yourself

It was a cold rainy night when he decided to walk the path. The last night to undertake the journey and cross the gap between his world and the others. He knew that after crossing there would be only a small window of time before the gap close for almost a year. A full year amongst them he thought and the idea sent a jolt of energy across his spine and into his hands lightening the power lines on his skin.
He stood on the edge for a moment just enough to think of Them. The creatures were mesmerizing, not even a week ago he saw Them for the first time, he cloaked himself with a simple spell and crossed. It wasn't the first time he cross the gap. He had indeed cross a few times before with the incursions, but he was young back then, he was but a child and as such he wasn't allowed out of the ring. But a week ago it all changed, it had to change he decided. He had grown since the last time. Five years had pass and he and the others wyldlings didn't seem to enjoy been confined to a nursery such as the ring while others could do as they please. So he decided to finally cross the ring limits. He was no longer a child, and the Wildyears aura was setting in and fitting him quite nicely, even the power lines over his body where remarkable for someone that young but then again he was the son of their leader. In general that meant nothing amongst most of the tribes, in his world one was worth only for his own deeds glory and wisdom and that worked fine. But his father had a legacy of leadership and he was about to break it because of Them.
He stood straight, martial, his faintly glowing hands double as beacons in the night and he soon became aware that it was not going to be easy to maintain the cloak a full year. Never the less he said.
What seem to be a white flower near his feet moved and entangled its roots around his legs in what could be considered an affectionate hug. He gently knelt and caressed the flowers petals. You know I'd take you if I could but I really don't know if you could survive there, the soil there is not the same and so is the daylight.
After saying that he carried the plant and left it on the floor near a tree just a meter or so from the gap. I'll meet you here in a year. the flower oddly expressed what could resemble a frown and a bit of disappointment on its 'face'. Of course I'll miss you! Don't give me that look.
The plant seemed to understand and 'stood' there in what seem to be the equivalence of a faithful watchdog obediently awaiting for his master to return. It rooted itself and enjoyed the fresh water from the ground as it sensed his master presence walking into the vortex that was the gap.

Crossing was always an enlightening experience but then again almost all of his life was devoted to reach enlightenment, a detail rarely passed by unchecked by his people, for his kind every action, the existence of everyone and everything had the potential to become a teacher or a lesson, and contemplation upon life and a pragmatic wisdom was an exercise embedded in all lifeforms in his world, everything is connected were his thoughts while crossing.
Everything is connected the phrase kept ringing inside his head and he tried to make sense of its teachings. It got him nowhere, he thought hard about the meaning but resolved it meant an early expression of guilt and home sickness, he already understood that everything is connected, his people learn that from the moment they start walking, they respect their surroundings for they are like their own being, there could be no more meaning to that phrase. He finally felt the ground again, saw the familiar nursery that is the ring, out of which no child can go until he undergoes the ritual and is declared a free wyldling.
He stood in the middle of the ring and gazed to the stars while feeling the sand and dirt under his feet. He stood there gazing and for a second it was as if his body was only an empty shell, he was remembering the ritual, the brutal battle, the run across the land, the month spent in the unwelcoming marshes. Finally it paid off, he was free, and while his family was proud and trusted he will seek a place amongst them and thrive for leadership, he declared that he was going rogue for a year.
The walk was a pleasant stroll, the storm was now merely a breeze, and the woods kept him company as he examined every mark in them to draw a highly effective mental map 'just in case'.