ORIGIN - Two Felines, One Tunnel

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He was so bored.

He needed to stretch his legs. The black-pelted Puma had been going through growth-spurts lately, and as of now his legs were long and ungainly. He stumbled when he walked over too-large paws, not entirely sure what to do with his legs. But, on the bright side, his magick was growing in leaps and bounds. Sebastian had already learned four more spells, although only three of which were related to his element.

The Puma desperately wanted to try out some of his new Magicks, he could feel his fire rushing through his veins, trying to urge him to set things aflame. But he knew Rift would have kittens if he set the Grow Room aflame, so he'd set out to Polaris to practice his magic.

He paced for a while, before finding a nice, large rock. Thankfully it wasn't a chrysalis, so he didn't feel bad for what he was about to do. He took a deep breath, before dropping his jaw, launching burning bile at the rock. The Puma purred proudly when he saw it hit, the rock sizzling.

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

@Faelan

Faelan felt the exact moment that he stepped out of the tunnel, and into the next room. Some kind of...energy washed over him, making his heart beat a little faster and a smile creep up his cheeks. He had been feeling out-of-sorts ever since he emerged from his chrysalis, but now he felt as if that could change.
With a bounce in his step, the broad-shouldered lion gazed out over the room in search of anything familiar as he padded forward. His golden gaze quickly found the Spire in the distance, sending a chill through him. He knew that place, he thought, but couldn't readily recall how. Since that feeling was becoming as aggravatingly normal as the cumbersome form he now lived in, Faelan pushed the thought aside and finally pushed his gaze further along.

A flash of red caught the lion's eye, and he slowed down again as he made out the form of another Gembound a little ways ahead. It seemed to be standing by the red thing, which was now on the floor of the cave. Curious as to what the glowing red thing was, and who was the Gembound was, Faelan approached at a steady pace. It didn't seem to be anything like what had happened in Orion, so he decided to give interacting with others another chance.

"Hello," Faelan said with a smile as his gaze flicked between the other feline and the pile of burning rocks. He realized almost instantly that he practically dwarfed the younger Gembound, making his smile falter a bit. His size was definitely the biggest thing he struggled with about himself since emerging from his chrysalis, so he hoped it wouldn't bother the other Gembound. If it did, he had no way to fix it but to leave. It had already frightened one young Gembound, and he didn't want that to happen again. Especially since the filly he thought of had nearly injured herself because of being afraid of him.

"I'm Faelan," he finally managed to blurt out a moment later. Another bad thing about only meeting Gembounds who were afraid of you was that you didn't get to practice proper introductions. Although he was uncomfortable with being so much larger than the stranger, he tried to condense that fear and push it to the back of his mind. He wanted to know about them, and about the burning rocks, more than he wanted to think about that.

@Sebastian

Sebastian took a deep breath, cringing at the burning in his throat. All of his Magick hurt him, and he didn't think that was quite fair. Why couldn't he have a single spell that didn't leave him whimpering for days at a time? It just wasn't right. Rift didn't hurt after using his Magick, Splotch didn't hurt after using her Magick, so why did it hurt him? He didn't mean he wanted Splotch or Rift to hurt, of course.

He stepped forward to observe the melting sludge that had been left behind, only to hear someone approaching. From the sound of their pawsteps, they seemed to be rather large. He turned, seeing another feline (just how common were they, anyways? It seemed all he saw were felines!) approaching. "Hello!" he smiled, looking over the Gembound. He was much larger, and lighter in color. The Gembound was clearly feline, with tan fur and a bright colored mane. The other Gembound easily towered over him, but it didn't frighten him.

"I'm Sebastian, it's nice to meet you Faelan." He smiled, tipping his head politely.

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

Faelan waited with bated breath as the young Gembound's gaze skimmed over him. He was somewhat stunned by the smile, and polite introduction that he received. Sure, it wasn't the only nice greeting he had ever gotten. Asimona had been polite, fun even, he thought with a smile as he recalled their romp in the snow. He hadn't received much welcome since meeting the dragon though, and that was why he had expected the worse.
With Sebastian still smiling at him though, Faelan supposed this encounter would not be like the ones in Orion. He was willing to give it a chance, so he tentatively smiled back, before looking down at the burning stone.

"What is this?" The lion asked curiously as he stared down at the rock. It seemed to finally be cooling down now, but he could still see the barest bit of red-hot coal. The last flash of red faded within seconds, leaving only a smoking, charred rock behind. It stunk, he thought as he wrinkled up his nose and glanced around. Where could it have possibly come from though, the lion wondered silently. Nothing in the room looked, or smelled, like the bright red-hot burning. He was glad for that, but it didn't explain this tiny bit of it.

His golden orbs finally fell back on Sebastian, who was sitting right in front of where the burning bit had been. Surely not, Faelan thought, even as the puma opened his jowls to reply to his question.

@Sebastian

Sebastian tilted his head at the lion, wondering why he seemed so stunned. He'd only returned his greeting, and given his name. Was that so surprising? It was only proper, polite, after all, to return a greeting. At least, that's what he'd gleaned from Rift. Was he wrong? From his fellow Gembounds' reaction, he could only assume so.

However, he was relieved when the lion smiled back, despite seeming rather hesitant about it. For such a large, imposing lion, he really had a nice smile.

He cringed as the other looked down at the cooling rock, asking him what it was. Oh, that was disgusting. Throwing up boiling bile? Disgusting! And his stomach was still rolling from using the magic, and his throat stung.

Looking rather sheepish, he opened his mouth to answer. "Ah, it's a particularly disgusting bit of Magic I can do." he shrugged as though to say, 'what can you do?'

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

Sebastian's cringe, as if pained by the question, made Faelan instantly regret asking. He didn't get much time to wallow in that regret though, because the young Gembound's words swept his thoughts to a completely different place.

"Magic," the lion muttered unintentionally while his eyes glazed over in thought. If a young Gembound could make something like that, then it would explain the scary floating eyes and the being made of bright crackling bolts that he had encountered in Orion. Those things had been so inexplicable, and powerful, they had driven him from the quartz-studded room.

As the tawny brute continued to brood over the events in the previous room, particularly on the fear he had felt when darkness had fallen and the eyes had appeared, he subconsciously reached for his magicka. Since he was still untrained and unaware of the power, it lashed out wildly. Seemingly out of nowhere, a crack resounded in the silence.

Faelan snapped to attention, jerking his golden crown from side to side to see what had made that sound. It took him a couple of moments, but his eyes finally fell on the cracked rock a few tail-lengths behind Sebastian. If he hadn't been looking so hard, the paw-sized rock would have been easy to miss or assume it was just another rock. Since he'd noticed it a few moments before when arriving, and had seen it whole, he knew now that was where the sound had to have come from. Not only was it strange the thing had suddenly cracked open, but it also reminded him of something else that had happened in Orion.

His fear, the rush of energy and then the rocky edge of the plateau splitting. Had that been...him? Even as he thought it, he finally muttered to Sebastian,"I think that's something I do with mine." He couldn't be entirely certain, but he felt more so after saying it. Something just felt right about it, and he was starting to learn to trust those feelings.

@Sebastian

Hearing the lion echo 'Magic', he couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking. Did he not know Gembounds controlled Magick? He looked to be an older Gembound, at least compared to the ones he'd met so far, so how could he have gone so long without knowing he was capable of Magick?

Sebastian tilted his head, watching as the lion appeared to think, going quiet. He startled at a sudden, loud crack, spinning around to find the source. A rock a few tail-lengths behind him seemed to have been split, or cracked, although the only reason he noticed was because he'd thought about using the rock for target practice, only to decide against it.

He turned back to the older Gembound as he heard him speak, tilting his head. So he hadn't known what he was capable of. The Puma tilted his head, before smiling. "So your magic is Earth? Mine is Fire."

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

@Faelan

Faelan's thoughts swirled like a whirlpool, sucking one idea or feeling down just as he was about to focus on it. He wondered about the magic, and the other Gembounds that he had encountered in Orion. Even his first moments, with Asimona, seemed tainted by the use of magic. Had it always been there, he wondered, just beneath the surface of everything, pushing it all along? It seemed as outlandish as the idea that he could control rocks, but Sebastian spoke of it with ease.

The lion's bright gold eyes focused on the younger Gembound, and his mind clung to the knowledge that the other feline had Fire magic. The words brought on an all too familiar sense of deja vu though. He had said, or heard, these things before...Magic being explained...His affinity to earth being pointed out as well as another Gembound pronouncing a use of Fire magic... The memory was so close to the surface, and yet Faelan couldn't see it. He felt, but he didn't quite remember it yet.

Faelan let out a frustrated sigh just before his eyes locked with Sebastian's. So close, he thought, and still waiting on an answer. "Yes," he agreed half-heartedly, before suddenly thinking of something.
"Would you mind showing me some of your magic?" Faelan asked, not knowing about the damage it might do to the young Gembound.

@Sebastian

Sebastian allowed the older Gembound to ponder his thoughts, although he dearly wondered what he was thinking. He couldn't imagine being unaware of his Magick; it was such an integral part of who he was, a large part of his identity. To be without Magick... he couldn't imagine it. It was like imagining himself without Rift!

His eyes matched the lion's, and he was surprised to realize they had eyes that were the same color. Gold met gold, showing Sebastian's happiness and curiosity, wondering about Faelan. Such an odd Gembound, but he also felt a sense of camaraderie, almost like he felt with Rift. But different, too. The camaraderie he felt with Rift was like between a father and son. He couldn't really name this camaraderie.

He frowned, tilting his head as Faelan sighed, sounding frustrated. The words to ask if he was already died on his lips as Faelan answered, and he paused for a moment. Show him his magic? Char and Spitfire were out of the question. Char stunk badly, and Spitfire was just gross. Perhaps...

He charged his fire magic up, cringing, before scowling as the spell didn't work.

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

Sebastian scowled as the Magick failed to respond to his call, looking at Faelan apologetically. "Sorry, Magick can be kind of finicky. Let me try again." He closed his eyes, trying his best to focus. It had come so easily to him when he was only minutes out of the Chrysalis, so why was it failing him now? This was just so unfair.

Trying to ignore the burning pain, he beamed as the Magick responded to his summons. He stepped forward, the soil sizzling under his paw, before withdrawing it, leaving a burn in the soil in the shape of his paw-pad.

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

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