When I was thrown back into my cell I woke up. It seems I'll be passing out any time I acted up now, or I will be subjected to that jinjuriki handcuff again. Not something I wanted to see happening. There had to be some way to build tolerance. There just had to.

I stood up and slowly looked around. Which made no sense, since I could barely see anything through the darkness but I did it anyway. It felt just as weird and creepy as before and I felt an insane urge to get out, even if I had to claw my way out.

"You took you're time getting back."

I whirled on my heels. Sitting in the shadows, there was an even darker shadow but I couldn't see the shape. It just look like one large lump.

"Who's there?" I called cautiously. This was his prison lair, after all. You could never be too sure as to what you may find around this place. I inched a bit closer, and then the lump moved.

"You look like you're strong enough to walk now," the lump said. "Finally, I've been waiting so long. You're very weak, you know that?"

"Thanks for the compliment," I said sarcastically. "Who the hell are you? Come out of the shadows."

"Are you sure you can handle seeing me? I'm rather scary, I've been told."

That didn't sit very well with me but I didn't show it. I just crossed my arms and said, "I'll be the judge of that."

The lump moved, as if it were shrugging. "Okay, my lady. Whatever you command."

My lady? Only one person ever called me that and that was Mami, and she had stopped calling me that weeks ago. The lump shifted and slowly it became an even bigger lump, so big I had to step back, my head bending back farther and farther as I looked up to see. Finally, it stopped getting bigger and, through the darkness, I saw that the lump became a shape.

"What are you waiting for?" the shape said.

I blinked, coming out of my shock. "H-huh? What?"

"Make some light so that you can see me?"

"How do I do that?"

There was a groan. "What were you being taught all this time?"

"H-how to use my eyes properly."

"Ahhh, yes that's right. You're a part of the Hasharimi clan with those blood eyes. Honing your eyes makes sense but you still need to practice your other skills too."

"What other skills?"

"You're Masuta," the shape said, sounding as if he was surprised he had to say this. I was just as surprised. How did he know? "All the skills in the world belong to you."

"H-how do you know what - I mean who - I am?"

"Make some light and you'll find out."

This was all too much. I stepped back a bit, confused and intrigued at the same time. All I had to do was make some light, right? I'm sure I could do that. After all, I had thought my element was fire alone all this time. I'm very good at it.

I took a deep breath and pushed it out through my mouth. "Fire Style: Torch!" Then I swung my open palm around and when it came back it alighted with fire. I jumped back in shock. "H- How the hell did I know how to do that?"

The shape laughed loudly. "Why are you asking me? You're the one who did it. The only thing I can probably tell you is that you're Masuta. You were born with it."

I stared at my palm that was blazing fire, with my eyes wide. It didn't hurt. Not one bit. The bright red flame glowed so bright, I could actually see what was around me.

"Hold it up."

And so I did. I wasn't sure what I had expected the shape to be, but somehow, when I saw it, I wasn't too surprised. It was a massive black cat, my head barely over his feet, water or chakra, I still wasn't clear which, covering it. I was still too small for my light to make much coverage but I saw his tail that was suddenly tipped with fire as soon as my eyes landed on it. As well as, his wings. He had purposely outed them so that I couldn't see...

The Spheonix bent his large body so that his head was in range of the light and he gave me a weird cat grin, dark green runic lines running all over his forehead. "Surprised?" he asked, grinning.

"Why didn't you just tell me you were just like Mami?"

He lifted his head, shrugging. The combination of his tail and wings made the room semi-lit, my flame feeble in comparison. I hadn't noticed how large the prison cell at first. "What's the fun in that? You should have figured it out as soon as I mentioned Masuta. I mean, who else knows about you that way?"

He does.

"Ahh, so you just decided to leave me in the dark. Literally." I outed my fire. "That's calm."

The Spheonix threw his head back and laughed. "That's calm!!" he repeated, laughing even harder. I just stood and watched him, not amused in the slightest. He even fell over and the ground literally - literally! - shook.

"You are hilarious," he said, after calming down.

"Glad you find me that way," I said, dryly. "Any particular reason why you're here?"

"Oh yes, that's right! I need you to come back with me right now!"

"Why?"

"Mami is in trouble."

I stopped and stared at him, a frown slowly forming on my face. "What did you say?"

"Mami. She's in trouble."

"And you took this long, went through all that, to tell me? Don't you see we're wasting time??"

He nodded. "And that's exactly why you shouldn't waste any more time cursing me, right?" And he sat down.

My eyes widened even more. "What the hell are you doing? Get up and let's go!"

"Calm down, little kitty." I scowled at the nickname. Only Sasuke can call me that. "Get on my back and then we'll go. You're going to need to find your way there by yourself one day but until then, I'll take you. We need to hurry."

Deciding not to waste any more time talking, I quickly grabbed a hold of his fur and climbed unto his back. My legs barely stretched from one side to the other. In fact, they spread out beside me, that's how small I was compared to his huge body. I tapped him impatiently. "C'mon let's gooooo!"

I didn't even hear his next words. I was suddenly blinded by a disturbing image of Mami, writhing on a table in pain. My eyes widened as I briefly watched her squirm around in pain and my heart hurt. What happened to her? This must have been why I haven't seen her around lately. I had just assumed that she had things to take care of in her world and that she would show herself in due time. I should have known something was wrong. She's my spirit animal, for God's sake! I should have realized that something was seriously wrong and figure it out.

"Just hold your horses, little kitty. I'm doing it."

"Don't call me that," I grumbled, my impatience and worry making me cranky.

"What? Little kitty? As you wish, my lady."

I didn't bother to say anything at that. I just wanted him to stop talking and get going. I held on tightly to his fur as he bent and muttered some unintelligible words under his breath. It sounded like a different language. Then when he was finished, he stood up again.

I paused a moment before asking, "Is that it?"

"Wait for it."

We don't have any time to waste! Mami could be dying right now and I'm not with her! I gritted my teeth and waited, just as he said.

Just when my patience cord was about to break, a dark swirling hole appeared in the wall before us. It slowly began to open wider and wider.

"What is that?" I asked, in awe.

"That's the physical door to our world. We don't usually use it anymore as you can tell as you should know since you've never seen it when you summon Mami, but I thought it would be good for you to know this much." He turned his head and looked at me. "Ready?"

"Been ready."

"Okay, hold on tight." Then he jumped through the gaping hole in the wall.

Everything went black for a second and I was overcome with the feeling that I was falling. I couldn't see anything, I couldn't hear anything, I didn't even feel myself on top of his back anymore. I just felt as if I was falling. But a second later, it was all over. We landed on bright green grass, and as soon as we did I slid of his back.

"What the-"

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you," he said apologetically. "The passage through the door can be very draining. You'll feel weak for a while. Just rest a bit until you regain your strength."

"We don't have any time to rest!" Mami's image flashed across my face again and I struggled to my feet, only to fall once more. "We have to get to Mami."

"You won't be getting anywhere if you keep trying to get up when your body isn't ready yet." The cat sat down and began licking his paw.

I looked him up and down. "Why are you so laid back about this?"

"I'm not."

"You look like you are. Who are you anyway?"

"Me? My name's Preve. I'm one of the elders."

My brow rose. "The elders? Mami made them sound like a bunch of old and feeble grey haired cats whenever she spoke about you guys. You don't look old and feeble to me."

"Depends on what you call old."

"How old are you then?"

"Nearing my third millennium."

This time my mouth fell open. He didn't look old at all. Albeit, I didn't quite know how cats looked when they got old but I had figured they would be bent with grey hairs. This cat looked just as young and spunky as Mami, except for the fact that he was ten times larger. "You must be kidding me," I muttered.

"I'm the youngest of the elders, really. The oldest is Urma but I don't remember how old she is. I just know what she's been an elder before I was born. So far, none of our species has died of old age. If we die, it will be in battle."

"So Mami is ..."

"Mami? She's young. About 300 years or so." He stood up again and looked at me seriously. "Can you stand?"

I looked down at my feet, then struggled to get up. It wasn't as hard as before and this time, I didn't fall on my face. When I was steady on my feet, I nodded at him.

He bent again. "Climb on."

I shook my head. "I'll take it on foot."

"You taking it on foot will waste more time. I can get their faster. Climb on."

That was true, I thought. I climbed unto this back and, this time, he took off. I had no idea if this was his full speed limit and I'm not sure I wanted to find out. I was barely hanging on as it was.

All I could do right now was pray that I wasn't too late. Pray that she was fine and everything was somehow just a big misunderstanding. Mami was the closest friend, my confidante, my battle partner, my spirit animal. I don't know how I will survive if I lost her.

Tears threatened to escape my eyes but I dashed it away. I was not about to cry. I had to remain strong. This was Mami's world. I had to show that I wasn't some sniveling twelve year old.

At long last, I spotted a bunch of other Spheonixes. They were crowded around something and when I came closer, I saw that it was Mami. Her body was laid out on a stone table and it was still. I hit the ground running, before my ride even had a chance to stop.

"Mami!" I shouted when I reached her. She was breathing hard, both a bad and good sign that whatever was wrong was really wrong but at least she was still alive.

I looked up at one of the cats, my eyes roving over all of them. "What happened to her?"

"We believe it may be some sort of poison." The cat who spoke was female. She was looking down at me with a mixture of awe and fear. Then she bowed her head. "My lady."

"Wha?" All the other cats bowed too, even Preve and they all said, "My lady."

"What are you all doing? Don't you see she could be poisoned?! Help her!"

The she cat lifted her head, then all the others. She looked a bit older than Preve although not by much. I wonder if she was the eldest he had been talking about. "We've done all we could, my lady. The rest is up to you."

"Wh- what are you talking about?" Mami was getting worse by the second. I couldn't see it but I could feel it. I was beginning to feel helpless. "What am I supposed to do?"

"You two are bound. We believe that when you were poisoned, it had some effect on her too. The problem is that although you were healed in time, Mami wasn't."

"Then why the hell didn't you heal her then?!"

"Only you can. You two are bound."

I looked back down at Mami. She was beginning to stir, as if the pain was slowly coming upon her. I looked back at the she cat. "What do I do?"

"Masuta knows what to do."

The helplessness was overwhelming me now, but I knew that that was my only hope. I closed my eyes.

Masuta, can you hear me?

Masuta, please.

I need you.

Mami needs you.

Please!

"Okay, okay! No need to shout." I was suddenly aware that Lea had taken a back seat and that Masuta was now standing in front. The knowledge of how to save her was now clear to me. I raised my hand and placed it on Mami's forehead. Then I closed my eyes and muttered some words under my breath. It was in the same language as the words Preve had said when he was opening the portal.

After a second had passed, my hand began to glow, first a white light, then a dark purple glow. I watched, half surprised, as the purple in Mami's runic lines on her forehead was sucked out and went into my hand, then suddenly shot back in spreading all over her body and illuminating her beautifully. After that, I stepped back and watched.

Fear started to form when Mami made no move.

"My lady..." Preve began, but then suddenly, Mami shot upwards and dove her head over the other side of the stone table, emptying her stomach. I fell in relief. She's okay. It worked.

A whoop went up in the air. "You go, my lady!" Preve shouted, prancing up and down as he were a kitten and not a three thousand year old Spheonix. Mami lifted her head slowly and looked around.

"What happened?" she asked.

"You almost died," I answered her. "Sorry about that. It was my fault."

"You're fault ...?" She looked extremely confused. "What are you talking about?"

"I'll tell you everything later. Let's just be happy that you're alive and well, shall we?" I fell back on the green grass. I was finally able to take in everything around me. Mami was right. There was little or no construction anywhere. It was just all trees that looked as if they touched the sky, grass that looked greener than any I've seen before and a sky so blue, filled with fluffy white clouds. It was a perfect natural haven. Even the stone table Mami was sitting on looked as if it was nature made.

I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath, enjoying the relief that was coursing through me. When I opened it again, everyone was staring down at me.

I frowned, without moving an inch. "What?"

"My lady, we welcome you Purrsia." It was the she cat and she bowed again, followed by everyone else, including Mami. "My name is Urma and I'm the head elder around here. We've been waiting for your return, my lady."

"It's good to be back," I answered. Then I froze. Was that me...? Or Masuta?

Urma nodded. "Thank you for saving Mami. We-"

"She's my spirit animal. I didn't save her for you. No offense."

"No, no. You're right. You two are bound, just as you are bounded to this body."

I knew who she was talking to: Masuta, but I was confused as to who was talking back, me or Masuta? She must have seen the confusion mapped unto my face because she said, "You are becoming more integrated into your host, my lady. You know not the difference between you two anymore."

"What the hell are you saying?" I demanded rudely. Ah, there I was.

Urma cocked her head to the side. "Or am I wrong?"

I scowled at her. I didn't want to waste any more time talking to her. I needed to get back to Kumogakure before he released those shadows on it. I looked back up at Urma. "I need to get out of here. Now."

"As you wish, my lady. Preve."

Preve stepped forward, all business. He muttered that same language under his breath and then, after a moment, the portal began to open.

I looked at Mami, who had walked up beside me. "You think you can handle this?" I asked her, a little worried. After all, she had been two seconds away from death a moment ago.

She nodded. "I've never felt any better, my lady." She didn't look straight at me and it took me a moment to get it. She was in front of her elders, she had to show respect. I nodded and played along.

"Good. Let's go."

I climbed unto Mami's back and together we leaped through the portal.

Hope you guys like it. Sorry for being so inactive lately. Comment and vote :) See you next chapter.