Feeling the sun on his back again was nirvana in and of itself, and the titan found himself lounging on the edge of one of the pools with his forepaws soaking in the warm water. Tucked under his chin was that jar he had purchased in the dream- it had been tucked against his hip when he'd awoken the next day. The strange figure had told him it was the blessing of a god. He was already blessed by the spirits of the Ancients, but perhaps he could benefit from the blessings of a foreign god? He knew he was getting better every day, but he couldn't stand to be useless any longer. Without his eyes, and with his neck constantly sore from the burden of the remaining crystals, he wasn't able to hunt or fight. All he did was waste the family's resources while they waited for him to get better. When would that happen? Now, if he had any say. Poe wanted his eyes fixed. He clasped the small jar between his wrists, and nosed at it gently. It was secured only with a cork top, and he could easily grasp that between his fangs. There was an audible pop as it was uncorked, and he could smell he sickly sweet aroma of the mist within as it rose up and trickled into his nostrils. He found himself back in that eternal night, surrounded by eerie spectral orbs and afraid for his family's safety. And then it was over. The beast was still lazing about in the hot springs, with an empty glass jar between his forelegs. A frown sought to crease his brows, but found itself limited by the anchored crystals that still clung to the skin in and around his eyes. Dark lips pulled taut, and then curved downwards. Was he feeling any better? Shouldn't a blessing work instantaneously? A snort of frustration escaped him, and he pushed the little jar away. It toppled into he water with a quiet plunk and then was gone. He let the cork fall from his jaws, and it rolled after the jar into the warm water below. Dropping his heavy head back onto his forelegs, he breathed in the steam and opted to wallow in his misery for a little while longer. After that, he would get up and try to make himself useful, he supposed. speech

Manea knew that more than just her husband and daughter had been affected by the confounding illnesses that had popped up along with the blue-hued fireflies and perpetual darkness. Alastor and Avacyn were thankfully seemingly healed—though Alastor had a new issue of losing all of his fur—but her dear Poe didn't seem to be having as good of a time in his recovery. Now that Alastor and Avacyn were not swallowing her up with worry and the first leg of their move toward Auster was done she felt like perhaps she might be able to breathe more easily and start picking up the pieces of things that had fallen to the wayside in her scope of attention. The return of sunlight alone was lifting her spirits and reaffirming to her that all her hoping that things would return to normal and get better wasn't all for naught.

She padded around the edge of the steaming hot springs until she reached the hulking form of her cousin, smiling softly as she came to settle beside him. "How are you feeling?" she asked, peering at the crystals that were still hanging on for dear life on his brow. She could tell just from how he had been acting that he was feeling dejected about being bed ridden for so long because of this, but continued to assure him that he needed to take the time he needed to heal, the same way she had for Alastor and Avacyn. She had aspirations and work to do for their family, but none of it was more important than their wellbeing.

Manea | Temno | Ciemny

Amidst the clinging steam and the scent of sulphur, he caught the sound of light pawsteps. As they drew closer, winding through the spaces between the pools that formed the hot springs, manea's scent reached his nostrils. He lifted his head, swinging it about until he caught the freshest traces of her scent and managed to tip his ears to face the sound of her approaching paws. Slowly but surely he was getting better at navigating the world without his sight. The warmth that radiated from his cousin's frame as she settled down at his side was reassuring, and he couldn't help but feel the tension that lifted from his shoulders somewhat. She asked how he was feeling, and he snorted derisively. "Divine." Poe grunted wryly. He shifted his nearest forepaw and lifted it out of the water, searching for one of Manea's paws to bump it against and anchor himself to. He wasn't contagious anymore, so he could go back to being tactile and affectionate- albeit in his own way. "I hear your little ones are doing better, that must be a relief." he rumbled, the corners of his inky maw turning up in a small smile. "Did I hear something about Alastor needing a coat, though?" he asked with a soft, bemused chuckle. It had only come to him through brief snippets of conversation he'd overheard, but it sounded just the slightest bit comical. speech

Deer Dad's Blessing- Poe

Being an herbivore is ok!

Your vision is drawn behind the wolf you converse with. As if zooming in, your attention focuses on a deer far away- you shouldn't be able to see it, but you can. It looks directly at you and you can feel every ounce of its being. It does not fear you, and it does not fear death, though it will fight to keep its life when it can. It is steadfast, bold, and wise, powerful in both body and mind. It snorts and turns its gaze away as if you are not worth its time. Instead of feeling angry, you get the feeling that you are very small, like a scolded pup.

You gain:

• Deer mutie- Grows fully in 1 IC season!
  

You lose:

• Deer Dad's Blessing- Sounds worse than it is...
  

Manea grinned a bit and chuckled at Poe's sarcasm, glad he at least had a bit of his sense of humor about him. The crystals were slowly but surely falling away from him, but she knew there would still need to be some time until he was fully back to his normal state. When he lifted his paw out of the water and shifted it toward hers she moved her paw into his path so that his paw landed on top of hers, making a small smile pull at her lips. Of all of her extended family Poe and Naráca had been the two that she had grown up the closest with and she was certainly glad to have them here with her now. She leaned into his larger form and settled in to rest with him for a while. With so many moving pieces to the puzzle that was this band sometimes it was nice to have an excuse to just relax with one of her loved ones for a moment.

When Poe mentioned Avacyn's recovery and the relief it brought she hummed softly in confirmation, her smile widening. "It certainly is... It was difficult seeing her suffer." The sound of Avacyn's screams as they attempted to remove the mushrooms from between her scales would forever haunt her nightmares. There was very few things in this world that could shake her to her core, but her children's pain had certainly become one of them. Poe's comment about Alastor's coat pulled her thoughts back to the present and she grinned with a cackle of laughter. "That he does. Silly man bathing with something given to him by that crazy firefly creature... I watched it strip every bit of fur off of him from the neck down." She giggled at the memory with a little grin at what had come after that she'd most certainly keep to herself. "It's steadily growing back though so at least he's not permanently naked as a mole rat."

Manea | Temno | Ciemny

A small flex of his toes allowed them to close a little more firmly over the soft fur of her feline paws, wordless gratitude to the woman who had so quickly taken up the role as their leader without question. She mentioned that it had been difficult to see her child suffer, to which he could only offer a sympathetic grunt. He would not claim to truly understand the pain she must have felt, but he had hardly been immune to the emotional tolls of knowing that any little ones might have fallen ill with that plague. They weren't forced to dwell on the horrific past long, and Manea quickly let loose a peal of raucous laughter at the mention of Alastor's predicament. She mentioned that he had made use of something he'd gotten from the firefly creature, panic flared briefly in his chest. Hadn't he just..? Unconsciously, his empty paw twitched in the water, perhaps searching for the discarded bottle, perhaps simply expressing his anxiety. The man had lost all of his fur from the neck down! What the hell might happen to him after he'd messed with that jar? Fuck. When Manea next mentioned that Alastor's fur was growing back, he felt some of the tension fall away from his shoulders. Well, perhaps this would all work out for him in the end. Both of them. "Do you think he'll glow like a firefly when it's all grown back?" he teased with a wry grin, the corners of his dark lips curving up as he leaned lightly into his cousin to jostle her shoulder. "We'd have to ban him from joining our hunting parties!" a chuckle escaped him then, and yet more of his tension melted away. For all of his posturing, he truly was a big softie who loved to be around his family. speech