ORIGIN

It'd been a long while since he'd last seen Pisces. Its many pools and single roaring waterfall flashed clearly into his mind whenever he recalled it, but all that made it real was far from present. No persistent chill crept beneath his scales. The sensation of frosted air when he inhaled was a fleeting memory, one he never believed he'd yearn for in place of soothing warmth. Only water, regardless of temperature, existed as a link to home. He could swim wherever it was found and for a moment forget his wanderings.

Leo was such a place, and so he readily took the opportunity like he did any other. Fahl raced to where beach met the lapping waves, his run a wild flail of limbs. The impact of feet upon sand scattered grains in explosive bursts as he hurtled along. Then he sprang to fall with a splash, body angled for a dive. Briefly, the iguana disappeared before reemerging, the surface rippling as his tail whipped behind him.

An impulse to shout opened his jaws. Realization closed them. Despite wishes, any enjoyment would have to be quiet. Whispering glee, although possible, was far from ideal.

For a while, Fahl was content to let the water ebb and flow around him, to drift. If there was one lesson he'd learned in Fornax, it was that sometimes he was best off not exerting his will and instead seeking to understand that which he desired to control. He'd received his first breakthrough doing so, and although the practice had still been mind-numbing, the results were worth it in spite of the raw throat. Eyes closed to the world, he let the bay toss him wherever it pleased.

Sometimes the waves nudged him along. Other times they shoved insistently. Throughout both, his focus remained fixed on the warm waters prodding and washing over his scales. It was like having a cocoon of heat that he didn't have to conjure up, perhaps even better.

Fahl paddled in place, open-eyed figuratively as well as literally. Chasing a whim, he forced the niggling sensation of magic out from his tongue to lay thin on the surface of his surroundings. The result was not perfect, only the space in his line of sight feeling covered as it brushed up against him with a familiar charge; the strain of touching invisible areas too much, any leftover magic sprang back to its origin. A low hiss escaped him as the recoil pinched the inside of his mouth.

If breathing heat could be improved, why not his usual method of preventing cold-stiffened limbs. He concentrated, intent strong enough that his mind could have been boiling.

Steam wafted up to lay a stinging smack across his face. An involuntary yelp leapt from Fahl's throat. Tail whipping, he fell back, vision bleary. Never had water reacted in such a way to him before. Cloudy wisps rose above the small area, and after a few tense moments, disappeared entirely.

All he could do was stare, a single thought emerging in the aftermath of what he'd just witnessed: he had to try that again.

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Heart pounding a rapid drumbeat, caution was practiced only so far that it could not outpace his excitement. The iguana distanced himself mere inches farther from the original site of the incident and lifted his head high so that any wayward steam would struggle to scald his still-watering eyes. Squinting through the clearing blur of vision, he strained for that same patch of the bay.

Gaze intent, Fahl willed his stone’s magic to stretch from its confines once more, to move to where it’d been before. He concentrated and poured everything into that single small section of water close to the surface. Though firmly stuck inside a mouth clamped shut, the power yanked at his tongue, its persistence growing as it travelled outward.

A dull throb settled inside of the skull, its pulse an aching partner to lighter emotions. It encapsulated an unvoiced and chanting plea of, “Work. Please work.”

Flukes were for incompetents. He wanted—no, needed—to be better than that.

Let him see something impressive.

Wisps of steam curled up and drifted away. The sight was not nearly as spectacular as the first instance. But it was enough. A smile spread across his face, and forgetting himself, a triumphant shout burst from him.

“Fuck yeah!”

His throat shredded from the force of the sound, and he felt as if claws of flame were digging into his tender insides. Chin falling to rest against his chest, every bit of pain wheezed out for a full minute. Consequences were not a concept that could be so easily tossed away. But upon the agony loosening its grip, his mind was restored to its prior exuberant and eager state.

This time, though, he rejoiced in a more subdued manner. “I did it.”

And he would do it many more times if he had his way. Starting now. Presented with this discovery, practice seemed the best choice to go forward with. Fahl would work himself until his spirit was spent and not a moment less.