ORIGIN

Wilder was getting a little tired from all this magic casting and searching. She found a nice large rock that she could sit next to and stay relatively covered. Her black fur would pretty much melt into whatever shadow she stood in. She shrugged off the bag again, stepping out of the straps, and dumped her gemstones on the ground.

She had a whole 15 now, hopefully more then what the Merchant needed, but she couldn't help but admit that she was having fun and she hadn't yet found a super-powerful gemstone yet that she really wanted to find. So she sat herself down, admiring the new gemstones that she found, purring softly and rested for a while.

For a while, Wilder sat there, rolling around the gemstones before her. She should get up and search more. She should keep looking until she found the strongest of the strong. To prove to the Merchant that she was worthy of whatever he was offering. That she was strong and reliable and that she could do good. She hadn't done much good lately. It was time to get back on track.

Her mind almost fell into thinking about all of it but she quickly snapped it back to reality and found herself blinking, almost falling asleep. She jumped to her feet. Time had passed and she had completely wasted all of it. It was time to get moving again.

Wilder quickly gathered the gemstones back in the little bag - the ones she would be keeping in one pouch, the rest in another. She stepped into the straps and shrugged it onto her back. She glanced back before turning away and continuing on.

She didn't start looking immediately - there were other areas in Polaris to try. She moved in a direction that would take her farther from the Spire, still a little nervous to be so close to so much magic. Instead, she found herself looking at a hollow of broken rocks and boulders. As if fighting had happened, or perhaps someone had lived here, long long ago. A good a place as any to search.

The little black cat began to crawl her way over rocks and pebbles, kicking around little stones with her feet and sticking her nose into as many crevices as she could. Turning over whatever rocks she was strong enough to push, until she found her first find. A quick flick of her magic revealed that its life was strong so she turned and stashed it into the appropriate pocket of her bag. It was getting pretty heavy, but she still hadn't found the particular type of stone she was looking for.

The second stone she found came right after the first one - the very next crack she stuck her little nose in bumped right against the surface of a gemstone, but also went right through a spiderweb.

She squeaked with surprise and jumped back, pawing frantically at her nose to get the sticky, ticklish webbing off her muzzle. But then it was getting stuck to her paws so she was quickly rubbing them against rocks to get it off of there. Once all the web was off she turned back, sides heaving a bit. She didn't particularly hate spiders but the feeling of spiderweb made her shiver. It just felt really weird.

Carefully, she reached back in, going right the way she had before so that she didn't touch anymore spiderweb and pawed the gemstone out. Thankfully, it was only a bit dusty and magic revealed a strong life force inside of it. She picked it up and pushed it into her bag with the others, sighing with relief at being able to leave now.

Wilder stayed away from most of the crevices now, instead shifting along the broken rocks that littered the ground. She pushed pebbles out of the way and dug through piles of little tiny rocks and dust particles. Finally, her paw touched something that felt different from the rocks around and she quickly reached out with magic. It sure was a life-gem, a little weaker then the last, but acceptable enough. She dug it the rest of the way out and stashed it into her bag. There were almost too many now, one side of her getting weighed down by all the gemstones she was finding.

Further into the pile of gravel, she felt her paw touch another gemstone. She hastily pulled it out, hoping, really really hoping, that she would be able to end her search soon. If she took all of these to Canis, well, she wouldn't be happy about the walk. A touch of magic and she knew that this gemstone wouldn't be strong enough. The life within was so weak, she was worried that the spell she used to find its life would be too much and would break it in two. But it held firm and she stashed it into the pocket of the gemstones she would be keeping.

Wilder moved to a different portion of the bed of stones and gravel and dug some more, wiping away pebbles and pushed rocks out of the way. Finally, her eyes fell upon another stone and she reached forward to feel for its life. A sudden bolt of strength raced up her paw and connected with her and she flinched, pulling her paw away.

Finally, at last, she had found the most powerful stone she could find. A wide smile broke her face and she purred happily, pulling the stone from its rocky grave. She examined it and looked at it fondly before reaching back and pushing it into one of the unused pockets of her bag. If she found anymore, the strongest stones would go there.

She thought, for a moment, that she should rest and return to Canis, but she was just having way too much fun! She had to continue, at least for a little while more.

But as Wilder moved to look in a different part of the hollow, she realized that she didn't need to carry all of these stones back to Canis. The Merchant certainly wouldn't want the weakest ones and he probably didn't want them all. She could leave them here, in her old home, and return to them later once she handed the rest over.

A smile broke her face and she bounced forward, scrambling out of the hollow and sprinting away down a familiar path. She wasn't too far away - her home had been a good distance from the Spire - and when she reached the familiar pile of rocks, her heart warmed.

It was a little slope into the ground, a small cave scattered with little trinkets she had picked up, some baubled stones to light the place, and the dyes that she still kept around. She stepped out of the straps of her bag and dumped all of the stones on the ground, careful to keep them in seperate piles.