Even as he approached the Neverland while not actually being in it, the toxic Dust in the air was clinging to him, absorbed into his body on contact. It was a common phenomenon for Dust to still be swirling about in the wake of a Duststorm with the density in the air varying between the size of the Duststorm. However, with this massive Duststorm, the Dust was kicked up farther than before and in greater quantities.
This was of little concern for Julius since it wasn't adversely affected by the Dust but with such a high amount in the surrounding landscape, he could afford to splurge a little. Reaching behind him, he tightened the straps on his backpack and then loosened those on his shoulder as well as letting his belt out a notch. As soon as these small modifications were done, the change began.
His arms were the most obvious change, growing longer with his hands and nails became paws with sharp claws that could rip into flesh as easy as tilled earth. The muscles bulked considerably, his shoulders thickening with powerful cords that cinched his pack up tight again. They continued down his torso, the reason for loosening his belt obvious as muscles swelled around his waist and legs, the straps on both thigh and shin straining with the increased mass. He dropped to all fours and took off like a shot, less running and more bounding, each powerful kick launching him forward faster than running could have taken him. Even as the terrain changed around him from earth to rock to sand and back to earth, his claws found purchase, raking into even stone with a powerful grip.
The Hellcats from which he had borrowed this strength were some of the most misunderstood creatures. Living in some of the most inhospitable lands of sand, rock and heat, they were built for surving in the land and doing so well, able to clear a 100 ft gap in a single bound without a running start. Their claws were wickedly sharp as were the massive saber fangs that dropped from their upper jaw. They were such fearsome and intimidating beasts that it felt as though Julius were the only one to ever get to know them. In reality, they were big softies,with soft, fluffy fur and a love of scritches and someone who could play with them. Julius has spent quite a while with a clouder of them, exploring a nearby Neverland that spawned with towering spires that the Hellcat's and his own curiosity could not resist.
He entered the Neverland without fear, slowing down and looking around. What also gave him pause was the scent of other Ashen. Yet even as he could scent them, they were nowhere to be seen, despite how fresh the scents were. He padded along silently, keeping to the shadows as the scents headed towards the center. All of them seemed to be converging there.
Finding the point of convergence was easy. Understanding it was less so. A vaguely formed cloud of darkness was in the center of the crater, clinging to the very air. No matter the angle, it was always rectangular at its heart. Its appearance was unlike anything, yet there was no doubt that this was a "door". Its form was completely different to a door. There was no handle. There were no hinges. It simply stood in place, little more than a monolith of shadow, attached to nothing, with no right to lead to anywhere. And yet, it was a "door". That was the only conclusion that could be reached. It was not by trial-and-error that it was so. Calling it a "door" was not accurate simply because there was nothing else it could have been. In fact, it was rather the opposite. Upon merely observing it, Julius could easily conclude that it was a truer "door" than what he recognized a door to be.
The "door" did not react to his presence. It watched him patiently, waiting for him to step forward and open it.
The scents led Julius to the crater, his enhanced sight picking up the door easily. He sat on his haunches, his rear inches above the ground and twitching ever so slightly as once dormant muscles swished a nonexistant tail. Sitting there, he observed the door, scenting a new smell that approached the door and then vanished, all with neither sight or movement. Cocking his head in curiosity, he reached out and grabbed a nearby rock and tossed it towards the door. It skipped several times before stopping several feet before the door.
Still on all fours, he padded down towards the door and circled it, leaning in close to sniff it. It smelled unlike any door he had smelled before, lacking all scents except for Dust and what he could only describe as 'Nothing.' He went around it four times, scenting a new smell approach the door and vanish again, all in real time. Taking a seat on the featureless side that always seemed to face him, he got the sense that while he had been observing it, it had been observing him just as well, though not in so many senses but that strange 7th sense that felines tended to express.
There was no fear, no threat, no emotion at all radiating from the door. It was neither friend nor enemy; it was simply there. Yet it had a desire - it wanted Julius to open it. He circled it twice more, pondering what to do before he placed a paw on it and pushed it open.
The action of Julius entering did not occur. He opened the door, so he was inside. Inside what was another question entirely. Metal pillars towered onwards to the heavens, no end in sight. Or perhaps they were bars to an endless cage. Whichever it was didn't matter. The most important thing in the room was without a doubt the white-haired girl in less-than-modest Chinese dress, sporting what looked to be the ears and tails of a fox, standing opposite the beast that was Julius.
...Tails...?
"...Well," she said simply. "This is most definitely new."
She looked over his beastly form with two mildly inquisitive eyes of subtly different colour.
"I appreciate a good pastiche as much as the next girl, but I have to admit this wasn't what I'd had in mind when I was planning for a 'first impression'."
The stoic-looking, fox-eared girl muttered what sounded like a joke without any change in her expression, tone, or body language.
Julius was greeted by countless pillars of metal that stretched beyond his own magnifed sight. His gaze flowed over the scene before alighting on a white haired girl before him. He raised an eyebrow quizically, the scent before him not matching any of those that had entered the door before. He cocked his head at her surprise at having tails, as though not knowing you had tails was inane at best.
The word pastiche was one that he didn't know; it must have been outside the realm of science. But he could guess it had something to do with how either she or he looked.
"Then what did you have in mind?" he asked, his voice thrumming with a deeper melody than usual.
"Don't misunderstand," the girl said firmly. "I have no issue with the form you are in right now. Rather, wouldn't that just be another side to you, as expected?"
The words that came out of her mouth did not quite make a real sentence, as if she had only studied how to speak but had never had any experience. Likewise, once again, her total lack of body language and expression made her a little difficult to read.
"I suppose you're lost," she continued. "It's understandable. You're literally between worlds right now. Or rather, the opposite."
She was silent for a moment.
"You've noticed the Dust being drained from the Earth, I hope."
It was now clear that she had been referencing him and he looked down at his appearance and shrugged in response. It was the best answer to the grammatical gobbledegook she had said without being demeaning. He looked about the strange space, silently agreeing that he was effectively lost, not knowing where this extradimensional space, for that was what it had to be, was.
"I wasn't aware it was being drained," he said raising an eyebrow. "I've seen lower levels than expected in recent times, but so far, I thought it might be a simple fluctuation in the Dust. It's not like I've had decades to study it - a few years at best. But if it's being drained, where is it going?"
She was quiet for a few seconds. "It is being gathered here, at the heart of this labyrinth. You raise a valid point... That is entirely possible. I do not know enough about the long-term behaviour of the Dust. The Atwix may simply be a natural phenomenon," she guessed. "Though, I have no estimate as to just how much Dust this place will consume. As to what will happen afterwards, I am only mostly at a loss. I'm sure you can predict what will happen if the Dust runs out. Likewise, if an Ashen were to reach the heart of the Atwix, where the Dust is being gathered, the power they would gain would be immense, and all too easy to abuse. So clearly," the girl concluded stonily, "you were my obvious choice."
At the end of her diatribe, Julius couldn't help but be purring at the compliment.
"So you're looking for someone who won't abuse the power but would be able to regulate it's flow back into the environment to continue to sustain it. I guess I fit the bill well enough. But there's an obvious question that follows: who are you to choose me in the first place. Obviously someone in some sort of power to need a champion of sorts."
"I am Steel," she declared, as if it were a clear and sufficient answer to his question. "I am neither the metal, nor am I the quality. All that is 'steel' is me, and I am nothing that 'steel' is not. If you should accept my judgement, then all the steel of the world between shall be your weapon, your domain, and your throne in the world ahead, Julius Aspel."
The idea of an anthropomorphic concept wasn't foreign to him - it was an activity that occupied the mind and kept the imagination in shape. He hadn't expected for Steel to be a fox-thing or for Steel to be female. Or at least not obviously female. In his mind, Steel was androgynous, since it was molten steel in the vaguest shape of a human, with massive oversized gauntlets and greaves.
'Why do I feel like I'm making a deal with the devil,' he thought to himself, not quite realizing where the phrase came from.
"Sure, I'll be your champion."
"Then, it is sealed," Steel nodded, expressionless.
At first, nothing happened. Then the girl gritted her teeth all of a sudden, staggering, losing her balance for no perceivable reason, barely caging a cry of pain.
"Even this..." she whispered. "It really is true. Just this alone has taken so much. I'm surprised."
She didn't look surprised at all.
"At any rate, we are now bound in soul. I am confident I can satisfy your inevitable needs for power."
She didn't look confident at all.
"Now that has been successful, if you would be so kind as to follow, and I shall guide you to the Atwix."
She turned, and took a single step.
Her left leg gave out, and she dropped to the floor, staring at it.
"O-oh. How unfortunate."
Sealed. Now that sounded ominous. And as could be expected when something ominous is said, something comes to fulfill that feeling. Steel was sent reeling by some unseen force, Julius' enhanced senses picking up the barest vestige of a pained cry. He was up on four legs and bounding over to her but she regained her balance before he made it.
"Inevitable need for power? You make me sound like a mad monarch. I'm not that bad."
About to follow after her, she stumbled to one knee, though this time Julius was at her side.
"That's usually not something that's supposed to happen. If you don't think you can walk it, you can always ride it. I promise I don't bite. Much."
He gave a fanged grin.
She responded with an objective stare.
"Thank you," she said. "Then, please excuse me."
Clutching onto his enhanced, beastlike form, she hauled herself onto him with shaky limbs and poor grip.
"Well then... It should be directly ahead. Another door, much like the entrance, will take you into the Atwix itself. Prepare yourself," she warned. "There may be things inside unlike anything you have ever seen. You must mentally brace yourself."
She pointed ahead, and Julius's enhanced eyes could make out another Dust-door in the distance. It too, seemed to sing, but only a little, as if the song was just about ending.
"How quaint. It must be almost dawn," mused Steel offhandedly.
For all her talk of being steel, she had a grip like gelatin. With a slight smirk, he padded towards the door, taking care so she didn't fall off. The smirk widened as she warned him about unimaginable sights.
"I've read Lovecraft - I'll be fine. It's not like I can't do the tentacle thing myself."
Following her direction, he headed towards the door.
"So that means this place has a time dilation field to it. Interesting. But, also interesting, how do you know it's dawn?"
"They only sing at night," Steel said simply. "The Atwix has its own sun and stars, so it should be a given that it has its own day and night. The place itself is not unthinkable as such, but it may well be a little different to what you are used to."
"Considering the teleporting doors, you, and the fact that this Atwix thing exists... Yeah, I'd say it's different. For that matter... what's going to happen when you go through that door? Are you still going to be here? You said you were everything that is steel - you're a concept anthropomorphized. Is that only the case in the Atwix, or..."
He let the end of the sentence trail off, the unspoken ending that Steel may cease to exist as soon as she was outside the Atwix hanging.
"That is what the binding is for," Steel explained. "So long as you can exist, so can I, and vice versa. It will save you from what's ahead, at least partially."
With that, the door opened, and the world revealed itself.