Flame's Peak

"So this is Flame's Peak, huh," Makoto said, looking up at the mountain. From what Chihiro had told the group before they left, Flame's Peak was once an active volcano, but its mouth had been sealed by a large amount of hardened lava.
"It's really tall," Chihiro said, his eyes wide. "I never thought we'd need to go up there," Ryu muttered to himself, also looking up at the top of the mountain. "But if it means that whatever happened to Shiro can be reversed, then so be it." And so, they started to walk up the mountain, with Shiro following behind them.

After some time of walking, the group sat down to rest. The path they had been following was very rough and fully of loose rocks. The few trees that somehow grew up there where all dark and had no leaves on their branches, and the air was very humid.
Makoto was about to take his school jacket off, since he had left his new Apex uniform at the Tower so as to not get it dirty, but Ryu stopped him. "If you take it off, it'll only get worse," he said, wiping sweat off his forehead. "What do you mean?" Makoto asked, putting his jacket back on. "If you take your jacket off," Ryu said, "the heat will beat directly on your skin, and you might burn yourself."
Makoto nodded, and buttoned his jacket back up, even though he didn't want to. He looked at Chihiro, who was trying to make a small ice cube to keep himself and the others cool, but kept failing due to the heat, which made the cube melt a few seconds after being made.
Chihiro grumbled. "If only it didn't have to be so hot up here," he muttered, leaning on Ryu for a second, only to sit up again because they were all sweating.
Shiro pushed his hair out of his face, and sighed. "Well, this shouldn't take too much longer if we continue soon," he said. The others all nodded, agreeing completely with him.

Not long after, the group decided to continue up the mountain as Shiro had said. But it only got hotter as they continued, which made Makoto think about the dream he had the night before they had left. 'That person, with the cat ears, what did they want?' Makoto thought as he kept walking. 'Who were they?' He thought. 'Why did they ask me about my powers?'
But the group didn't notice that there was something following them, something dangerous.
"How are we gonna get all the way to the top??" Chihiro complained. "You know how," Ryu said firmly, "by walking."

                                                                      *growl...*

"*sigh*, fine," Chihiro said, picking up his pace a bit.

                                                                       *growl.....*

Makoto stopped walking and turned around. "Did anyone hear that?"

                                                                       *growl...!*

Ryu and Chihiro turned as well. "I didn't hear anything," Chihiro said, but he looked around to make sure nothing was off.

                                                                  *growl...!!*

"I don't see anything," Ryu said, looking around. Makoto, though still a bit confused, nodded. "OK, maybe it was just the wind," he said.

                                                                    *growl!!*

But just as the group was about to turn and keep walking, some kind of creature jumped out at them, making them all fall backwards in shock. It looked like some kind of wolf, but Makoto knew it wasn't a wolf; it was far to big.
It growled at Makoto, almost as if it knew who he was in Eldoria. "W-What is that thing?!" Chihiro screamed, clinging to Ryu's arm. "Just stay behind me," Ryu said, trying to sound like he knew what to do, even though there was very audible fear in his voice.
'What do I do??' Makoto thought, terrified. 'I can't fight that thing!!' But suddenly, Shiro pulled a small dagger and threw it at the creature, barely hitting it. The creature turned away from Makoto and growled at Shiro, and was preparing to attack him and the others.
Ryu pulled Chihiro as far from the creature's reach as possible, Makoto braced himself, Shiro moved backwards, realizing what was going to happen because of what he did. But suddenly, just as the creature was about to attack, a slicing sound echoed off the burning rocks, and the creature howled before turning to ash as a figure landed right where it had been standing.
Makoto coughed and waved his hand around, trying to get rid of the smoke that had appeared from the creature's ashes. "What happened?" Chihiro said, also coughing. But once the smoke had cleared, the group saw the person who had landed in front of them.

He looked like a Human 18 years old, and was wearing something very similar the Apex uniform, although he was wearing a sash around his waist. His ー for Eldorian standards ー unusually long brown hair was held up in a high ponytail, and Makoto noticed the majority of his outfit was brown and red, except for the pendant he was wearing that was in the shape of the yang half of the yinyang symbol. And Makoto also noticed that this young man seemed to have... cat ears and a tail. Overall, he was strangely similar to the figure Makoto had seen in his dream.
"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry that that happened," the young man said, looking at the group, who were still sitting against the rock wall. "I thought I had taken care of all of them," he said, scratching his head. Makoto slowly stood up and brushed the ash off his clothes. "No, it's fine," he said, having now calmed down a bit. "Are any of you hurt?" The young man asked, his brown eyes showing genuine concern for their well-being. "I-Is that thing gone?" Chihiro asked, his voice shaky, while still clinging to Ryu's arm.
"Don't worry Chihiro, we're fine," Ryu said, trying to calm his brother. "And you," he said, looking at the young man, "who are you, and why are you up here?" The young man laughed awkwardly. "I should've explained that first," he said sheepishly.
"I'm Katze Geistwesen, the Guardian of Flame's Peak!"

Makoto suddenly had an idea when he heard this. What if this 'Katze' could help them help Shiro? If he really was the Guardian, then maybe he could help them, like how Lupin helped Ryu and Makoto save Chihiro from the Abyss. "As an apology for not noticing that that Flame Hound was still around here," Katze said, "I'll take you to the inside of Flame's Peak; it's where I live."
Ryu stepped forward, Chihiro having let go of his arm by this point. "Wait," he said, "wouldn't it be hotter inside?" But Katze chuckled, his tail wagging slightly. "I know it might seem that way, but it's actually quite cool inside. Come on, I'll show you~"