Beginner's Luck: Liminal 2

Fluke was stunned with confusion, and his face must have made that apparent.

"It's rude kid. Unless you get permission. Do you let anyone come up and pat your head?" The rabbit raised a paw and smacked the boy between the eyes to assert his point. The rabbit retreated a step, cocked his head and then raised an eyebrow at the boy. Stunned into silence Fluke didn't know how to respond, just letting his jaw drop.

"Listen broski. I am here to help you with your new gift or whatever. Insight? Does that ring a bell??" The rabbit stopped hopping and began walking around as if he were a human, squinting into the distance. Fluke finally recovered and responded with an intelligent "Huh?"

"Listen kid... If you don't start asking good questions or even attempting to keep up with what I am telling you, this relationship isn't going to last long. Now when I tell you this next part, do not panic, do not get scared, or else you will wake up and everything we started will be for nothing... Got it?" The rabbit had stopped looking around to the darkness and emphasized his last question with a pointed paw. Fluke just slowly nodded, feeling his heart starting to pound, despite all the warnings.

"You are asleep." The rabbit lightly hopped on all fours back to the boy sitting in the sand. Putting a soft warm paw on the boy's chest, Fluke felt his heart calm down. The rabbit nodded and continued talking.

"Good. Now this world, is a place is known as Liminal. It is both real and a mental construct... Ehh If you don't know what that means, don't stress it. Just know: It's real. And you will see the effects of the Liminal in the real world. Now... You have something for me." The rabbit slowly leaned back and held out a paw to receive something. Fluke was confused again.

"If I am asleep, how could I have anything for you?" He began to pat himself down and felt something in his pocket. Reaching in, he felt the hard angular object, no bigger than some dice. Pulling it out, he realized it was the glowing yellow crystal he had retrieved from the dead Derboul. Placing the glowing stone into the rabbit's paw, the rabbit carried it a little way away from the boy and planted it into the soil. Light spread around the void and revealed that they were on a floating island. The rabbit came back to the boy and sat in front of him.

"Good kid. That glowing stone is known as a Lingot. Now that it is planted, this space in the Liminal will be permanent, for as long as you live.... Now. You may pet me to calm yourself, but I reserve the right to refuse your pats, AS I SEE FIT... Any questions?"

Fluke reached out and ran his hand down the back of the rabbit; the soft fur and warm creature seemed to calm him and ground him in the dream world.

"What's your name?" Fluke looked at the rabbit with bright blue eyes and stopped petting him. The rabbit turned his head back, twitching his ears, then grabbed Fluke's hand indicating he wanted more pets. When Fluke started petting again, the rabbit spoke.

"The name's Parche." At the simple revelation of the rabbit's name, Fluke felt like he suddenly knew a lot about his little companion.

"Lady Luck sent you... Are you the rabbit from my talisman?" The rabbit smoothed his ears back and stretched out and away from the boy's petting hand.

"That's right. AND she told me to tell you: 'Don't get greedy'. She said that you should use that as your guide in life and especially here in the Liminal." Parche hopped away and sniffed at the place he planted the Lingot. Fluke looked around and could see two vague outlines of other smaller islands at the edge of the shroud.

"What are those? Can we reach them?" Fluke said, pointing his hand across the void to the islands. Parche lifted his head and twitched his nose and whiskers before nodding.

"Those are additional patches. When you are ready, you will be able to harvest them."

Fluke looked around and felt as though he was becoming uncomfortable sitting in the sand. Standing he paced around the small floating island. The island was vaguely shaped like a rounded diamond, one end had a a dirt mound, which Fluke climbed and looked down on the rest of the "patch" in front of him. It reminded him of something, but he couldn't quite place it.

"Alright kid, come over here, we don't have all night." Parche stood, waving his paw, beckoning the boy to come over. Next to the rabbit a small glowing sprout was spiraling up out of the dirt. Fluke came and sat on the ground next to the small plant.

"My job is to be your guide. Before you can use Insight to the fullest potential, you will need to master yourself. In the real world, listen to your mentor, and train your physical body. In here, you will need to work on your mind and the energy that surrounds you." The rabbit curled up in the boy's lap and slapped his hands away as they came to pet him.

"Close your eyes. We will work on getting you to sense that energy and help you control it. Focus on your right hand... tell me what you feel when you focus on your right hand."

Fluke sitting with his legs crossed in the grass, flexed his fingers and then relaxed it.

"I feel a buzzing sensation. It's warm...?" Fluke almost opened his eyes, but Parche spoke before he did.

"Keep 'em closed. Now can you extend that feeling up the rest of your arm?" Parche hopped out from the boy's lap, letting Fluke focus on the sensations he was feeling. Fluke changed his focus slightly, feeling the mild electrical feeling move warmly and slowly up his arm. Fluke nodded keeping his eyes closed, and his focus now on his arm.

"Now... go to your left arm and do the same. Make the two energies meet in your heart. Tell me when you feel them meet." Parche's voice sounded distant, but no longer the gruff deep voice that he had been using to speak up until this point. His deep voice was gentler and more soothing. Fluke kept his eyes close and reached his senses down his left arm. Finding the buzzing energy again, he guided it up his arm slowly, a sensation of warmth rolling up his arm. When the two energies met, he felt a pulse go back and forth down his arms, and all of his upper body muscles relax.

"Okay. I feel it. What is this?" Fluke continued moving his focus with his eyes closed.

"What you feel is resonance. It exists here and in the real world. When you master it, your wounds will heal faster. Your body will recover stamina faster. Muscle memory will grow faster. This energy will empower you and protect you. With Insight, you will be able to guide and track your resonance. "