[Jaykobell]

The atmosphere continued to grow strangely eerie, and with that, the buzzing noise increased in intensity. The noise was confusing; it felt like a regular buzzing sound from the surroundings, but it also felt like the sound was coming from inside Kaamil's head, which made it rather difficult to pinpoint where it really came from. The temperature suddenly dropped until it felt like there was no temperature at all. It felt normal, regular, perhaps empty. In fact, as things progressed, and the blackness seemed to grow thicker and heavier, it felt like there was simply no air around. Kaamil could still breathe just fine, but the air grew still and silent. It felt like Kaamil wasn't even in that hole anymore. It felt like a huge room, but with only a floor to stand on. It extended to endlessness from every direction. The only light was Kaamil's shadow, ironically, casting his figure into a long, almost endless shape in whichever direction Kaamil was looking in...

Still, this atmosphere felt... familiar. This feeling that something incredibly powerful (if not also dangerous) was lurking nearby, lurking and waiting to strike, waiting for something to do... It felt just like that. Even the most inexperienced of person would be able to feel the incredible power coming from these surroundings. Even then... Kaamil had felt this sort of presence before. It felt exactly the same as the presence that fox emanated. Strong, dangerous, mysterious... the only difference here is that Kaamil would also be able to sense how wild and unstable this particular presence was. Clearly the Director's fox was tame and loyal to him; but this similar presence here, in the wild of the volcano... It was clearly dangerous.

But through the silent and still air, a soft hissing voice resonated within Kaamil's head. It had this chilling tone to it, and it was just slightly above that of a whisper...

Awaken..... Awakened.... Has awakened.... Me.... Little boy...

[Kodai]

Urgh... That buzzing noise was pretty irritating. Kaamil gripped his head and gritted his teeth, then suddenly froze as the temperature began to drop. No... It couldn't be that... he was here...? But the temperature didn't sink to freezing, and so Kaamil relaxed, albeit slightly. The atmosphere was so odd, though... Something just wasn't right. He wasn't alone, that was for sure. A strange sense of raw power permeated the area, much like the Director's fox creature had released energy. Of course, Kaamil also felt the pressure of danger here... and then the thing spoke.

".......Who....or what....are you...? ....Reveal yourself...."

[Jaykobell]

After the thing had spoken, the noise stopped. It had been so high and constant, however, that Kaamil could probably still feel his head throbbing with a faint remnant of the noise. But it gradually disappeared, and the air grew even stiller. With the noise, it felt more 'disturbed,' but now it was completely silent. Only Kaamil's breathing, as well as his voice, along with the thing's, could be heard.

When Kaamil spoke, his voice resonated like an echo, and it lasted for a while. Having no walls, it was strange that the sound could echo at all. But the questions resonated and resonated... Until eventually the echo died down. Silence again. Not even the breathing of the creature could be heard. It seemed liked this place broke basic rules of physics, such as Kaamil's shadow becoming white instead of black, and Kaamil's voice echoing despite the lack of walls for the voice to bounce off.

Who... Who... I am... What...

Suddenly there seemed to be something falling onto Kaamil's head. The impact was no harder than that of a poke, but... if Kaamil bothered to take a look around to see just what had hit him, he'd see nothing. That poke had came out of, literally, nowhere.

Funny.... Funny little boy...

The voice seemed to be coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. There was no way to pinpoint where the creature was; if it was indeed a creature at all... Only the raw strength could be felt, and not an actual "solid" presence.

I am.... your... friend.... We can... play...

[Kodai]

Kaamil spun around at the sensation of something touching his head, but... there was nothing to see. Even with his orange eye, which had slightly better night vision than his blue (though, the vision in that eye wasn't very good anyway), he couldn't see a darned thing. Except for his shadow, of course, and he wasn't even going to try to figure out how that worked. Everything was just... wrong in this place, wherever it was. He wasn't even sure if he was in the volcano anymore. ...Poor Drawser; this probably wouldn't be good if she couldn't find him and had to report back to the academy without him.

"....Somehow, I doubt you are my 'friend'......and I am not much interested in 'playing'...." Kaamil replied, generally irked by his current situation. "...Reveal yourself, or at least lead me to a more...well-lit territory..."

[Jaykobell]

Friend.... Friend... Play....

Whatever was speaking had obviously no interest in making it any easy on Kaamil. It didn't seem to be listening to him at all, either. Or, at least, it only listened and heard whatever it wanted.

Play is fun... Fun... Darkness is fun... It is... all... fun... Anyone in... my... territory.... is... my... friend... My very... good... friend...

From there, everything seemed to go downhill. The temperature dropped some more, and now the voice had a playful tone to it. Kaamil's irritation had amused it and it seemed happy to have found a brand new "friend," as it called them. The temperature dropped, and as it did, Kaamil's fingertips and toes started to freeze, and so did his nose and any other limb that had a tip to it. The freezing sensation spread, and it felt like an animal ripping through Kaamil's skin from the inside. It felt like whatever was within Kaamil's body was being eaten away by the freezing temperature. Yet his body itself didn't look any different. His hands looked fine, and so did everything else. It all came from inside, and the pain slowly increased.... Eventually it felt like Kaamil's hands and feet had completely been eaten away, and it felt like they weren't there anymore. Yet his body looked just fine...

Friend... Play... Friend...

[Kodai]

Irritating little... But then the temperature dropped again, and it felt as if his extremities were slowly succumbing to frostbite, if frostbite felt anything like your skin was being torn apart. Hugging his arms around him to try to warm himself, even though he figured that the effect was mental, Kaamil crouched close to the ground, trying to figure out what was going on. The voice obviously was not from the creature he had feared it was, but then, just who was it? Were they really still in the volcano, or had he been transported to some other plane, one he'd never seen before? Still, even though he knew it wasn't that creature, the freezing cold reminded him of an experience he would rather not relive, and the darkness this time was not comforting...

"....Leave... ...Leave me be..." Kaamil hissed lightly through his teeth, though the irritation was gone from his voice. It was almost... pleading?

[Jaykobell]

Despite having no solid form (at least, any that Kaamil knew of), the creature could see every movement Kaamil did. It watched as the boy looked around to look for whatever had poked him, it watched as Kaamil started hugging himself when the temperature fell... It watched all of it, and it amused the creature very much. The sight of so little made it want so much more...

Heehee... Heehee...

It seemed to laugh as Kaamil crouched close to the ground, and it felt even more excited when it caught the pleading edge of the boy's voice. Sweet... sweet little tone.... It wanted to hear Kaamil plead even more, plead so much more.

Heehee.... Heehee...

It continued to giggle as the temperature within Kaamil's body continued to go down. The feeling of something eating his insides continued to grow until it reached his torso, and it eventually made its way towards Kaamil's throat. It stayed there, and slowly... it felt like something was wrapping around Kaamil's windpipe, slowly choking Kaamil as it continued to wrap tighter.

Play...

[Kodai]

Urk... So... So cold. What was all this about? He collapsed on the ground now, curled in on himself into a small ball. There wasn't much else he could do, considering the rest of his body was completely numb. Then the choking began, and Kaamil began to rasp for air. What was this? Was this creature trying to kill him? It had said 'Play' though... killing him this soon wouldn't be fun for it. Still, if he couldn't breathe, he'd asphyxiate, regardless of the creature's intentions...

....What.....What do you want...... ....... .......Why are you using cold within a volcano.......If we're still there....... ......... .......What....are you.......

[Jaykobell]

A confused, confused little thing... It scrambled there, curling up into a ball and freezing pitifully and painfully, chocking... Freezing, and chocking... And being miserable. The creature enjoyed it all, and, of course, if it killed Kaamil now, it wouldn't be fun anymore, right? It had to find ways to make the fun last, as long as possible...

Heehee... Play... Play...

Clearly, whatever it was, it wasn't anything you could communicate with. Again it ignored Kaamil's question and simply went on to giggle to itself playfully and happily as the grip on Kaamil's throat tightened, making the choking sensation even worse. But eventually the chocking died down, and the temperature left Kaamil's body, giving Kaamil back his senses and the control over his body. The pain was still there, but it wasn't as intense. Instead, the creature changed elements. The same pattern came up; it first started at Kaamil's extremities. But this time, it was heat, and not cold. With his body being so cold still, the heat felt horrible, and it felt like Kaamil's interior was just cooking on the spot. It felt like his insides were sizzling endlessly until they were was nothing left to burn...

We're... Having... Fun...

How to talk with a thing that didn't even listen to you?

[Kodai]

Whatever it was that was toying with him eventually released its grip on his throat, sending Kaamil gasping for air. The pain and cold ebbed away, but was quickly replaced with more pain and heat.

"....Playing with elements....hm...?" Kaamil growled, now sitting upright with his arms and legs splayed slightly. He was getting nowhere by asking the creature questions, and there wasn't anything he could physically do about his situation... but perhaps he could play a mind game of his own? It was worth a try, certainly. "....Do you know... ...What you are doing to me, it hurts, yes.... ...But it does not hurt that much... ...I have been hurt much worse, before......Much, much worse..."

[Jaykobell]

How fun, how fun this was... It continued to watch Kaamil, watching carefully, carefully...

But eventually, the game stopped being amusing. Kaamil was defying it now. It didn't hurt that much? It hurt, but not as much as it could? He had experience worse before? That... that little boy was... defying its power... How dare it defied its power.

Hee.... Heeeeee...... Defying... Defying...

There wasn't any laughter now. It sounded more like a high screeching noise. Oh, the game was no fun anymore. No, no fun at all anymore. What a bad friend, not playing along with the game... What a bad, bad friend. It could teach him. It could teach that little boy how powerful it was... how powerful it could be. He wasn't going to get away with this, oh, no... Not getting away with this.

This time the pain escalated to Kaamil's head, and it felt like the heat was racing through his spiral cord to reach one of his eyes. The pain hit the eye full force, probably giving Kaamil one of the most intense pain there could be... Of course, unless Kaamil defied it again. Ooh, but how could that little boy claim burning an eye didn't hurt... Or that it didn't hurt that much... Ooh... No, no, he couldn't defy now.

Not defying... not... not... Play... Friend...

[Kodai]

From the sound of the screech, Kaamil could tell that he had struck a nerve. Now the tables were turned, at least temporarily. Then the searing pain raced through his body to his eye, temporarily blinding him and causing him to squeeze it shut, clamping a hand over it. However... Kaamil began to... laugh? Well, perhaps it was more of a dry chuckle, but still, the fact that he found this situation somewhat amusing was odd. Had he snapped?

"...Heh....Heh heh...... ...No.....I can't deny that it hurts......It hurts a good deal..... ...Heh.... ...But you don't know about this eye.......This blue eye of mine....."

[Jaykobell]

The game got amusing again when Kaamil squeezed his eye shut and put a hand over it. The game was being fun again, and the thing was satisfied. But then Kaamil laughed. Ooh... Ooh... Was he going to defy it again? Was he going to deny the pain? Well, he didn't deny it, but he... challenged it. He challenged the pain this creature could inflict. How ignorant, ignorant. Yes. Yes, he was ignorant. Poor silly ignorant boy. It would teach him... Oh yes, yes it would...

What was so special about this blue eye? Why did this blue eye, being injured, made him laugh? Why did Kaamil laugh at this pain he was experiencing? It made no sense, no sense at all. This boy made no sense. And so it needed to make this boy make sense... Oh yes, yes it would. But this... this blue eye. Why was it so special? It had to know... It had to know.

Eye... Why... Why so... so amusing... Game... Game... not... fun... anymore...

[Kodai]

"....Heh....Heh...... ... .....I doubt you would understand......but I will tell you anyway..... ... ....This eye of mine.......it is a sacrifice...... ....I scratched it myself... ....The pain of the act of that sacrifice is something that you could never match....."

Kaamil smirked and, even though the eye was still in great pain, stood up. His stance was a bit wobbly, but that didn't seem to faze him in the least. Holding his hand out to his side, a long, thin, red scythe suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and he grasped it.

".....I've grown tired of waiting.....of doing nothing here..... .....It is time for action, even if it is futile......"

[Jaykobell]

Obviously the fact it had been a sacrifice didn't really do anything to the creature. But the fact that Kaamil claimed the pain had been even worse than anything the creature could inflict upon him made it hiss through the echoing void. The little boy, still defying its power... What a bad, bad friend... It was rather unhappy and unamused now.

Under... estimating... Under... estimating...

It hissed some more as it watched Kaamil standing up despite the pain in his eye. It seemed so taken aback it hadn't thought about inflicting more pain on Kaamil to keep him from moving. It just watched, from wherever it was, Kaamil standing up and getting... ready for action? But yes, it would be futile. Nobody could get out of this... nobody... nobody... .... Nobody....

Eek... Eek....

It didn't seem to mind Kaamil's show-off, but as it got amused again, something unexpected happened. Nearby Kaamil, just a little ways away, cracks started to appear in the air. It looked like there was some invisible wall of some sort, and it slowly cracking. The cracks slowly grew to get bigger and longer, until eventually a small portion fell down, revealing a white hole. Through the hole...

"Kaamil! Kaamil! Can you hear me?!"