(Hope it's ok doing two in one! The new prompt went up when I was almost finished with the mushrooms, so I figured I'd keep the momentum going xD)
I'm retriving the moonshrooms
UsernameMakoto Kino
Art/writing
Novaria rubbed her paws together, gritting her teeth against the sharp sparks of pain that flared through them. The tasks were far from over, and she couldn't risk them seizing up during another long walk. Times like this, she felt having her prosthesis was kind of a help- sure, there was a little achiness around her lower back and all, but she only had to deal with one set of sore legs, not two! And if Grimm's mumblings were anything to go by, there was certainly more to come. More to be concerned about, were they making something? Was it the sort of thing that would go catastrophically wrong if anything was improper?
Her ears went flat as she realized she drifted off during the important part of the speech. She glanced at Grimm, debating whether or not it was... wise to ask them to repeat, but- oh thank goodness. It seemed like she wasn't the only one who kind of mentally wandered off, and Grimm seemed to take some pity on the group. They said something about mushrooms, willows... bird. Bird was Bad. Avoid Bird.
Novaria nodded, stretching her legs before taking off down the path- the same road she'd taken gathering the rocks, actually. The map seemed to show a similar direction, and she was pretty sure she had seen some great formation in the distance, being hauled back up the ravine...
--
The journey was swift. Lonelier, too- it seemed Morticia had wandered off somewhere. But the moon had risen high by now, the fog had faded, the way ahead was bright and clear; even the ravine couldn't inspire fear, now that she could actually see her way down. Which, evidently, was only... two? Three feet? Full of jagged rocks that made excellent footholds, but probably would have hurt terribly, falling into them unprepared. The rocky path led to a copse of trees, shorter and thicker leaved than the ones up above. Thicker with grasses too, and flowers that filled the air with faint sweetness. Even the creaking and groaning of the woods on either side were less ominous, now more like the comforting sound of a creaky well-worn floor, or a rocking chair by a cozy fire. More sounds carried, too- faint whoos and the scuttling of small creatures, surely evading the owl's deadly talons. Rustling grasses, the faint babbling of water.
Novaria grinned, giving a little skip and hustling along, water! Surely willows would have to be nearby, right? The wind picked up, blowing at her back, almost encouraging. Almost singing... something about it seemed musical anyway, a little tune that calmed her heart, something to hum along to--
Until that tune turned into a shriek, sharp as ice in her ears. Novaria froze in place, scanning the area wildly and there, there they were, wasn't that what Grimm had said? Soft, shifting colors and a tune made to lure the victim into complacency. The Cuttlebeaks shrieked again, swooping from the trees.
Novaria ran.
No thought, no direction, she just ran to where the birds weren't, though hopefully- maybe, maybe if she could keep her eyes open-
There!
A yawning shadow between a pair of waving fronds, where the stream turned and ran underground. Novaria splashed through the water, darting into the cave and crouching behind the closest rock she could. She waited there- catching her breath of course, but waiting too to see if the birds were going to continue the chase or not. By the time her heart had calmed and her lungs didn't burn quite so much, it was clear that the Cuttlebeaks hadn't found her worth the fight, so... good, right? She stepped back into the shallow water, taking a better look around the cave before deciding to follow the stream as far as she could. Grimm had said these mushrooms grew deep in the cave, after all.
--
It wasn't terribly long before she saw the faint, silvery stalks poking up from the ground. Novaria gathered up as many as she could (and washed her paws very well in the stream afterwards- didn't hurt to be cautious), turned and followed the stream up and out of the cave- up and along the trees too. The water overpowered the sound of the birds, and she made sure to keep her eyes alert and searching for any hint of the creatures.
It seemed they didn't have any desire to attack such a wary target.
The rest of the journey was swift, and Novaria scrambled back into the clearing, dropping her moonshrooms in the pile with the others, just in time to catch Grimm's voice- another task, already?
xXxXxXx
I'm retriving the flowers
Username Makoto Kino
Art/writing
Grimm was big. That had been Novaria's very first thought, upon entering the clearing.
She was wrong.
Grimm was enormous.
She trembled slightly- between their size and the shine in their eyes, one that was uncomfortably reminiscent of the Cuttlebeaks she'd just faced, it couldn't be helped. But she wouldn't be scared- one, it was just rude, they were an Elder after all. Ancient and powerful, worthy of respect. Second... well, she'd come this far. She didn't want Grimm to think her some kind of coward, not now.
So the tremble that coursed through her upon hearing she had to, quote, charge at full speed into a tree, was entirely unrelated to being frightened. It was just chilly, or irritation- seriously, something like this was Tera's domain, with those huge horns of his.
Or it was fear. Just.. plain old fear of bodily harm and pain. Then again...
"I understand, Elder," Novaria said, dipping her head politely. "I... it was... startling to hear. But you wouldn't be telling us to do this without good reason, would you?"
She turned, taking off down the marked path before they had a chance to answer.
--
The terrain west of Grimm's clearing was... interesting. Started as thick forest, much as everything else had, but the trees seemed thinner, less packed together. Spindly, needley little things that all seemed to bend a little bit towards the top, like they'd been subjected to strong winds through all their long lives; thin forest that grew shorter and thinner with every mile lost underneath Novaia's feet. Slowly, the trees became more shrub and brush, tall grasses; the ground almost stony. Drier and crumblier, nothing like the dense, damp marshground she'd grown so used to already.
Novaria swallowed, slowing her pace and looking around. They had said the canyon was beyond the forest- far beyond, but... well, a tree. It seemed like she'd passed all the trees, and her paws were on fire- maybe she should have waited a little bit, rested before bolting right off into the next task. Should have gotten something to eat, too...
No, not now. This wasn't the time to get all stuck in that loop- if she made a mistake, she made a mistake, and she'd have to deal with that. What would be worse- being last to the task, or screwing up something that was clearly so important to Grimm? Novaria sighed, lowering her head and turning...
What was that?
Something just at the edge of her vision as she moved. Just a flicker, but- there. Just in the distance, a tall tree on the horizon, covered in what almost seemed like a thick snow, but she knew had to be flowers. A dogwood, perhaps? she thought once she had managed to get close. Not right up to it yet, but enough that every breath was heady with the tree's scent, almost enough to make her a little light-headed.
Of course, that could have been the exhaustion... or hunger.
Well, she could deal with that later. Would deal with it later, she promised herself. Novaria took a deep breath, lining herself up with the trunk and closing her eyes, charging ahead so quickly that by the time she acknowledged no nope NOT DOING THIS and opened her eyes to know where to swerve-
the sky above seemed somewhere between dawn and dusk, twinkling with barely-visible stars. Almost like a pool, a perfect circle ringed by jagged stone peaks. The sight was nearly vertigo-inducing, so Novaria turned her gaze to the ground. Which... well. It didn't help the sensation that the sky and sea had somehow switched places, but it certainly took her breath away.
All around- from wall to wall, save the tiny patch of grass before the tree she'd entered- was nothing but flowers; lilies that shimmered and shone with every color Novaria could name, some she couldn't, some that seemed like they could exist, perhaps, only in a dream.
Aurorae's Heart indeed, she thought, carefully tracing the petals of the closest flower with a toe. A shiver ran up her spine, and Grimm's voice echoed in her mind- these flowers carried power. Almost laughable, but here... even through her life among the clouds, this was... 'enchanted' was too weak a word.
Sacred, perhaps. That barely began to cover it.
Novaria carefully snipped the flower's stem, careful not to cut too short or too long, leaving enough stem in the ground, that the bloom should regrow in time.
"Um... ... thank you? It... it feels like I should be saying thank you," she said, looking around the valley. "I hope whatever we're doing back there, it'll do right by you."
--
The return journey was. Agony? No, that seemed a bit too strong- but it hurt. She'd felt fine in the valley, but after exiting the portal tree (hey, stranger things could happen)? Every muscle felt stretched to its breaking point, and she was pointedly aware, now, that she had picked up a good slice on her left paw pad at some point, leaving her half-limping the entire time back. And then there was the flower, carried delicately in her mouth- she didn't trust it surviving the satchel, and there was nothing in the entirety of all planes of existence that would make it worth facing Grimm with a crushed, wilted flower; not when getting another one was completely out of the question.
Just a little further- the shrubs slowly grew taller, and she was within the forest again. The moon had grown low in the faintly lightening sky; was barely a sliver by the time the ground became pleasantly soft underfoot. Every blink was a struggle to keep her eyes open, every step a beg for rest, but she couldn't slow- couldn't think of resting, because there was no way she'd be getting back up for a while once she was down.
--
Was dawn close? Novaria wasn't sure. All she could focus on was the towering figure in the empty clearing, the shimmering- comforting?- green glow and swirling wisps.
She made herself stand before Grimm, dropping the flower at their feet and looking up into their eyes- one set at least. Perhaps she should say something... but all that came out was an enormous yawn.
Incredibly rude. But she had been the one running around all night, and she brought the flower back safe and sound. "I'll... consequence later. Sorry. Got your flower. Gonna nap," she mumbled, staggering off to her little corner of the glade, munching down the remains of a pretzel before curling up with the snake plushie, sound asleep before even another minute had passed.