Okay, now this place was really freaking her out. The whole sun-never-really-rising thing was one thing, but the heavy fog that clung close to the ground - obscuring nearly everything around her - was something else completely. It sucked, to put it simply. Idly she lifted a paw and waved at the mist, watching as it swirled around her paw before settling again, just as quickly. But her attention was all but captured by something glowing bright in the thick fog, and she squinted as she crept closer to it in the dim light. Her visibility was pretty terrible but the glow was bright enough that missing the shining crystal was impossible. Moving even closer she squinted hard and tilted her head as she got closer, inspecting it before deciding what to do with it. It was unnaturally sharp, sticking straight off a big rock that seemed like it'd been recently unearthed. She really, really wanted to find a way to steal it and bring it back to Ophie when she saw her last, but she wasn't sure how to go about it. Almost instantly she began to poke at it, tapping it with her claws before hitting it a bit harder and trying to pry it free.

Things had been pretty abnormal this season...one day he woke up and it seemed like the world had been thrown into darkness. It felt like forever since he'd seen the sun, and with the endless nights happening he'd been feeling lethargic and on edge. He made his way through the swamp, mist swirling around his feet. He was tired, and prey didn't seem to be sticking to any normal patterns anymore. Maybe things would return to normal eventually...maybe when Winter was over. Though it seemed to be dragging, that was for sure. He hadn't failed to notice the blue fireflies or all the other weird stuff that had been cropping up lately. He heard a muffled nearby, and of course, he had to investigate. He soon spotted a younger she-wolf seemingly in a mission to try and pry free a crystal that was growing from a rock. "What are you doing?" He questioned as he stepped out of the mist, blue eyes blazing with curiosity. "Speech"

Through the fog someone appeared, not noticing him until he was much closer than she expected. Her head snapped around to look at him, eyes widening comically before she turned her attention back to the crystal. She was determined to get it off, but her paws weren't quite dexterous enough to finish the job. Kaija let out an annoyed little huff as she leaned back and eyed the guy with the antlers. "See this crystal here? On this rock? I ain't ever seen anything like this before, and I want it," she explained matter-of-factly. Possessing it suddenly seemed like a need as strong as even eating or drinking - she'd keep trying until she made it happen. "Woah," she commented as it glowed brighter, pulsing in a steady rhythm. With that she went back to working at it, smacking it hard and wincing as it refused to budge. "There's another over there, I think, if you want one," she suggested, gesturing to the other side of the rock.

She turned and looked at him, her eyes going very wide when she spotted him. Her attention had returned to the crystal on the rock though, and he watched as she tried to pry it off. "See this ̶̿͘c̶͌̕r̴̔̉y̷̅͋š̵̾tal here? On this rock? I ain't ever seen anything like this before, and I want it," He nodded as he looked at her quizzically, "Uh huh..." He sat down for a moment before she exclaimed her surprise when it glowed, causing him to jump to his feet again in surprise. Now he hadn't quite noticed that before! That was pretty cool! "I wanna try that," He exclaimed, though she indicated towards another crystal that was on the other side of hers and he eyed it. Alright, challenge accepted. He was determined to get a crystal now, too. And he'd get one if it was the last thing he did! He strutted to the other side of the rock opposite of where she was working on hers and he examined it. First, he tried to wiggle it with his paws, but of course, it wouldn't budge. Instead, it glowed and pulsed as if it were irritated with his touching it. But then he thought of a bright (pun intended) idea. Taking a step back, he gauged the angle he'd need before he suddenly swung his head forward and whacked the crystal like he was playing a game of whack-a-mole. The motion caused his antlers to vibrate, which in turn caused his eyes to close as the action reverberated in his skull. Shaking it off, he looked at the crystal and noticed he had managed to crack it. "HA! Lookit that!" He exclaimed proudly. "Speech"

If Kaija was anything, it was stubborn. When she wanted to do something she wouldn't stop until she got her way, not unless the task proved impossible, and even then she'd only stop very, very begrudgingly. Luckily the stranger that strolled up through the fog - briefly she wondered if he might be a ghost, but he quickly started talking - seemed interested enough in what she was doing and she was glad for some company in this moment. "Aren't they cool?" She grinned over at him. Ophie was gonna love this thing, even if she had no clue what to do with it, Kaija was sure of it. She felt a bit of dread weighing heavily in the pit of her stomach but she tried to convince herself it was just something she'd eaten earlier… yeah, maybe she had a bit of indigestion, that was all.

She tilted her head and peeked over to see what Incendio was doing. He pushed at the crystal opposite her with his paws, then smacked one with his antlers and she yelped in joy when it finally broke free and fell to the ground. Good idea! She followed suit, using the tusks that jutted out of her jaw to smack the crystal hard - once, twice, and finally third time she felt it break free, cracking off the rock with a rewarding sound. While she did it though a few little shards of rock flew into her mouth and she spit them out quickly before twisting to examine the fruits of her labor. "Mine's bigger than yours," she commented matter-of-factly after a moment, practically beaming as she flipped it over with one of her forepaws.

He nodded in agreement. They sure were, and he had no qualms about breaking as many of the crystals as were necessary just to see if they all did the same thing. As the girl got the idea to copy his tactic, he turned his attention back to the crystal he had originally cracked and he gave it another whack to finish the job. It fell to the ground with a thud, though it sounded lighter than he thought it would. Huh...interesting. "Mine's bigger than yours." He looked up, staring at her for a moment as he "psshed" her. "Yeah well you wouldn't have been able to get it without my help, so there!" He stated with a nod.

He bent down to examine his crystal, noting how rapidly the pulsing glow seemed to get. And with each pulse, he swore there was a wave of some sort of sickly sweet scent wafting off of it, but he wasn't sure. "Hey you, girl with the teeth. Do you smell that?" He questioned while glancing over at her crystal.

Kaija

Your tusk must have damaged the crystal more then you thought, because those shards that landed in your mouth shattered further as they touched your tongue. You may have tried to spit them out, but they somehow seem to keep replicating until your entire mouth feels full of glass.

Maybe you shouldn't have done that...

Incendio

The crystal you'd knocked to the ground sustained a large crack, exposing it's core. Soft blue light leaks out from the break, and as you bend down to examine it you feel an unmistakable warmth coming out from inside it.

Maybe you shouldn't have done that...

While he was examining the crystal, he noticed the large crack that he had made on it. Huh, guess he had hit it harder than he intended to. A soft blue light appeared to be leaking out of it, and as he examined it further, he was sure he felt warmth coming from its core. Deep blue gaze reflected the light of the crystal as he gently touched it with his nose, feeling the warmth upon it. He briefly glanced at his tusked companion, but he couldn't quite get a good look at her from his position behind the rock.

"Speech"

Firefly Shoppe- Incendio

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:

• Xtra Grow Potion- 2 /
  It comes in an extra large bottle. There’s way more than one drop!
  
• Serious Steriods- 1 /
  The cloaked figure assures you it’s not really steroids but he does say it’ll make your body more resilient, he won’t tell you what’s in them though.
  
• Xtra Grow Potion- 2 /
  It comes in an extra large bottle. There’s way more than one drop!
  

He was tempted to take the crystal now that it was broken off the rock, but before he could decide on anything, a firefly had floated past his face and his gaze followed it. He was not at all expecting what he saw, and he swore he vaguely remembered the figure from his childhood, but he wasn't completely sure...head tilted to the cloaked figure, and then his gaze rested on the table. He stepped up to look at the items, though he wasn't exactly sure what they were or how he was supposed to buy anything since he didn't really have anything the firefly man might like.

"I remember you, I was a kid when you gave me these antlers! How've you been, sir? Well I hope!" He spoke to the firefly guy as if they were old friends, though he didn't feel like he needed to fear him. He gestured to the items, a sheepish grin on his face as he appeared apologetic. "Hey uh, listen...I don't know that I have anything you might be interested in...and I dunno if you'd be willing to help me out a little here. I really appreciate the antlers you gave me, and I'd been hoping to run into you again. I was hoping maybe to ask a favor of you...so I'd been bullied growing up...and it really sucked. By my own half-sister, no less! Also...my dad left us, I think it's because he thinks we're not good enough, so...I wanted to maybe ask for your blessing or something? I just...I know, it's a weird request...I just wanna feel good enough, for once..." He shrugged, feeling stupid for rambling and even asking in the first place. He often felt like he was inadequate. He was average-sized, nothing really special about him except for his antlers, and though he was brightly colored, he often felt invisible. He was lonely, and despite what he allowed others to see on the outside, he certainly felt like nothing really made him stand out to be good enough to others...

Incendio chooses to bargain, but doesn't really have anything to offer...

"Speech"

Not Special Enough

The figure listened as the wolf greeted him warmly, speaking of the antlers. He went on to speak of being bullies, and asked for help. He said he wanted to feel special. "Special? Are antlers not special enough for a wolf?" it mused. "Then perhaps there's no need for them..."

With a blink, the figure vanished and you feel a sharp pain in your head where your antlers used to be.


You Lose:

• Your Antlers- Grows back in 4 OOC weeks, but bright blue if you choose.
  

Kaija was practically gloating over her success, and she let out a loud laugh at his words. Yeah, sure, whatever he wanted to think - she knew she would've gotten it on her own eventually, and that was all that mattered to her. She cast him a look as he spoke, asking her a question - did she smell that? She leaned in to take a whiff, but suddenly her grin faded as she realized she hadn't gotten all the shards of crystal out after all. She spit one out.. and then another.. and another. It felt like they were replicating somehow, and no matter how much she spat and sputtered, even lifting a paw to wipe at her tongue, they just kept on returning.

It was hard to focus on Incendio at all, or the figure that suddenly appeared- holy shit, was she dreaming? What was going on? She felt her head spinning as she continued to swipe at her tongue, more frantically now. He was talking, to someone she couldn't quite make out as her eyes filled with tears and panic flooded her entire being.