Lexi stuck close to Dawn as they crossed the plaza. She felt strangely exposed walking beside the Mystwylf, like she was walking the rift between two worlds.

Thankfully, the plaza was mostly empty, and very few stray stares were cast their way. But her breath still caught in her throat whenever a wolf glanced up at them, fearing someone would question Dawn's foreign nature to this town.

She had a dozen questions, but she forced herself to stay silent, afraid of drawing attention to them. Biting her fangs together, she focused on keeping up with Dawn's purposeful stride as they turned past Storm's house, and the Thunderwylf labs, and finally turned off into an alley. The same alley Toivo had fleed along, back on the day of his ceremony. Lexi's eyes strayed to the earth dug away at the side of the path, forming a small hole swallowed by shadows. Large enough for her to squeeze into and hide from an irritated Storm.

Storm. Lexi bit back a sigh. She'd just have to apologise to Storm later for slipping away on an adventure of her own once again.

When they finally left the town behind and disappeared into the safety of the woods, she finally let herself breathe easy again, the tightness in her chest dissapating. She felt entirely in one world now - a world of adventures, a new and strange world that she was growing to like.

Still, Dawn kept moving, so Lexi followed. Once the houses behind had been shrouded by trees entirely, she felt relaxed enough to let her first question escape.

"What do you mean, a mission?"

Dawn's eyes sparkled like stars as she glanced back. "The one you wish to be a part of," she said, the answer frustratingly ambiguous. But Lexi knew she would get no more, and so resigned herself to only guessing.

Not that the guess was overly difficult. Her mind drifted to Toivo, and the Wylfire, and she reached for the lightning inside. It crackled, begging to return to that cave and unleash its might on any who dared hurt her best friend.

"How?" she asked. "And... and why?

For a long few moments, Dawn remained silent, her step as strong and steady as ever. Then she halted abruptly, stopping entirely in a small clearing, sending Lexi staggering ahead of her as she pulled her momentum backwards.

Whipping around, she met Dawn's eyes. Her jaw parted to repeat the questions, but Dawn silenced her with a flash of her eyes.

"I meant what I said yesterday, Lexi. I admire your wisdom." A soft breeze brushed Dawn's purple coat, sending wisps dancing upwards. It was times like this that she appeared so alike the claw-made drawings of Bhavisha. There was no doubting her connection to the goddess. "You could make an expert planner, if the soldiers you are made to organise will allow you." She paused, the tilt of her head inviting Lexi to continue.

It took only a moment of thought for Lexi to realise what Dawn meant. "The Wylfire aren't organised enough to complete the rescue?"

Dawn nodded. "Not in the way they need to be. They are wired to fall prey to underestimation of their opponents, particularly such a vague and cunning one as Shadewylves." A smile tugged at her snout. "All they need is a small push in the right direction, a simple idea, and they will succeed."

Eyes widening, Lexi nodded. Getting them to listen to her might be a challenge, but she'd thought that the first time. Yet, somehow, she made them listen. Maybe she could do it again.

She paused, thinking back to the cave. "The Wylfire will want to just rush in there and attack," she began, slowly. "They won't expect there to be as many Shadewylves... or for them to be so skilled." She took a step back from Dawn, picturing the scene: the mass of orange bodies, quickly overwhelmed with black. She kept the image of the cave in her mind, imagining the exact wall where Angel had emerged from the tunnel - the passage to the prisons. Perhaps they'd have sealed it up, perhaps they hadn't. Either way, that was where they needed to be.

"I think I've got it," she said after a few moments of thought, turning back to Dawn. The Mystwylf only nodded, her eyes sparkling.

Lexi didn't need a spoken invitation. She knew what to do. As Dawn slid a paw towards her, she placed her own on top - a uniting of gold and purple. They met each other's eyes, and Dawn nodded, approval shining in her smile.

For the third time in the last few days, Lexi's world collapsed in on itself. She was ready for the sensation, but the preparation didn't prevent the squeezing in her stomach and the way everything seemed to press with unforgiving force. The light flickered, darkened, and then flooded with colour, and she found herself stood in yet another forest grove.

The trees had reverted to the dark pines she'd grown used to seeing, tightly pressed together, their needled branches knotting in a twisted handshake. A sharp set of needles pressed into Lexi's side, and she stepped away, shaking out her fur. She already missed the forests of back home.

But, just nearby, Toivo sat within a cell. She would face the most imposing of forests to rescue him.

She glanced to the side, squinting to peer through the branches, and could make out brighter light filtering through. A clearing. And a dark, looming shape beyond - the gaping mouth of Nefaris.

Setting her jaw, she glared into the specs of darkness she could make out. I'll get you out of there, Toivo. I promise.

There was stil something grabbing at her tail, as if it were caught in a knot of branches. She pulled at it, then stopped abruptly, wincing as a particularly sharp needle dug in as she pulled. Perhaps she'd need Dawn's help to extract her tail from this mess.

Tearing her eyes from the direction of the cave, she glanced over at Dawn. A gasp left her jaw.

Dawn had collapsed to the ground, her sides heaving, much in the way she had done when she'd transported both Lexi and Toivo. Except worse. Her eyes were screwed shut, but as she flashed them open, Lexi saw deep, painful exhaustion within them.

She bent down, her tail fortunately slipping easily from its hold this time, and placed a gentle paw on Dawn's chest. Her heart was beating fast, its movement erratic. She'd clearly used a lot of energy with ths particular teleportation.

"Dawn, are you alright?" Lexi asked, the concern sharply clear in her tone. "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry. You shouldn't have done this. You've pushed yourself too hard helping me."

Dawn looked up at her, and shook her head, confusion briefly cutting through the pain as she frowned. "No. I was well rested. I was sure that I would be capable of this." Her eyes flicked to something behind Lexi, and she sighed, a slight chuckle emerging with it. "I was sure I could transport you. I did not account for them."

Shooting to her paws, Lexi whipped around. Behind her stood two wolves, one with his head dipped in guilt, the other appearing positively triumphant. A couple of stowaways. She shook her head slowly, laughing softly to herself.

"Storm--" she began, but her friend cut across her.

"I thought you said you wouldn't be going on any more adventures without me?" Storm's eyes gleamed as she took a few long, slow steps forward. "I'm only here because I'm helping out with you keeping your promise." She shrugged. "And he followed me."

Her gesturing tail flick led Lexi's eyes to rest on the wold beside her, with fur as orange as flame. He was scratching at the dirt, clearly regretting that choice.

"Damon," Lexi said with a sigh. She glanced over at Dawn, who was squinting at the two from her spot in the grass. "Dawn, these are my... friends, I guess, from town. I work with Storm. Damon is Toivo's cousin." Her voice tightened around the final few words, only a small amount, but enough for Dawn's silver eyes to glimmer with an unspoken understanding. Or maybe it was her mind-reading abilities. It was both unsettling and yet comfortably easy how much Dawn understood about them all.

"Storm and Damon," she added, flicking her gaze to them, "this is Dawn. She's one of the loners I mentioned meeting." She considered saying more but decided against it, remembering how secretive the Twilytra had been before their discovery. From the approving nod Dawn gave in her direction, it was the right choice.

Storm stepped forward, giving Dawn a greeting bow. "Hey, Dawn. Heard a lot about you. Or, well, not much at all actually, but Lexi likes you so we're cool." She cocked her head to the side. "So you can teleport, huh?"

A smile broke out on Dawn's snout. She planted her paws on the ground, and Lexi rushed over to help her, wedging her snout beneath purple fur to aid Dawn's stand. Only once she was upright did the Mystwylf offer Storm a nod.

"Due to my connection to Bhavisha," she said, her voice thankfully a little steadier. At least the effort of teleporting two extra wolves hadn't incapacitated her completely. But Lexi doubted she'd be teleporting back any time soon.

Though Storm was as eager to discover things as Lexi was, she had very little interest in the working of Pelt magic, and it showed in her dismissive nod. "Great. So, what's the--"

"How did you know to grab my tail?" The question spilled from Lexi's mouth before she could stop it. Storm hadn't known they were about to teleport, had she?

But Storm only shrugged, rendering her deepened curiosity useless. "You looked like you were about to do something weird. I thought a good tug on the tail would sort you out. So luck, really." She cast a sideways glance at Damon. "No clue why you grabbed mine though. Did you think we were just all holding each other's tails for the fun of it?"

Damon didn't raise his gaze. "The dilation of... of Dawn's pupils," he mumbled. "I could tell she was about to use her Pelt power. I know teleportation's rare, but it was the only Mystwylf power I could think of that made sense."

An impressed glimmer danced in Storm's eyes. She hid it almost instantly, but the ghost of a smile tugged at her snout. "Smart. And you followed me like a crazy wolf because..."

"Because it might be dangerous, and I didn't want to let you go in alone," he protested, head snapping up. "I do have a heart, you know." Something fiery reared up behind his eyes.

"News to me," Storm muttered, but her slight smile didn't vanish. "Good. So now the whole squad's here, what's the plan, Lex?"

Lexi exchanged glances with Dawn. Amusement sparked in her eyes, but at Lexi's questioning stare, her demeanor became more serious and she nodded. "Go on."

Turning back to Storm and Damon, Lexi explained their plan: how when the Wylfire reached the cave to rescue Toivo and the others, she had to be there, ready to direct the Flamewylves for attack. At Storm's question, she also explained the idea she'd been developing ever since Dawn had prompted her to begin thinking. It improved even more as she spoke, with Storm chipping in a few extra details, until by the time she'd finished she felt a stern confidence that settled fiercely in her heart.

She could do this. No, they could do this. Both Storm and Damon could be valuable assets to her convincing of the Wylfire, if she let them. The comfort of having them stood beside her increased that confidence tenfold.

Dawn met her eyes. "I will find a place to rest until I can return to Borealton." Her eyes burned a fierce silver. "Good luck."

"Thank you," Lexi said, and watched the Mystwylf as she vanished into the forest, a spec of purple fur amongst greenery and then gone entirely. Only then did she turn back to the others. Damon was craning his neck to peer through the leaves, jerking backwards as he laid eyes on the cave.

"Can we... move a little further away?" he asked quietly. "Isn't it a little unsafe being this close?"

"We're more likely to catch the Wylfire if we stay nearby," Lexi said. She didn't want to risk losing them. It would be too late if they only ran into each other right before the attack. But she followed Damon's gaze to the lurking black, and she knew the unsettled prickle he must also be feeling. "But you're right," she added. "We should find a place less in the open to wait."

Much to her surprise, both Damon and Storm waited for her to take the lead. It felt strange, escorting both of them through the forest. Storm had always been much more like a natural leader - brazen and confident, not too worried about cutting down those who opposed her, as well as her sharp wit. Yet even she shivered as she cast a glance towards the cave, more than happy to let Lexi walk in front as they travelled amongst the surrounding trees.

And Damon... being around him was consistently strange. A part of her kept expecting him to leap out and tackle her to the ground, or simply dismiss her ideas and call her a scrap again. But he said nothing, trailing the two Thunderwylves, ears bent and tip of his tail dragging on the earth.

After several minutes of searching, she found an opening beneath a tree where roots splayed aside to reveal a small burrow. Damon immediately slid inside and huddled in the shadows. Lexi offered to keep watch so that Storm could join him, but she only cast a disgruntled glance back at the Flamewylf and muttered that she'd be more than glad to be free of him.

As Lexi crawled into the hole beside Damon, she felt him flinch away. She wasn't even sure if he meant to, but it hurt all the same.

"Hey, I'm trying to help you," she hissed. He kept his head down. With a sigh, she focused her gaze on him, softening her next words so that they were less Storm-like in tone.

"It was brave of you to come," she whispered. He didn't reply. She bent her snout down and nudged his flank. "I hope Storm's been looking after you alright. It's awful what happened."

"I told you," he growled, "I deserved that. I don't know why you keep being so nice to me."

She shrugged. "Look, I went through a period of hating you, but no wolf deserves to be treated that way. Especially by their own parents." She smiled at him, and he finally looked up at her, if only briefly. "Plus you seem sort of guilty. We'll make you a good wolf yet."

Though he turned away to hide it, Lexi couldn't miss the slight smile that tugged at his snout.

Before she could say any more, however, Storm's voice called out from above. "The forest's on fire!"

"What?" Lexi scrambled out of the hole as quickly as possible. "Where? Is it nearby?" Her eyes swept the forest, but she saw no hint of flames. Her eyes flicked to Storm. Her friend let out a deep sigh.

"It's a code, Lexi. Means we've got Flame Pelt alert." She lifted a claw and jabbed it in a direction to their left, where a flicker of orange fur danced amongst the leaves.

"Oh." Lexi flicked her tail to beckon Damon out as she stepped forward, keeping her eyes trained on the distant group of Flamewylves.

"Come on," she said, revelling in the confidence that filled her voice. "Let's go sort out the Wylfire."