No Music

Seiji knows one thing about this child: difficult. His ears settle in a position just back, a restrained frown. Trees, he thinks. Yes. He attempts a smile, strained, as one does with difficult children. But it disagrees with the set of his ears; doesn't quite warm the depths of his eyes. Where are her parents? Her broad shoulders rise to nearly the height of his own, but he sees too much youth in her face for her to be alone, unless she’s orphaned? He blinks at the spear again. Maybe he should have expected this: an alien culture for alien beings. Frustration quells his brief moment of triumph. Should he proceed alone? He considers; maybe others can help him as she cannot. But before he must act, another joins them. Seiji’s eyes lift again to the trees; a subtle tightening of the well-honed springs in his body. His ears are up. His eyes snap to the large shape of a mare, and on her back… Again that subtle frisson, the blank intensity of his gaze. It passes in half a heart beat, and Seiji shifts his weight. He meets again the woman’s eyes, but there in the back of his mind, anticipation beats again. I am close, he thinks. So close. He studies the curved blade jutting from between those blue eyes. The second time is less surprising, isn’t it? Aware now he stands in the country of monsters - demons? - he accepts the bizarre with quiet wariness. The woman names herself. She names the bird... Now Seiji blinks at it with open curiosity, his slim face nodding recognition. And she names the place, and he nods more fervently. A silent thank you, thank you! Something about her, maybe her stance, the commanding presence of sheer height, makes him think of - a guard, maybe. Calm and to-the-point. He’s barely conscious of the way his posture relaxes, down from tiptoe, in the presence of a sane adult - although….. She looks young as well, doesn’t she? Somewhere in the architecture of her face. Her manner disagrees, but like the first stranger, Kiada retains some lankiness of youth. Are there only children here? And what does that mean? For him? He nods again at Kiada’s mention of danger. Of course. He sees it, smells it, in the wood. The air. The pulsing sentience of this place. However, he appreciates the warning (even if it comes from someone his junior). He steps forward once and gestures again, first in one direction, then another, and turns an enquiring eye toward both girls. And what is that way? And what is that way? And where must he go? Even if he could, he dares not admit his reason for seeking this out - this Rift which in the safety of his home he called something else. But they must be the same place…. Yes. There is something here, he thinks, his eyes skating over them both. Danger and novelty. Something of mine.

img by Tildae @ flickr