Drachen had done what the Spirit had commanded of him and he rested will into the afternoon the next day, though his body still felt off... like he was coming down with some sort of sickness. He thought about going to the healers to get looked over but the fatigue he felt was too heavy and he found his weary paws carrying him back to his den on the outskirts of the ravine. His oceanic eyes closed before his head even touched his paws.... The man suddenly jolted awake with a snarl and snapping teeth as he woke up from a nightmare of the first time his Father sent him to brutally attack one of his Generals in the night for speaking against him during a meeting. The General's voice still echoing in his ears as he called Drachen a filthy coward for following through with the mad King's demand. Drachen shook his head to clear the dream away, standing in the middle of his den with the sounds of his deep breaths echoing off the dirt walls. He felt Enzi's golden eyes on him but he ignored her questioning stare and strode out into the moonlight that seemed to be always present now. His eyes went to the night sky where the moon seemed even bigger than before and the stars stretched unnaturally from one horizon to the other, filling him with a sense of dread. His breathing had slowed somewhat but his heart still fluttered painfully against his chest as he closed his eyes with his face still tilted towards the ominous heavens. "My blood stains your paws" a voice whispered right next to his ear and he could have sworn he felt the fine hairs on his ear move from the voice's breath. His teeth flashed in the moonlight as he snapped towards the voice, only to have them close around air and he jumped back into a defensive stance as he glanced around looking for the owner of the voice.... But there was nothing. No other wolf, no scent in the air, no paw prints in the snow below besides his own. Only the numerous blue pulsing fireflies scattered before him and across the plains. Slowly Drachen stood from his fighting stance as he still continued to scan the land around him with bristling fur. Still, there was not another being in sight, he was completely alone. A deep joyless chuckle rumbled in his chest before he blew out a breath through his mouth and pushed down the sense of foreboding that seemed to be clinging to him like a tick since the moon refused to wane. "I must be more tired than I thought." he rumbled to himself, his voice gravelly from the dryness in his throat. The male left his den behind and headed to the pack's water source, the edges of the water freezing from the cold winter air, but not far enough where he had to stand on the thin ice to drink. The cold water thankfully seemed to chase away the remaining claws of sleep from his mind. As he licked his lips dry, a blue firefly drifted closer to him and he turned his head to stare at it. The blue light it emitted was so bright that he could not make out the bug, or creature at its center. It danced and bobbed slowly in the air, almost lazily, before him as if it was studying him as well and a shiver ran down his spine. A bone deep cold slowly seeped into his body as undistinguishable voices whispered in the air but no matter how hard he strained his ears, he could not make out the words. He wanted to look around him but the blue firefly held his gaze hostage as the whispers seemed to gather more and more voices and he had to fight the urge to step forward towards the shadows the seemed too dark to be anything but otherwordly. The voices only continued to grow louder and louder into a crescendo as the blue orb danced in front of his face, forcing his gaze to stay on it no matter how hard he tried to turn his head away as the voices on the wind grew painfully loud in his ears. Surely someone else would hear such a ruckus right? There was no way his packmates would not come to investigate the loud whispers. But as the warmth continued to seep from his bones and shivered began to run down his body, no one came, no howls of alarms rose over the whispers. And just as he thought his lifeforce was going to be drained completely from his body, the blue orb suddenly vanished and he let out a loud gasp as his dark legs gave out and he crumpled to the cold ground below. He laid there panting and shivering with his eyes squeezed shut as warmth oh so painfully slow returned to his form. It felt like an eternity before his shivering finally calmed into a few shudders and all the while he dared not open his oceanic eyes in case the blue orb was there to steal from him again. Drachen’s ears twitched and turned on his dark head as he tried to pick up any more voices on the wind or any sound that could have indicated that the blue orb was back but the night was utterly silent. Just as it had been the few nights ago before the crystals seemed to have materialized before him. If he opened his eyes now would he find more crystals in front of him again? The male cursed under his breath. He should have never brought those damned things home. What if it made him a target and the crystals caused this to happen? The tips of his canines reflected the bluish glow of the moon as his black and tan lips wrinkled in irritation. No matter that the scenario was, he could not just sit here curled into a ball for the rest of his life. A low growl vibrated in his chest as he forced his fatigued legs to lift him up and he parted his eyes and looked around him with a held breath as he half expected the blue firefly to come back to finish whatever it had started. But the world remained completely still and the overwhelming urge he had to step towards the impossibly dark shadows was gone. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Drachen

You force yourself to stand though your body feels drained of energy, and suddenly a tightening begins in your stomach and throat. You can't help but cough violently and a hairball flies from your jaws. Upon closer inspection, the fur packed within it doesn't match your coat in color nor texture.

Maybe you shouldn't have done that...

The seconds ticked on measured by his heart beats, and still nothing happened but he was no fool to let himself relax yet. He stared into every dark shadow, looking for any sign of danger to himself or the pack, his breath just barely leaving him as he readied himself to throw back his head and howl the alarm...... Nothing but silence and his heart beating in his ears. The male blew a breath through his nostrils and flicked his tail in irritation and impatience. He could sense something, every instinct in him told him where was some fort of danger on the horizon, just out of sight. "If you're going to do something, then do it already!" he snapped into the night, to nothing in particular, at least that he could see. His dark lips pulled back to reveal his fangs in challenge, even as the fatigue seemed to slither back into him the longer he stood here, daring whatever seemed to be looming over the world to come and harm his new found family. Perhaps it was not the smartest idea to potentially challenge a God or whatever higher power that was controlling things but he had made a promise to Aurielle to help protect the pack and he was could to keep it. Still nothing answered his challenge and he honestly did not know if that came as a relief to him or if it terrified him. He was about to let out a growl for an extra warning but the sound never made it past his throat. Nausea suddenly griped his lower abdomen like the claws of a big cat and involuntarily he began to heave painfully hard, his head dropping towards the ground as his jaws parted uncomfortably wide. He coughed and sputtered as his stomach emptied its contents, the bitter taste stinging his throat and tongue causing his eyes to water. When he blinked the clear and looked down and froze in place at the sight of what he had just expelled from his body. It was a large hairball but it was not the color of his own pelt nor was it the color or texture of what he had eaten the past few days. A shudder ran down his spine and he felt dangerously tired as he stared at the bezoar and he suddenly got the feeling that maybe he shouldn't have sent that challenge out into the night. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Firefly Shoppe- Drachen

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:

• Crystal Bath Bomb- 2 /
  It looks like a bunch of crystals, glitter, and plants rolled into some mud. The seller assures you it’s good for styling your coat texture exactly how you’ve always wanted it.
  
• 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...
  
• Opaque Sack of Mushrooms/Crystals- 1 /
  Running out of event currency and not sure what else to spend it on? Gamble on this mysterious pouch and potentially find more mushrooms/crystals within it! Or perhaps something else!
  

As the waves of nausea slowly receded and he blinked away the tears from his eyes to clear his vision, he noticed the blue fireflies seemed to have congregated around something instead of the randomized dance they had always seemed to have done before. They seemed to huddle around a particular shadow and as Drachen stared at it harder, the black fur along the back of his neck stood on end. There was a cloaked figure! The black and tan male was about to bare his teeth again and charge the unknown figure but the cloaked beings voice stopped him before he could even shift his weight. It told him to choose something, if he could afford it. Drachen's head tilted to the side slightly in confusion before he noticed the table in front of the dark cloaked figure. His blue eyes scanned the three items on the table; a bowl of mud mixed with crystals and plants that would apparently do something to his pelt, a suspicious mushroom that said eat me, and then an opaque bag of crystals and mushrooms. The male released a snort through his nares in disbelief, he had to have fainted from fatigue earlier and this was just some weird ass dream. He lifted his gaze to try and peer into the dark hood of the cloak but only saw blue glowing orbs fixated on him, unmoving and unblinking. This had to be an hallucination of his exhausted mind so he laughed, the deep sound echoing into the stillness of the night before he flicked his muzzle towards the mushroom that said "eat me". This was a dream so what harm could it do right? "I don't know what your currency is but i'll take the mushroom" he rumbled, his voice not hiding the ridiculousness he thought it this. His mind briefly flashed back to the strange crystals he had found when he was at the oasis and his brows curled together slightly. Was this what the cloaked figure meant by this? Whatever it didn't matter and he flicked his oceanic eyes back up at the hooded figure's glowing blue orbs he assumed were eyes with a arched brow as he waited for the being to do something, still fully believing he was having some weird dream from passing out a moment before. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Firefly Shoppe- Drachen

The firefly figure nods in response to your choice, then disappears leaving the mushroom at your paws.


You gain:

• Fun Shroom- An ordinary everyday ̸̾͌m̴͑̋û̸́s̵̀͒h̸̏̒r̶̍͒o̷̢͊o̷͊̀ṁ̴̃ 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...
  

You lose:

• Currency (x1)- Used in Firefly's Shoppe, and perhaps elsewhere...
  
  

As suddenly as the cloaked figure appeared, the being quickly placed the mushroom on the ground at his paws and then vanished with its table almost in thin air. Drachen glanced around him but did not see the figure walking away and he had to suppress a shudder that wanted to run down his spine. Instead, he turned his attention to his bought good and sighed, now second guessing his choice but certainly not willing to try and call that creature back to try and bargain a trade. So he settled himself down to his belly and got comfortable, the deep fatigue he felt didn't make it too hard to do so. He gave the note one more suspicious look and then took the mushroom in his jaws and chewed it before swallowing. The texture was weird but not unpleasant and he could really decide what the mushroom tasted like but at least it was a nice little snack that he did not have to hunt down. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

Fun Shroom

Unfun Effect

As you chew on the mushroom, swallowing it down, you feel fine- at first. Slowly the air starts to vibrate around you, as if you can see it and the way it moves. The grass in the plains seems to spring up from the snow and it feels as if days are passing all at once, though the moon never moves. Bright blue and purple hues dance in your vision and you feel as if you're following them or maybe falling with them- no, you're flying, but your paws are on the ground still. The colors pull you in and push you back out. They form a shape- a man- and there are so many teeth. You try to escape the teeth, the hands, the nimble fingers that scrape through your fur like razor water. You fall...

Some time later, you wake up far away from where you began. A large gash spans from your right shoulder all the way down from the paw. Better get that healed up! Surely it will leave a scar.

You gain:

• Scar- A long linear scar from the right shoulder down to the paw along the front ridge of the leg.