Tsugiko instantly regretted opening her eyes.  The world around her throbbed 
and pulsed in a haze of emerald green.  A moan of pain escaped her lips as she 
brought her hands over her face. "Ugh, what hit me?"

"She's awake!"  

Tsugiko was vaguely aware of a familiar male voice.  Warm 
brown eyes hovered in her field of vision.  She allowed herself a moment
to lose herself in their depths before pulling herself into a half-
sitting position.

"Kyouji?" Tsugiko whispered faintly.  "What happened?  I can't remember...
Wintergreen!"  She shot forward, trying to get up, but Kyouji reached out
and grabbed her arms.

"Whoa, wait a minute!" he yelled.  "It's okay now, she's gone.  We're
safe now."  He adjusted his grip on her arms and turned Tsugiko's face
towards his.  Her breath caught in her throat as he leaned in and stared 
deep into her eyes.  Kyouji's eyes traveled upwards a short distance and he 
frowned.  "Yumi, can you come here?"

Bright blue eyes appeared next to Kyouji's, shining with a perfect look of intent 
curiosity.  "What's wrong?" Yumi asked.  She followed Kyouji's stare to
Tsugiko's forehead and gasped. "Oh my..."

Tsugiko looked up from one face to the other, growing increasingly nervous under 
their combined stare.  "What?  What's wrong?"

Yumi's expression shifted to one of sincere sympathy.  "Tsugiko-chan.. your
crystal.  It's... cracked."

* * * * * * * * * *

Starburst Crystal
by Ardweden

Legend 4: Open Your Heart to the Bubble-Yummy Light.
by Angelcat

* * * * * * * * * * 

Tsugiko felt her world shatter.  With the fingers of her left hand, she
traced the edge of the hairline crack in the crystal on her forehead.  
"Cracked?" she whispered dully.  With one sharp blow, Wintergreen
had destroyed everything.  "So what if we have one shard of the crystal?
The temple spirit said that the power of all three priestesses was needed to 
heal the planet.  It's over, we've lost."  An icepick of pain lanced through 
Tsugiko's head and she bit back a cry.  

"The spirit!" Yumi cheered.  "The spirit will know how to fix it.  We
can turn around and go back to the temple and ask!"

"We can't turn back now," Kyouji countered.  We need to get the rest of the crystal shards before 
Wintergreen does," Kyouji said.  He turned back to Tsugiko and placed an index 
finger over her lips to prevent her from protesting.  "If we work quickly enough, 
we can collect all of the shards and be back at the temple in no time.  Besides, 
no matter what happens, I will always be here to protect you."  

"Kyouji... I-" Tsugiko was interrupted by a loud crashing in the forest.  

"Giiika!"

"Kit Kat!" Yumi cried and ran towards the noise, followed reluctantly by
Kyouji and Tsugiko.  They found the carret at the scene of the earlier battle,
hissing and spitting at the unconscious forms of Twix and Twix.  She picked
Kit Kat up and turned towards the others.  "They're still here.  What should
we do?" 

With one twist of his furry little body, Kit Kat squirmed out of Yumi's arms
and scurried back to the campsite.  A minute later, he returned with a long 
length of rope clenched in his teeth.  He dropped the rope at Kyouji's feet 
and ran back and forth between the fallen Twixes to the rope. "Gika!
Gikagikagika gii!"

Kyouji bent down and picked the coil up from the ground.  "I think the little 
furball wants us to tie them up," he said.

"Oh, Kit Kat, that's brilliant!" Yumi knelt next to the carret and rubbed
behind his cat-like ears.  Kit Kat purred and rolled his head to the side
with his eyes squeezed tightly shut.

Kyouji scowled.  He could have sworn that the animal had just made a face 
at him.  He stalked over to the Twixes and tied them to the base of a tree 
with sharp tugs.

Tsugiko put a hand to her temple.  She felt another headache coming on. "So 
what do we do with them now?" 

"Let's talk to them," suggested Yumi.  "Maybe they can help us."

Wonderful, thought Tsugiko.  Just wonderful.  "Oh yes, talk to them.  Why
would they help us?  They are our enemies.  They've tried to kill us.  
Repeatedly."

Colorful insults and a chorus of angry chirps erupted from the tree.  "They
must be awake!"  Smiling brightly, Yumi moved to greet Twix and his sister.

No one enjoys waking up to find themselves strapped to a tree.  Twix was
no exception.  "Let us go, you little brats!" he yelled.

"Gika kagi ka!" spat Kit Kat

"Ugh, what is this, a rat?"  Twix sniffed, tossing her hair as disdainfully
as possible with her limited movement.

"Now, Kit Kat, be nice.  Twix and Twix are our guests."

Tsugiko rolled her eyes.  "Yumi, we've tied them to a tree!  They aren't
guests, they're *prisoners*."

"That doesn't mean we have to be rude.  Why shouldn't we treat them as
guests?"

"They tried to kill us! They're EVIL!"

"They may be evil, but evildoers are people too."

"Giiiika!"

Tsugiko laughed.  "For once I agree with Kit Kat.  They're evil, and we 
should stop them!"

"They're evil, so we should be nice and make them good again."

"That might work, if they weren't gone," a third voice spoke up.

Both girls stopped and turned to Kyouji. "They WHAT?!"

"They're gone."

"Weren't you watching them?"  

"How did they get away?"

"Well, you see, I was... ACK!  Kit Kat, NO!  Get DOWN!  Yumi, Tsugiko...
HELP!"

* * * * * 

Kyouji screamed as he woke.  He lurched forward, sitting bolt upright.  He
placed his hands on the ground to steady himself.  While he gasped for air,
he looked around in a panic.  He felt his nerves begin to settle at the
sight of Yumi and Tsugiko standing over him.  Kyouji  mentally slapped himself 
and got to his feet.  "Ugh, I just had the worst  dream," he said.  

Tsugiko knelt down beside him, taking his hand in hers.  "What happened?"
she asked nervously.

"I dreamt that Kit Kat beat me up."

Tsugiko exploded into laughter. 

"Anou.. Kyouji-kun... You *did* get beaten up by Kit Kat," Yumi said helpfully. 

"Ha ha, very funny," Kyouji grumbled as Yumi giggled delicately.  Even the 
carret was laughing at him now.  A change of subject was definitely in order.

"So let's get go and start looking for that second crystal shard!"  Kyouji
ran to his backpack and started repacking everything that he had taken out
the night before, trying to ignore the peals of melodious laughter that 
followed him.

* * * * * 

The trio carefully traced their way back to the Spree battlefield.  After
yesterday's fight, they had no idea what to expect and they approached it
cautiously and ready to run.

The True Spree and the Chosen Spree were lined up neatly on each side of the
battlefield.  When they spotted the priestesses, al'Toid and the leader of
the True Spree ran forward to greet them.

"My sweet Priestess!"  al'Toid cried as he took ahold of Yumi's hand.  "Your 
humble servant, as well as all of the Chosen Spree, are dedicated to the end 
of aiding you in your holy quest!""

"Dear Priestess!" the True Spree shoved Kyouji out of the way and bowed
deeply before Tsugiko.  "Myntz and the True Spree are at your command."

al'Toid eyed Myntz out of the corner of his eye and bowed a little lower.
"May I suggest that you consider traveling to York next?  There is an old
woman there who is an expert on ancient lore.  She is the only one alive who
can read the old texts."

"What an excellent idea!  Thank you, al'Toid."  Yumi rewarded the Chosen
Spree with a brilliant smile.

Myntz scowled as al'Toid shot him a smug look.  Two can play at this game, 
he thought as he bent down further. "Indeed, Patty is exceptionally wise.  
I can give you a map to York, with all of the best trails clearly marked, as 
well as transportation if you so wish."  He stuck his tongue out at al'Toid 
as Yumi's attention was shifted to him.  

Not wanting to be outdone, al'Toid knelt down and bowed.  "What Myntz's map is 
missing is a guide to all of the dangerous creatures who live in the forest 
between here and York.  The brightly colored Gobstopper is probably the most
common..."

"They are rather large and quite dangerous to the unprepared, but if you hit
them in the right spot, they are very easy to defeat," Myntz interrupted,
kneeling down and bowing.

"And when prepared properly, they really are tasty and make excellent meals 
when on the road," finished al'Toid, bowing so deeply that his head touched 
the ground.  Myntz followed suit and al'Toid lowered the rest of his body.  
Within minutes, every Spree on the field was lying face down in the dirt.

Yumi gracefully accepted the map and guidebook from the flattened Spree's
outstretched hand and she, Tsugiko, and Kyouji picked their way across the
field and back to the main road.

* * * * * 

"That was creepy!"  Tsugiko said after they'd been walking for several
minutes.  "What were they doing back there?"

"They're still sick.  They weren't physically fighting, but all of the
conflict was still there."  Yumi read the Spree's guidebook as she walked.
Even though all of her attention was on the book, her feet found their way 
around every twig and uneven patch in the road.

Tsugiko sighed and changed her pace to match Kyouji's.  The dull throbbing
in her forehead was steadily building and she idly wondered what he would do
if she leaned against him for support.  She glanced up at his face and
followed the path of his eyes to Yumi, who was still buried in the
guidebook.  Tsugiko's eyes narrowed and she reached out for Kyouji's arm.
"Kyouji, I..."  

Kyouji stopped suddenly and grabbed Tsugiko's arm, pulling her to a stop.
"Shh!"

"Huh?  I mean... Kyouji?  What are you..." Tsugiko blushed deeply before
noticing that Kyouji still wasn't actually looking at her.  Out of the
corner of her eye, she noticed that Yumi had stopped as well, but for once,
Kyouji wasn't looking at her.  Tsugiko looked forward.  And up.  

"EEK!"

Ahead of them on the path stood a very large... something.  Tsugiko couldn't 
think of any other word to describe it.  It looked vaguely like a bear, she 
supposed, except that she'd never seen a bear that towered three times her 
height over her.  The thing was covered in shaggy, mottled fur that was 
peeling away in patches and layers, each revealing fur of a different hue.  
Naturally, none of them were anything Nature had ever intended to be found 
in the real world, but Tsugiko didn't really have the presence of time to 
spend on that.  She was too busy staring up at into the creature's large 
orange-and-purple maw.

"What the hell is that?" gasped Tsugiko.  She stared up at its eyes and
pulled out her hammer.

"This is the Gobstopper that the Spree warned us about," Yumi said calmly.
"I've just been reading its entry in the guidebook and it isn't much of a
threat at all.  Just make sure you don't look directly into its eyes."

Tsugiko saw herself reflected in the Gobstopper's eyes.  She saw everything
that she'd ever done to make a fool of herself and everything that she
couldn't do as well as Yumi.  She saw herself make matters worse when
talking to the Spree and she saw the way everyone looked at Yumi instead of
her.  Pain stabbed through her head and she started glowing green.

"No one knows what exactly happens when you try to stare down a Gobstopper,
for no Spree who has tried it has survived the experience.  If you avoid the
Gobstopper's gaze, it is the easiest thing in the world to kill," Yumi
quoted.  "So, I should be able to hit it here..."  Yumi took out her wand
and tapped a blue spot on the back of the Gobstopper's leg.  "And voila!"

As the Gobstopper fell, Tsugiko reached full power.  With a scream of pain, 
she threw a bolt of brilliant green energy towards the space where the 
Gobstopper had stood.

* * * * *

Hearing the scream of pain, Kyouji ran toward Tsugiko.  He reached her just 
as she fired the blast.  The sound of the monster falling caught his
attention as he caught Tsugiko and he turned to look just in time to see
that Yumi was now directly in the path of Tsugiko's bolt.  

"Yumi, look out!"  Kyouji felt the Knight Protector emerge and take over and
he raced towards Yumi.  

Yumi looked up from her book at the cry and stared transfixed at the emerald 
green fire.

Kyouji felt time slow to a crawl as he ran.  Even with his enhanced speed
and the guidence of the Knight Protector, he could see that he wasn't going
to make it in time.  He closed his eyes and felt pressure on his chest.  He
opened his eyes just in time to see a green and orange blur launch itself
from his chest and he lost his balance.

He fell backwards and deflated as he heard the impact of the blast and
Yumi's scream.  "YUMI!  NO!"

* * * * * 

Yumi stared at the smoking remains of the tree that had once stood behind
her and at the little carret curled up in her lap.  "Oh, Kit Kat, that was
so brave of you!  You saved my life!"  She lifted him up and stood.  She
took stock of the situation while brushing off her clothes.  She spotted
Kyouji sitting in a middle of a puddle looking distressed, but uninjured.

"Kyouji?  Are you okay?" Yumi asked as she reached out to help him up.

"Yumi?  I'm fine... but you're okay?  You didn't get hit!  How?"

Yumi smiled.  "Kit Kat saved me.  Isn't he great!"  She hugged the carret
tightly. 

"Gika gi!"  Kit Kat cheered. 

"But what happened to Tsugiko... Tsugiko!" 

* * * * * 

Author's notes:

Okay, yeah, nasty cliffhanger, I know, but I'm very seriously out of time
here. ^_^;;

Many many MANY thanks and hugs to Ardweden and Ravi who were both
excellently supportive and good prereaders and helped me get unstuck all of
the times I got stalled.  Thanks also to Richard for ideas and every single
person in #HHHitSquad, who were all there for me when I was a sobbing puddle
of stressy goo.