of crimson and of gold

Red. That's all she knew, a blurry red splotch as she blinked. Blink, blink, blink -- and more red. Persephone's small mouth parted with a soundless moan, her head lulling to one side as it felt as if she were a newborn again with the inability to hold her own head up. Or even see, given the fact everything was a red blur and her ears -- gods, her ears were rushing loudly with the sound of her own blood as it pounded against her skull. Disorientated and sluggish, Persephone's waterlogged body shivered as she threw herself against the ground, her small body trying to grip at the earth as if to ground her. All her head did was spin, spin with different shades of red. It invaded everything and had she not held the shocking creams, she'd have blended right in. Why she was wet, she hadn't a clue, there was no water about but she was not quite soaked, not anymore, more like she had been left to sizzle in the sun with a waterlogged coat for a few hours. This time it was a sound, a high-pitched, pathetic whimper as she lifted her head, her vision slowly becoming more refined and less of a giant red blur. The pup did not attempt to stand, her body weak and limbs quivering where she lay but now that her head did not feel so limp, she could look around.

With each fluttering gaze of her eyes, Seph noted her surroundings with a grimace settled on her youthful features. Not quite herself, still disorientated, she remained with no attempts to stand as she looked around. Ordinarily, she would have been up and giggling and exploring but yet, Persephone remained as she tried to regain her bearings. A dull buzzing sounded through her ears as she felt her throat constrict, a hacking cough cracking through her chest and down her ears splayed, cupping against her head with a tight grip. Was it the Glubbergorbs that caused this? Her little nose crinkled as she thought of those pests, though she had not seen one in some time she knew that the buzzing in her ears were likely the left over irritants from their ghastly wings. Persephone's mismatched gaze glanced around with her head tilted to the sky, as if she were searching for the blasted creatures.

Another hacking cough ripped from her chest and Persephone whined lowly in her throat, not yet coming to the realisation she should probably be more concerned about her whereabouts than what she was.

+1 Discovery Points

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 Crimson leaves shifted around Crux as he wandered through his woods. He'd taken to calling them his, though their rag-tag group barely constituted a pack. Not yet, anyhow. Soon, soon enough he would feel comfortable and he would choose a name for them. Soon he would declare that they were more than just squatters in this forest. Even so, their scents across the forest were growing. He rubbed against a tree, scratching his back with the rough black bark. The weather here was a pleasant mixture of summer and winter, minus the thick pollen that could clog lungs in springtime.

 A whimper caught his ear and he shot to attention, scanning the trees for the source. Instantly he was moving, heading towards the source of the sound. Ahead, he saw her: a tiny little thing with strangely damp fur, gasping for breath through lungs that didn't want to comply. He stepped towards her cautiously, scanning the area around for anyone who might have found her. Had she just appeared here? He'd yet to see someone appear, but there was no one here who could have left her.  “Little one, little star,” he called gently as he approached, allowing her time to notice him and take in that the massive hulking wolf was indeed not a threat. “Are you alright?” She was so, so young. Tiny. Could she speak? Could she walk? Yes, of course she could - or at least she appeared old enough to.

+2 Discovery Points

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The reds became tainted. Tainted with a big body of whites and black, he bled towards her cautiously and Persephone stared, this was not the most shocking thing that had happened to her today, she reasoned. He spoke to her, little one, little star and she giggled, it was a watery, high sound from a sore throat but it was a giggle nonetheless, her head cocking to the side as he approached. She liked that, she decided. She had been told one that she was like fire but no, he called her those pretty things that danced in the sky and Seph decided then that she was fire no more. A girl with little caution and worry she was, so perhaps she should have been more concerned with a towering wolf approaching her but how could she be so with a gentle call of little star?

"I am wet," Seph stated loftily, blinking at him owlishly. "I don't know why I am wet," her brow furrowed momentarily, creasing and then releasing as she peered to him. "Why aren't you wet?" she would reign hellfire if it were the Glubbergorbs that had caused her to be wet. It would make sense as to why it were only her, though, and not the man. Persephone's head jerked backwards as she hummed lowly in her throat, the young girls body quivering as she gave a slight shiver. "If I'm little star, does that make you the big moon?" Seph questioned quietly, curiously, her mismatched gaze wide as she peered up at him as she completely disregarded his inquiry to her wellbeing -- forgetting instantly he had asked after it and instead went off on the tangent. As she always found herself doing, of course.
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 She giggled and he sighed. She was not so shocked to not be able to laugh, to react. Or perhaps she was worse than he had thought. He shoved away the thought, forcing himself to think of the present instead of the what-could-be. She spoke and his fears washed away like the water she must have found herself in at one point, replaced by curiosity and once more, patient concern for the child. Had this been wherever he was before the forest, he was sure he would have begun to search for her parents, but in this strange new world he was almost certain she had none.

 “That you are,” he laughed softly. “I just haven't gone swimming yet today, perhaps you have?” he brought himself to a seated and then a lying-down position, allowing her to look at him straight-on instead of having to crane her neck to see his face. When she called him big moon he chuckled again, nose twitching with amusement. “Hmm, maybe - but my name is Crux. Do you remember yours?” He'd encountered two pups already who had lost their names and he had granted them new ones, so he wondered if it would be the same for this strange little pup.

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Her brow and nose crinkled at his thought, "maybe. I don't remember swimming." She remembered fragments but she could not place things. Faces nor names of the blobs in her memories but even then, thinking on it, Seph couldn't place much of anything. Little things here and there sprung at her but nothing to help her know much else. "Go swimming, please. I don't want to be wet alone." Persephone requested with a small pout, watching as he sat first and then layed down with his belly flush against the ground, her head lowering now she no longer had to crane her neck to him. "Thank you," she chirped merrily, her nose twitching as he chuckled. She sniffed at him, inclining her head closer to his chin as she blinked, wanting to hear the sound again. Instead of another chuckle, he spoke words and Seph tilted her head backwards as she appraised him, Crux.

Not Big Moon. He was Crux. Daintily she sniffed, "I prefer Big Moon." She stated cheekily but gave a delicate sigh at his question, a nod coming shortly after. "I think so," not quite understanding why she wouldn't but then... she remembered very little else about... anything, when she thought about it. "Persephone. Or Kore. I think. They're what comes to mind first, Big Moon." She supplied as she reached forward, experimently nipping at his chin if he didn't move his head away from her actions. She shimmied on her belly, intending to crawl forward and grasp at his forelegs with whatever strength the tired girl had left, her tongue peaking from between her teeth as she moved. She wanted to sit on his legs, thank you very much. "I don't remember much. Do you think I hit my head?" Seph questioned quietly as she moved, hoping he didn't move away from her and yes, maybe she was talking as to distract him from moving from her. But! She was curious, genuinely, if she had hit her head and that's why little made sense.
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 Her facial expressions were adorable, he thought with an amused smile. They reminded him of when he was a pup, around others of his own age. Of how they reacted to the crazy stories their mother would tell. Before they learned the truth. When she asked him to go swimming, he laughed. “How about we just dry you off instead, hmm?” He tilted his head. If she stayed wet too long, he was certain she'd get a cold or something. Even if it was warmer here than the fleeing winter outside, it still had a chill at times.

 “I like Big Moon too,” he agreed with a gentle grin, “One of my friends calls me Prince Crux, so you're welcome to call me Big Moon if you want to.” He listened to her list off her own name, impressed that such a young pup could say such a long name so clearly. He didn't draw away when she nipped at his chin, instead playfully pawing at her. When she crawled forward to climb onto his legs, he let her, turning his head to rub the side of his neck against her in an attempt to dry her off a bit. “If you did, then I did too,” he replied gently, “My friends and I woke up all alone here in Bleakwood, too. Would you like to come meet them and dry off there?” He hoped she'd say yes. Oh, man. He could already hear Mordecai absolutely going bonkers over how cute she was. When he had met Blueshift and Redshift, he'd been head over heels so he knew the big oaf would love this even tinier one even more.

 The wind rustled above and he considered the forest. Its red leaves, so reminiscent of blood but somehow still so comforting. Its black and gray bark, trees struggling against their unnatural leaves to show hints of the bark they might have, had they existed elsewhere. Would this forest expand, as time moved on? Would every seed from the red-leaved plants grow into a red-leaved tree, even beyond the borders of the forest? ....He imagined this child as a seed of the forest, born here in a way and destined to expand it.

+2 Discovery Points

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[size=small]Oh. That was a good point. Neither of them had to be wet! Seph's giggle bubbled from her in surprise, mismached gaze bright and amused. “I didn’t think of that.” She supplied, but how? How could she dry off without waiting for the air to do it for her? Seph was a patient girl for some things but others she was not. This was to be one of the things she was certainly not patient for. At his agreement, Persephone’s grin was broad upon her delicate features. Prince Crux? Her nose twitched as she observed him, as if she were thinking of the two names he had spoken and she shook her head, “Moons are bigger than Princes,” Seph reasoned, “a Moon would crush a Prince!” unless… unless he was a magical prince, then that was a completely different argument. But as it stood, he wasn’t magic. Not that she had asked him, of course, but Seph didn’t want to say that Prince Crux was to be a better name than Big Moon. She was on her own side here, thank you.[/size]

[size=small]He pawed at her and she giggled softly, trying to bite against the offending paw until she was settled against him. Crux didn’t look to deter her nor tell her off as she sat, instead he rubbed his head against her and from her throat came something akin to a purr of approval. Seph leaned into him, aiming to chew on any part of him that she could as his head moved. She almost missed his words as she nipped at him, her mouth pausing in it’s attack as she realised he said that he had friends who woke up alone, too, like she had and he had.[/size]

[size=small]“Friends.” She echoed, slumping against him in thought. “They were alone too.” Seph hummed, her little tail thumping against him. “Can I sit on them too?” She inquired softly, curiously, voice less waterlogged now that she had been talking and moving. More wolves to sit on! Oh, and to not be wet. “We can all be dry together!” Persephone crowed, squirming against his legs as her bum wiggled with excitement and she nodded, a sudden burst of energy emitting from her. “Big Moon takes Little Star and we go meet friends,” she detailed, nodding along with her own words as her tongue slid from her mouth and dangled from the side as she pushed against him, as if trying to move him to his friends.[/size]
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 A moon would crush a prince, and a black hole would devour them all.

 Wait, what? He blinked, unsure of this strange word. It felt... right. Somehow. Either way, none of that was important right now. Right now, he was focused on the pup who was nuzzling into him and using him as a chew toy. A strong surge of warmth filled his belly, along with the desire to protect the child from anything that might harm it. He didn't react to the chewing, instead patiently allowing it while she pondered his suggestion.

 She asked if she could sit on them and he laughed, “I'm sure at least one of them would allow it!” Mordi would absolutely die, hearing all this. In a good way. The pup was excited suddenly, agreeing to come with. He smiled, standing slowly as to not disrupt her too much. “Great. Come on, little star Kore, let's go meet the gang.” He'd start walking in the direction of the island camp, slow enough to allow her to wander along beside him. What a lovely surprise this morning had brought - a new child for them to protect. He thought this genuinely as he looked down on the happy girl with a smile.

 “I bet you'll like my friend Mordecai,” he chuckled, “He adores pups and will totally let you sit on him or climb on him like a squirrel.” That'd be amusing to see, for sure.  “He and I found this place, we called it Bleakwood.” Well, he'd woken up first and had found it, but his brown-furred friend hadn't argued too much about the name. He'd been pretty keen on following whatever Crux wanted to do, which was fine with the star-speckled male, to be honest.

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Persephone wasn't to settle for at least one of them, no, she would have them all. She giggled against him, her petite body warming from his own though as he shifted, she slid down from him and stood as he did, shaking out her frame and stared up at him. He encouraged her to go, that they were to meet the gang and Persephone's giggle was vibrant and high as she bounced after him, though her legs still quivered from not being used and she stumbled. Within a few moments she caught herself, not letting the blunder slow her as she wobbled her way alongside him.

Her large ears cupped forward as he spoke, telling her of a man called Mordecai and how much he loved puppies, a man who would let her sit on him or even better, climb him! "Like a Squirrel! I want to be a squirrel," she sighed wistfully, imagine all that she could climb if she were! "He can be my tree," she nodded firmly, as if she had decided and this Mordecai had no choice in the matter. Bleakwood. She blinked, somehow it sounded -- well, it sounded mysterious. She supposed it fit, the red of the wood was both vibrant and dark, a strange mixture that shouldn't work but did. She hummed, "you own a forest! maybe you are a prince," she murmured unhappily to herself but it only lasted a few moments before she grinned, "tell me who else there is!" Seph demanded eagerly, loping and bouncing at his side as he directed them to his gang.

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