Though they had long left the bay unclaimed, it still held a special place in her heart. The land had claimed her as much as Abaven had claimed it. Peering out over the bay had calmed her during the fraught first months after they had returned to the main land. She held less love for the islands they had swam to in order to wait out the disastrous eruption. It was out towards the Ibis Islands that they had stared long into the night, talking quietly. In hushed tones. Almost reverential. They'd fallen asleep completely entangled - there was no easy way to tell where Theory ended and Thalia began. It was impossible to easily unravel them. But her body was well-trained. Theory was conditioned to awaken with dawn's first light, regardless of when she'd collapsed into sleep. It was no surprise when her eyes opened to slits, expecting to see the thin sunlight of a winter morning bearing down on them. A chill rolled in off the sea, nipping at her nose and eyes until she finally relented and opened them wide. Her body froze completely. Where she expected sunlight - where she knew there to be sunlight, her entire body was screaming it's dawn, time to patrol - darkness rolled over the wind-tossed sea. Huffing softly, Theory blinked a few times. Was she still asleep? She pressed her cold nose into the blessed warmth of Thalia's cheek with a firm nudge. "Thalia... please wake up." "speech"

Sleep came more easily to Thalia these days than it once had. Abaven was her home now, at least for now, and she'd long since grown used to sleeping beside Theory - whether they ended up sleeping. They'd taken a walk to the bay and spent the evening talking, telling Theory more about her childhood and family and receiving the same in return. She felt at peace here, watching as the sun sunk down below the horizon and cast the world into darkness. By the time they fell into slumber the sky was dotted with a never-ending field of stars, lulling her easily to sleep despite the chill in the air, which was merely a good excuse to curl more tightly around Theory. Only when she felt Theory's nose burying into her cheek did she jerk awake, completely disoriented at first. She tended to be a light sleeper most of the time, but apparently tonight had been an exception. At least it felt like night. Instinctively she unfurled herself from Theory's side and rolled onto her stomach, stiffening as if ready to flee as she slowly blinked sleep from her eyes. It took her a long moment to remember where she was, and to let the sudden spike of adrenaline slowly wilt, letting out a half-yawn as she came to her senses. "Hm? Why are we awake?" She protested quietly, blinking sleep from her eyes and not yet registering the sky's continuing darkness yet.

Thalia rolled away and began to slowly go through the motions of waking up. The sudden rush of cold air that filled the space where her warmth was once pressed close caused Theo to frown almost involuntarily. Come back to me, she wanted to say. Don't leave my side yet. Theory stood up and stretched, long and low. A cold breeze came again off the sea, followed shortly by a gust of strange and unseasonably warm air. She blinked a few times in rapid succession. Had she imagined that? "We're awake because... well," she paused, shuffling her paws in the sand. "It's morning. Or it should be." How could she explain this in a way that didn't make her sound completely insane? "Every morning at first light, without fail, my eyes spring open. I've kept the same schedule for so long, my body knows it better than my mind ever could. Despite what it looks like, it must be morning." She stared out over the wind-tossed ocean. Another balmy breeze floated towards her, kissing her cheeks and nose. Out over the bay, small stars flickered into life, hanging suspended just above the water. No, not stars... They began to wink in and out of existence, moving at a leisurely pace across the water. "That's not possible. It's winter?" she murmured, the questioning tone hanging at the end of her sentence. "Are those fireflies?" "speech"

Mornings weren't her favorite time of day and she never took well to being woken abruptly, so while she might normally be content to wake slowly and curl tighter against Theory, instead she felt an anxious flutter growing in her chest as she was quickly jerked conscious. "It's not morning, not yet," she protested, before she was able to register much beyond that it was still dark out. The horizon had a faint hint of light, like you might see long before dawn, barely visible at all... but Theory insisted it was morning, and how could she argue with that logic? Instead, she let out a little grunt of acknowledgment, taking a much longer moment for the reality of what she'd said to sink in. She remembered, long ago, when the volcano had erupted that nights had been endless for weeks. That had been because of the smoke and ash though, blocking out the sun. There was no smoke no - no fog, and not even a cloud in sight. The sky was clear and the stars remained, though when she tipped her head back she noticed something unusual. Were her eyes just unfocused still, or were they streaking across the sky? Slowly she lifted a paw to rub at her eyes, trying to focus on what she was actually seeing. "Theory," she murmured softly, focused on the sight far overhead rather than the firefly-like balls of color slowly floating across the water. "Have you ever seen anything like that?" Gently she moved to nudge her, taking a quick moment to lean back into her warmth, still very much groggy and struggling to come to terms with what she was seeing.

As Thalia returned to her side, Theory finally managed to tear her gaze away from the fireflies. Her familiar warmth was like a ward against all of the strange and bad in the world. And so part of her didn't want to look when Thalia asked, "have you ever seen anything like that?" It would just be another interruption from the perfect warmth. In fact, part of her just wanted to plain go back to sleep. Maybe it was all a dream, and when they awoke in the groggy light of the true morning, Theo would tell her all about it and they could both chuckle. Another sharp wind came off of the ocean, starting with a fierce chill and ending as warm as any steam that floated off of the hot springs. Her eyes even watered at the heat of it. No, despite how she'd wish to pretend otherwise, this was real. Finally she peered up to where Thalia's muzzle was pointed. Stars raced across the sky, sometimes alone, sometimes in pairs - and very rarely, a complete deluge at once. Theo's eyes opened wide. "No," she said softly, "I've never seen anything like that all." Theory thought that perhaps it was true, something like this had never happened before. Maybe it never would again. And they were here, bearing witness to it, on this beach. Fireflies streaked and gathered and danced across the surface of the ocean but they were long forgotten. Her attention was rapt on the sky above. "What... does it mean?" "speech"

The strange aura in the air only became more and more palpable with each moment that passed. Though groggy, it became immediately apparent that something was off. Immediately her eyes were drawn to the heavens, to the stars that streaked across the sky and made it feel like her eyes might just be crossing. Some still twinkled where they stood, steady and strong, while others seemed to be permanently cascading across the dark morning sky. "Me neither," she admitted, sounding awestruck by the sight. When she lowered her gaze she noticed the balls of light drifting above the water. She couldn't shake the feeling that this was a sign of change - of something different coming in their future, no matter whether good or bad. The foreshadowing sent a shiver down her spine that wasn't solely due to the chill morning air coming in from the sea. "Perhaps it's a sign of change to come," she mused quietly. God had a strange way of making himself known, though the signs He gave were never always obvious. She could only hope He hadn't been angered. Mount Volkan's eruption had been enough devastation for these lands for anyone's lifetime. "What do you think?"

Theory

A group of fireflies dances nearby, as if urging you to follow them. You also find 4 mushrooms. Maybe these are worth keeping…

Thalia

Maybe coming here was a mistake. You also find 3 crystals. Maybe these are worth keeping…