Nights Glow

Hey, first Rp in a long long time, be gentle! I'd also prefer it if only one or two people join, but if more do then hey ho! Try to take turns and not lose anyone in the posts. I know I wont be managing much more than once a day!

Also if I don't cope and do have to bail then I apologise but feel free to continue <3

*****

Fireflies danced along the forest path, and it would take a keen eye to realise they weren’t insects. The small Light Shinlai padded through the trees in the twilight, following a freshly worn path, only the light from her ‘fireflies’ showing the way. She hadn’t travelled this path before, but a local had happily pointed her in the right direction. Pipistella sighed quietly to herself as she reached the clearing before the great temple, glad to be out of the dark forest. And stopped in her tracks.

Her mother and father had waxed lyrical about the grand sight the newly grown temple presented. But she was still unprepared for the sight of it. The massive trees were covered with the remnants from the spring, with flower petals scattered on the clearing floor, and no doubt inside the temple too.

“Surprised he didn’t kill himself with the strain,” she muttered, before padding into the temple.

The walls surrounding the central chamber were knitted together with the branches of the trees, and over the year they had grown together, melding and merging to create a solid leafy wall. The flowers were past their best, but the locals had clearly been taking care of them, and they were well tended. The altar, which Dagda had explained was the only surviving thing, was well cleaned and had lit candles upon it, with a few offerings around its feet.

The soft light lent the temple a warm, gentle feeling. A peaceful air for a weary traveller.

“Well, I’m impressed,” she said softly, glancing around once more, before depositing her offering at the foot of the altar. Flowers, grown by her father, dried by her mother, and imbued with a faint glowing light from herself.

She knew it was dangerous to be out in the forest by herself, with Talin only twenty miles or so to the north. But she needed a break from assisting the wounded, rebuilding homes and scouting for Darkbloods.

She just needed… a break.

Naria sneezed as a lady bug crawled over her nose, rousing her from her sleep. She was curled in a hazel thicket, just of the path to the temple. She'd arrived in Talin on her small ship, the Golden Carp, a week ago. She'd come with the intention of seeing the temple her mentor, Alkyone, had raved about at her last visit to see her.
She'd been shocked at the state of the city. When she'd heard it was a Dark Blood attack that had left the city in charred ruins, she'd immediately decided to stay and help.

She was half regretting it now, as she hauled her aching body out from under the leafy hazel bushes. Most of the lighter work had been done, and as much as she wanted to help with the rebuild. She had been told, none to gently, that she was just too small to help. I fact the much larger lai in charge of the rebuild of the harbour buildings had laughed at her when she'd offered. Though he'd been quick to apologize when she nearly drowned him.

That was when she decided it was probably time for a break, and had headed inland to finally see the temple.

She rounded a small bend in the trail and stopped dead, "Woooah... as if I didn't feel small enough!" She exclaimed, gapping at the magnificent structure.
.

Apparently someone had thought a dead rabbit was a good offering. And while she was sure that it would make sense to some, she wasn’t as sure as to why a god like being would need food to eat.

Either way the tiny corpse needed to be moved. It smelled a bit.

She gingerly picked it up by the ears, doing her best not to come in contact with it, her lips curled back as far from it as possible. And carrying it carefully, trotted down the length of the building to the archway, fully intending to fling it into the forest for the wolves to find.

Reaching the door she gave a sharp flick of her head, mane flopping about, having fell out of her usual braid several days ago, and the rabbit sailed into the gathering darkness. Landing with a muffled thump.

“Yeesh,” she grumbled, turning about to head back inside.

A pale figure caught her eye on the edge of the tree line, the weak light from her fireflies reflecting of a golden mask. She stiffened automatically, one part of her yelling something about Darkbloods and running quickly, and the other part demanding she stay vary still in case their vision was based on movement. Which was unlikely considering it was another Shinlai and they could see perfectly fine with or without movement.

“‘ello?” she called quietly. Albeit nervously.

Naria puffed like a startled cat as a small object hump into the ground several feet away, breaking her from her awed daze. She scanned the clearing, and when a large shadowed shape shifted, she realised what she'd taken to be fireflies we're the conjuration of a light shinlai. Her suspicion was confirmed when the shadow voiced a nervous greeting.

“‘ello?”

She sighed, relieved. Her salt bleached pelt losing its defensive puff.

"Evening," She called back, slowly approaching the entrance to the temple. "Or... what ever time of night it is, I always have trouble telling the time on land."

((I forgot how bad I am at remembering to reply, sorry for the wait!))

Pipistella drew her fireflies into a larger ball, casting more light on the area as the other Shinlai approached. It brought into view a dark blue and pale cream Shinlai. With a rather beautiful golden mask, although Pipistella quickly chided herself for the spark of envy she felt. What was more important was that the other Shinlai seemed vaguely familiar, although she couldn’t be sure.

“No, you’re right, it is the evening. Just gone sundown I believe,” she replied to their odd statement.

“I hope I didn’t wake you,” she added quickly, just to be polite, in case she had plodded through the middle of their camp without realising.

"Haha, no, no." Naria replied with an airy chuckle, the bells on her left horn tinkling as she tossed her head. "Unless you can conjure up ladybugs." Looking closer at the other Shinlai's face, she seemed very familiar. She realised she was staring, and looked back up at the front of the temple.

"Guess everything I heard about this place wasn't exaggerated." She stated. "Kind of surprised the guy didn't kill himself, creating something this huge."

((lol, thats ok<3))

((sorrysorrysorrry, even longer wait this time, sorry))

A sly grin spread across Pipistella’s face at the comment about the temple. She shifted from one foot to the other, until she was stood alongside, peering up at the interwoven ranches. “I didn’t expect it to be so big, but then again I’m not surprised that he even attempted it. Gets the idea and just has to go with it,” she commented.

“Would you like to see inside?” She asked, gesturing with one paw and abruptly half a dozen other fireflies appeared and zipped inside to give better light.