The night before they had just barely made it up the mule track to the temple when the rains came. The pleasant sunny day was replaced by thrashing pine trees stirred up by the fierce wind. Torrents of rain beat down on the cliff, washing sections of the trail away in mud. The strings of prayer flags spiraled in the storm like multicolored confetti. Lightning splintered the sky and was quickly followed by a heart-stopping boom of thunder.
"The Thunder Dragon has returned early!" Tenzon observed, ushering the huddled line of monks through the safety of the temple doors. "Monsoon season does not usually start for another couple weeks!"
"Could it be a bad omen?" Anzan inquired, cautiously looking up at the sky.
"The Thunder Dragon is not a slave to our schedules," Tenzon shook his head, "the return of the tigress may have hurried him along though," he mused, looking thoughtfully over to Chat Noir, helping Ladybug up the last slippery stepts to the monastery.
Back in their cozy little room the weilders and kami finally fell asleep. But by 4a.m. the next morning Ladybug stired in her sleep against tigress. The evening storm had passed, refreshing the valley. From the peak of Urgyan on a small Mani Lakhang a withered old monk turned his prayer wheel. The resounding chimes floated up across the cliff side. She sat up bleary-eyed with sleep still clinging heavily to her. She looked up at the open window. It was flung open, allowing the cool air to breeze in. Ladybug glanced beside her at the red panda curled up in a content fuzzy spiral, but Chat Noir was gone.
Carefully she crept up to the window sill, and peaked out. Her partner sat on the damp roof, looking out over the valley. His green eyes focused across at the horizon.
"Couldn't sleep?" she inquired, pulling him out of his thoughts.
Chat Noir looked back at her and said, "sorry if I woke you!"
She smiled softly, shaking her head. "Mind if I join you?" she asked.
Returning her smile, he patted the tiled roof next to him.
They sat together as the last resounding chime floated away to greet the coming day.
The darkness softened, and the forms of rocks and trees grew more defined. On the edge of the horizon Chat Noir's keen eyes were the first to pick up the movement of a creature flying swiftly towards them. Both he and Ladybug got to their feet as it approached.
It was no bug. No bird. It was a wild kwami. He had a stocky body and deep chest. He looked like a cross between an ox and a goat. Reaching the two weilders, he huffed out of breath, but bowed before them. His arched nose drew up to his forehead, then sprouted two stout horns that turned upward.
"Greetings chosen weilders," he addressed. "I've come with a summons. The ghost in the mountains..." the takin kwami wheezed. "The thunder dragon told him you were here! The ghost wants to meet you!"
Ladybug and Chat Noir exchanged a glance, while the tigress kwami and red panda kwami had been rowsed by the commotion and joined them.
"He never wants to meet any of the weilders," the red panda huffed suspiciously, "why now?!"
"He has had a vision!" The Takin kwami announced. "He insisted they meet him on the upper mountain path before nightfall today."
Ladybug looked over at Tigress for council. "Should we trust this 'ghost?' What does he mean by 'vision?"
Tigress seemed thoughtful, and regarded the takin. Then she drew between Ladybug and Chat Noir. "He is one of the three oracle kwamis. He is a snow Leopard, and has become known as a 'ghost' because he can mysteriously appear and disappear," she explained. "It is puzzling, his sudden interest in weilders though. He does not usually involve himself with the Miraculous Trials...not since the very beginning..."
"And who knows what sign he thinks he has found!" The red panda interrupted crossing his paws and sitting back with his legs splayed our in front of himself. "He's crazy...been all alone up in the mountains for countless cycles. Can't trust the Ghost!"
"They must come today!" the takin urged. "He was very specific about that!"
"I thought the point to this oasis is that we don't have demands and trials to go through," Chat Noir pointed out. "Isn't this supposed to be our vacation?"
Ladybug nodded, but kept her eyes on Tigress.
"It is unusual," Tigress pondered out loud. "Of course it is up to each of you if you choose to go."
Chat Noir and Ladybug thought carefully as the takin awaited their decision.
"A hike in these mountains would be pretty amazing..." Chat Noir reasoned out loud.
"What about getting your first real vacation?" Ladybug asked
"What is a vacation without a little adventure?!...unless you want to spend the day relaxing together at that great spa in town?!" Chat Noir teased.
"Adventure sounds great! We're going!" Ladybug quickly declaimed.
"Excellent! the takin cheered. "let's go!"
"Not before breakfast!" the red panda stood on his back legs.
"You're coming with us?!" Ladybug cheered, receiving a nod from Tigress as well.
"It's not everyday the Ghost reappears. I too am curious what was revealed through his vision," she said.
Even though it was still early Chinshu was able to help them get breakfast and some provisions ready for the day. Then Anzan offered to drive them to the pass overlooking the sacred mountains.
the old van drove through the muddy road, the road rose higher and higher. Once they reached as far as they could go by road, Chat Noir and Ladybug thanked Anzan for the lift. Anzan just bowed to them and offered to come back before sunset, saying that he had to finish deliveries of food to the monastery further along the road.
Once he was out of sight the takin, tiger and red panda took their wild animal form. At the crest of the outlook they could see far across the range. Tall white flags papered the top marking the cycles of births and deaths. They were getting accustomed to the intertwining rainbow player flags as well strung throughout.
The takin lead them higher and higher up into the they would take a break, but it was almost as if by some magic they were spurred on, traversing wide stretches of terrain. At each peak they swore it could not possibly get more impressive, but they kept finding new wonderful views.
The rains from the night before had drenched the ground and some parts they had to use a combination of their yo-yo and baton with their enhanced agility to cross
After a very full day they were over 4000 feet up. Tigress stayed treading the earth between Chat Noir and Ladybug. Her massive paws silent upon the ground. Suddenly as they crossed past some grey rock, rising from the field of gold and green, the birds stopped calling. The air grew still and eerily silent. they could sense someone watching them. Tigress' ears twitched. The takin and red panda hung back behind them.
Then from around them they heard, "Open your eyes! Can't you see what's right in front of you!" shouted in a commanding voice.
They froze, and braced themselves back to back. They hadn't seen where the voice had come from, and the tone had them prepared for a fight. A giant snow leopard materialized before them.
"Get away from him creation warrior," the snow leopard warned Ladybug. "The vision of doom lives only with the black cat."
Ladybug narrowed her eyes, stepped closer to Chat Noir and swung her yo-yo as a shield. "Sorry, we're a matched set! If you plan on picking a fight with one of us, you've got both of us to deal with!"
"I don't want to fight you either boy," the Snow leopard growled at Chat Noir. "Remove your miraculous, and I will safely take it to the miraculous temple for the monks."
"You said you just wanted to meet them!" The takin wailed, peaking out from behind Ladybug.
"Snow Leopard you forget your place! You are not a miraculous Guardian to choose whom should weild the ring of power!" Tigress stepped between them. "The oasis is removed from the trial field. This is the domain of rest!"
"You do not know what is coming!" the snow leopard spoke frantically. "You seem like a good hearted mortal, he turned back to Chat Noir. "But two years ago I had a vision on this very mountain about the potential doom that lays upon the world with you as the ultimate destroyer!"
"It is the burden of every Black Cat weilder to balance such a threat, and protect life," Tigress countered. "One day Armageddon will be upon us, but he has past the trials so far! The purpose of the trials is to protect against that!"
"I promise, I would never use my power to hurt anyone...but There has been one trial I haven't been able to pass yet," Chat Noir admitted. "I still have to pass the trial of peace."
"Which we will," Ladybug encouraged, glaring at the snow leopard.
"Back off Ghost!" The red panda stepped beside Tigress, forming a golden strung bow in his paws. "The boy keeps the ring!"
"You fools!" The Snow Leopard said in frustration. "I am the oracle! I am trying to save everyone, yourselves included! This is our chance to prevent the end! If he continues on the trials he will just get stronger!"
"The future has many crossroads to get to the destination. He is permitted the chance to choose!" The Tigress growled lowly.
"Then you have sentenced us all!" the snow leopard bristled.
"I would give my life to protect others," Chat Noir tried to deescalate the growing tension. "If I thought there was a chance I couldn't, I would return the ring myself. I assure you I won't loose control. The ring stays with me!"
"I had hoped you would listen to reason and give it up willingly...you leave me no choice..." the snow leopard lamented.
"There is always a choice...that's the point," Tigress replied smoothly.
But this did not pacify the Snow Leopard's fervor or his resolve. Without another word he leapt at Chat Noir to take the ring by force. Tigress intercepted him, and leaped up onto her hind legs to block him. The two fierce wild cat kwamis grappled with each other and wrestled viciously. Their great paws fell on each other with claws bared.
The Snow Leopard hissed and disappeared, reappearing behind Chat Noir. The red panda fast as anything let an arrow fly, but the snow leopard disappeared again, dogging the magical arrow. He reappeared again in front of Chat Noir, and went to swing his paws at him. Chat Noir was too quick and dropped to the ground, blocking the strike with his baton.
"Lucky Charm," Ladybug called out, blocking the Snow Leopard from getting closer to Chat Noir. But all that she received from the Lucky Charm was an eraser. She put the eraser between her teeth in confusion and threw your yo-yo to tether and bound the attacking cat. As soon as he was restrained he disappeared again.
"Keep on your guard! He's not finished yet!" The tigress warned in the absence of a follow up attack.
From above them on a ledge of the grey rock their assailant pounced. He knocked Tigress to the ground, and sailed straight at Chat Noir. One of the red Pandas arrows struck him in the air (not wounding him, but preventing his power of vanishing). Just as the Snow Leopard was going to make contact with Chat Noir Ladybug stepped into his path. Chat Noir though grabbed her around the middle and swung her behind him, taking the full brunt of the strike.
Chat Noir and Ladybug were both pinned beneath the imposing Snow Leopard, and braced themselves for his attack.
Suddenly blocking the snow leopard from his prey was a blazing inferno which raged from a portal. "Hold!" Shouted the voice from within the unquenchable fire. —Ember had returned.
"Gakyid!" The takin shouted out "The sign of Gakyid!"
The Snow Leopard froze, and then annoyed with the other kwamis interference shot out, "it is the middle of the day! You can't even see the star of Gakyid! All of you need to get back! Give me the ring!"
"Not the star! The flower! Look before you!" The takin called back urgently.
Between his thick white paws, lying at the feet of the weilders, glowing in Ember's light, two long green steams wound around each the top a white poppy was entwined by a blue poppy in full bloom.
The snow leopard froze. "But..I saw...in the vision...I saw the white cat destroy the earth!" He muttered to himself. "It's not possible...unless..."
Chat Noir still had his arm wrapped around Ladybug, and hers around him. They lay on the ground staring up at the snow leopard.
"Did you say white cat?" Chat Noir asked in surprise.
Ladybug's mouth dropped open, releasing the lucky charm she had received. "Of course!" She exclaimed waving the eraser. Miraculous Ladybug!" She called and the arrow vanished from the snow leopard side, and all the kwami were refreshed. "It was Bunnix, Fluff's weiler. She helped me erase that timeline!" Ladybug announced to them all.
Chat Noir's eyes widened, and they both wiggled in to a sitting position in front of the conflicted snow leopard, and Embers smoldering flame.
"You and Bunnix went to the future without me?!" Chat Noir asked.
"You were there...only you had somehow transformed into Chat Blanc...and you...I mean Chat Blanc did almost cataclysm all of existence."
"So it's true," Chat Noir deflated, touching his ring.
But Ladybug put her hand on his, preventing him from removing his miraculous.
"That future was erased, and we were given another chance!" She said softly.
"She is the key...the Blue Poppy!" the Snow Leopard raised his eyes to the flowers, and then to Ladybug and Chat Noir. "There still is hope after all. The sign is here...The girl with eyes of blue is your Gakyid...the happiness that strengthens you."
Tigress had picked herself up and came alongside them. The red panda and takin drew near as well. The kwamis all caught their breath upon seeing the rare blue flower, and bent their heads closer.
The snow leopard hung his head, and glanced up at Ladybug and Chat Noir. "This changes everything. My fears blinded me to the alteration in fate. The Guardian who chose you must have known...I do hope I didn't hurt anyone in my attempt to try to sway the balance," he spoke regretfully, looking around at the other kwami as well.
"You were trying to prevent devastation in your own way," the Tigress generously, "We all fight for preservation and balance, but we also have to trust the guardians and our fellow kwami too. The flowers must have bloomed over night, just another sign how everything changes."
"Whoah whoah woah Leopard! Just wait!" Chat Noir glared incredulously "you're telling me that you were determined to rip the miraculous off me, but a flower changed your mind!"
"Yes," the Snow Leopard replied as if it should be quite apparent.
"The flowers...They're ahhh very nice, not that I'm complaining that you no longer seem to want to shred me to pieces...but I still don't get it!," Chat Noir looked from the flowers to the kwamis puzzled by their fascination and the dramatic change in the snow leopard.
"I've never seen wild flowers that blue before," Ladybug added. "They are pretty, but what do they have to do with us?"
"Nice! Pretty!" The Snow leopard scoffed. "You don't know what these are?!"
Ladybug and Chat Noir looked at each other and shrugged.
The snow leopard let out a heavy sigh. "This moment...the fact that we are in the presence of the blue poppy of Bhutan, one of the rarest flowers in the world...it is something most people will never see. The most powerful symbol of prophecy in creation, foreshadowing a greater sense of clarity in the near future. They grow wild no where else in the world. For years humans believed them to be a myth!"
Tigress nodded in agreement, "They are elusive and only grow at extremely high elevations, where the earth is hard and the climate is bracing. They survive and thrive through adversity."
"They are precious because it takes several seasons for them to grow, but their only flower once for a fleeting time, and then are gone," the takin added.
"Bamboo is better!" the red panda muttered. "Tastes better too."
"It is a sign" the snow leopard insisted, glaring at the red panda. "How else can you explain a blue poppy blooming the same time they arrive before the typical monsoon season!"
"Coincidence," the red panda challenged.
"How long must we exist, before you realize the odds of that! the snow leopard sat up stiffly.
"If it truly is a sign about us what does it mean?" Ladybug asked.
The last time I saw such a thing was many cycles ago. The two weilders that stood in this clearing with me then were also exceptionally powerful on their own. but it was when they joined together, that they were able to prevent the destruction of the earth!
Ember quieted his fire and spoke, "Life presents many trials, but strands woven together in a rope gives it strength and prevents it from breaking."
The snow leopard moved face to face with Ladybug and Chat Noir. His warm breath fell on their faces. "There is still the potential of either great peace or complete devastation. I will trust the guardians judgement. Your future is still uncertain. Just don't let time pass you by," he warned. "Even a weilder's time is fleeting."
Like a murky fog, the snow leopard suddenly vanished like the phantom he was. Ladybug and Chat Noir were left standing before the embracing flowers.
"To think he's found his Gakyid!" the takin gushed. "What luck! What a sign!" He looked at Chat Noir and the flowers.
"Not quite yet," Ember corrected him. "The boy sees her, but his heart doesn't realize her yet."
This side comment from Ember confused Chat Noir all the more. Surely the blue flower represented Ladybug strengthening him! Didn't it? Wasn't that what the Snow Leopard had implied?! But now Ember denied that his heart knew her. Ever since he had met Ladybug his heart was wrapped up in her. Could Ember mean that there was someone else he was over looking who would change his fate?! Chat Noir met Ladybug's vivid blue eyes. There was only one other girl he knew who had eyes as blue as the poppies petals...
While Chat Noir became lost in thought the tarkin bowed and took his leave as well.
"You left us," Ladybug cornered Ember.
"I did," Ember studied her.
"I suppose you think we wouldn't have stayed if we'd been given the choice!" She said rather snippily.
"Would you have?" Ember inquired with a tilt of his head.
"Yeah of course...well probably...once you explained!" Ladybug insisted.
Ember stared at her, and then broke the gaze. "Maybe you would have," he allowed. "I had hoped the oasis would help refocus you both after the peace trials and help you rely on each other completely. Unfortunately the Snow Leopard broke through the oasis...now I don't know if the time here did more damage than good..."
They both looked over their shoulder at Chat Noir who was sitting on a cliff overlooking the valley. The red panda sat beside him, keeping him company with more legends about ancient warriors. Occasionally Chat Noir would nod and the red panda would continue.
"Glimpses into the future can haunt you, and make you sidestep your path," Ember spoke, looking specifically at Ladybug. "You can't fear what the future will bring so much that you miss out on the potential of your present."
Ladybug looked back at Chat Noir, and her mind flashed back to her fight with Chat Blanc. Her dreams were sometimes still haunted by the desperation and despair of that future. She welled up with emotion for her partner. No matter what she could never let that happen. He would always be her Kitty.
"Anzan has returned to bring them back to the temple," the tigress announced, running up from where she had checked back to the lower valley. "Are you ready?"
"One more night at the temple, and then we return you to Paris at first light?" Ember proposed to Ladybug and Chat Noir.
Chat Noir turned and nodded to Ladybug, who nodded in turn. Tigress lead the procession of the travelers back down from the heights of the mountain, with Ember flying overhead. Chat Noir looked once more at the white and blue flowers in a sea of green. Then he turned back with Ladybug by his side to the path. The red panda trotted alongside them.
As they walked Chat Noir whispered in Ladybug's ear, "is it common to feel like you need a vacation after a vacation?"
Ladybug smiled, "usually." Then intertwined her gloves fingers into his, "...especially after a memorable one."
Readers you have really made my week with the positive comments and suggestions for this story! Your reviews drive me to write more:) Thank you so much! I'm already working on the next chapters...molding the love square between our heroes to lead to the reveal...with many amazing destinations (suggested by readers) thrown in of course!