The rains that had fallen over their previous home had started as a slow drizzle that had gradually built over time. Not in how much fell so much as how much that gathered on the ground. It had soaked into the earth and made muddy puddles here and there. Building muddled trails and tracks as days and weeks had passed with no sign of the rain stopping. It had gotten to the point that the plants had started to rot, their leaves dying as they drowned in the steady rain. The ground had turned soft, so thick with water it couldn't hold any more. Zane's magic had let him hear the whispers of the plants as they choked and suffocated, unable to withstand the sheer amount of moisture that the ground had held.
It had only been when he had heard a willow tree die that he had decided it was time to move. The tree had been large and used to living near waters. It had been used to sodden ground and had survived soft streams and raging rivers but it had died from the overabundant rain. If a tree like that had died then the plants that prey needed wouldn't stand a chance.
The plants he needed for Elcid's medicine wouldn't stand a chance. That had been the deciding factor for him and it hadn't taken much to convince Elcid to leave as well. She had seemed as sick of the rain as he had been.
“A place that is far enough from the drowning lands to feel comfortable.” He responded back his voice a bit hard if not determined. He didn't know what had caused the rain, and he had no idea how far it would reach from its source. Zane didn't want to be anywhere close in case the likely magical rain had decided to spread.
The longer they walked the darker it became. Trees slowly going from lush greens to dark and brittle in appearance. The sounds that he often associated with life, insects and birds, slowly faded into an uneasy silence as they walked through the dark wood. To his ears the place was quiet but to his magic the place whispered and hissed. Plants talking far more than any sort of vegetation normal did unless he requested, or forced, it to. “It might by quiet but it's not really that silent.” Zane said finally as he looked back over his shoulder at her, one brow raised. The silence was broken by soft whispers as the branches high in the air rubbed against each other, the smokey substance in the air breaking up the sound even more.
Zane huffed with amusement and rolled his eyes as Elcid took off for a clearing that had come into view. The clearing or rather a burnt and rather crispy looking opening between the trees was large and Zane padded past Elcid as she complained once more that she didn't like it here. “I didn't even smell the smoke.” He mussed as he came to a stop between the smoldering plants. With how dark it was here he hadn't exactly been expecting grass and flowers, but he also hadn't been expecting a newly burnt area either. The warmth of the ash below his paws told him exactly how recent the fire must have been.
His ears swept back against his skull the longer he looked around, an uneasy feeling digging into his chest. A frown crossed his face as the plants whispered soft wordless sounds to him. “I don't think that this was a random fire.” He finally said his voice low.
Dark Forest
The ground and trees here have taken on a dark hue and a permanent cloud-shadow looms over this area. A tall, thick forest grows and in its deepest reaches, no light can penetrate the thick foliage. Strange, dangerous creatures lurk in the darkness.
[P] Refuge?