ORIGIN

The kit woke up this morning feeling bored. She had so much energy to spend after that good night’s sleep! Maji Walezi was a lovely place and Quix liked it very much. Still, there was so much to do! Her mind wandered to what Giggle had said. Perhaps this quest (to find a family to settle in) had now come to an end. The fennec girl smiled as she thought about the large waterfall and her friends fondly. She had a place to call home! Now, it was time for even more explorations!

The girl had come back an inch wiser from her encounter with Usui and Bevy. She had practised treasure hunting with one and her itty bitty white magic with the latter. Although she did not know what she wanted to be when she grew up, Quix thought that healing was quintessential to many things. Perhaps she could grab some practice today! She darted to the edge of the waterfall to take a quick dip and wash her face, then headed over to the ponds in Pisces. “Practise magic today” the girl pronounced proudly to herself as she stopped at one of the ponds. The water was greenish and, like Bevy had taught her, may make it sickly for others to drink.

Reaching deep into her magic, the girl attempted to draw up the bad bacteria.

Nothing happened. The water remained still as ever. Quix was flattened her ears in great disappointment. She had done the steps right, hadn’t she? The girl took a seat and thought hard about what she had done. Well…the only different thing was that she had not started her white sense spell to sense the bacteria, so she could not see the white and dark itty bitty things clearly. All that she had done was to make a mental estimation regarding the bacteria which she thought was bad, but those bacteria may not have been in the pond! The bad itty bitties might have been of a different type, hence nothing worked! The fennec fox realized that as a beginner, she would probably have to cast white sense before casting her other spells. She nodded in determination. She could do this! If Bevy could, then she wanted to be just as good. Not just when she was older, but now! The girl wanted to hone her skill. If she was useful to Cancer…then maybe, he would like her even more. She might even be able to help her Bevy friend if she got injured or sad next time, just like how she wiped her claws the previous time. Magic was good! With a determined smile, she channelled her energy, this time casting white sense towards the pond to be able to clearly identify the bacteria that resided in it.

Once again, nothing happened. She did not see the white itty bitties. Frustration gnawed at the girl. She would not cave in so easily! Nonetheless, she was getting a little worn out from these two failed attempts. Easily distracted, the free spirit swung her head around to see how she could train otherwise. Aha! There were a couple of ledges there. They were odd protrusions with bits of moss, sand and small plants. Quix grinned excitedly and wagged her tail. She could practise her agility! Also, she could gather some moss like, playing doctor just as Bevy had done! Perhaps she could find a couple other vines near the top as well!

However, there was a rather high rock above. It stood a couple times higher than her. Craning her neck upwards, the girl observed the ledge carefully. It was obvious that she could not hop onto it but she could try to climb the rugged wall on the right with smaller ledges, then slowly inch her way to the left. Feeling extremely excited and optimistic about her plan, the girl placed her forepaws onto the smaller ledges to the right and attempted to scrabble upwards by hooking in her claws and kicking the wall with her hindlegs to propel her body upwards.

The fox found footing easily. She was light and her strong limbs, not to mention her little rudder of a tail. She hooked her paws and claws into the indents against the wall and kicked herself up. The tan furball made her way higher and higher till she was able to reach the same level as the large ledge she had been eyeing! Slowly, she inched her tiny body towards the left. Every muscle strained with effort now, for her body was completely suspended and hooked onto the wall through sheer will. For a moment, the young girl’s muscles quivered in stress. She gritted her teeth and continued to swipe to the left limb by limb, enduring the burning feeling starting up along her shoulders and neck. “Need. To. Get. There.” She spoke a loud, one syllable for one piece of effort. Casting her pale blue eyes to the left, Quix saw that she was near now! The moment her left hindfoot touched the edge of the large ledge, she twisted her body rapidly and landed belly-first onto the platform. A huge sense of relief and adrenaline filled Quix and she laughed to herself, her laugh a cute bubbly chuckle. “I did it, I did it!” She then stood at the edge of the ledge and gave a muted thrilling sound that fennec foxes sometimes made. “RAWR! LOOK AT ME THE MIGHTY FOX! I DID IT!” She was met with silence but she didn’t care. Tilting back her headful of furry ears, the girl looked up. Only then did she realize how far off the ground they were for her baby body. “Uh oh,” she muttered. Maybe she should be getting down.

Scrunching up her face, the small fennec tested the edge with one paw, then leaped off, using her powerful hindquarters to propel her forward.

The girl leapt off the ledge and landed expertly on her paws. As she was this young and small, her limbs were able to support her body weight well from that height. The girl smiled, pleased with her mastery over her physical abilities thus far. She loved being a fennec fox. This form gave her an agility and mindfulness of small critters around her that larger creatures may not be aware of. For example, her large ears allowed her to catch onto even the minutest of sounds, like insects shuffling on the sand. The girl gave her body a little shake, allowing her fur to poof out. She then leaned her upper body towards the ground and tilted her hips up in a stretch. The kinks and knots loosened themselves easily. Now, it was time to resume her magic.

Trotting back to the pond, the girl stared hard at the murky green waters of the pond. She had to clean this out, be it for practice’s sake, or for the welfare of her clan! With a snarl this time, she concentrated hard and channelled white sense so that she could identify the small white itty bitties first. She would take this one step at a time. “I can do this,” she muttered, entirely determined to succeed.

Quix’s determination paid off. The white and grey itty bitties sprang in her very vision. She gave a yip of delight and brought a forepaw to her chest to lick at, a prideful, dainty posture of this little princess. Through this experience, she was ever more determined that her effort and hardwork would contribute to her success someday. The girl did not rest long though. Her success after the failures had brought a rush of adrenaline and perked her interest entirely. Now, she had to observe the pond keenly. The girl cast her pale blue gaze into the murky water of the pond that she had chosen. “Ew!” she couldn’t help but exclaim. The bacteria which she identified were typically off-white or greyish, but this particular mouldy pond had charcoal black itty bitties in them. It was bound to make anyone sick.

Quix wanted to get the bad stuff out, but she needed a depository to throw it all away. The girl looked around and spotted the ledge which she had climbed previously. Thinking fast, she went to the corner and scraped out a tiny pawful of moss, then hobbled back on three legs to the pond. This time! She would do it right this time. Concentrating hard on the darkest grey and black itty bitties, the girl tried to think of the technique Bevy had taught her. She took a deep breathe and, reaching out her mental tendrils to the itty bitties, attempted to coax them out of the pond in a wave-like motion.

The bacteria were very sticky to one another and did not want to escape their environment. Nonetheless, they moved as Quix had commanded them to. Slowly, the filthiest of the bacteria was lifted out of the water in a smooth wave-like motion. Quix immediately directed them to the damp moss before she could risk losing control. They happily soaked up the water in the moss and clung to it. Quix heaved a sigh of relief and grinned. She had done it! It was her first successful attempt at this new power technique which Bevy had taught her. She couldn’t wait to share with the little birby her experience. Now, she could accompany her birb friend with her duties in Maji! It was quite fun and challenging, much like an adventure for the girl. She did not mind it one bit. The fun removed the “chore” factor from it all.

Now, the girl needed to deposit the moss somewhere away from possible food sources of her clan members. She looked around the room. Squeezing the moss back into the ledge didn’t seem like a good option. The bacteria could somehow leak out and contaminate other drinking sources. Gingerly, she picked the infected moss with one paw and hobbled away from the pond area. She soon found a dry corner with soil. Here, she put the moss to rest. It would eventually dry and the bacteria might die alongside it. Besides, no one would eat the earth…or so she hoped. Satisfied, Quix moved towards another pond.

She wanted to try out another technique now. In the event that she was unable to manipulate bacteria through the air, she wanted to have localized control of it. Keeping the paw that had held the moss outstretched, the fennec fox attempted to conjure up good, shiny itty bitties onto that paw. She could easily slap it onto an open wound or infected area if the situation called for it then! “Come on, come on,” she muttered, cringing her brows in mental concentration.