What once was a peaceful place — a beautiful waterfall brimming with fresh water, crisp foliage, and a calm atmosphere — became plagued with the recent hell that had overgrown upon the land. Auster was infected. Infected with strange, glowing mushrooms that cropped up wherever there was moisture, and sometimes where there was none. Massive, looming crystals threatened to slice one’s paws when they cropped up low to the ground, or bump their heads, reaching taller than they were wide. Everything was getting bigger, stronger, polluting the landscape that once seemed so familiar. Worst of all, whatever those fireflies were that Laeta encountered had given her something. What it was, she didn’t know. In this state, she could barely recall a fragment of a rational, sentient thought. Either way, it was eternally nighttime, and the woman feverishly wandered away from the pack territory to embark on an irrational, ill-advised mission - but to her in her current state, it was completely sensical. Sensible. Made sense? Yes. It all started with the tickling in the woman’s ear after a soured encounter with those pests of fireflies, the ones that clustered in blue flickers and mocked her with the whispers of words unknown. Then, the oozing began. At first, the woman observed drops of bright, glowing ooze of various colors — a sickly, bright yellow, then pink, but mostly a blue that matched the fireflies themselves — trickled thickly from her nose. She panicked, and headed towards the castle the Hallows had called home, and she barely remembered collapsing in her room. The rest was a blur — wasn’t she on a mission to find her mom? That’s right, she thought, woozily padding forward. Or was she backward? She frowned. Her mom was going to be so upset that she hadn’t found her yet. Ooze from her eyes blocked her vision, and her sense of smell was dampened as it clogged her nostrils. Her mouth was constantly leaking with the slimey stuff that speaking and eating were difficult, and she often had to stop and regurgitate the fluid when it amassed in her esophagus. Her hearing wasn’t faring much better, the sickly fluid having engorged her ear canals to the point where it not only drippled thickly down her face like her other senses, but it also made them ache quite a bit. She was walking blind, deaf, and scentless. Maybe it was a blessing her senses were so horribly muffled, otherwise her sudden and irrational fear of the dark would have crushed her much earlier in this strange journey. Having been stumbling about, she realized she didn’t even recognize where she was. She blinked, or attempted to, as the ooze had congealed to the point where her eyelids couldn’t completely close. With one paw, the erratic and uncoordinated woman attempted to wipe away the florescent snot for what seemed to be the tenth time - or was it a hundred? - before her limbs buckled beneath her. She crumpled into a ball, her thoughts jumbled about as much as her head from the sudden impact. Where was she again? Did she just wipe her eyes? The bright fluid pooled beneath her as she laid there in stark confusion, squinting at the malevolent obsidian heavens above her through the gnarled trees. Her fur was slicked with the stuff, too, creating uneven cowlicks of tufts that cropped up at random on her neck and chest, but not that she cared. Her normally beight alabaster markings were marred with the colorful liquid, making them glow in disturbing, unnatural hues. With a cough and a gurgle as more ooze dribbled from her mouth, she gasped and pushed herself back onto her feet, albeit unsteadily, and continued forward. Well, not entirely - she now stumbled limply in the completely opposite direction. The waterfall’s roar penetrated even the woman’s gunked up ears, and upon hearing it (and attempting to scent out the waterfall, which only resulted in a mucus-filled snort), she shifted her wobbly legs in an attempt to walk towards it. Her ruby gaze, normally clear and salmon in color, was infected with ooze to the point where her irises resembled something of an oil slick, and it was hard to see. Everything was blurred. Her brain - erratic, jumpy, and addled, observed the rushing water for a few moments, her breath hithced in her throat as the ooze to flow down her face and drip on her paws. She came to this place because nobody was watching. Nobody could find her. The pack seemed like they wanted to hurt her, too - their eyes were watching in the castle, and she had convinced herself that they could even read her thoughts word for word. They had bad plans. Bad plans. Very bad. So, of course, her mind suggested she find her mom by following her sixth sense, a thought that infected her like an ooze-filled parasite since she stumbled from the Hallows grounds. "Momma?" The sick woman cried out into the darkness. A sudden awareness of how terribly shadowed and frightening this place was overcame her as she spoke, the ooze forcing her to cough as it congealed in her throat as well. She tried to call again, her poisoned mind convincing her, over and over, that they would find her, catch her, watch her. Their eyes followed her here, oh gods..they knew where she was. Her mom needed to come out now and protect her. That’s what moms did, right? Right? Tears - well, more like glowing, thick fluid - dribbled down from her oil-slicked orbs as sobs of pure terror erupted from her fluid-filled throat and maw. She needed her mom here..she needed her now. Her limbs shaking, she cried as loudly as a pup who was lost in the woods. In a sense, in her sick state, she technically was not much more than that. "Momma! Please!" She croaked out hoarsely. Horrific thoughts danced in her head, scattered like ants. They’re here. They’re coming. They know. You’re done. Done. DONE. The fireflies ate your brain already. Home is not here. With a thick sniff, Lae choked, "I forgive you for what you said..when I left the pack..our family..I don’t hate you..you did what was best for me.." She trembled like a lamb, forcing her body to crumple back onto the earth. The spray of the waterfall cooled her warm pelt, but did little to actually soothe her. Where did her mom go? Wasn’t she supposed to be here? She sobbed, feeling nothing but the ooze flowing down her face in thick, goopy streams, and the grass tickling her other side. The dark was going to swallow her alive, wasn’t it? And the pack..well, she had searched for her mom..they wouldn’t like that..she felt what remennants of rationality slip away, much like the fireflies that drifted off in blue-pulsing silence. She laid there, motionless, letting this plague consume her as she let out nothing more than a gurgle from the ooze that leaked from her charcoal lips. WORD COUNT; 1,174 "Speech"

Firefly Shoppe- Laeta

The sickness deepens... Your mouth is full of a bitter, glowing liquid that feels thick and sticky to the touch. Eventually you begin to enjoy the taste as the substance finally dissolves. You feel the need for more...,You feel a sudden grit in your teeth that you can't quite spit out.

Xtra Grow Potion
Opaque Sack of Mushrooms/Crystals
Coat Hanger

Your attention blurs and refocuses. It feels as if you are in a dream as you find yourself alone in the mist. Fireflies gather and light the way to a table with a figure waiting behind it. On the table lay three items, with their prices beside them. "Choose w̶̢̧͉̥̻̟͈͙̽̉̆̿̈͒͋̓̇̍͌̇̎͠͝ì̵̢̝̄͐́͆̓̚ṣ̶̛͙̟͎̤̞̤͎̹̙̭̪͔̓̐̾̂͆̄͆͌̈̈́̏̚͜͝͠ȩ̴͔̱̗̜̾̉̀̓̀͆͛̊̂̍̕̚̚̚ͅl̵̢̦̲̼̠̖̜̺̮̜̺͋̈́y̴̧̨̧̪̗̥̘͇̾͑͗͜͠, and only choose o̷͕̭̊̃̌̊̏̀ņ̸̼͚͉͔̒͐̊e̵̮̯͛̔̀̑͜," the figure says, looming over the table as his eyes seem to peer into your soul. Are they... moving? "If you can afford it, that is. Beware, however, for there are many d̷̡̯͉̎̊̈́͐͠á̴̬̪̣̝̞̅̀̈́̄ṉ̸̢̠̤̹̥̙̜͋͆̚g̷̛͍̹̣̬̙͖̝̘̃̈e̷͓͕̖͓̝̤̿͐͐͜͠ŗ̵̤͚͔̟̹̳̽̒͝ş̸̛͓͔̩̥̦͛̊̈̾̐̒̓ ̴̺͔̃̇̆ahead." He does not seem like he's in the negotiating mood...


I̵̜̖͎͓͒̑̕n̸͓̗̘̫͉̗̻͐̔̿̊͆̋͝v̵̦̹̠͉̖̼̮̎̌͆ȩ̸͕̦͔̳̩̈́͜n̶͍̝̙̯̣̹̫̩͋t̶̟͈̟̲̜̙̣̋̿̓̆̅͊͝͝ŏ̶̼͊r̶̖͎̙͔̥͎͙͈̊̍͝͠y̴̧͔̭͒͆̉̕͝:

• Xtra Grow Potion- 2 /
  It comes in an extra large bottle. There’s way more than one drop!
  
• 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!
  
• Coat Hanger- 3 /
  It’s just an everyday coat hanger, but you are a wolf, and you do not know that.
  

A period of time stretched by as the woman laid on the earth, her glazed eyes following the various glowing pulses of the crystals, mushrooms and fireflies that bathed the waterfall in blue luminescence. Though, her brain, probably just as slime-coated as her face, threw out random, nonsensical thoughts, words, and noises that flicked past her ears. Muffled phrases..whispers..her mother’s voice. Her gunked-up eyes narrowed the best they could. Wait a minute. Her mother’s voice. Lae! He’s got me! I’m trapped! The sickly woman shot up with alarming speed despite her worsening condition, barely able to discern anything in the blue glow and the darkness beyond. Wiping her eyes again, she snorted as the ooze continued to trickle from her nostrils and the darkness seemed to cave in on her yet again. She shivered. Partially from the paranoia indiced by this ailment, and perhaps from the condition steeping her body into a fever. She frowned. Her mom was..calling out, wasn’t she? She needed help. She was in danger. Woozily, Lae attempted to stand up again, though her body felt heavier than usual. Her limbs trembled slightly as she wobbled like a newborn fawn, her oil-slicked gaze scanning the area for the source of her mother’s voice. She couldn’t even discern real noises from the ones originating from her own ooze-ridden mind anymore, a true sign this mystery plague was tightening its grasp on her very psyche. She stumbled towards the darkness, despite the garbled screaming telling her this was bad. No! The darkness kills! They’ll eat you like they ate your brain! They’ll eat your mom too! STOP STOPSTOPSTOP- She shook her head with a frustrated grunt, continuing forward - well, as forward as she possibly could, given that her linear path was really more of an erratic zig-zag. "Mom?!" She cried out hoarsely, ooze sputtering from her lips. She coughed, gagging as it slid down her throat. Disgusting. Why couldn’t they not eat her brain and leave her be? Now she had no brain left to think about where her mom was, and no focus too. Everything was all over the place! She huffed, but before she could cry out again, her mouth began to fill up even more than usual. Lae paused in her wobbling tracks, the sensation of a strange texture rising within her mouth. At first, she spat it out, finding it bitter. This new slime - maybe the disease was progressing quicker than expected - glowed about as brightly as the ooze, but was a lot thicker, and when it happened to get onto one of her front paws, she rubbed the slime between her digits with a confused tilt of her head. It was a bit thicker, and stickier. Gross. Having been distracted by the feel of the slime, she didn’t realize the stuff had time to sit on her tongue, and with a widening of her eyes in surprise, it actually tasted…good? Suspicious, the thin woman let the rising slime sit on her tongue, and dissolve. At first it was bitter, and hardly tolerable, but if her patience paid off, then as it slowly disappeared, a pleasant, and addicting taste was left behind in her maw. With a swipe of her lips with her tongue, she felt the need for more. A craving. This stuff was delicious once you got past the gross bitter stage! Maybe it was a sign from her mom..albeit in a strange, slimey way. What a strange way to show some love to your daughter. Not to mention the gritty aftertaste too that lingered on her teeth. Diving deeper into the ooze’s grasp of delusion, her vision blurred for a few seconds, and when it refocused, a figure appeared in front of her. For a few seconds, Lae stood there, not sure how to process this..being. Clearly, it was a tangible creature, that she had no doubt of. Then again, she didn’t doubt much of this strange reality anymore, as this firefly plague had twisted her thought process to the point that she didn’t even think to consider if this thing was a hallucination or not. Moreover, she was still determined to find her mother, at any cost. Even if it meant she had to interact with..whatever this guy was. A line of fireflies neatly lit their way towards him - she assumed it was a him, based on the mere size of the cloak - and she padded, er, stumbled her way towards him, even if the fireflies screamed in her head as she did so. He knows about your mom, They hissed quietly, giggling. She frowned, finally reaching the cloaked creature and his table of strange wares. She took a better look at him with her goopy eyes, sniffing obnoxiously loud in an undignified manner as a long line of ooze trickled down her nose. The fireflies on the ground, and perhaps whatevee was leeching on her brain matter, continued to wahisper warnings that escalated into shouts that bounced against her skull. The pulsing fireflies within the cloaked figure’s obsidian interior didn’t help to ease the atmosphere, either. Laeta stared at him blankly, ooze-slicked face blank. He’s got your mom. He won’t give her back. You must find her or else he’ll kill her. FIND HER FIND HER FIND HER KILL HIM MAKE HIM SHARE HIS SECRETS SECRETS SECRETS- Shaking her head about with a frustrated grunt, the woman barely registered what strange items were upon the table. She didn’t know and didn’t care. The fireflies had spoken, and she believed them wholeheartedly. The plsgue was taking its intended toll upon her body and her worsening mental status. The strange, angular object looked most like something she could use in a pinch. Her body stiffened as she growled angrily at the cloaked figure. "You, leader of the fireflies.." She snarled, unsteady on her feet, but still holding her ground as her soaked fur bristled. She glared daggers at him, peeling her lips to reveal fangs that appeared to glow, thanks to the ooze. She was convinced he was holding her mom hostage. She had to find her. Find her NOW. "I know you have my mom. I know you’ll kill her." Without thinking - and she didn’t really do much of that in her current state - she impulsively grabbed the angular object, the coat hanger, and pointed it at the cloaked man, hating him with every fiber of her being. Doitdoitdoitdoit The voices egged her on, and she used her digits on her forepaw to keep the coat hanger pointed at him, her aura darkening as much as the endless night around them. She’d get her mom back, at any cost. She’ll be safe with me. We’ll be back together soon, Momma, I promise. They didn’t eat your brain. "Give her back to me, now." Little did Laeta know, not only was she making the most reckless, foolish decision in her life, but her mother had passed on long ago. There was nobody to save, except Lae herself, from whatever fate she had now sealed herself into. "Speech"

You shouldn't have done that.

You sho̵u̵ldn't have done tha̵t̴.̴ You s̵̤̄h̶͒͜o̶̞̅u̵̳̿ldn't hav̴̗̎ẽ̶̺ ̴̩̄d̴̞̓o̴̓ͅn̵͈̆ḙ̷̉ ̸̀͜t̶̥̿h̷̦̑ā̴͜t̷̺̍ Y̷̩̍o̷̼͝ủ̵̼ ̴̝̍s̵̤̄h̶͒͜o̶̞̅u̵̳̿l̴̹̋d̷̪̀ņ̶̑'̸̻̄t̷͈͠ ̶͎̒ḧ̷̙́à̸͎v̴̗̎ẽ̶̺ ̴̩̄d̴̞̓o̴̓ͅn̵͈̆ḙ̷̉ ̸̀͜t̶̥̿h̷̦̑ā̴͜t̷̺̍.̴̰͆ Y̴̡͑ó̴͔u̴̻̱͛ ̴̙͆s̸̪̿h̵̗̐̑o̸͛͜͠ù̷̖͘l̶̺̭̒̈d̴̓͜n̴̺͕̓͝'̵̮̾̑t̶̞͊ ̷̖̅h̷̠̜̕á̴̘̞v̷͇̼̕͝e̷͜͝ ̷̖̈͜d̸̬̀o̴̦̪͆n̷̯̗̈́̒ḛ̵͉̓̈ ̵̲͛t̴̻̏͛h̴̨̆a̸̰̺̎̍ṫ̸̮̈.̴̭̈́̀

The figure stood, unmoving as the woman thrusts herself toward him. She brandishes the coat hanger at him, saying he has her mother. Interesting. The being took a while to consider if he really did have her mother, but decided that he, in fact, did not.

"Your mother is no longer of this world, wolf, and you are too old to deny otherwise." The voice emanates from every direction. "However," the voice begins, the creature looming closer to Laeta, who now finds herself unable to move. He gingerly takes the coat hanger from her and slowly, meticulously takes the time to readjust his shop. "I may help you to join her, if you wish."

He turns from his stall to look at her for a moment. No... She wasn't ready for that. Not yet anyway.

The figure drifts up to her, placing a buzzing hand on either side of her head, the fireflies spreading out beneath her cheek fur and solidifying their grip. "Tell your mother you love her," he echoes. In one fluid movement, his hands shift and with a solid snap, Laeta's vision goes dark.

In her slumber, she sees many visions of her mother. Perhaps they give her closure, or perhaps they only leave her with more questions. It feels like time passes, days, weeks, years drag by in this world with her mother. One evening, fireflies fill the sky and Laeta is reminded of something, somewhere. As she drifts off to sleep, a firefly lands on her nose.

She awakens by the falls, the figure long gone and only a handful of moments having passed. Unable to move her legs, Laeta cannot stand. By her side, a badger with crystalline ruby claws rouses, as if it had been watching over her. Beside it, a dead mouse lay, and the badger nudges it towards the woman.

Laeta now has a neck injury and all four legs are paralyzed. Will heal in one IC season.
You also receive a new friend. Treat them well, you'll need them.

Unfortunately, Laeta was so deeply submerged in her delusion, as the ooze continued leaking from her facial features, she didn’t even comprehend the consequences. Which, if she wasn’t infected, she would have done the wise thing and turned back to the castle immediately, and back to safety. However, her fate was sealed the moment she followed the suggestions of her addled brain and clutched the coat hanger in her tiny paw. A deep, foreboding unease leeched into her bones, and the woman felt the atmosphere darken significantly like a dense fog. The hooded figure was displeased, and perhaps rightfully so. What had he done to be threatened by her? There was no provocation on his part, but she didn’t realize that, and it’d only be the beginning of her downfall. Her "mission" was about to take a very terrifying spiral into the darkest depths she could not yet fathom. "Your mother is no longer of this world, wolf, and you are too old to deny otherwise," The cloaked thing said. Lae froze, unable to move. What was happening? She could only watch with the most helpless feeling wrenched in her gut as the voice surrounded her in every direction. It continued, causing her to shiver from the chill she detected in his words. "However..I may help you join her, if you wish." He gently took the coat hanger from her unmoving paw, and she had no way of reacting in this state. What..did he mean? Did that mean he really..had her? A sudden realization hit her as the cloaked figure fell silent, as if in pensive thought. You messed upyoumessedupyoumessedup The fireflies chanted about her ears, almost mockingly. Their whispering phrases darkened as much as the atmosphere had, the churning in her gut worsening as her breath hitched in her throat, the ooze only letting her utter a faint gurgle in fear. Was he going to kill her? No, if he wanted to, he would’ve already done that. All she knew was, whatever he was planning, it wasn’t of a benevolent purpose. No, his pause foretold what was to happen. Everything within her wanted to flee. The instinct that had been about as submerged in ooze as the rest of her mind and features found itself in action again, perceiving a life-threatening situation. Run! Get out! It’s a trap! Her own voice, her true self, cried within her, but to no avail. It was too late for eetribution. The fireflies got what they seemingly asked for, robbing her not only of her health but of her ability to rationalize when her life was at stake. What a stupid, stupid decision, even if it was out of her control. To her horror, the figure drifted to face her, looming like a massive, gnarled tree that dwarfed her small form in comparison. Her ruby glazed eyes widened, even with the gunk that made them difficult to open. This was bad. Real bad. He didn’t have her mother, after all. It was all a lie - had the gunk poisoned her brain that badly? How desperate it was to give her that hope that her mother was out there. How sad. There was nothing left for her but to resign to her own fate. The figure’s hands hovered on both sides of her face, the fireflies tickling her cheek fur as they burrowed. Her breaths were short, gasping. She was going to die. He was going to kill her. Scratch everything she thought before - she wasn’t going to make it out of this alive. She was a dead woman the moment this horrible thing appeared in front of her. The buzzing intensified to the point where she almost drowned out the figure’s voice, but it was impossible to escape from. His powers were not of this world, and she had born witness to them in the worst way this could have occurred. "Tell your mother you love her." She barely registered that his hands moved and his fingers snapped when the world went dark. The soft whisper of a breeze stirred Laeta to awaken. She peeled open her eyes, and found her face was surprisingly clear. She then rose to her feet, utterly confused. It was light outside. The spring air tousled her silky, youthful fur. Her facial features were clear, she breathed easy, and her eyes were as bright as they were before..before..she blinked. Wait, what happened? Right..she fell asleep again. She always did that when pack duties were slow. She turned towards the forest of her childhood, a thick segment of tall evergreens and bursting green foliage that covered the earth. Her parents had to be here somewhere - they’d scold her if they knew she had fallen asleep when there were always patrols to do, pups to watch over, and prey to hunt. What a strange dream, she thought to herself, padding towards the main clearing where the pack congregated. I can’t even remember what it was about, but it gave me the chills. Sure enough, her whole family was out and about. Everybody had a purpose to the pack - even the pups were likely led away by her sisters to learn about herbs and hunting. Still, she padded towards the center of the clearing, the sunlight filtering through the tree branches and pooling on her figure. It was warm, comforting. It felt like home. She never left, did she? It was just a very long dream she had. If only she could recall some of it. She sighed. Maybe her mother would know. She knew everything. "Laeta, my dear," A voice made itself known to her before its source. The smooth, kind tone belonged to an equally kind she-wolf that approached from the woodlands, ruby eyes twinkling. Sophia was her name, kind and soft as she was. She smiled brightly as her daughter did the same. Her mother’s smile was always so infectious. Lae padded closer to touch her nose to her mother’s cheek in greeting. "Hi mom." Her mother wasn’t auite the carbon copy one would expect from two very similar creatures, in size and in character. They were both quite slim, the same slender, tapered legs the pack had that were peefect for running auickly and turning in agile, almost unnatural manners, but rather poor for fighting and combat. That was best left to her father and uncles. Their coats were both a clean, crisp charcoal, but unlike Laeta, her mother’s coat was free of any white patterning. Instead, a darker obsidian shade reach from her paws up to her elbows and knees in an uninteruppted gradient, and that same shade created a subtle dark mask around her slender face. This was the pack’s inherited pattern - virtually all of her mother’s children had it, just in varying colors. Her sisters, for example, had that pattern but in shades of tawny. Her brothers, on the other hand, received it in deep browns or rich charcoals, like wet earth and stones. Laeta stood out from the rest with a mysterious pattern that was difficult to determine the origin of - as such, rumors began to spread around the pack that she was an illegitimate child. Lae shook herself away from her drifting thoughts. No matter. She belonged, and her mother loved her all the same. "You’re always elsewhere, dear," Her mother observed, still maintaining a smile upon her soft features. "I wonder what goes on in your head." Lae sighed, her own smile widening. Nothing could escape the sharp wits of her mother. Though she lacked the confidence to say herself, she, too, had the mind of someone beyond her years. Where there was a lack of physical brute strength, they both received the gift of observance and intelligence that that could stir a scholastic rivalry. Together, the two of them did their duties. Mother and daughter, side by side - the matriarch and her princess. They sprinted through the rich evergreens they called home, in pursuit of deer and rabbits for meals. They bathed in the babbling creek on the outskirts of their territory, then basked in the golden sunlight that warmed their bones. Hours passed, so did days, which crept into weeks and months. Perhaps even a year or two had gone by, the seasons of Boreas frosting the vegetation and creek in winter, only to thaw it out in the spring for summer. They were inseperable, and when they weren’t busy running about, they just sat and talked. Talked about anything and everything on their minds. Laeta’s words flowed out like ink on paper, each statement was valuable as the past. That was another gift with which the pack, particularly the females were blessed with - though they spoke very little on their own, when they did open their mouths, the pack listened intently, for their words held such strength they could shake the very ground upon which they stood. One particular night, the heat of the summer still sticking to their pelts despite it being sundown, Lae and her mother conversed softly as the rest of the pack slept. Time seemed fragmented, for some reason. It was going quite quickly - then again, life had a way of speeding up or slowing the expanse of time as it wished. She paid it no mind. "Mom?" Lae inquired, as they reclined against a moss-laden tree. The roots created a padded alcove for the two to sit in comfortably, like a couch. A couch? What was that? What a strange word, much like the other words that occasionally drifted into her skull. "Yes, dear?" Her mother inquired, shifting slightly against the tree, barely concealing a wince. Lae frowned softly. Her mother wasn’t as young as she acted - her smooth and ever beautiful form was beginning to betray her true age with the white speckles on her snout and around her eyes. "The pack..do they really accept me?" She blurted out, furrowing her brow. "I mean, the rumors spread like a fire. They think you..er.." Her sentence trailed out, leaving her mother to fill in the gaps. To her surprise, her mother simply smiled, her expression melting its way through Lae’s anxiousness about the rumors. "Of course they accept you, my dear. You are my daughter, nothing can change that. No matter how you look, I love you all the same. Rumors can spread like fire, of course, but only if you provide tinder. If you let it simmer down, it will die out," She looked at her monochromatic daughter with the same ruby gaze, always shimmering with hope for the future and a zest for knowledge and life. "You belong here. You have purpose. You have strength." Lae began to smile herself, relieved. Her mother always knew just what to say. Soon, small beads of yellow light flooded the forest, twinkling like the stars above. "Oh, Laeta!" Her mother whispered in awe, gazing up at the bugs. "Fireflies! Aren’t they beautiful?" They collected in bunches, circling the two in a warm, soothing glow. Suddenly, something within Lae clenched her stomach uneasily. The magic of the moment stopped in its tracks as a rush of memories filled her head. Memories of her leaving the pack. Wait, leaving? Angry words thrown about, her running away as a foolish, headstrong yearling that cursed the world when deep inside she was insecure and terrified. Years of wandering Boreas alone, barely stepping off the edge of death and destruction each day. Another pack..another life..a castle..and then..him. "Lae? Lae, my dear, what’s wrong?" Her mother murmured softly, her tone lowered in concern. Laeta snapped back to the clearing, the fireflies scattered but still twinkling above. She shook her head, breathing quickened. "N-Nothing," she said, wondering what triggered her memories so. She left this place? Her almost perfect life? Her mother? Why? Why.. She didn’t know what was real anymore. Was this even real? The realization of the time fragments, and her memories swirled in her brain like a dangerous whirlpool. Standing up, she faced her mother with a pained expression. She realized she left the pack..because they force her mother to banish her. The rumors became wildfires that raged the pack and threatened its hierarchy, claiming her mother was a whore that slept with a loner and had a cursed child. The cursed child, of course, being Laeta herself. Tears bubbled her ruby gaze as Lae looked at her mother. No, the memory of her mother. The life they once had that was no more. "I’m sorry, mom," she croaked. It was painful. Too painful. Somehow, even without words, she knew her mother didn’t want her to leave. The rest of the pack manipulated her, tore her apart. So painful. So fucking painful. No wonder she hated herself so badly. As her mother protested, the woman ran into the woods, away from the pack. Running and running and never stopping, until she was miles away. Her legs unable to run anymore, she collapsed where she stopped, exhaustion filling every part of her body. As she lay there, glancing up at the normal night sky, a firefly sat on her nose. And soon enough, her eyes closed, leaving the memory of what she once had. With a start, Laeta’s ooze-laden eyes peeled open, and she gasped as if she had been doused with cold water. She was..by the falls again. She frowned. She didn’t remember laying here. Come to think of it, where was she? What had happened? Though it appeared her addled brain had healed itself somewhat, and she was no longer out of touch with reality, she couldn’t recall what had brought her here. Whatever delusions she had suffered had blown away, leaving her here in this bitter, dark, glowing reality. Only the memories of her dream with her mother remained, clutched with her heart with a dull pang of grief. Her mother was dead, that’s all she could remember. She was gone from this world, her birth pack likely nonexistant. Her eyes wished to spill tears, but only some more ooze trickled down her crusted face. At least the flow of the stuff slowed down, if only a little. She began to rise - no, attempted to - when she realized she couldn’t move at all. Panic set in, realizing she could only crane her neck and maybe the slightest bit of her shoulders and haunches, but her legs wouldn’t move. No matter how hard her brain screamed at them to MOVE! MOVE!, they remained still. Horror set in as she received a flicker of a memory. What the hell was she yelling at that cloaked firefly entity for? And why so aggressively insisting he had her mother? It only made sense, though, that for her foolishness, he likely made her like this. The paralyzed woman’s eyes brimmed with tears - actually, ooze-  at the hopelessness of her situation before a small figure rose next to her. She blinked. Who was this creature? She recognized him as a badger, a creature with a grey pelt, a charcoal face, and white markings stretching down his back. He had ruby claws, the same color as her eyes, and he nudged a dead mouse towards her as she could only stare. The creature, realizing she wasn’t eating, bowed to her in a polite manner. What was going on? "Hello, my lady," The badger said, his voice smooth and even, and soothing in some way, "I was waiting for you to awaken."Wait a minute - badgers could talk? She had to be dreaming. But no, this was reality - her mother was a dream and no longer here. The reality of her situation, unable to move no matter how hard she tried, set in. She lifted her face to get a better look at him, still reeling in shock from the snowballing of events she had to endure since awakening. This couldn’t be real..but it was. She knew it was. The badger’s face seemed to soften in..sympathy? For her? Could badgers even do that? She knew less about them than she felt she should. Carefully, to her surprise, the badger took one claw, and gently wiped the ooze from her eyes. Helplessly, the woman let him, seeing as she couldn’t move, much less stand. "I know this must be quite a shock, my lady, but fret not - I am here to help. I am humbly at your service, for however long you choose." Lae barely had time to think of a response before the badger added, "It’s cold in these woods, my dear lady. I shall fetch you something to warm you up. Perhaps some water, as well." She nodded, not having the strength to protest. Before the badger turned towards the falls, he turned to her and asked, "My lady, if I may ask, what is your name? You have a name bestowed upon you, if I may assume?" He was..so polite. Perhaps she could make the best out of this situation. He was eager to serve, and highly respectful. With a pause, she said, "Laeta." She almost smiled softly, as if feeling her mother’s presence closer than ever. Something about this badger made her feel as if they had a bond of true friendship. She could swear she heard something of her mother’s generosity and kindness within him, too. She said it again as the badger nodded with a "Lady Laeta, splendid!" and headed off to find water. Her eyes drifted closed again. "Yes..it’s Laeta." "Speech"