> Hailey looked up as another girl landed beside them. "I'm Hailey and that's Morgan." "I'm Karei." the horse added. "You all have been called to Savoya to save the world from an evil dragon king. Many before you have tried but failed. You prove that you are worthy, you will undergo a test of my choosing. If you pass, you shall get your companion, a animal that will help you on your journey. Understand?"

"I'm Kayla, and yes, I understand." Kayla turned, looking around, and came back to them asking, "Are there going to be any others? Because this would be a really small group if there wern't."

"Moooooooooo!" Akiko screamed at the passing truck. She laughed, harrassing random people was quite fun. The truck honked at her and she 'mooed' again. "Hehehe" The trucker threw something out of the window at her. It hit Akiko square in the forehead. "Oi, oi!" She yelled rolling backwards. Then she looked at the object it was a green watch. "Oi?" Suddenly she was suked into another dimension.

"Yes, more people are coming," Karei replied. She turned as she heard a thump. "There's someone else now." She turned to Hailey. "You shall have your test first." the girl nodded and suddenly the were in the middle of a meadow. Standing before them was a line of tigers. "Of of these is your companion," Karei explained. "You have to figure out which one she is before time runs out," she finished, nodding towards a hourglass. "Begin."

Hailey walked around the tigers. They all looked the same; lifeless and emotionless. But one tiger caught her eyes. She seemed to have a certain fire in her dark eyes. "That one," she guessed.

Karei nodded and all of the false companions disapeared. "Well done." The tiger nodded. "I am Kettei," she told Hailey as they were trasported to back to the others. Karei walked over to the new girl. "it is time for your test to get your companion." She trasported them to the bottom of a cliff. "Climb this mountain before time runs out," she said, once again pointing to a giant hourglass. "Begin." She trasformed into a white hawk and watched the girl begin to climb.

"Oi...." Kiko moaned and rubbed her head. 'Dude, was I sniffin pot?' She thought. She realized that the white horse was talking and looked at it strangly. "Me? Climb? Uh-uh! I cant climb. Ah well skrew." She looked at the mountain quizzically and began to climb.

Akiko climbed on. Suddenly she was very glad that she had her hair tied back in two braids today, the fact that it wasn't all in her face made it much easier to climb. She reached the top, panting, arms sore. Standing up she hit her head on an overhanging tree limb. "Oww..." She moaned, rubbing her head.

"Not the brightest banana in the bunch now are we?" She turned hearing a voice. A shaggy mutt grinned at her. "I'm Akanu, you companion."

"Very good," Karei told the girl, bring back the three of them to the rest of the group. She turned to Morgan. "Now it is your turn." She brought then to the top of a snowy mountain. Propped against a tree was a snowboard. "Board down the mountain before time runs out. Watch out for trees and try to falls. Begin."

Morgan grabbed the board and wished she had learned to snowboard instead of skiing. She gulped and began speeding down the mountain. She dodged trees and boulders and the while trying to stay balanced. She was thankful though that Hailey had taught her a bit about boarding. Amazingly, she made it down alive and just in time though how she managed to do it with her eyes closed most of the time was beyond her. Karei turned back into a horse and a eagle landed on Morgan's shoulder. "I'm Saitoku."

"you're next," Karei told Kayla. She brought the girl to a giant maze. "Find your way through it before time runs out." Karei turned into a white cat and leaped gracefully onto the wall. "Begin."

Kayla started running. She made up a pattern to go left, left, right, straight, left, left, right. After she had gone through the pattern three times, she reached the end of the maze. "I'M DONE!!" She shouted at the top of her lungs, although it sounded nearly a whisper because she was panting so hard."HELLO?!?!?!"

"Well done," Karei told her. The cat stepped aside to reveal a saluki. "This is your companion," She said as they were brought back to the other. She looked around. "Everyone here has had their tests and thankfully, you all passed. A few more people shall be coming."

"Um.. Question." Hailey asked. "Excatly why are we here? And what are our companion."

"Easy," Kettei replied. "You are here to save us from an evil king. We are basically an animal form of yourself and with your help, we'll be able to evolve and become much stronger and save the world."

Gwen hopped up onto the large bay window that was situated inside her cramped room. Ever since she had turned 16, she had been secluded and isolated from the rest of the orphanage. Even James, her 7 year old friend, was getting sick of not seeing her. Leaning against the window, she pushed her forehead against the cold glass. Closing her eyes, she exhaled. She hated the orphanage. Whenever she questioned her past, the caretakers would only frown and change the topic. It all came down to her just wishing to get away. A knock on her door startled her. " Gweneth! You stupid girl! Did you remember to do your lessons?!" The door flew open and a large square-faced woman stormed in. " Good God child! Have you done anything else besides daydream all this time?!" the woman shouted. Gwen retaliated by flying to her feet. Her hands balled up into fists as she screamed back. " For god sake yourself! I have done nothing the least that would bother anyone! Why should I be your means of entertainment? why don't you go harass some other poor child. You've been pressuring me for who knows how long! to leave this dump of a place. For once just listen to yourself! FINE!!!! I'll get out. Just stay the heck out of my way!" Her bright purple eyes glared straight through the caretaker as she fled the room. Running down the grand staircase she dodged past other children and flung open the doors. She stumbled backwards as the frosty cold pierced straight through her meager clothes and into her skin. Shivering, she threw a hated glance behind before charging into the forbidding world. Her legs flew clumsily underneath her. She had always been the least athletic one out of everyone. Excelling in the education part had got her nowhere. She tripped and fell face flat onto her stomach. " OOOF!" she moaned. Rolling over onto her back, she realized that she had landed on a strange watch-like looking object. Its shiny gold color got her attention and she picked it up. Rolling it over in her hands she felt her self jolt forward. The tiny black screen on the watch opened up and she fell through into the dark nothingness.

Karei trotted over the new girl and nudged her shoulder. "Wake up child. It is almost time for your test."

"How many more people are there going to be?" Morgan asked Saitoku.

"There are 8 chosen and 6 are already here so-"

"two more people," Morgan replied, adjusting her glasses. "While you all discuss why we're here, I'm finishing my essay," She added, opening her laptop.

Hailey rolled her eyes. "You do relize how pathetic you are. Plus we probably won't be home in time for school. Not like that's a bad thing."

"Come on, Elle, your father told you to. It's at the Globe Theater...you could become a great actress, you know." Elle sighed as she finished up blowdrying her hair, hair which any girl in their right mind would envy. She tossed it about vainly, ignoring her housekeeper Miriam's gentle protest.

"Just GO to the audition, please! Your father is very famous, you know, they'll accept you in no time. You know how much he wants to share acting with you!"

Elle stood up, droplets of water still clinging to her hair, picking up her new baby blue purse. "NOOO," she begged relentlessly. "Tell him I went and didn't make it! You would do that for me, wouldn't you?" She had been trying to convince Miriam into getting her out of acting auditions the whole time she'd been living with her celebrity foster father.

"NO! Who do you think I am, anyway? You're not getting out of this any easier than you got out of the other auditions! NOw get into the car this instant, young lady!"

"But.."

"QUIET AND IN THE CAR!!!!!!!"

Elle reluctantly flounced into the car and, gazing out the window wistfully, wished she where ANYWHERE but heading towards the Globe Theater and yet another attempt at using parental celebrity to compensate for lack of talent.

Once they got there, Miriam sped off, leaving Elle at the steps of the Globe Theater. Once her limo was out of site, Elle smirked and, with a giggle, ran in completely the opposite direction, congratulating herself on her ingenius plot of escape until.... something pink dropped on her head.

Letting out a shriek, Elle triped over her pink flip-flops and screamed for her life, falling flat onto the concrete sidewalk. She glanced at the thing that had fallen on her. It was a pink watch. Before she could decide what to do, she was sucked into the small screen and everything faded to black

The white cat leaped over to the other girl. "Wake up," she said, nudging her arm. Noticing the two girls beginning to regain consciousness she asked. "Now which one of you are going to get your test first?"

Elle screamed as she saw the white animal nudging her awake. She backed away rapidly, eyes wide with fear. "You...you TALKED to me!!! And what test? Whatever it is, I'll go first!"she flipped her hair and noticed the other girls beside her. "So where am I anyway, people?"

"You are in Savoya," Karei answered, turing back into the white mare. "You will have a companion like the other," She pointed to the other animals. "You must undergo a test to prove that you are worthy." She teleported them to a lake. A thin wire stretched across it, tire to two trees. "You must walk across that without falling in. Begin."

Morgan sighed. "You never know. We could make it back in time." she glanced around. "And may I ask who all of you are?"