Chapter Twenty Five: He's Gone, and we're going to help him!.

"when someone choses to go missing, things can be difficult- find them when they want to be hidden, or allow them to hide?"

-emperorwolf

present day...
a week later.

kevin walked home from school, carl walking beside him and syrus, as always, atop his head.
"hey, kev..." syrus began to ask "how're things with the wolf lately?"
kevin looked at the little otter happily "they're great! he asked me out!!"
carl slapped kevin on the shoulder "that's wonderful!"
the german shepherd nodded "i know! and ben's been making progress with lily, too!"
they entered the clearing where kevin's house was, to see oriado clutching a note, lily on his shoulder.
"ori? what's wrong?"
oriado's expression worsened "ben... ben's gone..."
they rushed forward, and oriado read the note again

"my friends, i'm sorry.
after what that 'emperor' guy said, i started thinking, maybe he can help me find my parents.
i know this might seem selfish, but remember, i haven't seen my parents since i was an infant, you can't imagine how painful that is for me. to know that there's a way to see them again....
i just have to take this chance.
i'm going to the place collin mentioned; Gomis, the Gate Of The Stars
please don't follow me, i'm headed to the emperor's 'grey room'
i'm taking the emblem jacket.
because i'm still one of you.

a member of the pack.

goodbye.

PS: please don't hate me for doing this, lil, i can't take the chance that the wolf was lying.
i'm unimaginably sorry.

-Benson Apollo Palmer."

lily hung her head "i can't believe this..."
kevin was tapping away at his phone
oriado looked at him curiously "who're you callin'?"
"collin." he said in a gruff voice.
the line buzzed, and he picked up
"hello?"
"collin, it's kevin, ben's ran off!"
"okay, calm down-"
"i can't! he's gone to see that damn brown wolf!"
"nine-ninety-nine?! okay, pack what you need, head into the mountains, i'll meet you out there, i'm bringing patrick and Aeon, but you've got to assemble the rest of the pack!"
"got it, i will, see you soon!"
kevin hung up and called amelia
"who is-?"
"amelia, it's kevin! Ben's run off, we need you out here!"
"WHAT?! why'd he leave?!"
"he's gone to see that 'emperor' guy!"
"i'm coming!!"

minutes later, having packed everything they needed, and donned their coats emblazoned with 'the pack' icon, they looked to each other, determined.
amelia had arrived on a direct transport. she now stood on kevin's shoulder with her sister.
in a wordless conversation, they agreed to find the fox, and ran out towards the mountain.

it took them about two hours, but they reached the cold ice mountain at the far east of the forest.
a monolithic white feral wolf and a monolithic black dog lay down in front of them.
oriado waved at the white wolf.
it seemed to smile, and yipped.
"okay, collin said 'get on' "
carl raised an eyebrow "get on... what?"
the giant eyes rolled, and the white wolf made a 'pff' noise.
"his back, of course." patrick called from atop feral-Aeon's snout.
he was in his giant-canine form.
everyone climbed onto collin's back, and once they had a good hold, and the giants had moved their smaller friends into their backpacks, the megaliths stood.
collin growled.
oriado smirked "he said: hold on tight."

the world blurred as they bounded off, covering miles in a single stride.
kevin whooped, it reminded him of the day benson had shrunk him, and let him ride his bike with him.
back when they first met.
"have you got ben's scent?" he called out to collin.
collin barked in reply
"he does, and he's very far from here!" oriado translated.
Aeon barked, and patrick cleared his throat "i know, he's covered too much ground, it doesn't make sense!"
kevin's eyes widened "amelia" he called out into his earpiece "do you still have those feathers?!"
he heard a rummaging through the earpiece, and then she answered "the purple one's missing!"
he heard lily moan "so that's how he got so far away..."
kevin recapped what she'd said to the others.
collin growled angrily.
"he said: i can't believe this!"

a buzz went though kevin's head "agh..."
carl and oriado looked at him
"my... head..."

don't follow him. he already said 'please'.

"who?"

don't tell me you already forgot me? here's a hint: you stabbed me with a glowing sword.

"Ben's Shadow!"

his friends looked at him, afraid.
"he can... hear ben's shadow?" carl asked
"i met it once... agh"

yes you did. are you still going to follow us?

"we need to find ben!"

we're at a huge stone gate, he's trying to--
DON'T TELL THEM THAT!

kevin gasped "ben?"

sigh ... yes, it's me. please, don't follow me. i need to do this!

collin barked, and everyone looked up to see a beyond gigantic stone doorway coming up behind the mountain.
"Gomis, gate of the stars!" oriado translated.

the megaliths ground to a halt, looming over an annoyed orange fox in a white jacket.
collin and Aeon lay down, allowing everyone to get off, and returned to normal.
Aeon removed a black earing stud, collin removed his mask, and leant back onto the huge black paw belonging to Aeon.

benson turned away "why? i asked you not to follow me."
"ben, we're not here to stop you." kevin said calmly.
"what?"
"y'think we'll let ya' do this alone? 'f that's it, y'r stupid!" kevin laughed
benson turned, his expression one of surprise.
"you're... here to... help me?"

"if you think we're letting you deal with all this alone, you've got another thing coming!" collin called up to the fox. "after all, back on earth, beasts travel in packs, why should you guys be any different?"
"because we're more than beasts?" benson suggested
"hell no! that's not good enough!" the little white wolf called gleefully.
the gate began to glow, and 999 appeared, floating in the air.
"ready to go?"
benson nodded "we're ready!"
the wolf looked to the sky "if you would please?"
a purple star shone briefly in the sky, and the huge doors opened inwards.
the gateway was filled with a starry landscape.

"let's go!" 999 yelled, and dove into the gateway.
Aeon picked up collin, and everyone followed him.

it was time to help their friend find his family.