Sword in the stone

The deafening wind filled Raishun's ears as he flew through the air. Below him, the forest was nothing more than an emerald blur, one that he was afraid to enter. "Shit, shit, shit!" He yelled, his limbs flailing wildly in the air as the forest grew closer and closer with each passing second. With a gulp, he managed to curl himself into a ball just in time for him to hit the treeline. Pain wracked his body, each branch he broke through felt like a whip lashing his clothed skin. All he could do was close his eyes, and grit his teeth to stem the pain until he hit the ground with a loud thud.

"Ng...ngh" He let out a pained breath, and slowly sat up. His eyes shot open, frantically he checked his body for damage, only to breathe a sigh of relief when he saw he was unharmed, "Oh thank god!! I thought I was gonna die!"

Rising to his feet, he was quickly faced with his next problem: Figuring out how to make it to the relics. His expression soured as the thought came to mind, he'd never received any hints as to where they may be. And with a forest as large as the Vale, searching could take all day. Uttering a curse under his breath, he knelt and picked up one of the thicker branches he had broken through to serve as a weapon.

"First there's that crazy girl with the gun that nearly killed me, then the wolves nearly got me, and finally, I got catapulted into a forest!?!" He grumbled, while stomping off in a random direction. His golden eyes scanned his surroundings vigilantly. "I don't wanna run into another one of those wolves. But seriously, how much bad luck can a guy have."

Stick in hand, Raishun wandered the forest for half an hour with little happening other than the sounds of a bird cawing in the distance. Thoughts of what had happened before he woke up in the forest raced through his head. "The last thing I remember, was that horrible snapping sound and then..." He clutched his neck softly, and felt a cold sweat run down his back. "Did they kill me..."

The loud crunch of a branch being stepped on to his right snapped him from his thoughts and sent him into a panic. He quickly threw himself into a nearby bush, and kept his stomach flat against the ground and a hand over his mouth to quiet his breaths.

From the forest emerged a large black wolf, similar to the ones he had fought with Alisa. Only this one was much larger. The ivory colored armor on it's body was larger, sharper, and more defined than the ones he had seen before.

[It's alone...?] He thought.

The Grimm snorted loudly, it's snout rising into the air as if it had smelled something. The beast took one step towards Raishun's hiding spot, then another, until it stood less than a foot away from him. Its crimson-coloured pupiless eyes stared intently into the bush.

His began to beat so hard that he could feel it through his chest. He squeezed his eyes shut in fear, steeling himself for an attack, but to his surprise he heard footsteps moving away from the bush.

He opened his eyes, and let out a slow, shaky sigh of relief. The wolf was nowhere in sight, by some stroke of luck it hadn't senses his presence. "Oh thank god. I thought I was a--"

A sudden heavy weight slammed into the foreigner's side, knocking the air from his lungs and sending him flying into a tree with a sickening crack. Slamming into the floor, his mouth opened in a silent cry, as his chest exploded with hot searing pain.

He forced himself to look at his attacker, and felt his stomach drop. It wasn't the wolf, but a black bear that had attacked him. It was covered in thicker armor than the Beowolf, and it was larger than what he thought was possible for a bear. Suddenly, it bared it's fangs and charged at him at a surprising speed.

"Shit!!" Without a moment to spare, Raishun rolled to the side just in time to evade the attack and broke into a sprint. He dared not look back, but he could hear the creatures heavy footfalls growing nearer with each passing second. He forced himself to move faster, even with his lungs screaming in pain he pumped his legs harder against the soft earth.

One last step was all it took for the beast to pounce on him, its massive paws slammed into him, shoving him face-first into the ground right as it gave way. Both of them were sent plummeting into the ravine below, twirling midair as they grappled with each other. For the second time that day, Raishun hit the ground with a pained grunt. He scrambled to his feet, preparing to run when he noticed that the bear had fallen onto a large earthen spike near the edge of the pit. Its body gave a final twitch on the spike, before disappearing in a puff of black smoke.

With his attacker gone, the blue-haired boy was finally able to take in his situation. First, the stick he used as a weapon was gone, he figured he had most likely dropped it in the chaos. Second, the ravine was too deep for him to climb out of, but a small nearby hole could be a way out.

"Hmm… Better than waiting for help to arrive, or even worse, another one of those things." He muttered, before squeezing his way into the hole.

While at first, he had believed it would be a quick journey, his assumption was quickly proven false after he was stuck shuffling forward on his stomach for what seemed like an eternity. The tight walls of the hole forced him to press his arms tightly into his chest, and it took all his willpower to keep claustrophobia from setting in. But his effort had borne fruit, as with a few more minutes of shuffling, he found himself in a large cavern. Faintly glowing moss lined the walls, their light almost unnoticeable thanks to the ray of sunlight that shone from a hole in the wall.

Raishun grinned widely, not only because he had found a way out, but also because of what he saw in the center of the cave. There, buried in a very moss covered rock, was an old battered sword. It wasn't the state of the sword that made him smile, but rather the small yellow pulses of light seemed to emanate from the sizeable amber-coloured gem in the center of the blade. It was almost as if the sword itself were breathing.

"Alright! I've seen enough shows to know what these are!" He stepped forward, taking grasp of the faded red leather hilt with his right hand. "Come to papa!" With a deep breath, he mustered all of his might to pull out the blade, only to stumble backwards as it slid out of the stone with minimal resistance. Confused, he held it up to the light, staring intently at the gem. "Huh… That was easier than I thought." His expression changed from one of curiosity, to one of concern as the amber gem began to pulse faster, the light coming from it quickly becoming blinding, "That's creepy--GAH!!"

The gem in the center abruptly flashed a bright red, before turning pitch black. Dark tendrils suddenly erupted from it, wrapping around his wrist and boring their way into the armlet on his wrist. The metal wrapped around his wrist began to grow unbearably hot. He tried to rip off the tendrils using his free hand, scratching, clawing, and punching them only resulted in his hand going right through them.

His teeth clenched to try and quiet his cries of pain, as the burning sensation began to spread up his arm. He fell to one knee as the pain became more intense. "GRK...GAAAAAAH!!" Unable to withstand the burning any longer, he fell onto his side in a panting mess. Darkness slowly crept in on the edges of his vision, before everything went completely black.