It's the singing the catches Kohryu's attention.

The strident light of midday summer began to slowly fade to a murky amber as Persephone entered the forest, the light moving in its never-halting march towards evening as she sang lightly, the sound carrying through the clustered and perilous labyrinth of the huddled trees.

It is more than enough to prick the ears of a few passing crows that Kohryu's souls happened to inhabit. They found great joy in taking possession of the murder and flying out in the middle of the night, moving as one like some great swarming beast and settling like a shadow across the landscape to a cacophony of echoing caws.

It's only one that lands at first, letting out a raucous call as it settles on the edge of the clearing in which Persephone sang. It strutted back and forth, pecking idly into the grass and fixing an appraising glare at her with those odd emerald eyes.

It's brothers and sisters soon joined it, more and more flocking to the spot within the next quarter-hour or so, eventually filling a whole half of the field with their strutting black bodies.

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One lone crow, however, did not join them. It flew to the base of the mountain and cawed loudly into the cavern. When Plague emerged, coat on and fedora in hand, the bird took off and winged towards the clearing. Plague followed, sensing a hunt.

Their wings fluttered and they continued to caw, silenced by the sound. All those beaked heads turned to watch ever-so-intently as the song began, following her words with those oddly human gazes. It was when the last crow joined the murder that they seemed to flutter slightly, a wave of agitation moving through the flock. Still, their attention held on the girl and her lovely voice.

It was when another figure entered the clearing that the birds scattered.

They took off at once, the whole collection of winged beasts twisting and wheeling around one another in the air, the view of the forest beyond the birds lost in a maelstrom of ebony feathers, beating wings, and the occasional flickers of the emerald gemstones of their eyes.

Plague strolled through the mass of fleeing birds, applauding politely, the sound slightly muffled by the bandages that wreathed his palms.

He fixed his gaze on Persephone from beneath the wide brim of his hat, that one eye burning a playful but sadistic amber, "Well done, my dear, you have quite a lovely voice..."

He sidesteps gracefully, almost floating as he moves in front of her, not letting her pass on here way back to the dorms. He doesn't rush the movement, it seems perfectly natural for him to move so quickly laterally, blocking her way.

He tuts softly, shaking his head, "Oh no, no, no, my dear, I'm afraid not. You'll never make it back to the dorms before nightfall, don't you know how far out in the forest you are?" he lofts a ridged brow, tilting his head curiously to the side.

It was the truth, actually. She was very far out in the wilderness, whether she intended to be or not. A few missteps would be all it would take to strand her in the foreboding forest in the middle of twilit darkness.

"As you can imagine, I know these woods very well. There's no way you'll make it back to the campus before the sun sets. You'll be hopelessly lost, probably ravaged by the horrid beasts that lurk within and left within an inch of your life in the underbrush. Or... you could come with me, be horribly ravaged in a much more comfortable setting and I'll bring you back to the dorm come morning..." he chuckled.

With a slightly flourish, Plague turned on his heel, stalking off, "Your choice..."

He turned once more. The movement so quick, like he swiveled on a hinge. One moment he was walking away and then the next it was as though he had never turned his back on her. He approached without any sense of haste, seeming to have all the time in the world. And in fact, he did. He really had no doubts that he wouldn't have the slightest bit of trouble in the forest after dark. It was really the girls one had to worry about, after all, they did so little worrying about themselves.

"I am neither scorpion nor cricket, but I'd ask you to step into my parlor..." he laughs airily. The crows returned to the field, reassembling into a black cloud and settling behind him, three or four finding purchase on his shoulders.

"And no, I doubt that it's very proper. However, with a millennium of life behind me, I find myself paying less and less attention to what is proper and so much more to what is fun," he bowed slightly, "However, if it will make you feel any better, introductions shall be made," the bow dropped, now a sweeping grandiose gesture, "I am known as Plague, from the Latin 'Plagere', meaning to lament or to beat one's breast in sorrow."

He chuckled briefly after her insistence that she knew the island's forest even at night, crossing his arms before him, "Certainly my dear, I have no doubt that you know the forest, but then you also know the things that lie within it. And while you may have made it most of the way out of the forest by nightfall and minimized the time you need travel in the dark earlier, because of your dilly-dallying with me you'll be struck by darkness at about the half-way point, making your journey that much more dangerous"

"Besides..." he looked back over his shoulder and gave a signal. Each of the crows tilted their heads up and opened their mouths. From within came a green gas, each little wisp holding within a screaming skeletal figure. They formed into a gaseous ball, huge and bristling with those humanoid shapes caught in the throes of agony. Waxing and waning behind Plague for a moment, they split into a thousand pieces and as many directions, burying themselves into the trunks of the trees that surrounded the clearing.

The trees suddenly took on a menacing caste, twisting and reshaping the geography and available exits of the clearing in an unnatural dance, "... the forest's on my payroll."

However, it was her next suggestion that stopped him, "A... game?" he actually looked somewhat hungry now, his voice barely restraining excitement, "Oh, how delightful! What sort of game do you suggest, my rosy little avatar of the goddess?"

Plague laughed softly as he snapped his fingers. The obsidian claws poked through the bandages, clacking together softly as he turned towards the forest. A few of the bright green agonized souls flew out from the trees that surrounded the clearing, burying themselves in the trees further on.

"That sounds like a good bit of fun, my dear..." he droned, his voice dry and raspy, "You said I should pick the spot then?" he tilted his head to the side curiously.

"I must warn you, I can get anywhere in this forest in twenty minutes and I should expect you to do the same, even with the labyrinth hampering your progress. That will be our time limit. You have twenty minutes to get where you intend, and I will be there to harry you at every chance I'm given..." he stood within the nestled grove like a statue, watching her with that single amber eye.

"Poker is another game I enjoy a good bit, but this task sounded much more interesting..." he laughed, "Shall we begin? Please designate your chosen destination, my dear..."

Plague stepped backward as he listened to her finish, the trees shifting to a different position once more, the creaking of their possessed wood filling the clearing like a chorus of screams as they did so. He shook his head roughly and the changed again, twisting apart and together so that six distinct exits formed in the circular clearing. He nodded softly and leaped backwards up into the branches of one of the trees from the forest floor.

"I know of it, yes. If that is to be your destination then let the chase commence. I wish you all the luck in the world, my dear, because I assure you it will be necessary..." he laughed a little before slipping behind the trunk and disappearing completely, leaving her alone in the clearing.