I hit the door with my unlit tail, maintaining a steady thump until Gash opens it. "Torch? Hey, what's up?" He smiles, his purple eyes glimmering with delight.

He gestures for me to come inside and gives me a nice bowl of hot chocolate, which I lap up greedily, spilling a little on the floor.

"I know it's not much, I'd use the glasses but Ms. Lazura really doesn't like it when I use her nice stuff so..."

"It's fine. I can't pick up those stupid glasses anyways. Why would anyone spend forever learning how to hold up their paw like that when you can just eat out of a bowl?"

"It doesn't make a mess." Gash murmurs, wiping up the hot chocolate with his fur. I see him lick a bit of it but when he sees me he brushes it off his tongue.

"Do you know where someone could test their determination?"

"That's awfully specific. I guess you could undergo a series of vigorous tests, or to earn it you could try hard and take hypnotism. Why?"

I give him a brief run through of everything since the last time I saw him.

He looks at me, mouth wide open. "You got someone to kiss you?!"

"So the prophecy is totally irrelevant?" I say unamused.

"No, that's cool and all, but I thought you were completely oblivious when I saw you friendzone Avery and Shine. How could you not notice how hot they were? I spent the entire time trying to be strong but silent, but I guess they never noticed."

"Can you please tell me if there's a way to see if I truly symbolize determination?"

"The mountain." Gash tells me.

"What mountain?"

"How could you possibly have lived here for the first ten years of your life and not know about the mountain?"

"We lived on the streets, Gash."

"Oh. Right. Well, there's this mountain to the north of here called Icicle Mountain. Its said to have something to do with the first Interdimensional War, but no one knows quite what. Its so tall that it pierces the stars. There's a tiny village up there called Lama era Atles Laera, or the City at the Top of the World. It's in a language from a long time ago, before there was an official language we all learned. Up there, it is said that time passes differently. The only Canira who live there are these tiny little guys called Wish Canira. They only live up there, and there's only about 30 of them.

They can grant one wish in their life, but only to a Canira of another species. If you climb the whole mountain, they grant you a wish. I know, it sounds stupid, but it's been done three times in the past century. You could go wish for determination, couldn't you? I'd come with you. I want a wish, too."

"Isn't just wishing for it cheating?"

"Psssh. If you get up there, you earn it. If you end up not needing determination, you can go wish that Dark Rainbow didn't dump you."

I roll my eyes and flick my tail, pretending the playful jeer just slided off my shoulder. Gash goes to another room and talks to someone, probably Lily Lazura. With a thoughtful smile I remember the sweet Canis who cared for us when we were young. He runs up a ramp and gets something from upstairs. He comes back with a huge bag packed with who knows what. "Okay, almost ready."

He goes to the kitchen, and picks out bags with all his favorite foods. "We're good. Lily was totally okay with it. She went with her friends when she was twelve. Sure, she only made it up halfway, but she tried, right? She found some fancy alpine Canira up there while she was at it. They just weren't meant for each other, otherwise they would've dated. Thirteen is the 'decent' age for marrying. Any earlier is pup marriage and that's just wrong."

I stop paying attention to his chatter around when we turn the corner. He goes on and on about Lily and his training in cotillion and how he's civilized now. It's annoying but I smile and say, "Mhmm, cool." or "That's great, Gash."

We make it to a lodge at sundown at the base of the mountain and sleep there. It's a nice rustic place, less closed in than Lily's house but still too closed in for me.

The rest of the day we spend running up the mountain together. Sometimes he'll be ahead of me, but usually I'm way ahead. It's getting a bit chilly so I keep my tail flame on. We set up a campfire and enjoy a packed lunch of 'civilized' food: some processed bars of cardboard and a delicious mix of nuts, berries, and then a few chocolate chips. I personally would prefer fresh prey, but I say nothing. Later I go out and eat a nice bird, but Gash doesn't seem to want any.

We reach the treeline by night. Gash stops way before what I would've considered dinner, but that's because if the sun is out, I keep going and the sun is much higher than it should be from up here.

I manage to get Gash to eat a squirrel I caught, but he barely has any. "You killed it!" he whines, "and it's so dirty..."

"We're Canira, we were meant to eat like this. City life has just brainwashed you." I snort.

He looks offended. I didn't mean to sound like that. If I had stayed in the city, I would be like this. Even though he's my friend, it makes me sick to think about. I feel sorry for him, for not being able to truly live a free, wild life.

By the way he looks at me, I can tell he feels sorry for me too.

We sleep curled up against each other, shivering to keep warm. "I wonder if my mom or dad was a Canis. Maybe that's why I like the city life, because I'm half Canis. I wish I had Canis powers, though, I don't have any powers from either side. I'm not even good at fighting."

There he goes again, jumping from one topic to another faster than Avery can fly from tree to tree. Avery. I miss her caring, motherly aura. I miss Spritz's jokes and endless compassion, even if he pretends to be so cold sometimes. Most of all, I miss Dark Rainbow. I miss her cluelessness, I miss that sharp tongue, and I miss that one second when we kissed.

I will see them soon, but I have to be ready. I have to prove I can be part of the prophecy. I will make it up there, I promise them as I fall asleep.

I wake up the next day to find Gash, sitting at the edge of our little campfire. "Torch?" he says to me, his eyes empty, "I'm cold."

He looks forlorn and soulless, like the white of the falling snow has frozen over that peppy charm.

We walk on together, him silent by my side. He is, in fact, quite cold, but when I attempt to warm him with my tail flame he shies away. We make less progress that day, and even less the next. He eats little at mealtimes and on the third day I finally block his path.

"What's wrong with you, Gash?"

He says nothing.

"We need to go back. I promise, it'll be okay. I can't lose you."

Gash walks around me, and I look up at the ever ascending snowy mountains. The white stings my eyes, but from what I can tell, we are only merely halfway up.

I continue on, trying awkwardly to start conversation but Gash doesn't reply. He finds us shelter at the end of the day, and finally the next morning I tell him, "We're going back. Now."

He looks at me blankly. "We're too far up."

"What do you mean?"

"By the time you get back down it'll be too late. I'm tired of hindering you. I chose to accompany you and that was my fault. We are going to keep going."

I want to keep going as well. If I was alone, this would be easy. I realize with a sinking feeling that I was too late. I never put in any force because I wanted to go on, and now Gash won't go back down no matter what I say. The rations are dwindling, and I find myself leaning for his food but I pull away, leaving it out for Gash until it spoils, even though I won't eat it.

Then, one day later, I see it on the mountain. The first signs of a village. There's one house, made for animals around a foot or two tall. I knock but no one is inside. Just like that, Gash whispers, "I'm sorry Torch, but I can't do it anymore." He collapses on the snow.

I pick him up and keep trudging, trying to keep my tail flame lit and keeping Gash warm. Snow whirls down around me, and then we're through the clouds. My legs burn, but I can hear Gash's heartbeat falter. I keep walking, and suddenly Gash's heartbeat stops. I can't go on any further. I see things before me, at one point a wolf that looks like Dark Rainbow is at my side, and then Avery is flying ahead. Spritz is bleeding. An Obsidian tries to stop me and then disappears. My legs begin to crack, but I press on.

Finally, I see it- a tiny village. A peaceful one but still the same size as the house we saw earlier.

A tiny blue Canira with a star on her tail walks up to me. "Oh, someone came up here! Someone is here!"

I can't think straight, so I say the only thing that matters. Forget determination. Forget Dark Rainbow. "Save... Gash..." I rasp and then I pass out.

I wake up at the bottom of the mountain. Gash is by my side, looking at me curiously. "You're up!"

"Yeah... what? Where?" Then I remember anything. "I failed my quest and I failed as a friend."

"You saved my life, Torch. I wished that we were both at the bottom of the mountain for my wish... I'm sorry, I should've wished for you but I was so cold."

"I..." Tears spring to my eyes. "It's okay. I'm just sorry I didn't have us turn around. You have more determination than I ever will."

"You carried my limp body over a mile in freezing snow. I was just being stubborn. You could've done it below. I'm sorry for all that. I ruined your mission."

"No, you didn't. You're right. I climbed that mountain, and that took plenty of determination in itself. I don't need a wish. I've got the best friend in the world." I say it to reassure Gash he didn't screw up, but as I say them, they feel genuine. Real. I did make it up that mountain. I made it.

"You go beat 'em up for me, Torch." Gash says with a smile.

My mind flits to the after. After all this, I promise, I will come back here one day. I will make up every minute I missed with Gash up to him. It's all I can do for the best friend in the world.