skill: ranger

The two twins had been traveling with one another since the encounter with... Whatever it was. Albeit the air between them still ached with an awkward tension. There had been small interactions between the two since the incident with their Bubushka (Grandmother), but nothing extravagant. It was clear that Aelia still cared for Amaris even through her unresolved feelings of being left out. It was her instinct to throw herself in front of the Moon when things seemed dire. It didn't matter if they'd been parted from one another for centuries; the Sun would always chase the Moon.

And through the fire and flames of this new, unraveling curse, and their homeland evolving into a toxic wasteland — all of it seemed so insignificant. In the end, she missed her twin, and with all this madness spreading, who knew how much longer the two of them might have with one another. She believed that there was a cure and that the Five guided them in the quest for runes, but hope was starting to dwindle. Dehydration was setting in; it was getting to push herself up each morning and resist the rushing of the noxious river nearby. Even with them treading further and further away, the rush remained in her ears.

Though today, they were lucky — at least, due to the rain. It provided a fresh swell of water in small puddles away from the river. Of course, there was no way to know if the ground was seeped with malignant intent, but the Daystar couldn't fathom a care. If it looked slightly clearer than the water from the river, she was slurping it up. Dirt covered her maw, patches of burnt skin tattered across her lower legs from being too close to the river and lake, bags underneath her eyes, and her usual lunar eyes bloodshot. She looked like a mess, and felt like it too.

Amaris, drink. Even if she wanted to resist, at this point, she couldn't, and urged her twin to indulge as well. It had to be better than the river, and if they didn't get some water soon, she feared they might both perish. I think the whole river is poisoned, we're going to have to find another water source or... The reality of it all was setting in. It wouldn't be much longer before wolves started dying. They needed to find something soon, otherwise, they were going to have to leave the Respite. And even worse, somehow convince their mothers as well.

Amaris

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Skill: Soothsayer

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Despite the miles they traveled, past the trees and the river that often whispered their name, Amaris could not get the sloshing sound of dripping filth from his mind. It was a symphony behind his regular thoughts, tinkering of grime and dirt, slapping and dripping against his conscious mind. Evil, he thought, the words so carelessly thrown out into the chasm of his thoughts.

Evil, he mumbled, corrupt, vile, evil.

His gaze was cast toward his feet, his paws a mismatched collection of silver spotted fur that pleaded to be seen through the mounds of mud and muck that now peppered his legs and toes. The rain, although comforting to some smaller portion of his mind, went unnoticed as he blinked within his stupor.

Evil…evil…evil.

They were quite literally the only words the moon could mumble since their dance with death not long ago.

Not even the tension that rippled between him and his twin, singing softly down their blood-infused bond, could rip him from his twisting mind.

‘Amaris, drink.’

He startled, jerking spontaneously as his head whipped toward the red-rimmed gaze of her own. Huh? He choked out as his own gaze would widen and blink before turning to spot the puddle she spoke of.

Amaris could do nothing more than groan as the flipping of his belly all but gurgled in defiance. He didn’t wanna. Really, he didn’t want to. The mere thought of consuming anything made his head sing in nauseating silence.

But for Aelia, he would.

Reluctantly and accompanied by a disinterested groan, he forced himself to take the tiniest of laps, feeling the cooler water send shockwaves down his raw and burning throat. The water no longer tasted hydrating, its liquid shockingly not as crisp and tasty as the poisonous pool that lived within the respite. Odd how such things changed.

After the whopping two licks he had taken and the nausea that followed swiftly after, Amaris turned to Aelia with a quiet, bated breath that hung heavy between his lips. We are surrounded by evil, he murmured toward his twin, his gaze ricocheting across the dead and dying land around them. Evil, Aelia, He mumbled, It’s consuming…everything.

skill: seer - skill logged

It had been a quiet trip for the most part; Amaris still seemed to be in shock from their encounter with what seemed to be The Devil — or something akin to it. Aelia couldn't deny the fact that she had been scared shitless too. Before the warning of the static wolf, she had been frozen in fear; it tickled the part of her brain from when she was young, and Sreda had frightened her on the night of the blood moon. A chorus of whispers emitted from Amaris, but honestly, she was too exhausted and dehydrated to focus on them. She was having a hard enough time pushing out the sloshing of the river. The farther they got, it didn't seem to affect how it rushed in her ears and promised to fill her belly with all of its watery-goodness —

She swallowed the dirty water with haste, trying to forget about the intrusive thoughts that beckoned from afar. The Daystar lifted her maw, Drink. It was more of a command this time, her lunar eyes stern on Amaris. There were a few solemn licks to the pool from him, but she really couldn't ask for more. The more she sucked down the sicker she felt, but she couldn't tell if that was due to her drinking so quickly or the fact it contained something toxic within. Either way, it was enough to gag her for a moment, confirming she wasn't going to be drinking anymore of the water.

The land around them echoed with Amaris' words; the usual flora of spring having wilted all way as if fall were on the brink — but spring had just gotten here, the stillness, none of the usual liveliness around the river like usual, a source of water for all now just bubbled lonely with thick ooze. His words were seeping into her, emotions already in turmoil, both twins' auras splashing with black and green, Amaris... Her voice weak, Evil is here... It's true... She couldn't deny it, even her own eyes flickered to each of the symbols of corruption that danced around them, But so are we. Before the thoughts could overtake either of them again, Aelia joined her shoulder against Amaris, much like when they were two young kids running behind the waterfall, As long as we're together... We can do this... The Five will guide us... She hoped — prayed.

Don't give up hope. If he did, how long would she last?

Rune Discovery : 「 Failure 」 

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Don't lose hope.

Hope - such a precious, precious thing. Was that hope doubled considering the heavy bond of twins? Or was it instead stretched between them, more fragile and finite than ever?

Kkkrirkkkkkk (Drrrrrrinkkkkkkk) The sound began like the rushing of the river, a bubbling sound as it lapped at its banks. Was it the river itself, trying to coerce you? The instinctive trust makes it so hard to fight, knowing that there is something bizarre to the way the poisoned liquid had tasted better than anything and yet it had hurt so badly. Such was the price to pay.

To get something, you have to give something - even as the world shatters itself and breaks apart, some laws must be upheld. yia muk kir, yia muk lyl agon - yia muk! (you must drink, you must try again - you must!) The haunting tones slip past all defenses, there is no deity to save you - not now. The only one who can help is you.

The chill of the words echoing in your mind spreads slowly until all your limbs feel heavy. Though it is spring and life blooms, you feel frozen to the spot for time. It ends as it begins - slowly, but then the soft cadence can be caught. surth elsahire (search elsewhere)

Yes - hope. Hope that somewhere else, you will find success.

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Skill: Soothsayer

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A subtle whine escaped his lips as his gaze continued to swallow the dying scenery around him. Where once that howling river of blue would cry with a song of life, now it all but seemed to wail with a sense of dread. A dread that Amaris could feel needling its way within his abdomen. His gaze skittered to the side, flashing along the wilted flowers of a bloom that could not grow—and from beyond their shadowed corpses, he could’ve sworn the image of his veiled friends returned.

The shadows of his Demonic little friends skittered like bugs across his vision, consuming his peripherals as they so often did. But unlike the past, these times their wilted and spindly forms did not come toward him—rather, they seemed to scatter into the dead vegetation around them. Fleeing. From a terror he could not place but knew far too well.

Aelia’s voice brought him back, as if she were the lighthouse that guided his sinking ship to shore. He turned to glance at her with the quiet drawing of his ears. Hope, he mumbled through a dry chuckle, leaning into her form beside his own. Are we sure it is not the Five that is punishing us now? He asked.

And much like the clockwork to his disheartened string of words, that feeling of intrusion began again. First, as a rapping against his mental door, and then as a booming voice, as the Other flooded through him.

Drink, it commanded of them, and Amaris all but whined against his sister’s silhouette.

He didn’t want to.

Not now. Not again.

Already, that itching in his throat was commanding, crawling along a bloody rawness he could not quite explain but one he knew was clearly pain. He dove his head into Aelia’s neck, as if the grounding of her body could save him too, while a whine echoed from between his clenching teeth. Aelia, he whispered past the voice, we need…to leave...

If he stayed any longer, Amaris could not trust himself to avoid the oozing water. Not until it devoured him from the inside out.