Elemental Cats

Since it had been a while, Joshua and Lucy decided to play tag. They considered asking the others if they wanted to join, but everyone seemed busy, so they decided to play by themselves.

The difference between Lucy at the fifth level and Joshua, who was still a mortal, was far from something Joshua could bridge by running a little faster. Thankfully, Lucy knew how to hold back when playing, and he made sure he gave Joshua a fighting chance. Joshua knew that if he was the one who began chasing, it would take a lot of time before he caught Lucy.

And so the two began running all over the island. After some time, Lucy would willingly catch up to Joshua and give him the chance at chasing him through the trees before letting himself be tagged again. It was a pretty boring and monotonous game, and sometimes it transformed into hide and seek before turning into tag again.

The two of them had been playing for quite a while, and even if Joshua had rested during the breaks they took, he was still tired.

Maybe that was why he tripped. Or maybe a small root had protruded out of the smooth ground. However, the reason why Joshua tripped didn't matter. What mattered was that he was running full speed and not looking where he was going until it was too late. When running from Lucy, Joshua had accidentally ended up at the edge of the island.

That, by itself, wasn't so bad, and since the island was so small, it happened almost all the time. However, because Joshua tripped while running as fast as he could, he was sent tumbling through the air and rolled to the ground, where he continued forward, scraping his hands and bruising his knees and elbows.

The ground, which had been so even that a single root or bump was enough to topple Joshua, was also the reason that Joshua didn't have anything to hold on to. And his fall was about to send him tumbling off the edge of the island and into the Void.

Joshua realized the direness of the situation, and he desperately reached and tried to grab hold of the ground, but it was too late.

Lucy had seen Joshua fall and instantly saw in his mind how Joshua was about to leave the island. But since Lucy had been intentionally giving Joshua a headstart, he was too far away to catch up to him. And he didn't have enough time to conjure a barrier of darkness to stop Joshua's fall. Darkness wasn't known for its speed after all.

Lucy desperately rushed to the edge of the island. His paw barely scraped against the tip of Joshua's fingernail. And the shadows Lucy conjured didn't have enough time to create a solid wall to catch Joshua.

Joshua fell off the island and, through Lucy's conjured cloud of darkness, into the Void.

It was the first time Lucy lost someone, and he didn't know how to react. He could feel his heart in turmoil, but he felt instinctively that there was nothing he could do to calm it down. Lucy was lost, and he stared emptily at where Joshua had disappeared. He didn't dare to remove the darkness he had conjured since he was afraid of seeing Joshua's lifeless body drifting through the Void, getting further away.

It was the first time Lucy ever felt such an aversion to death. And how fragile life was.

Eventually, Lucy decided he had to tell someone, so he went to get Toz.

However, before he could get anywhere, he heard something.

"Lucy? You there?"

Lucy, who heard Joshua's voice got more scared than excited since his first thought that Joshua had come back as a ghost.

"Joshua?! Did you become a ghost? Even if you did, I won't be scared of you. I promise!"

Lucy began tearfully promising friendship even in death to what he thought was Joshua's ghost.

"Stop messing around and get rid of this dark stuff. I can't see anything!"

Lucy's tirade was cut short by Joshua's shout, and Lucy calmed down enough to dispel the darkness. Unlike the dead body or ghost Lucy had expected to find on the other side of the darkness, he saw Joshua. Almost as healthy as he had been before his fall.

Although Joshua was pale from fright and had a few scrapes and bruises on his arms, he was very much alive.

Joshua was lying on the thin barrier surrounding the island of trees. The barrier that was keeping the air contained to the island and let Toz and the others survive in the Void. The same barrier that everyone else passed through without making a dent was supporting Joshua's entire body.

The barrier swayed slightly as Joshua moved around and inspected himself to make sure he was alive. After confirming his body was intact, Joshua looked at his chest.

During his fall and when he had first come into contact with the island's barrier, Joshua had been too panicked and scared out of his mind to notice it. But now that he was safe and unharmed he sensed a tingling sensation on his chest, right where the symbol for his inclination was.

The tiny, light brown circle emitted a weak light only visible after Joshua opened his shirt. Almost by instinct, Joshua reached up and touched the circle with his hand. When he pulled away again, his hand held a colorless, translucent, and faintly shimmering circle. The circle was just enough to fit his hand and was as thick as one of his fingers.

Both Lucy and Joshua stared at the circle with awe. However, Lucy quickly pulled himself together before he created tendrils of shadows and pulled Joshua away from the barrier. Although the island's barrier looked stable, Lucy didn't want to risk it.

The barrier's reaction was obviously due to Joshua's freshly awakened inclination. And if Joshua didn't have control over it, he could accidentally send himself into the Void.