Ophie had never been much of a wolf to start with, all round and squishy in places she shouldn't be. And yet now she barely even felt alive, more rot and fungus than wolf. She laid there, between the tangled mangrove roots as the tide slowly but surely swept in. Her breathing was slow and wheezy, rippling the puddles around her as she waited for the end. Or whatever else came next. The new glow of her coat was already long forgotten, not worth the infection that riddled her form, making her bloated and lethargic with barely even the energy to raise her head. Her coat was a dirty mishmash of colours, teal smeared by brown, only to be drowned out by her leaking glow. Ophie just wanted...she missed Jerry so much. She rasped out a sob, spores floating past her lips as glowing tears rolled down her muzzle. "speech"

Saying that Kaija was a mess was.. well, putting it lightly. She was sick, like real sick, like the kind of sick that defiled all logic or reason. She was torn between an infinite, revolving set of options. Go home. Find her dad. Find Ophie. Go die alone in a hole somewhere. Repeat. She was sure these crystals were going to take over her whole body, and she was fully convinced Azure had been the reason why this had happened. She'd been fine before he'd torn the crystal out of her eye - yeah, sure, she'd been a bit sore and goopy then but this was so, so much worse.

The crystal that had grown out of her eye was heavy, painfully heavy, and it made walking long distances difficult. A few other heavy crystals sprouted out of small cuts on her paws and legs from the fight she'd had, dragging her down low to the ground. As she trudged through the mangrove she felt her paws sinking into the brackish water and her mind fought a tiring battle with her body to keep going on. Only the scent of Ophie kept her going. Where was she? Was she okay through all this? Something about her scent seemed off, but it was hard to tell if she was just mistaking things with the thick ooze that dribbled out of her nose almost constantly.

"Ophie? Ophieeeee?" Kaija called out with as much strength as she could muster, finally catching sight of someone up ahead, crumpled up in the roots of the mangroves with water lapping at her. "Ophie! What happened?" Oh, she'd missed her.. but the way her head was pounding painfully made it hard to think about anything clearly. Ophie was sick too, she could see that even with her one good eye, and she hurried to her side and collapsed there with a groan as she tried to register what had happened to her friend.

Ophie's ears twitched, a weak little flick as she thought she'd heard her name on the wind. At first, she thought it was just another one of those things, strange and scary, not worth even trying to lift her head up. But she knew that voice, it meant a lot to her. More than she was even capable of thinking about right now, when all seemed lost and fading away. And then squelching footsteps approached, impossible to ignore as Ophie weakly lifted her head, brackish water dripping from the underside of her face and chin. "Kaija..." She rasped, a bone deep exhaustion riddling her voice as she took in the sight of her friend. She was sick with another strain, her form riddled with crystals and goop. What a sorry state they'd both found themselves in. "I don't know. I gave Jerry away so I could be special but... I'm just really sick. So tired." Look at her, was this the sort of unique she'd been hoping for? Not at all. Sticking out a leg, she attempted to drag herself a little closer to her friend. Would have bound over with a spring in her step if she was feeling any other sort of way, at any other time. "Your eye...does it hurt?" The thought of Kaija suffering at all unsettled her deeply, she deserved the world. Not to be like this, weak with the shine fading from her understanding gaze.

Her vision had never been great but losing half of it made her feel even more blind than she expected it would. She had little sense of spatial awareness now and it left her feeling disoriented in a way she wasn't accustomed to at all. Even Kaija looked strange, all the sickness aside. It took her a long moment to realize her markings were glowing slightly... or maybe that was another trick of the eye, something being done by the moonlight or the fireflies? But she didn't have long to question it before Ophie was speaking and Kaija's attention was glued on her. She'd given away Jerry? Her brow furrowed, as best as it could at least, though it sent a rippling of pain through her forehead. "I'm sick too," she replied feebly. She should go home - part of her knew that - but she also knew she couldn't forgive herself if she made anyone sick, not her mom or dad or Fidelias or even Arne if she'd ended up back home too. Her heart sunk in her chest, an uncharacteristic loneliness suddenly gripping her heard. If she didn't die from this she was certain she'd die from loneliness out here like this.

She wiggled a bit closer too, pushing her face into Ophie's elbow. A bit of warmth was comforting in these circumstances. Why couldn't things just go back to the way they were? None of this was fair. Kaija knew life wasn't fair, but this... how had either of them deserved this? "My eye?" She repeated after a moment. "I mean... a little bit," she lied quietly. It hurt terribly, like something trying to rip its way right out of her skull, though the pain wasn't always consistent. There was no need to worry Ophie though, it wouldn't help her anyway. "These growths on you? They hurt too?" There was worry in her voice, though she feared her answer because she knew there was little she could to do help Ophie in this state.

Ophie made a raspy noise of acknowledgement in the back of her throat. She wished now more than ever that she was a better healer, that she was so naturally talented she could whip up a brew to make the both of them better in no time. But if the other Armada healers weren't capable of this, then why would she be? Besides, her desire to try wasn't enough to shake the exhaustion from her form. She wasn't laying here because she wanted to be, she simply didn't have the strength to be anywhere else. But at least she wasn't alone, not any more. Ophie wasn't sure if she was convinced. With all the leaking and jagged ends of the crystals, she imagined it had to hurt a lot. But it made sense she couldn't say as much, Kaija was strong and brave, if anyone could fight her way through this it would be her. That thought only made Ophie feel all the worse, knowing she'd never be able to keep up. She was no doubt already falling behind, destined to get worse and worse with no end in sight. She shook her head, smearing her chin into the dirt. Talking hurt, rasped her throat dry like she'd swallowed a fistful of rocks. But for Kaija she'd push through it, felt like she was capable of it with the loner by her side. "Breathing is worse. Like my lungs are just...full of it. More Mushroom than me. " Wasn't that sad? Her identity being stolen by a hecking mushroom of all things. And what if...she forgot who she was? Became just a mushroomy shell. She sucked in a panicked breath, not able to deal with an existential crisis as she fell into a fit of a hacking cough. So hard and deep her whole poor body shuddered with the strain.

Ophelia

You feel the uncontrollable urge to shake your pelt. And shake it again. And again. It's as if there's something you need to shake off but can't.


You gain:

• Crystal (4x)- Used in Firefly's Shoppe, and perhaps elsewhere...
  

Kaija let out a raspy sound that almost resembled a sob. She'd get through this, she had to - and Ophie too. She had a big powerful pack at her heels, couldn't they figure something else? She wasn't a loner like Kaija with nowhere to go and no one to help her... or was she trying to avoid her family in case she got them sick, too? Her heart felt as heavy as the crystal growing out of her eye as she lay there, listening to the sound of their labored breathing. Whatever Ophie was going through sounded horrible, somehow more horrible than her own afflictions. Like she was breathing in fungus. She felt a shiver go through her at the thought. Surely there was something she could do to help her.. but she felt so tired too, and she pressed tighter against Ophie as she coughed. "You'll get better. Maybe we just need to rest," Kaija said, assuring herself as much as Ophie. She loved her too much to see her fade away - she had to live, she just had to.

Kaija

You hear growling and it takes you a few minutes to realize it's you.



You gain:

• Crystals (9x)- Used in Firefly's Shoppe, and perhaps elsewhere...