ORIGIN - One Big Crock

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The journey had been long--not that long, but on foot it was a tedious trek, and he'd had to be careful not to dislodge the kitten atop his back. He'd taken Tunnel I--longer than N, but he was more familiar with this route, as it passed by his chosen home-cave of Eridanus. It was broad, well-lit and well-worn, and easy (if longer) travel.

Now he stepped into Polaris, past the blue-lit, detailed carvings at the mouth of the tunnel and into the cave itself. The Spire was visible in the distance, towering high and thrumming with the charge of magicka within, and Shango made for it at once.

"That's the crystal," he informed his tiny passenger, turning a little so that 'Alf' could see more clearly. "It's all magic. Don't touch it. It bites. But we can look."

He didn't quite explain what he meant by "bites," but... in his mind it made sense, at least. Shango moved past the crystals studded up from the floor here and there, their outcrops shining with tantalizing promise. He didn't know if Alf would get distracted by these other, lesser crystals; it didn't really occur to him.

All the hybrid knew was that the kid wanted to see some shiny crystals, so here they were: at the biggest, shiniest crystal of them all.

@Alrik

The journey, in reality, had indeed not been too long. But to Ahlf, poor, unfortunate Ahlf, it had simply taken forever. Hearing the clacking of hooves beneath themself and seeing parts of the world at a new angle had been exciting at first, and almost losing grip and slipping once or twice had felt thrilling to begin with, but now it was just monotonous, tiring, and scary, and Ahlf hoped they would be stopping soon.

Although, to be fair, sitting mostly snug in a rocking seat of feathers, fur and spines was... kind of nice.

Ahlf had caught sight of a few peculiarities on the trip through the tunnel. They hoped they wouldn't forget them so that perhaps, eventually, they could come back and investigate. But then again, Ahlf was young and hadn't been keeping track of where Shane Go had been going, so it was unlikely. Oh well.

Once they made it to entrance, Ahlf strained to see passed Shane Go's neck and head. Once Shane Go turned, Ahlf could finally see it clearly, and it stole every bit of breath away.

Woah.... that was one BIG crock...

Shane Go explained that big one was the one they were looking for. Ahlf looked at Shane Go's head stunned. Apparently that crock was made of "magic" and it "bit". Ahlf did not understand what that meant it the slightest but they guessed it was impressive because every part of this crock was screaming "impressive". They couldn't touch it, either because of the magic thing or the biting thing -- Ahlf guessed the latter -- but they could look. Ahlf was almost disappointed but then they looked at it again and felt disappointment fade from their emotional vocabulary.

Awesome.

They moved towards the big crock, passed the tiny crocks popping up everywhere on the floor. These ones were different from the shinies in the previous cave, not just because of the fact that they lived on the ground as opposed to the ceiling and higher parts of the walls. They were also a different color. Ahlf liked them a lot. They stared at the tiny crocks for a bit, whispering in awe, "So cool... as Shane Go trotted on.

Ultimately, it was the biggest crock that took the cake. Looking back at it once more left Ahlf entranced, enchanted, completely unable to take their eyes away. "Best croc-- cryssal..." Ahlf said, being mindful to use the right word as to not upset Shane Go. Shane Go had taken them here after all, that deserved an amount of respect in the kitten's mind. "...Where Seshhhh cat?" Ahlf asked, the memory of the name popping into their mind (although they were barely paying attention to it).

@Shango

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Shango eyed the Spire as they approached.

But at Alf's question, he looked around; and realized almost at once that he couldn't quite remember where he'd seen Seshat. "Not here," was all he said, a little sadly.

His gaze flicked up to the Spire, again, as he drew quite close; he came to a halt almost beneath it. Here, the thrum of power was strong in the air, an almost electric crackling. "Magic," he explained, glancing back at Alrik.

Then he paused. The kitten had wanted to come here--so Shango had brought him. He was rather a hapless, if relatively helpful, companion. But... now what?

@Seshat (idk if you're active, but if you wanted to join at all) @Alrik

Shane Go responded to the query with "Not here", which would seem pretty obvious except for the fact that Shane Go had said this creature would be here. In fact, what was 'here'? Everything seemed to have a name (or multiple, in Shane Go's case). Did that rule apply here?

They got closer to the giant glistening crock. It felt different from any other crock Ahlf had seen before. They didn't know why. Perhaps it was the way the entire atmosphere felt shifted around it, the hum and thrum and crackle it emitted. Most crocks were passive additions to the world, this one was active. With what? Shane Go said a word Ahlf didn't recognize. "Mah-jik?" the kitten repeated back. With a slight tilt of their head to the side, Ahlf asked, "Wuh?"

Then Ahlf stared right back into Shane Go's eyes, expecting an answer. What was 'magic'? What did it have to do with the big crock?

@Shango

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"Magic," Shango agreed, almost softly, and then he looked around. How to explain..? A demonstration, perhaps? A more responsible adult might have explained magic--where it came from, how to use it, maybe spoken about the elements a little (or what was known of them, at least).

Shango was not a responsible adult.

His mind defaulted to "show them," so he decided to try that.

After a moment, and brief concentration, he'd formed a twist of phosphorescent, cool light that appeared between them--bobbing up and hovering there, glowing. "Magic," he explained, satisfied, turning and bringing the wisp closer to Alf for inspection.

Shango only half-thought of his storms as magic; they were more an innate part of the world around him, in his mind, a part to which he was inextricably linked. Despite being entirely the wrong element for it; but he didn't know that.

He'd forgotten, really, what they were talking about or even why they were here, so he flopped down to lie on the ground, the wisp hovering close. "There's magic all IN this cave. It's strong."

@Alrik

Shane Go said the word again, "magic", twice. The second time happened after this strange twist of light bobbed up between them. Ahlf's curiosities only deepened now, wonderment plunging into the kitten's core like a boulder plummeting at increasing velocity off a steep cliffside. "Magic!" Ahlf said, willing their mouth not to be lazy, to dictate the word as it had been first spoken.

The light came closer, and Ahlf stared at it, eyes stuffed to the brim with awe. Shane Go had called the light 'magic', and then said it was everywhere in the cave, strong. How could magic be strong? Like a creature could be strong? Full of physical capability? Was magic the brightness that illuminated the cave, or the giant crock, or the shinies in the room prior and the room here? Was the strength the saturation of brightness, or was it some kind of physical capability? Shane Go had said that the big crock could bite. Was that what magic was? Light that could bite if it was strong enough?

All these thoughts came racing into Ahlf's head, albeit with more emotion and less distinguished vocabulary. It was quite amazing. Shane Go settled down and so did Ahlf, hoping to plop down beside their companion. "Cool... cool!" Ahlf said, still stunned. Magic, a light that could fight? Something that could dazzle and defend? Ahlf wanted to be like that, too, honestly. "Where yo get magic?" Ahlf would ask. If Shane Go could summon such a light, Ahlf should be able to do the same, right? That sounded better than a crock for a keepsake.

@Shango

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Shango's tail idly flicked as he lay there--up and down, up and down; and he shoved his hind legs out to one side in a lazy movement. He looked around, casually alert, as Alf took things in, and spoke. The wisp bobbed there as the child exclaimed 'Magic!' and Shango looked back toward them, ears flicking from within his scalefeathered mane.

"Magic," he agreed, repeating the word. "You HAVE magic. EVERYONE has magic." It was almost indignant, a feline squall; of course Alf had to have magic. Didn't they-?

"You think about it, and you do it. But you can't see it all. Like this," he added, and squinted for a moment at Alf. There was a surge of magicka, mild, a weakish immune system and strength boost--he had no doubt that the kid would feel it but it wasn't always strong. "Feel stronger? A little? That's magic," Shango explained, satisfied with himself.

It was no storm, but it would do.

@Alrik

Shane Go declared that everyone, in fact, had magic, and so did Ahlf! Wait, what? Ahlf had no recollection of being able to make glowy stuff. How could they possibly have magic? Apparently it was just something you could think about and do, like walking, and sometimes you couldn't even see it! Well what was the use of that?

Shane Go showed the Pallas' kitten a new kind of magic. It was as though Shane Go had gifted Ahlf a small but noticeable pulse of strength. Ahlf didn't know where it came from, but it felt kind of familiar. Had this happened before? After Shane Go bolted down the shiny crock? It felt stronger then. Perhaps, if that had been magic, Shane Go was just feeling more tired now. Ahlf had no idea they'd contributed to that feeling of health back then, so they assumed it had just been Shane Go, and Shane Go was tired now from all the walking. Tired walkers just walked with less effort; perhaps it was the same for using magic?

Still, it was enough to boost Ahlf's energy and confidence. Ahlf, like Shane Go, was no responsible adult, and wished to demonstrate the effects of the magic... on Shane Go. "Yes! I stronger now an' I can do this!" With that, Ahlf would attempt to stumble up on their paws, circle around to face Shane Go's face, and stretch as much as was needed to land a solid kitten paw on Shane Go's nose!

If it was allowed, it would not go as planned. The aim would be off, the kitten's balance as well, and soon the little Pallas' cat would stumble backwards and land on their rump. An embarrassing, yet unquestionably cute display of "force", that Ahlf would absolutely not want to acknowledge. "Um, uh, yes. Strong," Ahlf would insist, unable to look Shane Go in the face.

@Shango

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Shango turned idly, his gaze shifting from child, to Spire, back to child again--just in time to see a paw coming for him. He pulled back only slightly, an inch or two at most, in surprise more than anything. But before he could really react, Alf had fallen--stumbled back, missing their mark. From a rump-based position, the kitten insisted that they were STRONG.

Shango stared, for a moment, nonplussed. Tail flicked once, its tip curling quickly up then dropping, catlike, as he tried to make heads or tails of this. Were he a more mature adult maybe he could've praised, just because--'sure, little one, you did great,' sort of thing. But Shango was a dumber, blunter creature than that, and he just blinked again and said: "You didn't do magic. You missed."

A pause, then, eyes narrowing in sudden suspicion... "Did you do magic-? Was it invisible?" he demanded. Maybe Alf had done something, after all.

Shango found himself a little worried.

@Alrik

Shane Go appeared to be entirely clueless as to the intention of the kitten's attempted bap, but that didn't stop the observation from hurting Ahlf a little. "Not tryna do magic! An'-- An'--" Ahlf didn't really know what to say. They hadn't used magic, and they had missed, and it was pretty unimpressive... ARGH! NO! THAT WAS SO UNCOOL!!!

There was no way that they could be made a fool by the creature that couldn't decide what anything's name was! Right?! No!!! Ahlf's face twisted to reflect this flood of negative emotions, beginning to crash and boom internally like a bad-tempered storm. "STOP TALK!!" Ahlf squealed, because nothing Shane Go was saying made them feel better. "HAVE MAGIC! YO SAID!" How could Shane Go doubt a fact?! Shane Go was the one who told Ahlf! Why was Shane Go asking all these stupid questions and making Ahlf look like... like... like I don't know, something weak and boring?!

Ahlf would show Shane Go that they were perfectly fine and good and cool and strong! They got to their paws once more, crouched down, and then pushed forth with outstretched arms in an attempt to bat Shane Go's face a few times -- tiny kitten claws unsheathed, to make it HURT!!

@Shango

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