follow me to the dark side

North. The ethereal glow of the Portal greets him. At the outskirts, Seiji pauses. How long ago that now seems! The moment of his arrival, the first meeting with Kiada, Valkyrie eying him like a wolf. He is content to stand in memory for a time. Thinking: If I had never come... But he knew it would be dangerous. He knew his quest might end in failure. He was never content to be ruled by fear. He wonders how many others have fallen in without meaning to. How many are trapped here? Longing to go back? He recalls the sadness in Kiada's eyes that day in the cave, and slowly he moves forward. His footfalls are near silent on the forest floor, muffled by the black and silver greaves on his hind legs. A gift, he supposes, from the strange goddess with the antlers. He hasn't yet tried to remove them; he enjoys the ability to move on silent feet. And: they look nice. He is little more than shadow in this place: a narrow dark figure winding soundlessly through the trees. Pausing now and then to blink at the lights (they blink back). To breathe against the mist. It frightened him once, but now he only observes. The Rift has yet to harm him. Quite the opposite, actually. The small, glowing orb against his chest pulses softly now and again, as if to say: Have Hope. So he is no longer afraid. He is searching. For others. For himself. Finally, a noise catches his ears. Seiji's head swings up. He pauses between one step and the next, his body tense. There: something moving in the darkness, something almost as black as he. No moonlight cascades through the branches tonight; it must be cloudy. Mercifully, the rain has paused, but it might begin again at any moment. Seiji stands still for half a breath, considering. He wonders then if the stranger is afraid, as he once was. Lost. About to be soaked through. He moves in that direction. He is soundless: moreso now even than he was before. He tries to approach from the front. Several strides away, he kicks one hind hoof against the trunk of a tree, hoping the sharp noise will grab the stranger's attention. Then he pauses, waiting. Ears pricked. A dark, dark thing in the already-darkness of the Portal, only the necklace against his chest throwing out faint light.

img by Tildae @ flickr

@Ferro
ooc // Hope you don't mind me dropping in :)