there'll be oats in the water

[singmod]

JULY 2024 EVENT

PROMPT ONE — THE AURORA: REDUX: A storm finally arrives, and with it — Enola extends her hand to help the Interlopers once more, granting them new abilities.

PROMPT TWO — PENSIVE LOOKOUT: With the Forest Talker efforts focused on sabotaging hunting efforts, Interlopers can attempt to explore the Pensive Lookout Tower, where they can uncover secrets from the diary of Sam Bouchard — the former firewatch worker of the summer of 2014.

PROMPT THREE — A PEEK INSIDE: A group of Interlopers get their hands on one of the Forest Talkers in search of answers — and get a little more than they bargained for.

THE AURORA: REDUX

WHEN: Mid-month, for three days.
WHERE: Everywhere.
CONTENT WARNINGS: supernatural/extreme weather; lightning storms; potentially disturbing dreams; dreams of being trapped in ice; dreams of animal death; dreams of the death of loved ones.


July brings warmer weather. The fog has lifted, and the daylight returned — but an odd kind of pressure lingers in the air, the kind that feels similar with oncoming storms but something still feels off about it all. Measurements and readings are erratic, with them often making little sense. It’s hard to predict just what might be coming, but sure enough something is coming.

Hold on a little longer, Enola told you. A storm is coming.

It comes quickly, the gathering of storm clouds. At first, it looks as if a kind of snowstorm is moving in, but there’s something else at play here. Within the grey, cloudy skies, there is a tell-tale sound of an Aurora mixed within those clouds.

And with it, in amongst the dark, the swirling colours. Greens, pinks and purples weaving through the clouds, almost mesmerising to watch. The air is alive with sound: static noise, cracks and pops: a storm and the Aurora mixed into one. For those who’ve been here long enough, it’s a worrying, unnerving sight. The storm rumbles with the low roar of distant thunder, growing ever closer. The electronics of the world begin to come alive, and in the static of it all — you begin to hear Enola’s voice even clearer than before.

After so much darkness, now there is so much light. A lightning storm — aurora colours mingling with the grey clouds, punctured with crackles of lightning. Something powerful and strange — flash forking across the skies, followed by booms of thunder.

The storm lasts three days, and even though her voice is soft — you hear it over all the noise, nestled gently in your ear.

“You're still here. It means something. This isn’t the end, I refuse to let it be the end. It can’t win. You won’t go into the Dark.” Enola tells you. ”I will make you more than what you are, more than what was stolen from you. This place will not be your end. I have to try. We have to try. Together. I showed some of you, once. I’ll show you again.”

She tells you to sleep. For some, they recognise this and realise what may end up happening. For others it feels like going out on a limb. But you sleep, and perhaps a dream may come to you.

COLD FUSION: The colours of the Aurora dance around you in your dreamscape. You dream of a great hall of ice: as if it had been carved into some great ridge of it. You walk through it, marvelling at the beauty of it — a blue gloom, echoing with each of your footsteps. But as you take one particular step, the ground cracks and collapses beneath you, sending you into dark, frozen waters. In seconds, the water freezes around you, encompassing you in thick ice, your entire body trapped within it. The coldness burns you, and you are stuck there — frozen in agony. The pain is immeasurable, your entire body crushed and searing from the ice. There is no escape, no reprieve.

A voice speaks to you, perhaps it is the voice of a stranger, perhaps it is the voice of someone you know: Do you know how you survive the cold?’ They ask you. You do not know, and you wait for the answer: ‘You become colder than it.

Your eyes close. You believe those words, you do. You must become colder than the cold itself. And so you will. Your breathing slows, your heart slows and the cold… it stops hurting, it doesn’t burn. The ice around you begins the crack.

When you awaken the first thing you realise is despite the temperature, you are completely cosy and warmed. You do not feel the slightest chill. It is perhaps only once you are around other than you truly notice the difference to you — you are cold to the touch, lacking the heat you once had. An understanding comes: you are at one with the cold, it will not beat you, it will not cause you agony. Winter is at peace within you: perfect Cold Fusion.

MOON TOUCHED: The colours of the Aurora dance around you in your dreamscape. You dream of running through the silent woods at night. The moon is full above you, the air is calm and still. Hunger draws you forward, everything is so sharp and vivid in your senses, even in this dreamscape. You hear the crispness of the snow beneath your feet, smell the scent of the pines on the air, feel how warm you are against the coldness around you.

The snuffling of a rabbit catches your attention, and you swiftly leap after it, jaws opening and closing around its neck as you capture it. You bite down hard, feeling the crunch of its bones as they break, the sweet coppery taste of blood filling your mouth and nose. You lift your head towards the stars, blood on your tongue. You realise you are not a person at all, but a beast on all fours: a wolf, content and filling your belly with meat.

You wonder, for a brief moment: were you ever a person at all?

You do not know the answer to the question. You do not seem to worry about such a thing but there’s a flash of warning on the air. Something you cannot quite place, but you know that you should not forget it.

When you awaken, you feel… different, somehow. Everything seems a little sharper, as if the world around you had been dull, or behind some pane of frosted glass. With it comes a strange balance of calmness and chaos, tameness and wildness, fear and bravery. You find yourself looking for the moon in the skies and when you finally find it, it hits you — this is what it means to be Moon Touched.

INTERLOPER’S SACRIFICE: The colours of the Aurora dance around you in your dreamscape and then fade into nothing. You dream of kneeling in a darkened, charred wood. You are not alone. In this dreamscape, you dream of a loss, or a time you have never felt more helpless in your life. Perhaps it is when someone you knew died before you, or you stood as someone was sick and injured and you were unable to do a thing. As you kneel, they are there with you: sick or dying or even dead in your arms. You cannot do anything but hold them, and the helplessness is overwhelming.

You look up and a woman in furs stands before you, her expression solemn. Enola herself. There are tears in her eyes, as if she shares the very pain you do: the loss, the grief, the hopelessness, the powerlessness. She approaches you and lowers herself to kneel in front of you and your companion, bracing your shoulders for a long, lingering moment. There are no words, none from neither of you.

Enola shifts slightly, leans forwards. She kisses your forehead, much like when a parent kisses their child: sweet and tender.

And then you feel it, as if you are set alight: an agonising pain that encompasses you whole — so painful you cannot even open your mouth to scream. You feel yourself growing weak, the corners of your vision blurring into black. It feels as if you might die from the pain, and you want for it to stop but it doesn’t.

Enola pulls away and you gasp, slumping in exhaustion, but still alive, somehow. You stare at her, sweating and clamouring for breath, and she offers you a sad smile. Never again. you feel the words inside of you. This time, it will be different. Better.

When you awaken, you can still feel the kiss upon your forehead — enough to make your fingers reach up to touch it, your entire body tingling a little. A small voice in the back of your mind whispers, reminding you as you find yourself looking down at your hands: never again. Never again, you tell yourself and the comprehension comes to you: you have chosen. This is what it means to be: this is your sacrifice. The Interloper’s Sacrifice.

NOTHING: The colours of the Aurora dance around you in your dreamscape, but only for a moment. The edges of your vision begin the blur with black, slowly closing in until everything goes dark and you fall into a deep, dreamless sleep. You awaken, and although you feel rested, as if the dreamless darkness has helped you feel a little more ready to take on the day — nothing else about you has changed.

PENSIVE LOOKOUT

WHEN: The month of July.
WHERE: Pensive Lookout Tower, Lakeside.
CONTENT WARNINGS: themes of survival; possible fall injuries/treacherous climbs; themes of terror; themes of diminished sanity; themes of starvation.

The Old Hunting Lodge is located in the southern-most area of Lakeside, and its surrounding area is generally considered no-go territory with the presence of the Forest Talkers. As June turned into July, the Forest Talker’s presence in the wilds of Lakeside has begun to grow again — but their efforts appear to be focused on sabotaging the efforts of Interlopers, Methuselah and Young Bill in hunting fresh game. If anything, it could mean that with attentions drawn away — perhaps the braver sorts of the Interlopers can explore the area a little more fully.

There’s little in terms of buildings of interest in this area. The wilderness is thick and deep here. Perhaps the odd ransacked cabin once belonging to a local may be stumbled across — its contents picked clean, presumably by the Forest Talkers. Many of these buildings will be completely inhabitable due to the damage done — with some cabins being razed to the ground.

However, on higher ground, with a good hike to access it, stands a watch tower.

These lookout towers could mean a number of things: a chance to access supplies that may have otherwise been forgotten about due to the hike to get up there, a better view of the surrounding area, and the possibility of a radio — given the sign of a radio transmitter that can be found blinking a feeble red on Aurora nights.

With the snow on the ground it’s a little more treacherous, but given the circumstances, anything’s worth a shot, right? Those who attempt the hike may fall foul to slips and trips along the steep slow to reach the tower, and should take care in the ascent. Even with the warmth of July, it’s difficult. One might hope this might make the place a decent outpost, if you think about it. Somewhere hard to reach, and with such a vantage point.

Reaching the tower and climbing it to its interior will it largely intact but a mess. Someone has lived here for some time. Interlopers will find no food here, but some useful tools that belonged to the lookout: binoculars, maps, a compass, an alidade. There is even a radio sat upon a desk, and with it — a journal.

The journal, Interlopers will find, belonged to a man named Sam Bouchard — the firewatcher for the season during the previous year, detailing the months of his arrival and ending in November last year. It is unknown what happened to Sam, but his journal will perhaps offer some insight and even some information.

A PEEK INSIDE

WHEN: The month of July.
WHERE: The Gas Station, Milton.
CONTENT WARNINGS: themes of kidnapping; imprisonment; self-starvation; blood/minor injuries; psychological torment, supernatural abilities.

The Forest Talkers have a long history in the Northern Territories, long before Interlopers started arriving in Milton. Champions of nature, they have sought to put an end to the industries and tourism-related expansions in the Lakeside area, first peacefully and then… not-so-peacefully. But with the events known as the ‘The Flare’ last year, Forest Talkers have been… acting peculiarly, disturbingly, aggressively.

There are plenty of questions to be asked. But the Forest Talkers are difficult to communicate with. Previous attempts have ended up in aggression or being ignored entirely. And now, even with the events of the previous month coming to an end — game remains difficult to find, and Forest Talkers are keen on sabotaging any attempts of hunting made by Interlopers, Young Bill or Methuselah. And more importantly: what is the yawning grave?

It starts as mutterings between tired and disgruntled Interlopers. They need answers, and there’s got to be a way in trying to get some. They’re hungry and exhausted and so many of their numbers are now dead. Those mutterings grow, and soon enough a plan is put into place. A small group of Interlopers embark into Lakeside and wait.

Soon enough, it bears fruit. A man is captured, bound and blindfolded — quietly and secretly brought back to Milton to be held up in the unused Gas Station to be questioned. It is not the leader, but surely one of them is better than no one at all. He is injured, but not enough to kill him. It will prove challenging in trying to get answers out of him, but soon enough the Interlopers will get him to talk.

News of the Forest Talker in their midst will inevitably spread, as most things do in small communities. Secrets are hard to guard. It won’t be just those behind the kidnapping who might end up coming across the man being held in the Gas Station.

Anyone who goes to investigate will find the man sat on the floor in quiet contemplation. Attempts of conversation will be met with long, silent stares — holding your gaze for an uncomfortably long time. He will spurn any gestures of kindness: spit on the floor at Interloper’s feet, refuse any food offered — as if the man has chosen to starve himself in protest. He says nothing, at first.

But after some time, he will look into an Interloper’s eyes and utter something. A word. A phrase. It may be a name, or a place. It may be a specific thing an Interloper has read, or been spoken to by someone. Something that holds meaning to the Interloper. It may be the name of a loved one from home, or the last words ever spoken to you by a friend. Something the man shouldn’t know.

Whatever it is that he speaks to you, it is not something that will fill you with hope or fondness to remember — but quite the opposite. A reminder of something painful, of a loss, or some other thing that caused you misery. As if he had reached right inside your mind and plucked some painful part of your past from you and spoken it to the wind.

The Forest Talker smiles, and will say nothing else. The damage has already been done.

FAQs

THE AURORA: REDUX

1. The next three Aurora Feats are unlocked! Please see the following page for more information.

2. Aurora Feats are completely optional.

3. Interlopers will only receive ONE Aurora Feat. The only time this is available is this month. After July, players will have to wait for the next Feat round for another chance at an Aurora Feat.

4. This Aurora/storm will last a full three days, darkening the skies almost to night.

PENSIVE LOOKOUT

1. Interlopers who dwell in the lookout for the next Aurora will find the radio works, albeit poorly. They will be able to pick up the same broken morse code message.

2. There are no signs of blood/injury that befell Sam in the lookout. It appears he made good on what he wrote on in his journal and attempted to leave to get to Silverpoint.

A PEEK INSIDE

1. While only a small number was involved in the kidnapping itself, anyone can discover the fact there's a Forest Talker being held in Milton.

2. In terms of appearance, the Forest Talker is very much your typical average white guy. Bearded, weathered by the cold, someone who's lived several years without much in the way of comforts or luxuries.

PLOTTING POST

Comments

Hornet | Hollow Knight

[weavered]

Milton

She's been wandering for too long, she realizes, popping into abandoned homes and store fronts just to get a better idea of what she was up against. Time has passed, enough for her to notice she has not sought anyone out for information. She nearly lost her mind prior- a angry thing ready for a fight- but now things have calmed she can see it in a different light.

Hornet sighs, setting up in the Town Hall wrapped in warm clothing, or at least whatever she could find that fit her. Not that she needs to any more. Something has changed and she is not certain it's for the better. The strange lights, the fitful sleep, the dream she can't quite piece together - it all is on the forefront of her mind as she sets down her small tackle box and needle.

"Take one." She says as she opens up the box, filled with all sorts of mushrooms. Whether or not they were edible was a different story, she simply foraged what she could find. "What can you tell me about those lights?"

She is still getting used to the sky, after all.

Pensive Lookout

She ascends.

Which wasn't as easy as it looked. The climb up to the watch tower was frustrating with the snow, but she makes it with a bit of determination. Hornet looks around the disheveled mess, taking it all in before she moves through the place. She picks up wrappers, smells them, and tosses them back down before she stumbles across a map and a journal. It wasn't like the journals one could find littered through Hallownest, but it was something she could read.

If one were to find her, she's huddled in a corner, sitting on the floor, her red shift covering her legs as she holds the journal and flips carefully through the pages. She knows you're here, it's hard to not notice the noise, but she doesn't look up at first. When she does? She shakes her head.

"There are no answers." She says, glancing back down to the journal in her lap. "But there are questions." She offers the journal. "What do you make of it?"

Milton

[solitarysoul]

Levi has seen Hornet around but not really talked to her, so he's trying not to stare rudely at the...whatever she is. He looks over the mushrooms and picks one out. He's pretty sure this is safe. "The aurora? Its been happening since we got here. Its...weird."

That really didn't help, huh?

"Um, I mean, it brings electricity and sometimes weird things...the last time there was a long one people got, um, powers."

[weavered]

If he stares at her rudely, she cannot tell. She is still trying to figure out human emotion. She has seen anger, and fright, but rude is one she has not encountered in her time here. Most either give her space, or are curious.

"Powers?" She tilts her head curiously. "Tell me about these powers."

It might explain her sudden resistance to the cold.

[solitarysoul]

"Um, some people can create fire, some people can, uh, think really loud. So others can hear it. And some of us can run really far and fast." He rubs his head. "I had a weird dream last night...I don't know if it's happening again but it might be. I-i don't know."

He hasn't figured out his power yet. Mostly cause he hasn't tried.

[weavered]

"I see." That was concerning.

A pause.

"I too had a strange dream." She admits carefully. "A voice from home spoke to me - though I know not why they would still speak." They were dead, after all. Could the dead reach her here? "What was your dream about? Perhaps others shared the same fate."

Or perhaps it was simply a dream and it meant nothing.

[solitarysoul]

"Uh." It was kind of personal, give him a moment to figure out how to get around that. "I, uh, someone was dying. Enola was there, she said it'd be different next time."

Milton

[meadqueen]

“The storms are new,” Randvi says. “At least to me.”

She has not seen Hornet in some time, and is pleased to see that the little bug is settling in somewhat.

Randvi’s fashionable hat is gone, a casualty of her fight with a bear during the month of the glittering fog. The right side of her face is marred by healing scars, and a bandage covers her right eye.

Despite that, she seems in good spirits.

“Did you have a particular question?”

[weavered]

"I've never seen such things." She admits. Yes, the Howling Cliffs had wind but the sky was far from what one would think a sky should look like. "The storm, the lights... how does one handle a storm? I stayed indoors but I felt drawn to it."

Are all storms so strange?

She glances over Randvi, and it's hard to pick out concern, but she is looking at her wounds a little too intently. She has no medical expertise, but it does look like someone has taken care of her. Or she has taken care of herself. At the very least she was healing, but she is unsure how long that will take.

"...Are you all right?" Those words foreign on her tongue. She spent hundreds of years alone, she can't recall the last time she uttered those words. She does not mean to sound forced, her concern apparent in her tone.

[meadqueen]

“I’m fine,” Randvi replies. She wonders whether or not she would be able to tell if Hornet had been injured as well. “Or rather, I'm recovering. Thank you.”

The other part is a bit strange. “Staying inside is a good idea. Storms can be dangerous. You felt drawn to it?”

[weavered]

"Of course." She nods, deciding not to press further.

She shifts, searching for the right words to say. "It was... terrifying, yet beautiful. Something I've never seen before. Instinct told me to take shelter, but I wanted to see it for myself. The colorful lights that weaved through - it was fascinating in it's own way."

Hornet wrings her hands together in thought. "It was not as though something called to me to seek out the storm." She clarifies. "This place - it is nothing like where I am from. I simply had to see for myself what it was like."

[meadqueen]

Randvi nods. It's difficult to imagine never having seen a storm, but there are many mundane things here that fascinate her as well.

“We have aurora - the colours - where I come from, but not quite so severe, and without the attendant effects. Have you had a chance yet to see the moon?”

Pensive Lookout

[guidemyway]

Ruby liked to think she was pretty good at climbing, but she had to admit she was a lot better at climbing when she was back in her own world. There she had her Semblance and her Scythe worked properly. Now she was relying on sheer ability and while it worked it left her feeling a lot more drained she would be on a normal day.

It leaves her a little out of breath when she finally makes it up to the watch tower and finds Hornet huddled down in the corner.

She approaches with a little wave and takes hold of the journal. "...I don't know. I'm not really all that good at solving mysteries." She said, not really giving herself much credit.

But she fumbles through the journal for a moment and something does end up catching her eyes.

"Huh. Kind of weird about the stars. I just assumed they were just Earth stars, as opposed to where I'm from."

[weavered]

"Stars?" That must be the odd lights in the sky. They weren't lumaflies that's for certain. "That is an odd remark to make. They do say the sky is wrong many times..."

She stands brushing off her shift of dust before she approaches Ruby. "I am curious about the code. Morse code is what I believe the human in the journal describes it as. We have no equivalent where I am from. I would like to know what it says."

Maybe that can help them. This morse code seemed important in a journal filled with this humans eventual madness. It worried her, that someone who befell such may be wandering out in the snow, but the likeliness of him being alive...

She crosses her arms, shifting her weight upon her feet.

"What is at Silverpoint?"

Did they know?

[guidemyway]

"Yeah. It's more than a little weird. I don't know how much it'll help us figure out what's going on here, but a clue is a clue." Ruby gives a little shrug. It seems like there was a lot more misplaced here than just them at the very least.

She flips through the pages and settles on the code again. She had spent a fair bit of time hanging out with military types so the code wasn't exactly unfamiliar to her. At the same time she wasn't what anyone would call an expert on it either.

"Ative bear oak nter mute down" That's about the best she can make out. She blinks and gives a little shrug. "We're probably missing some chunks of the message to make sense of it. ...Or it's a code in a code, and I'm already pretty bad at this.

She leans up against the wall and taps her chin in thought. "First I've heard of it. From the the beginning of the journal it sounds like it might be where the port is on this island. Might be our best bet in finding our way off it."

[weavered]

"Ative bear oak nter mute down...?" She repeats slowly.

What could that mean?

"I am impressed you can decipher it." She means that, truly. "The human states that they got it from the radio... Perhaps if we listen to this radio we may hear more?"

It was worth a shot at any rate. She knew if they were to solve this mystery, they would need to do more than just look with their eyes. She assumed that this Sam Bouchard was dead if he wasn't in Milton, but if he left for Silverpoint...

"Then we should travel to Silverpoint." She says matter-of-factly, "It will likely be dangerous, but perhaps worthwhile." There outcome of a expedition to Silverpoint could be bountiful, or it could be nothing. It was worth the risk.

[guidemyway]

Ruby rubs at the back of her head a little sheepishly.

"I uh- worked with pretty closely with a kingdom's military for awhile. It's uh- just something I picked up while doing that." She had to take the positives of that particular gig where she can, because it hadn't ended up going all that well in the long run.

"Not a bad idea. It's not going to work until the aurora comes around again. Hopefully the forest talkers aren't around when that ends up happening."

She gives considers the next idea, she likes it. But there are problems that go along with that.

"Yeah. That's not a bad idea. We might need to track down a map first. If it's days away we aren't going to be able to just mount an expedition. Especially with how short food is."

milton

[bigbaddy]

It's rare by Bigby standards - especially when he's had so much on his mind ever since the town meeting and the way that went down - but he actually smiles a little bit when he spots Hornet offering people mushrooms. Maybe he's just in a better mood now he's gotten back in touch with the wolf inside him. Running around in the woods has been doing wonders to relax, at least.

"Hey," he greets her, moving to sit down near her - but still giving her plenty of personal space. Especially when he's so much larger than her. "Did no one warn you about the Aurora in advance?"

He realises he's included in that group of people that didn't, but.. then again, when someone new shows up here you have to tell them so much that some things inevitably slide to the wayside. "Did it give you a weird dream?"

Re: milton

[weavered]

She has to think for a moment, before she shakes her head. "No. I do not recall any conversations regarding the aurora." She wished that she had though, to better prepare herself for what came. At least she took shelter before she fell asleep in the snow.

"Yes." She admits with a frown. "It was... strange. I did not think I would hear my mother's voice again, but she spoke to me in the dream." She could not say if she was grateful to hear her or not. She has many feelings regarding her mother, and the short time they were together, but she does not harbor ill will toward her. She did what she needed to, to try and protect her people, to try and save them all. She would not forsake her name, but she still felt that her emotions regarding her were complicated.

Best save that for another day.

"Is dreaming during the storm common, then?"

[bigbaddy]

"A lot of stuff that usually isn't common is suddenly common during the storm," he explains. "So if something weird happens right when the storm is happening, you can bet it's the storm's doing."

It feels like the easiest explanation of the Aurora. Especially when Bigby has seen it enough times by now to know its effects can be so varied. There had been that one time when they had seen all the ghosts, but that had only been that one time. And then sometimes there's the dreams, like Hornet is pointing out.

.. though there is something about the dreams specifically that feels important enough for him to mention to her.

"Sometimes the dreams are special. One time we got exceptionally weird dreams, and then some of us woke up with special abilities we didn't have before." He pauses for a second, as if to let that information sink in with her, and then asks: "Have you felt any different since that dream? Anything you didn't feel or could do before?"

[weavered]

So her dreaming through the storm was not as odd as she thought. While she dreamed, this was different, something she had not anticipated and it has shaken her to her core. She half wished the voice in her dream was the Pale King - at least then she would feel there would be reason, but her mother...

She glances at her hands, then back up to Bigby.

"Yes." She admits. "It was not cold outside today." Which is surprising to her considering she's been struggling to stay warm. They all have, and while they've combated it with clothing and fire, she wonders how much of the warm cloth she would need any more or if she could return to her comfortable dress.

She could rally against the change, the suddenness of it, but what is the point in being angry? She could not go back to who she was before this dream, so she may as well embrace it. Perhaps she could do some good with it, if it really was something gifted to her.

"What of you?" Did he have strange dreams? Was he immune to the cold? Perhaps she simply stopped feeling and it wasn't so much a gift at all.

[bigbaddy]

There's the raise of an eyebrow when she mentions it not being cold, but Bigby doesn't comment on it just yet while she's talking. Instead he waits for her to finish before he nods in reply to what she asks at the end there.

"I also had a weird dream, yeah. Turned out pretty alright for me though. I can turn into a wolf again."

He smiles a little bit as he says it. It's not a facial expression Bigby often wears, but-- well, he is genuinely glad about this one. He's been stuck here for almost a year now without being able to turn back into his true form, and even though he can't shift into his full true form, even just being a wolf again feels so liberating. It's like exhaling a breath that he had been holding in for a whole year.

"It probably did something to you too, if you can't feel the cold. It's still pretty cold as hell for me." Bigby seems to consider it for a moment, and then holds out a hand towards her. "Can you touch my hand for a second? That seems like the easiest way to check it."

Sure, maybe the ability just makes her not feel the cold, but Bigby is well aware there's a chance it just made her one with it. It wouldn't be the strangest thing this place has done so far.

Milton

[sputnik]

It's been a while since Konstantin trekked from the outskirts where he lives and into town. The past month or so has been.... harrowing, with the shortage of food and the aggression building all around. Both things are especially dangerous for his situation; he's had to stay holed up away.

But things seem to have settled down a bit; it might be safe to venture out again, at least after that odd storm finally passed. Still, he tries to prepare as best as he can — in his pack, there's a knife, a little non-electric heating pad, and a tumbler filled with grouse blood. The last two items are specifically for the sake of the creature that occupies him. The knife is... just in case.

The town hall is a good place to start. He makes his way inside to see how things are doing and to catch up with some familiar faces. When he notices a very distinctive figure, his brows are lifting and he hesitates only a moment before making his way over.

"Oh — hello again. Thank you." It's said cheerfully as he helps himself to one of the mushrooms offered to him by the little alien (sorry Hornet.. he still thinks you're an alien..), sliding his pack from his shoulder and setting it down on a nearby cot.

"The lights? You mean the ones in the storm?" The Aurora and its effects are always a difficult time for him; they cause the alien in his body to go haywire. It's too sensitive to all of the loud static and the popping flashes; it's frightened by them, and even hurt. For this reason, he thinks maybe she had a similar experience, and frowns thoughtfully.

"Did they... hurt you?"

[weavered]

She nods as he takes a mushroom, grateful that so far the humans seem to trust her judgement with food. She has no idea the normal diet of a human, but she is doing her best to work with them. It was nice to see a familiar face, one that she did enjoy being around with while they fished. Kotsya was good for conversation, so hopefully she can learn more about the lights and the storm.

"They did not hurt me, no." She is thankful for that. She did not know what to expect when it came to the storm. "No, I was...drawn to it in a way. It was mesmerizing." She admits, a little embarrassed that she was so distracted by the colors that it took her time to find safety once she realized that the storm could be dangerous. "Is that common here?"

She wonders how common it could be, the lights, the storms -- all she's known is fog and cold. And now even the cold doesn't bother her. The brightness of the sun, the light of the moon - these are things she does not have words for, not yet anyway. It makes her long for the lumafly lanterns that littered the city, for the familiar when everything around her is foreign and new.

[sputnik]

"Those were the first storms I've seen in this place. And the lights... I don't think they're anything natural. They seem able to make things happen."

Not just the fact they can make the electricity work again temporarily, but... other things, too. He tries to keep away from them.

He also hasn't talked about them much, and so this is an unexpected opportunity. He looks down to the little mushroom in his hands, slowly passing it through his fingers, before he continues, indulging in some of his curiosity. For awhile, he'd thought that maybe the lights were some sort of.. hallucination, that they've all been drugged, but... more and more, he's had to accept that so much here can't be explained that way.

"Did they make you feel.. strange, at all?"

[weavered]

"Strange?"

Now that was an odd word to use. It made her feel wonder, curiosity, fear, but strange was not the word she would have chosen for it. Though, it does also describe the phenomenon well. It was strange, but she did not feel strange about it. She shakes her head.

"No." She says finally. "No, not strange, but I...remember someone speaking to me. A voice telling me to sleep."

To dream, perhaps, but she could not be entirely certain. The voice was familiar, she believes it must be Enola, yet she hesitates to confirm as much if she was wrong. Then her mother's voice that haunted her in her dream -- it was almost all too much. Not entirely strange and more vaguely unsettling.

"I am not used to looking up and seeing lights. Not like that at least." She admits, wringing her hands together.