ORIGIN - Stranger Danger!

What was it? The tanuki would circle around the felled golem, sniffing it curiously. It was something that was unlike what she was, but at the same time... she couldn't put her paw on it. Again and again Azumi would circle the creature, huffing somewhat. She didn't like not knowing. It made her mad. She'd stomp her right forepaw and nudge the thing. "UP!" She'd growl. But there was no response from this particular golem. Whether it was resting or dead she didn't know just yet. But it wasn't moving and she didn't like it. She wanted it to move, to talk, to tell her what it was. Azumi would sit down with a huff, luckily on the outskirts of the dam so she didn't attract any of the golem's brethren.

"Hmph!" Her tail would give a flick of agitation and she would look around. This was boring! She'd get back to her paws and pad away from the thing. It had been getting warmer lately, and she didn't really understand why. That was when she heard the noise. Head would lift, and gaze would shift around the area. Something was moving in here. Some creature was with her. Ears would pin back a growl building in her chest.

The growl would vibrate in her chest, echoing in the area around her. She'd bristle her fur, calling out to whomever might be lurking. "Who?! Out now!"

"Speech" 'Thought'

Majesty was off exploring again, this time without his best friend, Pretty (Farrah). Of course, he loved going places with her, but sometimes it was good to explore on his own. This time he found himself in somewhere… that seemed to have recently had a lot of activity. No matter where he looked, there was some sort of sound or movement nearby. He could hear a river nearby, as well as some sort of… odd sound accompanying the rushing water (the generator), though he didn’t know what it was. And he could see a giant blue crystal thing near the middle of the very large room. And… why was he hearing what sounded like rocks being constantly smashed into the ground? Like… footsteps? What the heck kind of Gembound sounded like it was made of rocks? Those were Golems, but he didn’t know that.

He took his time exploring, rather unsure of this place. He made himself relax through all the stimulation, his usual calm pushing through his excitement. He felt like something would jump out and scare him at any –

”Who?! Out now!”

Majesty let out a yelp, spinning to face the… giant… raccoon… thing? His fear was immediately replaced by curiosity, and he was about to just go over and start studying the creature, but then he realized it had asked him who he was. Clearing his throat, he said, “I am Majesty, leader of THE Pack, in a tunnel some distance from here.” Speaking was coming easier to him than it had before. “I have Light Magic. Watch.” But even as the word Watch left his lips, something inside of him went terribly wrong. A bright flash of light burst across his skin and fur and then immediately went out, causing a tingle. It was like a light bulb had exploded! And, because his eyes had been open at the time, he was instantly blinded.

He let out another yelp as white light flooded his vision. “I – I can’t see!” he howled, panicking. “I can’t see!”

There. Someone would spin to face her, and Azumi would sniff the air. He made a surprised sound... had she scared him? Well he shouldn't have been trying to lurk! The tanuki would listen, her ears twitching as the critter before her spoke. Hnn.... Majesty. Like Eeya how Eeya and she was Azumi. It was what one called themselves... a name! That was it. Feeling proud of herself for making the connection, her thought process and vocabulary slowly expanding, Azumi would try to make sense of what else he mentioned. The Pack? What was that? It sounded weird. Was it a group of creatures like him? Questions buzzed in her brain, so many of them, but she had so little answers.

But then things would begin to go wrong. Majesty would attempt to show her his magic, but there was something wrong. Light would seem to explode off the wolf and then go out almost immediately. She'd gasp, a whine leaving her lips. Oh no! He... he was hurt! Panic would grip the Tanuki as she tried to think. There had to be something she could do, right?

Breathe.

Azumi would take a breath, moving closer to the wolf. "Shhh.. Close eyes. Rest them. They might be hurt." Azumi would gently reach forward, nuzzling the wolf with her nose. The best she could try and do right now was keep him calm. "Breathe too. Slow."

"Speech" 'Thought'

Majesty took breath after breath as he kept his eyes closed, just as Azumi had instructed. Eventually, his breathing calmed a little, though it was still ragged and jumpy by the time he gained the courage to open them again. And when he did, had he the ability, he would have cried in despair. He could see now. The whiteness had gone. But… left behind was perhaps some residual Light Magic? It caused his vision to be a little bit hazy and glow-y. He could see well enough, he supposed, but everywhere he looked there were halos surrounding everything. And no matter how many times he blinked – hard – his vision would not return to the way it had been.

He could not see this himself, but now, permanently over his eyes, was what looked like a see-through film. It was a very, very light yellow color, almost colorless, and was really only visible because it gave off a tiny amount of light. Majesty was now, officially, visually impaired. And he was less than a Cycle old. And it was just in time for him to have become the leader of his pack, which now he was beginning to regret.

“How could I lead a pack part-blind?” he asked aloud, forgetting Azumi in his despair. “How will they ever take me seriously now? I’m not fit to be a leader…” The wolf was acting very out of character in this moment, but could you blame him? He sat and sulked, hating it every time he opened his eyes, because it forced him to realize that his impairment was not going away.

This sucked. Azumi would frown as she looked upon Majesty, somehow feeling as if this was her fault. Her mind was focused on trying to stay calm. Hopefully if Majesty rested his eyes long enough they would be just fine. He'd open them and see like normal again. The tanuki felt at a loss that she couldn't do more for him at the current point in time. She'd shuffle her paws. All she could really do now was wait and hope for the best, right?

But as Majesty opened his eyes Azumi could see that all was not well. A film seemed to be over the eyes now, a sort of vision impairment. Ears would lower, a small sad huff leaving her lips. This was bad. Majesty was down too. How could he not be? Moments ago he was just fine, and now he was visually impaired. Again The Pack would come up, and the little creature would fail to understand completely. But she did understand his fear of no one taking him seriously.

Taking a breath the Tanuki would speak. "If others respect before they respect Majesty now. Majesty is still Majesty. No change." She'd move her paw over his own. "Try. You see."

"Speech" 'Thought'

Majesty listened with a heavy heart as Azumi attempted to cheer him up, but none of her words broke through his depression. It was the first time in his young life that he had ever felt such soul-crushing sadness and worthlessness. He could never be a leader now. But he would be damned if someone tried to take it from him. Maybe he’d even hurt them. The thought of purposefully hurting another Gembound caused his good side to flare up, but he pushed it down into the farthest corner of his brain. For now, he had no plans to hurt anyone. Hopefully he never would. But now that he somehow found himself in this awful situation, the idea didn’t seem quite so far-fetched as it would have not more than five minutes ago.

It was amazing what a failed spell-cast could do to one’s personality. In fact, now he was determined to succeed with his Magic, no matter what happened to his body – or anyone else’s – as a result. He would be the best Magic user of all! And nothing and no one would stop him. It was official. Somehow the sweet, caring Majesty had cracked. Of course, the real him was still there, but he felt somehow detached from himself. And he found he… rather liked it.

“Yes,” he muttered to the raccoon dog. “Yes, I will try. No. I won’t just try. I’ll succeed!” He gave a wicked sort of grin, one that no one would ever expect from the likes of him, and took off, completely forgetting about the raccoon dog that he had just been talking to...

[Exit Majesty]