[A nightmare giving way to a dream, surreal in how unlike a dream it’s starting to feel. It doesn’t take long to realize that it’s because it may just be something much more than that.

The orchard stirs a tangled knot of emotions in Texas that she’d much prefer not to examine. The subtle weight of it in her chest can be felt even as she begins to stroll beneath the golden canopy, avoiding at first any contact with the other masked figures as she takes in the serene beauty of the space. It is a space just begging for one to relax, set aside their burdens, and yet she can’t shake the feeling of regarding it all with a wary eye.

But she does eventually join another beneath one of the fruit-laden trees. You find the quiet presence of a dark-haired woman stepping up beside you, a pair of lupine ears atop her head and a tail at her rear to match. She reaches for a fruit, lets fingers brush against its smooth, slick surface for just a moment before pulling her hand back. Then she instead glances sidelong at you, and in particular the fruit that may be in your own hand.]

Is it any good?

[The illusions of peace and respectability eventually fall away, as they always do.

The landscape sheds the brightness of the orchard for something much more somber, and Texas takes it all in with wandering eyes. There is a slight tenseness in her shoulders that betrays the ease with which she explores the new space, stepping carefully over the scattered remnants of civilization littering the field. Cracked and empty wine bottles, the hilt of a dagger rusted to uselessness, broken shards of vinyl records. Each offers a temptation to reach for that she abstains from for the moment; something else has a more solid hold on her attention.

With a languid pace, she follows the shrouded figure in the distance, but the gap between them remains all the same. Her displeasure is eventually evident in the downturn of her lips visible beneath that peculiar mask, still present even as she does a slight double-take when she realizes she’s inadvertently fallen into step alongside someone else. She slows, her attention now more firmly on them, but motions with a hand toward the strange figure in the distance.]

That one doesn’t seem like the rest of us.

[The subtle pull of that the presence has says as much. Have they also noticed?]

[Anyone who crossed paths with the lupo woman prior to the changes that have begun to wrack each and every one of them might notice that the quiet restraint she’s carried herself with thus far suddenly seems a little absent. There’s something unsettled in her in the aftermath of it, and it doesn’t stem solely from being rattled by initial transformation. Senses are keener, sights and smells standing out much more starkly than they should have any right to be. But it’s a fitting compliment to the claws now tipping each of her fingers and the dark fur newly sprouting from those hands to creep up her arms, a match to the lupine ears and tail she was born with.

It leaves her feeling antsy and unmoored, compelled to move and struggling to put the sickly call of the moon above into the back of her mind.

But there isn’t much luxury to dwell on it. The freshly awakened dreamers here aren’t the only things wandering these fields. Ahead there is a twisted creature that reaches up to knee height moving with a feral unsteadiness, tendrils twisting from its sides and its face malformed into something caught between floral and fungal that blossoms further along its back, a row of sharp teeth the only indication of its mouth. Its head tilts back for a moment as it gives a shrieking cry.

As you step into the clearing with her, she puts a hand up to block your path momentarily, glancing your way for a fleeting moment before motioning with a tilt of her head toward the braying creature.]

There’s more of them, not far out.

[A warning. It will be dangerous to linger here for much longer.

And yet: Texas shows no signs of preparing to flee herself, eyes instead locked on the misshapen creature with an almost predatory glint.]

[I’m down to roll with just about anything. Feel free to toss more object interactions in the second prompt or token/offering shenanigans later on, or whatever you heart desires. If you’d like me to whip up something more tailored, you’re welcome to DM me.]