As the shadows rapidly began to dwindle due to the combined effort of the people gathered there, Luke quickly realized the abilities and controls of Xingtian. It was almost instinctual, ordering him to move around, and the name for certain attacks leaped to his mind with incredible ease, far easier than the word "Persona" had come to him. In a few minutes at most, the entirety of the shadows were decimated, dissipating into puddles of black goo or exploding in clouds of black dust, before disappearing in a matter of seconds. The scene itself was surreal.

The rabbit began another one of his tangents that Luke, as usual, ignored. All the running had tired him greatly, and swinging the heavy axe was no easier on him physically, even if the weapon felt natural in his hands. He'd simply ignore the rabbit and just copy what the group did - he had already given up the hope that this was a dream, and simply wanted to go back to his normal life as quickly as possible. 

It was only when most of the children had entered the tree that Luke finally realized what the hell was happening. As he quickly made his way to the tree, he spent several seconds looking for an entrance, before simply walking into what he thought was a solid mass.  

The area they had entered was dark, completely devoid of sound besides the sounds of the waves by the beach, and the labored breathing of Luke and the rest of the group. When the massive insect that was referred to as "the caterpillar" revealed himself, Luke was already readying his axe to slam into the creature's flesh - until it started speaking. Luke still held the axe in front of him, ready to strike or summon Xingtian at a moment's notice - the creature, while intelligent, was speaking incredibly loudly, and it's size alone was already intimidating to the tired Luke. 

As the Caterpillar described their mission, and the use of the trees, Luke realized the gravity of the situation - more than one kid has already died, and it was almost certain that more would follow. Luke was stronger than most kids his age, but he had never been in a life or death situation in his life - the closest he ever got was when a classmate pulled a knife on Luke in a fight. This was far, far worse by comparison, like trying to compare a slap to a bullet wound. Quickly, Luke called out, doing his best to hide his tired and scared mood with a deep voice.

[color=a36209]"H-hey, these 'World Trees' - Can we use them to get home? We're not really supposed to stay here until we find these key things, are we? What about our families!?"[/color] 

Luke couldn't help his voice from rising near the end as he grew angry - no, [i]pissed off[/i]. What about Luke's mom? What about all the caretakers at his home? Were they just going to find him in a coma or something? 

Luke's hand rested at his side now, but the hand gripping it was white from his strong grip. If he was lucky, these trees would be a way out of this horrible nightmare, a way to leave these people behind.