The Heartwood i'm a ghost of you, you're a ghost of me

After his meeting with Relmyna and the altar, things hadn't really changed. Sure, he had two eyes — but the darkness persisted. It felt strange to finally have something wedged in there, as if a piece of him which he thought had been lost was finally replaced. He could carry Blackfeather Woods with him now; Sithis was with him in more than just spirit, it felt like. It would take some getting used to but Mou was feeling at peace. Save for the occasional irritation of the foreign object and the way his body had started to fight it, things were going well.

He thought he was well enough to venture out of the woods again, this time branching further, as if to tempt fate. To test if Sithis would speak to him now that he'd given himself over to his influence. Mou wasn't sure how much of it he believed, but he had seen many things since arriving to the dark wood — experienced many things because of the poppies — and he was ready to believe.

The forest he found was different from Blackfeather Woods; it seemed more spacious. The fog he had become accustomed to did not drift here, the spirits did not linger. It felt empty, and as Mou crossed through the southern border of the territory he felt incredibly out of place. A brisk wind picked up through the treetops he closed his eyes to listen as intently as he could, but there were no voices there; when he opened them, he saw a pale figure beyond an eddie of leaf-litter.