in the graveyard sippin' pumpkin juice

TABLE & CODE © SKELLE 2021

"Speech!"
Venturing out from the northern border of Abaven, the young diplomat had decided to see what the phenomena of this winter had done to the lake near the coastline that had already been home to millions of fireflies. Pale form nearly iridescent in the eerie blue moonlight, he found himself suddenly overwhelmed by swarms of spectral fireflies that danced closer and closer to him with each passing second. Their movements were hypnotic, and when he looked out over the dark waters of the lake, there were even more of them bobbing slowly over its crystalline surface. Ice had crusted over the top of the water, and without sunlight to melt it, it seemed to only be getting thicker as winter continued. One large forepaw reached out over the water, and he gingerly tested his weight on the ice. It didn't give, so he placed the other forepaw beside it. Still holding. Surrounded by a cloud of gently glowing orbs of blue light, the Destruction boy pushed onwards. A few careful steps onto the frozen lake, and he didn't sink through. As he drew further from the shore, the previously haunting display of the millions of ghostly lights became overwhelming. They were reflected back by the surface of the frozen lake, and he felt as though he were adrift in an abyss with only their lightly pulsing glow for company.

Overhead, the ever-full moon gazed down upon him. The lone eye of an unknown entity, passing its judgement upon their world. Some primal voice at the back of his head screamed to flee home to his siblings, and tuck himself away in his den until he forgot the image of the pale moon staring back up from beneath his paws as it did from the skies above. He stood his ground, lifting mercury eyes to watch the ebb and flow of the swarming lights that moved like a gentle tide all around him. Was it the light of the moon on his fur, making him appear to glow as they did? Perhaps he had made himself into a beacon of sorts, demanding their attention.