Kin-Kin wandered through Polaris, her paws falling softly on the mossy ground and her claws letting out clacking sounds as she passed over bare stone. Her golden coat gleamed, reflecting the lights and shedding the shadows like a duck's feathers shed water. As her gaze flicked around, she took in the sights as a king would look down on their land. The glowing mushrooms that bulged out of crevasses, the mosses that clung to the walls... and perhaps most grandly of all, the clusters of glowing crystals that soared skyward wherever one was to look.
These crystals were a far cry from the ones that she'd once admired herself through in Orion. As a newborn, she'd seen their beauty, and could never have dreamt that they could be outdone. But here in Polaris, these crystals glowed like she did, all around.
Slowly drawing to a halt before one of these glowing crystals, Kin-Kin examined it closely, trying to make out her reflection on its surface. But alas, its glow was too bright, and she found herself drawing her nose over its pristine surface instead. In past cycles she'd fought, she'd won, and won again. Where her magic was concerned, it could pull her through, but the golden she-wolf had long since become aware that it could be feeble in comparison to others' magic. Whilst others could burn, freeze, and kill, Kin-Kin could merely shine.
And she knew that.
As diligently as she had spent training, all these cycles. Who was she to defend against flames which burned wildly, uncontrollably, savagely?
Beautiful in its own pathetic way, Kin-Kin had to admit. But Kin-Kin refused to acknowledge it, or pretend that she wanted to learn. In her megalomania, Kin-Kin wanted something beautiful. She wanted something precise. And more than anything else, she wanted something deadly.
Perhaps the answer had been right under her nose all along.
Kin-Kin sank back onto her haunches with a sigh whistling out of her nostrils. Her gaze focused and eyes slightly narrowed, she gazed at the crystal before her. Its glow made her fur shine in the light, so she didn't even have to bother. How could an object be so beautiful and unintentional, and yet... so precise, all at once.
It was here that the wolf began to consider, her heartbeat picking up. Surely... surely these were impossible thoughts. But she couldn't help but consider. And the more she considered it, the more her hopes rose. The more she liked it. If it worked, it would be perfect. It'd be beautiful, precise, deadly as fire, but it would be controlled, skilled.
Would it even feel the same, if it were even slightly possible?
She needed to focus.
Slowly raising her head, Kin-Kin slyly looked around, making sure that there was no-one around to watch. Taking several deep breaths, she concentrated deeply. Closing her eyes, she lowered her chin into her chest. And then she began to tap into her gem, looking not for light, but for something else.
Her eyes closed and her mind reaching deeper within, it was as though there was some sort of a mist there that kept on slipping through her gasp. As hard as she tried, she couldn't seem to pull up any kind of magic.
Even as her fur flickered with slight lights drawn from her meditation, there was nothing.
In time, she flattened her ears back and her brows began to crease. She lifted her lip into a snarl, losing concentration as any hint of magic trickled from her fur. beneath her cape, her hackles rose, and soon she flicked open her eyes, losing touch with a deep sigh. She'd had too much faith in herself, it seemed. But this, this could be the next stage of her training. She didn't know if it was possible, but she felt like there was something there, buried in plain sight.
Her eyes closed, Kin-Kin focused once more. And once more, she felt that feeling deep within herself, what felt like an ocean of untapped magic. Ears flattened back, her body stiff and tense though fighting to be relaxed, she concentrated as best she could despite feeling that she maybe just needed to know.
In time, her body began to ache in its stiffness. her ears twitched and her fur stood on end.
And that was that. This time, she didn't even feel the energy flowing, not even slightly. So she let out a sigh, shook herself, and lay down to catch her breath and regain her thoughts. She needed another chance to shine.
Kin-Kin lay beside the foot of the glowing crystal, her chin resting on her crossed paws as she thoughtfully twitched her ears and caught her breath, her sides slowly rising and falling. Her eyes slowly blinking and her tail slowly moving from side to side, she rested there for a while, thought after thought running through her head. Her ears occasionally twitching in thought, the wolf wondered if it was really, truly possible.
Sighing deeply, her breath returned but her iron-hard spirit faltering.
Still, this was no different than when she first began training in body and mind, and she told herself that the less she faltered, the easier this would become. Kin-Kin breathed deep breaths. she kept her head where it was, lain on her paws, and it almost seemed as though she were sleeping. For a while there was silence, as she sifted through thoughts, emotions and memories to find the centre of it all. In time, she finally was groping at those misty strands again.
And suddenly, she felt a tingling sensation running through her fur as her gem began to glow. Kin-Kin kept her eyes tight shut and kept breathing, easing the tiny point of magic she'd found to the surface of her mind.
Kin-Kin heard the earth before her creaking, a soft chiming crackle like glass straining under a heavy weight not quite enough to shatter it. Her ears were laid back, and the more the earth seemed to creak, the more she felt a tremble beneath her paws. Her gem still glowed, but it was trembling and shaky.
Her fur flickered in the light of the crystal before her, her motions causing her fur to ripple.
That's... enough.
She wanted to keep it going for as long as she could, but for now, she wanted to see her work. Slowly letting her eyes flicker open, Kin-Kin raised her head and glanced down at the ground at her paws.
And there it was.
Her new secret weapon.
In between Kin-Kin's paws had formed a small cluster of blue crystal, crackling and clinking as it slowly rose from the earth like a thorny rose, moment by moment blooming all the more.
As quickly as that first glance had been, the flow of magic was gone. With a final clink, it had finally finished its formation.
On terms of size, the object was only about the size of Kin-Kin's skull, but she was happy. The wolf thought that for a first try, this creation was exceptionally beautiful. Warily, she reached out with her nose and touched it, only to recoil.
Beautiful, and deadly.
Tiny crystalline droplets of crimson sprinkled the ground from her delicate nose. It was sharp, the points of each spire glistening wickedly.
Knowing that this was about the limit of what she could do right now, as she felt drained right down to the core, Kin-Kin took this moment to rest. She hadn't expected that tiny crystal to take this much out of her, but her limbs felt heavy and her heart was fluttery. Her muscles felt suddenly leaden. Her breaths were still deep, but not quite so relaxed.
As beautiful as the tiny crystal seemed, the more Kin-Kin thought about it, the more Kin-Kin felt... less than satisfied. There was no way this amount of effort was worth it for this tiny crystal followed by this leaden feeling. Such aches and pains and exhaustion would render her useless in the heat of battle. Unless they were rendered incapacitated by that very first hit, that is. And Kin-Kin knew from experience that that was very unlikely, if not completely impossible.
Once more, Kin-Kin rested her head on her crossed paws as she stared, heavy-lidded, at the cluster she'd brought forth.
Maybe something more... permanent would be an asset.
If the crystal didn't just... rot away, then Kin-Kin would have a plan. But everything seemed to hinge on whether or not it'd simply fade away overnight. Her thoughts were growing more and more muddled. Kin-Kin wanted to practice some more, but it felt like too much. Sighing deeply, Kin-Kin curled her hind legs up under her cape.
Kin-Kin didn't know if she'd found the weapon she'd been looking for. She didn't even know if she could use this as a weapon. It was... too tiring. She'd just have to... consider it when... she... awoke...
The golden she-wolf's breaths lengthened as she slipped away into welcome folds of unconsciousness, and the megalomaniac dreams that awaited her.