Lume was out in a clearing in the forest. He had his black trenchcoat draped on a low branch, gauntlet and leather armor against the tree trunk among the roots. His pistol Fightwinner and Yoshitsuna Lightsaber also among the gauntlet and armor.
All he wore were his Mithril Boots, black pants and white undershirt.
He was preparing himself to engage the so-called "soul" within his new sword Yejix forged for him, called Lumezake. Stepping to the center of the clearing, he reached out with his mind to sense anyone coming near.
Satisfied that no one was nearby, he was certain he'd do this undisturbed. Sitting down cross-legged into the grass, he rested his hands upon his knees and closed his green eyes. He breathed deeply and slowly until he reached a meditative state.
At this point, he focused on the sword he had spiritually bonded to his soul. It swam into view in his mind's eye, a blade that looked as if it was a purple flame with bright blue bolts embracing it, a small golden hilt with a leather handle.
His eyebrows furrowed in effort as he attempted to enter it. At first, he felt nothing, then resistance coming from it. He poured more effort into his attempt, squeezing his eyes tight. Soon, he felt its resistance waver and then give way.
But only for a split-second.
Laughter, gleeful laughter rang out in his mind as a large pinkish hand suddenly came out of the blade to grab him forcefully. He gasped as blackness replaced Lumezake in his mind's eye and the feeling of being sucked into overwhelmed him.
As Lume gasped, his body went rigid and then his torso fell backwards onto the grass with his legs uncrossing themselves. To any passersby, it would've looked like he was napping in the sun pouring into the clearing.
When he came to, he found himself in a very different forest, his other clothing and weapons gone. The grass were blue streaked with yellow, trees golden with deep purple leaves and the sky was a bleak featureless gray.
"What in the Fires of Muspellheim?" Lume whispered to himself in amazement and puzzlement as he got up, turning around to inspect more of the alien forest. It was very strange to him and there was a disturbing feeling throughout which he couldn't immediately place.
Then it struck him, this place was devoid of life. He couldn't feel life around himself coming from this forest. It was like the opposite of the forest he was in previously, it being thick with life energy.
Here, he had no power to sense any lifeform, let alone hear and see and smell.
"Ha ha ha ha ha! Is the little foxy scared?" a voice rang out from nowhere.
"Who is this and show yourself!" Lume looked around quickly, whirling around. The laughter sounded familiar, was it the one that accompanied the strange hand he saw?
"It's about damn time you showed up here, Lume!"
"How do you know my name?!" Lume shouted back, growing impatient and wishing he had his weapons on him. Then he blinked as soon as he realized that he still had Lumezake within himself. He held out his right hand and summoned it from within himself.
Nothing happened, and the same laughter rang out, mocking this time.
"Ha ha ha! Foxy still doesn't get it!"
"Grr! SHOW YOURSELF!" Lume yelled in anger, his green eyes glowing in emotion.
At once, crackling sounded from nowhere and bolts appeared around the edge of the clearing Lume was in, embracing the golden trees, frying a few purple leaves as the air took on the smell of ozone.
Then he saw a glimpse of pink among the trees in front of him, then to his right, and back to front before it vanished. The bolts still remained in place.
"Come and catch me if you can!" came the voice, this time directly behind Lume. He whirled around just in time to see a pink blur melting into the electrified forest past the clearing.
He hesitated for a split-second before giving chase, shifting to fox form once he got to the edge of the clearing. As he leapt into the alien underbrush, the bolts near him winked out of existence. He stopped briefly at this in wonder before realizing the entity didn't want him to be electrocuted. So he pressed on, the bolts winking back into existence behind him.
Try as he might, Lume was only able to catch fleeting glimpses of pink ahead of him, sometimes off to his left and right which made him turn that way.
"Ha ha ha! Foxy can't catch me!"
Lume was starting to pant from the exertion from running, and he was getting tired of the thing's games. He reached out to the shadows... only to find no matter how thick the forest was, nothing casted any discernible shadow due to the gray sky.
So flash step was the only option left to him.
As soon as he saw another glimpse of pink, he wasted no time in flash stepping towards it. He could do it in his fox form, but it was slightly less effective compared to doing it in his human form, however fast it was.
When he got to the thing through flash step, it was already gone again.
"Oooh! So close!" laughter rang out.
He growled in exasperation and shifted back to human form, rushing through the underbrush and around the trees again without so much a beat.
He saw it again and flash stepped towards it almost instinctively, reaching out at the same time with his right hand.
Lume saw it clearly this time, but only briefly. It was a Lycan with pink fur streaked with thin silver and bright blue eyes.
Then it blurred away from his sight, evading his grasp easily as soon as he came out of his flash step.
He realized it now, the thing was using flash step the whole time. This meant it was toying with him. Well no more, he wouldn't be running this time. He was going to flash step from now on!
"So close yet again! Come on, Lume!" the voice lost its mocking tone. He made a note of it as he went all-out with flash step.
It took him three seconds' worth of flash stepping until he found the Lycan again, easily catching up to it, barely catching it by surprise he took the chance to grab it by its neck and slam it into one of the golden trees, growling.
But this victory wasn't meant to last, as Lume found himself shocked almost instantly, letting go and ending up slamming into another tree in about a second.
He fought to stay conscious as he landed in a heap upon the grass, glimpsing a pair of pink digitigrade feet walking towards him. He noted the claws purple and the feet eerily similar to that of a fox's.
"An admirable effort, Lume," the voice spoke as he was losing the fight to stay conscious.
"But better luck next time!" was the last thing he heard as he slipped into blackness.
All he wore were his Mithril Boots, black pants and white undershirt.
He was preparing himself to engage the so-called "soul" within his new sword Yejix forged for him, called Lumezake. Stepping to the center of the clearing, he reached out with his mind to sense anyone coming near.
Satisfied that no one was nearby, he was certain he'd do this undisturbed. Sitting down cross-legged into the grass, he rested his hands upon his knees and closed his green eyes. He breathed deeply and slowly until he reached a meditative state.
At this point, he focused on the sword he had spiritually bonded to his soul. It swam into view in his mind's eye, a blade that looked as if it was a purple flame with bright blue bolts embracing it, a small golden hilt with a leather handle.
His eyebrows furrowed in effort as he attempted to enter it. At first, he felt nothing, then resistance coming from it. He poured more effort into his attempt, squeezing his eyes tight. Soon, he felt its resistance waver and then give way.
But only for a split-second.
Laughter, gleeful laughter rang out in his mind as a large pinkish hand suddenly came out of the blade to grab him forcefully. He gasped as blackness replaced Lumezake in his mind's eye and the feeling of being sucked into overwhelmed him.
As Lume gasped, his body went rigid and then his torso fell backwards onto the grass with his legs uncrossing themselves. To any passersby, it would've looked like he was napping in the sun pouring into the clearing.
When he came to, he found himself in a very different forest, his other clothing and weapons gone. The grass were blue streaked with yellow, trees golden with deep purple leaves and the sky was a bleak featureless gray.
"What in the Fires of Muspellheim?" Lume whispered to himself in amazement and puzzlement as he got up, turning around to inspect more of the alien forest. It was very strange to him and there was a disturbing feeling throughout which he couldn't immediately place.
Then it struck him, this place was devoid of life. He couldn't feel life around himself coming from this forest. It was like the opposite of the forest he was in previously, it being thick with life energy.
Here, he had no power to sense any lifeform, let alone hear and see and smell.
"Ha ha ha ha ha! Is the little foxy scared?" a voice rang out from nowhere.
"Who is this and show yourself!" Lume looked around quickly, whirling around. The laughter sounded familiar, was it the one that accompanied the strange hand he saw?
"It's about damn time you showed up here, Lume!"
"How do you know my name?!" Lume shouted back, growing impatient and wishing he had his weapons on him. Then he blinked as soon as he realized that he still had Lumezake within himself. He held out his right hand and summoned it from within himself.
Nothing happened, and the same laughter rang out, mocking this time.
"Ha ha ha! Foxy still doesn't get it!"
"Grr! SHOW YOURSELF!" Lume yelled in anger, his green eyes glowing in emotion.
At once, crackling sounded from nowhere and bolts appeared around the edge of the clearing Lume was in, embracing the golden trees, frying a few purple leaves as the air took on the smell of ozone.
Then he saw a glimpse of pink among the trees in front of him, then to his right, and back to front before it vanished. The bolts still remained in place.
"Come and catch me if you can!" came the voice, this time directly behind Lume. He whirled around just in time to see a pink blur melting into the electrified forest past the clearing.
He hesitated for a split-second before giving chase, shifting to fox form once he got to the edge of the clearing. As he leapt into the alien underbrush, the bolts near him winked out of existence. He stopped briefly at this in wonder before realizing the entity didn't want him to be electrocuted. So he pressed on, the bolts winking back into existence behind him.
Try as he might, Lume was only able to catch fleeting glimpses of pink ahead of him, sometimes off to his left and right which made him turn that way.
"Ha ha ha! Foxy can't catch me!"
Lume was starting to pant from the exertion from running, and he was getting tired of the thing's games. He reached out to the shadows... only to find no matter how thick the forest was, nothing casted any discernible shadow due to the gray sky.
So flash step was the only option left to him.
As soon as he saw another glimpse of pink, he wasted no time in flash stepping towards it. He could do it in his fox form, but it was slightly less effective compared to doing it in his human form, however fast it was.
When he got to the thing through flash step, it was already gone again.
"Oooh! So close!" laughter rang out.
He growled in exasperation and shifted back to human form, rushing through the underbrush and around the trees again without so much a beat.
He saw it again and flash stepped towards it almost instinctively, reaching out at the same time with his right hand.
Lume saw it clearly this time, but only briefly. It was a Lycan with pink fur streaked with thin silver and bright blue eyes.
Then it blurred away from his sight, evading his grasp easily as soon as he came out of his flash step.
He realized it now, the thing was using flash step the whole time. This meant it was toying with him. Well no more, he wouldn't be running this time. He was going to flash step from now on!
"So close yet again! Come on, Lume!" the voice lost its mocking tone. He made a note of it as he went all-out with flash step.
It took him three seconds' worth of flash stepping until he found the Lycan again, easily catching up to it, barely catching it by surprise he took the chance to grab it by its neck and slam it into one of the golden trees, growling.
But this victory wasn't meant to last, as Lume found himself shocked almost instantly, letting go and ending up slamming into another tree in about a second.
He fought to stay conscious as he landed in a heap upon the grass, glimpsing a pair of pink digitigrade feet walking towards him. He noted the claws purple and the feet eerily similar to that of a fox's.
"An admirable effort, Lume," the voice spoke as he was losing the fight to stay conscious.
"But better luck next time!" was the last thing he heard as he slipped into blackness.