• Andromeda and Axel walked away from Remo and looked around, both looking in separate directions, to avoid another hit. Both were rather close, they could have held hands if they wanted to, but they didn't. Andromeda spotted a group of three cannons. "Axel, cover me, I'm attacking that group over there." Andromeda whispered, Axel nodded. Andromeda snuck into the bushes and pounced on the cannons. She ducked every attack and kept moving without stopping for so much as a breath and attacked with her Dervish as swiftly as possible.

    Axel used his Solar Rays on the cannons as well. And started missing more, and she didn't have the energy to use her Dervish. The gimpi jumped in and used his his Coyote Spirit on Andromeda, she was now faster. Andromeda felt a sudden burst of energy surge through her. She still couldn't use her rings, but she fought them the old fashion way just to distract them.

    Axel jumped in and fought as well. "Axel! Keep moving! They can't lock if you keep moving!" Andromeda said. Axel nodded but concentrated his ring. The Coyote Spirit effect in Andromeda wore off. She used her Dervish and killed them. Each helped eachother take the heads off. They shrunk suddenly to about the size of their hands. Andromeda stuck them in her coat and both ran back to Remo.

    "Got them." Andromeda said and showed her the mushroom heads. "Wow, that was quick, you guys are a bit swifter than I anticipated. Now, I don't need those at all, you can have them, go talk to Leon, he might be able to help you." Remo answered. Andromeda and Axel nodded and ran to Leon.

    "Hey Leon, Remo said you might have some tasks for us." Andromeda said as she approached Leon along with Axel. "Well... I have noticed that the lawn gnomes around here are starting to get smarter. Once, they would just wander aimlessly, but now, they seem to be gathering in camps. Could you two root around the three main ones to find out what's happening?" He asked. Andromeda and Axel nodded. Leon took their PDAs and marked them, then handed them back. "Andromeda, let's do this together, Remo said we do better when we hunt in groups." Axel suggested. Andromeda nodded. Both ran off.

    Both reached the first gnome camp. Andromeda's wolf ears appeared on her head. She listened to the gnomes. They seem to have been just muttering, but she couldn't tell. "What do you hear?" Axel whispered. "Even to my super-sensitive ears, it sounds like just normal muttering. Like nothing." Andromeda whispered back. It started to rain. Andromeda's wolf ears disappeared. "Let's check the next one." Axel whispered. Both marked their PDAs and snuck away unheard and unnoticed.

    Soon they reached the next camp. "I feel like a stalker." Andromeda whispered. "Me too." Axel whispered back. Andromeda didn't make her ears reappear, the rain would have stopped her from hearing anything. "Wait here." She whispered to Axel and snuck into the camp. Axel nodded and waited. Andromeda snuck around the camp and came back momentarily without being spotted. "These things are stupid, none of them even noticed me." She whispered. "Anything suspicious?" Axel asked. Andromeda shook her head, both headed to the next camp.

    Now they were at the last camp, both continued to stay hidden. Andromeda snuck in, her true form out but her wolf ears still not out. Her wet hair from the rain weighed her down, but she avoided being seen. She snuck around, still it sounded like nothing more than muttering, then she saw a blue one walking around the base. She raised an eyebrow and walked back to Axel. "Nothing weird here, but that blue one intrigues me, mind using that coyote spirit ring on me?" She asked. Axel nodded. A somewhat cute howl was heard, a light blue what looked like a coyote-like creature appeared and combined with Andromeda. She ran after the blue gnome.

    But, the howl was heard by the gnomes. Axel hid in a tree. They looked, nothing strange, and went back to what they were doing. Axel flew quietly after Andromeda.

    Andromeda darted from object to object after the curious gnome. She saw it turned around and pounced. It was surprised at first but it fought back. Axel joined her and reused his ring on Andromeda. This time, the same "spirit" appeared and barked. It ran in a circle and combined with Andromeda. She used her Dervish and killed the gnome. Then she saw what looked like battle plans. "Better take these to Leon." She said to Axel. He nodded. He used his coyote spirit ring, but he used it on himself. "Wow, looks like you can use it on yourself." Andromeda said. He grinned. "I'll race you." He said. Andromeda grinned and nodded. She ran off. Axel ran like an arrow back towards Leon. Axel made it first. Andromeda followed after and huffed.

    "You two made a quick return." Leon said. "Anything?"

    Andromeda handed him the battle plans. "We found these, but we found nothing suspicious." She huffed. Leon took them and looked them over. They looked like pointless doodles. "Take them to Elizabeth, she might be able to find out what they are." Leon said. Andromeda took them and bowed. She ran back to Barton. Axel followed.

    'Are we ever getting home?' Andromeda thought, She slowed down a bit, 'I miss my uncle, and the jungle cat army. I haven't felt this lonely since Hannibal nearly killed my uncle. But at least this time I don't have to face the world alone.' She thought. "Andromeda? Are you okay?" Axel asked, noticing her eyes started to get just a bit lonely. Andromeda looked up. "Uhm... No, I'm fine.... just a bit distant." She answered.

    Axel smiled. "That's okay then. I thought you were thinking about back home." He said. Andromeda nodded lightly, "Yeah, I was. I just miss Chase." She said. "I can understand that." He said. Andromeda smiled. "You know, I'm glad I ran into you Axel. Not only do I have a helping hand, but I also have a friend." She said. Axel blushed a little. "You consider me a friend?" He asked rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, you did help me out with those gnomes, we make a good fighting team, why not?" Andromeda asked.

    Axel nodded. "True." He said. They kept walking on, drawing near the town. Axel drew his hand a little closer to Andromeda's. Andromeda blushed a little. She smiled lightly and looked away from Axel and took his hand. Axel blushed as well. He smiled and kept walking.