A few hours after the company returned to Sol the prince launched into yet another risky proposition; this time he wanted to accompany the humans on their quest into the Dark Side. Of course everyone was completely against that idea, most especially the royal dragoons, and eventually Avian Rider was the sacrificial lamb who took the young monarch's place. It shouldn't be a trice since the elite guards used to venture in the Dark Side, but they did so in large numbers and never alone. Victoria was understandably upset about the whole deal but manpower was spread thin, not to mention that she was also wounded (her ankle worsened up to the point a cleric declared she had to stay off her feet), so she had no choice but to let her husband leave.

"I would suggest the stars but we can't see them," Avian replied with a sigh. Unlike a lot of the Lost Souls and the guides he wasn't nervous, mostly because he could take care of himself, but was driven to hypersensitivity thanks to all the mysterious sounds and rustles that sprung from the shadows. He turned around and glared at a suspicious-looking bush- he swore he heard something from it- before dismissing it as normal. "I know having a one-man guard is hardly inspiring of confidence, and I'm sorry. Just so you know, if anything happens I'll give my life to protect any of you," The soldier respectfully bowed his head at Harper before moving off to the other side of the formation where Lesley was. He had been doing this ever since they've crossed the border and while it unnerved a few, they slowly got used to it since it was for their safety.

"Seen anything?" He asked the pink-haired Lost Soul. Avian briefly had the time to wonder whether this certain human was a girl or a boy, but unlike in the mortal realm, gender was not an issue here in Nowhere and he couldn't care less. Lesley was Lesley and as such one of the people he was supposed to protect on this trip, so he should get along with him/her too. 

"Agh, human! Stop asking me questions and look where you're going! You're about to trip, see- Gwaaah!" Songbird was fending off Riley's rapidfire questions when Jasper suddenly pulled at his sleeve, which made the item hunter yelp in surprise. "Holy gold marshmallow," Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead and the white-haired nobody seemed even more tense than all the other Lost Souls combined. He had a very unfortunate accident in this place, after all....

The dragoon overheard Hakuren's jape and frowned at the ice mage. "That's not very funny, human. How about we sacrifice [i]you[/i] instead?" Avian said calmly and without a hint of humor, but something popped out of the nearby hedges and ran in front of the group. It was a black ferret with two heads and five legs. The creature hissed before scurrying away from them and the humans continued walking.

"That's a good idea, Jasper," Songbird told the girl when she suggested marking the trees. He should've thought of that, but he was panicking too much to make sense of his surroundings. Her actions jarred him from the anxiety spell and the item hunter glanced around all of a sudden with eyes narrowed to slits.

"I'd bet my hat that tree wasn't there earlier," His eyes were on a conspicuous tree that looked exactly like all the other shady trees in this forest. He seemed dead serious, though.