Chapter Six

The journey continues after a night�s rest when the girls find there is something lurking within the woods�

“Wow, it's really dark out." Star commented, after taking a long look outside from beyond the temple's entrance. She then turned back to Jade and Tygra, a nervous look crossing over her as she bit down on her bottom lip. "Maybe we should stay here for the night?"
"Good idea." Tygra agreed as she looked over to Jade, who remained seated before the statue.
"Yes, it is.” Jade said in agreement as she looked up to the entrance at Star. “Lecriema's powers protect this place against any evil beings. Once demons touch that door, they'll die instantaneously."
"But, what about Drake?" Star asked as she struggled to close the cast iron door. Damn, this thing is heavier then I thought!
"He has other things to worry about." Out of the corner of her eye, Star could see Jade now at her side. She placed her hand flat up against the side of the door, and pushed it shut with a slam. Star watched after her a few moments as Jade returned to her seat in front of the statue. Damn her…
"Like what?" Tygra asked with a chuckle, amused by the little scene before her.
"He doesn't have the necklaces, yet. So, right now, he's trying to figure out how to get them; without having to deal with me in the process."
“Yeah, you can get annoying at times…” Star said beneath her breath.
“What was that?” Jade questioned, looking to her with a slight grin, revealing her fangs slightly.
“N-nothing! I didn’t say a thing!” Star said waving her hands out before her.
Tygra shook her head as she knelt down onto the floor only a few feet from the monument and Jade. "Why don't we try to get some sleep?" she suggested, placing her hands out towards the floor. After a few short words, she had a roaring fire started, set within a ring of stones. “This should keep us warm.”
"Mm, sleep, now that‘s something I can agree with." Star stated with a yawn as she came towards them. "I'm beat." She then walked over to the foot of the statue, turning into her feline form along the way. With another yawn, she leapt up onto the base of the statue and lay at the feet of their goddess. Though the statue wasn't the real thing, it gave her a bit of comfort, for the time being at least.
With a wave of her hand, Tygra made herself a comfy place aside of the fire to sleep. Though her bed was only a sleeping bag, she was happy all the same. “Goodnight you two.” She said as she crawled inside her sleeping bag.
Tygra heard Jade and Star say their goodnights as well, though she doubted that either of them would be able to fall asleep right away, no matter how tired they were. She, herself, was tired, yet wasn’t able fall asleep with all of the questions buzzing around her head.   There was just too much going on at the moment for her to fully comprehend.
First, there was her necklace. The necklace she had ever since she was a child. She never knew why she had it and never bothered to ask. All she knew was it was hers. Now she finds out that she was given the necklace to be its protector, and in reality, the necklace itself wasn’t a whole, but in pieces…could the power within this necklace really be so powerful?
Her thoughts then drifted off to Jade. Who was she exactly? She had believed that Jade was just an ordinary student from Helonious High. But, that wasn’t the case either. Here, Jade was actually some sort of hero out to save the world from this evil sorcerer no one seems to know anything about. Why did she wait so long to tell them the truth? If the world really was going to come to an end as Jade said, she would have been more then happy to help her out.
She soon rolled over on her side, letting out a long breath of air. The only way anything will become clear, is if I let this all play out. After a few more minutes of allowing her mind to wonder, Tygra was finally able to fall into a deep, peaceful sleep.

Jade shook her head slightly as she saw Tygra turn to her side. She didn’t like not being able to tell the girls everything about their journey. Though she knew she had no other options then to keep them in the dark. If they knew everything…she feared they would refuse to help her. And she couldn’t allow that to happen.
She then clasped her hand around her necklace, a very important piece to her journey. Her journey…the one she herself has been set on for all these years…It was now beginning to come to an end…and she didn’t know what to think about it. Should she be relieved? Saddened? Happy? She didn’t know and wasn’t sure if she ever wanted to know.
Her gaze switched over to the fire as she thought about the end of her journey and the two girls. Right now, they seemed peaceful in their sleep…she wished she could keep it that way for them for the rest of their lives. Yet she knew that wasn’t possible. Nothing was going to be possible once this journey came to its end. I’m sorry, Tygra…Star…But this has to be done…

             *   *   *

The artificial light shined through the slim windows of the temple, landing within the center of the smoldering ashes of their once lively campfire. Jade had remained where she was seated the entire night, deep in her own thoughts; her hand still clenched tightly around her silver pendant.
Star remained fast asleep at the foot of the statue, purring softly as she dreamt. Tygra, however, was just beginning to stir awake. She looked sleepily over to Star, then Jade.
Groggily, she crawled from out of the sleeping bag, standing to her feet, stretching her arms out before her as far as they could reach. "Good morning, Jade."
"What's so good about it?" Jade asked, looking up at her with a bemused look.
"We're still alive and we still have the necklaces, don’t we?"
Jade snickered to herself. "You got me there."
"Wait a minute..." Tygra said narrowing her eyes as she just noticed something. "You were sitting like that last night too... Don’t tell me you never fell asleep last night."
"How about I let you ponder on that for a while?" Jade questioned as she stood to her feet. She then walked over to the farthest corner to the left. Even with the light coming in from the all windows, it was still dark within that corner; just the way she liked it.
"Are you hungry?" Tygra called to her after a brief pause.
"No!"
"You sure?"
"Yes!"
"What's all the yelling about?" Star cried angrily after being rudely awaken from her peaceful slumber.
"Oh, I’m so sorry, Star." Tygra said apologetically.
"It's ok." She said as she leapt down from the base of the statue, slowly turning back to her normal form. She stretched yawning all the while. "So, what's for breakfast? I hope it’s something good."
"I hope so too because it'll be whatever you want. I can zap up anything you like."
Star tilted her head up a little, so that her chin was pointed up towards the ceiling, acting as if she were in deep thought. "Hm. Um, how about some eggs and bacon?"
"Alright then." Tygra replied as she pointed a finger out to her other hand, which was already set palm up to hold her makings. With a brief moment of concentration, she made a plate full of bacon and eggs appear upon her hand.
Star cringed her nose at the bacon. "God Tygra! I was only kidding! You know I'm a vegetarian!"
Tygra's eyes grew wide. "Oh, right! I'm sorry!" She quickly set the plate on the floor. Since Star wouldn't touch anything which squealed before it died, Tygra just zapped her up a salad instead. "How's that? I know a salad isn't good for breakfast, but it's better then nothing."
Star smiled at her with appreciation. "No, this is good. Thank you."
Jade stayed back within her corner, watching the two girls as they began to eat their breakfast. She truly wasn’t hungry or tired even though she hadn’t slept for some time. There was just too much on her mind at the moment.
"Are you two ready yet?" Jade asked impatiently, now waiting for them at the temple's entrance.
"Yes, we are!" Star snapped, having all that she could take of Jade's attitude.
"Cut it out you two." Tygra said as she waved her hands over their plates, making them vanish within seconds. She turned to Star. “Let’s get going.”
As the two came towards Jade, she rolled her eyes letting out a little sigh. "Let’s just get moving."
The three girls walked out of the safe, protected temple and back into the forest, which was now utterly and eerily quiet.   Not even a single growl from one of the many demons within these woods could be heard around them.
"Something's wrong." Jade said, sensing something terrible not too far from where they stood. She looked to the girls caution in her eyes. "I can feel something...and, whatever it is, it isn’t very friendly.”
"I can feel something too." Tygra said as she looked around the area. The sensation was unbearable, building up the overwhelming feeling of dread within her.
"Is it Drake?" Star asked looking around the woods cautiously, as if they were to be attacked at any moment.
"No. It's not him...but it is strong and it's scaring everything living in this forest." Jade paused for a moment before nodding slightly to herself as to verify her own question. "Even the demons.”