Jupiter was going on an adventure and he was going to take Pestilence with him. Why? Well why not. She’s been stuck with that kid for ages now which had to be boring as fuck and life sucking. Also what he’d found reminded him of a conversation they’d had once upon a time and the chance to fuck with her again was just too good to pass up. He reached her den and gingerly stepped through a cloud of blue fireflies before crouching down beside it. It was nice and quiet, which wasn’t a surprise since it was the middle of the night. He reached inside and swung his paw around wildly trying to rouse her. A face, a butt, a foot; he didn’t care what he hit. “Wake up! Hey, pack’s on fire! Get up!” "Jupiter"

Pestilence was only just returning to some semblance of a normal sleeping schedule - thank fuck Rasha was out of her puppy stage - and very shortly after that responsibility was lifted, her body had remembered once more to sleep like the dead. The wide paw batting around in the mouth of her den had to thwack against her multiple times in it's urgency, and still the wolf happily ignored it assuming it was merely her kid begging for a snack or some other shit.

"Pack's on fire!" The words were enough to startle her to her paws, cracking her head on the shallow roof of the den and letting loose a round of swears as she squirmed her way into the moonlight. "Shit, fuck!" Pesto's paw flew up to rub angrily against her sleep laden eyes, as if clearing the lingering fog from them would magically bring into her vision this supposed fire. Except there was no fire, only the calm of night, a looming full moon, and an oddly crisp chill in the air. "You bastard." She accused the big blue man, aiming to shove his shoulder with a paw. "I'm like, somewhat of a parent now you can't say shit like that and not mean it!"

The moment he heard frantic rustling Jupiter stepped back and sat down. He didn’t want to be in the direct line of fire when she came out expecting, well, fire. By the time Pestilence exploded out of the den he had kicked his back feet forward in a super comfortable manspread and was hard at work scratching an itchy armpit with one of his hind feet.

He froze when she started hissing at him, his foot stuck in his armpit. The sudden shove caused him to windmill his scratching foot to maintain his balance. With his tail stretched out beside his other leg there wasn’t much to keep him from toppling so it was a bit of a struggle to stay upright. “Language,” he gasped dramatically, “there’s a kid…ssssomewhere. I mean really, for shame, Pestilence. What kind of example are you trying to set?”

If he hadn't just woke her screaming fire, Pestilence may have had the good nature to be amused at his predicament. Her gaze darted down contemplatively to the paw he had nearer to solid ground as the other flailed to establish balance, and with an exaggerated sigh she placed her own paw heavily down upon it until it touched dirt - both to help him remain upright and to possibly squish his stupid little toes, for good measure. "The same example you set for me as a yearling." She gave back.

When he had somewhat composed himself - which, it was Jupiter, he might never manage that - Pestilence took a moment to glance around the definitely-not-burned surroundings. The night was... creepier then usual, with a blue-tinted glow that she hadn't noticed the night prior. Fireflies danced in the distance though their color too, was wrong. Pesto looked back at Jup accusingly. "One of your more elaborate pranks." If she went and caught a firefly, would she find paint splattering it's wings?

Seeing his distress Pestilence generously sought to help him out by smashing his toes back down to the ground. How kind. He carefully wriggled the crushed digits out from under her foot and quipped, "Hey I'm a married man now." Jupiter waggled his wounded paw dramatically. In all seriousness, that had hurt a bit and his toes were relieved to be free of her weight. "And yes, of course, because I'm the lowlife piece of shit, remember, who teaches the things that parents are too good for." He sniffed, pretending to be hurt, then said, "Really, my dear, it's like you learned nothing from me." Jupiter's head swiveled in the direction Pestilence was looking and then swiveled back to her. Flatly, he replied, "Yeah, because I can make blue fireflies appear in the middle of fucking winter." He held up a paw. "But that is exactly why I woke you. If you're done bitchin' follow me." He took off - limping, naturally - in the direction of Soulless Forest. The closer one got to the Forest the thicker the "lightning bugs" got until there were just swarms of the things around practically every tree. When a oddly colored rabbit flashed across his path and disappeared into the fog that marked the Forest's boundary Jupiter stopped to wave his paws emphatically after it. "That, that! Did you see that?" "Speech"

Pestilence wasn't sure what Jup was trying to imply with being a now-married man nor how that related to his vulgarity and child-rearing abilities (in fact, she'd likely lay money that the marriage he'd found himself in with the witch had only made him more vulgar and inappropriate) but she merely shook her head in reply, watching with faint amusement as he nursed his 'wounded' paw. At his reminder at his own special slice of mentoring Pesto scoffed. "Why do you think I hide away in my den all day with Rasha? I've been protecting her from your 'lessons' from day one." Though her words were less-then-kind, the crook of her lip spoke to Pestilence's true feelings of the brightly colored man. He was one of a small handful of wolves she could call a friend - assuming it counted when said friend was four times your age when you'd met.

His overdramatic reply brought her head to tilt then turn to examine the distant fireflies once more. Not a prank? He beckoned her onwards and Pestilence followed, first curious and then suspicious as fuck as his paws took them to the soulless forest. Pestilence's senses were on high alert as she still somewhat-expected this to have been somehow artfully crafted by the blue wolf's paws, though it became a less and less likely explanation the further they traveled. Swarms of the fireflies now hovered in the air, and at one point in their journey Pesto held out a paw to try and catch one and the creatures phased right through her paw. Her fur stood on end, eyes wide, then Jupiter's voice called out and made her jump as he motioned toward the empty fog. "See what?" She hissed beneath her breath, glancing into the fog. "I swear to god, Jup, if -" A flash of color streaked through the tree trunks and Pesto backpedaled, colliding into the marauder with a yelp.

"You-" he stared at Pestilence and then did a double take between her and the last place he'd seen the rabbit. Really? REALLY? She hadn't seen that? The little glowing bastard had literally been right there. He'd all but pointed her face at it. "Come on you saw that," he said flatly before chastising, "don't fuck around, this is serious business...for once." Jupiter was equal parts teasing and serious as he continued, "I didn't bring you all the way out here to big witchy's house for fun, ya know." His eyes roamed their surroundings for any other weird shit that might be lurking around. Or, anything else out the ordinary, really. "The least you could do is pay attentio- yeOW!" Pestilence backed into him and succeeded in mashing his toes for real. With his head turned he didn't get a chance to even think about snatching his foot away before her weight was bearing down on it. "Jupiter"

Pestilence remained smushed against him, oblivious to Jupiter's plight as she mashed a paw into the dirt. Her head was on a swivel, watching for the passing glow of color to appear once more. There wasn't actually a witchy house, right? Her fur was standing on end, her ears twitching at every distant sound. How did one do battle with a ghost? Or a witch? Or whatever else actually lived in these creepy-as-fuck woods? Even with Jupiter at her side Pesto did not feel very confident - he seemed more the type to blackmail, bribe, or hell, seduce a mythical creature rather then kill it in paw-to-paw combat.

"If you brought me out here so you could have a decoy to die in your place, I swear I will haunt you until the end of your days." Pestilence promised, eyeing the ominous cluster of fireflies that bounced through the mists. As her alertness waned she finally noticed the odd feeling beneath her paw, glanced down at it, recognized her mistake, and lifted her weight off poor Jupiter. "Whoops. At least now I can outrun you."

Pestilence

A cluster of mice scatter out from a nearby shrub, leaving soft blue dust trailing along behind their tails. You also find 3 crystals. Maybe these are worth keeping…

Jupiter

Out of the corner of your eye, you see a chipmunk scampering by. Wait - is it glowing? You also find 3 crystals. Maybe these are worth keeping…