No one had ever told Hanako that childbirth would be this hard, that it might almost kill her. After plenty of bed rest and time with her children she was feeling a little better, enough to wander from the den without needing to lean on someone for support. But the same couldn't be said for her crystal condition. If anything she felt as though it was getting worse, the jagged rocks seemingly a permanent feature on her post-partum body. More than anything she feared for her children, that they might catch whatever awful illness she had. Her tiniest son was already so quiet and weak, slow to feed and grow when compared to his sisters and biggest brother. It was hard to say what was even wrong with him, the true cause behind his stunted growth. All she could do was love and fuss over him a little more than the rest, hope he would grow big and strong in time. Just like his Father.

Who currently wasn't doing well at all. Maintaining his distance as he was riddled with sickness, worse than any other Armada wolf. She knew why Azure was doing it and all, but couldn't stop the lingering feeling of loneliness that had settled within her. Deeper than any crystal embedded in her skin. She didn't just want to be a mother and yet that's all she felt reduced to, like nothing else mattered any more.

Limping down to the beach she stared out at the ocean, wary to sit as she knew getting back up would be a massive struggle. She wouldn't stay away from the den for long, her babies needed her, but some fresh air wouldn't go amiss. Some time to just think about the many mistakes she'd no doubt made as of late.

Proserpina She felt disoriented and like complete shit. She had meant to go home, but with ooze dripping from her eyes, the pounding headache, and the weird, sick feelings she'd been having the last few days made it difficult for her to navigate. The mushrooms that had been growing out of her right ear had spread, and she swore she felt pressure around her other ear but she hadn't checked yet to see if another one was growing. How was that possible, anyway? Her belly rumbled with hunger, empty now that she had thrown up everything she possibly could until she couldn't anymore. Damn it all! She blamed Sparrow's mushroom brew! And then her little fling with that handsome star-clad male...that probably didn't help things. It had been a few(?) weeks since then...and through the fog in her brain, she was trying to come up with a logical reason for what was happening to her. Wouldn't the mushroom brew have affected her sooner than this? Or was it the spores that had been floating around in the air? Whatever the case, she felt like absolute shit and now, apparently, was very confused as to where she was. She approached the borders of what she thought were Aerie's...but she wasn't aware they weren't until she was a few steps past the border. She stopped, eyes screwed shut as her nose and eyes leaked a dark purple ooze, and when she opened them, she didn't quite recognize this place...confusion hit her like a freight train and she started to panic. She couldn't smell anything with this purple crap stuffed in her nose, where the fuck was she!? Frantically looking around, she spotted another figure not too far from her and she lumbered over to her, head shaking as she coughed. Oh, how her chest hurt with that...she practically stumbled to a stop several feet from the stranger, hackles on end as she tried to make sense of things. "Y-you! Where am I!? What happened to Aerie!?" She coughed again, purple ooze dripping from her maw as she did so.

Hanako froze at the sight of a stranger stumbling onto the beach, leaking goo and growing mushrooms from her ears. She wouldn't have paid too much attention if she wasn't this close to trespassing, raising her voice and making demands as she coughed and spluttered all over the place. Hanako was already sick enough as it was, the thought of catching something else whilst nursing her children had her stepping back as her nose wrinkled.

She wasn't in much of a state to judge of course, leaking her own glowy fluids with jagged crystals poking out from all sorts of places but...At least she hadn't lost her mind or senses, knew well enough to stick close to home when the world was quite possibly coming to and end. Then again if she was from the Aerie as she said there wasn't much of a home to go back to, was there? Quiet enough to hear crickets from the other side of the world.

"Don't talk to me like that." She wasn't feeling much of herself, understandably, but who did this lady think she was? Stomping in and yelling at HER like that. She was lucky actually, Armada wolves weren't known to take kindly to trespassers. "Those mushrooms must be growing in your brain too, we're nowhere near Aerie. This is the Armada." She flicked a paw, shooing her back over the line.

If not she'd gladly call for some muscle.

Proserpina "Don't talk to me like that. Those ̸̾͌m̴͑̋û̸́s̵̀͒h̸̏̒r̶̍͒o̷̢͊o̷͊̀ṁ̴̃s must be growing in your brain too, we're nowhere near Aerie. This is the Armada." She stiffened, head lifting as she squinted at the woman and then at her surroundings. Whatever was happening to her certainly wasn't making it easy for her to make sense of what was going on or where she was. "Armada...?" She had clearly gone the wrong way, and now she felt worried and even more confused. The other woman flicked a paw as if shooing her away, and Proserpina realized that she might have just made the mistake of trespassing. Her ears fell back as much as they could, though she winced when the movement tugged at the mushroom that her companion had yanked out earlier. Putting her nose closer to the ground so she could try to pick up any scent she could, she did in fact realize she was in someone else's territory. She shuffled back to the rogue side, though she looked and felt worse for wear and she was feeling embarrassed. "Apologies, I'm...confused." She shook her head, causing the mushrooms to wiggle and the goo from her eyes and nose to drip and splatter on the ground. "I don't know what's happened to me," She squinted through the darkness at the other woman, noticing she appeared to have things growing from her, too. "It appears I'm not the only one...whatever you do, don't try to remove them. It's the worst pain I've ever felt," She shuddered. Though still feeling a bit of panic, she also felt slightly calmer than she did a few moments ago. Her companions had gotten separated from her, and it didn't help that she'd been alone while freaking out about this. Hopefully they'd find her soon, and take her back home.

The Aerie wolf took the hint and backed off, crystal on one side and mushrooms on the other. As hard as Hanako tried to ignore her condition it was impossible to, even more so when the stranger made a point of eyeing her up and down. No doubt noting the shapes jabbing out of her form, an unwelcome splash of blue amongst Hanako's fiery coat. Keeping herself clean and clear of ooze was a losing battle, one she simply didn't have the strength or energy to keep fighting. It almost reminded her of her biggest son-who'd also somehow managed to make his way outside of the den when not even a day old. Weird huh. But not a line of thought she lingered on as she couldn't really remember much of the days prior to giving birth, all a haze of pain, exhaustion and glowing colours.

Like the stranger she'd thought about trying to remove the crystals, only to sharply nope out when it started to hurt.

"I've had worse." She said with a sniff, as if agony was a competition. But she felt as though she had room to gloat, she'd almost bled to death. It counted for something, surely. "Whatever this is, you must have caught it from somewhere. Or someone."

Which...might have meant she caught it off of Tyrian. A line of thought that made her shudder, causing a stream of blue ooze to roll down her cheek and drip off her muzzle. Hanako sighed and wiped it off as best she could.

"I guess this means the Aerie isn't doing so well right now?" She asked, a little bit of diplomatic nosiness peeking through.

Firefly Shoppe - Hanako

The sickness deepens... You feel an uncontrollable hunger for crystals...

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:

• Companion Flute- 3 /
  A familiar looking companion flute, the selection appears to include several with growths very similar to the strange appearances over the continents, you can’t help but feel drawn to one in particular...
  
• Mushroom Bath Bomb- 2 /
  It looks like a bunch of mushrooms, grass, and plants rolled into some mud. The seller assures you it’s good for styling your coat pattern exactly how you’ve always wanted it.
  
• Mushroom Based Acid- 2 /
  A small vial with a convenient handle that almost makes it seem throwable. Upon the label is a skull and crossbones symbol beside a shattered shield.
  

A gnawing hunger settled into the pit of her stomach, deeper than any craving she'd ever had. And yet the thing she wanted the most was intangible, or at least it should have been till her gaze roved down the beach and caught sight of a cluster of crystals. Like cronching on them wouldn't ruin her teeth, or stomach... Shaking her head, it was only then she realised that she had even more company. If you could even call him that.

Watching him, all wary and unsure, she looked at his goods. Maybe this was weird and wrong but she'd always been materialistic and offer of buying something somehow managed to overpower all other feelings and emotions. For now.

"That please." She gestured to the bath bomb and felt an urge to use it right away, as soon as the currency was exchanged.

Rushing to one of the many ponds that coursed through the Armada lands, she tossed it into the water and clambered on in as the water started to bubble and foam. Hopefully this would do her some good, make her coat nice and soft at the very least.

Firefly Shoppe- Hanako

Slowly the hooded figure pushes the mushroom bath bomb toward Hanako. "So be it," he takes her currency gladly before disappearing with the rest of his items, leaving her alone with her new purchase.



You gain:

• Mushroom Bath Bomb- It looks like a bunch of mushrooms, grass, and plants rolled into some mud. The seller assures you it’s good for styling your coat pattern exactly how you’ve always wanted it.
  

You lose:

• Currency (x2)- Used in Firefly's Shoppe, and perhaps elsewhere...
  
  

Mushroom Bath Bomb

Didn't leave mush-room for a hairstyle, did it?

You sink into the water as the bath bomb begins to fizz and bubble around you in a mixture of varied colors. It seems to generate a relaxing warmth and you sink down deeper and deeper, enjoying the feeling of the bubbles on your body as just your nose peeks out from the frothing waters. The soft, luxurious feeling of a refreshing and moisturizing bath envelopes you, the conditioning feeling hugging close to your skin... Wait... Why can you feel it so close to your skin? You decide not to worry about it, but when you get out of the bath and go to shake your fur, you find that your pelt has all but melted off your body and into the swirling waters you were once in. You stand there, dripping and bald for the time being, as smooth as a newborn rat. Hopefully everything grows back okay... On the upside, your skin is silky smooth and very moisturized.

You gain:

• New fur patterns/markings- Once your fur grows back, it can grow new patterns and markings if desired! Optional!
  

You lose:

• All of your fur- It's all gone! (Temporary, will grow back in 1 IC season)
  
• Mushroom bath bomb-  It looks like a bunch of mushrooms grass, and plants rolled into some mud. The seller assures you it’s good for styling your coat pattern exactly how you’ve always wanted it.