The Power of Love

Spirit Jerebis: Storms of Myths
Episode 13: "The Power of Love"

Rainbow of Time - Strife for the Mysteries - Enter a world of Faith - ... of Hope - ... of Heroism - Overcome sacrifices - Explore a world of Loyalty - ... of Friendship - ... of Justice - Spirit Jerebis

Previously on Storms of Myths:

Bristle here. Two of White Fox's close friends appeared, being both Shadow Owl and Alpha Lion. Both were on an assignment to return with White Fox to... Anihuleph... I think. Anyway, we found out of our charges and went back to our shelter with A.J. staying behind to know the Anihulman tale. We thought he won't find out, but he did know from the start. We came to know of the tale through probing A.J.'s mind and listening with him, all four of us. When he returned, I went with him to claim our charges of courage. Shadow Owl accompanied us and Alpha Lion went on his own to claim the charges of friendship for us. After a bath and rest for A.J., what's next? A new day awaits, full of revelations and adventure. On with the conclusion...

The next morning arrived, and the first thing that woke A.J. up was the sweet chirp-chirp of birds outside. He stretched in his bed and yawned. He got out of bed and went to the bathroom. He freshened himself up and went into the kitchen to see Ememon there, preparing some breakfast for Feranin League. A.J. retrieved his clothes and went back to his bedroom. His suit was ready for him, being washed; dried, and ironed. He took off his robe and put on his former suit on.

It was the green t-shirt and black shorts. He put the bathrobe back into the bathroom. Upon entering the diner room, A.J. noticed his four soul-warrior copedam all up and eating. A.J. froze momentarily and left his biovesto cabin. He went into his pecker -which he had yet to name- and fetched Lunal and Starspark. Upon somebody grabbing them, the two woke up and A.J. brought them back to the biovesto cabin. A.J. quickly got himself a few hotdog sandwiches.

He also got some hotdogs for Starspark and Lunal. Lunal might have been an herbivore, but he ate the hotdog pretty fast. Starspark was really hungry and was the quickest in eating his share of hotdogs. A.J. was still on his second sandwich, when Starspark was sitting and staring up at A.J., with his eyes pleading, being silent and patient. A.J. grinned and shook his head. Starspark stood up.

"Mew." He meowed.

A.J. chuckled. "I'm sorry, but that's all you'll get for now Starspark."

Starspark blinked. "Meow." He moaned.

"Alhamdullah." A.J. whispered, done with his breakfast.

With him done with his breakfast, he headed off towards the bathroom and washed his face; hands, and brushed his teeth. He went back to his bedroom, which also turned out to be his study in the biovesto cabin of his. He didn't know where his soul-warriors had headed off to, and didn't mind probing their minds to find out; he had bigger fish to fry. He sat down at his biovesto desk in his biovesto sofa seat. He brought up the hologram of the pecker outside.

It was spinning around and an organic keyboard appeared on the biovesto desk. The buttons were black in color and the letters or forms on the buttons were dark green in color. A.J. recalled what White Fox told him, about not naming his new starship 'Paladin of Darkness'. Thinking of Lunal, A.J. came up with a name and with silver outline, with capital letters, A.J. quickly wrote down the name of his new starship: 'The Lone Owl'.

A.J. was about the put the name on his biovesto starship, but then a new more interesting name came into his mind. He changed the name 'The Lone Owl' to 'FCL Star Trail'. He took the hologram, which was the name he wrote and put it on the starship. It stuck to the biovesto starship. Next came the flag. A.J. opened a new program, similar to paint and painted his flag, deciding that the flag would be the flag for Meric Land.

Again, he moved the painted flag onto the biovesto pecker, on the right wing to be precise, on the upper part of the wing. He closed the program he used to design the flag. The name was on the side of the biovesto pecker, to the right. While busy with working on his new biovesto pecker, 'FCL Star Trail', A.J. had remembered what Misterim told him about White Fox.

"Actually I'm still quite young. My body; mind, and soul are still young. I and one of my friends took a shot that made us live against sickness for thousand of years. Your ancestor refused to take it. Our friend's name is White Fox. If you ever meet up with him, tell him who you are and say hi to him for me."

That was way back when he and Stan first entered the Realm of Charges, and were on a mission to rescue the DigiDestined from Myotismon's Castle. It was some time after Ken had returned and the first attempt at rescuing the DigiDestined was a slight success, but basically a failure.

A.J. had added the Crescent's League crest to FCL Star Trail along with Feranin League's crest. He also added the outline of his crest of myths to the front of FCL Star Trail, on the top of the nose. One thing was for sure, A.J. did meet up with White Fox and White Fox already knew who he was. How ironic fate was sometimes. A.J. smiled to himself, thinking about that.

Done with his decoration and declaration of FCL Star Trail being his, A.J. typed a few things and the hologram of the biovesto pecker vanished. Instead, his four charges of courage came up, and A.J. typed a few more things. The holograms of his four copedam showed up beside their charge of courage and an arrow flashed from the charge towards the copedam. The copedam changed form from the juvenile form, to the courage form.

A.J. nodded, typed on his organic keyboard and the holograms vanished. He sighed, sitting back in his seat. He let his mind space out into his realm. Remembering some stuff Misterim had said, A.J. snapped back to reality, realizing that what White Fox told him, had conflicted with what Misterim had told him.

'Meadowis... That's what Misterim said was the name of White Fox's homeworld, yet not only White Fox, but also his two close friends: Shadow Owl and Alpha Lion, have said that their homeworld was named 'Anihuleph'. I need to talk with White Fox about this.' A.J. thought, getting out of his biovesto seat...

A.J. entered White Fox's Study and noticed Shadow Owl being there. White Hulman was also there, sitting down with White Fox and Shadow Owl around the biovesto table. He got up and A.J. understood. He shook his head.

"Thanks, but I don't want anything. I already had breakfast and food at my... home. Stay with us." A.J. requested.

White Hulman stopped, glanced at A.J., blinked and glanced at White Fox. White Fox shrugged.

"Fine with me. You can continue on with your rest." He nodded.

White Hulman sighed and sat back down on his seat. A.J. walked into the study, and his foot rubbed against a biovesto bag, making it crackle. A.J. stopped and glanced down at the bag, noticing some stuff in it. He blinked and turned to White Fox, pointing at the bag.

"What's this?" He asked.

White Fox grinned. "It's a biovesto bag. Go on ahead and see what's in it. It's yours; it wasn't mine to begin with. You can keep the bag too; I have many of them."

White Fox refrained himself from telling A.J. what the contents of the biovesto bag was on purpose, and who returned it on purpose. He wanted to see how it would turn out, between A.J. and Alpha Lion. A.J. knelt down and opened the bag. He gasped, noticing the four charges. Speechless for a few moments, he stood up and took a vacant seat around the round biovesto table.

"... Do you know where my copedam are?" He asked.

A.J. wisely decided not to ask who returned them. He recognized the four charges, as being his four charges of friendship. He figured that he would find out who returned it sooner or later.

"Zonemon came in a while back and told us you were in your bedroom doing some work on your pecker. He and the other three copedam are out, acquainting themselves with the locals." Shadow Owl explained.

A.J. nodded, "I named it: FCL Star Trail and it's done. Do you two want to see it?" He asked.

Shadow Owl stood up; ready to check out A.J.'s biovesto starship: FCL Star Trail. White Fox held up his hand, refusing.

"Not now. First there are some things we want to share with you and I'm sure you have questions." White Fox stated.

"That I do. How did you know?" A.J. asked.

"Well, you would come in here with questions and not just to visit, right?" White Fox asked.

A.J. shrugged. "I guess so."

"We'll start. You can tell him the most recent news." White Fox decided, nodding towards Shadow Owl.

Shadow Owl sighed and turned to A.J.

"First thing is first. White Fox; Alpha Lion, and I decided on giving ourselves titles, since we're the only three Anihulmans here in the Realm of Charges." Shadow Owl started.

"But..." A.J. paused. "Don't you three already have the names?" He asked, pointing at the two Anihulmans.

Shadow Owl chuckled. "A team's name; not our birth names legend. We won't change those... Well, it's already spread around town when Alpha Lion left, and we decided on it when Alpha Lion was also here... White Hulman here knows about it, but since he isn't one of us, he's not a member of the team... As of recently we're now known as Trio of Resolve."

A.J. raised an eyebrow. "Trio of Resolve? Is this a joke? I mean, yeah, there are three of you. But Trio of Resolve? Surely I could come up with something better."

"Enlighten us then and give the three of us a team name." White Fox requested, putting his arms on the biovesto table and inching closer to A.J.

A.J. blinked. "... Trio of Resolve would do just fine for the meantime." He muttered.

White Fox slapped his furred open palm on the biovesto table gently.

"There you go... Sorry." He apologized.

"For what?" A.J. asked.

White Fox giggled. "Not to you! But for hurting the biovesto, if I hurt it that is. I made sure that my slap was gentle." He explained.

"O.K. So should I start asking?" A.J. asked.

"Not yet." Shadow Owl replied, shaking his head.

"First of all, we'll tell you... well, Shadow Owl here would tell us about the assignment. I want to hear it myself and hadn't gotten the time to hear it until now. After that, you'll get yourself another history lesson... Don't fret; it'll be short." White Fox assured.

A.J. leant back into his biovesto seat and folded his arms.

"Fire away." He allowed.

White Fox waved his arm towards Shadow Owl, indicating for Shadow Owl to start his and Alpha Lion's tale, before they had arrived or reached the Realm of Charges. Shadow Owl nodded.

"Very well. It's a good thing Alpha Lion isn't here, or he'll pay attention to all the small details and would want to correct me. Listen up. Here's the tale of me and Alpha Lion's assignment...

... Flashback...

Shadow Owl was walking down a dark corridor in urgency. He knew the path too well, so the light wasn't a problem and it was always dark from the start. Shadow Owl ventured to the lower bunkers only in daylight, but now on the surface it was nighttime. Shadow Owl was sure of why he was summoned. He wasn't sure if anyone else was summoned with him and if the one who summoned him was there or not.

It had been more than a week since White Fox's last transmission and since he had vanished. Shadow Owl was getting awfully worried that Tunnel Alliance had probably captured him and killed him. But if Tunnel Alliance had captured White Fox, won't they tell Nova Alliance of their hostage? Probably not. Tunnel Alliance never told Nova Alliance about their hostages; it just was like them.

The two guarding Anihulmans saw Shadow Owl pacing towards them. They glanced at each other, and let Shadow Owl pass. Since Shadow Owl was nocturnal, he didn't mind the absence of light in the corridor, since he could see his own way with his sharpened eyesight. The black crovinze door opened by itself and Shadow Owl passed the two guarding Pressure Skunks. Once stepping in, the black crovinze door closed behind Shadow Owl.

The new room he was in was lighted and he could see everyone clearly. Other than him, there were two other occupants in the room, both standing up. It was obvious to Shadow Owl that he was the last to arrive.

"Listen up you two. I summoned you two on an urgent matter. From now, do you two think you two can handle it?" Yellow Deer asked.

Alpha Lion folded his arms. "What's the assignment first?" He inquired.

Yellow Deer sighed and Shadow Owl noticed worry and concern on the attractive leader's face. For a moment, Shadow Owl noticed what White Fox was attracted to.

White Fox snorted. "That's Yellow Deer for you. Get to know her the way I do, and such 'looks' you'd get used to."

Yellow Deer first glanced at Shadow Owl then at Alpha Lion.

"The assignment is White Fox." She informed.

Alpha Lion raised an eyebrow.

"Do our allies in Nova Alliance know of this?" Shadow Owl asked.

Yellow Deer shook her head. "They don't and they don't need to. If they did, they'd refuse to help for one thing and for another... it's our cause. We haven't heard from White Fox for a week now. On his last transmission, White Fox sounded calm and collected, but I know better."

White Fox grunted. "Yellow Deer always knows such things. I can't fool her!"

"Why us?" Alpha Lion asked.

"Because I know the two of you to be close friends with White Fox." Yellow Deer replied.

White Fox shrugged. "I couldn't keep any secrets from her in the first place."

"White Fox, please. I thought Alpha Lion would interrupt me, but now it's you? Do you want to hear the rest of the tale or not?" Shadow Owl asked.

"... Proceed."

"Thank you."

"What if we refuse?" Alpha Lion asked.

"... That's not an option. I'm sure both of you want to find White Fox also." Yellow Deer replied.

"What are the consequences of refusing this assignment?" Shadow Owl repeated, rephrasing the question.

"... Simply put, I'll kick the two of you out of Nova Alliance. You'll get to keep your starships, but all privileges as Nova Alliance Nights would be stripped from you." Yellow Deer replied.

White Fox laughed and Shadow Owl glared at him. White Fox blinked, noticing Shadow Owl's glare and stopped laughing.

Shadow Owl sighed, "I've been worried for him for a week. I for one am going."

"... Count me in." Alpha Lion agreed.

Yellow Deer smiled. "Good. Now, spy on Tunnel Alliance and scout their space. Try to find something that would indicate any giveaways to the whereabouts of White Fox. Your starships are now being stripped of the Nova Alliance crest and flag, being replaced by the crest and flag of Anihuleph. When you find him, return with him. Also, if it would be possible and won't be a burden, pass down to him the message: I love him and miss him."

Both Alpha Lion and Shadow Owl nodded in unison. Shadow Owl understood that the Nova Alliance crest and flag were being stripped from Shadow Glide as to show Tunnel Alliance that neither Shadow Glide or Dusk Predator were working for Nova Alliance, but for Anihuleph.

'Piece of cake.' Shadow Owl thought, leaving the room with Alpha Lion...

... End Flashback...

"That's it?" White Fox asked.

Shadow Owl sighed. "For one thing, you interrupted me three times and for another, I'll leave the rest of the tale for some other time. In the meanwhile, don't we have other stuff to tell A.J., and for A.J. to ask?"

White Fox sighed. He wanted to hear more about the tale and secretly to know more about Yellow Deer.

"I guess by telling that 'first part' of the tale, you're indirectly telling me what Yellow Deer passed on to you and Alpha Lion." He concluded.

Shadow Owl nodded. "That's affirmative. I told Alpha Lion that I would be the one to tell you in the first place."

"... I would guess the rest of the tale wasn't a 'piece of cake' as you put it." A.J. reasoned.

Shadow Owl sweat-dropped. "... Well, yes. It wasn't as easy as I or Alpha Lion thought. We encountered more trouble and danger than we expected. Besides the rest of the tale is for some other time." He shrugged.

"Don't you forget about it." A.J. advised.

"Please! Alpha Lion is the one who forgets about things... That's one of the reasons why I told him that I would pass Yellow Deer's message to White Fox. There are two more parts in the tale. The whole tale is a trilogy of three parts." Shadow Owl explained.

"Three parts? Very well... Where did we reach in our history last time?" White Fox asked.

"Doesn't matter. I'll tell legend what remains." Shadow Owl decided.

White Fox shrugged. "Very well. Proceed. I'll just sit back and listen. You are a good storyteller." He grinned.

Shadow Owl grunted. "Yeah right! Anyway...

"Anihulmans got to meet the other four species: Planetene; Cometous; Neutronese, and Solartan, because we Anihulmans achieved something. Again, Alpha Lion wasn't born at that time, but both of us: I and White Fox, were. The first specie we met was Cometous and Cometous told Planetene about us. So naturally the first two we met were friendly towards us. It's no wonder we formed an alliance together.

"I'll tell you this: Anihulmans are far more advanced than your world legend, that's for sure. Where in your dimension, Earth had succeeded in entering space, it still isn't able to travel through it. We were able to travel through space and even change habitats and atmospheres of planets. With such technology in our hands... err... or paws if you may... We made our known planets in our known solar systems inhabitable.

"That included: Awaken; Starton; Flastin; Flaret; Prismton; Unicornia; Tranflex, and Rankdust. Little lived on Twinkle Ghost: one of Rankdust's moons. Through Twinkle Ghost we made contact with Cometous, with it being the closest to our solar system. I'll have to say, the solid rock planets: Awaken; Starton, and Flastin, weren't hard to be made habitable.

"Flaret; Prismton; Unicornia, and Tranflex were harder, even though they had land surfaces. That's all."

"Nice." A.J. whispered.

"Now, what questions do you have for us?" White Fox asked.

"I see that Feranin League and Actonal Army would stay longer in the Realm of Charges, more than the Trio of Resolve... We'll all need to train the populace of Resolve in combat and battle, with other things -like strategy- before any of us goes." A.J. explained.

Shadow Owl blinked. "... You know? That's a good idea."

"I'm with it. I'm sure though that's not what you wanted to ask." White Fox remarked, raising an eyebrow.

A.J. sighed. "Yeah. It's about your homeworld. You see, when Misterim was alive, he told me that your homeworld's name was Meadowis. Yet you three, including Alpha Lion, have mentioned your homeworld as being called Anihuleph. What should I go with?"

Just as A.J., Shadow Owl was confused and both glanced at White Fox for an answer. White Fox smiled.

"What else did good old Misterim say about me? If he mentioned 'Meadowis' as being my homeworld, I know he did mention me. Did he have you pass on a message to me?" White Fox asked.

A.J. sweat-dropped. "Actually, he did. You're right, Misterim did mention you. He also did tell me something to pass it on to you. For one thing, your... army tag, I suppose, is back at his underground home. As for his message: he sends his greetings."

White Fox moaned. "... Never mind. Meadowis is the secret name for Anihuleph. Misterim knows of Anihuleph as Anihuleph and he was the one to come up with 'Meadowis'... Come to think of it, I've thought about this before on random occasions, but we could use that secret name as a name for our homeworld when we're in Tunnel Alliance space. Anyway, I liked the idea and when I talked about Anihuleph, I'd address it as 'Meadowis' with him."

"We can address it from now like that. I'll tell Alpha Lion about it." Shadow Owl nodded.

Noticing that they were engaged in their own conversation, White Hulman decided to leave them to their own talk. Both White Fox and A.J. noticed White Hulman's departure.

"By the way White Fox, are you planning on taking White Hulman with you when you return to Meadowis? This is, when Trio of Resolve returns?" A.J. inquired.

White Fox was silent for a moment. He had never considered that and A.J. had asked a good question. White Fox himself wouldn't have considered it or thought of it until the time came when he would return to Anihuleph. But back then, he thought that it was a strong fact and possibility that he would never return, so why bother with such thinking? Now with Shadow Owl and Alpha Lion with him, the possibility of him returning was stronger than the opposite.

A.J. waited for White Fox to collect his thoughts and to answer. He knew that White Fox hadn't thought of it deeply for a long time, if not at all. Secretly, his spirit and heart wanted White Hulman to join Feranin League and as soon as possible. Eventually White Fox sighed.

"... I'll have to think about that." White Fox replied.

"How long have you been here?" A.J. asked.

"I have a question: What's White Hulman's story?" Shadow Owl asked.

"I've been here for two decades. I've met White Hulman just five years ago. Back then, he was alone and still so young. I took him in and raised him up since then. He's like around thirteen now, in the term of Earth years. As for his story, that's all I know of it. He hasn't talked since I first met him. We got used to each other and he voluntarily became my 'butler'. I have a few ideas on how to handle him when the time would come for us to return to Meadowis." White Fox explained.

"... This has been on my mind for awhile, but do you know of Straymon?" A.J. asked.

White Fox grunted. "Too well... He tried harassing Resolve Town before, but I always repelled him as White Warrior. He wasn't a match for me. Any other questions?"

"Yes... Do you two know about... um... I don't know if I should say this but... about... Shadow Stalkers?" A.J. asked.

White Fox's and Shadow Owl's eyes widened in unison.

"Why?" White Fox asked, whispering.

"Have you seen any?" Shadow Owl added, also whispering.

A.J. sweat-dropped. "No... I just... I don't know where that came from." He sighed.

White Fox narrowed an eye. "It is said that the legend holds the memories and skills of his late ancestor: Hadef Actonal. Is this correct?" He asked.

A.J. nodded.

"Hadef must have encountered some Shadow Stalkers then and that's probably how you know about them. Considering the legend: you won't need any special eyewear to see them." White Fox explained.

"Misterim also mentioned about Superbsin. Any info on them?" A.J. asked.

Instantly, both White Fox and Shadow Owl paled and shivered in unison. A.J. raised an eyebrow, interested to know more. It was not everyday you saw two Anihulmans react simultaneously in unison.

"... Uh... Misterim told you about them?" White Fox asked, shivering.

A.J. nodded. "He did. He also told me about K-Pax."

Shadow Owl heaved. "K-Pax is a friendly planet to Nova Alliance, but isn't part of the alliance."

"But isn't Meadowis in... umm... I forgot its name." A.J. moaned.

White Fox chuckled. "No need. Meadowis is in the same galaxy as Earth. In fact, didn't you pay notice to what Shadow Owl told you? It's just in another dimension, not another galaxy. You probably got mixed up there."

"Superbsin... You two know stuff about them, don't you?" A.J. inquired.

"Just hope you won't ever encounter such specie and hope that in your dimension, Earth won't encounter it either. Even Tunnel Alliance stays away from Superbsin. Superbsin has both alliances on their knees, or it could bring both our alliances to their knees if they wished it." Shadow Owl explained.

"Yeah. Misterim said something about them being extremely strong." A.J. nodded.

"This is an uneasy and tense topic for both Nova Alliance and Tunnel Alliance. I advise you not to bring it up in our presence, or in the presence of any of the five species from both alliances." White Fox advised.

"... I can see that." A.J. muttered.

"May we come and see your biovesto pecker now?" Shadow Owl asked, standing up.

"Sure." A.J. replied, standing up as well. "And it's named FCL Star Trail. You mentioned Dusk Predator and Shadow Glide in your tale. What are those two?"

"I sure miss that starship... Shadow Glide was my Anihulman Ripple Class Pecker, while Dusk Predator was Alpha Lion's Anihulman Ripple Class Pecker. Don't ask about what happened to them, or where they are, because that's in part three of my tale." Shadow Owl replied.

White Fox stood up. "Now weren't we going to see A.J.'s FCL Star Trail or not?" He asked.

"Of course." A.J. nodded.

He took the lead in leaving White Fox's home.

"White Hulman! I'm just going to step out for a few moments!" White Fox informed, taking the rear.

He didn't wait for an answer and just followed A.J. and Shadow Owl out...

The duo of Resolve and 'legend' exited White Fox's home and headed towards A.J.'s shelter. White Fox knew where it was, as did Shadow Owl, since A.J.'s biovesto shelter was near FCL Star Trail. A.J. took the lead and his mind was occupied, while White Fox and Shadow Owl took the rear, all three of them silent. Noticing something in the distance, Shadow Owl stopped suddenly and gasped. Noticing his fellow creature stopping, White Fox stopped as well.

He glanced back at Shadow Owl and noticed Shadow Owl pale, staring at something. White Fox glanced at where Shadow Owl was staring at, and noticing what Shadow Owl saw, paled himself.

"A.J.?" White Fox asked.

A.J. blinked and noticed that nobody was following him. He glanced back and saw both White Fox and Shadow Owl stopped; paled, and staring at something. A.J. rolled his eyes.

"I thought you two wanted to see FCL Star Trail." He stated.

"A.J.!" A booming voice greeted.

A.J. winced at the high tone of voice he heard and sweat-dropped. He turned his head behind him and saw a huge white dragon form close by his biovesto pecker. Looking closer, A.J. saw the dragon's eyes and noticed that the eyes were friendly and gentle; not hostile or threatening at all. Relieved, A.J. sighed and continued on walking towards FCL Star Trail.

"What are you doing?" White Fox asked, whispering.

"Where do you think you're going?" Shadow Owl asked, also whispering.

Both were frozen in fear, considering both were Anihulman and both saw years of war and death. A.J. ignored them and continued on towards FCL Star Trail. He stopped in front of the white dragon. On closer glances, A.J. noticed some difference with the white dragon, differences that didn't make it a dragon, but some other kind of creature. The white creature lowered its body and had its huge face stare at A.J. Its eyes blinked in wonder.

"Aimer?" A.J. asked in inquiry.

The creature's lips turned into a smile. "Aimer Actonal. I know you're A.J. Actonal of Crescent League. I'm glad I finally met you."

"Did you know I was here in the Realm of Charges before?" A.J. asked.

The creature nodded. "I did, but I knew you were too busy so I didn't approach you. Besides, that crescentian hated me." It muttered.

A.J. narrowed an eye. "Misterim knew about you? He never told me such a creature as you existed. Besides... he's dead now. He died in his sleep several weeks ago." He informed.

The creature glanced up at A.J. "My father? Dead?" He asked.

A.J.'s eyes widened. "Father?" He asked.

Noticing that A.J. and the huge creature were having a peaceful conversation, White Fox and Shadow Owl approached the two, cautiously, because they didn't trust the huge creature yet.

The creature sighed. "Yes... He was the one who created me, with complicated DNA stuff... I don't even understand such things." He sobbed.

White Fox chuckled. "So you're the experiment good old Misterim was working on!" He realized.

The creature snorted at White Fox. "That 'good old' dad told me about you foxy! He was more like a mean old dad. Pardon me, my name is Mamigrol." He introduced himself.

A.J. glanced at the two Anihulmans.

"Shame on you two. Mamigrol is friendly and gentle. Don't you see that in his eyes?" A.J. asked.

White Fox blinked and glanced at Mamigrol's eyes. Indeed, he did notice the friendliness and gentleness in Mamigrol's eyes. He ignored Mamigrol's comment about him. Shadow Owl was more interested in listening, rather than speaking.

"Are there any others of your kind?" A.J. asked, turning back to Mamigrol.

Mamigrol shook his head. "That's a negative. Misterim told me that I'm what he called 'a prototype', though I don't know what that means."

This time, A.J.; White Fox, and Shadow Owl sweat-dropped in unison.

'Was Misterim as bad and mean as Mamigrol claims?' A.J. thought.

'So good old Misterim had a mean side in him... I always knew that.' White Fox thought, grinning.

Distracting himself from the huge creature in front of him, Shadow Owl glanced at FCL Star Trail and paced around it, careful in not touching it. He had already learnt his lesson and didn't want to go through or experience what happened to him the first time. He was really impressed. He noticed the edge of the flag of Meric Land and the name at the side of the biovesto pecker.

"I must say, this is good work you did here legend." Shadow Owl complimented, returning back to A.J. and White Fox.

The distraction did Shadow Owl well, as he indeed forgot about Mamigrol. He was rudely reminded of Mamigrol the moment he went in front of it again. A.J. glanced at Shadow Owl and understood how he felt.

"You haven't see half of it. There's more designs on FCL Star Trail than the ones you were capable of seeing." A.J. stated.

Shadow Owl nodded. "I'm sure of that."

"I'll check FCL Star Trail later on. In the meantime, shouldn't you and your copedam go searching for the rest of your charges?" White Fox asked.

A.J. sweat-dropped. "I forgot about that." He muttered.

"Mamigrol, you're welcome to stay in Resolve Town. Welcome to Resolve Town." White Fox smiled. "As for me and Shadow Owl, let's go and look for Alpha... I mean, start training the town's populace."

White Fox stopped himself, upon realizing that Alpha Lion had went on another wild treasure hunt for the charges. A few moments later, and both Anihulmans saw A.J. leaving White Fox's home.

"Why did he go in?" Shadow Owl asked.

"Probably to gain his four charges of friendship." White Fox replied, whispering...

After claiming his four charges of friendship from White Fox's home, A.J. decided to leave the biovesto bag where it was. He left White Fox's home and went into the town, in search for his four copedam.

"Paladin!" A familiar voice yelled.

A.J. turned to the voice and saw Equalmon galloping towards him. Mounted on Equalmon was Zonemon and nearby, Ememon was flapping his wings close to the ground, while Otazoidmon flew through the air smoothly, above Ememon; Equalmon, and Zonemon. All four either landed or stopped in front of A.J.

"How was your morning?" Zonemon asked pleasantly, dismounting Equalmon.

"Full of revelations." A.J. replied.

"Where to now?" Otazoidmon asked.

"To the Forest of Mist. We're to find our charges of loves." A.J. decided.

Equalmon sweat-dropped. "Oh no. We've talked to some of the populace and got to know several of them. We'll tell you all about it later on. The important thing is that Alpha Lion was seen heading in that direction. Well... Not Alpha Lion, but the populace did give the descriptions that sounded like Alpha Lion."

A.J. raised his eyebrow. 'Could it be Alpha Lion was the one who returned my charges of friendship? Now he wants to return my charges of love? Why? It doesn't make any sense.'

"Resolve to Shooting Star, do you copy?" Zonemon asked, waving a paw in front of A.J.'s face.

A.J. blinked, snapping out of it.

"Sorry. I spaced off there for a moment... Any other useful information?" He asked.

"Just to be aware of some birds called Skyrings. If sighted, it would be best to leave them alone. That's what we heard." Ememon informed.

"Lu!" A hoot yelled.

A.J. smiled, noticing Lunal flying towards him. In silence, Lunal landed on A.J.'s right shoulder, his usual spot. A.J. turned around.

"Now, in which direction does the Forest of Mist reside?" A.J. asked.

"We came in from the west, which is where Dune Desert resides. To the east resides Croland territory and we found out to the south of Resolve Highlands is the Forest of Mist." Equalmon replied.

"So that's the direction we'll take." A.J. decided, walking towards the south.

The rest of Feranin League followed A.J. They all departed Resolve Town in silence, heading to the south...

"Don't you want any of us to crevolve or charge?" Zonemon asked.

A.J. shook his head. "I'd prefer not. I want all of you to reserve your energies for later."

"It'll be faster if one of us evolved somehow." Equalmon remarked.

A.J. rolled his eyes. "I know! No evolving for now and that's my final decision!"

"I thought I was the leader here." Ememon complained.

"But I'm the sailor here." A.J. retorted.

Ememon moaned. "So that means you can easily overrule me?" He asked.

A.J. grinned. "That's right. Speaking of which, a few new members might join Feranin League. It isn't official yet and I didn't ask them or tell anyone yet, except you guys. You'll all know soon enough, maybe after we get the charges of love."

"The more the merrier." Otazoidmon whispered.

"Since this is going to take time, did anybody mind in bringing food or water at least?" Equalmon asked.

Otazoidmon grinned. "Hasn't anyone noticed the bag around my shoulder?" He asked.

Feranin League glanced at Otazoidmon and they all saw a black-green bag around Otazoidmon's shoulder.

"That's good to know." Zonemon whispered.

"... Um... What happened to your sentinel bag A.J.?" Equalmon asked.

A.J. blinked. "Now you noticed?"

Equalmon shrugged. "Yeah. I guess we were too busy to notice any details like that."

"It's safe in my room in our biovesto home." A.J. informed.

"That's good to hear." Equalmon sighed...

Fortunately, the walk to the Forest of Mist didn't take long. There was no need for Otazoidmon's bag of food. Feranin League stopped momentarily at the entrance to the forest. Lunal flapped his wings and flew off of A.J.'s shoulder. He flew into a tree and vanished from sight. A.J. knew Lunal would stay close to the league. After swallowing the scene in, Feranin League entered the forest and unlike its name, there was no mist.

There would be mist at night most likely. It was beautiful in the forest, with Feranin League walking through it. The sun did reach them, but the thick canopy above them, protected them from the heat and light. It was cool and slightly dim on the ground, but Feranin League didn't mind. A.J. wondered where Alpha Lion would be and if Feranin League would meet up with him. Probably Alpha Lion was lost. After all, the forest wasn't his habitat.

The only sound in the forest, other than Feranin League walking through it, was the sweet sound of chirping birds. The chirping was unlike anything A.J. heard or knew of. He had heard it earlier in the morning, when he woke up, but didn't know about the bird that imitated the sound.

"Did the residents say anything about any details on Skyrings?" A.J. asked.

"Just that they have silver beaks. Skyrings are the only birds here in the Forest of Mist, from what one gnome told me. I guess we're hearing them." Equalmon replied.

"Why are they called Skyrings? More importantly, why should we be aware of them?" A.J. asked.

Zonemon shrugged. "The populace of Resolve Town was silent about that. All they said was that Skyrings was the birds' official name, but it's also more known as, and is more common, as Sky Birds."

"Sky Birds." A.J. whispered.

They had been walking in the forest for nearly an hour and still no sign of the charges of love. Feranin League were starting to become desperate, wanting to change directions and head back to Resolve Town, and to what was now home for them. A.J. wasn't giving up yet, nor heading back, until he found the charges. However, he did see how tired and exhausted Feranin League was. He stopped by a tree and sat down under the shade.

It didn't matter where you sat down, you would always be under the shade.

"15 minutes rest and then we continue on. We aren't heading back to Resolve Town until we find our charges of love." A.J. informed.

The league sighed and all of them collapsed near A.J. Otazoidmon took off his shoulder bag and took out some food. Immediately, Equalmon; Ememon, and Zonemon joined Otazoidmon in eating. A.J. was hungry, but he wasn't going to eat until he got his charges of love. Otazoidmon offered some food to him and A.J. refused it. A.J. knew Lunal was nearby and he knew that Lunal knew of their resting. Most likely, Lunal was resting in the same tree A.J. and the league was under.

After about 10 minutes of rest, the soul-warrior copedam had their full of the food and there was still some left. Otazoidmon packed it up and joined A.J. under the shade of the tree. Chirping was still heard, but after a few minutes, a different type of chirping, what sounded more like upset or angry chirping, was heard. A.J. immediately got onto his feet upon hearing it. He beckoned for his soul-warrior copedam to stay and continue their given rest.

A.J. walked over to the tree where the voices were clear, leaving his soul-warrior copedam behind. He looked up and the tree seemed to be really old, with a tall trunk and no branches, until several feet high up in the air. That high, A.J. could barely see a branch with a nice, but weird, looking nest. He saw Lunal fly towards it and two Skyrings attacking something. A.J. could barely make out what the two flying Skyrings were attacking.

He was sure that it was those two Skyrings that were making the entire fuss. A few moments later and A.J. saw something falling to the ground. He also heard Lunal's voice talking with the two enraged Skyrings. A.J. watched the thing fall to the ground, but it landed gracefully and unharmed on its four legs. Standing back up on its two feet, the figure glanced back upwards. He was just on the opposite side of A.J.

"... Alpha Lion?" A.J. asked, recognizing the figure.

It was the only reasonable conclusion. The figure turned towards the voice, hearing its name and indeed, it was Alpha Lion. Noticing A.J. stare at him, with eyes telling Alpha Lion to explain everything, Alpha Lion sweat-dropped and sighed. He quickly gave up the idea of going back up again. Besides, he noticed A.J.'s indidam up there talking with heat up there with the two parented Skyrings.

Knowing A.J. would eventually get his charges of love, thanks to Lunal and no thanks to him, Alpha Lion walked over to A.J.

"I can explain." Alpha Lion stated, stopping in front of A.J.

A.J. raised an eyebrow. "I'd love to hear this." He remarked, folding his arms.

Before Alpha Lion could start explaining, they both heard something falling down. A.J. and Alpha Lion glanced up and saw what appeared to be a charge falling down. Without worry, A.J.'s univice glowed and sucked in the falling charge. Three more charges followed and every time A.J.'s univice sucked them in. A few moments later and both saw Lunal fly away from the tree, heading back towards where his soul-warrior copedam were resting.

"Well... I'm waiting." A.J. reminded.

"Uh yes. You see, I felt bad about my suggestion yesterday in taking your pecker and wanted to make it up for you legend. I asked for White Fox's help and he did help me with a biovesto bag. While you and Shadow Owl went to get your charges of courage, I went to get your charges of friendship and they weren't easy to retrieve. I figured the charges of friendship won't be enough and came out for your charges of love... I'm sorry about all that." Alpha Lion explained, sighing.

A.J. grinned. "Good. Completely honest and I believe you. Don't worry about your suggestion about FCL Star Trail, the name of my biolure pecker, you're forgiven. As for the charges of friendship... Thanks for retrieving them for me. Want to rest with us and head back to Resolve Town with us?" He asked, nodding.

Alpha Lion smiled. "Thanks for the offer. I'd love to join you and your league back to Resolve Town legend."

COMING UP! EPISODE 14: SOUL-WARRIOR PAST

Rainbow of Time - Strife for the Mysteries - Exit a world of Determination - ... of Courage - ... of Truth - ... of Trust - ... of Conscience - ... of Wisdom - Overcome extremely dangerous journeys - ...ambitions - ... fears - Explore a world of Love - ... of Honesty - ... of Virility - ... of Leadership - Spirit Jerebis