ORIGIN

Heart still thrumming with the joy of her recent success, Athena figured that was a good note to continue her training on. She was feeling that she wouldn't be able to do this forever, it was kind of tiring, but for now, she was okay.
Before the heat of her spell had the chance to completely wind down to her normal body temperature again, Athena once again stood tall and threw another spell-laden howl over the ruins of Orion.

POST ROLL EDIT
Again, she felt the heat pass her mouth although this time it wasn't quite as hot. Still, Athena noted happily, it was a success. Oh, maybe she could use this to hunt! She wondered if she could sneak up on some prey and then defeat them with this attack..well, she would have to find out!

Tail wagging and grinning, Athena waddled down the slope of the cliff she'd climbed up before to search for something to eat. Maybe she'd find something hiding in the ruins.


"Listen to me."

Athena sneaked through the ruins and between the broken houses and towers and what-not with her pink nose up high in the air. She was searching for something that smelled different than the dirt of Orion's streets; exactly what smell she couldn't say, just something different.

It turned out that mice smelled of leaves and herbs, a contrasting fresh scent and easy to pick up. Athena stealthily followed the mice, catching sight of them next to a patch of grass. Her blue eyes curiously followed their movements, her triangular ears twitched as they listened to the barely audible pitter-patter of their steps as they ran around the food and each other, everyone trying to get the best bits.

The Alaskan Malamute sat still and watched, counting the mice (it were five) and waiting for a chance to offer itself. But she didn't know how to decide when would be the perfect moment to strike and just decided to wing it.
Crouching down and pressing herself close to the ground, she focused her strength on her hind legs and the heat in her chest.

First, she would use her magic and then bounce on the mice. Maybe she'd get all of them with her attack or maybe she'd would defeat none and would have to catch some normally. Either way, she was prepared to catch at least once mice and damn did she need it, Athena was really hungry.

POST ROLL EDIT
Unlike before, Athena did not breathe out hot air. Actually, nothing happened - it was just like a normal sigh. She silently frowned at that and decided she would just have catch the mice normally and then train some more after she ate.


"Listen to me."

Athena narrowed her gleaming baby blue eyes at the five mice and the patch of grass. After her failed attempt at a magically substituted hunt, she was left angry and hungry and very determined.

Pushing herself off the ground and bounding at the small critters, the Alaskan Malamute jumped forward to catch a mouse between her tiny pink paws.

POST ROLL EDIT
"Oh no!" Athena cried as she saw that the mouse had long since noticed her and was, along with its friends, running away. The canine ended up landing quite ungracefully in the dirt. A pout laced her baby features and she could hear her stomach growl now. "No, no, no!" She complained loudly, stomping her paws on the ground as she got up. "Bad mouse." Athena said, growling and barring her milk-teeth at the now deserted patch of grass. "I will catch you!" The Gembound threatened then before turning around and running into another alley, continuing her search for food.


"Listen to me."

Athena waddled into another alley, her young eyes momentarily caught on starring at the wonderful sight overhead. The crystals on the ceiling glimmered and shone in the dim light and easily held the Gembounds attention.
Her focus was rudely torn from the sight when her stomach growled and Athena was brought back to her task at hand.

Roaming the worn-down path near the cliffs she'd sat on earlier, Athena soon caught sight of a small brown hare. It wasn't exactly fat but Athena's mouth still watered at the sight. She focused on the heat in her chest again and released a loud howl.

POST ROLL EDIT
This time it worked again and Athena felt the heat shoot towards the hare. The brown pelted creature noticed too late and the super hot stream hit the prey. The hare squeaked as its fur began smoldering. That was when Athena jumped up and ran to the hare. She caught it between her paws, the shocked animal unable to defend itself. The fire died down when the Alaskan Malamute bit the hare's neck and it fell limb between Athena's teeth.

Grinning excitedly, Athena began her feast.


"Listen to me."

Athena must have been quite a gruesome sight: A little pup, almost freshly emerged and just learning to run and jump with a bloodied maw and her pelt cloaked in blood and guts. Yes, the Alaskan Malamute was a very messy eater. It was something she would later grow out of, but for now, she was the symbol of the childish hobby of playing with one's food

A small belch escaped Athena, shaking her tiny body. A grin split her black lips as she looked at the bones and bad tasting bits of flesh that she'd left over. A good training target, she figured.
Taking a few steps back on her short legs, Athena guessed the distance she could shoot her attack over.

Once again - and the feeling was starting to sink in as familiar - she felt the heat rise up her throat.

POST ROLL EDIT
The super hot air shot out of her mouth for as long as she exhaled and Athena saw when it hit the bones and meat. The flesh seemed to melt off the bone, albeit slowly and only the tiny chunks really fell off. Still, it was a success for the Gembound. Waddling forward again, Athena inspected the damage she'd done before turning around and returning to the slope, walking up to the cliffs again.


"Listen to me."

Standing on the edge of the cliffs again, Athena looked over the whole that were the ruins of Orion. She imagined that even if she had all the time in the world, she'd never grow bored of the sight.
The glimmering quartz overhead, casting a dim glow over the broken houses and towers, the dirty rubble-laden streets and the small critters that hushed around all the time. For the Gembound's young mind, the sight was overwhelming.

Athena felt a heat grow in her body. Not in her chest like before, but in her whole body. She knew to trust the feeling now and that it was her magic, but why was it different now?
A light shrug and then Athena was focusing on the heat growing in her body.

POST ROLL EDIT
The heat grew until it was nearly unbearable. Athena felt something though, like an itching of her skin and fur. Soon, she saw clouds rise from her body - clouds of black, thick, coiling smoke! As soon as she repressed the heat again and stopped the spell, the smoke stopped and her body grew cold again. Well, back to her normal body temperature, but in comparison to a few seconds before, now she felt cold.

Athena grinned. She'd learned a new trick! How cool would it be if she created that smoke somewhere and then stepped out of it, all calm and cool? Yeah, she'd need to practice that trick too.


"Listen to me."

Athena's childish curiosity was piqued. If she could use her magic with he breath and with her whole body, was it possible to concentrate the heat on other, special parts of her body too? Well, no way but to try, right?

Focusing on the ever-present heat that moved in her chest and in the nub on her forehead, she imagined pushing it to her legs. And indeed, the Alaskan Malamute felt her paw-pads grow hotter.

POST ROLL EDIT
When the heat grew until the earth under her paws was smoldering and felt like it was melting, Athena took a few steps back to see that wherever her paws touched, she left hot orange glowing paw-prints in the earth. "Cool!" Her cheer echoed through Orion's ruins and resounded for a while before her voice died with the heat in her paws.

Another trick she could practice. Suck that mean dragon in Polaris! She was born of fire, alright, and she could very well use it.


"Listen to me."

Athena sat on her haunches, hyperaware of the heat that was now rapidly leaving her pawpads. The magic only left a momentary tingle behind, eventually receding back into the core of the heat in her chest.
The only thing left to prove the pup's ability to use fire magic were the pawprints she'd scorched into the dirt on the edge of the cliff and the burned remains of a bloody hare she'd eaten for dinner which lay somewhere in the maze of structures beneath Orion's sky.

Blue orbs turned upwards again, to the glowing and shimmering quartz overhead. The Alaskan Malamute watched the light play in the crystals in an almost trance-like state, deeply fascinated by the beauty of them. The ceiling felt close enough to touch up on the cliffs, but it was still so far away - she was just to small! One day, Athena swore to herself, she'd be tall enough to reach the ceiling or strong enough to break something off with a magic attack and then she'd have a part of Orion always with her and everyone would envy her, for she was the only one to hold a glowing, glimmering part of the sky in her paws.

With that thought (or was it knowledge?) deeply embed into her mind, Athena stood up, walked down the cliff and made her way back to Eridanus; her home.

EXIT ATHENA


"Listen to me."