Misery was at the edge of the pack land, following the path of the water at a leisurely gait.  It was a patrol in a sense, a thing to do while deciding what better thing he might do tonight.  Sparring was probably a thing he should do and that brought to mind who did he want to challenge to a spar.  Misery was interested in knowing enough to defend himself from most but he wasn’t one of those wolves that felt a need to become the best fighter in all the land.

As the wolf was musing he paused to look in the lake as something had caught his eye.  It had almost been like a sparkle and while the bright moon could make ice easily have a glimmer to it this had been different.  The ice that lined the edges from the bank did stand out in the night but it was a thing easy to ignore.  The glimmer had been a bit farther in the lake and Misery stretched out his neck looking down.  One doesn’t tend to easily see a fish’s shadow at night farther out in the lake.  At least Misery couldn’t say having done that before.  Yet, there it was, the shadowy outline of a fish and it was shimmering.  

Misery got his toes as close to the water as possible and noticed the shape was moving closer and yes, it had to be a fish.  It had a silvery shine but the shimmer was almost more of a pale blue but not the blue of the water.  The fish moved closer and as it grew near a small cluster of fireflies were circling about it.  What the heck?

The young wolf could smell mom wasn’t far away and curiosity dictated an answer.  Was this something that did happen some years and he only missed it last year for an unusual winter?  Misery called out to his mom, he had found something curious.  Misery smirked, grinning at the fish as he wondered if mom would think it a trick.  Not this time, no plans or traps just a glowing fish and its firefly buddies?

"Misery"

It was incredibly hard for Recluse to miss the changes that had taken over the night, it was her time after all. It certainly didn't help that she was pregnant again, the strange going ons only putting her more on edge considering her current state. Still, she would not ignore her other duties, especially to those of her older children. When Misery called for her the pale alpha would adjust her course and approach her son. "Yes my love?" She asked, sliding up beside her son, though her now visibly bulging abdomen kept her from getting as close as she might have otherwise, her cherry gaze swept down towards the water, the glowing blue of the "fireflies" reflecting off the surface, not yet seeing the fish through the heightened glare of the full moon and all the glowing lights. "Speech" Think

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Misery nodded towards the fireflies, “Below them in the water, do you see the fish?” If she hadn’t noticed it before he assumed she would as he directed her to look for it.  The fish had been more obvious before the fireflies came to surround it.  “Is there a species of winter fish that glows,” the boy's brow furrowing as it didn’t make a lot of sense to him.  If an animal was food for another then glowing seemed one of the worst survival traits you could end up with.  

“For that matter, it doesn’t seem normal for fireflies in winter or for them to follow a fish.”  Misery paused as he mused, “unless they are following it because they are attracted to its glow?”  Could that be it?  Was the fish using a natural glow to lure in fireflies as its food source?  If so it was doing a lousy job at hunting the way they were able to fly above the water without fear.

An overly bright moon, fireflies in the wrong season, and now a glowing fish.  Winter, it seemed, was a season of strange tidings each year.  The fish seemed to be in no hurry to leave, for the most part simply stayed in place.  If not for the cold Misery would be tempted to go into the lake for a closer look.  

"Misery"

It was honestly kind of annoying for the pale alpha, though dim light was her preferred lighting the added glow and glare was affecting her already sensitive sight, the little glowing blue "flies" seemed to love to dance in and out of her gaze and giving her little blind spots. So no surprise she missed the fish until her son pointed it out. She narrowed her cherry gaze to peer at it, silently agreeing with her son's assessement. "I've never seen one before." She admitted. "It seems winter will continue to spring surprises on us." She thought for a moment, settling onto her haunches, her growing abdomen more exaggerated while seated. "Maybe it attracts them to make them easier to catch." She said, she knew that some fish would lure bugs to the surface and snatch them up, but this fish didn't seem particularly interested, simply lazily drifting. "Speech" Think

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Misery nodded slowly as if to agree with his mom’s assessment, “I can’t imagine another reason,”  a soft snort, “amazing a fish would survive like that considering it would be a good target for something else to eat.”   Misery beamed a grin as he got an idea and was opening his mouth to speak it when he signed realizing the flaw, “if the water wasn’t so frigid I’d say we could catch it and ask Wendigo to taste it.”   Wendigo wouldn’t worry about something silly like if it was poisonous or tasted bad.  Those were the best things Misery could imagine explaining how the fish didn’t become someone else's food.

His head turned back to his mom and her growing belly but held off stating the joke he just thought of.  Mom probably didn’t want to imagine what if one of her new pups came out glowing like the fireflies but winter was such a funny season, why not?  Things never expected seemed plausible this season and some wolves certainly could be born ‘different’.  “I bet they’ll be irritating,”  the boy mused about the unborn pups, “but maybe while things are weird and your pregnant you should spend more time resting in the den.”  Graciously the boy added, “I’m sure Kali and Carnage would gladly work twice as hard for you,”  stupid sisters wanted to be in charge they should prove themselves, “I could do more too if needed.”   Misery could be an excellent actor when the mood suited.  The boy saw no reason to act like he had something to prove on his ability work harder like some grunt.  Master spy was about for wisdom and snooping not overburdening himself.  If a kid came out glowing blue though Misery would laugh.

"Misery"

Recluse was glad to see that her son was more than capable of working through something like this. She was proud of her children and strange goings-on or not she could only hope her second litter would grow into such fine young wolves. She rolled her eyes as her son suggested getting Wendigo to try it, she reached out a paw to nudge her son playfully. "And what would you do if he started to glow just like the fish?" She asked, her tone teasing, pushing down the desire to snap her jaws at one of the lights that flitted too close to her nose. "Probably only as much as their bigger siblings." She said, narrowing her eyes warningly at her son. She did not expect all her children to get along but she would not take any outward aggression between them. "I'm sure they would, and you'd probably prefer I wasn't here to scruff you and rein you in. I'm hardly about to let some pretty flowers stop me." She gestured at the lightly glowing plants that dotted the roosts of some of the trees. "Speech" Think

Art by Ulfeid3

Misery

You hear a strange whisper on the wind. You also find 1 crystal. Maybe these are worth keeping…

Recluse

The air feels somehow thinner than before. You also find 1 crystal. Maybe these are worth keeping…