A doglike figure moved in a sort of sidelong shamble along the Crystal River. Its head turned this way and that as it walked, as if looking for something... or someone? But who, or what?

The answer to that might be found in the hoarse whine that rose from its throat, if anyone were close enough to hear. "So.... alone...." it sighed quietly. "Please... someone..." The way its limbs moved didn't quite look right, and it stumbled and almost tripped on the steep rocky shore. What a poor, sickly beast. What was wrong with it? Wouldn't someone take pity on it, and help? Surely no one should be left to fend for themselves like this, right?

Was there anyone nearby? Parthenium's magic flickered up, only to die again. Its voice rose in a high-pitched whimper of frustration. "Magic... too weak." There was so much magic here, but it still didn't have enough for even this simple spell. When could it become stronger? When would it be strong enough?

F E V E R F E W
Will you stay with me?

@Wilder

There was a reason Wilder had come here. She had avoided Polaris for a large portion of her life, and even now found herself only infrequently visiting. But upon sitting on the meadows of Let, beneath the statue of the owl (she swore it watched her sometimes), she pulled out her tarot cards and spread them before her.

They painted a strange, grim picture - The Moon. The Nine of Wands. The Tower.

She had sat with the cards for a while and tried to understand what they were telling her. An unknown...a mystery. A battle she had fought but had yet to finish...?

The image of the Spire crossed suddenly through her mind. She had never understood that, the connection she'd had, the presence that had followed her around. She had beaten it, grown from it, but she had never understood.

And so she packed her things, stashed her cards, and headed to Polaris. There she wandered, not too far from the Spire, wondering what in the caves she was going to do, where she was going to start looking. Was she supposed to look for something or was something going to happen..?

As if it had heard her internal query, a voice echoed softly from some distance away. Someone distressed.

She turned, ears twisting back in surprise, and saw a figure a ways away hobbling away. They looked...rough. She could not see the details, but something was wrong with it. Horribly, horribly wrong. She should have considered having caution in that moment, she should have had second thoughts, but the bubble of madness welled up behind her eyes and she pulled herself forward, to chase it. She could help. She had to help.

As she approached the dog, she gasped softly at the sight of the...crystals?! "Oh my gosh, what happened to you?" She rushed forward, but immediately had no idea what she was supposed to do here. Her first instinct was to simply take the damage on herself, but she wasn't really sure...if it was damage. So she attempted to simply release whatever was affecting the dog, physical or magical or...otherwise.

@Parthenium

A gasp. A voice. Parthenium jerked to a stop and turned. A... cat. Someone was here!

"Don't leave," it gasped suddenly, its voice hoarse and harsh and almost grinding against itself. "Don't leave me alone!" Its head and neck strained forward, as if trying to reach toward Wilder, even as it began to walk shakily toward her. It gave no reaction to Wilder's spell, or any sign that it had worked.

What happened to you? As if in response, Parthenium's tail tucked and her ears flicked backward. "Flesh is pain. Flesh is corruption." It continued walking forward. Slowly, its gaze fixated on Wilder, and then on the gemstone resting in her cheek. Its voice was pleading and mournful all at once. "Have to... remove it." This poor creature, trapped in flesh, which was eternal pain.

Parthenium could help. Parthenium could remove it. Then neither of them would have to face the pain alone.

F E V E R F E W
Will you stay with me?

@Wilder

She paused for a moment, staring at the dog, bewildered. In one instant, it fell into place. Old mystery, a battle not won, destruction. The old words echoed in the back of her mind, stitching themselves from those the dog uttered. They were not exact but they were too similar.

Her claws slid out against her will and she took a step back without meaning to. But she couldn't leave because...because... she could help here! She had to help. She could not leave this one alone when it begged her not to leave.

She fought against her instincts and forced her claws back in, offering the dog a gentle smile instead. "It's okay, I'm not going to leave. I promise. Can you...tell me your name? Are you hurting anywhere specific?" Yes, yes, put the madness off for a moment to collect information. And in the meantime, she tentatively reached forward, to listen in on whatever was happening in this poor dog's mind. But ah, alas, the magic did not reach it...

@Parthenium

At Wilder's words, a soft sigh of relief slipped from the dog's lips. Not leaving. They would not be alone. Good, because no one should die alone.

But it did not seem to understand Wilder's question. Its name? ... It did not remember that. Hurting anywhere specific? Flesh was weakness and betrayal and pain, but Parthenium's?

"... Removed," was all it replied. But it was not done. It had found a gem. They were not alone. But she was still flesh, still weak. It should do something about that.

Slowly, gently, carefully, Parthenium settled at Wilder's feet and laid down so they were at eye level. Slowly, gently, carefully, it extended its muzzle toward hers. Something rippled beneath its soft white fur, and in place of a dog's pink tongue a tendril of dark epidote extended toward her. It could remove her weakness for her now.

F E V E R F E W
Will you stay with me?

@Wilder

For a moment she thought things were settling a bit, for the dog was setting and quieting. It seemed calmer now, after she'd reassured it she was staying. She leaned forward as well as the dog got on her level, nose and whiskers twitching with curiosity. She thought, perhaps, the dog had leaned forward to sniff her as well.

Nope.

She froze as the...whatever the hell that was...reached towards her. For a moment, she didn't do anything, still holding out hope it was innocent. She watched as it came closer - to...taste her scent, like a snake, but then it latched around the skin of her stone and she froze, still as a statue.

Phantom pain seared deep into the skin around her gemstone as metal claws carved into flesh, grasping at the root of the rhodonite, where stone met bone. A horrible terror overcame her as a sensation unlike anything she'd felt took over her. Like someone had started to carve into the very root of her being. She struggled, she screamed, she begged for them to stop because if they kept going, she would die. She would surely die from such a thoughtless, seemingly minor injury. The Black Wolf's claws carved deeper, and the root of the stone chipped under the pressure. She couldn't move. She couldn't get free, she was going to die! She was going to die in this strange world, where the air was thin and her magic was useless, and everything smelled like blood and hatred!

She couldn't move. She had frozen herself. She had tried to stop Parthenium, but the moment the crystal claws sunk into her skin, she had remembered another one attempting to do the same thing. And she had tried then, too, and she had failed. Again.

She couldn't move. She was so scared she couldn't breathe. And there was no witch to send her to Tamulus this time.

@Parthenium

The cat's tense muscles and frozen look of fear confused it. It opened its mouth to try to speak some kind of reassurance. "I'm hhhh-- hhhellllping," it managed in a soft whine. "Flesh is pain.... remove it!" No one should be in so much pain and suffering. No one should die alone and in pain. It was helping.

"Won't leave you- alone-" it promised, as epidote tendrils sank their way into Wilder's skin. They braced against the surface of her fur, seeking leverage to snap a piece off. Then it could help her, it could become one with her, neither of them would be alone and in pain ever again.

F E V E R F E W
Will you stay with me?

@Wilder

Epidote tendrils sunk into Wilder's flesh and ground against her cheekbone. She would feel an uncomfortable pressure while Parthenium would feel a painless snap as a small piece broke off, left behind under her skin. Quite close to her own gemstone...

While Wilder wouldn't feel the effects yet, the infection had found its way into her system. Should it be left there, she would soon begin to feel strange emotions that weren't her own...feelings of loneliness...an itching on her skin...a desire to find sources of magic and consume them......

It was the sudden sharp pressure that snapped her back to life. So lost in her own trauma, she'd barely noticed the tendrils entering her skin, for a moment they hadn't been crystal but metal...

But Wilder blinked and she was no longer on the surface, but in Polaris, and there was a crystal tongue currently IN her skin. She made a distressed, garbling sound and her magic finally lashed forward to snatch Parthenium and drag it away and hold it at a short distance from her. Her eyes were wide and terrified as she stumbled back, feeling a drop of blood running down the side of her face.

"What did you do?" she whispered in horror. What had just happened? "I wanted to help you...what were you trying to do?"

@Parthenium

The dog-shaped creature, piloted by crystals, made a sigh of satisfaction as it felt the epidote tendril break. Saved. The cat would be saved from suffering, and she would become part of them. Parthenium intended to help the process along, but suddenly magic snatched her body and pulled it away, holding it despite its vain struggles.

"Was huh- helping," it repeated mournfully at Wilder's question. And it would have done more, too, if she hadn't stopped her halfway! "Help youuuu too. Flesh is pain," its legs swung fruitlessly in Wilder's magical hold, "Need to ruh- remove it! The pain is eternal!" Its voice rose to a soft howl. It was getting frustrated. Let it free! Let it help her!

F E V E R F E W
Will you stay with me?

@Wilder