Kaito and the doctor venture through the forest together. As Kaito looks around the forest surrounding the house. He notices flasks of liquid hanging about. Or various traps set around.
He came to the conclusion the doctor must've been living here for a long time. The silence however is unbearable for Kaito. The doctor has made no attempts to speak to Kaito nor have they even glanced in his direction.
Determined to get to know his helper Kaito speaks. "I've never met someone else who grew up i'm a forest." Kaito says. The doctor doesn't respond for a while. "I didn't grow up here, I was forced to relocate." The doctor responds.
"How'd you learn so much about this elara?" Kaito asks.
"I find it a necessary thing to be knowledgeable in. Our world is comprised of it." The doctor responds.
They hear a growl following from behind them and Kaito gets on guard. "FooFoo." The doctor says. Kaito raises an eyebrow. "FooFoo?" He asks.
A large creature comes barreling towards them destroying multiple trees in it's path.
"We are approaching the well FooFoo guards it, that is why I wasn't able to repair it." The doctor explains. "You couldn't have said that!?" Kaito shouts as both of them take off running.
Kaito runs and he notices that the doctor is falling behind horribly. Kaito dashes back and grabs the doctor. "My apologies i'm a poor athlete." The doctor explains.
Kaito was beginning to think less of his acquaintance. Still, he kept pace beside the doctor as they ran together, the foliage blurring past. Up ahead, colors flared in wild, shifting pulses—deep crimsons, electric blues, impossible shades that painted the air itself.
"Do I follow the colors?!" Kaito shouted over the rush of wind.
The doctor glanced at him, puzzled. "You can see the Elara?"
Kaito blinked. "I… guess?"
The doctor gave a slow, impressed nod. As they turned, the curved beak of their plague mask swung wide and smacked Kaito squarely in the face.
"Ah—my apologies," the doctor said quickly.
Clutching his eye but refusing to slow, Kaito kept running. The kaleidoscopic chaos ahead lashed violently through the thickening forest. Vines and branches tangled together, forming a near-wall. Kaito unsheathed his dagger and carved a path through the dense growth until the trees parted—and he reached the well.
From the doctor's perspective, the well was little more than a pit belching heavy air, thick enough to touch. Its presence warped the atmosphere, pressing down on everything around it.
But to Kaito, it was something else entirely.
The colors burst like fireworks—layered halos of shifting light, moving in rhythm like breath. It was beautiful. No, it was breathtaking.
The doctor caught the awe in Kaito's expression and felt something stir—a flicker of envy. How could he see it? A regular human? The doctor had studied the Elara for years and had never once seen what Kaito was now witnessing with wide, wonder-filled eyes.
"Woah… this is amazing," Kaito breathed.
The doctor longed to interrogate him, to probe every impression and insight. But now wasn't the time. The well, and whatever it stirred in both of them, demanded focus.
FooFoo comes storming in ruining Kaito's sightseeing. Kaito readies his dagger and charges the beast. "Do not harm FooFoo!" The doctor shouts.
With the distraction Kaito is bashed into a wall by FooFoo. "Why not it's dangerous!?" Kaito yells. "It is an innocent being, it is sustaining negative effects from the Elara!" The doctor shouts.
Kaito doesn't understand the words, nonetheless he gets the jist of what the doctor is saying. Kaito dodges the attacks from FooFoo, a constant struggle while also trying not to hurt the beast.
The doctor crept toward the well, footsteps light, hoping to edge closer without disturbing the volatile energy swirling above it. But the winds had grown fiercer—alive, almost—and the moment the doctor crossed an unseen threshold, a violent gust struck like a hammer, hurling them backward.
FooFoo noticed.
The beast, already agitated, let out a guttural roar and turned on the doctor. Before Kaito could react, FooFoo lashed out, its massive limbs thrashing wildly. One strike caught the doctor mid-air, launching them into the trunk of a nearby tree with a sickening crack.
Glass shattered.
Kaito's heart sank. The vial. The one they were supposed to protect. Gone.
For a breathless moment, the world seemed to hold still. No plan. No backup. No hope.
Then, without thinking, Kaito ran straight for the well. He dove in—into the cyclone of color and chaos—his body driven by instinct, not logic. The winds should have torn him apart, but instead, they welcomed him, wrapping around his form like threads of living light.
As he descended, the Elara met him. Not just with sight, but with feeling. It reached inside him, tugging at the magic buried in his blood. It resonated—wild, ancient, and oddly familiar.
Sitting within the heart of the well, Kaito closed his eyes. Breathed deeply.
His mind flowed back to his trainings with Moon.
"You are like me." Her words swirled in his mind. The touch he felt when she bestowed the teleportation ability onto him. That's where he felt this before!
Then, drawing the Elara inward, he let it flow through him.
And in one controlled exhale, he released it—spread it outward in a wave of calm.
The swirling colors slowed. The chaos dulled. The well, once roaring and wild, now shimmered with a gentle, pulsing glow.
With the well calmed the once might FooFoo was now just a small rabbit. He quickly scurried away.
Kaito then remembered the doctor and he ran over to them.
He runs over, seeing the doctors mask destroyed beside.... her?
The doctors face was that of a girl but it was different. Her nose looked like that of an animals, and her ears too weren't like his they were covered in fur.. and also, weren't even human she even had horns of a ram!
"Ram ears? Ram horns?" Kaito questions.
She had teal colored hair, and the tip of the white fur on her nose bridge. Was a pink nose.
The girl slowly wakes up. Her gaze falls on Kaito's confused face.
She notices her nose twitch around, and the air was touching her face. Quickly touching her face she realizes her face was no longer covered up.
She scrambles away from Kaito, like she was terrified of him. Kaito noticed her quick and heavy breaths, or face flushed with pure fear and anger. She hides herself from him, scared of how he'll react.
Kaito stands up and slowly approaches her his jaw dropped. She attempts to put on a brave face but she shakes. She cowers her head in terror.
Kaito's touch reaches her and it's stimulating and her ears twitch. He was..... petting her? She looks up from her arms and she sees Kaito is petting her ears smiling.
"This is so cool! I didn't know people could have animal ears and horns!" He shouts as he continues playing with her ears.
The soft fur in his hands felt amusing and couldn't help but giggle.
She didn't know how to react so she sat stunned as he played with her ears, but his reaction comforted her. Followed by his next words. "You're the coolest person I've ever seen!" Kaito says.
Her nose twitches and dances. As did her ears they raised from their down turned positions making Kaito laugh.
But she notices that the touch on her ears are much too stimulating. "Excuse me, but could you stop touching my ears... they're.... sensitive." She says softly.
"Oh i'm sorry." Kaito says as he switches to touching her horns instead.
She looks up at him and his face full of joy. "Ok, this human is not attempting to harm me." She calms herself.
Kaito In the middle of his fan petting spree he remembers. "I never introduced myself!" His sudden shouting startling her. "I'm Kaito." He says calmly.
She looks around, wondering what she should do. "I, uhm, am, uhm, Nanami." She introduces herself as well.
She begins shaking and sweating. "Uhm, what's your favorite color?" She asks. Kaito laughs, pulling himself from her horns. "It's forest green." He answers.