frog lullaby

A babbling brook.                                      (#OVERGROWTH_2)
This location is flooded with shallow, crystal clear water. A morning haze burns through the twinkling twilight here, casting dappled sunlight with a soft, gentle glow that seems to make everything sparkle. Decaying leaves and plush moss give way to sandy sediment as one slips through the tree barrier, still wet beneath one's toes. And yet, this well-worn path has not yet been tamed, sprouting the occasional sturdy dandelion or leafy stem. As the path snakes and widens it leads to a sheltered hill, from which a crystalline brook bubbles over a stony stream-bed. Cutting a diagonal cross section of the glade, the rush of water burbles merrily over a series of rounded tiers formed by the occasional tangle of tree roots. The bark of these roots is oddly smooth, as if it were grown all at once, rather than forming naturally over time. Each pool is no more than three feet deep, the widest nearly 10 feet across. As the water tumbles over every step it shimmers in the morning light, enticing one to simply rest their feet in a pool, or for the more bold, to perhaps splash around. On the opposite side of the glade looms a massive rowan tree, its clusters of bright berries swaying dutifully in some unseen breeze. Hung carefully in its branches is a expertly woven hammock dyed a rainbow of hues, loosely piled with blankets and a soft pillow. The light of day shines brightly. A delicate bench of twining iron daisies and vines rests here on curled feet. A painting of A fork in the road is proudly exhibited on a nearby wall. Swaying in place not unlike a thin sapling, a pale, overgrown mugwump stares implacably about himself with striking cerulean eyes. Muginn, the ghost-feathered magpie perches here with a mischievous glint in his eye.
You see a single exit leading west.

A pale, overgrown mugwump blinks, perking up as you enter.

Like a gentle ripple in a crystalline pool, you say, "Hi hi, brother..."
You are exhausted and open your mouth in an enormous yawn.

You have emoted: Cheliyi steps lightly across the stream, settling beside the other mugwump in his hammock.

A pale, overgrown mugwump grunts as he's more or less sat on by you, though he doesn't complain, giving you a friendly squeeze.

Focusing on his knitting, a pale, overgrown mugwump says, "So, how have you been, lilypad? Here to try again?"

Sleepily, you murmur, "Ah, yeah."
You have emoted: Cheliyi leans against Ronin comfortably, shifting in place inside of his hammock.

A pale, overgrown mugwump raises an eyebrow questioningly.
A pale, overgrown mugwump says, "You seem a little sleepy, for that."

The Mantle of Starlight flows gently against your form, twinkling stars shifting across its surface as the starry infinity continues its eternal motion.

Softly, you murmur, "Eh."

A pale, overgrown mugwump smiles softly.
A pale, overgrown mugwump leans close to you and gently lays a kiss upon your forehead.

You have emoted: Cheliyi inhales suddenly, straightening. "Ah, uh... needles..."

A pale, overgrown mugwump shakes his head.
Patting the other mugwump gently, a pale, overgrown mugwump says, "Sleep. Can learn in the morning."

You are exhausted and open your mouth in an enormous yawn.
You snuggle up close to a pale, overgrown mugwump, smiling happily.

A pale, overgrown mugwump pets you gently, before returning to his knitting. The needles click and clack in the gentle silence, only the burble of the stream keeping the two mugwumps company.

You have emoted: Cheliyi dozes off, soon curling into a ball beside a pale, overgrown mugwump in the hammock.

You think to yourself: **... familiar. calm... warm.**.

A pale, overgrown mugwump smiles softly.

A babbling brook gurgles off in the distance, flooding the air with the scent of damp, fertile soil.

In a gently lullling voice, a pale, overgrown mugwump sings, "At night when the lake is a mirror, and the moon rides the waves to the shore".
In a gently lullling voice, a pale, overgrown mugwump croons, "A single soul sets his voice singing, content to be slightly forlorn."

You have emoted: Cheliyi exhales softly in her sleep, burrowing deeper into the fabric of a leaf-green woollen blanket.

A pale, overgrown mugwump knits endlessly, his hands moving in sure motions that speak of years of practice. "A song rises over the lilies, waa-ooh waa-ooh, sweeps high to clear over the reeds, waa-ooh waa-ooh..."
Gently, a pale, overgrown mugwump says, "To pluck at a pair of heartstrings... Two voices, now they are singing."
A pale, overgrown mugwump leans close to you and gently lays a kiss upon your forehead.

You hum softly, your frills vibrating with song.
Fast asleep, you murmur, "Waa-ooh, waa-ooh..."

A pale, overgrown mugwump smiles weakly, his eyes growing shiny. Softly now, he sings, "Then ten, as the melody soars, round the shimmering pond all are joining in song..." He inhales, steadying the warble in his voice. "As it carries their reverie on."
Fondly, a pale, overgrown mugwump says, "Over the treetops and mountains, over the blackened ravines. Then softly it falls by a house near a stream..."
A pale, overgrown mugwump trails off, glancing once more to the sleeping mugwump curled beside him.
A pale, overgrown mugwump sings softly, "And over the garden wall, to thee..."

Falling silent, a pale, overgrown mugwump watches his younger sibling with tired, sad eyes. Then, he suddenly cracks a smile, pets her hair, and returns to knitting.

You think to yourself: **a swell of familiarity. faint memories of being beneath sheets of comforting cloth, lulled to sleep by a voice much softer than the one beside you... gone, now, but you still have this one.**.

You murmur softly to yourself.
You grow still and begin to pray silently for preservation of your soul while you are out of the land.