Soul Blossom
In a beautiful forest, a snow-white Little Fox hummed a lullaby as she walked through this forest of souls. Her fur stood out against the dense green forest, and she hummed a lullaby, but none of the surrounding souls paid any attention to her.
Ahri tiptoed to a pond, a stone dangling from her mouth, and whined as she wiggled her little bottom. She slapped the ground with her big tail, lowered her head to put down the stone, and then raised her head and shouted:
"Sheep~ sheep!"
"Come out quickly, I need to talk to you."
"Sheep, are you there? Ahri is here to see you!"
Ahri called out a name loudly, and then a long white shadow appeared, howling around Ahri —it was the howl of a wolf.
The white shadow circled Ahri a large distance, excitedly shouting, "Ahri Fox? Wow, what brings you here?"
"I'm looking for a sheep, not you, wolf." Ahri rolled her eyes when she saw the long white figure.
Before them stood a creature formed from clouds and mist, its body slender and elongated, its head a ferocious wolf's face. Hearing Ahri's words, the wolf's face showed a hint of grievance, and it said, "Why? Fox, didn't we have a lot of fun before?"
"If you mean you were laughing at the fact that you bit off a piece of fur from my tail, then you certainly had a lot of fun." The Little Fox bared its teeth at the wolf, while shouting, "Alright, let the sheep out now, I have something important to tell her."
"She's right next to me." The wolf winked and said with a grin, "Wherever the lamb goes, the wolf follows. I'm never separated from the lamb, well, sometimes we are, but I'll go find her."
"Alright, wolf." A clear voice rang out, and a figure appeared in front of Ahri. Blue hair cascaded down her back like a waterfall. She wore a white animal coat with two neat blue braids extending to her chest in front of the warm-looking collar. She had curved ram horns on her forehead, with a yellow flower-shaped ornament pinned to them.
With his hands placed in front of him, he held a crystal longbow, and his face was covered by a white mask. He was quietly watching Ahri.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Fox. I'm currently searching for my lost memories with the wolf. What brings you here?"
"Still searching for memories? How long have you and the wolf been looking? Still haven't found it?" Ahri muttered, then wagged her tail, opened her mouth to bite a stone, and walked over to the sheep. She flew up and spat the stone into the sheep's palm, saying, "Take a look at this soul for me."
"This is..." The sheep lowered its head, looking at the glittering stone. A hint of helplessness flashed in its eyes beneath the white mask. It said, "This shouldn't be a soul of this world. Fox, where did you find this soul? It should be in the underworld, not in the Soul Blossom."
"I went to the outside world," Ahri said with a smile.
"The outside world?" The sheep was taken aback. The wolf, which had been circling the sheep, stopped too. A look of terror crossed the wolf's face, and it shrieked loudly, "What? Fox, you said you went to the outside world?"
"How did you do that? Can you take me and the sheep out with you?"
"No, he exploded in the short time I was gone," Ahri said, shaking her head.
"So... this soul took you to the outside world? How did it do that?" the sheep asked, puzzled.
These powerful spirits are not allowed to go to the outside world.
There are also souls within the Soul Blossom who cannot let go of their obsessions and, relying on their powerful spirits, venture into the outside world. However, the Deity who are the source of power for the Soul Blossom cannot do so.
Because this world won't allow it.
Ahri was among them. As the Spirit of Salvation, her mission in the Soul Blossom world was paramount. The Soul Blossom would not allow such a thing to happen, but Ahri went out anyway!
"Li Ke, this soul belongs to Li Ke. Anyway, he's the one who took me out. I was just trying it out, but I didn't expect him to actually do it."
"So, Fox, you killed him?" the sheep said softly, its gentle voice turning cold, while the wolf beside it let out a threatening howl, its eyes turning fierce as it looked at Ahri.
"No, I'm helping him, helping him! Okay? This is his request," Ahri quickly explained.
She can fight wolves and sheep, but there's no need for her to fight.
They're all sisters of the Kanmei; if they're going to fight, they should go after the Akana faction. What kind of nonsense is it for them to fight each other?
Ahri continued, "I came to you so you could help him regenerate his soul. I'm not very good at this kind of thing, but you are, aren't you?"
"But why should I help you? This soul doesn't belong to the Soul Blossom. Forcibly incubating and forcing its growth, won't that bring us disaster?" the sheep said.
Ahri snorted and with a "bang," transformed into human form.
With an elegant raise of her hand, her flowing sleeves danced past the sheep, and a scene appeared before the wolf and the sheep.
The sheep and the wolf watched silently, and then the wolf howled first.
"Wow, I like this guy! He's a good person, sheep, you should be the one to judge him!"
"He actually sacrificed himself for others! Sheep, the Fox deceived him! Shoot the arrow!"
"I didn't lie to him! He did die in that world. As for how I could protect his soul and bring him to the Soul Blossom world to be resurrected, I just didn't tell him."
"Fox, you're so wicked!" the wolf said with a grin, then continued, "You did it on purpose. You wanted to see what choice he would make when faced with death. If you had just told him directly, he wouldn't have been so afraid and worried. Look, he's even crying."
The sheep watched the scene silently until the giant white fox devoured everything and the scene disappeared.
She gripped the soul stone in her hand. The soul stone emitted a faint coolness. She calmed herself, reached out and lifted her mask slightly, revealing a glimpse of her round face. Then, she held the stone up and pressed it against her round chin.
"The sheep is serious!!!" the wolf shouted.
Ahri also looked at the sheep excitedly.
The wolf and the sheep are the Deity in the Soul Blossom world who hold the power of life and death over souls. They have the right to eliminate souls without being blamed by Soul Blossom. Therefore, whether a soul is born or dies must be approved by the wolf and the sheep in Soul Blossom.
And now, the sheep is doing just that; she's judging whether Li Ke's soul is worth saving.
After a moment, the sheep took out a stone, pressed it down on the mask, and whispered, "I understand, Fox."
"I will help you. I will bring this soul back to life. However, your power has torn his soul too badly; I need some time to repair it."
The sheep said to Ahri.
Ahri nodded vigorously and said with a grin, "It's good that you can help. Time is no problem."
"Then, Yang, I'm entrusting Li Ke to you. You must save him. He's my good friend, and if you save him, he can bring things back for you from the outside world."
After saying that, Ahri transformed into Little Fox and disappeared in a flash.
The sheep and wolves were left behind.
"You really want to save him, sheep?"
"His soul is pure and clean, a rare find. If Thresh finds out, he'll do anything to take him. Besides, don't you like him too?" A smile played on his lips beneath the sheep mask as he spoke softly.
"The way I like a soul is to devour it," said the wolf.
The sheep shook its head, not allowing the wolf to do so.
"Can't."
"Wolf, you can't."
"I think he can help us find our missing memories."
"Besides, I really do want to read. I've already finished the book the Fox brought me last time."
The sheep spoke softly, put the stone in her bosom, and walked toward the center of the forest.
"Let's go, wolf, we need to get to work."
"Okay, sheep, let's go together~" The wolf quickly caught up with the sheep, sticking close to her. Its dark eyes darted around, and wisps of cloud seemed to drip from its terrifyingly gaping Kog'Maw, as if it were drooling.
His gaze settled on the sheep's chest.
There, the Soul Stone shines.
That sound... it's so beautiful, so delightful!
The wolf was lost in thought.
"Ouch!"
Suddenly, a bow struck the wolf on the head, and the wolf looked at the sheep with a wronged expression.
The eyes beneath the sheep mask looked at it earnestly and said, "Wolf, I said, you can't."
"I know, I assure you, I just want to take a look."
"That's what the wolf replied."
A sheep and a wolf walked on the lake. When they reached the very center, the sheep took out the Soul Stone and placed it in the middle of the clear lake.
Then, the sheep sat cross-legged and quietly guarded the Soul Stone.
A bluish-white light appeared on the sheep's back, while a jet-black light appeared on the wolf's body.
The black and white rays of light then intertwined and merged together, drilling into the soul stone and imprinting themselves onto the small soul stone.
"Now, it's just a matter of time, and also his will to survive."
"Sheep, I can't stay long," the wolf said to the sheep. "I'm afraid of getting bored."
"No, wolf."
"It will only take ten years."