As he continued to familiarize himself with Auster and the lands near the pack he had decided to join in a rare moment of spontaneity he started to work his way through some of the territories that he had either missed or hadn't bothered to fully investigate. He had passed by the canyon as he made his way around it to get to the shore a couple weeks ago, but he didn't actually go to check out the canyon itself until now. With the days and nights blurred together and screwy he couldn't tell when it was actually morning or not, but there was as much light in the sky as there ever was these days so he figured now was as good a time as any for some exploration.

He neared the canyon in question and was a bit shocked at what he found. Even from a distance he could see the glow that came from the tear in the earth and when he got closer he was able to make out what was causing it. Peaking down over the edge of the cliff, he saw that the walls of the canyon were dotted with strange, glowing crystals that made his brow crease with confusion and intrigue. At this point so many strange things were going on in the world that it hardly surprised him. Perpetual full moon, fireflies everywhere at all times of the day, the sun never fully rising... Sure, why not have some glowing crystals as well?

Ciná decided to get a closer look and after a bit of searching found a path that he could make his way down into the base of the canyon with. The path was a bit treacherous since it was also studded with crystals that he had to step over to prevent stabbing one of them into his foot, but eventually he made it. There was a steam running along the bottom and the surface of the water nearly looked like it was glowing as well as it reflected the light from the crystals and of the blue-hued fireflies. It took him a bit to realize it, but as he walked by the crystals they started to pulse and glow with a rhythm eerily similar to his heartbeat and immediately he began to question if coming down here was a good idea or not.

"Cináed Praetor"

Duchess was away from her band often than not, but she honestly couldn't help it. How they treated her, what she lost, it was too hard for her to be around them. Maybe it was because of how fresh the loss was, but she didn't feel that way right now. She felt the same way she did in pregnancy, and she didn't know if she would ever be able to let go of everything that happened. She found, or at least sought comfort in others because when she was with the band she felt outcasted, as much as that might not have been entirely true.

In Auster she felt almost at home, but still that empty feeling deep inside her. She nearly felt dead as she wandered, with no real purpose in her life today. It brought her to the canyon, and she too wasn't quite sure what the time of day was but she was feeling a bit tired and thinking of looking for a place to lay down for a bit. And that's when she saw the fiery wolf before her. He was young but honestly she couldn't quite tell because of their vast size differences. She approached him with a smile as she noticed he was looking at the crystals. Her eyes still on him for the moment, "I'm Duchess." She spoke gently now looking around at the pulsing gems around them, "I've thought about keeping some but I feel like they would be some kind of omen." She chuckled nearly silently though it was really no secret that the crystals and mushrooms may not have been such friendly hosts.

"Duchess"

Ciná almost didn't notice the stranger approaching him as he looked up at the strange crystals that dotted the walls of the canyon, but the sound of paw steps moving over stone gave her away. His ears perked and he turned his attention down to the much smaller wolf in front of him, his gaze taking in the black and violet marked woman. He hadn't expected to run into anyone else down here of all places, but he certainly didn't mind a bit of company. "I'm Cináed," he replied easily with a charming grin. There was some vague hint of other wolves on her fur, but not nearly as noticeable as someone who lived in a pack. Just traveling with a group of wolves maybe? Ah well, if it wasn't a pack scent then there wasn't much for him to pick up from there. She was pretty though at least so she was nice to look at while they investigated the odd canyon together.

He chuckled softly when she declared that the crystals would feel like a bad omen if she kept some and he glanced up at the gently pulsing crystals. "I could see why you would think that." At the very least they seemed to coincide with all the other strange things that were going on and he couldn't say that he was exactly thrilled about anything else that was going on. The strange, glowing crabs from his solo explorations of Auster were still enough to unnerve him a bit. As he watched the crystals it still seemed like the ones closest to him were oddly in time with his heart beat and as his golden gaze drifted back over to the woman in front of him he noticed that the crystals closest to her weren't in the same rhythm as the ones closest to him. Perhaps they were matching her heart beat instead?

With an idea forming in his mind, he moved closer to her, perhaps invading her personal space a bit as he pretended that he was trying to get a closer look at a large cluster of crystals that were jutting from the rocks just over her head. He leaned down to peer closely at the crystal, causing him to be just a few inches from the top of her head. If he had really wanted to he could lean down just a bit more and touched his nose to her ear. He hummed thoughtfully, turning his attention down toward Duchess with another warm smile. "This chunk of them is particularly pretty, don't you think?"

"Cináed Praetor"

Duchess had tensed just slightly as the young brute stepped in closer to her though she didn't shy away from him in the slightest. These days nothing had frightened her, it would almost feel like a justice if the brute turned on a dime and tore her to shreds, or at least that was her thought. She was never actively wanting to die, but she didn't care.

She hadn't noticed the rhythm of the crystal glowings, but just as he near invaded her space, she felt this strange tension between the crystals on his side and the crystals on her side and her own heart nearly skipped a beat reflecting that into the crystals that now seemed to align with his own. Maybe the glow of the crystals had done it, showing some sort of superiority in himself. Or maybe the crystals were simply reflecting what she felt.

Her gaze looked up to the cluster he had pointed out after they locked eyes. They were really no different from the others, but still she nodded her head with a small smile of her own. Her paws moved forward and up on the wall of the canyon, avoiding the crystals that jut out in all directions. Her tongue took a couple licks of the crystals before she backed back down, "Tastes like... Stone." She giggled near silently as she looked around observing the crystals around them.

"Duchess"

Without taking his eyes off Duchess he saw the crystals flicker and pulse with an uneven rhythm in the edges of his vision and a little grin pulled at his lips as his little experiment worked. So it wasn't a coincidence that the glow matched his heart beat then just as it was matching hers, giving away the skip her heart made with his presence looming over her. If he didn't think there would be some sort of concequence for messing with these crystals that were somehow tied to the ghostly figures he had seen on the shore then he might have taken a couple just to use in figuring out other wolves' true intentions, but as it was it wasn't much more than an interesting experiment that he'd have to leave behind.

With his test done, he chuckled and leaned back from her a bit, taking a step back as she looked up at the crystals he had pointed out. He raised a brow as she put her paws up on the wall of the canyon, lifting herself enough to lick the crystal a couple of times before reporting that it tasted like stone. He chuckled and smirked at the odd choice of what to test of the crystals and gave a small shrug. "Well, glad that's cleared up then." He wondered if there was ever stone that didn't taste like stone, but he didn't imagine that it was edible even if it did so there wasn't much point in asking. He glanced around again as well, adding, "I wonder where they all came from," as he mused mostly to himself. Looking to one of the clusters closest to him he lifted a large paw and lightly tapped it, watching the glow shine brighter and react to his touch.

"Cináed Praetor"

Duchess supposed the crystals would have tasted... different. Salty, sweet, or anything because of the way they looked. Or maybe it wasn't that, but just because they were new and different like the fireflies or the moon. Maybe they would be a death spell, who knew.

When the boy mentioned wondering where the crystals came from, Duchess moved her gaze up to the hazed moon shining dimly through the canyon. She believed it was the moon that was doing this to them, that caused her the loss of her babies. And she wasn't really sure what was around the corner for their world, but it seemed she had already lost everything she could. She would either make it through or fall behind, but to her there was nothing more to move on for.

Her own expression and demeanor died as her eyes looked towards the moon and after a moment she spoke, "I don't know. But I don't think we are alone."

"Duchess"

Cináed

You give one crystal a light tap of your paw and it feels much colder then you could have ever expected. So cold, that you're almost certain bits of your paw pad froze to the surface in the brief contact.

Duchess

You take a lick of the crystal, trying to decipher it's taste but learning nothing. It appears that nothing happened, until you glance back to where the crystal was once and find it has disappeared.

Maybe you shouldn't have done that...

As Cináed tapped the crystal he was surprised to find how incredibly cold it was. He jerked his paw back with a frown and looked down at his paw pads, almost entirely missing Duchess' comment about how she didn't feel like they were alone. There were frosted spots on his paw and raw spots where some of the rough callus had been pulled away when he yanked his paw away. How did she manage to lick the crystal so easily if it was that cold? Were some crystals different form the others? He lifted his golden gaze up toward the crystal she had licked, intending to test out the temperature of that one as well, but... it was gone. His eyes widened with confusion before his brow furrowed. "Wasn't... wasn't the crystal you licked right here?" he questioned, pointing to the empty space on the canyon wall where he had been pretty sure it was. "It's a rock, how did it just... disappear?" Suddenly his interest in the crystals diminished as the thought of them not actually being crystals but something else entirely crossed his mind.

"Cináed Praetor"

She had been so focused on the boy prior that while she was looking up towards the moon, she noticed finally that the cluster of crystals she had licked were gone. Her expression turned puzzled, maybe those weren't the crystals she licked... it must have been a cluster next to where she thought... She tried to ignore the confused questioning inside her brain, while now she was feeling uneasy and not so social to the company with her. No wonder the crystals tasted like stone if she in fact had licked the wall of the canyon.

It seemed though that the boy had the same thing on his mind, Duchess had missed how the crystal had nearly given him frostbite to the touch. He asked how the crystal had just disappeared. Her gaze was still up at the spot where the crystal once was before she looked down at crystals that were closer to the ground. Without another word, she went to put another in her mouth, would this one disappear too? Or maybe she would instead.

"Duchess"

Firefly Shoppe- Cináed

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:

• ??? Companion Flute- 3 /
  A familiar looking companion flute, the selection appears to include several with growths very similar to the strange appearances over the continents, you can’t help but feel drawn to one in particular...
  
• Crystal of Knowing and Forgetting- 3 /
  This crystal glows not unlike the others plaguing Boreas, but the glow alternates between every color in the rainbow. Just looking at it calls to mind how little time you’ve spent working on your skills lately… This could be risky...
  
• Racing Shoes- 1 /
  Some nice kicks that make you feel like you can just do it!
  

Firefly Shoppe- Duchess

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 Grow Potion- 2 /
  It comes in an extra large bottle. There’s way more than one drop!
  
• Shrink Potion- 1 /
  This bottle is shaped like a pear and within it swirls a sparkly gold liquid. The label shows a crudely drawn image of two wolves of vastly different sizes, with a green checkmark over the smallest one.
  
• Racing Shoes- 1 /
  Some nice kicks that make you feel like you can just do it!
  

Just before she closed her mouth on the crystal, a firefly flew across her gaze moving in a fashion that was almost taunting her. She decided to follow it, feeling the other brute's presence beside her but somehow she also felt alone. Were they even on the same world anymore?

She spotted the cloaked figure, watching the same firefly float welcomingly towards him. As she drew closer she noticed the shop he had set up with pictures of mushrooms and crystals as payment. She figured the currency was the random left behinds that the fireflies had left behind before, that made sense.

But she glanced quickly over the few items the stranger showed before her looking back at the completely pitch black face with glowing firefly eyes. She wasn't impressed, and with a very flat voice and expression, "You don't have anything better?" She really didn't have anything the lose, or so she felt.

"Duchess"

Cináed's unease about the whole situation only got worse as a firefly pulled their attention, floating between them before leading their gazes off to a figure that seemingly appeared out of nowhere with some kind of table in front of him. He glanced toward where Duchess should have been and it felt like she was still there, but he couldn't see her either. Was he dreaming? Was this all in his head? It was kind of hard to tell. He looked back to the cloaked... thing, whatever he was, and approached him uncertainly, listening as he was given instructions to pick one thing and only one thing—if he could afford it. He saw the price tags next to each thing and as much as he didn't really know if any of this was real he did have some stuff he'd found in his explorations so... why not?

He looked at each of the items for a few moments and considered them, but the one that really drew his attention was a flute sort of thing that seemed oddly familiar even though he was pretty sure he had never seen such a thing. It had a picture of three mushrooms or crystals beside it and he just so happened to have three mushrooms so he tossed those onto the table beside it before picking it up in exchange. "Pleasure doing business with you... I guess," he said as he took a step back from the table, wondering if that's really all there was to it and whether this deal would come back to bite him.

"Cináed Praetor"

Firefly Shoppe- Cináed

You gain:

• ??? Companion Flute- A familiar looking companion flute, the selection appears to include several with growths very similar to the strange appearances over the continents, you can’t help but feel drawn to one in particular...
  

You lose:

• Currency (x3)- Used in Firefly's Shoppe, and perhaps elsewhere...
  
  

You probably shouldn't have done that.

The woman was unimpressed with his goods. She questioned him, not even giving consideration or an offer at hand. The fireflies buzzed quicker and more aggressively under the cloak. "Ungrateful wolf!" the figure boomed from every direction.

You gain:

• Crystal growths- Crystals begin to grow from your eyes and ears, blinding you and making you partially deaf. (4 OOC weeks)
  

You lose:

• Sight/ Partial hearing- Lost senses lasting 4 OOC weeks.
  

Would this be her final release? The cloaked creature buzzed almost with anticipation before it shouted about her being ungrateful. She closed her eyes, almost ready to be smote. But when nothing happened, she had opened her eyes only to realize that she still couldn't see anything. She blinked a few times until her body swayed and buckled backward being dropped out of whatever world she came from. Her rump swung and tapped pretty brutally into the boy that was still here who she had honestly even forgot about. But she didn't say anything. Just laid there silently with her legs splayed, her sightless eyes looking forward. She didn't look sad or upset, but a tear fell from the eye away from the young brute, remnant of realizing that the firefly creature didn't send her beyond.

"Duchess"