ORIGIN

The initial wonder of doppelgangers had quickly worn off beneath the blade of intuition all infants were equipped with, and she picked up quickly to be wary. Just as she was of the deer lowering his head and baring antlers. Elspet danced lightly on her knuckles, nervous about whatever he may be casting after she wrecked his doppelganger. Heck, she was already out of breath. Maybe she'd have to play the long game! As his magicka was misdirected, she made sure to send off her own little charge. Or at least try to.

Unwilling to really do any harm, she sent off a little jolt towards the deer. No focusing for him! No more doppelgangers. Her heart raced and she pant-hooted in a bit of excitement. This was fun!

Pride was already trying to gather himself to cast another spell, though braced, too, for an impact. Fear rippled briefly through him, but determination, too, and focus. He had to be ready for whatever Elspet was about to throw aaHHHHH--.

He sprang back with a sharp bleat, a cry of pain, as the electricity spiked through him. It felt as though something had bitten him, but all over, every part of his body briefly clenching and on fire. Then it was over, and he was left reeling, shaking his head. He realized at once that things were dire: the gorilla was right in front of him, his magic had been interrupted, he could barely think--

Abruptly, everything seemed to slow. It was as if he had all the time in the world--not to act, no. He realized that his own body was slower, too, his magicka gathering more slowly, yet his mind remained unfettered.

He looked Elspet over. He examined the situation rapidly. He wasn't sure what was doing this, but he felt that it might be some survival instinct-triggered facet of his magic of which he'd been previously unaware. He could... leap to one side, perhaps. Burst his energy outward and throw her away. Or if he dodged, double up, or read her mind...

Suddenly, options were open to him.

Elspet chittered in glee at her success in interrupting his thinking and getting a bit of confusion on his face. As with most time control, she was sort of blissfully unaware of the sudden stretch of time. Had she been paying closer attention over the bundle of adrenaline coursing through her, she may have noticed the slight stutter in thoughts and movement as she froze. But that was besides the point, because she was hurtling towards Pride again, points alight with an internal flame.

Pride's pale eyes sprang wide again, blinking, pupils flaring a deep, dilated black as time itself caught up with his mind. His moment of magic-induced clarity had given him the chance he needed, and he followed through on those thoughts, attempting to simply spring to the side as the (admittedly intimidating) young, glowing gorilla charged at him.

He was not, however, quite fast enough.

Her bulk hurtled into him, not huge but still large enough to send him tumbling head over hooves across the stone with another startled bleat. The impact hurt, and he could feel that it would almost certainly bruise.

From where he wound up, he could see the world upside-down; see the strange-horned gorilla child thundering by and hear the blood rushing through his head. He could see his own grey hooves flailing at the air, and he rolled, scrambling to get back upright.

I may not have time. I might have to blast her to even get to my feet, if she's quick enough.

Admittedly, Elspet was a little worried when she actually crashed into the poor fawn, sending him off a little as he failed to step out of her way. She faltered a little as she headed his way, glowing innards dying down and leaving her with a rather nauseous feeling. Coughing up a little bit of smoke, she sort of half-galloped towards the fawn and wheezed out a quiet "are you okay?" before she skidded to a halt and hoped to somehow throw her body (as lightly as she possibly could) onto his. Sort of like a wrestler getting the opponent to tap out, right? Instead, she managed to trip and fall on absolutely nothing in front of the fawn.

Pride blinked, stumbling up and back slightly as the young gorilla tumbled to a stop right at his hoof-tips. He thought only briefly, before sending his magicka forth and attempting to settle it swiftly and firmly into the spaces around Elspet.

He did not want to harm her any more than she had harmed him, and he certainly did not want to expose himslf to further magical attacks. His intent was to lift the gorilla into the air--and to turn her to face away, hovering there like the stones on which he had practiced, in order to ensure she could not see him and hopefully, with any attacks, would not hit him.

He struggled with it--she was larger than anything he'd lifted in the past, and he felt his legs trembling with the effort as if he were physically bearing the load himself. He took a step forward, then another, determined. The strain was immense, far more than he could have imagined it would be. Was it weariness, or simply a lack of training?

There-... This... should do it-...

She was just about to get back up when she was aided by the wonders of magicka. Had it been another situation, she would have thought it to be the coolest thing ever. However, this was not very cool, and she was not into it, especially as she was turned away from her opponent. Fearing the proverbial (and likely physical boot), she called upon her magicka and braced herself for impact. Maybe she could call upon her loud magic again? She'd give off another little shock, but Elspet felt bad hurting the deer that she'd just met. It seemed Pride was also hesitant to hurt her too.

Loud magic it was.

Her horns buzzed to life with magicka, aching against her skull and burning slightly from overuse. The gorilla was so tired, yet felt she had to keep going until she prevailed. She could only get stronger if she persevered! She hooted once, making sure that her arms and legs were splayed out to support her likely drop, wincing as rolling thunder shattered the silence.

The thunderclap sent him reeling, briefly panicked, and his magick at once flickered away. He dropped Elpet to the ground, and he had no time in which to wonder if she was harmed. Instead he scrambled back, afraid, the sound leaving him deaf for a long moment--but this time he realized, at least, that it was only noise.

He found it terrifying--but fascinating. Effective.

A moment's brief hesitation, and he gathered a simple, straight burst in an attempt to throw the gorilla off her feet and tumbling, to keep her from coming back upright. It was not anything too brutal or violent, more a shove if anything, but he feared what she might be capable of should he allow the upper hand to slip.

"When I speak.""This is good training--" he called out as he did so. <"When I speak.""--but speak when you wish to stop?" He was not far off it, himself; he was growing weary, the magicka drain on him taking its toll.

Though that, too, is good practice on its own--in a way.

Elspet had a moment of brief victory as she fell onto the cavern floor with a rather hollow thunk! However, it was easily spoiled as she took just too long to recover and found herself tumbling head over heels at a rather powerful blast that she hadn't quite braced herself for. Her back and bum smacked into the opposite wall. Wind knocked out of her, she gasped and flopped uselessly onto her side. Honestly, at this point, she was exhausted, more so than she ever had been in her short tirade with life. She honestly wanted to sleep and nearly jumped at the opportunity to stop, because Pride had offered it first.

"Ye-" she breathed, breath whistling through her lips, "yeah. I think I'm done. I'm so tired." Casting high-end spells had most certainly taken a toll on her. Her arms were like big blocks of lead attached to her body. Elspet barely managed to twist herself into a sitting position, hands flopping into her lap. "I had fun! Just... that was a lot. I was kind of born yesterday, I think. I think it was yesterday." She had no concept of time. She'd only slept once, briefly.

@Pride

Pride exhaled in relief, plodding over to the gorilla and offering her a gentle nudge--inspecting her to ensure she was all right, even if she rejected the touch--before curling down onto the stone with long legs folded beneath him.

"Only--yesterday? It is good magic," he said in some surprise, again speaking slowly, with exacting precision. "How do you create the... loud sound? It is impressive. Frightening. When first I heard it--I ran."

He spent some time then just sitting, breathing--catching his breath. The battle, though brief, had been intense--and he ran his mind over it quickly, looking at mistakes he had made, what he had learned from Elspet's magic, and what he could improve. Thinking aloud, he began to speak again.

"The smoke was good, too. I think making a double against that was--not a mistake. I must practice this--magic, when... afraid, or tired, so I do not... fail it. If the fight were real that--could have killed me." He thought, for a beat, then added--"And I think that I did something new. When you... hit me with the--biting magic. Startled me. It worked, I could not... focus. But then time seemed to slow, but only... in my mind. I was able to focus again. I do not know how, or what I did." He wondered about this, briefly. Would magic simply manifest itself to him as he saw fit? Could he get creative with this ability, use it to shape the world around him? --Or destroy it? Could others go that far, too?