I saw it, I swear!

Giant moon, fog during a bitter cold night, bizarrely-colored fireflies all over the place... Something was very, very wrong with the world all of a sudden, and Kumiho didn't like it one bit. He was ordinarily a wolf who turned in fairly early, preferring to spend his nights curled up in his warm bed and rise with the morning sun, but in this particular instance, the wintry-coated wolf was up and about investigating the strange goings-on in the world. He hummed under his breath while he gazed at the swarm of blue and purple fireflies, the insects lighting up with every shade of blue from cyan to aqua to sky blue to navy while the purples shifted between indigos and violets and plums and lilacs. He raised a curious paw to try and let one land on him to get a better look at the insects, but none of them ever did. It was as if they ere consciously avoiding touching him. How curious...

Iho wandered through the mist and trees of the swamplands, alternating his gaze between the millions of glowing insects and where he was stepping, not wanting a repeat of the incident with the snake. Wandering out to the middle of a clearing, Iho gazed up at the giant moon covering the land in bluish-silver light like it had a filter placed over it. The moon was so large and close, it looked like it might crash into the world at a moment's notice. Ah, but that was ridiculous! The moon would never crash into the earth! Humming again, the young wolf began to make his way east toward the shore, being careful to not squish any fireflies as he went. As he moved through the throng of glowing insects, he noticed how they seemed to part and move out of the way for him, as if they were one sentient being. "Uh, thank you...?" he said to the bugs when they allowed him to pass, his brow furrowing while he tried to reason why he was apologizing to a swarm of bugs.

Roaming nearer the border, the wolf became acutely aware of just how silent the night was. Even in the cold of winter, there were no other bugs, no birds, no animals to speak of. The world was deathly silent, unsettlingly so, like all the life had just been ripped out of it. The silence didn't last forever though, and out of nowhere the voice of Kitsune squealing and screaming for him caught his attention. Without a second thought, Iho bolted through the dark swamp in the direction of the girl's voice, catching her nearly-iridescent form just as she came splashing across the stream that marked the border between the wild lands and Ashen. He was quick to intercept her, trying to discern her flurry of words while she looked back and then fell silent.

"Whoa, hey, easy! What's going on, Kit?" he asked, following her gaze across the stream to the empty world beyond it. He furrowed his brow as he scanned the opposite bank, spotting absolutely nothing. "Are you okay? What are you doing out here so late?" Iho looked back down at the small antlered girl, double checking her to make sure she wasn't hurt.

WC: 543
Total: 934 / 2500



"Speech"