Kaze: Guardians

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There was no bottom. All I saw was blackness. I stepped away from the cliff and looked at my friends. I didn't need to tell them. They already knew. Yara grabbed Juno's hand protectively. Juno turned to her and smiled.
All around us were trees and hills and valleys, but shadows were thrown strangely, so an otherwise beautiful, bright scene was painted in dark, muted shades of green and purple and brown. There was no sun, no moon. The sky was a purplish wine color.
I turned to Kasumi. She looked older. A few years older than me, perhaps. I offered her my hand. She hesitated for a second, fear flashing across her features before standing up on her own.
We stood at the edge of the cliff I stood on before passing out. Kasumi recognized the place and tried to run, but Juno stopped her. No. He said without his mouth moving. It just echoed in my mind. She turned back around and held my hand. I took Juno's hand. Juno grabbed Yara's hand. I counted. 3... Yara got ready to jump. 2... Juno closed his eyes. 1... Kasumi squeezed my hand harder.
Together we jumped into the void.
I looked at my friends. Juno was falling head first, Yara was doing flips, and Kasumi was limp. I looked up and watched the ledge shrink from sight. I turned to count Yara's flips and lighten the mood, but Yara and Juno had disappeared! I turned to Kasumi to ask if she could see them, but she was gone, too! What the heck? I asked. A small, white dot appeared in front of me and grew until it blinded me.
I found myself floating in a black space. Footsteps echoed behind me. I turned to see Gossamer running toward me. Her face looked relieved. She spoke to me. "Thank the real gods I was able to pull you out of there! Are you okay?"
For the first time since I had arrived in this strange place, I could speak actual words. "I'm fine, I guess. Everything here is so dark. Where am I? What is this place?"
She shook her head. "I'm not sure I..." She paused. "Kaze, look out!" She shoved me out of the way and jumped back herself. A huge wall of fire sprang up between us. "You're dreams are awfully unstable this morning!" I heard her shout.
Through the wall of fire, I saw three people. On the left, a girl with some kind of strange sword was revealed.
On the right, a strange man. His frame looked older, maybe in his 40s or 50s. He wielded a small stick and appeared to be the fire's master. Whenever he raised the stick higher, the flames rose higher. I didn't trust him.
The figure in the middle was perhaps the most unsettling. It was a dark, shadowy mirror image of me. I got closer to 'him' to see if I could find any differences between us, but no differences were found.
I didn't know where Gossamer was or why she couldn't control the current dream we were stuck in. "Gossamer?" I shouted. "Gossamer! Where did you go?!" The wall of fire slowly crackled into nothing, and Gossamer still wasn't there. I tried calling her name and crossing to her side of the flames. I didn't find evidence that she had even been there, even though I knew I had seen her. She suddenly appeared right in front of me. I cried out and stumbled back, blinded by her sudden reappearance.
"Are you okay?" She asked.
"Where did you go?!" I demanded.
She didn't respond immediately. She took my hand and pulled me away from the wall of fire. "I was talking with your family. Nice bunch, they are. A bit crazy. They hate me for stealing a potential follower from them. So, I'm a bit curious. I'm not a real goddess. Why  me?"
"Gossamer. I don't care who tells me how many times, you are a goddess. You're my goddess. To answer your question, though, I really hated all of my other options."
She laughed. It was a childlike laughter, sweet and high pitched and innocent. I smiled at the sound. She pulled me into a warm, tight hug. I thought it was awkward, but I let her have it. "Thank you, Kaze. You're a good follower and my best friend."
I was shocked. I always had a best friend with me. We stayed in that hug until I blinked and sunlight filled my line of vision.