driftfleet | enchanted forest . mingle

[More trees to cover up them getting axe murdered better, gosh!]

[But he gives that sigh of dissent, and follows Lloyd further down the path. Which as for the woods itself, it continues to get darker and darker. Within another five to ten minutes of walking, it gets dark enough that it might as well be nighttime- with the area becoming extremely dark and extremely hard to see more than a few inches in front of you.]

[Try not to trip on any roots or wander off the path!]

[ Lloyd is still trucking on even as it gets darker, though he does slow down when vision starts to get difficult.

he stops, getting a good listen for anything since that's all he can do. ]

Man... How'd it get dark so fast?

[ he's pretty sure the sun was still high up when they went in, and they couldn't have been walking for more than twenty minutes! ]

[And Kaneis pipes up rather dryly]

I don't know, but I'm willing to be 5 credits the explanation has the word magic in it.

[But sassing aside, he'll lift up the palm of his hand and conjure up a ball of fire- which thanks to the high level of magic in the area (and his own rustiness) - flares up a lot bigger and brighter than he intended]

Whoa!

[TRYING TO MAKE THAT SMALLER NOW]

Sorry! I didn't burn you did I?

Whoa!!

[ JESUS KANEIS Lloyd steps back as he tries to shrink the fire ball. ]

Nah, I'm alright. [ at least, he's pretty sure he is. he doesn't smell burning hair, so that's a plus. ]

Ha-

[Slowly, he gets it down to a more reasonable small fireball, the size of a torch]

This place must be full of mana or something. I've gotten used to casting on dry husks.

But anyway, this should help us stay on the path. Just don't startle me or I might throw this fireball in your face by accident.

Yeah, I'll keep that in mind.

[ said about as dryly as he can muster. stiil, he's careful not to make any sudden movements as they continue down the path.

it's a while before Lloyd starts to get bothered by the forest. how long have they been walking since Kaneis conjured the fireball. ten minutes? twenty? thirty? an hour? he's lost track and it only serves to irritate him because this path NEVER ENDS UGH.

after a while, Lloyd sighs, which ends up turning into an irritated groan. ]

How big is this stupid forest supposed to be, anyway?

[Kaneis meanwhile had been keeping quiet just to focus on keeping the fire going. Even if it was a small spell, it did slowly drain on his energy. As such, when he lets out a sigh at Lloyd's predictable behavior, it's a bit shakier than he would've liked, and he really can't bring himself to think up a proper sarcastic remark.]

How should I know?

This is stupid. It didn't take us this long to get through Gaorrachia Forest.

[ actually lloyd, yes it did. it actually took longer because of the monsters.

Lloyd does catch how shaky Kaneis's sigh was and, needless to say, it was a little concerning. he knows that constantly using magic can wear a person out (if Genis didn't already pound it into his head all the time), so maybe that fireball is tiring him out? he had it going for a while...

he turns back to Kaneis. ]

You okay?

No, it took longer.

[Believe him, he was not about to forget how long it took to go through those wretched woods. Ugh.]

[Honestly? Even by the small bit of light, Kaneis is starting to look drained by the magic. But you know old Chosen habits die hard, so he'll just give a little nod]

Yeah, I'm fine.

[ SIGH

there he goes again. Lloyd doesn't even bother to hold back the dry, unimpressed look directed at Kaneis. if there was anything that annoyed him, it was people insisting they were fine when they clearly weren't.

much like Kaneis is doing now. he may look worse for the wear most days, but he can see how drained he is. ]

Look, let's just switch off when we need light. Here, I'll take over. [ almost as soon as he says that, he's surrounded by feathers and a blue glow before his wings are summoned, folded inward. it's a little more creepy with the blue tinge, but at least there's more light. ]

[He has no idea what that facial expression is about! He's totally fine Lloyd! Totally]

[But oh. Lloyd's summoning his wings. He seems a bit surprised for a moment. But he dismisses his fireball and lets out a little breath of relief to feel the mana drain stop. He rubs the back of his neck]

...Oh. Right. Good idea.

[ BBBBBULLSHIT

he has to adjust his position because even with them folded in, the wings are still pretty large in comparison to the path's width. he turns to Kaneis with a small smile. ]

I'll cover for the light until you're feeling better. Just let me know if you get tired again next time.

[ there's no "okay?" in there because he IS expecting it. he nudges his head towards the path ] Come on.

It wasn't like I was gonna pass out, you know.

[Just a little drained, that's all! Gosh. Nevermind the fact he's secretly grateful for the help. But he'll start walking again]

Is it just me or is it kinda creepier with the blue light?

Huh?

[ truth be told, he never really noticed it. but now that he's really getting a good look around... ulp.

well. then again, it's not like Lloyd can help it. if his dad's wings are blue, then that clearly means it's genetic js. ]

Oh. Um... Y-yeah. It kind of is a little creepy...

[ kaneis if you start telling scary stories again i s2g ]

[Gosh he won't! How immature do you think he is??]

Yeah, no kidding...

[He falls into silence, looking around the area. He's slightly tired, so he falls a couple steps behind as they continue on. Or at least, that what it seems like.]

[Except that- just when the spooky silence settles in for a couple minutes? He reaches over and lightly taps his nails on the back of Lloyd's neck.]

[Okay, so maybe the answer is pretty damn immature.]

[ okay so, thanks to a certain asshole behind him (read: Kaneis), Lloyd starts feelimg a little anxious about the forest around him. dammit, why did he have to get blue wings? why couldn't they be yellow, or red like his coat? that would have been cool!

unfortunately that thought is cut short because oh my god wHAT THE FUCK JUST TOUCHED HIS NECK ]

GYAAAH!

[ he jumps, his wings jostling from the sudden movement. hope you like the taste of mana feathers, asshole. ]

[The wing slapping into him is enough to knock him back- buuut that still doesn't stop the snickering as he stumbles to catch his balance. Well, snickering and sneezing from feathers in the face.]

Whoa watch it Lloyd!

Sorry!

[ the snickering is lost on him as he tries to recompose himself. he's fine. he's a-okay. anything could have brushed the back of his neck right there. a leaf. a molted feather. anything that definitely wasn't a disembodied hand.

oh boy.

he rubs at the back of his neck, at the spot where he felt the touch. ]

Y-you didn't... Did you, uhh. Did you see anything just now?

[Wow. Really? He didn't put two and two together?]

[Well, he could confess. Or...]

Hmmm, no?

[Play dumb]

[ you should know better by now, Kaneis. but no, Lloyd's officially spooked right now, if the horrified look on his face were any indicator.

well, he also paled, but that's a little hard to see with such dim lighting. ]

Y-you sure? Seriously man, I swear I felt something touch my neck just now.

[ he doesn't notice the little light, greener in tinge than his own wings, float past the two of them. ]

[It's a good thing he's barely smiled that past year. It made excellent training to keep straight face]

Sorry, I've only seen us here.

[And then he points at one of the little light]

Well, us and that little green light thing now.

Little green...?

[ that has Lloyd a little on edge and he slowly follows his finger to figure out wtf he's talking about, when... oh. that little green light thing. Lloyd follows it with his eyes as it floats into the forest, where it's joined by another green light.

and another. and another.

actually, there's quite a bit of them. and they only seem to be growing in number. ]

Fireflies?

It looks like fireflies, but where did they-

[He steps forward to get a closer look. But as he does so, his hand brushes against a flower that was growing on the end of the path. It causes the flower to shake and several little red lights (the same color as the flower), to fall out into the air]

- Whoa! Hey, check it out!

[ Kaneis's cry startles Lloyd in looking away from the "fireflies" to figure out why he cried out in the first place, and he's met with pleasant surprise. the red lights are unexpected but also mystifying-- beautiful, in a way. he watches as they join the other lights in the forest, which only seemed to further increase.

green lights. red lights. yellow lights. blue lights. they danced around each other and around the trees, almost like waves ebbing and flowing against the shoreline. ]

They look like stars...

Yeah...

[Even Kaneis, mister tries to be apathetic about everything, finds himself pausing to watch the little lights dance around one another, with a feeling of awe. ]

That's...really pretty!

[What he likes colorful shiny lights ok]

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