Perhaps it wasn’t Takeshi’s best idea to go trekking through the swamplands in the dead of night when there were spooks afoot, but he desperately wanted to get away from the Shrine. He’d been shying away from it ever since his experience with Oki, where he’d felt as though an entity within the toxic purple pool had enticed him to be insubordinate toward his father. It had left him with some very confusing feelings, and if Take was good at anything, it was avoiding feelings.

He felt the frozen, sheeted in ice, crack beneath his large paws, sending them squishing into the frigid mud below. He winced, picking up a paw and giving it a shake to try and warm it up. The fog around him danced across the swamp floor, colored ever so slightly in a strange, bluish hue instead of the normal grey. His glowing red gaze eyed it warily, lifting his chin to try and keep from breathing it in if he could help it. He’d had just about enough of weirdly colored things (pay no mind to the glowing red scales that cloaked his body).

"Takeshi Ani Oritsu Abraxas"

D i m o s t h e n e s Dimosthenes was glad he was so light as he walked carefully over the ice. He did not want it to crack. The mud under it would royally suck to get out of his fur, and it would be cold too. Spirits, why did the seasons have to include winter? Couldn't the year just skip right over it and go straight from fall to spring? That would be so much better for anyone with sense. Although he was beginning to think that the world, in general, had no sense. The winter season had given him a hint, but these recent changes had confirmed it. Why were plants and animals blue now instead of their natural colors? It was stupid and weird and he hated it. Zero out of ten, do not recommend this world. In case any aliens looking for a vacation were reading his thoughts. A young wolf was standing nearby, with red scales that he was just happy weren't blue. "This is stupid," Dime announced as he approached him. "Speech"

The gentle click of nails on ice alerted him to the presence of another, but he could tell they were small because of the lack of cracking on the ice. His head swiveled, gaze catching the form of a small, cream colored male with dark under eye markings and bright green eyes. He looked to be just as displeased as Takeshi with the current surroundings, calling it stupid, and the massive boy gave a grunt of agreement. A small, oddly colored firefly flew across his path, hoving just in front of his nose and he went cross-eyed to see it. It swept closer, just close enough to make him sneeze, before fluttering away like an impish pixie. He frowned, scrunching his nose before snorting. He looked at his new company, a brow rising in question. He hoped he got his question across, “What are you doing out here?”

"Takeshi Ani Oritsu Abraxas"

D i m o s t h e n e s The boy grunted in agreement. See, mother nature, Dime wasn't the only one who thought the color change was ridiculous. So hah, you're outvoted. And nothing was going to change because this was a dictatorship, apparently. The boy had a questioning look on his face but said nothing. "Not a talker, huh?" Dime said. He didn't know whether the stranger couldn't talk or just wouldn't, but he didn't really care either way. He could talk enough for the both of them. "I've been exploring around, but nowhere looks any nicer than anywhere else. Just cold and blue all around. It was pretty in the beginning," he acknowledged. "But really, the world should know when to stop, and that time was a while ago." "Speech"

The man seemed to spot him as not being much of a talker, and Takeshi gave a wry smile. Sure, he supposed he could be called that, though it wasn’t quite as simple. Still, it seemed his small, cream colored company would talk through it for him. These were decidedly his favorite types of wolves, the ones who didn’t pay much mind to his inability to speak and simply conversed on their merry way. They always seemed to have a knack for being able to tell what he meant to say, though there were always the times when his expressions would get misconstrued and cause a big misunderstanding. He really hoped that wouldn’t happen this time around.

He bobbed his head in a big nod, agreeing with his about the world needing to figure out when the best time to stop its shenanigans was. If it was anything like his brother, Kuroki, however, it would never truly know where that line was, and would continue to traipse along it or over it with gusto. His gaze lifted to the sky, squinting at the oddly colored moon that barely shone through the treetops above, despite their skeletal state, and he looked to his companion. With a sneaky grin, he lifted his head and let out as much of a yell as he could manage, which really ended up being a growling howl. Hopefully, he would join him in yelling at the stupid, weirdly colored moon that likely had nothing actually to do with the cause of the events that were transpiring, but it could be fun anyways.

"Takeshi Ani Oritsu Abraxas"

D i m o s t h e n e s The boy nodded his agreement with Dime's complaints against the world. He was glad they were on the same page.  He was not in the mood for an argument with a kid who didn't talk. As much as he liked yelling and complaining and feeling like he was intellectually superior to everyone else, he liked having an ally in a lot of his fights. He was a friendly guy. The boy then looked up, and Dime almost asked what he was looking at, before his sneaky grin shut him up. Then he was howling and growling at the moon and Dime just had to join in. He yelled,"Jerkface stupid moon!"  A weak, childish insult, but he wasn't going to swear around the kid and that severely limited his options. "Speech"

Takeshi

A breeze seems to blow through you rather than around you. You also find 3 crystals. Maybe these are worth keeping…

Dimosthenes

You feel uneasy. You also find 1 mushroom. Maybe these are worth keeping…