I decided that I would try to look for this place and visit it. 

Since it was the weekend, I had time to research what I could. I searched on the computer and looked up everything that seemed relevant. From constellations, to shrines, to forests, to magic, anything that could be related to the dream I had. For a while I couldn't find anything.

But suddenly, I came across something which sparked my interest.

What I saw was a small site that had an article about a forest, located outside of a particular town. It said that deep within forest, an ancient shrine used to reside. 

It was said that many, many years ago, it was a place that appeared magically out of nowhere and was a holder of mysterious power. It was believed to be home to special beings who would worship the gods, stars and the many amazing wonders of the universe. Judging from the pictures of the forest and mountains, it was exactly like the ones I witnessed in the dream I had.

The article also had an old drawing on it. It was shaped just like the one my dream. No one had managed to find the shrine and said it was just a myth. But some believed it still existed. To my delight, I discovered it was only about an hour bus journey from my own town.  This was it! This had to be the place that I saw in my dream.

My mind was made up. If I could get there, then I just had to see for myself if it was truly real. I didn't want to tell my Mom though. She would think it was too crazy and maybe even prevent me from going. Especially to a random place all on my own. 

As much as I hated doing it, I told a white lie to cover it up. I said that I would have extra dance lessons to attend to and that they would go on for a long while. She managed to buy it. I didn't like lying to her, but I just had to see this for myself. 

After a long ride, I got off the bus as soon as it came to the final stop. I was the only one still left on the bus, but I felt relieved when I finally stepped off. Once the bus had gone, I found myself face-to-face with the mighty woods standing front of me. 

"I hope I know what I'm doing." I muttered to myself.

Part of me thought this was nuts, but I just had to trust myself. So I took a deep breath and set out through the large hurdle of fauna. Since no one else was around, I decided it would be better to search in my element. Without hesitating, I transformed into a fox and dashed through the grass and trees. 

As a fox my sight, sense of smell and sound were all heightened. The sunlight poked through the trees making golden dots of light all around. I could hear the soft rustling of the leaves and creaking branches as they swished in the soft breeze. Twigs and gravel crunched beneath my feet. I could hear the fauna from far away as well. The tweeting of birds, humming of insects and chattering of small rodents. So many scents and smells filled the air including the warm fresh air, the enticing sweetness of the flowers, the pleasant muskiness of the trees and the earthy bitterness of the ground. It was almost enough to drive my senses completely wild.

I searched for hours, desperately trying to pick up any traces of what I could recall, from both my dream and from the research. I ran until my paws started to hurt. Finally I decided to take a break. I turned back into a human and sat on a nearby stump. 

What was I supposed to do now? I still hadn't found any trace of the shrine. But if I didn't hurry, then it would get dark and I would have to start heading home. I was running out of options, but I couldn't just give up. 

"It has to be around here somewhere, it must be!" I told myself. "I can feel it!" Just when I was about to give up hope, I heard a faint voice from far away.

 "Whooooooooooooooo!"

"Huh? Did I just hear someone?" I stood up and peered around. 

Then through the trees, I spotted a yellow dot in the distance. I squinted my eyes to see that it was getting bigger and closer.

"What is that?" I pondered. Then my eyes widened to see that the yellow blur was coming straight towards me! It was moving unimaginable speed and  I heard something coming from it. 

"HEEEEEEEEERRRREESSSSS.  HIIIIIIIIIKKKKKKKKKKIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!" 

Before I had time to react, the blur dashed right past me. The force had knocked me to the ground. I screamed in surprise and held my hand to my heart. I panted a few times  before looking up. A few leaves had rustled in its trail. 

"What the?! What the heck was that?" I exclaimed. Did ages of searching non stop start to mess with my brain? Just then, I heard a zip noise followed by a voice from behind me. 

"Uh hello?"

I jumped and turned around to see a teenage boy, around my age, standing in front of me. He had short blonde hair and shiny brown eyes. He wore a simple yellow T-shirt with dark green shorts. But strangely, he wore nothing on his feet. Where did he come from? Did he just appear out of nowhere? He could clearly see that I was startled by his presence. 

"Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you." He apologised while putting his hands up in defence. "I just heard a scream and I followed it to find you. Are you okay?" He asked in a warm tone. I started to calm down. He didn't seem like a threat to me, thank goodness. 

"Uh yeah, I think so." I answered slowly. "I think something came towards me super fast and it knocked me down." 

For some reason the boy laughed nervously and looked down. "Oh really?... That's weird. I wonder what that could've been." He chuckled while scratching he back of his head. 

Wait a minute....who was this guy?! Why did he just appear out here so suddenly?  Why was he out here all alone? I thought I would be the only one here.

"Hold on, if I may ask. What are you doing out here? Who are you?" I requested. The boy suddenly went stiff. After a few seconds of silence, he spoke up. 

"Well.....I could ask you the same thing. Isn't it dangerous for a girl to be out in the woods all by herself?"

Then I looked down. "Well actually, I was looking for something." I explained. "This might sound crazy, but I am trying to find an ancient shrine......"

"You know about the celestial shrine?!" He interrupted. Just then, he gasped and covered his mouth. I looked straight back at him as soon as I heard the word 'shrine'. 

"Wait...Do you know something?" I questioned instantly. "Please! If you know anything about it, please tell me!" I begged.

"Woah, woah hold on a second!" He put a hand up to stop me. "Before you say anything else, let me ask you one thing. How did you find out about this shrine?" I could tell by the look in his eyes that he wasn't joking around. He had a serious tone in his voice aswell. 

I glanced back down. "Well... it's kind of a funny story." I began. "You see, last night I had a strange dream where I saw it and.... "

"What?! For real?!" He interrupted me again. "Did you see a whole load of animals too?!"

"Wait. Did you say animals?!" I inquired with interest. Instantaneously, I recalled that the boy looked kinda like one of the people I saw in my dream. No, he couldn't possibly.

"Yes animals." He confirmed. "Did you?"

"Yes I did, but how do you know about that?" I questioned.

"Quick! Let me see your arm!" Without giving me a chance to answer, he grabbed my arm and looked at it.

"Hey!" I snapped as I pulled my arm back. I was about to scold him when I noticed he was gazing at me in amazement.

"That mark you have there.....It's a constellation mark! That must only mean one thing, you're like us!" He marvelled.

My eyes widened. I wanted to say the first thing that came to my mind. "Are you talking about....."

"The Celestial Guardians." we both said at once. Then I gasped. 

"You know about them!?" I asked in astonishment.

"I don't know about them..... I actually 'know' them." He spoke proudly. 

"Wait, you said you know them and you said 'US'. Do you mean that...."

"Yep!" He cut me off once again. "I am a Celestial Guardian!" He then showed me his arm to reveal a constellation mark, that looked almost exactly like mine. 

'Wow no way! He has a constellation mark just like me!' I thought excitedly.

"See?! This is Lepus the hare. That's my constellation! Oh! I almost forgot, my name's Hikaru but you can call me Hikki!" He said with a cute, toothy grin.

"Hikki?...." Then I immediately realised something. "Hang on! That was you wasn't it!? You were the speeding force that knocked me over! Weren't you!?" 

"Uh....I....Ah...." he stuttered. "I guess there no point in hiding it anymore." He sighed.  "Yeah, about that. But I didn't do it on purpose, I just didn't see ya."

"It's okay really. So does that mean you have special powers too!?" I inquired with hopefulness.

"Oh yeah! I'm super fast, it's my specialty! Check it out!" Then as quick as a flash, he rapidly sped around me multiple times. He was like a bolt of lightning. 

"Wow you're amazing Hikki!" I chirped.

He stopped right in front of me. "Thanks! So if you have a celestial mark, then that means you gotta have some powers too right?" He guessed while looking thrilled.

"Come on show me!" He pleaded eagerly, he was like a puppy begging for a treat.

"Yeah I do kinda..." I looked away slightly and blushed. I felt a little embarrassed and hesitant to show it, but then I realised that I now had another person I didn't have to hide it from. That made me feel happy, I thought Mom would be the only person who would ever know about it. Although I promised Mom wouldn't show anyone else, I knew this was someone who would understand.

"Well, I certainly know how to do this." I replied. In a puff of orange smoke, I transformed into a fox before him. His eyes lit up in wonder. 

"Aww cool! You're a fox! That's awesome! So you CAN transform!" He beamed.

My fox ears twitched a tiny bit. "Yes I can. Wait, does that mean you can transform too?" I looked up at him in curiosity. 

"You bet! Check this out!" As soon as he finished that sentence, he disappeared in a cloud of yellow smoke. When it cleared, a small yellow hare stood in his place. He was now eye level with me. "See? Pretty neat huh?!" He hopped around me, in a cheerful manner.

I couldn't help but smile. "Are you kidding? This is incredible!" I rejoiced. "I can't believe it. There really are others like me! I knew I wasn't the only-"  But before I could finish my sentence, he interrupted me again.

"Oh man! I gotta get back!" Hikki proclaimed. "I told the guys I was going out for a run, they're gonna be super psyched when they see what I've found!" He instantly turned back into a human. 

"Come on! Let's go!" He then started to run off. My eyes widened in alarm. He couldn't leave yet! I wanted to talk to him some more.

"Wait!" I called out as I turned back too. "I still have so many questions!" He then turned back to face me.

"Just save it for when we get back." He reassured with a smile. I stared in confusion. 

"Back where?" I inquired.

"Back to the shrine of course." He replied as if it was the most obvious answer. 

My expression changed from confused to elevated."You mean the actual shrine?!" 

"Yeah! Where else?" He giggled. "Here, get on. I'll take you there." He turned his back to me and crouched down. He was clearly offering to give me a piggyback. My face turned red with embarrassment.

 "Err... that's okay! I can walk" I stuttered.

"Seriously, it's no big." He reassured. "Besides, I can get us there in about five seconds and I'd rather not be late. So let's get moving! Uh.... Sorry, what's your name again?"

"Oh right! I'm sorry! It's Sakura." I answered politely.

 "Well what are you waiting for Sakura? Come on! We got no time to lose!" He was excited as a young kid in a toy store. I didn't really have any reason to say no. So with that, I carefully climbed up onto his back. I put my arms around his neck and he firmly held onto my legs. "Now hang on tight!" He winked at me.

"OkAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" He barely gave me anytime to react. He zipped off like a rocket with me clinging onto him for dear life. The forest around me had turned into one giant, green blur. The wind fiercely pushed past my hair and face. I couldn't even think, it was like my brain was being flattened by the force of impact. What had I just gotten myself into?