At least one coating around the crone was imminently clear upon the un-booting of her feet; a thick layer of hardened dead skin had grown there. Twilight had already taken steps towards the night by the time July allowed Astrid to let go without moaning about problems of age or trying to guilt trip her into continuing. The shadows were inching father and farther from their roots and they grew darker with each passing moment. Those critters that filled the day with vivid chirps and sounds of life were too beginning to recede into their secret hiding places.<br/><br/>July's approval of Astrid's treatment did not need spoken confirmation. All of the old woman's wrinkles had united into one big pleasant grin by the end of it. She looked like she had been smiling all her life. Such reaction was really no wonder for it must have been a long while since the crone had gotten her feet scrubbed. They had stiff as planks and even in the end did not get softened up that much, but apparently even that little bit seemed to make all the difference to July. "Ahh... thank you, but you should learn to ease up a little dear. You worry all too much," she said, laying a wispy hand on Astrid's shoulder.<br/><br/>Those green slits that were the old woman's eyes jumped from Astrid's face to the woods behind her with feline quickness. A wicked property got mixed into her gentle smile as she spoke, "Oh, I don't those ugly things you speak of venture into these woods." She blinked. Her smile returned to normal and gaze turned back to the girl. July's expression was questioning but her tone saturated with assurity. "You see child. They say that a God walks these lands. A living one, and that he protects the forest. He keeps the nightmares at bay and the dark things underground. Now an old woman like me, I can't possibly ward off or run from anything anymore. We old folk, we have to keep our faith. In the Gods of land, forest, rivers and those that dwell in the sky. Yet, we always end up fine don't we?" The few yellow teeth left in her mouth gleamed in the faint light as the elderly's grin widened. "So you see. We will be fiiine!" Her hand brushed the air nonchalantly to further embody her comfort in with their chances to pull it through the night.<br/><br/>Towards the kids forest did not seem to be treating any differently so far though. The last rays of sun were muffled out by dark clouds before the horizon was dyed crimson. Not all the crawlers of night were harmful. The kids had already spent many nights in the forest and even though most often they had ended up in the wrong end of a chase with those monkey-like shadows, there had always been others in there; in the dark. The sharp chittering of those monkeys could not be heard yet, but already some of these more mellow minded things were popping out of their holes.<br/><br/>The first to appear or perhaps just the easiest to spot were tiny - pinky sized - segmented worms with a fluffy fur. They emitted brief bursts of faint light teal illumination each time they squiggled in the air, projecting themselves further in their seemingly uncontrollable drifting through the air. Calden had remarked on another night how he hoped that the forest was just filled with these flying feathers instead of those dark monkeys as even he seemed to like them. They crawled out in hundreds through infinitely small crevices in the bark. More and more took air, and though their glow was faint, it grew as the clouds did to candles, torches and even lanterns with the largest gatherings. These fluffy friends however had never been there to stay, and that would not be the case this night either. Fluttering gatherings of light slowly moved further and further from the ground, reaching the upper branches of the trees and then beyond as they penetrated the veil of leaves.<br/><br/>As the afterimage of the illuminating worms faded, more of those nightly critters were beginning to reveal themselves. Something large in the distance made deep gnarling sounds as it walked towards and unknown destination, away from the makeshift camp. A bzz almost too high to be heard emanated from the canopy. Some of its singers, five fingered star fish shaped creatures that slowly slid across the bark with stealth of a chameleon, were at times visible near the camp, but soon they too would hide among the leaves. There were some things, long things, that slithered through the ground moss as if it was water and countless more queer critters of darkness. Only the familiar shadowy monkeys were missing. Their cries were either too quiet or far to be heard across the cacophonous soundscape of the night.<br/><br/>July had kept her grin and attention on Astrid as the night fell, following her reactions. She spoke victoriously, "See? Nothing nightmarish out there. Just a few bugs." She had put her shoes back on, the nights were still chilly even if they had been getting warmer. "Now, could you stop gawking? It's high time we ate something. Go catch us a one of them big juice white puffy pillows. The ones that grow near oaks. I'll make you a stew you won't forget if you do!" Her tone in the end was almost playful.