Quetz weaved through the air as Stopod spat rocks from his mouth, trying to knock the sky serpent from the sky. Aurin wanted her to work on her agility and Luna knew that Stopod needed to improve his accuracy to make up for his poor mobility, so it was the perfect training partnership.

“You’re shooting too quickly,” Luna told him. “Take an extra second and predict her next location before you fire.”

“If you see him slow down, make a rapid move in a random direction,” said Aurin. “You’re doing well, Quetz.”

While the two Minakai continued to train, Aurin and Luna over Shamtile and Bakugon who were competing to see how could create the strongest stone cage. They would take it in turns to encase each other in stone and hold it tightly with their magic while the trapped one would try to break free. Needless to say, Shamtile was proving to be the best of the two and Bakugon was not taking it well. The brown drake roared and wailed in fury while trapped inside one of Shamtile’s toughest cages yet.

“Calm yourself,” said Luna. “Save your rage for an attack. You need full focus to be able to break free, especially against an earth elemental as tough as Shamtile, alright?”

Suddenly Bakugon broke free while Shamtile pointed towards the ranch path, distracted by something. Luna’s Minakai picked up a rock and threw it at Shamtile’s head, who stamped his feet on the ground and conjured an earth pillar that flung Bakugon halfway across the ranch in retaliation.

“Who’s that?” asked Aurin, holding his hand to his forehead and squinting to see who had arrived at the ranch.

“It looks like…Hannah,” muttered Luna, dreading seeing her former friend.

Hannah held up a hand and gave a nervous wave. Aurin hadn’t seen her for months her arm was now cast-free after her injury courtesy of Zeera.

“I don’t know what to say,” Luna whispered.

“Just be honest,” said Aurin, slinking off to deal with the rest of the Minakai who were training nearby. “Good luck.”

Hannah approached Luna, avoiding eye contact even when they were mere feet apart. “Hello,” she said as she stared at Luna’s feet.

“Hello,” replied Luna.

The two stood awkwardly for a moment. It was clear Hannah wanted to say something else, she wouldn’t have come otherwise, but Luna intended to listen and give very little in return.

“You’re doing well at the tournament,” said Hannah, finally looking up.

“Thank you,” said Luna.

“I wanted to say the same to Aurin, but he ran off when I came close.”

“He’s focused on his training.”

“I can see that,” said Hannah, looking over to Aurin who was trying to roll Luna’s Rabbafat off of Sunny who was squealing in pain.

“Why did you come here, Hannah?”

“I know that after everything I did, we won’t be friends…at least, not in the way that we used to, but I was hoping that we could at least try? I’m sorry for everything and I really want you to know that.”

“You said that the last time we spoke. In the town square, remember?”

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“Yes, but it hasn’t stopped being true. I just thought it would be nice if we could get along before I left town considering we may never see each other again.”

Luna was shocked. “You’re leaving? Why?”

“My dad was released a couple of days ago and we can’t afford to stay here anymore, not after his business was shut down. I asked him if he would go into the monster tower to earn money, but he said he couldn’t bare to set foot inside it after everything he’s responsible for.”

“Your dad was released?”

“Yes, but he’s one of the lucky ones. It’s only because he told the officers everything they wanted to know. He and Frederick are the only two of the former elites that turned themselves in or were caught that are free.”

“None of you should be free,” said Luna, staring coldly at Hannah.

Hannah let out a dry laugh. “You’re probably right, but we aren’t going to turn away that gift and lock ourselves up.”

“No…I suppose not.”

Just then, Aurin walked over with Sunny in his arms. “Hi Hannah.”

“Hello, Aurin,” she said, smiling faintly at him. “Is your training going well?”

“Yes,” he said while massaging Sunny’s bruised head, “and this is the big one. As much as I would love to win, my quarterfinals match against Gardner determines whether or not I get to go to the national championships.”

“I hope you do. If anyone deserves it, it’s you.”

“I appreciate that. How’s your dad doing?”

“Not well. He’s racked with guilt after the Zeera Crisis. We’re leaving town.”

“That’s a shame. Of all the Zodiac members, he was the only one that I actually liked. For what it’s worth, I’ll be sorry to see you go.”

“Thank you, that means a lot…”

“Oh no,” sighed Aurin upon hearing a commotion nearby.

He ran back over to the Minakai to deal with the latest disaster—Doripper had swallowed one of Zenoman’s fists and was refusing to let it go, but Zenoman was beating him up from the inside as revenge.

“I’ll see you later, Luna,” said Hannah, turning to walk away.

“Wait,” said Luna, putting her hand on Hannah’s arm. “You’re going to come and watch my quarterfinals match, right?”

“I wouldn’t miss it,” said Hannah, smiling sincerely for the first time in a long time. “I hope you win.”

“You don’t need to worry about that. I will.”

Hannah walked back towards the path and followed it to the trees, disappearing from sight. Luna continued to watch, feeling a weight falling from her shoulders. She knew as well as Hannah did that things could never be like they once were between them, but she was glad that she could let go of her anger and move on. She truly wished the best for her former friend and perhaps forgiveness for her mistakes was the way ahead.

“Come on, you,” yelled Aurin, his voice echoing.

Luna turned and saw him half-inside Doripper’s jaw, rummaging around for something. A few seconds later, he pulled Zenoman’s fist out and threw it back to the golden alien who sat grumpily on the ground. He hadn’t an expression like that on his face since he was a little Arium and Luna couldn’t help but laugh.

“Is he bullying you?” she asked Zenoman as she walked over to him. She crouched down and rubbed his back and he started smiling again. “He’s gotten a real attitude since he evolved from a Dopefish into a Doripper, hasn’t he?”

Doripper grunted and gnashed his teeth now that Aurin was free. He floated over towards the river and dove in, flopping around in the water and enjoying the fact that his stomach was not being ravaged by an angry fist.

“Honestly, they’re like children sometimes,” said Aurin, wiping Doripper’s drool from his face with his sleeve.

Luna laughed. “It’s good preparation for the future, isn’t it?” Aurin was stunned and Luna suddenly realised what she had said. “Um…I mean…well, forget I said anything.”

Aurin took her hands. “It’s great preparation for the future,” he said, “but let’s worry about that another time. Half a decade at least.”

“Right,” giggled Luna.

Kyle wandered across the yard with a sack of feed slung over his shoulder. “Oi, Aurin!” he called.

“What?” replied Aurin.

“Vai finally got back to me.”

“And?”

“He said that once the tournament is finished, win or lose, he’s going to train you. He doesn’t exactly travel conventionally and, knowing him, he’ll be well away from civilisation. You’ll probably need to take a flying Minakai with you.”

“That’s fine, I’ll take Skrow,” said Aurin, looking up to the sky where Skrow was skirmishing with Windjinn and Wingbloom.

“There was something else,” said Kyle with a big grin. “I was hoping he would say it once I told him what you had…I thought he would.”

“What is it? Why do you look so smug?”

“He said to bring your Zeera egg with you. He says he may be able to help you.”

Aurin and Luna exchanged shocked glanced and then Aurin grinned widely. Once the tournament was over, he may finally be able to unlock his secret weapon. He may finally be able to hatch Zeera and have an epic-level Minakai of his own.