Spirit woke up and yawned. She rose her head off of the sand and looked at her surroundings, they didn't seem the same as when she drifted to sleep. It wasn't the island where they found the clan, but she couldn't help but recognize where she was. There was a cliff a few feet away, a large pool of water and glass panels near the front. Her face lifted when she realized where she was. It was the lagoon! They were finally home!

"Guys! We made it!" Spirit jumped to her feet and squealed in excitement. She soon became hesitant when there was no sign of her lykar friends. "Guys? Askar? Ula?" Nothing. "Ali? Corky?" Spirit became very confused, where were all her friends? She saw a small figure on beach. It was different shades of blue and had long hair, but the unique shape of its ears made it obvious to who it was. "Branch!" Spirit wagged her tail in excitement as she sprinted to greet her best friend. When she got to him she jumped around and squealed in joy, but Branch didn't seem as excited. Spirit sat down in front of him and tilted her head in confusion. "Branch? It's me, Spirit!" But Branch was still silent, he just stared at her, a cold, hard stare that pierced into her eyes. Spirit began to get worried. What was wrong with him? Eventually, he rose his hand in the air.

"Now!" Branch shouted. Before she knew it, Spirit was surrounded by rivered trolls with weapons, and music trolls with their like whips. Spirit looked around frantically.

"Branch, what are you doing?" Spirit asked, scared. "It's me, your best friend!" Branch just glared at her, then pointed his hand to Spirit. The trolls charged at her with their hair and weapons in hand. "BRANCH!"

-

Spirit was shocked awake. She was shaking and breathing heavily, looking around frantically. She was on the clan's island, her friends still asleep in their sand nests with the moon still high in the sky. It was just a dream. A nightmare. 

"Keep it together, Spirit," she muttered to herself. "Branch would never do anything to hurt you." Spirit looked behind her at the distant rocks, where they found the drawings, thinking about them.

"Spirit?" A voice said. Spirit whipped her head towards the voice. It was Askar, he was looking at Spirit with a concerned look on his face. "Are you okay?" 

"Oh, hi Askar," Spirit panted slightly. "Y-yeah I'm fine."

"What's wrong?" Askar asked as he tilted his head.

"I was just...I can't stop thinking about those drawings," Spirit sighed. "The trolls won't harm us will they?" Askar crawled out of his nest and stood over Spirit.

"Come with me, I have something to show you," Askar stated. Spirit got up and followed him. "When you guys fell asleep, I went to see the rocks again to see if there was anything else I could find," he explained as he and Spirit walked. "And I saw something I think you'd want to see." Spirit was puzzled. Askar lead Spirit to the far end of the rocks and pointed to a picture right in the top corner, all on its own. Spirit's eyes lit up. It was a picture of a troll and a sea lykar, but this time, instead of attacking each other, the stick-figure troll had its hand against the sea lykar's nose. Not to harm it, but to bond with it. "It's just like you and Branch."

"Two different worlds, bridging the space between them," Spirit was in awe. 

"To change their world, forever," Askar finished. Spirit smiled at him. "They were just like you and Branch, Spirit." Spirit suddenly rammed her head into Askar's neck, nuzzling against him.

"Thank you for showing this to me, Askar," Spirit sighed happily. 

"Anything for you, Spirit," Askar smiled as he nuzzled his head against Spirit's.

***

Spirit felt the weight of Askar's head on her's as she woke up. She looked at the horizon and gazed at the beautiful orange sky as the sun climbed its way up. 

"We better get going," Spirit said to herself. She nudged her head up, waking Askar. "Alright sleepyhead, time to get up." Askar groaned, then got up onto his paws, shaking his head. Spirit left Askar to wake up and went to get the rest of the group. "Morning guys!" Each of them yawned, groaning slightly for having to get up so early.

"Is it too early for breakfast?" Corkscrew yawned. Spirit snickered.

"You'll find out if you get your tail-end out of the nest," Spirit teased.

***

Poppy skipped through the village, feeling the warm sun on her face as the cool breeze brushed through her hair. It was such a beautiful day, everyone was happy. The gorgeous weather seemed to put all the trolls in a good mood. But she caught sight of one troll who wasn't in bright spirits. Branch was walking to the main square with his hands in his pockets and his eyes fixed to the ground. Poppy was worried about him and rushed over to see if he was okay.

"Hey Branch!" Poppy greeted. Branch looked up at her and gave a subtle smile, then it fell back into a frown again. "Are you alright?" Poppy lowered her head to try meet his gaze. Branch nodded slightly. He looked up at her again and smiled, trying to assure her that he was okay, but Poppy wasn't buying it, she knew something was wrong and she had a feeling she knew what it was. "Is...is it Spirit?" Branch tensed his shoulders as he looked at her with sad eyes. Poppy rammed into him and brought him in for a hug.

"It's been days, Poppy," Branch sighed, "there's been no sign of her. Iris said she was going to keep a look out when she goes exploring the cliffs but...I'm worried there's no chance." Poppy frowned. 

"Don't think like that, Branch," Poppy reassured. "Spirit will come back, I just know it!"

"I wish I was as sure as you are, Poppy," Branch said. Poppy lifted his head and kissed his lips, then hugging him close after.

***

"Great job on the fish-herding, guys!" Corkscrew exclaimed. 

"Agreed, I'm stuffed," Ali added in. "Hey Spirit, how long until we reach the island?" 

"I'm not sure, we can't be that far," Spirit said, unsure. The lykars soon caught sight of a group of fins weaving in and out of the surface of the water in the near distance. Judging by the shape of the fins, they were sea lykars! 

"Look!" Ula pointed with her snout at the fins. "Maybe they can tell us how far away we are!" The rest agreed and swam closer to them. The fins surfaced onto a nearby island as the lykars belonging to them jumped onto the shore. They were a dark green-gray color with dark fins, they looked a little aggressive and grumpy as they went inside a cave.

"Spirit, I'm not so sure about this," Askar hesitated. "They seem a little busy." Spirit looked over to him with a concerned expression.

"Well...It wouldn't hurt to ask," Spirit was a little unsure, but they needed to find out where they were somehow. They surfaced onto the island and looked at the cave. Spirit gulped at the sight of it. "I-I'll go in to ask." Askar caught up to her side.

"I'll go with you," Askar stated. Spirit nodded as she smiled at him. The two lykars peaked their heads into the cave; it was so dark inside, only a few rays of light seeping through the cracks of the cave. "It doesn't look like anyone is in here." Spirit started to walk in, trying her best to be brave. Askar rushed up to her. 

"It looks so abandoned," Spirit commented as she looked up at the walls of the cave. As the two of them got closer into the cave, the more dark and creepy their surroundings became. "See, nothing to be scared of-" Suddenly something shot from the roof of the cave and nearly crashed into their heads. They both screamed as they jolted back. It was just a bat, it grunted at the lykars and flew off. Spirit and Askar snickered slightly at how scared they got over a harmless little bat.

"Who goes there!" A loud voice barked. Spirit and Askar huddled together, startled.

"Who said that?" Spirit whispered to Askar. "W-we're not a threat, I promise," she replied nervously. A small group of lykars emerged from the darkness of the cave, their teeth bared. Askar stood in front of Spirit, trying to protect her from them. One larger lykar stepped forward, his piercing green-blue eyes fixed on Askar and Spirit.

"What are you doing here? State your business!" He growled. They both stayed quiet. "I asked you a question!" Askar retreated back slightly, but Spirit finally broke the silence.

"W-we're just trying to find our way home..." Spirit said shakily, her tail was between her legs and her ears were flat. 

"Well you won't find it here!" The lykar snapped. "This is OUR territory!"

"Of...of course, we were just wondering if you could tell us how far we are from-" Spirit was cut off.

"NO!" The lykar charged at her, his face just inches away from her's. Spirit's eyes were wide with fear as the lykar looked down at her. "I bet Shadow sent you to spy on us, didn't he!" Spirit and Askar looked at each other with confusion. The lykar chuckled as he approached the two lykars. "If you happen to see Shadow again, tell him his old buddy, Jasper is wanting to see him," he chuckled. 

"Jasper? Is that your name?" Askar asked cautiously. Jasper looked at him with narrowed eyes. Spirit and Askar looked back at each other, nervously.

"Okay, well we're going to go now," Spirit said awkwardly as she turned around and started to walk to the entrance of the cave. 

"This was a terrible idea," Askar whispered to her. 

"Shut up, just until we get out of-" Spirit froze as she felt something pin her tail down. She looked behind her to see Jasper with one of his back paws on her tail. Jasper walked slowly towards her, keeping his paw on her tail. Spirit was frozen with fear as she stood face to face with Jasper and looking into his pale green eyes.

"Don't EVER come back here again!" He snapped. "You understand?" Spirit nodded rapidly as she tugged her tail out of his grasp and quickly started walking away.

"We're just going to let them escape?" One lykar asked Jasper. He looked down at him and smirked.

"Of course not," Jasper chuckled. "Get them!" The other lykars obeyed and started to run through the deep cave after Askar and Spirit.

"I'm thinking we get out of here and swim as far away from them as possible!" Askar stated. He and Spirit turned their heads behind them as they heard footsteps. They caught a glimpse of the unfriendly lykars running straight for them.

"Run!" Spirit and Askar both said. They quickly turned tail and sprinted towards the entrance of the cave. The lykars were catching up with them, trying to snap and scratch at them. 

"We're almost there!" Spirit shouted. "Quickly Askar!" They both ran as fast as they could without looking behind them. One lykar pounced and landed on top of Spirit, pinning her to the ground.

"I've got one!" The lykar called. "Heh, not so tough now are you?" She laughed at Spirit.

"Hey!" Askar barked. "Get your paws off her!" Askar rammed into the lykar and knocked her off of Spirit. The lykar got up again and growled at them. One by one, the lykars surrounded Askar and Spirit. The two of them kept their ground as they tried to defend themselves. Until a loud voice stopped everything.

"Deep Dwellers!" The voice boomed. All lykars, including Spirit and Askar turned to face the sound. It was Shadow, with Amber and more members of the clan by his side. Even Ali, Corkscrew and Ula joined them. Shadow slowly walked toward Spirit and Askar, the other lykars backed away as he did. "Jasper! I know you're in there!" Jasper emerged through the darkness after his name was called.

"Well, if it isn't old Shadow," Jasper grunted. "Don't you think you're a little too close to our territory? I would hate for our deal to be broken." Jasper smirked at him.

"The two youngsters," Shadow said, addressing Askar and Spirit. "They are friends of the clan. Now leave them be!" Jasper shifted his head to the left, signalling his lykars to fall back.

"Of course, Shadow," Jasper smirked as he turned away and disappeared into the darkness of the cave.

"Come along, Kid," Shadow said.

"Who were they?" Spirit asked.

"Deep Dwellers," Shadow stated. "All they want to do is harm any lykar that isn't one of them. We made a deal that we would stay away from them if they don't harm any member that is under the protection of our clan, that means you."

"But how did you find us?" Askar added.

"We were on morning patrol," Shadow then looked at Corkscrew, Ula and Ali. "We saw you three on the Deep Dwellers' shore and knew something had to be wrong."

"Thank you for saving us," Spirit thanked.

"Just promise me you'll stay away from them," Shadow pleaded. Spirit nodded as she lead her group back into the water. Shadow and his clan following behind. 

Jasper looked out of the cave and watched as Spirit and her friends swam off into the horizon.

"Something's strange about them," Jasper said to another one of his lykars. "Keep a close eye on them." He ordered as he started to chuckle.

***

Iris had just got back from sailing with Tekai. They kept a look out for Spirit and the others while they were gone, but there was still no sign of them. Branch knew that Iris had come back and went to her pod to greet her. 

"Hey Bud," Iris greeted her brother. "How are you doing?" Branch nodded slightly as he tried to smile.

"I'm okay," Branch replied. "How was your trip?"

"It was okay, some of the lykars from the pod followed us," Iris said.

"Any sign of Spirit?" Branch asked. Iris sighed as his question made her heart ache.

"I'm so sorry Branch," Iris said sadly. "We still haven't been able to find her." Branch sighed as he lowered his head. Iris put her arm around him and lead him to the couch. 

"We're not giving up though, we're still keeping an eye out," Iris tried to reassure him. Branch looked at his pendant around his neck, holding the fluke in his hands. 

"I miss her," Branch said tearfully. Iris placed a hand on his back and held her other hand underneath Branch's.

"Don't worry Branch," Iris said. "She'll come back to us."