It seemed like the deeper they went into the tunnels, the less noise that Kai heard from the town. Usually, though not too much, it was pretty loud. The trains coming in and out of the station every five hours was when everyone in Sunset Terrace what time it was. But even that was muffled out because of the thick walls of underground concrete that these tunnels were carved from. What beautifully-crafted constructions they were, though. Every inch was measured perfectly and every path that Kai and Aira took were equal in height and even the way they each seemed to connect was carefully planned out. Just by looking at them, that was something Kai could surmise.

But, as with all things, especially when it came to exploring unknown territory, Kai’s attention went elsewhere. It went to how Aira took the lead, which was highly unusual for her. She’s been doing a lot of things that seemed to be unusual for her. Not wanting to surf or go to Sunset Hill, for one. Wanting to explore the new tunnels was another, but Kai was curious what came over her. This wasn’t the same Aira from yesterday. Then again, Kai was more on-edge than he usually was. He never was one to back away from anything, but when he stepped foot into this underpass, something about it didn’t sit well with him. 

[color=20b2aa][i]It was almost as if--[/i][/color]

Kai was cut off mid-thought as he heard Aira speak, her sudden gasp immediately setting every alarm in his head. Without thinking, he took her behind him, gripped his struggle bat, and assumed defensive countermeasures. He didn’t think, he just did it. It was only after he saw what she was alerted to that he raised an eyebrow, looking around as there were more of some little, black creatures. They were about as large as a raccoon. They were entirely black like...like...the sea. And their eyes were golden...like the heart-shaped sun.

Again, Kai shook that thought, looking at Aira. [color=20b2aa]“Stay behind me. I’ll protect you.”[/color] He promised her, gripping his bat as hard as he could. He put on a brave face for Aira but the truth was he was just as afraid as she was. 

When one of these shadow creatures poised themselves to attack, Kai jumped the gun. At the same time that the creature lunged at Kai, he swung his bat. To his surprise, the bat not only didn't do anything to stop the attack, but it phased right through it, though that didn't stop the creature from getting a good lick into Kai, as the boy was sent about a pace back. He wasn't hurt in the process, but the action from the shadow creature did startle him, though not as much as his attack doing literally nothing did.