Hattori-perhaps foolishly- had hoped the world would settle, that the nights though long and dark would return to what they ought to be. But instead the moon seemed brighter than it had the night before, luminous and purple, with the strange glowing lights roaming here of all places. A land where life struggled and failed to take root. A very faint dusting of snow coated the Hills, struggling to hide the jagged edges and skeletal trees. Hattori exhaled, noting how his breath lingered longer than it should, like a cloud, swirling and circling before rising skywards. Tinting purple as it ascended, a faint flume of smoke.

He had heard all manners of folklore back home, but that's all he'd regarded them as, stories to be treasured and passed on to each generation. The world was changing and certainly not for the better.

"speech."

Sera hadn’t intended to come back this far. She wanted to leave that little den in the hollow tree in the past where it belonged. She had been learning to fight with Alastor - a tricky endeavour for a wolf that couldn’t stand to be touched. But this strange night had led her astray. Almost trance-like she had followed the strange ball of light as it zipped and darted too and fro. Dancing through the air, leading her away, away, away.

If asked, she couldn’t say why she followed it. Following a compulsion she didn’t understand. She didn’t know where she was, how far it had led her. All she knew was the light was in front of her, and then it vanished. Blinking out of existence and leaving spots in her vision. Blinking to clear her eyes, she looked about herself in surprise. At first, she thought she was alone, and then found the reddish hue of the dark wolf in the barren hills. She paused, her breath catching in her throat. Where was she? “What’s happening…?” she asked softly. Perhaps to him, or to the air itself.

"Speech"

Hattori glanced over to the she-wolf that stumbled onto the scene, wide-eyed and in a daze, as though she'd just woken up from a deep sleep. On a normal night he would have questioned it more, wondered how she could be so careless, but it felt presumptuous so assume any of the normal rules applied. Perhaps the world was coming to an end, not through fire or ice, but strange happenings one after the other. Leading to something big, but Hattori could not know what. The thought frustrated him, he'd worked so hard and for what? For it to be ruined by unseen creatures stomping all over his home? By clouds of purple smoke rising to the sky?

Hattori was quiet, thoughtful. "I do not know."

Moving to stride up a nearby hill, his talons dug into the rock, giving him traction with each unwavering step. He mounted the rise and looked out over the distant land beyond, tinted blue-ish, though he couldn't tell if it was fog or a mass of those blue orbs that blurred his sight.

She wasn’t sure if she was expecting an answer, but she was given one all the same. The stranger's gruff voice reached out to her. As uncertain as she was. As she watched, the large wolf climbed a hill, half throwing himself up the rise with a push from sharpened claws. She watched the gesture wearily, before moving to the bottom of the hill herself. “Can you see past this fog?” she asked softly, wondering when exactly the misting presence of bluish-light had begun.

Seeping all around them, with the light of the moon reflecting upon it. It felt almost designed to confuse the senses, and her skin prickled and tingled. She wondered how easy it would be to find her way home again. “This might be a strange question, but do you know where I am?”

"Speech"

Hattori shook his head, he was vaguely aware of the lands beyond but not confident enough to point in her a direction. Wherever it was she wanted to go, it would take some time to work out. And then she asked a baffling question, the sort that had Hattori turning to look at her with a sharp side glance. Was she simply unfamiliar with the land, or had his initial read of her rung true? Perhaps whatever was going on impacted everyone differently, it was near impossible to say at this point. Hattori was stabbing in the dark, wondering if something would strike back.

"Barren Hills. South of Boreas." He told her, clambering back down the hill with cautious strides. "Where did you come from?

Barren hills… she hadn’t been there, but she knew it was near the Rio Grande where she had spent some time. She wrinkled her nose. “I came from the Stone Steppe, I didn’t think I’d gone far at all. I was following a light, I’m not sure why…” she trailed off, shaking her head as if to clear it. Confusion evident in her expression. How was that possible?

“I don’t like this, I don’t like this at all. I’m going to head home, but you be careful Mr, okay? If you see any glowing lights, don’t follow them.” she shot him another glance, a part of her saying a pair was safe then travelling alone. But alone was in her nature, she just hoped nothing bad befal the stranger after her leaving.


"Speech"

HATTORI

You notice a nearby plant reflecting the purple g̡̾͟low of the moon. You also find 4 mushrooms. Maybe these are worth keeping…

SERAPHINA

A blue butterfly lands nearby, but then seems to vanish. You also find 2 crystals. Maybe these are worth keeping…