...Well, So much for first impressions.

The moment the woman made her Keyblade appeared combined with that look of agitated and anger in that face of hers was the moment Kotaro realized that clearly, he messed up. The black blade of her Key at least showed him that he's talking to the right people...but that also meant that the way he said probably seemed like he was patronizing them. ...Might explain why she looks so upset, to the point of yelling at her allies when they tried to calm her down. The more steps she took forward, the more inches Kotaro leaned back, his eyes widened and his lips opening up to reveal his clean white teeth in an expression of near-panic.

He blinked a few times as the woman began to speak. He stood completely still, as he felt if he moved at all, she may lash out in response, and listened to what she said. She then unsummoned that keyblade of hers and took a step back, and Kotaro in turn puled himself frontward back into upright standing position and sighed in relief. She then continued, explaining that the Dark master he was looking for was named Axeus and was indeed in this very Jungle. While he hides it with a gentle smile, in his head he was incredibly excited, enough to want to celebrate where he stood that he finally found the one he's looking for.

She then stated her instructions, ...her simple-yet-strict instructions, to which he nodded at. He wanted to say that he understood, and to thank her. However, considering how agitated she was, combined with what little he knows about Dark Keyblades and their wielders, she probably would have stayed true to her threat, or at the very least relieve of his tongue, something he would prefer to not be without. With her affirmation of his nod, he did as was told and followed them.

When he reached the clearing, well, to say he was awe-struck was an understatement, as his widen-eyes and an expression of excited happiness was etched upon his face. The temple he saw was absolutely fascinating in his eyes, from the decayed murals on the outer wall to simply the sheer age of this place. His friend told him that the Dark Keyblade master lived in an old decrepit temple from such a dead age, that it was like nature itself tried to consume it. With the plant life that seemed to extend to the outer walls of it, this definitely fit the bill. Even so, he wasn't prepared for such a place; there's so many things he could learn just by basic archeologic analyzing, to the point where the perhaps he can learn something by just taking a good look at its rock.

Alas, however, there were thing he had to do first; the temple itself can be explored later on. He looked to his side to see yet another group of people guiding another towards this temple, a woman in specific.

"[i]If she came here without resisting...could she be here for the same reason I am?[/i]" He thought. They both walked up the steps to the stone opening of the temple, perhaps where the gate of this place once was, assuming it had one back then. Kotaro felt the gaping darkness reaching out for them as they reached the opening. It surrounded him, felt so cold, so dreadful...it was a terrifying feeling, something he's never truly seen before.

...Yet, he ignored the heart's yearning to fear this darkness and run as far away from it. The inner pleas to run were denied as he felt the cold air. It didn't remind him of any nightmares or terrors, it reminded him more of the gentle snowfall of a calm winter night. The air felt...right, there was no other way to explain it. It just didn't feel to him what like the terrible all-consuming void that people fear it to be.

"[i]Close your eyes, think of a snowy night, when clouds blot out the light of the stars and the snow touch your skin for the first time.[/i]" He remembered his friend's advice to him, and closed his eyes as he steps inside the temple, the fear and hesitation gone from him, as if stolen from his heart.

He opened his eyes, and as they adjust to the darkness of the room, he saw heard a voice on the other side of the room, the voice of someone greeting him, of Axeus greeting him. His eyes widened as he tried to focus on seeing that far, and sure enough saw two people, one sitting on the throne, and one standing right by it. His friend did mention an apprentice other than himself, that must be the one he talked about, which means the one on the throne must be Axeus. With a happy smile on his face, he ran across the throne hall, stopping near the throne, and immediately dropped to one knee.

"[b]Lord Axeus, Master of the Darkness, It's an honor to meet you. ...My name is Kotaro. Years ago, an apprentice of yours named Tamius Sabath disappeared from the face of the universe, suppposedly thought to be lost in battle. ...In truth, he landed upon my world, where I hospitalized and nursed him back to health. Until recently, Tamius lived in my village and we stayed by each other's side. ...But he went back into battle, and was quickly defeated by someone or something. ...I regret to say he passed away three weeks ago. With his last breath though, he granted me his power, and in his respect, I claimed his surname of Sabath. I have been searching the universe for a week to find you, and now that I have...I request to take his place at your side. ...I wish to be your apprentice, and learn from you what he could not.[/b]" Kotaro explained to him.