[SEASONAL EVENT] Diamond Dust

what. Ronin's boots crunched against the frost as he trudged to the fringes of the Woodlands, the furred collar of his coat turned up against the cold, hands buried in his pockets. Deepfrost was getting more intense the closer it got to LongNight, he swore, and so he stamped his feet and kept moving and walking to keep the blood pumping while he waited for his friend. He had seen the luxere on numerous occasions, now, and their glow was always a welcome sight towards the dusk. Glancing over his shoulder and into the shadows of skeletal branches and frosted undergrowth, he wondered how their luck would fare today. Ronin professed himself to be quite lucky much of the time - and it had paid off, given his encounters with Safrin, the luxere and the dream fish thus far. Speaking of which, as he turned back to gaze across the snow, a small and serpentine head snaked up from his collar, Sugar nestled comfortably within and wanting little to do with their escapades.

Remi the Alchemist "these mountains that you are carrying, you were only supposed to climb" "How nice of you to wait." Remi called cheerfully through the near-darkness. He was bundled up just as Ronin was, and as he neared and then nudged against his friend, he felt like he was wrapped in a pillow, hardly feeling where he contacted the bounty hunter. Flashing him a grin, Remi nodded towards the softly glowing lights in the distance. "Do you see those as well? Or am I seeing things again?" His tone was playful, but they both knew that there was a deadly undercurrent of truth to his words. "Hallo Sugar." He quipped towards the dragonling, fishing in his pocket (which took some doing given the size of the mittens he wore) to offer her a piece of cured meat.

what. "As if I would go and see this without you," Ronin said with a smile as he spotted his friend emerging through the snowfields, nudging back against him but not daring to take his hands from his pockets. He wore his bracers, gauntlet and glove, just in case the night was not kind to them, but that didn't mean he wanted to bare his fingers to the cold unecessarily. He smirked and followed the other man's gaze out into the glowing woodlands beyond, nodding to him. "I see it too," he said reassuringly, starting to lead the way into the undergrowth - but not before Remi could say hello to his dragon. Sugar trilled at him, politely accepting the meat (a far cry from his first attempts) and nuzzling away again. Ronin wrinkled his nose; he'd either feel her wiggling about to get the crumbs of it, or he'd end up with a coat full of flakes of meat by the end of the night. "So have you seen them before? The luxere?" he asked.

Remi the Alchemist "these mountains that you are carrying, you were only supposed to climb" "You just might. You are a bit roguish you know. Or perhaps that is just your look?" Nodding with relief, Remi shot Ronin a slanted grin as he offered the meat to the dragon. Glancing at Ronin's expression, the alchemist shot him a reprimanding stare. "Oh sorry, is your dragon a bit of an inconvenience now?" He asked with an amused glare. With an awkward cough as if he'd entirely forgotten how to breathe, Remi nodded slowly. "Ah...Yes. Isla and I..." Clearing his throat, Remi turtled his head down into his jacket and scarf until more or less only his eyes were visible. "Well, they taste as good as they look." He mumbled through the material, offering his friend a smile he wouldn't quite be able to see, but which would cause his eyes to sparkle merrily and crinkle around the edges.

what. "It most definitely is not just my look." Ronin smirked at his friend and shrugged his shoulders. He had to try and stifle his laughter as Remi (rightly) pointed out how unreasonable he was being about Sugar, and he bowed his head to concede the point. "I'll give you that one, but you don't have her biting your toes to wake you up when she's hungry." He swore the dragonling was more feline than reptile sometimes; however, he could still hardly complain about it. While Sugar munched away at her snack, Ronin led them through the undergrowth as quietly as he could manage, the lights bobbing away ahead of them. "Oh?" He arched an eyebrow, surprised as he glanced over his shoulder at Remi to find him half eaten by his coat. Speaking of eating, too... Ronin snorted. "Wow," he said, grinning. "Well, if it's all the same to you, I'd like it if we kept these ones alive. They're very pleasant creatures, you know."

Remi the Alchemist "these mountains that you are carrying, you were only supposed to climb" Remi could only roll his eyes as Ronin mentioned just one of the unexpected troubles that came with raising a dragon. "I always want her to sleep in the bed, he said. But did you know she bites toes? No one could have foreseen this." He chuckled wryly. "So I have heard." Remi murmured, poking his lips out of his woolen wrap. "And they are meant to....stay outside of your home during LongNight, to provide light? And keep away the dark things that lurk in it?" Given how positively stag-like the luxere that he and Isla had downed seemed, the alchemist was a bit skeptical that the creatures would do anything more remarkable than just loiter around. Again that strange feeling that they were all being tricked lurked in the back of his thoughts, but he shrugged it off easily enough. "Their horns are rather amazing though. But...they do not glow once they die. " Remi added with a light shrug. Taking their horns seemed a far easier task than coaxing them to one's doorstep, but apparently that wasn't to be.

what. "Keep up the mockery, Remi, and I'll have her sleep in your bed for a few nights. You'll have no toes left." Ronin grinned mischievously at his friend and nestled further into his coat (Sugar could be heard making very deadly squeaks growls as she killed the already dead prey Remi had gifted her). As talk turned to the luxere in earnest Ronin nodded in agreement, slowing his steps as the glow began to get brighter. "That is what I heard too," he said, his voice a touch softer now. "I suppose we'll only really know after we get through this first LongNight. Who knows, perhaps we will be the ones warning people next year..." He wasn't surprised, really, to hear that their antlers didn't glow once the life had been snuffed out of them, but it was still an interesting bit of info to pack away. "Are you sure they won't have warned their friends about you since you and Isla went on your hunt? I don't want to get charged by a herd of luxere."

Remi the Alchemist "these mountains that you are carrying, you were only supposed to climb" "It has been a while since I've had a female in my bed to nibble on my toes. Who knows, perhaps I will like it?" He chuckled shaking his head. Remi felt something sort of lurch in his chest, and he gave Ronin a rather pointed look, the expression on his face rather muddled. "Do you really think we will be here? Like this?" Though the alchemist had given up hope of ever going back to Northaven—though after his conversation with Vai he wasn't really sure he would even go back given the chance—something about this place still seemed...temporary. "I meant to tell you, Ludo gave me a mask. I was hesitant to put it on without knowing it was safe. So when I called the mages together to try and attack the barrier, I thought that as good a time as any to try it on, given they could be there to restrain me. And Ronin—" He gave his friend and earnest and hopeful look. "I saw through the barrier. The world outside..it is nothing like this. It appears to be Deepfrost out there as well, but there is life and a vibrancy that does not exist in here..." Chuckling slightly, though there was no reason that Ronin was wrong about this, Remi shrugged. "I was a lion at the time. Isla too. I wonder if they will be able to tell..?" Given how close the glow of the luxere appeared to be, it seemed they would find out soon.

what. Ronin snorted at Remi's response, giving him a good natured dig with his elbow, though as the humour faded to something altogether more confusing, the guildmaster found himself questioning his last statement as well. "I don't know," he confessed, shaking his head. "From everything the natives have said, nothing has managed to open the barrier. Although I'll admit that we seem to have exceeded expectations by even surviving an encounter with this Spire monster... that isn't to say we will be able to get out. There's still too much... unknown." He shook his head. Remi, however, seemed to be in a position to shed some light on that unknown, and Ronin tilted his head at his friend. Blue eyes widened at the sheer... well, nonchalance at the alchemist's admission about Ludo's mask. Like it was the most ordinary thing in the world, and that the god hadn't nearly killed Remi more than once. That, though, was unfortunately dwarfed by what the mask did... "Are you serious?" He half whispered. "Remi, that's... wow..." The guildmaster would be unable to continue that train of thought further for the moment, given that a few steps later they emerged into a clearing containing no less than four luxere, one of which looking like a young buck whose antlers were only yet tiny things. They pawed the snow to reveal some of the sweet grass beneath, one of the creatures lifting its head to gaze at them.

Remi the Alchemist "these mountains that you are carrying, you were only supposed to climb" "Mmm." Remi agreed. He knew it bordered on hubris to think that they—the Northaven Outlanders—would triumph where for centuries everyone else had failed, and yet he did truly believe it. Perhaps it was just naive optimism, though he wasn't sure that was any better. "Incredibly stupid? Dangerous? So I have been told." Remi muttered grimly with a shrug. Luckily though, he knew if anyone would understand that sometimes risks needed to be taken, it would be Ronin. Before he could elaborate, he was stunned by having suddenly snuck up on their prey intended targets. "What...do we do now?" Remi murmured. "I only brought meat for Sugar, but I doubt that they would like it anyways."

what. "Well," Ronin whispered to Remi with a crooked grin, "you certainly don't shift into a lion and go running in there to eat them. I've heard they like music, but I brought this just in case." So saying, he withdrew from his pockets a handful of berries and a sweet, crisp apple from the Fields (how it had survived to Deepfrost he did not know), handing some to Remi before offering it out to the luxere. He hadn't expected so many, so they'd have to be sparse with it, and he grinned as the buck made its tentative way over. Letting it eat some of the berries from his hand, Ronin patted the creature on the nose. "There," he murmured. "That's much better than teeth and claws, huh?" Sugar shrieked her disagreement within his collar. But what did she know anyway.

Remi the Alchemist "these mountains that you are carrying, you were only supposed to climb" Remi put on a surprised expression as if shifting into a lion had been precisely the sort of thing that he should do. Taking the meager offerings from Ronin, Remi watched with fascinated round eyes as the buck trudged his way over, eating out of Ronin's hand just as happy as anything. "Says the man with a dragon in his coat." Remi muttered, extending one of the apples towards the creature cautiously as Sugar echoed his own sentiments. "Alright, steady now you three—" Remi said, before raising his hand slightly. As he did so, the earth rumbled a bit, enough to shake the snow free and reveal the sparse grasses below. It wasn't much, but perhaps Ronin was right and he did owe the creatures a bit of good will.

what. "If you think about it, any man with a dragon in his coat can say whatever he damned well pleases." Ronin tipped Remi a wink and gave the buck a gentle scratch behind the ear. It finished the berries out of his hand just as Remi managed to unveil some of the grass with magic (that he could do that now as well earned an incredulous glance from the guildmaster); in no time at all it had returned to its herd, and all four of them began to nibble away at the revealed treats. Ronin folded his arms across his chest, grinning and seeming satisfied. "Hopefully they forgive you for your indiscretions before," he joked, "and they will pay you a visit when LongNight comes." Before he could suggest anything further to entice their new friends, a haunting melody rang through the forest, faint and undulating and somehow... off, like a song in a minor key. Either way the luxere instantly bristled, heads shooting up to glance about before they were quite suddenly away, springing off into the darkness and taking their glow with them. The melody continued, drawing closer. "What...?" Ronin whispered. "They usually like singing..."

Remi the Alchemist "these mountains that you are carrying, you were only supposed to climb" "I have only heard that as euphemism until now, if you substitute coat for trousers." Remi chuckled back with a raised brow. "But perhaps you should wait until she is a bit bigger before you start using her as a threat, hmm?" "Shhhh." Remi whispered harshly, nudging his friend playfully in the ribs. "You'll give me away! Perhaps they have not heard about my hunting trip yet." Winking, the amused expression softly fell away from his face and his lips as the melody entered their little glade. Remi found himself frowning, though he wasn't quite sure why. "I am sure it was something you said." The alchemist tried to joke back, though he felt as though all of his mirth had dissipated and simply been filled by the haunting sound. "Do you think whoever is singing is trying to lure them? Should we let them know..ahh, that it is not effective?"