Ophie stuck to Kaija's side like glue as they wandered through the woods, the teal of her eyes shining as blue sprites hovered right at the tip of her nose, as though trying to lead them somewhere. Deep in her gut she thought it was a bad idea, as this didn't feel like a good place tonight, but Kaija was an explorer at heart and Ophie just couldn't say no. From the corner of her vision she say rolling movement, slow and creeping, but when Ophie took a long whiff of the air she smelled nothing. Nothing that shouldn't be there anyway. "I uh...what do you think they are?" Maybe she would know, since she came from a long line of explorers, right? "Are they dangerous?"

Kaija felt strangely like a knight in shining armor, coming to sweet Ophie off her feet and take her on some grand adventure. Her best friend had spoken a few times about feeling out of place in her pack - she felt pushed beyond her limits sometimes, pushed to live up to expectations she feared she'd never meet. In the smallest kind of way Kaija could relate to her, though instead of dwelling in those thoughts for long she'd simply left Valhalla. She knew Ophie didn't have the same freedom, or at least she didn't feel like she did, but Kaija wanted to make sure she didn't feel like dead weight. There was still so much life to live, and even if it was lived in small bursts, she was determined to continually bring a smile to Ophie's face.

Except… the further and further they got from Armada's borders, the stranger she started to feel. It was the kind of night that made her feel on edge, even before the wisps of blue and purple began to appear, dancing sporadically around their heads. Kaija was intrigued but admittedly wary too. She was hardly a superstitious wolf but she had the feeling that these things were some sort of bad omen. She gave a shiver when Ophie finally broke the silence, giving a big shrug. "I'unno. Bugs, maybe?" But a lifted paw, swiping at one speck of color, simply made it dissipate into nothingness. She felt no bug there, and she tried a few more times and decided that they definitely were not bugs. Either way, despite the uneasy feeling she had, she wasn't going to admit that coming here was a bad idea. Kaija absolutely refused to not make the most of their little trip. Shaking off the feeling, she bounded forward, weaving around one of the willow trees into the darkness.

Bugs? They didn't look like any bugs Ophie had ever seen, but then again it wasn't as if she was a bug expert or even left the Armada enough to know what sorts of creatures roamed the lands beyond. Still, try as she might, she just couldn't shake the sense of wrongness. For one no matter how hard Ophie strained to hear she couldn't catch the flapping of their wings, nor did they seem to have legs or limbs to go along with their glow. Kaija was quick to swipe one away and the Fatalis girl couldn't help but cringe as it faded to nothing. It hadn't died it just...ceased to be? Ophie swallowed thickly as Kaija bounded ahead, drawing a startled eep from Ophie's lips as she could have sworn she saw a figure lurking a little ways away. Like it had been stalking them this whole time. That or Ophie was seeing things, getting all worked up over nothing again. Or at least that's what she told her self, in the hopes of not ruining this venture with her best friend ever. "Kaika please wait! Don't leave me!" She trundled along, struggling to keep the wobble out of her voice.

Hey, maybe Kaija was wrong. The little sprites of color that floated around in small clusters seemed to blink in and out of existence. It reminded her of the feeling you got when you first woke up, when your eyes were unfocused, but everything else seemed crisp and clear to her. Weird. She continued on, pushing over grass and vegetation as they headed to the willow forest. She fully intended to go on a adventure with Ophie and no amount of weird, glowing light-bugs was going to stop her. At least that was what she was going to keep telling herself.

The noise Ophie made made her flinch a bit. The feeling that they were being watched seemed to grow stronger and stronger, and she slowed, finding comfort in walking alongside her friend. More often than not she liked to lead the charge and stay ahead of her when she could, but suddenly she was feeling a little less brave than usual. "I kinda have a bad feeling about this," she admitted after a moment. "D'you think there's a monster out here? Maybe a big bear or somethin'?" She remembered being told stories of cave bears once when she'd met a lady when she went exploring. She shivered at the thought. It didn't explain the glowing lights, or the eerie colors cast down upon the ground, but... she was at a loss.

She thought there were monsters out here? Well, if Kaija was getting spooked by all of this then it really had to be bad. Like pack up your explorer gear and go home, kind of bad. Ophie glanced about shiftily, heart fluttering in her chest as- eep! What was that? Ophie shuffled right up to Kaija's side, leaching against the heft of her shoulder. She'd always felt braver, a little more capable by her best friend's side, but this really was toeing the line. Bordering on too much. What if...the lights turned evil and red? How were they supposed to fight against lights of all things? As though sensing Ophie's hesitation the sprites beamed lighter, chasing away the shadows like the lure of an anglerfish. "Kaija...can we head back?" There she said it, but didn't feel any less awful for ruining it all.

Ophelia

Fireflies suddenly dance around your head̊͆͂. You also find 3 crystals. Maybe these are worth keeping…

Sure, she was a little spooked, but hardly spooked enough to stop. Nah, she was gonna keep on going and push those bad feelings deep, deep down until she forgot them completely. Except.. it seemed Ophie wasn't so quick to forget the figure that they'd seen lurking in the darkness. She let out a little gasp when Ophie shuffled up against her, narrowing her eyes and trying to see what had spooked her. Was she seeing things now? Kaija felt like she might be, but a shifting of shadows nearby made her own heart start to beat faster in her chest. She heard the sharp crunching of a stick nearby - or maybe that was from the step she'd just taken? Kaija shivered and pressed harder against Ophie, only pulling away slightly once she spoke.

She wanted to go back? Kaija felt her heart begin to sink. "Like.. you wanna go home?" Kaija wasn't good at hiding her emotions, and this moment was no exception. The disappointment in her eyes was obvious, reflecting back the bright lights that seemed to swarm back toward them and dance around her head. "Fine, let's go," she said, sounding more disappointed than anything else. Going home meant Kaija would be on her own again; she couldn't go hang out with Ophie in her pack, she knew that. And while she'd been excited to be on her own, after leaving Valhalla, she'd been even more excited to come tell Ophie about it. Suddenly the looming shadows and strange noises n the night felt a whole lot less upsetting than the prospect of dropping Ophie off and then going off on her own again.

Kaija

Maybe coming here was a mistake. You also find 2 mushrooms. Maybe these are worth keeping…

Ophie flinched, she didn't mean it like that! She just didn't want to be here any more, not stray from Kaija's side! Scrambling so they were shoulder to shoulder again, Ophie gave her a gentle nudge. She could fix this, right? Nothing was ruined or broken, it couldn't be! Out of everyone she knew, Kaija was just...she understood Ophie like no one else did. Didn't mind her glaringly obvious flaws, was happy to just push them aside and draw out the Ophie worth knowing and loving. Maybe she was selfish for clinging onto her so tightly, but the tubby Fatalis couldn't help it. Not really. "I just mean like...away from here. Don't go just yet. Please." She whined softly in her throat, panic surging at the thought of being alone tonight.

Kaija had never had the opportunity to let her temper flare before, not really - there was very little that had happened in her life to upset her. Maybe she was just lucky. Until this moment she'd never really felt frustrated, though the feeling dissipated as soon as it appeared, rising sharply before dropping off when she saw the look on Ophie's face. "Okay," she conceded glumly. It wasn't in her nature to apologize but she felt she ought to, but the words didn't quite make it to her tongue. She didn't mean to make Ophie feel bad - from what she understood, her family did plenty of that - but she realized suddenly she likely had. "I'm just - I thought you wanted to-" Her words trailed off as she tried to find the right thing to say. She thought she wanted to go home, to leave her out here alone when they should be celebrating. But all this was rightfully creepy and she understood Ophie's fears, even if her own were much quieter, not out of bravery but sheer naivety and bullheadedness. "Let's find somewhere else then. Somewhere less weird," she suggested. It seemed all the world was being touched with this strangeness though, but surely they could find somewhere a little less spooky to hunker down for awhile, before Ophie had to go back home?