The sun was starting to rise as a sign of the next morning and the sun shines on Crystal's face causing her to wake up. Crystal rubbed her eyes clear of sleep and smiles at the beautiful sight before her.

The cave that held the tree was way different than it was last night when she arrived. Instead of the cave being purple with blue hues from the tree, the entire cave because multiple shades of blue along with crystals surrounding the water around the tree. But the path which lead to the island where the tree resides, there are multiple waterfalls on each side and creating a luminescent effect when the sunlight hits the water droplets. Crystal was so entranced by the beauty of the cave that she didn't notice that Nuria had woke up and was now watching Crystal with amusement in her eyes. 'Despite this being something I see everyday, it is refreshing to see the wonder and awe in her eyes', Nuria thought as she got up and approached Crystal. "Crystal it is time to go, we need to get as far as we can to the village outside of Rhoswen before nightfall", Nuria said as the vines help lower them down the tree snapping Crystal out of her daze. "Right! So, how long will it be until we get to the village?" Crystal asked as her feet hit the ground. "If we keep walking with at least 30 minute breaks every 3 hours, we would reach the village within 2 days, 1 if we walk for an extra hour." Nuria replied as she gathered the supplies they would need during the journey. Crystal nodded and helped Nuria pack what they needed and soon after they head towards the meadow where they encounter GoldHeart.

"I will escort to the border of the barrier but no further" GoldHeart said as she walked beside the duo. When they met the border, they said their goodbyes and soon Crystal and Nuria set off towards the village outside of Rhoswen. It had been at least 2 hours before they took a well needed break. "So, the animals in the meadow have never outside the barrier before?" Crystal asked out of curiosity. "No bit there are some who left the barrier to quench their curiosity but have yet to return. Some of the animals have given up hope that they will return and assumed that they were killed by the dark creatures." Nuria replied with sadness and if you looked closely, you could almost see tears in her eyes. Crystal felt sad because Nuria most likely befriended every animal in the meadow. Crystal got up, walked towards Nuria, and gave her a hug while apologizing to her. After a couple minutes they separated and Nuria thanks Crystal for cheering her up. As they continued to eat the food they packed, they heard an animal distress call. "What was that?" Crystal asked confused and concerned. " I don't know but we better see what happened" Nuria replied and ran towards the sound with Crystal right behind her. As soon as they found where the sound came from.

Crystal saw what she could only describe as a deer buck with tail feathers, feathers along his back, and a pair of wings trapped under a large rock. Right beside the buck was a rainbow aquatic bird with fins on his lower back and there was a rainbow mermaid tail with long hair like tail feathers directly under the mermaid tail.

"Zeus! Come on! I need you to help me, bud" the aquatic bird exclaimed as he tried to lift the large rock off of Zeus. "I'm trying but I can't! You need to leave Breeze! I don't want you to get caught!" Zeus yelled at Breeze but he wouldn't leave and tried even harder to remove the rock. " I think we should help them!" Crystal said as she looked at the duo in sorrow. "Crystal, I know you want to help but they may be hostile towards us. They seemed to have run into bad people and may not trust us." Nuria said with sadness. "I don't care if I get hurt at least I know that I tried to help them instead of running away" Crystal said determined to help the animal duo. Nuria looked at Crystal with shock then that changed to admiration. 'You really are a remarkable individual. Putting others safety before your own.' Nuria thought with happiness and pride. "Alright, let's try to help them." Nuria replied and they both left the bush to help the animals. When they reached Zeus and Breeze, they stopped at least 20 feet away as to not seem threatening. "Hey, do you want some help getting your friend out?" Crystal asked in a calm voice. When Breeze and Zeus heard her, Zeus was panicking while Breeze jumped in front of Zeus to protect him. " DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!?" Breeze yelled in anger but on the inside he was petrified because he led humans towards him and his friend. "Don't worry we're here to help." Crystal asked while taking the rope they brought so she can tie it around the large rock. Breeze saw that they were children but still kept his guard up. " How can we trust you?" Breeze asked as he watched Crystal with the rope in hand. "You're right. You probably don't trust me and that's fine but I can't stand that one of you is stuck and could possibly die while we did nothing to help. But whether you trust me or not, please let me help." Crystal said with tenderness and determination in her voice. Breeze was still skeptical about it but he wanted to save his friend so he accepted Crystal's help. "Alright, I need you to lift the rock slightly so I can tie this around the ridge of it. Then once it's secured, I'll throw the rest over that large branch. Once over we pull and try to lift the rock off your friend, you help your friend from under the rock. Okay?" Crystal said to Breeze and he nodded understanding the plan. Crystal and Nuria put the plan in motion and, once done, got ready to pull. "On 3, 1, 2, 3!" Crystal and Nuria pulled with all their might and lifted the rock to where Breeze was able to get Zeus out from under the large rock. "Thank you. We owe you our lives." Breeze said with gratitude. "No we were happy to help. But we better find a place to stay for the night." Nuria said as Crystal nodded in agreement. "There is a cave not too far from here. That's where we were going before the rock fell on me." Zeus replied and offered Crystal and Nuria to stay with them to which they agreed. Breeze carried Zeus on his back as he walked next to Crystal and Nuria. When they reached the cave, they settled down for the night. "What are your names?" Breeze asked. "I'm Crystal and this is Nuria. What's yours?" Crystal replied. "I'm Rainbow Breeze the Eastern phoenix but you can call me Breeze and that is Zeus the peryton" Breeze replied "Why were you two out in the woods so far from the village?" Zeus asked with curiosity. "We are heading to Rhoswen to complete the prophecy and prevent the kingdom from disappearing." Nuria replied. "Wait. You know now that you mention it, Crystal is the exact description of the chosen one." Breeze replied as he looked closer at Crystal. "That is because she is the chosen one." Nuria said with a giggle. Breeze and Zeus were shocked with the answer and after a few minutes of silence, they started to freak out. "What!? Now way!? I was rescued by the chosen one!? Thank you so much!" Zeus said as he and Breeze bowed their heads in respect. "You don't need to bow, I just did what I thought was right!" Crystal said as she waved her hands in front of her. Nuria, despite the amusement she got from what she was watching, spoke up. " Well we better get some rest because tomorrow we will continue our journey to the village." After saying that, Nuria prepared their sleeping arrangements for the night. "If you would let us, we would be honored to join you on your journey" Zeus asked with his and Breeze' head bowed. Crystal looked to Nuria for confirmation. Nuria thought about it for a minute and accepted their offer. As everyone lied down to sleep, Crystal looked at Zeus and Breeze in thought. ' Despite the setbacks today, we met new friends and travel companions. I wonder what tomorrow holds for this group.' Crystal thought. " It doesn't matter what happens, I will protect this group with my life" Crystal whispered before falling asleep with her friends.

(Yay! New traveling buddies! Sorry about not updating for a while, it's hard to find inspiration but it will still take me a while to update my book. But at least I was able to find a nice plot for the chapter. Thank you to those who loves my book and are patient with me and my slow updates. So stay awesome and stay tuned for the next chapter.)