follow me to the dark side

Seiji's optimism is short-lived. He waits eagerly for a response, but it seems his initial understanding of this Ferro's personality was correct. Ferro is a bit ..... dim. Seiji stills under the large stallion's gaze, one ear tilting back. Play with cows, he thinks, and snorts. If Luta were here.... But Luta was(is) everything — everything this stallion is not. How unfortunate they share only a common lilt to their tongues. But then, everything in this place is unfortunate. Seiji mustn't forget where he is. He shakes his head a little sadly in response to Ferro's question, but he doesn't feel much like conversing anymore. Ferro doesn't have anything for him, and he doesn't have anything for the bigger stallion. He wonders how he might disengage himself from this conversation gracefully. But then — something. A great wind booming through the trees. With a huff of surprise, Seiji leaps back, but the wind only curls softly at his very edges, disinterested. It tears instead at Ferro: a great, hungry darkness. A shadow to match the shadows of the Portal. Seiji's eyes go wide. His heart picks up, and he thinks, suddenly: What if it eats him? What can he do? He can't fight wind! He can see Ferro tensing, too, prepared to defend himself, though the two of them are at the mercy of this place. This awful place... It dies down as suddenly as it rose up. Seiji snorts, his eyes darting wildly about the clearing, but it seems that was the end of it. And Ferro is still alive, if even more foul-tempered than before. His question rings out like an accusation. As if Seiji knows the answer! Seiji beings to shake his head. Pauses. Blinks around. Thinks: It is this place. This hungry, awful place. He blinks at Ferro, wondering if the stranger is somehow altered in a way neither of them now guess. Even if Ferro is annoying, he doesn't deserve to be harmed. He should probably leave the Portal. Seiji, of course, cannot explain any of this. He is still a moment, thinking, before he turns abruptly and trots several steps away. Pauses, blinks over his shoulder. He will try to lead the stallion eastward, if he can. Toward Halyven and those with freer tongues. He doesn't really intend to see Ferro the whole way there, but if he can at least get the big man started...

img by Tildae @ flickr

@Ferro