Chiaki sighed, realizing she wasn't going to get anymore answers here. She dusted herself off and looked at the other graves. Was it only Tobi who had one of these crystals? She shook her head, if she had been meant to gather more than one she would have been told to do that. "I've found what I was here to get."

"That crystal?" Kun asked.

"Yeah, though I want to go back to those winged beast men... who did the quest say there were? The Feather Tribe?" It sounded vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place her finger on why.

"Are you sure? I think it best to leave without getting near them again."

Chiaki couldn't tell them why, that it was part of the quest system she was following right now. "I think it'll be alright."

Together the three backtracked their way to the place where the four winged beast men were at, still looking tired and slightly aggressive at the approach. They had moved slightly closer to the mountain side instead of being right on the cliff edge. Emperor Dragon stopped them as they neared.

"I thought you were going." He said with a frown.

Chiaki looked around, trying to figure out just what the quest wanted from her. It had just sent her back here with no clues. Who's life did the quest want saved? Sure these four were in rough shape, but they didn't look like they were dying.

The four males all twitched at the same time. Chiaki blinked at the movement. "You need to leave." Instead she looked back at Bai Kun and Lu Yue, and saw their ears had tilted to hone in on a place in the side of the mountain. A tiny crevice she hadn't noticed. There had been a noise she couldn't hear, but they could.

"What is it guys?" She asked. Before they could answer she felt the touch of cold stone to her neck.

"You. Leave. Now." The red and yellow feathered male said in a growl. The other three had also gripped the spears tightly, ready to fight.

Then she heard it. The wail of a baby. A human cry. It rose louder, causing the two nearest males to turn to the tiny cave. The were worried from the looks on their faces. She looked back at the male who was keeping the spear tip to her neck. He looked... defeated.

"E.D." His name was too much of a mouthful. "I promise, you don't have anything to worry about from us."

"She's sick." He said in a low voice, almost like he was speaking to himself instead of Chiaki. Slowly the spear was lowered from her throat. "Our mate gave birth to a female offspring, just before we noticed you three climbing the mountain."

Chiaki felt the gold crystal heat up in her hand. "Take me to her."

"NO!" He pulled the spear up defensively again.

"I..." She looked back at Yue, who nodded. "We want to help."

"Please, just let them try to help." The male with mostly teal colored feathers said.

The spear dropped from his hand. With a breath of relief Chiaki started forward, she felt a small brush of a hand on her arm, she wasn't sure of it was Yue or Kun. She just knew they were both behind her and seemed to be willing to believe in her ability to handle the situation.

She passed the two remaining males and ducked into the cave. It was shallow, more of a crack in the side of the mountain than anything else. She could see two figures. One was a woman, pale and looking to be asleep. The other was a young girl of perhaps five, who was holding a crying newborn baby girl.

"Mama don't wake up." The girl said through her own tears.

Chiaki knelled beside the woman. She was deathly white and her clothes were stained brown from old blood. Her breathing was shallow. Chiaki could almost feel the fluttering of her heart as it became slower. "Beast God please let this work." She said placing the gold crystal to the almost colorless lips. It took a moment, then just as the crystals Chiaki herself had absorbed, this one too disappeared, filling the female's body with it's life energy. "Yue, heal her!" She said quickly, pulling the deer male down beside her.

As his healing power soaked into the body of the female, he saw her color returning. Her heart beat became steady and stronger. Her breath came more easy. Grey eyes fluttered open.

!" The males at the cave entrance called when they saw their mate open her eyes for the first time in days.

The female smiled weakly at them. "There's my boys." She said almost to softly to be heard.

Chiaki smiled at the words. "Oh, wait. Don't try to sit up yet, you are barely healed!" She put her hands on the females shoulders. "Just, stay laying and rest."

Amelia's head rolled to the side, looking in the direction of her daughters. "Caroline?"

"Mama!"

Chiaki quickly grabbed the girl."Your mom is still sick." Carefully she got the crying baby from the small child's arms. "And your sister is hungry from the sound of it. Here, let me help you."

She helped Amelia hold the baby and the child greedily nursed. "My baby... survived."

Chiaki nodded. She had no idea what had happened, it didn't matter. What mattered was the blue screen off to the edge of her sight that read: 'Quest: Save the Feather Tribe. Reward: A life saved, a life given. Status: Complete.'

Yue and Kun had been pulled from the cave the moment Amelia had woken, so her mates could crowd the entrance to the small space. Kun couldn't believe what he had seen. A female that close to death wouldn't be strong enough to be saved. Any normal crystal might postpone the inevitable, but she had been breaths away from passing! Yue knew he had just been part of a miracle sent from the Beast God himself. Chiaki was no normal female... of course he knew this... but he hadn't realized how favored she really was. At that moment he vowed he would follow her for the rest of his life, even though it meant he might never see his beloved sister again. Even if Chiaki refused to take him as a mate, he would be her guardian.