{"sf1_id":725069,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Beacon \u0026 Nightshade Meet","author":"Niniju","words":1273,"posted_at":"2014-07-02T04:25:00.000Z","tags":["Arctic Fox","Fox","Ghoul","Ghouls","Niniju","Wolf","dungeon","zombie","zombies"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/725069-beacon-nightshade-meet","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/725069","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=725069\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"Beacon rushed through the hallways of the dungeon he found\nhimself in. He had a Raylight Arrow resting on his Bow of Hope, ready to be\ndrawn at a moment's notice. He wasn't the subtlest, but he knew how to stay out\nof sight if he wished. He drew the arrow as he approached a corner, tentatively\npeeking around it to check for threats. He saw a Ghoul and shot it. The evil\ninside the demon-possessed corpse was too great, so the arrow's light ate the\nflesh and bone, leaving nothing left.That must've been the hundredth Ghoul he'd banished in this\nplace alone. He wondered how much further he needed to go. He checked his\nQuiver, seeing that he had the Light Energy for twenty more Arrows. Seeing how\nmuch Energy it took to kill some Demons, he feared he had much, much less.\nBeacon continued, approaching a puzzle of sorts. The fox swore. He was\nsurrounded by darkness as it is, and he wasn't very good at puzzles to begin\nwith. How was he supposed to do this?He took a deep breath, he knew he needed to solve it to activate\nthe mechanism in the door, which had no handle or lock. He couldn't even pick\nlocks. He sat down to take a deep breath. He really needed some Sunlight. It\ngave him the Energy to keep going and power his Abilities. He then heard a\nvoice identical to his own pierce the silence.\"Need a hand?\" the voice echoed through the hall. The fox\nlooked around, confused.\"Huh?\" he asked aloud, \"Who's there?\"\"It's me, Beacon, your opposite.\" The voice answered.\"My opposite?\" the fox mused, \"Wait, you're Nightshade?\"\"Indeed I am. Words cannot describe how elated I am to\nfinally meet you.\" The voice said, no longer seeming to echo through the entire\ndungeon.\"Where are you?\" Beacon asked, quietly, \"And keep your voice\ndown, who knows what's lurking out there that I've not banished.\"\"You mean demons? I've been haunted by those long enough to\nknow their presence, and there aren't any that can hear me.\" Nightshade said.\nBeacon looked forward to see a portal to a city-covered landscape. A jet black\nwolf looked back at him with a childishly pleading look, crouching in the frame\nof the rift. A look that only Beacon knew. The fox motioned with his hand and\nthe wolf stood from where he was stooped and walking over to the fox and\ncollapsed beside Beacon. They were dressed similarly: hoodie, jeans, no shoes,\nand an amulet around their necks. The only differences: Nightshade's hoodie had\nno sleeves and was black with purple smoke designs on it, where Beacon's was\nshort sleeved, white, and had a golden zipper and golden threaded strings.\nTheir amulets were different as well. Beacon's was a golden cross made of a\npale yellow gold on a white gold chain that shone with a light of its own. It\nwas artificial, so Beacon gained no Energy Benefit from it. Nightshade's was an\nebony chain with dark amethyst octahedrons with a stretched height, five of\nthem, decreasing in size as they went away from the center. The chain absorbed\nlight and the gems glowed an extremely dim purple light.\"Is there Sunlight in your world?\" Beacon asked, beginning\nto breathe heavily.\"The sun's gone Dark in my Dimension,\" Nightshade replied,\n\"The portal's closed, anyway.\"\"I need Sunlight so badly,\" Beacon complained, \"I'm getting\ntired.\"\"You run off Sunlight?\"Beacon took a couple deep breaths, attempting to keep awake,\n\"It fuels my consciousness. It's one of the drawbacks of harnessing the Power\nof the Sun.\"\"I'm fueled by fear.\" Nightshade said simply, \"I'm not proud\nof it, but, being raised in darkness, I've learned to use what I have and take what\nI don't.\"What about your parents? Mine are dead, killed by the mafia\nthey worked for.\" Nightshade said, an obvious distaste in his tone, \"I was\nforced to watch, the mob boss assuming I posed no threat. I inherited, from\nthat, a permanent childish behavior and a desire for a family. I also grew\nvengeful, taking vengeance on my parents and not stopping there. Every time I\nsaw injustice, I took it upon myself to right it. Though no one but my victims,\nwho were quickly deemed insane, ever saw me as this,\" Nightshade motioned to\nhimself, \"I quickly became known as Shadow Karma: the black wolf that haunts\nthe wicked. Crime rate went down, with me having no trouble corrupting the\nminds of mob bosses, thieves, murderers, serial killers. Soon I found that people\nposted as many criminal activities as they could and as publically as possible.\nMy victims became less satisfying in the sense that they just cried in a\ncorner. I never came into the light or touched them, they learned their lesson,\nand I got my fix of fear. I heard your silent cries for help about a week ago.\"\nNightshade suddenly switching topics grabbed Beacon's renewed attention, where\nhe'd been debating whether or not to stay near this freak.\"That's when I'd almost died in a necromancer's cave.\" Beacon\nrealized after some thought, \"I'd survived from a sudden barrage of Sunlight\nstreamed in from a Rift in the ceiling of the cave.\" Beacon thought for a\nsecond, \"That was you?\"\"Legend has it in my dimension that there is a Mirror World,\na world opposite to ours, facing us like a reflection.\" Nightshade looked at\nthe wall from which he'd appeared, \"Dimensions between these, well, dimensions,\nhave no relation. Like what you've just seen, I was high up on the\nthree-hundredth floor of a skyscraper, and here you are underground.\"\nNightshade looked with pity at Beacon, \"I feel your fear. Why are you afraid?\nI'm not going to hurt you. I've saved your life before, you know.\" The ceiling\nof the tunnel Rippled like a lake's surface disturbed by a thrown stone, and\nLight poured through, bathing the fox in a yellow Glow. The fox's Quiver\nrefilled itself with Arrows. When the Light faded, the fox sat there, basking\nin what seemed to be pleasure.\"That feels so much better.\" \nBeacon said, his breathing becoming steadier. He got up, refilled with\nenough Energy to keep going. Nightshade stood as well.\"As I was saying,\" the wolf continued, \"there are, it turns\nout, countless dimensions. Ten of them are in a special formation, allowing\nthem to feed off one another and become sort of Gemini Dimensions. I call these\ndimensions the Apocodims, ten dimensions so dependent on one another that one\ndisruption can cause a collapse. Such a disruption has occurred recently,\nallowing me to talk to you. The Apocodims have bled together, with key\ndoppelgangers having conversations and apocalypses breaking out. Heatstroke,\nanother of our Aura Signature, is in danger. He and Frostbite, Heatstroke's\nopposite, are trapped in the Dimension of Heat, and are about to witness that\ndimension's downfall. This is what lies at the end of this tunnel: a scene of\nruin and of loneliness. Is that motivation enough for you?\"Beacon sighed, \"This door's encryption was motivation\nenough. 'For those who enter that have good intentions, all they will see are\nthe negative results.' I intend to make that false.\" Beacon took an Arrow out\nof his Quiver and stabbed it into a chink in the door, causing a network of\nLight to crawl over the door. Nightshade did the same on the opposite side of\nthe door, except using his Dagger of Fear and causing purple Energy to mirror\nthe Light. The door slid open, revealing a Portal leading to a fiery world.\"Are you ready?\" Nightshade asked the fox. Beacon's response\nwas a nod and jumping into the portal. Nightshade followed..."}