[imgleft]https://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/imag ... uncert.png[/imgleft]

This was at least enough to get a proper chuckle out of the surly Totoma. "Oh you've met the fucking butterfly tribe?" he said. "Wandered that way once, bunch of fluffy little weaklings and does. Fairies." he scoffed and pawed the ground at the absurdity of it.

"All over each other too! Big groups rot the mind, they always do."

He looked around the gathered kin and narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"Don't expect good things to come of this trip either. Yet here I am."

[imgleft]http://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/image ... se_bee.gif[/imgleft]
She didn't seem to notice the wolf until she was being physically nudged back a step to the side, and she blinked down at him, brows arching curious before Badgerlock's comment pulled her attention back up to his face.  "Ready as I can be.  I'm not exactly built for the cold, but I wouldn't miss this chance."  And maybe he'd allow her to keep close enough to borrow his warmth. 

Well, if Nighteyes will let her...

Skybird fluttered down to land daintily on one of Merry's horns, and the doe paid her no mind other than to blow a long feather out of her face. 

@blue

[imgleft]http://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/image ... uncert.png[/imgleft]Shroud had a secret. Once a month, he spent a day locked inside the prison of his own body. He heard all around him, felt all that pressed into his frozen flesh, but could move nothing. Speak nothing. A lump, a smear of mud. That was not the secret. It was hard to hide, at least, for one blessed with a caring family, like he. It was similar to the affliction his mother possessed, but where he had but once a month, she was all month save a day. He was the lucky one, and he was grateful.

His secret was that every month, past the day, he wanted - more. To run - a little farther, till he could not gasp for air. To dive - a little deeper, till his lungs would burst. To jump the chasm. It was not a death wish - he feared not death, but, at such a time, he felt perhaps too close to that - it was a wish to live.

And so, this month, he asked his darling Maggot to please take care of his mother, and he would go to the mountains.

It had not been as hard to locate the expedition as he had mildly feared. Kin had been excited, with ready answers to his questions as he'd searched. Near the end, all he'd had to do was follow the thud-thud of overlapping hoofsteps.

...At least, he was pretty sure this was the expedition.

"Hullo," he said, pleasantly, to no one in particular, then lapsed into the background, content to steep in the hubbub. A smear of mud like him was very good at lapsing into the background.

[imgleft]https://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/imag ... uncert.png[/imgleft] Her dainty hoofsteps - so dainty - had been exceedingly determined today. Stamped into the mud in simmering rage, she had made her way to the gathering with much drive: first, her anger at the Swamp at large, and second, her anger at the fact that she had to go to the very edge of the Swamp in order to show the Motherfather what for.

The climate had gotten increasingly chilly, reducing the gentle glisten of her soft self as she had made her way through. Yet, against all odds, Beauty Past Compare had arrived successfully.

She huffed as she joined the congregation, sitting down heavily. Conversations had started; she was late.

"Ah, first-timers," she commented airily, and licked delicately at her shoulder.

Beauty, who hasn't ascended between obelisks

[imgleft]https://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/imag ... uncert.png[/imgleft] "Ah! That's right!" Trailblazer admitted, a bit embarrassed by forgetting that the deserts had their own cold nights.

"Though if the desert nights are cold, I can't imagine what they'll be like in the mountains." She mused, looking around at their party. It seemed they had gained quite a few members. That was good. There was more safety, more knowledge in numbers. Hopefully the other totoma were more familiar with the terrain. At the very least, they would be warmer bodies. Perhaps it would be worth her time to get to know some of them better.

"Follow the Moths, was it?" Trailblazer turned to the totoma who had struck up conversation with Sheltered by the Leaves. "I'm Trailblazer. Blaze is my nickname, if you're in a hurry to get my attention." She introduced herself, with a curt nod and a tiny, polite smile.

"You'll have to teach me how to be good at following. I like to lead. My patience is not good."

@Shaddaling
@Ruriska
@purplerosesbeauty

[imgleft]http://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/image ... uncert.png[/imgleft] "Those are the ones," Harrison said, feeling cheered that at least one other kin had the same feeling about it. He looked over the group, "Not that I mind, uh, company. I mean, from a philosophical perspective. It's just the whole club thing that it all gets on a different level."

Would everybody even make it?

"Ah, I think it'll be okay," he wagered. "Bound to be something worthwhile. If cuddling's the worst we've got to look forward to, I'd take that over the alternatives."

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Rep gave the other kin a very critical sort of look. He seemed like he had half way decent opinions but you couldn't really trust people too easily outright. Just because he seemed to have some things in common with him didn't mean that he'd be worth any amount of time and effort in the long run. People consistently dissapointed him and surely this kin would be no different.

"Well I don't do cuddles." he said. "I'd rather climb uphill over razor rocks than any sort of intimacy." A long arduous journey was just fine with him, so long as he didn't need to deal with other people.

[imgright]https://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/imag ... uncert.png[/imgright] The smaller of the two wolves appeared to be the most intelligent of them and approached Stay with a very wary sort of body language, leaning forward to sniff him, as wary of others as his companion.

"You ever been to the mountains?" Rep asked. "You look like you'd have good camo in the snow."

[imgleft]http://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/image ... uncert.png[/imgleft] "It's how I got my name," Stay said, giving the wolf a friendly sniff in return. "I was stuck up on one for fucking ages." They really were fine animals. Not just something small or pretty that gave a good song, but put together like a weapon, a smart pair of horns and hooves.

Armed and decorated. If he hadn't said he worked alone, Stay might have been tempted to think the other Totoma was some sort of general.

He didn't ask if the other Totoma had a name. It was one thing to ask for names when you dreamed them up, and another between kin who didn't. You didn't need a name to know a kin. If you had something to call them, or if you didn't, it was the same scent. The same color of fur. The same smile, the way they walked or fought. The name was just an extra badge.

"I guess I haven't had the opportunity to do much cuddling either," he said, "but I like a good hike. Just maybe not ones that end with me and my snowy ass on different sides of said mountain."

His coat had a silvery moonlight sheen to it, with bright blues that weren't far off of Rep's gem, and markings that scrolled in some unknown language from shoulder to hoof.

[imgleft]https://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/imag ... uncert.png[/imgleft]When word of the mountain expedition reached the Bone Marshes of the Mothborn, Pestilence had felt his stomach drop. Flashes of that cold grey sky, the unmoving clouds, and the Obelisks clawing at them, impossibly tall and precise, flooded his mind. The dark buck had remembered squeezing his eyes shut, trying to block them out. And upon opening them, meeting the gaze of his mate, knowing that they had to go. There was a reason behind these dreams, they had both agreed on that. He knew that if she was going anywhere, he wasn't about to let her go alone.

And so they prepared. With Rot's blessing, they gathered what they felt they would need. As he approached the group of travelers, Guardian's stead pace assuring his own, he felt naked despite the fur pelt that covered his shoulders. Pestilence had decided against taking his beetles with them, as they did not fare well in the cold. Still, he missed their scuttling and tiny chitters. He took a deep breath and sighed, feelings of apprehension coming over him in waves. While he wasn't sure that they were making the right decision, he was sure that it was the only decision they could have made.

As they approached, the voices of those who would soon be their companions grew louder. Pestilence folded his ears back and let his pace slow so that Guardian would be before him. He watched her with worry, looking for signs of wear. She was healed, he knew this, but he still found himself worrying.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked her quietly. He already knew the answer, but the question had already passed his lips.

@Lirilei

[imgleft]https://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/imag ... uncert.png[/imgleft]

Rep volunteered his name anyway. "My name's got nothing to do with the snow but I earned it on the mountains anyway. Repeats Mistakes. The only thing anyone ever considered worth remembering about me in the end." he snorted and flicked his ears back again. "It's ended up being as much a prophecy as a name."

Wee One seemed to decide that Stay was harmless and after his sniff turned and made his way back to sit by Big One, who licked his muzzle in a placatory sort of way.

"The last time I cuddled anything was when I was a lamb." Rep said a little coldly. "I left childish things in my childhood." Even though in his heart, he privately sort of wished he hadn't.

He looked closely at Stay's leg. "Your marks kind of look like the ones on my armour." he said. "Weird."

[imgleft]http://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/image ... uncert.png[/imgleft] "Stay Awake," Stay returned, "On account of me staying awake so long. It was either that or fall off. Fucking grisly. I could have slept for 10 days, after."

Repeats Mistakes was a strange kind of name to wear, but for Rep, maybe it was part of his armor.

"Repeats," he said, rolling the name around, just to feel the sound of it. Rep commented on his markings. They didn't glow, exactly, but they had a kind of shimmer to them. "Huh," Stay said, looking Rep over more thoroughly, and getting closer to see the small marks along his shell. "They look like writing, but hell if I know what they mean if they are."

He shrugged up his own shoulder, so Rep could get a better look.

"I like to think this one's a turtle with a horn on its head."

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Rep laughed at this. "Wow man." he said. "That's a horrible time to have to stay up. I like my sleep a lot. You've got b... uh.. heart going back to the mountains after that. I like.. messed up and it saves some people. I feel like I got my name as a joke, cause I can't seem to do anything right." His failure had however been what had forced him to maintain himself like a well oiled machine, all lean muscle and strength.

He did examine Stay's markings curiously though. "It kind of looks like one." he said, a little closer now than he was. "Well I like them. I like how they spill over too."

He nodded as if professing judgement on the markings.

"I'll make you a deal, if we get stuck on another mountain, I'll keep watch half the time so you can sleep."

[imgleft]http://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/image ... uncert.png[/imgleft]"Right! You could call me Follow, if you like." Follow the Moths bobbed her head quickly, greeting the kio. Blaze was such a lovely name, and despite the different ways non-totoma got names, she couldn't help but think Trailblazer was a suitable name for the kio. It was very valiant. "Patience is hard to learn, but my father taught me a lot of it. You have to be curious, but cautious, I think." She never thought how much restraint it took to follow something, rather than take the lead, but she'd always followed.

@zeflamigo 

[imgleft]http://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/image ... uncert.png[/imgleft] "That would have saved me a lot of trouble," Stay said, feeling oddly and suddenly relieved. "Going back, I would have traded the name for a rest."

He snuck another look at Rep's markings.

"Thanks," he said. "I like yours. The stripes are good too. You know," he wagered, "If either of us were the tribing type. I mean, we're not, but if we were. We've got a great head start on some kind of real specific squiggle marking concept."

[imgleft]https://matope.pixel-blueberry.com/imag ... uncert.png[/imgleft] The dreams had come to both of them steadily, the same dream, shared and yet not. They had the same experiences, though also slightly different, seeing it from different angles, and never seeing one another there.

Guardian still wasn't sure if they were memories, or dreams, or what, but all that mattered was that they were being called, and it was both a humbling, and frightening thing that they would both be called by the MotherFather. She limped now though fully healed, something the healers warned might never truly fade away, but might lessen to a point, or become worse with too much activity. She didn't care, and she wore the caiman scars on her leg as a mark of honor. She'd survived after all, and all she had to show was a limp? That was easy to handle.

While Stil had left his beetles behind, and she'd done her best to convince Feathers and Sparkle to stay behind with their kids, she was only half successful. The crane had stayed behind, the dragon had not. It currently was perched on her back as she walked, comforted by it's presence on her.

His question earned an honest "No. But, we can't exactly ignore this either can we Pestilence?" her voice was soft and gentle as she took the lead, nuzzling her mates neck as she stepped into the lead. "But, we're in this together, so it'll be okay, right?" or so she desperately hoped. They couldn't leave their children orphaned. Not that Rot or the rest of the tribe would let them languish without their parents, no they'd be cared for she knew, and it was why she'd been able to answer this call.

Moving towards the activity of other kin, her steps didn't falter any, even with her limp as she stood at the fridge of the group, looking around a moment curiously.


@Blinded By Silence