[HDP] You Would Not Believe your Eyes...

The night is warm.

It's dark at night in Northwoods. Normally, Northwoods is a bustling forest community with plenty of infrastructure weaving in between the trees and underbrush. But at night, it becomes more like its cousin lower down in the Keep, Southwoods. Quiet. Collected.

Even though Charley is blind, she knows a very special corner of Northwoods well enough where it doesn't matter much. Her head is low to the ground, feeling the grass. It has a special scent. Her friend Jackpot trails just behind her, who is eagerly running around. Whenever the dot of light from a lone firefly or the rare flash of light from a cable car beamed down, Jackpot noticed it almost immediately. Charley has known about his love of shinies ever since the two gachagons first became friends exactly a year ago.

"How much longer until we get there?" Jackpot asked earnestly. His long tail swished and wagged like that of a dog.

"Soon," Charley answered, not moving her head from the grass. "I can smell it. The folks here go down to Firefly Rock all the time. It's like a lil' tradition among Northwooders to go here and leave some candy for the fireflies."

"Ooh," Jackpot grinned. "That sounds so cool!"

"Yeah," Charley nodded stiffly. "That's why I wanted you to get all those sweets from the store."

She paused.

"You still have them, right?" Charley asked skeptically. In response, Jackpot raised the basket, which was full of jelly beans, and shook it vigorously like a pair of maracas.

The duo continued onward to Firefly Rock for another few minutes. Charley stopped when the feeling of soft grass around her snout turned into that of cold stone.

"Here we are!" Charley triumphantly announced. Jackpot cheered and ran around the rock.

Firefly Rock was reasonably large, at least the size of Charley from the neck down. It was a gray slate color, and caked in candies from previous visitors. The soft scent of sweets could be sensed from half a mile away. It looked as if it had enough stories to tell to last the lifespan of the universe itself: on top of being covered in candy, it appeared weathered from erosion.

"Ok, here's what you gotta do," Charley said as Jackpot ran around the rock. "You just gotta pour all the jelly beans onto the rock, and you just gotta check to see if any fireflies come out. If they come out, it becomes a glorious sight. Especially for our friendship anniversary."

"Yep!" Jackpot nodded. "I can't believe it's already been a year since we first became friends at that concert!"

The flicker of dots in the air resembled stars as Jackpot poured the jelly beans onto the rock. They tumbled down the slant of the rock, the avalanche also hitting Charley's snout. She raised her head up.

"Now we wait." Charley kept a watch for any noise. Suddenly, the sound of crickets singing resonated throughout this little corner of Northwoods. Charley jerked her head around, constantly turning to wherever the loudest noise was coming from. Jackpot, enamored by the crickets, kept running around to see if he could catch them.

Then, the fireflies appeared.

What was initially just an empty space in the sky lightly decorated with fireflies became a vast flickering galaxy. Jackpot stared entranced at the display above him.

"Charley!" Jack sprinted over to the other gachagon, and tapped on her shoulder. "The fireflies!"

"I figured they'd show up." Charley nodded. Her ears, which usually covered her eyes, drooped over her cheek lights instead, and she was also looking up. Even though she couldn't see the display very well, the blurry and brief but bright flickers of the fireflies could be seen by everyone in Northwoods.

"Would they light up the world as I fall asleep?" Jackpot giggled, and Charley laughed playfully in response.

"Maybe!" Charley continued staring at the fireflies. "Oh, do I love that song! They'd prolly fill the open air and leave teardrops everywhere."

"And all the Keep would just stand and stare!" Jackpot continued.

The fireflies circled around Firefly Rock like some kind of halo, and they moved around like a whirlpool. Jackpot and Charley continued to stare at the spectacle just above them. Charley nudged Jackpot the way he tapped on her shoulder to make her aware of the light show.

"You wanna get closer to them?" Charley smirked. Jackpot gasped. The serotonin rushing into his brain essentially bursted at the seams.

"Yeah!!!" Jackpot bounced around. The other gachagon laid down, a bit like a horse waiting to be saddled by its rider. Jackpot climbed on gentily and crawled up to her shoulders. Charley shook a little bit, but stood up on two legs and maintained her balance. She was almost double Jackpot's height on two legs. Her wings were spread out a bit as Jackpot stared once again at the fireflies. The yellow fairies surrounded Jackpot now, illuminating his entire body in a dim but comforting glow.

"This is so amazing!" Jackpot quietly cooed. A firefly rested on one of his ram-shaped horns. "I don't want to leave from up here."

The two gachagons continued to observe the light show for what seemed like a while.

"It's gonna be so weird after we leave," Jackpot became a bit misty-eyed. "I've never been too great with saying goodbye."

"Don't worry dude," Charley said. "This ain't just a one-time experience. We can go down here whenever you want, as long as it's nighttime and you have a bunch of candy."

"Really?" Jackpot was still crying, but now in a happy way. He smiled as the fireflies circled around him.

"Really." Charley nodded.