ORIGIN

Pride watched the dog step forward, watched her focus. He noticed the gems glowing at her head--and noticed the tumble of stones as they flew over Polaris's dark rock. He gave a light nod, and looked out at the dust that her spell had stirred, thoughtful.

"I can do that, as well. It is the first thing that I knew. I have learned-... This, too." Careful, he stepped a good distance away from Aster, concentrating closely on his magic. He was feeling a bit more weary, now, and let his double fade into nothing as he gathered himself for another attempt at magic. He focused.

His aim was to send that dispelling blast wave out in all directions: a powerful defense, he'd found, and a good spell to have.

Instead of dispelling things in a straight line, instead the shockwave went in all directions, sending rock and pebble flying through the air--which shimmered all around him. As everything settled, he glanced back to Aster, to see if she had seen it all. He was glad that he had moved far enough away; despite his weariness, it seemed his magic still answered freely to his call.

"It is... as yours, but in all-... Mm. Directions. If you are attacked... it will throw things from you." He didn't know enough to warn that "vacuum" could be dangerous--he had never had a spell backfire on him, not yet. "Useful, I think."

Aster nodded quietly. "I do that, too," she said, thinking over her words for a while before edging closer, making sure that the spell had ended and peering around.

"It won't.. last long," she then added, voice barely above a whisper as she began to focus quietly onto her magic once more; though she found that, once again, nothing happened.

Mildly frustrated, her ragged tail flicked. "Do you.. know why," she asked quietly, shaking her fur out. "It doesn't... always happen?"

If Pride was learning, then he might have found out why spells occasionally failed-- though considering it over herself, she came to the conclusion that if Polaris was unstable, perhaps that just meant that magic could be.. dampened, somehow. Aster did not know.

She stared after the fawn for a moment with unblinking eyes before turning her gaze elsewhere, sniffing absently.

Pride listened to the question, pale grey eyes regarding Aster thoughtfully. Weak though he was, he knew that this would be better-explained directly mind-to-mind, and so he tried--without much hope in success--to reestablish the link between them.

To his surprise, the link not only reopened, but it did so strongly, smoothly, and he found himself accidentally broadcasting Aster with his startled delight. What a treat! The moment he realized this, he quickly got ahold of his thoughts, gathering and organizing them. He'd done this for communication, after all; best to communicate for as long as he could keep the link open.

This link will fail, in a moment, but let me open it to show you the answer I was given, when I asked this same question, in this same place, not long ago.

He sent images, sounds, words. Not all of them he had at the time understood, but most, in hindsight, he did. In the imagery was Pride, the same little white fawn that stood before Aster now, unchanged. Reseda crouched before him, looking as thoughtful as a lizard could, as she spoke.

"I...do not know this. It is simply something that happens. Perhaps magic is simply unpredictable. Perhaps our hearts are not into it. As you practice and grow, however, it becomes easier to succeed. There is more success than failure, but there is still a chance the spell will not work." Her voice, in the memory, in the thoughts that Pride struggled to transmit, was a distant and strange echo, touched by thought and emotion--his own curiosity, his own attentiveness, his determined intent to learn more. To improve.

Reseda, in the memories, continued. "Magic of the mind is more difficult to master then our native energy. It requires focus, will, and a sharp mind. Even now, I struggle to learn new spells from this element, but they are useful and powerful. Focus your mind, change your element from the core. Release it, let your will pass through."

With that, Pride looked to Aster. This is what I was taught. I cannot hold the link open any longer, though I hope that this aids you, as well. If you do not understand it all--remember it. I did not understand it at first, but now I know much more than I did, though it has not been too long. Also-... I do not know how right she is. I believe she was making an... educated guess? At best. It is what she believes, but it may not all be true--and it may not be true at all.

He paused, glancing up at the Spire. This place, too, makes things stronger--but more chaotic. Harder to hold onto, I think, but good for learning control. Perhaps if you want to learn how to... merely use a magic, it is best to do it somewhere... less... He sought for a word, but realized abruptly that the link was slipping shut as he did so. He looked to Aster, blinking pale grey eyes.

"Less... volatile," he finished, dredging the word up from some half-forgotten memory--and just as he imparted the meaning to that word, the link between them began to close.

Aster was silent, ear flicking quietly. At first there was mild confusion at Pride's delight, then quiet amusement and agreement, the feeling of approval filling her chest, but she didn't turn to look at him yet.

Instead, she listened to Reseda's words and spent a while analysing them, figuring them out, defining each and every word to make sure that she could properly understand them. Then, eventually, the dog nodded.

"If she does not know, are there perhaps others out there who might know better? Older ones, perhaps?" The dog suggested though, really, for all she could have known- Reseda could have been the oldest thing in the caves. She had no idea how old gembounds could be.

Her slicked-back ear flicked again when the link broke. She stared directly at Pride for a moment, focusing quietly. The link re-opened near immediately, connecting the two once more. "You should rest. Eat. Drink, if you are drained," she offered.

Aster had managed to drain herself before, after all-- and found often that the best way to deal with it and recover from it was to hunt and take a long nap. She pushed herself up, moving to the river and waited by the edge, staring back at Pride.

"Do you like rats?"

Pride glanced with some surprise to Aster as she kept the link open, herself, and dipped his head in faintly-amused, and pleased, acknowledgement. I will drink, then, and rest, he agreed, through the link she maintained.

As for older ones--I do not know. Reseda claims that the-- and here came, instead of words, a clear image of Giggle mid-sentence-- --is ancient, but also mad. That she only imagines that she is a seer. Perhaps she is right, Pride added, indifferently. I, too, am young. I do not know what is true, and what is not. I am... gathering words, gathering knowledge. Later, I will try to form my own ideas of what is reality, and what is not. I know little of the caves.

He sent this all clearly, more easy-going, feeling more comfortable in Aster's presence now. The link was calming, somehow--her mind was not unlike his own, analytical and precise, drifting in search of the perfect meanings.

He made his way with quiet hoof-steps to the river's edge, sliding carefully down the quite-steep embankment to drink deeply of its cold waters. At her final question, he turned, lifting his slender neck and craning it to peer back at the black dog, his ears swivelled toward her. This time, he spoke aloud.

"What is--rats?" he asked.

A seer, but also mad. A faint twinge of offense coursed through Aster's chest-- not bothering to hide it in the least to Pride. If she was a seer, was she also mad? The dog shuddered briefly, offense turning to gentle upset, and then it was quickly shaken off.

She did not want to be categorized as mad. She watched the deer drink for a moment, though in that time she lost control of the link, unable to maintain it for very long. The dog turned to stare at the water, ear flicking. What was a rat?

"Eat," she replied quietly. "You.. eat, rats. Do you.. not eat rats?" She flicked her gaze-- not to Pride per say, but to the reflection of Pride in the water. The concept of carnivores and herbivores was completely lost on her, currently.

"I can.. help, you hunt," she then offered quietly, eyes staring unblinking at the water.

Pride tilted his head a bit, noting Aster's offense. He turned back to the river, drinking further, before shifting his attention back to her. His little body turned and with carefully-placed steps and a bit of a scramble he regained the steep bank.

"It is not that... seers, are mad. It is that she... may believe herself a seer, but be mad, instead. I believe you see truth, as you... saw what--was in my past." Still spoken slowly, carefully, each and every word precisely chosen for its meaning, yet it was earnest--honest. He was not merely reassuring her. He might not even have cared to. He was clarifying, though politely.

At the explanation of rats, he cocked his head again, thinking. "Hunt? Rats?" The idea of carnivores, too, was beyond him. He knew that Reseda had gnawed on the bones of Canis, but bar that he had only seen Karma eat--and she, like him, was a fawn.

"Eat? I eat... grass. Leaves. Show me your rats?" he asked curiously. Perhaps there was something else good to eat in the caves, something to which he had not yet been introduced?

It would be good to learn.

Aster stared at Pride, though her unblinking eyes seemed to just be staring through the fawn and his words seemed to be going right over her oddly-shaped head, saying nothing for a long time.

She'd have to meet the thick brown-red creature for herself, perhaps, to see what he truly meant-- the vision had been too vague, too blurry for Aster to see anything that would stand out as 'not right' about the hyena. Though Aster didn't have much in the sense of social standards herself.

"Hunt," she said, not replying to Pride's clarification. "Chase. Catch. Eat. Your... grass, and leaves, you hunt them." She offered with some air of confidence, as if deers often go chasing after sentient plants.

Regardless, the lanky dog pushed herself up and began walking away from the river and into the main area of Polaris, silent for a time before speaking. "There are... many," she rasped. "Everywhere."

The borzoi stopped as a stray rat skittered across the cave floor and out of sight, turning back to Pride. "Do you see? We hunt. Chase."

Pride looked quizzically at Aster, not comprehending. He knew the idea of a predator, though, and it began to slowly dawn on him that while Aster might not eat him, she might most certainly eat others. A quick mental calculation reassured him that he was, at least, unlikely to die by her whim, should she choose to attack him. He believed that, thus far, his magic was proving stronger than hers. More practiced, more varied.

Or so he hoped.

Slowly, cautiously, he took several steps toward a cluster of glowing plants not far from where the rat had vanished. He took a bite, cropping away the green with his teeth, then lifted his head and chewed this, turning to regard Aster with his pale gaze. He hoped that she would understand what he was telling her, then, when he swallowed and explained: "I do not-... Hunt, plants. Do you end the rats' lives? Unmake them?"

His question came cautious, and he knew what his next would be--but only if she answered, 'yes.'

Aster had not considered eating.. plants. She turned her head to stare blankly over at Pride as he took a bite out of a leaf, blinking once for seemingly the first time in twenty minutes.

Slowly, the dog stepped over the glowing plant and leaned down to take a cautious sniff, before she took a leaf between her teeth and yanked it from the stem, chewing.

A lot.

The plant got stuck between her sharp teeth and, no matter how many times she chomped down on the leaf, it did not come unstuck. Worst of all, it was somehow bland and awful-tasting all at the same time.

"Perhaps," Aster said through a mouthful of leaf, peering a little quizzically at Pride. "You can't eat them if they are moving. Their--" she nodded towards Pride's chest, briefly. "--stay. Not eat. Hurts teeth."

She stood there in silence for a moment longer, teeth gnashing as she tried to get the leaf out of her mouth. "You unmake plants, when you eat them. Why do you eat them?" She asked.