Jade Fern Grove I was wild, chasing stones.

@Julien

It was well past midnight when she finally made it to somewhere secluded, but even so, she could not fathom sleep; her coat was a mess, she had not eaten anything since before her visit to Elysium, and her spirits were quite low. Somehow Ibis was too energized despite the worn feeling of her body, likely she was overtired and made manic by it, and so she paced within the confines of the forest. The ferns trembled softly as she moved through them in the dark — besides that, all was still and quiet.

She had thought about returning to the Lost Creek to ask after her mother. Maybe Seabreeze and Olive had left the mountainside because of the quaking earth and found safety there, with her father? 'Find them tomorrow, ask them tomorrow,' she thought to herself, reciting it as  mantra: 'tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow...' Yet she could not shake the feeling that it was futile, this attempt to find them, if that's what this was. Ibis wasn't sure if she was comfortable returning there after some thought, but she would put off her decision until the morning.

As she trailed through one thicket of forest or another, she came upon a gap in the trees that could've been caused by the recent struggle of the earth. Trees braced by trees, roots pulled up or split, and a clearing in the canopy overhead that seemed out of place to her. Ibis lingered on the edge of the forest clearing with some caution, wondering if it was safe — but nothing shook, and barely anything moved even with the billowing northwind overhead. So, she began to investigate and gradually cross the open expanse of disheveled dirt and exposed greenery.

She got partway when the gleaming moon made an appearance. The heavy clouds parted long enough to produce a spotlight of silver, shifting all the colors around her in to a myriad of argent tones; the cream of her coat paled further, and the warm accents took on a sheen for a brief interval. The girl sighed, watching the heavens with a heavy heart and burdened mind.