It should've been morning, but the sun had yet to rise. The moon hung in the sky as if it owned all of the atmosphere now and would not be relinquishing its new kingdom any time soon. Álarr had too much to do to wait for the light he desired and so he got to work. With a pitch torch burning gently he headed out to go over his stores once more. Setting the torch near the entrance of the den he stuck his head in and gasped. All along the walls and roof of his storage den were little glowing mushrooms. Oh heck… at least there didn't seem to be in any of the jars or tins. With a sigh Álarr started moving spoiled items out. It wasn't a terrible loss. Most of his works were sealed but the den was shot. If it was full of fungi he could no longer use it.

Álarr glared at a mushroom, wondering if these strange things had any use. Her reached out with a paw and attempted to use his claws to pop one of the mushrooms off the entrance of his den.

It had felt like quite some time since Pesto had gone looking for Alarr, having had most of her energy sapped up by the little yearling Rasha. Now that her child was.. somewhat grown and not so sickly, her schedule was much more free to go out and partake in normal adult activities - of which who better to spend that child-free time with then her best friend, Alarr?

While she'd left the den assuming it was morning, Pestilence quickly came to the assumption that her internal clock must be off. It seemed like the sun was rising, yet the warm tones that she had come to recognize as sunset were eerily absent. The full moon still hung bright and looming up above, the stars still clearly visible although the sun should have by now chased them away. She squinted up at the sky, unnerved, but continued forth in search of her friend.

On the journey to his den more oddities were seen, there were the same glowing mushrooms that had previously been occasionally spotted throughout, except more numerous now and pulsating rather then merely glowing. Crystals too hung off the bark of trees, and the fireflies seemed.. different, too. "Alarr?" She called out as she neared, quickening her pace to feel the comfort of a familiar packmate beside her. "Have you figured out what the fuck is going on?"

Jupiter had a problem. Well, maybe. It felt like a problem even though nothing nefarious had happened yet. He'd napped under a fallen log and upon waking discovered the walls around him had sprouted mushrooms. Their sudden growth was weird, yes, but he was no mushroom expert and he wouldn't have thought much about it were it not for two things: the first was that they glowed. The second - and this was where his unease stemmed from - was that they seemed to be pulsing with his heartbeat. So naturally he brought a sampling of the scary mushrooms to the smartest medically minded bean he knew. "Awarr?" he slurred around a mushroom-sporting slab of wood just as Pestilence started to speak. Jupiter was approaching from the opposite side of the den as Alarr but he recognized Pestilence's voice immediately. "Yeah," he said before shifting the wood around. "Wah da fawk? Ah mean..." he set the slab down and then gestured to it. The mushrooms were pulsing steadily. "Look at this shit." Another emphatic gesture. "That's my heartbeat." "Jupiter"   "Amadeus" ”Bubbles”

Before he could succeed in his endeavor a familiar voice called his name. Álarr set his paw back on the ground and turned his head to see Pestilence. How long had it been since they'd conversed? He felt like it had been ages. Like he blinked and a year had gone by. "Hey Pesto, long time no see. I hope you've been well." He had a million questions to ask her but they were drowned out by the oddities of the night around them. Álarr stared quietly at Pesto for a moment, hunting for his words. "Pesto, I uh-" Before he could get the words out Jupiter came trotting up to them with a plank of wood covered in glowing mushrooms. Jupiter chimed in with his own concerns.

Álarr looked to Pesto and shook his head. "No, I haven't figured out what is going on. There are lands in Boreas that have bioluminescent life. It's possible that the spores from one area were carried by the wind here but that doesn't explain how they continue to grow in this weather." He turned to Jupiter as the wolf stated that the mushrooms were glowing in sink with his heartbeat. "What that's… let me listen, please." Álarr moved forward, ignoring all sense of personal space as he attempted to, very carefully, place his ear on Jupiter's side behind his left arm, seeking to listen to the other man's heart beat for himself without risking stabbing the other with his horns.

Perhaps it was a bad idea to go looking for Alarr in the midst of spooky otherworldly oddities, she should have expected that the lead healer would be busy trying to investigate or help reassure other pack members and without much time to sit down and talk, or just hang out. Pestilence shared a moment of silence with the horned man as he grasped for words, when suddenly the familiar garbled voice of Jupiter broke through her concentration. Pesto blinked, tearing her gaze off Alarr and onto the blue-tinted marauder. In his mouth was a plank riddled in mushrooms, and Pestilence stepped back from them almost instinctively. Weren't those things faintly poisonous looking to anyone else?

Alarr didn't seem to have answers for them either, though was confusingly intrigued by Jupiter's insistence that it was pulsing with his heartbeat. She choked down a brief laugh as Alarr shoved his face into Jupiter's side to listen, taking a seat on her rear and doing her best to look anywhere other then the two men. "Should I give you two some privacy?" She teased lightly, head still turned and watching the other mushrooms that grew upon Alarr's den entrance. They too, pulsed in sync to something and Pesto wondered who's heartbeat they had commandeered.

Dutifully Jupiter stood still as Alarr stepped over to him. "Be careful with those horns," he cautioned as his uncle placed his ear on his side. He waited several seconds so Alarr could get the full effect and then pointed at the mushrooms in time with their pulsing to emphasis the beat. "See?" He'd first noticed it while laying with his ear plugged up by the earth under his head. Jupiter harrumphed at Pestilence trying to be cute and then waved her in the direction of the non-Jupiter mushrooms. "If you're feeling left out you can always befriend a mushroom and join us." Jupiter didn't know any other way to handle it than with humor, but in reality he was concerned. This sort of thing just didn't happened and he was genuinely concerned about what happened next. "Jupiter"   "Amadeus" ”Bubbles”

Álarr listened carefully to Jupiter's heartbeat, all the while watching the mushroom and to his surprise his cousin was right. "I don't understand how that's possible." He removed his head and continued to stare at the mushrooms. Álarr scooted over towards his den and watched the mushrooms carefully, noting that some were syncing with him but the ones closest to Pesto were not. Could they be syncing with her heartbeat? "I wonder what would happen if one was removed?" He turned his attention back to his den and reached out with a paw and attempted to use his claws to pop one of the mushrooms off the entrance of his den. It probably wasn't the smartest move but he didn't care to just dance around these mushrooms forever.

Pestilence narrowed her eyes as Jupiter waved his paw in direction of the other mushrooms, suggesting she get acquainted with one if she felt left out. A small burn came to her cheeks and she rolled her eyes in reply, though in the end did opt to move forward towards the less-pulsey ones. Alarr seemed to be done his examination as he was speaking again, but her eyes were fixed upon the somewhat tempting fungi. They smelled almost sweet as she neared, and while logic told her that was likely not a good indicator of safety, she found she desperately wanted to take a bite.

As she neared, the mushroom cluster's pulsing glow grew more rapid and her eyes widened. Alarr had agreed that Jupiter wasn't lying about the mushrooms he'd found copying his heartbeat, so perhaps that's what these ones were doing, too. "So are these ones tuned to me, somehow?" Pestilence asked hesitantly, reaching a paw out and booping the mushroom cap with her pawpad.

Jupiter had a brief moment of panic when Alarr mentioned removing a mushroom. Naturally, having just had Alarr's ear pressed up against his side and having been talking about his heartbeat buddies he thought Alarr meant one of his mushrooms. "HEY WHOA-" he jolted forward as though to protectively cover his mushrooms- "Oh..." Jupiter watched as Alarr plucked a non-Jupiter mushroom off the wall of his den. Whew. He cracked a relieved smile like a man whose testicles had escaped a crushing by a cunt's hair and then gently patted one of his fungi. "I'm not letting anything happen to these little babies until I know what's up." "Jupiter"   "Amadeus" ”Bubbles”

Jupiter

You give your new friend mushroom a gentle little pat, and from it's large cap radiates a warmth that is almost friendly, peaceful, and out of place with the rest of the world around you. Or.. maybe you're just overthinking it. It is getting hotter the longer you pat it for?

Alarr

As you touch the mushroom a strange feeling begins in your chest. Like the rhythm of your heart has been overtaken, you find that rather then the mushroom copy your heartbeat, your heartbeat is copying the mushroom. The pulsing of the fungi fluctuates between rapid and irregular, and extremely slow. Neither feeling is a pleasant one in your chest.

Maybe you shouldn't have done that.

Pestilence

As your paw pad connects with the cap of the mushroom it stops pulsing for a moment and you feel your heart stop for the briefest of seconds and then as it starts pounding again you feel heavy very suddenly, as if it's sucked all your energy from your body. And you can't help but wonder if it was really matching your heartbeat or... Controlling it...

Maybe you shouldn't have done that...

Pestilence's eyes widened in alarm as her heart fucking stopped. Actually, seriously stopped, and then resumed with the beat of the glow. "Oh shit, oh shit." She swore, stepping back from the creepy fungus as fast as she could and hoping whatever influence it had over her body would fade with distance. "Jupiter, time to say goodbye to your little mushroom friends unless you want them to decide your heart shouldn't beat anymore." She turned to Jupiter and glared over at his mushrooms, half considering taking them from him by force.

From the corner of her vision she could see that Alarr was also handling a mushroom and her chest squeezed with worry and fright -or was it still the fucking mushroom's influence? "Alarr, did you feel the same thing?" She questioned, eyeing her friend like he might drop dead any moment.

It Continues for Pestilence...

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

Álarr gasped in shock, dropping the mushroom as he saw the glow of the mushroom increase in fluctuations and with that his heart beat increased as well. He dropped the mushroom and took a step back, taking deep breaths. He looked swiftly to Pesto as she exclaimed. Judging by Pesto's response she'd had a similar experience. He nodded as she spoke. "Yea, that was definitely messed up. It felt like the mushroom was controlling my heart beat." He had no idea how that could be possible and he stared down at the mushroom he dropped. "It could be that they give off small electrical pulses maybe? I'm just not sure. I've never seen anything like this." Álarr looked back to Jupiter for the blue male's commentary for he had patted one of the mushrooms.

It Continues for Alarr...

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

He drew away as his paw started to feel a slight burn. Well that wasn't good. That wasn't good at all. Had it gotten warmer? Jupiter flashbacked to the time in the not too distant future when a mushroom had burned him and he'd been forced to seek help. It paled in comparison to that infected bite on his ass his step (now ex?) grandmother had had to treat, but still. Not good times.

Jupiter hunched over the mushrooms as Pestilence made a face like she was thinking about taking them. He'd just seen what happened to people who fucked with the mushrooms and he wasn't about to let anyone flick one of his and stop his fucking heart. Nope, no way. Fuck that. "Don't you fucking dare! Not one step, you hear me! You lay a paw on my shrooms and I swear to god I'll kick yours in."

Jupiter - It Continues...

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