Kiyo had been spending much of her time pondering over the strange bacteria and fungi that had popped up across the land, glowing like they hadn’t previously. The woman knew many fungi for their properties and their appearances, a requirement for any skilled healer because if she were the mistake one for another, it could lead to the death of her patient. She’d been taking samples from each area and comparing them, testing them by washing them, drying them, burning them or using a mouse or some other small creature. Perhaps the last one was a bit cruel, but it was a far better option than testing it on a wolf or one of their companions.

She’d decided to make a trip out to the Rio Grande to collect more samples, knowing that fungi typically grew along moist areas, of which a river was perfect for. She moved in the darkness, a lamp hanging from her jaws to light her way and her medical pack strapped to her back to house her collections, though she almost didn’t need the lamp. The moon seemed to grow more and more massive by the day and brighter as well, lighting up the areas that weren’t covered. But, the covered areas that were constantly in the pitch were the best places to find what she was looking for, so it was best for her to take it just in case. Aki, her Akita, trailed at her hocks, ever the watchful helper.

The pair settled along the bank, shedding their packs and beginning to set up camp for the evening. While the lady would have preferred to be in her warm pelts in the Palace, she didn’t want to chance the trek back at that time.

"Speech"

Magnus wasn't phased by the never-fully-rising sun and the ever present moon anymore. It was all a part of whatever his new life was and just something else to figure out. Thankfully, he wasn't alone in this one and everyone else seemed just as perplexed about it as he did. While that wasn't the biggest thought on his mind, he seemed to accepted it fair more readily than others. He had more to worry about than some silly fireflies and the weird day-night cycle that didn't seem to exist anymore.

Although the new world around him wasn't something he was particularly interested in, as new things started to pop up and make themselves known, Magnus couldn't help but become at least a tad curious. As frustrating as remembering his past was, he had to admit that it was good to stop thinking about it sometimes. As his three legs hobbled him out of the Armada territory and to the river nearby that fed into the ocean the Armada nestled against, he noticed the plants and fungi near the waters edge. They weren't just any plants, at least not one's he had seen before, as they had a strange bio luminescent glow in the eerie almost-night. Magnus approached, lowering his nose to sniff the strange plant, only to watch it's pulsing pattern slowly change, syncing itself with his own heartbeat that he hadn't heard or felt until now, in that moment, with the plant.

Confused, Magnus pulled back and continued down the river's edge. It wasn't long before he noticed another, accompanied by other strange, smaller looking canine that he was almost positive wasn't a wolf. His own hyena and wild dog companions lurked nearby, ever watchful despite his wish for them to not. From a distance that would be considered beyond safe, Magnus stopped and called out to the pale, horned wolf as they and their friend seemed to set up a camp. "Hey! Do you know what's going on?" Even if he didn't consider it to be the most important thing to worry about, he still couldn't help but search for answers.

Kiyo had left Aki to her duties and had wandered nearby to take a look at some fungi that had caught her attention at the base. They clung there, swirling their way up the side of the trunk in a stair-like formation and she pulled out a small pouch of cobwebs from her medpack. She knew this type of mushroom very well, it was elephant ear mushrooms. They were edible and, when boiled for a soup, could be quite delicious. The biggest thing that stood out for them at this time, however, was that they were glowing. In all of her years, she knew for certain that it was not common for them to glow, and elephant ear mushrooms were quite common indeed. They could be found in most any wet environment, clinging to pretty much anything. She placed the cobweb across both of her dainty paws and sat back on her haunches, reaching out to grab at one and pull it off, careful not to touch it with her paws.

A voice from several feet away startled her, making her drop the fungi to the ground. There, it oddly seemed to spasm for a moment before losing the glow it had had moments earlier, despite still being separate from the base of the tree. She frowned, making a mental note of the finding before getting to her paws and turning toward her company. She noticed immediately that he was incredibly scarred in many ways, from the scars that littered his chest, to his poorly cropped ears, to his badly cropped tail, and, finally, the missing portion of his lower back right leg. This man had obviously encountered great misfortune in his life, but she kept her ghostly silver gaze trained on his purple ones, using only her peripheral vision to take in his form. After all, it was rude to stare. “I am trying to investigate that very thing,” she replied with a friendly smile. “Are you out looking around as well?” she inquired, though she was sure the answer was obvious.

"Speech"

As the woman worked before him, gathering a glowing mushroom that he himself wasn't familiar with, he couldn't help but think she was easy on the eyes. Despite the horns (mutations were still strange to him), her pale mottled coloring seemed soft and well cared for unlike his scarred, mutilated body. Even if she wasn't looking at his missing parts, scars, and everything else he lacked, he knew that she saw it. Everyone saw it. Lucky for him, though, she didn't seem to recognize him like the others around the Armada did. He still couldn't explain the interaction with Azure, and Sedna was strange too. Sirius wouldn't give him answers, either, but seeing a new face that didn't scowl at him or turn away was always nice.

As she gathered the glowing mushroom from where she had dropped it, he watched patiently as he waited for her response noticing how the blue glow of the mushroom made her pale coat seem to glow as well. He wanted to apologize for startling her, but the worlds failed to escape his lips before she answered. She was in fact investigating and had asked if here for the same. He couldn't agree with her that he was, however. "I was just out for a walk, then I noticed the fungi along the river. Are you from around here?"

He seemed to be a man of few words, but a watchful man all the same. She surmised he would fit right in with the men in her family, if they could find it within themselves to admit anyone was really worthy of anything. Kiyo came from a prideful lot, though they would never admit to it. Lineage was everything and fine breeding was the pinnacle of producing worthy heirs to produce even more worthy future leaders. She hated the idea, truly, but it was the life she lived although it was a lot better now that she was away from Iga.

He informed her that he wasn’t actually out investigating, but was simply taking a walk. Her head tilted to the side curiously and her silver gaze glanced around them. “Were it not for the conditions we find ourselves in, I would say it was a fine night for a walk. But I fear we don’t know what oddities lie around every tree anymore,” she said, her paws fussing over pulling the cobwebs back apart so she could grab another fungi sample. The pale woman motioned for him to come closer, turning her back to inspect the glowing elephant ear fungi to find the next best sample. She didn’t worry about an attack from behind. Despite her regal and gentle appearance, she was quite quick on her feet, and Aki was keeping a watchful eye on their new company. She would certainly alert her immediately if he tried anything.

“I am not from here, no. I grew up in a society very different from most around this continent, and English is not my first language. Still, I find it more agreeable to where I was before,” Kiyo replied, offering a smile over her shoulder. She reached up once more to wrap the cobwebs around a mushroom, pulling it and shimmying it until it released it’s hold from the tree. “What about you? I smell the Armada on your pelt, but that doesn’t tell a whole story,” she prompted, carefully wrapping her prize.

"Speech"

Magnus had to agree with her about that. He would be lying if he said he wasn't at least interested in offering Sirius some information about the strange, new happenings in exchange for information about his past. It was an idea he had been considering lately, anyway. Unfortunately, however, his walk wouldn't be able to continue much longer as the stress of three legs was exhausting for long periods and he had to think about the trip back, too.

He left her words unanswered however, unsure of what to say, and moved closer when she motioned for him to. He wanted to sit, however he often found it uncomfortable to support himself on either his good leg or his bad hip. Moving into an awkward sploot, it allowed him to stretch his sore legs and muscles while relaxing in a comfortable position. His front half remained propped up onto his elbows, watching her work. He eyed the canine companion for a moment, but looked away quickly in the distance wondering where his own had settled.

She answered his question, though he had gotten more than he expected. He could agree with her about one thing though, his life here was more agreeable than before. At least so far, anyway. What he remembered of his home life wasn't the greatest, and he was thankful to be away from there even if it meant dealing with whatever these glowing mushrooms and fireflies were. "I'm not from around here either, though I will admit I'm not sure about a large part of my recent past. I only remember coming to this land recently, but Sirius has told me that suffered a great injury and lost a lot of my recent memories and that I've been here for much longer than I can even remember. I look different than I did before... I don't know. Something strange has happened to me, something strange is now happening here." He rattled on, pausing only once he needed a breath. "I'm sorry... Would you like some help gathering mushrooms, or I can wrap them up for you?" He didn't mean to rattle on to a stranger, but it was the first time he really said anything to anyone. It felt nice to say something, but he also felt bad for unloading it all on a complete stranger.  

Kiyo

You handle your bundle with great care, paws just barely passing over it as you wrap it up and yet you swear you feel it pull away from you. That had to just be your imagination right?

Kiyo’s auds twitched as she heard the man settle down into a laying position, likely taking a much needed load off of his compensating limbs. Shinobi were beings made for war and fighting and the woman had been no stranger to the loss of limbs. She’d done and seen it all, from performing the amputations herself, to quelling blood loss and beginning the healing process. She also knew how the extra strain could cause early onset arthritis and further joint pain. The Ghostly Goddess made a mental note to ask him if he was experiencing any of those symptoms, and to have him stop by her stores in Ashen for treatment if he was.

She listened to him speak, quiet in her menstruations. He confirmed he wasn’t from Boreas, but even more curiously, he admitted he didn’t have much recent memory to begin with. He seemed to be suffering from retrograde amnesia, seeing as he was able to remember coming to Boreas and then what was happening to him recently, but not much in between. She knew that had to be a hard pill to swallow. When wolves got to their age, their memories were really all they had. 6 or 7 wasn’t old, but it wasn’t young, either, and to lose all of what you’d experienced...it probably felt like any hard work he’d put in until that point had been all for naught.

He finished, a sudden bashfulness in his voice as he offered to help her. Her gentle smile remained as, as she finished wrapping and began to turn to reply, her mouth open, the mushroom in her paws...jiggled? It felt as if it were alive, trying to escape her, and she let out another little noise of surprise, the mushroom dropping to the ground. This time, perhaps because it was firmly wrapped, it retained it’s glow. She gave it a startled look, watching to see if it would wriggle away, but it remained in place. Had she just imagined it?

She picked it up again and placed it in her bag, a self-deprecating chuckle escaping her jaws. “My apologies, I think the weather is fraying my nerves,” she said, clearing her throat. “I suppose you’ve heard it already, but I am sorry for your misfortune. I wouldn’t wish your circumstances on anyone, especially one who seems as kind and gentlemanly as you. Thank you for telling me what’s on your mind, don’t feel the need to stop. Keeping your feelings and thoughts bottled up will only be detrimental to your healing,” she instructed, though there was no chiding in her voice. Rather, she spoke as if she were speaking to an old friend, her voice airy and comfortable. She shouldered her pack once more and stood on all fours, “You’re welcome to help me search if you would like. I’d like to get samples of other species of fungi to see if they’re reacting similarly or differently to the events,” whether he stayed or went, she had no qualms, though it would surely be a waste of good company.

"Speech"

Firefly Shoppe- Kiyo

A firefly draws your attention nearby to reveal a cloaked figure with a small wooden table in front of him. On the table lay three items, with their prices beside them. "Choose wisely, and only choose one," the figure says. "If you can afford it, that is." Perhaps he accepts cŕ̷̕y̵̍͊stals and mushrö̸́̀ō̴̉ms... or perhaps its worth bargaining for something greater...


Inventory:

• Ghost Bath Bomb- 2 /
  It’s a see-through orb. The seller assures you it’s good for styling your ears or tail exactly how you’ve always wanted.
  
• Grow Potion- 1 /
  This bottle is shaped like an upside down pear and within it swirls a sparkly gold liquid. The label shows a crudely drawn image of two wolves of vastly different sizes, with a green checkmark over the largest one.
  
• Go Fast Juice- 1 /
  The liquid in this bottle is thick and dark, and has something that looks surprisingly like muscle.
  

As Kiyo went to move forward, onto greener pastures for collecting various fungi, her attention was caught by a shimmering movement in front of her. Then, a cloaked figure appeared, seated at a table with the most unnerving blue eyes and looking to be...made of fireflies? She blinked once, twice, then three times to make sure she was seeing it right, then she looked to her company, dumbfounded. Had a God visited them? And, it was offering her a bargain. Would it be useful to bargain with a God? She knew of many tales where it didn’t end in the favor of the one who accepted the bargain, but then again...there were times when it did.

She took a hesitant step closer, remaining just close enough to see what was on the table and their price, but far enough to at least try and escape if need be. She inspected each one and their prices closely, silver gaze squinting in thought before she sat back. “As a merchant, I don’t believe these are all of your wares. I have many rare herbs in my medical pack, of which you may find useful in your potions. I will trade you them for a more worthy item,” she offered. The woman had bartered with many a merchant and knew they never outright left their best goods on the table. No, they needed to be asked for, and she wanted to see them.

"Speech"

Magnus

As you watch your companion gathering her mushrooms, you become almost entranced. You zone out further and further, your eyes sliding shut against your will. You could swear you hear Kiyo talking to someone, but then the voices fade and you drift suddenly into a deep sleep.

As he laid, his muscles began to relax and he watched as she worked, startled slightly when she had dropped the mushrooms she had gathered. He hadn't seen them move in her paws, but stared down at the fungus as if he had. Despite the wrapping she had placed around it, the eerie blue glow that matched the fireflies shined on through. Magnus couldn't help but fight back a yawn as he watched, managing to stop it just in time for Kiyo to continue on, apologizing for his misfortunes. It actually wasn't something he heard much of, in fact, and the thought briefly made him frown. "Thank you. I just wish that I knew more." He left it at that, the yawn finally making it's way through as his eyes blinked slowly with a sudden wave of exhaustion. Despite his offer to help her only moments ago, and as much as he wanted to, he stifled another yawn before speaking.

"Actually, I... I think I'm going to rest?" His tone was questioning, unsure as to why he was suddenly so tired. With his chin resting on his forepaws, Magnus quickly drifted off to sleep almost certain he could hear Kiyo talking to someone. Was it her canine friend?

It Continues for Magnus...

Huh? It doesn't seem like anything happened... Well, maybe that's for the best...

Barter and Banter- Kiyo

The woman was observant and quick-witted. She offered herbs for better goods. She was right that he had a vast many more options, but what would herbs do for him? No, they were only good for things like wolves.

"Perhaps, then, use your wares on yourself and I'll keep mine for ourselves, old wolf." He waved his hand and disappeared, leaving a fresh pair of antlers at Kiyo's feet.


You gain:

• Two freshly shed antlers- They look familiar.
  

You lose:

• Your antlers- Will start growing back in 1 OOC week and will be full grown in 4 OOC weeks. No fight penalty after 1 OOC week.
  
  

Strangely, the man in her company fell into a deep slumber. However, the question in his voice told her it wasn’t something of his own doing and the depth of his breathing seemed...unnatural. As if he were under a spell. There was no doubt in her mind that it was the doing of the being with whom she was now bartering. He came to his conclusion swiftly, and with a wave of his glowing hand, she felt a sudden weight off of her head. A pair of albinistic antlers, clad with white hanging lichen, fell to her feet and she stared at them in mute horror. Her silver gaze lifted upward, but when she looked up, the being was gone and she’d been left with a horrible trick. Her small body trembled, tears springing to her gentle eyes, before a sob bubbled up her chest and escaped her lips. Oh god, she’d lost her antlers!

"Speech"

Magnus drifted peacefully into a heavy sleep for some time, only to be awoken by a sob. His purple eyes blinked awake and slowly his vision began to clear from the deep sleep he had just, for some reason, had. As she sobbed, he quickly looked over to her and frowned. Why was she crying suddenly? Slowly he began to stand, stretching his sore limbs as he rose and hobbled over to her. It wasn't until he came up on her side that he noticed the antlers at her paws, and the lack of them on her head. Instead, two bald patches were all that was left in memory of the antlers that now laid on the ground. He frowned and laid down again, his body still recovering from the overwhelming exhaustion he'd experienced minutes before.

"Are you─" No, she wasn't okay and he felt like a complete dumbass for almost asking it. "What happened?"  He looked up at her, eyes full of exhaustion with a traceable amount of worry. She was fine just a moment ago, but now this?

Perhaps it was vain of her, but Kiyo felt as though her antlers were her crowning glory. They were a distinct trait of the noble lineage from her particular paternal clan and a reminder of her birth family. Sure, she’d grown up under strict tutelage because of her predestined fate to enter an arranged marriage, but it didn’t mean her life had been all that bad during her youth. Now, at her feet, she felt like she was staring at the last bit of evidence of who she was before her horrendous marriage to Hideki, when she’d been more innocent and happier.

She could hear the sound of the man shuffling behind her, clearly having woken up, and she gave a great big sniff, trying to stop her tears and failing. It was already embarrassing enough that she was practically bald headed, but now he was also seeing her in an emotional state of disarray. The woman lifted her pale, dainty paws and wiped at her eyes but the tears kept coming. “I...I’m sorry,” she hiccupped, her voice watery. “There was a...being...a god I think...and it offered me items. I was greedy, and foolish, and asked for more, and...it stripped me of my antlers,” she said, another body shivering sob wracking her body. Oh what a situation she’d gotten herself into.

"Speech"

As the woman beneath him sobbed, Magnus' frowned deepened. He didn't like seeing her cry and despite her trying to hide it from him, he knew better. As she stammered through her words, speaking of some being or god that spoke to her, then took away her antlers after being greedy... Well, Magnus wondered if he could relate. Someone or something had taken away his memories and left him in the dark. Had he been greedy?

Realizing his thoughts had derailed, Magnus lowered and nestled beside her. She may only be a stranger, but that was no reason not to console the woman. Especially in his paws. "I'm so sorry." He muttered, looking away from the antlers at her paws to her face. There wasn't anything he could imagine that he could do for the woman that would make this better, which made this more difficult. Besides allowing her to cry on his shoulder, he didn't have any other ideas.

"C'mere." He said as he rose into an awkward sitting position, reaching out to pull her into a hug if she wanted.

"Speech."

Truly, Kiyo felt pitiful. Here she was, crying about something surely trivial, while the man before her had been through much worse hardship. Her antlers being gone didn’t hinder her in any way, if anything they probably helped her. The darn things did, after all, get stuck in tree branches and prevent her from fitting into certain spaces. But it still felt like she’d lost something important to her, and she felt herself mourning their loss.

The man offered condolences, albeit a bit awkwardly but she couldn’t blame him. Surely he thought she was being a silly woman and being emotional for no good reason. If it was her ex-husband he would have berated her, told her she was being foolish and undignified, but he also would have likely abandoned her for losing such prized mutations. In his eyes, she was only as good as her beauty, and beauty was always fleeting. He would have given her up one day anyhow. But, what Magnus did next was the complete opposite. He moved into a sitting position and lifted an arm, offering her comfort in a hug. All she could do for a moment was sit there, stunned, tears still dripping down her silken cheeks. It was so unlike anything she’d ever experienced before, and for the first time in a long time, Kiyo felt her cheeks heat up in a blush.

Her auds twisted back, hesitant at first, before she slowly moved forward, gently pressing her much smaller frame into the man’s form, allowing him to envelop her in a hug. It occurred to her, suddenly, that she didn’t know his name, but she didn’t feel the need to ask at that moment. All she wanted, and appreciated, was his warmth.

"Speech"

It took her a moment to sink into his hug, so long that he thought maybe it wasn't welcomed. She looked shocked though under her sadness as if it hadn't been expected. It was pretty strange for a stranger to hug another stranger, he thought, but it worked out for him in the end.

After a few moments of hesitation, the once-antlered woman pressed into him and he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close. He didn't find her silly or immature for losing her antlers in the slightest, nor did he find her any less attractive than he hadn't realized he had. Whatever her reason was for being so upset, Magnus supported her and was happy to help in whatever way he could, even if it was just being someone to cry on.

"Speech."