It didn't remember falling asleep, but it knew that it was dreaming, and knew that it was strange.

It didn't dream. Or if it did, it certainly never remembered them. But it remembered this one. It remembered the voice, as it awoke, gasping in the thin air. Wait!

It remembered the pull, the climb, the biting cold. There was something up here, it was sure. It had been so sure. It just needed to keep climbing.

It remembered the purple snow, the air getting thinner, it's breathing more labored. Breathing. It couldn't breathe.

Wait... it gasped again, staggering as it tried to stand, it's vision growing dark at the edges.

Rune Discovery : 「 Failure — Plague status, activated. 」

---

You call after it like an apparition. Like a fleeting dream. But your voice, beckoning, falls on deaf ears.

You saw something, didn't you?
You're sure of it.
You saw something — no, someone.

And so, you give haste to a chase, pulling yourself into the poison; into danger. You feel compelled to climb, even as the air thickens and the night darkens with treacherous, unnatural smog. It seems so foreign. This place that was once a crisp Alpine vista has become impossible to navigate. The air is heavy in your lungs, and the dark snowflakes burn your eyes and skin.

You wonder if it would be easier to stop. You want to sleep ... to rest. You are ... so tired ... so, so tired ... and it is getting harder to breathe. Harder to see. Harder ...

... to ...

... in the corner of your eye, you spot something.

Finally.

Please be aware that continuing to interact with the Plague could lead to IC Consequences!

Incorporeal, and yet fluctuating into the general outline of a wolf, you see it — him? He moves like ooze, shifting across the purple snow as pupil-less eyes turn toward you. He sees you, and though you cannot understand his gaze, you can feel it. Brown sludge drips from his neck, and as he speaks, his mouth does not move. But you can hear it. It is a voice meant for you.

Hale yia zjita ali sa ut? Dre eln? (Have you come to see it? The end?) He is inviting you closer, lifting a dripping paw as if to beckon you to his side.

But everything in you tells you to run.

Movement, out of the corner of its eye. A beast, four-legged and furred, coagulating into the vague shape of a wolf. Its eyes widened, bloodshot and burning, the purple snow melting against its face like tears as it stared.

You... It wheezed, taking a shaky step forward as the creature beckoned. It couldn't breathe, but it needed to speak. It couldn't move, but it needed to run. It couldn't ask, but it needed to know.

Are you the one, it rasped, with effort, between desperate, rattling gasps, responsible for this? Please. Tell me.

It took another step.

Please be aware that continuing to interact with the Plague could lead to IC Consequences!

The Wild
Plague Effect: 「 asphyxiation 」

---

Somehow, beyond the drumming of your pulse in your ears, you hear the disapproving tut of the beast’s tongue. You hear the heavy sounds of the steps he takes to help you seal the distance. Something is off about them—the lavender snow in his wake is now dark with a thick gunk that is being left behind with every step it takes towards you.

Dre Klage inhales heavily, as if flaunting the fact that his lungs are capable of filling with the thin, tainted air. Shienal dre kinen folil alrudy? (Has the kitten failed already?) it’s a graveled tone but you swear you can hear the way his lips form a malicious smile.

Hm? What did the kitten ask? It’s words were weak and choppy, only causing Dre Klage to gravitate closer, the air somehow feeling even more suffocating than before the closer he stood. Was he the one responsible for this? For the beauty of lilac snow, a sight the kitten couldn’t have seen any other way?

Of course he was responsible.

Dre Klage lowered his head, leveling his gaze with the cat’s. It’s clear now, the way his eyes practically glowed white without pupils or irises. He was a monster.

Yes. Simple and easy for the kitten to follow as their lungs screamed for air.