They moved to the other side of the Waterfall Peak towards the cove that sat on the other side. He couldn't lie to himself...he was enjoying her company. It was strange for him to think that considering he often preferred his solitude, but he didn't mind her the least bit. He could say he was even grateful for her company...especially considering the strange things that had been happening. The sky seemed darker, more ominous. The moon was full and bright, seemingly looming over them as if it aimed to crush the minuscule lives that roamed the earth. He was on edge...that much was certain. He had a feeling it had to do with the fact that the night sky seemed to stubbornly cling to the world without any hint of letting go. As he walked, he had noticed more and more of the bioluminescence that he had seen around the waterfall. Only it wasn't just mushrooms and weird blue fireflies, but it seemed crystals had grown and were pulsing as if they themselves were alive...Like they had their own heartbeat. They were growing all around the lava rock that surrounded the cove. The tidepools. The random scatterings of rocks on the beach. And as he walked across the black sand and looked towards the water, he could see the waves were glowing with blue bioluminescence as well. He tilted his head in both confusion and awe...he didn't know what was going on, but the sights almost seemed worth enduring the bitter cold that gripped the cove. "Do you see that?" He questioned as he came to a stop, muzzle pointed towards the glowing shore. "Speak"

The descent down the falls was a peaceful journey. Caelia preferred her own company to that of others most of the time as well, his company was proving to be quite enjoyable. He didn't overwhelm her with conversation for the sake of it and she appreciated that. Maybe even more than that she was just happy to not be alone with all these strange occurrences; even admitting that the sight was beautiful did little to help her unease that seemed to be growing as they descended. The moon seemed even brighter now that they'd made their way down, and the stars even more striking in their streaking patterns - or maybe she was just imagining things? She squinted hard at the sky before refocusing her attention on her surroundings. The fireflies were only half of it it seemed. She hadn't come this way but she was surprised at what they found. Small crystals seemed to be stuck to rocks and trees, glowing and pulsing like the mushrooms she'd seen earlier had. "What the…" Her words trailed off as they neared the water, finding herself at a loss for words. The water glowing was the strangest thing of all. Tentatively she moved toward it, trying to get a better look at the glowing water, ebbing and flowing in color as it lapped at the shore. "What do you think it is?" She frowned a little as she stepped closer, not quite willing to let her paws touch the water yet, despite feeling compelled to.

Her words did not go unnoticed. She was just as confused as he was about the strange things happening around them. What they meant, he wasn't sure and he wasn't going to lead her on and act like he knew anything about it. "I don't know...maybe it's something that happens every few years...?" He could only guess, right? After all, they were both roughly the same age. Maybe it was a naturally occurring thing that happened every few years, but if that was the case, wouldn't he have heard about it? He approached the water's edge, pausing near where she stood as he investigated the shallow water. He wasn't quite ready to touch it yet, but when he spotted something glowing a little brighter just a few feet ahead, he couldn't help but be curious. "Do you see that?" He murmured, pointing to a glowing spot in the water just past where the waves became shallow. Curiosity got the better of him and the male threw caution to the wind as he dipped his feet in the bioluminescent water, slowly taking the few steps he needed to the spot he was looking at. Lowering his muzzle just above the waterline, he spotted a small cluster of crystals growing on what looked like a conch shell. After some hesitance, he opted to dip his muzzle into the freezing water to pick it up, gasping and shivering after he pulled his face away with the shell in his mouth. He moved back to the sand, water running around his legs and wetting his belly before he hopped back beyond the reaches of the water. He gently put the shell down and shook his head free of the cold water, though some bits of his fur glowed now where he had gotten wet. "Damn, that's cold! But look at this," He pawed the conch shell, turning it over so that the small cluster of crystals was turned up for them to inspect. "Speak"

Something that happened every few years.. Caelia wasn't so sure about that, but it wasn't like she had a better guess either. "That'd certainly be a better alternative to what I'm imagining," she agreed quietly, letting out a cold laugh. She liked to think of herself as a realist rather than a pessimist but it was hard to ignore the omens - maybe they told of something to come... something like the end of the world? She shivered at the thought, deciding it too morbid to reflect on for longer than a moment. Fortunately he spotted something that dragged her idle thoughts away from these dark thoughts. She watched as he stepped into the water and grabbed a shell from the water. At first it looked normal, but then she noted the glowing crystals attached to the side as he turned it over. Caelia shied away from the waves, which seemed to be lapping higher and higher up the sand, averting her attention to the shell. For a moment she found her gaze drifting to Tyto's face as he studied the shell, momentarily distracted from what they were doing, but his words brought her back to reality. Slowly she moved a step closer to him, lifting a paw to gently prod at the crystal. It wasn't like she was overly familiar with the sea, nor shells, but she suspected these growths weren't at all typical. The way it glowed made her uneasy, and she pulled back reflexively when she made contact with it with her pawpads. "I.... I'm not so sure about all this," she said finally. It was rare she showed much emotion at all; Caelia was proud of her ability to keep her composure and keep her emotions reigned in. But these weren't usual circumstances, and the slight nervousness had begun to creep into her voice despite her best efforts to hide it. "What should we do with it?" Taking it home to see what Aurielle thought of it was an option, but she wasn't so sure she wanted to handle it again.

He was curious to know what she was thinking in her head, but whatever it was seemed to set her on edge. He couldn't blame her though, this whole season seemed pretty eerie and even had him on edge, too. He watched as the cluster of crystals pulsed rhythmically, almost as if they were synchronized with their heartbeats. He couldn't say he disagreed with the way she was feeling. Her uneasiness seemed to roll off her in waves and with everything going on, he understood. He'd never been in a situation like this before where the sun didn't come out and everything around you seemed completely unreal. He watched her for a brief moment as she touched the crystals only to pull back faster than he could blink. "I.... I'm not so sure about all this," His gaze shifted from her to the crystals again, the blue glow reflecting in his magenta gaze. "It's okay..." He tried to soothe her, which was...completely uncharacteristic of him. He almost felt taken aback with himself. What the hell was happening to him? Was it the effects of everything going on around them? "What should we do with it?" He frowned as he stared at the crystal-laden shell. That, he wasn't sure. He supposed he could take it and see if he could use the crystals for something but..."I dunno...I'm curious about them, but something tells me it's best not to mess with these things." with a resigned sigh, he punted the shell back into the water. "Speak"

Caelia didn't like this feeling, not at all - she wasn't used to feeling powerless to her emotions and the sudden low level of panic that filled her chest was bothersome. It almost made her want to flee, to turn back and head home to Valhalla without looking back, but at the same time leaving felt equally as foolish. At least she had some company here, however far from home she might be. It all reminded her of a bad dream, the kind you felt you couldn't shake off even after you woke up. "Part of me wants to keep it, but another part of me…" Wanted to do precisely the opposite, to force him to fling it back into the water and never think about it again. Caelia frowned slightly as she tilted her head, once again zeroing in on the crystal. "Wait-" All at once she saw him begin to toss it and she reached out, trying to grab hold of it before he flung it back, compelled to save it despite his effort to return it to where it'd come from.

Tyto

As you push the shell back into the water from where it belongs, your grip slips and you slice the pad of your paw. As the conch tumbles back down below the surface, small bits of glowing blood float along after it. Is that your blood? ... Is your blood glowing? You check back to your paw, but the blood there appears normal. Wierd.

Maybe you shouldn't have done that...

Caelia

As you reach out to catch the crystal-filled conch, it brushes past your paws and you feel a sudden zap of electrical energy. Your paw withdraws immediately as it shocks you, and the conch tumbles sadly into the water below. A check of your paws show that no damage was caused, which is odd because it definitely felt like it burned you.

"Wait-" A moment of panic gripped him when she spoke, but he was already in the motion of throwing the crystallized conch into the water and by the time he was even able to react in trying to stop himself, it was already too late. "Fuck!" The shell went airborne, but not before he felt a sharp sting of pain on his paw pad. Though Caelia had tried to grab it on its way to the water, he didn't notice if something had happened to her or not because his eyes were immediately drawn to the glowing blood that trailed after the shell. His eyes widened a bit, fur standing on end as he quickly checked his paw. He stared wide-eyed between his paw, and the water, and back again but was at a loss for words. "My blood is glowing!" He exclaimed in shock. The blood that had fallen in the water was glowing, but the blood coming from his paw looked...normal. "D-did you see that!? Look!" He turned over his paw so she could see the wound, to see if maybe she saw something different than what he was looking at, but he was pretty shocked and dumbfounded. Was he going crazy!? Or was the glowing water and the lack of normal days getting to him? "Speak"

It Continues for Tyto...

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

Her paw just barely grazed the crystal but she felt a zap of energy that shocked her, and made her flinch away. The pain was sharp and sudden, and the shell fumbled out of her paw and straight back into the water. The waves that lapped at the shore grabbed it and pulled it back in, and though Caelia considered chasing after it she held back, lifting her paw to examine where she'd felt the zap. There was no damage there, though she felt the sting fading away - but was Tyto bleeding? Her nose twitched as she sniffed at the air, and leaned over to him to see what had happened. Had it really been that sharp? How strange.. But the strangest thing of all was that his blood looked like it'd been glowing on the shell. She squinted at his paw, noting that.. his blood wasn't glowing now. Had they both been seeing things? "What the hell," Caelia breathed quietly. Maybe touching that shell hadn't been such a good idea. She shivered, definitely a bit unnerved by all of this. "It's been nice seeing you but I think it's about time I head back home. All of this..." Caelia shook her head slowly. It was all growing even stranger and she felt she ought to be home before things got worse. "I'll see you again I'm sure, Tyto. Take care of yourself," she gave him a half-smile before she turned to leave, wondering how quickly she could clear the distance between here and home. -exit Caelia-