The pain was excruciating, but Kuro held on tightly to the crystal, determined to see this through, no matter what. As the burning sensation coursed through his veins, it felt as if his very soul was being exposed to the scorching touch of an inferno.
Tears filled his eyes, but he held on, gritting his teeth against the pain. After what felt like an eternity, the liquid crystal on his palm finally stopped flowing.
A chilly breeze filled Kuro's lungs as he took a sharp intake of breath. The warm air instantly condensed into a mist in the cold surroundings. He struggled to keep his eyes open against the intense glare of the afternoon sunlight, which danced brilliantly upon his skin.
Kuro ached to stand up, his mind brimming with anticipation. Despite the pain he had endured, he hoped for something extraordinary, something worthy of the sacrifice.
Kuro's conscious faded slowly, his thoughts becoming more abstract and detached from his physicality. He was no longer a boy sitting on the dirt, but a storm.
Each moment stretched further, his thoughts a whirlwind of sensation and emotion. He was the rain, the wind, and every bolt of lightning. He felt as if his very essence was expanding, becoming one with the elements.
The line between him and the storm gradually disappeared. The damp, seafloor beneath him gave way to hard dirt. The soft wind against his skin turned into a fierce gust. The smell of the woodland gave way to the aroma of ozone and rain. The stinging, bitter taste of raindrops submerged Kuro's lips. He could feel the drops of rain hitting his skin, both wet and chilly.
The gusts increased, causing his body to sway. His body was flooded with the storm, every nerve awake.He was more afraid—more afraid than when he had ever been in the many times he believed death would envelop him in its embrace.
Kuro's sights moved to a minimal, fragile boat in the horizon in the heart of the storm. Blown aside like a plaything by the storm's ferocious grip, the ship battled tenaciously against the vicious seas.
In the center of the boat was a young child who was bearing down on the railing with gritted teeth as he fought the incoming waves.
Together with the small but sturdy ship to shield him, the child endured the weather.Kuro's eyes raced to a little, flimsy boat in the distance in the middle of the storm. Cast aside like a plaything by the storm's ferocious grip, the ship battled bravely against the ruthless seas. In the middle of the boat was a small boy who was bearing down on the railing with gritted teeth as he fought the assault.
Kuro's own heart ached, a yearning to halt the storm, to grant the child a safe refuge. Yet, his efforts were in vain. The tempest was an unstoppable force, its fury too great to be subdued. With a heavy sense of helplessness.
Kuro could do nothing but watch as the storm continued to ravage the boat and the boy within.
The storm's barrage of rain intensified, a relentless onslaught of icy, biting droplets. It felt as if the entire tempest was waging war against the boy, pummeling his face with freezing blades of water.
Kuro fought to control the raging storm within himself, but the tempest's fury was unyielding, its wrath too great for his efforts.
In the distance, the small boat groaned and succumbed to the tempest's fury, collapsing like a fragile toy beneath the storm's might. The boy, ensnared within the vessel's demise, was swallowed by the tempest's churning depths.
Kuro felt the overwhelming taste of salty seawater in the back of his throat, as if he himself were drowning in the storm. The sound of the boy gasping for breath reverberated within his mind, a desperate symphony that pierced his heart like barbed wire.
Kuro's connection to the boy was so profound that every sensation the boy experienced, Kuro felt in his own being. The cold, relentless grip of the water around the boy's body was like a ghostly hold on Kuro's own soul, an unbearable weight that pulled him deeper into the tempest.
This indescribable feeling continued to for what felt like entirnety, until, there was nothing.