Freydis could feel the earth thrum beneath her paws, could sense the power that dwelled within these lands, within this place. Strangely enough, it reminded her of home, though it had been so long since she'd been there.. maybe she was just imagining it.  Still, she threw some caution into her gait, pricked her ears, and kept her breaths quiet. "I have a weird feeling about this place." From the bone-white trees, to the pale vines that crept along their trunks, this forest felt almost sacred. Almost. But the influence here didn't come from her Gods, nor any she had ever known.

”Speech”  ’Thought’

Fe vældur frænda rogi.

At first Verdandi did nothing to acknowledge her company, sitting still in the primal energy spread thick throughout the forest, apprehensively soaking it all in.  The fae couldn't tell if she dug this place or if it terrified her.  Perhaps it was a combination of the two.  Freydis was putting it lightly when she said she had a weird feeling about it.  "Look-"  the calico wolf sought to direct her companion's attention toward the soft purple glow emanating just north from where they stood.  "What's that about?"

”Speech”  ’Thought’

Føðesk ulfr i skogi.

Freydis' gaze followed her companion's toward the strange pool of.. well.. actually, the woman didn't know what substance could even have feasibly caused the pool to emit such a glow. Her brow furrowed as her eyes returned to Verdandi's mottled features. "I have no idea." And really, she meant it. "And I'm not sure I want to know." But being that the wolf was of a the curious sort.. "Should we check it out?" She rose to her full height, awaiting the calico's instruction.

”Speech”  ’Thought’

Fe vældur frænda rogi.

Verdandi scoffed at Freydis as if the idea was ridiculous and she wasn't thinking the exact same thing. "I mean, I guess we could." the woman rolled her eyes and began walking toward the glow, checking over her shoulder to make sure her friend was going to follow. "Have you ever seen anything like this place before? It seems dead and yet somehow still very much alive, like Hel almost.." But definitely not Hel.. Surely they'd know if the topography here had anything to do with their beloved goddess.. Or perhaps they wouldn't, given the nature of that particular goddess.. "Like Hel, but no.. Not Hel..." She spoke a bit quieter, the words meant to convince her that she'd been correct.


”Speech”  ’Thought’

Føðesk ulfr i skogi.

Freydis' brows rose at her companion's reaction, disinterest flooding her features. At least Verdandi started walking, prompting the sherbert-painted wolf to follow.

Their squabble was quickly forgotten as they moved closer to the pool. "No." Not even in their secred wood. "Our Gods do not dwell here." Not Frejya, not Thor, and certainly not Hel. But.. "But it is much the same." Freydis wondered what that meant, how it could feel so similar, yet so different.

The pool grew ever nearer, and with it, the unease building in the pit of her stomach. It seemed to call, though. Call as if she were supposed to look, to peer over the edge and view it's contents. "Should we.. look?"

”Speech”  ’Thought’

Fe vældur frænda rogi.

Verdandi listened to what Freydis had to say on the matter and nodded, thankful for the validation the woman's words provided but all the while growing more and more terrified.  If they were travelling through lands that belonged to gods that weren't their own, then whose gods were they, and would these gods take kindly to their presence?

The closer they drew to the mysterious fountain the more pull Dandi felt to approach it and gaze into its contents.  What Freydis said next told her that they were on the same page, almost as if the woman had been reading her mind.  "Maybe..." She said softly, examining the runes etched into the black stones surrounding the pool as best she could to see if they belonged to their people.  "It feels like we're supposed to... Right?"

”Speech”  ’Thought’

Føðesk ulfr i skogi.

Freydis, too, examined the runes at the edge of the pool. Familiar, yet unfamiliar. Like.. it was in the wrong order or like someone had intended a meaning by their placement that the woman didn't understand. How odd. "There's something not right about those runes." But what? And why couldn't she place it?

The pool called again, drawing her nearer, pulling her closer to it's shores. If her Gods weren't pulling the strings, then what was? Freydis thought that perhaps she didn't want to know. "Does it call you too?" Her mismatched gaze slid to Verdandi, awaiting an answer as the waters beckoned at the edge of her consciousness.
”Speech”  ’Thought’

Fe vældur frænda rogi.

She frowned.  Freydis was right, there was something off about the runes, but not something the fae was capable of articulating through words or even completely understanding.  It was like they were familiar in the most unfamiliar sense of the word, and that in and of itself made little sense at all.  Verdandi had no idea what to make of it, and she was starting to get a headache trying to wrap her mind around anything that was happening here to them now.  She decided to stop focusing on the runes and really zone back in on the water.  Maybe she'd be able to understand that a bit more if she really tried.

"It does..." Verdandi responded, closing the remaining distance between herself and the pool.  It almost felt foolish, but the fae decided that if they were going to do it it was best to just get it over with.  She risked a glance into the glowing liquid, and when she found that there were no immediate consequences she allowed her eyes to linger into it's depths a little longer.  

Images started to form near the bottom of the pool, shapes and faces of people she once knew.. They were her family.  Both her parents and her siblings, and they were... She tore her gaze away before she could find out and looked to Freydis with wide eyes.  Had she been foolish enough to follow Verdandi's lead and gaze upon the magic water as well? "This pool belongs to the seers."  she whispered, a slight tinge of fear lacing her voice.
”Speech”  ’Thought’

Enn veit ravnen om eg fell

The fae waited for Verdandi to test the water out before she approached it herself, for as much as it intrigued her, the sense of wrongness it held gave her more than enough reason for caution. Freydis' mismatched gaze fell across the surface of the pool, reflecting her own image, tainted by an eerie glow before the picture began to shift. Freydis saw things in that pool, things that she'd never spoken of, things that she'd likely never speak of again. She saw her family, watched as they..

Verdandi pulled her attention away from the water, away from the memories that swirled around in depths. Fear laced Freydis' features as she swiveled towards the calico wolf. There were things that mere mortals were not meant to see, knowledge that they were not meant to have, and this underground lake and it's mysterious contents definitely fell under that category. "What did you see?" Had she even seen anything aside from her own reflection?
”Speech”  ’Thought’

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