CODE © SKELLE 2021 & ART © ULFEID3 @ DA
"Speech!"
Ever since the time he'd sparred with that boy from Ashen he felt strange. He couldn't explain the feeling he had, and frankly had been pushing it down and ignoring it until he saw a little flash of blue between the trees. Intrigued, Grimshaw set off in the direction of the color. Had he stopped to think a moment, he'd have realized he didn't know what he was going to do if it was that same young man from before. What would he say?

Unfortunately, he hadn't thought it through and continued to move in search of the streak of blue he'd seen. Although he could've sworn it had been glowing, he couldn't imaging why something would glow. It had to be that boy, right? Thinking about it made him anxious for some reason, but that hardly stopped him or even slowed him down. As he moved farther and farther from the Armada, he slowed as he realized he had never been here before. Looking around, Grimshaw noticed some other strange things. Fireflies weren't something uncommon, especially around the Armada at night but that was during the summer and fall, not the winter. Besides, the fireflies were blue... just like the blue he'd seen before. Strange.

welcome to the freakshow

The young Klein was a creature of the night, less nocturnal than a decent amount of his family but raised in their customs nonetheless it was hard for the young man to ignore the changes in the air. The fireflies, in particular, bothered him, not because they unsettled him, no Malachai didn't feel fear, that'd be ridiculous! But it was the lazy blue glow they shed on the night, lighting it up and removing the dimness of the night to shine their soft blue on everything. It ruined the whole broody teen mood!

Malachai was going to get to the bottom of these damn flies! And so his massive dark paws carried him out of Ashen lands, though it wasn't too long before he caught a familiar scent, and found it was leading him towards where the flies seemed the most numerous, a smirk pulling at his lips as he approached. "Well fancy seeing you here."

"Malachai Cain Klein"

Art by Cebochka

The fireflies were interesting, to say the least. They lit up the entire mangrove with their blue glow, even giving the marshy ground a strange hue. The sky above had the seemingly unending moon that also shared the same glow, brightening the sky in a way that almost wasn't natural. It hung lower than he remembered before, too. What was happening?

The glowing from the forest wasn't entirely the fireflies, either, he realized as he trudged through following what may or may not be his imagination. Small plants and fungi appeared to have it's own blue glow, though it was dimmer than the fireflies and he did his best to avoid touching it. He wasn't sure if these things were safe, but he was far too curious now to go back home even if it was dangerous. Whatever he experienced here, he could take back to Sirius and maybe they could figure something out. He was certain the warlord was aware of the strange occurrences, and probably had even more knowledge and experience with it than he did. He definitely wanted to speak with him the first chance he got.  

Lost in thought and wonder, he certainly wasn't expecting the boy he thought he'd seen to actually be here. He'd realized somewhere along the way that what he'd seen had simply just been the fireflies, or something else with the strange phenomenon. The voice started him and he quickly turned, surprised and actually wondering now if maybe he had seen him? Grimshaw was at a loss for words for a moment, his heart nearly stopping for more than one reason. What was that feeling? Sure, he hadn't expected him but this seemed different. He swallowed, before trying to speak.

"Uhh, yeah.." What was he supposed to say? That he thought he saw him and that was why he was walking around this place to begin with? That sounded weird. Definitely didn't want to say that. He cleared his throat, stammering over his next words. What the fuck? "What are, uh, what are you doing here?" The same could be asked of him, but he certainly hoped he wouldn't be. "These fireflies... are weird." There. Maybe he wouldn't ask now.

Malachai certainly didn't miss the way Grim stammered but ser Malachai Klein the dumb of ass was pretty damn sure that it was simply his fighting prowess that had made the other young man so nervous, his smirk growing. He shrugged at the question, for a moment his mismatched gaze following one of the lights as it drifted by his nose, he tried to snap at it but felt nothing as he clamped his mouth down. "They were kind of annoying me, so I wanted to see if I could find out where they were coming from, and stop them I guess?" He said, watching another light drift close by.

At Grim's comment, he thought for a moment about one of his cousins he'd only ever seen in passing and not since before the most recent pack meeting. "They kind of remind me of one of my cousins... She glowed too." He didn't really have anything more specific to say than that, Malachai was not one for intellectualizing.

"Malachai Cain Klein"

Art by Cebochka

He could tell that Malachai had noticed his stammering, I mean how could you not? He made it painfully obvious that he was awkward and likely going to continue on that path for a good minute or two while their engagement continued. The smirk on the young mans face immediately made him cast his nervous, silver eyes away and towards the nearby fireflies. They were what was important right now, not the strange clammy feeling he was getting between his toes or the fact that his breathing was quicker than usual.

Malachai admitted that he was looking to stop the bugs, that they had annoyed him and that was why he was here tonight. It was a strange coincidence and he still wondered if it was him that he saw before he followed the glow to the forest. He still refused to say anything though, but struggled to find anything else to say. Grimshaw couldn't agree that he was here for the same reason, but maybe a little white lie wouldn't hurt. "Yeah, I've uh, never seen anything like it before." His deep voice was better now, less shaky but still uncertain as he stammered a bit. He still couldn't find the courage to look back at Malachai, fearing the stammering would continue. Was he the only one feeling awkward since they sparred?

When he mentioned something about his cousin glowing, Grimshaw hesitated before looking at him. It was interesting, a glowing wolf. "Glows... like this?" He asked as a few fireflies buzzed near, one settling on the end of his nose for just a moment, only to disappear as if it never existed.

Malachai had little enough experience with the regular "yellow" fireflies, occasionally they'd flit a little too far into the shrine but otherwise wouldn't say he knew that much about the usual thing let alone these blue ones. That they were in the middle of winter and they were still numerous somehow... That was obviously strange. He grunted in response to Grim's comment, nodding slightly. He didn't really have any more to add to that.

But his cousin? Well he could answer that. "Yeah, I have two glowing cousins actually. The one I was thinking of was blue too, just a constantly soft blue glow. Weird as fuck."

"Malachai Cain Klein"

Art by Cebochka

Grimshaw

You feel an unmistakable sense of dread. You also find 4 crystals. Maybe these are worth keeping…

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You hear a strange whisper on the wind. You also find 2 mushrooms. Maybe these are worth keeping…