Things had been strange lately, and if the moon hadn’t been so bright, she’d probably be sleeping right now. Even the wind sounded funny, like a whispered voice she couldn’t quite make out. It hadn’t taken much prodding to get Gil to follow her as she pranced after the fireflies, snapping her jaws as she skipped and jumped, unwittingly tempted along by their otherwise apparent trail of glowing insects towards the looming cavern. Finally, the bitterness on her tongue told her she just might have enough, “Hey Gil,” her voice was muffled as she tried to keep the bugs captive, “Um shtil weawin’ th- shmile yoo gave me wast week!” and she turned, giving her companion a wide tooth bearing grin, hoping the trapped beetles would light up her teeth from behind. She struggled to keep a straight face, one of the bugs buzzing against her soft palate and making her gag and wretch. She laughed as she coughed, the bugs making a hasty escape, flying at her face in a seemingly aggressive fashion despite her smug attempt at an apologetic look to the stars overhead. To someone a little more clued in, the setting might even be mistaken as romantic.

It was then she caught the soft bluish-purple glow ahead. “Ooo, I wonder what’s in there?”

“Speech”

We are the jack-o-lanterns in July setting fire to the sky

Life had taken a turbulent turn of events in the last few weeks, but he wasn't complaining. Not only was he surprising himself by following the girl he'd come across around, but Boreas was also changing itself. The last few nights appeared to draw on longer than expected. Along the horizon, if he watched carefully enough, the sun would linger, heavy and resistant to even flowing overhead. It was the little things he noticed at first but didn't quite bring them to attention yet. Modesty had quickly folded his steeled reserves about traveling anymore during these odd times. She'd wanted to explore the nearby caverns, and he wasn't about to let her do it alone. Following closely, the lanky male smiled fondly as the starry-coated girl jumped and skipped over rocks. Watching her snatch a multitude of the blue and yellow glowing bugs into her mouth, he looked at her curiously as she turned around. Her muffled speech through a shining grin made his cheeks burn harshly. In private, he wasn't ready to admit that he too wore a smile more often around her than he ever had in his life. Before he could respond, Modesty was coughing and hacking up the bugs. Folding back his ears and taking a step away from the mess she'd put herself in, he gave a soft shake of his head. "I've never seen fireflies be so mean before," he mumbled as he reached up a paw to shoo a few away that still tried to target her face. She moved quickly though and her attention was already turned to the ominous cave that lay ahead of them. Romantic, right... Sighing, Gil followed in step behind her. "Please be careful," he called out as she peered inside. I don't need to be telling your mother why you got hurt. He thought to himself as he stepped beside her, touching his nose softly to her shoulder. "Well, let's go see," Gil whispered, a suddenly devious grin splitting across his lips.

Modesty didn’t think the bugs were being mean, it was probably mean that she had trapped them in her humid, slobbery maw, but at least she didn’t think that she had accidentally crushed any to death. That would have been heartbreaking and tasted really bad, if the lingering bitterness on her tongue was anything to go by.

His threats to tell her mother had her ears turning back. Her eyes widened to show the whites as she gasped, mockingly affronted. “You wouldn’t dare! Besides, you know it’d be all your fault right?” She teased, bumping a shoulder to her companion before leaping forward to collect his face with her tail. She laughed as she bounded forward towards the glowing blue light. She kinda wished whatever was down here doing that had been in the cave she had explored with Jynn.

The ground was getting soft underfoot and she noticed the floor was carpeted with moss. The cave was growing brighter by the second and when she lifted her eyes again, she froze, her bottom jaw dropping in awe. “Wow,” She breathed out, moving ever so slightly to the side to make room for Gil. Her tail began to wave and her eyes reflected the many glowing fungi ahead. “I wonder what’d happen if I licked one?!” Of course she wouldn’t… probably… maybe. She knew better than to go sticking strange plants in her mouth, that hadn’t come from her mother anyway...

“Speech”

We are the jack-o-lanterns in July setting fire to the sky

He chuckled in response as she leaped forward, her tail wrapping delicately around his muzzle. A new blaze spread across his face for a moment as he stood still, frozen by the warmth in his body. Shaking his head quickly in an attempt to clear it, he eyed the fireflies carefully that followed her down into the cavern. Were they really fireflies? Cautious with his footing as he set off to make sure she didn't wander far without him, Gil quickly took his place beside her. Everything around them appeared to cast a sickly but bright glow. Mushrooms and other fungi popped up randomly around the rocks even though the air felt dry. Looking down at the thick moss beneath his paws, he could have sworn he saw it move ever so slightly. Perturbed by the living room they had found themselves in, his eyes shot over to Modesty who was eyeing a particularly bright mushroom. His ears fell back a moment as she questioned what would happen if she licked it. Half of him wanted to tell her not to because what if it killed her? The other half of him wanted to dare her to do it. What really could happen just from licking it? A devil on the right shoulder and an angel on the left, both whispering in his ears as for the first time in his life, he had to actually make an ethical decision. "Guess there's only one way to find out," Gil whispered softly in a mischievous tone. He took the first step toward the strange-looking fungi that glowed just like that of the strange fireflies that buzzed around them. Leaning down, he stuck out his tongue and let it run over the top of the mushroom. A horrendous bitter taste instantly covered his tongue. Scrunching up his face in distaste, he shook his head fervently, hoping that somehow the spores would fling off of his tongue. "Not a good idea," he rumbled, his tongue sticking out between his teeth as he tried to talk. If he died now, at least he wouldn't feel bad for letting her do it. If they both died, well, maybe someone would come across their bodies and assume they'd died in each other's arms. How Romeo and Juliet of them.

The girl looked on in shock and amusement as her friend stepped forward and swiped his tongue over the glowing lid of the mushroom. If the look on his face was anything to go by, it must have tasted terrible, but what it left in it's wake was a blue streak of glow on his tongue. Now, Modesty was no healer, but that couldn't have been good right? Although she couldn't stifle her giggles, she was concerned for her friend. "You've still got a bit of something..." she gestured with her paw towards his tongue, "Maybe try getting it off on the moss?" She made a very unladylike snort as she looked back towards the entrance of the cave. She wanted to go deeper, this one was so much better lit than the one she had explored with Jynn, but a steady stream of fireflies were lighting up the way out, and something in her gut told her they'd be better off going soon.

"speech".

I saw you change into a goddess
Holy, devine in your power

Going slightly cross-eyed as she pointed out the blue streak across his tongue, his ears flew back. As his tongue lolled out the side of his mouth, he didn't know what to say. How in the world was that even possible? Worry crossed his expression as he nodded, ignoring her snorting giggles for a moment. Quickly leaning down to scrape his tongue across the moss, his eyes scrunched in disgust. There was no way anyone ever enjoyed eating moss for fun. Coughing up pieces of the debris as he lifted his face back up, Gil glanced over to Modesty. So he was going to be the only stupid one to try it, huh? Stifling a laugh under his breath, he noticed how she looked deeper into the cave. "You sure you're brave enough to go in there?" His voice was quiet, almost haunting. While the blueish fireflies still buzzed around the cavern, the stars outside the mouth still streaked across the sky. Would morning ever come? "I'm not sure if it's safe to go deeper," Gil warned, stepping toward Modesty. He probably wouldn't tell her no, but at the same time, if the change in their surroundings was any sort of omen, they most likely shouldn't be ignoring it...

Modesty

Rolling!
A chill dips into the air. You also find 4 crystals. Maybe these are worth keeping…

Gilgamesh

You see a tight cluster of fireflies up ahead. You also find 2 crystals. Maybe these are worth keeping…