The nights were growing longer than he was accustomed to, seeming to stretch on for over half the day and taking over the sun shortly after it had even risen in the sky. The moon itself seemed to remain constantly full, ignoring the waxing and waning cycles that it normally strictly abided by. The moon itself seemed to glow brighter, like a second sun, but the landscape remained swathed in pitch darkness. This darkness was penetrated periodically by flickering fireflies, something that surprised him with the cold. What was even more surprising was that they weren’t the colors he was accustomed to. Instead of bright yellow, they glowed a neon blue or purple. Their lights flickered on and off throughout the Ashen territory, sometimes lasting for several minutes before disappearing just as quickly. And, he never seemed to be able to see the bugs themselves. It was if they apparated and disapparated from thin air. But, surely that wasn’t possible?

The boy trekked to the Shrine, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end in unease as he stood next to the bright pool of water, surrounded by the skeletal white trees. Somehow, the place that often brought his comfort was now causing him great concern. His tail twitched nervously at his ankles and he blew through his nose. How odd.

Word count: 227/2000

"Takeshi Ani Oritsu Abraxas"

It frustrated Kuroki to no end to know the s̵̮͆t̷̪͋r̸̼̔ã̴̦n̷̪̓g̷̣̓ë̶̝n̵̮̈́ë̸̺s̸͊ͅs̸͇̚  had afflicted Ashen too. He had a lot of mixed feelings about home, memories good and bad, but the sight of the blue sprites bobbing around even here had his brows pulling into a taut scowl. He looked far too much like his sire, his darker shadow. He made his way through the trees, noting strange markings on the floor, weaving throughout the territory as though it owned the place. Whatever it was, Kuroki had never seen prints like this before. It didn't seem to be of this world.

Spotting Take from between the trees, Kuroki kicked up his pace a notch as he approached.

"Hey. Be careful will ya?" He warned, eyes narrowed.

The pool of water typically glowed a deep purple, that wasn’t out of the ordinary, but what was strange was that it had seemed to intensify over the past several weeks. It was nearly neon in nature now and looking positively poisonous, so much so that it made him double check whether or not he wanted to get as close as he was. The color was alluring as well, casting a fog over his mind in a way that made his thoughts fuzzy. In the back of his mind, a voice whispered for him to take a dip. Just a little one would surely be fine, it would feel good even, it would wash away every one of his worries, it might even make him stronger. Oh, how he wanted to be stronger...he wanted to prove his worth to his father. He wanted to rub it in his face that he wasn’t worthless, he’d grind him into the dirt. He would--

Kuroki approached, his words snapping Takeshi out of his reverie and, for a moment, the Ashen Dragon just stared at his brother blinking slowly. Then, he realized what he’d been thinking and he felt horror rise in his chest. His thoughts had turned so violent so quickly. His glowing gaze turned to the water, scrambling to his paws and away from it with a growl. He looked to his brother and motioned for him to come closer to him and away from the pool, distrusting it. How had it even happened?

"Takeshi Ani Oritsu Abraxas"

Kuroki quirked a brow, noting the ripple of emotion that spread across his little brother's face. They were of course the same height, with Take being considerably chunkier than Kuroki was, but he'd always consider all of his siblings little. Like he ought to look out for them as best he could. Except with the way things were he couldn't do that, not when the world was seemingly acting out, going through a rebellious phase. Kuroki couldn't relate. Totally. Flicking his ear he stepped up to the poolside and peered down at his reflection, it looked just like it was meant to, even mimicking the derpy expression Kuroki made as he stuck out his tongue till it curled up to reach his nose.

Pulling away, Kuroki looked at his sibling once more. They used to be so close, but these days it felt like they were drifting apart, as though currents were pulling them all in different directions.

"Just sayin' the world ain't acting like it ought to. Even Ashen ain't right." He glanced up, noting the streaks smeared across the sky, like drag marks amongst the stars. Never fading, just there and frozen in place. "Dad and Lament have been looking for tracks. Seen any? Ain't supposed to belong to any animal they've ever seen, that 'n they apparently poof into thin air. " He would have written it off as a joke, but given the witnesses were two of Ashen's most serious wolves it was hard to dismiss it so easily.

Kuroki, ever the rebellious child, ignored his motions and, instead, stuck his head over the pool. Take watched as he made a face before pulling away, nothing seeming to be wrong with him and the boy wondered if it was just him that was reacting to the siren call of the bright purple pool. Still, his older sibling commented on how the world wasn’t right and the Princling snorted. Wasn’t that the truth. They had yet to be alive on the earth for even a full year and even then it was easy for them to tell that this wasn’t normal environmental behavior. Call it instinct, or really just the uncomfortable mumblings of their elders, but it was clear that all was not as it should be. He wondered what had brought it on.

His brother continued, mentioning that their father and Lament had found some tracks that seemed neither normal nor even possibly real. He looked at him with raised brows, clearly showing his surprise but no skepticism. The boy was ready to believe almost anything at that moment, after all, if someone had told him a month ago that they sky would freeze in place and that water would talk to him, he would have called them crazy. Now, weird animal tracks seemed to be the least of the issues. He shook his head in reply, letting him know that he hadn’t, in fact, seen any disappearing tracks.

"Takeshi Ani Oritsu Abraxas"

Takeshi

A blue butterfly lands nearby, but then seems to vanish. You also find 3 crystals. Maybe these are worth keeping…