Kahaku and Bon rode out to find Fushi when the battle was over; Fushi was badly injured. He had previously made a list of names of all the forms he has, and by reading them with Bon, Fushi was able to narrow down the friends he’d lost to the Nokkers. Fushi no longer remembers Uroy, Gugu, Shin, Parona, and Ligard. The Nokker in Kahaku’s arm offers the location of the other Nokker who stole Fushi’s forms. It’s hidden away in a swamp, and Fushi does not hesitate to go and hunt it down, but the difficult terrain of the swamp gives the Nokker a great advantage. With the Nokker attacking from under the mud, Fushi loses more forms and would have been reduced completely if not for a white horse crashing into the swamp and carrying him away. After crashing into a forest, the Beholder explains that this horse was made by him by using some of Fushi’s body. It has a small vein of immortality like Fushi, and the Beholder was basically keeping it on the back burner for a rainy day.
Fushi Losing a Form
Fushi asks him how that’s possible and demands to be taught how to do that himself. The Beholder explains that Fushi is connected to anything he creates, which includes inorganic material. There is a small membrane that adheres to his physical body and the clothes he wears, making all of it essentially him. If Fushi is able to keep that connection to larger things, like a ship, he would be aware of all things that were not him interacting with it. This would ensure that he could attack from various locations because he would technically be everywhere.
Fushi thinks this over as he and the horse start playing a bit in the water. Fushi feels things less through water, but he can make branches and rocks. He can’t make a whole swamp yet, but while watching the horse scoop fish out of the water, Fushi gets an idea. He returns to the Nokker and starts creating trees under the mud, making them grow up and out, trapping the Nokker in their branches. Sense the trees are still part of Fushi, he concentrates and makes a sword blade burst out of the bark and kills it.
Fushi’s New Fushi Horse
Kahaku and Bon once again catch up with Fushi, who then yells at the Nokker in Kahaku’s arm for misleading him. The Nokker he just killed did not restore all of his forms; that one was still alive and free. The Nokker, using Kakahu to write in the dirt, also claimed to be tricked, but that’s when another Nokker attacks. This time, Kahaku is able to defeat it along with his left arm, easily killing the thing. His Nokker then starts writing in the dirt again, claiming that the Nokkers plan to attack the city of Renril in one year and hope to see Fushi there. If Fushi doesn’t show up, they will kill Kahaku and his traitor of a Nokker.
Bon explains that Renril is the largest city on the entire continent, and an evacuation would not be possible. He says that Uralis will send troops and support, but they can’t do anything now but prepare. Fushi must learn to strengthen his powers, and Fushi agrees to focus on making larger items. Bon lets slip through this discussion that the ghosts of the people Fushi has forgotten are yelling at him to help Fushi. As Bon promises to help in any way he can, the audience can see the ghost of Gugu sitting by Fushi, listening.
Bon Making a Promise to Fushi & Gugu
Luckily, there is an abandoned Uralis settlement nearby that would be the perfect place for Fushi to practise. There’s a beached ship at the shore, and Fushi bids Bon and Kahaku goodbye. Those two are returning to Uralis castle to gather supporters and train a bit on their own. As Fushi settles in at his now residence, we see the ghosts of Tonari, March, Gugu, Ligard, and the white bear sitting beside him with his horse.
It has been a while sense we’ve seen Fushi lose one of his forms, but it doesn’t make it hurt any less. Even the image of the wood carved wall bearing the faces of all of Fushi’s friends end up losing those that the Nokkers have taken. It really drives home how lost they are until Fushi can defeat that Nokker. It looks like he might be without these forms, the memories, for a year, too.
