A Friendship That Flames

## Stats

**A Friendship That Flames** is the eighth episode of *The Neverending Story*. It aired on January 20, 1996. While it was the eighth episode to be aired (at least on HBO), it was the twelfth episode to be produced.

## Summary

Barktroll tries to get rid of some vines that are stuck on him, but is having trouble. Meanwhile, in the real world, Bastian is getting rid of some old toys of his. His dad sees that he is going to throw away one of his beloved stuffed animals and questions why, but he states that he has new toys and doesn't need his older toys as he plays with a remote-controlled car, something that his dad disagrees with. Bastian enters The Neverending Story and finds Barktroll all tied up, so he helps him. They play a game and Bastian runs off, and Barktroll finds a red cloth on the ground. He chases it around but it moves, and it turns out it was a trick by a blue creature named Axin. He has a gift to give to The Childlike Empress, so Bastian decides to guide him there, much to the dismay of Barktroll due to their game being postponed.

Axin says that he is from a place where there is nothing more than to entertain, and he juggles some balls around, then throws the three balls into the air and turns them into one big one. He and Bastian run around and throw it at each other, leaving Barktroll a few steps behind. They throw the ball to him, but he trips, and the ball bounces on him and deep into the trees. Axin and Bastian walk off to get it back and tell Barktroll to keep an eye on Axin's stuff. However, he smells water and runs off to go drink it, but when they all get back, the stuff is gone. Axin thinks he has failed him and his people. However, he spots footprints that were from a Gub-Gub Bird, that nests with whatever it finds. They go to Fire Mountain where it is at, but Barktroll's constant sitting down annoys them both. Axin finds a bucket that can lift them up, and they don't have to walk up. When Barktroll gets in it, he is too big, but fits in anyway, and he gets scared by both Gub-Gub Birds, which actually turn out to be sparrows, and being high up.

When they get up, Bastian and Axin walk off, but Barktroll loses them when another bird distracts him. He finds a black feather on the ground and realizes something. He runs off to tell Bastian but trips and knocks the two into quicksand. Bastian and Axin cry for help, which Xayide and her bird hear as they reside in a mountain in a floating canoe. Barktroll runs along to find a way to get them out of there, but he is too late as they use Axin's cloth to swim out of it. Barktroll gets fed up and decides to exit the adventure, and the two walk off without him. As they climb up Fire Mountain Bastian starts to regret leaving him behind, but Axin just calls him a buffoon and runs along.

Bastian catches up with him and Axin laughs, jumping on Xayide's canoe which is hovering saying that this was all just a trick and is really a worker for Xayide. The Gub-Gub Birds have been extinct for a long time and the footprints were just made by him, and the bag was taken by Xayide's bird Nimbly. Bastian runs off to get his friend back, but he gets trapped by fire-breathing snakes with two heads. Bastian climbs up a rocky cliff and Barktroll helps him go up it. Nimbly grabs a rock and tosses it at them, causing the cliff to erode, and two large boulders collapse Xayide's canoe. Barktroll and Bastian run into Axin as they try to escape, but Barktroll has a trick up his sleeve and throws hundred-year-old eggs at Axin which causes him to smell and faint off the cliff. Bastian and Barktroll walk back home, and Barktroll explains that he helped him because even if Bastian didn't want to be his friend anymore, he still would be friends with Bastian. After Bastian finishes reading, he runs back home and reunites with his old favorite plush toy.