Welcome to Gaia! ::

It had been an incredibly long day at the Festival. And Moon Mist had spent the end of it sipping on something fermented. This, paired with her exhaustion, left her a smidge unsteady on her feet. And significantly less reserved than usual. The festive atmosphere seemed to have stirred up something inside her. Something a little more brave and forward than she usually was.

As she wound her way back through the crowd, she spotted one of the Noulicorns she'd spoken with earlier. He'd seemed so fascinated at the crystal she'd discovered. It would be so nice if he could see it! Unabashedly, she pranced up to him, cutting in front of other Nouls. "Rangar! I know you were very interested in the crystal I found. If you'd like, I could show you now!" She was significantly louder than her usual self. But maybe that was a good thing. They were in a crowd, after all.

Moon Mist didn't even feel a twinge of worry that he'd reject her request. If he did, oh well. She'd just go home and have a nice sleep. But he'd just seemed so curious! And who knew, maybe the council would want to see her crystal. or some other far more important Noul. This might be his only chance!

Moon Mist beamed, completely oblivious to any sense of impropriety or double meanings. "It was quite lovely! And I got to transplant the plants I grew for the festival. Now Homewood's that much bigger!" Some part of the back of her brain told her being this chatty just wasn't like her, but the larger part that had been influenced by cider simply didn't care. "Did you have a nice time? I hope so. Oh, my grove isn't very far. You can take a peak at the crystal and then carry on, I'm sure you have more plans for the night."

She cut in front of him again, leading the way to her snug little home, and her crystal. It was the only physical thing she'd brought back from her grand adventure. It was quite pretty, but that seemed to be all there was to it.

Slightly intoxicated she took the quickest path home, as opposed to the most well groomed one. Occasionally branches snapped back, hitting her lightly. They had a slightly sobering effect on her, but not enough to change her plans.

Finally she emerged from the woods and into her grove. It wasn't large by any means, but it was incredibly tidy and well manicured. "Well, this is my grove!" She announced, with a pleased voice. "The crystal should just be over h-" Her words cut off suddenly. A strange blue glow was emitting from the woven bough den she'd made between the trees. She blinked, wondering if her eyes were playing tricks on her.

"W-what is that?" She whispered.

Moon Mist crept foward. "That's my den!" Her voice was a whisper, but she pitched her words towards Ragnar. "It's never done this before." Clearly, still a little intoxicated. She took careful step after careful step, until she was right up to the entranced. Then she let out a piercing shriek. She didn't flee however.

"My crystal!" Her voice was mix of shock and indignation. In Moon Mist's little den was a rat, firmly grasping the crystal. Both rat and crystal were enveloped in blue light. Its eyes were closed, and it seemed oblivious to what was going on around it.

A stunned Moon Mist looked back and forth between Ragnar and the rat and crystal. Her mouth made motions, but no words came out.

Moon Mist, still entirely shocked by this entire situation, paused unsure what the correct action would be. "Well, it is my crystal, I did go on the wh-" Whatever point she was trying to make was cut off by an even brighter burst of light, and strange, high pitched sound. Almost like something shattering.

Glowing blobs floated in Moon Mist's vision for a moment, after the jarring brightness. When she was able to see again, she found herself staring straight into the beady eyes of a dire rat. A dire rat who was no longer holding her crystal, but who was standing in a pile of glittery dust. "My crystal! You destroyed it!" It was all Moon Mist could think to say.

The rat stared at the two Noulicorns, then to the pile of glimmering dust, and then froze. There was only one way out of Moon Mist's den, and it was thoroughly blocked in at the moment.

Minx had had a busy day. She'd infiltrated the party these Homewood Noulicorns had been throwing, filled her pack with flowers to trade and then had wandered into the deeper woods. She hadn't exactly been looking for anything. It had just felt right. She'd wandered through the lush woods for a while, marveling and all the greenery. Sure, there had been plants in the Ruins, but nothing like this. Eventually Minx had wandered into a nice little clearing. It had seemed so neat. She'd been sure some Noul must call it home, but that didn't stop Minx from poking around. Nice plants were planted all around the grove. But what piqued Minx's interest was the curious little den.

As she'd slipped inside the strange pull had grown. Minx had nosed around, checking the little trinkets and bits. The pull persisted. From the corner of her eye she noticed a strange blue crystal. Every fibre of her being needed that crystal. So she reached for it.

After that a strange vision had enveloped her. And then suddenly it was over. Minx shook her head, disoriented. She quickly remembered where she was. Her eyes were adjusting to the dark when she realized she wasn't alone in the grove. The Noulicorns loomed at the mouth of the den. ... Uh-oh.

Her eyes darted around. Minx was quite sure the only way out was through. A funny feeling niggled in her mind. Something that hadn't been there before. Could it help? She reached for it. Suddenly a gust of wind picked up, buffeting the two Noulicorns. Minx attempted to use this as a chance to make her escape, and dart between their feet. Had that gust come from her? What on earth was going on? And what had that crystal been? Surely things to contemplate at a later, safer time.

Truly, this was a bizarre incident. Ragnar had just enough time to glance at the dust that was once a crystal, and suspected that they would not be getting it back. The least they could do, after all the trouble Moon Mist had gone through to get the crystal, was figure out why the rat had wanted to destroy it.

He was about to speak when he felt a wind crash into him, sending him reeling back a step with surprise. Ragnar's brain whirled, trying to understand this latest development, but his instincts had kicked in and his body moved instantly into the offensive as it perceived an oncoming threat.

The buck regained his footing and pushed forward, dropping his head as low as he could to use his horn as a barrier, or perhaps a mildly threatening weapon as he tried to block the rat's escape.

"Where do you think you're going?" he growled as moved to match the rat. "You just stole something of great importance."