ORIGIN

Kin-Kin grinned at the puppy, a spark of pride kindling in her chest and flooding out through the glow in her fur as the young one's enthusiasm brought back memories of the days spent mentoring the new gemlings emerging into the caves. She wondered at the awe they'd felt, with her warm glow the first thing they'd seen in life, an entrancing display of magic and wonder and an introduction to their stony world. It'd been far too long since she'd done anything like this. "Magic, kid! Earth magic. Cool, right?"

Kin-Kin's gaze wandered as she noted a new figure enter the area, a stag cloaked in white and shining in her golden light. The stag questioned them, and Kin-Kin paused herself, her tail twitching in a moment of consideration. As the puppy bounded off with the tool she'd made, Kin-Kin turned to the stag. "Something fun! but not dangerous. I think. Imagine hitting each other with softness," she laughed. "I've never heard anything like it. No pain, no gain's what I usually think. But it sounds interesting, so I'm gonna hang here and see how it goes."

She looked down as the pup returned, and grinned. "'Course, kiddo! Keep it! There's more where that came from!"

The newcomer filled the area with a chilly mist, and Kin-Kin- not one to be outdone, began to pad towards the nearby river. She began to tap into her magic, raising to the surface a spell that she'd rarely used. Its presence in her gem brought a dull chill of bitterness to her heart foe what it had cost her. But that was her fault. She should have practiced more. She should have stuck to the old and reliable, and not placed her bets on something new. Kin-Kin closed her eyes, but couldn't bring herself to look once more to the arcane for aid. She found that her hackles had raised, and instead began to dig a narrow divot in the shallow bank of the river for water to pool. Finally, she sucked in her breath and pressed her magic into the earth.

Stone crackled as it compressed into a layer of milky quartz, creating a narrow canal about the width of her muzzle, redirecting a small amount of the river's flow. Water trickled in, until it reached its dry and earthy end, and drained away.

She'd need to keep going, but it was a start.

---

When I speak.

When I think.

The others were working on their own things, but Pride gave a soft snort and focused further.

He'd help; he could do this. He glanced up, for a moment, through his mist. The wolf was speaking, and doing--something, some kind of magic, he thought; but it was unclear what.

With a huff he concentrated on the mist itself. Gradually, the wet air thickened, growing bitter cold, and still wet--and a snow began to fall around him. Slowly, carefully, he walked forward, and as he went, snow fell around him. It wasn't a thick drift, or the like--not yet, at least; for now it was only the lightest fall, but it was a start.

"Err--if anyone can form this..." he said, hesitantly. He had snow, but he could not make it into snowballs himself. Or he could, but it would take magic, and well--he was already using his.

A break was required, however, and Pride moved off, for now, to rest.