As Valeska journeyed back toward Fate's Respite (no one could accuse her of being too intelligent), Valeska kept her nose to the ground and her eyes peeled, stalking through the darkness like a silver wraith, quiet and mysterious as a -

HRRRAAACK, she coughed, raking the sound all the way up from the pit of her stomach. Her prolonged exposure to their acidic lake had taken its toll on her ragged throat, and just when she'd started feeling a little bit better within the Blushed Meadows, stubborn pride saw her drifting back homeward.
It wasn't that she didn't want to stay with Dimitri or her grandpups; it was simply that the Respite had been left - well - abandoned.

It was unthinkable. It was home.

What if someone tried to take it from them? What then?

(She didn't consider that the deadly acid lake would put anyone off of their real estate too much.)

Valeska didn't get too far before another miserable coughing fit stopped her in her tracks, and as she stood gasping for breath she wondered if maybe it would've been better to stay behind after all.

But there was the matter of the - the Runes. Whatever those strange, terribly important items were they had been asked to seek out.

Eyes watering with her throat on fire, Valeska scanned her surroundings for any sign of something unusual.

Rune Discovery : 「 Partial failure; clue unlocked for increased chance of success in the next thread this character posts. 」 

---

Each day you stay, the more you crave the water.

And yet each day you look at it, the more visibly you can see the toxicity.

And yet you have continued to drink (why?). And it boils you from the inside out with every sip you take, your throat burning like fire instead of quenching with relief. You have already had so much, and yet your body craves it like a drug. And every time you sip, your mind beomces more intoxicated by it — eventually it is so cloudy that you almost forget why you have come out here to begin with.

You were looking for something, right?

"The water." It is a voice so unfamiliar. It is not the Dream Visitor, but one that is much more sinister. It sounds pixelated and distorted, cacophonous as it fills your mind. It seems to take you over, and your head turns toward the lake once more. There is nothing but static in your head, drowning out your voluntary thought process.

Yes, you were looking for the water.

You were so thirsty. You are so thirsty.

Your head is pounding. Your throat is burning.

The static overflows, and your cravings intensify.

But as you near the water, the static seems to lift — for just a moment, you can see again.

The water ripples, and your reflection distorts. You can't quite tell what you see, but it certainly isn't your own face. At first, it looks like a ragged, half-dead wolf ... and when you see him, you hear the static. But your mind battles it, the horrible, distorted face fading into the familiar one that you've seen in your dreams: The Visitor. Kok! Af an kir. It is a warning, and you can understand him. Stop! Do not drink.

You back up, fighting the static.

You grow distracted. But you are not far. You must go to dre siarce — the source.

And then, the vision is gone.

The static. The horrible Plague Wolf. The Visitor.

You are alone with the evening. With your cough and your sore throat.

What do you do? Do you drink the water? Or do you follow the advice of the Visitor and go to "the source" of the Lake?