Scene 4: Deep within the Conciousness

Deep down in Neklous's consciousness, A red-headed Ookami stood beside a campfire in the midst of a forest covered in snow.

This Ookami was none other than Neklous Endore and he sat around the campfire blowing his breath into his hands as the campfire warmed him.

Neklous knew this wasn't reality as the real snowy peak where his real body was on looked similar yet was different in many aspects. Unlike the snowy peak in the real world, this one was filled with complete and utter silence while being devoid of any life. This was simply a fragment world that was part of his imagination or even a distorted memory his brain had put together to cope with what was happening.

"Why are you here..." A deep voice said; resounding throughout the snow forest causing the trees to shake and the snow to fall off of some.

Without even turning his head Neklous continued to warm himself near the campfire and simply responded with

"To find the root of my obsession, to find my purpose.. my dao.. "

"I want to know why I am putting myself through so much trouble to find something I am not sure exist.. to touch something I don't completely understand. "

"So you seek power?" The voice resounded once again.

"No, I care not for strength or power.. both are nothing more than unnecessary  burdens. The more strength you have the more troubles that are bought your way. "

"So what is it that you seek?" The voice resounded once again.

"I seek to manifest what I cherish the most, what I hold dear."

"Then what is it you cherish?" The voice asked once more.

"I don't know" Neklous said firmly as he turned away from the campfire and looked behind him towards the being speaking to him. To his surprise what was speaking to him was not a mirror image of himself but a giant dire wolf with piercing red eyes. It looked at him with the utmost savagery as if it could see his every move and tear him to pieces at any moment.

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Neklous had to be careful as he didn't have complete control of the situation. For trying to touch upon one of the laws of the universe and its concepts, he had allowed heaven's will into his consciousness. The wolf was partly him but mostly it was made up of heaven's will. This will was sent to test of his worthiness and his resolve.

If heaven's will had considered him unworthy, it could fully take control of the wolf and tear Neklous to piece then and there. This would not kill Neklous but it would definitely injure his cultivation and even his soul.

"I don't know.." Neklous said once more as a bitter sadness overtook him. His heart ached as he couldn't figure out what was his purpose or what he wanted in life. Neklous was a bland person with doll blue distant eyes. All he ever did most of his life was nap and move with the motion of life. He never really liked power as it was always talked about and praised in the Endore family. He felt a person's power didn't measure their value.

"I don't know..." He said once again causing a tear to escape from his cheek and fall down into the fragment world beneath him. The ground was like water as when the tear hit it, a small vibration was sent out causing the world to darken to blackness.

"Where are we little Neklous?" The voice of the wolf asked as the world slowly began to regain color.

First the thing to regain its color was the sky. It was dark purple in color with countless stars imbedded within it and a full moon mounted upon her glory just above them.

The next thing that revealed itself was a dark forest filled pine trees and torches that lit of the pathways in them.

Marching noises could be heard as a group of Viking-like people who were dressed in furs gathered into a dimly lit long house while carrying a human body wrapped in cloths.

"This seems to be a child hood memory. This place is the Ancestor hall where my family.. the Endore family goes to say their final goodbyes to the dead and send them off to join the Endore Ancestors. "

Towards the backend of the Long house a door opened to where a young red headed boy was thrown out. As soon as the boy got up from being thrown, he was bashed in the face and knocked right back down.

"You've had a hard life" The giant dire wolf said.

"Everyone has a hard life sometime or another. This is nothing. I am being punished for crying for the dead. The person who died was a dear uncle of mine who mentored me since young. In the Endore household, it is a taboo to cry for the dead. We must honor them by only remembering their achievements in this life then burn their bodies so that they pass on and join our other ancestors."

Speaking once more Neklous said "In every moment a choice exists. We can cling to the past or embrace the inevitability of change and allow a bright future to unfold before us. "