FAMILIAR CHASE: Dice/Writing Game - Nudibranches - Through Oct 6

[Appeal]

ON THE HUNT FOR MOTES!
Kin Name: Rotten Liar
Preference List: 8, 4, 6, 20, 3, 5, 1, 2, 13, 9, 17
RP:

Rotten Liar liked games. They liked games a lot. So when prompted with the chance to play "catch the light motes" they immediately said no. They walked away. They pretended they were leaving and then got to work. Absolutely not would they admit that they wanted to take part in the game. If they had, they might have heard that there were light side effects. But no. They very uninterestedly walked over to a mote and then caught it, and very immediately found themselves in the cold, snowy mountains.

They weren't fond of that, nor the panic that came with it. They were ill prepared for it and definitely ran around for a few minutes looking to escape the mountains until they came down.

... That should have come with a warning. After being taken on that ride they decided to at least get the most out of it so they returned with it to drop it off.

"It floated right into my mouth," they said through their teeth. Literally and figuratively. They dropped it off and left again.

---

They were still interested in the game, perhaps more than before. There was something fascinating about it now. How did that work? Would they go back to the mountains if they caught another, or would something new happen? They had to know. So they searched until they got another mote, and this time they found themselves morphing into the body of something else. They found themselves in the shape of a kincaller, something they had recently discovered during the wild obelisk adventure. They were smaller than before with wings and talons. They could speak as kincallers do, calling out into the darkness with a cry but when they tried to speak they spoke of cryptic messages about the obelisks, things that made absolutely no sense.

Rotten Liar was thankful when that hallucination wore off, and they found themselves back on all four legs on the ground.

"This stupid mote of light isn't interesting at all," they said as they brought it back. "I heard something would happen if you caught one but nothing!"

---

The last mote was the most interesting of them all if you asked Rotten Liar. There was nothing particularly interesting but becoming another animal or teleporting to another place, something the kin of legend could do as well as travelers of the obelisks. However, becoming another type of kin? Rotten Liar went from a kimeti to totoma. It was absolutely horrid to be so fluffy. Their head felt heavier, their back too. They felt like they were going to get stuck in the mud of the swamp now. How did one deal with being so large and in charge? It didn't last too long and soon Rotten Liar felt at one with themselves again as the mote stopped having a fit.

The kimeti carried the mote back to the lantern for the last time. They dropped the mote of light off, "Nothing happened, I'm afraid it's quite dull so I'm going to stop."

8: Your kin imagines they are in a different climate (plain, mountains, desert, caves)!
3: Your kin imagines they have become a type of familiar!
7: Your kin imagines they are a different species of kin!

Spoiler

1: Your kin imagines they are very, very tiny!
2: Your kin imagines they are huge!
3: Your kin imagines they have become a type of familiar!
4: Your kin imagines they are a tree and cannot move!
5: Your kin imagines they are made up of one of the four elements!
6: Your kin imagines their shadow has taken on its own life!
7: Your kin imagines they are a different species of kin!
8: Your kin imagines they are in a different climate (plain, mountains, desert, caves)!
9: Your kin imagines they are completely covered in motes!
10: You capture an exceptionally large mote with no consequences.

[Appeal]

ON THE HUNT FOR MOTES!
Kin Name: Rotten Liar
Preference List: 8, 4, 6, 20, 3, 5, 1, 2, 13, 9, 17
RP:

Dreadfully dull? Ha. The motes of light were quite interesting, a particularly new thing in the swamp. Well, all of this was. It wasn't every day that that sun just disappeared. Well, it was. It didn't disappear permanently, though. It always came back. Even the stars had lost most of their light, and THAT was not something that happened every night.

So, Rotten Liar went out looking for more excitement in an already historically exciting time.

It didn't take too long to find the motes of light in the darkness that hugged the swamp. They were guides to themselves in a way.

This time when Rotten Liar grabbed the mote of light, they felt leaner. They felt a weight on the back of their head from the horns that drew all the way back in a straight line. Their tail seemed to have more bounce to it than normal, and a flexibility that allowed it to flex all the way back over toward their back. With tiny hooves, they walked around with a bounce. They were in the body of an acha suddenly, although they still looked like themselves.

As the images faded, they found themselves standing there as normal with the mote of light. So, you could get the same thing twice and you could end up with different results each time.

---

The hunt for another mote began as soon as the last one ended. Seeing something that was a lie but it feeling so real in the imagination was quite alluring to Rotten Liar, an experience that they certainly felt piqued to see again.

This time as they caught the mote of light, they felt both heavy and wet. There was a lightness to them, and a splish splash with their steps. It sounded like they had just come out of the river and their fur was soaking wet but also they felt clear and calm. A toil in their stomach occurred with each step as the body of water swirled and circled around in side them. Not only inside of them but outside as well. Their whole body seemed to be in the shape of water.

The occurrence broke with a splash of water falling and Rotten Liar found themselves back to the grind of delivering the mote of light.

---

It was fun but there was a tiring chase from catching all of the motes of light through the endless darkness of the swamp. After this one, Rotten Liar thought. I'll stop soon. The next one wasn't too far, the glow of the mote drawing Rotten Liar into the area. After some work, they managed to catch it. Everything seemed normal though as they began to walk back until suddenly the lights caught something moving in the corner of Rotten Liar's eyes. It was dark, so dark! They tried to move from it but it followed them. They tried to be rid of it but it never could be lost. It was attached to them at the hoof, and it seemed to be mocking them. If a shadow could laugh, that's exactly the motion it was making -- a gap in the shadow giving off the silhouette of a mouth laughing.

As Rotten Liar made their way back to the lantern, slowly the shadow fell back into place.

That one was startling for sure. That could have easily been some other shadow moving around. Phew.

7: Your kin imagines they are a different species of kin!
5: Your kin imagines they are made up of one of the four elements!
6: Your kin imagines their shadow has taken on its own life!

Spoiler

1: Your kin imagines they are very, very tiny!
2: Your kin imagines they are huge!
3: Your kin imagines they have become a type of familiar!
4: Your kin imagines they are a tree and cannot move!
5: Your kin imagines they are made up of one of the four elements!
6: Your kin imagines their shadow has taken on its own life!
7: Your kin imagines they are a different species of kin!
8: Your kin imagines they are in a different climate (plain, mountains, desert, caves)!
9: Your kin imagines they are completely covered in motes!
10: You capture an exceptionally large mote with no consequences.

[Mima]

ON THE HUNT FOR MOTES!
Kin Name: Lightning Caller
Preference List:Twenty, Ten, Nine, Eight, Four
RP:
Lightning Caller was a bit stressed out by the whole situation, of course.

Like the rest of the shard Totoma, his shards had just the slightest glow of purple in the dark... But not really enough to take him anywhere. More like trying to see the road with the lights on in your car. It was a bit awkward. The other kin could certainly see him, though. And more than a couple had tried to swipe at his shards, thinking them to be motes. That was even more awkward. So he'd wandered off on his own, trying to avoid having what were essentially floating bones to him being plucked off.

In the inky darkness it was hard to make out anything- but the floating motes of light were, at least, visible. Yet he still found himself tripping over rocks and logs while chasing them, the shapes and shadows twisting in the dark as the light reflected off of them at odd angles, constantly moving. Eerie.

Chasing one over a log, he tried to pounce on it to grab it- but faltered. And this trip, stumble, and fall was harder than the rest of them.

The Totoma hit the ground with a great crash and clatter of rock on rock, finding himself now face first into the mud. He heaved himself up and onto his hooves, but as he tried to move them, he found that he couldn't. With horror he watched as his hooves seemed to expand and warp, grasping into the dirt- like a tangle of his veins escaped his body and shot into the earth. Great roots reached out below him, and his rocky growths and heavy plating seemed to expand and coalesce all around his body into thick bark. All at once he found his body twisting and reaching out just the same as his hooves, until he took the form of a massive, glittering tree- barren of leaves, instead covered in shards that hung from his branches.

As he did, the motes of light that he had been chasing seemed to stop and stir. Instead of fleeing, all at once, they seemed to surge forth- surrounding him in light as bright as the sun. He was dizzy, almost nauseous with the overwhelming light that fluttered around and around in all directions like a visual hurricane. A strange feeling when you were a tree.

Staring at the ground below him to try to get his bearings, he cringed a bit as he watched his shadow dance and twist with all of the lights flickering and moving around him. The shadows of his branches seemed to reach out like claws. Wait- did they seem like it?

Horrified, he sat in silence as the branches of his shadow seemed to become arms and hands like an animal's, reaching out towards anything they could grasp. But mostly, they seemed to reach out to the motes of light that still flitted about here and there- snapping them up like the jaws of a caiman, dragging them in closer and closer. Slowly the world around him seemed to grow dimmer and dimmer, all of the light collecting only around his branches, glittering and shimmering along with the dull purple glow of his shards. Like his greedy shadow had stolen it all for him, leaving the rest of the world with nothing...

Longer and longer, his branches reached out.

One by one, the motes flickered out.

As the light around him grew overpoweringly bright, he clenched his eyes shut and shook his branches, shook his head, tore his roots up from the ground to stop all of this madness-

Before he gasped, waking up with a start, his face flat in the mud once more. Had he hit his head too hard? ...He was a Totoma, that seemed unlikely... But clearly it had been a particularly nasty fall.

Woozy, he stood up once more... this time finding just one mote clinging to the shards on his neck instead of the hundreds from before.

He shivered again.

4: Your kin imagines they are a tree and cannot move!
6: Your kin imagines their shadow has taken on its own life!

+ adding: 9: Your kin imagines they are completely covered in motes!

[Scaramouche Fandango]

ON THE HUNT FOR MOTES!
Kin Name: Strange Creature
Preference List: 1, 4, 6, 9, 2, 10, 11, 8, 19, 20, 21, 3, 7, 12, 14, 17, 19, 18, 13, 16, 15, 5
RP: 7, 2, 4

The darkness was alarming, and not just because, y'know, it was dark out. This wasn't an eclipse, this was some kind of strange, magical, nonsense.

Strange Creature was starting to get annoyed with magical nonsense. She didn't mind it when it was fun and whimsical, but there were some unpleasant repercussions to prolonged nighttime, and she didn't really want to think about them too much. There were ways around it, probably- she'd been down in the caves, she'd seen those snakes that worked with the Zikwa. Existing in the dark was possible, but she didn't... really know how.

Better now to focus on what she could do and worry later. Focusing on the now staved off the... other thoughts about how bird-shadow wasn't visible in the pitch black. For now, she'd pursue the motes of light, hoping to help light the area and maybe bring back the sun.

She'd heard that the motes addled your brains a bit, so she was prepared to see things differently and not be caught off-guard. As she ran after it, she saw herself twisting, horns curling back, body bulking up. She imagined herself a Totoma, and would that really be so bad? Totoma were sturdy beasts, and she knew several really, really good ones. They often seemed to be just as sturdy in the head as they were in the heart and the body. Some of the best kin she knew were Totoma, and they'd helped her so many times. She vividly imagined having hooves that cracked like thunder and armor that would protect her from anything.

Well, almost anything. That eagle could have picked up any Totoma; if she really wanted protection, she'd need to be huge. Too big to pick up, legs like trees and a tail like... also a tree. A body like a mountain, a heart like a boulder, a head like an island, a hide like the swamp. She would dwarf the landscape as she roamed, the swamp's water filling in her footsteps to make lakes as she moved along. But that... hm. No, perhaps it wouldn't be so good to be so large. Yes, she'd be safe- but she'd also be dangerous. What if she stepped on someone? When you're that large, the rest of the world is of no consequence to you, and she actually liked being of consequence. She liked being around her family and friends, and her animals. She didn't want to step on anybody; she wanted to be a kin, not a force of nature.

So what would keep her safe? Kin were vulnerable, but other things were less so. She imagined rooting into the ground, growing and sprouting, limbs turning to trunks. She could be a tree, a massive tree, with leafy branches home to creatures of all kinds. Lizards and geckos would scale her trunk; toads would burrow in her roots, smugly croaking their predictions and prevarications. Tortoises could shelter in her shade, and dragons could nest in her leaves. Kin, too, could come- they could tell her their secrets, sighing into the wind as it rustled her leaves. She stood stone-still, imagining her new life as a tree. Trees didn't move, so she'd wait right here for more motes to come along.

Later, she remembered that wait, trees could in fact move. Story was a tree, and he moved, so why was she still standing here? She uprooted herself to take her motes back to the gathering and see if there was any news.

[Scaramouche Fandango]

ON THE HUNT FOR MOTES!
Kin Name: Reaper
Preference List: 1, 4, 6, 9, 2, 10, 11, 8, 19, 20, 21, 3, 7, 12, 14, 17, 19, 18, 13, 16, 15, 5
RP: 4, 7, 6

Reaper was absolutely furious. This was not what she was supposed to be doing. She was here for one reason, and one reason only- to ensure that nobody was stupid enough to try to assassinate Chosen One. It wasn't that he couldn't fend for himself; her father was more than capable of that, she was sure. No, it was more like other kin needed to be taught a lesson for going anywhere near him, and instead she was out here chasing... specks of light or something. This was so [censored for decency] stupid.

When the first ball of light hit her in the face, she was so angry she actually hissed at it, like some kind of enraged goose. This in turn only made her angrier. A goose? Really? She was channeling a [censored again, we apologize to all waterfowl] goose. So this is where we are now. What could possibly be worse than this? Something even lower, like a rock or a tree. Imagine being a tree, she thought. Imagine just... standing there, not moving, providing shade but like. Not actually doing anything. Not thinking, not breathing- but at the same time, not fouling up the swamp with your impurities. When the time came, trees would be spared.

Not other kin, though, could you even imagine. As she chased motes again (how long had she been standing there?), there was a sour taste in her mouth as she imagined being another kind of kin. Specifically, the kind of kin who weren't part of Chosen One's group. It didn't really matter what kind of kin you were, if you weren't in the tribe, you weren't worth keeping alive. Her father was generous, allowing kin to join- and it baffled her why they weren't all climbing over each other to try. For most of them, it would be pointless- they simply weren't worthy. She didn't like thinking about being an outsider, and wasn't sure why it was so stuck in her craw. Was it something with these weird lights? She nabbed a second one and continued on, increasingly angry (and disconcerted, although she'd refuse to admit that) about what the lights were doing to her.

However, when she found a third mote, she was pleased to note that something had changed. Whether it was real or just a trick of the light, or just something imagined, there was a doe even darker than her on the ground- and she was moving independently of Reaper's actions. Her shadow, barely visible in the glow of the motes, was doing its own thing.

For once, the grim doe cracked a tiny smile. You wouldn't recognize it as a smile. In fact, you'd assume she just had an itch, from the minuteness of the twitching. "Good. There's two of us now. Come on, let's go, Daddy needs his bodyguard. We'll take these motes back and make sure everybody knows what darkness really means."

[Scaramouche Fandango]

ON THE HUNT FOR MOTES!
Kin Name: Simple Gifts
Preference List: 1, 4, 6, 9, 2, 10, 11, 8, 19, 20, 21, 3, 7, 12, 14, 17, 19, 18, 13, 16, 15, 5
RP: 9, 5, 1

Simple Gifts found the darkness... well, thrilling, if she was being honest. There was something to be said about limited vision, about using your other senses to hunt. She ran alongside her pack, hunting the motes- and, oh how good it was to chase something that felt no fear! How good it was to chase something that didn't have a hammering heartbeat, that didn't trickle warm blood down the side of your jaws, that didn't have a tiny life to consume. Hunting motes was harmless. Heck, maybe even helpful, depending on whether or not this worked to bring back the sun.

She wondered how to bring them back, though. A mote of light wasn't like a rabbit, where you could carry it home or let your pack fight over it until there was nothing to carry home. It was intangible, untouchable, incorruptible. Perhaps it would stick to her fur, get caught on her scales and spines. Perhaps she'd run through the darkness a glowing orb, covered in dust made of light. She would be a dancing light, a beacon in the darkness. She'd noticed at the gathering that you could see the Kimeti best- their glowing firefly eyes gleaming. You couldn't hide that. She could be that for everybody, a firefly, a lightning bug to guide the way. She imagined that as she chased the little lights, wolves snapping and frolicking at her heels.

As the pack chased down the motes, she kicked up her heels. They were lighter than air- her, Singing Dog, Painted Dog, Night Dog, even Bunny. What would it be like, if the five of them were the winds? North, South, East, West, and Cold, perhaps. Or maybe the pack were the cardinal directions, and she was the air itself, the empty sky they moved through. Together, they would hunt among the stars, herding the clouds and hounding the sun. What would it be like, skipping over the surface of the water, kicking up waves? Or charging over the grass, bending it to their will? Being the air itself would be an enormous undertaking. Perhaps too enormous.

A third mote, and she imagined being small. This, too, had power- for while the wind was enormous, it was entirely unsubtle. If you were tiny, smaller than small, you could have more direct influence. You could whisper in others' ears, redirect their thoughts. You could see things from an entirely new perspective, and you could move unseen through the world. Nobody would look at you- including, perhaps, yourself. A tiny life could be a life unexamined; a tiny life could be a life unknown.

But at the same time, a tiny life meant a life alone; if she was too small, she might as well be invisible. Better to be who you were and make your peace with it. Her vision fading, she took the motes and rounded up her hounds before heading back. It was fun to imagine things and see them in a new light- even if that new light was born of utter darkness.

[Lirilei]

ON THE HUNT FOR MOTES!
Kin Name: Down the Rabbit Hole
Preference List: 9, 10, 12, 20, 2, 1, 19, 4, 8, 18, 7, 5, 13, 21, 3, 6, 14, 16, 15, 17, 11
RP:

10: You capture an exceptionally large mote with no consequences.
3: Your kin imagines they have become a type of familiar!
6: Your kin imagines their shadow has taken on its own life!

She was curious to say the least and the vanishing of the sun was curiouser yet. So when she found out she could help she lept at the chance without even thinking about it. Of course she wanted to help, to try and find an answer though she wasn't sure catching these motes would do much, but she was still game.

So she set out and began to search in earnest for them. With a cry of glee she caught a very large one and continued on. She heard others around her talking nonsense even as she found another mote and went about trapping it. It was the ssssstrangesssst thing she thought as she slithered across the swamp in search of more of those sssstrange motessss. Her tongue flickered tasting the air around her as she wound her way up a tree looking around with her snakey senses.

After a bit she found herself back down on the ground walking and finally finding a third mote. With a triumphant yell she caught it, and turned wiht a cry he shadow rearing up on it's hind legs and kicking at her teeth bared. With a cry she ran and her shadow behind her laughing menacingly as it grew closer and closer to her teeth growing longer, sharper. Tail taking on a wicked look, all angles and barbs. She ran harder trying to leave her shadow behind, jumping into water and coming up with a gasp her shadow no where to be seen. Thank the MotherFather!

[Toshiful]

ON THE HUNT FOR MOTES!
Kin Name: Stay Awake
Preference List: fifteen, eight, one, five, seven, six, ten, two, twelve, seventeen, three, four, twenty, twenty-one, nine, fourteen, sixteen, thirteen, eighteen
RP: Stay Awake Mote contribution

[Toshiful]

ON THE HUNT FOR MOTES!
Kin Name: Mud Bath
Preference List: fifteen, eight, one, five, seven, six, ten, two, twelve, seventeen, three, four, twenty, twenty-one, nine, fourteen, sixteen, thirteen, eighteen
RP: Mud Bath Mote contribution

[Toshiful]

ON THE HUNT FOR MOTES!
Kin Name: Follow the Light
Preference List: fifteen, eight, one, five, seven, six, ten, two, twelve, seventeen, three, four, twenty, twenty-one, nine, fourteen, sixteen, thirteen, eighteen
RP: Follow The Light Mote contribution

[Prolixity]

ON THE HUNT FOR MOTES!
Kin Name: Consume
Preference List: two, four, nine, ten, twenty, three, one, twenty-one, twelve, nineteen, eighteen, seventeen, seven, six, fourteen, thirteen, eighteen
RP: Consume trotted away from the little group of kin, leaving them to discuss their conspiracy theories themselves. At loose ends once more, he moved through the darkness. One of the "helpers" had instructed them to catch the motes of light. What could it hurt, after all? He idly pursued a large mote through the night, and was startled enough to jump when it looped back directly into his mouth. In spite of the warning about hallucinations, nothing happened to him, and he took the mote to be gathered up with the others.

Bolstered by his success, he chased another mote, dodging after it as it dodged him. This one was more difficult to catch. When he'd gotten it between his teeth, holding it delicately, he turned to head over to where the cage was, and stopped in his tracks as his shadow stretched out in front of him, rather than behind him as it should be doing. Then his shadow lowered its head, even though he wasn't moving, and snapped at his feet. He pulled them back instinctively and watched his shadow laugh silently at him. Somewhere between offended and amused, he started to walk again, and was relieved to find that once he did, his shadow receded behind him again where it belonged.

Once he'd turned the second mote in, he pursued a third around the edge of the clearing, following it, gaining slowly until he could lunge forward and snap it up. As he turned to return to the cage, he found himself confronted by a jut of stone that he was certain hadn't been there before. It looked a lot like a stalagmite, which was strange, because he wasn't in a cave. Was he? Wait. In the glow of the mote between his teeth, he could clearly see that he was, in fact, in a cave, much like the ones he'd visited on the expedition. Nonplussed, he picked his way through a forest of stalagmites and stalactites. Had he somehow been transported underground? He'd need to get out and get back to the swamp somehow. It was lucky he had the glowing mote to help guide himself. And then, as he ducked into a low corridor, the cave dissolved around him, leaving him back in the clearing. He took the third mote to join its captured kin, and then excused himself. He needed a little break.

Spoiler

10: You capture an exceptionally large mote with no consequences.
6: Your kin imagines their shadow has taken on its own life!
8: Your kin imagines they are in a different climate (plain, mountains, desert, caves)!

[10, 6, 8] = 24
3d10:  [

10

6

8

] = 24

[lolternative]

ON THE HUNT FOR MOTES!
Kin Name: Air
Preference List: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twentyone
RP: Here & finished here

(( See below for dice rolls - I am dumb ))
8: Your kin imagines they are in a different climate (plain, mountains, desert, caves)!
7.Your kin imagines they are a different species of kin!
2. Your kin imagines they are huge!

[lolternative]

ON THE HUNT FOR MOTES!
Kin Name: Air
Preference List: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twentyone
RP:

Air felt like she had a hang of catching the motes for now and although the side effects were strange - they were also kind of fun! So far, she'd been to the mountains, turned into a totoma and became so big she felt she could catch the stars in her mouth instead of the motes. It was a fun little game and a nice distraction given everything she had been feeling prior - her anxiousness and fears.

The first mote she managed to catch was a small thing and she was so gentle and careful, so as to not hurt it. This time, the world around her shrunk and Air was a songbird, small and feathered. Wings and feathers to carry her on the wind and into the skies but she couldn't take off, no matter how she tried. It must have looked strange to those around her. As quickly as it had come, the illusion broke and she deposited the mote with the others.

The motes were weary of her now, catching on that she was a threat and they didn't make the task of catching them as easy as it had been before. Air chased, jumped and tumbled but they always managed to get just out of reach the second she snapped her mouth shut and all she got was her teeth gnashing together, quite painfully and the occasional bit tongue.

She wondered how the motes played a part in this - were they the sun, broken up into pieces and collecting them all would create a large mote that was the sun. Were they they sun's children perhaps and catching them all would bring the sun out of hiding to rescue her children. But that couldn't be right - surely the sun would want to rescue the world and wouldn't leave it in darkness and potential ruin.

Darkness.. Air slowed, coming to stand still alone in a clearing. She had chased a mote quite far and stood in darkness, the light of the fires a soft glow in the distance. It was suffocating and she took in a sharp breath, trying to still her beating heart. Was this how life was to be? Would the world be able to adjust and continue on? Perhaps their eyes would adjust like the zikwa's below the cave. But what if they didn't? What if she never fully saw the world again? How would she have adventures? Find treasure? Seek out new experiences? She wanted to visit the mountains but could she make it in the darkness? How would she survive the cold without the sun to warm her?

Air was still, breathing shallow. Two motes drifted close enough that she caught them both but it was a hollow victory for as many as she caught, there were still so many more. She deposited these in the cage and she couldn't help but wonder if they had enough kin and enough time to catch them before it was too light. There was no illusion this time, no wonderful experience to distract her from the dread she felt.

[Prolixity]

ON THE HUNT FOR MOTES!
Kin Name: Love -in-Idleness
Preference List: two, four, nine, ten, twenty, three, one, twenty-one, twelve, nineteen, eighteen, seventeen, seven, six, fourteen, thirteen, eighteen
RP: Idle was very, very upset. Where was the sun? It had broken the rules and the cycle by not coming up the way it always did. She had returned to sleep several times, because it was still dark, and then woken up again with an inkling that something was really wrong. She'd waited for dawn. And waited, and waited. Eventually, she'd observed that the strange, glowing motes drifting through the air seemed to be going somewhere. For lack of anything else to do or any other instructions, she followed them. Once she'd reached the clearing, she'd heard someone saying that he knew how to make the sun come back. It involved catching the motes of light, for some reason. But she had instructions to follow and something to do now.

She ran after a mote and caught it between her teeth, as gently as she could, like a berry that she didn't want to pop. She turned back towards the cage where the other motes were captured. It took her a few moments to realize that she was bobbing through the air instead of running, her legs and hooves transformed into ineffective little fins. She almost dropped the mote in her mouth, but caught it again just before it escaped. She had become a fatfish. How was that even possible? She struggled to swim through the air, hampered by her unfamiliar new body, rather frightened. She'd made it about halfway back to the cage before the world righted itself and she was walking again rather than swimming; she hurried the rest of the way back and spat the mote out hastily.

She was a little hesitant to catch another mote after that odd experience, but she gamely tried again. The mote flitted and wove in and out of the trees, and it took her some time to catch it. She didn't much like the feel of the motes on her teeth, she decided. Distracted by this thought, she almost didn't see that her shadow was dancing a wild whirl beside her, not matching her movements as it should. Once she'd seen it, though, she stopped to watch in amazement. It danced better than she did, she thought, and tried to pay attention to what it was doing. After a time, though, it stilled. Was it tired, or had it noticed her watching it? She'd have to pay attention to find out whether it danced when she wasn't looking any other time, she thought. She watched it some time longer, but it did nothing out of the ordinary, and eventually she got bored and went to bring her mote back to the cage.

Another mote zipped past her nose right after she'd turned in the second one, and she lunged and caught it. She was getting better at this, even if she didn't much like it! Other motes were gathering around her, she noticed, drawing closer like a cloud of insects. They settled on her fur, crawling over her body until she was a single bright mass of motes. She shrieked and shook herself hard, sending them flinging off; they vanished as she shook them away. Had they been real? She couldn't tell, and that was upsetting. She brought back her third mote, then trotted away with her head ducked, rather disturbed by what had happened to her. She'd done what she'd been asked to do. She didn't want to do any more of it. She wanted to find someone she knew to cuddle up to.

Spoiler

3: Your kin imagines they have become a type of familiar!
6: Your kin imagines their shadow has taken on its own life!
9: Your kin imagines they are completely covered in motes!

[lolternative]

I AM SO DUMB IM SOS ORRY LMAO