Things hadn't been going so well for her since the night she had interacted with the fireflies and heard the voices. Ever since then, she kept hearing them. Though none of the voices were familiar to her, and with the ever-present darkness and lack of sunlight, she was finding it harder to navigate the world. She was paranoid that something was lurking in the dark just out of sight, causing the girl to lose sleep as she felt she needed to remain on guard at all times. When she did manage to rest, it was fitful and she always woke up feeling like she'd hardly slept. She shook her head as she brushed by the glowing fauna around her, ooze from her face being left behind in thin trails on the foliage she passed.

Doom was over it. Done. So beyond done that although ooze leaked from his ears and eyes and he couldn't see a thing through it he was determined to figure out how to leave this place. Little did his know that he was heading farther south, but that was neither here nor there at the moment. All that mattered was that he was completely fine before he got to Boreas and now he saw strange things, heard strange things, and now he was leaking strange things. What was next? Would he melt into a puddle of this shit? He didn't want to stick around to find out, honestly, but it would seem that he was only traversing deeper into the land that he truly believed was cursed.

He lumbered through the gully, moving just slow enough to avoid running into anything obvious though he was so determined to leave that he didn't even notice someone else nearby.

"Speech."

She wiped at her face with desperate swipes. Her eyesight was already bad enough, this ooze just made it harder for her to see. Her other senses of smell and hearing were usually more heightened to accommodate for her partial loss of sight, but even those senses were failing with the ooze that poured from them. She was sick of it, and normally she had the patience for just about everything, but this? This was something that she didn't understand and it terrified her. She had stopped for a moment to try and wipe some more of it off, ears flattening as she swore she started to hear whispers again. She frantically tried to look around, fur on end as she tried to figure out if someone was actually there, or if she was hearing things again. "H-hello!? Is someone there? P-please! I don't know where I am!"

When he heard a voice, he nearly jumped out of his skin. Was it real or was it the voices again? That voice sounded different than all the voices before, but he couldn't be certain just based on that. He stopped dead in his tracks and looked frantically around for the source of the sound despite not being able to see a thing through this nasty shit pouring from his eyes.

"How do I know you're real?" He called out, testing the voice. Were they real? If so, how would they prove it? Doom certainly couldn't use his eyeballs so he would have to rely on whatever they told him, and hopefully they made it believable. Doom didn't want to stick around for any amount of time  beyond what was necessary and this voice was already taking up too much of his time.

"Speech."

"How do I know you're real?" She froze when she heard a voice reply, asking how did it know if she was real. Were she not feeling like crap and even blinder than usual, she might have scoffed and fired back with something about how rude that was to ask and how dare he! But she didn't, and she wasn't gonna right now because more likely than not, whoever it was, was likely in the same boat as she was. Still, she used the vague sound of his voice to try and locate him, and she started walking. Though she wasn't sure if she was going in the right direction, she zig-zagged until she couldn't zig and zag anymore. But by that point, she had promptly collided with someone else, and the small woman had collided with what felt like a larger creature. "Well I think our questions have been answered," She groaned as she tried to find her feet, wiping at her face in the process.

He could hear something moving and suddenly grew nervous. Who was that? Was it the voice? Was it something else? The fur all over his body rose just in time for someone, or something to collide with him. Words followed soon after and he sighed, thankful that it seemed to be a real wolf and not some figment of his imagination or some kind of obvious monster. Although, for all he knew, he was.

"I guess so." He answered back, "Are you okay?" He asked shortly after. Whoever she was, she felt much smaller and so he couldn't help but wonder if she had fallen after running into him even though he didn't budge.

"Speech."

Noelle

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

Firefly Shoppe - Doom

The sickness deepens... Your heart beats out of rhythm for several seconds, as if it was choking on something.

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:

• Deer Dad's Blessing- 3 /
  Lets you become more like your favorite deer dad!
  
• Xtra shrink potion- 1 /
  This bottle is shaped like a pear and within it swirls a sparkly gold liquid. The label shows a crudely drawn image of two wolves of vastly different sizes, with a green checkmark over the smallest one.
  
• 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.
  

Suddenly, his heart started to beat out of rhythm. It only lasted for a few moments, but it felt like it wouldn't stop. Before his heart could seize up forever it seemed, his vision blurred and refocused to find himself standing alone. The ooze draining from his eyes seemed to slow just enough for him to see the strange cloaked figure in front of him and the table of wares between them. The strange being spoke and Doom took a moment to look between the three items laid before him. A clod of nature and mushrooms, a vial of some kind of liquid, and... a blessing?

Maybe whatever that was could get him out of this place, rid of the ooze, and somewhere safe. That would be priceless. Without hesitation Doom motioned towards the blessing. "I'd like that one, please." Fumbling around with his collection of crystals, he offered the being three in exchange for the item.

"Speech."

Firefly Shoppe- Doom

The crystals were swept up quickly and the blessing granted to him. "Consider yourself blessed, young wolf," the cloaked figure says before disappearing, the fog immediately lifting and leaving Doom with his new item at his paws.


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...
  
  

Doom wasn't sure what just happened to be honest. The cloaked figure spoke again before disappearing, but the dream didn't seem to be over. The mist around him swirled and while the fireflies faded with the being, another swarm was returning, although this time it was a different... creature. This one was a deer, a strange one though, covered in crystals and fungi and ooze and lord knows what else. Doom squinted his oozey eyes at the deer, confused but also not sure if he was actually seeing a deer with everything he thought he saw, or if the ooze in his eyes was making him see things.

The mist then began to clear, a path forming between him and the massive buck lined by fireflies. The buck slowly began to step towards the young wolf, lowering its massive head and rack down to mutter some words in his ear─


í̶̗͕͕̝̻͎̓͌͗̋͋͐͐͊̈́̏̑͜͝͝ͅ ̶̟̲͓͙̱̯̤̭͇̟͎̳̎̈̉̂͐̈̎̒̾̇̅̽͠͝à̵̢̨͙̗̟͚̻͎̥̼̲͍͕̺̜̳͉̒͋͒̕͝m̴̢̡̛̮̼͓͚̦̖̺̹̪̺̱̹̈́͌͌̋̔͐̐̚͜͝ ̶̥̖̞͎͙͎̰̪̝̲̣͎̈́̔́a̸͕̦̪̓̅̽̈́͋̽̚ ̶̜̺̠͉͌ͅď̵̙̹͉͔̖͚̝̦̮͈͐͒͆̃͆̊͆͛̚ę̶͇͓̰̥̬̻̲͎͇͔̦̹̖̖̀̚͜ȩ̵̹̼͔͔̗̳͕̬̠̭̣́̆́͜͜͜ͅŗ̶̨̡̛̦̮̼̺̻̬̬͇̳̳̩̜̲̀͆̾̒̃̃̒̚͝ ̷̼̠͒̀̅̂́͋̊̎͝ḁ̴̛̛̝̞̞̰͎̥͒̐͐̑͂̿̀̑̇̿ņ̴̭̟̭̖̲̐͗̅͆̀̏̇̂̾͊͑̍̄̈́̚d̸̛̻̗̭̭͇͇͍̭̙̖͔̄̔̃͆̀͂̉̍ ̴͉͉̊̎̔̂̒̈́̇̐̊͌̕͝͝͠͠͠n̴̨͍̩͔͚͎̻̘̤͈̳̪͚̻̬̔͌̄̃̋̊ͅớ̶̭͉̰͉̟̈̒̏̓̐̉̓̾̃̓̀̈ẅ̵͍̙͇̗̫̂̚ ̶̟͈̳̙͉̩̑ŷ̷̛̮̭̦̐̑̀͑̎̐͛͌̃̋ȯ̷̡̢̢̻̩͚̜͈̙̳̯͈̲͖̮̔̈̈́̚u̷̧̘̦̬̰̝̹̗̓̄͜͜ ̷̭͓͙̪̫̭̻̖̤̬̾̄̚͜ͅc̶̛̛̫̤̺̗̏̂͊̓̈̒̎́̽̉̃̇͆͝ả̵̛͈̰̬̣̺̳͕͖̲̹͖̉̓̓̉͆̌́̌̏̒́̈́͝n̷̦͓̥̟͔̐̾́̓̿̋͗̚͝ ̵̢̎̄̋b̸̨̡̛̭̣̭̣̥̠̭̠͕̯͉͉̎̄͒̉̄̽̂̈́̃̋̓͠e̴̗͓̟͓̬̪͈̱͔̋͒̌́́͊ ̴̩̳̬͇̪̯͎̼̠̞̜̯͚̬̆͌̑t̵̨͓̦͎̘̜͉̞͚̘͈̦̺̩͇̪̘͂̈̂́̆̊͂̿̓͋͌̓̉̚͘͝o̵̡̪͉͚̜̟̭̺̻̞̳͓͙̺̖̳̍̏̈̇̽̄̋͂͑̈́̌̅͘͝͝ͅo̴͚̼͆̿̆̏


what the fuck.

"Speech."

Deer Dad's Blessing

I don't want to be an herbivore!

The deer speaks to you and you have images flash in your mind of a rut. Deer against deer as they compete for a mate. The fights and entanglements leading to many deaths- the deer with the best antlers wins out. In the distance, a smaller, baby buck begins to grow its antlers, rubbing its sore skull against a tree as the aching nubs begin to protrude through the flesh. When you come to, you realize your head aches as well!

You gain:

• Antlers- Nubby for now. Grow fully in 1 IC season!
  

You lose:

• Deer Dad's Blessing- Sounds worse than it is...