Chapter Text
"No, Fushi. Everyone is kind."
Having removed his gloves and set them on a nearby table, the white-haired boy dipped his finger into a cup of dark ink, drawing the last few faces upon the wooden wall. They were all faces belonging to his friends and people he met along the way, though he had to admit they weren't very good portraits.
"Yeesh..." He mumbled. A soft sigh, filled with fondness, escaped his lips.
"They all really did run off after 300 years..."
He took a step back. "But... It was a blast."
Not bothering to wipe the ink from his finger or place down the cup, he settled into a familiar chair, admiring his work.
The first boy he has met when he came into this world and his pet wolf, Joaan were circled. The boy had drawn those himself, but Fushi had done the rest. He had simply decided to finish what the boy had started. It only felt fair.
Gugu, Shin, Rean, Tonari, Mia, Uroy, Sandel, Oopa...
He had even drawn Kahaku and Mizuha. Despite everything they had done, Fushi still considered them his friends. They had both been manipulated by that Nokker. In truth, he could say the same for every descendant of Hayase, but those two were different.
Kahaku had thrown himself into a pot of molten iron in a desperate attempt to destroy the Nokker in his arm, the one that has been tormenting Fushi over generations.
Mizuha's feelings had been manipulated and twisted until made she believed she was in love with him.
As for the others... they honestly weren't very memorable. That was the reason why the immortal hadn't drawn them. He hadn't drawn Hayase either. Even now, he despised her for everything she had put him through. She had been the catalyst of so much of his and his friends suffering. He still hasn't forgiven her.
With another sigh, he rose from his seat, setting the cup down on the table in front of him before pulling a handkerchief kept in from his pocket to wipe the ink from his fingers. Once they were clean, he slipped his gloves back on.
Hia gaze drifted towards the door and then at the pack basket resting on the floor. He'd been putting this off for a while, isolating himself as he had years ago.
Bad habits die hard.
Pushing the door open, Fushi skipped outside, snow crunching beneath his boots.
"Now then..."
He took a few more steps forward, a smile spreading across his face.
"It's the beginning of a new journey!"
Coming to a stop, Fushi looked back one last time at the place he called home these past years. He had recreated everything down to the last detail, it filled him with nostalgia...
For a moment, his green eyes shifted into a pinkish-purple.
"I'm home."
With that, he continued on his way, trudging through the snow with a satisfied smile on his face. The sun had risen only an hour earlier. It was the perfect time to start his new journey.
Then, a sharp pain shot through his body, and suddenly feeling disoriented, his footing faltered...
Fushi blinked. Overwhelmed by the sudden brightness, he winced and rubbed at his eyes.
"Ow."
Once his vision settled, he glanced around at his surroundings. The sun hovered high in the sky. People walked around with bright, colorful hair, animal ears, and carriages were being drawn by... Large lizards? The architecture was reminiscent of the Renril, making him briefly wonder if he had somehow been sent to the past. However, Renril never had such wide, colorful, crowded streets, nor had its people possessed such strange physical features.
"Where... Where am I?" He muttered to himself.
This was not the snowy tundra he was just in moments ago.
The white haired immortal stood there in silence, hands tightly grasping the straps of his pack basket, no one seemed particularly bothered by his presence. A few curious glances were cast his way, as his clothing was clearly fit for colder climates, but they quickly returned to whatever they had been doing.
Where could he be? How did he get here? Wasn't he just...? He shook his head, smacking both of his cheeks to regain his composure, which only drew more attention to himself.
Time to investigate!
Taking cautious steps forward, Fushi listened closely to the people around him. They seemed to speak the same language he did, but whenever his gaze drifted to the signs hanging above shops and food stands, he couldn't make sense of a single word.
He's never encountered such writing. After living thousands of years, he had taken it upon himself to learn as many languages as he could. Which was why it was so strange that he couldn't read a single thing. Then perhaps, could he be in another country he hadn't visited?
Continuing through the bustling streets, Fushi soon began to feel the heat of his layered clothing. Sweat gathered on his back, soaking into the fabric of his shirt. Eventually, he stopped to remove the brown fur cloak from his shoulders, folding it neatly into the woven pack basket strapped to his back. The pack basket held several changes of clothes, but no food. There was no need, he had the ability to just replicate any kind of sustenance he required.
For nearly half an hour, Fushi wandered without any particular destination, gazing curiously at the unfamiliar people and food around him.
Finding shade beneath the eaves of a nearby building, he came to a stop.
His right arm lowered, the rope tied loosely around his right wrist stirred to life, slipping between the cracks in the stone bricks as it searched for the roots he had previously spread through the world.
When he was met with nothing, he stared incredulously at the ground as if it could give him answers.
"Hm... Well, that can't be right."
Fushi created new roots and spread them deeper, hoping to find something.
Again, nothing.
His brow furrowed. For hundreds of years, he had spread his roots, they weren't easy to get rid of. Each time someone cut into them they would just grow back.
Which left two possibilities. Either someone had found a way to get rid of them, or this was new land he had somehow never encountered.
Yet that was impossible, Fushi had spent a good portion of his existence diligently spreading, invading every untouched crevice in the earth.
Silence settled over him once more..
Then, with a small smile, he sighed.
"So this is where my new journey begins... In another world!"