His pace quickens as he feels them all now moving away from the room he was aiming for. If they are on the move, something must be up. Something must have changed. Inui feels hopeful that maybe, just maybe, they are all going out for some fun or entertainment, but even he knows that that is Rue levels of naïve and keep his hope tempered. [i]'I gotta remember to not let my mind go in the other direction either'[/i] he reminds himself. Master Seishu warned him that negative energy can consume nightmare minions and out here walking the halls on his own letting that happen could be very, very detrimental. Not only to him, but to anyone nearby. He makes his way towards them all, catching up slowly as he gets into a part of the palace he doesn't recognize, but eventually he winds up on the lawn, all of them gathered a little ways away from the doorway.

~*~*~*~*~

Eyes open, ever so slightly. Wave after wave of pain races through his system making it impossible to think. He was just there, in that empty place between the waking world, but the shooting agony pounding through his veins rips him away from there. Something gets pulled from his skin and he feels someone move away. His lips pull back into a snarl. He's angry, but nothing seems to come of it. His energy is gone, sapped from him, but still he feels a bit of strength in him. He's still a guardian, it will take a lot more than this pain to bring this beast down. At the snarl however something strikes his face and once more he welcomes the painless nothing, his heart longing for it to be filled with the beauty of his love, but knowing it is a fruitless wish. His love is far, far away. He simply. . . .can't be here. . . .

~*~*~*~*~

Walking down the steps to join everyone he smiles, holding up a hand as he prepares to call out to them. Then suddenly he's on his knees, the breath knocked from his body with the pain of something ripping through his body. Curling around his middle he begins crying desperately, unable to catch his breath, the pain making him shake and fall on to his side. Then at last he's able to take a breath and he cries out in agony, a lash of his energy striking out blindly. He cries hard, trying to make the pain stop. He's never felt anything like this before.

At the sound of the cry Rue snaps out of his funk and is at Inui's side in an instant. Luckily no one was close enough to feel the lash directly but as Rue closes in he uses all his skills to repress his energy and instead pours everything he has into his fear and sadness. They'd forgotten. They'd all forgotten that Inui was here, that now that he was full nightmare minion, he would no longer be shielded from Lord Enasi's energy. Harper looks a little sick, as does Crios. Once more, they have failed. Yes, Seishu is gone, but how can they forgive themselves for being so callous as to disregard dear little Inui? They allow these feeling to flow, for they are true, and all they can offer the poor little thing. Flynn reaches out to hold Starla, his hands shaking. She stands firm, providing comfort for her taller sibling. They regret what happened, and both pity what has happened, but they do not feel they can trust themselves to get close to him right now. They both fear hurting him further.

Rasha too stays back. As a dream he's composed of positive energy and even as sad and as upset as he is in this moment he's not sure that simply approaching the little guy wouldn't wound him. Crios reaches out and gets a face full of negative energy, audibly coughing on the stuff he has to pull back. Rue, sobbing loudly, moves in and with his oddly high tolerance of negative energy at the point gently wraps around Inui from behind and holds him tight, whispering apology after apology, trying desperately to get Inui to calm down so the doctor can treat him. After only a few seconds of this Rue feels quite ill, but he doesn't stop trying.