CHAPTER 1
"Hey Yukio, where exactly is this camp of yours supposed to be?"
"Oi Okumura get off my feet- I SAID GETT OFF ME-"
"Ow, Bon - you think you can be a bit more careful where you're hitting?"
"Bon, Shima, I really don't think it's a good idea to be fighting when you can't actually see where you are-"
"You tell 'em Konekomaru!"
"Oh my god, shut up you guys. Ugh, I can't see a thing, and it's super creepy in here."
"It's okay, Miss Kamiki, you don't have to be scared-"
"WHO SAID I WAS SCARED?!"
"Everyone calm down - I think I can see a light."
The agitated voices suddenly went quiet befre a small mew echoed in the dark space.
"Hey Rin, I can smell fresh air!"
One of the voices spoke up, obviously not having understood what was said. "You sure 'bout that Teach? Because I still can't see a thing."
"Hey guys, Kuro just said he can smell fresh air. There must be a way out up ahead!"
'Kuro' mewed again. "Let's go!"
The group, having hurried forwards after that and almost tripping over one another in their haste, blinked in the bright sunlight. They all gaped at the surreally beautiful forest they found themseves in. Tiny, shimmering multi-coloured particles of pollen drifted in the peaceful air and a faint rainbow of lights, almost like an aurora, hung above their heads. Strange animals hovered in the shadows of the trees, wary of the strangers that had suddenly appeared in their midst while enormous brightly coloured birds flew lazy between the treetops.
One of the strangers' bags began to quiver. The boy didn't seem surprised when a tiny black and white cat with two tails emerged from the unzipped opening of the bag and leapt down to the mossy forest floor. The cat yowled excitedly as he raced in circles around the group, sniffing at everything he possibly could.
"Rin! Rin! Rin! Look! Look! It's all so pretty! And it all smells different! I've never smelled anything like it before!" The high spped string of words seemed to be coming from the cat. Everyone grinned at the tiny animal's antics and happy yowling, but only the boy whose bag the cat had originaly sprung from actually heard what the cat was saying. The boy, 'Rin', laughed outright at his tiny friend's excitement.
Just then, the group heard voices in the distance. Another boy, one that resembled Rin with glasses, let out a relieved breath. "Come on, guys. Let's see where we've ended up."
The small group, made up entirely of teenagers (plus one black and white twin tailed cat) wandered through the forest after the elusive voices. Eventually the voices grew louder and began to form actual words - something about samples and a person named 'Akari-sensei'. The teenagers saw the source of the voices huddled in the middle of a grassy clearing. Three men and one woman, all in white lab coats and surrounded by shining scientific equipment, were focussing on something in their midst. So intent were they on their work that they didn't hear the group approaching at first. They all started as the boy who looked to be a relative of Rin spoke.
"Ah, excuse me!" He smiled and moved closer, hoping he looked harmless and reassuring enough that these people wouldn't find their little party too suspicious. "Hello! My name is Yukio Okumura. Um, would you happen to know where this place is? We seem to have gotten lost." His smile spread nervously as he waited for one of the people to speak.
The four scientists stared at them open-mouthed without responding. The smiles faded from the teens' faces and they began to fidget awkwardly in the silence. Eventually, one of the men spoke, gulping as he began.
"Ah, ahem, um, how- ah, this is the Niji Forest." He coughed slightly, his expression turning decidedly uncomfortable. "Um, i-if you don't mind me asking, h-how did you, um, end up... here?"
Yukio frowned, confused, while his group traded glances behind him. Unnoticed by anyone else, Kuro had climbed up and perched on Rin's shoulder, tails wrapped gently around his neck for balance. Absently, Rin reached up and petted the tip of one of them and moved to stand beside Yukio.
"We were hiking and found a cave. We went in and a few hours later came out somewhere around here." Rin looked at Yukio and shrugged. "That's pretty much it."
"Is there some sort of problem with us being here?" Yukio asked curiously.
The scientist who had first spoken blinked. "No, not at all. It's just, well, humans rarely come into this forest. We're here because we were ordered to collect more recent samples from the indigenous flora, air, water, and soil, as well as further readings of the local electromagnetic field..." the man trailed off, relaising he had gotten slightly off topic. "Um, anyway. The point is, we had to be flown in here with the rest of our team and the guards. The narest town, Karasuna, is miles away from here. You look like you walked here but that's impossible. It's around two days by car but Karasuna is in the opposite direction to where you came from."
The man drew breath to continue but was interrupted by a crashing sound and a sudden black streak from the trees behind the scientists who were all still crouched on the ground. The other two and the woman were as shocked as the group of teens when the black... 'thing'... wrapped around the poor man and hauled him back into the dense treeline. The three remaining scientists shrieked as the black blur swifty stretched out towards them again. They all began to scramble away. The woman stumbled and crashed to the ground, accidentally tripping one of the men and sending him tumbling down as well. Everyone was surprised when a young blonde girl at the back of the group was the first to react.
"Meep!" she cried as a tiny green creature leapt from her hands. The green thing, resembling a cheerfully grinning living doll, seemed to understand his master's wishes and from his chest sprouted enormous branches - an oak tree. It grew rapidly friny the tiny doll/thing's body and blocked the black mass that was about to reach the two on the ground. It growled as it shifted restlessly, searching for a way through the heavy twisted boughs. A boy with short pink hair unfroze and cheered. "Yeah! You go Moriyama!"
"Alright Shiemi!" Rin added, reaching behind him for the wrapped sword slung across his back. Kuro jumped from his shoulder and Yukio, in the middle of drawing his pair of guns, opened his mouth, his eyes widening as the boy dropped the red cover on the ground beside him and began to pull free the sword from its sheath. "Rin, no-" he began to exclaim but it was too late.
Rin raced forward past the enormous tree and lunged at the black creature, discarding the katana's sheath as blue flames poured from the sword and swriled around him. Smaller bue flames formed on his head resembling horns and a long tufted tail whipped free from the back of his pants where it had previously been tucked, unseen. The back thing feel apart as Rin's sword swung towards it, revealing that, rather than a single entity, it was actually hundreds of smaller monstrous looking black insects. They buzzed angrily, distracted from their original targets and surrounded Rin instead.
As the insects prepared to attack Rin, the scientists got to their feet and began to run, with the help of three of the teenagers - a bald boy, a girl with long dark purple hair, and the pink haired boy who had yelled earlier to 'Moriyama'. From beside the girl who now held her tiny green creature in her hands once more, the last of the group, a tall-ish boy with a mohawk that was bleached at the tips, urged them all to hurry.
Suddenly, from the same part of the forest from which they had emerged, a young blonde man came hurtling towards the black swarm. He stopped, somehow hovering in midair above where Rin faced the insects, and smiled winningly.
"The sparkling prince that makes hearts throb-" he began before being interrupted by Rin below him.
"You wanna fight huh? Then let's go!" he yelled eagerly. The blonde man appeared puzzled for a moment, mouth snapping closed as long slender blades - thorn handled epees - materialised in his open hands. he shrugged, seemingly snapping out of his stupor and began to attack the insect swarm. "Dornen kiste!" the man cried, pointing the tip of his right hand blade at the swarm. Thorny vines sprang from the ground pierced every one of the insects. They all exploded into nothingness around the vines which plunged back into the ground, their job done.
The young bman's epees vanished and he carefully touched down on the ground, smiling broadly at Rin before turning to the others. They hadn't relaised they had been gaping until the man turned to them. They quickly closed their mouths, the boy with the mohawk just barely in time to catch the now exhausted Moriyama as she collapsed. The man's smiled disappeared into a worried frown.
"Oh my gosh, is your friend okay?" he asked, chewing his lip anxiously. He materialised a slim partially transparent device, mumbling "call Tsukumo... bring Akari-sensei" He shuddered a bit and lifted the device - a phone - to his ear.
"Hello, Tsukumo-chan! Could you please bring Akari-sensei to the spot where we left the researchers?" He glanced sidelong at the unconscious girl, now surrounded by her friends. "There's someone here who needs his help."