Great Bear Wilderness Night and Day, Day and Night (DISCOVERY THREAD)

@Kipling

Night was indistinguishable from day here. The forest canopy was thick, blocking the forest floor from most of the sun. Vines choked the trees, stretching higher and higher, trying to reach the sun by killing off the plants they attached themselves to. Everywhere there was competition for a precious resource, even the animals were fighting.

Up in the trees she heard the angry caws of carrion birds. Sometimes she saw the trees above shake as black forms darted through the trees. Once a bird fell onto the ground, back breaking instantly, cawing feebly as it died. What a perfect place to start a pack dedicated to Mephala. She could sense her goddess relishing the chaos, deception and murder that reveled here. Once Jinx died of her horrid disease she would move here, with the silver moon-mad wolf and whoever else she could muster. She would begin Mephala's influence.

At first she thought she was dreaming, and even after some minutes Kipling was not entirely sure she was physically there. The wood seemed to be closed off from the rest of the world, in fact it had swallowed her whole. She stepped around in loose circles, uncertain where her last step lead and finding herself back to where she'd began. The heavy stench of bog filled her senses, the taste so thick on her tongue--or had that been the mushrooms? Something was wrong, she shouldn't have been here. She could not place how or why she'd step into this nightmare, her memory seemed hazy and fragmented.

Mushrooms had never done this to her before, but these had been different. She remembered a cavern from before, drawn in by a strange light. It had been like tumbling into a rabbit hole, and Kipling was far from amused at where this portal had lead her. Despite the prick of terror she felt at her mishap, it was hard to focus on one feeling for too long. The loner could not help but to whip her head up, her attention pulled to sound of bickering birds and staggering in place, out of her senses, she was completely oblivious to the wolf just beyond.

Ugh, short post.

The priestess had seen so many familiar faces in the forest as of late. First MoonBane, or should she say, Keith. Then Red, the quiet coywolf. And finally the lone wolf from the meadows. Though this female looked rather disoriented. Yes the other lost souls here were often like that, freaking out since they were lost and scared, but she looked different.

Meldresi approached the staggering wolf warily, barking softly to get her attention.

The bark clattered into her ears seeming a lot louder to her in volume than it actually was. Drawn by the contrast it made against the consistent screeching of crows Kipling pivoted herself around, briefly losing her sense of balance as she struggled to make sense of the alarming sound. Her eyes narrowed unable to pick out the other creature from within the eternal shadow the forest had been cast in. It was then that she made out two wide violet eyes in the dark and at once felt unnerved, the body that they belonged to invisible to her own hazy vision. Hackles shooting upwards the anxious growl in her throat turned to laughter (for a brief moment she considered this hilarious) but just as quickly return to a savage rumble.

Going to have an NPC attack Kipling and Meldresi

Morrígan perched on her throne-nest, gazing through her single eye at the young hunter who had proved himself to be more like a warrior in the last battle. Young Feichín, a boy who seemed bored in the hunt and chase of animals, had relished in the hunt and chase of crows. Noticing his prowess in fighting, she changed him from hunting training to warrior. Bertrand, her second in command, instructed him to patrol the western borders with three other ravens, Guntram, Byrne, and Hrókr.

Feichín, his chest swelled with pride, leaped into the air promptly, followed by the three older warriors. Once in formation, he scanned the ground, looking out for any signs of crows, bobcats, cougars, or wolves. Nearby he heard the angry caws of warriors nearby. He squawked impatiently. "Let's go help!"

"No," Guntram growled. "Our Lady instructed us to patrol the borders. What if the crows invade our borders and no one can alert our main force?" Feichín went silent and kept searching the ground until he saw them.

"Wolves!" he hissed before diving down, aiming for the gray and cream one.

If it was possible, her eyebrows would have raised suspiciously at the gray and tan wolf. She was drugged on something, evidently. At first she growled at her, but then she laughed before growling again. Meldresi was about to speak before she heard the caw of a raven or crow. Meldresi yelled "Watch out!", knocking the wolf over, turning to snap at the raven angrily.

The sudden attack was so unexpected and yet Kipling swore it lasted years longer than the seconds it took. It was safe to say she certainly didn't see it coming, caught between trying to decide if she should laugh again when the eyes lunged forward towards her. In her right mind she might have snarled in fear but remained stupefied while she was bowled off her feet by the mass of shadow, all while straining to figure out what was happening in the dark.

Landing on her side in a heap of confusion she breathed sharply as she yelped. Kipling was able to acknowledge the familiar scent and the stench of birds. It helped it shake her somewhat out of her high, though she was far from being done with this unintentional mushroom trip. Glaring up at the sky, unsure where the birds where fluttering to or if the dark she-wolf was beating them off still she rushed to her paws in a hurry, maw wrinkling with frustration and a vague flare of embarrassment.

Feichín jumped back, a few loose feathers coming off in the dark female's jaws. His companions swooped down beside him, forming a protective barrier around him. Guntram, the leader of the bunch, spoke for them.

"We didn't mean any harm. This idiot acted all by himself." Guntram glared at the young warrior.

Byrne swatted young Feichín with his wing. "Nice going, idiot."

Feichín sulked into his feathers. He was only trying to help.

Meldresi looked angrily at the young raven, but inwardly sighed in relief. At least they weren't be targetted by the birds. The crow leader had already threatened them to leave, but she and the ravens were on shaky terms. She dipped her head towards the raven in front. "Thanks, I understand."

Her gaze went back to the drugged wolf. She nudged her with her nose, trying to get her attention. "Come, you can sleep this off with me. Can you understand me?"

The birds were talking now? She could understand them? Kipling wasn't sure what to think at that point flustered by the attack of the ravens, but even more frazzled that they spoke the common tongue of wolves. (She didn't really socialize outside of her own species.) Or perhaps the mushrooms had given her super-wolf abilities and she was now able to translate the chatter she'd had often listen to float down from the treetops. But then why did the dark she-wolf understand them as well? It was difficult to keep her train of though coherent she could hardly hush the snarl of surprise stuck on her face; she hoped it wasn't permanent.

Though the growl wasn't direction at Meldresi it rose in pitch at the nudge Kipling received, but she didn't move to snap or attack. She'd save that for the feather-brains if they dared to do another dive-bomb on the pair. Shaking her head as if that would clear the fog in her brain she paused a beat longer than was comfortable before answering Meldresi, Duh. She had many many questions to ask before she'd succumb to sleep though, and pointedly left her bleary eyes fixated on the shifting shadows in the trees.

Just going to skip over the NPCs, so assume they just flew off. (trying to hurry this along > _ >)

With the ravens gone for the time being, she turned back to the drugged wolf. A quick look at her eyes told her that the effects of whatever the wolf ingested was slowly wearing away, bit by bit. She was now a bit coherent. Kind of.

"What in Oblivion did you eat?" she wondered what kind of plants resided in this sunless forest. Certainly there would be an abundance of fungi, that might be the case. But that swamp to the south, what could lie in there? There was more sunlight in that place than anywhere else (though it still looked very eerie).

Heads. Wait that was wrong, her brows furrowed. No... shrooms. Why had she said heads? She wanted to laugh at her mistake, as she typically would have, but was still contemplating her confusion with a wide quizzical expression. There was way too much going on for her fogged mind to take in, especially since Meldresi continually became a pair of floating eyes shifting back into a whole wolf. Obviously it was the mushrooms making the illusion, but the deep darkness of the woods did not help her efforts to see the wolf.

Attempting to navigate around a lifted root and nearly stumbling her head turned towards the direction she was attempting to drag her body along towards. Glowing heads in the caves. Glowing mushrooms, she corrected herself internally unable to place the thought on her tongue.

Mushrooms. Glowing mushrooms. While she heard of certain creating that type of effect on a wolf, she never knew that the glowing ones did anything similar. Well, she hadn't even heard of glowing mushrooms until a few days ago. She had no antidote for it, not until she experimented on someone in order to find it. But until then, she could try using a normal remedy to help her.

"Follow me, I think I can help." she murmured, trying to think if the normal antidote of Great Blue Lobelia, Yarrow and poppy seeds would calm her down, or at least get the mushrooms out of her system.

The swarthy woman didn't have to ask Kipling twice. Confused and vulnerable under the effects of the fungi, she had no problem keeping close to the female. An undercurrent of fright kept her on her toes, without being high this woodland freaked her out enough that she would have feared never being released from them. At least Meldresi would be kind enough to offer her aid and hopefully an exit when she was coherent enough to be by herself, where she would flee and never return to this nightmare.

Her nose nearly glued to the ebony she-wolf's hip, she followed without another word.