Everything was dark. So, so, so dark. Rasha had come back to the pack and hadn't left her den since the encounters with the ghosts. Her thoughts nagged her, she dreamt of the firefly man and his shop. She had the potion still. Had she done something bad? She felt like she had done something bad. She didn't want her mom to be angry... she was going to be angry wasn't she? Then she wouldn't love her anymore. Maybe the potion was good! Maybe it could help! There was no telling, but Rasha knew she had to do something. Taking the Xtra Shrink Potion between her paws, the young wolf downed it in one go.

Alarr had given her no solutions or cures and soon enough Pestilence was stomping back to her den empty-pawed and frustrated, still covered in fungal growths. Pasketti followed behind her with the moss and bowl Alarr had offered, occasionally running forward to squeeze some of the garlic water on Pestilence while she power-walked back. "Stop it, Pasketti, it's not going to help." She sighed, climbing the hill to spot -

"RASHA." Pestilence's voice grew firm and commanding, and she barreled down the hill toward the drinking yearling to twack the empty bottle out of her paws. "What the hell is wrong with you? Drinking random-ass shit like this - do you want to get sick again, is that it??" Her paw came up a second time to aim to cuff the girl on the ear, light enough to not push her over but hard enough to get her disappointed mother message across. "Throw it up. Pasketti, go ask Alarr for something to clear her stomach out." The monkey booked it away from mother and daughter back toward Alarr's den.

Her mother appeared faster than Rasha expected. She didn't have time to hide the bottle or anything like that. She fumbled and covered her head as her mother swatted at her. See! Her mother DID hate her! She wanted her to leave! Her being so sick WAS a burden! Rasha tried to blink back glowing tears of frustration, "I can't help it that I'm sick!" In typical teenage fashion she stamped her foot, "Maybe if I was never BORN, you wouldn't have to WORRY! You could have just left me out to die somewhere, you know! I saw a bird to that once!"

Her mother commanded her to throw up the bottle, "Maybe it'll help! You don't KNOW! Does Alarr know? No! No one here knows ANYTHING! That's why there's so many angry ghosts following everyone!"

Her child continued to argue, raising her voice to Pestilence who raised her voice back in turn - though Pesto's voice was near to cracking from all the hacking and coughing the spores had caused her. "You can help it by not drinking random shit given to you by strangers!" She yelled back. "You could have given the damn thing to Alarr to test before you drank it, Rasha! Fuck." Pestilence's lecture cut off as another coughing fit wracked her, and when she could speak once more her breathing was ragged and loud.

She frowned and sighed. "If I wanted you to be left out to die somewhere I would have done it already, Rasha." Pesto hesitated, seating herself while she waited for Pasketti to arrive hopefully with some reversal potion. "You need to have more self preservation then this - so many of us are sick, what if the mushrooms kill me? You'll have no one left to protect you or tell you to not drink fucking random potions."

Her mother brought up a fair and valid point that she could have gotten the potion tested. Was Rasha going to accept that, though? Hell no! "It wasn't a STRANGER, Mom it was a god made of fireflies. And he didn't GIVE it to me, I bought it fair and square!" Her mother started a coughing fit and Rasha's skin pricked with panic. Her mother was going to die. She was going to be alone. Her mind told her that a thousand time in the few moments of Pesto's coughing fit.

Her mother went on to explain that if she had wanted her to be left out to die, then she would have already. Rasha huffed, "Well thanks, I guess." Rasha said sarcastically. Pestilence said she needed self preservation and said if she died, then no one would tell her what to do. "Well... I-" Rasha riled, glowing blue saliva spitting out, "You have ALL your self preservation and YOU'RE getting eaten alive by mushrooms! If YOU die, then what good is your self preservation, anyways? What if we don't have TIME for that? What if I get sick again and get stuck in the den and die? Then I'll have done NOTHING my WHOLE LIFE!"

Firefly Shoppe- Rasha

The sickness deepens... You begin drooling uncontrollably, long, thick tendrils of glowing saliva looping down from your lips. After an hour, it stops.

Your attention blurs and refocuses. It feels as if you are in a dream as you find yourself alone in the mist. Fireflies gather and light the way to a table with a figure waiting behind it. On the table lay three items, with their prices beside them. "Choose w̶̢̧͉̥̻̟͈͙̽̉̆̿̈͒͋̓̇̍͌̇̎͠͝ì̵̢̝̄͐́͆̓̚ṣ̶̛͙̟͎̤̞̤͎̹̙̭̪͔̓̐̾̂͆̄͆͌̈̈́̏̚͜͝͠ȩ̴͔̱̗̜̾̉̀̓̀͆͛̊̂̍̕̚̚̚ͅl̵̢̦̲̼̠̖̜̺̮̜̺͋̈́y̴̧̨̧̪̗̥̘͇̾͑͗͜͠, and only choose o̷͕̭̊̃̌̊̏̀ņ̸̼͚͉͔̒͐̊e̵̮̯͛̔̀̑͜," the figure says, looming over the table as his eyes seem to peer into your soul. Are they... moving? "If you can afford it, that is. Beware, however, for there are many d̷̡̯͉̎̊̈́͐͠á̴̬̪̣̝̞̅̀̈́̄ṉ̸̢̠̤̹̥̙̜͋͆̚g̷̛͍̹̣̬̙͖̝̘̃̈e̷͓͕̖͓̝̤̿͐͐͜͠ŗ̵̤͚͔̟̹̳̽̒͝ş̸̛͓͔̩̥̦͛̊̈̾̐̒̓ ̴̺͔̃̇̆ahead." He does not seem like he's in the negotiating mood...


I̵̜̖͎͓͒̑̕n̸͓̗̘̫͉̗̻͐̔̿̊͆̋͝v̵̦̹̠͉̖̼̮̎̌͆ȩ̸͕̦͔̳̩̈́͜n̶͍̝̙̯̣̹̫̩͋t̶̟͈̟̲̜̙̣̋̿̓̆̅͊͝͝ŏ̶̼͊r̶̖͎̙͔̥͎͙͈̊̍͝͠y̴̧͔̭͒͆̉̕͝:

• Serious Steroids- 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.
  
• Shrink Potion- 1 /
  This bottle is shaped like a 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 smallest one.
  
• Go fast juice- 1 /
  The liquid in this bottle is thick and dark, and has something that looks surprisingly like muscle.
  

Xtra Shrink Potion

Who would ever want to get smaller than this?!

You down the potion quickly and it only takes a moment to begin to work its magic You can feel your bones begin to shift as they contract in on themselves, the pain immediate and searing. For a moment youre not sure you'll even survive- you feel your body giving in to the pain, your vision fading in and out... when you finally come to your senses, feeling like you've been to hell and back, you notice you're just a bit shorter... everyone else watched it happen, too. How embarrassing.

You lose:

• 2 Inches of height- You're real, real short now. Sucks to be you.
  
• Xtra Shrink Potion- It comes in an extra tiny bottle. There’s barely even one drop!
  

Rasha began to drool and ooze long tendrils from her maw. She began to lick and slop to try to control it, but nothing kept the thick strands from hanging from her lips, dusting the ground and dampening her front paws.

Despite this, something drew her attention and a figure stood there, offering her wares for her currency. She looked at the go fast juice and thought that maybe she'd be speedy, but right now she was trying to get better. The serious steroids offered enough mystery that the youngling thought it might cure her from her woes.

"That one, please," she said, pointing to the steroids.

Firefly Shoppe- Rasha

You gain:

• Serious Steroids- 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.
  

You lose:

• Currency (x1)- Used in Firefly's Shoppe, and perhaps elsewhere...