ORIGIN

The lioness easily went down the tree, albeit slowly, but with no incidents. It actually seemed to get easier the more she tried and the further down she went. She was almost upset that she didn't have more tree to shimmy down but at the same time she was glad that it was over. One misstep and she could up sprawled out on her back... Ouch.

After getting to the bottom she leaped onto a root and looked around. Sure enough, her limb had landed in the bog and sat on top of the mud. With her paws and teeth the lioness probably couldn't hope to get it out. Or at least she didn't think she could. Makyna extended herself forward and reached out with her fangs to try and grab the branching limb. She manged to clutch it in her teeth and pull but it was far too heavy for her to dislodge or even hope to drag it anywhere period. Her physical body wasn't strong enough but perhaps her mental abilities would allow her to do more.

Whelp, time for some arcane abilities.

The lioness leaned back on her perch and stared at the branch in an attempt to move it. Hopefully she would be able to do it.

___________________________________________________________________

Her concentration on the limb paid off! Slowly the branch began to lift up from the mud. It was hard going since the bog was so sticky and messy but the lioness was determined and managed to pull it out of the muck. There it was, hovering in front of her with bog dripping off of it. Most of the leaves had fallen off it at this point and in the fall a few limbs had snapped off but with the size of it it was still perfectly rideable. Makyna would test how well she was able to use her abilities to get a magic branch ride.

Carefully the lioness put one paw on the branch, making sure to keep focused so the branch wouldn't collapse under her weight. It held. She eased another paw onto it. It still held. Three paws and when she wasn't dumped into the mud she added a fourth. Now she was all the way on the branch, clinging on with her claws. Once or twice she almost dipped the branch into the water because she was nervous but she managed to regain a hold on her powers. Now for the fun part.

She looked away from the branch to a point nearby and the branch dropped her into the muck. The lioness shuddered as she walked her way out of it. It seemed that she would have to keep her gaze locked onto the branch which seemed counterproductive to her if she wanted to travel. However, she would work on it and see later on if there was a spell to counteract that.

Her gaze found the stone again and she attempted to grab a hold of the branch with her mind.

___________________________________________________________________

The branch floated over to again and she grabbed onto the thing with her claws, hauling herself up again. She was on and she attempted to keep her eyes on the branch while going forward but it failed. The branch moved a few inches before the drain on her magic became too much. She and the branch toppled to the ground but this time on a patch of decently dry ground. Makyna lay there staring at the branch feeling frustrated. Why couldn't she do it? Was this spell just too far out there for her to accomplish? It probably was. Maybe one day she could use a branch to travel somewhere faster but not today.

Makyna sat up and looked around. Well, there were still other things she could do and she would accomplish them. After she stopped feeling so drained. Perhaps she should go take a nap somewhere. Yeah, that would be a good idea. So, the lioness found a spot on one of the tree roots and after she took the time to clean herself of mud. It tasted gross but cleanliness was a thing that she held in high standards. Not until every bit of mud was cleaned did the lioness curl herself up on the limb and rest herself. Eyes closing as she took a cat nap.

___________________________________________________________________

A few dreams came her way but none of them were bad. One was about her teaching Amaria how to hunt. Another was a memory of her younger days when she was still learning about the tough world. The last dream was one that she held onto tightly... It was of her and Leon walking together for a while but then they stopped underneath a gorgeous red tree. Leon took her paws in his and stared into her eyes lovingly. He spoke to her, saying something. She couldn't quite understand him but she knew the words were of how he loved her. The lioness didn't need to hear the words though... She could just feel that he cared. Makyna was about to reply about how much she loved him as well but a loud call interrupted her dreams.

Blue eyes snapped open. The call that had awoken her was a bird. Not an intelligent one like Bevy or Az'azel, just a normal bird. The lioness lifted her head and let out a sigh as the dream slowly faded away. It was time for reality again. The reality where she and Leon didn't get to hold paws and where she was with Cancer. Not that she was upset at being with Cancer. He was kind and sweet and she cared for him too. However, her love for him wasn't the same as with Leon.

Deciding not to think on that for now she lifted herself into a stretch and prepared to leap off of her root to continue on through Cetus.

___________________________________________________________________

Easily Makyna made the jump to drier land and wouldn't have to take a dunk in the disgusting mud. At least she wouldn't have to worry about cleaning herself off again. At least not yet, anyway. She could continue on her way. Lost in her thoughts and wondering what she could do with her powers. After walking for a bit she came upon the marsh at the center of the area. There was always a strange humming here and Ky had no idea what it was. Before when she'd first heard it it had scared her, the unknown could be a frightening thing. After investigating the unknown and discovering that it wasn't going to hurt you though, then the unknown could change to something else.

The lioness actually found the humming to be soothing like the overall feeling of the marsh. Perhaps she was weird because she found the strangeness to be nice. Other gembounds might not like the sound of strange humming or the creepy fog that pervaded the place but she did. It seemed perfect for someone like her to practice strange mystical powers.

Speaking of mystical powers...

Perhaps she should try that new one that she'd found the other day. The one where she could freeze time temporarily. The lioness focused on a fly that seemed to be hovering around the bog and she tapped into her magic, newly refreshed after her nap.

___________________________________________________________________

Very gradually time seemed to slow until it altogether stopped. How did she know? The fly had stopped moving and it hung in midair, wings suspended as if it were just floating but she knew better. Her head couldn't move but she could see in the area in front of her. She could see everything with detail and calculate everything in front of her. The spell allowed her to take time to think while everyone else was still frozen in time, unable to act while she was free to stretched her mind. Frozen like this everything was in great detail or so it seemed since she was able to concentrate on everything while it was frozen in one frame of time. How neat!

She could feel the bark underneath her claws, smell the scent of the bog as it was in that moment. Look at the fly and now that she noticed it. A frog had been preparing to hop into the marsh but now it was held suspended in midair. Perhaps that should be her next target. The lioness wondered if during this lapse in time if she could prepare a spell to use while her mind was pretty much unrestrained. The lioness focused on the frog and willed her magic to take form. She could feel her hold on time dissipate as she used her magic to grapple onto an entirely different thing.

___________________________________________________________________

The fly continued on in its flight, the smells of the bog shifted, and the frog continued in its flight. However, right after the letup on time happened his lurched to the side. Falling into the mud rather than landing on its feet as it wanted. The creature sat up, looking confused for a moment, as if to ponder what had thrown it off balance. Seeing nothing of substance the creature continued on its way to find and grab the fly with a long sticky tongue. Makyna sat bemused as she knew why the frog hadn't landed on its feet. It was a direct result of her magic! The lioness gave a cheer of happiness!

She'd done it! What else could she do? Today was the perfect opportunity to practice everything she knew and perhaps what she didn't. Who was to say that she didn't have any new powers? Well, she didn't feel any new feelings bubble up within her like she usually did when she was getting new powers.

A growl bubbled up from her belly as she realized that she was a bit hungry. Practicing all these spells was making her peckish... or... had a lot of time passed? Either way she was in the need of food so she would go searching for it. The lioness hopped from her perch and leaped to the ground. Her mouth raised into the air as she opened it to try and catch the scent of prey.

___________________________________________________________________

For a moment no scent came to her, just the smell of the bog and the sound of the humming. She walked for a little while, trying to pinpoint some sort of scent. Faintly, one came to her. For the moment she couldn't tell what it was just that it was some sort of prey. The lioness focused her attention on the smell and tracked it, steadily coming closer to the smell. Instinctively she went into a crouch as she neared the scent. Her body coiled in a way that her paws fell over the ground lightly, hardly making a sound. The scent took her through muddy ground and again she would have to clean herself but that could wait until after she satisfied her hunger.

The lioness' nose brought her to a ground slightly higher than the rest where she could several patches of tall grass. Inside this tall grass was a rabbit. It was sitting and grooming itself while the lioness watched. Perfect. Makyna absolutely loved rabbit. It was tasty though admittedly hard to catch. Well, she would try her luck today in the marsh. The lioness tensed her haunches as she neared a little bit closer then stopped when the rabbit lifted his head. Deciding that nothing was the matter the rabbit's head went back down as it continued to groom.

Now was her chance.

___________________________________________________________________

The rabbit knew something was wrong and it attempted to bolt. Makyna was ready though and released the muscles in her hind legs which sent her rocketing forward. The rabbit made it a couple of paces before Makyna reached out with a paw and snagged its rear leg. The rabbit gave a scream before the lioness was upon it, biting its neck and ending its terror.

Mud clung to her pelt and the rabbit but that didn't matter. What did matter was the fact that she would get fed and her stomach could stop complaining. The lioness picked the rabbit up and headed off at a trot back to one of the large tree roots in the grove. She found one that she liked and plopped her rear down upon it right after dropping the rabbit on it. The lioness frowned at how muddy the thing was after the little chase so she picked it up and attempted to shake the mud off... which only resulted in her loosing hair from the thing. She dropped it when she started sneezing from the hair.

It took a moment but the sneezes subsided. She supposed she would just have to get used to the mud then. The lioness sucked it up and ate her prize. Savoring the taste of rabbit and being disgusted with the taste of bog that clung to it. Ah well, at least she was fed.

The day was starting wind down. She didn't know how she knew but she did. She would have time for a few more spells then she would need to go back home to Pisces before someone worried. Her Telekinesis could use more work so she set her sights on one of the leaves high in the tree and concentrated on it.

___________________________________________________________________

Makyna concentrated and tapped into her magic. She could feel it bubble up within her the magic that belonged to her. However, right after it bubbled up it ceased and she was left feeling nothing as the leaf just sat in the tree. Unmoving. The spell must have failed. Darn! Makyna growled as she stared at the leaf again. Her tongue poked out of the side of her mouth as she focused of the leaf. She would get the thing to move darn it! She would. She would perfect the spell and make it hers!

Her claws unsheathed and her toes squelched into the mud as she focused on the leaf with all of her concentration. She would wipe away her frustration and just focus on success. Frustration and anger wouldn't help her with the spell, it would just make everything worse. The last thing she needed was to do something stupid and end up injured all the way out here with no help. Well, actually that wasn't true. With her telepathy she could call for help and she knew that Leon would come running to her aid. He was good in that way.

No no. Focus. She stared back at the leaf as she attempted to make it move. Actually... She focused her attention on the entire branch but she wouldn't break this one off. Instead she would just simply shake it to make a few leaves fall to the ground. She had a plan.

___________________________________________________________________