Kumi had been wandering for some time through the cherry grove forest, a strange feeling making her feel drawn further inside, making her way through the dense forestry that only seemed to grow thicker as she pressed onwards. The fox maiden wasn’t sure what it was about this place but the strange feeling wasn’t ominous, quite the opposite in fact, it was soothing, as if she was being drawn in by part of herself. Something that had been missing for so long. Zephyr was by her side currently, drifting along in the air by her side, he didn’t seem to show any signs of worry either, which signaled to the vixen that she was making the right decision. While she was always in tune with the spirits around her, Zephyr was always more so, almost as if he could see into the souls of those around him. If he wasn’t panicking then there was no need for Kumi to either.
After a long trek, the forest was growing so thick that it was difficult to maneuver between them, to the point Kumi had to climb up and around them occasionally. As she made her way over one lot of trees the feeling she was sensing became stronger, she could now tell it was definitely coming from a creature not too far away, possibly one that was in need of help and in distress, maybe that’s why it was crying out to her? No, it wasn’t a plea for help, this was different, something she had never felt before, which only made her curiosity grow. As she pulled herself over a huge mossy boulder her eyes widened as she found herself in a small forest clearing about ten meters wide in diameter. For a moment she was blinded by the bright sun shining down from above after walking through the near darkness of the dense forestry, where the sun hardly managed to flicker through the leaves above.
As her icy blue eyes began to focus she found herself staring into the middle of the clearing that was covered in bright yellow flowers, in the center stood a creature she’d never seen before that was staring right back at her. It was foxlike, its fur black as midnight without a moon with yellow rings of fur on its legs, tail, ears and forehead. It’s bright yellow eyes matched that of the flowers that surrounded it as it seemed to stare into her soul. Kumi wasn’t sure whether to feel afraid or calm, the look its eyes was definitely scary, but at the same time it felt as if she had nothing to fear. The fox maiden found herself unable to move, her eyes continued to be locked onto the strange fox creature in front of her. Zephyr however, bounded through the air, tackling the creature in a playful manner before nuzzling his face into its neck as they lay on the ground. Kumi found herself snapping back to reality as she realised this might be a friend of her companion.
Slowly she approached, the strange feeling from before overwhelming her as she drew closer step by step. It felt as if she was finally whole as she bent down and outstretched her hand towards the black fox. The creature stopped playing with Zephyr to look up at the outstretched hand, tilting its head curiously before closing its eyes happily and jumping towards Kumi who quickly wrapped her arms around it. “Ah… Hi…” Kumi giggled as she stroked its fur, still unsure what exactly was going on as the black fox nuzzled into her chest. Well at least it wasn’t hostile, she doubted if she had to she wouldn’t be able to bring herself to fight such a magical and precious animal. “So little one, what is your name?” Kumi asked, not expecting a response and being surprised as the creature responded straight into her mind with telepathy, “Soul.” a deep male voice echoed. Kumi was taken aback slightly he spoke to her. “I see…” Kumi replied back with her thoughts, so he had a connection to her much like her guardian summons. Honestly she had many questions, but she was sure they’d be answered in time, right now was the first time since she could remember where she felt like she was completely whole, she hadn’t even realised she had been missing a piece of herself. A tear dropped down her face as she was overwhelmed with joy, clutching Soul close to her chest, afraid he was suddenly going to disappear.
“Haha, don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere.” Soul reassured her through his thoughts, “However, I am confused, you don’t seem to remember much do you?” He sighed sadly, “No wonder it took you so long to get here. That doesn’t matter now, your memories will surely return in time, for now we are together again, two parts of a whole.” He finished licking her cheek to wipe away her salty tear that was slowly dripping.
Kumi spent the next hour holding and petting Soul, she couldn’t remember no matter how hard she tried, but simultaneously she knew he was someone very important to her. “If you’re done cuddling now, I would love to help you remember how to fight alongside me.” Soul laughed, as Kumi released him with a small blush, “S-Sorry, of course, teach me.” the maiden replied preparing herself to learn what he had to teach her.
“First of all, you must understand, our spirits are one, you must have felt it when we met, it was what drew you here to me in the first place. We are much stronger together than apart, no doubt you can feel that your own power has grown since coming here as well?” Soul asked, tilting his head in a way that made his ears flop adorably.
“Yes, I understand.” Kumi responded with a nod, she hadn’t noticed before as she was too preoccupied with finding the source, but she did feel far more powerful than she had before coming here. Was that really because she had been without part of herself?
“Now, as I said together we are stronger, but you still have to learn to tap into our true potential. We’re able to use each other’s spiritual energy, much like you control your own, you can also access mine now. However, there are some things we can also only do together. For now I will teach you the basics and over time you will learn all you need to know to defeat the darkness that will one day find its way to this world."
“First, let us try some basic spells together.” Soul moved so he was sitting in the flowers before Kumi, who sat on her knees ready to begin. “Okay, I’ll show you how it’s done, just repeat after me.” Soul moved so he was standing next to Kumi before he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as Kumi began to feel her aura become one with Soul’s own before a large radiant wave of energy burst from him, breaking down just before hitting a tree on the edge of the clearing. Kumi had never seen something so beautiful in all her life, and she prepared to attempt to mimic. The vixen closed her eyes drawing energy from Soul, careful not to take too much but combining it with her own, making it become a shimmering rainbow of energy that she then sent towards the same tree. However, she wasn’t quite as skilled as Soul and she lost control of the ball which was too powerful for her, hitting the tree causing it to cut through the outer bark.. Kumi was a little disheartened but determined to learn to control this power. She spent hours, repeating the process, resting occasionally to allow both her and Soul’s energy to return to them. As the sun was setting she finally managed to feel in control of the ball of energy, disbursing it exactly as she wished, even sending it up to the sky, before forcing it to explode like a rainbow firework.
“Nice job.” Soul commended, happy she was finally able to use their combined power efficiently. Together they climbed to the tree tops to watch the setting sun, the reddish glow bouncing off of the leaves at the top of the forest. Kumi noticed that Soul’s rings glowed brighter as it grew darker, well that could prove to be quite useful someday. His luminous rings were simply magical, especially with the way he could alter their colour much like she did with her own aura. Yes, the two of them were definitely meant to meet. Still it concerned the fox maiden that she didn’t remember him, even though he seemed to already know her. Why couldn’t she remember? Were her memories gone forever? Would she never remember who she was or why she was here? Her summons, Soul and even Zephyr seemed to think she was special and was here for some special purpose. They refused to say much on the subject though, claiming she would remember or find out in time, the only thing she needed to do was continue to grow stronger.
“Well…” Kumi stood carefully on the tree top as the sun finally finished setting and the moon and stars were the only thing lighting the forest below them, “Shall we get back to training?” she asked looking at her new companion.
“Sure, but only for a short while, you must have a proper nights rest eventually.” Soul pressed, he was a caring creature and even more so towards Kumi. Together they made their way back down from the tree, Kumi climbing while Soul simply leapt from branch to branch till they were standing back in the forest clearing. The vixen hadn’t noticed previously due to watching the sky, but the flowers were now glowing, much like Soul’s rings. She wondered if it was because of him or if it was just a coincidence, she knew Soul could hear her thoughts, but he didn’t respond to them, so she doubted she’d get an answer even if she asked straight out.
“What I’m going to teach you now is less combative and more supportive. It will allow not only yourself, or me, but all those you hold dear to regenerate their spirit. Once you have total control of the spell it will even wash away any negative effects that other spells may be forcing upon them.” Soul explained, before stretching his aura out from himself into a ring around him that filled the clearing. It shone a brilliant gold, and Kumi could feel her aura cleansing itself, it was sort of tingly but in a good way, it made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Not only that but she felt wave after wave hitting her, Soul was able to continuously hold the spell for such a long time. Eventually he stopped, drawing the golden glow back to his own spirit circulating his body. “Your turn to try, don’t worry if it takes you a while, you’ve got to truly focus on this kind of spell or it wont work at all.” the black fox explained, caling for Zephyr to come close for Kumi to practice targeting multiple allies.
Kumi’s first attempt was a complete failure as she accidentally drained both of their spirits into her own instead. “S-Sorry…” She stuttered quickly attempting to heal them individually one at a time. “NO!” Soul growled, stopping her from doing so, “Do it right and you can heal us both at the same time!” he commanded. Kumi withdrew her hand and stopped midcast of her heal spell. Closing her eyes she concentrated on her friends, wanting desperately to heal them, as she reached out to them in her mind. When she opened her eyes she couldn’t believe it, from her was a glow, while not quite as shimmering bright as Soul’s own it was still working, restoring their spirit. Kumi broke the spell accidentally as she jumped for joy, picking up Soul and swinging him around. “TEACH ME MORE!” she proclaimed, a huge smile on her face.
After a long trek, the forest was growing so thick that it was difficult to maneuver between them, to the point Kumi had to climb up and around them occasionally. As she made her way over one lot of trees the feeling she was sensing became stronger, she could now tell it was definitely coming from a creature not too far away, possibly one that was in need of help and in distress, maybe that’s why it was crying out to her? No, it wasn’t a plea for help, this was different, something she had never felt before, which only made her curiosity grow. As she pulled herself over a huge mossy boulder her eyes widened as she found herself in a small forest clearing about ten meters wide in diameter. For a moment she was blinded by the bright sun shining down from above after walking through the near darkness of the dense forestry, where the sun hardly managed to flicker through the leaves above.
As her icy blue eyes began to focus she found herself staring into the middle of the clearing that was covered in bright yellow flowers, in the center stood a creature she’d never seen before that was staring right back at her. It was foxlike, its fur black as midnight without a moon with yellow rings of fur on its legs, tail, ears and forehead. It’s bright yellow eyes matched that of the flowers that surrounded it as it seemed to stare into her soul. Kumi wasn’t sure whether to feel afraid or calm, the look its eyes was definitely scary, but at the same time it felt as if she had nothing to fear. The fox maiden found herself unable to move, her eyes continued to be locked onto the strange fox creature in front of her. Zephyr however, bounded through the air, tackling the creature in a playful manner before nuzzling his face into its neck as they lay on the ground. Kumi found herself snapping back to reality as she realised this might be a friend of her companion.
Slowly she approached, the strange feeling from before overwhelming her as she drew closer step by step. It felt as if she was finally whole as she bent down and outstretched her hand towards the black fox. The creature stopped playing with Zephyr to look up at the outstretched hand, tilting its head curiously before closing its eyes happily and jumping towards Kumi who quickly wrapped her arms around it. “Ah… Hi…” Kumi giggled as she stroked its fur, still unsure what exactly was going on as the black fox nuzzled into her chest. Well at least it wasn’t hostile, she doubted if she had to she wouldn’t be able to bring herself to fight such a magical and precious animal. “So little one, what is your name?” Kumi asked, not expecting a response and being surprised as the creature responded straight into her mind with telepathy, “Soul.” a deep male voice echoed. Kumi was taken aback slightly he spoke to her. “I see…” Kumi replied back with her thoughts, so he had a connection to her much like her guardian summons. Honestly she had many questions, but she was sure they’d be answered in time, right now was the first time since she could remember where she felt like she was completely whole, she hadn’t even realised she had been missing a piece of herself. A tear dropped down her face as she was overwhelmed with joy, clutching Soul close to her chest, afraid he was suddenly going to disappear.
“Haha, don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere.” Soul reassured her through his thoughts, “However, I am confused, you don’t seem to remember much do you?” He sighed sadly, “No wonder it took you so long to get here. That doesn’t matter now, your memories will surely return in time, for now we are together again, two parts of a whole.” He finished licking her cheek to wipe away her salty tear that was slowly dripping.
Kumi spent the next hour holding and petting Soul, she couldn’t remember no matter how hard she tried, but simultaneously she knew he was someone very important to her. “If you’re done cuddling now, I would love to help you remember how to fight alongside me.” Soul laughed, as Kumi released him with a small blush, “S-Sorry, of course, teach me.” the maiden replied preparing herself to learn what he had to teach her.
“First of all, you must understand, our spirits are one, you must have felt it when we met, it was what drew you here to me in the first place. We are much stronger together than apart, no doubt you can feel that your own power has grown since coming here as well?” Soul asked, tilting his head in a way that made his ears flop adorably.
“Yes, I understand.” Kumi responded with a nod, she hadn’t noticed before as she was too preoccupied with finding the source, but she did feel far more powerful than she had before coming here. Was that really because she had been without part of herself?
“Now, as I said together we are stronger, but you still have to learn to tap into our true potential. We’re able to use each other’s spiritual energy, much like you control your own, you can also access mine now. However, there are some things we can also only do together. For now I will teach you the basics and over time you will learn all you need to know to defeat the darkness that will one day find its way to this world."
“First, let us try some basic spells together.” Soul moved so he was sitting in the flowers before Kumi, who sat on her knees ready to begin. “Okay, I’ll show you how it’s done, just repeat after me.” Soul moved so he was standing next to Kumi before he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as Kumi began to feel her aura become one with Soul’s own before a large radiant wave of energy burst from him, breaking down just before hitting a tree on the edge of the clearing. Kumi had never seen something so beautiful in all her life, and she prepared to attempt to mimic. The vixen closed her eyes drawing energy from Soul, careful not to take too much but combining it with her own, making it become a shimmering rainbow of energy that she then sent towards the same tree. However, she wasn’t quite as skilled as Soul and she lost control of the ball which was too powerful for her, hitting the tree causing it to cut through the outer bark.. Kumi was a little disheartened but determined to learn to control this power. She spent hours, repeating the process, resting occasionally to allow both her and Soul’s energy to return to them. As the sun was setting she finally managed to feel in control of the ball of energy, disbursing it exactly as she wished, even sending it up to the sky, before forcing it to explode like a rainbow firework.
“Nice job.” Soul commended, happy she was finally able to use their combined power efficiently. Together they climbed to the tree tops to watch the setting sun, the reddish glow bouncing off of the leaves at the top of the forest. Kumi noticed that Soul’s rings glowed brighter as it grew darker, well that could prove to be quite useful someday. His luminous rings were simply magical, especially with the way he could alter their colour much like she did with her own aura. Yes, the two of them were definitely meant to meet. Still it concerned the fox maiden that she didn’t remember him, even though he seemed to already know her. Why couldn’t she remember? Were her memories gone forever? Would she never remember who she was or why she was here? Her summons, Soul and even Zephyr seemed to think she was special and was here for some special purpose. They refused to say much on the subject though, claiming she would remember or find out in time, the only thing she needed to do was continue to grow stronger.
“Well…” Kumi stood carefully on the tree top as the sun finally finished setting and the moon and stars were the only thing lighting the forest below them, “Shall we get back to training?” she asked looking at her new companion.
“Sure, but only for a short while, you must have a proper nights rest eventually.” Soul pressed, he was a caring creature and even more so towards Kumi. Together they made their way back down from the tree, Kumi climbing while Soul simply leapt from branch to branch till they were standing back in the forest clearing. The vixen hadn’t noticed previously due to watching the sky, but the flowers were now glowing, much like Soul’s rings. She wondered if it was because of him or if it was just a coincidence, she knew Soul could hear her thoughts, but he didn’t respond to them, so she doubted she’d get an answer even if she asked straight out.
“What I’m going to teach you now is less combative and more supportive. It will allow not only yourself, or me, but all those you hold dear to regenerate their spirit. Once you have total control of the spell it will even wash away any negative effects that other spells may be forcing upon them.” Soul explained, before stretching his aura out from himself into a ring around him that filled the clearing. It shone a brilliant gold, and Kumi could feel her aura cleansing itself, it was sort of tingly but in a good way, it made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Not only that but she felt wave after wave hitting her, Soul was able to continuously hold the spell for such a long time. Eventually he stopped, drawing the golden glow back to his own spirit circulating his body. “Your turn to try, don’t worry if it takes you a while, you’ve got to truly focus on this kind of spell or it wont work at all.” the black fox explained, caling for Zephyr to come close for Kumi to practice targeting multiple allies.
Kumi’s first attempt was a complete failure as she accidentally drained both of their spirits into her own instead. “S-Sorry…” She stuttered quickly attempting to heal them individually one at a time. “NO!” Soul growled, stopping her from doing so, “Do it right and you can heal us both at the same time!” he commanded. Kumi withdrew her hand and stopped midcast of her heal spell. Closing her eyes she concentrated on her friends, wanting desperately to heal them, as she reached out to them in her mind. When she opened her eyes she couldn’t believe it, from her was a glow, while not quite as shimmering bright as Soul’s own it was still working, restoring their spirit. Kumi broke the spell accidentally as she jumped for joy, picking up Soul and swinging him around. “TEACH ME MORE!” she proclaimed, a huge smile on her face.
~End~
[WC: 2031/2000]
[WC: 2031/2000]
