ORIGIN

Kin-Kin had been honing her skills. At this moment in time she pranced about Polaris with a large crystal spike, looking for all the world like a huge icicle. She was trying to look elegant and precise as she danced around, stabbing unsuspecting rocks and patches of moss with this point.

Clearly, she was trying to show off, however whether or not she succeeded was in the eye of the beholder. As it was, she pranced and lugged and threw the heavy, and also slippery, object around as best she could. Her breaths huffed and growled in her throat as she did so, as she wasn't used to carrying something quite so heavy, or even anything at all as a matter of fact. This was training she hadn't quite considered up until now, but she reckoned it'd work wonders on her jaw muscles.

Finally, Kin-Kin was tiring of this particular crystal; it was heavy, and tiresome to hold. By the time she'd even swung it, her opponent would be at their neck. It wasn't beautiful and graceful enough for her. Sighing, Kin-Kin pushed the pointed tip into the earth and left it there, moving away from it with a calm, yet increasingly worn out gait. Kin-Kin yawned, looked around to make sure she was the only one here, before finally laying down, settling her chin on her paws to think.

---

Her ears perked, her eyes slowly blinking, the honey-coated she-wolf glanced back at where she'd left her last experimental crystal spire. There had been several she'd tried. Some small, some big, some that she'd abandoned after they'd gotten too sharp to hold. Some, she'd struggled on for what seemed like hours to summon them herself, whereas others she'd stained and huffed trying to yank out of a wall or out of the ground near the spire.

Needless to say, that method hadn't been particularly successful. The crystals she'd made herself were never particularly impressive, pale and drab in comparison to those already here.

The thought caused her to breathe a huffy sigh out through her nose.

She rolled her eyes and reached out with her forepaws in order to stretch out her back, her tail curling back towards her head. "Hmmm..." she sighed thoughtfully, before sprawling back onto the ground and curling her legs into her belly. Carrying around these crystals sure was a pain...

Sure it was good training, but combined with the excessive exertion she put into creating them in the first place, it wasn't exactly efficient. In battle, the opponent wouldn't wait and have a little cup of tea as she summoned a crystal and then slept. It'd have to be instant. Permanent. There needed to be a way for it to stay by her. Ready for anything.

Kin-Kin sighed, rolling onto her back.

Unlike usual, Kin-Kin wasn't tired from summoning. Not this time. It was from carrying, pulling, swinging these crystal shards. So maybe, just maybe if she tried one last time and slept, then she'd be ready for another day of training. Still lying on her back, Kin-Kin heaved a sigh and closed her eyes.

Ain't any shame in trying...

---

Breathing deeply, Kin-Kin rolled slowly onto her paws, several of her vertebra clicking as she did so, and causing her to grunt softly. The she-wolf then slowly rose to her feet, planting all four paws firmly apart. She gazed at the ground, envisioning what she wanted in her head.

A spike, she told herself. A spike of crystal for me to grab onto.

She stared intently at the ground between her paws, trying to open the floodgates of the magic held within her gem.

Kin-Kin's ears flattened, her eyes widening, ever growing in intensity. She felt something there. All that pent up magic, all that arrogance and rage... it was there, waiting to be let loose, but for all the world it simply wouldn't budge. Still, the wolf was determined. She strained and struggled, digging her claws into the ground.

A small growl escaped her bared fangs.

Then...

Ppprrbbbt...

Kin-Kin flinched, all that effort draining like water down the plughole. A faintly rancid smell wafted her way and the fabric near her backside swayed slightly.

Kin-Kin, like the classy lady she is, simply stood there with her gaze darting from side to side and nostrils twitching.

That wasn't even a good one!

---

After the embarrassing show that was supposed to be a spell, Kin-Kin paused and sighed. Perhaps I should stop trying so hard. It needs to come... naturally... I guess... Sighing, Kin-Kin relaxed her muscles and unhooked her claws from the ground. Her ears twitching, she slowly lowered her back end down towards the ground and breathed. Slow, deep, even breaths.

Try again. C'mon, Kin. You can do this. You have once before...

She once more lowered her chin down towards her chest, dropped her ears down towards her skull, and focused. Trying to open the floodgates to her power once more and feel it flooding out of her. She knew what she wanted. she knew what she needed. She tried to envision it in her mind...

A spike...

Kin-Kin felt power causing her fur to prickle, and a glow flooded throughout her. Despite this though, as hard as she strained, the ground beneath her paws failing to give birth to what she needed. She knew the energy was there... she just couldn't seem to find it.

---

Kin-Kin kept on trying even when the floodgates didn't open, and her glow brightened, but the longer she kept up her concentration, the more a leaden weight crept into her muscles. A deep sigh eventually escaped her nostrils, and soon after the wolf slumped to the ground, a grunt escaping her. Lying on the ground with legs splayed, Kin-Kin wasn't completely spent but the glow radiating from her soon dissipated.

Her breathing soon became even again, and she lifted her lip in a soft snarl. She'd just have to keep trying. And she'd do so until either something happened, or she passed out.

The wolf swore that she would, her stubborn nature kicking in. Whilst she lay down, she might as well take it from down here. She sucked in her breaths, regaining energy bit by bit as she prepared for yet another go.

---

As her heartbeat finally slowed, Kin-Kin sucked in her breath once more and began to once more tap into the magic of her gem. Her heartbeat quickened, and this time, she felt something different; the glow that crept into her fur wasn't misplaced. She felt her gem gushing with magic, and strained to keep it flowing. She put more and more energy into it as she slowly began to stagger onto her feet.

Bit by bit.

She hauled her chest from the ground and heard a sound like grass beginning to strain and crack. Her breaths deep, she forced open an eye and panted. Her eye blazed bright with an ethereal light and even a maddening one as she beheld what she was creating. A tiny seed began to emerge from the earth, deep blue crystal forming and growing before her very eyes.

Her mind, the power-crazed processor that it was at that moment in time, clicked. Kin-Kin shrieked with excitement, a crazy laugh growing and echoing throughout Polaris.

This is it!

Kin-Kin reached out and, before the crystal had even finished forming, grabbed it. The crystal, still mid-formation, began to creep around her muzzle, casting spires around her jawline and up her forehead. And it crept around the paw that scrabbled at it, trying to remove it from the earth.

Kin-Kin suddenly found herself muzzled by the weapon she had for so long sought to create. She pulled, and pulled- but her paw was stuck and so was her jaw. Suddenly this was the last thing she wanted. Kin-Kin couldn't laugh, could hardly breathe, her heart pounded, and she was exhausted.

She scrabbled three feet at the earth, pulling, pulling, struggling...

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