Season of Cycle (Sky: COTL)

Season of Cycle: Hidden Encounters Amongst The Rain

The Hidden Forest's foggy atmosphere secluded amongst the clouds and solitude of hills and rivers was an abode to many, or passerby a scenery to remember, amongst the paths of silver sand and dampened grass, was Laverne, a velvet-colored umbrella with golden markings in hand casting her from the rain's effects to drain her of her light as if the darkness corrupting her slowly hadn't started already doing that.

Finding an end-point to her walk, she placed her umbrella away onto her back and sat against a lamp that kept her aflame, feeling the rain trickle along her arms and down her chest, hair damp now with it starting to become soaked slowly. She found little care in it, as she turned to look at the sky above, clouds constantly pouring rain that only made her exhausted, her eyes slowly closed in a sequence of blinks, her head drooping down to lay on her shoulder.

That was until, she felt someone nudging her shoulder, a bit irritated, Laverne shoves the person away, unknowingly draining the said person of some light, hearing a hiss and then an 'ow!' from someone, she lifted her head, eyes opening quickly to see a minor chibi character grabbing their wrist, orange cape and harp on their back, white hair in a ponytail, they shot a look at the taller, silver-dressed character, before snapping a few choice words, "what's your deal? I was just checking on you!" before covering her mouth, and, apologizing, "oh, sorry! You must have been sleeping, but, why in the rain?" the small chibi soon sheltered Laverne with their umbrella, but, the tall, slender lady was already standing up.

"Because I like the way the rain feels, besides, I had a lamp to keep me lit..." Laverne began to trail off, looking down at the chibi, she snickered a bit, covering her mouth for a moment, "so, what's a chibi like you doing here?" she crossed her arms with a sleepy voice, a yawn slipping out of her mouth. The hence chibi girl gave a bow, discarding their umbrella, "I am Lapiz! I happened to notice you were sleeping in the rain and wanted to make sure you were okay! I just happened to be passing through, though."

"Ah, thanks but, I'm fine. No need to worry about me, uh, Lapiz right?" Laverne would scratch the back of her head, the elder chibi nodding, "that's me, yes, and who might you be?" Lapiz would offer her hand to Laverne, but the other flinched away slightly, shaking her head, "Laverne, nice to meet you, Lapiz." the silver-dressed lady would stand up, stretching her arms before rolling her shoulders.

"But uh, look, I should get going, I got friends to meet up with," Laverne would try to walk past, but was stopped by the chibi's umbrella, "and leave without a goodbye?" Lapiz stopped Laverne, the lady giving a roll of her eyes, before turning around and giving a bow, "I'll see you sometime, Lapiz, but for right now, I need to go." with that, Laverne took off, disappearing to the starting of the Hidden Forest temple.

Lapiz scratched her head, looking down at her hand, she could see a dark plant had started growing on her, giving it a shrug, she burned it off, and continued about her day, returning to granny's soon after making sure no young sky kids needed any help.

Laverne however, could feel her insides turn in dismay, the curse making her start to limp, pausing at one of the sheltering towers to the temple's entrance, she leaned against a pillar, puking out a black goo with specs of dark plants inside it. Holding her stomach, she covered her mouth as if she was going to puke again, shaking her head. "What the hell... This is new.." she started to cough, simply deciding to warp home instead, Laverne sat down, feeling her weight shift, and the sun now touching her skin.

Slowly she made her way to the water, laying down on the sand and grass, the lady looked up to the sky, at least she didn't feel like puking anymore, but she could feel something ache inside her, deciding she was going to look for answers, elsewhere.

Finding the strength to stand again, Laverne turned to the Vault of Knowledge portal, reaching her hand out, she paused, her hand clutching into a fist, her hand lowered, and Laverne passed through, little did she see, red crystals covered the top of the portal, leaking a cloud of black dust. . .