the billboard said, "the end is near" i turned around, there was nothing there And so they had left Ashen and all she had ever known. It was fine for quite a while. Calamity felt herself relying on Toxicity, perhaps too much. It was a heavy weight to bear and she needed to shoulder her own pain - and so she tamped it down. Deeper, deeper, until she could barely feel it as a kernel of darkness within her heart. Despite it all, she knew they had made the right choice. God must smile down upon them, for their courage and their bravery. Venom may have stripped Toxicity of their birthright, but Calamity still bore the name. She wore it like a holy mantle. It protected her. Their travels had brought them here. A cold wintry mix had blown through the day and they had finally sought shelter in the maw of this cave. Calamity wasn't sure what drew them to this particular spot, but she felt it - like a thread, crossing the plains, reeling them in. She blew out a long breath and it steamed in her face before disappearing into the darkness of the cave. Except... it didn't dissipate, like hot air on a normal winter day, it was drawn deeper into a cave. Like something within the cave had stolen the breath right out of her chest. Calamity went completely still. "Did you see that?" she whispered to their small travelling group. The cave itself seemed to exhale, blowing a breath of warm air right back at them. Against all reason, she found herself convinced that the walls were breathing. Something sparkled deeper within the cave, just out of sight. A luminous blue glow. It called to her. "calamity ordains you unworthy"

Toxicity reserved and steeled herself in their leave from the pack. She had emotions she didn't know what to do with and would rather not deal with or display in front of those that followed her. It was cold and winter. She and her little band would have to work harder to keep fed and to keep from thinning out their sides. The cold wind blew through and Tox shivered lightly as she walked with her sister. The cave they found for shelter glowed in the light and Toxicity was drawn to it as she once was the shrine waters. As Calamity breathed out, the air did something odd. Cala asked if Tox had seen it and she nodded similarly, going to place a paw on the stone. "But... all seems normal?" she asked herself, perplexed. She never heard of Abraxas making his home in a cave.

"Normal," she replied stiffly. "Yes, of course." The dark cave beckoned them onwards, inwards. It was tempting. Was this was test from Abraxas? Would they be punished if they failed? Surely he wouldn't smite them for taking shelter during these long winter nights. "Shall we...?" Calamity murmured, but stepped further without waiting for an answer. Moisture dotted the cave walls, sometimes streaking down in rivulets and other times visible only as condensation. That light grew brighter and brighter. Ahead, the path split in two. To the left was an impenetrable wall of darkness and to the right the path was speckled with bright blue mushrooms. They pulsated softly, glowing in time with her own breathing. Calamity blinked once and the paths seemed to switch places in front of her. Now the mushrooms laid to the left and that ominous, still darkness laid to the right. "Which way? Should we turn back?"

Toxicity watched in wonder as the paths seemed to illuminate before them. She'd blink and they'd change. She breathed out a shaky breath, wondering to herself if it was from the coldness or sheer wonder. "We move forward toward the light. We don't blink at the same time. We must work together." Toxicity moved forward to the left where the glowing mushrooms filled the path. After a moment, she cast back to Calamity "I'm blinking now." She'd wait for confirmation before blinking, opening her eyes for as long as she could between blinks as they navigated the cave. Left, then right, then right again, then left three times... "Do you think it ends?" ""

She nodded once. Toxicity's hypothesis was a good one - now they just had to pray it would work. Was there a place between the two shifting paths, an infernal nowhere that would snatch them from the land of the living? They still had so much work to do. Abraxas smiled upon their departure from Ashen, she was certain of it. Yes. Still so much more work to do. "I'm blinking as well," she confirmed, her voice breathy and nervous. Anxiety threatened to swallow her tongue but she persevered. Her eyes burned from straining open until Toxicity gave confirmation of the next time to blink. "It must end. All things end," Cala whispered. Eventually the path seemed to narrow until they were forced to walk in single file. At some points her shoulders scraped the walls. All around them pulsed blue light. Faintly at first, then reaching a startling pinpoint of brightness that opened up into a great cavern. Mushrooms of all sizes grew here. Some were larger than even Toxicity's shoulders. They towered over them like trees. A strangled gasp burst from her chest as Calamity stood still, struck speechless with wonder.

Calamity

Your ears begin to ring loudly. You also find 1 mushroom. Maybe these are worth keeping…