A soft hum of a tune rose and fell from Lee's russet lips as she walked along the moor, guided by the full moon's light. It seemed to be brighter than normal this night but she didn't think anything of it as she continued deeper into the moor in her late night search for herbs. Soft thin clouds of mist floated in sporadic areas that seemed to glow in the moon's light and to those not used to the eerie sight, might have mistaken it for ghosts. Laoise grew up here though and such a sight was nothing out of the ordinary so her dual blue eyes skipped over the foggy glowing patches as she looked for herbs. The brindle girl sometimes took late night walks across the moor when she couldn't sleep or just wanted to soak up the peace the night brought. She especially liked it on a night of the full moon when everything was illuminated in the soft white light.
Lee knew that her search for herbs would probably be in vain but the walk in the cold night made up for it. It wasn't until she was half an hour into her casual walk in the night that she realized that the moon had been full for three nights now and showed no sign of waning. Lee paused and looked up at the sky and peered at the moon, trying to see if she was just missing the changing of the moon but no, it looked even fuller and brighter than the night before. She tilted her head to the side and blinked a few times at the stars that seemed to stretch into lines on the blackness of the sky the longer she looked at them. "Lcad ar domhan." she murmured in the old tongue as her brows curled together as she observed the heavens.
Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think
Having ventured for a few days away from Valhalla, Audra was ready to head back and sleep in her own den. Without wanting to wait a moment more, she had taken off into the night, tired and restless. Something about the last few nights had not only her but the rest of the world feeling the same way. Hanging low in the sky, resisting its path to waning, the moon was full and bright as an almost ominous ebb of energy seeped from it. As her steps slowed, attention caught by the big ball in the sky, she noticed the stars didn't look normal either. Her paws stopped, her tail hung low as a shiver rolled down her spine.
Were they moving even slower? Streaks of light flew lazily behind each minuscule dot, filling the sky with hazy lines that lit up the world below. Tilting her chin back down to glance at her surroundings, she realized a soft glow. Not just to certain things, but to a lot of things. Each plant had an eerie ebb to it as they folded in a chilly winter wind. Out of the corner of her eye, a small rodent whose hair seemed etched in the purple and blue glow scurried along in the brush. Her own brow furrowed as she glanced down at her chest. Her satchel around her neck had a peeking sparkle of this ominous light coming from the opening, but it soon faded. Thankfully it was the only place on her that appeared off.
Huffing a sigh of relief, Audra gave one more good look at her surroundings. She was practically inside Druid's Moor and hadn't even realized it. Flicking her ears back for a moment, she knew it was late, but maybe someone was still up. Nervous now that everything about the world didn't seem right, she knew she'd feel better in familiar company. Trekking her way slowly deeper into Valhalla Packlands, it didn't take long before her eyes came across a dark brown coated female. Hesitating, she tested the air with her nose before smiling. This one smelled of Valhalla, but they hadn't a chance to meet before.
"Sp-spooky night, isn't i-it?" Audra called out in her soft lullaby of a voice. Her honey-brown eyes watched the other as she made sure to also keep an eye on their glowing surroundings. Approaching the girl, Audra knew anything could happen in a place like Boreas.
Lee's studying of the heavens was cut short when an unfamiliar voice broke the silence of the moor and the bridled girl turned her russet face towards the sound. It belonged to a small female colored in earthen tones and Lee's head tilted to the side as a guilty look passed over her features as she tried to remember who this was. It was only a breath later that she remembered that her brother had brought someone in recently and Cairo was giving them lessons. Lee's dark nostrils flared as she took in the other woman's scent just to be sure and smiled warmly when she caught the scent of Cairo on her pelt and even the faint scent one of Valhalla's hunters, Drachen. "It is... I have never seen anything like it. Not even my mom." Lee replied, stepping closer to the other girl, happy to have some company as she caught sight of blue orbs she had never seen before wink in and out of existence across the terrain. Her charcoal tail waves a few times softly at her heels as she turn her attention back to the smaller female. "I'm Laoise, by the way. But you can call me Lee. Ardyn is my brother, I think you met him already if I remember right." her warm voice floated in the air between them, small clouds of condensation forming with each breath form the cold night air.
Lee waited to hear the girl's name but a soft gasp left her lips as her eyes flicked to the area behind the other she-wolf. "That fox is glowing!" she said, staring in awe. It was nothing strange to Laoise to see a creature glowing as her own mother gave off a glow but this fox looked almost see through with the glow seemingly floating off its body like mist. The creature must have herd her gasp because it turned its face toward her and settled its pupil-less eyes on the pair of wolves. Lee took a step forward and started to bare her teeth in warning but something about the fox did not seem threatening. Lee tilted her head to the side as she stared at the fox and the creatures mimicked the movement. "I.... I don't think it wants to hurt us..." Lee said, not taking her eyes off the almost spectral fox just in case that changed, but Lee did not get the feeling that it was hostile.
Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think
The brindled female gave her a friendly response and she returned the gentle tail sweeps by her own ankles. Laoise introduced herself, speaking that she was a sister to Ardyn. Breaking out in a bigger smile, Audra nodded. Yes, she'd met him before and couldn't believe that a daughter of Aurielle didn't have her own spectral glow. Before she could respond, Laoise's gasp made her ears fly back and chin whip around to spy the fox standing nearby. While she had already seen a few animals scamper by with a similar eerie glow, this was the first one of them had given any attention.
Instinctually, Audra's hackles began to rise as she turned to face the fox, standing close to her larger companion. Watching as the pair tilted their heads and mimicked movements, a quiet laugh left her cold lips. "Maybe it is just as c-confused as we are," Audra whispered as she took a step closer to the fox. "I am Audra, b-by the way. Ardyn is really nice, b-but don't tell him I said that" she giggled with a quick sideways glance toward Laoise. Returning her attention to their ghostly friend, Audra sat down on her haunches and stayed as still as she could. Maybe if they were nice enough, they could try to talk to the animal, if it happened to know any sort of tongue similar to theirs.
As the seconds passed by and the fox kept its otherworldly eyes locked on her's unmoving, the more Lee got the feeling that the strange fox was just passing through and did not want to cause trouble with them. The petite female next to her seemed to have the same impression of the fox and Lee turned a russet ear towards her pack mate while still keeping her blue eyes on the creature. Lee also took a step forward with Aurdra, just in case it provoked the other canine into an attack but it only trotted a few steps away only to stop and look back at them. With the greater distance between them and the fox, Lee relaxed a little bit and flashed Audra a warm smile when the earthen girl gave her name. "It's a pleasure to meet you." Lee said to Audra, taking a quick glance at the fox who was still watching them from a distance before looking back to the other girl. Lee giggled with Audra when she said that her brother was very nice and playfully replied "Ehhhh he's alright, I guess." another giggle left her, floating in a cloud of mist in the cold air. It was obvious though, Lee adored her brother by the warmth lighting up her eyes.
Movement caught her attention and Lee turned her eyes to the fox once again, to find it had padded a few more strides away from them and was looking over its shoulder at them. Lee's russet brows curled together and she shifted her weight from side to side a few times in uncertainty. "It's like its telling us to follow it..." she murmured, casting a nervous look to Audra at her sides, not very glad she was not alone. She still wished Ardyn or Mother was with them though; Arydn was strong and training to be a warrior and Mother was so knowledgeable and fierce that she would know what to do. But that strange feeling that the creature meant no harm only pulled at her more and she took two steps towards the fox. "Cad iad do rún?" Lee asked the glowing fox in the old tongue even though it was very unlikely that the fox new what she was saying.
Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Labhair an Sean-Teanga." ---- "Hear" ---- Think
Audra was glad Laoise was friendly and reciprocated her good but weary mood. Surely, if it was any other time, they would have had a good conversation. Even became friends, perhaps. But with the glowing fox standing ominously ahead of them, her attention was distracted. Keeping one ear turned toward her packmate and the other on the retreating animal, she was unsure what to do. Laoise's movements didn't go unnoticed and it made Audra nervous. Did Lee really believe she would make an aggressive move? Really, she wanted to ask the silent fox questions. Maybe it had answers to what was really going on.
Matching Laoise's nerves, she glanced back and forth between the two canines. Hearing the uttered foreign language with no response from the other creature, she was unsure what to do. "Y-you think we should fo-follow it?" Audra whispered back, now suddenly frozen by fear. What if it was going to lead them to danger? Or would it lead them away from danger? Looking over her shoulder with caution, she stepped closer to Laoise. Glad to be with a company larger than her, she wished she had an answer. "I-I'm not sure if we should," her voice trailed off as the fox continued to look at them with its bright eyes.
A nearby hedgehog is spooked and curls into a tight ball. The tips of it’s spiņ͙̋es seem as if they’ve been dipped in a faintly glowing substance. You also find 4 crystals. Maybe these are worth keeping…
Poison Master
Scout
