Welcome to demon school Kai

2

The rest of yesterday evening had been dull, and uneventful. No appearances or disaperations, as was often the case.
today had been fairly typical day for Kai, dumpster diving around in the quiet alleys of the town, all the while planning to visit the usual broken down house for yet another steak-out. It might have to be put on hold though...The going had been pretty rough lately, winter was always difficult and she carried everything she had on her shoulders currently. Some coats, a notebook and pencil, anything that could be sold later, and some water bottles to name a handful. Unfortunately not much of value got thrown out these days. Or maybe there was plenty and it was more a matter of other desperate folk finding all the useful things first, Kai thought. There were lots of other homeless people around, not that i knew any of them very well. Dire Straits turned even the kindest people against each other. A shootout here and some car theft now and again, maybe a mugging down the street, they were all frequent occurrences.
as much as i relished the idea of tuning it all out, that was off the table. Awareness of any and all nearby goings on were what kept me relatively intact. I was proud to say that Currently my worst injury was a mere pair of scraped knees, which was practically a miracle- outside of physical damage though were some hygiene concerns. after all, if I didn't have a house I didn't have a shower, a toothbrush, or a kitchen to cook my meals. Go figure.
I sighed and looked up from my dumpster adventures- planning to leave and find some other spot, but my attention was suddenly shifted away from myself to a quick movement in my peripheral.
It took me a moment to spot them again as I turned in the narrow maze of old brick buildings and alleyways, but to my surprise I could swear I saw the long purple-black cloak of one of the strangers who disappeared in the forest. They had just gone around the corner and down the street but i didn't need a good look to know. As many shady folk as there were in the area those cloaks still stood out. I couldn't recall seeing any of them in town before though I had kept an eye out all month.
I wondered if the cloak had a meaning or if it was just a tacky gang fit. Maybe it was just coincidence though, they could be selling them locally. Or something.

it felt like an inevitably bad idea, but Kai  picked up the pace to follow them around the corner, slowing once they came into sight.
She kept a wide distance from the cloaked fellow, to the point she even risk losing their trail at every corner for the worry of being seen.
I was curious. I knew snooping was trouble- so Usually I didn't follow random people down the street, but today for a possible clue on weirdo magic tree teleportation?
I think I could make an exception.
So follow I did.
As the afternoon wore on and turned to evening, this stranger seemed to know exactly where they were going. We'd been walking so long I'd wondered if it was even worth the trouble, but as we came to the edge of town, quite east from the portal and continued down to a small unmarked path through the forest I got nervous. That was a little iffy. I wondered if they'd caught on to my stalking? Led me to a quiet abandoned area for an easy kill?
...Hm, thinking about this you know- why don't I keep on following a magical stranger into the forest alone at night, see what happens? I mentally chided myself. I did still have my nail bat strapped around my over-shoulder bag but it was stupid to think that was really worth much more than a knife in a gun (or possible magic) fight. How would I even know if the stranger was armed?
Kai sighed quietly and gave a long look around before deciding to follow despite the risks.
To say the least it was an interesting choice of investment...
Further and further the moon rose, as she followed for long hours. harder by the second did it become to see even her own hand in front of her. Kai was struggling to keep silent, to not brush the tree branches or catch her clothes on shrubs and stumble on rocks. Her target seemed not to care if they were quiet at least and could be heard at a loud tromping pace, from time to time fighting off thorn bushes with exasperation and completely unintelligible words.
Kai already noticed how quiet the forest itself was, it was why she could hear them walking so clearly, and it was why she struggled to disguise her own noise. It was unusual to get this type of quiet this late, but not unheard of. Still it was another sign of the danger...
By this point Kai was starting to tire out, she hadn't finished her trash hunt today which meant no lunch or dinner- and there had only been a handful of meals this week... All day she'd been following, what- some stranger who looked secretive? she thought exasperated. It would mean this had been a waste of time but at this point she really did consider turning back.
As she did she realized they seemed not to be walking anymore... and there was a dim light- up ahead in a cave. How convenient.