Midas was certain he'd never feel solid earth beneath his paws again. Seriously, the swim had been long, brutal. Too brutal. Fuck, he was tired. Looking like a drowned rat and feeling worse, he drags himself to shore. Dusk was quickly fading to inky blackness, the evening humid and heavy on his chest. Shaking the sea water from his pelt, willing himself to dry off before he caught a chill. With the exhaustion in his system, it was probably reasonable to have sleep for dinner. Sleep, and then sort himself out in the morning.

There was the question of being far enough inland, too. Couldn't be swept out to sea when the tide did what it would do. After a quick roll in the grass, the young man set off. From somewhere deeper within, there's a faint blue glimmer. How curious... how strange. His head quirked to the side, moving towards the faint light at a slow trot. Taking it all in. It was strange here, and Midas was going to enjoy the hell out of learning all about it. Closing in on the standing stones, it's a long moment of study. Woah. Still, something about the way the light catches in his coat makes Midas feel exposed.

Slipping back to the shadows, he was a bit reluctant to leave the glow of the standing stones entirely. His gaze trained on the nearby undergrowth, Midas may as well find somewhere to sleep off his travels close by.

The Kaicho's criptic warning had been enough to send her mother north shadowing her youngest daughter to ensure she arrived safely at the mountain for the rest of the summer when normally she would have trusted the child to roam free. The humidity had set the aurora pelted girl to practically sprouting and there was nothing the combined talent of the healers could do to get it under control. It left a sour taste in the back of Fuji's throat that there was an illness for which she had no answer... between Morganna and Erik she was about to hang up her healing supplies and declare herself a jester instead. It felt about all she was good for.

Her heavy horned head hung low as she approached the familiar glow of the runestones, it was one of her favourite places to just come and think. The rumour of shady dark strangers slinking around looking for koi women only had her mildly concerned, but still she carried her blade, Kenta shadowing her steps in the silent way only a feline could. Sure she had the spots, but did they really come in pink? When she thought koi, she thought Tori and her dad... not.. whatever she was. Her face scrunched and she pushed the twisting of her stomach down, down deep. She'd come out here to clear her mind, not fill it with more uncertainty.

“Speech”