With a lazy sweep of his paw, Jupiter sent a mushroom cap flying. It bounced on the rock floor twice and then skittered end over end until it reach the opposing wall. Soft and doughy as the fungi was, its bounces echoed audibly off the cave's walls. Jupiter watched it with mild amusement and noted that the severed cap continued to pulse and glow. After a few beats where it kept time with its compatriots its glow began to grow fainter and the pulses came less frequently. Hm. Well, he decided, if wolves could be brightly colored - if they could glow like his brother - he saw no reason to be surprised that mushrooms could do the same. So he shrugged the oddness of his surroundings off and continued padding down the passageway in search of something odder to gawk at. "Jupiter"   "Amadeus" ”You”

Trickt!

Jupiter gets a trick!

Up ahead, Jupiter notices another glowing mushroom, this one even brighter and more unusual. Unlike the previous one, though, it burns to the touch - similar to touching something very extremely acidic. How unusual. Jupiter gets a bad event!

Life was going much better than anticipated lately, not that Ara had really had any complaints before. Things had been remarkably calm since settling back in to life with Novel in Lirim. The one worry she'd had was that she might have to confront whatever she and Athena had shared - it was little more than companionship, but it seemed somehow more intimate than she'd ever gotten with anyone but Novel. And yet... her friend was nowhere to be found. Not seeing her around saddened her, but she wouldn't let on to that. Dwelling on those things, things she couldn't change, wasn't at all reasonable when she had so much else to be grateful for. On this brisk afternoon Ara found herself wandering just slightly from Lirim's borders. She didn't go far these days, but the forgiving weather made her trek slightly further than she normally would. Summer was fading quickly, and Ara knew soon she would be den-bound more days than not. Her old age didn't help, either. For now she was intent upon making the most of her days, and today in particular she was searching for something unusual to bring home to Novel. That was how she ended up here, in Glowshroom Cavern, enamored by the pulsating lights from a distance and veering closer to get a better look. She was wary as she slipped into the cavern, and the sound of someone up ahead made her pause. "Hello? Anyone there?" She didn't want to be a bother, and would gladly leave if instructed, but she was curious nonetheless about the contents of this cavern and whoever might be exploring it currently.

His blase gawk through the cave took a sudden and unpleasant turn when one of the kicked shrooms kicked back. It no sooner left his paw than his paw felt like it was on fire. Caught completely off guard, he yelped and began shaking his paw to rid it of the burning substance. He was on the verge of scraping it on the ground when before his eyes the fur and skin on his paw began to blister and melt as if it were being held to a flame. The voice that echoed down the tunnel went unnoticed by Jupiter. It was drowned out by an alarmed shriek from Amadeus and a shout from Jupiter. "Get it off Amadeus! Help me, pull it off!" Equally panicked, Amadeus cried, "There's nothing to pull off - quick! Outside!" Obediently Jupiter began to hobble towards the entrance. Already his paw was swelling; the blistered skin beginning to grow shiny and purple. With each step Jupiter cursed and snarled. He was going to lose his foot, was he? "Jupiter"   "Amadeus" ”You”

After just a moment, she heard the yelp of a young man up ahead. The maternal instinct that lay strong within her flared up at the sound of someone in pain, and with little hesitation she went on full alert. Her ears perked, listening for the sound of shuffling paws as the stranger headed toward her, and thus toward the cavern's entrance. The yelping gave way to shouting, another voice - clearly not canine - echoed through the cave as they headed toward her. When she saw them peeking through the darkness, moving quite hurriedly, she jerked her head upright. "Excuse me," Ara cleared her throat and tried to catch the wolf's attention. He was a young male with a gorgeous blue coat, like nothing she'd ever seen before, but she was thoroughly distracted by whatever was happening. He seemed to be limping, but she saw no visible injury, at least right away. "Are you alright? What happened?" Genuine concern laced itself onto her features, but her voice was strong and clear. Though deeply introverted, and often quite reclusive, when it came to matters of healing there was no room for being meek - she was all business.

Ow, ow, ow. It felt like the goo was literally eating away at his skin and he didn't know how to stop it. Perhaps there was water nearby he could wash it off with or what, but he had to do something. His head swung around as Ara finally managed to catch his attention. He kept hobbling towards the entrance - what else could he do? - but briefly paused to hold up his paw so she could see what was happening to it. "Couldn't be worse!" he said in a tone that was equal parts joking and genuine. "I kicked one of those glowing mushrooms and now its eating my foot. No big deal. I've always wanted to have just three feet." Jupiter's tone may have been nonchalant, but he was anything but. He was afraid it was going to be irreparable damage to his paw and while he doubted it would actually eat the whole thing off, if he'd been asked mere minutes ago if he thought a mushroom could burn skin off he'd have said no, so what did he know? "Jupiter"   "Amadeus" ”You”

Though the young male glanced over her way, he didn't stop walking, hobbling away from the cavern as though running away from something. 'Couldn't be worse!' He chirped, and Ara found herself frowning sympathetically. He quickly explained that he'd kicked a mushroom inside the cave and it was hurting his paw. Hmmm. Now that wasn't something she had experience with. "What exactly does it feel like? Does it feel like... a burning? Or is it a different kind of pain?" The sort of pain that it was mattered a lot more than what had caused it, as far as she was concerned - hopefully he was coherent enough to elaborate on the actual sensation a bit more so she might know how to help. "Sit down, and try to take a deep breath," she commanded gently, lowering her own body so she could shrug her satchel off from over her head. She wasn't totally sure what she had that might help him, if anything, but carefully she used a paw to pull the mouth of her bag open wider and begin to rifle through her herbs, pulling a few out but not yet offering them to him until she knew exactly what was going on with him. Well, she wanted to have a faint idea, since she'd never personally hurt of mushrooms that hurt one's paws.

Something about the woman made following her orders seem like a no brainer. With most wolves he felt compelled to ignore their demands or do the opposite out of sheer stubbornness, but for whatever reason Jupiter found himself listening to her. Maybe it was her age, or how calm she was, or perhaps her tone, but he didn't feel the need to contradict her just because he could. It also may have been the ever growing wound on his paw. Dutifully Jupiter sat down and took a deep breath. After letting it out he answered her question. "No, no. It's burning. Definitely burning." He lifted his paw up so she could see the blistered skin and the missing fur. It looked as though it had been scalded. "Jupiter"   "Amadeus" ”You”

If he had shown disinterest in receiving help, she would've (a bit sadly) resigned to not helping him. Though one of her interests was helping those in need, without receiving compensation, she had little interest in arguing or not being trusted. Luckily, Jupiter made little effort to argue with her, which made this task altogether easier. She wore a serious look as she rifled through her bags, finding a single marigold flower that was slightly wilted. It should help, even if the petals wouldn't work and one hundred percent effectiveness. Carefully tearing off a few petals, she chewed them quickly, not wincing at their slightly bitter taste. Glancing at his paw, she nodded and moved a bit closer, pushing the mushed up flower petals from her tongue and onto the pads of his paw. "Try to hold it up for a bit, and let it dry," Ara instructed him matter-of-factly. If she thought he might be surprised by the spit poultice, she made no sign of it. "I can't imagine it will stick for long, but it should help ease the burn slightly. Maybe try limping a bit if you can to help keep it on, unless you can stay off your paws for awhile. That'd be best." Her serious expression shifted slightly, a genuine smile touching her lips.