Thomas grew skeptical of his own potential to wield powerful magics. The thought of how much practice, time and effort that probably went in to becoming so powerful, quite literately, scared him. He had never felt such fear towards something before; especially not something that was uncertain. Now woozy, Thomas tried to regain focus on the she-wolf. It took him a few moments of a dazed look to finally snap back into it.

I need to stop doing that.

Despite the feeling that Thomas had earlier about the canine, she seemed to be very supportive of his potential. He was somewhat proud in himself because of what she was saying. But, his opinion quickly switched back to where it was before when she started to boast about herself. Thomas looked at the she-wolf, now known as Kin-Kin, with a hard gaze.

"Magical champion?" he repeated. "And Demigod?" In all honesty, Thomas didn't actually know what a demigod was, but he wasn't about to start questioning that. "You must be well known around the Cave?" he asked curiously. Thomas didn't expect this so-called demigod to have such a high title as magical champion. He assumed with that name came great skill, and so he didn't hesitate any longer to ask.

"Would you be willing to teach me some magic?"

"talk" // think
tagged; @Kin-Kin
notes;
ooc;

Kin-Kin nodded, pride sparking in her gaze as she met theirs. "Yes! Don't be too humbled, though. I ain't gonna give ya brownie points for grovelling." she beamed, glow brightening around her. "Yes, of course! there ain't a soul who hasn't heard of me." Perhaps that was exaggeration, but then again... perhaps it wasn't. Kin-Kin didn't know how much people talked about her. She'd like to think that she was all they'd ever talk about but that seemed a little far fetched. She'd also like to think that people sought her out for this kind of thing.

Their question was not met with any surprise, as the wolf's face split into a wide grin. Clearly, she was as eager to teach as she was to learn. "Why wouldn't I?" she asked, wail waving slowly from side to side... clearly, if she'd been less proud she would have been wagging her tail. "Let me tell ya, kid, you won't find a better teacher anywhere. You've come to the right wolf, for sure!" Kin-Kin might as well have been a full-time teacher. She'd met and trained almost every youngling in recent caves at some point. At least, she assumed she had. It was hard to tell exactly how many there were nowadays.

"Okay, so... No matter what your element is... Fire... light... water. None of that really matters, kid. The principles are always the same, even if the magic feels and looks different." Kin-Kin gestured with her muzzle to the crystal wrapped around her foreleg. "Ya feel me so far?"


" speech "

@Thomas

Thomas was thrilled; he was finally going to learn what magic was. After emerging a week or so prior, it was about time. Leaning in closer to Kin-Kin, he embraced every word she said with a look of curiosity. He was no less than joyous in the situation. Perhaps with this new information, the young elk would be able to carry out his desire to give names to things that went unknown; like a blue glow.

"I'm following." Thomas was curious about more things, but he was worried the she-wolf would grow frustrated with his non-stop questions. He sat in silence for a few moments, wondering whether he should say anything or not. And, like normal, the elk couldn't keep his mouth closed.

"Kin-Kin," he started. "What types of magic are there? You've already mentioned light, fire and water, but there must be more. Right?" He stared up at her with eyes full of wonder. There were so many possibilities. So many questions ran through his head like, what magics are stronger than others and how do you learn knew spells ran non-stop through his small head. Thomas' nose scrunched up as he held back a flow of questions that he knew he wouldn't be able to stop.

"talk" // think
tagged; @Kin-Kin
notes;
ooc; ugh I'm sorry, I'm facing some serious WB right now :c

Kin-Kin's ears twitched and her head tilted slightly to the side as she considered exactly how to respond to their question. The definitive answer was one that would answer them without making her look any less great, which was hard, considering that... well, she didn't know all of them. At least, she didn't think she did. Magic was a broad, broad subject. "Heh... That's a hard question, kid. Truth be told, I don't know. I don't think anyone knows. It's impossible to learn 'em all, or even learn of 'em all, since you can never really be sure if you've seen all of 'em." Kin-Kin narrowed her eyes in thought, a rush of air leaving her wet nostrils.

"I've seen many of 'em, though. See this?" Kin-Kin held out her foreleg towards them, her crystal blade clinking in its sheath. "...I made this with earth magic. I've also seen lightning, plant, arcane... If I remember, there's one that deals with the senses, and one that makes the air change..." Kin-Kin racked her brains, trying to think of more; this conversation, however, was bringing about the uncomfortable realization that there was hell of a lot she had to see in the world, and hell of a lot of magic she had yet to learn.

"...And I'm sure there are many, many more I've never seen. There's got to be."

Kin-Kin looked back, casting her gaze towards the spire.



" speech "

@Thomas - Don't worry about it, dude! things are getting hectic for me with uni and all, so I'm gonna be a tad slow posting myself!

Thomas' ears perked as the she-wolf began to share her knowledge in the magics. He was somewhat disappointed in the lack of an answer, but he knew that even those who claimed to hold high titles didn't always know everything. He nodded when she finished and drew in a slow, deep breath. The elk took a few seconds to process what Kin-Kin had said before parting his mouth to reply.

"Wouldn't we want to know, as fellow gembounds, all the magics that we can wield and posses?" Thomas somewhat tilted his head in curiosity. His eyes shone with interest and his joyous features stood out in the darkness. The crimson red near the center of his eye almost seemed to brighten; of course, it didn't really.

Thomas looked over at her blade. "You are light and earth?" he asked. "What do you mean by 'earth'?" he added in the next breath. Did she mean rock and stone? Things like The Spire? Or some other form of nature he did not know about? Assuming earth was nature. "Lightning? Plant? Arcane?" he replied. His front leg began to twitch. He was obviously becoming over whelmed. His brain was working the hardest it had yet. Thomas was becoming mentally drained. And what didn't help was he had rarely slept since his emergence.

So many possibilities.

"talk" // think
tagged; @Kin-Kin
notes;
ooc;

"In an ideal world, maybe..." Kin-Kin responded, tail twitching with thought. "But unfortunately, there are far too many. I've wandered the cave for many, many cycles, and even I haven't found 'em all. You'll understand eventually, kiddo. Besides, for all I know, I might know all of 'em, but I'd never know. You can't just... know, when you've found everything. It's like trying to prove somethin' doesn't exist. ya just... can't." Kin-Kin shook her head slowly.

The deer questioned her on her element, and Kin-Kin, of course, smirked broadly. "I can show you... one moment." Kin-Kin's glow dulled as she dropped her head into her chest in an effort to pour her power into the stone beneath her paws.The earth beneath her paws let out a soft crackle, a creak like pressure put on glass. The earth receded slightly from her paws, forming a small, oval hollow. And in its centre, there sat a small, glistening red gem.

They continued to question her on the elements. "Yes, yes, yes. Arcane is the magic to do with the mind. Talks to others. Moves things. But it ain't anything special to look at. Plant grows flowers, green leaves, mosses. Lightning is more... ehhh... It's for the fight more'n anything." Kin-Kin dismissed the others with a wave of her paw.


" speech "

@Thomas

Thomas looked at the she-wolf with a casual look. He did not understand how so many magics could remain a secret. Surely someone had to know about them all and everything they could do. Thomas dipped his closer to the ground and vowed within his thoughts that he would someday discover them all. Maybe even learn them all.

He watched as the rock around Kin-Kin's paw began to move and change form. The crackling noise that the moving stone gave off thrilled the elk. He nearly jumped back from excitement when a red gem now lay lonesome in the center of the oval hollow. Thomas moved his nose closer to the rock and admired its gleaming color. "Wow."

The knowledge that flowed from Kin-Kin went straight to Thomas' head. "Arcane? A magic of the mind? That sounds complicated." His tail flicked behind him as he once again grew excited. "I must learn it. And plant sounds beautiful. Conjuring up flowers at will? The caves would surely be a beautiful sight." Thomas scrunched up his nose when he thought of lightning. "Destructive," he mumbled under his breath.

Shooting his head back up from it's dipped position, the elk looked longingly at the she-wolf. "Can you tell me what you know about fire?" Thomas knew that there was a chance that he was annoying Kin-Kin. But at the same time, his desire for knowledge on magic was overwhelming. He couldn't handle it; he just had to know.

"talk" // think
tagged; @Kin-Kin
notes;
ooc;

Kin-Kin examined their expression closely, looking for even a flicker of doubt on the young one's features. "I know what ya thinking, Kid... But let me ask you. When will you know you've found the last one? You don't just get a feeling. You'd never know. You might keep searching forever, or give up thinking you've found the last, but really in a little corner of the caves there's one left."

Kin-Kin looked down at the gem she'd made, and used a paw to ease it free from the earth. With a flick of her paw, she tossed it skittering towards Thomas' hooves. A smile was visible on her features. "You can keep that. Unless... ya want me to make it better." Kin-Kin winked. "Yup. Seems pretty complicated. But I feel like some of it may be beneficial." the she-wolf recalled an incident just before the caves had gone silent. Her ears twitched slightly with discomfort. She nodded as they spoke of plants making the caves beautiful. Indeed, flowers were pretty... but Kin-Kin didn't think they compared to her light, or the gemstones that she could create. She'd seen magic users growing plants, and usually the end result was... anticlimatic? Pretty, yes. Small? Also yes. And you couldn't move em or they'd die.

"Fire, huh?" Kin-Kin asked, returning to her senses to nod. Kin-Kin had quite a lot of experience with fire-users. One in particular, especially. "I know that fire can be dangerous not just to outsiders. The spells you cast, if you keep on going, can leave scars and burn your insides. Fire is powerful, perhaps the most powerful, but it comes at a heavy cost."

Kin-Kin had a thought, and the she-wolf closed her eyes, extending a forepaw to the ground ahead of her. The golden glow drained from her fur and into that paw.

From her paw rushed a soft orange light, taking root in the earth and springing up into the image of a small flickering fire. Those flames, a small yet intricate illusion, continued to spread as Kin-Kin stepped back, gaze fixated on the magic she controlled. Her fur's glow extinguished, the light of her nonexistent fire turned her body amber. Flickering and fleeting, they spread towards Thomas for a few moments before fading away, the orange light dulling into darkness and the glow returning to Kin-Kin's fur.


" speech "

@Thomas

Thomas put in a lot of thought when Kin-Kin spoke of how one would never be able to discover all the magics in the Caves. He began to wonder if perhaps he could learn a bit of them all, but he shook his head at his own thought. That would take many cycles, he knew, for the way the wolf spoke, there was more magic in the Caves than any one gembound could imagine. Though he did believe that maybe one day he could meet gembounds from all the darkest corners and discover what secrets the world held.

Maybe one day.

He looked down at the gem as Kin-Kin pushed it towards his hooves. He loved the way it shimmed, and when she offered it to him, he looked up at her with soft eyes. "I would love to keep it. I don't quite know how I will keep it with me all the time, but I'll figure it out." Thomas made it apparent he was grateful by dipping his head in her direction. He dropped so far it was almost a bow, but not quite. He knew that he would have to find some way to keep the beautiful red gem with him. There had to be a way.

Suddenly, light show of reds, oranges and yellows danced out in front of him. Thomas tried to follow every color and flicker, but it was all so much. For a slight moment he was confused as to where it came from, but when his eyes trailed over Kin-Kin, he could tell that the glow was emitting from her fur. The elk simply watched the wolf as the colors began to seemingly fade back into her. "Fire can be beautiful," he whispered. "I want to try."

Thomas closed his eyes and dipped his head to the ground. He inhaled deeply and focused on flame like he did last time. But, instead of seeking out his magic, he imagined a beautiful, flickering fire, similar to the light-show Kin-Kin had just displayed. And, within seconds, there it was.

Or, so he thought. Somewhat frustrated, Thomas looked back up and perked his ears. "I tried," the young elk chuckled. Maybe next time.

"talk" // think
tagged; @Kin-Kin
notes;
ooc; sorry for the late reply! It was my 18th on Saturday so I was quite caught up with that.