Like many on her mother's side of the family Harlow was a wildly independent woman. She'd spent some time around her father's family lands when he'd first brought them home, but in the end the itch to move had been to great for her. She'd roamed far and wide, and made nary a visit to her kin during that time. At some point over the last season she'd contracted the illness. For a time Harlow had felt she'd managed her symptoms well, but she couldn't say that any longer. Crystals grew with abandon over her body. They grew thickly in places where the fur was short. Her breath came in ragged, painful gasps. It was only when she'd coughed up bloody crystals that Harlow had been forced to reckon with what she had suspected for days: they were growing in her lungs. That knowledge filled the normally stoic woman with fear. In that moment she knew she needed her family.

So began a terrible journey. As the days passed Harlow grew weaker and weaker. Her mind started to leave her. She'd come to herself with minimal memory of how she'd gotten somewhere but nearly tangible dreams of crystals pouring from her eyes, nose and mouth; of smothering under them. The young Andravendi would wake with long claw marks down her face and legs, and no memory of how they'd gotten there. The blood under her claws though suggested they were her handiwork.

This was too much. Her legs gave way again and as bitter, angry tears filled her eyes Harlow knew it was for the last time. She had nothing left and she hadn't made it. She didn't even know where she was or how close she'd come, only that she could go no further.

When Viviane had returned to find that Artur, Meri, and Meri's children had all scattered into the wind without a trace, she'd had reason to hope that wherever they were, they had avoided this insane disease that had fallen over so many. Several of Valhalla's wolves had contracted it and were in quarantine, and though her family had so far avoided contracting it when she'd left, Viviane had left desperate to find a cure for her packmembers before it could be too late.

It wasn't particularly unexpected to come across a victim of the Ooze, since so many had been struck by one form of it or another. Viviane bit her lip as she saw the crystallized, oozing form collapse ahead of her, but tried to steel herself to move on. There was nothing she could do at this stage, and she had too many loved ones in need of a cure for her to stop. All she could do was offer comfort to a stranger, and she couldn't justify doing so at the expense of Valhallans.

Still, she couldn't help but glance sadly at the fallen form as she passed, only to stumble to a halt with a pained cry. The form beneath the ooze and the crystals was nearly unrecognizable, and time had changed her even before, but... yes, it was her niece, Harlow!

Immediately throwing herself off her path she raced to Harlow's side. "Oh, Harlow," she gasped aloud in shock despite having seen the disease before. The Ooze as it appeared on Harlow was the most advanced case she'd seen to date. A deep visceral fear raised the hair on her spine as a tremor raced through her before she could control her reaction. She did not know how to fix this. She did not know how to save her niece.

"Harlow, it's me, Viviane." Heedless of her own safety she sought to curl her body around Harlow's crystal-encrusted form to offer her what comfort she could. She couldn't stop her mind from racing, from offering her a triple-dozen obviously useless ideas to treat it, easily rejected. Besides, she had none of the tools of her trade with her. What could she offer? A pawful of lavender? Still, her eyes darted around them, searching for something - anything - that could be growing in the moonlight-bathed spring around them.

She was so tired. The only thing keeping her from sleep was the effort necessary to keep breathing. Harlow feared that if she did manage to sleep she would never wake. Still, she found herself drifting in and out of focus which was a lot like sleep. Or, maybe, it included sleep and she just didn't know. It was possible; she wouldn't deny it.

Harlow 'woke' with a gasp as someone curled around her. She lay there in confusion staring at fur and taking in what she could of the person's scent as she was too weak to lift her head. "Aunt Viv?" she asked panting. "Oh Aunt Viv, I'm so happy to see you! Did I make it to Valhalla?" Tears filled her eyes. She'd done it after all, hadn't she? She didn't know how much of her family still lived in and around the pack but it filled her with hope. Perhaps she'd get to see them all again one last time.

Harlow's panted words broke Viviane's heart and she swallowed hard, no longer able to hold back her own tears. How fucking cruel was the world that she had found her niece again only to watch her die from something Viviane for all her new education could do nothing to stop? And caught flatfooted without even anything to stop the pain with - what kind of a healer would she ever be if she didn't even have that with her? She was choking on the helplessness and blame, but she couldn't burden Harlow with that. "It's ok, Harlow," she said gently, kissing the young woman softly on the top of her head. Harlow hadn't made it to Valhalla - she would never make it that far alive at this point, even if Viviane could somehow carry her there, but Viviane was not willing to put her through that pain when she could find peace with a white lie. "You've made it home, Harlow. You can rest now." She dipped her head to press against Harlow, heedless of the tears that mingled from each of them.

Harlow's eyes fluttered open as Viviene assured her she'd made it. She smiled softly in relief at the news and then sighed before choking on a cough that quickly turned into a fit that brought up crystals and blood. When it ended she went limp in exhaustion. Despite it all, her smile returned. She was just so relieved. That's all that mattered now. Valhalla wasn't home but family was and if they were here, she was home. "I didn't think I was going to make it," she explained slowly between gasps. "I just wanted to get back to everyone."

Her eyes slipped closed as fatigue coaxed her into darkness. "Aunt Viv?" Harlow's voice was soft and sleepy now. Her breathing grew shallow, the rattles less pronounced. Even though her final days had been filled with nightmares the warm hug of her aunt chased her fears away. Having Viviene there was just the thing she needed to let go and her aunt would never know how much of a blessing that was for her, but Harlow would be carried into Somnium by her aunt's gentle embrace. "I'm really tired..."

-exit via death-

Harlow

Game Over!


You gain:

• Elixir of agility (player-bound)- This bottle of milky blue liquid has a shoe etched onto it… whatever that means.
  

Viviane wrapped her forelegs around the smaller, newly stilled body of her niece and rocked her back and forth gently. Her throat felt too tight, chokingly, but soft words fell from her lips regardless. "Everything will be all right now, Harlow. No more pain. Just rest." She knew that Harlow was beyond hearing now, beyond saving. Beyond the pain and the sickness. "Just rest," she whispered again, before an anguished keen broke its way through and she clung to the cooling body, rocking back and forth, wracked by grief. Would she watch as one by one her family was taken from her and she powerless to do anything to stop it? Were Cairo and Caelia even now falling ill with this disease? Would she return to find them choking to death on crystals as Harlow had? Later she would feel this as an overwhelming fear and return home, bearing Harlow with her to bury beside Harlow's grandmother, but for now she gave herself up to her grief and her tears and the pain of her failure.

Viviane

Your palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy.



You gain:

• Crystal (1x)- Used in Firefly's Shoppe, and perhaps elsewhere...