The four champions look up at the spirit dragon in awe. Cats and creatures of decay begin to crawl out of the bushes, staring at it warily.
Kosa can almost hear the epic orchestral music that would accompany this scene, and she can't help but laugh, tears springing to her eyes. Helios looked at her, concerned, but eased up when he saw that they were tears of joy. And why wouldn't they be? This little 'quest' that they were pulled towards was finally over. She could go back home, sleep in her nest again, talk to Fluji about recording all of this down in the Cartlann Cave. But most importantly, she could see Amoka. She'd been dying to know how they'd been coping with her absence. Likely, not very well. Both of their children had left, and there was no promise of them ever returning.
But now, she could return to them, and tell them that she and Helios were alright. And almost nothing could make her happier than that. Almost. The only thing that would make that moment more perfect was her brother, Kai, returning as well. That was very unlikely, and she's not even sure how she would react to that.
She nodded her head towards the dragon in thanks, her tears now uncontrollably streaming down her face. She turned towards the ice blue portal, assuming it to be the one she's supposed to take to get home. She slowly walked through the portal, excited about what she would find on the other side.
--
Kosa opened her eyes cautiously, the blinding sunlight of the forest was so much different to the soft purple and blue hues that filled the sky of the enchanted forest with light. Squinting, she tried to figure out where she was.
"Oh my gods... Kosa!"
She jumped and whirled around at the sudden voice. She was met with an energetic Fluji bounding towards her. She was tackled and rolled onto the ground, laughing. Kosa stared up at Fluji with tear-filled eyes, only to be met with similar dark blue eyes, sparkling with unshed tears.
"I'm so glad you're back!"
"I'm glad to be back," She chuckled, her voice shaking slightly, "How've you been?"
"I've been alright," Fluji said, "it's been lonely in the library though. I missed you."
"I missed you too. I missed everyone. I'm just happy to be back home," She said, "Oh! By the way, a couple small lions should've come back at some point. How are they doing?"
"Urania and Nia? They're great! We finally have a Nā ʻĀina, and Urania has been an excellent sealgair so far," Fluji responded, getting off of Kosa and leading her back to the camp.
"That's good, I'm glad to hear that they're doing alright," Kosa said, smiling to herself, "...And, how's Amoka?" She asked hesitantly.
Fluji faltered, "They're uh... They're not doing too well, Kosa. They've gone into their 'ice blossom' thing, right in the middle of Shimo's den."
Kosa's eyes widened, and she suddenly started racing back towards the camp. She needed to get to Amoka and tell them that she's all right. She burst through the camp entrance, blatantly ignoring the surprised yowls and stares directed at her. She bolted for Shimo's den. There, in the center, was the ice blossom Fluji mentioned. She started pounding on the ice.
"Shimo go away!"
"It's me, Amoka. It's Kosa!" She shouted desperately.
Immediately, the ice melted, and in its' place stood the Ice Mage, eyes filling with tears as they saw their daughter standing before them. Kosa rushed forwards, pulling them into a warm hug.
"My girl. You're back.. It's been months." They whispered.
Kosa stepped back, surprised, "Months?" Amoka nodded, "It only felt like we were there for a week, at most."
"I'm just glad you're back. Oh, and someone's here to see you," They said, gesturing towards the den entrance. Kosa turned around, and gasped.
"Kai!" She shouted as she pounced on her brother, dragging him in for a hug. "When did you come back?"
"A few days ago. Kosa, you had me worried sick!" He responded.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Kai," She said.
Kai smiled at her lovingly, "Don't be, Ko, you needed to leave, just like I did. And we both came back."
--
Helios looked down at his mate, concerned that she just started crying. He was about to comfort her, but he soon noticed that they were tears of joy. And frankly, he couldn't blame her at all. They could finally go back home. It'd been far too long since he'd seen the other lions. He missed talking to them. Arctic and Dan most of all. He often joined them on hunts, despite not being a sealgair. It was good fun, he supposed, stalking through the trees, joking and congratulating the others when someone was able to catch something.
He never realized how much he loved it. I suppose the saying is right, you never know you love something until you have to give it up. He thought, looking up at the dragon. And now he could return to his home and sleep in his den again.
He nodded at the dragon thankfully, and turned towards the array of colorful portals. Assuming the fiery red one to be his, he walked through, head held high.
--
Helios opened his eyes, and was immediately met with loud screaming. He jumped up, thinking that there must be an attack, only to get shoved back down again by two young lions.
"Helios!"
"You're back!"
"We missed you, buddy!"
He looked up at his assailants, only to find that Arctic and Dan were staring down at him, eyes glistening with tears. The younger lions started nuzzling him fiercely, so incredibly happy to have their friend back.
"Whoa, guys! What's going on here? You're acting like I've been gone for months," Helios said, looking at his friends joyfully.
The two lions paused and looked at each other, before turning back to him, confused.
"But... you were." Arctic said.
"Huh? I was only there for a week. Time must pass slower there," Helios mumbled to himself, annoyed that he had unknowingly been kept away from his home for that long. He was about to ask what had happened since he left, when Kosa unceremoniously burst through the camp entrance. She raced into Shimos' den. Confused, he got up to go follow her.
Dan stepped in front of him to block his way, "She's going to see Amoka. It'd be best to give them some space."
Nodding, Helios sat back down. That's when he noticed a couple new faces among the crowd, one in particular stood out. The lion in question looked exactly like Bahari, only without her mane, and slightly lighter fur.
"Who's that?" He asked, gesturing towards the blue lion.
"Huh, I guess you did show up after he left," Arctic mused, "That's Kai, he's Kosas' older brother," He explained.
"Interesting. She never mentioned him," Helios said.
"They left on sort of bad terms, honestly it doesn't surprise me that she never brought him up," Arctic said, "Come on, I'll go introduce you. He's probably gonna want to see his sister though, so let's not hold him up too long."
Arctic and Helios padded over to Kai.
"Hey, Kai!" Arctic called, waving at him with his tail. Kai turned towards them and lifted an eyebrow at the new lion trailing behind Arctic. "This is Helios, he's Kosas' mate."
Not the best way to introduce me to her older brother. Helios thought, "Uh, hi. It's nice to meet you."
Kai stared at him for a moment, before grinning, "Well hey, Helios. I've been hearing a lot about you from Bahari. And from what I hear, you're pretty cool. So please, for your sake, stay that way," He said, his voice turning more menacing as the sentence went on. "Oh, don't worry. I can't do anything. I'm more worried about Kosa, honestly. She's never been the best at dealing with her emotions. Speaking of which, I should probably go unload some more onto her, see ya around, Helios."
And with that, Kai bounded towards Shimos' den. Helios stared after him, not really sure what just happened. "Are you sure they're siblings, Arctic?" He asked incredulously.
"Yeah, pretty sure. Why?"
"They're just so... different."
"Yeah, well, that's how siblings are," Arctic said, "Now come on, there's a couple more new lions who joined that I'd like you to meet. We finally have a mea hānai!" Arctic exclaimed, leading him further into the camp.
--
"So, I'm gonna need you to tell me everything. No sparing any details, got it?" Fluji asked.
"Got it," The two lions said in unison.
"Well our first day there, after a tree with glowing blue runes and eyes told us that there was some sort of threat coming, was just training," Kosa started, "Nothing too major. There were two fighting arenas, one for lions, and one for these tiny cats. I watched one of the lion matches, and got randomly picked for the next one. I went up against a small red and white lion, and managed to make some very basic ice armor. It was a pretty easy fight. I ended up winning by freezing them in an ice cube. Then Helios and I went into the forest to train privately. Helios won that match. Oh, do you want descriptions of the land?" She asked, continuing after Fluji nodded eagerly, "The sky was gorgeous, Fluji. I wish you could've seen it. During the day, it was bright purple and blue, and at night it was filled with stars and nebulae, and it was so fluid! I have no idea how I'll get used to seeing our sky again... Anyway, the trees, not the goddess tree, mind you, had dark turquoise leaves, and the moss was bright blue! The grass was a deep purple. Oh and there were pegasi! I didn't see too much of the food there, but there were pegasi and some form of jackalope. It was so cool!" She said, rambling.
"Alright, love, let's move on with the story," Helios interrupted, smiling at her warmly when she blushed, embarrassed, "On our second day, we were ambushed by some sort of creature of decay. They were made out of dying wood and mud, and were oozing a strange black goop. Kosa dove straight into the action, and began freezing all the creatures she could find. Meanwhile I just burned everything I touched, cuz, ya know, everything there was flammable. In the midst of the battle, I noticed something similar to the ice blossom Amoka hides in when they're overwhelmed, and I began running towards it. Kosa exploded the ice, and used the shattered crystals to trap the enemies surrounding her in tiny ice prisons. When the battle was over, she had collapsed from exhaustion. I took her into the forest, for a private place to lay down, and began to cauterize some of the other cats' wounds."
Fluji looked up at the two of them, frantically writing everything that they were saying. She nodded excitedly for them to continue.
"When I woke up, there was some odd pulling force drawing us into the forest. It felt similar to when we were being pulled towards the portal, but somehow different. We debated over whether or not to follow it, since it could very easily have been a trap, but eventually we decided to stay with the Trinity Tree. In order to take our minds off of it, we made instruments. After a while I thought it would be a good idea to teach him how to play, but oh my gods he made the worst sound come out of that flute. I didn't even know it was possible to be as bad as he was," She said, laughing.
Helios snorted and rolled his eyes, "Anyway, after that we were all gathered in front of the Trinity Tree, who was now dormant. The others had the option to ask her questions, but she merely responded with silence. That's all I was able to get out of that, because someone just had to go running off unexpectedly and getting herself lost," He said, glaring at Kosa, "I had to come find her and carry her back to the city on my back."
"If you're done complaining about me? The next day we were ordered to do some gardening to help revitalize the area and restore life to the place after it was invaded by the creatures of decay. We tried to get out of it, but a grumpy old lion who was missing an eye demanded that we stay and help. Helios went and chose a spot while I chose the seeds. A dark blue cat with glowing eyes handed me a packet of bleeding heart seeds, some of which I managed to steal and bring back for our garden. We planted the seeds, and Helios came up with a brilliant idea for how to water them. I made an ice ceiling, and he melted it, letting the water wash over the garden. Only I forgot that I needed to grab some accent flowers so I quickly ran back to the city to get some. I bumped into the dark blue cat from earlier, and she gave me some really pretty white flowers. I'm pretty sure they were hibiscus, calla lilies, and I can't quite remember the last one... Amaryllis, I think it was." She said.
"When that was done, we ventured inside the Trinity Tree. She apparently had a hole that led all the way to her heart. That's beside the point. Inside of this hole, were some creatures of decay. Kosa froze the tunnel so nobody would be able to damage the tree. I fought my way through to the center, and found the heart rotting with decay. I 'accidentally' lit it on fire, but someone must've put it out. Kosa came running up to me with a tiny green and black cat on her back, and raced out of there. I followed her as soon as the battle was over." He said.
Kosa looked at her mate, shocked at what he just told them. But for now, she focused on informing Fluji of what happened, "Helios and I left and followed the pulling force. We didn't know who to believe anymore. We came across a tree, similar to the Trinity Tree, only dying and decayed. It had glowing silver eyes. The tree god told us that the goddess believed in eternal life and that nothing should die. We left and I came to the conclusion that there must be a third tree. It's called the Trinity Tree, after all. So we went in search of it." She said.
"So we wound through the forest, which seemed to almost change around us as we walked. Eventually, we came upon a field. A battle was taking place. There was nothing we could do to stop it. So we just sat down on the edge of the field. Soon enough, a tiny brown cat with blood red eyes padded up next to me and sat down. She was going on about how we failed, and that it was going to rain soon. The cat, Virtue, told us she'd been following us since the dying tree god. Another cat came out of the bushes right after she said that. His name was Vice. The two argued for a while over something, I don't really know what I wasn't paying attention, when Virtue suddenly jumped into my mane to escape her problems. She got out eventually, and Kosa and I sank down to the ground. Kosa fell asleep in my mane, but soon after the battle was over. I woke her up, and the four of us sat there and stared at the now empty battlefield." He said somberly.
"The next day, a portal opened in the center of the field. Helios and I assumed that it led back home, but we couldn't bring ourselves to leave just yet. Virtue and Vice were fighting again, this time about Vice not actually being a true champion or something. I was forced to lock them in small ice prisons for a short while. When I was done with that, some small lionesses came out of the bushes, and informed us that they wanted to join our pride. I think they simply wanted an escape from all the fighting. I let them through the portal, and let Virtue and Vice out of their prisons. Oh, those two lionesses were Nia and Urania, by the way." She mentioned.
"Since a storm was on the way, we were looking for a place to wait it out. We eventually found this huge tree with a hole in its' trunk. It could have easily fit the entire Ushirikiano Pride in it. I lit a fire in the center, and we were just sharing stories of where we'd been and who we were. Kosa left to go hunt." He said.
"By the time I got back, both the trees were on fire-"
"Oh, I should probably mention that I set them on fire," Helios admitted guiltily.
"You WHAT?! You know what, I don't have time for this right now. By the time I got back to the tree, both the gods were on fire. Helios showed up soon after I did, claiming he went on a hunt. I led everyone to a third group, who believed that there was a third tree, and that we simply had to wait for them to show themselves. I was waiting anxiously for Helios to return from a walk. I entered the healers den, hoping they had some form of calming tea. I headed out to drink it under a tree, but it was pouring out. So I took one of the nests the healer had. By the time I finished it, I was out cold." She said.
"And, today, the fires were put out. A flash of light struck the areas where both trees once stood. A large dragon landed in the field, carrying two seeds in its' claws. It seemed disappointed in what happened. He planted the two seeds next to each other, one representing life, one representing death. He rolled out his tongue to reveal a third seed, presumably representing rebirth. He planted them all together, and soon three sprouts grew. One blue, one purple, and one green. He opened colored portals behind all of us, silently telling us that it was time to go home. And then we ended up here." Helios ended.
Fluji stared at both of them in shock, then squealed and jumped up excitedly. "Thank you guys! That sounds like an amazing time. I wish I could have been there," She said longingly, "But hearing about it is close enough! I don't mean to keep you here any longer, please, you two sound like you've had a long week. Go relax."
Bowing their heads as thanks, the two champions left the Cartlann Cave, ready for whatever happened to come next. Likely sleep, for them.
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