ORIGIN - Reflektor

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The cat sat not too far from the Spire, far enough that she couldn't feel that irritating pull on her nerves from the concentrated magic of the Skystone but close that she felt the energy thrumming through the air. Andromeda was a good place of quiet contemplation, where she could let her mind drift into the quiet stillness, but there was no stillness in Polaris. No, this was a place of thought and inspiration, which was what she needed right now.

The deck of tarot cards sat in front of her where she shifted through them, puzzling over some of the ones that she hadn't quite figured out yet. The Minor Arcana had been easy enough to figure out. Their messages were brief, usually fairly straightforward. Context was always important. But the Major arcana had...a lot to say. Particularly the one that sat in front of her right now - a person hanging from a treebranch by one ankle, a moderately uncomfortable visual on its own, but their expression was now one of fear or pain, but of peace. Relief.

It was puzzling.

She saw there for a while, brushing a paw over the gold-edged cards, breathing in the cool, clean air of Polaris that she knew so well. Quiet meditation, for now, a small shadow against the brilliant lights of the Spire.

@Zephiran

The gray pup padded through the tunnels. Daphne nearby, following his scent, he knew that she wouldn't be too far from him. The barren rock hung in his mouth as he went forward.

Into another cavern he went past the tunnels. Paws carrying him all the way to a well lit room. The roof carried many shapes of fungi, but Zephiran looked like small glowing lights.

Blue eyes scanned the room as he walked, cautious but… energetic. With purpose. His paws took him to one of the glowing crystals, looping around it. Eyes blinking, admiring the glow. He wondered.. if one day he'd be able to light up something so large.

"Speaking"

[ @Wilder he will notice next post! ]

It took a moment or two for Wilder to notice the movement against the Spire. She was staring off into space for the moment, mind somewhere else then the presence, but then instinct flicked her eyes to the sight of movement and she blinked, back in reality.

It took a second for her mind to catch up, but then she realized what she was looking at - a gembound, a child no less, looping around the Spire. Close to it, right up next to the glowing Skystone that could react at any moment. Eyes widened, but she did her best to stay calm. As long as they didn't..touch it i should be safe?

She was a little too far for her voice to reach, little as it was, so she tossed her magic forward, mindful of the Spire right behind her target. Her eyes flickered to the crystal, watching for any kind of reaction, and finding none.

"Be careful," is what Zephiran would hear in his mind. "And don't get too close to the Spire. It can be unpredictable." She stood up from where she was sitting after quickly pushing the tarot cards back into their pouch, raising her tail so that she would be easier to notice if the pup looked her way.

@Zephiran

”Be careful.”

A voice. An unknown voice rung through his mind. Making him stop dead cold in his tracks. His eyes gazed right to the crystal. Did.. Did the stone– The crystal talk to him?

”And don't get too close to the Spire. It can be unpredictable.”

Zephiran leaped to the side, swiftly flickering his tail. A scrunch of his nose, disgusted. Creeped out by the fact this could happen. Ears flattened against his head. Yet.. He was interested in how.

A flutter of noise as something moved nearby.

A feline. Zephiran's blue eyes found their way towards the black feline. A lift of his paw, letting out a gentle woof between his jaws.

"Was dat ya?"

His mouth mumbled the words with the blue dim lit barren rock held in his teeth. Taking a step forward, an increased look of interest. Did.. Did they know more than Esther? Could he know new things? Oh, what about more to teach Daphne?

"Speaking"

She was mildly alarmed by the pup's reaction to the magic. She supposed it would have been...surprising. Perhaps in hindsight, she thought quite suddenly and bitterly, that had been very foolish. But the alarm passed and he was looking - a small pink wisp popped into existence next to her to guide the way. She was black against black and even though the Spire reflected off of her, so it did against the stones too. But he seemed to see and she sat back again.

They were a ways apart and she could barely pick up on what it was that he said, but she figured it was something along the lines of "was that you?" because that was something that she probably would have said at that age. "Yes," she called verabally this time. He small voice carried, but not far. She gestured with a paw to the stone next to her, if he could see it. "Sorry for alarming you! Would you like to come over here? We can look at it from a safer distance."

Her eyes cast a look at the Spire, some strange mix of mistrust, sorrow, and...longing?

@Zephiran

It didn't take the pup long to play catch up. Tiny paws trotted his silver frame over towards the black feline. A tilt of his head with the stone in his jaws. The faint light shining off his muzzle.

"Das alright! I was just trying to see what it was. I haven't heard a lot about the things yet."

Zephiran moved to set the stone down before he spoke, a soft wag of his tail. Bright eyes rested on the feline able to see more of their markings up close.

"What's it do?"

Zephiran pointed his paw towards the Spire. The pup did not know how to explain the feelings he got from.. observing said crystal. Or what they could be. But part of him wanted to know.

"Speaking"

@Wilder

She sat again as the wolf pup approached, curling her tail over her paws. She eyed them as they approached - a regular animal (Earth creatures, Tamulus had called them). She nodded. "It's alright, you are not in trouble. The Spire is simply volitile and should be approached with caution." A smile tilted the corner of her mouth as she remembered her own first day, the shock of the Spire that had scrambled her own mind for cycles and cycles later. She still sometimes felt the jolt, the need for magic, the hunger. And that was from a single moment of contact when she hatched.

She stared at the faintly glowing stone as it was set down and she smiled. She had once created stones like that for her friends as well. She lifted a paw and pointed towards the stone. "Did a friend give that to you? It's lovely!" She was thoughtful for a moment before turning her attention back to the Spire. "It does a lot. It's the source of our magic, I think. Or at least, the fuel. Its magic is what created your chrysalis and allows us all to live down here. Its special - the crystal of it is called Skystone and you won't find its like often. Not many know the crystal name, most simply know it as The Spire."

She gestured to it. "Be careful when approaching it, though. It is highly concentrated magic and could react to anything without warning." She shifted the light around the Spire, remembering the sight of that magic crackling and bursting and put on a small illusion. Blue glowing lightning lashed from the crystal and struck the ground, leaving a sparking scorch mark behind that quickly faded as the spell ended. It had been soundless, as illusions were, but hopefully it got the message across. "And I would not touch it. It is not a living being - it is simply energy, and it will cause harm." She turned towards the pup, a small smile in her eyes again. "Apologies if that was a lot - does that all make sense?"

@Zephiran

The silvered pup moved to sit down before the feline. Ears perked forward to listen. First they asked about his stone! A bright glow in his eyes, a shift of his weight as he moved.

"Oh? This? I made it! I found the rock where I… hatched? And somehow made it glow. I planned to see how long it'll glow."

She spoke of the magic, does that mean the things he could do?! She called it a Skystone, not the Spire. Or well, it was called both. But the bottom line is that it was dangerous.

Cyan eyes drifted as the paw was pointed to the spire. His breath was steady as his eyes carefully watched. A jagged bolt of blue lightning erupted from the crystal. Striking down at the ground, leaving a flame of a mark. Disappearing when the flame settled out.

His body flinched, ears pinned hard at the back of his skull. Zephiran could feel his heart pounding through his ears. The fur on his neck ruffled. He swallowed the fear, turning back to the feline.

“Yeah! Seems not so fun to try and mess with. Is that why it glows like that? I wonder what else it could do."

"Speaking"

She smiled fondly and reached to touch the stone with one of her paws. "Ah, that's a good magic! It should last forever, from what I've seen." She moved her paw away and touched the ground next to it. Magic sparked under her claws her eyes closed briefly as she concentrated on the delicate work she was trying to pull off, feeling dizzy briefly from the sudden mental strain of the complexity. There was the sound of crystalline singing and rocks breaking and, when she pulled her paw away, there was a chain of smoky quartz formed from the stone, set with a few hooks. As she reached to pick it up, some of the chains had fused together, so it wasn't quite perfect, but it would function.

She quickly wrapped a section of the chain around the stone, securing it with the hooks, and then held up the rest for Zephiran to see. It was a little crudely made, but a functional necklace, holding the glowing stone securely. "There, now you don't have to carry it in your mouth anymore. I made it a little big so it won't be too small when you grow, so it might be a little large now." She offered it to him, sliding it forward across the ground, and then turned to regard the Spire again, as if she hadn't just done an incredible feat of magic.

"I think so - it isn't a glow, I think, just the light of the energy within it. I wonder the same things - where it came from, why its here, what will happen to it in the future, far from now. But I have seen what tampering with it does to someone." She looked to Zephiran with a sharp gaze. "Do not try to mess with it - promise me. Until you know what you are doing, okay?"

@Zephiran

"Oh! You think so?!"

The wolf was thrilled to hear that, to have something like this last forever… Oh the things he could do. What else could he light up? Every part of him wanted to go and try it on everything.

His pale blue eyes never moved from what the feline was doing. Touching the stone, then touching the ground. Magic spewed from her paws. Crystalline sung, rocks sounded like they were cracking and breaking. Within no time the feline had made it to be like a necklace. With smoky quartz, the bright barren rock at its center.

Zephiran's eyes widened brightly, he couldn't hide the smile on his face. Of course he immediately went for it when she was done. With a little bit of wiggling with his paws and muzzle, he got it to loosely hang from his neck.

"This is the bestest thing EVER!"

His voice was rather loud, but prideful. Tail thumped loudly against the rocky surface under him.

"I've just got to show Daphne! I think she will love it! Do you think one day I can make stuff like that?!"

Before.. much was answered to the next statement, he took off. Running around the feline, as if the pup had zoomies from being so excited. Salmon colored tongue hung from his jaws, the silver pup tripped slightly. Rolling gently onto the rocky surface.

Instead he rolled onto his back. Dark ears rolling against rocks, a soft blue glow emitting from his rock to the surrounding silver coat. Bright cyan eyes gazed out their corners to the dark feline.

"Oh! Yeah! I don't plan to touchy that, I promise. Not when I have dis to help me now!"

His paw pointed to the rock on his chest. A loud thud echoed from the thumping of his tail. Paws extended to the air.

"It would be cool to know what it do, but if it's dangerous. No thankie. "

"Speaking"

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