CAUSE YOU CAN'T GET INTO HEAVEN When the young spectre woke, he did so with a few minute twitches of deadly claws and a soft huff. Blinking the bleariness from obsidian and garnet optics, the young Klein rolled lazily to one side and freed the majority of his body from the pile of puppies. Long talons gripping the hard packed earth under him, he pulled his hindquarters free with a small grunt. One paw had been tucked up under Ghoul's chest, but it slipped free with one insistent tug. The ruddy boy wouldn't even notice, probably. Rising slowly to unsteady, sleep addled paws, he found himself unable to stifle the massive yawn that overcame him. He tried to shake the remaining sleepiness from his tiny frame, and then turned back to the pile of sleeping bodies pressed up against one of the earthen walls of the den. He could have sworn they'd started out in the middle of the room when they'd call gone to sleep, but at some point in the night they must have started shifting and shuffling towards the wall. Narrowed eyes scrutinized the tangle of limbs until he could see a lone alabaster paw poking out from somewhere beside Widow. Creeping closer, champagne jaws parted and promptly clamped down on the delicate wrist. No pulling or tugging involved, and his grip was weak at best. Mostly just intending to dig those needle-sharp fangs in deep enough to wake Ichor up. It still felt strange to have a name for each of his siblings. "Wake up, time for an adventure." he hissed into the assortment of unconscious bodies. Rather than waiting for a response from his twin, the leggy little youngster wandered off towards the mouth of the den. He did, however, pause to check on his mama. She was sleeping soundly still, and the pinkish crystals glowed more dimly than when she was awake. It was safe to sneak out. And so off he went, scampering up and out into the open air. A light drizzle was coming down, bogging down the worst of the fog and but limiting visibility even further as the alabaster pup squinted against the light rain. He waited patiently for his little twin to join him on those short little legs of his, tail sweeping rhythmically against his heels while he considered where they were going to head off to today. "" IF YOU HAVEN'T GOT A SOUL

Every night they all started out in a little huddle that their mother made sure Ichor was on top of, though why he couldn't say, and somehow every morning he woke up buried under at least one of his bigger siblings. Ichor was just starting to wake up, a whole carpet of Widow scented fur in his face when he felt a sharp pain on his wrist. Ichor twitched, his little pained gasp, more shock than real injury, muffled by his sister's pelt. He retracted his forelimb and started trying to detangle himself from the oppressive weight of the pile. He managed to start dragging himself out, looking rather flattened as he pulled himself along the ground, stomach pressed into the soft furs that made up the nest their mother had built for them. Viscera had already popped out, just the darkened tip of his tail visible as Ichor managed to finally pull himself free. His brother's beckoning words echoing in his head.

Ichor trotted up beside his significantly larger brother, tail beating the air over his rump. "What're we doing?" He asked, his voice squeaky and high as he trotted up, he leaned into Viscera's foreleg for a moment but his own dancing paws were so hard to still he had to recenter himself or he'd fall over.

CAUSE YOU CAN'T GET INTO HEAVEN He wasn't left waiting long, and there was his little twin. The pitchy question of the nature of their adventure was met with a heavy shrug. Ichor was leaning against his foreleg, and already proving that he wasn't growing up quite as big and strong as the rest of them. No matter, he was simply going to have to keep Ichor safe forever, it wouldn't be too hard. He glanced over and down, blinking mismatched eyes at his twin. "Wanna see if there's anything at the top of the volcano? I haven't heard about any of the weird glowy stuff being up there." he said quietly, already setting off around the side of the den and towards the slope of the craggy, dark peak. The pair were the ones who had gotten up early, so obviously they would be able to claim all the glory for themselves for being the first to reach the summit and see what was at the top. "The stuff down here is alright, but I bet there's something crazy if we go way up." he added with a grin, adjusting his pace as best he could to make sure his brother wouldn't be left behind. Long talons gripped the rough rock that made up the climb to the top, his stocky little legs taking a lot longer to get up each awkward ledge than he thought. Perhaps this wasn't going to be a quick, sneaky little adventure after all... After a good deal of climbing, he found himself flopping onto his side on a small outcropping. Had they even made it halfway up yet? They had to have gotten at least that far, it felt like they'd been climbing for hours already! "Do you see anything yet, Ich?" he panted, lifting his head from the warm stone to look over at where his brother had ended up. "" IF YOU HAVEN'T GOT A SOUL

Ichor knew he was shorter than his siblings like it wasn't something he could ignore but there he wasn't really aware yet of the physical limitations it gave him. That he'd never be quite as able to move as well as they did or that he'd always be easily crushed under their greater weight. As far as Ichor was concerned he'd catch up eventually. "Gotta be!" It was everywhere after all. The whole pack lands were covered in glowing rocks and plants and heck even some of the wolves were, like mom!

The pair set off, Viscera at his more leisurely pace while little Ichor practically danced along beside him, tiny paws hitting stone quickly before his brother adjusted slightly to help him keep up. "I bet they're bigger than a wolf!"

It was a longer trek than either pup had thought, especially so for poor little Ichor who didn't have the claws to help his assent, his teeth certainly weren't gonna help him here. Instead, he dragged himself up slowly, jumping where he could. He'd only just made it up a rather tough ledge of stone when he heard Viscera calling out to him. Mismatched gaze swung around and he lifted a paw to point at a small fissure in the stone where a crystal cluster was growing, they were the same red/orange of the little river of lava that flowed nearby before ducking down into the rock. "There!" He squeaked.

CAUSE YOU CAN'T GET INTO HEAVEN It was taking admittedly longer than he was happy about, but he could feel himself slowly losing the fatigue that had forced him to flop over so suddenly on the warm stone. A very cruel part of him was relieved that Ichor was such a tiny thing, because the longer it took him to get up there, the longer he would have to pretend like he wasn't completely winded by the climb. When he saw the dark tips of his twin's ears, and then the pale fluff of his inner ear peeking out from behind the rocks as the other boy continued his ascent, he rolled up and awkwardly onto one hip. From there, he had a better vantage from which to watch his smallest sibling leap and bound his way up the rocky terrain. What Ichor lacked in physical power he already made up for in drive and determination, he was scaling the dangerous slopes like a mountain goat. They were reunited on the same cluster of jagged boulders, the volcanic rock warm beneath their pallid paws. He flashed a toothy grin at his brother, and watched him keenly scan the surrounding areas. And there it was, something up here on the slopes of the volcano that would occupy their time in the early evening of the strange, unending night. Odd eyes followed the direction of his brother's outstretched paw, and caught sight of a bright spot of colour amidst the drabness of the terrain. Glowing brightly against the swirling fog and darkness of the night around them, mimicking the small lava floes that cropped up intermittently. Heaving himself to his paws, the boy made a beeline for the strange cluster of translucent stones, and as he drew closer he found himself staring with rapt fascination. Each edge was impossibly clean, smooth on each side with that sharp, even angle all tapering into a point. These ones were special, somehow. What made them different from the others? Their warm hues were such a deviation from the cool blues and purples he was accustomed to, as if these crystals had leeched their colouration directly from the free flowing magma that littered the face of the volcano. Were they tapped into a vein of molten rock, slowly siphoning off its energy to feed their growth? "They're so pretty, Ich." he murmured, the softness of his voice betraying his hesitation to even utter the words. After all, the crystals seemed to be making their mama sick, so could they even really be beautiful? To gaze at them sent strange buzzing sounds echoing through his skull, nearly drowning out the rhythm of his beating heart as it quickened with exhilaration. "Don't you think so?" he questioned, tearing mismatched gaze from the splendour before him to gauge his brother's reaction. "" IF YOU HAVEN'T GOT A SOUL

Viscera

You feel something constricting around your ribs, tighter and tighter until your vision darkens.


You gain:

• Crystals (2x)- Used in Firefly's Shoppe, and perhaps elsewhere...