Niah and the Pheonix (Watty's 2024!)

Chapter II: Yoshi

 We continued walking down the gravel sidewalk, making our way to the Red Wood forest. When we arrived at the entrance and were about to go inside, a young man bumped into me, out of breath. He fell to the ground like a rag doll.

"Look," I said as I pointed to his necklace, "I think he's one of us." His necklace had the same pattern on it as ours, but an ice wolf figurine took its place at the end of it. Ice wolves are almost like snow wolves, but they are able to survive in much colder circumstances; hence the name "ice", not "snow". He had longish hair as white as snow, but a face even paler. It was almost as though he had seen a ghost, or worse...

"Wait, is that you, Yoshi?" Lani exclaimed as she studied the familiar-looking face. Yoshi's her younger stepbrother. 7 years ago, when Lani was only 8, her mom was killed because King Chakah, Nimroth's dad, had invaded their village with his troll army. Long story short, he lost that war and was killed, but Lani said she will never forgive him for his acts. Honestly, I don't know if I would forgive him if he killed my mom, either. But I guess I don't know what it's like to even have a mom. being a phoenix and all, I'm the only one of my kind.

"L-Lani? Oh, thank goodness you're ok! I wasn't sure if you were still there, and-" Lani cut him off.

"Whoa dude, slow down," She said, "What's wrong?"

"It's King Nimroth. He invaded our village," Yoshi said, "almost our whole army is dead, there's zero hope in us winning, and... and..." Yoshi tried to hold back the tears. He didn't seem to be able to get any words out, so he reached into his pocket and grabbed something.

It was a necklace, with a clear snow wolf figurine on the end of it. Lani could recognize that necklace from a mile away.

"No. No! Is this a prank?" She yelled, although she knew it wasn't. Her dad never took off his necklace, not once. She dropped to her knees saddened. Tears filled her eyes and rage filled her heart. Suddenly, she stops crying and drops the necklace on the ground in front of her. Her face turned from sadness to pure anger and her fists clenched together.

"Lani, don't do it. I know you're mad, but with almost the whole army gone, you don't stand much of a chance. You're only an Ice VI belt!" I said, trying to persuade Lani into staying. Although I think that only made her more mad...

"You don't know what it's like to have someone you love be killed. My parents are already dead, so I have to save the king and the rest of the village. Siltenio!" She yelled. And just like that, with a flash of light, her blond hair and brown eyes had turned into white fur and bright blue eyes. Her arms and legs turned into four legs with bright white fur. Her necklace started to glow in response to her transforming into her original self. Then she looked at me and ran into the woods.

"Lani! Ugh, siltenio!" I yelled. My red hair and blue eyes turned into fiery feathers and red eyes. My legs and feet turned into scaly legs and talons twice the size of a hawks, and my arms turned into majestic fiery wings that burn at the touch.

"Ahh," I said as I let out a deep breath, "it feels good to be back! Yoshi, can you show me where the portal that leads to the North side is? I only know the way to the West side portal."

"I mean, we're not supposed to tell anyone that doesn't live in the North where the portal is, but I guess under these circumstances, we have nothing to lose. Just follow me. Silteno!" He yelled, but nothing happened. He just stood there with his eyes closed expecting to transform back into an Ice wolf. "He he. well, this is awkward... sorry, I'm still trying to perfect the transformation stuff. It took me a few tries just to turn into a human! Siltenio!" He yelled correctly this time. His pale white skin and hair turned into rough white fur and bright blue eyes. His legs and feet turned into white paws with razor-sharp claws on the end. Despite the heat, he had icicles hanging from his fur, freezing him and preventing him to not pass out in the hot sun.

"Follow me!" He yelled as he ran into the forest.

I flew behind Yoshi, dodging trees every which way to not start a forest fire. All it would take is me to touch a tree, and it would be almost impossible to put out. Yoshi was searching the ground as we ran for her footprints. At his school, he takes a detective class that's meant for people twice his age. But he's so good at that kind of stuff that he passed the test to get in with flying colors. With his knowledge, we would be able to know how long ago she had been in an area and find her when we go through the portal.

"She was here a few minutes ago. she's far into the village by now, knowing her speed," Yoshi said, "come on, we're almost there."

When we arrived at the portal, I felt a shiver go down my spine. Wait, shiver? That makes no sense, I'm a bird of fire! Still, that was the least of our worries at the moment. 

"Here we are, Niah," Yoshi said as he stared at the portal, "stay with me, I know my way around here and exactly where Lani should be. Ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." I said as I took a deep breath. Little did I know, I wasn't.

When we entered, it was nothing like how I expected. Lani had told me stories about her town, but I had never actually been there before. Although, I'm sure that what I saw wasn't what anybody would think it would look like. She told me there were beautiful ice sculptures that glistened off the sunlight. Ice performers to entertain the children as the parents talked. But now, even in the cold state of temperature, fire was everywhere. The screaming and sword clashing were muffled by the cold, loud breeze. It seemed almost impossible to find her, but we had to at least try.