Haunted Wood Don't get high from your own supply

Liberty Cap. Witch's Hat. Blue Leg. Different names all for the same mushroom that she needed for her ritual. Its powers were immense, especially when mixed with the summoning herbs; she had seen them firsthand when she was in Hag Fen. On its own, however, they were potent in their own right, though not strong enough to help a wolf see past the veil of this world and the next, the Void. She knew this from experience: she had developed a..."fondness" for mushrooms of the hallucinogenic variety. She was no druggie, however, for she was easily able to drop the habit and focus on more important things, such as helping her family survive the famine and Burke's negligance. Now that he was gone, and the food was coming back...

Potema had found what she was certain was Witch's Hat at the edge of the Haunted Wood, perilously close to the edge of the Caldera where the Redhawks lived. Worried that she might be caught by one of their patrols, the witch grabbed a clump of the mushrooms and headed deeper into the Wood where she would not be disturbed. Already, her vision warped as her tongue tasted the juices of the mushrooms.

Once she thought she was safe, she dropped the shrooms, sniffing the air for a brief moment...all alone. Perfect.

She bit into the crown of one fungi, only taking half of the top into her mouth, for a little was all she needed. It took a moment, but Potema felt her body relax as the familar color changes took place: green to purple, blue to red, the scenery warping and bloating slightly as she giggled softly, settling into the grass. A mile away, a bird was chirping mournfully, declaring to all that the hunters weren't going to starve to death now that the herds had returned, and Potema could hear it loud and clear as if the bird was right on her shoulder. She laughed softly, turning her head in the direction of the crier. Yeah...be afraid little birdie. The Dark Brotherhood's gonna kill all you little suckers...

Mordur loved freedom. It seemed the moment he left Sasha's side, he had a new personality. Sure he would miss Sasha, but now he was his own wolf. No one could hurt him anymore, he could hunt for himself and answered to no one. Just how he liked it. Walking through the dark woods, his slick black pelt melted in with his surroundings. He slid past trees, his slumped style of walking gave him the appearance of a snake, twisting its way through the forest. That was until, he heard a voice. A female, and he stopped in his tracks. She was eating mushrooms, and yelling at birds. He though that strange, but he wasn't the judgmental type. You do you.

He snuck up, a respectable length from her but silently he walked. What're those for? He spoke, hazel green eyes watching the white wolf cautiously.

Potema kept herself from taking more of the mushroom, but it was hard to fight between the decreasingly sober part of her body and the irrational, high part of her. She resigned herself to absently nibbling the cap of one of them, taking in small bits of the fungi in between drug-induced giggles. Fucking hontes, She cursed at the kalediscope bird, whose colors and patterns switched everytime she blinked, Stay one color, will ya? Hurtin' my eyes.

She rolled over towards the accented tones, her single eye narrowed at the black wolf curiously. Was he a Dark Brother? He certainly looked like one, with all of his skulking about. Surely he would know that these were for the ritual! To break the boundaries between this world and the next. She quoted her teacher, though with terrible articulation and half-slurred words. Wanna try?

The strange female continued to curse at birds, telling it to stop changing colors. Mordur didn't understand some of what she said, he was still learning, so he was only more confused. It wasn't until she turned to acknowledge him that he noticed she only had one good eye. It didn't diminish her good looks, but was intriguing. When she first locked his gaze, he felt hesitant to reply. It wasn't long ago that he was scared to speak without being spoken to. But that Mordur was gone. The real him could do whatever he wanted. So he didn't bother to bow his head.

She said what the were for, and he didn't get it. Why would anyone want to break the world? Well that was all that he'd gotten out of the sentence anyway. But it sure looked like she was having fun. Wanna try? She offered, speech a bit slurred. Mordur went with the flow, and so he saw no reason to decline her offer. Yes. He said with a grin, walking closer to her and grabbing a mushroom from the ground. He didn't bite into it yet, knowing that some mushrooms were toxic and not wanting to die. What is now? He asked for the next step, hoping she could explain a bit better.

She pouted as the wolf grabbed the mushroom without taking a bite. Why was he so hesistant? Surely a Dark Brother like him would know what it was for. Bite it and you feel good. She summarized the strange floaty feeling her in her body as the wolf expanded and shrunk in front of her. Did all wolves do that? She wasn't sure...she looked at her paws for good measure. She wasn't fluctating like that all.

Mordur didn't understand what could be so fun about this, but she was enjoying herself. He shrugged and bit into the mushroom. For a moment everything was fine, but then the worlds started swirling. Hazel eyes crossed back in forth as the white female turned a strange color he'd only seen on flowers. Poison! She'd poisoned him! Fear ran through him for a moment, but he soon grew calm. This was kind of fun. The world swooping and fogging up. A smiled cracked at his lips, and to keep from falling over, Mordur plopped himself down.

You're move all crazy! He said absently, feeling happy for some reason. These were very happy mushrooms. If only Sasha were here he could show her these.

Charon had strayed further from home than he had intended, but he had found himself inkling with the itch to explore of recent. He actually also felt the desire to stick close to Amekaze at all times, and so it was with a strange itch in his feet that he had moved to explore. As if being pulled in two directions at once.

It was then that he found himself at some creepy-looking woods. He wondered if this was where Potema'd once lived. He hadn't seen her in some time, not since her return, and so he was surprised to find her here, of all places. It was clear then that this was not the woods she called home, for she still belonged there.

Ears perked forward curiously as he watched the pair of them, her and the strange wolf. His tail rose defensively and he carried himself proudly and tentatively as he observed them and queried, confused, "Potema..?" There was something off here.

Potema laughed at the wolf's reaction; it was always startling the first time. She was relatively adept when it came to drug use, though she was no master. Simultaneously aware of her surroundings and lost in the realms of her mind's fantasy, Potema rolled on her side, flayed out in a strange position as she slowly sobered up.

Unluckily for her, she would be caught in an awkward and embarrasing place as Charon, seemingly out of no where, arrived. The witch blinked at her childhood acquaintance slowly, looking at the gray-speckled wolf upside down, her forehead plastered against the grass. Oh...hey...Charon...

Mordur was started to giggle. These mushrooms had something weird in them, definitely. But not a bad weird. It probably wasn't healthy, but he didn't know better. The girl seemed healthy other than the one eye thing, so surely it would be fine. And it was exciting. Swirling colors, and Potema looked even prettier with pink, no blue fur. She flopped onto her side, and Mordur tried to stand, but only flopped down again. It was tiring, trying to stay aloft when he was so dazed.

Another wolf arrived, talking to the girl. Mordur stayed lying down, too dizzy to stand. The woman seemed to know the spotted male, so he wasn't worried. They'd be fine.

Just as he arrived he saw that the male that was with Potema flopped down beside her. She lay there, looking rather uncharming, and he blinked to clear his vision. Yet when he opened his eyes after the last blink she was still there, laying awkwardly splayed on the ground; he'd hoped that he hadn't seen right, but it was beginning to look an awful lot like what he was seeing was the truth.

Her words were awkward, pauses between, and his ears fell back, splayed briefly in confusion and then were pressed forward. "What the fuck are you guys doing?" he asked somewhat harshly but earnestly, thoroughly confused. "I mean, besides the obvious answer of pretending to be fish flopping about on dry land." There was some haughtiness in his voice then, for he considered this behaviour weird and unnatural and he wasn't sure what was causing it. Had Potema gone and lost her mind?

He had caught her in a compromising position. The effects of the mushrooms were still heavy on her mind, trapping her brain in a thick sludge that warped her perception and concept of time. A goofy smile alighted on her face as Charon spoke with confusion and disgust at their condition. Don't need to worry...it'll go 'way soon...I guess... She felt the come down, but it was slow and gradual rather than a hard drop. She couldn't tell when she would be wisked back into reality and reason...and she didn't care either.

Last from me <3

This other wolf seemed mad. Something in the mushrooms clicked, and suddenly it wasn't a white spotted male he was looking at. But a large mahogany furred one. Fear welled up in his eyes as he watched Father get closer, snarling. But he didn't do anything wrong. Sasha was gone, why had Father come? Horrified Mordur stepped away from the two. In his mind, this was all a elaborate plan by the wolves of his homeland to kill him. He would not die today. Without another word and turned and ran from Potema and Charon. Supposedly for his life. His black pelt melted into the background without a trace.

aw, poor mordur <3 want to fade this, alisha?

Charon looked at the other dude with a weird expression on his face as he suddenly seemed to grow fearful. "What's up with dopey over here?" he asked Potema, but no sensible answer came. She just stared at him and said that 'it would go away soon'. He had no idea what she was talking about, but it looked like she had this under control. Though Charon felt protective over his childhood friend, wanting to protect her from whatever'd grabbed a hold of her, he decided to leave it be for now.

"I'll stay with you 'til you feel a bit better," he said, and he sat down on the ground. He hoped that maybe she would fall asleep: he would keep watch over her then, and when she would awaken the next morning he would disappear, so that she'd know she had slept safely as she saw him walk away while avoiding the awkwardness of talking about this in the morning.

Potema, as the colors became muted and the air around her less vibrant and wild, felt a yawn cracking through her lips. And here came the low. She was about ready for a nap, going from a concious dreamland to an unconcious one.

The black wolf who had shared the 'shrooms with her fled, nothing more than a black blur in the corner of her eye. Potema shrugged and put her head down, Charon's voice going farther and farther into the background as she fell asleep.

When she came to, sober and aware, she faintly smelled Charon and the random loner. Charon's scent made the witch cringe; what had she said or done to him while she was high? He was long gone however, and all Potema could do was scoop up the remaining mushrooms and head back to Blackfeather Woods, putting this strange encounter behind her.