Lia had finished making breakfast for herself and her Lady, and Briar had bounded off to start her training for the day. Lia was bustling about cleaning up the remains outside the den, and was preparing to bury the bones. As she picked up a rib, the sudden weight of it caught her by surprise. Looking at the bone in her hand, she found two budding little crystals growing right into the bone.

She stared in horror, and gagged a little. For as she watched, the crystal began to glow. They had eaten the meat off those bones, surely that hadn’t been there just twenty minutes prior? They would have felt the sharpness of the crystal on their teeth. She dropped the crystal in horror and backed up. So caught in her surprise she hadn’t realised another wolf had approached. Stepping on his front paws she squealed in surprise and whirled. Only to find a towering man behind her. “Oh! Excuse me, I’m so sorry” she apologised, scrambling to find the right words of politeness among her already scrambled thoughts.


"Speech"

The strange occurrences he had noticed during his travels before he came to the Armada only seemed to be getting worse. The fireflies that had already been numerous to begin with were now everywhere he looked all throughout the day—if he could even call it "day" at this point. It was pretty much perpetually night or evening with the sky never getting lighter than an violet or navy and the moon and streaks of stars giving them most of their light. If anything it made him glad that he had a pack to hide away in and it made him wonder how Lorikeet and Sitka were getting on out there in the wilds. So far he hadn't crossed paths with anything dangerous, per say, but it still didn't sit well with him.

He was walking through the pack's lands, going back to the shop he was setting up in one portion of the plains, carrying one of the chunks of metal that Sirius had told him were stored in the barracks. He had intended to get some of the metal so he could test out the furnace he was building, but what he found was that the collection of metal pieces had what looked like growths of crystals built up on the surface of them. He had eyed them curiously and suspiciously, but seeing the glowing crystals, no matter where they might have come from, made him think of the stunning jewelry he could create with them. With that in mind, he picked up one of them that had the most crystals attached and started taking it back to his den to experiment with.

Along the way he spotted a woman that looked like she was made or fire or perhaps autumn leaves and he slowed his steps as he watched her curiously for a moment. He hadn't yet had a chance to introduce himself to anyone else in the pack and she certainly felt like a perfect contender for his first introduction. How could he turn down the chance to introduce himself to such a beautiful young woman? He walked up behind her and sat down the bar of metal he was holding, only for her to back up into him before he could get her attention. She stepped on the toes of his front feet, making him wince a bit, picking one up to shake it out as she whirled around to face him. He gave a shake of his head and grinned as she apologized and told her, "That's quite alright, no harm done. Seemed like something startled you—everything alright?"

"Ruga Amanto"

He was shaking out his paw like he had hurt it, and she was already reaching out a paw to examine it. She didn’t get so far as to touch his fur however. With her paw outstretched, she saw the hunk of metal he had placed at his side. She gasped in horror and surprise, seeing the crystals glowing on its surface. “Oh!” she gasped, before turning and stepped back towards the rub bone she had discarded in her surprise.

She grimaced, unhappy with the idea of approaching it again, but she had to compare them. She had to know if this crystal was the same sort as his own. With a sick feeling in her stomach, she realised the crystals had already grown in size, no longer little buds attached to the bleached material.

She picked it up very cautiously by the end, and placed it down beside Ruga’s metal. “By the stars!” she whispered, looking up at the tall wolf. She knew she was being terribly rude, but this was all just so shocking. “What could it mean?”


"Speech"

She seemed too startled and distracted by whatever had caused her to back up into him to begin with to answer his question, but when she looked down at the crystals on the metal he was carrying and then turned her attention back to a rib bone that had been laying on the ground beside her he started to put the pieces of the puzzle together himself. He watched as she very carefully picked up the bone and put it next to the bar of metal, comparing the two crystals. They were indeed the same, though perhaps slightly different shades of blue and purple. The one he was carrying was much larger and had clearly been forming for a longer period of time while the one that had seemingly startled her was much smaller, but he assumed still growing.

"No idea," he said with another shake of his head when she questioned the crystal's existence, eyeing them curiously. "I found these in the barracks while I was collecting pieces of metal for my smithing. I've seen plenty of crystals and gemstones of all kinds, but nothing that forms quite like this and certainly nothing that glows like this does." He lifted a paw to tap the crystal with one of his claws, watching the glow react to his touch, pulsing more brightly as he tapped it. "I wanted to try breaking some off to see if I could use it in a piece of jewelry, but... now I don't know if I should." He hadn't realized how much these were popping up on things and the fact that they could grow was a bit disconcerting.

"Ruga Amanto"

She looked to the older wolf, hoping he might offer some guidance on what this all meant. The white wolf was shaking his head however, and Lia felt her heart sink. How could this be? How could they grow so fast? More importantly, why where they growing on the bones, and was their consuming the flesh of the creature going to mean dire consequences?

“A blacksmith?” She said in surprise, momentarily distracted - but that didn’t last long. These terrifying crystals had the majority of her attention. “You don’t understand - I feed the meat to My Mistress, Mr Blacksmith, what am I to do?” She said, looking up at him with large, imploring eyes. All but begging him to have an answer. “Have I killed us?”


"Speech"

Ruga gave a tilt of his head as the younger lady explained that the meat from this bone had been fed to her "mistress". Was this wolf a servant then? Now wasn't really the time to question her on that considering the worry she very clearly felt over the situation. The huge amber eyes she looked up at him with, pleading him for an answer, made him wish he had one for her. "I'm sure everything is going to be fine," he reassured her with a warm smile. "They might be glowing, but they're still just rocks right?" Even still, he wished he had more answers for her. An idea popped in his head and he told her. "Stay here, I have an idea. I just need to go grab one of my tools."

He turned and took off then, running toward his den to grab a chisel from his tool kit, the wooden, leather wrapped handle worn down from all the times he had gripped it in his teeth. On the way, he kept an eye out for any more crystals and now that he was actually looking for them it seemed like he saw them everywhere, but there was something distinct that he noticed. He hurried back to where the fire-marked woman was standing and sat down the chisel so he could speak giving her a little grin. "So I was looking for more of these crystals on the way to my den and I did see some—but only on hard, non-living surfaces. Rocks, mostly, but I did also see some on some bones from my dinner last night. So it seems like they only form on the bones and stuff after the meat is gone. I don't think you have anything to worry about there."

Ruga turned his attention to the crystals in question, squinting and trying to decide if they had grown any more in his absence. "I'm going to try breaking off a piece and see if they form on anything else or if they spread from the piece. Try and examine it, you know?" Picking up the chisel again, he held the metal bar still under his front paws and gave a firm swing of his head to connect the sharp end of the chisel with the crystal, hoping that would be enough to break off at least a piece.

"Ruga Amanto"

Lia

A ringing began in your head the moment you noticed the crystal growths on the bone, though perhaps too faint for you to initially discern. The volume grows louder the longer you and your companion's discussion goes on, eventually becoming too thunderous to ignore.

Ruga

The moment your chisel succeeds in cracking the crystal off the metal bar, a headache unlike any you've ever had pounds unrelentingly inside your skull. The broken crystal's fading glow seems to pulse in synchronization with the pain.

She shook her head a little, a strange noise beginning behind her ears as Ruga took off to grab something. She sat obediently besides the crystals, despite the unease crawling up her spine. When he returned, he had some words of comfort for her - crystals growing on the bones of his dinner remains as well. “Oh… thank goodness” she whispered with relief. Maybe they hadn’t eaten crystal… spores? But she was still very uncomfortable with the whole thing anyway,

The ringing got louder and she started to tip her head to the side and shake it, like she had water lodged in her ears. “I really… appreciate your assistance, Sir” she said, as the ringing increased in volume. She let out a little involinery moan, and pressed a paw to her head. Trying so hard not to let her discomfort show. Her limbs began to shake with the effort of it.


"Speech"

He hadn't noticed the woman's pain or perhaps he would have reconsidered what he was doing, but as it was he was already well into the swing of his chisel toward the crystal in question. The sharpened metal hit the crystal and it immediately cracked in half, the half not attached to the bar of metal falling to the ground. He had chipped or split or mined many, many stones and gems in his life, but none of them had the immediate recoil and reaction that this one did. The strike felt like it vibrated back up through his teeth and into his head, an instant headache feeling like it might split his skull open. He dropped the chisel with a grunt of pain, gritting his teeth as he fell back onto his haunches and pressed a paw to his temple. It hurt far worse than any other pain he had ever experienced and it felt like it was pounding on the inside of his skull harder than a hammer striking hot metal. With squinted eyes he caught a glimpse of the crystal he had broken off and he saw the glow start to diminish, but as it faded it was pulsing nearly perfectly in time with the painful ache in his head and that's when he began to dread and wonder what he had done.

"Ruga Amanto"

Firefly Shoppe- Lia

A firefly draws your attention nearby to reveal a cloaked figure with a small wooden table in front of him. On the table lay three items, with their prices beside them. "Choose wisely, and only choose one," the figure says. "If you can afford it, that is." Perhaps he accepts cŕ̷̕y̵̍͊stals and mushrö̸́̀ō̴̉ms... or perhaps its worth bargaining for something greater...


Inventory:

• Fun shroom- 1 /
  An ordinary everyday mushroom that just has a little handwritten tag on it that reads “eat me”. It seems pretty risky, but it might pay off in the end. Maybe...
  
• ??? Potion- 3 /
  This potion is a surprisingly light looking purple liquid, clear and slightly fruity smelling. Something floats in the middle of the bottle, what it looks like changes depending on how you look at it, from one angle a crystal, from another a mushroom and from yet another a firefly? Weird...
  
• Grow Potion- 1 /
  This bottle is shaped like an upside down pear and within it swirls a sparkly gold liquid. The label shows a crudely drawn image of two wolves of vastly different sizes, with a green checkmark over the largest one.
  

Firefly Shoppe- Ruga

A firefly draws your attention nearby to reveal a cloaked figure with a small wooden table in front of him. On the table lay three items, with their prices beside them. "Choose wisely, and only choose one," the figure says. "If you can afford it, that is." Perhaps he accepts cŕ̷̕y̵̍͊stals and mushrö̸́̀ō̴̉ms... or perhaps its worth bargaining for something greater...


Inventory:

• Serious Steroids- 1 /
  The cloaked figure assures you it’s not really steroids but he does say it’ll make your body more resilient, he won’t tell you what’s in them though.
  
• Grow Potion- 1 /
  This bottle is shaped like an upside down pear and within it swirls a sparkly gold liquid. The label shows a crudely drawn image of two wolves of vastly different sizes, with a green checkmark over the largest one.
  
• Fun shroom- 1 /
  An ordinary everyday mushroom that just has a little handwritten tag on it that reads “eat me”. It seems pretty risky, but it might pay off in the end. Maybe...
  

Shaking her ears as the ringing slowly began to decrease, she reached out a paw to Ruga, who had fallen on his hunches. His head pressed to his head as well, could he too hear the ringing? As she tried to get her limbs to work, she aimed to press a paw against his forehead - and then was distracted by the sudden appearance of something ghostly and bizarre.

She squeaked in surprise, almost falling over as the creature spoke to her. On quivering limbs, she obeyed. Obedience written into the very lines of her bones. She creeped closer to the wares he directed her to. One set laid out on one side, another on his other. It was clear he meant her only to look at these three, and so she did so. Looking at the mushroom, the upside down pear, and the potion with clear liquid. Bargaining with this mythical creature seemed unwise indeed. It was her instinct to duck her head dimsively and make no choices. She intended to do exactly that - perhaps she should have done exactly that.

Instead, something about that potion called to her, drew her eyes. Captivated her. With a trembling paw she raised the limb to point at the shifting potion. “That one” she whispered, her voice painfully quiet.

"Speech"

Ruga grumbled and rubbed his head as the pounding headache slowly began to dissipate, looking furiously toward the crystal that had clearly gotten the best of him. He'd never had any sort of material effect him like this and it absolutely befuddled him. His ears perked as the smaller woman caught him off guard, not noticing her reaching toward him until her paw was on his forehead. He blinked his seafoam eyes as he looked up at her, finding her warm, fire-hued gaze. He didn't have a chance to comment though as something else pulled her attention and he followed her gaze toward a strange figure that looked as if the fireflies had all joined together as one with a cloth draped over them like a cloak. He shook his head and blinked a couple times, wondering if maybe he was imagining things or if that crystal was messing with his head more than he thought it had.

But it seemed like the young woman had noticed it too so it wasn't just him that saw this weird thing and its table of even weirder stuff. He pulled himself to his feet as she moved toward the figure, listening as it spoke to them and told them to choose one item, directing them each to one side of the table. Making deals with whatever this thing was seemed ill advised at best, but he hung back just behind his fire-marked acquaintance just in case this thing tried something funny and he needed to pull her back. Her transaction seemed to go alright even though he couldn't tell what it was she had purchased so he looked to the items the firefly figure had offered to him.

He didn't know what the first thing meant by making him more resilient, though that was mildly tempting. The second thing didn't really appeal to him. He was already much bigger than most and he couldn't imagine being any bigger. The last thing—a strange mushroom that said "eat me"—was the biggest wild card. He had dabbled in some recreational plants and herbs in the past so the idea of it certainly wasn't foreign to him, but did he trust the idea of eating a mushroom from this thing? Fuck it he thought to himself and grabbed the crystal that had seemingly sparked this whole thing and tossed it on the table, taking the mushroom in return. At least he could get something for his trouble.

"Ruga Amanto"

Firefly Shoppe- Lia

As the shy woman dictates her choice, she is no later blinking as if reawakened, the potion now at her paws and the figure and his shop gone.


You gain:

• ??? Potion- This potion is a surprisingly light looking purple liquid, clear and slightly fruity smelling. Something floats in the middle of the bottle, what it looks like changes depending on how you look at it, from one angle a ̶̿͘c̶͌̕r̴̔̉y̷̅͋š̵̾tal, from another a ̸̾͌m̴͑̋û̸́s̵̀͒h̸̏̒r̶̍͒o̷̢͊o̷͊̀ṁ̴̃ and from yet another a firefly? Weird...
  

You lose:

• Currency (x3)- Used in Firefly's Shoppe, and perhaps elsewhere...
  
  

Firefly Shoppe- Ruga

The man made his transaction almost as if annoyed. The figure buzzed in response as he made his decision, and with the next movement was gone, leaving Ruga with the mushroom.


You gain:

• Fun Shroom- An ordinary everyday ̸̾͌m̴͑̋û̸́s̵̀͒h̸̏̒r̶̍͒o̷̢͊o̷͊̀ṁ̴̃ that just has a little handwritten tag on it that reads “eat me”. It seems pretty risky, but it might pay off in the end. Maybe...
  

You lose:

• Currency (x1)- Used in Firefly's Shoppe, and perhaps elsewhere...