ORIGIN

"Speech."

So that time come again. Kin-Kin had felt strangely numb in the lead up to it, as she pondered what to do. After last year, she was almost afraid to participate in case her greatest fears were realized; that she'd lost her edge, and that it was high time for her to roll over and let the younger generation take the reins.

But this time, Kin-Kin decided to take a different approach. She had the experience, after all, and certainly an eye for the talent. The she-wolf had been a Champion before; but she'd also seen her title be given to someone else. What better next step, than to be able to give that honour to someone else? To become something greater than a champion. To know that the title of magickal champion would, now, no longer exist without her saying so.

It was an ego-boost that her bruised pride sorely needed.

Kin-Kin's fur blazed gold, casting its brightness on the assembled Gembounds as she approached, her cape flowing in her movements and her blade softly clinking against her foreleg. She held her head high, and her eyes glittered as she walked, letting everyone bask in her glory for a few precious moments before she began to regale them with the rules of the competition.

Finally, she settled down, curling her tail about her paws and puffing out her shining chest. Her glow dulled as, for a moment she attempted to give some form of a demonstration-- something to really set the magic competition apart from the rest.

She aimed to create a pedestal- a crystal pillar to rise out of the ground beneath her and lend her credibility, and awe, and set her apart from the rest.

But instead, a small needle of quartz shot out of the ground and embedded itself in her sensitive paw pad.

Kin-Kin didn't show it other than a slight widening of her eyes, but she felt the fur along her back rising, and clenched her jaw in pain. She kept her paw down so to not reveal her mistake to any of the assembled gembounds.

"I am Kin-Kin, master of light, and former champion of Magic... And I would like to welcome one and all of you, to the Magic competition!" she began without missing a beat, her teeth bared in a broad grin that was only slightly pained. "...here, you will be competing before myself and the other judges to put on the most spectacular magic show."

Kin-Kin glanced around, briskly looking back for the cat and the dog who were also to judge the magicka competition.

"You will have three attempts to show us what you can do, surprise us, and exhilarate us with your skill. We will watch each of your performances, and then, at the end, we will decide on our winners. There will be second and third places, but of course, there can be only one champion."

She cast a long and expectant look over each of the competitors.

"...And now... without any further ado, let us begin!"

She gave a nod towards the white deer, who seemed to be first in line. Then, she eased her paw off of the unfortunate spike and gracefully moved back over to the other judges to lick her wounded ego.

Tags:

OOC/Side Notes: N/A

@Pride

Pride bowed his silvery tines, each one catching in Polaris' glow. He then stepped delicately forward, well-aware of how his white coat shimmered, and his silver eyes shone, and how the diamonds at his throat sparkled magnificently.

He was here to put on a show, and he was aiming for every part of it to be perfect.

Lead strong, he thought to himself; a strong start to the contest would surely inspire everyone into grandeur.

"Thank you, Kin-Kin, master of light, former champion of magic. It is an honor to be here." He'd-... never really heard of her, but that meant little; the caves were large, and there were many important Gembound he had yet to meet.

He turned so that he faced the judges and contestants both, and cleared his throat. "Once upon a time," he began, his melodic voice carrying in near-song, "there was a sky." He'd decided to repeat the story that the Three Kings had told him, and to use his magic to imitate their show; it had been one of the most beautiful things he'd ever seen, and he aimed to create that same awe for others. And with Mercurius' influence, he felt that a story would be a wonderful frame for the magic display, rather than simply casting and walking off.

Pride focused on his magic, feeling the spark and dance of magicka all around him, willing it to well up into a glittering carpet of violet-black studded with diamond-like glittering--and then, from there, to cast ribboned curtains of shimmering aurora-light all throughout.

Polaris' chaotic nature always made magic unpredictable for him, but he managed, after a moment--though it wasn't quite as full of color as he'd have liked. It was still beautiful, and his own eyes wandered to it as he wove it like a curtain across the air above the gathered Gembound.

"A great bird, calling itself the Three Kings--for it held three within one body--danced across this 'sky,'" and--granted, Pride didn't really know what a sky was; the imagery was reflective of what he'd seen, but the reality would have been astonishing to him. "They taught the sky to dance, and to sing, with light and color."

He turned, pacing softly around his darkened ribbons of aurora above, and continued to speak as he attempted to weave his next spell. As he did so, the sky above gradually faded. "They came here--to our caves--from a world outside; but they became trapped within our rocky world." He attempted, then, a very difficult spell indeed: to create, to weave, a new imitation of the Spire itself--not anywhere near as large, of course; barely larger than he himself, but it would still be a massive stone, a teal crystal shimmering with light.

It rose up glinting in the blue light of the true Spire, and Pride paced around it, pausing in front to gaze up at it.

"They became trapped in our world, with our magic. They could find no way out... and the sky was forever denied them." The remains of his aurora magic faded right on cue, the ribbons of stars shimmering into nothing.

Pride turned back to his audience. He'd not truly planned out a final step; he'd been intending to hold back in case one of his three chances to cast had failed. But he had, of course, ideas in mind.

One was to flash-ignite this new Spire into a ball of plasma, fading it away with bright glory. It would have been magnificent, but it was dangerous, and he didn't want to blind his audience, nor the judges. Though if they cannot see other entries, surely I win by default, he thought to himself amusedly--but he went on. As he did so he attempted to summon up his final magicka, to bring a second Pride striding neatly from behind the fake Spire. He paused for a moment, but this time nothing happened. He was disappointed, but not ashamed--magicka was rarely consistent, particularly here. At least nothing had backfired.

"It is said that they still dwell in Orion, singing over lost skies, and offering wisdom to those who seek them out. Perhaps, some day, we can aid them in their escape," he added--and there was a melancholy wistfulness to his speech.

Pride then bowed his head, deeply.

"Thank you," he added, and then stepped back among the other contestants, settling in to watch the rest.

@Squick

Nearby the competitor’s stage and the panel for judges sat Vladis and his rat familiar. He was nearby enough to watch well but also close enough to any gathered spectators that they could hear his wonderful voice without hurting him … whether they wished to or not. It was probably unclear to the spectators as to the validity of his position as announcer to the competitions. This fact was of little importance to the self-imposed tanuki though. He was to take his position quite seriously.

“Alrighty now, furbags, scarlies, and other folk! The magic competition is officially startin’!”

And with that, the white deer had appeared and begun to use his magic. It was most impressive how he was able to make such beautiful colors appear before them. Vladis was only able to shift the saturation of his only coat, and even that was only to some degree. He made a mental note of the deer’s ability as something to experiment with. Ratty, his echoing grey companion, shot a curious look at the tanuki. It was rare for him to be truly studious like this.

The moment did not last long, though, as Vladis’ voice rang out after the deer bowed and stepped away.

“Very nice! Seems we’ll startin’ things off with a nice lil’ bedtime story for y’all!”

Speech. Thought. Ratty's Out Loud Ratty's Telepathy

Tag: @Squick
Notes:

Squick listened, watched as best it could, and wondered. It heard the judge introduce the competition and Pride's wonderful story that made it so excited, and made Squick miss him all the more. And then when he was finished, it heard silence and knew that it was it's turn. So it trunndled a little ways forward, trying to pick apart the heat signatures to find one of the judges, because; truth be told, Squick didn't have much of a plan.

But it thought it was pretty good at magic! Maybe it could make the judges sick. And then... it could make them better! Perfect!

Squick sucked in its breath and sent out its magic, searching for one of the judges, and then making them feel terrible.

When I think.

What now? Squick wondered, as it felt its magic flow.

...What else? It had used a bad spell, that usually it used to get out, and it didn't seem to be a good thing. So now... what better way to win approval than by making the judge feel better? Squick felt itself quiver with excitement, and it reached for its magic, seeking to expel the sickness that it had caused and bring back the unfortunate judge to full health.

But instead of the warm feeling that magic usually brought, or even a pleasant feeling of renewal, the worm felt sickness rising in its gut, and a sudden clench of pain. It opened it's small mouth in a tiny 'o' of surprise, and then let out a small squelch, promptly regurgitating what remained of it's (and Wilder's) last meal.

Despite the unpleasant feeling still remaining, it planted its paws and prepared for its last spell.

When I think.

The little worm thought, as the nausea subsided, about what else it could do. The judge still probably felt sick, and it hadn't been able to correct it. The worm didn't think that was a good thing. So maybe... apologising would help win it back some points. Yes, that would work.

Hello there, Mr. Judge! I'm very sorry about my magic. I tried to make you feel better, but it didn't work, so I thought I would say sorry instead. This is magic too! it sent with a small squelch. I'm Squick, and Mr. Pride and Miss Wilder seem to think it's pretty cool that I can talk and think at all! So I thought maybe you will be impressed too.

It began to trundle back to its spot among the other magic users.

Thank you, Mr. Judge!

When I think.

@Aster @Palefur (if either of you guys want to be affected by Squick's magic)

and @elspet for next round!

tw; vomit mention

Aster hadn't been back in Polaris since she hurt her leg, and laying back within it sort of skeeved her out, somehow, though in a way that she couldn't quite describe. Not that she could describe anything, without a great amount of determination.

Seeing Pride again, however, made her a little happier. Somehow, the borzoi had been roped into judging. Which was fine. Aster could have opinions. Her first opinion was that Pride was cool and she liked his story. She listened with her curly tail thumping hollowly against the cave floor, eyes wide with wonder.

"Thank you," she echoed after the stag, distantly, but quite delightedly so. And then came the parasite.

At first, Aster was a little confused-- she'd never seen something so small that, apparently, could sign up for a competition and then actually appear for it. Aster opened her mouth to try to formulate words, and question it, but instead, she felt... ill.

She gagged, bile rising up to her throat. She thought for a fearful moment that she might spill the cave rat she'd eaten earlier all over the floor but she managed to swallow it back down. The dog slowly sank herself down to lay on the floor instead, curling up into herself.

".... yes," she replied to Squick-- though to any other present it might seem like she said it for absolutely no reason. She supposed it was impressive that something so small was sentient, and capable of making her feel like a week-old dead rat.

Slowly, Aster shut her eyes with a painful whine as her stomach lurched again, as though somebody had driven a knife into it. "... medic," the dog managed, weakly.

@Oliver

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Game Master CJ

Follow the standings in our Google doc!

Kin-Kin

Pride

Pride

Pride

Vladis

Squick

Squick

Squick

Aster