The strange phenomenons that had been occurring since about mid winter didn't seem to be showing any signs of stopping. If anything, they had proven themselves to just be getting more and more odd and unsettling. The first night she had noticed the odd fireflies when she was in the garden with Aliana it had seemed like a strange but beautiful change that was confusing but still enjoyable. However, after the run in with the strange, glowing beavers that had attempted to block her from returning to the island several nights ago her opinion on the ghostly happenings were far less favorable. She didn't exactly feel like leaving the island right now as it was with the early, unpleasant symptoms of her pregnancy, but with all of these things going on it gave her even more reason to stay put on the island where it seemed like they were safe from the creatures that couldn't cross the water. Some of the fireflies had made their way to the island one way or another, but they seemed fairly harmless and mostly playful. Dalila had been making a point of spending more time with other wolves in their pack other than Siren. She of course loved the delicate woman dearly and would likely spend every minute of the day with her if possible, but Siren had her own children now and she supposed she would too soon enough. The thought still made her uneasy, but there was no turning back now. She had chosen to carry and keep these pups that she hadn't intended to have and she would need to get comfortable with this fact sooner rather than later. To help distract herself from the symptoms she was struggling through she had turned her attention to getting to know Aliana, Chimera, and even Cerberus. The boy spent a lot of time around Siren and so her as well by proxy, but they hadn't spent much time together on their own. With Scylla and Albion napping and Siren watching over them she decided to take Cerberus out to the greenhouse with her to help entertain the young boy and let the others rest. It was already dark even though it didn't feel like it should be that late in the day. The nights seemed to continue to draw out longer and longer and every day the bright, full moon lit up the sky. It seemed impossible for a moon to remain full for as long as it had, but in comparison to attacking beavers with glowing eyes she supposed that was probably the least of her worries. They drew closer to the green house and her steps slowed, blinking with surprise at the sight. "This... wasn't like this the other night," she mused as she looked at the greenhouse that was now full of plants that were bright and glowing with various iridescent hues of blue and purple. All of the plants that she and Siren had been working on cultivating here seemed to be effected by it and upon closer inspection the air within the glass walled house was also full of the strange fireflies. At least from where she was standing she didn't see anything else in the greenhouse and surely no animals could get in there, right? "Be careful and let me know if you see any creatures, okay?" she told Cerberus before she went to open the greenhouse door to let them in so they could get a closer look. WC: 582/2500 "Speech"

Viper was hardly labeled a mother even to Cerberus and he was noticing that more and more as the days went on. Viper everyday dumped him with Siren and sure she was doing her duty to the pack but maybe just a little too much. She didn't like to stay around her area of the island for too long, there was more chance of her getting caught up with Chimera then. Cerberus didn't know what their inner qualms were, but he could sense the tension between his birth mother and father even when they weren't together.

He stayed mostly quiet when he spent his days with Siren, and it was probably seen by those like Dalila and now his new half-siblings. He didn't know it but soon he would have more. He was quiet but not like Viper. He took lessons from Siren when she was able and observed and helped her in the green house too. He spoke when spoken to or asked questions if he had any, but otherwise kept to himself. He was definitely far from the average pup who would have been full of energy and want to run all around to explore the world. He knew he had time in his life to do so, but he was content with his life here on the island. He didn't need to go anywhere else.

He also felt safe here. He was maybe naive to the outside dangers of the world, but he also knew better somehow. He trusted the wolves of the pack and knew not to wander off with strangers, but didn't understand how much trouble he could be in even if he chose not to follow a stranger like how they would retaliate. He was still young and small and needed the protection of Chimera, Viper, and the pack. But being without Siren and instead with Dalila did not make him feel any different. Dalila was another he felt he knew well, or maybe not so well but he had seen her plenty of times while she spent so much time with Siren.

The changes of the world around him didn't seem to bother him much. He after all hadn't been around too long though he did sense that this wasn't exactly normal. He felt the tension of the adults around him, but he didn't let that wrack his nerves. Watching the scarce fireflies on their way to the greenhouse, he didn't speak a word. His paws led him inside as Dalila opened the door and they had a better look at the strangely bright, glowing plants inside. No, this wasn't how the greenhouse had reacted to the full haunting moon before. This was his first time seeing it as well. His nose poked around the soil, but the herbs didn't necessarily seem different other than the same glow he had seen in the birds that had stalked him. The fireflies only floated around gently around them and the greenhouse plants as an eerie silence surrounded them. Mooooovvveee, was just a breath in his head he assumed came from the voices of the fireflies like he had heard before. His head turned to look behind him where he was met with a rather large raccoon that seemed to only be waiting to jump scare him. It leapt up nearly on top of him since he was still small with his age. His reflexes moved quick though as he started thrashing around, disrupting some of the greenhouse supplies surrounding him. He didn't think he was really fighting for his life, but he knew for sure this strange possessed Raccoon certainly meant him harm.

Seasonal Bonus Prompt
Total Word Count: 1190 words
Word Count Goal: 2500 words

"Cerberus Klein"

Dalila let the door to the greenhouse close behind her as they walked into the glass walled building, her pale blue gaze looking curiously around the space that was filled with brightly glowing plants. The fireflies floated through the air and she wondered to herself how they had gotten in here. There were small gaps in the roof of the green house, but these fireflies would have had to funnel in to those small gaps for this many to make it in here. She hummed softly with thought while she paused by one of the marigold plants and carefully examined it with her paw turning the golden flowers one way and then another. The plant didn't really seem any different except for the very obvious golden sheen it gave off. Even it's stem and leaves had a blueish sheen to them. She plucked one of the petals off and held it aloft in her paw as she watched it as the glow faded away until the petal looked completely normal and average again. She hoped that this strange glow didn't have any long lasting effects on the plants. She wasn't sure what they would do to recover their garden if it did. She was too caught up in her examination of the flora to immediately notice the intruder, not at least until she heard a clatter that made her jump and spin around till she saw a big, glowing raccoon tackling Cerberus and attacking the young pup. "Cerberus!" she exclaimed, running over to help even though the boy was doing a fairly good job of wiggling away and fighting it off on his own. Still, this raccoon was clearly not pleased with their presence here even though it was the one intruding on their space. It was the same sort of craziness that she saw from the beavers that had tried to keep her from getting back to the island the other night. If this sort of thing kept up much longer she wasn't sure if it would be safe for the pups to go without an escort no matter the time of day, not at least until they got bigger. Hopefully they wouldn't have to worry about that though and things would go back to normal soon enough. For now though, she jumped into the scuffle and grabbed the feisty raccoon by the back of it's neck lifting the flailing, swiping animal off of Cerberus. It hissed and fought against her as she gripped it firmly and carried it out toward the door, pushing the door open and flinging it outside. The impact on the ground as it landed seemed to shake it loose of its trace, it's glowing eyes dimming back to its normal darkness as it scrambled back to its paws. She watched the glow fade from its fur till it simply looked like any other raccoon and it turned to waddle its way back into the brush, only to take a few steps and fall over motionless. Her eyes widened and her ears flicked back at the sight, silently hoping that it was just knocked unconscious or stunned by the experience rather than something worse. Trotting back into the greenhouse, she went back to where Cerberus had been left, worriedly checking him over for wounds. "Are you alright?" WC: 552 Total: 1742/2500 "Speech"

The angry, glowing raccoon felt more powerful as it appeared while it jumped up on Cerberus with an open jaw. Luckily Cerberus was able to avoid a bite to his face, or really just anywhere in the first grab. Still, the possessed creature's tiny little claws clung at him, but they weren't sharp enough to actually break his skin. He wrestled with the scavenger, just trying to back it off until Dalila made it over. His teeth were still too young to do any real damage as he bit down on the creature, but hopefully it would do enough. He was smarter than to think he could handle the raccoon on his own, even though he never really imagined that he would be in this predicament with a raccoon and in the green house that had been locked sealed. Or was it? Did something let the raccoon in?

He put more faith in his pack mates than he should have maybe, though Dalila was certainly going to help him. His idea was fend off the creature long enough for an adult to take care of it or at least help out. But that wouldn't always be the case, even here on the island it seemed with the haunting moon and possessed creatures. Dalila rushed over and picked up the creature by it's scruff before hasting to the door and throwing it outside. While she dealt with that, Cerberus stood up slowly before going to wander around the room and pick up what he had knocked over. Though through the commotion he hadn't even noticed that the raccoon had bitten his paw. Still, he limped around slightly while he at least got the items out of the walkways. One of the plants had fallen over and unsoiled itself and Cerberus couldn't help but feel bad. He knew that Siren or Dalila wouldn't have yelled at him if he ruined the plant, but he still felt guilty. Though it wasn't his fault the raccoon had come in somehow and attacked him.

His injured paw gently crumbled the soil around the roots of the plant on the floor, the roots glowing just as bright as the leaves. His gaze looked up at the fireflies as they seemed to vibrate from him poking at the roots of the glowing plant. It was strange for sure, but just as Dalila had examined the glow fading in the marigold petal, maybe the glow didn't affect the herbs and flowers other than their appearance. Dalila came back to him as his was looking down at the unearthed plant, asking if he was alright. He raised his paw, silently mentioning the puncture wounds from the raccoon's teeth, "It doesn't hurt much." He insisted, though he was sure that Siren or Dalila would take care of him.

Seasonal Bonus Prompt
Total Word Count: 2210 words
Word Count Goal: 2500 words

"Cerberus Klein"

Dalila sighed softly as the tension slid from her shoulders when Cerberus lifted his paw for her to look at and she confirmed for herself that it was the only wound he got from the whole ordeal. She hardly even noticed the plant that had gotten knocked over in the scuffle. As long as Cerberus was okay then that's all that really mattered. She smiled softly and settled back on her haunches in front of him, gently taking the paw he offered in her own and examining it. "I'm sure it doesn't, but lets still clean it up and put some herbs on it just in case." Releasing his paw she walked over to a stack of bowls on one of the shelves of supplies and took one, carrying it over to the bucket of water they kept for watering the plants. She filled the bowl with water and walked back over to where Cerberus was to start washing his paw. "You were very brave fighting off that raccoon," she commented with a smile while she gently washed off any dirt and grime from the paw and out of the bite. A little glance up made her realize that the stuff that had been thrown about in the scuffle had been picked up and her ears perked with surprise. "Oh, you cleaned up the stuff? You didn't have to do all that. That's very sweet of you though, thank you." Sometimes it was hard to believe that Cerberus was Viper's son. She knew a lot of it had to do with the fact that he spent so much time with Siren and herself and she was silently grateful that they were able to offer a good influence for the boy. She was certain Viper had her merits as well—there had to be a reason Chimera kept her so close for so long—but the few interactions she had with the older woman hadn't exactly been pleasant ones. With Cerberus' paw cleaned she lifted it out of the water and reached over to the shelves to pull down a rag, carefully drying it off. "Hold it up like this so it doesn't get dirty again before I can seal up the bite okay?" she instructed him before she got up to to gather a couple of herbs. She only had to go a few steps to go back to the marigold she had been examining before, plucking several petals from the flower and watching as the glow faded away just as it had before. While she was slightly concerned about using the herbs on Cerberus, they seemed okay from what she could tell so she decided to move on as planned. She picked off a small piece of horsetail from a plant they had recently transplanted into the greenhouse and then went back over to Cerberus. She made quick work of chewing up the marigold and pressing it into the small gaps where the raccoon's teeth had punctured, glad to find that the plant tasted the same as it always did as well. She did the same thing with the horsetail, pressing the edges of the wounds together gently and holding them there until the sticky horsetail adhered the edges together. "There we go, that'll do." She chuckled softly, carefully not showing the worry she felt about how strange the world had become. "Come on, lets go back inside. I think that's enough excitement for one night." WC: 575 Total: 2785/2500 "Speech"

Dalia & Cerberus

It starts slowly at first, not even really noticeable except for a slight tingle in Cerberus' paw, but though the plants seemed unaffected by the strange light they put out something does seem off now that they have been applied to his wound, something is happening. The seamline where his flesh was gently pulled back together glows, faintly at first though with each passing heartbeat, and it does seem to pulse with the young boy's heart, it grows stronger. It's not his skin that glows though, no, it's like the blood itself is glowing and as time goes on the glow grows more visible elsewhere too, as if moving up his veins, a soft blue visible just beneath his fur, more clear as it moves through the dark patches of his pelt until his whole limb is a gentle glowing blue.

And if either wolf were to look outside at that moment they'd find the shape of the racoon gone, swallowed up by a swarm of more of the blue fireflies than had ever been seen in once place... As if they were eating it...