With the tires spinning forward, the car starts to slow down, until the back tires are just on the cliff's edge. Soon after, the car speeds forward, away from the cliff.
Feeling like his life had just been spared, Niko releases the gas pedal and gradually steps on the brake, bringing the car to a full stop.
Lunging forward, then immediately backward into their seats, Chisai and Niko start breathing heavily, their hearts racing a mile a minute.
Trying to talk between breaths, Chisai speaks up. "What. Was. That?"
Niko grabs the interior door handle and opens the car door. Stepping out, he surveys his surroundings.
Countless floating upside-down cone shaped rocks are scattered throughout the sky above and below. Looking to his right, he sees a waterfall falling into a shallow pool, surrounded by a light tropical foliage and a grassy area. He walks to the edge of the cliff that they almost drove over, but quickly steps back by the sight of an endless bottom. "I think it's our training area."
Chisai opens her door and steps out of the car, looking at the surroundings as well. "How'd we get here?"
Niko turns back to Chisai and starts walking towards her position. "I don't know. I think that the white light had something to do with it." He reaches into the back seat, grabs his okatana, slips it on the left inner side of his belt, quickly ties the attached rope across his body in a quick-slip knot, and holds on to the top of the sheath with his left hand.
"So what do we do?" she asks.
Walking back to the edge, Niko is unsure how to answer. He looks at the cone-shaped rocks floating by and takes a guess. "I guess we're supposed to destroy those things."
"But how?"
Niko turns to Chisai and looks frustrated. "Jeez! What's with you and all these questions." He points to his head. "Use your head! Figure it out!"
Chisai stomps towards Niko. "How dare you say that!" She starts to cry again as she gets closer to his face. "HEY! I was just being yelled at by my parents for the better half of this morning! Nobody asked my opinion, or why I disappeared yesterday. They all assumed that I had skipped out! I had nothing but yelling and screaming while I sat in front of them, helpless!"
She starts to get more animated as she throws her arms in the air. "I didn't ask for this! I didn't even know that I had these powers! I didn't know that I'd be in training today, much less using these new powers! What am I supposed to do? Automatically know everything there is in the world? Well, I'm sorry I don't. I don't have an encyclopedia of knowledge of your world or what Tora does!"
As she gradually invades Niko's personal space, he tries to back up.
"My life was fairly normal before all of this happened! Now, I have these stupid things that appear on my face and my hair changes color and my eyes do weird things and I....I don't know what to do! So just give me a break and help me learn these things, okay? OKAY?" Her expression is of frustration, but tears are crawling down her face.
With her face closing in on Niko's, his eyes have to become cross to focus on how close she is. Trying to increase his space from her, he tries to step back. "Look, I know that this is rough, but I...." a rock slips away from under his foot and he loses his balance, falling backwards. "....eeeyyYYAAHHHH!" His arms flail out, trying to grab anything.
Quickly composing herself, Chisai realizes that Niko is in trouble. She tries to reach out for his hand as he falls backwards, off the cliff. "NIKO!" Unable to catch him, she lands on her chest, looking over the cliff's edge. The sight of an endless distance makes her a little sick, but the thought of losing Niko made her close her eyes. Tears started to form, dropping into the endless abyss.
BOOF! The sound of something hard hitting the ground echos all around.
Chisai slowly opens her eyes, not knowing what to expect.
Niko lays on his back on a flat rocky platform below Chisai, about ten feet down. "I'm alright. Ow." He tries to sit up.
The rocky platform that he landed on starts to rise up to Chisai's level. Her emotions fill her with joy as she sees him appear. As the platform he is on levels out with the other, he stumbles off, towards Chisai. "What a way to start training, huh?" he says with a hint of sarcasm.
Overjoyed, Chisai wraps her arms around him and rests her head on his chest. Residual tears from her eyes start wetting spots on his shirt.
"Whoa. What's this for?" Niko asks, uncomfortably.
Chisai releases her grip and backs away quickly. Realizing that she had let her emotions get the better of her, she tries to think of a reason why she did that. "I....I...I...I just wanted to make sure you were safe. That's all." She approaches him and swipes a hand on his button-up shirt to dust him off. "Yep, you're all safe." She pulls her hands back near her chest.
Niko walks over to the cliff's edge, looking down. The platform he landed on is now below again. "If I was in my demon form, I would have landed on my feet."
"Why is that?"
"Because I'm a half-cat demon, and cats always land on their feet. Duh!" he says, jokingly.
"Oh, right." She reaches around and pulls her ponytail in front of her face, realizing it's still brown. "So, how do I turn into my demon form?"
Grabbing the top of his okatana sheath, he nervously says, "Well, I was hoping Lord Tora would be here to help you with that."
Chisai looks around. "Well, I don't see him." She faces Niko. "How do you do it?"
Feeling a slight déjà vu moment from last night, Niko tries to form the words needed to finish that thought. "I just....well, I.....you see...." He tries to think of the best way to describe it.
After a few minutes of silence, Chisai starts to get a little impatient. "Well?"
He reacts, "I'm thinking! I'm thinking!" Recognizing that it is hard find the right words for something that just comes automatically, he tries his best. "Okay, you know how you breathe, right?"
Taken back by the awkwardness of the question at hand, Chisai pauses before answering. "Yeah...."
"You don't think about it – you just do it."
Expecting a little more, Chisai tries to push the conversation forward. "And...?"
"That's just the thing: I was never taught how to transform. I just woke up one day and it just sorta happened."
"So how's that supposed to help me?"
Looking at his okatana, and the hand that is holding it, he has an idea and looks back at Chisai. "Okay, we're going to try something. How about this: think about trying to move your arm."
"Which one?"
Feeling embittered, he barks back. "It doesn't matter. Pick one!"
"Okay, okay" she says submissively as she looks at her right arm.
"Now, using just your thoughts, move your arm."
She looks at Niko like he's crazy. "What?"
"Just go with me, here."
Her arm starts to raise up.
"Good! You basically used your mind to do that."
"And...?" she says, trying to get to the point.
"...and that's what you need to do in order to get your abilities to activate. Just think about it – literally!"
She lowers her arm to her side.
Niko backs up to increase the distance between them. "Look at me and watch what I do." He closes his eyes and focuses.
A slight gust of wind comes from below and fluffs his hair out and makes his black over shirt flow. From the top of his head, his hair gradually turns from fiery red to sleek silver. Long dark marks appear from his jawline to his cheeks. His teeth start to peer out from his top lip over his lower one. Triangular ears start to grow from the top of his head.
The wind dies down, his hair lays on his head, and his over shirt rests on his form. He opens his eyes to look at Chisai. They turned from dark navy to a darker red than his hair previously was.
"That's all there is to it. I just thought about it, and it happened. Just like breathing or moving your arm."
Making her stance wider, Chisai starts to get serious about this. "Okay, so all I have to do is focus."
"Yep
. Focus with all of your strength to make it happen. You know what you look like in demon form, so just think about that."
"You sound like a cheesy kids show, you know that?" She says jokingly.
"Just do it. Who cares what I sound like?" he asks rhetorically.
She strengthens her stance and closes her eyes, trying to focus all of her strength into transforming.
A few moments later, she opens her eyes. "I don't feel any different. Did I do it?" She reaches around and pulls her ponytail to look at it.
"No, but try again. Picture yourself as a demon – you know, the reflection you saw at Lord Tora's house." Niko says with as much support as he can muster, without sounding sarcastic.
Chisai restrengthen her stance and closes her eyes. Blocking everything else out of her mind, except for the image she saw in the mirror of herself in demon form, she puts forward all she can spare to focus.
A small gust of wind comes from below, fluffing her hair up and whipping her ponytail around. Gradually, her hair changes hues from dark brown to bright orange. She starts to feel a tingly feeling on her cheeks as the dark marks grow from her jawline upwards. As her canine teeth start to become longer, she pulls her lower lip back for them to grow. She also feels something.....different about her body; her senses have increased, her heart rate changes, and she feels like she can run faster, jump farther, react faster, and more. Her hearing sensitivity increases as she feels some things on her head, remembering that her ears have moved.
The gust of wind dies down and her hair falls back into place. She slowly opens her eyes, almost forgetting that she can now see more light as her eyes adjust to the sources.
"See? That's what it is like!" Niko says as he starts clapping.
Chisai walks over to the car and looks at the window, focusing in on her reflection. Her eyes have changed color from emerald to violet.
"I did it! I did it!" She yells excitedly as she jumps up and down.
"I told you. That's the best way I could describe it." Niko says as he walks over to her.
She brings up her hands to touch the marks on her face. "I feel so....different."
"Yeah, that takes some getting used to. But don't worry – the feelings subside after a while."
"So, how do we change back?" she asks, feeling like she should know that since she now knew how to change into demon form.
"As I said: the only way I know how is to go to sleep. Once your mind becomes unconscious...."
".....'the demon abilities are suppressed until you call them out again.'" Chisai butts in and finishes the sentence. "Yeah, yeah, you said that yesterday. I was hoping there was another way, like 'on demand.'"
"Not unless you know of a way I don't."
"Doubt it." She says as she looks at the window again.
A loud shrieking echos from the distance, causing both of them to look in that direction. "What was that?" they say simultaneously.
A small yellow bird is seen far off in the distance. It seems to be perched on a large horn, attached to an ancient skeleton resting on one of the rocks far in the distance. "Did that thing make the noise?" Chisai asks.
The bird jumps off of the horn and flies towards Niko and Chisai, but aims below them.
"I don't know. It seems too small to make that loud of a noise." Niko says as he looks around for another source.
Moments later, the ground below them starts shaking, and a low rumbling is heard all around. Niko separates his feet to get a better and more solid stance to counteract the shaking. However, as Chisai tries to find something to hold on to, she calls out to Niko. "Niko, what's going on?"
The sight of a large, gold beak, followed by a bird head and neck, rose from the edge of the cliff, and continued to raise upwards towards the sky. A growing shadow follows the movement of the bird and covers up Niko and Chisai, along with the majority of the floating rock they are on.
As he looks up and sees the large body of a bird rise as well, followed by long, three legs and flowing gold tail feathers, Niko connects the two items together: a gold bird and Tora's gold house. "Yep, this is a training exercise."
The bird is hovering above the two half-demons and starts flapping to keep its position.
"You're kidding, right? How are we supposed to defeat that thing?" Chisai yells as she scrambles to hold on to Niko's car.
"I guess we need to put ourselves to the test." Niko breaks the seal of his sword from his sheath and quickly draws it out. "Alright – time to test this out!"
The large gold bird swoops down towards Niko, keeping close to the ground. Okay, this is my chance! Niko starts running towards the large bird, holding his sword above his head.
What is he doing? There's no way that will work! Chisai thinks as she holds tight to his car.
Niko and the large bird quickly decrease their distance from each other. Thinking that he is close enough, Niko swings downward and starts to unleash his newest attack. "HELLFI-"
The large bird raises its altitude and glides right over Niko's head. The tip of the blade scratches the bird's underbelly, producing a high-pitched screech equivalent to nails scratching a chalkboard. As the bird flies by, one of its feet hits Niko across the chest, knocking him to the ground.
As he rolls away, Chisai calls out, "NIKO!"
Pushing himself off the dusty ground, he rubs his face as he responds. "I'm okay." He stands up and turns to the direction the bird flew.
On the other side of the rock, the bird starts hovering again. This time, the light that created its shadow is now being reflected off of its gold body and wings, casting a blinding light across Niko and Chisai.
"AH! It's too bright!" Chisai puts an arm up by her eyes to protect herself. Niko stays as he his, breathing heavily.
The large bird starts flapping its wings faster, generating large gusts of wind towards Niko and Chisai.
Chisai, holding on to Niko's car, holds on with all of her might. The car slides slightly, which makes her readjust and tighten her grip. Niko, on the other hand, tries to tough it out by getting low to the ground.
The large bird slows its flapping, making the gusts of wind die down.
"It's big, it's gold, and it can generate large gusts of wind. What other surprises does this big chicken have?" Niko says as he stands back up.
Swooping down for another pass, the large bird stays close to the ground again.
Good – another chance to unleash my attack. Niko reinforces his stance as the bird approaches. He raises his sword above his head, ready to attack.
When the large bird is within striking distance of him, he swings his sword downwards. "HELLFIRE!"
Moments after the fire and fissures appear from where the sword struck the ground, the large bird lifts up again, flying right over Niko's head. This time, Niko slips between the bird's three feet. Looking down to where he struck, the fissures his attack made caused large gashes in the rock face. Niko turns around to face the bird again, which is hovering at the spot it originally arrived.
"What am I supposed to do?" Chisai asks towards Niko.
A little preoccupied by his target, and frustrated that his last two attacks failed, Niko didn't want to answer that. Instead, he provided a sarcastic answer. "I don't know – get your weapon out and fly or something."
Thinking that Niko was serious, Chisai looks up at the bird, thinking of the best way to attack it. "Okay, let's do this!" She puts her left hand on top of her right, trying to crack her knuckles. To her surprise, the jewel on her glove lights up.
A little scared by the jewel lighting up, she pulls her hands away, and a large pole-like weapon appears in her left hand from her right. Looking up at the metallic end in awe, she feels empowered. "Whoa. I did not expect that!"
The large bird extends its wings outward, which start to form arcs of electricity around them. Seeing the sparks form on the wings, Niko prepares himself for an electric-type attack and runs to find something that won't conduct electricity. As soon as he is behind a t
ree by the shallow pool, he realizes that Chisai is still by the car. "Chisai! Move away from the car!" he says as he waves in her direction, motioning for her to move away.
Flapping its wings once again, the large bird causes gusts of wind to flow across the rock face, although not as strong as last time. Feathers start to fly from the bird's wings and head straight towards Niko and Chisai.
When the first few feathers hit near Niko, they hit the ground and insert themselves a good third of the way in, with such force making the rock face shake a bit.
Noticing that Chisai was still by the car, Niko tries to call out, "Chisai!" hoping to get her attention, and to snap out of whatever trance she was in.
More feathers hit around Niko, which make him duck for cover. One feather slices through the tree he was hiding behind, nearly missing his head. The tree slides off of its base where it was cut and falls into the pool of water.
Thinking the worst had happened to Chisai, Niko grudgingly looks over. Countless feathers have inserted themselves into the ground near his car. Thinking of his priorities first, he realizes that the car is untouched. Good, the car is safe. Then it hits him: Where is Chisai?
Hoping to determine what the large bird was going to do next, he looks up in its direction. The large bird quickly flaps, then swoops again close to the ground. Realizing that the bird was making a beeline straight for Niko's position, he launches himself into the pool of water.
The large bird swoops by, missing Niko, and continues its flight to the other side of the rock face.
"Brrrrrr.....this water is cold!" Niko says as he frantically swims to the shore closest to his car.
Gaining some ground on the shore, Niko stands up, shakes off some of the water, and runs over to his car. He swerves around the implanted feathers, but notices that the electric arcs are no longer present. Expecting to see the shredded remains of the girl he had just met sent an uneasy and unsettling feeling through his being. However, he must continue on to assess the situation, no matter the consequences.
Once he reaches his car, he doesn't see any blood splatter, or the sign of a body. He sheathes his sword, then reaches up to gain some stability on the car as he breathes heavily, trying to regain some strength. But, if she isn't by the feathers, where did she go?
He looks around the area, trying to find any sign of Chisai's whereabouts. Thinking of the considerable options, he grabs the door handle and flings it open, hoping she got in the car for protection. No luck.
He runs around to the other end of the car, hoping she had run for cover. Once again, no luck. "Where did she go?"
A high-pitched "WHIISH" is heard from above, quickly turning into a low-pitched "WHOOSH". Niko looks up, hoping it wasn't another large bird.
Instead, he sees the green shirt and blue jeans of Chisai – flying in the air towards the large bird. Trying to comprehend what he had just seen, he says out loud, "Whoa. When I said 'fly', I didn't mean it literally!"
Chisai, holding her weapon below her, flies towards the large bird at the other end of the rock face.
"Chisai!" Niko yells out to her. "You can fly?"
Quickly glancing down at the call of her name, she sees Niko. Focusing back on her target, she faces the large bird again, but does a double-take to make sure she actually saw what she thought she saw. "Niko, where did your demon abilities go?" Not realizing how fast she was approaching, she slams head-first into the chest of the large bird.
Confused by her question, Niko turns to his car's side mirror to get a look at himself. Sure enough, his hair had returned to its normal red color, the marks on his cheeks were gone, and his eyes had returned to dark navy. "How'd that happen?" He touches his hair and his cheeks to make sure it wasn't just an illusion.
The large bird shakes a bit, which causes Chisai to fall from its chest. Unconscious, she falls head-first towards the rock face. Her weapon turns to light and zooms towards her jewel.
Niko looks up to see if Chisai had made contact with the bird. Hoping to see some sort of damage to the bird, he instead saw Chisai falling straight down. Her brown hair was a sign that she had been knocked unconscious, or went to sleep in the air. Expecting the former, he calls out, "CHISAI!" and quickly pushes himself off the car, straight to Chisai's targeted landing position.
Focusing on his mission of saving Chisai from face-planting into the ground, Niko's instincts kick in. He approaches Chisai's position faster and faster.
Thinking that he is only moments from saving her, he lunges himself towards her with his arms extended in front, hoping to catch her in a last attempt. Shortly after, he lands in the dust, making a large dust cloud form around him.
Not hearing the violent "splat" of impact, he opens his eyes slowly. Noticing that his hair had folded over his eyes, and was silver again, he shakes his head to move it away from his eyes. When the dust settles, he sees Chisai is horizontal, which means that she was saved, but she is a bit further away than he expected. She wasn't in his arms.
Instead, she was in arms covered by long red sleeves with black trim, and held by hands that had a partial black covering on them.
Niko focuses his eyes on the figure holding her. He coughs a bit and waves in front of his face, trying to get the residual dust out of his way. The red sleeves were just the start; they connected to a long red overcoat that continued the black trim pattern, but looked extremely worn. This person was wearing jet black pants, heavy reinforced black boots, and a blank white t-shirt. Finally, as Niko made eye contact, the other person's ice-blue eyes met his precisely, with parted half-length gold hair on either side of his face.
"Did'cha lose something?" he says.
Niko quickly stands up, pushing the hair out of his face and dusting himself off. "That's mine."
The person looks down at Chisai's face, then back up at Niko. "What, you mean this?"
Niko points straight towards Chisai and lines his body up with the direction. "She's mine!" he reiterates, but with more volume.
"Is that so? Well, you missed her." the person says.
Within the fraction of a second, Niko reaches to the handle of his okatana and draws it out, pointing it directly at the person's neck. "Hand her over. I'm warning you."
Disregarding Niko's warning, the person looks upwards and starts to ascend. Realizing that as the person rises up, and his sword's position at the person's neck, Chisai may come into contact with the sword. So Niko pulls it back to a safe position.
Keeping eye contact with the person as he ascends, Niko's peripheral vision sees the item responsible for the ascension: he is standing on a small inverted cone-shaped rock, similar to the ones all around the area.
"If you really want to save her, I'll let you do it." The person says as he is floating above Niko. "Here you go." He lets go of Chisai, directly above Niko.
Niko quickly sheathes his sword and holds his arms out to catch Chisai. Landing hard in his arms, he has to bend his knees to take some of the force.
"There. You saved her. Enjoy your stay," the person says as he floats away from Niko, Chisai, and the large bird.
Dumbfounded by the recent events, Niko calls out. "Wait!"
The person stops moving forward on his rock and looks back. "What?"
Not expecting the person to actually wait, Niko searches for words. "Why?"
The person's rock turns towards Niko and gradually floats downwards, merging with the rock face below until the person is level with Niko. "'Why' what?"
The large gold bird perches on the cliff with the waterfall, looking over the squabble.
Niko looks down at Chisai. "Why did you save her?" then looks back up at the person's ice-blue eyes. "Why are you here? And who are you?"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. So many questions, and yet, so few answers." The person says.
"Quit it with the riddles!" Niko yells out angrily.
"Let me guess: you were sent here by Tora, right?"
Taken back by the mention of Tora's name, Niko straightens up his po
sture to the point of actually stepping back. "You mean Lord Tora, right? I guess so."
"Then you were captured, just like me."
"WHAT?"
Niko's loud question makes Chisai open her eyes. When she looks up, she sees Niko's silver hair and red eyes. "Niko?"
Niko looks down at Chisai. "Chisai! Hey! You're awake!" He places her on the ground, feet first.
Looking around to see what the situation was, she asks, "What happened?"
The person speaks up. "Ahem. Allow me: you were fighting my pet bird and slammed into him. You then fell unconsciously towards the ground, and...." he looks slyly at Niko. "This dimwit caught you."
As he finishes making sure Chisai can stand on her own, Niko throws an evil glare at the person.
Chisai composes herself and looks around the ground, trying to find something.
"Chisai? What's wrong?" Niko asks.
"My weapon. Where'd it go?" She asks with a bit of alarm.
"I didn't see it when you fell. It must have disappeared when you were knocked out." he says as he reaches for a bit of her brown hair to show her.
Grabbing the hair presented to her, Chisai is a little upset and stomps a bit on the ground. "I changed back? But why? I just became a demon and wanted to stay one, at least for a little while!"
"HA!" the person says out loud.
Niko and Chisai look over to the person.
Holding his mouth to try and contain any more uncontrolled outbursts, it's easy to tell that he is smiling.
"What's so funny?" Niko asks with a jeering expression.
He holds out a finger and points to Niko and Chisai. Removing his hand from his mouth, he continues. "So, you two are...demons?"
Chisai stops stomping and calms down. "Well, technically, we're half demons."
Niko glares at Chisai, realizing that she just gave away any chance of threatening the person in front of them.
"Even better! Half-demons! You must be a prized treasure for Tora." the person says. He walks over to Niko, reaches up to one of Niko's ears, and pinches it. "And I'm assuming you are....cat demons, right?"
Feeling insulted, Niko gets closer to the person, invading his personal space. "What is this about Lord Tora?"
The person reacts to Niko's approach and puts his hands up by his head in a surrender-like fashion. "Hey, don't blame me. Not many people come to this location by choice, which most likely means you were sent here by Tora to enhance your abilities."
Since processing what the person had said made at least some sense, Niko backs up and straightens his posture. "Well, that's the point, isn't it? This is a training ground."
"Nooooo, no no no no. This isn't a training ground. This is a prison."
Niko and Chisai are shocked by the word.
Extending his arms to either side of him, the person says as he walks towards Chisai, slowly turning in circles. "Look all around you. The color of the sky extends for a full three hundred and sixty degrees. No top, no bottom, no sides. This area goes on forever. Do you see an entrance, or an exit? Do you see a ticket booth?" He starts to get louder. "Do you know how far the ground is below us?"
Niko and Chisai looks all around, thinking about what the person had said.
The person steps closer to Niko, pushing into his face. Niko can feel the air coming from his nose. "If this is a training ground, then explain how I have been here – for seven years." The person pulls his face back and walks towards the pool.
Slightly freaked out, Niko straightens up. "Seven...years? How'd you get here?"
Looking at his gold-haired reflection in the glossy pool, he sighs, then answers. "The same way you did: a mysterious white light brought me here, and I've been searching for a way out ever since."
Trying to be the optimist in this situation, Chisai walks up to him, her reflection standing beside his. He looks up at her. "Well, if we're all here together, let's at least join forces to find a way out."
Niko walks up on the other side of the person, "...and not try to kill each other?"
Chisai looks at Niko with a puzzling look.
The person looks at his reflection, then at Chisai, then Niko, then back at his reflection. He puts his arms behind him, then around Niko and Chisai's necks and pulls them in for a close hug. "What the hell? At this point, I've got nothing to lose!"
Chisai and Niko are trying to pry his arms off of their necks. The person finally lets go when he realizes what they are doing.
Stepping back from the pool, Niko and Chisai rub their necks trying to restore feeling. The person turns around to face them, and claps his hands trying to pump up the morale. "Well, if we are going to join forces, let me at least introduce myself. I'm....." he pauses, realizing that he hasn't had to tell anyone his name in over seven years. Searching through his memories, he tries to find what he had been called for at least fifteen years. "Kitsune. Kitsune Kaji." he says as he bows with grace.
As Kitsune raises back up, Chisai continues. "Hi Kitsune! I'm Chisai Konami. Nice to meet you." Kitsune extends a hand in Chisai's direction. As Chisai firmly grasps it, Kitsune wraps his other hand around hers and gives a full-fledged hand shake.
"I'm Niko Sakuna." Niko says as he continues rubbing the back of his neck. "You never did answer my questions before."
Kitsune lets go of Chisai's hand and looks at Niko. "What questions were those, again?"
Niko loudly sighs. "Why'd you save...." thinking back to the question he had proposed, then the fact that Kitsune gave him the credit for saving Chisai, he reworded the question. "...us? I mean, if you said that bird" he says pointing to the large gold bird perched on the waterfall cliff side, "was your pet, then why attack us, then stop the attack?"
Kitsune looks behind him at the large gold bird. "Ah, yes. That." he turns back to Niko to answer his question with clarification, and to see the expression on his face when he answers. "At the time, I didn't see you as a threat."
Niko's expression turns from one of slight anger to chagrin. "What?"
"You heard me. My bird likes to play with things, or people, that he finds. He saw you as a game. When I came by, trying to see what all of the commotion was about, I saw your pathetic attempts of attacking him. So it was either let you fight it out, and he would torment you or tear you to shreds, or you would be falling for all of eternity to the bottomless abyss that is this area."
Feeling ashamed of being called out like that, Niko starts to speak. "We could've taken him if we had more time!"
Kitsune laughs aloud again. "HA! There's no way you're on the same level as my Kinhouou. He can swallow you up in a heartbeat. He was just playing with you."
"Aww, I wanted to try out my new abilities." Chisai pleaded.
Niko looks around. "Well, what's stopping you from attacking those trees?" He points over at the foliage by the pool. "Just watch out for the cold water."
Kitsune looks at Niko with a peering glance. "Why is that?"
"Well, I think when I was in my demon form," Niko runs his hands in front of him from his head down, showing off his features in a quick display, "and your bird attacked me with its electric feathers..."
"Ah yes, that's one of his favorite attacks." Kitsune says.
"Anyway, I jumped into the pool, hoping to avoid the attacks. I think the cool water made me change back to my human form."
Kitsune stares at Niko. "Are you that stupid?"
Niko backs up a bit. "What?"
"If my Kinhouou had sent an electric feather into the pool, you would have been fried to a crisp!"
Niko has a vacant expression on his face as he thinks about the reaction between electricity and water. "Oh. Yeah. Whoops!"
Feeling a small gust of wind shoot up, Niko looks over. As Chisai faces the foliage area, her hair fades to orange, the marks appear on her cheeks, and her eyes drastically turn from emerald to violet. She launches herself towards the trees ready to attack.
Niko and Kitsune follow her with their eyes, amazed that her feet aren't to
uching the ground as she glides across.
She reaches over to her right hand and quickly pulls her hands apart. A light beam appears between her hands and morphs into her weapon.
As she decreases the distance between her and the foliage, Niko wonders what she is going to do. Will she try to slash at the trees? Will she use the bushes as target practice? Will she-
Within feet of the closest tree, Chisai calls out with an echo as she swings her weapon in front of her. "Twilight glaive!" An arc of white light appears from where she swung and proceeds to slice through the tree in front of her, and the trees behind it, and the bushes, and the vines, and anything else in its path.
Chisai slows her flight down to land right after the first tree.
Kitsune and Niko run over to Chisai's position.
"That. Was. AWESOME!" Chisai yells out in excitement as she raises her weapon up in the air, then falls backwards on the stump to rest.
As Kitsune and Niko approach her, Niko joins in on her excitement. "How did you....?
Kitsune bends down to inspect a sliced tree stump in front of Chisai. As he runs his hand across the flattened surface, he speaks up. "If I knew you could have done this, I'd....." he becomes speechless.
Niko runs over to the gashes that his Hellfire attack made earlier. "What about me? Look at these!" he points down at the fissures. "This is from my attack!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. All you did was dig a hole." Kitsune says, brushing Niko off.
Feeling brushed off, Niko starts stomping on the ground towards Kitsune, ready to punch his head in for that comment.
Before Niko can reach Kitsune, a tall, oval-shaped white light appears from behind Niko's car, creating a low whirring sound. Niko, Chisai, and Kitsune look in that direction.
"Either that's a new recruit, or we just found the exit." Kitsune says as he starts to walk closer, then starts sprinting to the white light.
A faint slow clap is heard coming from the light. Moments later, Tora walks through the white oval with Seyogi on his shoulder.
"Tora!" Kitsune yells out, stopping abruptly. He reaches behind him and grabs the two kamas he kept on his back, and braces for a battle.
As Tora approaches Kitsune, he reaches out a hand of peace. "Ah, Kitsune. I'm glad I found you here. I was worried."
"Cut the crap and let me go!" Kitsune says as he lunges forward to strike at Tora. Niko and Chisai are appalled at the fact that anyone would want to strike such a master.
Tora holds up a hand in the direction of Kitsune's closest kama. The kama's point hits Tora's hand and stops, like a moment frozen in time. "Must you be so violent? I had hoped you learned to come to peace with yourself." he says in a peaceful manner.
"I'm violent because I want to kill you!" Kitsune says as he increases his volume and swings with his other kama. Again, Tora blocks it.
Niko runs up to Kitsune's side, trying to hold him back, and addresses Tora. "Lord Tora, is what Kitsune says true? Is this place really a prison that you put us all in here to suffer?"
"Ha ha ha." Tora gives a light laugh. "My child, this is merely a training ground to help you realize the limits of your abilities."
Seyogi speaks up. "That is correct, Master Niko. This training ground has been used by many a warrior over the ages."
Looking all around him, Niko raises another question. "Well, what about the endless sky and bottomless abyss?"
"Merely an illusion created by the magic of the area. Witness as I toss this little pebble off the side." Tora pushes Kitsune back with enough force to make him lose his balance slightly, then bends over to pick up a small rock and tosses it over the side of the rock face.
Expecting it to drop forever, Niko listens closely for any kind of sound. Chisai walks up behind them, hoping to learn more about what is going on.
Tora opens up his palm in front of him, facing upwards. Seconds later, the same small rock falls from the sky into his hand. Tora wraps his hand around the small rock and moves it between two fingers to present to the others. "See? The 'bottomless abyss,' as you put it, is merely an illusion. The bottom just continues into the top, and thus completes the cycle." He extends his arms to his sides. "Why else do you think this is the largest rock face in the area, and the only one with foliage and water?"
Niko and Chisai look around at the other floating rock pieces, realizing what Tora said is true. Kitsune says in a battle-ready stance facing Tora.
Tora continues, "This is the central point of the training area."
Once they heard all of what Tora had to say, Niko and Chisai each had an "A-ha" moment as they connected all of dots in Tora's explanation.
"You're not fooling me. If this really is a training ground, why couldn't I leave?" Kitsune says as he flips his kamas in his hands, making sure he is ready for any sudden moves that Tora may have.
"My dear Kitsune; you were brought here by accident. I did not know you were here. If I did, I would have let you out as soon as you arrived." Tora says with a slight mischievousness in his voice.
"Do you know what I've done over the past seven years?" Kitsune says loudly.
"Oh my. Seven years, you say? Well, I'm sure your family is quite worried about you." Tora turns to open a direct path between Niko, Chisai, and Kitsune, and the oval-shaped white light. "How about I offer this as compensation: you may leave right now."
Kitsune starts to relax and stand up, but is confused by Tora's offer. "Wha...what?"
"You may leave." Tora says as he extends a hand towards the light.
"Seriously? I can just leave?" Kitsune asks, making sure he heard correctly.
"Actually, all of you can leave. Niko, you have demonstrated your defensive techniques and your newest attack. Chisai, you have activated your demonic abilities on demand, and discovered your newest ability and attack. Well done."
"....and me?" Kitsune says, still holding onto his kamas with a death grip.
"Ah, Kitsune. You have progressed quite well over the years. Your ability to move earth on demand has improved dramatically."
Hearing what Tora just said, Niko thinks back to when Kitsune was on one of the floating rocks, then slowly lowered his rock to merge with the rock face. 'Move earth on demand'? That's an ability I haven't heard of before.
"Just walk through the light and you will be back where you belong." Tora says.
Niko walks over to his car. "What about my car? Can I drive it through?"
"Niko, you may drive it through, but only you alone." Tora says.
Slightly confused at Tora's last statement, Niko looks over at Chisai.
"Do not worry about her, young one. She shall travel through as well, but on her own." Tora says.
Confident that Tora is telling the truth, Niko opens the driver door, places his sword in the back seat, and pushes the start button. He quickly turns the car towards the white light, drives towards it, and stops right as the front of the car touches the white light. Lowering his window, he calls out to Kitsune and Chisai. "See you guys on the other side." Then drives forward into the white light and disappears.
Chisai walks up to Tora. "Will it really take me home?"
Tora answers in a confident voice. "Little one, I promise that it will take you back where you belong."
Picturing her home in her mind, she starts to get excited. She turns to Kitsune, just to make sure he won't be left behind. "You're coming too, right Kitsune?"
Seeing Niko leave gave him some hope. He places his kamas on his back and relaxes. "Yeah, I'll be right behind you."
Accepting his answer, Chisai smiles at him. "Okay! See you there!" She walks through the light and disappears, just like Niko and his car.
Kitsune looks up at his golden bird. The bird raises a wing towards him, trying to wave goodbye. He raises a hand in the bird's direction, replying his goodbye as well. A tear rolls down his face as he thinks of the past seven years: his first arrival, fighting the large bird multiple times, becoming friends with it, swimming in the glossy clear pool
, sleeping by the waterfall, discovering and developing his earth movement powers, always trying to find a way out. The thought of losing the only friend he had after seven years left a hole in his heart that he knew he couldn't fill again.
Kitsune slowly walks up to the light, but Tora places a hand between him and the light. In a deep, raspy voice, Tora speaks down to him. "If you ever try to escape again, I will make sure you never leave." Tora lowers his head towards Kitsune, making sure that Kitsune could see his sinister glare.
Kitsune takes a big gulp, knowing that this was his chance to finally leave. He could see his father again, even though he slightly despised his way of life; he could see his little sister again, and how she had grown; he could find his old friends again and talk about the good old times; he could visit his mother's grave and mourn her loss. His chance was less than an arm's length away, staring him in the face.
Tora slowly raises his hand between Kitsune and the white light. "Are we clear?" his low, raspy voice says.
With all of the negative thoughts that had gone through his head, Kitsune knew that being this close to Tora meant that if he wanted to, Tora could easily snap his neck within a second, which meant that he had to basically be on his good side from now until he walked through the light. "Yep, all good here!" He says nervously.
"Then you may proceed." Tora says as he puts his hands into his sleeves.
Kitsune takes another large gulp as he steps forward, and into the white light.
As he continues to step forward, the white light quickly fades away behind him. Once his eyes adjust from looking at bright light to the lower-lit surroundings around him, it all becomes clear. He was free from his prison, but did not see what he expected.
Hoping that his friends were near, Kitsune calls out for them. "Chisai? Niko?"
Minutes of silence pass by.
As he looks around, the sight of dense trees, bushes, hanging vines, and other green foliage meant one thing and one thing only: he had been tricked, again.
"Dammit! Dammit dammit dammit!" he yells out as he jumps up and down in anger. "How'd I fall for something that easy?" He reaches for the nearest tree trunk and throws a hard punch at it.
His punch makes a shallow dent in the tree's thick bark.
Feeling a bit better, now that he released a bit if steam, he exhales, trying to regain his focus. Pushing all of his anger aside, he starts to hear faint noises in the far distance. Varying degrees of monotone music. Series of low-pitched vroooom sounds, starting high and getting lower. High-pitched serialized squeaking. Continuous loops of ambient noise of.....he couldn’t put his finger on the exact identification, but it was definitely a sound that he hadn't heard in quite some time.
He looks up through the canopy at the blue cloudy sky. "Well, back to square one. How do I get out of here?"
Seeing a path of worn-down vegetation gives him some hope. Walking down the worn path, he enters the jungle, hoping to find a clue to where he is.
Chapter 6