Keetie wasn’t accustomed to being outshone. No matter how beautiful the world around her, or breathtaking the sunsets, the wolves around her still could not unglue their gaze from her form. Now the world was alive with strangeness, of fireflies that shone like glass pebbles, reflecting all sorts of lights they had no rights to possess. Some evenings the plants glowed with alien shimmers, as the fireflies danced about them.

The moon was big and overpowering in the sky above, and even Keetie couldn’t seem to stop staring at it. She was no longer the most eye-appealing thing in the world around her, and she did not have a reason for the cause. Nothing explained how any of this had come to be.

It was late evening when she glided through the prairie, entranced and confused by the fireflies that winked into existence around her. Surrounding her, dancing and frolicng across her fur.


"Speech"

Artisan caught the sight of her from a far away hill and had to take a double take to recognize that it was, in fact, his dear Keetie. The colorful man threw his weight between his paws excitedly, clapped them together, then sprinted off toward the brilliant blue girl who he hadn't seen in nearly a year. "KEETIE!" He yelled as he drew nearer, but the sound cut off dramatically as a glowing blue firefly was caught in his wide-open jaws and nearly was thrown right down his throat. He grinded to a halt mid run and gave a few violent coughs. Artisan was expecting to see the creature expelled but like magic, the odd foreign sensation of bug-on-uvula vanished and no bug was nestled in the saliva he'd spat out. "Huh." He mused, before suddenly remembering the reason for his joy and took off back towards her, aiming to grab her in an all-engulfing bear hug with all his might. "KEETIE!" Art repeated, once he was no longer rocketing across terrain and swallowing blue missiles. "I missed you! Where'd you get your entourage?" With his paws he motioned to the firefly swarm around him, grinning like a mad man as they danced in her hues. "Talk" "Listen" Think

The sound of her name on a familiar tongue had her looking away from her dancing fireflies, and towards her brother. She blinked in surprise as the familiar colorful boy stopped and hacked up a goop of saliva. Staring intently at it. What…? Boys. she would never understand them.

His distraction only lasted a moment, then he was racing towards her once more. She braced herself for impact, and then Arty was there, colliding into her, his paws about her. She returned the hug with gusto, pulling him in close. “Artisan! You scoundrel” she laughed joyfully, her voice as pretty as a bird song.

“I… I have no idea” she admitted, still hugging him tight as she raised a paw and lifted it towards the fireflies. “They were just here” she said, which wasn’t much of an explanation at all.


"Speech"

Keetie met his hug with just as much enthusiasm as Artisan could ever dare to wish for, and the colorful man could not help but let out a very pleased giggle as they squeezed each other. The embrace was comforting and delightful, and Art lay his head in her vibrant blue fur just taking her all in, screw the blue glowy bugs who'd gotten to her first. Her paw lifted toward the fireflies and he watched her movements, still snuggled close to his beloved sister. "They're beautiful!" From this angle watching the lightning bugs up above, the wandering pirate could see the sky for the first time. The stars seemed to streak up above, and the full moon shone down upon them brilliantly. He sighed with contentment, feeling as if the world had given him just the best gift it could. Offhandedly he mentioned. "Weird though, if you bite them they disappear. Do you figure we should be worried?" Worried was not a state Artisan was used to - especially not in the presence of his siblings - but he figured he'd throw out there the fact that they were ethereal and see if that rang any alarm bells. "Talk" "Listen" Think

It felt like it had been forever since she had seen her brother. The bright tones of the boy contrasted well with the strangely colourful fireflies. The golds and blues a mirror of his beautiful coat. When he leaned his head against her, she let out a content sigh, resting her own head against his. Finding her siblings was always like coming home. Home wasn’t a place, it was a people. And the lot of them were scattered haphazardly throughout this land.

As her brother's head tilted upwards, she followed suit. Searching for what had caught his attention, and finding the stars and the ever-present moon. It all seemed so rich and vibrant, so strange. The night was becoming a different, almost alien land these days.

“Why did you experiment with biting them?” she asked, laughing in surprise at his comment. Pulling away just enough to meet his gaze. “Why do you see funny glowing bug and think food?’ she chastised him, booping his nose.

"Speech"

The pair stared up at the moon, stars and fireflies still intertwined in the longest bear hug in the world, until Keetie pulled back to meet his gaze with a question and a laugh on her lips. The colorful man huffed his chest out proudly, lifting a decorated paw to him in offense and giving her a side-eye glare that properly got across how ridiculous her question was. "Excuse me." Artisan whined playfully. "I would never just, eat a bug. The thing flew itself into my jaws and when something shoves itself down my throat I can't help but swallow it." Or, as much as you could swallow something that seemed to dissolve on contact. It was quite an odd situation, and for a moment he considered if he should try to eat one again to see if he could confirm the experiment. Or maybe he could tempt Keetie to give it a try... "Talk" "Listen" Think

Lorikeet

A cluster of mice scatter out from a nearby shrub, leaving soft blue dust trailing along behind their tails. You also find 4 crystals. Maybe these are worth keeping…

Artisan

Out of the corner of your eye, you see a small mouse scampering by. Wait - is it glowing? You also find 1 crystal. Maybe these are worth keeping…