[Skyspirit]

Terrace Park. It should have been a magical, peaceful, fun place. She should have been able to enjoy the world around her.
Nope.
Instead, Zatha, a chaos tali, was completely preoccupied by the fact that she was in really. big. trouble.
She glaced to her left, spotting Bandit, a chaos ferrikoon, fluttering above her head. This was all his fault, really. If she hadn't listened to him, she wouldn't be in this mess.
I knew it was dangerous to follow the kasuga. I knew it was dangerous to go to the grand cathedral. So why did I? Because he made it sound so easy, so simple. I believed he had a plan, but he almost got us killed.
It was only because of Echo that they'd even escaped. The temple gyrraptor was a mystery to both the chaos pets.

Bandit was furious. His plan had been ruined! He blamed Echo.
Whatever was following us, I don't care. I could deal with it. I can't believe Echo followed us to the grand cathedral. Why doesn't he just go to his stupid shrine? That's obviously what he wants to do. He probably doesn't even care about us. He's just doing it because he knows it's what Skyspirit would want him to do.

Echo was not happy. His emotions weren't very strong, so he wasn't angry either, but he could tell that he was not happy. He just wanted to go to the basantha shrine. It was calling him. But the chaos pets were in his way.

16/20

[Skyspirit]

The three pets walked over a rise and there waiting for them was their trainer, Skyspirit. A sixteen year-old girl with long, straight, dark hair. And peculiarly, a small shimmering diamond marking on her forehead.
"Bandit! Zatha!"
Uh-oh...
She walked over to them, disapproval etched in her face. "I am going to take you back home, okay? So Echo can leave. You've caused far too much trouble. I shouldn't have let you go with him. Not yet, anyway."
Bandit and Zatha knew enough Human to know what she was saying. The general idea at least. That they were in trouble and were slowing Echo down. That they had to go back home now, with her.

Bandit fluttered around to land on Echo's head. The gyraptor narrowed his eyes but didn't throw off Bandit. The ferrikoon turned and hissed. He didn't want to go back. The only reason he would was because Zatha was too loyal to Skyspirit, and he would go with Zatha. Maybe, later, she would let them go out again.

Zatha stepped forward.
I'm sorry!
She wished she had a way to communicate. She really was sorry, at least somewhat. She listened to Bandit too much, she supposed.

Skyspirit looked down and had to stop herself from smiling. Zatha's eyes were the picture of innocence.
Bandit, on the other hand, seemed downright rebellious. Still, she was sure he would willingly come with her. At least to stay with Zatha.

Now- what to do about Echo's journey to the Basantha Shrine?

[Skyspirit]

As the chaos pets slipped back behind Skyspirit, the girl turned to look at Echo. The temple gyraptor stood there, curious, his blue eyes glowing and whirling. The girl walked up to him and touched the marking in the center of the swirls and shapes covering the gyraptor, the marking that every temple pet had. The barrier between his consciousness and hers thinned out, and he was able to send the feeling of a question through to her. An imprint, sort of like a feeling, a picture of the shrine impressed itself into her mind.
In return, she thought of the void serraptor, Zhira, and the feeling of waiting. Of a journey. She blocked all else from her mind and hoped the gyraptor would pick up her answer.

Echo understood. Zhira would be there, at the shrine. Waiting. For him.
He was pleased, at that. A better companion than the chaos pets at least.
Communicating with his trainer telepathicly was easier than talking. He could understand what she said, but he couldn't respond. This way, even though it was still difficult for him to communicate with his mind, he could say what he thought too.
Maybe going to the shrine would help him know more. Maybe he could learn to use thought-speech fully.

(18)

[Skyspirit]

Zatha was a little unsettled by the thought-speech communication. It just seemed... unnatural. She was glad that she wasn't a temple pet. Chaos was better. Even if you sometimes got into trouble. There was that particular problem, unfortunately. Especially when you listen to stuck-up chaos ferrikoons who end up messing up their plan and almost get you killed.
Zatha sighed. She supposed she was being a little unfair to Bandit. It wasn't his fault that they had run into a creepy werecain. What had been the point of going to the Grand Cathedral in the first place though?

Bandit didn't like the thought-speech either, but for a completely different reason. He didn't like the fact that he didn't know what they were saying. In his opinion, eavesdropping was an important skill to have. He wanted to know what was going to happen about Echo's journey to Basantha Shrine. Because they were using thought-speech, he had no idea what was going on.
He saw Echo's bright, glowing markings and eyes dim a bit at one point. He guessed that meant the gyraptor was more relaxed, or happy.
Yeah, probably because he knows we're not coming with him.
Bandit knew he would listen to Skyspirit for now, and do what she wanted, but that didn't mean he woudn't leave and go do what he wanted later.

(19)

[Skyspirit]

Echo watched as Skyspirit left, followed by the two chaos pets.
Bandit seemed very resentful. Echo hoped he wouldn't try to 'escape'. He knew Zatha would follow Skyspirit though, and he guessed Bandit would follow the chaos Tali.

They dissappeared over a hill and Echo stood there, alone. It was time for him to leave on his journey, finally. Maybe now he could find who he truely was.
He felt the shrine calling to him again, as he walked back to the bridge.
And this time, he could heed the call.

(20)