After arriving back at the house, the group got ready to leave. Apparently Joe Sparrow arrived with the winter coats while Anne and Marcy were tracking the intruder but came up short.
'At least one good thing came from today.' Anne thought.
"Okay, we've got what we need, we're ready!" Marcy said.
"Then lead the way, Marcy." Sprig said as he, Hop Pop, and Polly got on Joe Sparrow.
"You got it!" Marcy said.
"Come on, Anne." Sprig said to her, seeing she was still not on the giant sparrow.
"I'm fine. I can run and follow." Anne said to him.
'And maybe I'll pick up the scent of that thing from before again.'
"Okay, if you're sure." Hop Pop said to her.
"I am. And it helps me stay in shape." Anne said before transforming into a wolf.
"Let's go!" Marcy said, shifting into her eagle form and flying into the sky.
Joe Sparrow took off after his friend as Anne followed from below on paw. At the same time, she was trying her best to catch the scent again. You never know if you'd pick it up along the way, Anne could never know in a world like this. And she wanted to be prepared for anything. After a while, they made it to the mountain. Just as they expected, it was covered in snow and ice like a winter wonderland that made the frog shiver from the cold while Anne and Marcy were just fine. Marcy flew down and landed on Anne's head. Anne sniffed the ground. Joe Sparrow landed next to them and allowed the Plantars to get off.
"Okay, now where do we go? I'm already freezing!" Polly said, wrapped in a ball of her coat.
Anne walked up and used her fur to keep Polly warm.
"Oh, now that is nice." Polly said, feeling even warmer than before.
"Okay, so where do we go from here?" Sprig asked Marcy.
Marcy looked around before screeching and flying.
'This way!' Marcy was trying to see.
They couldn't understand but it was enough for Anne to quickly grab each Plantar frog with her teeth and put them on her back before following after Marcy! Anne felt like she was in her natural environment, the snow, the cold, she was a true wolf here.
'Funny. I never really cared when I was one Earth but now, it's different…I'm different.' Anne thought, continuing to follow Marcy/hunt for who invaded her territory, 'Wait, the scent... they're here! The thing that was in wartwood is here!'
Looking around more, Anne saw an igloo in the distance with smoke coming from a makeshift chimney! This mountain must've been their home!
'Now I've got you!' Anne thought, rushing ahead of Marcy towards the igloo!
She burst in and saw... a sign.
'Out to lunch!?'
"Um, Anne? Where are we here?" Sprig asked her.
"And who is out to lunch?" Polly asked, seeing the sign too.
Anne growled.
"Ah, I see you've arrived." A new voice said.
Anne turned to the entrance and saw an old looking newt, wearing a black and gold robe. Anne sniffed the air, and knew she was the one in Wartwood.
'YOU!' Anne thought as she shifted back, accidentally knocking the Plantars off her back.
Anne walked up to the newt.
"You were in Wartwood, why!?" Anne said, "Who are you!?"
"I was watching you." The newt said.
"Watching me?! Why?!" Anne asked before Hop Pop pulled her back.
"Calm down, Anne! You don't want to cause an avalanche." He said to her.
"You don't even know how important your role in this world is." The newt said, "I know why you're here... Anne Boonchuy. You're here to charge the stone and restore power to the music box."
"What? How did you know?" Sprig asked in surprise!
"You been spying on us, lady?!" Polly shouted, hopping forward.
Anne calmed them down.
"You know about the music box?" Anne asked.
"Indeed, I am part of a sacred order, we've been searching for the lost music box for centuries."
"Centuries?" Marcy asked, standing by the doorway. "I think I've read about the order in Newtopia."
"A scholar, very astute." The newt said with a nod before looking back to Anne, "You have been through many battles, young one. Do you posses the heart of a warrior?"
"The heart of a warrior?" Anne asked.
"One who fights for others, not for herself. To protect and nurture, not kill and glorify. That is the heart of a warrior." She said, pointing her staff where Anne's heart is. "I will ask again, do you possess the heart of a warrior?"
"I'm Wartwood's protector, I will defend it and its people with my life." Anne said.
"So you say." The Newt said, "If you believe yourself worthy, then I shall lead you to the Temple!"
"You can? Cool!" Sprig said with glee.
"But what about Marcy?" Polly asked, pointing to the eagle ranger. "She mapped out a route."
"You may have a route, but that will not be able to protect you from the dangers of the mountain."
"But Anne can." Hop Pop said, gesturing to Anne.
"One warrior is not enough, no matter how strong her heart is." The newt said, shaking her head, "Besides, even if you do go without me, you will never be able to reach it. For only those worthy can enter it!"
"Worthy?" Anne asked.
"Yes. You may have the heart of a warrior but first, you must prove you are worthy of it." The newt said before walking towards the door. "Now, we must be off. The cold will only get harsher when the night falls."
Anne shifted into her wolf form, ready for the cold. Marcy didn't hesitate to change as well, flying out for a bird's eye view as the Plantars moved back to sit on Anne's back like a horse. Anne kept her eye on the newt, she didn't really trust her.
"Follow me, warriors of heart and wit." The newt said, leading them through the snow.
'Heart and wit?' Anne thought.
The more she was around this newt, the more curious Anne was about what she knew. About the box, about the temples, and about her and Marcy.
Maybe the newt even knew about the OTHER ONE.
Marcy was thinking the same thing as she flew above them, taking an occasional glance at the newt woman as they followed her.
Eventually, they came upon the first obstacle to the temple. Climbing up the mountain.
'It's times like these I hate that I'm a wolf, not a goat.' Anne thought as she watched as Marcy easily flew up.
"I want wings now." Polly said, watching Marcy fly.
"Yeah, me too." Sprig said.
"Well, looks like we're doing this the old fashion way." Hop Pop said, already rolling his shoulders.
"Indeed. Now hurry up, I wish to make it to the top this century." The newt said.
.Everyone looked up to see the newt woman was already on the move, climbing like she was a young newborn newt instead of an old one!
"Dang, that lady's got some hop in her legs." Sprig said, looking up to her.
"Yeah." Polly said, also looking up.
"Okay, kids, let's get moving." Hop Pop said.
Shifting back to normal, Anne began climbing with the Plantars up the mountain. The cold still didn't bother her but the snow against her skin was a bit annoying.
'Oh god, I wish I was a goat instead of a wolf right now.' Anne thought as she used her fingers to grab a crack.
Suddenly, a click was heard and Anne froze at the sound of it.
'What was that?!' Anne thought before she felt the side she grabbed begin to fall.
Moving quickly, Anne pulled her hand away and jumped to the side as the snow began to fall from the wall! As well as head right for her pack, the Plantars.
"Guys!" Anne shouted!
Forgetting about climbing the mountain, she let go of it and transformed into a wolf! She ran down the cliff as fast as she could to reach them before the snowfall did!
"RUFF!" She barked at them, getting their attention.
By the time they looked up, the snow hit them. The newt woman watched, wondering what Anne will do now.
'What are you willing to do for your friends?' The newt thought.
Anne didn't waste time, and began to furiously dig through the snow.
'Where are they? Where are they?' Anne thought, sniffing while digging for them.
Marcy, after seeing what happened, flew down next to Anne and transformed back to dig for the Plantars as well.
'Hm, she's going to dig them out, but will she continue if it may cost her her own life as well?' The newt thought.
For the next few minutes continued to dig before catching the smell of something, digging even faster than before, until she reached down with her teeth and pulled out a cold Polly!
"A-A-ANNE! Thank frog!" Polly said, shivering.
Anne let out a bark to Marcy, who understood what Anne wanted. She grabbed Polly and moved her away from the snow, before digging again and finding Hop Pop.
"I saw my life flash before my eyes! It wasn't fulfilling enough!" Hop Pop blurted out as Marcy grabbed him.
"Lucky for you, you've still got plenty of years left!" Marcy said to him.
Anne kept digging, looking for Sprig, and the newt watched, before hitting the mountain, causing another avalanche.
'Will she keep looking for her friend, or will she save herself?' The newt thought.
"Anne! Look out!" Marcy said.
Anne looked back and saw more snow coming towards her. She began to dig faster, soon finding Sprig. She didn't even let him talk, she bit down on his jacket and threw him away, right as the other avalanche came down and buried her in the snow.
"ANNE!" They all screamed.
They began to dig through the snow, hoping to save Anne. A couple paws dug through the top of the snow pile and Anne climbed out, shaking snow off her fur.
"Anne!" They said again, this time in relief as they rushed over to her.
The wolf girl shifted back to a human, holding herself as she shivered a bit.
"I-Is everyone okay?" She asked them.
"Are we okay!?" Hop Pop said, upset and worried now. "Anne, can you stop nearly dying every ten minutes?!"
"Yeah! I'm too young to be having a heart attack out of worry!" Polly shouted at her.
"I'm not trying to make you worry! I'm trying to protect you!" Anne said, despite still shivering. "You guys are my pack and it's the pack leader's duty to protect the pack."
They've tried so hard for Anne to understand that she doesn't need to be a pack leader, but after all the near death experiences, she needs to have some sense of protection, and being the Pack Leader seems to be the only thing that gives her that.
"Anne, we don't need you to protect us! We need you WITH us, alive and well!" Hop Pop said, taking off his coat so he could share with Anne.
"Here here!" Sprig said with his arms up.
Marcy walked up to Anne.
"Anne... never scare me like that again." She said before hugging Anne tightly, feeling tears building up in her eyes. "Please."
This made Anne feel a little guilty from her actions, she wanted nothing but to protect them from getting hurt but instead she caused them to be emotionally hurt.
"Don't worry, Marcy, I won't." Anne said.
Anne slowly hugged her back as the newt mage continued to watch from above, nodding as she got her answer about Anne.
'A selfless heart that puts others above herself, even at the risk of her own life.' She thought.
"Come on, we need to get to the top as soon as possible." Anne said.
"What you need is to rest and warm up. You're freezing." Marcy said to her.
"We can set up camp to rest and head for the temple later." Hop Pop suggested.
"No, we're getting this done." Anne said, "We need to in order to get home. I... I need to get back home."
"What does it matter if you're dead?! Nobody wants that!" Sprig shouted!
"The boy is right. We are taking a break and warming you up. End of discussion!" Hop Pop said.
"But-"
"End of discussion!" Hop Pop said, firmly.
This caused Anne to growl at Hop Pop, being reminded of her enemy/former friend!
Marcy grabbed Anne's shoulders.
"Anne, calm down." She said, also keeping Anne from suddenly attacking Hop Pop.
All because those three words reminded her of a certain bear girl.
Remembering that SHE was not here, Anne took a few deep breaths to calm down before nodding to Marcy.
"Okay, let's take a breather." Anne said before looking around. "And where's our guide?"
"Watching." The Newt said, suddenly appearing next to them.
The others screamed and Anne just looked at her.
"How do you do that?" She asked.
Magic." The newt said simply.
Anne glared at the newt, disliking the simple answer.
"You have anger problems." The newt said, "Is it because of the person that caused those scars?"
"That's none of your business." Anne said.
"But it is since you still need my help to get up the mountain." The newt said before tapping her staff, teleporting them all to a random cave in the mountain. "Such as providing us with shelter."
"Woah, I really need to get me one of those." Hop Pop said, looking at her staff.
"It is but a small portion of what I can do." The newt said before tapping her staff again to make a roaring fire next to them. "There, rest now by the fire."
Seeing the fire and feeling the warmth, everyone moved to sit around it as Marcy put down a satchel full of food.
"Here." Marcy said, passing around the food.
She made sure to pack a lot of meat, as Anne would need it.
"Thanks." Sprig said, taking some food.
"Did you pack enough?" Hop Pop asked, taking some food.
"I always do." Marcy said as she handed Anne twice as much.
"You are a very smart girl." The newt said.
"Oh it's nothing, I've just always been a bit smarter than most people but I can be sort of empty headed too. If it wasn't for Anne having my back, who knows what would've happened to me." Marcy admitted.
The newt smirked, intrigued by this.
"Really? Can you tell me more?" The newt asked.
"I mean, what can't I say about Anne?" Marcy said, "She is loyal, caring, and from what I heard, she is willing to fight anything if it means keeping others safe."
"Even if she's gets more battle scars?" The newt asked.
"Doesn't matter how many I get, so long as my pack is safe." Anne said, taking out a knife from Marcy's bag.
Anne then began using the knife to carve a bear out of a piece of wood, making it look exactly like a brown bear from Earth.
"No matter what." Anne said as she growled, before shoving the knife into the bear's front right leg.
Everyone but the newt woman flinched at this, knocking exactly what Anne was talking about and who she was imagining staving with that knife.
The leg fell off and Anne tossed the rest of the bear into the fire. Seeing this action, the newt woman came to a solid conclusion as she shook her head at this.
"You have a hole in your heart." The newt said.
"A what?" Anne asked her.
"A hole in your heart, though it is righteous and pure, this hole is one of darkness and anger. Unless you find a way to seal this hole, it will grow bigger and bigger." The newt said to Anne.
Anne simply blew her off, rolling her eyes.
"Whatever." Anne said as she growled.
While Anne didn't think much about this, everyone else took this to heart and grew even more concerned about her.
"Whatever indeed, but even if you are worthy of heart, you must confront this person who put that hole in your heart. Not with violence but with words." The newt said to Anne.
Anne looked away, like she would ever want to even be in the same state as her!
'I don't care what she says, the next time I see Sasha I'm ripping her throat out!' Anne thought.
After a while, they got back to making it up the mountain.
They were walking along a new path instead of climbing, something slower but safer. Anne went back in her wolf form to sniff for any dangers ahead while Marcy was back to being their eagle in the sky.
The newt watched them.
'Hm, nice teamwork, one uses a strong nose, while the other uses their incredible sight. Cover each other's weakness with their strength.' The newt thought.
They soon arrived at their next trial as Marcy flew down to land on Anne's head as she sat at the sight of it.
'It's... nothing.' Anne thought.
There had to be a mistake, there was nothing there, it was just snow. No Temple, no trial, no nothing.
"Um, Ms. Guardian newt?" Sprig asked.
"Yes, child?" The newt replied.
"Why are we just staring at snow?" Sprig asked.
"Because, this is the entrance to the temple." The Newt said, before pointing her staff at Anne, "Are you ready, creature?"
Anne shifted back to human as she stood up, looking at the newt with no hesitation.
"I am." She says.
Before anyone could respond, the newt grabbed her arm with her tail, and the two disappeared into thin air.
"Anne!/CAW!" The Plantars and Marcy screamed/screeched in worry!
Elsewhere, Anne and the Newt reappeared on top of the mountain.
"Are you ready for your biggest test?" The Newt asked.
"Yeah, if it means getting back home, then I'm ready for anything."
"Good." The Newt said before she lunged at Anne.
"!" Anne jolted before ducking back, dodging a swing at her! "What are you doing?!"
"Your final trial!" The newt said, whipping her tail at Anne.
"I'm not going to fight you!" Anne said, dodging the tail.
"If you truly possess the heart of a warrior, you must learn when to fight battles!" The Newt said, "So what will it be? Returning home... or refusing to fight?"
"I... I'm not going to fight someone without cause!" Anne said.
"But what will happen when you run into your blonde friend?" The newt asked.
"Sasha is NOT my friend!" Anne yelled.
"You lie! I can sense it in your heart!" The newt said.
"Then maybe your old age has caught up with you, because I am NOT Sasha's friend, I will kill her the next time I see her!" Anne shouted.
The newt still didn't believe Anne as she continued to attack, making the human dodge more and more until she had enough and changed into her wolf form!
"GRRRR!" Anne growled, warning her one last time.
"I do not fear you, child." The newt said.
'You will!' Anne thought as she lunged forward!
The newt woman blocked Anne's teeth with her staff, slowly moving back before pushing Anne aside!
"You must confront this Sasha to heal you heart! Killing her will solve nothing!" She shouted!
'You're wrong!' Anne thought, growling again as she zig zagged to her and bit into her tail!
"Aaaah!" The newt screamed before she spun her staff and whacked Anne right in the muzzle. "I am trying to help you, child! Why must you be so stubborn?!"
Anne turned back and rubbed her nose, having reached her limit with this stupid fight!
"You've been watching me, you brought up someone I don't want to talk about, and you tried to attack me!" Anne said, throwing her hands apart. "I'm done with this!"
Anne ran at her and tackled her. She raised her fist and was ready to end this.
"Are you really the heart of a warrior?" The Newt asked, unafraid. "Or are you a merciless killer?"
Anne closed her eyes and lowered her fist, standing up and turning away.
"Maybe I am." Anne said, finally being honest with herself. "Maybe I am a killer, maybe I want people to die, maybe that makes me a bad person, but I will gladly take that burden so that others don't."
The newt woman stood up, nodding at Anne's answer.
"And that is what makes you worthy." The newt said, making Anne turn to her. "Willing to shoulder something like taking a life, risking your own to protect your friends, but you still must look in yourself and learn to forgive those that have wronged you... that is your final trial."
"And what about the gem?" Anne asked.
"You will still be able to charge it but your heart must still heal." The newt said before spinning her staff, summing Marcy's bag and the music box.
"Just one question... who are you REALLY?" Anne asked. "Because you seem like more than just some random newt."
"I am Valeriana, a newt that is part of a special organization dedicated to the Box and learning how it works!" Valeriana said, tapping her staff to change her robes from dirty and black to pristine and white.
This shocked Anne, making her forget her anger for a moment. Right in front of Anne was an expert on the box that might be even better than Andrias!
"Now, tell me what you wish, child." Valeriana said.
"Oh... I want to charge the box... and go home." Anne said.
"Then so be it!" Valeriana said, nodding.
Using her tail, she took the gem from the box and placed it in the middle of her cane. Suddenly, ancient writing appeared below as the gem began to charge…slowly.
"So, how long is this gonna take?" Anne asked.
"Sorry, this thing is pretty old." Valeriana said, gesturing to her staff.
"I can assume." Anne said, standing awkwardly before looking over the edge of the top. "What about everyone else? Are they safe?"
"I'm sure they're fine." Valeriana said.
"AAAH!" Everyone else screamed.
"That doesn't sound fine! Hurry it up!" Anne shouted at Valeriana.
"I cannot rush this. It is a delicate process." Valeriana replied, looking at the charging gem.
"Then it will have to do!" Anne said, grabbing the box and the nearly charged gem. "Send me to them, hurry!"
Valeriana nodded and waved her staff, sending Anne back down the mountain. She didn't waste time and shifted into a wolf with the bag around her neck!
She rushed towards them with her nose picking up on what sort of creature was attacking them! She burst through some bushes and saw... them cooing over a small bird.
Her ears flipped while her tail went limp, staring in surprise as the "danger" they were in wasn't dangerous at all! She nearly didn't get the gem charged because she was worried about her pack!
"Oh Anne, you're back!" Marcy said, "We were looking for you but then-"
"We saw this cute bird and Marcy said he has the cutest high pitched voice!" Sprig said.
The bird in question then let out a cute squeak like chirp, making them all fawn over how cute it was. Though Anne didn't look impressed as she was still flipping her ears in surprise.
'They screamed…..for this?' Anne thought.
"Anyway, did you get the gem charged?" Marcy asked.
Anne transformed back and nodded to everyone, showing the box to them with the blue gem next to the green gem.
"One more gem to go." Anne said, focusing more on the gem than the cute bird.
"Great, now let's get out of the cold!" Polly shouted.
Everyone turned to leave the mountain as Anne carried the box in her hand, unaware that the blue gem flicked between blue and gray for a moment.
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