Cerberus, having wandered deeper into the forestry by now, takes small glances around, carefully, before hearing a voice from behind.
"𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔.. 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓𝑓!"
He turns immediately to face the voice.
Only to be greeted with the form of a pale, young female, with pure white eyes and no mouth, as far as he can see.
The presence.. settles him. And Cerberus's fur steadily gets replaced with skin, as he shrinks in size and reconstructs into Kade once more.
She watches him all the while, before slowly, sitting down on her knees, and quietly patting her lap.
Kade stands and looks at her. Appearing unsure, before steadily walking over to her, and crouching down to meet at her height.
And she silently reaches her arms out and pulls him into a hug. One that feels warm, real, and comforting. Familiar.
He's taken aback by the action but remains stiff. Until eventually, his shoulders seem to droop, and he leans into the hug, even returning it, as he gives a short sigh.
Slowly and subtly, the wind picks up around the two, causing a breeze as leaves are picked up into the air, flowing past him, and making his hair flow with the minor gust of wind as well.
Kade doesn't seem to mind it in the slightest, leaning into the hug ever so slightly, but seems to stiffen.
With the flow of wind, the faint sound of child-like cheer would be carried with it.
He immediately pulls himself up from the hug, thanks to the sound, and begins to look at his surroundings.
From the corner of his eye, he spots a distant, but small figure.
And he begins to run towards it without a second thought.
The sounds of childish joy and cheering continues, clearer than ever as he continues to follow the sound.
He steadily makes out three, small figures. All running amongst the trees and foliage.
One lagging behind, closer to him.
One, not all too far away from the first
And the last, much farther into the distance, quite easy to miss.
Amongst the figures, he can make out a faint...
"Hey..! ▇▇▇▇▇/! C'mon, come after us!"
With the one closest speaking:
"I'm trying..! Wait up!!"
Kade picks up speed to try and reach the nearest child, who from the sounds of it, seems out of breath.
Getting a closer look, the kid is slightly taller than the other two he managed to get a glimpse of and appears male.
He seems to look back at Kade, right before he fades from sight, and Kade is left in complete darkness.
He huffs, and slows down, coming down to a short stop as he looks around the much dimmer appearance of the forestry.
"Great."
He steps out of some foliage, slowly, and comes into a vague clearing, already adjusted to the dark and looking around, for any sign of anything.
...Not all too far away from him, across the clearing, he is faced with a figure, cloaked in shadow. Featureless, and carrying something in its hands.
A shotgun.
Although, it shakes at the sight of him.
Kade stares at it. And simply keeps staring.
He's quiet, staring at the figure across him, fixated on it as if it were the last thing on earth.
Within him stirs an unbearable boil. As if everything within him started screaming at once.
But all he can do is stare. Stare down the shaded figure, as it quakes worse, and steadily begins to lift its shotgun.
He can't do anything but stare it down. His hands begin to shudder and clench, gritting his teeth as his breathing steadily picks up.
The shotgun is aimed at him, and the figure quakes even worse.
Eventually, he snaps. And sprints at the figure as fast as his body lets him, closing distance in a short time as he approaches.
The figure remains still. Shaking.
While Kade tries to reach it, aiming for its neck.
In that instance, it's gone the moment contact is made.
The figure, the sudden darkness, everything. Is gone.
He stands in the middle of the forest, the sky is clear and beaming down on him.
And Kade simply stands there. His breathing heavy, and his body, vaguely shaking.
...
Eventually.. he stops, and turns around, walking back from where he believes he came from, sighing as he runs his hand through his hair.
"What was that, Cerb?"
"..."
"A LOAD OF NOTHING, I BELIEVE."
He gives a small chuckle, as he keeps walking.
"Yeah, me too."