and meet them at the glaciers for the assignment.
Ladybug and Chat Noir took a seat against a fallen log to take a quick break. Robins called to each other above, flitting away. The calm was only interrupted by a squirrel in the needles of the tree overhanging the log. He trilled and chattered angrily at the pair for coming to close to his cash of pine cones. Finally, satisfied with his scolding, scampered across the branches.
The warm sun filtered through the lacy branches of the forest around them, creating a collide-scope of light. Chat Noir leaned back and sighed deeply.
"Something on your mind?" Ladybug asked folding her arms around her knees.
"That is just the thing," Chat Noir responded. "It seems like back home I've got so much on my mind, and always overwhelmed without a second to enjoy where I'm at. But here my mind is...calm."
"You've always seemed so cool and collected," Ladybug looked at him in surprise.
"I'm glad you think so," he grinned, but then looked over the water distractedly. "Do you see that loon gliding across the water over there?"
Ladybug studied Chat Noir, confused by the sudden change in topic, but decided to humor him and look to where he pointed. "Yes, the bird with the dark face and spotted feathers?"
Chat Noir nodded. "On the surface he looks like he is gracefully slipping across the lake, barely disturbing the pristine surface, with a ripple.
Chat Noir narrowed his eyes at the bird, and sat forward. "But…" he continued, "…if you were to look beneath the surface, you would see his feet paddling fast as anything."
Ladybug looked back to Chat Noir, who stood abruptly, clenching his gloved hands. Ladybug gently slipped her hand up, making his paw relax once more. Then she squeezed his hand encouragingly. "You know I've been overwhelmed myself by trying to make it seem like I had everything together, when inside I'm falling apart. Sometimes it is okay to not be okay," she said.
"Thanks LB," Chat Noir said, shifting his feet. "The people I've had in my life have always insisted on perfection in everything. Getting to be Chat Noir helps me escape it. Actually, I think you are the first person I was ever able to just be myself with."
Ladybug smiled, "Perfection is boring. I'd rather have something real!"
Chat Noir's face brightened. "You mean you don't think I'm practically purrfect in every way?!" he teased.
"Practically," Ladybug raised an eyebrow at him, standing to her feet, and turning back to the trail, "except for the insufferable cat puns!"
"Sorry, Bugaboo," Chat Noir caught up, and past her on the trail. "I wouldn't be me without them! It is just part of my purrsonality!"
Chat Noir bounded up the rocky trail ahead with renewed energy, and Ladybug followed behind him shaking her head.
They climbed a steep ledge of rugged shale. After a challenging assent they came to the Valley of a Thousand Falls, and along their path they were followed by the sound of cascading water. They continued to climb alongside the series of waterfalls till they reached the top. The great Emperor Waterfall at the end was more impressive than the rest. They heard the roar of it before they spotted the Emperor through the trees. It blasted a spray of white water off the rock with ferocious power, and it fell to the pool below, leaving a cloud of mist to cool their faces.
They continued to follow the trail of the fast moving Robson River till they came to a narrow wooden suspension bridge that helped them cross.
As they trekked higher, the trees began to get sparser, and the soft ground was replaced by loose grey rock. Occasionally their foot slipped, as the rock underneath shifted. This small stumble would cause a small avalanche of grit and pebbles falling away.
The dirt path was lost as they came to a stone valley with scattered pieces of the mountain spread out before them. There was no shelter here. They were at the mercy of the mountain.
"It was just sunny and warm a couple hours ago!" Ladybug called out against the fury of the wind as it wiped against them, pelting them with icy sleet.
"The mountain is so high up, it creates its own weather," Chat Noir called back, leaning into the wind. Then, to their relief, around the bend of a sheer stone wall they finally saw their destination; the glaciers of Berg Lake.
Once they arrived at Berg Lake, the assault of wind and rain subsided. The icy chill, however, did not. They were soaked, protected only by their miraculous suits, on which the rain had crusted into an icy frost. The huge white and grey glacier's width expanded up the side of the mountain and fed into the vivid turquoise lake. A crust of snow lay on the ground in the high altitude, crunching under their feet as they padded ahead.
"Hello there!" greeted a soft voice.
They looked around and spotted the source. A light tan bundle of prickly needles, just off the left side of the trail.
Ember flew over the porcupine's head, and waved them forward calling, "come, come, get warmed up!" Then both Ember and the porcupine headed back through the trees.
Following the porcupine's footprints through the snow, they let out a sigh of relief seeing that a fire was already lit. Gathering around the friendly flames, they eagerly warmed themselves. Then taking turns to privately feed and charge up Tiki and Plagg, they returned much more comfortable to sit before the fire.
"We are waiting for one more ambassador," Ember looked through the trees expectantly. "While we wait you should inform the weilders of the situation on the pass," he directed the porcupine.
The porcupine combed his quills on his arm, and sat back regarding the two weilders. "The mountain is restless and the days are growing tense," he explained. "The wolverine kwami of avalanches has blocked the mountain pass, and the time of year is upon us for the bear of dreams to cross."
"Bear of dreams?" Ladybug asked.
"In the spring the grizzly kwami wakes from hibernation in the stars, and travels down to the glacier lake to drink. She must make it to the lake before Ursa Major rises higher into the sky, but all season she has been waylaid by the wolverine."
"What will happen if she doesn't make it to the lake?" Chat Noir inquired.
"The lake eases the unconscious mind, and brings forgetfulness after waking. Without the grizzly kwami to guard the night sky, night terrors will run rampant."
Ladybug and Chat Noir thought back to the chaos caused by the mere acoma victim, Sandboy. They had no interest in revisiting those nightmares.
"The grizzly had threatened to go to war with the wolverine if she is further prevented from reaching the lake. The wolverine remains belligerent, and has claimed the whole valley for himself."
"The wolverine will not be easily dissuaded. He is strong, stubborn, and is one of the few kwamis with the ferocity to match the grizzly," a low lumbering voice spoke, ducking his wide brown head through the trees. The next "ambassador" to join them shook the stray sticks from his antlers. He was a massive bull moose, with legs nearly as high as Ladybug.
"If it comes to a full-on battle they will bring down the whole mountain. The weilders must negotiate peace," the porcupine insisted.
"And you, porcupine, are you so afraid to waste a single quill to prevent war?!" the Moose raised his head indignantly.
"Just because I value peace, doesn't mean I am incapable or unwilling to defend myself and what I know is right!" the porcupine huffed. "What I'm trying to say is that there can be other ways of dealing with a situation of conflict before it escalates."
"Like communicating, and appealing to reason," Ladybug suggested.
"We've encountered countless acoma victims, and each time we tried to reason with them. But when did it actually make a difference or make them stop?!" Chat Noir shrugged.
Ladybug bit her lip, thinking over each time both she and Chat had pleaded and begged an acoma victim to consider their actions or choose another path...but even if it had made them pause...they had not been able to break them from Hawkmoth's hold.
"Chloe," Ladybug reflected quietly.
"What?!" Chat Noir asked confused.
"What is a chloe?" The moose asked the porcupine and Phoenix. "It sounds like something rather unpleasant."
"The only person who was hit with an acoma who was able to fight Hawkmoth's control...the day we fought Miraculer Chloe had the determination to resist Hawkmoth," Ladybug remembered.
"But she was acomatized multiple other times, and there were even times she voluntarily helped Hawkmoth," Chat Noir pointed out.
"Yes, but the fight had to be won within herself, before he took hold," Ladybug realized.
"So you are saying we can't argue someone to chance their course, but have to get them to make a change within themselves first?!"
"Exactly," Ladybug nodded.
"But how can we do that?" Chat Noir asked.
"The day Chloe fought off Hawkmoth, it was my mostly my fault the acoma came for her. I knew she was feeling hurt about not getting a chance as Queen Bee, but kept putting off that awkward conversation," Ladybug confessed.
"It was Hawkmoth's fault," Chat Noir jumped in. "Taking advantage people's emotions and warping them into something extreme and vengeful."
"That is true, but still I should have handled things differently," Ladybug explained. "...but the reason Chloe was able to resist that time is that even though I had hurt her, she believed that she had a purpose as a superhero, and didn't want Hawkmoth to use her again. She trusted me, and the potential I saw in her to be something more."
The porcupine nodded, "Not to be defined by how others see you, but knowing you have an opportunity to choose another way."
"It is worth a shot," Chat Noir agreed, leaping to his feet. "I can take the grizzly across the mountain pass," Chat Noir volunteered.
I will assist the cat," the moose stood at attention.
"Great! I'll see to the wolverine," Ladybug strung her yo-yo across her fingers. "I will make sure he opens the gateway in time!"
"The phoenix and I will be at your side Ladybug weilder," the porcupine put a bristly paw on Ladybugs knee, and Ember rose into the air, leading the way.
Chat Noir and the moose kwami headed up the blocked pass, climbing over a blockade of rocks hewn from the mountain side with such aggression that many were spit to the core.
"If the grizzly is a kwami, why doesn't she just float over the rubble or phase through?" Chat Noir asked the moose, who shoveled some rubble with his antlers and boasted Chat Noir over.
"Usually she could," the moose answered, but there has not been a weilder here to keep the peace for hundreds of years. The wolverine has become more sullen and unreasonable. Each time the bear tries to cross the wolverine uses his magic to block her. The bear has become so exhausted without access to the power of the lake she has become stuck in her animal form. Although larger and stronger, in this form, she cannot float or phase through items. As a result they've ended up in this standoff,"
They came to a towering wall of rock, snow, and twisted trees that further blocked their path. "This might take longer than I thought," Chat Noir groaned.
The moose took his kwami form (which Chat Noir secretly found quite comical because the tiny moose kwami had such massive antlers in proportion to the rest of himself—not that Chat Noir would ever let on that he thought this to the serious moose kwami). The moose kwami floated above the heap, and Chat Noir pole vaulted himself over with his baton.
On the other side was a massive grizzly bear who had been trapped by the fallen rock.
"Be cautious Black Cat weilder," warned the moose kwami. "If you thought a real grizzly was dangerous, it is nothing compared to an angry dream bear!"
No sooner than the moose kwami had uttered his warning, the frustrated grizzly let out an angry growl that shook the mountain. Her voice carried all the way through the valley. A chunk of ice calved from the glacier, and crashed into the lake. Then the echo from her roar brought on something even more unnerving. Like ghosts from the past the growl summoned Adrien's/Chat Noir's nightmares.
Just like facing Sandboy before them challenged an angry nightmare Ladybug, who wielded a jagged, oversized sword. The moose kwami zipped back, and Chat Noir blocked her attacks fencing with her, using his baton. While he fought the nightmare Ladybug taunted and cursed him, declaring him useless and unlovable.
She stuck Chat Noir, and he blocked each slash with his baton.
"For a nightmare it feels a little too real!" Chat Noir called back to the moose kwami.
The night terrors are taking shape within your mind," the moose kwami called out, "coming so close to the anger of the dream bear is making them materialize!"
"What's wrong stray?!" The evil Ladybug taunted, "aren't you happy to see me?!"
The ladybug terror whipped Chat Noir across the face with her yo-yo sending him reeling back. Then trying to take advantage of his disorientation raised her sword against him. Chat Noir used his signature fencing move to draw his baton against the sword and disarm his opponent. The sword few out of reach, making the dark Ladybug scream out in rage.
She leapt up and threw herself from a boulder above the growling bear down onto Chat Noir, knocking him down to the ground. She pinned him down, with his back pressing against the sharp shale if the mountain. She grabbed his own baton and held it under his throat. She was nose to nose with him, smirking in victory.
A flashback of Dark Cupid passed through Chat Noir's memory. Instead of pulling away, he pulled the surprised Ladybug's face to his and kissed her deeply.
The Ladybug dropped hold of his baton in shock. When their lips parted, the Phantom Ladybug stared questionaly at Chat Noir, before fading away in the breeze.
"Good thinking Black Cat!" the moose cheered. "Use your memories and dreams to combat the nightmares!"
The grizzly's eyes narrowed and growled louder, and dragged her great claws through the ground. She tried to scramble out from beneath the oppressive avalanche magic of the wolverine, but her struggle only caused more rocks to fall around her. She howled, and before Chat Noir could escape, he was enclosed in a steel cage. The cage confined him, and blocked him from moving forward or from going back. The moose kwami pulled on the bars, but they wouldn't budge. Chat Noirs breathing quickened and his throat closed. Feeling like he was suffocating, he started to hyperventilate.
"You can escape this! The moose encouraged. The prison cannot hold you! You are the weilder of the black cat, you are Chat Noir!"
Chat Noir squeezed his eyes shut, and then opened them again with renewed determination.
"Cataclysm!" he yelled out. The destructive black energy swirled around his paw and he struck the bars, dissolving them into black ash that blew away over the rocks.
Running forward, trying to reach the grizzly before another nightmare could materizlize, Chat Noir leapt from rock to rock. "We are here to help you!" Chat Noir called out to the bear.
"Are you here to destroy the wolverine weilder of destruction?" the bear called back.
"No! I'm not going to hurt anyone. We are here to make peace between you!" Chat Noir assured her.
"Impossible. There will be no peace. The night terrors are already escaping into the daylight!" the grizzly growled.
The moose kwami flew next to Chat Noir's shoulder, as he tried to close the distance to the dream bear. Swirling dark energy was forming above Chat Noir. The moose kwami transformed himself back into his animal form, leaping into a loping gallop next to Chat Noir. "We've got to get to her faster!" the moose yelled. "Quick! Grab on!" The moose tilted his antlers toward Chat Noir.
Chat Noir did not even break stride, but took hold of the moose's antlers and swung himself up onto the moose's back. The moose lengthened his gate, and clamored across the rock. Chat Noir rode the moose toward the grizzly. Together they dodged materializing acoma victims and nightmarish monsters. They made it to the feet of the dream bear, and Chat Noir dismounted before her.
The grizzly snarled, "the wolverine must be destroyed to break his hold on me. You 'can't outrun the terrors, the demons come from within your own mind!"
Dark energy swirled between the bear and Chat Noir. When it settled there was no monster, only a full length mirror.
"Don't look into it!" the moose warned. "You don't know what will be within the reflection!"
"Ha!" the bear barked bitterly, 'haven't you ever heard the saying…curiosity killed the cat?! He can't resist."
Chat Noir cautiously surveyed the tall mirror, and indeed seemed drawn to it. There was something about it that made it feel significant. As if everything in his life hinged on seeing what was reflected in its dull, ashen frame. He edged near it despite the pleas of the moose, until everything else in the world around him faded. He was left alone facing the mirror.
He looked into the mirror, but he did not see Chat Noir. At first he thought the person who looked out at him was Hawkmoth, but he realized that it wasn't' his father. It was himself wielding the butterfly miraculous. He, Adrien, had followed in his fathers footsteps…he was Hawkmoth.
As he gaped at the glare from his reflection, he caught sight of a elegant red clad form stepping from behind the mirror.
"Ladybug!" Chat Noir called out recognizing her. "Will the wolverine drop the barrio? Were you able to make peace?"
But the Ladybug just stared deep into him, ignoring his questions. "I trusted you," she said mournfully.
"Ladybug!" Chat Noir pleaded with her. "I didn't know! I swear I didn't know!"
The Ladybug didn't respond, but turned her back on him.
"Ladybug!" he called frantically, then collapsed to the ground before the mirro.
"Get up," spoke a voice through the haze.
Chat Noir did not move.
"Black Cat get up now!" the voice grew more commanding.
Chat Noir lifted his head.
"Put your fears aside. You are the chosen of the miraculous. You are charged to keep the peace. We need you now!" the voice of the moose grew steadily stronger. Then the moose himself stepped through the fog of his vision.
The moose came to Chat Noirs side, and leaned his gread head down. Chat Noir wrapped his arms around the moose's strong neck, and allowed him to pull him to his feet. He noticed the ring on his hand was blinking. Then he lost his transformation. Standing next to the moose and the mirror as Adrien.
Adrien's head dropped. "I've failed," he whispered.
"Kid! What are you talking about!" Plagg flew in front of his face.
"I'm not even Chat Noir any more…I'm just…Adrien," he sighed defeatedly.
"What?!" Plagg challenged. "Adrien! Master Fu choose you for a reason, and he choose you before you wore a miraculous! Now you get in there and prove you're not just Chat Noir on the outside!"
With renewed strength Adrien nodded, and the illusion faded away, leaving him once again before the grizzly.
Adrien knelt down, face to face with the great bear. "We will find a way to get you home," he told her, "but we need your help."
The grizzly studied him closely. "But your doubts and fears are still here?!" she noted, "How can you go on?"
"You need help," Adrien responded simply. "I can't help you if I only think about my own problems."
"Hmm," she hummed. "A selfless weilder. It has been a long time since I've seen such a thing. Very well. I will work with you to make peace."
Adrien, the moose, and the bear coordinated to free the stones. While they worked Plagg zipped in and out of Adrien's pockets in a panic. "NO CHEESE!" Plagg wailed. "Now THIS is a night mare!"
Meanwhile Ladybug, Ember, and the porcupine approached the base of the glacial lake.
"Be careful near the edge," Phoenix warned Ladybug. A fall into water this cold could give you hypothermia in less than four minutes. Without your ice power up it could stop your heart."
Ladybug looked cautiously at the ice crusted edge, resolving to keep a safe distance.
They had nearly got to the water's edge when they were confronted by the lakes jealous watchman.
The wolverine's oily dark hair and small rounded ears laid back. It bared its teeth, raising its hackles, stuck up its bushy tail, and emitted a low growl. Scraping its long two inch claws into deep tracks of ice.
"Wolverine!" Ember demanded. "What kind of greeting is this for your fellow kwami and one of the chosen weilders?!"
"Pfft...if you expect a friendly welcome go visit the otter kwami!" The wolverine spat. "You interfere where you have no business!"
"Your feud with the grizzly is going to become everyone's business if you keep this going!" The porcupine mumbled shyly.
"What kind of wild kwami are you pincushion, taking sides against me with this flaming miraculous reject and this human child masked with the ladybug's likeness?"
"We are not against you," Ladybug interjected. "We need your help."
"My help," the wolverine narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"Without you we can't get the dream bear back in the sky, and he plans to stay on your mountain forever," Ladybug told him gravely.
"Here forever! This is my mountain!" The wolverine declared, sitting up. Then scratched behind an ear with a long claw. "You just want me to allow him to cross the valley to Berg Lake!" he accused.
"Well, he has to be able to cross, in order to return before the end of spring," Ladybug admitted.
"It would be wise not to stand in the way of the dream cycles," Ember counseled.
"I will trap you all here before that shaggy haired thief puts a claw over the border!" he yelled, and clapped his paws together causing rock, snow, and ice crumbling on top of them.
The trio dodged the onslaught of projectiles, but amidst the chaos they could not avoid the strikes of the ferocious wolverine. He struck Ember first sending him into the glacier lake to cool his fire. Then hurled the porcupine to the trees. Then he pursued Ladybug.
Using her yo-yo as a shield, she defended her position. The wolverine ducked agility around its circles, came up from behind, and pinned her down. She pushed herself back, trying to keep away from him, the rocks around her blocked her escape.
That was when the porcupine returned to her aide, setting himself between Ladybug and the wolverine. Raising his quills, he braced himself before the larger creature. "Don't do this brother," he warned, "she is under the protection of the Ladybug."
"Not for long," the wolverine snapped, and lunged at Ladybug with claws bared.
The porcupine struck the wolverine across the cheek imbedding a row of painful quills barbed into his skin. The strike made the wolverine howl in rage, and slash the porcupine to the side. Then unexpectedly the wolverine took his kwami form and quickly snapped up Ladybug's earrings, as she tried to fight off the relentless kwami.
With her earrings held by the wolverine kwami, her transformation dropped, leaving Marinette crouched in the rubble. Tiki hovered next to her more angry than Marinette had ever seen her.
"Give back my miraculous!" Tiki yelled face to face with the wolverine kwami.
"Not till you all leave me in peace!" shouted the wolverine kwami back at her.
Marinette stood to her feet, and Ember returned to her side after his douse in the icy water, along with the resilient porcupine, who was preparing for another strike.
"That is what we are trying to do," Tiki yelled exasperatedly, "just let the grizzly kwami pass!"
"She will not step one more careless foot through this valley! He has tasted the last of my avalanche Lilies!"
"Wait!" Marinette stepped in front of them. "This is all about lilies? I thought you were keeping the lake to yourself!"
"The lake! Of course not!" the wolverine kwami shook his head perplexed. "That lumbering Grizzly steals the sacred glacier avalanche lilies every season! I've finally had enough!"
Marinette looked to the edge of the lake where the ice had just begun to thaw. Delicate sprays of yellow flowers hanging off long graceful stalks swayed quietly in the breeze curving across the valley.
"They greet the spring," the wolverine kwami said affectionately looking over to the blooms, "and that bear just comes in and rips them out of the ground!"
"If the grizzly will leave the avalanche lilies untouched, would you permit her to drink from the glacier lake?" Marinette asked stepping closely to the wild kwami.
The wolverine kwami thought deeply about the offer, and placed the miraculous earrings back in Marinette's palm. "I will agree to the truce," he said, "As long as the grizzly does not uproot the sacred flowers, I will not prevent her from drinking from the lake." Then the wolverine kwami paused, looking from Tiki to Marinette. "I am deeply sorry for removing your miraculous. It is a great violation for a kwami to touch another's miraculous, let alone unmask their weilder."
Tiki folded her small arms, and looked over at Marinette.
"I truly am sorry," the wolverine kwami insisted. "I'm worse than a bear destroying avalanche lilies," he lamented.
"There is a way to make this right," Tiki nodded at the remorseful kwami. "Let's get to work."
Marinette put her earring back in and called "Tiki, Spots on!" resuming her transformation.
The porcupine carefully plucked out each of his quills that at lodged in the wolverine's face. The wolverine grimaced as each was removed, but gratefully thanked the fellow kwami.
Ember flew to bring the terms of the truce to Chat Noir (Plagg finally found a scrap of cheese), the Moose, and the Grizzly up across the pass. The Grizzly somewhat begrudgingly agreed to leave the "tasty honey flowers" (as she referred to them) untouched.
The wolverine made good on his word and the rest of the day used his power to shift the rock blockage and make a path.
As the daylight was lost over the peak of the highest mountain in the Rockies, the great dream bear (followed by Chat Noir and the moose kwami) crossed over the cleared pass, descended into the valley, and came to the shore of Berg Lake.
As the grizzly drank from the pure icy pool, the stars became defined in the clear darkness of night. One might think that removed from all human light sources that they would be blinded by darkness (except of course for Chat and his gift of night vision), but the lake was illuminated. The reflected light of the moon hit the stark whiteness of the glaciers, giving the lake a luminescent eminence. The stars cradled in the sky above were reflected in the clear water.
When the grizzly stepped further into the pool it was like she was stepping in among the swirling galaxies. She looked back at the weilders and kwamis on shore, bowing her head. "Thank you for bringing me home. I will tell Kermode, the spirit bear about you," she smiled.
"How do you find the spirit bear?" Chat Noir asked.
"Oh he is not that hard to find," she winked, "You just have to look up."
Ladybug and Chat Noir looked up at the heavens above them and noticed the twinkling light emitted from the Ursa Major constellation...and sure enough just beside her was Ursa Minor. When they looked back down to the lake the grizzly was gone, for of course she had returned to her domain as guardian of those in sleep.
"You have brokered peace in the valley," the moose kwami presented Chat Noir with a second glimmering colorful Amorite gem.
"For negotiating peace," the porcupine placed a similar Amoritte stone in Ladybug's palm.
"You have shown time and time again that you are able to bring peace to others," Ember acknowledged. "The next bear we face will be the judge of the peace within yourselves; the Great Guardian of the North."