... spent way too much on cobwebs
Lukina
The water that rushed over the tops of the falls reflected the bright light of the moon, and the masked adventurer was continuing on his quest to discover the source of all the strange nightly happenings. Keen eyes scanned the water as it coursed away from the falls, curious to discover if the curse that had left so many prey animals oddly coloured and glowing in the dark had extended to the fish. Night fishing was incredibly dangerous, but he was a good swimmer, so he wasn't all that concerned. Hopping onto a fallen log that crossed over a shallow stretch of the river, the mottled yearling sought out the glinting bodies of any fish still trying to navigate these waters. Sure enough, a bright glimmer darted into reach. Quite bright, actually. Crouching down on the thick trunk of the dead tree, he nearly pressed his belly to the bark to avoid tumbling in after his prey. He waited for the right moment, and then smack! One broad paw slapped the surface of the water, colliding with the muscular body of the fish and scooping it up and out of the water. Its pale body flew onto the shore, and he hurriedly leapt to the rocky beach to keep it from escaping. When he finally pinned its wriggling form under one paw, the young wolf found himself struck dumb. Sure enough, the fish were glowing too. This one was softly illuminating the ground around it, the membranes of its fins pulsing with a cool toned light. Where he would have expected darker scales from a young salmon, he instead saw scattered spots of bioluminescence. "Great Tree, what is happening here?" he muttered in Fennish, before sighing and knocking the struggling fish back into the water. The stupid critter probably wasn't safe to eat, so why kill it? Slumping onto his haunches, the muddied half-pint watched a fleck of bluish debris float closer and closer. Verdant eyes crossed as it hovered near the end of his snout, nearly bumping the smooth bone of his mask. He couldn't see the wings, or the body, like he would with a regular firefly. Suddenly, he wondered what the waters at home looked like right now. Had the strange critters that lived in the water of the mangrove suddenly taken to the skies, and laid claim to the moon? He wished his mother were here to help him work through the oddities he was encountering. |
Anatomist
Lukina trotted along after bog, happily chewing on the remains of a fat musk rat she'd caught for the day's journey. She marked her pale fur with various muds and stuck on a few pieces of moss for a bit more of a glamorous effect as well as the added camouflage and as a way to carry some extra medical supplies. Nothing was better for severe wounds than a nice clump of peat moss. She'd just finished swallowing the tail down when it seemed like night fell in one great whoosh. Normally the night was comforting. Prone to burns and sensitive to bright light Lukina much preferred to stay out of sight of the sun but something about this night did not feel at all welcoming.
Lukina sped up in her tracking, anxious to find Bog and take in the comfort of his company. When she finally spied him it was to watch him knock a glowing fish back into the water. "Bog," she whispered. "What was that? Why was that fish glowing?"
He had not been expecting to hear his name so far from home, so when his ears caught the harsh whisper of "Bog," coming from the treeline, he jumped a solid five or so inches straight up and out of his own skin. The whites of his eyes rolled as he hit the ground with a startled oof and whirled to see a pale wolf reflecting the bluish light of the full moon. He was about to turn tail and vault straight over the wide bed of the creek when he recognized the foliage covered face. Then, the rest of her sentence finally started to register in his panicked mind. "What was that? Why was that fish glowing?" she asked, and for a moment the petite swamp dweller simply stood there, flanks heaving as he waited for the terror to subside. "Ya scared the piss out of me, Hoarfrost." he muttered when he could finally muster the breath that was needed to speak. Shaking his head lightly, he dropped his rump onto the loose pebbles of the shoreline. Glancing back to where he could see a few shimmering bodies navigating the waters that led up to the falls, he shrugged. "I have no idea what's wrong with these fish, but I've been seein' lots'a critters around that ain't right. They're all kinds of blue and purple, and some of them are glowin'." he said quietly, uneasily glancing around in search of some new threat. Perhaps the bears were awake around here, and they were glowing too. "Did ya wanna catch a few more, see if maybe that one was just a coincidence?" he asked, swinging his masked head around to look at his friend. |
When Bog jumped Lukina jumped. Her claws came out and she stuck into the roots of the mangrove she'd been climbing along. She felt bad for startling him and was quick to apologize. "I'm sorry! It's just so spooky out tonight and I didn't want to go out by myself so I followed you." She crawled closer, checking him over to make sure there weren't any serious injuries that needed tending to. Bog spoke of glowing creatures and Lukina nodded eagerly. "Yea, me to. There's glowing blue fireflies all over the place and moths and I even saw a glowing alligator!" In some ways the glowing gators were useful, made it easier to tell when you were being hunted while trying to take a drink. She nodded. "Yea, I can help." She flexed her claws.
With the way she clung to the tree roots, the pale fae looked every bit like a cat. Fur standing on end, staring at him with wide eyes. "I'm sorry! It's just so spooky out tonight and I didn't want to go out by myself so I followed you." she admitted quietly, and he bobbed his head in understanding. Shaking the panic out of his coat, the half-pint explorer quietly accepted that he'd been caught unawares by the much larger wolf. He needed to be more careful, out in an unfamiliar place like this. He wasn't surprised that she'd come across the strange phenomena that seemed to be spreading over the two continents, but he was definitely surprised by just what she'd come across. "Yea, me to. There's glowing blue fireflies all over the place and moths and I even saw a glowing alligator!" she told him excitedly. He'd never seen a glowing alligator, but now he desperately wanted to. Perhaps Mud's companion had taken on some odd properties of her own? He ought to check in with the unofficial shaman of the Family. Rather than dwelling on the potential for a fun game of hide and seek with a giant carnivorous reptile, he decided to move on to the game that was now afoot. With a small nod of his head, the lichen dappled wolf led the way back up to the fallen log that lay over the waters of the small river. "I think if we park our butts here, we ought'a be able to see any of the glow from the critters. If we can catch a few while we're at it, I'd call that a bonus." he murmured, lowering himself into a crouch along the sturdy trunk of the fallen tree. As he scanned the rippling waters, he could see a few more silvery bodies darting about as they fought the current. Every time he thought there was an especially bright flash, it was merely the moon reflecting over the current. Maybe.. it had been a fluke, and he'd just managed to snag a lone mutant fish. Damn, maybe tossing it back into the water had been a stupid idea. |
Lukina listened as Bog stated that if they waited around they'd likely see more glowing creatures. She settled down next to her friend and peered out into the dark. She saw a number of small, glowing blue lights. "Hey Bog," she whispered. "What are those little blue lights? Are those fireflies?" She watched them shifting too and fro over the water and around the trees. At that moment a small owl took off from a nearby tree and she could see a soft violet glow to its feathers. "There, there, did you see that?" She looked to Bog as she spoke in hurried whispers. "What do you think is making them glow? Could something from the mangroves be spreading? The trees and such glow there."
