The celebration following Sparrow's win had lasted long into the night. Theory left the north feeling jubilant, hopeful, and just a little bit drunk. Mead danced in her veins, warming her easily from within against the winter chill. Wolves had taken a while to break up and meander home, but she'd spotted Valentine ambling along back towards Fireside and felt a tug on her soft heart. Seeing the grizzled face of the father of her own father had reminded her that Rhyme was also getting up in years. Although she knew Valentine was too proud to ever accept a formal escort, she'd elbowed and nudged and then dragged Sparrow over to ask if they could travel together - as a group of normal, abled-bodied, non-senior wolves, of course. Her aim was twofold. Keep Valentine from tumbling over the edge of a ravine and hopefully begin to discuss the future of a more formal alliance between the pirates and Abaven. Although she could have sworn it would be midday, the sky was still darkened by night. An enormous moon loomed above, peeking over Mount Volkan as if the volcano had speared it. Their rambling caravan was spread out, but Sparrow and Valentine crept ahead within her sight line. A sudden gust of wind scattered hundreds of sparkling fireflies in their path. She stopped dead. Another gust blew, tumbling them along towards the dark maw of a cave that opened in the nearby mountainside. They were a few dozen yards away from the mouth of the Stylianos Crypt. The wind continued to blow in a regular rhythm. Each breeze brought along a soft, gentle voice: I've been... Silence. Another breeze: Watching you... Theory sucked in a breath, suddenly feeling unsteady on her paws. Was that the mead talking, or was she really hearing things? The wind blew again: All this time... Was that Shaye's voice? "Speech"

When Theory had broached the idea that they travel together Valentine's first instinct was to call her out for what he saw as a blatant grab for something. What exactly he had no idea, but he knew a cover story when he heard one. Sparrow he understood. As she was a newly minted alpha it made sense for Theory to want to cozy up to her and figure her out. Why him, though? Brownie points, perhaps, with the Imperialis clan? He didn't know enough about this granddaughter to know if she was a schemer. In the end he opted to hold his tongue and go along with it. Sparrow was wounded and Theory was from Abaven so the way he saw it, it wouldn't hurt for them to have an escort lest any of the unhappy folks from the challenge think they were easy pickings.

Valentine stopped to brace himself against the sudden sharp gust of wind. He found himself pelted by a cloud of blue fireflies. When the wind died down he picked one unfortunate insect out of his mouth and half placed, half wiped it off on some nearby rocks. Another sudden gust while his paw was raised just about took him down. "Fuck me," he complained bitterly as he braced against the gale.

I've been... His head shot up. Watching you... What the fuck? All this time... Valentine's breath caught. No fucking way. His bitch of a mother was dead. She had to be. His longevity was his own; no doubt she'd died long ago in a ditch somewhere as unmissed and forgotten as the rest of her accomplishments.

Sparrow was well drunk enough to cover the pain of her injuries. She had promised the pirates that, no, they would not be staying in the frigid north and she expected them to gather somewhere else. She would call them to and eventually get all the details settled. Probably. Maybe. It wasn't important now anyway. What WAS important was that the party had lasted long enough for her to blackout and come back again and yet it was still night time... or she blacked out the whole day and no one told her. It really could have been either. The fireflies, which were blue and definitely not an effect of the party, danced around lazily. What was MORE interesting, was the glowing mushrooms, which Sparrow greedily gathered and threw into a pouch the equally drunk Friar held onto. If the mushrooms glowed, they might make glowy alcohol! She could brew it later, for sure. Somewhere, she thought she heard a voice and tossed a glance back to her companions. "Did y'all say somethin'?"

The wind blew into the mouth of the cave accompanied by a flourish of fireflies. Theory's eyes were trained intensely on the entrance, as if she were tracking prey. She'd know that voice anywhere. She'd heard it a thousand times in her dreams. Her hackles began to rise as a chill raced down her spine. "I..." she stammered. Valentine was buffeted by the wind in front of her - it took most of her restraint to stop herself from leaping to his aid. Crotchety old man, he'd probably wheel on her before she could offer a shoulder to steady him. It somehow made her fond of him. She respected his willful independence. "I hear Sh - my mother," she stammered. Best not to let them taint her memory. When she felt so close to Shaye again, she didn't want to remind them of the liaison that had permanently tainted Rhyme's reputation with his family. Besides, hadn't it sounded a little bit like Tana, too? But that couldn't be right. She was so young when Tana had died. Maybe it was the sort of memory that settled into your bones before your brain had even finished forming - the sound of your mother's voice. "It's calling from the cave. Can't you hear that?" she gestured with her muzzle, taking a few clipped steps towards the darkness that pitted the face of the cliff. The wind blew from behind, as if urging her on. "Speech"

The voices of his two young charges snapped Valentine back to the present. For a moment he had been sucked back to the days of his youth and gotten lost there. He glanced at Theory. It sounded like her mother? "It sounded like my mother," he said gruffly. Valentine frowned and then glanced at Sparrow to see if she had any 'mother' comments to throw out there. No? Okay good. "Well it can't be both our mothers," he said to Theory. Unless Rhyme had more to answer for, which was possible but not particularly plausible.

He walked to the cave's entrance and peered inside. It was dark and empty as far as he could see, but that didn't mean something wasn't lurking just out of sight. Valentine did have quite a bit of experience with Somnium so the idea that he might be hearing something of the supernatural variety wasn't outside his consideration. "Hmm," he grumped into the darkness. Their options were stay outside with the bitter-tasting bugs and the wind, or go inside and deal with the voices. He glanced at his girls. "Wanna go inside and see who is playing mom?"

Sparrow continued to pluck away at the mushrooms as the other two discussed whose mom was playing Mom or whose mom was actually a ghost or something. When Valentine said that it couldn't be both their mothers, spare tossed a shrug and a quick glance in their direction, "Who knows, it could even be my mother- I don't remember what she even sounds like so who am I to say?"

Sparrow pick up another mushroom, but then decided to drop it because it was kind of wilty and not really glowing as much as the other ones were. "maybe it's all three of our mothers and they're having a party or something without us. Either way, I think it's worth investigating... Besides, might be more mushrooms."

Sparrow motioned for friar to follow her, just stopping him from chomping down on one of the larger glowshrooms she had picked.

Well, Sparrow was brave enough to make up for her own addled nerves. Plus, Valentine seemed eager in his own way. She took a deep breath and nodded, following the fireflies that swirled deeper into the mouth of the... Crypt. Right. That's what this place was called. Stylianos Crypt. A chill raced up her spine, raising her hackles as it went. Did she bring it up? Before she could stop herself, Theo blurted: "I've heard of this place. Stylianos Crypt. That doesn't seem to bode well." She couldn't risk herself or she'd be risking the future of Abaven. Poem and Motif were gone - Rhyme was grizzled and growing stiffer by the year - there was no declared heir - "Come to me... I've missed you... We have so much to discuss..." Shaye's voice called, soft and warm as the den they had once shared. If she closed her eyes, she could have sworn she smelled it on the air. That scent of home. Before everything had gone awry. "Never mind. Let's go deeper," she said, her voice bolstered by fresh determination. Theo followed the voice and the flickering glow of the fireflies as far as they'd take her.

Valentine frowned deeply at Sparrow's joking suggestion. A Destruction or two (which mother did Theory belong to? He could never remember...) or a cowardly midget and his bitch of a mother all in one place? "That sounds like hell," he said, his tone wry. "If I didn't know any better I'd think you were trying to change my mind." He said this while walking into the cave and showing no sign of slowing. "But I can't say I'd pass up a chance to push one into a lake of fire-" The whisper came to him again, this time an angry hiss. Ah, now there was the mother he knew. Valentine snarked at it, "Oh, yes, I mean you, bitch."

Valentine

No sooner then you can open your mouth to curse at your 'mother' do you suddenly lose consciousness. You awaken just a few minutes later, but you're gripped by a deep fear you can't seem to shake and you vaguely remember nightmares of being pushed into a lake of fire.

Maybe you shouldn't have done that...

The group decided to move onwards and Sparrow smiled smugly. Hell yeah they weren't afraid of any ghosts! She picked a few extra mushrooms at the entrance just in case there weren't more inside. Theory mentioned that she had heard of the crypt and a flood of memories came back to Sparrow: the ghost stories, the prank she and friar played, the warm, plush wolf cuddled into her chest, insisting she was so mean with a sickly sweet sigh, the flurries of kisses and all that followed after... Hana.

Her mood went from blissful memories to sour in a few heartbeats. Sparrow ripped one shelf mushroom off of the crypt wall roughly, "C'mon," she grumbled. "Let's teach some motherly bitches a lesson."

Sparrow

As you rip the mushroom off the wall you swear you can feel it pull away from you. In fact, it feels like the entire crypt wall shifted all at once, and you can still see the caps of the fungi gently wiggling with the movement. How odd..

Maybe you shouldn't have done that....

Theory

A familiar voice grows louder and louder in your ear until you're sure it's beside you, you're even able to feel the warmth of breath on your ear, but when you turn you find no one there. Somehow you feel incredibly lonely. Did you hope to see a ghost?

Maybe you shouldn't have done that...

Sparrow could have sworn the mushroom she peeled off the wall was trying to get away. "Get back here, you little fucker!" She jerked the damned thing off the wall and even they seemed to shirk away from her. Good, as they should! Sparrow shouldered forward, closing her collection of mushrooms as she headed into the familiar area. She cast a glance back at the two on her heels. "Well, are Y'all coming?" she called just a little too roughly. Well, they were all on edge, but the longer she was here, the longer she thought about Hana and it was starting to get on her nerves more than any ghost could. "Hurry on up, now. We got mothers to fuck up."

Firefly Shoppe- Sparrow

A firefly draws your attention nearby to reveal a cloaked figure with a small wooden table in front of him. On the table lay three items, with their prices beside them. "Choose wisely, and only choose one," the figure says. "If you can afford it, that is." Perhaps he accepts cŕ̷̕y̵̍͊stals and mushrö̸́̀ō̴̉ms... or perhaps its worth bargaining for something greater...


Inventory:

• Pungent Potion- 1 /
  This tiny bottle contains a green globby liquid, the label claims it was made from local mushrooms.
  
• Shrink Potion- 1 /
  This bottle is shaped like a pear and within it swirls a sparkly gold liquid. The label shows a crudely drawn image of two wolves of vastly different sizes, with a green checkmark over the smallest one.
  
• Mushroom Based Acid- 2 /
  A small vial with a convenient handle that almost makes it seem throwable. Upon the label is a skull and crossbones symbol beside a shattered shield.
  

Sparrow was more than ready to get this over with, but when she turned back, a dark and looming figure stood in her way. She glanced back, but it seemed as if her other two cohorts were frozen in time. She looked back tot he figure, "Damn, you make a better ghost than I did, but you're also not any of our mothers."

The thing offered her some items on a table. Sparrow looked over then and decided to go with the priciest option. What was the point of pirating if you couldn't splurge? She gave her tokens and took the vial. Yup... transaction completed.

A whisper brushed past her ear but grew louder, louder, louder. Theory whipped her head back and forth in the stifling, dark passageway. Was Sparrow playing a trick on her? Ahead she could see her cousin bargaining with a strange cloaked figure. Sparks seemed to fly out of its hood and sleeves, swirling up towards the ceiling. Sparks? No, they were fireflies. She began to pant softly when suddenly Shaye's voice sounded right in her ear, as if she was standing right there: "COME TO ME." The ghost of hot breath made all of her hair stand on end. Theory whined deep in her throat but still couldn't resist the call. After all, what if she had some strange chance of seeing her mentor and chosen mother again? She dodged around the glowing peddler and his wares and ran deeper into the cave, sticking close to the right side of the wall so she didn't lose her way.

Valentine staggered to his paws on wobbly legs. He swore under his breath as his legs buckled and he was almost taken to the ground. Finally he stood up fully on still shaky legs and felt like a baby deer trying out its legs for the first time as he minced forward. His vague memories of a lake of fire gave him no satisfaction and the hammering of his heart was a concern. What the fuck was that. If that was the work of his actual mother he was going to throw hands with a ghost here in a minute.

Valentine - It Continues...

Huh? It doesn't seem like anything happened... Well, maybe that's for the best...

Firefly Shoppe - Theory

A firefly draws your attention nearby to reveal a cloaked figure with a small wooden table in front of him. On the table lay three items, with their prices beside them. "Choose wisely, and only choose one," the figure says. "If you can afford it, that is." Perhaps he accepts cŕ̷̕y̵̍͊stals and mushrö̸́̀ō̴̉ms... or perhaps its worth bargaining for something greater...


Inventory:

• Xtra Grow Potion- 2 /
  It comes in an extra large bottle. There’s way more than one drop!
  
• Firefly Fone- 1 /
  It’s actually just a bunch of fireflies in the shape of a phone. Use it in any thread (and post in Maintenance) to summon the Firefly Shoppe to your location.
  
• Potion of Perception- 3 /
  This bottle of silvery liquid has a pair of glasses etched onto it… whatever that means.
  

Suddenly a figure appeared before her, diverting her attention from her otherwise frantic searching. The notion that Shaye could possibly be here somehow felt insane. Theo felt something soft crumple inside of her. She wasn't a foolish child. It was just her desperate heart, searching for comfort and answers in the dark. And this figure had arrived in stead of anything else... Theory tamped down her remaining emotions, willing her mind to clear. She'd like to make this choice from a place of reason, not the residual adrenaline from chasing that ephemeral voice. Steadying herself with a deep breath that she felt all the way to the end of her short tail, she gestured towards the item with the highest price tag. It stood to reason that it would be valuable later, right?