Soul and Ice trudged on into the hot desert sands. As they came to the edge of the desert, just about to enter, Soul paused atop a rocky cliff face. Staring off into the far distance, he tried to catch a glimpse of the forest that was their destination, or a checkpoint at least.

Once they reached the forest, they had to make it through without any confrontation with the dwellers named after their home; the Forest. The Forest could and would rip the two travellers to shreds before they had the chance to explain their reason for the intrusion.

Glancing down, Soul saw Ice continuing ahead and hopped down onto the sand, specks flying up into his eyes and a spray flying out behind him as he trotted forward to keep pace with his friend.

Ice looked over at him. "I hate the desert... it's too hot and too dry. I hope we can get back to the snow and ice soon...." She trailed off. "And I hope the Forest don't harm us."

Soul sighed, then gave a wry smile. "Don't worry Ice, we'll be okay, I'm sure of it."

Looking to the side, Ice noticed a prickly plant sprouting out of the sand, with pink flowers blooming from it's top. "What's that?" She asked in curiosity. "I didn't notice this before..." Poking it, she gave an 'OW!' as a splinter lodged itself in her paw.

"Let me see," Soul sighed. Pulling the spike out, he said "Cactus. Be careful, they protect themselves with these pricks. Come one, the sooner we're out of here, the better."

Turning back in their initial direction, Soul quickened the pace, wanting to get everything over with as soon as possible. What was ahead? They could only really guess.