The three friends trudged on through the forest for what felt like hours and hours.

  "How long is this forest?" Brian asked.

  "I'd have no clue, I just know you need to come through here to get to the kingdom, I've never actually been" Decky replied.

  "Oh, we're not that far, the exit should be coming up soon" JoJo said.

  "I'm starting to feel hungry" Brian said.

  "There's a berry bush just around here" JoJo said, limping around a corner.

  They followed the tiger cub around the corner and saw a wide bush full of all sorts of berries.

  Brian and Decky gasped in glee.

  "You're welcome" JoJo said, curling up for a quick nap while they ate.

  "How do we know which berries to eat, and which not to?" Brian asked, "Which ones are the safe ones?"

  "Those ones" Decky said.

  "Which ones?" Brian asked.

  "Those ones"

  "These ones?"

  "Those ones"

  "Okay, these ones" Brian said, picking off a few blue berries and throwing them into his mouth...But then he started choking, and gasping, falling to the ground.

  "What's happening?!" Solomon asked.

  "I don't know, he fell to the ground!" Decky said, "And now he's turning blue!"

  "What about JoJo?!" Solomon asked.

  "He's fast asleep!" Decky replied.

  "Cats," Solomon said, "Which berries did he eat?"

  "It couldn't have been these ones, cause I told him to eat those ones!" Decky said, placing a few of the blue ones in his mouth.

  And then Decky fell to the ground, turning blue.

  "Decky?!" Solomon asked, "JoJo?!"

  But neither of the three of them could hear him, so he simply sighed. Then he noticed a large shadow overcast them. He got so frightened he dissolved into the orb of the ring.

  Brian was the first to wake up, drowsy, he gave a yawn, and stood up, looking around. They were no longer near the berry bushes, they were in some sort of den. He looked to his friends, Decky and JoJo were still out cold.

  "Solomon?" he whispered into the ring.

  Solomon reappeared in the ring.

  "What happened?" Brian asked.

  "You must have eaten some bad berries and passed out," Solomon whispered, "Then Decky ate some aswell. JoJo, well, he's a cat, you know how they are when they get sleeping"

  Just then they heard Decky groan and JoJo yawn, and then the two of them realsied where they were.

  "Aah what happened?!" Decky screamed.

  "Did that bear get us?!" JoJo cried.

  "Keep it down," Brian whispered, "It looks like someone saved us"

  "Or something" Solomon said as he noticed a large shadow about turn a corner.

  Brian also noticed this, and stepped back a little.

  Around from the corner, stepped a very large mountain lion.

  "It's worse than the bear" JoJo squeaked.

  "I'm a decoration, not real at all!" Decky said, pulling the same pose he was in when Brian met him.

  "I see you've all come to" The lion said in a deep voice.

  Brian saw how big this lion was, but these guys had become good friends of his, as annoying as some of them were, and they were not getting eaten. Today, at least. He looked around the den, and noticed a sharp pointy stick, he lunged for it, and held it up to the lion.

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  "Brian!" Solomon screeched.

  "No, Solomon! No one is getting eaten today! Not on my watch!" Brian said, "You hear that, lion? So I'd back away, or I'll poke this sharp stick where the sun don't shine!"

  "Relax, boy," The lion said, putting a paw on the stick, and making Brian put it down, "I'm not going to eat any of you, as delicious as you might be"

  "Then..then why are you here?" Decky asked.

  "This is my den," said the lion, "I'm Excelsior. You ate some poison berries, so I brought you here and gave you my special medicine"

  "I didn't eat any berries.." JoJo said.

  "Well, you were all passed out right good, so I assumed you had all eaten them" Excelsior said.

  "Well...thanks for saving us, but we've gotta get going, special message for the kingdom" Brian said, getting out the scroll and waving it around.

  "The kingdom? That's only two kilometres from here, I'd be happy to take you," Excelsior said, "If you won't poke me with any sharp sticks, that is"

  Brian looked at the other two, then down at the ring.

  "Well, I can't say I haven't always wanted to ride on a lion's back," he said, "And it'll be easier on JoJo's leg. And I think Decky will enjoy it"

  "Oh boy, will I!" Decky said.

  "Well, why don't you all hop on?" Excelsior said.

  They all climbed on his back, and left the den.

  They travelled for the two kilometres needed to reach the kingdom, and when they arrived, there was a big green archway spreading out, leading into a humongous city.

  "Here we are" Excelsior said as they entered the city.

  "Is that the castle, Solomon?" Brian asked, holding up his hand, ring facing the castle.

  "That's the one" Solomon said, "And may I say, the ring is fiery hot!"

  "Will you stop?!" Brian grumped.

  "You three know why the ring chooses the Confidanteonce, right?" Solomon asked their three new friends.

  "Wait, you're the Confidanteonce?!" JoJo asked, "How come you never said so?"

  "Cause it wasn't important! Cause it was wrong! Cause I'm not confident!" Brian said.

  "Are you sure about that?" Excelsior asked.

  "What? I'm not" Brian said.

  "Dude, you stood up to that bear using just Decky!" JoJo said, "I may be just a cub but I'd say that's confidence"

  "You stood to me, a giant lion, using only a sharp pointy stick when you thought I was dangerous" Excelsior stated.

  "And you were confident enough to stop JoJo's leg from bleeding out!" Decky said.

  "Basic first aid," Brian said, "Plus, I couldn't see him in danger"

  "The other stuff, though?" Solomon asked.

  Brian simply went quiet at this. Maybe he was confident after all. There was no excuses he could think of for the other two scenarios.

  "I'll take you to the castle" Excelsior said as he began walking to the castle.

  "It was so fun!" Decky shouted as Brian followed the lion.

  "Thank you for the leg!" JoJo yelled.

  "You really don't believe that, do you?" Excelsior asked Brian on the way to the castle.

  "What?" Brian asked, coming out of his daze.

  "That you have any confidence" Excelsior said.

  "Well, cause I don't, really" Brian said.

  "I'm not sure about the other stuff, but you certainly showed it when you met me," Excelsior said, "And if that other stuff is true, there is definitely confidence there"

  "Yeah, but the bear, I couldn't see a helpless animal get hurt, and with you, well, I'll do anything to protect my friends" Brian said.

  "And your confidence came out because of that," Excelsior said as they approached the castle doors, "Here it is"

  "Thanks" Brian said.

  "Start thinking more positively of yourself when you go back, you'll be grateful for it" Excelsior said as he walked off.

  Brian couldn't help but give a little smile as he watched the huge lion walk away, then he realised what he'd said.

  "What?" He said.

  Just then, the castle doors opened, and an armed guard stepped out.

  "You are the Confidanteonce this time?" He asked Brian.

  "Yeah," Brian said, pulling out the scroll, and handing it to the guard, "Here ya go"

  "We show our Royal Thanks" The guard replied as the doors slammed shut.

  Brian turned to walk back to meet up with his new friends, but then he felt the ring vibrating. He looked down at it and it was glowing again, he could still see Solomon's face in it, though.

  "What's happening?" he asked.

  "I'm sorry, Brian" Solomon said, "You have to take it off"

  "Why?" Brian asked, "What are you sorry for?"

  "The task is done," Solomon said firmly, "It's time for you to go home"

  "What?" Brian asked, "But I—I made friends here, I've got no friends back home"

  "But you will make friends because of this journey," Solomon told him, "All that stuff you did, saving JoJo from the bear, standing up to Excelsior, it brought out your confidence. Why do you think the ring chose you?"

  "Because.." Brian trailed.

  "Because you have the confidence," Solomon said, "It just needed to be brought out. And now you'll go back, and think of everything you did, what Excelsior said, and realise you can be confident"

  "You said the ring chooses the most confident people.." Brian said.

  "Yes, but it also has a strict clause on which most confident people it chooses," Solomon replied, "The people who already believe they are confident will have no troubles getting through the dangers of Tzarphis. But the people who think they are not, it summons the confidence hidden inside them they never knew they had. That's what the ring's for, not for some silly delivery, or task, although that does help us here, but the confidence is the key bit of the ring. It's a lesson, Brian"

  "A lesson...That I can be confident..if I just try..in the moment" Brian trailed along.

  "Yes, you see?" Solomon said, "Now take the ring off"

  "But I'll never see you guys again..." Brian said.

  "Oh, I think I can wiggle a finger with a spirit friend of mine from your world" Solomon said, "I'll do something about that"

  "Goodbye, Solomon" Brian said as he slowly started pulling off the ring.

  "Goodbye, Brian," Solomon said, "Remember everything you've done here, and everything you've been told. Positivity, my human friend"

  "Positivity.." Brian said as he pulled off the ring and a bright white light flashed and he was sucked into the portal of the ring.

  Brian opened his eyes to realise he was back on his bed, he looked at his hand. But no ring. Did that all just happen? He remembered it all, and it all felt so real. He looked around his room, and that's when he saw it. On his dresser sat four items. A Japanese doll that was dressed in all black to look like Solomon, complete with white eyes. A small flamingo decoration that looked as silly as Decky. A tiny tiger cub plush, complete with a bandage on it's back left leg, and a slightly bigger mountain lion plush. He gave a wide smile as he got up from his bed, and dropped to his floor, and started doing push ups. He'll make Excelsior proud yet.