Introducing...
"Aaaand the freaky reality warping begins," snorted a Lambie as he and his companions made their way up the path. Tera's bright glow made for a useful beacon though, allowing the others to follow through the thick trees without too much issue.
"At least we expected it this time," Novaria replied, careful to duck any low-hanging branches or snaggling thorns- their costume was close fitting, certainly, but still! They'd worked hard getting it all put together, even if it was relatively simple; a black and white shirt and pants combination, the only real identifying feature being a cap reading 'SR2'. So far, no one else had gotten it. Which they'd expected.
"Most of us expected," Fi corrected, leaping over a rather large stone in her way. "Are we going the right way? I thought we were supposed to be at a meadow, not... this." She drew up close to Tera, glad for his light- her lantern wasn't making a lot of difference, and being wrapped up in a bunch of tattered black rags and a black cape made the walk about as perilous as Novaria's. "And weren't we all supposed to be in a costume?"
"I am!" Tera protested, tapping the pink shades over his eyes- for once, ever so sightly different, these had actual lenses. "Any of you know your mythology? Party God? See, even Byte's been helping, look!" And indeed, the tailmouth had contorted into a rather odd position, looking rather like a... heart? "Beside, Nova's not even wearing a mask-"
"I couldn't find any that fit! I thought the hat would be enough!"
"Point is, at least I've got something over my face," Tera muttered.
“It is the most effort I’ve ever seen you put into one, I’ll give you that,” Fi said, giving Tera a nudge as she stepped forward, setting her lantern down and sniffing the air. “... and we are definitely lost. We should be able to smell a fire now, right?”
“You’d think,” Novaria said with a frown. They turned, slowly, peering through the dark cluster of trees. “Yeah, it just smells like... forest.” They paused, ears going back as they sniffed again. “Frosty forest, actually- has it snowed any time recently?”
“Aw, you know how this stuff works,” Tera said, waving a paw as he crept ahead, eyes alert for anything interesting. “This is probably part of the thing, like, we need to hunt down clues or directions... hey, yeah, like this!” He waved the other two closer, still staring at his discovery, a patch of ice that seemed to shine with its own pale, eerie light.
Or rather, patches; from thin faintly sparkling dustings of frost, to one misshapen lump that bore the weight of all three lambies before collapsing, it seemed almost to be... almost some sort of path? The trio followed, carefully, until it ended, abruptly, before...
“Sculpture, you think?” Novaria asked, squinting at the shapes that rose from the ground. They weren’t strange in and of themselves, simply an arch and a spire... but made of gently glowing ice? In the middle of the forest?
“Weird place for art, but maybe...” Tera simply glanced at the ice, instead putting his nose to the ground and kneading a chilled leaf under one paw. “There’s... it almost smells like smoke now? Or cedar? But forest, so like that makes sense, right, but it’s not like a forest smell...”
Fi hung slightly back, only half listening to Tera’s mumbling to himself. From the distance, little as it was, she noticed something else... unusual. The thin moonlight was just enough to indicate some sort of.. outline, almost. A suggestion of a shape that seemed different from the fallen trees and snarled moss they’d encountered so far. Something-
“You might not want to d-!” Fi’s eyes widened, her warning all for nothing as Novaria tapped a paw, ever so lightly, against the spire- which now /shone/, dazzling and disorientating the trio. Tera recovered first, but still had to squint, even with his shades, only just making out what was happening.
The spire and arch rose- along with a circle of floating, colourful ice crystals, circling just above the massive head that had been buried under the leaves.
An enormous head with enormous eyes- and some on the body as well.
“... anyone have ‘accidentally crawl all over an Elder on harvest-fest bingo?” Tera whispered, the three lambies clustered as close as they could get. Novaria and Fi shook their heads, unable to look away. The figure before them couldn’t be anything but; their immense stature was sign enough. They were the same deep blue-black of a winter sky, glittering with tiny motes of frost, a mane and tail like clouds wisping about them- and throwing off faint rainbow halos in the right light.
The elder stretched and yawned, though never without looking away from the three lambies frozen in place just ahead. But the strange gaze seemed kind enough- and so was their voice, when they spoke. “Don’t tell me- I fell asleep on the way, didn’t I?”
“O... on the way?” Novaria ventured.
“Mm-hm. Festival of dreams- thought I could make it in person this year,” the Elder said. They sighed, a breath that left a thick layer of ice over a few treetops. “But no, I suppose I couldn’t... well, nothing to be done about that. Tell me, if one of you would be so kind? When is it now?”
“We’re on our way to the harvest festival,” Fi said, stepping slightly forward and craning her neck.
The elder grinned, clapping their great paws together. “Only just started, I take it? Oh thank goodness, I promised- well, there’s someone I meant to meet there this year. Oh, but costume, costume...”
Novaria and Fi exchanged nervous giggles, while Tera simply shook his head. “Seriously- normal festivities aren’t going to be a thing any more, are they? Like, alright, era of active elders is neat but /wow/-“
“There! How’s this look? Though I think I might need something more... well, first things first.” The Elder didn’t wait for a response, instead carefully picking their way through the trees. “Come along! I imagine you three got lost- I can find the way though...”
—-
“And that’s why we’re late.” Tera fiddled with a stick on the ground, preferring to look at Sybil rather than his grandmother, who had gotten there perfectly on time, dressed in a simple black and red-lined robe. “Oh, and uh... I’m Tera. Dressed as...” he mumbled the rest of the words, poking at the cheap red, plastic crystals around his wrists, a matching one over his neck as well. “A party god. Look it seemed funny at the time...”
Novaria stepped forward, giving Sybil a polite nod. “I’m Novaria. Or Joker tonight, I guess,” they said with a small smile.
“Fi,” said Fi, grimacing as she realized she’d left her lantern in the woods. “I’m.. um. The Beast.”
The three followed Primrose as others introduced themselves, the older Lambie seating herself by one of the smaller fires.
“Tera...” Prim shook her head, sighing. “You can admit just your squabbling delayed you, there’s no shame in that. Really, you expect me to believe you three stumbled, quite literally, into an... Eld...” She trailed off, as several other conversations hushed, many turning towards the camp entrance to, in fact, see a rather ice-encrusted elder emerging into the clearing.
“Sorry to take off like that! I couldn’t find anything, after all. Oh, and my name is Nocturne, I never introduced myself, did I? Hope ‘ice dragon’ counts for a proper costume, it was a bit last minute...”
