On the morning of her twelfth birthday, Mbali woke at dawn, ready for a day filled with adventure and sweet treats. She and Navi were supposed to spend the whole day at the lake with all her other animal friends, but the little kitten was nowhere to be found in the cottage.
Thinking Navi had stepped out for a short while, Mbali dressed in her best clothes and went out to the porch to await her friend's return. The sun crept up the sky as the Monster King returned to spy on her once more, but her friend didn't return.
Feeling the stirrings of panic in her heart, Mbali ran deeper into the forest, visiting their usual haunts and hoping that her friend wasn't lying hurt somewhere. It was noon by the time Mbali made it back to the cottage, tired and dejected at finding no sign of Navi.
Mbali buried her head between her knees and cried. Her heartbeat faster, her palms grew sweaty, her breathing grew heavier, and her entire body trembled with fear. Who was going to protect her at night as she slept when the Monster King's left eye was opened? Her dearest friend was gone, leaving her vulnerable to the monsters and the Jealous Witch.
"Why are you crying?"
Mbali looked up and saw a chameleon on the railings that wrapped across the porch. Its direct gaze scared Mbali, as did the oily sheen of its reptilian scales.
"My best friend has abandoned me, and now I have no one," she replied, wiping her tears away.
"Your best friend did not leave you," the chameleon told her, its gaze reflecting back Mbali's image. "She was stolen while you were fast asleep. I saw it all."
"Stolen?!" Mbali cried out in distress as she stood up. "Who would steal him?"
"The Jealous Witch," the chameleon narrated it all to Mbali, and as it explained how the Jealous Witch had crept into the forest like a shadow in the night, Mbali became annoyed. This anger made her determined to rescue her best friend.
"Where can I find this witch?" she asked, her fists clenched and brows furrowed.
The chameleon's eyes widened in surprise. "You would go and save him from the witch?"
"Of course I would!" Mbali fumed, outraged that the chameleon should ask such a thing. Navi was her best friend in the world, after all.
"But what about the monsters? Aren't you afraid they'll finally get you if you go outside the forest?"
Mbali gulped at the thought of going beyond the forest. But... her friend needed her. When her parents disappeared, Navi had saved her. It was only right that she returned the favor.
"Her home is all the way up in the Quartz Mountains. She lives at the middle peak of the three sister mountains."
"Do you know a way I can get my friend back?" Mbali asked.
"Yes," the chameleon replied, and Mbali's eyes lit up with excitement.
"Tell me!" she ordered, and listened intently as the chameleon told her, even though she was shaking so hard, knowing she had to leave the safety and comfort of her home.
"But what about the monsters? What if they take me too?" she whispered, looking down at her feet. Suddenly there was a flash of bright light, and when Mbali looked up, a pair of pink-tinted sunglasses lay next to the chameleon.
"Put these on and you'll be invisible to the monsters," the chameleon said, and Mbali perked up. "However," the chameleon cut in, "that means the monsters will be invisible to you too. So that means if something goes wrong, you'll never see the danger coming."
Mbali took a deep breath, picked up the sunglasses, and put them on. She looked back at the chameleon, determination gleaming in her eyes.
"I'll save Navi. No matter what," she declared, setting off towards the Quartz Mountains, her heart filled with both fear and hope.