Gossamer was starting to hate night patrols. Every night that passed just seemed to get creepier and creepier. It wouldn't bother her so much if this was normal but anyone she talked to assured her it was not and she was starting to wonder if she'd ever see a normal winter in her life. Maybe everything just went to shit this time of year and she needed to get used to it. Either way, she wasn't going to just abandon her patrol. She needed to keep her eyes peeled in case any bloody pirates were lurking around the border.

Gossamer didn't see any pirates but what she did see were dozens of little, glowing blue lights. The fireflies were out again tonight. They shifted and twinkled in amongst the tall grasses. A breeze swept through, sending a hiss through the rustling grasses and for a moment she thought she'd heard something. Someone beckoning her out toward the border.

A firefly landed nearby. Gossamer leaned forward, trying to peer through the glow to see the body inside.

Aris wandered from her den, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. Waving a paw in front of her face to chase off the weird fireflies that bobbed in front of her as soon as she left the den, she wandered off in search of whoever had called for her. She shook her head once, sleepily, when she saw that the "firefly" lights seemed to be keeping pace, even moving ahead of her. She stopped to blink at them, but the voice called out again somewhere ahead of her and she sighed grumpily and continued forward.

She nearly stumbled into Gossamer ahead of her. "mbbbbmbph," was her sleep-deprived grumble. "Were you calling for me, Goss? I was dead asleep, barely heard you all the way out here. What d'you want?"

There was very little that was more disconcerting then a disembodied voice calling out to you across the plains, and Azure found himself battling the urge to turn away and retreat to the safety of his den. It was a stupid, cowardly urge that he quickly batted away, but the worry behind it lingered as he followed obediently behind the faintly whispering winds. It seemed as if he wasn't the only one being drawn from the depths of the territory, and as he neared the border to see two of his little sisters the newly promoted alpha grew all the more suspicious. "Gossamer? Aris?" He squinted into the darkness, heart pounding hard in his chest. Some logical part of him wanted to believe the call came from a Fireside wolf or a Pirate - someone real and tangible with a legitimate reason to draw out his family and seek to do them harm - but the voice sounded almost dreamlike, and not at all alive. Swallowing his surge of worry Az looked down upon the littlest one. "Perhaps you should head back to bed, Princess. Could be monsters out here, big enough to swallow you whole." His head tilted toward Gossamer then, and he looked over at her in silent contemplation before accepting that it was much harder to belittle the more accomplished sibling. Wait, no, he got it then. "And you - where's your pet? I figured you weren't capable of doing basic things like patrols without it." Perhaps the insults were friendly family-bashing, perhaps a method of distracting from the really concerning events happening in the night, Az couldn't quite decide. "Speech"

Gossamer's head jerked up as she heard something approaching. She turned to see a very sleeping Aris just about stumble into her, saying that Gossamer had called for her. "What? I didn't call you. You must've been dreaming or something." Still, she was glad to have some company out in the 'great weird' that was night time these days. She looked back behind Aris to see their brother Azure approach. "Azure?" He proceeded to dispense insults and she scowled at him for a moment before throwing a sarcastic ribbing his way. "Running errands. Some of us are able to give orders and have them followed."

A voice slipped by on the winds and she narrowed her eyes at her brother. "And where are your pets? Hiding in the grass trying to scare us? Haha, very funny."

Gossamer said she hadn't called for her, and Aris squinted suspiciously at her. "What do you mean you didn't call for me, I heard someone call me clear as day! It was either you or someone else and I don't see anyone -" But there was someone else, as was made obvious when the sudden appearance of their older, bear-pawed brother put an end to her grouching. Well, for a split second, anyway, before he ran his mouth. She scowled at him, bristling at both jabs. Princess. Goss spoke up, making Ari smirk. "Yeah, Azure, shouldn't you be making sure Bean doesn't go eating any mushrooms? We wouldn't want his precious insides melting."

But her attention wandered midsentence, and she finished it with obvious distraction as she turned her head, frowning, as she caught a sound like a thousand voices whispering at once, only to fade out again. Unless Azure's companions had been recruiting for a really elaborate prank... "What the fuck is that?" Her bristles went up in aggression and stayed up. But the only thing she could see around them were fireflies, and they weren't even real fireflies. She'd proved that last time she was with Azure, hadn't she?

Azure quirked a brow as his sisters' gave back on the ribbing, faintly amused that at least they weren't the type to be boring and offended. "My companions would be thrilled to be referred to as pets, I'd assume they'd think it'd make me nicer to them." Besides the small fisher, Azure did not have a particular fondness for either of his companion animals - and Bean only achieved protection by being Hanako's favorite. "They're working, anyways, and have no time for children's games." Az had no doubt that none of the faintly abused creatures would dare hide in the bushes and try to frighten him - so what was calling his name? Aris' head turned and Azure followed her gaze, hearing nothing and seeing only fireflies. The language coming from his little sister brought more amusement to him and he gave her a brief startled look. For a moment he considered rebuking her for it if only because his mother might expect him to, but in the end he couldn't be bothered to care enough. Perhaps Aris had to talk big to make up for being oh, so, small. The voice repeated itself, calling Azure's name and bringing a frown to his lips. It felt beckoning, though he was not about to abandon his younger siblings to go chase after it. "Perhaps you two should head back." He suggested offhandedly, careful not to let the worry he felt leak into his tone. The last thing he needed was for the rumor mill to pick up that he might actually care about the youngest Fatalis brood.   "Speech"

"I'm telling you, it wasn't me!" Gossamer glared back at her sister's suspicious stare. She wasn't sure if Aris was trying to prank her or what but she was about ready to drag the girl to Mojito for a check up. She'd probably have to haul Mojito out of his den by his tail but she was fine with that. She was swiftly distracted by the sound of a thousand little voices whispering in unison. Her ears stood straight up along with her fur. "Umm… are the fireflies talking? Can they talk? Hey, bugs!" She felt stupid for trying to talk to a bunch of bugs but every so often she ran across another species that spoke the common tongue so was it really so out of the realm of possibly to consider some bugs had figured it out as well? Did bugs even have tongues?

Gossamer

You speak out to the fireflies and the voice gives it's immediate, booming reply to stay back. The sound is so loud and violent that it seems to drown out the rest of the world, though it's origin is very clearly from within your own mind.

Maybe you shouldn't have done that...

Gossamer shrieked is surprise and pain as a loud voice yelled at her to stay back. She stumbled back, fur on end as she glared back at the fireflies, but she couldn't be sure the voice came from them. If anything it sounded like it came from her own head. But how was that even possible? She'd have been half tempted to blame it on one of her siblings but the voice definitely didn't belong to either of them.

Shaking and irritated she snarled and swatted out toward the fireflies, seeking to knock one to the earth. Something told her to be careful with these fireflies but she wasn't able to restrain herself. If anything at least she could be on alert for the voice again and maybe get some answers.

It Continues for Gossamer...

Huh? It doesn't seem like anything happened... Well, maybe that's for the best...

Gossamer insisted that it hadn't been her calling, and given the weird legion-voiced-weirdness she heard, it was obvious that she wasn't teasing. She really hadn't had anything to do with it. And it wasn't all in Aris' head either, and not a dream, because Goss heard it too! Aris jumped a bit when Goss screamed, but to cover her startlement she turned on Azure aggressively. "What's the matter, Azure, scared?" she snapped tauntingly. "I'm not scared of a bunch of bugs and I'm not going to run back to bed like a puppy either. You can go home if you want but I want to find what called me." Whatever it was - the fireflies, or something else - it had called her for a reason, right? She wasn't going to let Azure chase her off because he thought she was too little.

Aris

While you snap at your brother you feel a distinctively wrong feeling in your mouth, like there's something there that shouldn't be. Manipulating it with your tongue, when you finally manage to spit it out you find it is a long, coarse strand of hair along your tongue. It's color does not match your pelt, nor any of the wolves you are gathered with.

His little sister cried out in pain, startling both Aris and Azure and making it that much harder to mock and insult them. Azure's protective fury came through, his muzzle wrinkling in anger as he turned to admonish the yearling in a poor redirection. "Fear keeps you alive, idiot, and if you're not scared of that -" His mutated paw gestured haphazardly toward Gossamer who was obviously distressed. What had made her shriek? Gossamer did not seem the type to startle easily at the wind or a distant noise. "-Then you won't last long against whatever this all is." Azure stepped forward, bristling and lashing his paw out against the fireflies as Gossamer did. "Leave my family alone you sick bastards." He demanded, bearing his teeth and lunging toward the swarm and seeking to snap a few bugs in his jaws. "Speech"

Azure

As you lunge at the swarm, snapping your jaws, you feel a few of the cursed insects in your maw. As they crunch and click between your teeth, their glowing ooze coats your tongue, causing your tongue, then body to go numb. You suddenly lose consciousness. You awaken just a few minutes later, but you're gripped by a deep fear you can't seem to shake. Maybe you shouldn't have done that...

The last thing he remembered was snapping at the stupid, invasive bugs, feeling them squirt a disgusting goo into his mouth upon their deaths, and then suddenly Azure was waking up on the cold ground. An unmistakable fear was present and impossible to ignore as his eyes snapped open - how long was he out? Were his sisters okay? Azure got to his feet quickly, albeit a bit unstable, surveying the scene that was relatively the same as when he'd left it. Nothing felt different to before he'd passed out, aside from the cold dread and terror that he could not shake. He blew out a breath, forcing it to remain steady though it tried desperately to shake. "Are you girls okay? What the fuck happened?" He eventually managed, gaze sweeping over both yearlings worriedly. "Speech"

Firefly Shoppe- Azure

A firefly draws your attention nearby to reveal a cloaked figure with a small wooden table in front of him. On the table lay three items, with their prices beside them. "Choose wisely, and only choose one," the figure says. "If you can afford it, that is." Perhaps he accepts cŕ̷̕y̵̍͊stals and mushrö̸́̀ō̴̉ms... or perhaps its worth bargaining for something greater...


Inventory:

• Xtra Shrink Potion- 2 /
  It comes in an extra tiny bottle. There’s barely even one drop!
  
• Fun Shroom- 1 /
  An ordinary everyday mushroom that just has a little handwritten tag on it that reads “eat me”. It seems pretty risky, but it might pay off in the end. Maybe...
  
• Xtra Shrink Potion- 2 /
  Description
  

Suddenly a flash of light caught Azure's eye and he rubbed the remaining drowsiness from it to see something strange had appeared. A figure wrapped in a cloak, covered in fireflies .. Oh, fuck no. His hackles raised and his fury returned to him. This was the figure his mother had told him about, the firefly man who'd stolen her horns. He was behind all this? Azure lifted a paw and slashed at the items on the table, intending to send them flying to the ground. "Fuck you." He spat. "You think I want any of your bullshit? I've heard nothing but tales of your cruelty and deceit and I'll have none of it." Was this firefly figure just some sort of ridiculous prankster? The changes in the world that threatened his family, his fiancé, his soon-to-be-born children, all some sleight of hand from a firefly God? Azure's lip lifted and he pounced aiming to throw his body weight directly into the cloak. [Az is very angry because he don't want to drink a shrinking potion, obviously.] "Speech"

You shouldn't have done that, Azure.

You sho̵u̵ldn't have done tha̵t̴.̴ You s̵̤̄h̶͒͜o̶̞̅u̵̳̿ldn't hav̴̗̎ẽ̶̺ ̴̩̄d̴̞̓o̴̓ͅn̵͈̆ḙ̷̉ ̸̀͜t̶̥̿h̷̦̑ā̴͜t̷̺̍ Y̷̩̍o̷̼͝ủ̵̼ ̴̝̍s̵̤̄h̶͒͜o̶̞̅u̵̳̿l̴̹̋d̷̪̀ņ̶̑'̸̻̄t̷͈͠ ̶͎̒ḧ̷̙́à̸͎v̴̗̎ẽ̶̺ ̴̩̄d̴̞̓o̴̓ͅn̵͈̆ḙ̷̉ ̸̀͜t̶̥̿h̷̦̑ā̴͜t̷̺̍.̴̰͆ Y̴̡͑ó̴͔u̴̻̱͛ ̴̙͆s̸̪̿h̵̗̐̑o̸͛͜͠ù̷̖͘l̶̺̭̒̈d̴̓͜n̴̺͕̓͝'̵̮̾̑t̶̞͊ ̷̖̅h̷̠̜̕á̴̘̞v̷͇̼̕͝e̷͜͝ ̷̖̈͜d̸̬̀o̴̦̪͆n̷̯̗̈́̒ḛ̵͉̓̈ ̵̲͛t̴̻̏͛h̴̨̆a̸̰̺̎̍ṫ̸̮̈.̴̭̈́̀

The firefly guy vanishes, taking the items and Azure's fangs with him.

You gain:

• Ooziness- Glowing liquid begins to run from your eyes and nose. It is bitter to the taste and loses its glow about an hour after exiting the body.
  

You lose:

• Sabre Teeth- Start growing back in 1 OOC week. Fully regrown in 4 OOC weeks. No penalty after 1 OOC week.
  
• Partial Sight- Glowing orbs fill your vision for 3 OOC days.