1x1 with quillinx

[inactive20000009]

Asperity

Perrine snorted. "She had them imported over the ocean, and they were so strange-- I don't know what on earth went into them, it must have been a combination of random plants and what smelled like really strong wine." She shrugged, following her companion's gaze as he looked up. To her surprise, the evening had darkened into a star-studded night, the sprays of glowing dots seeming somehow unreal-- too bright and twinkling to be quite real, at least in areas affected by humans' light pollution. Perrine felt an eerie tingle go down her spine as she realized that night had fallen, and pricking her ears she heard quiet night-noises coming from all around her. Night is always much more dangerous than day, I've found... and who knows what will happen at night in a place like this? I'll have to keep on high alert. But despite her sudden fear, she also felt a thrill of excitement. But maybe what this place is like at night will give us a hint about how to solve the riddle! Resolving to pay extra-close attention to their surroundings, she turned her attention back to the conversation.

"Oh." She honestly had forgotten about that-- the humans' holiday that had proven so popular with domesticated viscets that it had spread throughout most viscet societies, in various forms and levels of sophistication. Apparently, there was some kind of universal, inter-species appeal in confessing one's attraction with badly-written poetry and gobbling sweet things wrapped up in ribbons. "You're right." Glancing sideways at the other, she inquired politely, "D'you have a sweetheart, then?"

[Lillybear]

Riddle

Riddle turned to Asperity and couldn't help but blush at the question. "N-no, not really. Do you?"

[inactive20000009]

Asperity

Perrine raised an eyebrow, honestly surprised by his answer. Huh? Really? I mean, I'm not going to express surprise, that would be rude, but really? I mean, he's pretty nice, a bit mysterious, and definitely handsome-- all the girls would totally go for a guy like him... It was something that Perrine knew all too well, after all, there had been several times she'd lost a crush of hers to some straight guy with a guitar. But I'm not going to be bitter on Valentine's Day, that would be far too cliché of me, after all.

"Me neither," she said, curling her tail around herself and smiling a little self-deprecatingly. "My lifestyle doesn't really leave room for stuff like that. Most viscets want someone who will stick around and spend a lifetime together, not someone who spends all their time traveling around, right?"

[Lillybear]

Riddle

"Well, I guess. But if I ever found a Viscet that I love - who loves me back -
I wouldn't care if they'd travel all the time, as long as they were mine. If I
didn't support them, it wouldn't really be love, would it?"

[inactive20000009]

Asperity

"You sound like my sister," Perrine said warmly, flicking her tail as the cheerful, sturdy face of her sibling Amelia came to mind. Just one more reason to get out of this mess... Amelia would never let me live it down if I got killed, or worse, just because of some stupid riddle. She'd come to meet me in heaven just so she could tell me how uncool that is... She sighed. It's pretty uncool. "Amelia always said stuff like that, like if you find the right person they wouldn't mind something like that. But... I admit, it's not entirely worry for the other person that keeps me from entering a relationship. I also think... to fall in love with someone, and then to leave them at home while I go out into the wide world, would be nothing short of heartbreaking. I feel certain that my heart would not be strong enough to take it, and I would give up my explorations in order to be with the one I love." She shrugged. "And I don't want to give up traveling, so I'm avoiding falling in love, if that's at all possible. Seems to be working so far, although you never know what might happen, of course."

She ended her ramble staring off into the distance over her companion's shoulder, looking straight at the spot that-- she could just barely tell-- was the mouth of the cave, somehow a little blacker than the black of the night all around them. Hmm... this is a deep conversation to enter with someone I barely know... but maybe he'll trust me more now that I-- Suddenly, she sat up poker-straight, her ears shooting forward so fast it actually hurt a bit. "Hey! Did you see that!?" she gasped, gesturing to the mouth of the cave. It's gone now, but... just a moment ago! I'm sure I saw a flash of... something...!

[Lillybear]

Riddle

Riddle glanced sideways at Asperity. "If I ever fell for someone who traveled,
I wouldn't see a reason not to go with them," he said, trying to comfort her.
"Besides, I don't think you can avoid something as powerful as love."

He watched as she grew tense, staring at something wide-eyed.
"Hey! Did you see that!?" she asked, as if out of breath.
Riddle turned, but saw nothing but the cave. He stood,
and asked, "No, what's wrong?"

[inactive20000009]

Asperity

"Hm," said Perrine doubtfully, sinking back onto her haunches slightly and keeping a close gaze on the ink-black cave entrance. "I thought I saw something... just a flash of white, like the corner of a sheet or something." She peered intently at the area, turning around slowly to survey the entire area, and then gasped again. "There! Look!" There was no way her companion could miss it this time: there was another indistinct whitish shape, lurking just beyond the trees of the forest pathway, that hovered just long enough to make its presence known before fading away into nothing.

[Lillybear]

Riddle

Riddle quickly averted his attention to the gaping forest path.
Once his eyes locked with the shape for just that single second,
his whole body tensed and his ears perked up. "What..?"

[inactive20000009]

Asperity

Perrine backed closer to her companion as more of the white shapes began appearing, blurry but definitely there and moving closer to them with every second that passed. Some of them were just indistinct blobs, but others had the shape of animals-- foggy wolves and deer stalked through the trunks of the trees, snakes hissed from the depths of the cave, and indistinct birds made slow circles above the cliff gap. Others seemed to take the shape of a human, or even mythical beasts-- and Perrine's blood chilled as she thought she saw the shape of a viscet or two amongst the ghostly crowd.

"W-what do we do?" she gasped, looking back and forth in fear. While normally level-headed in a crisis, the appearance of anything she couldn't explain through logic shook Perrine deeply. Glancing up at the sky above, she saw that the gibbous moon indicated that the time was near midnight-- or, perhaps, approaching exactly midnight.

[Lillybear]

Riddle

"W-what do we do?" Asperity trembled. Riddle shifted
into a prowling position, and let out a growl deep from
within the back of his throat. He flicked his tail around
Asperity, and spat, "Stay back.." He sniffed the air, but
all he could smell was the cold night air.