What's this

Darkness was his friend. It was always his friend. And so he had taken to the Gorge in search of the perfect den site, only none of the ones closer to the entrance would do, no, he had gone deeper. Not too deep of course, to where he wouldn't be able to hear any alarms that might call for him, but just enough where he'd be able to find quiet and solitude. Insomnia had been interesting so far, and he had to give props to the Bone Queen despite her...oddities. He didn't know how his siblings quite felt about her, but he was certainly interested in her strange mannerisms. Despite her quirks, she had to have been doing something right for her to have the pack as long as she did. To have risen from the ashes from the shackles of a slave to the top as a Queen. And now here they were. Or at least for a time while they waited for Erebos to make his move however he saw fit.

Claws clicked almost quietly upon the ground as he investigated the tunnels and caves of the Gorge. Some had been cleared away of debris and cobwebs, while others still remained untouched. Torches had been placed to light the paths, but it seemed they would abruptly end at a certain point. Perhaps they had yet to explore beyond certain halls and hadn't gotten around to it yet. It would be interesting to map the place out, and he was keen on taking up the task at some point. One such room that he had walked into had an odd assortment of mushrooms growing against the walls, and upon close inspection, he swore he saw a brief glimpse of something glowing quickly disappear into the earth. He approached the spot where he had seen it, but before he could investigate further, his ears perked when he heard the sound of another walking the tunnels, and a test of the air told him it was Atticus. Kronos turned and emerged from the side room just ahead of his brother. "Atticus, find anything interesting yet?" He asked, his own voice carrying a tone of curiosity and knowing as he was eager to investigate what he'd just potentially found.

Without waiting further for his brothers response, he motioned for his brother to follow him as he disappeared back into the room he was just in. He paused just inside, eyes growing accustomed to the darkness as he flicked his ear, head lowered as he stared right where he had seen that little glowing bugger. ""Sshh." He hissed at Atticus before he could say anything. Whatever he had seen, he wanted to try and see it again, and as his eyes scanned the dark room, he saw it again! He squinted his eyes just in case it was a trick of his eyes, but then, "There! See it!?" He whispered loudly. He slowly approached the worm as it wiggled halfway out of the ground, a bright green with a bit of a blue tint. How odd...he had never seen such a sort before. It was definitely outside of the norm.

As he watched the one wiggly worm, he caught more light from the corner of his eye, and looked to find quite a number of them wriggling free from the earth, turning it over around the mushrooms. Hmm? Quietly approaching those, he watched them with an eagerness as they went about their business. He was aware of what worms did for the earth, and these ones were no different. Other than their strange glow, of course. "Do you suppose the mushrooms are what make them glow? Or perhaps the Gorge has different nutrients that makes it happen?" Regardless, it was a fascinating sight. He had never seen anything like it! Though he was pretty young still, so there was a high chance there was plenty in the world he had yet to lay eyes on. Or perhaps Boreas in itself had all manner of mystery that was different than other places. Whatever the case, he turned and hurried past his brother as he went to grab a jar.

He wanted to study the creatures, so once he found what he was looking for and returned, he carefully scooped some soil and a small mushroom into the jar along with a couple of the worms. "I think it would be beneficial to study these. For all we know, they could be regular old worms with a different diet that makes them glow, or perhaps a whole new species! I'm interested in finding out!" Clearly, he was excited about this new discovery! Turning his attention back to the worms, he could see that some glowed pretty bright. Others less so. Some were dull. And some still didn't glow at all. Fascinating. There were all sorts of potential answers to this phenomenon, he was sure.

Had others seen this? Was this happening beyond the Gorge? Perhaps confined to Insomnia lands? Or were they appearing beyond? In the Western lands? The Eastern Lands? North? South? What about Austerian lands? Were they hidden beneath his very nose back home? There were so many questions and no answers to them, but he was determined to find out. Perhaps he would start investigating. Poke his nose into other packs to see if they knew anything about this or where they might have come from. Or perhaps it would forever remain a mystery. He peered into the jar with the two glowing worms and he watched them burrow into soil.

Truthfully, he felt a bit like a kid in a candy store with all of this. Gently placing the jar on the ground, he watched the worms continue about their business, and already he could see they had made quick work of a mushroom as it tipped over on its side with a gentle plop. Ah, so they did eat the mushrooms? So perhaps that was one of the reasons they glowed. But the mushrooms looked normal themselves, and they didn't glow like the worms did. Maybe some sort of chemical makeup between the mushrooms, soil, and worms? He was desperate to know. More scrutiny and study would be required, however, so he couldn't make those conclusions just yet.

Turning to Atticus then, he could barely contain the unbridled excitement. Enyo or Erebos, and perhaps even Zephyros would probably consider him childish for being so excited, but honestly, they were all barely soon to be two. They were still practically children, so he cared not what they thought, but to save himself some strife, he figured it was best they didn't know. "This stays between us, eh? I don't see the others taking nicely to this. Enyo especially." He sighed. Their sister, with such big shoes she tried to fill, was hard on them for everything. And he preferred to avoid her needless rage and harsh words where he could. He hoped Atticus understood. But even if his brother decided to spill the beans, well, they were well aware that Kronos was a man in pursuit of knowledge of the world. He was sure he could outwit their sister any day.


WC: 1534/1500