Archon found his paws at familiar borders. He was used to manifesting at the calls of a summons, but here he was, an apparition in the lands he once adored. Years had passed, but much remained the same. He felt a swelling in his chest. This place was still a pack, still his family. He called to them, waiting at the border lest his appearance scare them off. Many had come to him, but this was the first time he was able to come to them. He had risen from his lava tomb, and now he was indeed returning home. "Talk" "You" Think

Faith was not doing well, somewhere along the way she had started to grow crystals from her body, blue and glowing even brighter than her own usual glow, and she found herself losing her day more and more. Twice now she'd been found and dragged back to the fold by someone who seemed to have a slightly better grasp on reality. Faith hurt, she felt like shit and her eyes ached fiercely. She regularly rubbed at them, trying to remove the growths rimming her eyes, screams emitting from her lungs as the pain lanced through her skull.

So yeah she wasn't doing well, and right now she wasn't exactly lucid, paws carrying her back towards the lands she'd been born in. Some part of her mind certain that if she returned to the shrine god would reveal his reason for her suffering and more than that would help her. She was starting to return to herself when a familiar form rose up at the border of the pack. Her paws remained firmly on the unclaimed side of the border, and her voice croaked as she spoke, her brain still struggling through the fog to understand what she was seeing? Was she asleep? "Grandfather?"

"Faith"

A voice called to him- no, passed through him, although he was still able to hear it. He turned without the movement of his paws to face who had called to him. It was his granddaughter, Faith. Crystals protruded from her body and she seemed weakened, sickly, as if any moment she could pass onto the plane Archon was now accustomed to. He wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but he padded- no, floated- forward towards his progeny. "Faith, beloved, what has happened to you? What caused this?" He wanted badly to cradle her by his side and reassure her it was going to be ok. "Where is your mother? Your aunts and uncle?" Surely they would not be letting this happen to their own kin. "Talk"

Faith growled and rubbed frantically at her eyes, grunting and whimpering in pain. Her ears flicked as her grandfather spoke, approaching unnaturally and Faith shook her head. "I don't know why it's happening." Her voice felt high and reedy in her own head, desperate. She shuffled towards her grandfather, desperate for some sort of comfort but as she got closer she noticed the air smelt stale, not a single scent of a living breathing wolf before her, just the pack border scent and grass...

"Mother and Aunt Calamity are sick too..." She said and swung her gaze towards Ashen and shakily lifted her forepaw to point across the border. "Everyone else is there." Her other aunt and her only uncle... They were not really in her life, and hadn't been for the majority of her time there either.


"Faith"

The girl went at her eyes, whimpering as she did. Archon floated forward, as if to try to stop her. "Now, now, don't do all that. You'll make it worse." He remembered at one point long ago when he wanted to learn how to heal. If only he had taken it more seriously back then, maybe he'd have answers. "I'm not sure why either, but steady yourself. Surely the shrine waters can help. We can anoint it. We can pray." She said that her mother and Cala were sick and everyone else was in there, in the pack. Archon had little understanding of the situation and tilted his head only slightly. "Everyone should be in the pack," he stated, "Why isn't everyone in the pack? The shrine is the safest place to be." "Talk"

Archon gently chided her for rubbing her eyes but he couldn't understand, she needed them out. She whined again but lowered her foreleg. She wanted desperately to believe her grandfather, to charge into the pack lands and cleanse herself of whatever impurity was plaguing her like this.  Archon asked what she meant and Faith whined again, but her gaze hardened somewhat. She still resented Venom for what she'd done to them, for forcing her to leave the shrine. She shook her head.

"Venom banished us from the pack, and by extention the shrine." She narrowed her eyes, her gaze dropping to her paws which were covered in glowing blue fluid from where she'd rubbed her eyes. Tiny little crystals forming along her forelimbs where she'd cut them rubbing them on her facial crystals.

"Faith"

Archon hummed as she large girl explained her position. Ah, yes... So Venom had banished them? He wondered what for. He wished to speak to her about it, though he felt his time here was limited. He worked to reassure his granddaughter. "Then we will find other waters. The shrine is important, yes, but not the end all be all. Abraxas can be found everywhere, and we will find a place for him. We will pray, and he will work this into your story like a fond memory that builds you up." Archon offered the young wolf a smile. "Even my death has become something of a cherished memory to me, young Faith, though I do not think the same destiny is yet to befall you."

Archon

You are allowed to temporarily exist again, that in itself should be enough for you...

Firefly Shoppe- Faith

The sickness deepens... You are temporarily disabled by your illness (-15% in all fights and races until event's conclusion).

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:

• Cursed Litter pass- 2 /
  This looks like it might cause something really weird to happen. The label says, “do not use if you are breastfeeding, pregnant, or plan to become pregnant,” but you can’t read… it’s probably dangerous, or really cool.
  
• Glittering Concoction- 2 /
  Smells like mushrooms, glitters like crystals.
  
• Serious Steroids- 1 /
  The cloaked figure assures you it’s not really steroids but he does say it’ll make your body more resilient, he won’t tell you what’s in them though.