Ash led the way back to her pocket dimension, her mother following close behind. When they arrived back in Ash's pocket dimension, they found Cassia collapsed upon the floor, her breathing shallow, eyes closed, appearing is if she was near dead.

     Ash turned her mother, her eyes wide. "She... She was fine earlier. I don't know what's wrong! What happened to her?" The Enderdragon crosser the room swiftly and laid one hand against Cassia's head. A frown creased her forehead as she realized what had happened.

     "There's nothing we can do for her now, Ash. She's being over taken by the brine that she would always become. When she wakes up she has to be in the presence of Sky, otherwise her brine genetics may backfire and cause her great pain."

     Kit frowned, unsure of why her mother was changing her mind about keeping this girl here. "But what about her destroying the crystal? And she must have come here for a reason, and we don't know why. Are you seriously just going to let her go, just like that?" Ash couldn't believe what she was hearing.

     The Enderdragon sighed, unconsciously twisting the small golden bangle someone had given her once. "We don't have a choice. I promised her father, her real one, if she ever came here looking for answers, I'd return her to him, no matter what. Especially if she was in the process of accepting her birthright." She looked from Kit to Cassia, and then sighed again. "Kit, while I'm gone, stay in your room. Herobrine isn't going to be happy to hear about a new brine that isn't under his control, and I fear he'll take it out on you."

     "But Mom! That's boring." Kit protested, scowling a little. "I don't want to be stuck here while you're in danger, that wouldn't be right. Besides, you know I'm a good fighter! I could totally take on Herobrine if he came here."

     "No." her words were firm as she addressed her daughter. "If you won't consent to stay here, I'll have no choice but to lock this pocket dimension so you can't leave until I return." Endress sighed, looking down at Cassia with something akin to pity in her purple gaze. "I will return soon, Kit, I promise. Okay?"

     Kit scowled, but relented. "Ugh, fine. Just come back soon, okay?" Queen Endress nodded solemnly. "I will I promise. Farewell for now, daughter." She crossed the remaining distance to Cassia and bent over to pick her up, cradling the girl in her arms carefully. Then, she exited the pocket dimension, spread her wings, and began her flight to him.

~Yoi and Clancy's house~

     A few hours has passed, and Sky and Clancy had been bouncing ideas on how to find Cassia off each other for some time now.

"What if we lured her here with you as bait, Sky?"

"Absolutely not. She can't know I'm involved, or this whole plan will fall apart."

"Ugh, then do you have any ideas?"

"Well, we could always go searching for her, but we'd have to leave Yoi here, and I don't know how safe it is."

 
     Their discussion continued for some time, until it was interrupted by Yoi stumbling sleepily into the room. From the look in her eyes and the way she walked, the young neko had just woken up. "Ah, you're awake!" Sky said quickly, talking over Clancy's suggest of just knocking Cassia out. "You're just in time for dinner to, how does mac and cheese with hotdogs sound for dinner?"
 
     Yoi gave him a small smile despite her fear. "I-I'd like tha-that. T-thank y-you..." She watched as Sky shot a look at Clancy. "W-what were you g-guys tal-talking abo-about before I wo-woke up?"

     Sky and Clancy exchanged glances, coming to a silent agreement. "We were just talking about Cassia." Sky answered. "We were debating going to look for her, but we didn't want to leave you here by yourself while we were out searching for her." Clancy nodded, her lips twisted as if she had sucked on a lemon. It was obvious she didn't like that Sky was telling Yoi the truth, rather than protecting her with a lie.

     "She's s-still mis-missing?" Yoi replied anxiously. "Bu-but it's been d-days... Is sh-she okay?" Clancy stayed silent, unwilling to tell Yoi what really was going on. Once again, it was up to Sky. "Unfortunately, yes. We're going to find her though, I promise. C'mon, I'll make you dinner and you can eat while Clancy and I finish planning, alright? We'll let you know as soon as we do what we plan on doing to find your s-" he cut himself off abruptly, remembering just in time that Yoi didn't know that yet. "-your friend, Cassia." He extended a hand to Yoi, hoping she'd take it so he could get her settled with dinner soon.

     Yoi still looked a little trouble, but she took his hand and followed him into the kitchen.

     From the living room, where Clancy was, all she could her was the banging of pots and the water being run for a few minutes, then it was silent save the low discussion Yoi and Sky seemed to be having while they were making dinner.
     Before long dinner was made, and Sky settled Yoi in front of the window she liked to stare out of looking for Cassia with a plate of food in front of her. "We'll talk soon, okay Yoi?" Sky said warmly, gazing at her with kind eyes. "O-okay."

     Sky left and rejoined Clancy in the living room. "That was close." he said in an undertone, clanging toward the kitchen where Yoi was. "I agree. But let's talk about the later, we still need to find a way to find Cassia, especially now that you've promised Yoi we'll bring her hom-"

     Clancy's voice was cut short by the cry of Yoi from the kitchen. "D-dragon!" Sky didn't hesitate, he raced for the front door with barely a word to Clancy. "Protect Yoi." he tossed over his shoulder as he opened the front door and stepped outside to meet the dragon.

     He knew why she was here, and his heart leapt. When the wingbeats rose in volume as the Enderdragon came down on the soft grass, she transformed back into her human form, revealing the limp form of Cassia in her arms.

     "Is she...?" Sky trailed off, suddenly fearful, his golden gaze shining with despair. Queen Endress nodded. "I'm afraid so, Sky. She's finally becoming a brine, and when she ended the End and collapsed there, I had no choice but to return her to you, as you requested. Will she be alright?"

     He let out a sigh, half relief and half despair. "Yes, she'll be okay... Thank you, Endress. You don't have any idea how relieved I am to have her back. She could have seriously hurt herself or others around her when she woke if she didn't have a proper teacher." Queen Endress nodded her head, and laid Cassia at Sky's feet. "I wish you well in your quest to reunite the two torn apart. I.. regret my part in the matter, and I hope you'll accept my apology.

     Sky sighed, then nodded. "You've done more than enough to repay what you did, and I'll be forever grateful that you've brought Cassia home safely. You have my thanks for that, Endress." He bent down carefully and picked up Cassia, gently holding her in a baby-like position as he straightened up.

     She graciously inclined her head. "Good luck, Skybrine. If you need help in the future, please don't hesitate to call." And with those parting words, she transformed again, and took off leaving Sky staring solemnly after her. "I will..." he whispered quietly.

      With a sigh, he glanced down at the still form of Cassia. "Don't worry, I'll take care of you now." With light steps and a heavy heart, he headed hack to the house, moving carefully as to not jostle Cassia.

___________________________________

Oh, hai dere.
kawaiiKiya29
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