Would the sun ever rise again, Veigar wondered? He was used to the long nights that accompanied winter but this night seemed to be dragging on... and on... and on. The sun looked like it was trying to peek above the horizon but only cast the sky in a pale shade of purple instead of fully rising. The stars now streaked in huge lines across the sky, and more than once he found himself completely entranced by the sight, to the point of him all but neglecting anything else he ought to be doing. Even more strange than the sky, and even the strange glowing mushrooms and crystals he saw here and there, were the voices... at first they sounded like little more than whispers on the wind, but the more he listened, the more familiar they sounded. They were calling his name, he was sure of it.

He scrambled over a pile of dead vegetation at the base of the volcano, his gaze cast up toward the scorched slopes of Mount Volkan as he considered what he should do. A slight mist seemed to be clinging low to the ground, affecting the visibility just enough to make him wary of where he was going. Another gust of wind brought another familiar whisper... Veigar, it called out to him, striking a familiar chord deep within his chest. Slowly he moved along, feeling like the breeze itself was beckoning him in a certain direction and he was helpless to its call.

Aryn remained for the most part in a self-imposed lockdown on pack territory once she'd returned home from the soulless forest. While initially going out and exploring these changes seemed responsible and almost necessary to pay back something to the pack that had taken her in, the adventure had quickly turned nightmare. Ever since that night it felt like the sun hardly ever rose anymore. The already-cold winter seemed to grow colder without the warmth of the sun's rays, and blue luminescent mushrooms and crystals had begun popping up everywhere. Eligos had denied being related in any way to the phenomenon, but Aryn couldn't rule out that the witch who'd cursed him with a glow hadn't also cursed the world. Then there were the dozen or more deities whom Boreas wolves prayed to. No matter how hard she tried, it felt like Aryn was getting no closer to unraveling the mystery.

Aryn, a voice called on the wind, breaking her concentration. It felt like it was beckoning her forward - and there was a faint familiarity to the tone - but after her evening in the forest being assaulted by spirits Aryn had no bravery left. Eli wasn't here to protect her this time, and familiar or not spooky detached voices were nothing but terrifying. She sprinted away from the voice toward the volcano but it followed her, no longer seemingly beckoning but almost as if it was chasing her there.

By the time she arrived and saw Veigar her chest was heaving, eyes wide. She paused, swallowing hard as she struggled to catch her breath and look somewhat respectable for the child. Blue fireflies swirled around her and she shrunk away from their touch, watching as they circled high in the air and then moved up the mountain slopes. "Veigar, it's not safe this close to the volcano." Aryn tried to counsel the boy, though her shaking voice did not hold the firm note of authority an adult's should.

Staying close to home came naturally to Veigar, even without the strange occurrences that were happening these days. Strangely enough for the often-manic boy, he didn't experience much wanderlust - there was plenty of world to explore just outside the boundaries of Habari and it was rare he went far at all. Even within the packlands there was so much to explore.. like the looming volcano that stood ahead of him. He'd been warned more than once of the danger it presented but he couldn't help but be drawn to its slopes. Veigar wondered if any wolves had ever climbed to the very top, and what they had found there. Though he was headstrong, he was not so naive to think he could conquer it just yet, but the voices beckoned him higher and higher anyway.

Only Aryn's voice, cutting through the eerie winds, did anything to break his concentration. He spun around abruptly and noticed she looked like she'd been running, and his eyes widened with concern. Blue fireflies danced around her head, looking like they might swallow her up before fleeing, dancing up the volcano's slopes - no doubt chasing the voice that he'd heard just a moment ago. "Aryn! Did you hear the voice too?" He all but ignored her warning, knowing that it was dangerous but unable to take it to heart. "Someone's calling for me - there! You heard it that time?" The voice was distinctly female, comforting and familiar, and ignoring it felt physically impossible. The boy bounced on his pawpads, trying to keep himself in place, but another gust of wind and mist that drifted all around them made it impossible to keep still.

It was his mother. He knew it suddenly, despite the fact that he couldn't remember anything about her, not even her voice. But it was her - he'd bet anything on it. He knew she was dead, but what if they'd been wrong? What if they'd been mistaken somehow? He knew that Aryn had been close to her, but what if she was wrong about her being gone, too? "I... I think that's my mom, Aryn. She needs us! We need to go!" Panic flooded him and he suddenly took off quickly in the direction he'd been heading, kicking up dirt and debris behind him as he went. Any fear or apprehension he might've been feeling was gone, replaced by a sheer feeling of desperation and longing.

This week had been all too much for her, and hearing Veigar was beckoned by the voices too only enhanced Aryn's desire to go hide forever in her den with all the people she cared about safe and sound. "I heard it." She agreed, discomfort obvious in her tone. She was trying desperately to think of some alternate adventure she could offer the boy, one that did not involve voices and fireflies or mushrooms or crystals when suddenly the voice sounded again, from higher up the mountain and Aryn's heart sank. Veigar shouldn't have known his mother's voice - and for a brief moment she considered lying to him - but somehow he had, and she hadn't the heart to ignore her friend's call.

"Okay, you're right, but we need - " And Veigar was running, springing up the slopes without a care. "- TO BE CAREFUL, VEIGAR!" She called after him, following the pup as desperately as he chased the voice. If Eyrun was watching them now, calling them forward toward her, Aryn knew the woman would be very upset if she let Veigar get himself killed sprinting headlong off a cliff or into the caldera.

The eeriness of the world in its current state was completely lost on him, replaced with the sudden knowledge that his mother was somewhere and not only that, but she needed his help. There was a sort of pleading in her voice that alarmed him, and his entire nervous system was suddenly on high alert as he scrambled off suddenly. He was mostly oblivious to everything else going on, save for Aryn calling after him. He was glad he heard her chasing him. She'd confirmed as much that it was his mother and he simply couldn't ignore it.

"Aryn! Aryn, I'm being careful, I am," Veigar assured her as quickly as he could between ragged breaths. The sound stopped for a moment and he skidded to a halt, fully expecting Aryn to be coming up behind him. If his pale markings had been glowing before they were as bright as they'd ever been before now as he paused and frantically looking around. Where had the voice gone? His eyes were wide as he searched for it - and then another voice, more threatening. The words themselves weren't something he could make out but the sense of danger suddenly washed over him and he felt like he might faint. "D-do you think she's hurt?!" He had to help her, they had to. Though he paused for a moment, he continued higher, his movements growing less and less precise as he went, scrambling over rubble and rock alike. Whatever it was, he was going to stop it, even kill it if he had to, whatever it took to find his mother.

Veigar assured her that he was being careful as he ran, and Aryn tried to evenly divide her attention between his pawsteps, her pawsteps, and the knowledge that her friend was calling them for help and did being careful really matter when someone needed you? It was a difficult situation to be thrust into, and as she desperately climbed up the rocky slope after the pup Aryn could swear the voice got more desperate, more pleading. Veigar skidded to a halt before her and his question brought an indescribable pain to her chest.

"I-I don't know, Veigar." She frowned, struggling to balance the boy's innocence with the very real possibility that somehow her very dead friend was calling to them from the grave. "We'll help her however way we can, okay?" The voice had vanished suddenly and Aryn's ears flickered against the wind to try and catch another hint of the familiar sound. Veigar kicked forward once more, seeming to have heard something and Aryn followed along close behind him - both to ensure if he fell that she could catch him, and because it seemed Eyrun must be speaking directly to her son, now.

Veigar

You climb closer and close to the volcano's peak, but the higher you scale the rocks the colder you grow. You can't quit the violent shivering no matter how hard you may try, and it makes the delicate steps necessary for the climb much more difficult to manage safely.

Maybe you shouldn't have done that...

The sudden panic that flooded him made it hard to breathe, hard to even think clearly. Any hint of rational thought vacated him all at once, as soon as he knew his mother was calling to him. He'd do anything in his power to see her again, to feel her warmth, to save her from whatever it was that was threatening her - or threatening all of them, he really wasn't sure. His heart beat erratically inside his chest as his legs pumped harder as he climbed and climbed and climbed...

But it was cold, so much colder than it'd been just moments ago. The way his chest was healing, combined with the sudden way he started shivering, made him halt abruptly. "Aryn…" His teeth were chattering now and he tried to find her in the faint moonlight, aiming to bury his face in her fur to soak up any warmth he could find from her. "Was all that in my head? I thought it was her, I really did, but…" But he couldn't go any further, he was too cold and too tired, and suddenly he felt a sob sneak out as he pressed himself into her, feeling his hopes begin to fade.

Aryn

The silence seems oppressive, almost louder somehow than even the voice you had heard. It feels oppressive and you spot something near the top of the mountain, a figure against the streaked sky. A scentless wolf, familiar and yet wrong, stares at you in the distance before turning and disappearing below the horizon... Right into the mouth of the volcano...

Maybe you shouldn't have done that...

It Continues for Veigar...

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

Veigar rushed over to her, burying his face into her fur and shivering hard although it was not cold. The defeat in his voice felt like it might break her, though she knew no way to comfort the saddened boy. Aryn spared one last glance over his shoulder toward the rocky slope where the fireflies had been leading them.

There, at the edge of the caldera was a familiar figure (unmistakably Eyrun, Aryn was convinced) but it did not linger long before half-walking, half-floating toward the edge. The compulsion to follow was nearly impossible to ignore - her friend needed her, was calling her, - but here in her arms was Eyrun's orphaned child and Aryn knew that she could not leave him now.

She clutched the boy tighter, holding him to her as hard as she could in hopes that he could not turn and watch as his mother disappeared into the volcano. "Sometimes grief plays tricks on us." Aryn whispered to him, her own voice breaking as tears threatened to spill over. "On both of us. I'm so sorry, Veigar."

Firefly Shoppe- Aryn

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:

• Deer Dad's Blessing- 3 /
  Lets you become more like your favorite deer dad!
  
• Creepy Contact Lenses- 3 /
  The fireflies help you to equip this item that once applied cannot be removed or traded. Can look however you like. May not change color, rotate, or otherwise alter once in the eye.
  
• Mushroom Bath Bomb- 2 /
  It looks like a bunch of mushrooms, grass, and plants rolled into some mud. The seller assures you it’s good for styling your coat pattern exactly how you’ve always wanted it.
  

There was an odd change in the air and Veigar's sobs seemed to have stilled and stopped. Like frozen in time, somehow, and she turned her head to the firefly man who appeared and reluctantly released her near-son to step towards him. It wasn't conscious thought, more compulsion as she looked over at his wares. Eyrun's ghost was momentarily forgotten as she was drawn to look over the items, a particular familial warmth coming up from one object in particular.

It reminded her of her father, and for some reason that Aryn could not remember, she felt she needed some parental comfort. "Can I have that?" Aryn's paw gestured toward Deer Dad's Blessing, and she gave the creature (who was very odd looking, but did not instill fear in her as she thought he should) a polite smile. "Please and thank you, Sir."

Firefly Shoppe- Aryn

The polite woman asked if she could have a specific one and the cryptid nodded, and with a bow vanished, leaving Aryn with her item.


You gain:

• Deer Dad's Blessing- Lets you become more like your favorite deer dad!
  

You lose:

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

The transaction was completed and Aryn was left staring down at.. something she honestly could not put words to. It wasn't a vial, or a potion, or a crystal or mushroom, and in her dream-like state she struggled to find any appropriate word for it. Without knowing what it was she held, she had no idea how to effectively 'use' it. Closing her eyes, she thought of Eyrun, the many Gods that seemed to rule Boreas, and the parental feeling she got when she looked into the item - trying to "will" it to be used.

And then the dream was over, and she was back before Veigar clutching him tightly, faintly dazed as the experience almost seemed to fade from memory.

Deer Dad's Blessing

Be Blessed, and go in Peace

As you focus on using the item, you find yourself far away, in a lush forest where deer graze steadily on bioluminescent flora. One male with strikingly long antlers and amethysts stones for eyes seems to make eye contact with you.

Now you are a deer, and you taste the crisp fresh grass with your herd. You are safe. You are loved.

You wake after the dream... Did that item do anything?

You gain:

• Post-Acceptance Minor Deer Mutation- Any deer-themed minor mutation will do! Post in maintenance for it! Takes 1 OOC season to take effect. Subject to staff approval.