145 Phase 124: Choices (1)

[Colin! Help!]

Colin jumped. "Shiro?!"

But the white wolfcat was not there. Colin looked around Casiphia's balcony, wondering where he'd heard Shiro from as down below, Big Tim finished off his bout with Ezri, winning by a fair margin.

"Colin?" Alicia eyed him. "What's the matter?"

"Shiro's in trouble." Colin said, scanning for his First Comrade. There… running up the mountain trail. He was tired, and worried, though not for himself. "He's coming up on Icegate. That campsite has anti-Wild defenses… they're probably going to open fire on him… but he can't go around them, and he needs to come up here. I don't know why, but…"

"You do realize that if you run off to help him, you would be leaving the Tournament deliberately. That means you'll forfeit." Alicia pointed out.

Colin hesitated.

{I've come so far… on my own, with just the Comrades I have. Without Shiro or even Raiki. I don't know how far I can go, but I fought this hard, and this long…}

{But Shiro needs me. He won't make it up here the way he's going now. He was supposed to be able to, but something happened… he's too busy to explain now, but something spooked him. What could give Shiro such a fright?}

{Still… the Tournament… if I leave now… I'd be no better than Little Tim… I'd be a quitter… what would everyone say…? On top of that, Shiro left me. He left me the very first night I arrived on this continent. He never came to help me when I needed him, when I called for his help. Why should I go to him now?}

He should stay, Colin supposed. Stay and fight the Tournament he signed up for… to win the title he had been striving for…

{The title of the Mountain Prince.} Colin considered it. {It's… well…}

Alicia's voice came to mind. "You're greedy!"

It was true, Colin reflected. The real reason why he was here, why he was in this Tournament was because he realized that money here could be transferred to real life money. Because he suddenly had an appreciation for Dreamworlds Clira.

{If she pulls off her plan, Alicia could go to college on her earnings in Dreamworlds. What could I do in real life with the money I could earn here?}

It was worthwhile, wasn't it? To earn a title with such tangible rewards? Something he could bring back to the waking world, turned into something he could see and touch… surely it was worthwhile.

{Then why… why do I feel… bad? So very, very bad…?}

Another memory came to mind. His own thoughts and feelings, surprising him out of nowhere. {"Lynn… I'm sorry."}

Lynn. Colin thought about her now. About her letter. {"Colin… I'm running out of time…"}

She needed him. That much was clear. And he wanted to help her. He wanted to save her, restore her power. How the Three Keys Quest affected it, he wasn't sure. As far as he understood, she meant it for him to become one of her Forest Rangers, and somehow, that tied in to restoring her Forest Princess powers.

{The Forest…} Colin saw it now, even as he stood on the mountain. The deep, green leaves. The scent of fresh dew and timeless woods. The rustle of a Forest Wild moving through the undergrowth. The rays of sunlight through the canopy of trees overhead. The whispers of the Forest itself, calling him home. {Home.}

"I can't do this." Colin said, and only realized the truth of it after it slipped out of his mouth. "Casiphia was right. I can't do this."

"Colin?" Alicia blinked. "What are you talking about?"

"The title of the Mountain Prince." Colin took a deep breath. "It's tempting. Very, very tempting. But… it's not for me. I love the Forest."

The heights were grand and majestic. They held honor and mystery and great strength. There was much about the mountains that Colin liked, even loved. But the Forest was home. It had been home ever since he heard the name of the Forest of Legends. Ever since he'd laid eyes on the great trees, and walked in the deep, heartfelt shade. The Mountain and its Wilds were polite, even friends… but the Forest was home, and the Wilds there were family.

{So I'm going to become a Ranger instead of a Prince. An agent of the Princess rather than her champion or assistant or whatever it is the Prince does. I don't even know if a Ranger is a step up from a Forester or a step down from my last Forest job. But it's what Lynn asks of me, it's what the Forest needs… and the Forest is my home.}

"We shall begin the Quarter Finals. Next bout; Colin vs Sora." Casiphia announced. "Come forward please."

"Forfeit!" Colin called down. "My friend's in trouble! I have to go!"

"Colin?" Little Tim turned to him in surprise, but Phillip gave only a knowing nod. Alicia did better; she turned and immediately headed for the tunnel.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Colin asked.

"It's the shortest way down, isn't it? Short of jumping off the mountain. If we take the trail down, we'd have to fight winds and Wilds the whole way down. If we cut straight through instead of going round and round, we'd avoid everything."

"You're {coming}?" Colin stared.

Alicia shrugged. Colin expected her to say something about respawning somewhere if he died carelessly, but what she said was, "It won't be the first time I've turned my back on a Tournament to rescue a friend in trouble."

The world froze. Colin felt like time itself had jerked to a sudden halt.

{She did it for me. I was so concerned about myself at the time, I didn't realize the full extent of what it meant, never really appreciated that she had made a sacrifice to save me… it just seemed obvious that saving someone was more important than winning a prize. But I… I nearly…}

"What are you waiting for?" Alicia yelled back, already running down the tunnel. "We gotta {go}!"

"Kirin!" Colin warped her in, and they swooped in after Alicia, picking her up on the way. "Is there a way straight to Icegate from here?"

"How should {I} know?" Alicia protested.

Colin contacted Casiphia and asked her the same question.

Casiphia's answer came immediately. [Yes. The tunnels will fork at every junction. Coming up, you'd never notice them, but going down, if you want to go all the way to the bottom, keep right. Icegate is the very last exit. Godspeed, Colin.]

"Keep right at every fork, Kirin." Colin instructed. He tapped his badge. "Sonia!"

The green Sonic Wolf appeared, and sniffed at Colin curiously.

"That thing you did with Sonic energy, to make yourself move faster… can you use it on Kirin?" Colin asked. "I don't think the Tailwind technique is going to help much in here. I doubt many people have come this way."

Sonia nodded, and in no time at all they were speeding down the tunnels at a hair-raising pace. Colin would have panicked and called the whole thing off if the tunnels had been anything but a straight, clear road forward.

"Hang on, Shiro." Colin said, aloud and psionically. "We're coming. Hang on."

***

Shiro collapsed on the snows just around the corner from Icegate while Satrox was wiping the floor with Benny at the Tournament. The white wolfcat was exhausted, and was carrying more than his own weight.

Snowy shivered as he landed with a puff. She lay stretched across his back, dangerously low on HP and power, inflicted with a dozen status effects she'd never even heard of before.

Up ahead was Icegate, the first campsite rest-stop for human Travelers going up the mountain. It was guarded with turrets and Comrades and a trio of part-time workers who did their homework while keeping an eye out in the security center.

Right now, there was absolutely no chance of sneaking past them. That had been their original plan; the White Wraiths were experts at moving about stealthily in the snow, but with everything going on down below, the campsite was on high alert, and every Dreamer within was readying for battle.

The Celestial Comrade Home itself was on full speed approach. It was on fire and trailing lots of smoke, and there were about thirty large flying Comrades half-carrying it, half-slowing it down as it came in for a crash landing not far from Icegate.

Snow flew up in a tidal wave as it hit the ground. Shiro and Snowy didn't stir an inch as they were covered from noses to tails and lay there quite still and silent as people ran around putting out fires and arguing over whether to try and fix the flying Comrade Home or take everything out of the wreck.

Meanwhile, alien forces were converging on Skycrown Mountain. Machines and weapons alien to Nakama World had surrounded the place and were sending ground troops, tanks and Climbing Spider-Transports up the Mountain.

"Alert the Princess!" Most of the humans were yelling at each other over and over again, though Shiro couldn't for the life of him figure out why they had to yell it or why they had to say it so many times.

[Relax, Shiro.] Colin's thoughts came to him from above, much nearer than before. [She knows. I told her. But I don't think anyone down there has her contact number. That's why they're yelling it so much. It's because they're hoping that someone around there knows how.]

Shiro sighed an apology for disrupting the Tournament.

But Colin contradicted him. [The Tournament is still going on. She's not going to stop that for anything. But she's put the whole Mountain on alert, and people are heading down the mountain to help.]

That didn't sound very reassuring. Shiro whined when he thought about it; human Travelers coming down... the Cult of Gaia coming up… Shiro and Snowy caught smack in between them.

[We'll be there soon. We're close.] Colin assured him. [We'll take Snowy with us.]

Shiro hesitated. Would Snowy be willing to let Colin touch her? To Bond her?

[If she doesn't, she'll leap right back to full strength and that'll be that.] Colin pointed out. [Either way, she'll be fine.]

Shiro was debating whether or not to feel hopeful about that when a huge net swooped down and scooped both him and Snowy up. He let out a yelp only to see a golem towering over them, and a uniformed Breeder exulting in her catch. "At last! I GOT TWO OF THEM! I'm the GREATEST!"

He barked at her in protest. [Green Men are attacking one of the most important places in this world, and you're out to score points with a Comrade Home?!]

She didn't hear him. Couldn't hear him.

Shiro sent his distress to one of the few Travelers who could. [Colin! Help!]

***

"Shiro?!" Colin gasped as they burst out of the tunnel right into a war zone.

Flying saucers were closing in on the mountain right in front of him. They were landing hover-tanks and armored men, even a few hulking robot-things. The Celestial Comrade Home had crashed on the other side of the clearing, and people were scrambling around the entrance of the campsite; the Icegate itself.

"Shiro!" Colin looked around, trying to find his First Comrade.

A bark from overhead drew his attention to a Broze Golem holding a fishnet with Shiro and the girl wolfcat bundled up in it. Shiro was losing patience; if this went on much more, he was going to blast the Breeder and hang the consequences.

[Hold on! I'm here!] Colin pointed to him and ordered. "Kirin! Grab the net!"

Kirin wasn't sure she could snatch it away so easily, considering the Golem holding it. Colin wasn't sure she could either, not without some help. He tapped his badge and called another Comrade. "Raiki!"

Raiki didn't appear.

"Shiro's in trouble." He spoke to his own badge. "We're going to rescue him. Are you coming?"

There was a flash of blue, and there was Raiki… and not only Raiki, but her brothers and sisters too. Colin was surrounded by five blue stormcats all on top of Kirin's back.

"Mew?" Raiki nudged him. [Where's Shiro?!]

"There!" Colin pointed.

Raiki didn't hesitate for a moment, not for anything or anyone. Colin found himself surrounded by a storm of electricity but before he could so much as yelp, the sudden power lashed out at the Golem in a blinding flash of lightning.

The Golem stumbled back, almost dropping the net. The Breeder on its shoulder let out a shriek and grabbed its neck. Kirin swooped in and nabbed the net, stealing Shiro and his friend safely away from the Golem.

[Again!] Raiki said, scowling at the Golem. Once more, electricity crackled all around him; Colin saw now, that Raiki wasn't solely responsible for that power. All her siblings had chipped in and this time Kirin joined the effort. Their combined powers were more than enough to blast the Golem off its feet.

"HEY!" the breeder shrieked. "That's STEALING!"

"That's my Comrade!" Colin barked at her. "Shiro! H-Bolt the Golem!"

Shiro obliged, his sonic attack tearing through the net. The Golem, already fazed with the lightning, took the Hypersonic Bolt right in the face and promptly fell over almost without warning. The Breeder girl on its shoulder landed in a heap of snow.

"We need to get your friend someplace safe and talk to whoever's in charge…" Colin began.

Shiro shook his head. [We need to see the Princess.]

"Casiphia?" Colin blinked. "But… Icegate…"

[Please. There's no time.]

Colin grimaced. "Well, we know a shortcut. Hop on. What about your friend?"

[Snowy…] Shiro nudged her. [Colin is here.]

Snowy raised her head and regarded Coiln warily. Colin strode up and said, "If you don't want me to bond you, fine, just don't kill me after you get your strength back."

But nothing happened. Snowy sat there and let Colin touch her ear, neither shooting him nor growling. She just studied him intently.

"Hey. Didn't you feel that? I just touched you." Colin said, tapping her on the head. "If you're not going back to full strength, you're… um…"

Snowy snorted. [I am not a Tame. I am a Noble. A candidate to become a Lord of the Wilds. I am not the first Wild to accept your touch. I am not Tame.]

"That's… true." Colin conceded. "Anyway, we need to go. I'll carry you…"

Snowy shrunk. She drew in on herself, looking younger and younger until she looked like a cub. Shiro, too, did likewise, as if to join her. Before he knew it, Colin found himself looking at two white wolfcat cubs, though he knew full well that they were advanced Juveniles in power, if not in form.

"You can shapeshift?" Colin whistled. "That's… cool."

[It's convenient. Especially if you need to carry us on that swan. We don't want to overburden her.] Snowy pointed out.

"Kirr." Kirin said in appreciation.

"Let's go." Colin told Kirin.

He sat there, waiting patiently. Kirin also sat there, waiting patiently. Shiro and Snowy sat there with Raiki, Raika, Raiken, Raiko and Raiku, all of them waiting patiently. Sonia looked at them all, her Sonic powers boosting Kirin's speed, and twisted her head to one side in puzzlement. "Auu?"

"What's the matter?" Colin asked. "Kirin. Let's go."

"Kirr." Kirin confirmed, and look to him for directions.

"Back into the tunnel." Colin told her. "Back to the top."

"Kirr." Kirin nodded. "Kii?" [Where is the tunnel?]

Colin froze. Sonia froze. The white wolfcats and the blue stormcats all froze.

None of them had any idea where the tunnel entrance was. They looked around, but all they saw were people preparing for battle. The tunnel entrance was so well hidden, they couldn't find it again.

Meanwhile, a high pitched shriek came in overhead, a sound not made by any throat. There was a roar as something fell out of the sky, hit a non-offending boulder sitting peacefully beside the road, and blew the poor rock apart in a brilliant explosion.

"Artillery incoming!" people were yelling, and running into the fort carrying what they could from the Celestial Comrade Home.

More high-pitched shrieks were coming in. More artillery shells were exploding around the area.

"We have to get out of here!" Colin told Kirin. "Let's get back to Icegard! At least we know where to find the tunnel entrance there!"

Kirin sped for it. She lunged for the sky and headed straight for Icegard.

Almost immediately, a brilliant green beam lanced below them. Colin spun to see that he'd caught the attention of one of the flying saucers. It started spitting out smaller green bolts in a spray.

"Down!" He yelped to Kirin. She dove under the green bolts, then swooped up again, still trying to make for Icegard. "Land, Kirin! We're not going to make it if we get shot out of the sky! We'll use the mountainside for cover!"

"Krrr." Kirin scowled, but she took to ground. The wolf, the wolfcats, and the stormcats got off and started long-range attacks at the offending saucer, which, in turn, sped away to find something easier to shoot at that wasn't fighting back.

"Well. That's that, then." Colin said, with a grimace. "They won't bother us while we're on foot, and we can't take to the air without attracting fire. We have no choice. We go to Icegard on foot."