Kai runs his fingers through his already messy brown hair, feeling anxious. His mind swirls in endless cycles in search for something that doesn't exist, trying his very best to connect the dots when there aren't any to begin with. Left with no words, he wonders what to say to the others when they find their friend missing -- all alone in the dark forest south of Caelus that to Kai's knowledge consists of unidentified, mystical species and mythical creatures.

Lancaster's stern face crosses his mind, and he shudders at the consequences if the scary looking knight finds out that he did not at least stop Rose. But Kai hasn't another second to search for the right words or to find a pitiful excuse, or to even think about running away from this mess as the others are already at the gap.

When Alaina and Lancaster reach the gap, they help Lloyd up. Despite having freedom closing in on them, their eyes cannot view the beauty of the star filled sky nor the shadowy figures of dark trees ahead. They do not have even a fraction of a millisecond to savour their moment of serenity -- even if it's probably something of such a blue moon for perhaps in a while, considering their positions -- as the picture before them is missing a piece: Rose.

Lancaster seizes Kai, who is trying to climb down the opposite side of the wall through similar vines at the sight of them. Kai is surprisingly light, Lancaster thinks, as he looks down and around for Rose, but doesn't find her. "Where is she?" to Kai's surprise, Lancaster seems to be asking out of mere curiosity as she isn't in their field of vision, with not a sign of worry as if it's expected that she plays hide and seek often.

Kai struggles, and when Lancaster finally sets him down, he climbs so fast down the vines Lancaster can hardly blink.

When his feet touch the soft grass below, he looks up nervously. "Your friend, she..." he trails off, trying to connect the words, "she ran off to the woods," he gestures to the dark trees behind him, "follow the vines and you'll find her -- but I really don't recommend venturing into the forest, no one's explored it fully yet," he finishes quickly, then adds softly, "or lived to tell the tale."

"What?" Alaina nearly shouts from above, and she climbs down the vines along with Lancaster and Lloyd. "Why didn't you stop her?" she asks, her eyes flickering from Kai to the forest.

"She just ran without warning; I didn't have a chance to stop her," Kai explains, stealing a glance at Lancaster and hoping he isn't going to kill him.

"Why did she run off?" Lloyd asks.

"Something about the vines. Follow the giant vines and you should find your friend, but --"

"No choice, then," Lancaster cuts him off, looking to Alaina, who nods in return. He sighs, "we'll have to go after her."

Kai pauses in his steps at the words, when he is just about to turn and leave. "What? You can't! I told you, it's best not to --"

"She's our friend," Alaina stops him. They share gazes for a moment, but Alaina drops her eyes to the ground and starts turning towards the forest. "She came because of me."

Watching her back, Kai feels slightly guilty, but angry at the same time. "But she might already be --" he bites his lip, hesitant, when Alaina turns back to glare at him, Lancaster shaking his head in the corner of his eyes. "The forest is gigantic. She could be anywhere," he says, rubbing the back of his neck. These people have poor comprehension levels, he thinks, are they out of their minds?

"I've already said it: she's our friend," Alaina repeats.

Kai feels anger coursing through his veins. They just don't listen, no matter how many times he warns them; they don't even bother acknowledging his warnings, don't even care what he has to say.

Boiling, he believes his emotions are about to burst like an erupted volcano. He sighs, closing his eyes and feeling the night wind beating against his skin. "It's not your typical forest," he turns to leave. What should be said has been said. "Go ahead; I'm going home. Good luck, and good riddance."

But Lancaster seizes him yet again, by the back of his shirt. "What do you mean 'good luck'?"

Kai turns around and aims a kick at Lancaster, but never lands it. "Don't touch me -- and hey, I'm only wishing you luck in finding your friend," taking a few steps away from Lancaster, he begins walking away again. "Do you mind? I have a curfew."

Lancaster raises an eyebrow, incredulous. "Curfew?"

"What, can't one have a strict family?" Kai waves dismissively, his back still facing them, not turning around to face them as he gradually walks further and further away.

"Wait," Lloyd says suddenly, his voice incredibly loud in the silence of the night, amongst trees whispering through light wind. Alaina and Lancaster turn to find him facing the forest, still as a statue. "It's really dark," he begins searching through his bag, "and I don't have anything to light the way."

Lancaster scoffs. "What, are you scared?"

Lloyd turns to give him a look. "Maybe you are scared," he challenges through slightly shaky lips.

Frowning at the expected bickering from the two, Alaina allows the voices to gradually drift away as she takes a look at the forest. Dark indeed, and just looking at it sends chills running down her spine. But she knows for sure that Lloyd is right: they need a light. How do they even begin searching for someone, when they don't have the means to see into the dark and find their own way?

A thought strikes her, and she dashes away from the forest suddenly, leaving Lancaster and Lloyd stunned, immediately silencing the two.

"Your highness!" Lancaster calls after her, glaring at Lloyd.

"For the record, I blame you."

Alaina doesn't stop or look back. "Be right back!" she shouts through the wind whipping through her.

She comes to a halt when she turns a corner and finds exactly what she is looking for.

Or, who she is looking for.

"Wait, Kai," Alaina stops when she spots his back. She bends down slightly and rests her hands on her thighs, catching her breath. "Come with us."

Kai stops walking upon hearing her voice, but doesn't turn to look at her. "No way," he says seriously, then continues walking away.

"Please?" Alaina goes after him, grabbing him by his arm. "We need you --"

"Don't touch me!" Kai yanks his arm away angrily, glaring at her through glowing amber eyes now that she is right beside him. "You don't even know me. And what do you even need me for, anyway?"

"Sorry," Alaina pulls her hand away, "To light the way for us."

"What, am I your walking disposable torch now?"

"Not a torch, but a light. Be our light. Please?"

"No."

"It's dark. We can't see in the dark."

Kai scoffs. "It's dark, and you want me to light the way for you?" rolling his eyes, he mutters softly, "and of course you can't see in the dark, since you haven't been in the dark before."

"Please, aren't we friends?"

"I despise it when people are using me as a tool."

When Alaina opens her mouth again, she is silenced by Kai's hand. "And please, we just met, and barely talked for more than several minutes."

Alaina blinks innocently and incredulously at his hand that divides their faces, blocking his face. She frowns, aggravated by his cold words. So negative, she thinks. Her motives are far simpler than what he assumes -- in fact, she doesn't have any at all; she only expects a simple favour from him.

Gently, she sets his hand down to look at him. "I'm not using you as a tool," she states, locking her eyes in his. "I'm only hoping you'll help us by using your gift to light the way, guiding us through the forest."

Kai tries to avoid her eyes, but fails. There's something about her, and her deep blue eyes are as captivating as stars dotted in the night sky and as deep or even deeper than the bluest of seas. "Gift?" he asks, thinking he must've misheard her.

"Your fire."

He rubs the back of his neck, turning red. "You're the first to ever call it as a gift."

Smiling, Alaina says, "it is what you make of it, firefly."

Firefly? Kai repeats in his mind, disproving yet feeling his insides bubble with a secret delight he'd never, in a million years, confess to. "Don't call me that," he feels the need to deny.

Alaina only shrugs; and blushing embarrassingly, he says, "don't blame me if we ever get lost -- or killed, for that matter."

❃❃❃❃❃

"Really, your highness? Him?" Lancaster says with a hint of disagreement, stealing glances at Kai from time to time, until Alaina nudges him.

"I'm right here, you know," Kai says from behind him, fuming. Trying to contain his temper, he pushes Lancaster to the side and steps forward. Facing the forest, odd noises creep up into his ears, but he shakes it off, thinking he'd imagined it.

Kai creates a small flame on his right palm to light the way before them. When he stretches it out to the path before them, they find the giant vines under their feet extending deeper in the dark forest. Looking back at the others for a final sign of approval for him to enter, he then proceeds with the fire guiding his path.

The moment he enters, Kai shivers as he hears soft whispers in the air around them. When he turns to the others, he knows at once that he is neither imagining the whispers nor the only one hearing them, as the others are scanning about quietly in search for the source.

"What --" Lloyd manages to ask through pale lips and dry throat, poking his head around nervously. Breathing hard, he listens closely, only to hear the creepy whispers louder and so close in his ear that he immediately whips his head to the right instinctively -- only to slap away air.

For a moment, Lloyd smiles awkwardly to himself, thinking he is only hearing things due to hunger; after all, to him, seeing is believing. But that moment is so brief that it is as if it was never there in the first place, as Alaina and Lancaster cover their ears at the sudden crescendo of the whisperings.

Lloyd does so himself, all of them wincing at the whisperings that has just turned into shrieks.

In the midst of all the noises and pressure, they barely make out Kai, who slowly turns around to face them, a hand clamping over one ear and his tiny flame still dancing on the other. They manage to take a last look at Kai, whose eyes are wide with alert and urgency, before his fire disappears along with him into darkness.

Immediately as darkness befalls them, the shrieks hover directly above them, accompanied by what sounds like fluttering wings.

As if hearing something uncomfortable up close isn't enough, now they can't even see the source even if it's directly above them, no matter how hard they squint their eyes.

Alaina can only feel Lancaster close by as the light in the dark. Heart pounding so hard that it's drumming in her ears, she starts moving slowly and quietly to where Lancaster stands, not daring to trigger whatever's above them. She swears she hears Lloyd just nearby, and the shuffling here and there makes her believe that he is stumbling out of panic. Worried, she tries reaching out for him in the dark, following his small awkward steps.

Her worry diminishes as Lancaster somehow finds her and grabs her by the arm, putting her heart at ease. When she thinks she finally found Lloyd, another hand grabs her, a grip that's definitely firmer and stronger than Lloyd.

Her eyes find Kai's glowing ones, and she tries looking past him for Lloyd, but he pulls her down. "Get down," he whispers, and only then she realises Lloyd is just beside him.

Finally feeling relief because everyone around her is safe, she and the others stay low, waiting patiently for the shrieks to dwindle and for the fluttering wings to pass. Gradually, they vanish into nothing, and Kai lights a fire once again when all they hear are the occasional night wind and the rustling of leaves.

Getting up and dusting themselves, they aren't too sure what has just passed, but are glad they didn't need to see or collide with whatever that was.

"Faeries," gasps Kai suddenly. "At least they don't kill."

Lloyd's mouth falls open. "Those are myths!"

"Not anymore, from where we are," Kai states plainly, crossing his arms. Alaina raises a brow at his cheeky smile.

But Kai drops his smile at the sight of Lancaster pushing his way through to him, knocking Lloyd out of the way. On instinct, Kai backs away and throws his hands up as Lancaster closes in, glaring angrily at him. "What are you talking about?"

"I told you -- this isn't your typical --" they hear howls in the distance, "forest," he finishes nervously, wincing slightly at the howls brought by the winds. "Those are probably werewolves, by the way."

The howls aren't the only ones forcing them on their toes though, as the occasional glows of trees or bushes make them jump from time to time. Tiny dots blink colourfully near Lloyd ethereally, and he nearly yells. "Just what is with this place?"

Lancaster sighs frustratedly, realising on the inside it's true that they'd ignored Kai's warnings earlier. Ignoring the nagging feeling inside of him, he turns in the direction of the vines that are beckoning them deeper into the dangerous and foreign forest.

Knowing the rest would soon follow, Lancaster begins making his way back towards the extending vines. Not more than several seconds he's back on their trail, he steps on something sticky yet somewhat slippery. Stepping aside, he tries to make out the ground and whatever he'd just stepped on as Kai approaches with their source of light, only to find greenish gooey slime.

"That's nasty," Lloyd comments as he draws near them.

Approaching cautiously from a safe distance, Alaina observes the remnants of the disgusting liquid and spots more of it scattered in several places ahead. Taking a deep breath, she silently makes a note to herself to be extra careful in order to avoid the same fate as Lancaster when they proceed later on.

"Hopefully Rose is doing better than us," she says expectantly, wincing at the sight of Lancaster's boots.

"She'll be fine," Kai states confidently, without a single sign of doubt. "Nature protects her; this is her domain."

The others can only hope he's right as they return to their mission, at the same time hoping nature doesn't have anymore surprises in store for them.

Now more vigilant than ever, they proceed with maximum caution, acknowledging the fact that they had just stepped into a whole new world of unknown.