Things had been so weird this season...or maybe it was a little less noticeable back home...or maybe he just hadn't been paying enough attention to things. He had noticed the evenings getting longer than usual, but then again it was his first Winter as a yearling. He had been born in Winter, but he couldn't remember much of it. His dad did mention it had been a pretty hard Winter, but beyond that, Ifrit was too young to remember.

He made his way South, finding himself in the weeping woods and when he arrived, he couldn't help but notice bits of glowing in the undergrowth. He had never been to these parts before, though truth be told he was quite fascinated with what he was seeing.

"Speech"

Ok things were getting just plain weird and weird just plain fascinated Aris. Was it enough to entice Aris from her obsessive rounds between the battlefield where she was trying to get stronger, and the Armada lands to try to be close to her mother? Yes, yes it was. Aris liked weird.

She was intent on chasing after a rabbit that she could swear glowed just a little, when she unexpectedly slammed into something. Something big, that made her bounce back in an unplanned backwards somersault and come back up ready to fight.

The something was just a wolf, albeit a very large and very red wolf, so Aris went from fight to friendly in three seconds flat, especially when she noticed the stranger had been investigating something glowing in the underbrush. "Hey!" she said in a somewhat loud whisper. "You noticed all the weird shit too huh?? Want to help me catch that rabbit so we can dissect it and see what's going on?" It couldn't have gone far once it realized that it wasn't being chased, and it was too far from its warren to go to ground without making its way past them. With the new leggy guy to help it should be easy as anything to track it down and catch it.

He had not been expecting something to come careening into him, but when he spotted a rabbit run past that he swore was glowing a bit, he had little time to react before something slammed into his backside. He quickly turned around in surprise to find a yearling girl much smaller than him with purple and black fur. Okay, he could dig that. It was unusual for him, honestly. He was used to the reds of his family and the blues of Kirsi's. Not only that, but she seemed to have bristles on her spine...that was also something he hadn't really seen before.

"Hey!", ears perked when she loudly greeted him, "You noticed all the weird shit too huh?? Want to help me catch that rabbit so we can dissect it and see what's going on?" He tilted his head as he listened to her idea, a slow grin appearing as he nodded. "Sure, sounds like a good time! I've never seen a rabbit like that before, should be interesting." He exclaimed as he turned his attention towards the direction where the rabbit had gone. "I'll flush it out, you get ready to try and grab it?" He suggested before moving to search for the hidden little beast.

It didn't take long for him to figure out where it had gone, especially when its weird glowing had given it away as it tried to hide among the brush. With a sneer, he opted to go crashing into the underbrush to flush it out, barking and snapping as he forced it to leave the safety of its hiding place and back the way it came.

"Speech"

The big male seemed quite agreeable to her plan, and went tromping off the scare up the rabbit. Great! She'd just catch it when he scared it off with his big stomping paws. Terrific plan! She danced in place excitedly, waiting. It didn't take long because, as she'd expected, the rabbit had stopped quickly when it realized it wasn't being chased and wasn't far off. And she was ready - when the rabbit broke cover and raced away from the big guy, Aris zoomed to intercept it and pounced with claws extended before the rabbit could change direction. "Yes!" she crowed. "Now let's open it up!" She grabbed the rabbit by the back of the head and gave it a shake to kill it before she pranced up to her new glowy-rabbit-hunting buddy. Vivisection was so much more fun and interesting when the subject was still alive to react, but she didn't want to frighten away her new buddy because he might be squeamish. Some people were like that, for some reason. Anyway! She popped the claws out on one forepaw and used them to open the glowing rabbit with a flourish. "Crack it open, Big Guy," she told him, grinning. "First peek is yours since you helped." He better hurry though, because she was eager to see if it glowed inside as much as outside.

He had managed to easily scare the glowing mutant rabbit into the girls waiting claws, and as soon as she captured it, he went traipsing over to her with an eager grin as he watched her kill it. Part of him had wondered if she was gonna do her experiment while it was alive, but maybe she was too squeamish for that...whatever the case, she had found it first and he just happened to be around to help her catch it. When she slice it open with a set of claws, his ears perked forward with interest as he tried to steal a peek inside. But then she gave him the first look, offering him the chance to crack it open since he had helped her. "Don't mind if I do," He grinned as he unsheathed his own set of claws and carefully pried the rabbit open.

To his surprise, the creature did glow on the inside just as much as it did on the outside. It wasn't bright and vivid, but it still glowed nonetheless. "Whoa, check it out!" He exclaimed, moving a bit to allow her room to look. As the heart began to wane in its pulsing, he couldn't help but poke at it with a claw, watching as it pulsed with a brighter glow when he prodded it. "Wonder if our insides do that, too..." He mused, almost half tempted to figure it out for himself...not on this girl, of course. But he wondered.

"Speech"

Aris crowded in practically under the larger male's head as he pried the rabbit open and exclaimed at it. Impatiently, trying to give him his first peek but also wanting to see herself. She barely waited for him to invite her before poking her much smaller head in there next to his. Cool! He prodded the rabbit's tiny heart, making the glow pulse weirdly, and Aris grinned. "What, glow?" she scoffed at his musing. "Nah I've dissected loads of animals and they've never glowed inside before. I wouldn't think we would either." She paused, thoughtful. "Though some wolves do glow on the outside, maybe they glow on the insides?" She made a thoughtful sound in her throat, considering. "I wonder if eating the weird glowing plants is making them glow? And how long it would take for that... I don't know... glowy-toxin to build up to make them glow on the outside. If wolves eat the glowing animals, do they start to glow inside too?" She eyed the rabbit speculatively, then sent a sidelong glance towards the other young wolf. She wasn't really into self experimentation but hey if he happened to take a big chomp of it she'd not protest the opportunity for scientific observation. "I'm Aris, by the way." Not a bad idea to build up rapport with the guy so he'd trust her if, you know, she needed to treat him for, say, eating a glowing rabbit and suddenly going all irradiated or something.

Ifrit

Out of the corner of your eye, you see a chipmunk scampering by. Wait - is it glowing? You also find 2 crystals. Maybe these are worth keeping…

Aris

Your ears begin to ring loudly. You also find 2 crystals. Maybe these are worth keeping…