Youkai
by Phantaphetamine
First published
I was once an inanimate object whose thoughts were void, you know? No; really, I'm not being modest by the slightest! I have no idea what happened, but I'm here now, traveling Equestria, pondering to myself, "How in Tartarus is this possible?".
I've covered enough ground to say that I'm a seasoned nomad, despite the fact that I've only recently been given the ability to live.
Oh.
Please accept my apologies if you've not the slightest gist of what I'm rambling about. You see, I'm a youkai, one whose existence transcends over mortality and of natural creation. Particularly, I am a Tsukumogami, a once inanimate object bestowed life.
Yes. I was once inanimate, being nothing more than a statue of a fox. I can't really say that I'd rather go back spending perpetuity in what one would consider nothing more than an ornament.
Through spontaneous, arbitrary generation of some sort of magic that not even I can comprehend, my stone limbs now move, my chest now contract and expand, and my thoughts are no longer void, but now flourishing.
However, I've caused some mistakes that I'd rather have resented myself for. Pursuers, styling themselves as adherents of justice, have emerged from the vastness of Equestria, seeking to 'liberate' my stone body of its soul.
Such a predicament of mine, yes?
So I wander, and wander even further; to where? To possibly anyplace where I might deem sanctuary. However, sanctuary doesn't last for long, and thus I'm condemned to an ever-spinning carousel of agony, fleeing, and fighting.
And... admittedly, all this solitude is making me feel uneasy.
Prologue. Incarnation of Cunning, The Fox!
"My head aches..." I muttered inaudibly underneath my shallow breath, a migraine embedded deep within my skull.
A pang of realization shot through my chest, causing me to twitch my eyebrow and jerk back at the suddenness.
"Wha-" I flared open my eyes as wide as I could, my brows somewhat aching due to that. "Did I just talk?!" I spoke aloud to no one in particular. Noticing my own reply to my own question, I added with an equally aghast reaction, "Yes! I did just talk!"
"Just how? How is it that I can talk-" I stayed my tongue as I noticed the feminine, crisp, yet firm, tone of my voice. "Uh- wow. I'm a female. Who'd have known?" I blinked in perplexion a bit as I rubbed my paws upon my throat, still somewhat fazed.
I brought my frontal legs together, viewing them with a skeptical, yet dumbfounded stare, my jaw agape somewhat. My gawk morphing into a more... malign sort of smile, I chuckled softly.
"Movement..." I flourished my paws at the empty air before my eyes, my paws melding into blurs. "This is so new to me!"
Once more, I perused through my newly-bestowed locomotion. I arched my eyebrow in mild suspicion as I heard something behind me scrape the ground, the harsh, coarse sound of stone dragging across stone piquing my hearing.
I craned my head back, my eyes still kindled with the fervency of life. There, I spotted it--my tail! Er, tails, as there were four of them. Yeah, yeah; peculiar as they were, I was proud of them! Or at least, I'm proud of them now that I've seen them. Yup. Being a statue isn't so pleasant.
Still, I smiled at my tails as they waved and danced around the air, seemingly forming an entrancing sequence of swerves and motions.
"My tails... They look so fluffy..." I casted my glance to the floor, tilting my neck downwards as I sighed out drearily.
"Too bad they're made out of stone." I sighed in defeat as I lightly tapped my paws against them, feeling nothing but cold, unfeeling stone.
'Life? Is this what the living folk experience? All these sensations? This vivace feeling knowing that one breathes and walk around the earth? This is such sanctity...'
As if the incarnation of life itself donned the form of a gale, an alleviating gust of wind bore through the shrine, enveloping me in its embrace.
But if I live, and as all living things adhere to, I too shall perish inevitably... My smile was sundered with a cascade of sorrowful emotions, the menagerie of fear and the concept of death boring into me like weaves.
Suddenly, a rather painful bunch of memories from my recollection embedded themselves into my mind; the memories of the sobbing, distraught ponies who have come to this very temple long ago to mourn and pray that their deceased loved ones would ascend to a good place in the afterlife.
Their faces... After all these decades, I could still remember them vividly, I could see many... I could see the sheer grief in their eyes when they came here. Is this 'death' so awful? Through years of seeing mourning living folk, I am thinking so.
A stray tear was plucked out of my eyes by a wayward wind, the drop splattering into the ground.
My chest began to contract and expand rapidly, heavy gasps of air went through and out my mouth. I cracked an intrigued smile at this. "Intriguing... is this what those living folk call 'hyperventilation'? I don't see anything 'hyper' about it at all! In fact, I'm feeling quite dreadful about this feeling."
I calmed myself--or at least attempted to as I clutched my chest with my front, right paw. I was somewhat jarred as I felt a cold, unfeeling surface of stone from my chest.
"No. I refuse." I sternly composed myself, my eyes exuding a steeled resolve. "Simply, I won't die. After all, I am a statue. I... I can live indefinitely, right? As long as I don't shatter... I should be able to."
I closed my eyes, delving into deep thought.
Inconceivable- is this what the living folk have to deal with everyday? Sheesh. Avoiding dying seems like such a burden; I'm just supposed to be just a mere sculpture of a fox! A cute one at that!
"Ack." I clutched my paws upon my head. "First thing I'm doing is nearly collapsing into a sobbing heap, and then the next thing I do is boast on how cute I am!" I sighed out in frustration--nonetheless I felt an inner, narcissistic urge within me. "Well, I am cute, after all."
I frantically shook my head, trying to dispel the cascade of confusion that has roosted deep within my addled head.
B- but. Right now, I'm nothing alike an inanimate object that I was once was. My lungs extracts in the air through my nostrils, and promptly exudes them out.
And what's this? I felt my chest a bit more finely and intently, noticing a rhythmic thumping. A heartbeat? Aye--I've heard this sort of thing from the living folk. A heartbeat; yes, the heart is the one that gives us the blood that is the lifeblood of our... life.
Suddenly, I noticed three spherical orbs of faint, purple light around me. I jerked back as I stared at them with uncertainty, my eyebrow arched as my mouth was scrunched.
"Um?" I uttered out as I peered into the sphere of light beside me to the right. It was ghastly, seemingly gaseous and it continually expelled faint, lingering embers from its mass. It was strangely translucent; I could see through it somewhat, though, everything behind it appeared as purple thanks to its tint.
I tilted my head at it, a bit confused. Bringing up my paw, I prodded it with a light tap. As my paw entered its strangely warm, haunting emanation, it dispersed into a multitude of sparks and cinder.
Obviously startled by this, as if my widened eyes and open jaw weren't enough of an indication, I frantically staggered back in a dazed stupor. As I halted, I noticed that the same orb simply rematerialized back into reality, seemingly unaffected.
"How... peculiar." I arched my eyebrow at the orb.
I moved around a bit, the trio of orbs following my movement, gliding like phantasm through the air. Worryingly, I accelerated my pace, yet, the orbs did not show a sign of relent as they simply adjusted their speed accordingly to keep themselves close to me.
Panicky, I began sprinting into a circle, in a blind endeavor that I might loosen them up, or perhaps something else. Sweat profusely trickled from my body as I ran, dizziness somewhat getting to me.
Wheezing, I stopped, the orbs circumjacent to me stopping accordingly as well, simply hovering beside me. Softly, I smiled a bit. "Hey... That was a bit... fun."
A smile etching up to my cold, petrified skin of my cheeks, I spun around wildly once more.
The wafts and zephyrs grazing past me as I circled aimlessly in a speeding blur, I exclaimed to myself, "I don't give a damn what just happened! This feels too amazing!" The words echoed throughout the halls of this decrepit shrine, my own voice seemingly resonating like a bell.
I stilled myself, my momentum still rather unwieldy, my legs pushed against the ground as I braked myself, kicking up a few dirt and specks of stone. "Now that I'm alive... what do I do?"
I glanced around, my cautious head turning left to right, my eyes furrowed as my vision was keened and narrowed. The frailty of this shrine was apparent--shattered panes of stone slabs of the flooring; broken over pillars; and layers among layers of moss mingling with ivy plagued much of the structure of this shrine.
Streaks of light peered through the breaches apparent within the canopy, an unusual amount of flora clustering where the rays strike the ground.
It has stricken me with a solemn feeling, actually.
"Pity," I muttered to myself. "I'm all alone."
How queer; me, one who had endured through a whole century of solitude, is just now being troubled by the lack of another's presence. Though, this just might be an effect of being actually alive.
The derelict halls, their paths narrowed even further due to rubble layering in the middle of their stretch, were stricken with a welling darkness. This blanket of shadows seemed to contort and grow gradually more pallid, becoming more abysmal by the second; though, I'm pretty certain that this is just an aspect of my unsteady vision.
The pillars across the empty shrine seemed to be phantasms of my mind as they were too far deep and submerged in a mantle of darkness eclipsed by the canopy above.
I tilted my head upward, noticing the vines and strands of flora suspending form the many breaches dotting through the dusty, withered ceiling. It was quite depressing to look at, really. Perhaps a fresher breath of air is entailed?
I began stepping away onto the staircases, rather jagged and nigh being reduced to rubble this staircase was, making my way onto the outskirt of this shrine.
To put it plainly, it was nice outdoors. The countless trees of the verdure, the frequent intervals of heavy, natural breezes, and of course the hymns of the birds were... dissonant, at best, but nonetheless, were all nice.
I tilted my head upwards one more time, marveling at the orange hue of the evening skies. The sun was stilled amidst the various blotting clouds, its radiance towering over anything else within the sky.
Ah... The sun. I admired it when I was inanimate, and I still do so as a living thing. It's just so... grossly incandescent. Returning my head down, leveling it once more towards the forest before me, with a sigh of slight melancholy, I asked myself, "I'd be lost, dare I go into those woods. Yet, if I remain here, I'll probably get bored fairly soon."
Suddenly, within the corner of my view, I caught a wayward rustle among the bushes, catching my attention right away. I cocked my head towards the disturbance, stanced in a prowling posture, my head craned down with my legs tensed up.
"Of course... I'm in a shrine in the middle of nowhere inhabited by potentially a myriad of predatory hunters." I questioned myself a bit, arching my eyebrow ponderously. "Wait. But I'm a statue. Would animals still hunt me, even?"
Breaking out of my self-imposed trance as another abrupt rustling from the same bush caused me to snap back into attention, I became much more tense as I came to realize something; I have literally no experience in combat.
"Oh. This is just going to end up great for me, huh?" I deadpanned to myself.
Suddenly, emerging out of the bushes, a silhouette obscured by the leafy canopies from the trees emerged.
Instinctively, I yelped out in despair as I scanned my adjacent space for whatever could be useful, "Gah! Retract back to whatever crevice you came from, detestable vermin!" Picking up a stone that was relatively nearby, I lobbed it at the ominous figure.
The stone simply struck the ground several feet off from my intended target, the figure pausing abruptly as it simply gawked at the rock that rebounded off the ground and into a nearby bush.
"Crap," I cursed out in an exasperated voice.
The figure approached me, emerging out of the addling darkness of the forest, the rays of evening sunlight revealing his posture a bit more finely in contrast to the dark. It was a pony, no less, a being that I've seen countless times during my times as inanimate. Recently, and by that I mean centuries, I've not seen a single one of them; this is quite nostalgic
As it confronted me, it simply gawked at me in uncertainty, completely rendered immobile and speechless. What? Haven't he seen a single fox statue in his entire life?
I leaned in over towards him, inspecting him with a much more refined keenness. His coat was partially swathed with some sort of black cowl, the hood of said cowl resting against this pony's neck, not currently in used.
As such, since his head wasn't obstructed, I got to see his mane--a rather unkempt, bistre brown mane.
Yeah; this one is a bit lean about mane-maintenance, or perhaps it's just his flair? His coat was a light, pale blue. Unfortunately, I couldn't make heads or tails out of his cutie mark as it was obscured by the cloak that he donned.
"You don't seem to be a member of my expeditionary team..." he muttered audibly. He prolonged his stare, annoyingly enough. Didn't anypony tell him that it's rude to stare?
"Aye." I nodded. "What? Do I look like a pony to you?" I spoke with a bit of bite--not sure why I chose to be so... pompous. I simply felt like it.
He kept his distance as he tilted back a bit. "You can talk?" he inquired, his eyes conveying confusion.
"Must I prove that I can?" I cocked my head to the side, my brow arched.
"Hm. Intriguing." He glimpsed a smile for perhaps a split-second. "Well, what's your name?"
I froze, paralyzed by a cold feeling. "Um. My name?"
"A simple enough question, don't you think?"
Bleedin' hell. The very thought of a name bordered me near insanity when I was still inanimate! I was always envious of the living folk for having something that was unique to them and to them alone. But... stupid me, am I right? I've never thought of a name for myself over those decades!
"Um..." I have to think hastily! Otherwise, it might get too excessively awkward between me and this off-putting individual. "Yoko. My name is Yoko."
Ha... I impress even myself. Youkai? Yoko? Oh. I'm just an idiot.
He bit his lip a bit, somewhat frustrated. "Right. Well... Yoko, if you must know, I'm part of an expedition, as I've previously vaguely mentioned before, and I'm here to find a shrine of some sort."
"A shrine of some sort?" I furrowed my brows at him--or more particularly, at his oddly vague objective.
"You see, it's a shrine that has long since abandoned, its name becoming undecipherable, and so on and so on." He shrugged lightly.
"I might know a shrine around these parts." I stifled a laugh. The bleedin' fool; the shrine's right behind me! Perhaps he can't discern it from the vast expanses of ivy entangling it. Nonetheless, I shall use his lack of awareness to my advantage. "But I might need an incentive to tell you where-"
Mid-sentence, I caught a glimpse of something blurring at me. Reflexively, I pulled up both my paws in front of me, catching the object with precision. Unsure, I checked what I exactly caught--seemed to be a pendant with a rather large, azure jewel embedded within its base. Its noose was also of gold-like material.
Simply, it was really alluring. Too alluring to decline.
"Jewelry. Nice." I immediately wore it around my neck--suddenly, a flash of magic seeped out of the jewel within the pendant. Consuming me whole, I blinked as I felt a somewhat hot sting boring through me.
I blinked with uncertainty. "What was that?!" I asked the peculiar pony.
"That was a prototypical device to give 'life' to another one of your kind." He gestured at my body. "Take a look for yourself."
"Wha-" I peered down on my body, noticing actual, soft fur present instead of cold, mossy stone. I widened my eyes a bit as I sketched an almost malign grin on my face as I inspected my body further.
My five tails, the quantity of a fox's tails being an indicator of his-or-her magical strength, were no longer petrified and unfeeling, but were now fluffy and bushy with strands of fur poking out of it. Likewise, every single other part of my body have become fully living as well. My paws no longer stony and awkward, were now soft and warm.
"Oh!" I squealed out. "I can get used to this definitely!"
"Right." The mysterious pony cleared his throat. "About that shrine's location?"
"Ah-ha..." I sheepishly chuckled a bit. A dreading feeling began to brim within my chest--could it be hesitation? Nervousness? I'm not so sure. "About that... could you please tell me what your rationales are for finding this place?"
"Our zealous historians have proven that there is in fact a relic within this shrine that we require for my group's progress. In order to find it, I'm afraid we'll have to demolish it to the ground."
"What?" My pupils shrunk to pinpricks as I heard his ghastly words.
Raze the shrine? Why, if he dares so- agh! let him and his group be condemned to Tartarus! That shrine is like my home! I expected them to do something sketchy, but not something like this!
I stepped forward sternly. "I'm not letting you get to that shrine if you plan on doing that."
He scoffed a condescending chuckle at me. "Well, how unfair of you, even after I've given you that pendant-"
"You can keep your stupid pendant!" I grasped the base of the pendant, undoing it off my neck as I firmly placed it within the vice of my paw. It dangled from my hold, swinging like a pendulum as I displayed it to him.
"The deal's already been sealed." He shook his head in a sober, slow fashion, his visage still stoic and unfeeling as indicated by the lifeless fire within his eyes. "I wouldn't accept it back even. Now then; make this less difficult for each other and simply tell me where the shrine resides."
"Why- why you..." Snarling, I nonetheless placed the pendant back upon my neck. The pendant cradled upon me, it swayed against the wind. Soon enough, the pendent let loose the magical yolk from within its containment, the hot light once again washing over me.
The light fading, my figure emerged from it, now once more looking like an actual fox rather than that of a statue of one. I responded with null to this metamorphose, my attention fully directed towards the pony before me.
"Nevertheless," he began trudging past me, "my peers and I shall find that shrine soon enough." He bowed courtly at me as I turned to face him. "I'm sincerely sorry for any grudges to appear between us once the shrine is found. And no worries about that pendant; I won't keep you on debt for such."
I gnashed my teeth, my eyes becoming somewhat teary, my face radiating off a faint heat. "How- how dare you..." Unbeknownst to me, I began channeling latent magic, the orbs around me turning much more repugnant as they rapidly shook in place.
"What are you-" the pony once more turned to face me, standing in awe as he spotted what I was doing. "What?" he spoke out in uncertainty as he stepped back, his eyes widened, and his mouth opened. I could even see the sweat glazing his face.
"Agh!" I lashed out at him, sending the three orbs at him. The orbs melding into the air, becoming a torrent, whirlwind-like stream of purplish flames.
The lash of flame whipped at him, singeing his face as embers and crackling flames splashed out from him as the thin stream of fire connected at his face.
He staggered one step back, unsteadily composing himself as he wiped his charred face. "You... You made the wrong decision," he stated grimly as he began to channel his horn, magic rippling within it as it was engulfed in an arcane aura.
"Uh- I didn't mean to do that!" I exclaimed back as I retracted back, biting my lip as I did as I felt just a bit more than tense.
"Too late for apologies now, fox." He flicked his head at me, unleashing the torrent of magic he has stored within his horn. Like a fell tremor, the blast of magic whirled at me like a deluge.
The magical wall inched closer to me by the split-seconds. Instinctively, I darted to the side, my mouth still widened and my teeth visibly gnashed against each other.
I craned my neck back, my perception of time seemingly slowed down as I jumped. The ground where I stood previously compressed, depressing downwards as the magical bolt sent from this bastard of a pony crashed into it. As the magical blast dispersed into several crackling embers, a stray cinder of magic caught onto my tail, causing me to widen in shock.
"My tail!" I exclaimed as I lowered my tail down to my face, caressing it with my paws as I blew soothing winds from my mouth frantically. Underneath the cooling embrace of my breath, the ember died out--but the damage was already done, the tip of my tail was charred somewhat to an ashen black.
"You..." I growled as I withdrew from my stance, staring at him threateningly. I cursed at him, "You think it's quite alright to do that to a fox?"
He scoffed a laugh, preparing another spell as he positioned himself upright, light beginning to cascade over his horn once more. "Yes; yes. How unfortunate for you."
Seeing this, I reacted swiftly as I darted forwards, sending one of my magical spheres towards him. The orb of unnatural magic hurling towards him, he glinted a distraught, worried on his face as he cringed a bit, but any glint, it dissipated in a split-second as the orb promptly detonated as it reached his vicinity, engulfing most of the terrain in a purplish radiance as the orb began to evanesce.
Unsteady due to the upheaval of dirt from the explosion, I struggled to keep my composure up. Stray dirt discharged from the explosion managing to find themselves into my mouth, I coughed a bit.
Shrugging, I spat out the rubble from my mouth, glancing towards where my adversary once stood. He... was relatively alright; within a crater, he laid recumbent, laid out flat upon the charred ground. I pouted somewhat as I saw that his mouth still frequented a rhythmic breathing.
"Excluding the fact that he's barely clinging onto life, and while also being fainted, he's alright." I trudged towards the entrance of the forest, smirking in a maligned fashion as a brazened pride roosted within my mind. "Heh. For a first fight, I performed quite well, don't you think?" I asked at the unconscious body of my foe as I turned my head back to face the crater where he rested in.
Obviously, he replied with nothing more than faint breathing and a single, unintelligible moan of pain. I nodded in glee as I cheered at myself. "Good, good. Thank you for agreeing with me."
Hoofsteps began to pervade around the area, accompanied by inaudible, undecipherable mumbles in the distance. My chest constricted as my heart began to beat even more rapidly. "Uh... I'm hearing a lot of hoofsteps."
The rhythm of my heart seemingly thumping against my throat as sweat profusely began to drip out of my head. Indeed, judging by the frequency and nuances of hoofsteps, it's safe to estimate that there's a bit more than over twenty ponies approaching from somewhere.
Nervously, I descended into the forest, sprinting as fast as I could, panting as the momentum of my running hastened gradually by the second--in fact, everything within my peripheral vision began to blur just because of the pace I'm going at. "Huh. Impressive!" I shouted out in-between panicky breaths. "Foxes run really fast!"
I didn't know where to go, but I sprinted as fast as I could. The hushed hoofsteps became faint gradually--and ultimately, I distanced myself far enough that I couldn't even hear them anymore. By the second, I became more obscured by the darkness of the forest as I went deeper into its foreboding glades.
Each imprint of my hoof was accompanied by a small trickle of sweat lingering by the ground.
With a sigh, I talked to myself as I darted my head left to right, noticing that the trees and foliage are seemingly indiscernible despite of how much ground I've covered by now, "How in Equestria do I get out of this forest?"
Author's Notes:
The Dark Souls reference is very perceptible in this one.
And yes; Yoko. No. Not the one from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Okay, I might've stolen that name from that anime.
By the way, this is actually a story for the P.I.E (Possessed Items of Equesria) Group. More or less, it's a group exclusively for stories that entail the main character being a possessed item, and for the case of my story, the main character is a type of youkai, the one where an item lives on for a century and is granted life.
I'd love to see other possessed item stories. Why? Because, virtually, a possessed item story could feature almost anything (that is inanimate) as its main character!
Chapter 1. How In Heck Am I Supposed To Survive This!?
My vision began to blur, everything was becoming quite lucid, objects in my peripheral sight beginning to blur and my mind being accosted by a stinging pain, as I found my stamina waning, an indescribable fatigue plaguing both my mentality and my vitality.
Ahead of me heralded not much promise of sanctuary; nothing but an endless dirt road mingling with puddles of mud and strewn flecks of logs.
The sunlight has dwindled down, or more specifically, it was obstructed by a miasma-like, haunting billow of darkened, shady clouds lingering above this forest. Drops of rain persisted in unrelenting torrents, pelting the entire forest in cascades of water, much of the exposed dirt were layered with a shallow pool of rainwater.
The ambiance was pervasive with the thunderclaps of the storm, occasional shrieks of blinding lightning could be heard as the winds became turbulent.
Leaves, twigs, and a myriad of other things that aren't quite ingrained to the ground were flung into miniature whirlwinds, flying adrift aimlessly as the rain seemingly worsened by the second as the drops of rain become more heavy and began to pour more rapidly from the skies.
"Dammit..." I craned my neck, shooting a glance back, not easing up my pace as I sprinted, blurring through the doused foliage and numerous greenery of this verdure. "Just how long do they intend to pursue me?!"
Indeed, within a mild distance, I could see dotting light within the horizon; torches of wicks kindled with a lingering, luminous orange flame accompanied with myriad equine silhouettes. These are persistent bastards; for every mile I placed between them and I, they compensate by increasing their pace twofold!
Nonetheless, I couldn't resist smiling, a grin-like expression embellishing my face as I ran. 'Why?' In a short distance laid recumbent was a fallen over log, seemingly have yielded to the weather and has fallen down. With resolve, I bolted towards it, leaping onto it with a huff. 'Why is it that I'm smiling? I could potentially die, for crying out loud!'
Jumping off the log, I dove into the air. Mid-jump, I swiftly turned around, shooting a menacing demeanor at the log that I just jumped off. Summoning another orb of magic beside me, I hurled it towards the log, its immolated body leaving a spiral trail of embers as it flourished towards the decaying piece of lumber.
Igniting in violence rivaled to that of an explosion, the log was sundered by flames, purplish fire licking away its integrity. Despite the rain, the flames did not sate nor faltered; my magical flames didn't even flicker at the tempest's seemingly perpetual squall.
Landing, I spoke to myself as I resumed running, wasting no time, "That should barricade them away for a while..." I pondered to myself, my eyes rolling upwards as I audibly thought to myself as I sprinted, "What was I questioning myself for, again? Ah; yes. 'Why am I smiling?'" I chuckled at myself.
'Certes, I must be considered a maddened individual for simply smiling at my predicament?' My heart thumped against its cavity; I could even feel it within my throat, my mind and other body parts have indulged in adrenaline--couldn't even feel the pain of running, say, several miles now.
'This raging nature of my heart, this mind addled with adrenaline, this... this excitement I'm feeling. I smiled even more waywardly. 'Who can blame me for liking this? Sliding across the mud, I went underneath a forked, spiny log. Regaining my composure, I stood up and sprinted once more.
"Haha! Ha!" I laughed. "The living folk has it all!"
I titled my neck to the side, peering through the vastness of obstructive, vining plants. Through the collage of shadows and ivy, I could spot several lights of torches running by me, keeping a consistent pace with me. I too shot another glance to the other side, seeing the same menagerie of plant life accompanied with the same lights of torches running through them, obscured heavily by the misty darkness.
"Oh... bother." I picked up the pace, the winds parting at my speed. "Don't even dare try to flank me, you curs."
A flash of lightning cleaved through the clouds' darkened mantle, spouting a brilliance throughout the forest. There, at this time span, the pursuers running alongside me were illuminated.
I bit my lip in tension as I saw their cloak-clad figures running along side me--the only thing obstructing them from directly confronting me were the vast flora and trees cutting us off. The brilliance of the lightning dissipating in a mere fraction of a second, the darkness veiled my pursuers once more, as well as the forest.
The dirt has melded and deformed as squalling torrents of raindrops fell from the firmament, dousing much, if not all, of this forest. Thunder growled and snarled within the blotting nimbi, their merciless assault.
I panted and wheezed, heavy breaths profusely exhaled from my mouth, a lucid feeling lodged back in my head as I stumbled about in a staggering stupor, wobbling uneasily as I trudged upon the blotting earthen roadway of this forest. Discomfort writhing in my stiffened, fatigued legs, I walked to the side, approaching a tree.
"Ugh... Dammit." I cursed underneath my breath as I tilted my head down in both weariness and pain. "I don't think I can go another inch--might risk fainting." I wheezed a bit more, spitting out the stray drops of rain finding their way into my mouth, the rain's melancholy giving me a despairing chill as my hair billowed at the jarring winds.
Suddenly, another flash of lightning speared through the dusky atmosphere, its searing brilliance bringing much light once more. Around the corners of my eyes, within the entangling spirals and embraces of vines, I could see the silhouettes of ponies shifting and making their way to me towards the left and right corner.
"Alright." I sighed as I summoned forth three more orbs beside me. Sending them in a tempestuous fashion, my surroundings, save for the exception of the area ahead of me, were engulfed in a purple inferno. Soon enough, I could hear startled cries from deep within the groves of trees and ivy. "Risking fainting it is, then."
I started to sprint forwards once more, my head hanging high, suspended brazened against the harsh wafts of winds. I sprinted further and further, the terrain seemingly unchanging; trees stretched for acres, shrubbery battered by the squall were everywhere still, and I couldn't find the damned exit of this forest.
"Ugh!" I cursed out loud, my words ringing through the winds like a knell, "Just how big is this damned forest!?" I harshly closed my eyes as a lone raindrop pelted against it.
"Ow-" I cut myself off as I just flared my eyes open, my vision perceiving a very, very large cliff ahead of me. "Wha- agh!"
I panicked as I noticed that I was approaching it alarmingly fast--and judging by how wide it is and how I could even see a fair enough portion of landmass beyond it, I'd say, should I fall off it, my chances of surviving the fall is slim to none.
Stopping just in time, my acceleration halted abruptly, however, I still slid through the muddied mire of this forest, causing me to panic as I let my jaw go agape in astonishment.
"Oh! Come on! No- no! No!" Pushing back the mud before me with my two frontal paws, I attempted to slow down my slide. Despite my struggle, my slide only slowed slightly.
Just as I approached the very tip of the edge, I closed my eyes in pensiveness, preparing myself mentally for the fall that I'm about to endure through. Of course, I was more or less curled up into a ball of fur as I coiled my four tails around me, their wet fur seemingly giving me an iota of comfort.
Suddenly, I noticed that I wasn't falling at all! Quite, quite; I was stilled and was relatively motionless upon the muddy ground. I shot one eye open, inspecting my surroundings.
Spotting it within a mere split-second, I saw the end of the cliff, causing me to widen my eyes. I was just an inch away from the very edge of the cliff, my slide only lingered just enough for me to appear as if I was going to fall off.
"Phew... looks like a long way down. How sadistic may fate be for it to torment me like that..." I peered below it as I stood up, taking a few cautious steps away from it. The ground was quite, quite far from where I stood--in fact, the trees below this cliff looked nothing more than grass. "Ugh." I shivered as I stood back from the edge, turning my face towards where I came from.
Suddenly, my pupils shrunk almost twofold their original size as I saw what has emerged from the foliage and trees behind me--a large crowd that bordered near army-size of ponies cloaked in black garb were staring at me with contempt and raw ire. I could even feel the anger emanating from them.
"Eh-heh..." I feigned a smile. "Now, look, I am aware that I may or may not have injured one of your own, but-"
"Enough of the meaningless preambles." One of the stepped forward, setting himself mere feet away from me. "The location of the shrine- our expedition leader told us you know where it hides! For the sake of Equestria, give us that, and we might pardon you for your maltreatment against us."
I went aghast for a second, my face turning pale, a cocktail of emotions riling up within me. 'Huh? They haven't found the shrine? Perhaps... perhaps it was placed under some sort of illusory magic made to conceal it? Also, what does he mean to convey by 'the sake of Equestria'? Regardless, I must find a way to slip out of this precarious situation.'
"Maltreatment, huh?" I cocked a haughty look at this pony. "You're the ones who are chasing me for hours on end! Can't you leave a prim fox alone?"
"Don't ploy a ruse against us," he talked firmly. "Are you not the one who stole from our head member?"
"Wha-" I glanced down upon my neck, spotting the pendant that the pony I scorched earlier gave me. "Hey! I didn't stole this!" I clutched it tightly in my paw, displaying it to him. "He gave it to me!"
"Regardless, you assaulted him afterwards," he simply replied.
"Ugh. It's because he was-"
"Enough of this!" He placed his head high, a faint emanation of magic flowing from his horn. Vanishing in a display of glittering lights, he reappeared within the midst of his peers who have crowded up and blocked the only entrance back into the forest.
"We had enough of your stalling," he stated, his voice somewhat inaudible due to the distance and the rampant rain still ongoing in the skies. "I've decided that we shall find it without you!" He turned his glance to his colleagues. "Everypony, have her be dealt with!"
Soon enough, they lined their heads at me, their horns sporting a threatening cascading glow at their tips. They formed in a line formation as they lined up their sights towards me.
Fidgeting a bit at the suddenness, I too summoned my own magic. Manifesting within the air, three orbs orbited around me as I began to take a stance, reining my magic into my whim as I aimed at them.
"I'd say you should revoke your hostility towards me and leave me alone." I shrugged as I felt the tension rose up.
"And I'd say you keep your tongue still as we burn you away." The, presumable, leader of the cloak-clad ponies began to line up a shot as well at me, forming light within his horn. "Let loose, my comrades!"
Responding to that as a forewarning, I nimbly sidestepped. Soon enough, the volleys of pillar-like lights began shooting through the winds, crashing into the ground that I once stood upon.
I took a swift glance back at the ground, noticing charred marks and lingering embers flecking the desolation it has induced. Unsettled by the pure devastation they've wrought, I too let loose the tether holding back my magic, the three orbs around me began hurling themselves towards my foes.
The orbs bombarded them, dissolving into a frenzied inferno as they impacted against the ground. Soon enough, within the onslaught, I could hear pained wails from their side.
"Give up!" I yelled out to them. "You're only going to get yourselves hurt."
"Such insolence," I saw the leading pony stand up as he spoke that, his eyes brimming with magic as they let out a faint glow. Sizzling, his magic began to ripple through the atmosphere.
'Oops. I think I uttered that out a bit more snarky than I intended it to be.'
His entire body engulfed in magic, he darted at me at an incredible speed--he seemed to be nothing more than a blur as he reared towards me.
Out of panic and in the heat of the moment, I summoned another magical sphere just in front of my head, hoping somehow that it would protect me against his assault.
Soon enough, he made contact with the sphere. He seemed to have noticed his own recklessness and began to slow down, but his momentum nonetheless sped him towards me.
I widened my eyes as the sphere began to go unstable, letting loose a damning radiance. I stepped back once more, nearing myself the edge of the cliff. However, the sphere detonate, destroying the frame of the cliff and as well as engulfing the pony unfortunate enough to have tackled against it.
Soon enough, I felt the sensation of falling as I began to descend, the cliff crumbling into nothing more than charred fragments and hazing dust. I felt my perception of time as I began to fall; the raindrops, gusts of winds, the streaks of yellowish lightning in the skies--they all began to slow down.
As I fell towards the earth below, I felt groggy. Incredibly groggy.
My vision went dark as I closed my eyes, my mind still coursing with a barrage of raw emotions.
Chapter 2. An Olive Tree
A stray wind whistled by my ear, its sober, chilling howl seemingly echoing through my skull, causing my ears to twitch absentmindedly. My breaths were strained and, in contrast to my environment, warm. There was a listlessness gliding through the area like a resonant echo of a bell.
I felt quite dreary of that, actually.
I opened my eyes, my vision still lucidly blurry, as well with my mind--my gestalt thoughts were merging into one, a feeling of hopeless dreariness filling within my body.
"I'm-" I coughed, my throat felt parched and dry. My voice raspy and harsh. "I'm still alive? After that fall? I find that dubiously doubtful... Nonetheless... I'm glad."
Cycling my eyes through the vicinity, I struggled through the blotting miasma seemingly layering over my pupils. Nonetheless, I could see some through the wispy mist of my vision.
It was quite dark. Light seemed to be quite scarce in this place as the lighting seemed to be next to void. I seemed to be within some sort of cave. "Ugh. I'm not really much of a fan of caves," I exhaled a breath as I muttered, cradling my head upon my front limbs.
I craned my neck as I idly nestled my head on my folded front legs. A cascade of drowsiness swept by my mind, a yawn escaping my chapped lips. Disregarding my own weariness, I persisted on scouting the area.
Just a few feet away from me, there were discernible pillars of black granite circumjacent to me. Beyond these pillars seemed to be rubble and dark stone merged together, forming coarse, brittle walls. In the midst of the black walls, there was a just ahead of me--the entrance if I had to guess.
Directly below me, I seemed to be reclining upon... a menagerie of green materials--I can't really make heads or tails out of them since everything is nothing more than a blur right now.
Still, I couldn't perceive much as my sight was still recovering. Everything within my view was a blurred mess.
I coiled around myself, shrinking somewhat as my tails wrapped around my body. The bristly feeling of my tails brushed against me as their warmth pervaded through my skin. I felt like purring right there.
"Hmm." I readjusted my position a bit, loosening myself as I turned. "Being a fox has its perks," I spoke as I caressed myself with my fluffy, warm tails.
As I shifted around whatever I slept upon, I felt the somewhat silky, tough exterior of plant flora below me. I arched my eyebrow as I felt my tails through the vining exterior, feeling myriad leafy objects. "Oof. Am I reclining on a mattress of foliage, or something?"
I softly blinked, my vision returning into a void of darkness for the span of a glint. I flared them open once more, this time, clarity began to return to both my mind and sight. I grinned as I felt my vision normalizing again, the colors returning to the things within my view.
Everything was becoming less of a blur, and more detailed and vivid. The nausea within my head as wells began to wane, evanescing; I finally felt an iota of relief for once.
"Oh," I heard a rather lean, soft, but masculine voice coming just from the entrance of this cave, "I see that you're awake."
Without much thought, I began to respond, "Yeah. It seems so-" I turned my head forwards to the origin of the voice, as I did, my mind began to panic at the unsightly nature of what laid before me. It was a wolf--but not a single piece of flesh nor fur was apparent on him.
Instead, he donned a coat of wood, his entire body seemingly made from trees. Creases of lumber lined up on him, appearing somewhat like a carapace of lumber. His tail was prickly with spines of wood protruding out of it, complimented with loosely-suspended leaves lining up along it.
His eyes- his eyes were afire with a green light. His collar was pervasive with leaves, a few fruits suspended by a stem hanging from his neck- admittedly, that was somewhat cool.
Am in the presence of a demon, or some sort?! Shriveling back, I bolted up, taking a flourishing dive back as I brought up a stance. 'Wait- I myself am considered a supernatural being... Still, at the very least, I look hundredfold more appealing than whatever this thing is.'
"If you're styling me a meal, I'm afraid that I'll be more trouble than a few calories' worth." I furrowed my brows, sending him a menacing visage.
His eye twitched. Suddenly, without much of a warning, he laughed. Nodding at the comedy that I've inadvertently instilled within him, he began making his way towards me, taking a few, slow strides at my direction.
The air around me began to boil, my boiling blood raging and coursing through my system as I stood upright, not faltering at the advancement of this wolf.
He chuckled once more, stifling his mouth with his paw. I'm surprised genuinely that this is his reaction to my volatile response. I shot him a confused look as the air around me began to sizzle down, cooling off once more as my tenacity was substituted with perplexity.
Regaining his cool, he smiled at me. "Forgive me for the abrupt, unwarranted laughter, but I just find this better than a jester's act. Ponies and other beings alike, they all have such amusing reactions towards me. But, anyways," he paused, taking his eyes towards mine, "please do relax. I have not a single intention on eating you."
His smile did not betray his words. Instead of malice, I could perceive some tender, leaned-back feeling to his mien.
I lowered my tension, my tails lowering themselves. "That so?" I questioned him with a raised eyebrow. "You look like you eat infants- no offense, of course."
He deadpanned as I spoke that, his smile crumbling down to a mild scowl. "Now that's a bit of a
I fidgeted a bit, my tongue stilled by both uncertainty and confusion. The faint noises of the ambiance were the only sounds that could be heard; a silence pervaded between this wolf and I, only the hushed torrents of the winds accompanied by the hymns of the birds could be heard.
"I know, I know." The peculiar wooden entity sighed in agitation. "It's quite uncommon to find an actual civilized timberwolf. I am not most timberwolves, however!"
"Timberwolves... what sort of thing are those again?" I squinted, flipping through my recollection like a book; aye, the name 'timberwolf' does ring a few knells here and there in my memory.
"Hmm..." Delving deeper into my memory, I intensified my focused look, my eyes closed even harder as I bit my lip. I sighed out in disappointment as I found nothing but blankness.
"Forgive me of my naivety, but never, in the entirety of my lifetime, which doesn't even exceed a day, I've never actually caught a glance of a timberwolf. I've only heard of them from the living folk during the times where I did not breathe nor think."
"Well, more or less, timberwolves are birthed from trees due to latent magic," he answered concisely.
He glanced at me peculiarly, his head tilted and his mouth half-opened as his eyes held confusion within them. "Sorry. I don't quite get that 'lifetime' part. You mentioned that you only lived not even more than a day?"
I nodded as I clutched upon my pendant. Dragging it off my neck, my fur became petrified as with my body, my original form once more appearing as the pendant swung around in the air, its lace held by my paw.
"I'm... a youkai," I stated, gesturing at my stone body.
"A youkai..." he thought for a bit, his eyes closed. "Ah. Right. Those of legends. Admittedly, you're not the first one I've encountered. I'm going to presume you're the ones who take the form of inanimate objects?"
I nodded as I slid the pendant back onto my neck. The pendant shone once more, obscuring me with a blinding veil of light. As the veil died down, my more 'lively' form was apparent on me once more.
He looked at me off, but not stunned--perhaps he'd seen many sorts of magic by now to not be fazed by the transformation I just demonstrated. "Not the first one you've encountered, hm? Well, certainly," I waved my paws around nonchalantly, "you must be very experienced then."
"Indeed." He nodded, dusting himself off as if to stroke his vanity. "My existence dates further back than the recollection of all living things." The peculiar timber wolf hummed ponderously as he closed his eyes, tilting his head somewhat to the side. "Well, perhaps the princesses are an exception."
"Hm. Just how old are you then?" I questioned, positioning myself to a sitting stance. "You don't seem to be that ancient."
"Don't let the aesthetics deceive you," he flaunted his figure as he stretched back. Admittedly, he's got quite a toned spine, and his head didn't seem to herald any age-based tarnishes. Then again, I can't really tell because this is the first time I've seen a timberwolf, "I'm little over than a thousand years old."
"Pft." I shook my head as I shrugged my paws. "You expecting that to fool me? I'm new to this whole life deal, but I'm not stupid." I shot him a glance that harbored my resolve.
He waved a paw at me. "I'm from an olive tree. And as you may know, olive trees are quite resilient and durable." He gestured at the piece of olive fruit hanging by his leafy neck.
"Oh," I nodded slightly, "I guess that makes sense."
"Though, I'm not older than the princesses-"
I cut him off as I spoke out swiftly, "I'm sorry, but who are these 'princesses' again?"
"Well, for someone who's new to life, I guess I can elaborate." He lowered himself down as he coughed out, clearing himself as he took a seat upon the cave's barren, earthen floor. "The two royal princesses, Celestia and Luna, are quite the figures of Equestria. They are not only a thousand years old, they are quite benevolent and have thus retained their rule- or at least, Celestia did. Luna only so recently came back from the moon."
I paused, my jaw slackened as I glared at him in criticism. "From the moon?" I stopped once more, glaring aimlessly as I tried to process whatever it is that this peculiar wolf is trying to inform me. "Why would she be on the moon?"
He shrugged casually. "Celestia's form of punishment for her mutinous sibling--a thousand years on the moon."
My eyes widened at that thought. "A thousand years incarcerated? On the moon no less?" I shook my head. "That's a bit extreme, don't you think?"
He shrugged. "I'm not much of a historian despite my age, so I can't really give you precise details."
"Alright..." I nodded. "Well, go on with your tale then."
"Right." He took up a moderate breath from the wind. "Well, after Luna returned after a thousand years or so, another princess actually got coronated--Twilight Sparkle."
I sighed, throwing him off a bit. "I can never quite grasp the concept of pony names."
"I as well."
"Well, that's enough information on the princesses," I glanced at him a bit. "Huh. While we're on the topic of names, what's yours?"
"Mine?" He grimaced lightly, as if pained as he retracted back a bit, his posture shrinking. "Well, I don't really have one."
"No worries; I have a suitable one for you."
He glanced at me, unsure, as his eyes held a spark of both curiosity and uncertainty. "Really, now?"
"Yes." I nodded. "I'm going to refer to you as 'Olive' from now on."
His personality darkened as his face fell blank. "Really? 'Olive'?"
I nodded once more without much regard. "Well, Olive," I took myself up from the ground, beginning to pace towards the exit of this cave, "I really do wish to chat and such, but I'm probably still hunted by cloak-clad ponies that are probably still around here, so I'll go."
"Go?" He stood as well, taking a few steps towards me. "Do you even know where you're going."
I stared at him, blinking every so often, my mind not bearing any fruit of any idea where I should exactly 'go' to. My face contorted bitterly as I realized that I don't have a set destination on where I should go. "Well, I don't really have anywhere in mind. But I guess I'll just go where I feel like it."
"It's much more easy to get lost than you'd think, fox." He walked past me, leaning over the frame of the exit. "Since you've kept me company for some while, and believe me, nopony ever wants to be around a timberwolf, I'll guide you to the nearest city- free of charge."
I cocked my head a bit as I began walking towards the exit with him. "And what would that city be, exactly?"
"Canterlot," he firmly answered as we began walking out of the cave, the light of the morning sun almost seemingly instantaneously hitting us as the fresh breeze of the forest pervaded around this place. "It's a fairly boisterous place. Lots of ponies. I don't think I can go further than its outskirts, though, thanks to my form. So at that point, we'll part ways."
I glanced around the terrain, noticing the forest's changes since when I was last here. I swerved my body in a circular motion, spinning arounf lightly as I inspected the place. Wet vines coiling around trees went as far as my vision could perceive.
The ground was still an ashen, but healthy, black. Soil and dirt were heaved upwards as crevices in the ground still contained shallow pools of water.
Complimenting this, there were several shrubbery and plants, their emerald leaves glistening against the sunlight as drops of water from last night's squall clinging onto them. The sun embellished the sky in a brazened fashion, not a single cloud contesting its brilliance.
I craned my neck upwards, noticing the large rock-like formation ahead of me. The cliff where I fell from was just ahead of me, its tip, as it should be, has broken off and has been replaced with a jagged end, sporting embedded, shrapnel of stone within its stretch.
I glanced below it, noticing a flowing river directly below it. This body of water was rather vast, its current calm and serene. It was as still as it was peaceful.
"Oh." I wondered. "That's how I didn't die of the impact."
"Yeah..." Olive chuckled a bit beside me. "Moment I saw you dive into there, I just had to fish you out without any equipment. Needless to say, you were quite heavy."
"Calling me heavy, eh?" I growled, feigning ire, nonetheless, a smile etched upon my face.
Author's Notes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPQMbGga42U
Chapter entitled after one of the musical tracks of the greatest visual novel I've ever had the chance of reading. ^^