Spark was heading back down towards the land of her birth. It had been nearly two full seasons since she'd left and though she had no intentions of staying too long she did feel some amount of homesickness and the girl couldn't help but feel a little curious to see how her mother was doing. Her paws carried her south and incidentally towards the swamp. Despite her usual confidence Spark couldn't help but feel a little off-put by the misty gloom that surrounded her. The night was longer now than it ever had been in her life and though there were the floating lights and glowing stones and mushrooms to help pierce the darkness it certainly didn't do much to help her feel safer.

Spark had decided she was going to make a temporary den here and try to sleep through the elongated night to get to the few hours of dusk they had this winter, at least a little bit of sunlight would help to make the dense mist feel less... Thick, and clawing.

That had been the plan, until she'd found herself drawn to an outcroping of the crystals, something about this one in particular seemed to draw her in...
"Speech"

Image by Honrin

The swamp was the perfect place to make sure you weren’t being followed. The wet and saturated earth, the constant scent of decomposing leaves, and the ever present night and full moon. He felt like more often and more often there was someone out there tailing him so Noir had spent much of these unprecedented times within the swamps. Counter to his nature he secluded himself within the glowing forest.

The pale blue lights reflected off Noir’s coat as he walked silently through the trees. There was never much noise here, and he learned over his years of traversing the swamp how to move with the untamable land instead of against it. Even for how well he knew the swamp he hadn’t expected the crystals. As if they sprung up overnight Noir was drawn to the incredible glow as they drew him in and towards the yearling. Noir blinked as he found her similarly transfixed, but he said nothing, just observed the glowing rocks with interest. Maybe she would think him of the fireflies like the last woman.

Spark turned her head slightly, never enough to lose track of the outcropping of crystals but enough to both acknowledge the approach of the stranger and make it clear she was aware of him. The young girl remained silent for a moment as he simply stood there and she idly wondered if he was a spirit of some sort. Her paws anxiously tapped out: Nervous, unsure. Then she swallowed the lump forming in her throat.

"Have you ever seen anything like it?" She asked, maybe Boreas got this every winter. Her paws said it was a genuine question. Spark wished for the first time for the familiar warmth and scenery of Auster. She had to get back there!

"Speech"

Image by Honrin

Noir was oddly silent, but the girl couldn’t be thought of as a woman yet and it wasn’t his style to torment the young. She looked nervous but it was probably because of their strange surroundings more likely than not. The crystals were unlike anything he had ever seen before, and it seemed like she felt similar.

Her delicate voice questioned him as steely silver eyes met his blue and lavender gaze. For another moment he remained silent, watching her and the filtering light with a curious if not studious gaze. ”No,” he replied simply, his deep voice rumbling from his chest. Nothing seemed right with anything he encountered in the last moon. The crystals seemed to ebb and flow with light. Noir stalked forward, perpendicular to the fire marked girl, and reached towards the light of a massive gem. He hesitated though, uncertain what might happen if his flesh made contact.

Spark could only accept his answer, he didn't offer anything else and so instead she nodded her face still as blank as always. She watched him intently as the man approached and slowly seemed to decide he wanted to touch it but he hesitated. Spark's paws tapped out her feelings again: Nervous, unsure. And then more importantly: Curious.

"Together?" She asked, her tone flat still and she lifted a paw, sliding it forward. Her silver gaze rising to meet him for a moment before she nodded and pushed her paw onto the crystal, her eyes screwing shut for a moment and her muscles tensing as if expecting the stone to bite her toes off just for trying to touch it.

"Speech"

Image by Honrin

Noir’s silence was quite uncharacteristic, but the scenery was nowhere near his comfort zone. Nothing was anymore, but these familiar paths soothed him. The swamp would forever be more home than anywhere else. With these swiftly growing crystals he worried that this place would change to something completely unrecognizable.

Maybe they could be tolerated. Noir hesitated as he went to touch before the girl was at his side and she spoke up once more. Noir frowned, but as she leaned forward and made contact with the crystal he did the same. Normally he wouldn’t have, and just allowed her to be the test subject. However, Noir pressed his skin against the glowing mineral.

Spark

You feel suddenly heavy as your paw makes contact with the cold crystal, as if it's sucked all your energy from your body. It's difficult to keep your paw upon it, and even hard to remain standing through the exhaustion.

Maybe you shouldn't have done that...

Noir

You hear an explosive scream echo from within your head when your paw makes contact with the crystal. The volume grows louder and harder to bare the longer you remain touching it, though does not vanish immediately when you let go.

Before he could feel the cool and smooth surface Noir was pulling himself from the glowing crystal. A scream echoed through his head and the tall blue marked man shook to rid himself of it. He grit his teeth and pawed at his ear until the sound subsided. Screams didn’t bother him much, but sounds of anguish that radiated in his skull were not well tolerated.

He groaned as they slowly faded after he pulled his paw free. Blue and lavender eyes blinked open and closed as his mind recovered. What in the world were these things? If they took over the whole forest and the whole swamp… Noir shook himself again, dissatisfied with his discovery.

Noir - It Continues...

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